"April, oh April"

Some years ago I watched the movie,Sometimes in April.
In April 1994, one of the most heinous genocides in world history began in the African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of 100 days, close to one million people were killed in a terrifying purge by Hutu nationalists against their Tutsi countrymen. The main character describes how the month of April makes him sad because of the cruel evnts that he faced during this month. I am beginning to to dislike the month of April also.
We have a saying, "April showers brings May flowers." Could this mean after all the tears that April has brought us...May will be more promising? I sure hope that May will be more joyous!
Today is the 21st day of April...not been alot of raindrops...only tear drops. Although April brings warmer weather, beautiful scenes of azaleas, daffoldils and roses amongst layers of thick green grass, there is a sadness in the air. Perhaps this sadness is felt from heart to heart because of April. The beginning of April was "okay" for me. But, as we draw close to its end, it seems like bad news and tragic reminders just keep coming.
A co-worker was in a bad vehicle accident. A family friend died in another vehicle accident. (other events have happend which I won't discuss out of respect to those who are bereaving) It's just one thing after the other!

Here is a list of wars that began in April:
The American Revolution (04/18/1775)
The American Civil War (04/1861)
The Bosnian War (04/1992)
The Rwandan Genocide (04/1994)
The Armenian Genocide (04/24/1914)

Other tragic events in April include:
President Abraham Lincoln's assassination (04/14/1865)
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake 04/18/1906)
The sinking of the RMS Titanic (04/14/1912)
Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination (04/04/1968)
Chernobyl nuclear accident (04/26/1986)
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots after the Rodney King verdict (04/29/1992)
The bloody end to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas (04/19/1993)
Qana Massacre in Lebanon (04/18/1996)
The Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia (04/28/1996)

April also brings commemorations focusing on those who died and also those who survived the Holocaust are remembered and honored.

What started out as a handful of people blogging about their anger over federal spending — the bailouts, the $787 billion stimulus package and Obama's budget — has grown into scores of so-called tea parties across the country. You may have received an email about this or perhaps seen them on Facebook.
Some people are upset with President Obama's 787-billion-dollar anti-recession stimulus package. The controversial package has created quite a hot brew across the states. So, those who oppose the President's solution to the financial mess that this country is in, are protesting, colonial style.
From coast-to-coast demonstrations against Obama's big-spending economic stimulus package are taking place. This comes just in time for the day that is also the deadline for filing federal income tax returns. (April 15)
The rallies take their names from the Boston Tea Party, the 1773 event in which colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest taxes imposed by the British monarchy. I guess that is how many people today feel about government spending policies that have racked up trillions of dollars in debt.
Others are sending tea bags to the White House. The send-a-tea-bag idea was inspired Mindy McAlindon, a home-schooling mother of three from Tennessee. She promised to mail a tea bag to the White House for $5—with 20 percent earmarked for charity. McAlindon said she had sold 1,030 teabags as of Monday, April 13.
Others are selling tea party T-shirts, bumper stickers and, of course, tea mugs.
Taxdayteaparty.com boasts a YouTube video that ends with a shot of a blonde girl wearing a T-shirt with the slogan: "Obama, get your hands out of my piggy bank!"

To eat or not to eat?

We've had a few issues with certain foods that have been imported into the US. Matter of fact, we've even had some issues with foods that were not imported but produced on our own soil. Poisonous food contaminants and bacterial infestations made its way to our grocery stores and onto our plates. As a result, many consumers wanted to know more about where exactly their food came from. March 16, 2009 a new law requiring all food labels to include the country of origin went into place. (COOL) labeling is its name. It stands for Country of Origin Label.
The new food safety law requires food labels to include point of origin for fresh meats, some fruits, vegetables, and various other foods. This is all "good and dandy" as my mother would say. Yet, I have another suggestion for the US Food & Drug
How about a label for cloned foods?

"The FDA sided with the scientists who have researched the issue, saying that meat and milk from cloned animals are "as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals. But, shouldn't be a personal choice whether or not you decided to eat a burger from cloned beef? As part of its ruling, the FDA decided not to require labels. What many Americans don't realize is that cloned meats have already made its way to our markets. (You don't know, because they aren't labeled as such) But several states are taking the opposite tack. At least 13 bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country -- including California, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Kentucky -- that call for words or symbols alerting shoppers to the presence of cloned foods."
This is enough to make me want to become a vegetarian. The FDA states that cloned foods are safe too eat...but, shouldn't this be a choice. Would you (knowingly) eat food that was cloned?

Never forget Palm Sunday Tears

A few years ago on Palm Sunday, our Pastor preached a message entitled, “Palm Sunday Tears.” Based on Luke 19:41 (New International Version) 41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it. The sermon basically described the sorrow that Jesus felt over the city. This year's sermon was great but I will never forget, "Palm Sunday Tears". It is one of my favorite sermons because of a few reasons. One, it shows us that our Savior, Jesus Christ was human enough to shed tears. He had emotions. He saw something that troubled him and it moved him to tears. We all know that it takes a lot for a man to cry, so I am confident that my Lord was really disturbed by what he saw. Two, Jesus wept over the city because He saw not only something physically that troubled Him but, also he saw something spiritually disturbing. You don't have to be a believer to realize that something is going wrong in this world.
Just being a human being qualifies you. Its not about any religion or faith. It's about people helping other people. I am quite tired of rules and regulations that stop us from helping other people. (race, religion, gender, where you come from, what school you attended! blah blah blah who cares?!)
It is thought that more than one million people are living with HIV in the USA and that more than half a million have died after developing AIDS.
The divorce rate has been climbing in every industrialized country in the world.
According to UN's statistics, 141 million people all over the world take marijuana. This number is equal to 2,5 percent of people living in the world.
The statistics shows that 22-25 million people have already taken cocaine at least one time.
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), surpassed only by accidents and homicide
Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.00 a day.
29,000 children die per day because they have no safe water to drink, lack of medical services, and poverty.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Just too name of few.
“But if we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His Words teaching?”

I have "the fever". Spring Fever! (ah choo! excuse me!) It's spring time even though it was oddly cold today. (@45'F) In fact, there is a "freeze alert" tonight. But, it doesn't matter how cold it is, I have "Spring Fever!" I realized my condition a few days ago. Many people know when spring is in the air by the many physical signs that they experience that come in the forms of itchy, watery eyes, stuffy noses, and torturous fits of sneezing due to the pollen in the air. I have all of the above! In fact, my car is even covered with traces of yellow dust also known as pollen.
Just last week the birds and the bees were busy procreating and pollinating. The weather was really warm and pleasant. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. The kind of weather that makes you wanna just stay outdoors all day and all night. Perhaps, thats what started my symptoms. Unfortunately, not only do I physically have "spring fever" but I am emotionally boiling over with this thing! I just feel so excited and anxious! I am definitely ready to finish up this semester and welcome summer!
Spring fever is not a definitive diagnostic category according to research. However, statistically, at least half of the people who live in the northern latitudes of USA and Canada experience more intensely the symptoms of Spring fever. Longer sunny days seem to have a direct impact on people’s psychological and physiological responses to the passage of the seasons. Spring fever is not just in the head. It is caused by an adjustment in body chemistry and seasonal biology.