A normal Christmas

I call Christmas 2019 "a normal Christmas" as I am unaccustomed  to freezing during this period, and thank heavens, I didn't this year.

Christmas 2018 was warm inside but not outside

You see, last year I made the crazy decision to spend Christmas with my daughter and granddaughter in Colorado and that is something someone from the tropics should avoid doing!



Actually I enjoyed going to my granddaughter's Christmas party and reading Jamaican stories to the kids, but heck we can do that at their end of year party in the summer can't we, for the photo below tells the name of the game there in December.

You know, it's not that I am exceptionally cold in the snow when I decide to dress properly, but as a 'shorts and  t shirt' person, I hate having to wear all the heavy clothes, so always end up not wanting to leave the house , and after a day cooped up in the house, ta-da claustaphobia!

Posing with Kevin

 So,  this year, it was back to 'normal' as I spent the Christmas  with my cousins Junior and Kevin in Florida, along with their spouses and a few other relatives, not to forget the star, two year old Major.        

We had a whale of a time.

Scheming with Junior

The food, ambiance and camaraderie were all great, then there was the movie afterwards.



The coup-de-grace was however BINGO.



You see, I have a gambling problem.



It is not the normal gambling problem that most people seem to have where they cannot stop chasing the dream. Mine is the stingy version for I always allot a very small amount which I am more then prepared to lose, then after that, no more.



That's it. Even when I go to exotic places like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, that habit prevails. After that, I don't mind watching other people chasing their dream but I ain't betting another cent.



Yesterday was no different. My gambling budget  for bingo was the huge sum of $4 and alas, I lost it very quickly as usual.



After that, I hung around watching everyone else. Rosie, Junior's wife was the lucky one as she just kept winning. If I were her, I would buy a Florida lottery ticket right away, before the lucky streak runs out.

Bingo!

Despite losing my proverbial shirt at gambling as usual, I really had a good, warm time with relatives and friends, though missing my daughter and granddaughter.



But will see them in July, hopefully, which is probably the only month it doesn't seem to snow in Colorado!

AMERIKKKA?

If President Obama had done anything close to what president Donald Trump has been accused of, he would not have been impeached but lynched.

That was the consensus opinion of the participants of color, who in their latest podcast entitled “Politics across generations,” discussed the current impeachment process being conducted by Congress. They based their opinion on the premise, that the laws in the USA are enforced differently when people of color are accused of anything as opposed to when the privileged whites are. (link; https://anchor.fm/politicsacrossgenerations/episodes/Impeachment--democratic-candidates-e9d50s.)

These podcasts are hosted by 24-year-old Shadrach Williams, a 2017 graduate of Florida International University (FIU) and author the popular self-help book “A month to re-create Reality” available at Amazon.com link; https://www.amazon.com/Month-Re-Create-Reality-Change-Mentality-ebook/dp/B07V78Y8ZT/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=a+month+to+change+your+reality+by+shadrach+williams&qid=1573.

The podcasts provide Political education from the perspective of the Baby Boomers and the Millennial generation coming together to understand each other’s viewpoints and discuss the issues, candidates, as well as their ideas, for the upcoming 2020 elections. 

Joining him in the discussions are; fellow FIU graduate, Psychology major Shadaen Stephens and author Joan Williams who recently published; 2020 DECISION; SOCIALISM, RACISM OR HAPPINESS, an outsider’s perspective of the choices available to voters in the USA for the 2020 presidential elections. It is available at; https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ40KG

Delving further into Trump’s actions which are being sanctioned by the Republicans, it was observed that one defense being put forward was that because the economy is doing well, Trump’s criminal activities should be overlooked. However, that was rejected on the grounds that, simply because one is successful in one area, it does not mean their criminality in other areas should be overlooked.

The discussants compared how laws in the USA are enforced against people of color versus how it is against whites. This was reinforced by the revelation that America is now being spelt by many Generation Z youth, with 3 k’s (KKK!) 

Participants also found it intolerable that a US president can never be charged for a crime while he is in office, not even murder.

Turning to Democratic Party politics, it was observed that there seems to be a level of dislike for billionaires in that party, with one participant wondering if this was not based on a philosophy of “envy” among the socialists in that party!

During the animated debate that followed, the observation that in the USA, money can buy lot including delegates, was made and the other discussants were reminded by the moderator, that in 2016, Trump was supported Vladimir Putin, who is allegedly the richest person in the world. 

Moderator Shadrach Williams can be contacted via; gratestj@gmail,com