It Looks Like Hillary Was Right

-By Vince Johnson

There is a good chance Obama won’t get elected after all, but for reasons Hillary may have not have considered. Obama has the grace, the eloquence, the brilliant mind, the charisma, the family, and the demeanor that makes him a powerful vote getter. What Obama lacks is what leaders like Colin Powell have in abundance, and that is the time tested ability to provide strong leadership in responsibilities that included tenures as Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Yes, I specifically used Colin Powell as an example to emphasize that I do not regard race as a negative in Obama’s resume. The reasons I cannot support Obama for President have received little attention thus far in the campaign. The first is that I have come to believe that Obama has very little understanding of America’s grass roots population. I mean the people who grow, process and deliver our food. The people who teach our kids, and build our homes, and run our businesses, and keep America on the move, and care for us when we are ill, and serve our nation in the military, and work on holidays in restaurants and stores, and on and on. In my view Obama connects with the elite, but not with the mainstream where Presidential elections are won and lost.
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Do It Now!

-By Vince Johnson

Don’t tell Nike, but we have changed their slogan from “Just do it” to “Do it now!” We see no point in advising them of this event. They are happy with the way things are. We made this change last month when we signed up for a two week tour of New Zealand and Australia. This trip is one Barbara (my spouse) has wanted to take since her high school days. Whenever discussion about going to Australia came up, as it often did, I’d make all the comments you’d expect from one who knew such a trip would never happen. I don’t like to slosh cold water on people’s dreams. You know how that goes.

Things changed one day in early June when a travel brochure arrived. It was an invitation to tour New Zealand and Australia including a three day cruise of the Great Barrier Reef on the Coral Princess, a 25 stateroom boat. Within an hour we were having a serious discussion about doing it. The rationalizing went very well. We are nearing the time of life where such trips are becoming physically difficult. With a 25 couple limit we knew from experience that it doesn’t take long to book the entire cruise. Within three days we had made the commitment. We had been going along with the “Just do it” routine for years. It was time to “Do it now!” We did and another adventure has germinated!
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Typical Earthling?

-By Vince Johnson

According to a CBS news report a retired astronaut named Edgar Mitchell says extra-terrestrials have visited the Earth. Further, he says the government has known about the outer-space visitors for at least the last sixty years. He was the sixth of 12 men who have walked on the moon. I would say there is some slim chance he knows what he’s talking about. Very slim, but who knows?

A year or so ago I pretended that I met an alien from outer space. He was obviously disguised as a human. Neatly dressed, looked to be about 40 and had a friendly demeanor. He told me he was on a mission from his base planet at the other end of the Milky Way. His assignment was to bring back a “Typical Earthling.” He told me not to worry. I was not a typical Earthling because I was white skinned, had blue eyes and way too old. He emphasized his point by saying there are too many humans of different colors, cultures, beliefs and therefore any one individual selected could not possibly be considered a “Typical Earthling.”

He told me that it might take another ten thousand years before a “Typical Earthling” came into existence. According to his definition, a “Typical Earthling” would represent at least 80% of the human population. In other words, a “Typical Earthling” will not exist until most of humanity blends into one race. He said that the process had started on Earth, but it would take another 10,000 years before 80% of our people spoke the same language, had same color skin, had the same values and priorities, held the same beliefs, etc.
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