March Meditations

Apologia:

Some folks called "Anonymous" have asked if they could refer to this blog in their writings. Since they are "Anonymous", I can't contact them directly, so if they are reading this, I would say: "Be my guest." However, please be careful, because some of what I write comes from my own ideas which may not be the same as those of people in the mainstream of U.S. society. Also, some of what I write may be based on news items I have read about or heard about in "off-beat" sources. I attempt to mention my sources, when I can remember them.. just be careful because sometimes I write about things that happened some time ago.

While I am at it, I may as well also mention that most of the cartoons that accompany these blogs were drawn by me, and while some are original, most were probably copied many years ago from books, magazines and newspapers. Usually, I can't remember the source -- let's face it.. I'm an old dude. However, when I do remember the source cartoonists, I will mention them.

01. Common decency... and LOVE:

As I can see from lots and lots of Facebook entries, the Supreme Court decision in the Westboro Baptist Church case is extremely unpopular. On a recent CSPAN radio call-in show, almost all of the people who called in praised the decision because it reinforces our free-speech rights. However, almost all of those same people thought that the Westboro picketers had moved far beyond the limits of decency.

While I agree that we need to preserve our free-speech rights, I feel that we should have some established limits to "hate-speech", as they do in several European countries who went through the Hitler years and know how such speech can be used to inflame the masses.

I find it hard to understand the members of the Westboro Baptist Church.. I was a member of a Baptist Church for several years and I found the teachings of the church to be of a loving nature. In fact, when I was in my early teens and was getting into trouble, members of the Baptist Church helped me understand that what I was doing was hurting other people, especially people that I loved and who loved me.

Several years ago, I had the experience of attending a Baptist church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania a couple of times. After the services, the preacher would stand in the front of the church and offer hugs to anyone who wanted one. The line to get those loving hugs was very very long. I believe that everybody in the Congregation went up to get one. A few years later, I met the preacher in another setting and he immediately recognised me and gave me one of his famous hugs. This, of course, is what life is really all about... loving one another.. not hating one another.

The most famous people-lover/people-hugger of all time is of course, Leo Buscaglia (search my earlier blog entries if you don't know about Leo.)

02. Moebius Strip:

When I was a kid, my grandfather showed me the great attributes of the Moebius strip. This is, of course, the twisted figure that has no beginning and end, and which can be manipulated in miraculous ways. Cyril Kornbluth was intrigued by the Moebius strip and coined the following wonderful poem:

The Unfortunate Topologist

A burleycue dancer, a pip

Named Virginia, could peel in a zip;

But she read science fiction

And died of constriction

Attempting a Moebius strip.

http://mathssquad.questacon.edu.au/mobius_strip.html

03. Words to Live By

In 1983, I published the fourth Friday the 13th edition of Words To Live By.. being vital quotations collected over the years by some computer geeks that worked with me at the Social Security Administration. I came upon them again the other day and thought that some of the observations made then, are valid still today.

"On flextime, you're not late if you come in early." - Joe Johnson
"If you can't handle the job, get out of the fire." - Henry Drumheller
"Learn to be sincere, even if you have to fake it." - Bernie Rubin
"No program should ever Abend in production." - Morrison Clark
"If your computer run is going fine, you've obviously left out something important." - Lloyd Hess

Also contained in the document are some recipes, one of which was by Calvin W. Schwabe:

Grilled Rat, Bordeaux Style

Catch some alcoholic rats that inhabit wine cellars. Skin and eviscerate them, brush them with a thick sauce of olive oil and crushed shallots. Grill over a fire of broken wine barrels.







04. Frank W. Lewis

In my February 6, 2011 blog entry, I mentioned Frank W. Lewis, who created the cryptic puzzle for the NATION magazine for years. I mentioned a little of his accomplishments and why I admired him. What I didn't know at the time (and should have) was that he was a fellow member of the American Cryptogram Association (ACA). We have NOM's in this group (kind of like aliases).. mine is AHAB. Frank's was R. MASTERTON, an anagram of Montserrat, where he lived until the island's volcanic eruptions got the better of him.

HONEYBEE (another ACA member) says in The Cryptogram for March-April 2011: "...(he) would look at a Monome-Dinome ciphertext and see the 'ump-ti-ump-ti-ump-ti' that the dinomes make. Every time I solve a Monome-Dinome that memory still makes me smile."

A family member also mentions something that I did not know about Frank: "... his work in cracking the Japanese shipping code enabled the navy to pinpoint the exact location of any Maru sailing in the vastness of the Pacific, which contributed to the Allied victory and materially shortened the war..."

Vale, R. MASTERTON!

05. Kidspy

The Week magazine reports that school administrators in a Philadelphia suburb used webcams to spy on students at home. The webcams were on school-issued laptops. One of the students was shown a picture taken by one of the cameras that a school official says proved that he was taking drugs. The student says he was eating candy in his room. Was the use of these webcams a violation of the Fourth Amendment and privacy laws? A class action suit filed by angry parents may decide this.

06. Brain power?

Somebody named Reymann says that people should deviate from their normal routines from time to time, to challenge their brains. Two ways:

1. Brush your teeth with the opposite hand.
2. Get dressed in the morning with your eyes closed.

07. Mencken:

The German Society of Baltimore, Maryland can count Henry L. Mencken as their most famous member. (I am also a member, but not quite so famous...) I quote: "... Mencken is America's most quoted literary figure. Mark Twain comes in second... the Mencken Room at the Pratt Library (in Baltimore) accumulates 1,000 pages annually in the (Mencken) scrapbook...in his lifetime Mencken wrote 40 books, produced 15,000,000 words."

08. Stupid Criminal Award Winner:

From the Intertel newsletter: As a female shopper exited a convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the police car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied: "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

09. Langston Hughes

I mis-quoted a poem by Mr. Hughes in an earlier blog entry. I believe this is the correct version.

Impasse

I could tell you,
If I wanted to,
What makes me what I am.

But I don't really want to -
And you don't give a damn.

10. Study result:

A three year study at Oxford University discovered that ducks like water.

11. Longest word still?

In 1983, the longest word in the Oxford English dictionary was:

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION

Which means: The act of estimating something to be worthless.

(Check me out on that, Brother Joe)

12. The Stone Reader

I'm told a documentary with this title is now a cult favorite. It's about the search for the author of The Stones of Summer, a book published to great reviews in 1972, sold just a few copies, and then disappeared, along with the author, Dow Mossman. Mossman was found in Iowa.. an ex welder and unemployed newspaper bundler. Now Dow is back writing again and his book has supposedly been republished. I'll have to get a copy of the documentary from Netflix and try to track down the book... maybe.

http://www.lostbooksclub.org/sos_main.php

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Quick News for a July 2009 Day

Some news to wake up to on a sunny hot July day.

01. Some English folks have complained that school children at recess are laughing too loudly!!

02. Head-to-toe burka-clad male Afghan terrorists are killing innocent people. (If caught, perhaps they should be helped physically to become the women they are imitating.)

03. A plumber in Pennsylvania rescued 7 ducklings from a drain they were stuck in. (Good news for a change.)

04. Somebody got hit by lightning and it cured their heart arhythmia.

05. A 15 year old was hit and killed on the side of a road by a drunken driver.

06. A couple of Republicans are in agreement on a plan to develop a health plan for the Country.

The two have never really agreed on anything before. (Maybe that it is just my understanding)

07. Counterfeit $20 bills are showing up in Carroll County.. this happens usually after carnivals take place.

BTW.. if you get a chance, watch the movie The Counterfeiter. Amazing movie that will remind you of how beastly the German SS was in WWII. It is a great story of survival in a time that allowed very little survival by brutalized people.

08. A friend of mine was named Lion of the Year. A nice organization. I like the titles of their officers: "Lion Tamer" "Tail Twister" Cute.

09. The market is up to above 8900! Keep it up!

10. GM's Camaro is beginning to get big press. I haven't seen it, but I'm told it looks like no other car today and looks more like 1950's cars.

11. F-22 funding may pass today and earn a veto from President Obama.

That's enough, got to go to Social Security. I need to get a new pass before the current one expires at the end of the month.

I just cut up a cantalope that a new neighbor presented us with yesterday. She was returning the favor.. last week I brought them a bunch of my "famous" brownies with walnuts. Let me know if you want me to make some for you. I unabashedly say that they are the best I have ever tasted.

Names and News

Today, I will make comments on the pronounciation of Mucha and Sotomayor, recommend a couple of books to read, and pass on some observations from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, my favorite radio show. (BTW: look up pronunciation and pronounciation online.. then maybe you will be as confused as I am about which spelling is correct.. or which pronounciation of either is correct.. ain't English great?)

At an art gallery in Towson, Elaine and I were recently shown l0ts of works by Alfonse Mucha. The owner spoke Mucha as MOO-CU(p). I speak Mucha as MU-SHA and sometimes as MU-CHA. Since Al was a Czech, I found out that his name in Czech is pronounced: MOO-CA(r). Suggested pronounciation in English is the same as in Czech. So.. we were both wrong.

In any event, the owner has gone to the Czech Republic and brought back lots of Mucha stuff which she has reframed for sale. One of the items is a framed print of a beautiful (zaftig) young lady, a copy of which I paid $4 at a small antique store in Westminster, Maryland. She is selling it for $250! Her prices are a bit out of range for me; but perhaps not for people who live in Towson.

Once, we found a framed print of a mother with her two daughters at an antique mall in Frederick. We paid a very large price for it. Two store stalls later we found the identical item for much much less. Guess what... the first person gave us our money back and we bought the latter print. (It's still my favorite picture because it looks just like my two beautiful daughters watching my new-born son who is in his mother's arms.)

Now that I have learned how to pronounce Mucha, I turn my attention to Ms Sotomayor. Apparently, there is a Conservative commentator who feels that we should not succomb to the temptation to pronounce her name as though we were Puerto Ricans, but rather pronounce it the good old fashioned American way as: So to mayer. OMIGAWD! What next!

Yesterday, we were happy to attend granddaughter Bridget's college graduation. It was a great day and we are very proud of what a fine young woman she has become. Usually on Saturday morning, I listen to my favorite NPR show: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! So, this morning (Sunday) I listened to the show on my PC. I kind of like this better, because it cuts out 13 minutes of unrelated news and advertising. Some of the things I learned today:

01. Panelist Charlie Pierce has published a new book that will anger a lot of people. I have read parts of it, and I highly recommend it for "thinking" people.. the title happens to be: "Idiot America." You will be hearing a lot about this book, I'm sure.

02. Panelist Roy Blunt, Jr. also has published a new book that will be great, especially for those interested in "words" and their derivations and current and past meanings. I read a couple of pages out on Amazon and found it quite enlightening. The title is: Alphabet Juice (had he already used Alphabet Soup?)

03. Somebody on the show mentioned that for 17 years, Jay Leno "has pretended to be funnier and dumber than he is." Elaine and I feel that since the Writers' Strike, Jay's monologues have not been funny at all. However, we also feel that his most unfunny moment is far and away more funny than anything we have ever seen Conan O'Brien do on his "show". Prediction: The demise of the Tonight Show.

04. Prisoners in France will be participating in a 400 mile bicycle race. It is meant as a rehabilitation aid. One prisoner stated: "It's kind of an escape for us." Time will tell.

05. Robert Earl Keen, Austin, Texas, singer and song-writer had a couple of different type jobs while he was struggling to make it in the business: Singing at Yard-Sales and digging ditches. (His father had always told him: If you stick with music, you'll end up digging ditches.) Once he caught his wife shooting at cats while dressed in her underwear. He was inspired to write a Country song about it.

06. I can not vouch for the truth of this, but it was mentioned in a discussion of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University. They mentioned that H.W. Bush was the "most sexually experienced" member and W. Bush could not decide on an appellation, and was called "Temporary." ??

07. It was mentioned that a DC Councilman wants to ban pizza joints that serve giant slices of pizza, because these deals draw unsavory customers.

08. This I find the most amazing of anything I've heard lately. Apparently, the city of Hardin, Montana, has a new jail that is empty. They have said that they would like to house the Gitmo prisoners in their new facility. They think that this would result in more income to the city from notoriety, tourism, or whatever would be connected with the move.

How about..... gang members and/or drug sellers being sent to Montana to serve their time, at hard labor. It might keep them out of contact with their buddies and girl friends who smuggle cell phones and other contraband when they visit. Russia had the Gulag.. and just think, some of the prisoners might just find the feeling of accomplishment that Ivan Denisovitch finally felt when his building was completed in spite of the bitter cold, etc..... (read: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch... a marvelous book that you would never forget.)

09. People from Yuma, Arizona are called yumans.

10. An inventor in France has invented the Dogomatic dog washer.

11. A three year study at Oxford discovered that ducks like water.

12. The people living on Butt Hole Road in Great Britain have successfully changed the name of the street. (There is a group of people on the Internet who are lobbying them to have the name changed back to what it was before.)

13. A man was caught after slashing the tires of 50 automobiles. When asked why he did it, he said it was because his mother made him wear braces 20 years ago. He even carried a picture of himself wearing the braces. The cops agreed that he looked pretty bad then.

ENOUGH!

PS: if any of my Baltimore readers remember the Electric Park on Belvedere Avenue, please let me know.

Shoo!

Elaine tells me that she read where city fathers in a beach community in California are concerned about hundreds of seals who have taken over one of the beach areas. They are going to install recorders and a series of loud speakers and broadcast the sounds of barking dogs in an attempt to scare away the seals. The cost will be $700,000.

By my calculations, with that amount of money they could buy 1,000 large naturally barking dogs, lots of leashes and restraints, and dog houses, and ex-CEO's to manage the dogs. Wouldn't this be a better solution. They must realize that after a while, listening to barking recordings, the seals would just tune them off, or use white-noise headphones.

But with actual dogs, that lunge and jump and chase while barking, the seals would soon get the idea and disappear.

What about those poor home-owners who paid extravagent prices to own beach-front property? What do they think of the sound of barking dogs all day long and probably at night?

Don't these Californians know that after being scared away for a little while, the seals will come back to this place that they have bonded to?

A little while ago, our city of Westminster, Maryland, decided that wild geese and ducks were making too much of a mess at a popular pond where children play and people go to have picnic lunches. They made a concerted effort to scare the birds away, and I think that they even transported a lot of them to other ponds.

Guess what? In a little while, they all came back, and are now once more happily honking and pooping all over the place. The kids and their parents don't seem to mind.

The Social Security Administration headquarters at Woodlawn, Maryland, is the home of hundreds of geese. They come there to enjoy Svahn Lake (a large pool authorized by a Commissioner named Svahn), get fed by some employees and raise their families. Every morning a crew goes around cleaning up all the poop. Nobody even tries to get rid of these birds, because it doesn't work.

So.. the California city managers will learn that you can't fight Mother Nature.

PS There is one similar case that did work but with humans, not animals or birds.. I think it was in London where teenagers were hanging around a mall area and making a mess of it. The merchants bought a big sound system and started playing loud classical music near the congregating area. The teenagers immediately left the area, never to return.