ABSILVER's World

I must weigh in more on the Arizona and now GA bills that will allow, based on religion, people to discriminate against others.  From what I have seen this bill does doesn't limit this to the LGBT community (not that would make it right!).  I read the bill (three times) and (  link is here)    basically it says if you can prove that it is against your religion to do something and are sincere you don't have to follow governmental regulations. This is being publicized as an anti-gay measure, but it truly allows any business or person to not serve a customer based on their religious beliefs.  So, a Christian store owner could deny a Jewish or Muslim customer entry to their store or visa verse. People decide who to be around.  Businesses decide who to target for their marketing and sales activities.  The issue here is not what they personally believe, either the business or the customer, but should a government in this country pass a law that sanctions and legalizes discrimina

Random thoughts on a Saturday If Woody Allen is guilty, and I am leaning to believe his daughter.  Then there is no separating the art from the artist.  That would be like separating out the value of medical experiments in concentration camps from the perpetrators.  Frankly, his staunch denial in a letter to the NY Times with what seems little concern for his daughter as compared to his reputation seems telling to me.  I do not watch anything that has Charlie Sheen in it, because he beat his wife.  I don't see any reason to move beyond that and don't care he may have been the 1/2 of a man on Two and Half Men but I don't have to watch him.   Bernie Madoff was a nice Jewish boy except for stealing billions and trust of thousands?  What would this discussion be like if Woody Allen was a basketball player?  Rock star? Yes, I cannot see the opening, closing, or ice skating of the Olympics without streaming them to my TV.  I believe I can, but I am trying to decide if I care

OK.. I am going to weigh in on the winter disaster of Atlanta, and ask your northern weather channel people to stop looking askance at the south in snowstorms just as we in Florida should not laugh at responses to hurricanes up north. I have lived in Atlanta three times although many years ago.  But, I survived a few snow storms and cold weather.  I have also lived in New York, New Jersey and Provincetown and experienced some of the northern variety of ice. It is not ... just that Atlanta and the south is not used to ice storms.  It is not just that people don't know how to drive, or that they lack sensibility for how to drive in snow.  It can't be, because many of those stranded on the roadways and with kids stuck on a bus or in school are not originally from Atlanta and many are from the north.  So, you may feel quite righteous at the moment but many of your kinfolk I bet are part of the problem. Snow in Atlanta, feels colder than what is in the north.  It is more akin

Can you imagine... you are female growing up in Anderson, SC and you dream of going to college.  You are lucky, and you have supportive parents who believe an education is a good thing.  You are the oldest of 8 children...  parents immigrated from Russia and moved to Anderson, SC with your parents looking for a better life and freedom. You reach out to go to Converse College, in Spartanburg and get a college degree.  Imagine, your ambition not satiated, you decide to leave and go further from home and go to New York and Columbia University and get a second degree a Bachelor of Science.  You stay in New York to work, before choosing to get married and return to your hometown. Let's add a few twists to this, you are female, Jewish, parents immigrated from Russia, and oh by the way it is not today you achieve your second degree it is 1929.  This is more amazing because I knew her, she was my grandmother, and I have her diploma from Columbia University. I sit here wi

I sit here on the day that hell appears to be freezing over.  Not really sure how this is happening and nor will most people reading this care that we will complain in the morning cause it will be 48.  Imagine, you haven't tried your heat in about a year and you realize you will have to try it and smell that heated smell once again.  As many of you try and keep warm through ungodly temps here I sit wondering when it is cool enough for me to open windows and then wait for heat tomorrow. But, honestly other than a slight amount of bragging, this is not the point of this blog post.  It is truly more about a concern I have about my patience for entertainment this past year.. and as of yesterday in the new year this concern of mine is that I appear to have little patience for theatre or movies as of late.  ( I am wondering if this is me... or the quality of the shows and so I want someone to comment.) Let's go backwards, as I have written before about a year ago seeing Bill

ABSILVER 2013 Wrap Up I sit here on the edge of a new year thinking about tomorrow.   Not in the sense, of actually tomorrow, when I will ring in the new year with some good friends at a dinner that starts at 9pm (9pm!).  But, more in the sense that if I were a book, I would see that it as the page is turned there is a blank page with a new number on it, a chapter to change the tale and direction of the moment.  Or, is it more like a menu at a restaurant that you turn over to see what they have for dinner or their wine list.  I am 49 and hopefully only at the mid-point of my life but I must say this has me wondering about the future. There is a consistency in many movies or tv shows I have seen lately where people seem to be concerned about their legacy when they leave this planet to move onto whatever is next.  I don't know that I believe in what is next because nobody has ever come back to tell us what it is like. Think about all the personalities in your life, that have

Random thoughts... and photos I am a creature of habit, habitually trying to push myself not to be a creature of habit. I don't mean to be rude, or hurtful, but I am going to revert back to my previous Christmas holiday ritual.  Chinese Food and a movie. If your personal pictures on a dating site show pictures of a restaurant or store that has not been open in years, please don't tell me all your pictures are recent. What is most disheartening about the Credit Card debit card breach at Target? 1) That it took them apparently 19 days or more to discover the breach was occurring... since this was happening over a period of time as compared to a one time snatch of information. 2) That apparently the secret service is investigating, and thus may have been the agency that discovered this and alerted Target.  What if this was because of all of the evil data collecting of the government. 3) When I received the email from Target of the breach and that it may impact me