InterNations - A Community for Ex-Pats

For those of of you that are living in Dallas from other countries, or you’re from Dallas and currently in another country, you need to check out www.InterNations.org.

InterNations is a great online community to help ex-pats meet one another and/or make your transition to another city easier.

BUT…it’s by invitiation only! So if you want an invite, leave your email address in the comment box.

InterNations will also be starting events in the Dallas area to help bring the international community together - film screenings, wine tastings, happy hours, car & motorcycle enthusiasts, and much more!

Ozzfest ONLY in Dallas this Year!

That’s right boys and girls, the Ozzfest tour that has been a staple for so many summers is no more. Instead, this year, Ozzfest will ONLY be held in Dallas!

Ms. Sharon Osbourne is aiming to have this be a one-day mega event and it will take place at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, August 9th.

The headliners include Metallica, and - of course - Ozzy Osbourne.

Sharon says, “This is just the beginning. Ozzy has great relationships with all of the bands that have played Ozzfest. We’re the only real festival for harder-edge bands and these artists have been very loyal to us — there is lots of love on this lineup.”

Ozzfest tickets go on sale Saturday, May 31.

BUT…is that the biggest news about this event? Could it be that an annual motorcycle ride that is typically held in August celebrating a certain well known Dallas guitarist who was gunned down a few years ago might somehow be incorporated?

Maybe…maybe not. But should the very well placed rumors be true, we’ll be among the first to let you know!

BaBa WaWa

Today's rant is on Barbara Walters. So she felt the need to be like her many interview subjects and write a tell all book. However, the highlights of this book in the press junket have not been about her yelping about what amazing people she has interviewed, but about her many sexual liasions.

The woman is 78 years old and dosen't have history of being a sex symbol. Ava Gardner, she was a sex symbol and so her tell all book made sense. Not so much with BaBa.

Seems like she needs to reconsider her publicist and editors because this might have a way of backfiring.

Department of Peace

This is a kewl concept that hasn't received enough attention yet: A call to have the U.S. Government begin a Department of Peace.

Read more about this proposed action by clicking on this link.

Woman Returns Bible Filled With Money

Here is a great, positive story from WFAA Channel 8:

DALLAS — What would you do if you found a bible on the street, with thousands of dollars inside? Would you keep it? It was never really a question for one Dallas woman.

There’s not just one church on 56th Street on South Oak Cliff, there are five. So when Dallas fourth grade school teacher, Berda Mabury, found a Bible on the sidewalk, she wasn’t surprised. That is, until she looked inside and found several thousand dollars.

“It was church money, tithes and offerings, cash money, personal checks,” said Mabury.

The bible was blue, just like her personal one. The one she has carried until it’s all worn out. But the one she found is leather, with a message embossed in gold.

“The line at the bottom said: ‘I carried you.’ And I think it’s the thing that pricked my heart so, because I remember the times when I couldn’t carry myself, and it was God that just carried me along,” said Mabury.

So the school teacher became a detective looking for clues. “So I saw on one of the corners of the envelopes: Bread of Life Church. It seemed like I’d seen that somewhere before on 56th,” said Mabury.

Soon she started canvassing her neighborhood. “Because there’s a lot of churches,” said Mabury.

Of course it’s the smallest church, the one that looks like an old house, the one that probably needs its’ money the most. At the door she found the deacon who had lost the cash. “He said: ‘I probably laid it on top of the car and it was so heavy, that when he got to the point where he had to turn, it fell off. Because it was heavy,” said Mabury.

The man gave her a small cash reward. As the handwritten note on her own Bible explains she already got a bigger one, when God changed her life.

“Lord it’s me. Mold me. Make me. Break me. Draw us near to you,” said Mabury reading from the note.

Bread of Life may be a small church, but it’s one with a great deal to be thankful for. Berda says once she realized that it was church money, there was not even any point in counting it. But judging from the deposit slips she saw, there could have been several thousand dollars zipped up in the bible.

If you also would like to have the media give us, the viewers, more positive news stories, please take a few seconds and let the reporters know that you appreciate this. . For this story, you can email Gary Reaves at: greaves@wfaa.com

As someone that handles the Dallas blogs for a number of national & international sites, I always walk a fine line about posting things of interest and keeping my opinionated Texas mouth shut. That's why I have this personal blog where I can spout off such wisdoms as "American by birth, Texan by the grace of God."

Today's featured rant is: Barak Obama.

Would somebody please explain to me why the national media has got such a fixation with this character?! I've had a weird vibe about that guy since he first got in front of the cameras....and I've learned from experience to always go with my vibes.

Before his big pep rally at Dallas' Reunion Arena this past February, a girl I know canceled a networking event so that she could attend. I asked her, "Would you please explain to me the appeal of Obama?"

Her reply, "Ohhhhhh, I just loooooove Obahhhhmahhh."

Why?

Well...ummmm...he would be our first black president.

His mama's white.

Well his wife is black.

She isn't running plus she's already let the world know she doesn't think highly of the U.S.

Oh, I don't know...I just love him.

Oh well fiddle dee dee, ain't that just a stellar reason to vote someone into one of the most powerful positions in the world.

People liken Obama to Kennedy. Kennedy was a president with a dismal success record and low approval ratings....until he visited Dallas and we all know from history how that played out.

So then a couple months ago, the ever enlightening Dallas Observer did a lovely article on Obama infroming us that when he was a state senator in Illinois, all his amazing legislation was actually tossed onto his desk for him to present by some grandaddy senator that wanted to see Obama run on the national stage. Obama didn't author jack and all these bills were submitted in the last year of his term.

So now we have him as a real bona fide senator in big ol Washington DC. He shows up - on occasion - but he doesn't seem to vote often.

You know, one of the big boy jobs a president needs to do is to make a decision and stick with it. Obama can't handle that task as he's proven by his voting record.

And now, he's all in a huff about his former Bible thumping minister. Seems this minister was good enough to marry him to his anti-American wife, to baptize their kids and to preach his sermons to Obama's willing ears for 20 years. But God have mercy when the text of these sermons start making the rounds of the media that is not sucker punched and starry eyed over Obama.

Now all of a sudden Obama is back pedaling faster than Lance Armstrong downhill the Pyrenees with a bunch of French drug testers after him.


It's nice to know I'm now the only one with this mindset -- read what CNN's Glenn Beck has to say about it: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/05/beck.obamawright/index.html