These are some of the stories in the news that interest me this week.
01. Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Joe Arpaio.. you remember, the guy who makes jail inmates wear pink underwear.. and who has been called America's toughest sheriff .. has been stripped of his federal authority to make on the street arrests of suspected illegal immigrants by using racial profiling. (Maybe he should quit his police job and go to work for Victoria's Secret.)
02. David M. Rubenstein celebrated his 60th birthday by donating $10 million to the Lincoln Center. I guess this is small change for a guy worth almost $3 billion. When he turned 54, he said: "I have 27 years to go. I could be like the pharaohs and say 'bury me with my money'. Or, I could start giving it away." (Hey, Dave, how about giving one of your billions to cancer research!)
03. WQXR is the only classical music station in New York City. New York and it's surrounding suburbs has a population of 16 million people. Surely the city could support a few more classical music stations. Anyway, WQXR will now become a public radio station.. I wonder how that will affect the amount of music to be played. (I'll bet there are hundreds of rock stations in NYC.)
04. A flock of sheep in Jordan suffered spontaneous combustion because of methane in the soil and a stray spark. (I wonder if that could be the cause of some of the many spontaneous combustion human cases over the years.)
05. A mile of manatee poop has washed ashore in Vero Beach, Florida. (How did they determine that it came from manatees?)
06. The Wall Street Journal reports that 1.8 million bags checked at airlines last year did not arrive at their destinations at the same time as their owners.
07. Former Vice President Cheney will be bashing his former boss in a new book he is writing. The Washington Post reports that Cheney accuses Former President Bush of "going soft," and becoming just "an ordinary politician."
08. Aesop tells about the crow who drops stones in a pitcher to get to the water. Now, researchers have found that this intelligent action is indeed something that crow-like birds can do. The only other creature (outside of man) who would be able to do that is an orangutan.
09. Stray dogs in Moscow have taught themselves to use the subway, or so it is reported in the tabloids. Every morning they take the train into central Moscow, where food is easier to obtain.. and at night they take the train back home to sleep.
10. New Justice Sotomayor has asked more questions in her few days on the court than Clarence Thomas has asked in all the years he has been a Justice.
11. Rubik's Cube has gone high tech. For $150, you can get a cute little cube that flips colors when you swipe your finger against its sides. There are no moving parts.. a "kachunk" sound is broadcast when the flip occurs. (I struggled for many hours with an old-fashioned Rubik's Cube years ago, got frustrated, and gave it up. My son did not have to struggle at all. He just picked it up and solved it in a few seconds!)
12. I haven''t looked recently, but sunsets are supposed to be more colorful than usual, because of the eruption of Russia's Sarychev Peak in June. A lot of sulfur dioxide was thrown into the stratosphere and its tiny particles are scattering blue light and mixing it with the normal red, to produce some weird purple colors.
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Showing posts with label Sotomayor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sotomayor. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
End of week news.
Looking at the Baltimore Sun for Friday, August 7th, 2009:
01. I learned that Justice Sotomayor has had diabetes since childhood. This is an insidious disease and she has had to overcome its terrible effects and still become a success. I also learned that she was a recipient of affirmative action who then graduated with highest honors. There is a lesson there.
02. There was a picture of Snoop Dogg at the Raven's Camp, with the legend: Westminster Dogg Show.
03. A related article was about nicknames used by gang members. It said that some of the toughest guys have silly-sounding monikers. They mentioned that one guy was known as "Brazy" instead of "Crazy" because as a "Blood" he can't use the letter "C" in his name.
04. I was interested in this statement: "Even in a region with nearly double-digit unemployment, the crab companies remain reliant on migrant labor from abroad because so few local residennts are willing to take the messy, repetitive (crab-picking) jobs."
05. A drug suspect tried to swallow a bag of drugs and choked to death. Now his buddies are saying he really died of a police beating.
06. A technically knowledgable teen-ager made more than 80 credit cards with a machine in his home. He was arrested after he used some woman's debit card to pay for a vehicle emissions test and a $650 tab at a nightclub.
07. Senator Mikulski says that her rehab for ankle surgery at Mercy Hospital was like "boot camp". Nice play on words.
08. Flu shots later this year will probably consist of three shots: one for regular flu and two for Swine flu. (My shingles shot is still hurting my arm.)
09. China is investigating the death of a teen-ager who was allegedly beaten to death in (get this) a camp designed to treat Internet addiction.
10. Ronnie Biggs was released from jail.. look up: The Great Train Robbery!
11. Twitter suffered a "distributed denial of service (DDOS)" which is a disruptive tactic where outsiders attempt to overload a web site with huge numbers of computer-generated requests. They will have to learn how to handle these like Facebook has.
12. There was a nice long letter by two ladies who have lived together for 30 years, 5 of those as a married couple... although the marriage is not recognised by Maryland. It should be read by everyone.
13. There was a notice of the passing of family friend, Evelyn. Also a notice of the passing of the father of Mike, who graduated from high school with Elaine.
14. The Iraqi parliament is trying to ban smoking in government buildings and public indoor area.
(Watch out... remember the man who opened fire in a restaurant when he was asked to put out his cigarette.. I wonder if this has occured in the U.S......yet.)
...............................................
01. I learned that Justice Sotomayor has had diabetes since childhood. This is an insidious disease and she has had to overcome its terrible effects and still become a success. I also learned that she was a recipient of affirmative action who then graduated with highest honors. There is a lesson there.
02. There was a picture of Snoop Dogg at the Raven's Camp, with the legend: Westminster Dogg Show.
03. A related article was about nicknames used by gang members. It said that some of the toughest guys have silly-sounding monikers. They mentioned that one guy was known as "Brazy" instead of "Crazy" because as a "Blood" he can't use the letter "C" in his name.
04. I was interested in this statement: "Even in a region with nearly double-digit unemployment, the crab companies remain reliant on migrant labor from abroad because so few local residennts are willing to take the messy, repetitive (crab-picking) jobs."
05. A drug suspect tried to swallow a bag of drugs and choked to death. Now his buddies are saying he really died of a police beating.
06. A technically knowledgable teen-ager made more than 80 credit cards with a machine in his home. He was arrested after he used some woman's debit card to pay for a vehicle emissions test and a $650 tab at a nightclub.
07. Senator Mikulski says that her rehab for ankle surgery at Mercy Hospital was like "boot camp". Nice play on words.
08. Flu shots later this year will probably consist of three shots: one for regular flu and two for Swine flu. (My shingles shot is still hurting my arm.)
09. China is investigating the death of a teen-ager who was allegedly beaten to death in (get this) a camp designed to treat Internet addiction.
10. Ronnie Biggs was released from jail.. look up: The Great Train Robbery!
11. Twitter suffered a "distributed denial of service (DDOS)" which is a disruptive tactic where outsiders attempt to overload a web site with huge numbers of computer-generated requests. They will have to learn how to handle these like Facebook has.
12. There was a nice long letter by two ladies who have lived together for 30 years, 5 of those as a married couple... although the marriage is not recognised by Maryland. It should be read by everyone.
13. There was a notice of the passing of family friend, Evelyn. Also a notice of the passing of the father of Mike, who graduated from high school with Elaine.
14. The Iraqi parliament is trying to ban smoking in government buildings and public indoor area.
(Watch out... remember the man who opened fire in a restaurant when he was asked to put out his cigarette.. I wonder if this has occured in the U.S......yet.)
...............................................
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Saturday Musings
Thoughts from an August Saturday in 2009.
01. Justice Sotomayor was sworn in this morning. A big win for Mr. Obama.
02. A New York newspaper headline read: Bill Can Still Get Women!
03. Former Westminster, Maryland mayor, Kevin Dayhoff, has a very interesting piece about President Warren G. Harding, in the Carroll Eagle for Sunday August 9, 2009. I enjoyed the article, but I would have liked to have also read something about the "money pit."
According to some accounts, members of Warren's White House team purchased a DC row house and dug a big hole in the yard. People wanting favors from Washington would stop by the house and drop money into the hole. Of course, that was back in the "old days".. money is now placed in less obvious places, such as refrigerator freezers.
Take a look at Kevin's pieces, you will like them, and I think you can access them at his website: www.westminstermarylandonline.net, or www.explorecarroll.com. I don't think he would mind me mentioning these sites.
04. I've been wondering how Government statistics handle those kids who have been working all Summer, and will now leave to go back to school.
05. DC lawyers are suing to allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons. This may work in Texas, but in DC? One of my uncles carried a concealed weapon in Massachusetts because he had been robbed a couple of times. He told me that he was very glad that he never had to use it. He did practice target shooting.
In my own thinking, carrying a weapon, concealed or not, can cause some macho guys to become more macho and arrogant. However, as I may have mentioned in a blog entry before, I had a run-in with a guy during an accident and was restrained from hitting him by a State Trooper. The Trooper saved my life, because the man I was aiming at carried a shotgun in the cab of his truck, just at arm reach level. Since then, I have been overly polite in driving situations, and have even taken the blame for problems to avoid confrontation.
06. Why are light bulbs in the Florida Edison museum still burning after 80 years, when mine burn out in a few weeks?
07. Good news for texters in Iowa: Now, if you text while driving and have an accident, you can text the accident information to 911 by texting, rather than by telephone.
08. Some people believe that alien reptiles are ruling our world.. a couple of rulers mentioned as being alien reptiles in disguise are Queen Elizabeth and George W. Bush.
09. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WWDTM) suggests a "cash for chunkers" program. Set a goal for yourself to love weight and get paid if you reach it. I wonder if they could detect people who use liposuction.
10. WWDTM reports that the most hated word in English is "moist" .. apparently there are Facebook sites for people who don't like it. I wonder why? I like that "oi" sound... I especially think that the phrase ""Oy Weh!" is a perfect way to comment on bodily aches and pains.. and when one hears a particular lousy joke, "OY!" seems to me to be a very appropriate response.
11. Hurry and sign up for the caravan leaving for the Gobi Desert to track down the elusive acid-spitting Mongolian worm.
12. The word "caravan" reminds me of an Arab saying that is appropriate for the current situation of rude hecklers at Town Meetings.. "The dogs bark, but the caravan travels on." That could also pertain to the negative activity following the Sotomayor nomination.
13. WWDTM also reports that a thong tied to many helium balloons got tangled in electrical lines in England and caused a large power outage. (Larry the Cable Guy calls thongs worn by women: Hiney Floss.)
14. Vladimir Putin continues to be a daredevil and exert his manhood. Recently he dove one mile down in a submersible to the bottom of Lake Baikal. Hey, that is a long way down. I wonder what he did about the "bends"? Now.. think about that, and also think about the fact that Russian atomic subs have been spotted patroling the Atlantic near the US. What is going on? Where is Jules Verne when we need him??
15. Finally... The two Austrian towns that bear names that are naughty words in English have decided not to change their names, even though they hate all those crazy "Englishers" coming to town to have their pictures taken under town signs.
..................................
01. Justice Sotomayor was sworn in this morning. A big win for Mr. Obama.
02. A New York newspaper headline read: Bill Can Still Get Women!
03. Former Westminster, Maryland mayor, Kevin Dayhoff, has a very interesting piece about President Warren G. Harding, in the Carroll Eagle for Sunday August 9, 2009. I enjoyed the article, but I would have liked to have also read something about the "money pit."
According to some accounts, members of Warren's White House team purchased a DC row house and dug a big hole in the yard. People wanting favors from Washington would stop by the house and drop money into the hole. Of course, that was back in the "old days".. money is now placed in less obvious places, such as refrigerator freezers.
Take a look at Kevin's pieces, you will like them, and I think you can access them at his website: www.westminstermarylandonline.net, or www.explorecarroll.com. I don't think he would mind me mentioning these sites.
04. I've been wondering how Government statistics handle those kids who have been working all Summer, and will now leave to go back to school.
05. DC lawyers are suing to allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons. This may work in Texas, but in DC? One of my uncles carried a concealed weapon in Massachusetts because he had been robbed a couple of times. He told me that he was very glad that he never had to use it. He did practice target shooting.
In my own thinking, carrying a weapon, concealed or not, can cause some macho guys to become more macho and arrogant. However, as I may have mentioned in a blog entry before, I had a run-in with a guy during an accident and was restrained from hitting him by a State Trooper. The Trooper saved my life, because the man I was aiming at carried a shotgun in the cab of his truck, just at arm reach level. Since then, I have been overly polite in driving situations, and have even taken the blame for problems to avoid confrontation.
06. Why are light bulbs in the Florida Edison museum still burning after 80 years, when mine burn out in a few weeks?
07. Good news for texters in Iowa: Now, if you text while driving and have an accident, you can text the accident information to 911 by texting, rather than by telephone.
08. Some people believe that alien reptiles are ruling our world.. a couple of rulers mentioned as being alien reptiles in disguise are Queen Elizabeth and George W. Bush.
09. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WWDTM) suggests a "cash for chunkers" program. Set a goal for yourself to love weight and get paid if you reach it. I wonder if they could detect people who use liposuction.
10. WWDTM reports that the most hated word in English is "moist" .. apparently there are Facebook sites for people who don't like it. I wonder why? I like that "oi" sound... I especially think that the phrase ""Oy Weh!" is a perfect way to comment on bodily aches and pains.. and when one hears a particular lousy joke, "OY!" seems to me to be a very appropriate response.
11. Hurry and sign up for the caravan leaving for the Gobi Desert to track down the elusive acid-spitting Mongolian worm.
12. The word "caravan" reminds me of an Arab saying that is appropriate for the current situation of rude hecklers at Town Meetings.. "The dogs bark, but the caravan travels on." That could also pertain to the negative activity following the Sotomayor nomination.
13. WWDTM also reports that a thong tied to many helium balloons got tangled in electrical lines in England and caused a large power outage. (Larry the Cable Guy calls thongs worn by women: Hiney Floss.)
14. Vladimir Putin continues to be a daredevil and exert his manhood. Recently he dove one mile down in a submersible to the bottom of Lake Baikal. Hey, that is a long way down. I wonder what he did about the "bends"? Now.. think about that, and also think about the fact that Russian atomic subs have been spotted patroling the Atlantic near the US. What is going on? Where is Jules Verne when we need him??
15. Finally... The two Austrian towns that bear names that are naughty words in English have decided not to change their names, even though they hate all those crazy "Englishers" coming to town to have their pictures taken under town signs.
..................................
Friday, August 07, 2009
Interesting Headlines and a Lesson
The Carroll County Times (Westminster, Maryland) had the following headline today:
Rapper pays visit to Ravens Camp.. (players giddy as Snoop Dogg stops by to watch team practice). This was on page one.
On page A5, Sotomayor confirmed.
On page B5, Senate fills up 'clunkers'
Yes, we know what our priorities are, here in downtown Westminster, Maryland.
........................................................................
Other headlines of note:
Page A3, City offers rebates for old toilets
Page A6, Name (Hampstead) bypass after (ex-governor) Ehrlich
Page A7, Regulators to OK new (underground) coal mine
Page C3, Woodstock's 40th rocks art center
Page C4, See L.A. on horseback
Page C7, Fox, Abdul talks over, guest judges set
Page D3, Surfing through the scriptures
............................................................................
A lesson (or a joke?)
When his elderly friend became ill, a nice guy began to make a soup that his old friend liked. He made it every morning, and took it to his friend, who downed it with great pleasure.
This went on for a couple of years. Every day, the soup was made and taken to his friend, who loved the taste. But, one day, the old man died.
The soup maker made a batch of soup and took it to the funeral parlor, where his friend was in a beautiful coffin, surrounded by lots and lots of fresh flowers. He put the soup down near the coffin.
One of the relatives came up, laughing at him, and said. "Why did you bring that soup? He is dead and cannot taste it." The soup-maker said.."Yes, and he also can't smell your beautiful flowers."
.........................................................................................
Rapper pays visit to Ravens Camp.. (players giddy as Snoop Dogg stops by to watch team practice). This was on page one.
On page A5, Sotomayor confirmed.
On page B5, Senate fills up 'clunkers'
Yes, we know what our priorities are, here in downtown Westminster, Maryland.
........................................................................
Other headlines of note:
Page A3, City offers rebates for old toilets
Page A6, Name (Hampstead) bypass after (ex-governor) Ehrlich
Page A7, Regulators to OK new (underground) coal mine
Page C3, Woodstock's 40th rocks art center
Page C4, See L.A. on horseback
Page C7, Fox, Abdul talks over, guest judges set
Page D3, Surfing through the scriptures
............................................................................
A lesson (or a joke?)
When his elderly friend became ill, a nice guy began to make a soup that his old friend liked. He made it every morning, and took it to his friend, who downed it with great pleasure.
This went on for a couple of years. Every day, the soup was made and taken to his friend, who loved the taste. But, one day, the old man died.
The soup maker made a batch of soup and took it to the funeral parlor, where his friend was in a beautiful coffin, surrounded by lots and lots of fresh flowers. He put the soup down near the coffin.
One of the relatives came up, laughing at him, and said. "Why did you bring that soup? He is dead and cannot taste it." The soup-maker said.."Yes, and he also can't smell your beautiful flowers."
.........................................................................................
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
News and a Plea
Today is another of those August news days.. some good stuff, some bad stuff, some ridiculous stuff.. but all of it interesting, at least to me. Let's see:
01. Bill Clinton brokered some kind of deal to get the two lady journalists released in North Korea. I never thought that I would ever see "five foot nothing" Kim Jong-Il in the same picture with "six foot five" Bill Clinton. Regardless of his short stature, Kim has made himself a very tall pain in the butt to the whole world. Whether or not he set the Clinton visit in motion, I am very glad that the ladies have been released and are at home with their families again.
02. That snake, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has just been sworn in as Iran's President for a second 4-year term. He will now have to form an acceptable government. The opposition candidates, Mir Hossein Mousave and Mehdi Karroubi, continue to contest the results. Unfortunately, this reminds me of the Arab saying: The dogs bark, but the caravan continues on.
03. Brazilians are being urged to conserve water by urinating in their showers.
04. A U-tube video of a seven year old driving a car at speeds from 25 to 40 mph is causing a stir in Canadian police circles. The main problem seems to be that the child is not wearing his seat belt! A short time ago another seven year old drove off in his father's car to avoid having to go to church.
05. Al Franken is about to give his "maiden" Senate speech. I hope he does "schtick".
06. A waddling Eastern European man was found to be trying to smuggle 22 pairs of pants by customs. He was wearing them.
07. The Postal Service is losing money again.. even after raising the price of stamps. So, it is about to close a lot of Post Offices, including possibly five in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Online bill paying is a problem now. Also, advertisers have cut down on junk mail because of the expense. (That is sad for me, because I love junk mail, and look forward to it each day. Recently, very little enters my home mail box, and the junk mail entering my Post Office Box has dwindled to a trickle.)
Can anyone remember when we had twice a day delivery? I do.
08. Listen to this one: A drunken 36-year old New York mother, smoking marijuana, caused a wrong-way crash that killed her, her 2-year old daughter and six others. Her blood-alcohol level was .17 at the time of the crash.
09. The "cash for clunkers" program will probably get another boost this week. My 2002 Toyota Camry is about to fall apart, but I could not qualify because it doesn't technically fit the description of a "clunker".. that is, if I want to spend two grand, I could proabably get it fixed like new.
In a few weeks, we leave for three weeks at the ocean and Elaine, being a woman, needs to take half of the household items, plus food and clothes for six months. To say that it does not fit easily into my Camry, is a great understatement. And yet, somehow, we manage to squeeze it all in.
The problem comes when it's time to come home. Somehow, we always manage to accumulate new items. Once again, it all gets squeezed in.. but it sure is not fun driving a car as though you are in an army tank with a very small opening for the eyes... also, it is not as safe as it should be. So, this is the problem.. to get a car that is not an SUV, yet is big enough to carry all this stuff with room left over, and still maintain the low gas usage that my Toyota enjoys.
10. The Senate is about to vote on Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Some of the "big hitter" lobbyists are pushing for a "no" vote and most of the Republicans say they will not vote for her because "empathy is not wanted in a Supreme Court Justice"... huh? I realize that the main function of a Supreme Court Justice is to interpret the case in terms of the Constitution, and I am convinced that she would do what she has to do. Her record shows that.
As an Independent voter, I get to pick on Senators on both sides of the aisle. Today I am picking on a Republican. I was amazed to read that Arizona Senator John McCain said that he would not vote for her. Doesn't his state have lots of people whose mothers were "Latinas"? Doesn't he want to get reelected?
I expect that Judge Sotomayor will be easily confirmed and then it should be a lot of fun watching the Court in action during their next term.
And now, my plea to any of my EMAIL senders who might be reading this. I've said this many times before: Because much of the email messages that are forwarded to me recently have not been subjected to the "truth test".. I am no longer going to open any email message that has "fwd" in the subject line.
I love you all, but it causes me to have a knot in my stomach to read the garbage that is being forwarded all over the Internet by people who think that a lie, if told over and over and spread about, will become the truth. Look at what happened during the Nazi regime. Herr Hitler and Herr Goebbles believed that if you tell a big enough lie, most people will believe it. Amazingly, in spite of the usual intelligence of the German people, that worked for a few years.. and look at what happened to the Nazi regime.
I like to think that such a situation would not happen in the U.S., but these messages worry me.
Thanks for listening.
01. Bill Clinton brokered some kind of deal to get the two lady journalists released in North Korea. I never thought that I would ever see "five foot nothing" Kim Jong-Il in the same picture with "six foot five" Bill Clinton. Regardless of his short stature, Kim has made himself a very tall pain in the butt to the whole world. Whether or not he set the Clinton visit in motion, I am very glad that the ladies have been released and are at home with their families again.
02. That snake, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has just been sworn in as Iran's President for a second 4-year term. He will now have to form an acceptable government. The opposition candidates, Mir Hossein Mousave and Mehdi Karroubi, continue to contest the results. Unfortunately, this reminds me of the Arab saying: The dogs bark, but the caravan continues on.
03. Brazilians are being urged to conserve water by urinating in their showers.
04. A U-tube video of a seven year old driving a car at speeds from 25 to 40 mph is causing a stir in Canadian police circles. The main problem seems to be that the child is not wearing his seat belt! A short time ago another seven year old drove off in his father's car to avoid having to go to church.
05. Al Franken is about to give his "maiden" Senate speech. I hope he does "schtick".
06. A waddling Eastern European man was found to be trying to smuggle 22 pairs of pants by customs. He was wearing them.
07. The Postal Service is losing money again.. even after raising the price of stamps. So, it is about to close a lot of Post Offices, including possibly five in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Online bill paying is a problem now. Also, advertisers have cut down on junk mail because of the expense. (That is sad for me, because I love junk mail, and look forward to it each day. Recently, very little enters my home mail box, and the junk mail entering my Post Office Box has dwindled to a trickle.)
Can anyone remember when we had twice a day delivery? I do.
08. Listen to this one: A drunken 36-year old New York mother, smoking marijuana, caused a wrong-way crash that killed her, her 2-year old daughter and six others. Her blood-alcohol level was .17 at the time of the crash.
09. The "cash for clunkers" program will probably get another boost this week. My 2002 Toyota Camry is about to fall apart, but I could not qualify because it doesn't technically fit the description of a "clunker".. that is, if I want to spend two grand, I could proabably get it fixed like new.
In a few weeks, we leave for three weeks at the ocean and Elaine, being a woman, needs to take half of the household items, plus food and clothes for six months. To say that it does not fit easily into my Camry, is a great understatement. And yet, somehow, we manage to squeeze it all in.
The problem comes when it's time to come home. Somehow, we always manage to accumulate new items. Once again, it all gets squeezed in.. but it sure is not fun driving a car as though you are in an army tank with a very small opening for the eyes... also, it is not as safe as it should be. So, this is the problem.. to get a car that is not an SUV, yet is big enough to carry all this stuff with room left over, and still maintain the low gas usage that my Toyota enjoys.
10. The Senate is about to vote on Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Some of the "big hitter" lobbyists are pushing for a "no" vote and most of the Republicans say they will not vote for her because "empathy is not wanted in a Supreme Court Justice"... huh? I realize that the main function of a Supreme Court Justice is to interpret the case in terms of the Constitution, and I am convinced that she would do what she has to do. Her record shows that.
As an Independent voter, I get to pick on Senators on both sides of the aisle. Today I am picking on a Republican. I was amazed to read that Arizona Senator John McCain said that he would not vote for her. Doesn't his state have lots of people whose mothers were "Latinas"? Doesn't he want to get reelected?
I expect that Judge Sotomayor will be easily confirmed and then it should be a lot of fun watching the Court in action during their next term.
And now, my plea to any of my EMAIL senders who might be reading this. I've said this many times before: Because much of the email messages that are forwarded to me recently have not been subjected to the "truth test".. I am no longer going to open any email message that has "fwd" in the subject line.
I love you all, but it causes me to have a knot in my stomach to read the garbage that is being forwarded all over the Internet by people who think that a lie, if told over and over and spread about, will become the truth. Look at what happened during the Nazi regime. Herr Hitler and Herr Goebbles believed that if you tell a big enough lie, most people will believe it. Amazingly, in spite of the usual intelligence of the German people, that worked for a few years.. and look at what happened to the Nazi regime.
I like to think that such a situation would not happen in the U.S., but these messages worry me.
Thanks for listening.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Twitter Posts 07/17/09
A TWITTER visit can bend your mind. Here are some of the things I encountered on a visit there tonight:
01. A Kansas City auto dealer is offering an AK-47 with every truck purchase!
02. The Pope broke his wrist. (Now how will he write encyclicals?)
03. Judge Sotomayor got through her ordeal by being boring. This was a great strategy, in my opinion. (It has served some of us well for years).
04. Walter Chronhite died at age 92. Another American Icon is gone!
05. New Senator Al Franken asked Sotomayor if she remembered a Perry Mason mystery where Perry loses a case. She didn't remember. Neither did Al.
I seem to remember a case where Hamilton Berger won over Perry Mason. I think it might have been: The Case of the Deadly verdict. ........From season 7.
06. I thought that I was hearing things today.. I heard a Republican Congressman praising Massachusett's own, Barney Frank.
07. DC's former mayor and current councilman, Marion Berry, is back in the news. He swears that he did not give a plush job to his girl friend.
08. The famous Watergate Hotel will be auctioned off!
09. Starbuck says: "Looking into Ahab's eyes cons a fearful exercise. An abyss of fire ice, colder than an inferno, a frozen hell".. by TwitterFon (and probably not Melville). From_the_Pequod Twitter site.
10. Headline: Croc shoe company stumbles during recession. (Elaine won't like that.)
How about all that??!
01. A Kansas City auto dealer is offering an AK-47 with every truck purchase!
02. The Pope broke his wrist. (Now how will he write encyclicals?)
03. Judge Sotomayor got through her ordeal by being boring. This was a great strategy, in my opinion. (It has served some of us well for years).
04. Walter Chronhite died at age 92. Another American Icon is gone!
05. New Senator Al Franken asked Sotomayor if she remembered a Perry Mason mystery where Perry loses a case. She didn't remember. Neither did Al.
I seem to remember a case where Hamilton Berger won over Perry Mason. I think it might have been: The Case of the Deadly verdict. ........From season 7.
06. I thought that I was hearing things today.. I heard a Republican Congressman praising Massachusett's own, Barney Frank.
07. DC's former mayor and current councilman, Marion Berry, is back in the news. He swears that he did not give a plush job to his girl friend.
08. The famous Watergate Hotel will be auctioned off!
09. Starbuck says: "Looking into Ahab's eyes cons a fearful exercise. An abyss of fire ice, colder than an inferno, a frozen hell".. by TwitterFon (and probably not Melville). From_the_Pequod Twitter site.
10. Headline: Croc shoe company stumbles during recession. (Elaine won't like that.)
How about all that??!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Summer Thoughts 01
As I sit here finishing my morning coffee, and before I must get ready for meetings, errands, and chores, I am thinking about a few things that please, sadden, confuse, or upset me; for instance:
There is another giant zucchini growing on our back porch.. also two tomatoes showing red. We have already harvested three zukes and four little cukes. This pleases me.. even though I must carry 5 gallons of water each day to offer to my green plants. But they are appreciative.
Tomorrow, Bastille Day, is the 9th anniversary of the death of Elaine Langlois Vaughan. She was 63 years old when she died and should have normally had 24 more years of life in which to watch her beloved grandchildren mature and have families of their own. This saddens me.
Conservative Senators are gearing up to try to discredit Ms. Sotomayor during the Confirmation process. This confuses me. In my mind, she is the ideal candidate to help make the Supreme Court more representative of the U. S. population because she is a woman and an Hispanic. How could any Senator be against this.. besides, if they are too mean to her, they would probably kiss their reelection plans goodbye.
Last night, I opened a can of expensive cat food and found that it was moldy inside. This upsets me. I will be taking it back to the store, together with all of the other cans by the same company. I will ask them to check their stock and notify the company. By "them" I mean the store manager. My tuxedo cat is suffering from hyperthyroidism and if I had not examined the food before feeding it too him, who knows what effect it might have had on him.
Yesterday, we hung a pink rose plaque on the front side of the house. On the bottom, we will be placing our house numbers. Pink is Elaine's favorite color and this plaque pleases her and me. At the same time, we hung her butterfly windsock from the gutter. Now we have a good weather instrument. If it is stretched out sideways, we know the wind is blowing; if it is hanging straight down, we know the wind is calm; if it looks wet, we know it is raining; if it is white, we know that it is snowing.
Our service men are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, this saddens me. Also, the "news" just anncounced that the CIA lied to Congress about a secret program. The news also says that the secrecy was requested (ordered?) by the Vice President. The Constitution was written in such a way that the Executive Branch's actions would be tempered by interaction with the Legislature and the Judiciary. Violations of that procedure should be dealt with sternly, in my opinion.
Man's inhumanity to man continues to confuse me. Why do some people continue to act like animals? Fathers murdering their families. Drive-by shooting. Five-year olds being hit with bullets fired by seventeen-year olds. etc etc Just pick up the paper for any day of the week. And the churches try to curb this inhumanity, but I don't think they succeed. I remember when I was working.. on Monday, those folks who had gone to church on Sunday were very pleasant and tolerant.. but as the week grew older, these same folks reverted back to their old grouchy and prejudicial ways.. but then, maybe it was because it was Government work, and maybe, just maybe, it was me who was the grouchy one.
Finally, there is something that really upsets me. I received word on Saturday that my Uncle Allen had a stroke that day and was being rushed 50 miles away to Boston. Allen is my last living Uncle and is 89 years old. He has survived heart attacks and open heart surgery and I expected him to live to be 105. When he was a lot younger, he was called Popeye, because he was one tough son of a gun. I grew up in the same household as he did and he treated me like a brother.. and I think of him as a brother and also as a kind of father image. So, I am waiting for word now and I hope that his stroke was a mild one. Something that he can overcome.
................
There is another giant zucchini growing on our back porch.. also two tomatoes showing red. We have already harvested three zukes and four little cukes. This pleases me.. even though I must carry 5 gallons of water each day to offer to my green plants. But they are appreciative.
Tomorrow, Bastille Day, is the 9th anniversary of the death of Elaine Langlois Vaughan. She was 63 years old when she died and should have normally had 24 more years of life in which to watch her beloved grandchildren mature and have families of their own. This saddens me.
Conservative Senators are gearing up to try to discredit Ms. Sotomayor during the Confirmation process. This confuses me. In my mind, she is the ideal candidate to help make the Supreme Court more representative of the U. S. population because she is a woman and an Hispanic. How could any Senator be against this.. besides, if they are too mean to her, they would probably kiss their reelection plans goodbye.
Last night, I opened a can of expensive cat food and found that it was moldy inside. This upsets me. I will be taking it back to the store, together with all of the other cans by the same company. I will ask them to check their stock and notify the company. By "them" I mean the store manager. My tuxedo cat is suffering from hyperthyroidism and if I had not examined the food before feeding it too him, who knows what effect it might have had on him.
Yesterday, we hung a pink rose plaque on the front side of the house. On the bottom, we will be placing our house numbers. Pink is Elaine's favorite color and this plaque pleases her and me. At the same time, we hung her butterfly windsock from the gutter. Now we have a good weather instrument. If it is stretched out sideways, we know the wind is blowing; if it is hanging straight down, we know the wind is calm; if it looks wet, we know it is raining; if it is white, we know that it is snowing.
Our service men are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, this saddens me. Also, the "news" just anncounced that the CIA lied to Congress about a secret program. The news also says that the secrecy was requested (ordered?) by the Vice President. The Constitution was written in such a way that the Executive Branch's actions would be tempered by interaction with the Legislature and the Judiciary. Violations of that procedure should be dealt with sternly, in my opinion.
Man's inhumanity to man continues to confuse me. Why do some people continue to act like animals? Fathers murdering their families. Drive-by shooting. Five-year olds being hit with bullets fired by seventeen-year olds. etc etc Just pick up the paper for any day of the week. And the churches try to curb this inhumanity, but I don't think they succeed. I remember when I was working.. on Monday, those folks who had gone to church on Sunday were very pleasant and tolerant.. but as the week grew older, these same folks reverted back to their old grouchy and prejudicial ways.. but then, maybe it was because it was Government work, and maybe, just maybe, it was me who was the grouchy one.
Finally, there is something that really upsets me. I received word on Saturday that my Uncle Allen had a stroke that day and was being rushed 50 miles away to Boston. Allen is my last living Uncle and is 89 years old. He has survived heart attacks and open heart surgery and I expected him to live to be 105. When he was a lot younger, he was called Popeye, because he was one tough son of a gun. I grew up in the same household as he did and he treated me like a brother.. and I think of him as a brother and also as a kind of father image. So, I am waiting for word now and I hope that his stroke was a mild one. Something that he can overcome.
................
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Names and News
Today, I will make comments on the pronounciation of Mucha and Sotomayor, recommend a couple of books to read, and pass on some observations from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, my favorite radio show. (BTW: look up pronunciation and pronounciation online.. then maybe you will be as confused as I am about which spelling is correct.. or which pronounciation of either is correct.. ain't English great?)
At an art gallery in Towson, Elaine and I were recently shown l0ts of works by Alfonse Mucha. The owner spoke Mucha as MOO-CU(p). I speak Mucha as MU-SHA and sometimes as MU-CHA. Since Al was a Czech, I found out that his name in Czech is pronounced: MOO-CA(r). Suggested pronounciation in English is the same as in Czech. So.. we were both wrong.
In any event, the owner has gone to the Czech Republic and brought back lots of Mucha stuff which she has reframed for sale. One of the items is a framed print of a beautiful (zaftig) young lady, a copy of which I paid $4 at a small antique store in Westminster, Maryland. She is selling it for $250! Her prices are a bit out of range for me; but perhaps not for people who live in Towson.
Once, we found a framed print of a mother with her two daughters at an antique mall in Frederick. We paid a very large price for it. Two store stalls later we found the identical item for much much less. Guess what... the first person gave us our money back and we bought the latter print. (It's still my favorite picture because it looks just like my two beautiful daughters watching my new-born son who is in his mother's arms.)
Now that I have learned how to pronounce Mucha, I turn my attention to Ms Sotomayor. Apparently, there is a Conservative commentator who feels that we should not succomb to the temptation to pronounce her name as though we were Puerto Ricans, but rather pronounce it the good old fashioned American way as: So to mayer. OMIGAWD! What next!
Yesterday, we were happy to attend granddaughter Bridget's college graduation. It was a great day and we are very proud of what a fine young woman she has become. Usually on Saturday morning, I listen to my favorite NPR show: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! So, this morning (Sunday) I listened to the show on my PC. I kind of like this better, because it cuts out 13 minutes of unrelated news and advertising. Some of the things I learned today:
01. Panelist Charlie Pierce has published a new book that will anger a lot of people. I have read parts of it, and I highly recommend it for "thinking" people.. the title happens to be: "Idiot America." You will be hearing a lot about this book, I'm sure.
02. Panelist Roy Blunt, Jr. also has published a new book that will be great, especially for those interested in "words" and their derivations and current and past meanings. I read a couple of pages out on Amazon and found it quite enlightening. The title is: Alphabet Juice (had he already used Alphabet Soup?)
03. Somebody on the show mentioned that for 17 years, Jay Leno "has pretended to be funnier and dumber than he is." Elaine and I feel that since the Writers' Strike, Jay's monologues have not been funny at all. However, we also feel that his most unfunny moment is far and away more funny than anything we have ever seen Conan O'Brien do on his "show". Prediction: The demise of the Tonight Show.
04. Prisoners in France will be participating in a 400 mile bicycle race. It is meant as a rehabilitation aid. One prisoner stated: "It's kind of an escape for us." Time will tell.
05. Robert Earl Keen, Austin, Texas, singer and song-writer had a couple of different type jobs while he was struggling to make it in the business: Singing at Yard-Sales and digging ditches. (His father had always told him: If you stick with music, you'll end up digging ditches.) Once he caught his wife shooting at cats while dressed in her underwear. He was inspired to write a Country song about it.
06. I can not vouch for the truth of this, but it was mentioned in a discussion of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University. They mentioned that H.W. Bush was the "most sexually experienced" member and W. Bush could not decide on an appellation, and was called "Temporary." ??
07. It was mentioned that a DC Councilman wants to ban pizza joints that serve giant slices of pizza, because these deals draw unsavory customers.
08. This I find the most amazing of anything I've heard lately. Apparently, the city of Hardin, Montana, has a new jail that is empty. They have said that they would like to house the Gitmo prisoners in their new facility. They think that this would result in more income to the city from notoriety, tourism, or whatever would be connected with the move.
How about..... gang members and/or drug sellers being sent to Montana to serve their time, at hard labor. It might keep them out of contact with their buddies and girl friends who smuggle cell phones and other contraband when they visit. Russia had the Gulag.. and just think, some of the prisoners might just find the feeling of accomplishment that Ivan Denisovitch finally felt when his building was completed in spite of the bitter cold, etc..... (read: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch... a marvelous book that you would never forget.)
09. People from Yuma, Arizona are called yumans.
10. An inventor in France has invented the Dogomatic dog washer.
11. A three year study at Oxford discovered that ducks like water.
12. The people living on Butt Hole Road in Great Britain have successfully changed the name of the street. (There is a group of people on the Internet who are lobbying them to have the name changed back to what it was before.)
13. A man was caught after slashing the tires of 50 automobiles. When asked why he did it, he said it was because his mother made him wear braces 20 years ago. He even carried a picture of himself wearing the braces. The cops agreed that he looked pretty bad then.
ENOUGH!
PS: if any of my Baltimore readers remember the Electric Park on Belvedere Avenue, please let me know.
At an art gallery in Towson, Elaine and I were recently shown l0ts of works by Alfonse Mucha. The owner spoke Mucha as MOO-CU(p). I speak Mucha as MU-SHA and sometimes as MU-CHA. Since Al was a Czech, I found out that his name in Czech is pronounced: MOO-CA(r). Suggested pronounciation in English is the same as in Czech. So.. we were both wrong.
In any event, the owner has gone to the Czech Republic and brought back lots of Mucha stuff which she has reframed for sale. One of the items is a framed print of a beautiful (zaftig) young lady, a copy of which I paid $4 at a small antique store in Westminster, Maryland. She is selling it for $250! Her prices are a bit out of range for me; but perhaps not for people who live in Towson.
Once, we found a framed print of a mother with her two daughters at an antique mall in Frederick. We paid a very large price for it. Two store stalls later we found the identical item for much much less. Guess what... the first person gave us our money back and we bought the latter print. (It's still my favorite picture because it looks just like my two beautiful daughters watching my new-born son who is in his mother's arms.)
Now that I have learned how to pronounce Mucha, I turn my attention to Ms Sotomayor. Apparently, there is a Conservative commentator who feels that we should not succomb to the temptation to pronounce her name as though we were Puerto Ricans, but rather pronounce it the good old fashioned American way as: So to mayer. OMIGAWD! What next!
Yesterday, we were happy to attend granddaughter Bridget's college graduation. It was a great day and we are very proud of what a fine young woman she has become. Usually on Saturday morning, I listen to my favorite NPR show: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! So, this morning (Sunday) I listened to the show on my PC. I kind of like this better, because it cuts out 13 minutes of unrelated news and advertising. Some of the things I learned today:
01. Panelist Charlie Pierce has published a new book that will anger a lot of people. I have read parts of it, and I highly recommend it for "thinking" people.. the title happens to be: "Idiot America." You will be hearing a lot about this book, I'm sure.
02. Panelist Roy Blunt, Jr. also has published a new book that will be great, especially for those interested in "words" and their derivations and current and past meanings. I read a couple of pages out on Amazon and found it quite enlightening. The title is: Alphabet Juice (had he already used Alphabet Soup?)
03. Somebody on the show mentioned that for 17 years, Jay Leno "has pretended to be funnier and dumber than he is." Elaine and I feel that since the Writers' Strike, Jay's monologues have not been funny at all. However, we also feel that his most unfunny moment is far and away more funny than anything we have ever seen Conan O'Brien do on his "show". Prediction: The demise of the Tonight Show.
04. Prisoners in France will be participating in a 400 mile bicycle race. It is meant as a rehabilitation aid. One prisoner stated: "It's kind of an escape for us." Time will tell.
05. Robert Earl Keen, Austin, Texas, singer and song-writer had a couple of different type jobs while he was struggling to make it in the business: Singing at Yard-Sales and digging ditches. (His father had always told him: If you stick with music, you'll end up digging ditches.) Once he caught his wife shooting at cats while dressed in her underwear. He was inspired to write a Country song about it.
06. I can not vouch for the truth of this, but it was mentioned in a discussion of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University. They mentioned that H.W. Bush was the "most sexually experienced" member and W. Bush could not decide on an appellation, and was called "Temporary." ??
07. It was mentioned that a DC Councilman wants to ban pizza joints that serve giant slices of pizza, because these deals draw unsavory customers.
08. This I find the most amazing of anything I've heard lately. Apparently, the city of Hardin, Montana, has a new jail that is empty. They have said that they would like to house the Gitmo prisoners in their new facility. They think that this would result in more income to the city from notoriety, tourism, or whatever would be connected with the move.
How about..... gang members and/or drug sellers being sent to Montana to serve their time, at hard labor. It might keep them out of contact with their buddies and girl friends who smuggle cell phones and other contraband when they visit. Russia had the Gulag.. and just think, some of the prisoners might just find the feeling of accomplishment that Ivan Denisovitch finally felt when his building was completed in spite of the bitter cold, etc..... (read: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch... a marvelous book that you would never forget.)
09. People from Yuma, Arizona are called yumans.
10. An inventor in France has invented the Dogomatic dog washer.
11. A three year study at Oxford discovered that ducks like water.
12. The people living on Butt Hole Road in Great Britain have successfully changed the name of the street. (There is a group of people on the Internet who are lobbying them to have the name changed back to what it was before.)
13. A man was caught after slashing the tires of 50 automobiles. When asked why he did it, he said it was because his mother made him wear braces 20 years ago. He even carried a picture of himself wearing the braces. The cops agreed that he looked pretty bad then.
ENOUGH!
PS: if any of my Baltimore readers remember the Electric Park on Belvedere Avenue, please let me know.
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