It’s being called the Race for the Ages, and it will take place at Oaklawn Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 9, 2010. The $5,000,000 (FIVE MILLION DOLLAR) purse is unprecedented in the history of horse racing.

Rumor has it that Hot Springs may (or may not) be THE place to be this second weekend in April. People from all over the world are already making reservations. One report is that "someone" from the Middle East has paid $160,000 to rent a house in Hot Springs for four days. Another has paid $5,000 for a reserved box.

The Arkansas Derby has sent several horses on to Kentucky that won the more famous Kentucky Derby. But the Race for the Ages is not the Arkansas Derby. It’s the Apple Blossom Invitational that has been moved from it’s regular date of one week before the Arkansas Derby to the day before.

What’s so special about this race, you know, other than a purse of $5,000,000? How about a head-to-head faceoff between two of horseracing’s top horses: Rachel Alexander and Kenyatta?

Rachel Alexander carries the title Horse of the Year, and Zenyatta won last year’s Breeder’s Cup Classic. Consider this: On February 18 Zenyatta turned in a six furlong workout of 1:14; six days later Rachel Alexander turned in a six furlong workout of 1:14. Both horse has since run faster times in the six furlongs. The Apple Blossom Invitation 2010 is being extended from a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half.

If you think you might be traveling to Hot Springs for the first time in your life, there are a few things you should know. It’s been my personal experience that you will not find any better people in the United States. It’s the capital of "laid back" and that could be because of its history of being THE place to go to relax. The thermal baths have drawn people for over a century. My significant other says the best massage she’s ever had happened in Hot Springs.

Of course, you should know that traffic on a normal racing day is the pits. Throw in the Race for the Ages and, well, let me recommend you go a day or two early and stake out a spot. It will probably be plenty warm so a sleeping bag night is not out of the question. And always remember that when you’re in Hot Springs the Number One Rule is to have fun.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter is running for the United States Senate. His primary challenger is Blanche Lincoln, the current Senator who has become highly unpopular in her home state because of consistently waffling or not favoring issues of importance to her constituents.

Bill Halter can win. He was instrumental in helping set up a free health clinic for Arkansans in association with the initiative begun by Keith Olbermann. He led the fight for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery which is the only lottery in the United States that provides 100% of its funds to college scholarships.

Arkansas students with a 2.5 GPA who attend an Arkansas college can apply for $5,000 per year in scholarship funds.

Since his announcement on March 1, support has flowed to him from many directions, not the least of which are Arkansas supporters who have given an average $30 contribution. The number of these contributions generated over $1 million dollars in a short amount of time. The national media has taken notice (see below).

The Ed Show Interview

The Rachel Maddow Interview

Arkansas Free Health Care Clinic

Bill Halter Announcement

Learn More About Bill Halter

Bill Halter on Facebook

Bill Halter on Twitter

Bill Halter on MySpace

See more about the Arkansas Senate Election in 2010

Willard Mitt Romney is a Mormon who may very well be the Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in 2012. What does it mean to be a Mormon, and what does Mitt Romney believe?

Former President George W. Bush is but one example of how a political official’s religious beliefs influence how he or she acts to carry out reponsibilities. Can there be anything more revealing about a person than his or her religion? It is, perhaps, the most personal decision a person will make during this life.

A vast majority of Americans say they are religious, and the greatest number of that majority profess to be Christians, a religion based on what is commonly called The Holy Bible. There are several versions of that Bible, the most common being the Catholic version and the King James Version. The Mormons seem to make use of the King James Version (based on scripture quotations found on their website) in addition to their own Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon – Introduction

(Source: The Official Scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © 2006 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bm/introduction)

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah around the year 421 A.D. About 1,400 years later, on September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language. Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

The Story of Jesus Christ Continued

Basically, the Book of Mormon continues the story of Jesus Christ, and it’s a story that was not known by the Apostles and Writers of the New Testament. Nor was it known by Writers of the Old Testament even though the major events occurred during that time. You may remember the Tower of Babel account in the Bible. According to the Book of Mormon, a group of people known as the Jaredites came to America at that time. Then, about six hundred years before Jesus was born another civilization came to America comprised of the Nephites and Lamanites. Only one group remained after thousands of years, the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

According to the Third Book of Nephi, chapters 11 through 26, Jesus Christ visited the Nephites in America. He chose twelve of the Nephites and gave them authority. (And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, [now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve] and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am. – Chapter 12, Verse 1).

The chosen twelve were Nephi, Timothy, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Kumen, Kumenonhi, Jeremiah, Shemnon, Jonas, Zedekiah, and Isaiah.

A New Priesthood

On May 15, 1829 John the Baptist visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said "that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second."

How the Book of Mormon was Interpreted

Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith’s wife told her son, Joseph Smith III, how his father translated the Book of Mormon, "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us."

David Whitmer was one of the Three Witnesses, and much of the translating happened in his home. He said, "I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man."

Conclusions

It is not for me to claim whether or not there was a spiritual guide from heaven who came to America to establish a new church. I wasn’t there. I have no more firsthand knowledge of how the Book of Mormon came into existence as I do how the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible were written. I’m talking about the first five books as approved by the Council of Laodicea in 364 A. D. There were many other scriptures but the Council approved five: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The question to be answered is this: Is Mitt Romney too far out of the mainstream in his religious belief? Does it matter?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

"We didn’t know how extensive the need was," said William Ditto, head of the Office of Disability Services for the state of New Jersey. Mr. Ditto tried to explain his position in an interview with Susan K. Livio, a reporter covering the Statehouse for nj.com. "Nobody wants to do this. My back is against the wall," he further explained.

The State of New Jersey was a leader among states providing assistance to victims of brain injury. In 2001, the state developed the Brain Injury Fund that paid for speech therapy and other needed treatments not covered by health insurance. Since 2004, about 2,200 people have been helped. That will soon change with new regulations slated to begin in the Spring.

The proposed new regulation will limit access to the program to individuals whose brain injury is the result of a direct blow to the head. If this rule had been in effect in 2004 only 900 of the 2,200 would have received treatment.

Twenty-five years ago, Michael Jankowsky tried to help a friend who had gotten into a fight. He was stabbed in the heart, and his body began shutting down. The lack of oxygen getting to his brain caused extensive cell damage. He is confined to a wheel chair, still slurs his speech and has concentration problems – not unlike millions of other brain injury victims in the United States. In addition to limiting who can receive assistance from New Jersey’s Brain Injury Fund, available services are being cut as well.

Transportation will no longer be provided. Electronics like personal alarms will no longer be covered. Many brain injury victims use personal alarms to compensate for lost memory skills. It helps them know when to go places or perform other tasks. Personal computers play a huge role for these people who have both cognitive and memory problems. (continued below)

Brain Injury Costs

Living with brain injury is expensive. In addition to a regular medical doctor, many victims must see neurologists, psychologists, endocrinologists as well as speech, physical and occupational therapists. Migraine headaches are a common complaint as is high blood pressure and vision problems. Many brain injury victims find they cannot return to work or must, at least, seek stress-free work at a flexible workplace.

Chee Chee Parker worked at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Her desk was in a direct line of the impact when the plane commandeered by terrorists hit the building. Though she suffered many injuries, she says the worst was her brain injury. She left the military and was able to find another job…for a short time. The effects of brain injury forced her out.

Others say: "I lost everything, my home, job, car all.. I have not found fiance help anywhere I get SSI and food assistance I have been in poverty since my injury." – Lynn; "I have been in such poverty since my tbi." – Hope; "I sustained my TBI on March 3, 1994 when a student knocked me unconscious. Needless to say that was the end of my teaching career." – Melba; "We learn to live in poverty." – Terry

Increasing health care costs and limited, if any, sources of income make government assistance almost a necessity. Now, those programs are going away. Congress has pretty much frittered away health insurance reform. Short of Medicare for Everyone, a single-payor system, the people you read about here would still be unable to afford insurance premiums. Yes, some qualify for Medicaid, and some qualify for SSI, but that still doesn’t provide the therapies they need to develop their lives more fully. America, we need to do something.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Health care insurance premiums are rising again, and the health insurance gurus are blaming it on rising health care costs. Well, it’s true. Health care costs in America. It really, really costs.

Regular readers of this blog may remember my wife’s $2,500 sprained, and possibly broken, ankle. That was just the visit to the emergency room and did not include the followup visit to our primary care physician and the $143 boot for her foot.

2009 is behind us now, and I can report to you that our health insurance paid absolutely nothing for our medical care last year. Nothing. Nada. Not one cent. Why? Our deductible was $2,300, and our $2,000 in bills didn’t quite make it. But we got close. This year our deductible is $100 more. And, yes, our premium went up, too. Now, our premium didn’t go up because of our health care costs to the insurance company – they didn’t pay anything last year!

Health insurance costs in California almost made me feel ashamed of complaining about my personal situation. The Los Angeles Times published a story, "Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies" that told of exhorbitant increases of up to 39%. One couple reported their new premium will be $27,336, up from $20,184. The new amount exceeds the poverty level in California for a family of five.

Now, let’s just assume this family of two earned $4,000 per month, prior to getting laid off. They would qualify for California’s maximum unemployment benefit of $450 per week, or about $1,800 per month. To keep their health insurance would cost $2,278 per month. You don’t even need Jethro Bodine to tell you that you can’t pay $2,278 with $1,800. You could come close if you moved out of your house and ate out of garbage cans.

Is this the health care we want in America?

Health Insurance Profits

The situation with Anthem Blue Cross in California is being investigated to make certain at least 70% of the premium is being paid out in benefits. In other words, 27.3% of that 39% increase must be paid out in benefits. That leaves 11.7% for employee pay raises and profit. And exactly how much do you expect the employees are getting in pay raises? 1%, 2% if they’re good?

But that’s not all. Anthem Blue Cross of California was fined $1 million by the state. Anthem was rejecting 20% of claims and canceling policies of pregnant women and chronically ill patients. Only in California? Not on your life. In Nevada, Anthem was able to negotiate a settlement with the state for about $1 million. In Kentucky, Anthem was ordered to refund $23.7 million to seniors and disabled patients because of inaccurately processed Medicare claims. And Colorado got a $5.7 million refund for its Anthem customers.

Is this what Republicans are trying to protect?

Health care is not okay in America. Health insurance is not okay in America. The ONLY way to fix the problem is with Medicare for All, but we are running from it as hard as we can. Well, at least the politicians are running from it, and those who are blindly following the lies being paid for by the health care and health insurance industry.

Think about it. Get the facts, and tell your friends. America must do something! Oh, and you might want to read about our new American Beer Party.

Sites We Like

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Senator Blanche Lincoln is currently the only candidate from the Democratic Party (and probably will stay that way) for the United States Senate in the 2010 Election, but she has drawn opponents from across the wide spectrum of the Natural State’s Wannabe Population.

It sorta reminds me of roadkill on a hot Texas highway with an entire army of buzzards circling. This feast appears that it will also feature a fruitcake or two. One of her opponents has a history of two statewide races, but he lost both of them. One of those races featured him as the Republican nominee against the good Senator Lincoln the last time she ran.

Apparently, this is the year of the soldier. There are two colonels and a Green Beret that served in Afghanistan in the race. There is a Green Party candidate who favors Medicare for All. There are two guys calling themselves Independents, though one of them spoke at a Tea Party rally where the other person on the stage was Michelle Malkin, a Fox News contributor.

Those of you who have followed my opinions about Senator Lincoln know that I think she really let America down on the health care issue, sort of like might near every other dude and dudette in the United States Senate. You know that rather than 1,700 or 17,000 pages of junk, I’d have preferred just a few short words, "Medicare is available to everyone who wants it." That way, the folks who think their current health insurance is the bee knees could have continued on like nobody’s business. And those who don’t live amidst delusion could have chosen Medicare. The Medicaid program could have been blended in like folding eggs into a cake recipe, and all those administrative costs eliminated. And ol’ Ben Nelson would not be guilty of extortion. But, alas and alack…

Arkansas Political Retirements

United States Congressmen from Arkansas, Vic Snyder and Marion Berry, have announced their retirement. I’ve been a long time supporter of Vic, ever since he ran the first time and walked up to me while I was mowing the yard and asked for my vote. For those who don’t know, Vic’s wife surprised him with triplets not too long ago. And I’m kinda thinking she told him to come home and help take care of ‘em. My wife woulda shot me if she’d had triplets, so I’m thinking Vic is making the right move.

I also applaud Mr. Berry for his decision. Now, I know a lot of folks might think a 67-year old is a young man when it comes to Washington. That, of course, is one of the problems. But Congressman Berry is a 67-year old lifelong farmer. Farmer’s ain’t like other people. They work their butts off. Well, maybe not those corporate farmers drawing huge subsidies from the government. If you ain’t never been up in northeast Arkansas where Mr. Berry hails from, you ain’t seen what farming can do to a body. There was a time in my life when my backyard was a soybean field and just across the road from my front yard was a cotton field that stretched as far as the eye could see. Now, while a lot of things might be modernized, I’ve seen a lot of folks walking that cotton field with a hoe (the tool with a cutting edge) chopping cotton.

I wouldn’t make too much of the fact the McCain carried Berry’s district in 2008. It wasn’t because people liked his politics. And I fully expect the Democrats to come up with somebody that will keep the Republicans out. They been a might testy in that area of Arkansas since 1861. Y’all remember how Arkansas voted to NOT join the Confederacy. A few weeks later, President Abe Lincoln told the Arkansas governmor to send 700 troops to fight against the folks in South Carolina and Georgia – you know, where the Arkansans had moved from and still had tons of kinfolks there. A few weeks after that Arkansas took a vote to rethink their allegiance to Abe. For you historical-buff types, the army of Mr. Lincoln never captured the Arkansas government and folks up in northeast Arkansas know full well in their hearts that Arkansas never surrendered. Add on the reconstructionists and those called carpetbaggers that came after the war, and there just ain’t much taste for Republicans in Berry’s district.

Anyway, things ought to be sizzlin’ in Arkansas during this political season. The folks at Online Little Rock have an Arkansas Elections 2010 section that grows and grows as more folks throw their hats into more rings. You might also be interested in the American Beer Party Movement – don’t be messin’ with Sweet Tea in Arkansas.

Other Websites that Support Uncle Brice

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Daily Humor to Make You Smile introduced Richard and Terry a while back as well as a few of their friends. Well, let me tell you about the time Terry dressed us Richard as Santa Claus and took him to the mall. Richard sat there chatting with the kids while Terry snapped photos of Santa and the Kid, plus a few additional photos of the young moms accompanying them. You just gotta know Terry to understand. Well, let me put it this way. You just got to know a little something about men. ‘Nuff said.

Well, this one little girl crawled up on Santa’s lap and said she wanted a little brother for Christmas. So Santa (Richard) whispered to her. "Tell your mom to come see me in a minute."

That last story reminds me of Richard and Terry’s friend John. Now you gotta understand that John lives in a small one-horse town in Mississippi just outside Tunica. The receptionist’s desk at the doctor’s office sits in the middle of the waiting room, and there’s no such thing as privacy when talking to the young lady. If that wasn’t enough, she always asks probing questions. So Ol’ John heads up to the doc’s office because he’s having a pretty serious problem.

Sure enough, the young lady looks up and asks, "What are you seeing the doctor about today?"

John answered, "My penis."

You shoulda seen the look of horror that crossed that little filly’s face. "Sir, we’d prefer you be a little more discreet."

John answered, "I ain’t the one who asked the question."

"But, sir," she protested. "You should have siad something like, My arm. Then when you got into the doctor’s office you could have talked to him in private." Well, Ol’ John walked out of the office, only to return a few minutes later.

"I need to see the doctor," he said.

"What are you seeing the doctor for today?" the girl asked.

"My arm," he replied.

She smiled at how well the man had followed her advice. "What’s wrong with your arm?" she asked, to which he replied, "I’m having trouble pissing out of it."

Terry and Richard have a friend they call Buddy. I’m not sure anybody knows his real name; he’s just been called Buddy for as long as anyone can remember. Well, Buddy was a victim of corporate greed and watched his job get shipped overseas. What with hundreds of thousands of people losing their job, he simply could not find work of any kind. One day he was standing just outside the labor office and heard people talking about a medical testing company that was looking for test subjects. He got the address and hurried over.

The lady behind the desk looks ol’ Buddy up and down. Then she says, "We only have one test available at the moment. And it’s for men who will mate with gorillas. There’s a fee of $500."

Buddy thought about it for a moment or two. Then he said, "Okay, I’ll do it under three conditions. First, absolutely no one can ever find out I did it. Second, if there is any offspring I want to know that they will be treated humanely. Third, I’ve been off work for several months, so it’s gonna take me some time to come up with the money."

Terry and Richard had been out one night doing some serious damage to the countie’s supply of beer. They flipped a coin to see who would drive home, and Terry won the honor.

He’d driven only two blocks when blue lights began flashing behind him. He pulled over and told Richard, "Keep quiet. I’ll do all the talking ’cause your drunker than me." Richard nodded just as the officer tapped on the driver’s window.

Terry opened the window to see a petite, busty female cop. As explained previously about men, he smiled.

"Sir, would you get out of the car please?" she said.

"Yes, m’am," Terry answered in his best drunk voice. "Anything for you, young lady."

The officer held up her hand. "Sir, I need to tell you that anything you say can and will be held against you."

Terry thought for a moment and said, "Breasts."

Tom the Traveler is another friend of Terry and Richard. They call him the Traveler because he goes to some of the hottest spots in the world for vacation, and he does it every year. Well, the guys wanted to know how he managed to do it.

Tom said, "Well, truth be told, it was a very bad idea. You guys remember that last year it was Hawaii." They nodded. "Well, got back and the wife was pregnant. The year before that it was Paris. Got back and the wife was pregnant. The year before that it was Amsterdam. Got back and the wife was pregnant."

Richard said, "Well, Tom, that sounds like some pretty successful vacations to me. What are you going to do different?"

Tom stretched his back, looked at Terry, than back at Richard. "This year I’m taking the wife with me."

Page 1 – Page 2

Other Funny Stuff

Americans are too uptight. We all need to step back, relax and smile. I don’t think anyone would get hurt if you just outright laughed out loud. It’s good for you.

That brings to mind a couple friends of mine: Richard and Terry. These guys, both married to wonderful ladies, have another love in their lives: being on the water, well – that and beer. You can find them out boating rivers, lakes and, on occasion, the ocean. It was one such ocean voyage we want to discuss here.

Things did not go exactly as planned, and Richard and Terry found themselves alone in a lifeboat. Days passed. On Day 14, the signal lamp’s battery died. The guys looked at one another for quite a spell before Terry, lamp in hand, said, "What the *&@$ do we do now?"

Richard, being the fun loving guy that he is in just about all circumstances, said, "Why don’t you rub it and see if a genie comes out?"

Terry smiled. "Why the *&@$ not?" He rubbed it furiously. And, sure enough, a beautiful genie appeared. Richard, so taken by her good looks and great physique, just sat there mouth agape and silent when she explained that she was a genie in training and, because of that, could grant them only one wish.

Terry immediately shouted, "Turn the ocean into beer."

That brought Richard out of his trance. "No, no, wait!" he shouted. Too late. The ocean became beer and the genie disappeared. "Damnation, boy," he shouted at Terry. "What were you thinking? Now we’re gonna have to pee in the boat."

Terry and Richard have a friend named Robert who works down at the local appliance store. One day this devastatingly beautiful blond walked into the store and Robert rushed up to her. "May I help you, young lady?" he gushed.

"Yes," she answered. "I want to buy this TV."

Robert was crestfallen. "I’m sorry, m’am. We don’t sell to blondes."

"Okay," she said, and left the store.

A couple days passed, and she dyed her hair brown. She returned to the appliance store and, once again, Robert greeted her. "May I help you, young lady?"

"Yes," she answered. "I want to buy this TV."

Once again, Robert was crestfallen. "I’m sorry, m’am. We don’t sell to blondes."

"Okay," she said, and left the store just like she had the first time. Two weeks passed. She dyed her hair red and returned to the store.

Robert, for the third time, greeted her. "May I help you, young lady?"

"Yes," she said. "I want to buy this TV."

Once again Robert replied, "I’m sorry, m’am. We don’t sell to blondes."

The young beauty turned to square off with him. "Okay, the first time I came in here I had blond hair. You said you didn’t sell to blonds, so I left. But I came back as a brunette and today as a redhead, and you are still saying you don’t sell to blonds. How do you know I’m blond?"

Robert smiled, "Because this is a microwave, not a TV."

Terry and Richard have a lot of friends. One such female friend, Mary, visited her grandmother shortly after the death of her grandfather.

"Memaw," she asked. "What caused Papaw’s death?"

Her grandmother began to explain. "We were making love…"

"Memaw!" Mary shouted. "Don’t you know that’s very dangerous for people your age?"

"No, no, no, honey," her grandmother replied. "We had a perfectly good system. Every Sunday morning the church bells would ring, and it helped us develop a slow, steady, and perfectly safe, rhythm. Forward on the ding and backward on the dong. It was great for years. But, then, one Sunday morning, a damn ice cream truck showed up."

One of Richard and Terry’s friends, a female, is getting up in years and I ain’t about to reveal her name. In her younger days, she had been the belle of the ball at every night club she visited. She was one in-demand honey, if you know what I mean. Anyway, that was then, and this is now. She comes up with an idea about how to reclaim her glory days. One night she goes to the local honky-tonk wearing only a trench coat. Nothing else. Just a trench coat.

She spies one likely looking guy, walks up to him, opens the trench coat and asks, "Super sex?" He jumps up, screams the word disgusting, and runs out of the bar.

So, she looks around and spots a guy who’s not quite as good looking as the first. She walks up, opens her trench coat and says, "Super Sex." He jumps up, screams the word disgusting, and runs out of the bar.

So, she spots a third guy. This one looks quite nerdy, and she figures he hasn’t been with a woman in a long, long time. So, she walks up to him, opens her trench coat, and says, "Super Sex." He looks at the woman and lets his eyes roam up and down her body. "Soup," he answered.

Page 1 – Page 2

Other Websites of Interest

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

January 21, 2010 is a day that just might live in infamy, to use Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s words, and may become as important in American history as the day to which he referred: December 7, 1941. The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, effectively changed America’s type of government from a Republic to an Aristocracy.

It really should come as no surprise to those who follow politics and governing on a regular basis. America has been headed in this direction for quite some time, and the Supreme Court has played a part, especially since 2000 when they chose the President of the United States. For those who didn’t pay attention in Civics class, an aristocracy is a government run by the wealthiest people.

The significance of the January 21 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission is that corporations now have the same free speech rights as an American citizen and that those rights include being able to make unlimited campaign contributions for both candidates and issues.

As pointed out in a previous article, Americans are a diverse people who have been forced into two economic classes: those with lots of money, and those with little or no money. Those with little money reared their heads in the 2008 Presidential Election with hundreds of thousands contributing both money and time to help Barack Obama win the presidency. Corporations were limited by campaign finance laws from squashing "the people" – but, now – the limit is gone.

How SCOTUS Voted

SCOTUS, for those who don’t know, stands for Supreme Court of the United States. Four justices voted on the side of the big corporations: Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy. Four justices voted on the side of the people: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Bryer and John Paul Stephens. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the corporations.

If ever there was solid evidence what the Supreme Court decision to make George W. Bush president in 2000 did to America, this is it. Imagine two appointees by the candidate who got the most votes that year, Al Gore, instead of those two Bushies. The decision on January 21 would probably never have happened. Aristocracy might have been held in check a little longer. It’s time to turn America back to the people, and that’s exactly what The American Beer Party is all about.

If ever there was a reason to elect moderate Democrats and Independents, and to keep Republicans away from the presidency for as long as possible, yesterday’s display of party politics on the Supreme Court is it.

What Others Are Saying

Justice John Paul Stephens, in his dissent, said, "The court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation."

Eric Lotke, Research Director at the Campaign for America’s Future, said, "Today’s decision, Citizens United v. FEC, comes down decisively on the corporate side. It gives advertisers more power than voters, and tilts the balance of power even farther towards wealthy and corporate interests. The newly composed conservative court upset decades of precedent and settled expectations." Click here to read what else he said.

Miles Mogulescu, entertainment attorney, writer, and political activist, wrote, "in a radical act of judicial activism, five Supreme Court Justices overthrew 103 years of American statutory and judicial law going back to the Presidency of Teddy Roosevelt by ruling that corporations have the Constitutional right to make unlimited campaign contributions. This is in effect a bloodless judicial coup which turns the American government over to the biggest corporate interests, to the degree that hadn’t happened already." Click here to read what else he said.

Jason Linkins, writing for the Huffington Post, said, "In one swoop, the court did away with nearly everything in federal campaign finance law, allowing corporations free reign to inject as much money as they jolly well please into federal campaigns." He, in fact, was much more animated in his article, invoking the F-word to describe "concise way of capturing today’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission." Click here to read what else he said.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC likened the ruling to the Dred Scott decision of long, long ago and said, in fact, the January 21 decision put Chief Justice John Roberts in First Place as the worst Chief Justice in history. Click here to read what else he said.

Republican Response to Supreme Court Ruling

As you might imagine, not everyone was displeased with unlimited corporate campaign contributions. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, said that the court had restored proper rights to corporations. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio called the decision "a big win for the First Amendment. Let the American people decide how much money is enough."

"I am pleased that the Supreme Court has acted to protect the Constitution’s First Amendment rights of free speech and association," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "These are the bedrock principles that underpin our system of governance and strengthen our democracy."

The President Responds

"With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington – while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less."

We can only hope.

Learn more about The American Beer Party Movement.

Click here to read American Beer Party – Marriage Equality.

Click here to read about The American Beer Party.

Marriage equality is a topic that produces opponents within families, groups, communities, states and our nation in general. One of the more prominent well-known families is that of 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Senator McCain opposes marriage equality for all Americans. Wife Cindy and daughter Meghan support it.

To me, this sort of falls under things like "liberty and justice for all" and "all men are created equal" and the ever-popular, "why are you so worried about who someone else is married to?"

Senator McCain’s office felt it necessary to issue a statement and said,"Sen. McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman".

I hear the words sanctity of marriage a lot, mostly when people want to condemn same-sex relationships. So I did a bit of research. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church issued a position paper. In it, they state:

• Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman and between the participants and God (Malachi 2:14-16).
• God designed marriage to be a lifelong relationship. Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let not man separate (Mark 10:9).” The marriage covenant should be kept sacred and unbroken under those conditions stated in the Bible.
• God-ordained marriage should remain pure in thought, motive and practice. The seventh commandment prohibits adultery (Exodus 20:14). Jesus sets an even higher standard in his statement: “…anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery” (Matthew 5:27-28).
• Out of reverence for Christ as savior and lord of their marriages, Christian wives are to respect and subject themselves to their husbands as to the Lord. And Christian husbands are to love their wives even “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:22-26).”

I see a problem here. According to the EPC, a sanctified marriage is one between one man and one woman that lasts a lifetime in which there are no adulterous thoughts and in which wives subject themselves to their husbands and husbands love their wives as much as Jesus loved the church.

I’m thinking Senator John McCain should have done more reading before espousing the sanctity of marriage since he had an affair with Cindy in an adulterous relationship during his first marriage, which ended in divorce. He clearly fails the EPC guidelines, as do the majority of people in the world. Then again, the Senator’s statement said, "the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman" meaning you can throw out all that other stuff the EPC came up with. As long as the marriage is between one man and one woman, it’s sanctified, I guess.

In fact, the website Catholic.net states, "If someone is able to maintain this attitude throughout one’s married life, ‘I am only there for the other,’ this person becomes a saint." The article title is Sanctity of Marriage. So, if someone qualifies for sainthood by being able to have a sanctified marriage, I’m guessing very few are able to do so.

What is Marriage, Really?

In the United States, marriage is a contract as evidenced by a license signed by both parties, witnesses and the person who performed the ceremony. The contract (license) is filed with a local governing authority, making it a legal document, and making the marriage relationship one that is governed by laws. To get out of the marriage contract, one of the parties must do so by using the court system.

Well, we’ve heard from the religionists and the legal system, but what about the anti-religionists? The website Atheist Heaven promotes itself as, "Propagating Reason, Rationality and Common Sense in the face of Religious Dogmatism." As you might expect, there is an article entitled, The Sanctity of Marriage?, the gist of which is this: "If history and modern trend is of any guide, this utopia version of marriage is so totally screwed."

Should Marriage Equality be Applied to All United States Citizens?

Yes. Forget, for a moment, about religion and the legal system. Marriage is far more. It is a covenant of love. Love is a thought, a spiritual feeling that cannot be regulated by anyone. I love someone because… I want to spend my life with someone because… I want to be the cherry on top of that person’s sundae because… I want to be the olive in that person’s martini because… The strings of the heart that draw two people together cannot be seen but they can be felt. However, they can be felt only by those two people. It is the spiritual feeling between two people that provides sanctity to the relationship. Who am I to say, You cannot feel that way for that particular person because I don’t believe it’s right?

This is just one of many rants and raves that will become The American Beer Party Movement. The original article can be found at that link. You might be interested in American Beer Party Movement – Supreme Court Debacle.

To learn more about Cindy McCain’s involvement, you can visit NOH8. The photo above is from that site, and I’m grateful for being allowed to use it.