Arun with a View

I came across this cool post on the New York Times Well blog. Tara Parker-Hope writes about health.

The post is THE 11 BEST FOODS YOU AREN'T EATING... and it includes beets (which I ain't a fan of) and sardines (which I am). Other foods on the list? Dried plums, frozen blueberries, and cinnamon... Read the blog for the full list and the reason for each choice:

>>NYT WELL BLOG

>>MYFOX HEALTH: NUTRITION TIPS

Bon Jovi will be performing a FREE concert in Central Park on Saturday, July 12. The concert is a part of the city's All-Star Game celebrations.

Although the concert is free, you will need to ticket to get access to the Great Lawn. The city will limit attendance to about 60,000 fans.

HERE'S HOW TO GET TICKETS

Starting Wednesday, you can get tickets IN PERSON by going to any of the four pro baseball parks in the city:

Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (will distribute the bulk of the tickets)

Shea Stadium in Queens

KeySpan Park on Coney Island (home of the Brooklyn Cyclones)

Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island (home of the Staten Island Yankees)

Tickets will also be available on MLB.COM and BONJOVI.COM.

And a reminder that the 2008 All-Star Game will be played at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, July 15.

You can watch the game on FOX 5.

A friend of mine is appearing on a quirky online talk show called The Daily Special... My friend, Michelle, is the legal analyst... Check it out...

Anyone who drives a car must be frustrated by rising gasoline costs. I own a car but do not drive a lot (maybe once or twice a week), so thankfully my expenses haven't been affected too much.

However, Saturday I filled up at a station on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey and it cost me about $33 -- and I already had almost half a tank!

Anyway, I came across a great article at CNNMoney.com that debunks six myths about saving gas. For example, do you sometimes forgo the A/C and roll down the windows? Guess what: That's not always a good idea.

These are the misconceptions/myths:

#1. Fill your tank in the morning
#2. Change your air filter
#3. Use premium fuel
#4. Pump up your tires
#5. To A/C or not to A/C
#6. Bolt-ons and pour-ins

Now read the article for the explanations and advice:

>>CHECK OUT THE CNNMONEY.COM ARTICLE

Hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar (Burma) are suffering and could die if they don't get the help they need after the devastating cyclone.

The country's military government is resisting help from outsiders, though some aid is getting in. If you can, please consider donating to a reputable relief agency or fund.

UNICEF has done some great work around the world. The agency is well-funded, so perhaps you might contribute elsewhere. But here is the link if you do want to make a donation:

>>INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT OF U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF

>>DONATING TO OTHER RELIEF AGENCIES

I went to two games at Yankee Stadium in recent days, and I came away with some observations.

These are things that make NO SENSE to me:

1. Fans who wear jerseys and caps of sports other than baseball. Dude, I get it, you like the New York Rangers. Get your butt down to the Garden then.

2. (Corollary to #1) Fans who wear jerseys or caps of baseball teams other than the two on the field. Listen, there's no rule you have to be a Yankee fan to go to Yankee Stadium -- but what's with the Mets gear? Fly your colors at Shea or at a Subway Series game, but other than that you look like a jackass. Worse still is the guy who flaunts a Phillies jersey at a Yanks-Tigers game. Seriously? At least the Mets are a local team. If I were at Wrigley Field for a Cubs-Cardinals game, I wouldn't wear a Yankee cap. Why not? Because I'm not an idiot.

3. If a jackass insists on wearing Red Sox gear at a Yankee game EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE PLAYING THE TIGERS, why would said jackass sit in the bleachers? Do you WANT to get heckled? Now mind you: A sports rivalry should NEVER be an excuse for violence, ever.

4. Tickets for left field upper deck that are labeled with instructions to enter at Gate 6, which turns out to be at right field... forcing the ticketholder to shove his way from one wingtip of the stadium to the other through pre-game crowds? Why the hell wouldn't the Yankees let the fan enter at Gate 2 at left field?

5. Uniformed police officers that remove their hats and place them over their hearts during the National Anthem. Nope. You're not civilians AND you're in uniform. Keep the hats on and render a hand salute. You'd never see a full-dress Marine remove her 'cover' outdoors. Ever.

Just when I think there's nothing new to discover in music, I'm proven wrong. I have fallen in love with the words and music of singer-songwriter Brendan James. He 'friend-requested' me on MySpace. I'm usually skeptical of those requests because more often than not the request is from some amateur wannabe whose music sucks. But I clicked on Brendan's link... and I'm so glad I did. Here are the lyrics to "All I Can See." I also love "Hero's Song."

Listen to his music at http://www.MySpace.com/BrendanJames.

ALL I CAN SEE
By Brendan James

I want to walk through this doorway
I want to open my mind
I want to pledge my allegiance to all I can find.
I want a car that will crash through the barriers
to a road no one knows.
I want to feel less control,
want to bend and I want to land far from home.

The revolution of the earth around the sun
is the perfect lesson of how it should be.
So if i cannot learn
to journey and return,
to never rest till I've seen all I can see...

I want to learn a completely new language,
one I don't understand.
I want to help someone lost, someone helpless,
with the strength of my hand.
I want to come to the base of a statue built
before they counted the years,
and there I'll fall with my face in my hands and cry
and feel their hope in my tears.

The revolution of the earth around the sun
is the perfect lesson of how it should be.
So if I cannot learn,
to journey and return,
to never rest till I've seen all I can see...

Train rides and pastures colliding...
colors and customs I've never seen...
I know I, yes I know I,
I know I will stumble
but time is precious my friend.

Those who journey can easily understand,
the more they see the more they'll learn,
the more that they will be.
So this I swear to you, and this I swear to me,
I'll never rest till I've seen all I can see.
No, I'll never rest till I've seen all i can see.

I want to know where the strength of a person lies,
in their past or their future.
Is it in the way that they hurt or they love themselves
or is it all an illusion?
I want to crawl from this skin that I'm painted in...
Body, please let it give.
I want to find the creator of all good things
and ask what it means to live.

http://www.MySpace.com/BrendanJames

There isn't anything I can write about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that people far smarter than I haven't already written. Instead I offer this short quotation and lyrics from two U2 songs about the slain civil rights leader.

--------

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice."
   --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
     January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968


MLK
By U2

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on me
Mmm...mmm...mmm...
So let it be
Mmm...mmm...mmm...
So let it be
Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on me


Pride (In the Name of Love)
By U2

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One come he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

-------

DON'T LET THE DREAM DIE

For the guy who came THISCLOSE to becoming president 8 years ago but then left elective politics behind to become a movie 'star' and lecture about the environment, global warming, the Iraq War and President Bush, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Albert Arnold Gore Jr. still makes headlines about the 2008 presidential race -- even though he's not campaigning for anybody. Maybe it's because he hasn't endorsed anybody yet that commentators, pundits and speculators are wondering what Big Al is up to, what surprise he's planning or what impact he might eventually have. Though I admit I'd have liked to have seen him as president, I think his time has passed and these articles are basically just fantasy... But still, they make for good readin'.

Check out these links:

FROM TIME'S JOE KLEIN: IS AL GORE THE ANSWER?

FROM TCPALM.COM: DON'T DISCOUNT GORE-LED TICKET

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: AL DE GORE

FROM THE DRAFT AL GORE CAMPAIGN: WATCHING AND WAITING...

And finally this humorous take on the whole idea:

FROM WONKETTE: WHITE MALE RESTORATION: COULD LIBERAL ELITIST AL GORE WIN NOMINATION?

So I've been watching this new FOX drama called "NEW AMSTERDAM"... It's got a weird premise (an NYPD detective is immortal and he's lived in New York since the 1640s) and it has some flaws... but it's actually not half bad.

The creators seem to have ripped off some aspects of "HIGHLANDER" but still, I give it a solid 6.5-7 at least.

Thing is, I'm not hopeful it will last. FOX gave it a few post "AMERICAN IDOL" airings but has since lost a lot of that audience. Reports say it's only a "maybe" to return next season.

Meantime HULU.COM and FOX ON DEMAND have the first four episodes.

Watch this promo clip:

I went to the Auto Show at the Javits Center on the West Side, and what I love about car shows is that they feature really cool vehicles that are way too expensive... but also show case the latest models in MY budget, too. Yes, it's great to dream about owning a Porsche or Ferrari... but the truth is even if I had a lot of money, I'd probably spend it on a luxurious but practical car like a BMW 7 series or (if I had an extra $64,000 lying around) the brand-new BMW X6, which is a beautiful compact car-based SUV.


BMW calls it a sport activity coupe. It has a hatchback with a decent amount of cargo room, but the back seat is a bit cramped. Still, the cockpit is awesome and it features BMW's X-Drive.

MYFOXNY.COM AUTO SHOW PAGE

IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR YANKEES BASEBALL!!! CHECK OUT THIS COUNTDOWN CLOCK...

Hillary Clinton seems most charming when she dials down the campaign stuff and just has fun, like on her latest appearance on "Saturday Night Live"...

For those who feel the need to believe and spread lies about Barack Obama being a Muslim, as if that in and of itself is supposed to be bad, read this article from the Associated Press. Think what you want to about Obama and his candidacy, but BE INFORMED and reject the petty and malicious tactic of spreading lies anonymously on the Internet or elsewhere.

-----

Obama Fights False Links to Islam
By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press Writer

For Barack Obama, it is an ember that he has doused time and again, only to see it flicker anew: links to Islam fanned by false rumors, innuendo and association.

Obama and his campaign reacted strongly this week when a photo of him in Kenyan tribal garb began spreading on the Internet. And the praise he received Sunday from Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan prompted pointed questions -- during Tuesday night's presidential debate and also in a private meeting over the weekend with Jewish leaders in Cleveland.

During the debate, Obama repeated his denunciation of Farrakhan's views, which have included numerous anti-Semitic comments. And, after being pressed, he rejected Farrakhan's support in the presidential race.

The Democratic candidate says repeatedly that he's a Christian who took the oath of office on a family Bible. Yet on the Internet and on talk radio -- and in a campaign introduction for John McCain this week -- he is often depicted, falsely, as a Muslim with shadowy ties and his middle name, Hussein, is emphasized as a reminder of Iraq's former leader.

"If anyone is still puzzled about the facts, in fact I have never been a Muslim," he told the Jewish leaders in Cleveland, according to a transcript of the private session.

The photo of Obama wearing Kenyan tribal raiments -- taken by an Associated Press photographer during his visit in 2006 to the country where his father was born -- resurfaced on the Internet amid unsubstantiated claims that it was being circulated by members of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign. Clinton and her aides said they had nothing to do with it. The Obama campaign accused them of "shameful, offensive fear-mongering."

On Tuesday Republican candidate McCain denounced the introduction he got in Cincinnati that criticized Obama in vivid terms. Talk show host Bill Cunningham referred to Obama three times as "Barack Hussein Obama" and called him a "hack, Chicago-style" politician during the introduction of McCain.

The Obama campaign is closely attuned to the rumors and insinuations. Information on Obama's Christian faith is prominently available on the "Know the facts" page of his Web site. The campaign has distributed flyers to churches in states with presidential contests. And it encourages supporters to flag any attack that may make its way into cyberspace.

"Our campaign is vigilant in quickly responding to any information about Senator Obama that surfaces, be it on the Internet, in the media or from our opponents," spokesman Bill Burton said Wednesday.

If there is confusion -- and opportunity for political mischief -- it derives at least in part from Obama's rich cultural background. His mother was a white woman from Kansas, his father was Kenyan and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country.

"My grandfather, who was Kenyan, converted to Christianity, then converted to Islam," Obama said Sunday. "My father never practiced; he was basically agnostic. So, other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for four years when I was a child, I have very little connection to the Islamic religion."

Obama has become careful in denouncing the links, lately noting that some rumors about him also have been insulting to Muslims. Jim Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, said many Arab Americans are drawn to Obama because of his cultural background.

"It is clear he wants to have a broader relationship with the Muslim world," Zogby said. "He has a biography that connects him to the Muslim world."

Obama, though in the presidential limelight now for more than a year, is still introducing himself to voters. An AP-Yahoo poll in January asked people to volunteer the first few words that came to mind about each of the candidates, and 4 percent of the respondents, unprompted, mentioned the word Muslim when describing Obama.

Some of the rumors and allegations about Obama are clearly not true, yet still spread, often anonymously:

-- A debunked chain e-mail circulating widely on the Internet suggests he is hiding his Islamic roots. It says he was sworn into the Senate on the Quran and turns his back on the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance.

He took his Senate oath with his hand on a family Bible, and he says, "Whenever I'm in the United States Senate, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America." In fact, no candidate could survive if he publicly spurned the pledge.

-- Another false report says he attended a Muslim madrassa school as a child in Jakarta. Obama was born in Hawaii and moved to Indonesia when he was 6 to live with his mother and stepfather. He returned to Hawaii when he was 10 to live with his maternal grandparents. Interviews last year by The Associated Press at the elementary school in Jakarta found that it is a public and secular institution and has been open to students of all faiths since before Obama attended in the late 1960s. Said vice principal Akmad Solichin: "Yes, most of our students are Muslim, but there are Christians as well. Everyone's welcome here."

-- Obama also has faced questions about his pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where he has been a member for 20 years. Trinity calls itself "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." But it accepts non-black congregants. The United Church of Christ's president and general minister, the Rev. John H. Thomas, was quoted in a church publication as pointing out that the Rev. Jane Fisler-Hoffman, Illinois Conference Minister, who is white, "has been a member of the congregation for years."

-- Obama has been asked about Farrakhan's words of praise and Farrakhan's receipt of an award from "Trumpet Newsmagazine," a Trinity church publication last month. Obama told Jewish leaders Sunday: "An award was given to Farrakhan for his work on behalf of ex-offenders completely unrelated to his controversial statements. And I believe that was a mistake and showed a lack of sensitivity to the Jewish community and I said so."

Farrakhan did not endorse Obama but said Sunday: "This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better." Asked Tuesday night whether he would accept support from Farrakhan, Obama said: "I live in Chicago. He lives in Chicago. I've been very clear, in terms of me believing that what he has said is reprehensible and inappropriate. And I have consistently distanced myself from him."

Following an exchange with Clinton, he then added: "There's no formal offer of help from Minister Farrakhan that would involve me rejecting it. But if the word 'reject' Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce,' then I'm happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce."

This week I was moved to write a commentary about the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The essay appears on the MyFoxNY.com You Decide page.

Here's a taste of it and the link:

Hillary Clinton Doesn't Get It About Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton deserves a lot of respect for everything she has accomplished and she would probably be a hard-working, effective president. But her troubled campaign seems to have devolved into a chorus of misguided and ultimately self-defeating jabs at Barack Obama, repeating this "nice speeches won't get things done" nonsense.

CLICK READ THE FULL COMMENTARY