Cool day.. in the 70's.. it would be nice to sit outside on the deck and read.. however, our "in the valley" neighbor, Burnie, is doing just that.. burning pine wood pallets on his patio and the smoke is permeating the neighborhood. Elaine would like to complain about him, but it is easy to tell that Burnie would not like that and then we would have a lot more problems than smelly smoke. Burnie has lived in his little "pleasure dome" for a lot longer time than we have lived here, and I would rather have him as a neighbor than somebody with a lot of teenage kids with loud amplifiers.
01. *Immigrant Children .. a Different Viewpoint
John Cullom Jr writes to the Carroll County Times: "Many of the individuals brought into the country illegally have been proven to be criminals and gang members, and have also been diagnosed with communicable diseases."
(I've heard that a lot around Carroll County, but I have not seen or read anything that confirms it.)
02. *Immigrant Children .. Saving other Honduran Lives?
Members of the "New Hope Church Fellowship Team Honduras" spent a week in Pena Blanca, Honduras. and did "good works" there.
Did the Government of Honduras ask them for help?
Did they see any evidence of children preparing to illegally enter the U. S.?
Did it look like a bad place for children to live?
Was this a missionary activity? Weren't they already Christians? Maybe Catholics?
Who paid for all those people to travel to Honduras?
Would that money have been better spent in Carroll County?
03. *Religion .. Psalm Sign
The North Carroll Assembly of God configured their outside sign to say:
"Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
Could someone explain this to me? Isn't the Lord God? Isn't God Lord?
I'm mixed up.
04. *Religion .. More VBS Titles
Two more churches advertised their Vacation Bible School schedules today, with the "catchy" names they have given to their one week fun time for kids. (I can't remember right now, but I think that I sent my three kids to some of these type of Summer sessions: I can remember going to some myself... a long time ago. In those days, our VBS sessions did not have tricky names to "catch" attendees.
VBS 1: Gangway to Galilee .. Amazing Grace Adventure
VBS 2: Jungle Safari
05, *Religion .. New Caliphate
The new State (Islamic Caliphate) established by force in parts of Syria and Iraq has issued rules that must be followed by Christians and others, if they want to live there.
1. You must be Muslim, or,
2. You must convert to ISLAM, or,
3. Pay the Jizya tax, or,
4. Stay there with your head cut off.
06. *Hole in the Ground .. Pictures?
The newly discovered Siberian "hole in the ground" appeared in 2012, but did not get noticed until now. (How do they know that?) There are interesting pictures on Google, but I could not find any pictures looking down into the hole. Perhaps the photographers don't want to take a chance and fall down and down and down.. just like Alice in Wonderland.
07. *Politics .. More Write-Ins
Sean Shaffer will join Jim Rowe in challenging Richard Rothschild for District 4 Commissioner. Sean was in the Primary, but only got around 4 % of the votes cast (and there sure were not many votes cast!) Anyway, both Sean and Jim will be write-in candidates. Unfortunately, this means that votes against Rothschild will be diluted. Time will tell.
08. *Scams .. Auto Repair
In a twist on an old scam, an auto repair man would send a 94 year old woman a bill each week for over $900. The lady paid it for a long time until a relative found out and notified police. The 94 year old had taken her old Plymouth in for minor repair, and each of his bills apparently had a note attached, telling her that the car repairs were almost completed.
(I hope the Judge orders that this auto repair scammer is to have his dip stick removed!)
09. *Criminals .. Chutzpah
A shoplifter asked that he be given the phone so that he could make the one call that he was entitled to upon being arrested. Nobody noticed who he called, until the pizza guy showed up with his order.
10. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!
The show I love, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! mentioned the following items that interested me:
a. CIA employees are angry about the food served in their cafeteria:
.. regular Pepsi is coming out of the spigot for Diet Pepsi! and there were cherry tomatoes in the Jazz salad, instead of grapes!
(Poor babies!)
b. Briefs.. a new case to hold your valuables.. it is painted to look just like a pair of dirty men's Jockey Shorts.
c. First Lady, Bess Truman, would send her clothes back to Missouri for cleaning.
d. Food experts have now done magic to create Brusselkale.. yes, all kids will be happy to know that now they can get their Brussell Sprouts and Kale together in one pretty green vegetable.
e. Chinese couples in Hong Kong love to get married at the Hong Kong McDonald's. It is famous in that area for staging weddings.
f. At a Canadian college, one of the classes has the title: Beyoncé. I have no idea what is taught in the class, but I can guess.
(Wait a minute! My Spell Check put that accent over Beyoncé, not me... see, it did it again... amazing!)
g. A study using brave candidates (in England, I think) spent a lot of time smelling "hydrogen sulphate (namely: fart smell). Their finding: smelling farts may prevent strokes and cancer.
(Eleven year old boys have recognized the benefits of fart smelling for years.)
11. *Government .. Computer Bug
The United States Selective Service computer had a weird bug, because it caused draft notices to be sent to (the ghosts of?) 14,000 men who were born in the 1800's. (I'd love to get hold of the one sent to my grandfather Vaughan.)
12. Transgender Tragedies
For the second time in a month, a transgender woman was killed in Baltimore. I hope that this is not a "Jack the Ripper" type crime. Police are not sure yet if the crimes are related, but I'll bet they are. There are a lot of nuts out there and transgender people need protection until our culture finally grows up.
......................................................................................
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
Brother Joe; YUM; Karnak; Master Race; Immigrant Children; Holocaust; Four-winged Fossil Raptor; Teeth; IRS; Pot in DC; North Sudan; HA!
Beautiful Summer day.. low humidity, not too hot. Went to the Drawing Room Meeting where I live and learned that we are getting closer to obtaining wi-fi in the homes. Also, put together 10 boxes and now I can get off my dead butt and fill them with stuff and get my "den" in order.
01. *Joe .. Book Titles
I've mentioned my brother, Joe, before in many places in these blog entries. Joe is an expert in the English language and is a puzzle expert (sometimes called Ishmael) and he has revised some famous book titles and I will list a few of them every few days:
Harper Lee book about a drunken bird: Tequila Mockingbird
Victor Hugo book about a runaway thief who gets a pardon: Less Miserable
Dickens book about a guy who fondles women on the subway: David Cop A Feel
Dumas book about a member of royalty who gets rich inventing a lard substitute:
The Count of Monte Crisco
02. *Stocks .. YUM
the Dow Jones average fell, due to the plane crash in the Ukraine; Stocks were sold off and money was poured into "safe haven" investments like gold and Government bonds.
My YUM stock isn't so "Yummy" because of poor Pizza Hut and Taco Bell results lately.
Karnak:
Answer: Taco Bell
Question: Name the Mexican phone company.
03. County Improvements .. Study Cost
I'm afraid that I have to agree with Richard Rothschild on this one. A company that will want to sell "improvements" to Carroll County, wants to do a study to find out what "improvements" are needed, and will charge the County $125,000 to do the study. I find this ridiculous.
04. The Master Race
In 1934, a Hitler organization magazine featured the picture of a 6-month old child on its cover. They claimed that this was a picture of a "typical beautiful Aryan child" and Nazis all agreed. However, this week, Hessy Taft (age 80) donated a copy of the magazine to an Israeli museum because she was the child shown. The Hitler folks did not know that she was Jewish and the child was kept hidden by her parents and smuggled out of Germany so that she could not be murdered like other Jewish children. (A fascinating story that shows how stupid the Nazis were.)
05. *Immigrant Children .. True Colors
Judy Smith of Union Bridge, Maryland, says: "Two of our Commissioners who pray to Jesus at the beginning of Board of Commissioners meetings showed their true colors (in the Immigrant Children situation). Rothschild and Frazier are, in my opinion, just plain hypocrites, revealing their bigotry once more."
06. *The Holocaust .. War Crimes
The U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC now has a full copy of the U.N. War Crimes Commission archive that was locked for 70 years at the U.N. The archive, in digital form, is now available for research at the museum.
Individual Criminal examples are listed in the file, such as:
Helmut Steinmetz murdered a crippled man on the street and also killed a porter with a stick for refusing to carry his luggage.
Elmar Luder Precht, chief dentist for some concentration camps, selected Auchwitz inmates for execution if they had valuable gold or platinum teeth.
I remember reading about some guards killing inmates with nice tattoos, because the skin could be made into beautiful lamp shades. I assume that is mentioned in the archive.
If I were religious, I would say: "May the Nazis and their sympathizers burn forever in the fires of Hell!"
07. *Creationism .. 4-wings!
A scientific report says that a newly discovered set of fossil remains indicate that they were from a 4-winged raptor... however, that article did not give an age of the remains.. but I'm sure that they were under 5,000 years old.
08. Brush and Floss
The English are notorious for having bad teeth, even the Royals, and the actors who play them on television. And now a report says that a study reveals 26,000 British kids aged 5 through 9, each year, have to be treated for rotten teeth.
09. *IRS Scandal .. Or is it?
Are the Republicans hunting for a White House conspiracy?
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings said it: "This is not the basis of a White House scandal. This is the latest example of Republicans desperately searching for one, and then using any excuse they have to manipulate the facts until they no longer have any resemblance to the truth."
10. *Pot Laws .. District of Columbia
In spite of Republican Representative Andy Harris' underhanded attempt to overrule DC "home rule type" actions, Reduced Pot Penalties are now in effect in the Nation's Capitol.
11. New Country in Africa
How are things going in that new African country, The Kingdom of North Sudan? This was originally an unclaimed piece of empty land in the African desert between Egypt and Sudan. "King" Jeremiah Heaton claimed the land for his six year old daughter, "Princess" Emily.
12. Book to Read .. HA!
Fellow Boston University graduate, Scott Weems, has written a wonderful book about laughter. I've only read a little of the book so far, but I've learned a lot.
Aristotle said that babies don't have souls until their first giggle and every baby first laughs at the fortieth day of life.
Scott mentions the laughter infection that started in a girls' school and lasted for months, even infecting villages.
He also mentions that dirtiest of all dirty jokes, The Aristocrats. If you haven't been exposed to it, avoid it if possible. If you are overly curious.. just think of every smutty, scatological, dirty word or phrase or situation that an eleven year old snotty-nosed naughty boy has ever dreamed of.. its worse than that. All of the famous comedians have told their versions of this joke and have hoped that none of their fans have heard them tell it. It should never be heard outside of the Friars Club.
Scott doesn't actually tell the joke, just talks about it, as a good scientist should do. And there is a lot more to the book than what I have mentioned, and I will be keeping you informed on my progress through this wonderful tome.
.......................................................................................................
01. *Joe .. Book Titles
I've mentioned my brother, Joe, before in many places in these blog entries. Joe is an expert in the English language and is a puzzle expert (sometimes called Ishmael) and he has revised some famous book titles and I will list a few of them every few days:
Harper Lee book about a drunken bird: Tequila Mockingbird
Victor Hugo book about a runaway thief who gets a pardon: Less Miserable
Dickens book about a guy who fondles women on the subway: David Cop A Feel
Dumas book about a member of royalty who gets rich inventing a lard substitute:
The Count of Monte Crisco
02. *Stocks .. YUM
the Dow Jones average fell, due to the plane crash in the Ukraine; Stocks were sold off and money was poured into "safe haven" investments like gold and Government bonds.
My YUM stock isn't so "Yummy" because of poor Pizza Hut and Taco Bell results lately.
Karnak:
Answer: Taco Bell
Question: Name the Mexican phone company.
03. County Improvements .. Study Cost
I'm afraid that I have to agree with Richard Rothschild on this one. A company that will want to sell "improvements" to Carroll County, wants to do a study to find out what "improvements" are needed, and will charge the County $125,000 to do the study. I find this ridiculous.
04. The Master Race
In 1934, a Hitler organization magazine featured the picture of a 6-month old child on its cover. They claimed that this was a picture of a "typical beautiful Aryan child" and Nazis all agreed. However, this week, Hessy Taft (age 80) donated a copy of the magazine to an Israeli museum because she was the child shown. The Hitler folks did not know that she was Jewish and the child was kept hidden by her parents and smuggled out of Germany so that she could not be murdered like other Jewish children. (A fascinating story that shows how stupid the Nazis were.)
05. *Immigrant Children .. True Colors
Judy Smith of Union Bridge, Maryland, says: "Two of our Commissioners who pray to Jesus at the beginning of Board of Commissioners meetings showed their true colors (in the Immigrant Children situation). Rothschild and Frazier are, in my opinion, just plain hypocrites, revealing their bigotry once more."
06. *The Holocaust .. War Crimes
The U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC now has a full copy of the U.N. War Crimes Commission archive that was locked for 70 years at the U.N. The archive, in digital form, is now available for research at the museum.
Individual Criminal examples are listed in the file, such as:
Helmut Steinmetz murdered a crippled man on the street and also killed a porter with a stick for refusing to carry his luggage.
Elmar Luder Precht, chief dentist for some concentration camps, selected Auchwitz inmates for execution if they had valuable gold or platinum teeth.
I remember reading about some guards killing inmates with nice tattoos, because the skin could be made into beautiful lamp shades. I assume that is mentioned in the archive.
If I were religious, I would say: "May the Nazis and their sympathizers burn forever in the fires of Hell!"
07. *Creationism .. 4-wings!
A scientific report says that a newly discovered set of fossil remains indicate that they were from a 4-winged raptor... however, that article did not give an age of the remains.. but I'm sure that they were under 5,000 years old.
08. Brush and Floss
The English are notorious for having bad teeth, even the Royals, and the actors who play them on television. And now a report says that a study reveals 26,000 British kids aged 5 through 9, each year, have to be treated for rotten teeth.
09. *IRS Scandal .. Or is it?
Are the Republicans hunting for a White House conspiracy?
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings said it: "This is not the basis of a White House scandal. This is the latest example of Republicans desperately searching for one, and then using any excuse they have to manipulate the facts until they no longer have any resemblance to the truth."
10. *Pot Laws .. District of Columbia
In spite of Republican Representative Andy Harris' underhanded attempt to overrule DC "home rule type" actions, Reduced Pot Penalties are now in effect in the Nation's Capitol.
11. New Country in Africa
How are things going in that new African country, The Kingdom of North Sudan? This was originally an unclaimed piece of empty land in the African desert between Egypt and Sudan. "King" Jeremiah Heaton claimed the land for his six year old daughter, "Princess" Emily.
12. Book to Read .. HA!
Fellow Boston University graduate, Scott Weems, has written a wonderful book about laughter. I've only read a little of the book so far, but I've learned a lot.
Aristotle said that babies don't have souls until their first giggle and every baby first laughs at the fortieth day of life.
Scott mentions the laughter infection that started in a girls' school and lasted for months, even infecting villages.
He also mentions that dirtiest of all dirty jokes, The Aristocrats. If you haven't been exposed to it, avoid it if possible. If you are overly curious.. just think of every smutty, scatological, dirty word or phrase or situation that an eleven year old snotty-nosed naughty boy has ever dreamed of.. its worse than that. All of the famous comedians have told their versions of this joke and have hoped that none of their fans have heard them tell it. It should never be heard outside of the Friars Club.
Scott doesn't actually tell the joke, just talks about it, as a good scientist should do. And there is a lot more to the book than what I have mentioned, and I will be keeping you informed on my progress through this wonderful tome.
.......................................................................................................
Thursday, July 17, 2014
BJs; Encore; Immigrant Children; Write-In Candidate; Woody Allen; AARP; Brain Power; Cheese; Jokes; Benghazi; Guns
Hey... 78 degrees outside today.. nice Spring/Summer Day.. some sun.. not much humidity.
My morning TRIAD meeting was a lot of fun... In the afternoon, we went to Elaine's Doctor, Nurse Practitioner Karen Miner. Karen was pleased with Elaine's blood pressure readings.
Afterwards, we went to BJ's expecting to snack on those great hot dogs and sausages that they sell.. alas.. the hot dog lady did not show up today, so there were no snacks to be had.
Also.. what is going on with BJ's? They always have had about ten tables of books, some of which were on very interesting subjects (in my opinion).. today they had four tables stuck together to display mostly paperback romance stories, and very few hardbacks... also, where they usually have lots of movie dvd's.. I saw just a few... and to make matters worse, nobody was in the food area handing out samples. What? Are they going out of business...? And, I've noticed lately that I can get some food items much cheaper at my Giant Supermarket than at BJ's!
01. *Carroll County Times .. Encore Section
I was surprised to see today that our newly revised Carroll County Times now has an "Encore" section, where plays and books are reviewed. At last, culture has come to Carroll County.
02. *Immigrant Children .. Dean Minnich
Former Carroll County Commissioner and "good guy", Dean Minnich, had his column published today in the paper. The satirical piece is designed to make people think about where they stand on this issue. However, the people who should read the column won't, and those that do read it, will not follow it. (At least, that is what I think.)
03. *Immigrant Children .. Neil Ridgely
In a beautifully satirical letter to the editor, Neil says, in part: "Perhaps, when the Commissioners hold their daily public prayer this week... perhaps they will pray their thanks that God intervened and spared Carroll from the ravages of having hundreds of needy children of a dark skin color come to (their) County."
04. *Immigrant Children .. Catholic Arch-diocese
The arch-diocese of Chicago will seek Federal permission to temporarily house some of "the children who have breached the Country's southern border in recent weeks. "
05. Politics of Mt. Airy, Maryland
Jim Rowe, one of the owners of the Buttersburg Inn in Union Bridge, has signed papers to be a write-in candidate for Commissioner in November, challenging Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative). A write-in candidate has never won in an election in Carroll County before, but somebody has to challenge Mr. Rothschild and beat him for the seat before he does any more bad things to the reputation of our County and to the job of CC Commissioner.
06. Pithy sayings of Mr. Woody Allen
a. "The lion and the calf may lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep."
b. "Last night, I slept like a baby." "I woke up every two hours and cried."
07. *AARP .. Ways to boost your brain power
At our "Train Your Brain" session earlier this week, we discussed 8 actions that AARP recommends that you do to "boost" that brain of ours.
a. Lift Weights'
b. Laugh a Lot
c. Take 90 minute naps
d. Meditate
e. Eat more brain food, like grapes, spinach, salmon, berries, tuna.. etc.
f. Walk briskly outside (150 minutes per week)
g. Socialize
h. Brush and floss
08. Cheese
Have you ever heard of these cheeses? I haven't.
coalho
asadero
criollo
manteiga
cotija
Crowley
panela
reino
09. *Joke .. Naughty Little Boys
Two five year old boys are sitting in a hospital waiting room. One leans over to the other and says, "What are you in here for?"
The other says, "circumcision"
The first boy says: "Oh, Man! I had that done right after I was born and I couldn't walk for a year."
10. *Joke .. Very Smart Little Boy
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."
The barber puts a dollar in one hand and a quarter in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son"?"
The boy takes the quarter and leaves.
"What did I tell you, says the barber. That kid never learns."
Later, the customer sees the young boy coming out of the ice cream store.
"Hey, son, may I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarter instead of the dollar.
The boy licked his ice cream cone and said: "Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over."
(This rings a bell with me.. I think it really happened to me. Only with dimes and nickels, and my mother's boy friends.)
11. *Benghazi .. Again
Katrina Vanden Heuvel writes in the latest Progressive Populist : "The only involvement Clinton had with Benghazi took place before the attack, when she strongly objected to the Republican Congress's cutting of the diplomatic security budget. Over her objections, they cut it by 500 million (dollars), which left our people overseas needlessly exposed..."
12. *Guns .. Again
Mary Sanchez also writes in the latest Progressive Populist: "Before day's end, 86 Americans who were alive yesterday will be dead from gun violence. One of us dies from a bullet every 17 minutes. That statistic lends a certain futility to the anguished plea of Richard Martinez: 'Not one more!' He made this appeal after losing his only son, Chris, in the shooting rampage last weekend in Santa Barbera, California."
You remember.. the murderer was a young privileged nutcase who drove a fancy new car, was very computer literate.. and hated all women because none of them would pay him any attention.
..............................................................................
My morning TRIAD meeting was a lot of fun... In the afternoon, we went to Elaine's Doctor, Nurse Practitioner Karen Miner. Karen was pleased with Elaine's blood pressure readings.
Afterwards, we went to BJ's expecting to snack on those great hot dogs and sausages that they sell.. alas.. the hot dog lady did not show up today, so there were no snacks to be had.
Also.. what is going on with BJ's? They always have had about ten tables of books, some of which were on very interesting subjects (in my opinion).. today they had four tables stuck together to display mostly paperback romance stories, and very few hardbacks... also, where they usually have lots of movie dvd's.. I saw just a few... and to make matters worse, nobody was in the food area handing out samples. What? Are they going out of business...? And, I've noticed lately that I can get some food items much cheaper at my Giant Supermarket than at BJ's!
01. *Carroll County Times .. Encore Section
I was surprised to see today that our newly revised Carroll County Times now has an "Encore" section, where plays and books are reviewed. At last, culture has come to Carroll County.
02. *Immigrant Children .. Dean Minnich
Former Carroll County Commissioner and "good guy", Dean Minnich, had his column published today in the paper. The satirical piece is designed to make people think about where they stand on this issue. However, the people who should read the column won't, and those that do read it, will not follow it. (At least, that is what I think.)
03. *Immigrant Children .. Neil Ridgely
In a beautifully satirical letter to the editor, Neil says, in part: "Perhaps, when the Commissioners hold their daily public prayer this week... perhaps they will pray their thanks that God intervened and spared Carroll from the ravages of having hundreds of needy children of a dark skin color come to (their) County."
04. *Immigrant Children .. Catholic Arch-diocese
The arch-diocese of Chicago will seek Federal permission to temporarily house some of "the children who have breached the Country's southern border in recent weeks. "
05. Politics of Mt. Airy, Maryland
Jim Rowe, one of the owners of the Buttersburg Inn in Union Bridge, has signed papers to be a write-in candidate for Commissioner in November, challenging Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative). A write-in candidate has never won in an election in Carroll County before, but somebody has to challenge Mr. Rothschild and beat him for the seat before he does any more bad things to the reputation of our County and to the job of CC Commissioner.
06. Pithy sayings of Mr. Woody Allen
a. "The lion and the calf may lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep."
b. "Last night, I slept like a baby." "I woke up every two hours and cried."
07. *AARP .. Ways to boost your brain power
At our "Train Your Brain" session earlier this week, we discussed 8 actions that AARP recommends that you do to "boost" that brain of ours.
a. Lift Weights'
b. Laugh a Lot
c. Take 90 minute naps
d. Meditate
e. Eat more brain food, like grapes, spinach, salmon, berries, tuna.. etc.
f. Walk briskly outside (150 minutes per week)
g. Socialize
h. Brush and floss
08. Cheese
Have you ever heard of these cheeses? I haven't.
coalho
asadero
criollo
manteiga
cotija
Crowley
panela
reino
09. *Joke .. Naughty Little Boys
Two five year old boys are sitting in a hospital waiting room. One leans over to the other and says, "What are you in here for?"
The other says, "circumcision"
The first boy says: "Oh, Man! I had that done right after I was born and I couldn't walk for a year."
10. *Joke .. Very Smart Little Boy
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."
The barber puts a dollar in one hand and a quarter in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son"?"
The boy takes the quarter and leaves.
"What did I tell you, says the barber. That kid never learns."
Later, the customer sees the young boy coming out of the ice cream store.
"Hey, son, may I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarter instead of the dollar.
The boy licked his ice cream cone and said: "Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over."
(This rings a bell with me.. I think it really happened to me. Only with dimes and nickels, and my mother's boy friends.)
11. *Benghazi .. Again
Katrina Vanden Heuvel writes in the latest Progressive Populist : "The only involvement Clinton had with Benghazi took place before the attack, when she strongly objected to the Republican Congress's cutting of the diplomatic security budget. Over her objections, they cut it by 500 million (dollars), which left our people overseas needlessly exposed..."
12. *Guns .. Again
Mary Sanchez also writes in the latest Progressive Populist: "Before day's end, 86 Americans who were alive yesterday will be dead from gun violence. One of us dies from a bullet every 17 minutes. That statistic lends a certain futility to the anguished plea of Richard Martinez: 'Not one more!' He made this appeal after losing his only son, Chris, in the shooting rampage last weekend in Santa Barbera, California."
You remember.. the murderer was a young privileged nutcase who drove a fancy new car, was very computer literate.. and hated all women because none of them would pay him any attention.
..............................................................................
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Camp Cops; Immigrant Kids; Graffiti; Compassion; Jesus; Diabetes Hope; Dow Jones; Kidnapped Girls; Lost Plane; Elephants; Noah; WalMart
Nice low humidity Summer Day.
I did puzzles at the Train Your Brain session, attended an appreciation and photo op session for helping with the sales of the 2013 Creative Expressions for CLV, and went swimming with Elaine. A very full day.
01. *Police Stuff .. Camp Cops
A friend, Westminster Police Sargent, Keith Benfer, is the director of Camp Cops (Courage to be Outstanding with Pride and Self-Confidence) which attempts to teach kids about police functions and the Police Academy; with lessons about drugs, alcohol and safety. Nice program. There was a write-up about the program in the local newspaper today.
02. *Immigrant Children .. Graffiti Paint-over
The ignorant statements were painted over during the night by someone.. a good Samaritan?
Prediction: We will find out that the statements were painted by a misguided 13-year old kid, who had heard his father say dumb things. The father, to protect his young Cretan, painted over the remarks.
03. Carroll County Times .. Skinnier every day
Elaine observed right away that the local newspaper was getting smaller every day since they were bought out by Tribune Publishing, a new company that will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as TPUB and traded starting August 5th, 2014.
Even the obituaries are being written in a small type font. One needs a magnifying glass to read them while you try to find out if you are mentioned.
04. Diabetes .. Hope
Novartis and Google are working to develop a contact lens for diabetics that would allow them to check their blood sugar through tear fluid. In addition, a method is being looked for to help diabetics to focus their eyes.
05. Dow Jones .. Statistics
I think that yesterday was the first time that the Dow started above 17,000 and stayed there all day. How long will we continue to get rich?
06. *Immigrant Children .. Teaching Compassion
Jim Lee, Editor of the local newspaper wrote an opinion piece today about the graffiti-writing jerks: "Hatred is everywhere, we aren't immune from it, but we can rise above it. And as a caring and compassionate community, that should be what we teach our children, and the message we spread to our neighbors."
07. *Immigrant Children .. Jesus
Burke Stanton wrote to the Carroll County Times: "I wonder what Jesus would have to say about politicians who avoid helping God's most vulnerable children in order to play hypocritical political games.
08. *Kidnapped Girls .. News?
Its now been three months since 250 girls were kidnapped in Northern Nigeria by Islamic militants. A few have escaped, but 219 of them are still missing and perhaps have been sold into slavery.
09. *Missing Plane .. News?
I haven't seen anything written about the missing airline and the 200+ people on board. Are searches still going on? Time to bring in a seer.
10. *Book Info .. Elephant Company
This is a book by Sara Gruen which tells the true story of an "Elephant Man" who cared for some of these creatures through two world wars and tells the adventures they all had just trying to stay alive. It was "kind of" reviewed in the New York Times and I plan to read the book on my Kindle. The New York Times reviewer says that he learned two remarkable facts about these animals.
a. Elephants have a sense of smell that is five time stronger than that of a bloodhound. Maybe we can train them to patrol folks in International Flights and point out illegal drugs or bomb material. As my friend, Bill Engelhardt says: "Wouldn't that be a 'hoot'?"
b. Elephants have six sets of teeth. When one set runs out, the next shuttles in like on a slow conveyer belt. After the last (sixth) set is worn out, the elephant starves to death.
11. *Creationism .. "Noah!".. "Yes, Lord!"
Speaking of big animals.. begging the question and in line with the donation of the "4000 year old dinosaur" to the Creationism Museum.. "How did Noah get two Brontosaurus specimens on the ark? And how many kinds of whales was he able to get into his gigantic shipboard aquariums?"
12. WalMart the benevolent
WalMart reports that it gave cash and in-kind donations worth 7 million dollars to State of Maryland non-profits in fiscal 2014. The American Red Cross and the Arc (Baltimore) were a couple of the recipients.
Its a shame they couldn't share some of their billions of dollars of income to raise the hourly wages of their employees. (Did I miss it? Are they going to do that?) Any way, they seem to treat their top executives rather well. Each received between 8 and 25 million in total compensation in the last fiscal year. Could anybody be worth that much money?
.............................................................................
I did puzzles at the Train Your Brain session, attended an appreciation and photo op session for helping with the sales of the 2013 Creative Expressions for CLV, and went swimming with Elaine. A very full day.
01. *Police Stuff .. Camp Cops
A friend, Westminster Police Sargent, Keith Benfer, is the director of Camp Cops (Courage to be Outstanding with Pride and Self-Confidence) which attempts to teach kids about police functions and the Police Academy; with lessons about drugs, alcohol and safety. Nice program. There was a write-up about the program in the local newspaper today.
02. *Immigrant Children .. Graffiti Paint-over
The ignorant statements were painted over during the night by someone.. a good Samaritan?
Prediction: We will find out that the statements were painted by a misguided 13-year old kid, who had heard his father say dumb things. The father, to protect his young Cretan, painted over the remarks.
03. Carroll County Times .. Skinnier every day
Elaine observed right away that the local newspaper was getting smaller every day since they were bought out by Tribune Publishing, a new company that will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as TPUB and traded starting August 5th, 2014.
Even the obituaries are being written in a small type font. One needs a magnifying glass to read them while you try to find out if you are mentioned.
04. Diabetes .. Hope
Novartis and Google are working to develop a contact lens for diabetics that would allow them to check their blood sugar through tear fluid. In addition, a method is being looked for to help diabetics to focus their eyes.
05. Dow Jones .. Statistics
I think that yesterday was the first time that the Dow started above 17,000 and stayed there all day. How long will we continue to get rich?
06. *Immigrant Children .. Teaching Compassion
Jim Lee, Editor of the local newspaper wrote an opinion piece today about the graffiti-writing jerks: "Hatred is everywhere, we aren't immune from it, but we can rise above it. And as a caring and compassionate community, that should be what we teach our children, and the message we spread to our neighbors."
07. *Immigrant Children .. Jesus
Burke Stanton wrote to the Carroll County Times: "I wonder what Jesus would have to say about politicians who avoid helping God's most vulnerable children in order to play hypocritical political games.
08. *Kidnapped Girls .. News?
Its now been three months since 250 girls were kidnapped in Northern Nigeria by Islamic militants. A few have escaped, but 219 of them are still missing and perhaps have been sold into slavery.
09. *Missing Plane .. News?
I haven't seen anything written about the missing airline and the 200+ people on board. Are searches still going on? Time to bring in a seer.
10. *Book Info .. Elephant Company
This is a book by Sara Gruen which tells the true story of an "Elephant Man" who cared for some of these creatures through two world wars and tells the adventures they all had just trying to stay alive. It was "kind of" reviewed in the New York Times and I plan to read the book on my Kindle. The New York Times reviewer says that he learned two remarkable facts about these animals.
a. Elephants have a sense of smell that is five time stronger than that of a bloodhound. Maybe we can train them to patrol folks in International Flights and point out illegal drugs or bomb material. As my friend, Bill Engelhardt says: "Wouldn't that be a 'hoot'?"
b. Elephants have six sets of teeth. When one set runs out, the next shuttles in like on a slow conveyer belt. After the last (sixth) set is worn out, the elephant starves to death.
11. *Creationism .. "Noah!".. "Yes, Lord!"
Speaking of big animals.. begging the question and in line with the donation of the "4000 year old dinosaur" to the Creationism Museum.. "How did Noah get two Brontosaurus specimens on the ark? And how many kinds of whales was he able to get into his gigantic shipboard aquariums?"
12. WalMart the benevolent
WalMart reports that it gave cash and in-kind donations worth 7 million dollars to State of Maryland non-profits in fiscal 2014. The American Red Cross and the Arc (Baltimore) were a couple of the recipients.
Its a shame they couldn't share some of their billions of dollars of income to raise the hourly wages of their employees. (Did I miss it? Are they going to do that?) Any way, they seem to treat their top executives rather well. Each received between 8 and 25 million in total compensation in the last fiscal year. Could anybody be worth that much money?
.............................................................................
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Immigrant Kids; Hate Crime; Burglaries; Hobby Lobby; Cartoons; Bergdahl; Young Dinosaur; Muslim Rights; Hopkins Hospital; Cleveland; Uber; Snapple
Overcast and hot.. and muggy.. typical Summer day. No thunderstorm yet.
01. *Immigrant children .. Hate Crime
Some Cretan spray painted on the former Army Reserve Center in Westminster, Maryland yesterday. The Center had been investigated to see if it would qualify as a place to house some of the child immigrants. It didn't. However, some genius spray painted the following:
NO ILLEAGLES HERE
NO UNDOCUMENTED DEMOCRATS
Unbelievable. No wonder people in other parts of Maryland call us "Hicksville." Even though it is a great place to live, there are a lot of nutbags that call it home.
02. *Wakefield Valley .. Burglaries
We live in Wakefield Valley, right next to a now-closed golf course and restaurant area. Today, the Carroll County Times reported that the area has been burglarized 15 times in the last three months. So, the police will be installing cameras around the property which will now have a 25 foot buffer zone around the houses that abut the area. The former golf course has been donated to the City of Westminster, which will make it into a park, with hiking trails and sports areas. In return, the City will allow the former owner to retrieve as much water as he wants from the area's well system.
Elaine feels that the City will set up a Sports Complex and the noise and lighting will degrade our standard of living. Maybe.
03. *Hobby Lobby .. When does pregnancy begin?
Master columnist, Mitch Edelman, lambastes the Supreme Count on their Hobby Lobby decision. He says that although the Hobby Lobby owners believe that pregnancy begins when egg meets sperm, medical and scientific data says the start of pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine wall, and none of the (contraceptive) methods Hobby Lobby objects to actually terminate a pregnancy.
04. *Political Cartoon
I don't understand the political cartoon that is shown in today's Carroll Country Times. It shows a person with a high hairdo and glasses holding an "Impeach Obama" sign.. but a décolleté lady standing next to him is telling him to tone it down. Why? Is this a dig on the Texas Governor? Louisiana? Time will tell.
05. Live in Carroll County? .. Embarrassed?
Frank Batanick wrote a letter to the Carroll County Times today, in which he says he is "outraged and embarrassed to be a Carroll Countian because of the hypocrites we have for leaders."
06. *Sgt Bergdahl .. Free to Roam
Sargent Bergdahl is now able to return to Army duty, but is still under investigation. He is; however, able to roam around the base and even leave it if he feels like it. (The people rallying against him sound like the Swift Boat group, who turned out to be liars.)
07. Four thousand year old *dinosaur .. donated to the Creationism Museum
Michael Peroutka, candidate for the Ann Arundel County Counsel and a bad debt collector, has donated a fossil dinosaur to the Creationism Museum for an exhibit that claims that such creatures were around four thousand years ago, regardless of what scientists say.
By the way, the Carroll County Times reports that Mr. Peroutka donated $4000 to help the election efforts of Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative) in 2013.
08. Muslim Rights .. Petition
For the third year in a row, Dr. Bash Pharoan has asked the Baltimore County School Board to close the schools for two Muslim holidays each year as they do for Christians and Jews. It sounds fair to me, but the School Board just ignores the good Doctor.
09. Johns Hopkins Hospital .. not #1 this year!
The U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Johns Hopkins Hospital as number 3 in the Country this year, behind the Mayo Clinic and Mass General. All three of these hospitals are "world class" facilities, and Hopkins Administrators are not worried. They hope to learn something by finding how these other hospitals beat them out. A good read is the story of how Hopkins came into being and how its experiences were closely followed by other hospitals that were trying to be the best that they could be.
10. Cleveland, Ohio .. The Mayor
Jules Witcover tells some great stories about Ralph Perk, former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The Cayahoga River through Cleveland once got set on fire, it was so polluted. And once, Mayor Perk set his hair on fire with a blowtorch at a ceremonial opening. Also, once, on a plane flying over northern Ohio, the mayor pointed out of a window and boasted about how impressive his city looked from that height. One of his aides whispered in his ear: "Mr. Mayor, that's Akron."
His wife got some ridicule as well, when she turned down a White House dinner invitation because it was being held on her bowling night!
11. *Uber .. at Annapolis
The city of Annapolis has ordered Uber (ride-sharing) to stop its service until it registers as a taxi Company. Uber officials repeat they are not a taxi company, but a computer application that connects riders to drivers.
12. Snapple Wisdom
Now there is another way to get smart. Just drink Snapple products and read the fact outlined under the bottle cap. For instance:
Real Fact #691) The Archer Fish can spit water up to 7 feet to shoot down bugs from overhanding leaves.
Real Fact #885) Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings.
Now, see, there are other ways than doing Crossword Puzzles to keep your brain supple and eager to suck up new knowledge, even from tea-based drinks.
..........................................................................................
01. *Immigrant children .. Hate Crime
Some Cretan spray painted on the former Army Reserve Center in Westminster, Maryland yesterday. The Center had been investigated to see if it would qualify as a place to house some of the child immigrants. It didn't. However, some genius spray painted the following:
NO ILLEAGLES HERE
NO UNDOCUMENTED DEMOCRATS
Unbelievable. No wonder people in other parts of Maryland call us "Hicksville." Even though it is a great place to live, there are a lot of nutbags that call it home.
02. *Wakefield Valley .. Burglaries
We live in Wakefield Valley, right next to a now-closed golf course and restaurant area. Today, the Carroll County Times reported that the area has been burglarized 15 times in the last three months. So, the police will be installing cameras around the property which will now have a 25 foot buffer zone around the houses that abut the area. The former golf course has been donated to the City of Westminster, which will make it into a park, with hiking trails and sports areas. In return, the City will allow the former owner to retrieve as much water as he wants from the area's well system.
Elaine feels that the City will set up a Sports Complex and the noise and lighting will degrade our standard of living. Maybe.
03. *Hobby Lobby .. When does pregnancy begin?
Master columnist, Mitch Edelman, lambastes the Supreme Count on their Hobby Lobby decision. He says that although the Hobby Lobby owners believe that pregnancy begins when egg meets sperm, medical and scientific data says the start of pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterine wall, and none of the (contraceptive) methods Hobby Lobby objects to actually terminate a pregnancy.
04. *Political Cartoon
I don't understand the political cartoon that is shown in today's Carroll Country Times. It shows a person with a high hairdo and glasses holding an "Impeach Obama" sign.. but a décolleté lady standing next to him is telling him to tone it down. Why? Is this a dig on the Texas Governor? Louisiana? Time will tell.
05. Live in Carroll County? .. Embarrassed?
Frank Batanick wrote a letter to the Carroll County Times today, in which he says he is "outraged and embarrassed to be a Carroll Countian because of the hypocrites we have for leaders."
06. *Sgt Bergdahl .. Free to Roam
Sargent Bergdahl is now able to return to Army duty, but is still under investigation. He is; however, able to roam around the base and even leave it if he feels like it. (The people rallying against him sound like the Swift Boat group, who turned out to be liars.)
07. Four thousand year old *dinosaur .. donated to the Creationism Museum
Michael Peroutka, candidate for the Ann Arundel County Counsel and a bad debt collector, has donated a fossil dinosaur to the Creationism Museum for an exhibit that claims that such creatures were around four thousand years ago, regardless of what scientists say.
By the way, the Carroll County Times reports that Mr. Peroutka donated $4000 to help the election efforts of Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative) in 2013.
08. Muslim Rights .. Petition
For the third year in a row, Dr. Bash Pharoan has asked the Baltimore County School Board to close the schools for two Muslim holidays each year as they do for Christians and Jews. It sounds fair to me, but the School Board just ignores the good Doctor.
09. Johns Hopkins Hospital .. not #1 this year!
The U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Johns Hopkins Hospital as number 3 in the Country this year, behind the Mayo Clinic and Mass General. All three of these hospitals are "world class" facilities, and Hopkins Administrators are not worried. They hope to learn something by finding how these other hospitals beat them out. A good read is the story of how Hopkins came into being and how its experiences were closely followed by other hospitals that were trying to be the best that they could be.
10. Cleveland, Ohio .. The Mayor
Jules Witcover tells some great stories about Ralph Perk, former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The Cayahoga River through Cleveland once got set on fire, it was so polluted. And once, Mayor Perk set his hair on fire with a blowtorch at a ceremonial opening. Also, once, on a plane flying over northern Ohio, the mayor pointed out of a window and boasted about how impressive his city looked from that height. One of his aides whispered in his ear: "Mr. Mayor, that's Akron."
His wife got some ridicule as well, when she turned down a White House dinner invitation because it was being held on her bowling night!
11. *Uber .. at Annapolis
The city of Annapolis has ordered Uber (ride-sharing) to stop its service until it registers as a taxi Company. Uber officials repeat they are not a taxi company, but a computer application that connects riders to drivers.
12. Snapple Wisdom
Now there is another way to get smart. Just drink Snapple products and read the fact outlined under the bottle cap. For instance:
Real Fact #691) The Archer Fish can spit water up to 7 feet to shoot down bugs from overhanding leaves.
Real Fact #885) Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings.
Now, see, there are other ways than doing Crossword Puzzles to keep your brain supple and eager to suck up new knowledge, even from tea-based drinks.
..........................................................................................
Monday, July 14, 2014
Baltimore; Theodicy; Supremes; Hot Car Death; Holland Town; Blue Cross; Shocking; Births; Pillsbury; Proverb; Goldfish; Beer
Another day in the 90's.. and violent thunderstorms are boiling around us. Last night, violent winds actually picked up a seat cushion and moved it away from the chair, bent my flagpole in half; knocked over some flower pots and some plants. Today is supposed to be worse.
Baltimore doesn't exist! At least not to the Weather Channel... on their maps is shown the District of Columbia and just north, Philadelphia. What the hell happened to Baltimore?
01. *Theodicy
Our neighbor, the Reverend Lou Piel, has been deluged with questions about God's powers since a 12 year old, greatly liked boy was killed by a falling tree during a violent storm. So Lou has scheduled a session to address: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Lou strikes me as one who takes his religious calling very seriously. I have commented on some his columns in this blog. I think that Lou is a "mensch."
02. *Supreme Court .. Searching a cellphone.
Since the Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant to search the cellphone of an arrested person, the States Attorney's office and the State Police have both stated, in effect, that they do get warrants. As one State Police trooper put it: "You can never go wrong with a search warrant."
03. *Hot Car Death .. South Carolina this time
Both parents say that they thought the other had taken the baby out of his car seat!
04. *Restaurants to Try in Baltimore
Visit DiPasquale's Market in Highland Town ("Holland Town" for natives), on 3700 Gough Street. Supposed to be great ethnic food for very low prices. If you were around in the 1950's you will remember what downtowns were like then, and what Highland Town is like today.
05. Blue Cross Expert to Talk
Bill Gray just called me to confirm his visit to our NARFE Chapter on October 9th, 2014. Bill is THE EXPERT on all health plans available to current Federal employees and retirees. We are lucky because he visits us first each year, with information that is important to our pensions and to our health plans.
06. People are Masochistic?
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me reports that a psychological test was given to a bunch of average people.. they were each hooked up to a shocking device and told not to press a button near them, because that would give them a shock. Then the tester left them alone in the room for ten minutes. 2/3 of the men then pressed the button; 1/3 of the women pressed the button.
07. Birth spurt
Similar to the New York statistics of an abnormal increase in the number of births 9 months after the "blackout", the District of Columbia experienced a jump in the number of births 9 months after last year's Government "shutdown."
08. Explosion Victim
Click and Clack reported what a lady told them about a scary experience.
Mrs. J. was coming out of a market on a 95 degree day when she spotted a car with its window rolled down and a lady inside holding the back of her head. She went over and asked if she could help. Between violent sobs, the lady holding her head said, "Yes.. I'm hurt."
Prodded for the story, the hurt lady said that someone must have shot her in the back of her head, and that she was holding her head to avoid her brains from spilling out. Mrs. J. took a close look and saw that what the lady was holding was grayish white, gooey and oozing through the lady's fingers. It sure looked like brains would look. She called 911.
When the medics arrived, they investigated and said that the wounded lady was fine, and they pieced together what had happened. The lady had put her groceries in the seat behind her in her very hot car, and the package of Pillsbury quick dough had exploded, sending doughy goo all over the back of the lady's head. The poor lady thought that she had been shot and the gooey dough surely had to be part of her brains!
09. Stop being so Grouchy, Joe!
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Proverbs 17:22
10. Pet Goldfish
Billy was putting dirt in a hole in his yard. His neighbor asked him why. Billy said: "Its because my goldfish died. The neighbor asked: "But why the big hole for a little fish?"
Billy replied: "Well.. its because the goldfish is inside your stupid cat."
11. Beer Master "Dr. Pat"
Archaeologist Patrick McGovern is an expert on the ancient art of making beer and found the world's oldest booze, a Neolithic grog brewed in China 9000 years ago, says The Smithsonian. He also found out the following about the Pyramid builders: "...each worker got a daily ration of four to five liters (of beer)." That's a lot of beer! They must have been a happy bunch of workers.
McGovern has ancient beer recipes that Sam Calagione, of Dogfish Head notoriety makes and tries and even markets. I think I will try to sample some of them.. if I can find them...the names of the five are:
Ta Henket
Midas Touch
Chateau Jiahu
Theobroma
chichi
12. Rodney Dangerfield Sez
"I was crossing the street. I was hit by the Bookmobile. I was lying there in pain, moaning, and the guy went, "Shhhhh."
................................................................................................
Baltimore doesn't exist! At least not to the Weather Channel... on their maps is shown the District of Columbia and just north, Philadelphia. What the hell happened to Baltimore?
01. *Theodicy
Our neighbor, the Reverend Lou Piel, has been deluged with questions about God's powers since a 12 year old, greatly liked boy was killed by a falling tree during a violent storm. So Lou has scheduled a session to address: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Lou strikes me as one who takes his religious calling very seriously. I have commented on some his columns in this blog. I think that Lou is a "mensch."
02. *Supreme Court .. Searching a cellphone.
Since the Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant to search the cellphone of an arrested person, the States Attorney's office and the State Police have both stated, in effect, that they do get warrants. As one State Police trooper put it: "You can never go wrong with a search warrant."
03. *Hot Car Death .. South Carolina this time
Both parents say that they thought the other had taken the baby out of his car seat!
04. *Restaurants to Try in Baltimore
Visit DiPasquale's Market in Highland Town ("Holland Town" for natives), on 3700 Gough Street. Supposed to be great ethnic food for very low prices. If you were around in the 1950's you will remember what downtowns were like then, and what Highland Town is like today.
05. Blue Cross Expert to Talk
Bill Gray just called me to confirm his visit to our NARFE Chapter on October 9th, 2014. Bill is THE EXPERT on all health plans available to current Federal employees and retirees. We are lucky because he visits us first each year, with information that is important to our pensions and to our health plans.
06. People are Masochistic?
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me reports that a psychological test was given to a bunch of average people.. they were each hooked up to a shocking device and told not to press a button near them, because that would give them a shock. Then the tester left them alone in the room for ten minutes. 2/3 of the men then pressed the button; 1/3 of the women pressed the button.
07. Birth spurt
Similar to the New York statistics of an abnormal increase in the number of births 9 months after the "blackout", the District of Columbia experienced a jump in the number of births 9 months after last year's Government "shutdown."
08. Explosion Victim
Click and Clack reported what a lady told them about a scary experience.
Mrs. J. was coming out of a market on a 95 degree day when she spotted a car with its window rolled down and a lady inside holding the back of her head. She went over and asked if she could help. Between violent sobs, the lady holding her head said, "Yes.. I'm hurt."
Prodded for the story, the hurt lady said that someone must have shot her in the back of her head, and that she was holding her head to avoid her brains from spilling out. Mrs. J. took a close look and saw that what the lady was holding was grayish white, gooey and oozing through the lady's fingers. It sure looked like brains would look. She called 911.
When the medics arrived, they investigated and said that the wounded lady was fine, and they pieced together what had happened. The lady had put her groceries in the seat behind her in her very hot car, and the package of Pillsbury quick dough had exploded, sending doughy goo all over the back of the lady's head. The poor lady thought that she had been shot and the gooey dough surely had to be part of her brains!
09. Stop being so Grouchy, Joe!
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Proverbs 17:22
10. Pet Goldfish
Billy was putting dirt in a hole in his yard. His neighbor asked him why. Billy said: "Its because my goldfish died. The neighbor asked: "But why the big hole for a little fish?"
Billy replied: "Well.. its because the goldfish is inside your stupid cat."
11. Beer Master "Dr. Pat"
Archaeologist Patrick McGovern is an expert on the ancient art of making beer and found the world's oldest booze, a Neolithic grog brewed in China 9000 years ago, says The Smithsonian. He also found out the following about the Pyramid builders: "...each worker got a daily ration of four to five liters (of beer)." That's a lot of beer! They must have been a happy bunch of workers.
McGovern has ancient beer recipes that Sam Calagione, of Dogfish Head notoriety makes and tries and even markets. I think I will try to sample some of them.. if I can find them...the names of the five are:
Ta Henket
Midas Touch
Chateau Jiahu
Theobroma
chichi
12. Rodney Dangerfield Sez
"I was crossing the street. I was hit by the Bookmobile. I was lying there in pain, moaning, and the guy went, "Shhhhh."
................................................................................................
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Child Immigrants; Corporations; Al Lewis; McDaniel Colllege; Boehner Lawsuit; Organ Donor; Voter Suppression; Brain Plug In; Little Fossil; Weather; NY Times
Hot and muggy and we are in the midst of a violent thunderstorm. Just like Florida lately.
01. *Child Immigrants .. Not in Westminster!
Probably because of the negative reaction to a possible site in Westminster for the border children, HHS turned down the site. Representative Andy Harris, Commissioner Frazier, Commissioner Rothschild and Commissioner Shoemaker were all negative about the site. Would it have been positive rather than negative if these 4 had lived up to the Christian values they claim to adhere to?
02. *Child Immigrants .. Me Generation
In an op ed piece, Jim Lee of the Carroll County Times says: "... in the current Congress we are blessed with products of the Me Generation. Their only care is to get what they want for themselves...they wrap themselves in the flag or the Constitution and declare their 'right' to have it their way... they neglect the simple fact that everyone else is also entitled to those same rights..."
One can relate this to the border children situation as well. Aren't they entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness like our so-called "legal" children, or do we send them back to a life of poverty and gangs?
03. *Child Immigrants .. True Texas Christians
Over 800 South Texans have transformed a church hall into a support center for child immigrants crossing into the U.S. One lady said: "I put myself in their position...how would I want to be treated..." Also helping are Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Baptists, Methodists and Episcopalians. The facility volunteers help immigrants get bathed, clothed and transported to other destinations where they will remain with friends or family until their cases are heard in court.
04. *Corporations .. Al Lewis' Wisdom
Today was Al Lewis' last column for the Wall Street Journal, and Al thinks that Conservative readers will be glad to see him go. Al left some bits of wisdom for us to ponder over. Here are a few items that I agree with:
a. Wherever there is money, there will be someone trying to steal it.
b. Corporations wield more power than individuals. (Why should they?)
c. Crime should be punished irrespective of the wealth of the perpetrator.
d. There really is a sucker born every minute. Don't be one.
05. Peace .. Common Ground on the Hill
McDaniel College had classes as part of their Common Ground on the Hill celebration. David Braune attended a couple of them and was impressed:
Imagining a World Without War
Non-violent Problem Solving
David had a letter to the editor published today. Dave is heavily involved with the AARP Tax Aide Program, and has received awards for his work. I will be trying to get him to speak about taxes to our NARFE group.
06. *Boehner's Lawsuit .. Another View
Gordon Jenkins writes to the Carroll County Times that he disagrees with Tom Zirpoli's recent column about Executive Orders. Gordon feels that many of the President's Executive Orders are unconstitutional, especially those involved with the implementation of Obamacare. He says that Boehner's lawsuit relates to the President usurping the legislative powers of Congress. Yes, Gordon, but if Congress doesn't do their legislative job, somebody has to, don't you agree?
07. Super Woman Thanks to Super Donor
Debra Long, 55, of Westminster, Maryland, has had numerous medical problems in the last few years and has had to have the following transplants....pancreas, liver, small intestines, stomach and duodenum! And she also has had a double mastectomy (sp?). There is a picture of how she looks today smiling and happy thanks to an organ donor she will never meet. In a little while she will have another transplant.. a kidney donated by her son.
08. *Voter Suppression?
Republicans are trying to win black votes in North Carolina.. and one of the persons they are trying to woo recently said: "You want to take away my health care, unemployment compensation and voting rights, but you want me to think you are my friend?"
09. Plug me in!
The Pentagon has contracted with UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania for a four year effort to develop a device that can be surgically installed in the brain to help people form, store, and recall memories. Such a device cold help victims of traumatic brain injury and maybe later, help ordinary people.
10. Little Hedgehog
A fossil hedgehog has been found in British Columbia after 52 million years. Silvacola acares (no, not a soft drink) which means "tiny forest dweller" is only 2 inches long, yet is fully grown.
11. The Weather Report
The weather people expect cooler weather next week because of Japan's Typhoon Neoguri, which has set in motion a chain reaction that will affect the path of the jet stream, causing warm, moist tropical air to push over the North Pacific. and that in turn will... blah blah blah blah...remember the saying about a butterfly flapping its wings on the equator and it eventually causes hurricanes?? Bottom line.. weather is global.
12. All the News that's Fit..
I started getting the New York Times (DC edition) Sunday newspaper delivered for a few weeks. One big difference between Baltimore Area papers and the NY Times is in its monied ads..
For instance: NYTIMESStore.Com advertises:
a. Pele signed soccer ball = $375.
b. Vintage Rolex watches = starting at $3,700.
c. Antique Map of the U.S. = $1,050.
d. Night Shift book signed by Stephen King = $1,800.
Get the picture?
.....................................................................................
01. *Child Immigrants .. Not in Westminster!
Probably because of the negative reaction to a possible site in Westminster for the border children, HHS turned down the site. Representative Andy Harris, Commissioner Frazier, Commissioner Rothschild and Commissioner Shoemaker were all negative about the site. Would it have been positive rather than negative if these 4 had lived up to the Christian values they claim to adhere to?
02. *Child Immigrants .. Me Generation
In an op ed piece, Jim Lee of the Carroll County Times says: "... in the current Congress we are blessed with products of the Me Generation. Their only care is to get what they want for themselves...they wrap themselves in the flag or the Constitution and declare their 'right' to have it their way... they neglect the simple fact that everyone else is also entitled to those same rights..."
One can relate this to the border children situation as well. Aren't they entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness like our so-called "legal" children, or do we send them back to a life of poverty and gangs?
03. *Child Immigrants .. True Texas Christians
Over 800 South Texans have transformed a church hall into a support center for child immigrants crossing into the U.S. One lady said: "I put myself in their position...how would I want to be treated..." Also helping are Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, Baptists, Methodists and Episcopalians. The facility volunteers help immigrants get bathed, clothed and transported to other destinations where they will remain with friends or family until their cases are heard in court.
04. *Corporations .. Al Lewis' Wisdom
Today was Al Lewis' last column for the Wall Street Journal, and Al thinks that Conservative readers will be glad to see him go. Al left some bits of wisdom for us to ponder over. Here are a few items that I agree with:
a. Wherever there is money, there will be someone trying to steal it.
b. Corporations wield more power than individuals. (Why should they?)
c. Crime should be punished irrespective of the wealth of the perpetrator.
d. There really is a sucker born every minute. Don't be one.
05. Peace .. Common Ground on the Hill
McDaniel College had classes as part of their Common Ground on the Hill celebration. David Braune attended a couple of them and was impressed:
Imagining a World Without War
Non-violent Problem Solving
David had a letter to the editor published today. Dave is heavily involved with the AARP Tax Aide Program, and has received awards for his work. I will be trying to get him to speak about taxes to our NARFE group.
06. *Boehner's Lawsuit .. Another View
Gordon Jenkins writes to the Carroll County Times that he disagrees with Tom Zirpoli's recent column about Executive Orders. Gordon feels that many of the President's Executive Orders are unconstitutional, especially those involved with the implementation of Obamacare. He says that Boehner's lawsuit relates to the President usurping the legislative powers of Congress. Yes, Gordon, but if Congress doesn't do their legislative job, somebody has to, don't you agree?
07. Super Woman Thanks to Super Donor
Debra Long, 55, of Westminster, Maryland, has had numerous medical problems in the last few years and has had to have the following transplants....pancreas, liver, small intestines, stomach and duodenum! And she also has had a double mastectomy (sp?). There is a picture of how she looks today smiling and happy thanks to an organ donor she will never meet. In a little while she will have another transplant.. a kidney donated by her son.
08. *Voter Suppression?
Republicans are trying to win black votes in North Carolina.. and one of the persons they are trying to woo recently said: "You want to take away my health care, unemployment compensation and voting rights, but you want me to think you are my friend?"
09. Plug me in!
The Pentagon has contracted with UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania for a four year effort to develop a device that can be surgically installed in the brain to help people form, store, and recall memories. Such a device cold help victims of traumatic brain injury and maybe later, help ordinary people.
10. Little Hedgehog
A fossil hedgehog has been found in British Columbia after 52 million years. Silvacola acares (no, not a soft drink) which means "tiny forest dweller" is only 2 inches long, yet is fully grown.
11. The Weather Report
The weather people expect cooler weather next week because of Japan's Typhoon Neoguri, which has set in motion a chain reaction that will affect the path of the jet stream, causing warm, moist tropical air to push over the North Pacific. and that in turn will... blah blah blah blah...remember the saying about a butterfly flapping its wings on the equator and it eventually causes hurricanes?? Bottom line.. weather is global.
12. All the News that's Fit..
I started getting the New York Times (DC edition) Sunday newspaper delivered for a few weeks. One big difference between Baltimore Area papers and the NY Times is in its monied ads..
For instance: NYTIMESStore.Com advertises:
a. Pele signed soccer ball = $375.
b. Vintage Rolex watches = starting at $3,700.
c. Antique Map of the U.S. = $1,050.
d. Night Shift book signed by Stephen King = $1,800.
Get the picture?
.....................................................................................
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Common Core; Child Immigrants; Cigarettes; Drones; Vacation Bible School; Hobby Lobby; Sentencing Delayed; Plant Intelligence; Boehner Lawsuit; Poncho Night; Harding
Hot, muggy day. Right now, we are surrounded by black clouds, so don't be surprised if I stop suddenly because of a storm.
Lately, people have been following people and events on Twitter by using "hashtags" #) .. which word even spellcheckers don't recognize yet. Since I often repeat myself on topics or add to something I've said before, I will give myself a symbol to show that I have talked about this subject before.. or I will be saying more in the future. That way, I can more easily sort and search for my subjects... maybe.
01. *Common Core .. Low Math Scores in Maryland
Math scores in Maryland State Assessment tests for Carroll County have dropped since last year and Leslie Wilson, former head of testing for Maryland says that some students may have been tested on concepts they have not been taught yet. The Carroll County Math statistics point directly to certain schools and that should be investigated, in my opinion.
02. *Child Immigrants .. Housing in Westminster?
The Administration is looking at several Maryland locations in which to house some of the thousands of children who are clogging our border stations. One of the sites under consideration is on Malcolm Drive in Maryland. Formerly used by the Government.. it is now vacant.
Three of our "enlightened" County Commissioners held an emergency session and voted "overwhelmingly" not to let the Government bring any of these kids here. The three, constituting a majority of the board, included two of the weirdest of the lot: Frazier and Rothschild. Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative) said: "Carroll County will not become a repository for Obama's failed immigration policies." Hey, Mr. C., I seem to recall that the reason we are having to deal with these kids is because your hero, W. Bush, said that we had to help all children who come across our borders to match up with relatives or caretakers. And, as for Immigration... you can look to a do-nothing Congress of Conservatives... without consciences.
By the way, if lots of children are housed in Westminster.. won't they have to eat? Where will they get their food? From Westminster stores which will make a lot of money supplying the Government? Then we would see a different attitude. Money, as usual, talks.
03. Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette!
In spite of graphic health warnings and campaigns, the United States remains the second biggest tobacco market in the World... after China, of course.
I can remember when representatives of the tobacco companies would wait outside of my High School, passing out free packages of cigarettes to any teen-ager that would accept them. Get 'em addicted!
04. *Drones .. 30 minute Delivery!
Jeff Bezos wants to be able to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less as part of his planned "Prime Air" program. Amazon.com is trying to get permission from regulators to begin drone tests very soon in the Seattle area.
05. *Vacation Bible Schools .. More Catchy Names
Three more churches in the Westminster, Maryland area have named their upcoming Vacation Bible Schools with words designed to "catch" more students:
Imagine and Build With God
Agency DC, Workshop of Wonders
Red Carpet Awards: Lights, Camera, Action
06. *Hobby Lobby .. Criticism
Federal Judge Richard Kopf strongly criticized the Hobby Lobby decision in his blog: "Hercules and the Umpire". He ended his rant with the phrase: "As the kids say, it is time for the (Supreme) Court to STFU."
This supposed obscenity angered a lot of people who feel that jurists should not be involved in the blogosphere ("that often places high value on quick analysis and provocative comments.")
Wait a minute... isn't an appointed Federal judge allowed free speech? Oh.. that's right, he's not a corporation.
07. Justice Deferred
A Mt. Airy, Maryland man was just sentenced (July 2014) for a crime that took place in July 2013! A whole year to come to trial? Why? Can a backlog be that large?
08. Interfaith Breakthrough?
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WWDTM) folks mentioned that the Germans have built some kind of edifice that will be used as a combined Church, Mosque, and Synagogue. It will be called the House of One. Sounds like a good idea.
Paula Poundstone thinks that there one might be able to get a Communion wafer from a vending machine.
She also thinks that they may have a bench outside for Atheists.
09. *Plant Intelligence .. My Aspidistra can Hear!
WWDTM reports that tests with recorders have shown that plants can hear and react. For instance, scientists have played the sound of a munching butterfly near a leaf, and the plant released some kind of protective coating that would deter butterflies. We know plants are smart, we've been talking to ours for years.
10. *Boehner's Lawsuit .. Because of only one reason?
Some NPR reporter said today that the gist of Speaker Boehner's lawsuit against President Obama contained only one reason for the suit... that the President delayed one part of the Affordable Care Act. Come on, John...based on what you and your Tea Party friends have been saying.. you could only come up with that? Very sad!
11. Poncho Night or Klan Rally?
The White Sox management had a "Poncho Night" on which they gave everyone a hooded poncho. During the game, it started to rain and folks had to pull up their hoods to protect their hairdos... unfortunately, each hood was white and pointed.
............................................................................................................
! Skip the next one if you don't want to hear about naughty stuff!
12. *President Harding .. Staff of Chief.. I mean.. Chief of Staff
As mentioned before, our most corrupt and also handsomest President had a mistress to whom he penned hundreds of love letters and notes. These have now been released to the public and in most of them, the President talks about "Jerry".. in phrases like "Jerry misses you" and others of that kind.. who is this Jerry? Harding's son? No, you innocent thing you, he's talking about an item of his anatomy. No wonder he wanted his letters destroyed.
................................................................
Lately, people have been following people and events on Twitter by using "hashtags" #) .. which word even spellcheckers don't recognize yet. Since I often repeat myself on topics or add to something I've said before, I will give myself a symbol to show that I have talked about this subject before.. or I will be saying more in the future. That way, I can more easily sort and search for my subjects... maybe.
01. *Common Core .. Low Math Scores in Maryland
Math scores in Maryland State Assessment tests for Carroll County have dropped since last year and Leslie Wilson, former head of testing for Maryland says that some students may have been tested on concepts they have not been taught yet. The Carroll County Math statistics point directly to certain schools and that should be investigated, in my opinion.
02. *Child Immigrants .. Housing in Westminster?
The Administration is looking at several Maryland locations in which to house some of the thousands of children who are clogging our border stations. One of the sites under consideration is on Malcolm Drive in Maryland. Formerly used by the Government.. it is now vacant.
Three of our "enlightened" County Commissioners held an emergency session and voted "overwhelmingly" not to let the Government bring any of these kids here. The three, constituting a majority of the board, included two of the weirdest of the lot: Frazier and Rothschild. Richard Rothschild (Mr. Conservative) said: "Carroll County will not become a repository for Obama's failed immigration policies." Hey, Mr. C., I seem to recall that the reason we are having to deal with these kids is because your hero, W. Bush, said that we had to help all children who come across our borders to match up with relatives or caretakers. And, as for Immigration... you can look to a do-nothing Congress of Conservatives... without consciences.
By the way, if lots of children are housed in Westminster.. won't they have to eat? Where will they get their food? From Westminster stores which will make a lot of money supplying the Government? Then we would see a different attitude. Money, as usual, talks.
03. Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette!
In spite of graphic health warnings and campaigns, the United States remains the second biggest tobacco market in the World... after China, of course.
I can remember when representatives of the tobacco companies would wait outside of my High School, passing out free packages of cigarettes to any teen-ager that would accept them. Get 'em addicted!
04. *Drones .. 30 minute Delivery!
Jeff Bezos wants to be able to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less as part of his planned "Prime Air" program. Amazon.com is trying to get permission from regulators to begin drone tests very soon in the Seattle area.
05. *Vacation Bible Schools .. More Catchy Names
Three more churches in the Westminster, Maryland area have named their upcoming Vacation Bible Schools with words designed to "catch" more students:
Imagine and Build With God
Agency DC, Workshop of Wonders
Red Carpet Awards: Lights, Camera, Action
06. *Hobby Lobby .. Criticism
Federal Judge Richard Kopf strongly criticized the Hobby Lobby decision in his blog: "Hercules and the Umpire". He ended his rant with the phrase: "As the kids say, it is time for the (Supreme) Court to STFU."
This supposed obscenity angered a lot of people who feel that jurists should not be involved in the blogosphere ("that often places high value on quick analysis and provocative comments.")
Wait a minute... isn't an appointed Federal judge allowed free speech? Oh.. that's right, he's not a corporation.
07. Justice Deferred
A Mt. Airy, Maryland man was just sentenced (July 2014) for a crime that took place in July 2013! A whole year to come to trial? Why? Can a backlog be that large?
08. Interfaith Breakthrough?
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WWDTM) folks mentioned that the Germans have built some kind of edifice that will be used as a combined Church, Mosque, and Synagogue. It will be called the House of One. Sounds like a good idea.
Paula Poundstone thinks that there one might be able to get a Communion wafer from a vending machine.
She also thinks that they may have a bench outside for Atheists.
09. *Plant Intelligence .. My Aspidistra can Hear!
WWDTM reports that tests with recorders have shown that plants can hear and react. For instance, scientists have played the sound of a munching butterfly near a leaf, and the plant released some kind of protective coating that would deter butterflies. We know plants are smart, we've been talking to ours for years.
10. *Boehner's Lawsuit .. Because of only one reason?
Some NPR reporter said today that the gist of Speaker Boehner's lawsuit against President Obama contained only one reason for the suit... that the President delayed one part of the Affordable Care Act. Come on, John...based on what you and your Tea Party friends have been saying.. you could only come up with that? Very sad!
11. Poncho Night or Klan Rally?
The White Sox management had a "Poncho Night" on which they gave everyone a hooded poncho. During the game, it started to rain and folks had to pull up their hoods to protect their hairdos... unfortunately, each hood was white and pointed.
............................................................................................................
! Skip the next one if you don't want to hear about naughty stuff!
12. *President Harding .. Staff of Chief.. I mean.. Chief of Staff
As mentioned before, our most corrupt and also handsomest President had a mistress to whom he penned hundreds of love letters and notes. These have now been released to the public and in most of them, the President talks about "Jerry".. in phrases like "Jerry misses you" and others of that kind.. who is this Jerry? Harding's son? No, you innocent thing you, he's talking about an item of his anatomy. No wonder he wanted his letters destroyed.
................................................................
Friday, July 11, 2014
Shrinking; Whaler; Hogan; Waterslide; Big Cities; Guns; Jail; Fact Checking; Parking Spaces for sale; Corporations; Plastic; Meetings
Another hot, muggy Summer day. AARP meeting at the Elks Lodge in Westminster, Maryland. I'll include the joke I told somewhere in this blog entry.
01. Little Joe
A picture of our NARFE Chapter Officers showed up in today's Carroll County Times. This time I wasn't clipped out of the picture. I see that I am now the shortest male officer. I keep shrinking. If I live another ten years, I will probably be about 4 feet tall and considered a "little person." I think that I have now lost 4 inches (and I wasn't that damn tall to begin with) while some of my friends, including Norman at AARP who seems to be growing taller... he is now age 90 and 6'8" tall! I guess its all in your genes.
02. Morgan
My cousins, Allen and Diana Vaughan sent me a postcard from the visit to New Bedford, Massachusetts of the re-rigged Charles W. Morgan.. the last whaling ship to come back to New Bedford with barrels of whale oil. Shortsightedly, the City did not want to keep the ship in its harbor, so they moved it to Colonel Green's estate in Dartmouth, where it was observed by spies from Mystic, Connecticut, who reported back to their bosses that it would be a money-maker for the planned Mystic Seaport attraction.
It has been berthed in Mystic for years and now has been re-fitted as it was in the early 1900's and made seaworthy again. It was nice of Mystic to let the ship sail into New Bedford, its old port, for a few days. Maybe Mystic would sell it back if the price were right. Otherwise, NB should arrange to have a replica made.
Incidentally, Hettie Green (Colonel Green's mother and the richest woman in the world for years) made the bulk of her fortune with the Charles W. Morgan and its excellent record of whale oil recovery.
03. More Larry Hogan Confusion
The newspaper reports: "Maryland election officials have determined that Republican candidate for Maryland Governor, Larry Hogan, broke no laws in converting his Charge Maryland advocacy organization into a campaign organization. Change Maryland was set up by Hogan in 2011 as a limited liability corporation, owned solely by him. As such, its donations and expenditures are exempt from public scrutiny and campaign finance laws."
Yes, my small mind does not understand all of this and how it relates to the over $2 million, that Hogan will be getting for his campaign from a fund for that purpose. ???
04. Crazy!
Indeed! The new 169 foot long water slide is called Verrucht (insane in German) and it includes a plunge at 50 mph. This was newly built for the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas. (Ist das nicht ein Schlitterbahn?) A few years ago, my grandkids got me to go on a ride in Disneyland with them.. in which I "plunged" for what seemed to be miles at breakneck speed.. it was the scariest thing I have ever done.. and I will never do it again. It didn't seem to bother my little granddaughters in the least, and they enjoyed a big laugh on their Grandfather Chicken.
05. Man, is it getting crowded!
The United Nation reports that 3 1/2 billion people live in cities. The biggest cities.. those with ten million inhabitants or more are: Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Mexico City, Mumbai, and Sao Paolo
06. More Guns
Spring, Texas.. last week saw the murder of four children and their parents. And over the July 4th weekend, 80 people were shot and 16 of them were killed in Chicago. (When... when.... when will WE learn?)
07. Put 'em all in Jail!
Why does the United States have more people in jail than Russia?
One reason is that prosecutors' performance ratings are based on the number of convictions they obtain.
Why shouldn't non-violent criminals who have paid their debts to society have their rights restored?
08. Check those facts first!
The fact-checking site PUNDITFACT reports that 60% of the comments made on Fox News are false. They also report that 46% of the comments made on MSNBC are false.
My observation is that 100% of the political comments that I have forwarded to me by well-meaning friends and relatives is false.
09. How much for a nice parking place downtown?
The Monkey Parking APP users advertise parking spaces they are about to vacate. Bidding begins at
$5. (Unbelievable... but clever if they get away with it.)
The City of Baltimore decided that too many people were using handicap stickers that were not issued to them.. stolen or purchased.. so they have done away with all handicap parking spaces. Formerly, those with handicap stickers were not required to fill parking meters and could stay parked there all day for nothing. (Yes.. its all about money again.)
10. Corporations
I can't remember who commented this way, but I agree with what was said.
"Wait a minute... I've been studying recent Supreme Court Rulings and I have this question: Where in the Constitution are the words: Corporation or Money?
11. Plastic Ingestion?
Scientists report that the plastic floating around the ocean has been disappearing lately faster than it should be according to biodegrading rules. Some suspect that fish are nibbling on it and ingesting it little by little. Unfortunately, that means that when humans eat the fish, they too ingest plastic.. that can't be good. Other scientists think that some microbes in the ocean are attaching themselves to plastic, weighing it down so that it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. That can't be good either.
12. Let's go out to eat, boys.
At today's AARP luncheon, the four Elderly Brothers gave a barbershop concert. These guys are Senior Citizens, but they are full of life and spunk. I had a turn at giving the group a joke, and I brought the Elderly Brothers into the story I told.
Every ten years the Elderly Brothers would meet to eat and celebrate their singing success.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 40's, they decided to meet at Mikes because of the beautiful waitresses and cold beer.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 50's, they decided to meet at Mikes because the food and wine were good.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 60's, they decided to meet at Mikes because the place was quiet and smoke free.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 70's, they decided to meet at Mikes because it was wheel-chair accessible and had an elevator.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 80's they decided to meet at Mikes because they had never been there before.
......................................................................
01. Little Joe
A picture of our NARFE Chapter Officers showed up in today's Carroll County Times. This time I wasn't clipped out of the picture. I see that I am now the shortest male officer. I keep shrinking. If I live another ten years, I will probably be about 4 feet tall and considered a "little person." I think that I have now lost 4 inches (and I wasn't that damn tall to begin with) while some of my friends, including Norman at AARP who seems to be growing taller... he is now age 90 and 6'8" tall! I guess its all in your genes.
02. Morgan
My cousins, Allen and Diana Vaughan sent me a postcard from the visit to New Bedford, Massachusetts of the re-rigged Charles W. Morgan.. the last whaling ship to come back to New Bedford with barrels of whale oil. Shortsightedly, the City did not want to keep the ship in its harbor, so they moved it to Colonel Green's estate in Dartmouth, where it was observed by spies from Mystic, Connecticut, who reported back to their bosses that it would be a money-maker for the planned Mystic Seaport attraction.
It has been berthed in Mystic for years and now has been re-fitted as it was in the early 1900's and made seaworthy again. It was nice of Mystic to let the ship sail into New Bedford, its old port, for a few days. Maybe Mystic would sell it back if the price were right. Otherwise, NB should arrange to have a replica made.
Incidentally, Hettie Green (Colonel Green's mother and the richest woman in the world for years) made the bulk of her fortune with the Charles W. Morgan and its excellent record of whale oil recovery.
03. More Larry Hogan Confusion
The newspaper reports: "Maryland election officials have determined that Republican candidate for Maryland Governor, Larry Hogan, broke no laws in converting his Charge Maryland advocacy organization into a campaign organization. Change Maryland was set up by Hogan in 2011 as a limited liability corporation, owned solely by him. As such, its donations and expenditures are exempt from public scrutiny and campaign finance laws."
Yes, my small mind does not understand all of this and how it relates to the over $2 million, that Hogan will be getting for his campaign from a fund for that purpose. ???
04. Crazy!
Indeed! The new 169 foot long water slide is called Verrucht (insane in German) and it includes a plunge at 50 mph. This was newly built for the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas. (Ist das nicht ein Schlitterbahn?) A few years ago, my grandkids got me to go on a ride in Disneyland with them.. in which I "plunged" for what seemed to be miles at breakneck speed.. it was the scariest thing I have ever done.. and I will never do it again. It didn't seem to bother my little granddaughters in the least, and they enjoyed a big laugh on their Grandfather Chicken.
05. Man, is it getting crowded!
The United Nation reports that 3 1/2 billion people live in cities. The biggest cities.. those with ten million inhabitants or more are: Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Mexico City, Mumbai, and Sao Paolo
06. More Guns
Spring, Texas.. last week saw the murder of four children and their parents. And over the July 4th weekend, 80 people were shot and 16 of them were killed in Chicago. (When... when.... when will WE learn?)
07. Put 'em all in Jail!
Why does the United States have more people in jail than Russia?
One reason is that prosecutors' performance ratings are based on the number of convictions they obtain.
Why shouldn't non-violent criminals who have paid their debts to society have their rights restored?
08. Check those facts first!
The fact-checking site PUNDITFACT reports that 60% of the comments made on Fox News are false. They also report that 46% of the comments made on MSNBC are false.
My observation is that 100% of the political comments that I have forwarded to me by well-meaning friends and relatives is false.
09. How much for a nice parking place downtown?
The Monkey Parking APP users advertise parking spaces they are about to vacate. Bidding begins at
$5. (Unbelievable... but clever if they get away with it.)
The City of Baltimore decided that too many people were using handicap stickers that were not issued to them.. stolen or purchased.. so they have done away with all handicap parking spaces. Formerly, those with handicap stickers were not required to fill parking meters and could stay parked there all day for nothing. (Yes.. its all about money again.)
10. Corporations
I can't remember who commented this way, but I agree with what was said.
"Wait a minute... I've been studying recent Supreme Court Rulings and I have this question: Where in the Constitution are the words: Corporation or Money?
11. Plastic Ingestion?
Scientists report that the plastic floating around the ocean has been disappearing lately faster than it should be according to biodegrading rules. Some suspect that fish are nibbling on it and ingesting it little by little. Unfortunately, that means that when humans eat the fish, they too ingest plastic.. that can't be good. Other scientists think that some microbes in the ocean are attaching themselves to plastic, weighing it down so that it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. That can't be good either.
12. Let's go out to eat, boys.
At today's AARP luncheon, the four Elderly Brothers gave a barbershop concert. These guys are Senior Citizens, but they are full of life and spunk. I had a turn at giving the group a joke, and I brought the Elderly Brothers into the story I told.
Every ten years the Elderly Brothers would meet to eat and celebrate their singing success.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 40's, they decided to meet at Mikes because of the beautiful waitresses and cold beer.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 50's, they decided to meet at Mikes because the food and wine were good.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 60's, they decided to meet at Mikes because the place was quiet and smoke free.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 70's, they decided to meet at Mikes because it was wheel-chair accessible and had an elevator.
When the Elderly Brothers were in their 80's they decided to meet at Mikes because they had never been there before.
......................................................................
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Storms; Campaign Finance; Satellite Communication; Email; Gas; Greed; Jealousy; Common Core; World Cup Horn; Shock Jocks; Tattoo Elimination
Nice and sunny, hot and humid in the am.. about to rain in the pm.. 10 am AARP board mtg; 11:30 NARFE picnic in Woodbine, Maryland. Beautiful location at the Detweilers.
The Carroll County Times was very thin today.. it seems to be getting thinner every day since its takeover by the Baltimore Sun. But I need to see local news.. so I need to keep subscribing.
01. Stormy Weather
The storms of the day before yesterday are still causing problems. Lots of downed lines, and of course, the sad story of a 12 year old boy who was killed by a falling tree.
Elaine and I are still trying to dry out from our soaking in yesterday's storm. The weather report warns that we may get another storm sometime today.
02. Candidate money
The newspaper reports that Republican candidate for Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, will avail himself of the $2.6 million of public campaign financing for his run in November. This will deplete the fund. I have no knowledge as to how this money is allocated, nor where it comes from... I'll have to do my homework.
03. Bye Bye IC3.
When Jimmie Carter was President, an Earth satellite was launched, named IC3. Its job was to send important data back to Earth, which it did; but then it stopped data transmission. However, it was still circling. For some time now, a group of "nerds" has been trying to "wake up" the data transmission, but they failed. In their attempt, they had tried to interact with "old" technology, but technology has changed a lot since then and new stuff did not work in communicating with the old stuff.
04. Chew on that, buddy!
An NPR reporter reminded us today that we eat a lot of cellulose in our food. Companies add it to give "body" to their products. It is ground up wood! Scientists say that it doesn't hurt us and we should worry about the salt and sugar in products instead of worrying about how much cellulose we consume. (I wonder.)
05. Night, Night, Mama
The Mother Jones magazine people tell us that by 2015, the number of mobile devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and if they are used as they are today, 50% of the users will be checking their email while they are in bed.
A year ago, I had 900 "junk" email messages that I had not looked at. Over the year, I have gotten rid of all of them, and not just by deleting them. Concentrating on "junk" has allowed me to garner 900 "inbox" email messages that I need to look at. I think I need to work out an email action plan.
Well, at least I don't check my email when I'm in bed.
06. Save Gas says Mama
Mother Jones magazine also lists some tips from Wayne Gerdes on how to save on gas. He gets 59 MPH in an old Honda Civic.
a. Don't break so often. Coast when you can. (Like I did when I was courting my late wife who lived a few hills away from me... I would coast downhill with the key off and start up again to get to the top of the hills.. even though gas was only 16 cents a gallon then)
b. Don't speed. (You know that us old dudes never speed.)
c. Keep your tires inflated.
d. Try not to idle. Turn off the motor if you have to wait for something.
07. Sad Modern Family Story
Gordon Wilder lost his son, Ramon, in a burglary and robbery. Last week, police pinned the murder on his son, Brandon. Brandon is charged with killing his brother for clothes, cellphone and a rental car! To read the whole story, one gets very depressed about the disintegration of this family.
08. Recycling?
a. Heintz uses 2 million pounds of tomatoes a year to make ketchup.
b. The Ford Escape dashboard is made out of 10 pounds of recycled bluejeans, shirts and sweaters.
c. Ford is looking into turning dandelion pulp into some kind of rubber.
09. Common Core
The NEA is holding their convention shortly and they will be talking about the Common Core Agenda which was developed in a bipartisan air of cooperation and is meeting opposition all over the United States. Maybe they can resolve some of the problems people find with it. However, no matter what is done, I believe that the Tea Party will still raise hell about any attempts to mandate standards for students, even though such students aren't leaving High School with anything approaching knowledge these days... in my humble opinion.
10. What was that thing called?
During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a long horn was used to blow loud and obnoxious sounds during the games. I bought one of those to use as a funnel.. it worked great. However, I can't remember the name. Maybe I'll think of it during one of my dreams.
11. Shock Jocks?
The Baltimore Sun mentioned that "Sirius XM Shock Jock" Anthony Cumia was fired because of insensitive talk. I never heard him, but I think he had a large following.
The only Shock Jock I know of is Howard Stern. I heard one of his shows a few years ago.. at least 5 minutes of it and shut it off in disgust. However, I have now seen him on America's Got Talent and he seems to be kind of normal there.. and I also have detected a little empathy with some people doing auditions. Good.
12. Tattoo Go Away!
After our youths mature, some of them start to understand how stupid it was of them to get ugly tattoos slathered all over their bodies. Now, Dr. John Pescetti, a graduate of Hopkins Medical school has gone into the Tattoo Removal Business. But its only a part-time business.. one evening a month for the past 11 years. John estimates that he has removed up to 1,200 tattoos, all for free if the patients, ages 15 to 25, perform community service, and "keep clean." It's a time consuming painful process, but worth it to those youths who want to get a decent job and whose tattoos are holding them back.
.................................................
The Carroll County Times was very thin today.. it seems to be getting thinner every day since its takeover by the Baltimore Sun. But I need to see local news.. so I need to keep subscribing.
01. Stormy Weather
The storms of the day before yesterday are still causing problems. Lots of downed lines, and of course, the sad story of a 12 year old boy who was killed by a falling tree.
Elaine and I are still trying to dry out from our soaking in yesterday's storm. The weather report warns that we may get another storm sometime today.
02. Candidate money
The newspaper reports that Republican candidate for Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, will avail himself of the $2.6 million of public campaign financing for his run in November. This will deplete the fund. I have no knowledge as to how this money is allocated, nor where it comes from... I'll have to do my homework.
03. Bye Bye IC3.
When Jimmie Carter was President, an Earth satellite was launched, named IC3. Its job was to send important data back to Earth, which it did; but then it stopped data transmission. However, it was still circling. For some time now, a group of "nerds" has been trying to "wake up" the data transmission, but they failed. In their attempt, they had tried to interact with "old" technology, but technology has changed a lot since then and new stuff did not work in communicating with the old stuff.
04. Chew on that, buddy!
An NPR reporter reminded us today that we eat a lot of cellulose in our food. Companies add it to give "body" to their products. It is ground up wood! Scientists say that it doesn't hurt us and we should worry about the salt and sugar in products instead of worrying about how much cellulose we consume. (I wonder.)
05. Night, Night, Mama
The Mother Jones magazine people tell us that by 2015, the number of mobile devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and if they are used as they are today, 50% of the users will be checking their email while they are in bed.
A year ago, I had 900 "junk" email messages that I had not looked at. Over the year, I have gotten rid of all of them, and not just by deleting them. Concentrating on "junk" has allowed me to garner 900 "inbox" email messages that I need to look at. I think I need to work out an email action plan.
Well, at least I don't check my email when I'm in bed.
06. Save Gas says Mama
Mother Jones magazine also lists some tips from Wayne Gerdes on how to save on gas. He gets 59 MPH in an old Honda Civic.
a. Don't break so often. Coast when you can. (Like I did when I was courting my late wife who lived a few hills away from me... I would coast downhill with the key off and start up again to get to the top of the hills.. even though gas was only 16 cents a gallon then)
b. Don't speed. (You know that us old dudes never speed.)
c. Keep your tires inflated.
d. Try not to idle. Turn off the motor if you have to wait for something.
07. Sad Modern Family Story
Gordon Wilder lost his son, Ramon, in a burglary and robbery. Last week, police pinned the murder on his son, Brandon. Brandon is charged with killing his brother for clothes, cellphone and a rental car! To read the whole story, one gets very depressed about the disintegration of this family.
08. Recycling?
a. Heintz uses 2 million pounds of tomatoes a year to make ketchup.
b. The Ford Escape dashboard is made out of 10 pounds of recycled bluejeans, shirts and sweaters.
c. Ford is looking into turning dandelion pulp into some kind of rubber.
09. Common Core
The NEA is holding their convention shortly and they will be talking about the Common Core Agenda which was developed in a bipartisan air of cooperation and is meeting opposition all over the United States. Maybe they can resolve some of the problems people find with it. However, no matter what is done, I believe that the Tea Party will still raise hell about any attempts to mandate standards for students, even though such students aren't leaving High School with anything approaching knowledge these days... in my humble opinion.
10. What was that thing called?
During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, a long horn was used to blow loud and obnoxious sounds during the games. I bought one of those to use as a funnel.. it worked great. However, I can't remember the name. Maybe I'll think of it during one of my dreams.
11. Shock Jocks?
The Baltimore Sun mentioned that "Sirius XM Shock Jock" Anthony Cumia was fired because of insensitive talk. I never heard him, but I think he had a large following.
The only Shock Jock I know of is Howard Stern. I heard one of his shows a few years ago.. at least 5 minutes of it and shut it off in disgust. However, I have now seen him on America's Got Talent and he seems to be kind of normal there.. and I also have detected a little empathy with some people doing auditions. Good.
12. Tattoo Go Away!
After our youths mature, some of them start to understand how stupid it was of them to get ugly tattoos slathered all over their bodies. Now, Dr. John Pescetti, a graduate of Hopkins Medical school has gone into the Tattoo Removal Business. But its only a part-time business.. one evening a month for the past 11 years. John estimates that he has removed up to 1,200 tattoos, all for free if the patients, ages 15 to 25, perform community service, and "keep clean." It's a time consuming painful process, but worth it to those youths who want to get a decent job and whose tattoos are holding them back.
.................................................
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
Summer Storms; Old Fools; Bigger Signs; Political Cartoon; War Hawks; Drug Dealers; Jail Meetings; Work Scam; Numbers; Boehner's Lawsuit; Minimum Wage; Goat Patch; A Warrant
Very hot day for a trip on Village bus to the Gettysburg, PA, outlets. Exactly 10 seconds before Elaine and I got off the bus at home, the sky exploded with more rain, thunder, and lightning than we have had poured upon us for many moons. Yesterday saw a storm like this one also.. but that storm blew over a tree that landed on a young boy and killed him. Very sad.
01. Stupid acts are not limited to the young
A 69 year old Hampstead, Maryland man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 92 year old woman on several occasions. The judge decided that since the man was a caregiver for his invalid wife, he would not have to serve any time.
02. Oh.. let them have bigger signs if they want them
The Mount Airy, Maryland Council is about to consider and probably approve a regulation amendment allowing much larger political signs to be displayed in some parts of town. I guess they are hoping that this action will please "Mr. Conservative" Richard Rothschild.
Also, the Mount Airy Council will consider adjusting its recall process so that a recall can be started without stating a cause. Huh?! Is this related to so-called "fishing expeditions?"
03. Well, its about time
The Carroll County Times finally has published an editorial cartoon that pokes fun at the do-nothing Speaker of the House, John Boehner, rather than at President Obama. It will be real interesting to read the wording on Boehner's upcoming lawsuit. (see Mr. Zirpoli's comments in this blog entry.)
04. Why do our youths have to die?
John Culleton wrote in his monthly column about "not letting the war hawks prevail..." His comments are "spot on" as Mel B says. Why should we let our youths die and our coffers get depleted by getting involved in tribal warfare that will probably go on for another thousand years?
05. Hick town?
A Carroll County informant notified police that some New York drug dealers were invading Westminster, Maryland. Drug-sniffing dogs helped the police arrest two drug peddlers.
Why do drug dealers come to Westminster?
a. They think that Westminster is a hick town that probably has a police force consisting of Andy and Barney Pfife. (Well.. surprise, surprise.)
b. They probably figure that Baltimore residents like to come to country towns like Westminster to buy their drugs. (They do.)
06. Did the foxes run the hen house?
The Baltimore Sun reports that the upper management of the Baltimore City Jail held eleven "town hall meetings" with leaders of the Black Gorilla Family (BGF) to get tips on how to better operate the Institution. It was also reported that BGF leaders were allowed to "frisk" new prisoners and keep anything they found, because then the new-comers would understand that they had to behave themselves in the jail or answer to the BGF.
Some folks believe that Baltimore made a big mistake in locating its jail "in the hood" and then populating the guard force with people who lived there and were brought up with prisoners they were being paid to watch over. What do you think?
07. Work and Culture Scam in Turkey?
This was reported by L.A. from Oakland, in a letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"Some students from Istanbul said that they had paid for a Summer "Work Abroad" program in America, and instead, ended up working full time at a McDonalds, 30 miles outside of Las Vegas. They worked for no pay in high heat and were housed in a shared small room.. and there were no cultural activities for them to participate in for miles and miles."
08. Grandpa and the Afro-American
Elaine and I were wondering if the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper was still being printed. I think so. As we talked, I was reminded of the following:
When I was a kid, people loved to play the "numbers" in Massachusetts.. they probably still do. It gave a little hope to drab lives. I've written about this before.. there were two places to see what number "came out".. The Boston Record and the Baltimore Afro-American. These were my Grandfather's favorite newspapers. Since it would take a rather long walk to get the Record, he subscribed to the Afro.. and might have been one of very few white dudes to get that paper delivered west of New Bedford's Cottage Street.
Every day, maybe even Sunday, a little old bent-over African American man would shuffle up the mile-long uphill walk to our house to deliver the paper to his buddy, my Grandfather. And, every day, my Grandfather would give the old guy whatever change he had to be put on his favorite lucky number... 437 .. now, the secret is out... with that number, my grandfather won enough money to keep him in 5 cent beers every day. I hope he gave the old guy a tip when he won. I really felt sorry for him trudging all that way up hill... of course, he had an easier time going down the hill.
Later, when I drove a cab in New Bedford, I learned that the number collectors did not always turn bets in.. they knew that if a person won and the money had not been bet, the collector could get enough somewhere else to cover the "win." We are not talking big money here. Sometimes my grandfather's big win was around ten dollars. Once in a while he hit it "big" but not often. He never did get "stiffed" though.
09. Executive Orders and Signing Statements
Tom Zirpoli writes in his monthly column that Speaker John Boehner wants to bring his lawsuit against President Obama because of Obama's excessive use of executive orders and signing statements. But Mr. Zirpoli cites the fact that beloved Republican President Reagan issued 250 signing statements over 8 years while Obama has issued a grand total of 27 since he took office, and says: "Obama has issued fewer executive orders and signing statements compared to other presidents in the last century"
Presidential executive orders tell Federal Agencies how to do their business.
Signing statements are written objections by the President to bills or parts of bills, that he does not agree with, even though he has to sign such legally passed bills.
10. High minimum wage; low unemployment.
A CSPAN interviewee says that places like San Francisco and Seattle, where they pay high minimum wages have the lowest level of unemployment in the Country.
Remember that the largest group of persons receiving food stamp subsidies, are WalMart workers.
11. Horsin' Around Goats
A local lady named Hope Holland writes a pleasant column about her experiences with horses and farm issues. One story she told a while ago was about goats:
One of her friend's goats injured its eye and needed to wear an eye patch for a few days while the eye healed. Problem: the patch kept falling off. A patch-holding device had to be able to loop over the horns, snap around the goat's head and have a large-enough area to hold the bandage over the goat's injured eye.
Being a woman.. she found the perfect device.. a bra. Plenty of snaps, loops for the horns and the (eye) cup size was just right!
12. Horsin' Around the Farm
Hope likes to tell this story:
An officious Government agent stopped at a rural farm. He told the farmer: "I have a warrant to inspect your farm for illegally grown drugs."
The old farmer said, "Okay, but don't go in that field there."
The Government official yelled, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me. And he showed the farmer his warrant.
"See this warrant? This warrant allows me to go wherever I want to go on your farm, no questions asked. Do you understand?!"
The old farmer nodded politely and went about his chores.
Later, the farmer heard loud screams and saw the Government official running for his life, with the farmer's bull close behind.
The old farmer quickly ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Quick, Mister.. show him your warrant!"
............................................................................
01. Stupid acts are not limited to the young
A 69 year old Hampstead, Maryland man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 92 year old woman on several occasions. The judge decided that since the man was a caregiver for his invalid wife, he would not have to serve any time.
02. Oh.. let them have bigger signs if they want them
The Mount Airy, Maryland Council is about to consider and probably approve a regulation amendment allowing much larger political signs to be displayed in some parts of town. I guess they are hoping that this action will please "Mr. Conservative" Richard Rothschild.
Also, the Mount Airy Council will consider adjusting its recall process so that a recall can be started without stating a cause. Huh?! Is this related to so-called "fishing expeditions?"
03. Well, its about time
The Carroll County Times finally has published an editorial cartoon that pokes fun at the do-nothing Speaker of the House, John Boehner, rather than at President Obama. It will be real interesting to read the wording on Boehner's upcoming lawsuit. (see Mr. Zirpoli's comments in this blog entry.)
04. Why do our youths have to die?
John Culleton wrote in his monthly column about "not letting the war hawks prevail..." His comments are "spot on" as Mel B says. Why should we let our youths die and our coffers get depleted by getting involved in tribal warfare that will probably go on for another thousand years?
05. Hick town?
A Carroll County informant notified police that some New York drug dealers were invading Westminster, Maryland. Drug-sniffing dogs helped the police arrest two drug peddlers.
Why do drug dealers come to Westminster?
a. They think that Westminster is a hick town that probably has a police force consisting of Andy and Barney Pfife. (Well.. surprise, surprise.)
b. They probably figure that Baltimore residents like to come to country towns like Westminster to buy their drugs. (They do.)
06. Did the foxes run the hen house?
The Baltimore Sun reports that the upper management of the Baltimore City Jail held eleven "town hall meetings" with leaders of the Black Gorilla Family (BGF) to get tips on how to better operate the Institution. It was also reported that BGF leaders were allowed to "frisk" new prisoners and keep anything they found, because then the new-comers would understand that they had to behave themselves in the jail or answer to the BGF.
Some folks believe that Baltimore made a big mistake in locating its jail "in the hood" and then populating the guard force with people who lived there and were brought up with prisoners they were being paid to watch over. What do you think?
07. Work and Culture Scam in Turkey?
This was reported by L.A. from Oakland, in a letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"Some students from Istanbul said that they had paid for a Summer "Work Abroad" program in America, and instead, ended up working full time at a McDonalds, 30 miles outside of Las Vegas. They worked for no pay in high heat and were housed in a shared small room.. and there were no cultural activities for them to participate in for miles and miles."
08. Grandpa and the Afro-American
Elaine and I were wondering if the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper was still being printed. I think so. As we talked, I was reminded of the following:
When I was a kid, people loved to play the "numbers" in Massachusetts.. they probably still do. It gave a little hope to drab lives. I've written about this before.. there were two places to see what number "came out".. The Boston Record and the Baltimore Afro-American. These were my Grandfather's favorite newspapers. Since it would take a rather long walk to get the Record, he subscribed to the Afro.. and might have been one of very few white dudes to get that paper delivered west of New Bedford's Cottage Street.
Every day, maybe even Sunday, a little old bent-over African American man would shuffle up the mile-long uphill walk to our house to deliver the paper to his buddy, my Grandfather. And, every day, my Grandfather would give the old guy whatever change he had to be put on his favorite lucky number... 437 .. now, the secret is out... with that number, my grandfather won enough money to keep him in 5 cent beers every day. I hope he gave the old guy a tip when he won. I really felt sorry for him trudging all that way up hill... of course, he had an easier time going down the hill.
Later, when I drove a cab in New Bedford, I learned that the number collectors did not always turn bets in.. they knew that if a person won and the money had not been bet, the collector could get enough somewhere else to cover the "win." We are not talking big money here. Sometimes my grandfather's big win was around ten dollars. Once in a while he hit it "big" but not often. He never did get "stiffed" though.
09. Executive Orders and Signing Statements
Tom Zirpoli writes in his monthly column that Speaker John Boehner wants to bring his lawsuit against President Obama because of Obama's excessive use of executive orders and signing statements. But Mr. Zirpoli cites the fact that beloved Republican President Reagan issued 250 signing statements over 8 years while Obama has issued a grand total of 27 since he took office, and says: "Obama has issued fewer executive orders and signing statements compared to other presidents in the last century"
Presidential executive orders tell Federal Agencies how to do their business.
Signing statements are written objections by the President to bills or parts of bills, that he does not agree with, even though he has to sign such legally passed bills.
10. High minimum wage; low unemployment.
A CSPAN interviewee says that places like San Francisco and Seattle, where they pay high minimum wages have the lowest level of unemployment in the Country.
Remember that the largest group of persons receiving food stamp subsidies, are WalMart workers.
11. Horsin' Around Goats
A local lady named Hope Holland writes a pleasant column about her experiences with horses and farm issues. One story she told a while ago was about goats:
One of her friend's goats injured its eye and needed to wear an eye patch for a few days while the eye healed. Problem: the patch kept falling off. A patch-holding device had to be able to loop over the horns, snap around the goat's head and have a large-enough area to hold the bandage over the goat's injured eye.
Being a woman.. she found the perfect device.. a bra. Plenty of snaps, loops for the horns and the (eye) cup size was just right!
12. Horsin' Around the Farm
Hope likes to tell this story:
An officious Government agent stopped at a rural farm. He told the farmer: "I have a warrant to inspect your farm for illegally grown drugs."
The old farmer said, "Okay, but don't go in that field there."
The Government official yelled, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me. And he showed the farmer his warrant.
"See this warrant? This warrant allows me to go wherever I want to go on your farm, no questions asked. Do you understand?!"
The old farmer nodded politely and went about his chores.
Later, the farmer heard loud screams and saw the Government official running for his life, with the farmer's bull close behind.
The old farmer quickly ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Quick, Mister.. show him your warrant!"
............................................................................
Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Special Christmas in July Shopping Aid
Its 90 plus degrees, muggy and sunny... time for CHRISTMAS IN JULY!
At Christmas time in December, I usually publish my picks for presents to give to friends and family. Last Christmas, I was medically unable to do so... so, to make up for that, and to celebrate Christmas in July!, I offer the following picks from a special catalog with the title:
Things You Never Knew Existed (and other items you can't possibly live without )... if interested, you can visit them at www.thingsyouneverknew.com
Gift 01: For your little kid or your big kid
Monster water cannon on a tripod.. this gem shoots a stream of water 100 feet, and can be yours for only $49.98.
Gift 02: For the young man in your life
Cosmetic teeth: plastic teeth that snap over your own ugly, deformed, cavity-ridden choppers. They are guaranteed to produce a beautiful smile and attract pretty girls. (Are you listening, Turtleman?)
Only $34.98.
Gift 03: For the other young man in your life
ATV-shaped hair shaver. It "wheels" over your hairy dome, and you'll soon be looking like that sexy Howie Mandell. ($19.98)
Gift 04: For the special other young man in your life
Tattoo Concealer: Is your young man getting ready for a job interview? He can cover up his swastikas and Chinese characters by wiping on some of this special salve and no one will ever be the wiser. (It'll come off later with a little soap and water.) Just $19.98.
Gift 05: For that other young man who wants to be your friend
Instant Dragon Tattoo Sleeve: If he is disgusted with the high price of tattoos, he can slip on this colorful and realistic nylon mesh sleeve that looks exactly like a high-priced dragon tattoo. In fact, it comes as a pair, one for each arm.. or leg. (A bargain at $7.98 for the set.)
Gift 06: For a homeowner
Solar powered brown wolf light. Guaranteed to scare off any and all prowlers. Never needs batteries. So realistic, you will be expecting it to howl at the moon. ($16.98)
Gift 07: For "real" men
Hairy feet slippers: everybody will mistake you for Bigfoot! (Only $15.98)
Gift 08: For Dirty Young Men
The Perverted Garden Gnome: adults only! Scares away evil bugs and helps gardens grow.
Gift 09: For Young Men who want to learn how to please Women
Informational T-Shirt: The shirt says: How to Please a Woman
1. Love her
2. Die for her
3. Take her to Dinner
4. Miss the game for her
5. Buy her jewelry
6. Be interested in what she says
It also tells how to please a man"
1. Show up naked
2. Bring beer
All this for $14.98.
Gift 10: Gift for the more mature man
Insta-slim shirt that hides your beer belly. Great Spandex feature takes up to 5 inches off your middle, or so they say. Also, it is very cool (both ways). Only $29.98)
Gift 11: Another gift for the more mature man
The Ankle Genie Compression Stocking: Just use the built-in zipper to get those damned tight stockings around those fat legs! ($12.98)
Gift 12: Gift for the Much older Man
T-Shirt message #1: Am I getting older, or is the supermarket playing great music?
T-Shirt message #2: I never step on the scale because the scale doesn't measure SEXY.
(Your pick for only $14.98)
.........................................
I hope that this has helped you in your gift shopping.
At Christmas time in December, I usually publish my picks for presents to give to friends and family. Last Christmas, I was medically unable to do so... so, to make up for that, and to celebrate Christmas in July!, I offer the following picks from a special catalog with the title:
Things You Never Knew Existed (and other items you can't possibly live without )... if interested, you can visit them at www.thingsyouneverknew.com
Gift 01: For your little kid or your big kid
Monster water cannon on a tripod.. this gem shoots a stream of water 100 feet, and can be yours for only $49.98.
Gift 02: For the young man in your life
Cosmetic teeth: plastic teeth that snap over your own ugly, deformed, cavity-ridden choppers. They are guaranteed to produce a beautiful smile and attract pretty girls. (Are you listening, Turtleman?)
Only $34.98.
Gift 03: For the other young man in your life
ATV-shaped hair shaver. It "wheels" over your hairy dome, and you'll soon be looking like that sexy Howie Mandell. ($19.98)
Gift 04: For the special other young man in your life
Tattoo Concealer: Is your young man getting ready for a job interview? He can cover up his swastikas and Chinese characters by wiping on some of this special salve and no one will ever be the wiser. (It'll come off later with a little soap and water.) Just $19.98.
Gift 05: For that other young man who wants to be your friend
Instant Dragon Tattoo Sleeve: If he is disgusted with the high price of tattoos, he can slip on this colorful and realistic nylon mesh sleeve that looks exactly like a high-priced dragon tattoo. In fact, it comes as a pair, one for each arm.. or leg. (A bargain at $7.98 for the set.)
Gift 06: For a homeowner
Solar powered brown wolf light. Guaranteed to scare off any and all prowlers. Never needs batteries. So realistic, you will be expecting it to howl at the moon. ($16.98)
Gift 07: For "real" men
Hairy feet slippers: everybody will mistake you for Bigfoot! (Only $15.98)
Gift 08: For Dirty Young Men
The Perverted Garden Gnome: adults only! Scares away evil bugs and helps gardens grow.
Gift 09: For Young Men who want to learn how to please Women
Informational T-Shirt: The shirt says: How to Please a Woman
1. Love her
2. Die for her
3. Take her to Dinner
4. Miss the game for her
5. Buy her jewelry
6. Be interested in what she says
It also tells how to please a man"
1. Show up naked
2. Bring beer
All this for $14.98.
Gift 10: Gift for the more mature man
Insta-slim shirt that hides your beer belly. Great Spandex feature takes up to 5 inches off your middle, or so they say. Also, it is very cool (both ways). Only $29.98)
Gift 11: Another gift for the more mature man
The Ankle Genie Compression Stocking: Just use the built-in zipper to get those damned tight stockings around those fat legs! ($12.98)
Gift 12: Gift for the Much older Man
T-Shirt message #1: Am I getting older, or is the supermarket playing great music?
T-Shirt message #2: I never step on the scale because the scale doesn't measure SEXY.
(Your pick for only $14.98)
.........................................
I hope that this has helped you in your gift shopping.
Monday, July 07, 2014
JV Fan Club; Herzogenaurach; Mausdorf; Write-Ins; Grammar Lesson; Wheaton Again; Civil War; Signs; Dog Killing; Ad; Pres Harding; Andy Harris; Genealogy; Turtle Race
Nice 88 degree, kind of humid Summer day, with lots and lots of sun. I bought two more tomato plants.. cherry type, with a bonus.. they already have red tomatoes. My daughter, Diane says she has gotten carrots and green beans already, but she is mad that her tomatoes are not yet red.
Diane's husband won $3,000, as I might have mentioned.. so today he called and said that since I had bought him the winning ticket, he will be my number one advocate for the Joe Vaughan Fan Club.
Today I asked that the Lost and Find file for the local Giant Food Store be examined to see if someone found the pen that I lost there recently. I told the clerk that it was a valuable heirloom.. actually, it was a Joe Vaughan Fan Club pen... and of course, it is very valuable to me.
01. German Towns
Well, what do you know.. the mayor of Herzogenaurach, Germany is named German Hacker and a person writing to #2600 Hacker Magazine likes that. I do too, and also because Herzogenaurach was where I was stationed for 18 months of my stay in Germany.. many many many years ago.
Herzogenaurach housed a famous Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Base during World War II, and when I was there, it was a U.S. Army Base, home of Radio Free Europe. Lots of entertainers on the base, some of whom would burst into song and dance uninvited at a moment's notice.
The Army let us Air Force guys use part of their billets.. real nice quarters too. I had a separate room with a nice bed and a recliner.. and for a while.. a hand carved Schrank. A Schrank is a closet outside of a closet.. like a cabinet.. in which you hung your clothes. I really liked mine.. it had carved deer and trees and other wild life and was made of beautiful wood. A work of art.
And then... one day a directive came down saying that we had to empty our Schranks and lay them out in the parade ground in a pile... we did so, and just as we suspected, they were set on fire and destroyed. Meanwhile, trucks rolled up with replacements.. tin-like battleship gray tiny containers that we had to put together with screwdrivers. I could not understand why we had to destroy beauty and replace it with ugliness. But, I guess it was because some General's brother needed to make a bunch of money in Army procurements.
At the beginning of each day, us Air Force guys would hop into the back of a 4x4 truck and travel 20 miles to a small village with an appropriate name: Mausdorf (yes: Mouse Village). There we had a secret base known only to a few hundred thousand East and West Germans. But.. that is another story for another time.
02. Losers May Try Again
The Carroll County Times reports that some of the losers in the recent primary elections may try write-in campaigns for the main election in November. Barbara Biller lost to Richard Rothschild in Mt. Airy 2,206 to 1,559. She might have a good chance with a write-in vote. There are a lot of Democrats who would like to see someone else in the Commissioner's seat.
Jerry Barnes was defeated for State's Attorney. He isn't talking about a write-in campaign. I think he is still smarting over his unexpected defeat. (It happened to Eric Cantor too, Jerry.)
Robin Frazier may or may not...She mentioned that she had not intended to seek public office until she received a call from God to run for County Commissioner in 1998. (Did he call on land line or cell phone, Robin?)
03. Me or I?
Bill Kennedy wrote about grammar and syntax in his monthly column and he mentioned an easy way to know when to use "I" or "me". He says that you must break the sentence apart, as in the following example: John and (me or I) went to the show.
Broken, half of the sentence would be either Me went to the show. or I went to the show. So, which one is right... I example.. so the correct sentence would be John and I went to the show.
04. More on Wheaton College
Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post writes: "The majority of the justices ruled that Wheaton College... does not have to comply with the OBama Administration requirement that it fill out a form to register religious objections to providing some types of contraceptive coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act."
"... Some colleges and religious organizations say that signing the form authorizes third parties to provide contraceptive coverage, which, they say, still makes them compliant in actions that offend their religious beliefs"
Once again, a lawyer's convoluted dream case, in my humble opinion.
05. Civil War Wisdom
Catherine Switzer says: "The couple that re-enacts together, stays together.:
06. Campaign Signs Again
Richard Rothschild, as well as 3 other candidates, were asked by Mt. Airy to remove outsized political signs that violated the town's regulations. As would be expected, Mr. Rothschild argued that the sign size regulation was unconstitutional because it put a restriction on political speech.
07. Dog Killed
A State Trooper shot and killed a pit bull that was attacking its owner. Will this get the publicity that earlier dog killings did? (Time will tell.)
08. Eye catching Ad
Big letters: BIRDS STOPPED CHIRPING?
Maybe its time to get your hearing checked. (Connect Hearing Company Ad)
09. Ohio President
President Warren Gamiel Harding wrote around 900 letters to his mistress over the years. They are being made available after a 50 year court-ordered sealing.
You remember President Harding don't you? He founded the "money pit" form of government. He had a big pit dug in the yard of a DC row house, and lobbyists and other seekers of favors would casually stroll by and drop money into that hole where Harding's henchmen would recover it for him.
Warren Harding was considered to be the most handsome and the most corrupt President... (wait a minute! What about Richard Nixon, who ran a Mafia type organization out of his oval office?)
10. Andy Harris vs. the District of Columbia
Republican Representative Andy Harris, whose ridiculously Gerrymandered district stretches across Maryland from Ocean City, wants to usurp DC's right to make its own regulations. DC wants to legalize pot; Dr. Andy doesn't want them to and has attached an amendment to a 2015 spending bill preventing DC from decriminalizing marijuana.
A Baltimore Sun article says " In Annapolis, Dr. Harris was mostly a preening pest who made sanctimonious speeches on the Senate floor that annoyed even his GOP colleagues. In Washington, he's among enough like-minded right-wing zealots to cause real trouble."
11. Genealogy Tips
At this month's Genealogy Gang meeting at Carroll Lutheran Village, Bill Amos, ace genealogist, laid out 5 tips to help both budding genealogists and those that are experienced.
a. Brainstorm (consider lots of ideas; etc.)
b. Sidestep (look through corollary lines, neighbor information, etc)
c. Use Sources (also contact all family members; etc.)
d. Know what is available (Find A Grave; Family Search; Snippet Tool, etc.)
e. Dive into times and places (historical dates; local history; local maps; plats, etc.)
12. Squirt Wins it Big
A speedy little turtle named Squirt, won the July 4th Turtle Race in Bel Air, Maryland's Shamrock Park. Squirt's owner, being an animal-friendly young man, let the turtle return to its natural habitat after the race.
..........................................
Diane's husband won $3,000, as I might have mentioned.. so today he called and said that since I had bought him the winning ticket, he will be my number one advocate for the Joe Vaughan Fan Club.
Today I asked that the Lost and Find file for the local Giant Food Store be examined to see if someone found the pen that I lost there recently. I told the clerk that it was a valuable heirloom.. actually, it was a Joe Vaughan Fan Club pen... and of course, it is very valuable to me.
01. German Towns
Well, what do you know.. the mayor of Herzogenaurach, Germany is named German Hacker and a person writing to #2600 Hacker Magazine likes that. I do too, and also because Herzogenaurach was where I was stationed for 18 months of my stay in Germany.. many many many years ago.
Herzogenaurach housed a famous Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Base during World War II, and when I was there, it was a U.S. Army Base, home of Radio Free Europe. Lots of entertainers on the base, some of whom would burst into song and dance uninvited at a moment's notice.
The Army let us Air Force guys use part of their billets.. real nice quarters too. I had a separate room with a nice bed and a recliner.. and for a while.. a hand carved Schrank. A Schrank is a closet outside of a closet.. like a cabinet.. in which you hung your clothes. I really liked mine.. it had carved deer and trees and other wild life and was made of beautiful wood. A work of art.
And then... one day a directive came down saying that we had to empty our Schranks and lay them out in the parade ground in a pile... we did so, and just as we suspected, they were set on fire and destroyed. Meanwhile, trucks rolled up with replacements.. tin-like battleship gray tiny containers that we had to put together with screwdrivers. I could not understand why we had to destroy beauty and replace it with ugliness. But, I guess it was because some General's brother needed to make a bunch of money in Army procurements.
At the beginning of each day, us Air Force guys would hop into the back of a 4x4 truck and travel 20 miles to a small village with an appropriate name: Mausdorf (yes: Mouse Village). There we had a secret base known only to a few hundred thousand East and West Germans. But.. that is another story for another time.
02. Losers May Try Again
The Carroll County Times reports that some of the losers in the recent primary elections may try write-in campaigns for the main election in November. Barbara Biller lost to Richard Rothschild in Mt. Airy 2,206 to 1,559. She might have a good chance with a write-in vote. There are a lot of Democrats who would like to see someone else in the Commissioner's seat.
Jerry Barnes was defeated for State's Attorney. He isn't talking about a write-in campaign. I think he is still smarting over his unexpected defeat. (It happened to Eric Cantor too, Jerry.)
Robin Frazier may or may not...She mentioned that she had not intended to seek public office until she received a call from God to run for County Commissioner in 1998. (Did he call on land line or cell phone, Robin?)
03. Me or I?
Bill Kennedy wrote about grammar and syntax in his monthly column and he mentioned an easy way to know when to use "I" or "me". He says that you must break the sentence apart, as in the following example: John and (me or I) went to the show.
Broken, half of the sentence would be either Me went to the show. or I went to the show. So, which one is right... I example.. so the correct sentence would be John and I went to the show.
04. More on Wheaton College
Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post writes: "The majority of the justices ruled that Wheaton College... does not have to comply with the OBama Administration requirement that it fill out a form to register religious objections to providing some types of contraceptive coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act."
"... Some colleges and religious organizations say that signing the form authorizes third parties to provide contraceptive coverage, which, they say, still makes them compliant in actions that offend their religious beliefs"
Once again, a lawyer's convoluted dream case, in my humble opinion.
05. Civil War Wisdom
Catherine Switzer says: "The couple that re-enacts together, stays together.:
06. Campaign Signs Again
Richard Rothschild, as well as 3 other candidates, were asked by Mt. Airy to remove outsized political signs that violated the town's regulations. As would be expected, Mr. Rothschild argued that the sign size regulation was unconstitutional because it put a restriction on political speech.
07. Dog Killed
A State Trooper shot and killed a pit bull that was attacking its owner. Will this get the publicity that earlier dog killings did? (Time will tell.)
08. Eye catching Ad
Big letters: BIRDS STOPPED CHIRPING?
Maybe its time to get your hearing checked. (Connect Hearing Company Ad)
09. Ohio President
President Warren Gamiel Harding wrote around 900 letters to his mistress over the years. They are being made available after a 50 year court-ordered sealing.
You remember President Harding don't you? He founded the "money pit" form of government. He had a big pit dug in the yard of a DC row house, and lobbyists and other seekers of favors would casually stroll by and drop money into that hole where Harding's henchmen would recover it for him.
Warren Harding was considered to be the most handsome and the most corrupt President... (wait a minute! What about Richard Nixon, who ran a Mafia type organization out of his oval office?)
10. Andy Harris vs. the District of Columbia
Republican Representative Andy Harris, whose ridiculously Gerrymandered district stretches across Maryland from Ocean City, wants to usurp DC's right to make its own regulations. DC wants to legalize pot; Dr. Andy doesn't want them to and has attached an amendment to a 2015 spending bill preventing DC from decriminalizing marijuana.
A Baltimore Sun article says " In Annapolis, Dr. Harris was mostly a preening pest who made sanctimonious speeches on the Senate floor that annoyed even his GOP colleagues. In Washington, he's among enough like-minded right-wing zealots to cause real trouble."
11. Genealogy Tips
At this month's Genealogy Gang meeting at Carroll Lutheran Village, Bill Amos, ace genealogist, laid out 5 tips to help both budding genealogists and those that are experienced.
a. Brainstorm (consider lots of ideas; etc.)
b. Sidestep (look through corollary lines, neighbor information, etc)
c. Use Sources (also contact all family members; etc.)
d. Know what is available (Find A Grave; Family Search; Snippet Tool, etc.)
e. Dive into times and places (historical dates; local history; local maps; plats, etc.)
12. Squirt Wins it Big
A speedy little turtle named Squirt, won the July 4th Turtle Race in Bel Air, Maryland's Shamrock Park. Squirt's owner, being an animal-friendly young man, let the turtle return to its natural habitat after the race.
..........................................
Sunday, July 06, 2014
Dead White Men; Corporations; Newsweek; Death in Hot Cars; Circus; Wheaton; Retirement; Wine and Veggies; Bigotry; Guns; Barking Dogs; Nickels; Dimes
Sunny, kind of dry and not too hot. A nice 6th of July. All of my daughter Diane's plants have new homes now and it is time to buy a few more before it is too late for them to produce.
01. Zombies?
The Carroll County Times reports that the Children's Choir of Carroll County has returned from a 10 day tour of Europe. I liked what their director, Diane Jones, said: "...all of the famous dead white men went through Vienna..." I'm glad that some of the County Children now have a taste of European culture.. and I hope they remember the names of those dead white men.
02. Corporations Again
Jim Lee wrote an op-ed piece mildly chastising the GOP. I think that he has it right when he says:
"If the Conservative Right wants less government, it has to stop coddling corporations that are taking the biggest advantage of us and start standing up for the people who are just trying to get by."
03 Parting Shot?
Normally liberal Newsweek Magazine published its last issue this week and included a nasty, error filled article lambasting the President. I had a hard time believing they were saying what they were saying.. didn't they fact check? I visited www.newsweek.com and found out that they may have published that article as a counterpoint to a supposedly equally nasty article on Mitt Romney that they published recently. I don't know about that.. I have not read Newsweek since my last Doctor's Office Visit, so I am not acquainted with that article.
However, Newsweek representatives said that they did not have enough money in their coffers to fact check. Well, some folks did do the job for them and we will be hearing more about all of this in the near future. Meanwhile, I think that Karl Rove is smiling a lot, now that someone has done his job for him. This is, of course, my opinion, Karl.
04. A National Tragedy
Since 1998, an average of 38 children have died each year in hot cars. 70% were two years old or younger. (When.. when.. when will they learn?)
05. The Circus
Someone once wrote: "Damn everything but the circus!" but I can't remember who.
I love the circus and for years I attended everyone that came to town, even though I had nightmares about three events that occurred in the same year, on today's date, in 1944.
a. A boy the same age as me, hitching a ride on the junction rod between circus wagons, fell off during the circus parade, and was crushed to death, near where I was standing, in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
b. In the same parade, I saw what I thought was a glaring Toto, the Ringling Brothers gorilla. I must have looked him in the eyes and angered him. I had never been that scared before, in my early life.
c. The next week, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus was under tent in nearby Hartford, Connecticut, when a fire broke out, killing 168 people.
I eventually overcame my fear and became a temporary worker whenever the circus came to town. I got paid one shiny half dollar from the tent boss for helping raise the tent, and later that night, got another half dollar for helping take the tent down. It was a combined effort with men and boys and elephants working together to manipulate this enormous piece of canvas. Dangerous too.
I also worked all the circuses and sports that were held near my home at a place called Sargent Field. Because I sold more peanuts and soda than the other kids, I got a higher commission than they did. And when I worked in the ring toss tent, I learned that the peg with the 6 on it, could be construed to be a 9, the 16, when held upside down, could become 91... this is how the "carnies" cheat the kids.
Part of the fun in working the circuses was the titillation factor as the female "artistes" would walk by as they dressed or undressed for their acts. Remember, this was when I was ten or eleven years old.
One thing bothered me very much though. On the grounds there was an iron lung set up, with stairs going up and down, where you could look eye to eye through a mirror at "The Girl in the Iron Lung!" This presentation garnered lots of donations.
One night, when I was working after the audiences had departed, I heard a loud creaking, and the iron lung suddenly opened and the girl (lady) inside got out and rapidly walked away. There were lots of lessons for me to learn at the circus.
06. Wheaton College Clarification
I was confused about the Supreme Court's action concerning Wheaton College. The confusion was dissipated by one sentence of David Savage:
"The fight (about contraceptives) flared again Thursday when the majority (of the Supreme Court)... agreed to give Wheaton College in Illinois a temporary religious exemption from the birth control mandate."
07. Retirement Failure
Friend and neighbor, Hermine Saunders writes in her monthly column today, that because she has multiple obligations in senior issue organizations, she has, in a sense, "failed" retirement. Hermine, I know how you feel.. get used to it.. I retired in 1995 and I haven't really "retired" yet. But, its fun to keep busy.
08. Fellow Wino?
Neighbor Ralph Reise was written up in the newspaper today as a guy who keeps a fantastic garden every year, even while living at Carroll Lutheran Village. He utilizes one of two large areas of plowed and prepared land that is made available to us. He says he has fresh veggies all season long and even has enough to give to his neighbors.
Ralph also says that in his home before the Village, he would make up to 15 gallons of wine a year. Well, Ralph, while I didn't make quite that much, I did make some.. in fact, I still have a couple of bottles of my infamous PeaPod Wine. Its been aging since 1976, but it still tastes lousy. I've only found one person that liked it and she has moved out of my wine range.
09. Corporations Again and Again
Al Lewis writes: "Free speech? Freedom of religion? What cherished human right will our Supreme Court bestow upon corporations next? The right to bear arms?"
Some of the "Occupy Wall Street" protestors carried signs that read: "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."
10. Bigotry Veiled
Comedian Dave Chappelle mentions in the New Yorker Magazine what sounds like a great skit that he did on his Comedy Central program Chappelle's Show. He played a blind white supremacist who doesn't realize that he's black and sits on the porch, "like a refugee from 'Deliverance'", making derogatory remarks about black people. I tried to get to see it on YouTube, but it was blocked because of copyright issues.
11. Gun Wisdom
Billy Collins, who I think was poet laureate, has written a great poem with the title: "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House."
A poem about a constantly barking dog and Beethoven music.. and a person who is almost at his wit's end as I was in 2 similar situations a few years ago.
a. When we lived in Randallstown, Maryland in a neighborhood with closely packed back yards, one of the neighbors had a German Shepherd that barked all the time, night and day.. the neighbor ignored everyone's complaints. One night, when I needed to get some sleep, I had it.. after yelling at the dog to shut up and not getting the required response, I picked up a large solid round rock and threw it across three or four back yards until it landed right on the dog's nose. It shut him up for a few hours... I felt terrible.. I climbed fences so I could check to make sure he was ok.. I think he was just insulted.. he looked ok and was able to resume, as I said, after a couple of hours. Soon after that, all of the neighbors got together and forced the owner to keep the dog indoors when it wasn't outside with him.
b. When we lived in Gamber, Maryland, my late wife was very ill and needed to sleep. However, the Beagle next door didn't like it when his owners went to work and he would howl every 2 minutes all of the time that they were gone. After a while, I decided that something had to be done, so I called the owner at work and made him come home and do something to quiet the dog down. The owner did not like the fact that I had gotten to call him at work, because his boss had answered the phone. Any way, the owner heard from other neighbors as well, and finally decided to sell the dog to a hunter.. which is where the dog should have been anyway. In its place, he bought a German Shepherd which was a barker, but with a bark that one could live with.
12. Another Nickel
Almost every day I receive either a nickel or dime from some non-profit organization asking for a donation. Sounds like a good gimmick. I keep this small change for my bank account. I give donations whenever I can and I don't like being given guilt trips by small coins in my junk mail. So, I will keep anything that I get free in the mail, like XMAS cards, calculators, pens, jewelry, and coins.
..................................
01. Zombies?
The Carroll County Times reports that the Children's Choir of Carroll County has returned from a 10 day tour of Europe. I liked what their director, Diane Jones, said: "...all of the famous dead white men went through Vienna..." I'm glad that some of the County Children now have a taste of European culture.. and I hope they remember the names of those dead white men.
02. Corporations Again
Jim Lee wrote an op-ed piece mildly chastising the GOP. I think that he has it right when he says:
"If the Conservative Right wants less government, it has to stop coddling corporations that are taking the biggest advantage of us and start standing up for the people who are just trying to get by."
03 Parting Shot?
Normally liberal Newsweek Magazine published its last issue this week and included a nasty, error filled article lambasting the President. I had a hard time believing they were saying what they were saying.. didn't they fact check? I visited www.newsweek.com and found out that they may have published that article as a counterpoint to a supposedly equally nasty article on Mitt Romney that they published recently. I don't know about that.. I have not read Newsweek since my last Doctor's Office Visit, so I am not acquainted with that article.
However, Newsweek representatives said that they did not have enough money in their coffers to fact check. Well, some folks did do the job for them and we will be hearing more about all of this in the near future. Meanwhile, I think that Karl Rove is smiling a lot, now that someone has done his job for him. This is, of course, my opinion, Karl.
04. A National Tragedy
Since 1998, an average of 38 children have died each year in hot cars. 70% were two years old or younger. (When.. when.. when will they learn?)
05. The Circus
Someone once wrote: "Damn everything but the circus!" but I can't remember who.
I love the circus and for years I attended everyone that came to town, even though I had nightmares about three events that occurred in the same year, on today's date, in 1944.
a. A boy the same age as me, hitching a ride on the junction rod between circus wagons, fell off during the circus parade, and was crushed to death, near where I was standing, in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
b. In the same parade, I saw what I thought was a glaring Toto, the Ringling Brothers gorilla. I must have looked him in the eyes and angered him. I had never been that scared before, in my early life.
c. The next week, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus was under tent in nearby Hartford, Connecticut, when a fire broke out, killing 168 people.
I eventually overcame my fear and became a temporary worker whenever the circus came to town. I got paid one shiny half dollar from the tent boss for helping raise the tent, and later that night, got another half dollar for helping take the tent down. It was a combined effort with men and boys and elephants working together to manipulate this enormous piece of canvas. Dangerous too.
I also worked all the circuses and sports that were held near my home at a place called Sargent Field. Because I sold more peanuts and soda than the other kids, I got a higher commission than they did. And when I worked in the ring toss tent, I learned that the peg with the 6 on it, could be construed to be a 9, the 16, when held upside down, could become 91... this is how the "carnies" cheat the kids.
Part of the fun in working the circuses was the titillation factor as the female "artistes" would walk by as they dressed or undressed for their acts. Remember, this was when I was ten or eleven years old.
One thing bothered me very much though. On the grounds there was an iron lung set up, with stairs going up and down, where you could look eye to eye through a mirror at "The Girl in the Iron Lung!" This presentation garnered lots of donations.
One night, when I was working after the audiences had departed, I heard a loud creaking, and the iron lung suddenly opened and the girl (lady) inside got out and rapidly walked away. There were lots of lessons for me to learn at the circus.
06. Wheaton College Clarification
I was confused about the Supreme Court's action concerning Wheaton College. The confusion was dissipated by one sentence of David Savage:
"The fight (about contraceptives) flared again Thursday when the majority (of the Supreme Court)... agreed to give Wheaton College in Illinois a temporary religious exemption from the birth control mandate."
07. Retirement Failure
Friend and neighbor, Hermine Saunders writes in her monthly column today, that because she has multiple obligations in senior issue organizations, she has, in a sense, "failed" retirement. Hermine, I know how you feel.. get used to it.. I retired in 1995 and I haven't really "retired" yet. But, its fun to keep busy.
08. Fellow Wino?
Neighbor Ralph Reise was written up in the newspaper today as a guy who keeps a fantastic garden every year, even while living at Carroll Lutheran Village. He utilizes one of two large areas of plowed and prepared land that is made available to us. He says he has fresh veggies all season long and even has enough to give to his neighbors.
Ralph also says that in his home before the Village, he would make up to 15 gallons of wine a year. Well, Ralph, while I didn't make quite that much, I did make some.. in fact, I still have a couple of bottles of my infamous PeaPod Wine. Its been aging since 1976, but it still tastes lousy. I've only found one person that liked it and she has moved out of my wine range.
09. Corporations Again and Again
Al Lewis writes: "Free speech? Freedom of religion? What cherished human right will our Supreme Court bestow upon corporations next? The right to bear arms?"
Some of the "Occupy Wall Street" protestors carried signs that read: "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."
10. Bigotry Veiled
Comedian Dave Chappelle mentions in the New Yorker Magazine what sounds like a great skit that he did on his Comedy Central program Chappelle's Show. He played a blind white supremacist who doesn't realize that he's black and sits on the porch, "like a refugee from 'Deliverance'", making derogatory remarks about black people. I tried to get to see it on YouTube, but it was blocked because of copyright issues.
11. Gun Wisdom
Billy Collins, who I think was poet laureate, has written a great poem with the title: "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House."
A poem about a constantly barking dog and Beethoven music.. and a person who is almost at his wit's end as I was in 2 similar situations a few years ago.
a. When we lived in Randallstown, Maryland in a neighborhood with closely packed back yards, one of the neighbors had a German Shepherd that barked all the time, night and day.. the neighbor ignored everyone's complaints. One night, when I needed to get some sleep, I had it.. after yelling at the dog to shut up and not getting the required response, I picked up a large solid round rock and threw it across three or four back yards until it landed right on the dog's nose. It shut him up for a few hours... I felt terrible.. I climbed fences so I could check to make sure he was ok.. I think he was just insulted.. he looked ok and was able to resume, as I said, after a couple of hours. Soon after that, all of the neighbors got together and forced the owner to keep the dog indoors when it wasn't outside with him.
b. When we lived in Gamber, Maryland, my late wife was very ill and needed to sleep. However, the Beagle next door didn't like it when his owners went to work and he would howl every 2 minutes all of the time that they were gone. After a while, I decided that something had to be done, so I called the owner at work and made him come home and do something to quiet the dog down. The owner did not like the fact that I had gotten to call him at work, because his boss had answered the phone. Any way, the owner heard from other neighbors as well, and finally decided to sell the dog to a hunter.. which is where the dog should have been anyway. In its place, he bought a German Shepherd which was a barker, but with a bark that one could live with.
12. Another Nickel
Almost every day I receive either a nickel or dime from some non-profit organization asking for a donation. Sounds like a good gimmick. I keep this small change for my bank account. I give donations whenever I can and I don't like being given guilt trips by small coins in my junk mail. So, I will keep anything that I get free in the mail, like XMAS cards, calculators, pens, jewelry, and coins.
..................................
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