Robert "Bobby" McFerrin

Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is a jazz and a cappella vocal performer, vocal improviser and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner. McFerrin was born in Manhattan, New York, the son of the late operatic baritone Robert McFerrin, and aspiring singer Sarah Cooper. Robert, Sr. was the first African American to be a regular with New York's Metropolitan Opera. Everytime I see this performance my faith in humanity is renewed. See, comment and enjoy. H.C.

Quote of The Day

After the war, two paths appeared before me: end my life as a politician, or finish it as an alcoholic. I thank God that so well guided my choice: I'm no longer a politician!
Winston Churchill

"Islam on Capitol Hill"

The Guardian - September 7 - 2009

On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They say that they want America to see how they pray!

A permit for this gathering was issued by Capitol Hill Police on July 28th. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM.

The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill.

They have a website set up for this event. To view it go to: islamoncapitolhill.com. The site features a logo with a red, white and blue hand shaking a light brown hand with the words to the preamble to the Constitution and a page of Arabic text in the background.

It is not yet known who will lead their main prayer service at 1:00 PM nor is it yet known who will preach the sermon. However, they have been working dilgently to raise money to televise the event.

As I received this news, said one of the leaders, the Lord immediately brought back to mind the words that He spoke to me quite some time ago saying, "I have strengthened Russia and China to come against America and Islam shall rise up from within America because the last three administrations have given Islam a seat of authority here in America."

He has had me share this whereever He sent me to speak and no one really wanted to hear it. Nevertheless, it is here! It is happening! Russia and China have been testing America, and Islam is arising!

These nations are but rods of judgment in the hands of Almighty God against our nation because we have turned our back on Him, His will, and His ways. Our nation has been given over to a false god with a false prophet at the helm. Dear Lord, in wrath remember mercy!

If ever we needed to be crying out for mercy for America , it is now! We must stand strong and speak Truth whereever we are and at every given opportunity. We cannot be intimidated by the enemies of our God. Let us share the true Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah at every given opportunity. When the Great commission was given it was given to all of us, in America not just some of us. May there be multitudes come in to the Kingdom of God while there is yet time.

The Necklace

All right, everybody:
Culture never hurt anyone. From today on we shall begin a series of short stories which I believe will be of great success. The very first one is a story by Guy de Maupassant, 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893 a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short stories. Maupassant's stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient, effortless dénouement. Many of the stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s and several describe the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught in the conflict, emerge changed.
Have a nice reading. H.C.

Guy de Maupassant

Mathilde was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction.

She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station; since with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and birth. Natural ingenuity, instinct for what is elegant, a supple mind are their sole hierarchy, and often make of women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies.

Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries. She was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, the ugliness of the curtains. All those things, of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry. The sight of the little Breton peasant who did her humble housework aroused in her despairing regrets and bewildering dreams. She thought of silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, illumined by tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the oppressive heat of the stove. She thought of long reception halls hung with ancient silk, of the dainty cabinets containing priceless curiosities and of the little coquettish perfumed reception rooms made for chatting at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire.

When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that," she would dream of rare and delicious food, delightful dinner parties, heavy silver shining softly in the lamplight against snow-white linen, and admiring words whispered in her ear by the handsome man sitting beside her.

She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.

She had a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go to see any more because she felt so sad when she came home.

But one evening her husband reached home with a triumphant air and holding a large envelope in his hand.

"There," said he, "there is something for you."
She tore the paper quickly and drew out a printed card which bore these words:

The Minister of Public Instruction and Madame Georges Ramponneau request the honor of M. and Madame Loisel's company at the palace of the Ministry on Monday evening, January 18th.

...to be continued...

Note: How would you like to find the equivalent for the expressions in boldface?

Solving-Rubicks-Puzzle

Marketing Bloopers

Cracking an international market is a goal of most growing corporations. It shouldn't be that hard, yet even the big multi-nationals run into trouble because of language and cultural differences. For example, observe the following examples below.

The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means, "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."

In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out, as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead."

Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-licking' good" came out as "eat your fingers off."

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the Potato."

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.

In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet Water.

Remarks: Blooper - an embarrassing error.