Hold The Presses! Anita Lopez is No J.Lo! Anita Lopez Wants Control of The Press.

Hold the Presses!

This entry of Roland Hansen Commentary concerns Anita Lopez. It is not about Jennifer Lopez, aka J.Lo, I mean, after all, Anita Lopez is no J.Lo!

If you recall, I mentioned Anita Lopez back on May 23, 2013 when I scribed the Roland Hansen Commentary Ohio's City of Toledo Mayor: For Whom The Bell Tolls.

It seems as though in her quest to be Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, that Anita Lopez is running a close-fisted, closely guarded campaign. Here, click on over to take a look-see and listen to: Anita Lopez: Toledo, Ohio's scripted mayoral candidate

It also seems as though Anita Lopez wants to have control of The Press.

As it stands right now, Anita Lopez requires certain specific the information from members of the Press prior to granting any interview. Some, but not all, of the advance information required by Lopez is a list of the reporter’s questions; whether the reporter has interviewed anyone else and what did they say; whether Ms. Lopez will be allowed to use visuals, and the answer to  "How knowledgeable is the reporter.”
Click here for an example of the Media Information Form as it was required of a reporter for The Blade.

For an interesting video, I suggest you watch and listen to "Democratic mayoral candidates face-off over campaign practices."

Juneteenth. Free At Last.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr who said "I have a dream."

It is a dream that is still in the process of becoming a reality. Juneteenth is just one way to help that dream come true.

Dating back to 1865, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The term "Juneteenth" is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth. It was June 19th of the year 1865 that Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas informing its inhabitants that the Civil War had ended and that all slaves were free people.

REF:
Juneteenth, Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease
Juneteenth, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Juneteenth.com

Explore Juneteenth on Google News.

I cannot help but wonder when all people in the United States of America regardless of race, religion, national ancestry, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, weight, height, hair color, or whatever will be truly equal.

Teen Suicide and High School Graduation

This time of year in the good old U.S. of A., there are high school graduation ceremonies taking place all around us, including that of grandson Ben Wexler and nephew Dovi Rosenberg. With all these high school graduations taking place, I am reminded of a Roland's Ramblings blog entry that I made a couple years ago in which I relayed a story about the valedictorian speech of one high school senior that I had read elsewhere.

Here is an excerpt from that blog entry:

The story begins with the preface:
‘We all know or knew someone like this!!’ The story then continues:
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, ‘Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.’

Please, please click on over to read this most heart touching story contained in my Roland's Ramblings entry, "One small gesture can change a person’s life." I promise you will not be disappointed.

Ohio's City of Toledo Mayor: For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Once again, the political scene in Toledo, Ohio in regards to the 2013 mayoral campaign seems to be more like a three-ring circus. Well, actually, it seems worse than a 3-ring circus.

Thus far, there are seven people who have publicly announced that they are in the race for City of Toledo Mayor in 2013. As time goes by, there might be even more people announcing their candidacy for the position of Toledo Mayor. The September 10 primary election ballot will whittle the number of candidates down to two mayor candidates facing one another off in the November general election.

Here is the list of the presently declared 7 mayoral candidates:

1. Incumbent Mayor Independent Mike Bell
2. Toledo City employee and Local 2058 A.F.S.C.M.E. President Independent Alan Cox
3. Toledo City Councilman Democrat Joe McNamara
4. Retired Toledo City employee Libertarian Michael Konwinski
5. Evangelist, Minister, and Just Recently A Declared Republican Opal Covey
6. Lucas County Auditor Democrat Anita Lopez
7. Toledo City Councilman Independent D. Michael Collins

You can get the gist of what is going on in this year's Toledo Mayoral politics by clicking over to read each of the following:

• AFSCME leader Alan Cox vows to work to repeal strong-mayor system, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, January 12, 2013.
• Answering the call: McNamara enters mayoral race, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com), Sarah Ottney February 14, 2013.
• Lucas County Libertarian Party announces its candidate for mayor, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com)  March 12, 2013.
• Toledo history lesson from Opal Covey, Blade Slices - Politics (www.toledoblade.typepad.com/bladeslices), Tom Troy, March 13, 2013.
• Libertarian Konwinski plans to run for mayor, Covey says she’s a GOP candidate, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, March 14, 2013.
• McNamara slams Lopez over workers at her event, He says 6 county employees attended mayoral kickoff, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Ignazio Messina, April 25, 2013.
• Mayoral candidate Anita López calls Bell, McNamara “out of touch” with voters, economy, La Prensa (www.laprensatoledo.com), Kevin Milliken, April 27, 2013.
• Mayor’s race features 3 top contenders, But others may enter already-crowded field, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, May 13, 2013.
• Collins jumps into contest for city mayor, He vows to reopen district police site, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, May 15, 2013.
• Heavy mettle, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com), Michael Miller, May 17, 2013.

Opal Covey, who seems to change political parties as often as you and I change clothes, has run for Mayor of Toledo on several occasions as if she has been on a mission from G-d. Indeed, how many remember the Mayoral Candidate Forum for which I facilitated and served as moderator?!! You don't remember? Well, then, click over and take a look at the blog entry of HistoryMike: AUG 28, 2005 - Toledo Mayoral Candidates At Beaner's Cafe and you will see that Opal Covey was there.

An, oh, by the way, this is not the first time that Mike Bell and D. Michael Collins have had a slugfest in the quest for the office of Toledo Mayor. Take a look at this previous Roland Hansen Commentary:
Michael v. Michael OR All About Mikes in Toledo, Ohio, June 30, 2009.

And with this June 2, 2010 Roland Hansen Commentary Mike Bell, The Motorcycling Mayor of Toledo, Ohio in mind, I now ask for whom the bell tolls.

Not a Happy Mothers Day; and, No Happy Birthday, either!

Today is Mother's Day here in the United States of America.

Mother's Day in the United States has become so commercialized and no longer really meets its original established intention as a holiday.

In fact, read this excerpt of an article that I found:

The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.

You may read that entire article from History.com by clicking onto the embedded link as follows:
Mother's Day

My mother, Pearl Hansen (nee Perel Lerman), died in 1984. Since that time (and even before her death) not one single day has ever gone by that I have not thought of my mother; and I am now 65 years old.

That being said, for the life of me, I cannot understand why so many people write "Happy Mother's Day" in regards to their own deceased mother on internet social media networks, such as Facebook. To me, that is just plain sick, if not totally stupid. The decedent is dead! DEAD - did you read that! DEAD - do you hear me? How the hell can the dead mother have a happy day??? DUH!!!!

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE WISH A HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO THEIR DEAD MOTHER!!!

And, by the way, that same line of reasoning of mine is applicable in wishing a dead father a Happy Father's Day OR a dead mother OR a dead anyone else, for that matter, a happy birthday. DUMB! JUST PLAIN DUMB!

But, this is all just my own personal opinion, and many people not only disagree with me, they also are offended by my expression of my opinion on this topic of wishing dead people a happy day for any occasion.

2013 Budget Sequestration: The Fault Of Congress, not President Barack Obama.

Many ill-informed people believe that POTUS (the President of the United States, Barack Obama) is responsible for the current sequester and the fact that the United States has been operating without an annual budget since 2009. Much of the misinformation that the general public and naive political pundits who consequently place the blame at the feet of President Barack Obama have about the federal budget process comes not only from a poor knowledge and education of our government but also from a manipulating and deceitful Republican Party leadership and from irresponsible members of the Tea Party movement.

The “power of the purse” is a function of the United States Congress as designated by the Constitution of the United States of America.

By law, the President is required to send a budget request, which is technically only just a proposal, to Congress no sooner than the first Monday in January and no later than the first Monday in February. However, it is the United States Congress consisting of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate that is required by law to pass an annual budget and to submit that budget to the President for signature. Note that the federal fiscal year does not begin until October 1.

So, people, if you are going to cast stones, point fingers, and place blame for the budget sequestration in 2013, at least do it honestly in an informed manner. The fault for this continuing fiscal dilemma lies with the Congress of the United States and not with our President, Barack Obama.

ref:
Bill of Rights Institute: The Federal Budget and the Constitution
Wikipedia: United States federal budget
National Priorities Project: FEDERAL BUDGET 101, Federal Budget Process
House of Representatives, Committee On The Budget: The Budget

Am I really a washed-up has-been???

At one time, when I was in my prime, I was a "somebody" but then I fell out of grace with some people; and I became a "nobody." It was quite a transition for me to go from being a someone to being a no one. But really, is it necessary to call names? (That's a rhetorical statement.)

I wonder how many people have used the the phrase "washed up" or the phrase "has been" or any other number of similar phrases. Heck, I know of a few people who have used the phrase "washed-up has-been" in making reference to me.

Curiosity got the better of me concerning that type of phraseology in making reference to people, so I did my usual thing and turned to the wide wonderful world of the web on the internet.

I came across one definition of washed up that goes like this:
"The definition of washed up is someone or something whose time has come and gone; someone who was popular or who had a good career but who now doesn't and has little to offer."

The term "has-been" as defined in The Free Dictionary By Farlex is "One that is no longer famous, popular, successful, or useful." or "a person or thing that is no longer popular, successful, effective, etc."

Even, the Urban Dictionary has definitions of hasbeen!!!

Actually, a few years back, I had written a little bit about this before on my other blog, Roland's Ramblings, that you can read by clicking over to Has-Been.

Incidentally, did you know that Has Been is the second musical album of William Shatner?

In doing my internet research on this topic, I came across the blog Washed Up Celebrities that you may read if you click upon the embedded link that I placed within the blog title.

I found some other interesting reading that starts out with:

See what happens when a washed-up has-been "star" gets old and decrepit?
As in Pat Boone, of course.
Pat Boone is a longtime birther and Obama-hater, so it's no surprise he would keep up the Obama-hate.

You may read that entire piece by clicking here.

Easter. The Last Supper. Jesus was a Jew. Passover. Seder.

Wow! There are so many people who think today is Easter. Boy, are they ever WRONG!!!!

The correct date for Easter this year is May 5, 2013.

I am amazed at how many people think that their belief is the only correct belief, perhaps you may be one of them. On the other hand, others may think their belief is correct and yours is wrong.

Have you ever heard of Computus?
Here, take a look at Computus for the calculation of the 2013 Orthodox Easter.

Oh, you mean to tell me that you think today, March 31, 2013 is the real date for Easter??!!!! Maybe, you should read:
A Tale of Two Easters, Why one faith and two celebrations? by Borgna Brunner.

Jews do not observe Easter. Jews observe Passover. Jews do not have Easter Sunday dinner, Jews have Passover Seder.

Jesus was born a Jew. Jesus lived his life a Jew. Jesus died a Jew.

Some folks assert that there is a connection between Jesus' Last Supper and the Passover Seder.

But, was the Last Supper really the Passover Seder? Well, click and read each of the following and then decide the answer to that question for yourself:

Jonathan Klawans, Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?, Traditional Views of Jesus’ Last Supper as a Passover Meal, Bible History Daily, 10/18/2012.
Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D., Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder?, The Blog, Huffington Post, Posted: 04/ 5/2012.
Michael David Lukas, Jesus' Final Passover, Was the Last Supper really a Seder?, Slate, Updated Monday, March 29, 2010.
Michael J. Cook, Was Jesus' Last Supper a Passover Seder?, Reform Judaism online. Spring 2013.

Xenophobia Thrives! Steve Zuber, Washington Local Schools Board of Education Member, Xenophobe.

For a better understanding of the thrust and intent of this Roland Hansen Commentary, please click onto the following embedded links and read the contents therein:
Xenophobia
World religions, Islam: The second largest world religion...and growing.
Mr. Steve Zuber, Board Member
Washington school board elects officers, Toledo Blade webpage, HOME → NEWS→ EDUCATION, Published: 1/18/2012
Washington Local Schools Board Brochure 3_10
Website of Washington Local Schools

Back on February 28, 2013, Steve Zuber, Washington Local Schools Board of Education Member, posted a meme on his Facebook page that he shared with the public; it was a No Lapdog Media's photo.

In the picture, a Black person attired in stereotypical Arab Muslim clothing is shown holding a sign stating,

"ISLAM WILL DOMINATE THE WORLD, FREEDOM CAN GO TO HELL."
On the photo itself above the sign carrying person is the statement,
"They Tell Us Their Plans..."
and then below the person with the sign
"So Why Do Governments Still Say They Are Peaceful?
www.infideltaskforce.com"

Well, here, take a look at that same photo meme that Steve Zuber had posted on Facebook for yourself:



and beneath it all on Steve Zuber's Facebook wall was the comment: "They have a plan. It's in the Koran."

Over the next 5 hours, the following comments were posted on that Facebook message Steve Zuber had published on that Thursday of February 28, 2013:

Roland Louis Hansen:
Just as Christianity has many denominations, so does Islam. Why is it acceptable for Christianity to want to dominate the world but not any other religion? Maybe, it would be better if Judaism was the dominant world religion.

Steve Zuber:
I don't think I've ever seen anyone who is out to dominate the world for Christianity (if they really are, and that's a personal opinion) walk around with a sign like this.... Who attacked us on 9-11 and who has been right in the midst of so many violent bombings, etc??? Case closed!

Roland Louis Hansen:
Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, America's White Southern Christian slave owners, American Tea Party. The list goes on. Terrorists were responsible for 911; not the entire Nation of Islam. Who was responsible for the Holocaust? or the Oklahoma City bombing? or bombing of abortion clinics? or the Jonesville mass suicide? or the Sandy Hook shooting murder spree? or the mass shooting and killings that occurred inside of a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado? or the shootings and mass murder in Tuscon, Arizona in the Gabby Giffords assassination attempt -- It sure wasn't Islam. Xenophobia of any religion or nationality is just plain wrong, Steve! What would Jesus say? I am shocked and surprised that you, an elected official on a public board of education, would spread mistruth, fear, and hatred!

Steve Zuber:
being on the boe has nothing to do with my own personal opinion....... in fact I would venture to guess that most people feel the same way I do. I know that 343 brothers in the fire service were killed for no other reason other than hate and nothing you will ever say will change my opinion. And I don't really think that I'm spreading mistruth, fear and hatred! You just gave your opinion and there are a lot of people that will disagree with you, and if they do with me......so be it!

Tom Miller:
Steve, It looks like you and I are on the same page?

Steve Zuber:
Tom, we always were my friend. Call it like it is....... not into this ridiculous political correctness....as it's gone way to far. People are afraid to even say anything for fear of 'offending' someone. That's life and that's the way its always been..... get over it and leave me alone if you don't like it..... I'm not into anyone's face for what they feel or believe........ learned long ago that you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

Ken Klingbeil:
I stand with you Steve,this guy is full of it.

Beverly Morse:
have no use for those people or their beliefs! Peaceful my Ass! They are barberic! Tehy (sic) treat woman like dirt!
(Deleted within 15 minutes of it being posting)

Beverly Morse:
That sign doesn't even deserve any comments!!! Pathetic!

REF:
If you have a Facebook account and if you log in, you can view it all for yourself as long as it remains posted and doesn't get deleted. Just copy and paste the following URLs in your browser, after you have logged into your Facebook account:
https://www.facebook.com/steve.zuber.3/posts/228558710602540?comment_id=742653
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/550009_510185079024608_235121567_n.jpg

Oh, by the way, you might be interested in the website of Infidel Task Force that had been referenced on the photo meme that Steve Zuber placed on his Facebook wall. I cannot help but wonder what type of people actually go for that kind of stuff. Please note, however, that I have removed the embedded link to that website because it contains a possible virus threat.)

Incidentally, controversy is not new to Steve Zuber or Washington Local Schools as may be read in The Blade article, OSHAA INVESTIGATION, Officials defend Whitmer transfers and the follow up article, OHSAA says Whitmer will pay $50,000 to state, forfeit football, basketball wins in eligibility case.

Does an elected official have the right to have a "personal opinion" without public repercussion, without being accountable and responsive to the public, when that opinion is posted publicly on the internet?

Should a person who is an elected member of a public board of education, an authority figure in the education of our children, be spewing forth negative thoughts, verbally or in writing that our children can see, read, or hear, on a group of people or on an entire religion?

Should that elected official be held responsible for his or her public words and actions?

Is Steve Zuber a xenophobe?

Roland Louis Hansen asks: Who am I?

Can you answer the question:

Who is Roland Louis Hansen?

For a hint, just click onto this embedded link.