Oh, poor Exxon Mobil. They aren’t taking in the millions anymore since gas prices have gone down. But I was shocked to read that they are planning to raise billions with a bond issue. Then I read this article by Nicholas Sakelaris in the Dallas Morning News, and understood the money isn’t to pay workers. They are considering a buy-out of BP.
Another interesting article in last week’s Dallas Morning News was about the rise in protests against Islam and folks who practice that religion. Peter Manseau, the author of One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History wrote about the documented history of Muslims in the United States. I was surprised to learn that thousands of Muslims have lived here for centuries.
No matter how anxious people may be about Islam, the notion of a Muslim invasion of this majority Christian country has no basis in fact. Moreover, there is an inconvenient footnote to the assertion that Islam is anti-American: Muslims arrived here before the founding of the United States — not just a few, but thousands.
He went on to detail some of the facts, and they are well worth a read.
While we can rail against the actions of extremists and terrorists, we have to remember that not all Muslims ascribe to that behavior.
Now for some fun. I laughed when I saw this cartoon. I thought of how many politicians would get singed.
FRIDAY’S FUNNIES
A lawyer was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, “You’re beautiful!” and then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that so she stayed by his side.
A couple of minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he said, “You’re cute!”
Well, the wife was disappointed because instead of “beautiful,” it was “cute.” She asked, “What happened to ‘beautiful’?”
“The drugs are wearing off!”
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One day a man goes to a pet shop to buy a parrot. The assistant takes the man to the parrot section and asks the man to choose one. The man asks, ”How much is the yellow one?”
The assistant says, ”$2000.” The man is shocked and asks the assistant why it’s so expensive. The assistant explains, ”This parrot is a very special one. He knows typewriting and can type really fast.”
”What about the green one?” the man asks.
The assistant says, ”He costs $5000 because he knows typewriting and can answer incoming telephone calls and takes notes.”
”What about the red one?” the man asks.
The assistant says, ”That one’s $10,000.”
The man says, ”What does HE do?”
The assistant says, ”I don’t know, but the other two call him boss.”
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WRITING WISDOM
This from John Steinbeck:
Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
What do you think of the advice from Steinbeck? I rather like the idea of picturing the perfect reader as I write.
Have a great weekend.