Here are some more things that you may or may not be thinking about.
01. Brain alarms: Many years ago, I realized that I could set my own brain alarm clock. If I told myself at bed time that I needed to get up at 6 am, I woke up at 6 am. If I told myself that I needed to get up at 8:55 am, that was when I would wake up. I did not need an alarm clock. I still can do that even at this advanced age; however, I don't trust myself like I did, and I do use an alarm clock.
Thinking about that, long ago I decided to find out if I could set a mental alarm for the future, not just for the next morning. So, as an experiment, on vacations, as I drove, I would set my mental alarm for 5, 10, 20, or more years in the future.. at which time I wanted me to see what I was seeing through the car window at the time I was setting my alarm. I did that a lot, and lived to regret it.
For years, as I was engaged in some activity, I would suddenly get a flash picture in my brain of a place we were driving through.. years ago. At first, I didn't realize what was happening.. when I did.. it amazed me, and I've always wondered if other people had the same experience. So far, nobody has owned up to it and I guess I am the only weird person around.
02. Watch out, bag people! Now we learn that reusable shopping bags may have bad bacteria. It makes sense, but who would have thought it? I have a wonderful bag that I bought in South Carolina. It is excellently made to handle the heaviest load that I can handle, reinforced in a southern textile mill with strong threads. It probably will never wear out. However, now I have to think about all the things that I have carried in it over the years... milk jugs, vegetables, meat, sloppy soup, fruit, candy, etc. The bacteria must have been there through many generations. I really hate to wash it out and weaken it, but I guess I will have to.
03. Is this real? Another Chinese man has gone into a Kindergarten class and slashed the children. This is the 7th time this has happened since last March. What is going on in that country?I thought that we had the monopoly on nut cases, apparently not.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7925666/three-children-killed-in-attack-on-chinese-kindergarten.html
04. Fight fire with fire? In Holland, alcoholics are being treated with beer. A half litre every little while keeps the patients happy with a slight buzz so that they can get the attention that they need.. instead of being bombed out of their minds all the time and therefore, basket cases. Damn clever, these Dutch.
http://hello.news352.lu/edito-59772-dutch-clinic-cures-alcoholics-with-beer.html
05. Mine's bigger than yours! France's Nicolas Sarkozy is getting a new plane. And.. it has a wingspan 2 feet longer than Air Force One! (Air-Sarko-One) Yah yah yah yah yah yah!
http://luxist.com/2010/08/01/nicolas-sarkozys-new-presidential-plane-gets-a-test-flight
06. What a nerve! A Florida burgler who had broken into a van, was caught and sat on by the owner and two friends while they waited for the police. Now, that burgler is suing the owner of the van for damages, because he sustained a permanent disability when those guys sat on him.
07. The U.S. crack case. A New York judge dismissed a case against a young guy for wearing his baggy pants low enough to show his underwear. ( I had mixed this case up with one in the U.K.) All Americans have the right to dress the way they want to dress.. right?
08. Watchit! If you get an email saying that you are suffering under a virus and need to purchase special anti-virus protection, be careful. That message may be "scareware"... and if you buy some phony anti-virus software, you may be getting "scamware." (Once, there was only "hardware" and "software."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10466253-238.html
09. Respect. At an Allentown, PA church carnival, a target on one of the games was what appeared to be a figure of President Obama. Although the owner said: "It wasn't meant to be him".. the figure wore a belt buckle with the Presidential seal and held a scroll labeled "Health Bill." How long will this country allow people to be disrespectable to the President of the United States? Regardless of how you feel about what he is doing in office, he is the President of the United States. Why would anyone want him to fail at what he is doing? And why should he be the object of ridicule by sub-cretans?
http://wvgazette.com/rssfeeds//201008040699
10. Freedom of Speech? Somewhat similar to #09 above, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration offices have been visited by persons who block the entrances and display tables with pictures of the President shown as Hitler. (!) always wonder why people like this waste their time and bother honest people in a cause that can never be fulfilled. At the Westminster MVA, the demonstrators took time to call people "Jerks".. surely that should have gotten them evicted.
If I had the time, and the inclination, I would have taken pictures of these guys at the Westminster MVA and had the pictures blown up to place on a table across from them. I would have had dunce caps shown on their heads. Would I have been able to do that?
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/2009/08/obama_as_hitler_at_mva_its_leg.html
11. Money. A lot of billionaires have pledged to give away half of their wealth to charity. They have been encouraged in this respect by fellow billionaires, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Great idea!
(Tevya asked God to make him a rich man.. what do most people think is "rich"? Being worth a million dollars? .. I am rich.. but not necessarily with money.. but with the love of family and friends. Although, like Tevya, would it hurt if I had a little bit of money?)
http://www.thegivingpledge.org/
12. The other "bread". Good news. Whole grain bread is selling better than plain white refined bread. In the past twenty years or so, it has amazed me to see people buy tasteless white bread, when they could have nice healthful tasty whole wheat or whole grain bread at close to the same price. I'm glad that the message about healthful bread is finally getting through to folks.
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Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
A Fairy Tale
Several people have sent me this fairy tale via email. It has to be a fairy tale because it is simply too amazing to be true.. but, of course, we live in a time of amazing stories. Here goes:
Immediately after the shooting at the military base in Oregon, the armed guard at the fort hospital was surprised to see the President arive alone in a car he was driving. After the startled guard recognized and allowed the President to enter the facility, the President met with the wounded people and paid his respects to the fallen.
Wow.. what a story... a President who cares enough to come to the base and pay his respects. But wait, who was that President? Why it was George W. Bush! President Obama didn't show up until a few days later.. shame on him.
Now.. that's a great story, that shows us what a kind and thoughtful person President Bush is and how thoughtless President Obama is. And isn't it amazing that:
President Bush drove 2,000 miles alone, in his own car to reach the base.
President Bush somehow convinced the Secret Service men who are assigned to every retired President 24/7 that they should allow him to drive unaccompanied all that distance.
Where were the newspaper reporters? Where was Laura? What about his staff?
Where did the President stay over night? Did he drive all the way through without stopping? Did he sleep in the car? Did he have a change of clothes? A toothbrush?
Why didn't anybody recognize him when he stopped to eat lunch or to pee?
Perhaps he parachuted in and rented a car in town.
Perhaps it was a George W. Bush look-alike. Some of these guys are "dead ringers" for Mr. Bush. Why didn't that guard ask for identification? What were his orders about letting unauthorized people onto the grounds?
Suppose it was a terrorist in Bush disguise.
I didn't know that Carl Rove was back in business.
Enough!
Some folks will make up any story to discredit President Obama, by making it sound like he doesn't care. As an Independent, I try to see what both parties are about and I know that "dirty tricks" are not confined to just one Party; however, to try to make up stories in an attempt to cause a President of the United States to fail, is disreputable, in my opinion. Even those who thought that President Bush was ill suited to the job, did not want him to fail. Methinks I detect some racist tendencies here.. I hope I am wrong.
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Immediately after the shooting at the military base in Oregon, the armed guard at the fort hospital was surprised to see the President arive alone in a car he was driving. After the startled guard recognized and allowed the President to enter the facility, the President met with the wounded people and paid his respects to the fallen.
Wow.. what a story... a President who cares enough to come to the base and pay his respects. But wait, who was that President? Why it was George W. Bush! President Obama didn't show up until a few days later.. shame on him.
Now.. that's a great story, that shows us what a kind and thoughtful person President Bush is and how thoughtless President Obama is. And isn't it amazing that:
President Bush drove 2,000 miles alone, in his own car to reach the base.
President Bush somehow convinced the Secret Service men who are assigned to every retired President 24/7 that they should allow him to drive unaccompanied all that distance.
Where were the newspaper reporters? Where was Laura? What about his staff?
Where did the President stay over night? Did he drive all the way through without stopping? Did he sleep in the car? Did he have a change of clothes? A toothbrush?
Why didn't anybody recognize him when he stopped to eat lunch or to pee?
Perhaps he parachuted in and rented a car in town.
Perhaps it was a George W. Bush look-alike. Some of these guys are "dead ringers" for Mr. Bush. Why didn't that guard ask for identification? What were his orders about letting unauthorized people onto the grounds?
Suppose it was a terrorist in Bush disguise.
I didn't know that Carl Rove was back in business.
Enough!
Some folks will make up any story to discredit President Obama, by making it sound like he doesn't care. As an Independent, I try to see what both parties are about and I know that "dirty tricks" are not confined to just one Party; however, to try to make up stories in an attempt to cause a President of the United States to fail, is disreputable, in my opinion. Even those who thought that President Bush was ill suited to the job, did not want him to fail. Methinks I detect some racist tendencies here.. I hope I am wrong.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Best "Wait, Wait" Halloween Show Yet?
Some of the topics for the October 31, 2009 "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" show were interesting. Zombies, beer, Barbie, toplessness in Disney film, hoaxes, Colonel Sanders, homelessness, golf, Halloween.
01. Beer: Officials at DC's FedEx Field admitted that they were selling beer in the men's restroom. (Is this is what is known as "The Cycle of Life".. ? It seems ecologically sound to me; however, it probably could be considered discrimination to women.)
02. Avoiding Discrimination to women: In response to a claim that women are left out of the President's athletic endeavors, President Obama played golf with a woman. (A number of other Presidents have also enjoyed sports with women.. although of a more intimate nature.)
03. Zombies: I learned that Zombies do not run, because they would snap their legs off at the ankle. Also, I learned that they may be organizing.. like Italian Americans, and Afro-Americans, they would be called Zombie-Americans.
04. Halloween: A man dressed himself as Colonel Sanders (KFC) and invaded the UN offices in New York. He even got so far as to meet the Secretary General before he got caught. Apparently, everyone thought that he probably was the head of some country that had had a military take-over.
(I remember great times when I was in elementary school when my Aunt Marjorie would get us kids together on Halloween and lead us into a dark cellar where she would pass around grapes and say they were eyes, licorice sticks and say they were ghost's hair.. you get the idea.. she would scare the daylights out of us.. and we loved it!)
(The first time that I went to a Halloween Party where grownups were, (First Baptist Church) I dressed as a clown magician. I had some simple pocket tricks and a deck of playing cards. As I was doing one of the card tricks I had practiced for hours, one of the "'church ladies" grabbed my cards, chewed me out, and made me leave. It took me a while to figure out that I was ousted because I had violated one of the Ten Commandments, in the view of the Church.)
05. Barbie: I hear that Barbie has a new boy friend... supposedly, he is called: "Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken."
06. Disney movies and Sex: It was mentioned that in one 1977 Disney movie, as some cute little animals are cavorting in a building, if you looked closely through one of the windows, you would see a topless woman.
Disney once made a movie called: "The Story of Menstruation", sponsored by Kotex.
07. Bed Clothes: It was reported that some bedding clothing company is making bedding that looks like the nighttime coverings of homeless people. You know, cardboard and newspapers and that sort of thing.
08. Surprise!: I learned that ex-President George W. Bush has started a new job as a motivational speaker! (His mother has been one for a while. I'm not sure about his father, who likes to spend his spare time jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.)
09. Thieves: A one-legged man stole one shoe... and was quickly caught.
And remember the dumbest burglers of the year: They disguised themselves by marking their faces using black markers. What these guys didn't realize was that these were "permanent" markers.. and they were also quickly caught.
... If you have never listened to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", do yourself a favor. It has to be the funniest program on the radio. If the broadcast time is bad for you, "google" the title and plug into their easy to find website where you can easily listen to the show whenever you want.
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Monday, September 07, 2009
Religious Tolerance?
On the Teaching Tolerance website, Thom Ronk cites a quote by Jonathan Swift: "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." Unfortunately, I think this is true in many cases.
I've already mentioned a book that someone sent me, that purports to give people a reason to live a good life. Sounds OK to me, but when I opened the book at random, I came upon some words that said in effect: "If you do not believe what I believe, even though you have never heard of what I believe, because you lived on a tropical island somewhere... you will burn in the everlasting fire of hell!" Give me a break! What kind of belief is that!
Why do the Sunnis hate the Shiites, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?
Why do the Catholics hate the Protestants in Ireland, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?
Years ago, the TV program Star Trek had an episode I found very interesting. The people in this portion of the galaxy were bi-colored. One half of their bodies was white, the other half was black. Most of these people hated each other and continually fought. When asked why they fought each other, they were told "Can't you see? It's perfectly clear. They are different from us and obviously inferior." Captain Kirk said: "Wait a minute, you look alike to me." The answer was: "But, are you blind? Don't you see that their colors are on the opposite side of their bodies from ours!"
A few years ago, the little girl next door came home from her first day in the second grade. My wife asked her how she liked her new teacher. The little girl said: "Miss Elaine, she's black."
"Yes, but is she nice?"
"Miss Elaine, she's black."
"But do you like her?"
"Miss Elaine, she's black."
What is this little girl learning in Sunday School... or at the kitchen table?
As an empath, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when supposedly religious people talk trash about people they don't like, or who are different from themselves. Some even bad-mouth President Obama. Is he a bad man? Why compare him to a maniac like Hitler?
And why do supposedly religious people forward demeaning and false emails about the President and his Administration? It is so easy to do a fact check these days.. why not do that first?
I detect an underlying racism in most of these utterances of the so-called religious right. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so. I would hope that our country has progressed a bit since the days before the Civil War. It is discouraging to me to see a "closet racist" point to their cheek when talking about a black person.. although at least it is a little better than using the "n" word.
And yet.. there are religious and non-religious people I know who do truly love their neighbors and are tolerant of others who are different from themselves and try to lead ethical lives. Isn't this what it really means to be a human being?
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I've already mentioned a book that someone sent me, that purports to give people a reason to live a good life. Sounds OK to me, but when I opened the book at random, I came upon some words that said in effect: "If you do not believe what I believe, even though you have never heard of what I believe, because you lived on a tropical island somewhere... you will burn in the everlasting fire of hell!" Give me a break! What kind of belief is that!
Why do the Sunnis hate the Shiites, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?
Why do the Catholics hate the Protestants in Ireland, and vice versa? Isn't it the same religion? The same religious book? Or am I missing something?
Years ago, the TV program Star Trek had an episode I found very interesting. The people in this portion of the galaxy were bi-colored. One half of their bodies was white, the other half was black. Most of these people hated each other and continually fought. When asked why they fought each other, they were told "Can't you see? It's perfectly clear. They are different from us and obviously inferior." Captain Kirk said: "Wait a minute, you look alike to me." The answer was: "But, are you blind? Don't you see that their colors are on the opposite side of their bodies from ours!"
A few years ago, the little girl next door came home from her first day in the second grade. My wife asked her how she liked her new teacher. The little girl said: "Miss Elaine, she's black."
"Yes, but is she nice?"
"Miss Elaine, she's black."
"But do you like her?"
"Miss Elaine, she's black."
What is this little girl learning in Sunday School... or at the kitchen table?
As an empath, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when supposedly religious people talk trash about people they don't like, or who are different from themselves. Some even bad-mouth President Obama. Is he a bad man? Why compare him to a maniac like Hitler?
And why do supposedly religious people forward demeaning and false emails about the President and his Administration? It is so easy to do a fact check these days.. why not do that first?
I detect an underlying racism in most of these utterances of the so-called religious right. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so. I would hope that our country has progressed a bit since the days before the Civil War. It is discouraging to me to see a "closet racist" point to their cheek when talking about a black person.. although at least it is a little better than using the "n" word.
And yet.. there are religious and non-religious people I know who do truly love their neighbors and are tolerant of others who are different from themselves and try to lead ethical lives. Isn't this what it really means to be a human being?
......................................................
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Lots of stuff
Wow! Lots of great news today. (Well, maybe not so great.)
01. Manson clan member, Squeaky Fromme, was released from prison. Now, let's see if she moves in with her buddy, Baltimore's own, John Waters.
02. Slovakia has outlawed the speaking of anything but Slovak in Government offices and businesses. Hungarian can be spoken at cultural events, but all jokes must be repeated in Slovak.
03. An Afghan bill just became law and allows a man to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex. In addition, a woman must get a husband's permission to work and fathers and grandfathers are given exclusive custody of children. (sounds like the Taliban is back in power)
04. Somebody asked Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi (72) if it wasn't dangerous for him to be messing around with his 17 year old girlfriend. Silvio supposedly said: "Well, if she dies, she dies." (I know, it's an old joke.)
05. A Spanish study found that women who drink moderate amounts of beer are strengthening their bones because of the plant homones in that drink. (What about men? My bones must be nice and strong.)
06. A Joliet, Illinois spectator gave a boisterous yawn in court and the insulted judge sentenced him to 6 months in jail! (Come on, Judge, a $50 fine maybe... but 6 months? Who elected this judge?)
07. Is a rooster an "alarm cluck?"
08. Chinese astronauts will no longer be allowed to have bad breath.
09. A bank fired an employee for tackling a robber and holding him for police!
10. The Wisconsin State Fair initiated a couple of new treats:
Chocolate covered bacon on a stick.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches dipped in pancake batter and deep fried.
Ummmm... Yummy!
11. The "birthers" who tried to bash Obama about his birth certificate, showed a picture of what they said was his certificate that showed his birthplace as "Republic of Kenya." As we would have guessed, the Republic of Kenya was not yet in existence when Obama was born. (Some of these "birthers" profess to be "born again" Christians, yet continue to "bear false witness.")
12. A Washington, DC lobbying firm admitted sending forged letters urging oposition to climate change legislation.
13. Elkridge, Maryland police found 28 cats and a guinea pig during a house investigation. They also found two dead cats in the refrigerator freezer.
Now... let's talk about Westminster, Maryland.
Jamison Hensley, writing in the Baltimore Sun, mentioned that football teams, like the Ravens, go to "out-of-the-way" locations, like Westminster, to practice. In fact, he said that the lure of these places is that nothing is happening there to distract them.
Maybe so, but I take this as an insult. There are lots of things going on in Westminster, Maryland. However, most of the activity is not the kind of stuff that would interest so-called sophisticated ball players or sportscasters. For instance:
01. Sixth graders at Northwest Middle School have created a website on the history of Robert Moton High School, a segregated black high school from not so long ago.
02. After a public rebellion a while ago, Senior citizen gamblers could once again play for small stakes money at Carroll County Senior Activity Centers. Jay Leno talked about this a couple of years ago. Obviously, managers of a New York town had their TV sets off when Leno aired this. Last week, they banned daily card games at their Senior Centers because of the money stakes. These poor city fathers will have to learn the hard way, just as they did in Westminster, that the power of the elderly is mighty.
03. Carroll County, Maryland has always been a very safe place to live, in fact, hardly anybody ever locked their car doors, until now. Last week, 15 cars were broken into and items removed. All but one of the car doors were unlocked. The perpetrators will probably be found to be 20-year old males, whose medula oblongatas have not yet matured, and who are heavily into drugs.. that they buy on the street corners of Baltimore City.
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01. Manson clan member, Squeaky Fromme, was released from prison. Now, let's see if she moves in with her buddy, Baltimore's own, John Waters.
02. Slovakia has outlawed the speaking of anything but Slovak in Government offices and businesses. Hungarian can be spoken at cultural events, but all jokes must be repeated in Slovak.
03. An Afghan bill just became law and allows a man to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex. In addition, a woman must get a husband's permission to work and fathers and grandfathers are given exclusive custody of children. (sounds like the Taliban is back in power)
04. Somebody asked Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi (72) if it wasn't dangerous for him to be messing around with his 17 year old girlfriend. Silvio supposedly said: "Well, if she dies, she dies." (I know, it's an old joke.)
05. A Spanish study found that women who drink moderate amounts of beer are strengthening their bones because of the plant homones in that drink. (What about men? My bones must be nice and strong.)
06. A Joliet, Illinois spectator gave a boisterous yawn in court and the insulted judge sentenced him to 6 months in jail! (Come on, Judge, a $50 fine maybe... but 6 months? Who elected this judge?)
07. Is a rooster an "alarm cluck?"
08. Chinese astronauts will no longer be allowed to have bad breath.
09. A bank fired an employee for tackling a robber and holding him for police!
10. The Wisconsin State Fair initiated a couple of new treats:
Chocolate covered bacon on a stick.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches dipped in pancake batter and deep fried.
Ummmm... Yummy!
11. The "birthers" who tried to bash Obama about his birth certificate, showed a picture of what they said was his certificate that showed his birthplace as "Republic of Kenya." As we would have guessed, the Republic of Kenya was not yet in existence when Obama was born. (Some of these "birthers" profess to be "born again" Christians, yet continue to "bear false witness.")
12. A Washington, DC lobbying firm admitted sending forged letters urging oposition to climate change legislation.
13. Elkridge, Maryland police found 28 cats and a guinea pig during a house investigation. They also found two dead cats in the refrigerator freezer.
Now... let's talk about Westminster, Maryland.
Jamison Hensley, writing in the Baltimore Sun, mentioned that football teams, like the Ravens, go to "out-of-the-way" locations, like Westminster, to practice. In fact, he said that the lure of these places is that nothing is happening there to distract them.
Maybe so, but I take this as an insult. There are lots of things going on in Westminster, Maryland. However, most of the activity is not the kind of stuff that would interest so-called sophisticated ball players or sportscasters. For instance:
01. Sixth graders at Northwest Middle School have created a website on the history of Robert Moton High School, a segregated black high school from not so long ago.
02. After a public rebellion a while ago, Senior citizen gamblers could once again play for small stakes money at Carroll County Senior Activity Centers. Jay Leno talked about this a couple of years ago. Obviously, managers of a New York town had their TV sets off when Leno aired this. Last week, they banned daily card games at their Senior Centers because of the money stakes. These poor city fathers will have to learn the hard way, just as they did in Westminster, that the power of the elderly is mighty.
03. Carroll County, Maryland has always been a very safe place to live, in fact, hardly anybody ever locked their car doors, until now. Last week, 15 cars were broken into and items removed. All but one of the car doors were unlocked. The perpetrators will probably be found to be 20-year old males, whose medula oblongatas have not yet matured, and who are heavily into drugs.. that they buy on the street corners of Baltimore City.
.............................................................................................................
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Miscellaneous Nonsense
Some bloggers are upset that President Obama karate-chopped a fly during a video'd session. Also, some animal-rights organization are sending him some traps so that in the future he can capture flies and put them outside alive. I thought about this as I crushed a mean-looking 2" long spider this morning.
I would rather not kill any living creature, which is one reason why I have never wanted to be a hunter. I was more of a gatherer. (See that new movie: Year One) When I was a teen-ager, I studied Hindu mysticism and was impressed with the fact that some holy men wear mouth masks in order not to breath in any insects and become the cause of their demise.
I've read that our skin is covered with layers of living creatures.. bacteria. Are we not killing them whenever we rub our aching knees or shoulders? Are we not killing ants and other small living creatures as we walk through a meadow? Don't our agents kill crabs, bulls, mackrel, shrimp, etc, etc.
Survival of the fittest. I guess at this point of time on earth, humans are the fittest predators. It certainly wasn't always that way. Although some people don't believe it, humans were not around for the millions of years that dinosaur-like creatures ruled the planet.
And what about the Golden Rule? Would we like to be crushed by a giant spider? I guess we have to maintain a reasonable middle-of-the-road approach to all of this. We should not knowingly kill if it can't be helped. And, yes, I will try to catch an insect in the house and try to let them loose outside.. or at least flush them unkilled down the toilet bowl where they at least have a fighting chance of survival if they can swim.
Segue: I learned today that some baby flaminos in a zoo are scared by pink hand-puppets that their keepers made for them to help them learn how to feed. By the way, baby flamingos are grey.
Another thing that I learned is that a nude soccer game was interrupted in New Zealand by a "streaker". Do you remember "streakers" from decades ago? You guessed it.. this "streaker" was fully clothed.
At this year's spelling bee championships, a young lady won by spelling the word: LAODICEAN.
Holy cow! When I heard this, I searched my memory for this word. I had heard it used in church years ago, I thought.
I looked the word up and found that it means: lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.
The word comes from Paul's epistle to the Colossians. He wanted his buddies in the church there to let the Laodiceans know that they should be paying more attention to what he had been teaching about Christ. (Those damnable Laodiceans just were not interested. they would rather be paying more attention to acquiring worldly possessions and doing a lot of sinning.) The word was also used in Revelations. (If you are into Bible lore, you might have some fun tracing the origin of the Laodiceans and where they fit into the scheme of things during Paul's time. When I went to the Baptist summer camp and became a "Royal Ambassador" for two weeks, most of my time was spent inside a cabin studying the "Life of Paul." You might want to think about where Christianity would be today if it wasn't for his salesmanship.)
The newspaper articles that I read about the spelling bee started out: "The Indian-American girl, Kanya Shivashankar won..." Why do we have to use these hyphenated tags in the U.S.? Obama is called the first African-American President. Sotomayor is called a Spanish-American or a Puerto-Rican American.. etc. Aren't we all just-plain "Americans?" Right now, I am trying to find out who my biological father was. For most of my life, I thought that he was an Italian-American (his parents emigrated from Italy years ago.) Since my mother was a Mayflower descendant, should I have been labeled: Joe Vaughan, the Italian-Yankee-American? One of my cousins could be called then a Czech-Yankee-American.
And then, of course, there are Native-Americans. They were immigrants too... since their ancestors reportedly came here over the Bering Straight. We are a nation of "minorities". We are a "melting pot".. and isn't it great to be living in such a diversified country? When we lived in Randallstown, Maryland, our neighbors were of many derivations. Just in our small place called Sonya Court, there were people with Jewish, English, Italian, German, Scottish and Yankee backgrounds. We all got along real well and had fun together. The best part I thought was that we could take part in many of the ethnic celebrations that took place.
Ain't life great!
I would rather not kill any living creature, which is one reason why I have never wanted to be a hunter. I was more of a gatherer. (See that new movie: Year One) When I was a teen-ager, I studied Hindu mysticism and was impressed with the fact that some holy men wear mouth masks in order not to breath in any insects and become the cause of their demise.
I've read that our skin is covered with layers of living creatures.. bacteria. Are we not killing them whenever we rub our aching knees or shoulders? Are we not killing ants and other small living creatures as we walk through a meadow? Don't our agents kill crabs, bulls, mackrel, shrimp, etc, etc.
Survival of the fittest. I guess at this point of time on earth, humans are the fittest predators. It certainly wasn't always that way. Although some people don't believe it, humans were not around for the millions of years that dinosaur-like creatures ruled the planet.
And what about the Golden Rule? Would we like to be crushed by a giant spider? I guess we have to maintain a reasonable middle-of-the-road approach to all of this. We should not knowingly kill if it can't be helped. And, yes, I will try to catch an insect in the house and try to let them loose outside.. or at least flush them unkilled down the toilet bowl where they at least have a fighting chance of survival if they can swim.
Segue: I learned today that some baby flaminos in a zoo are scared by pink hand-puppets that their keepers made for them to help them learn how to feed. By the way, baby flamingos are grey.
Another thing that I learned is that a nude soccer game was interrupted in New Zealand by a "streaker". Do you remember "streakers" from decades ago? You guessed it.. this "streaker" was fully clothed.
At this year's spelling bee championships, a young lady won by spelling the word: LAODICEAN.
Holy cow! When I heard this, I searched my memory for this word. I had heard it used in church years ago, I thought.
I looked the word up and found that it means: lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.
The word comes from Paul's epistle to the Colossians. He wanted his buddies in the church there to let the Laodiceans know that they should be paying more attention to what he had been teaching about Christ. (Those damnable Laodiceans just were not interested. they would rather be paying more attention to acquiring worldly possessions and doing a lot of sinning.) The word was also used in Revelations. (If you are into Bible lore, you might have some fun tracing the origin of the Laodiceans and where they fit into the scheme of things during Paul's time. When I went to the Baptist summer camp and became a "Royal Ambassador" for two weeks, most of my time was spent inside a cabin studying the "Life of Paul." You might want to think about where Christianity would be today if it wasn't for his salesmanship.)
The newspaper articles that I read about the spelling bee started out: "The Indian-American girl, Kanya Shivashankar won..." Why do we have to use these hyphenated tags in the U.S.? Obama is called the first African-American President. Sotomayor is called a Spanish-American or a Puerto-Rican American.. etc. Aren't we all just-plain "Americans?" Right now, I am trying to find out who my biological father was. For most of my life, I thought that he was an Italian-American (his parents emigrated from Italy years ago.) Since my mother was a Mayflower descendant, should I have been labeled: Joe Vaughan, the Italian-Yankee-American? One of my cousins could be called then a Czech-Yankee-American.
And then, of course, there are Native-Americans. They were immigrants too... since their ancestors reportedly came here over the Bering Straight. We are a nation of "minorities". We are a "melting pot".. and isn't it great to be living in such a diversified country? When we lived in Randallstown, Maryland, our neighbors were of many derivations. Just in our small place called Sonya Court, there were people with Jewish, English, Italian, German, Scottish and Yankee backgrounds. We all got along real well and had fun together. The best part I thought was that we could take part in many of the ethnic celebrations that took place.
Ain't life great!
Saturday, June 06, 2009
D Day
Sixty-five years ago, Allied forces landed on Omaha and other French beaches and began the last bloody phase of the war against Hitler and his followers. Can you imagine how it must have felt to be a teen-age American, Canadian, or British boy jumping off a landing craft into the direct line of massive German artilliary. Even though the attack was a surprise to the Germans, there was enough fire power in place by the enemy to kill over three thousand of the invaders as they waded through waist-high water, holding their weapons above their heads.
Even though a lot of horrible war was yet to take place, this invasion meant that Hitler and his forces were not invincible.
I spent years in Germany during the 1950's and lwas told that not all WWII German soldiers were excited about being soldiers, and, if it is to be believed, most hated Hitler and wished he would go away. And of course, most Germans that I met said that they knew nothing about what was going on in the concentration camps. I'm sure that some of them did not know about what went on in the camps, but I'm also sure that most Germans did know but were not sufficiently motivated to do anything about it.
When I first arrived in Germany early in 1953, the country was still in ruins. As my troop train rolled through Aachen, I could not believe what I saw. As far as I could tell, there was not even one building that was not seriously damaged in some way. I also saw people in rags trying to cook food over small fires amid the rubble.
When I left Germany late in 1956, it was a different Germany, with new modern buildings, clean streets and not much rubble left. At the time, an ad campaign was going on in Germany. Posters showed bombed out buildings and rubble, with the caption: :"Vergessen?" In effect: Have you forgotten what it was like? This reminder was necessary because as the economy grew and people now had food and lodging, they were not doing enough to ensure that the madness of WWII would not recur.
I was 7 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I remember the day. I was curiously watching out of the front window of 167 Ash Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. There was a lot going out on the narrow street in front of the house on the sunny Sunday morning. Young boys were running through the neighborhood selling newspapers and yelling "EXTRA, EXTRA, Read all about it!"
During the next four war years, as a street kid, I had lots of opportunities to do my little bit for the war effort. With small wagons, my friends and I would collect bottles, cans, paper, metal, and other material needed by the government. I seem to recall that we brought most of this to the local U.S.O. where all of the material was bundled up in a hurry to ship to those companies making war material. The paper was brought to a large warehouse supplied by St. John's Catholic Church. The piles of newspaper and magazines towered over me. We were very proud of our little part in the war effort.
My uncle Allen served in the Army; Uncle Billy served in the 8th Air Force in England; Uncle Lincoln served in the Coast Guard; Aunt Laurana served in the WACS; my mother became a war-effort welder; Cousin Earl fought with the Army in the Battle of the Bulge; Uncle Malcolm was an air raid warden .... etc... We were all involved in some way, no matter how young or old.
We now live in a retirement community in which there are many residents who served actively in WWII and it is extremely interesting to listen to some of the stories that they tell.
Today, there is a ceremony going on in Normandy, France, at Omaha Beach. French Legion of Honor medals were just presented to former soldiers of Great Britain, the United States, Canada and France.
At the ceremony, President Obama and other dignitaries gave speeches. Something you will hear about in the news.. Prime Minister Brown made a gaffe when he mentioned that they were at "Obama Beach".. he caught and corrected what he said, but I'm sure that the press will pick up on it and since he is having troubles at home, they will probably tease him about it.
CSPAN had a program today in which it was stated that if it wasn't for New Orleans, we would not have been able to invade on D-Day. A gentleman (forgot his name) developed small-draft boats for use in the New Orleans area over the years, and he was able to modify such boats so that they could be used to convey all of those troops from ship to shore. No other type boats could have done so.
Commander in Chief Eisenhower delayed the invasion to make sure that there would be enough of these boats so that the landing would work. Otherwise, they would have had to try to invade through the existing Atlantic ports which were so fortified that there might be a posibility that such an invasion could not take place sucessfully.
Thank you, WWII veterans, for all you did for the world. Just imagine what it would have been like if the Axis had won the war!
Even though a lot of horrible war was yet to take place, this invasion meant that Hitler and his forces were not invincible.
I spent years in Germany during the 1950's and lwas told that not all WWII German soldiers were excited about being soldiers, and, if it is to be believed, most hated Hitler and wished he would go away. And of course, most Germans that I met said that they knew nothing about what was going on in the concentration camps. I'm sure that some of them did not know about what went on in the camps, but I'm also sure that most Germans did know but were not sufficiently motivated to do anything about it.
When I first arrived in Germany early in 1953, the country was still in ruins. As my troop train rolled through Aachen, I could not believe what I saw. As far as I could tell, there was not even one building that was not seriously damaged in some way. I also saw people in rags trying to cook food over small fires amid the rubble.
When I left Germany late in 1956, it was a different Germany, with new modern buildings, clean streets and not much rubble left. At the time, an ad campaign was going on in Germany. Posters showed bombed out buildings and rubble, with the caption: :"Vergessen?" In effect: Have you forgotten what it was like? This reminder was necessary because as the economy grew and people now had food and lodging, they were not doing enough to ensure that the madness of WWII would not recur.
I was 7 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I remember the day. I was curiously watching out of the front window of 167 Ash Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. There was a lot going out on the narrow street in front of the house on the sunny Sunday morning. Young boys were running through the neighborhood selling newspapers and yelling "EXTRA, EXTRA, Read all about it!"
During the next four war years, as a street kid, I had lots of opportunities to do my little bit for the war effort. With small wagons, my friends and I would collect bottles, cans, paper, metal, and other material needed by the government. I seem to recall that we brought most of this to the local U.S.O. where all of the material was bundled up in a hurry to ship to those companies making war material. The paper was brought to a large warehouse supplied by St. John's Catholic Church. The piles of newspaper and magazines towered over me. We were very proud of our little part in the war effort.
My uncle Allen served in the Army; Uncle Billy served in the 8th Air Force in England; Uncle Lincoln served in the Coast Guard; Aunt Laurana served in the WACS; my mother became a war-effort welder; Cousin Earl fought with the Army in the Battle of the Bulge; Uncle Malcolm was an air raid warden .... etc... We were all involved in some way, no matter how young or old.
We now live in a retirement community in which there are many residents who served actively in WWII and it is extremely interesting to listen to some of the stories that they tell.
Today, there is a ceremony going on in Normandy, France, at Omaha Beach. French Legion of Honor medals were just presented to former soldiers of Great Britain, the United States, Canada and France.
At the ceremony, President Obama and other dignitaries gave speeches. Something you will hear about in the news.. Prime Minister Brown made a gaffe when he mentioned that they were at "Obama Beach".. he caught and corrected what he said, but I'm sure that the press will pick up on it and since he is having troubles at home, they will probably tease him about it.
CSPAN had a program today in which it was stated that if it wasn't for New Orleans, we would not have been able to invade on D-Day. A gentleman (forgot his name) developed small-draft boats for use in the New Orleans area over the years, and he was able to modify such boats so that they could be used to convey all of those troops from ship to shore. No other type boats could have done so.
Commander in Chief Eisenhower delayed the invasion to make sure that there would be enough of these boats so that the landing would work. Otherwise, they would have had to try to invade through the existing Atlantic ports which were so fortified that there might be a posibility that such an invasion could not take place sucessfully.
Thank you, WWII veterans, for all you did for the world. Just imagine what it would have been like if the Axis had won the war!
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