Povey Prattle

Presidential hopeful Mr. Donald Trump  registered a total fail at his recent Town Hall meeting in Rochester, N.H. His first questioner asserted that  President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, that the President is Muslim, and that Muslims have "training camps" (for what?) in  the United States. If Mr. Trump is a "Statesman"  ( as the Sarasota County  FL Republican Club has twice asserted) he would have replied in words such as these. 1, "It is beyond doubt that the President was born on the U.S.A.  His birth  certificate  makes this clear". 2. "Our President is a baptised Christian". 3. "If you have information about Muslim Training Camps which are a potential  threat to national security, please report them to the F.B.I." Instead Mr. Trump evaded the questioner by saying that    "we are going to be looking at that and plenty of other things."   Thus Mr. Donald Trump pandered to the the all-A...

I posted a silly bit of humour ("Boneless Bananas")  and got seventeen likes. I posted a heartfelt and urgent word about the shortfall in funding for the World Food Programme, and got seven likes. Humour 17.   Refugees 7. ======================================== Here's the "nasty" about the desperate straights of the WPF http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/05/lack-of-funds-world-food-programme-drops-aid-to-one-third-of-syrian-refugees =================================== That's why I urge you to write to your Senators and Representatives in the U.S.A,, and to your Members of Parliament in the U.K.   The U.S.A. and the U.K. can well afford to be more than generous in making grants to the WFP. ==================================== You and I can also play a part. We are required as decent human beings to send some money to the WFP. We are required as self-interested human beings  to do the same, AFTER AL...

Here is the letter I wrote today  to my Florida Senators, Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R); and to my Congressman,  Vern Buchanan (R), If you live in Florida I encourage you to send a similar message to these two Senators, and to your local Representative in Congress. Friends in other States  might wish to write in similar vein to their Senators, and to their local Congressman/Congresswomen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here  is my model letter. 3901 Glen Oaks Drive East, Sarasota, FL 34232 retiredpove@comcast.net    941 330 4948 16 th September 2015 Dear (Senator or  Representative ) As we know, the refugee crisis in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and in western European countries such as Greece, Italy and Germany, gets worse every day.  We also know that this crisis will be exacerbated in the future, with no solution...

THIS I asked my neighbour "B" if she had heard from a former neighbour "E", who recently moved to a new home. "Oh yes" she said, "we seen him last week". I bit my tongue, lest I should correct her use of English grammar. It did not help that "B" has a Brooklyn accent.   (I can be such a snob.) THAT The other day an announcer on our local Public Radio station was pitching some of the programmes which could be seen later in the day on Public Television. He was touting some travel shows, and said "then you can see a travel programme about a town in Italy called Umbria. Umbria a town?   I think not. See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbria THE OTHER In the olden days the soles of shoes were stitched to the uppers.  These days they are glued. Stitches are better than glue. I have gone through three pairs of walking shoes during the past year.  (I walk with my dog for about three miles every day). I've b...

Most weeks I visit two gentlemen  at a local skilled nursing facility. Both are in their seventies. Both have chronic illnesses that restrict their mobility and freedom. Both are devoted Christians. Both have family members who visit them often. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One is graciously resigned to his illness .  He, in a gentle  and uncomplaining  way,  has accepted his physical limitations. He doesn't say much, so I try to regale him with stores of my recent activities, in an attempt to bring the world into his room. I shared communion with him this morning, then with a cup of iced coffee in his hands, I wheeled him outside for a bit, to enjoy today's gorgeous weather. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The other hates his illness .  He is utterly frustrated by his condition.  He is angry because he can no longer make decisions about ...

He is one of my colleagues , a retired Priest at St. Boniface Church, Siesta Key FL.  His beloved wife of fifty three years died some 27 months ago. He and I were outside the Church Office last week, chatting together after a parish meeting.  I said  "it's still so hard isn't it?" He knew what I meant. His grief is ever present. I listened as he talked about that grief. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She lives in our neighbourhood.  I see her most mornings before daybreak, as she takes her long morning walk, and I walk with Penne my dog for the first of our five daily (1/2 mile) walks. We encountered each other a few days ago.  Lord knows why, but I said "you must still grieve for  C." (her husband who died some eighteen months ago). "Oh yes" she said, "and it doesn't get any better".  "And it's harder than that, I also miss our son who was kille...