| — | Stephen Colbert |
An important message on Bullying from the First Lady of Maryland. The face of bullying has changed it no longer ends on the playground. Bullies have access to their targets 24 hours a day through social networks.
To honor New Jersey, I’d like to take a few minutes to clear up the most outrageous and offensive stereotypes about my home state.
“New Jersey is the armpit of America”
If that’s true, then New Jersey is like the greatest freaking armpit in the world. It’s like Angelina Jolie’s armpit. It’s the armpit that armpit fetishists are looking for when they surf the Internet. And the rest of America is like some out-of-work, meth-addicted slob that will never appreciate how good an armpit it’s got. Think about it.
“New Jersey has nothing”
New Jersey has everything. You want gambling? You got Atlantic City. You like sports? How about not one, but two professional football teams who left New York for real football country. You got the Jersey Shore, Newark Airport and a ridiculous amount of history. Where was Washington going when he crossed the Delaware? Jersey. Much like me, Bell Labs started in New York then moved to New Jersey. Plus, you’re a few hours away from Philadelphia, New York City and D.C. if you should happen to make the mistake of leaving the Garden State.
“It’s full of guidos”
OK, you’re right about this one. It’s full of Italians and they’re great, so you can shut your cannoli-hole. Italian food is delicious. Also, if you have a good enough friend from Jersey, there’s like a 100 percent chance that they “know a guy” who can “get you anything.” How cool is that? (Note: This fact mostly comes from my roommate repeatedly insisting, “If you want, I know a guy who can get you steroids by this weekend. Seriously.”)
“New Jersey is an urban wasteland”
This is a wretched lie perpetuated by people who have flown into Newark and then gone straight to New York City. Don’t believe me? New Jersey is such a rugged state that they have a bear problem. Take that, Alaska.
“People from Jersey are ignorant and uneducated”
New Jersey often has the highest high-school graduation rate in the country, sometimes reaching 87 percent. Meanwhile, Jersey’s lauded next-door neighbor, New York, competes with states like Mississippi for the spot of lowest high-school graduation rate. New York smarter than Jersey? Fuggheddaboudit.
“Everyone prefers to live in New York”
Oh yeah? Then why does pretty much every so-called ”New York” celebrity live in New Jersey? Because people who are rich and famous realize that it’s better, so you should, too. The next time you hear someone make a crack on New Jersey, stop them and point out that Jersey is the state for real Americans with 73 percent voter turnout; a sweet, world-famous turnpike; and Bruce Motherf**king Springsteen.
P.S. The produce is delicious.
originally taken from www.asylum.com
A Favorite Poem: Living Life: Bonnie Mohr
Life is not a race - but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy.Say “thank you”, “I love you”, and “great job” to someone each day. Go to church, take timefor prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper.Love your life and what you’ve been given, it is not accidental - search for your purpose and do itthe best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be.Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free.Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself - plan forlongevity. Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know.Live for today, enjoy the moment.
Here is a Georgia State Trooper in riot gear at a KKK protest in a north Georgia city back in the 80s. The Trooper is black. Standing in front of him and touching his shield is a curious little boy dressed in a Klan hood and robe. I have stared at this picture and wondered what must have been going through that Trooper’s mind. Before the Trooper is an innocent child who is being taught to hate him because of the color of his skin. The child doesn’t understand what he is being taught, and at this point he doesn’t seem to care. Like any other child his curiosity takes hold and he wants to explore this new thing that this man is holding probably because he can see his reflection in it and that’s a neat thing and he wants to check it out. In this picture I see innocence mixed with hate, the irony of a black man protecting the right of white people to assemble in protest against him, temperance in the face of ignorance, and hope that racism can be broken because this young boy may remember that a black man smiled at him once and he didn’t seem so bad after all.
