I agree with Wendy Williams- it is time for Teresa to leave reality TV!

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I know that I said RIP to the Jersey girls after season IV, but the kinder, gentler Teresa sucked me in again.  I really love Teresa and her family.  I wish the best for them, but I think I agree with Wendy Williams-it is time to take the kids off TV. 

We all loved watching G to the A walking down the runway when she was seven.  Milania is relatively entertaining although a bit bratty.  No one ever hears from poor Gabriella. She must be camera shy and thank goodness her shyness is accepted.  We all love the interaction with Teresa and her kids.  They are getting older and I think the teenage years are difficult enough, without being filmed constantly.  Look at Jaqueline's daughter, Ashley, that must be tough to look back on for her.

It is pretty obvious that Gia watches the show.  I just cringe at the idea of her seeing her dad calling her mom a c--t. I worry about the girls, because they have always be spoiled yet hilarious.  Spoiled children aren't funny as teenagers.  I feel pretty confident in this matter, being a teacher.  There is nothing worse than teenagers that have made to feel privileged as children. 

Teresa- I implore you to consider this.  I think Dina made the wise choice.  We all love to watch you and your family, but maybe it is time to leave, while the girls are young.

"Vice" took Dennis Rodman to Korea

OK- when the news hit the media about Dennis Rodman's visit to Korea, there was an uproar about this kook meets kook leader meeting.  Now it all makes sense.  The show "Vice"  arranged the meeting because Kim Jung Un loves the Chicago Bulls and all things basketball.  They were able to get inside Korea and document the country as much as anyone recently from the USA has had a chance to do.  If you haven't seen the last episode of HBO's Vice I highly suggest you watch.  The point wasn't that Dennis Rodman acting as a traitor to democracy, but he was used as an instrument to gain entry to a regime that is notoriously closed to the world.  I came away with a whole different opinion about the meeting and a greater understanding that there are still places in the world where totalitarian dictator's are choking the rights of their citizens.  It really was eye-opening!

NSA Phone tapping- is this really a new problem?

I was watching the View yesterday and Elizabeth was on a rant about her civil liberties being violated by the Obama administration and she hit a nerve.  First of all-  I believe the whole checking telephone records and emails started after 911 with a little something passed by Congress called the Patriot act. 

I have never been a fan of the Patriot act.  That law did remove our civil liberties.  Elizabeth that law was passed and acted upon first during your man Bush's administration.  Why was everything fine then, but when the Obama administration carries on the same exact policy- in order to "check on terrorist activity"- all of a sudden now you are worried about your civil liberties.

I have never been a fan of the Patriot Act.  In fact I worried because I had to look up the spelling of the chemical called ricin for my last blog and I didn't leave up the web page I viewed too long so as not to be identified as a possible "terrorist". 

I know that Elizabeth believes that she is the greatest Patriot on the view.  Elizabeth- this country was founded on freedom and I really believe that our forefathers would be very unhappy with the Patriot Act.  I think that President Obama has extended way too many of the bad Bush policies such as this in order to maintain the status quo.  But seriously- when you vacillate 360 degrees between the Bush and the Obama administration on the same point, the only difference left is the party behind the president and his race.

Misunderstood- "GOT"

I am one of the people that are on the fringe of the Game of Thrones phenomenon. I love to watch it, but I have very little idea how everyone is related and connected to each other.  One of my students watches it and has read all the books and he told me that last night's episode would be when "all Hell breaks loose" and he was right. I was completely stunned at what happened. The Red Wedding was quite a spectacle!  It goes to show that no one is off limits for assassination.

Again- I haven't read the books and I am clueless, but my hope is that the girls become the leaders.  I hope that the Terrell girl kills Joffrey- her new husband.  Then she will become THE Queen instead of a queen.  I hope Deanerys  joins forces with the Stark children and wipes out the white walkers with vision, mind control and Dragon power.

Gatsby is Great!

I just wanted to take a minute to endorse  "The Great Gatsby".  I read the book in high school (over 30 years ago), and I was afraid that I wouldn't remember any of the story.  I was mesmerized by the visual aspects of the movie and I did remember the story.  I think that Leonardo was a captivating Gatsby. I had heard all the negatives about the soundtrack not matching the era-I completely disagree.  The movie was perfect. I loved the music, costumes and all the lavish scenery.  The contrast of the wealth in Long Island to the poor, coal laden slums on the outskirts of new York city is just perfect.  Go see this movie!

Wake up folks- Climate change is for real

 

 

You may not remember this TV miniseries, but I do.  I started teaching in the 80's and I heard Al Gore talk about global warming.  I have been discussing this in my science classes since the early 1980's.  After I had my daughter in 1990, my grandmother was visiting during the summer and we watched this mini series.  She was disgusted by all the doom and gloom and was adamant that I stop watching all that crap.  The truth is that even though this series presented an America that may be 50-100 years away- a lot of what they were depicting has already happened.

 

I just watched a segment of the documentary show called Vice (HBO).  They were interviewing people from Venice, Italy and the former President of the Maldives (Islands) in the Indian ocean.  And news flash- they are all flooded and sinking. A friend of mine went to Italy last year and she was horrified by the emptiness in Venice.  Now some folks might say- that is what you get for building a city in an area below sea level, but just think about all the people on this planet that live near the coast. All of this people- perhaps one billion will soon be affected by the rising oceans.

 

I wish that we had taken a proactive approach when global climate change was first introduced to the masses.  We unfortunately are still fighting the doubters.  We have wasted a lot of time and most importantly burned way too much fossil fuel.  We have missed the opportunity to teach up and coming nations such as China how to switch to cleaner fuels.  China has now surpassed the US in the amount of carbon emissions.  They have over four times the population of the United States on about the same amount of land.  We could have developed better and cleaner fuel technology in the 1970's during the oil embargo, but the oil started flowing soon after and the cost went down and we lost our need and passion for the environment.

 

I remember a  scene from the fire next time where there was a huge hurricane hitting the gulf coast and people were being evacuated for good. What is it going to take to wake us all up?

 

Check out this week's installment of Vice on HBO.  Watch the Day after Tomorrow some time.  Think about how you can reduce your carbon footprint. Someday we may not be able to all have our own car.  Someday there may be more than miniature golf and fun at the shore. Someday there may be difficulty obtaining fresh water.

 

Remember- "We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from out grandchildren"-  Chief Settle

 

Last week our planet hit a Carbon dioxide level of 400 ppm.  This is the highest level that carbon dioxide has been at since the inception of humanity.  Now some people may think that this is 6000 years ago, but most scientists agree that humans have been on planet earth as Homo sapiens for 100,000 years.  Think about that one!

 

 

 

I will give my sincere so long to the "Queen".  Michelle has announced that she will not run for re-election next November.  There is not one political point that she and I agree upon.  I was watching Real Time last night and Bill Mahr made a good point.  She may be leaving, but there are probably 20 people in waiting that are even more bat shit crazy than her.  This is what happened the last time in the mid-term elections, when complacency lead to the crazy tea party taking over the House.

Please don't let this happen again.  Just this week some lunatic sent ricin through the mail to Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama over gun control, some crazy gun nut shot a bus driver in Alabama- and kidnapped a child under the delusion that the government was going to take away his guns.  Shouldn't this be a wake up call? 

These bat shit crazy leaders, like our dear Michelle above, have way too much power already.  Listen idiots.  Just the fact that you were able to get a gun, get on a school bus and terrorize children and shoot the driver (who stepped in front of a child to take the bullet for them)is a perfect pitch for support of the law (that 90% of the population endorses) that calls for better background checks.

Michelle- don't worry, I have no fear that you will have a new successor that will carry on your legacy of tea baggership.  I just wish that some of the democrats in Congress could have the kahunas that you have.  Did you steal them from your husband?  One of the real problems with our country right now is not the extreme right, it is the lack of passion in the left. It is impossible to get anything done in Congress because of the fractures within the democratic party.