Words to live by...
"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."
[Spanish Proverb]
(The right to looseness has been officially given)
"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."
Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.
I was going to post this on Nov. 7th but since people (nearly a third of voters) will be voting early, I decided to do it now.
Is Trump a stealth supporter of Hillary?
I ask because, until a few weeks ago, everything he did has done nothing but help Hillary Clinton. Unless he's hoping for (or knows about) some miracle that will take her out of the race. But I do not see that happening. She is protected by the Obama administration and the media. But she was easily beatable! However, he has ignored advice from all corners and committed numerous mistakes in his campaign.
Faye doesn't like Trump but not because of the usual reasons, she thinks the media selected Trump to run against Hillary. Maybe so, I can't say. All I can say is that it appears he is not planning on victory. She thought this about McCain also. And I tend to agree, the media played up McCain until he was the nominee and then went after him unmercifully.
Much of what he (Trump) says is in reaction to statements by the other side... which I think is a part of their strategy.
On the other hand, I am reminded of the lop-sided battle between Goldwater and LBJ and the joke that was big during the Vietnam War:
They said if I voted for Goldwater, the war would expand, we'd bomb North Vietnam, and we'd be mired in an Asian war. I voted for Goldwater and, sure enough, that all came to pass...
The Obama administration finally acknowledged that the $400 million paid to Iran was, essentially, ransom (they called it "leverage") for the Americans they were holding.
The choice couldn't be more simple:
If you are happy with the way things are, vote for Hillary (because she promises no change). If you want change, vote for Trump.
These people claim they are leaving the US if Trump is elected:
Rosie O'Donnell
Lena Dunham
Chelsea Handler
Jon Stewart
Cher
Chloe Sevigny
Elizabeth Moss
Lily Rose Depp
Miley Cyrus
Samuel L. Jackson
Neve Campbell
Raven Symone
Eddie Griffin
I could not find anyone who said they will leave the country if Hillary wins.
I think that says something: conservatives will abide by the outcome but liberals won't.
And I like what Obama said at the DNC:
"...and that is why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or woman more qualified to serve as president of the United States of America." [implying that she, not he, should have been the Democratic nominee in 2008.] And he ran a campaign of lies. You now have the opportunity to erase the last eight years and change the system that exists. Another thing I don't like is that the system is heavily weighted toward the Democrats and that is because the Democrats have made it that way.
If you are African-American then I ask you to think about what the Democrats have done for (and to) you. They have filled you with fear of Republicans yet they have destroyed your families and built the ghettos ("the projects") many of you might live in. They have been running the cities in which you live for decades and haven't improved them. Don't you wonder why?
And, remember, your vote is secret... if you don't tell others who you voted for then they will never know.
Sure, Trump is a risk but so is life. Ask yourself if you want this country to follow the same path it has been on or do you really want change?
If you want change and to shake up the government, you will do as I intend to do:
Vote for TRUMP.
Here's another point of view:
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/150603095761/assessing-the-risk-of-trump
Yes, this is my final post.I wanted to make the 2000th post my last one but I must have miscounted (this is, according to the blog, 2003). All I can say is, "math is hard." That's a vague reference to a doll ad of some years ago, which few people might remember but which stuck in my brain.
I am ending this because typing has become a chore due to whatever is screwing me up. Maybe it is a result of my misspent youth or the many chemicals I abused over the years. I only know that everything is harder than it should be. I feel like a 90-year-old. I would like to continue to blog, boring anyone unfortunate to happen in here, but I cannot.
I hope that I have made a difference in my readers' lives and I hope that you have taken to heart my admonitions to be aware of your innate biases so that you may better understand and control them. We all have them and we must master them in order to have a peaceful and productive society.
Wish me luck, as I wish you the same. Good-bye.
[1]
I still have problems with balance and dexterity but I did make it back from Georgia. I might not have mentioned that I was going there but I took a couple of weeks and traveled to Ringgold (a small town in northwest Georgia... just across the state line from Chattanooga, Tn.) The reason for my trip? To visit my wife's sister and others... her brother was visiting also, as were her nephew, her niece and her niece's husband... I was happy to see them all but was more glad we made it there without an accident or other mishap.
The drive up was nerve-wracking to say the least. We took our time, though, a nine hour trip we took in two days, staying overnight in Tifton, Ga. But it was worth it. The only real traffic was through Atlanta.
On the way back, we met with an old friend and co-worker, Mike, near Dallas, Ga on Friday. A nice guy who we stayed with the week after we married and moved to northern Virginia.
It was good to see him again and, hopefully, we'll get a visit from him next year for the races here next March (Sebring 12-hour). We took a night at a hotel in the area of Marietta (just north of Atlanta) to take advantage of the Saturday traffic in Atlanta. It was still bad, though, but I managed to get through it.
We stayed in Ocala that night and then drove home on Sunday... to find my irrigation pump had not run several times so the lawn was yellow in large spots. I managed to get it working the next day and also watered my thirsty(!) plants on the back porch.
Hope you all had a good week.
[Politics Corner]
There are reasons I am no longer a Democrat... many of them. I have come to view the Democratic Party as the Party of hypocrisy. I listened to Hillary's speech in Illinois the other day, she took a shot at Trump for being a purveyor of the politics of fear. I thought, "wasn't that what she was doing at that moment?" and "wasn't that what the Democratic Party has been doing for years? Sowing fear and hatred of the Republican Party?"
I have fear... fear of more liberal Supreme Court Justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Fear of more and more debt. Fear of policies that will destroy this country. Fear of policies that will, not may, increase the prospect of terrorism in this country.
Yes, I am afraid.
[2]
So if you don't want to read my take on the political situation, I understand.
Basically, it's a mess... we have a choice between a billionaire with weird hair, strange tan, and an over-active ego or a person who might get indicted for revealing top secret information. Essentially, a choice between a strange 1 percenter and a possible felon.
Not much of a choice, really. I don't much like Trump but I dislike Hillary more. I don't think the US can take another Democrat in the White House, especially when there is the possibility of 4 seats on the Supreme Court to be selected.
I have to say Milania would make a stunning First Lady but I am not sure the country would like a former model as First Lady... we're used to more matronly types.
On the other hand I am am not ready for Bill to be the first First Gentleman.. basically because I do not think of him being all that gentlemany.
I think I would rather not experience the next four years regardless of who wins.
On the other hand, this is going to be the most interesting presidential campaign of my lifetime... or yours, perhaps.
[3]
As my ability to type deteriorates, I become more and more frustrated and angry at my inability to use them. "Words, words, words," a shipmate (a friend) said to me from time to time. He meant my words were meaningless in the context of our discussions. And they often were, I suppose. Now that they fail me and I struggle to type them out, I better understand that.
In a way, I am going through a thing similar to what my mother experienced as her Alzheimer's advanced. I know what I want to say but my ability to say it in the written word is failing me. I can hope that this isn't Alzheimer's but I won't know for some time, if ever. All I know is that typing has become extraordinarily difficult. It seems to be an inability to do some simple tasks, though not all the time, such as tying my shoes or buttoning my shirt or pants. I also have a great fear that I will drop a glass or cup.
It is, to me, an agony.
[4]
As I was pedaling on my way to the "Y" the other day, I passed a number of people walking or pedaling along the way. Of course, I acknowledged them by saying "good morning" or some such and that got me to musing about greetings.
We say things like "good moring" without thinking much about it. What we are doing, in reality, is wishing them a good morning or day, depending on what we say and what time it is.
We also ask "how are you doing?" To which... almost everyone replies (at least initially) "fine." Just to be ornery, I have replied "lousy" or "terrible" from time to time but people seemed to take me seriously and inquire further.
You can't win.
Politics alert:
Since the Orlando shooter was a registered Democrat and Democrats are concerned that we need more restrictions on whi can buy a gun... how about we deny the right to purchase a gun by any registered Democrat?
[5]
As horrific as the attack on The Pulse was,concentration is now on the gun used. The rifle used was an AR-15. Despite being called an "automatic" (Geraldo Rivera, for one), it is, in civilian form, in fact a semi-automatic weapon. No different than any number of civilian weapons. Will there be a call to ban all semi-automatic weapons?
And the shooter was a security guard with credentials that allowed him to purchase weapons for use in his job... a job with a firm that had contracts to provide security for some government facilities.
And, it turns out, his wife, Noor, apparently aided and abetted his plans.
This was planned before the news came out about the Orlando shootings at The Pulse. My heart goes out to the families of the victims in that attack. No one deserves to be inflicted with that horror.
I am not one confused about my gender but, apparently, a number of people are.
They say that all males have an "inner woman". As the old (and sexist, I suppose) joke goes, fortunately, mine is a lesbian.
A number of schools now are being urged to allow those who "self-identify" as a female or male to use the restroom and showers they self-identify as. This has, understandably, caused much consternation in parents and triggered some lawsuits against the US government. I am also going to suggest that no female is going to "self-identify" as male and try to use the boys bathroom or the boys' showers.
I sympathize with those parents, obviously, since I am writing this blog. But, just as "ms" has replaced "miss", I think this will be a battle doomed to be lost. Some have suggested that "xe" replace "he" but I cannot figure out how to pronounce that.
I am old school, I guess. When someone says "I always knew I was gay." I think, "That can't be so." We go through periods in our lives where we might question our sexual orientation, that's understandable. And I have had someone ask "Why would anyone choose to be gay?" I usually reply that, "Some women choose to stay in abusive relationships. Do you think they have no choice in the matter? That they're born that way? Do you think people do not choose to be criminals? That they are born that way? That they enjoy getting arrested and sent to prison?"
I get shouted down... fairly often.
I don't know whether people are pre-disposed to be gay or straight.
Personally, I think we make choices all the time we are growing up that result in our sexual orientation.
But I am glad I'm a raging heterosexual. Faye agrees.
[6]
Write about something other than politics but I can't. There is just too much going on in that world.
Donald Trump makes a stupid remark about a judge and chaos ensues.
Obama endorses Hillary (yawn... who else would he endorse?) and Sanders vows to fight on. Ho hum. I am not impressed by any of this; we know Trump makes outrageous statements, so that remark is nothing new, we know Obama would endorse Hillary so that is nothing new. But, assuming Bernie had actually won the nomination, would there have been such a ringing endorsement? I wonder...
I do know one thing: this is going to be an interesting campaign. Much more so than anyone alive today could imagine. And, yet, I wonder if... somewhere... there's a video endorsing Bernie.
[6]
I was going to, and from, Wal-Mart yesterday when I realized something about traffic... we depend on all the other drivers to behave in particular ways. The other day, a friend's mother died in a car accident. She was 99 years old and was entirely at fault. She ran a red light and was hit so bad they had to use the "jaws of life" to get her out of the wreck. At 99, she shouldn't have been driving. But most here are well into their old age and there is no public transportation.
I have no problem driving, even with the current problems I have, but I wonder if I would react rationally in an emergency. A close friend is 87 and still drives. He also speeds a lot. I worry about him and those on the road along with him when he is out and about.
But it is the young who seem to drive poorly, they are the ones who slip in and out of lanes, trying to get through the traffic. I was once young and probably reckless. Now I am old and careful.
[7]
I have no idea why, it just does. I am having great difficulty typing this. What is wrong with me, I have no freaking idea but, whatever it is, it is devastating. I made 5 typos just typing that sentence. Maybe the MRI will reveal something... I hope so anyway... but I won't find out until a week from Tuesday.
Today is Memorial Day.
Thank a vet... better yet, thank the family of a vet who didn't come back.
Meanwhile, life sucks.
[8]
I don't understand as much as I used to. Partly because of what has been happening to me the last few years and maybe that's due to the drugs I took as a young man but whatever the case I sit and watch the world and this country tumble into hard times.
Just today I saw a report of Venezeuela fast deteriorating into chaos. This is what socialism leads to. As Margaret Thatcher supposedly once said: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]." You cannot tax yourself into prosperity. But some keep trying. Eventually, interest rates must start climbing and that will start the ugly spiral of inflation.
Prices will go up and that will put pressure on wages which will result in higher prices... putting pressure on wages and so on.
My only hope is that it will not affect me before I die but I am no longer hopeful that will be the case. I have many regrets in my life but I mostly feel sorry for those who must go through the difficulties ahead. All I can do is say I'm sorry for what my generation has done to screw up this country and this world.
I do not worry about Climate Change because I think we will destroy the world's economy first. Sorry to be so negative.
[9]
... is a set of beliefs and practices that aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population.[4] It is a social philosophy advocating the improvement of human genetic traits through the promotion of higher rates of sexual reproduction for people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics), or both.[6] Alternatively, gene selection rather than "people selection" has recently been made possible through advances in gene editing. The exact definition of eugenics has been a matter of debate since the term was coined. The definition of it as a "social philosophy"—that is, a philosophy with implications for social order—is not universally accepted, and was taken from Frederick Osborn's 1937 journal article "Development of a Eugenic Philosophy". [taken from Wikipedia, that font of all knowledge]
You know who practices this? Farmers and animal breeders; racehorses, dogs, and just about everyone. Secretly, we all believe in the concept. How else do we explain the successful careers of the children of actors, politicians, and athletes?
Sure, name recognition is a major factor... but it's not that much of a factor to explain those successes. And the failures must mean something. Often we blame the failures on some flaw in the genetic makeup (the mother, the extended family) that slipped in. Maybe we wonder if the parent (the mother) messed around. It is also the basis for aristocracies... enough said?
On another front, I am appalled at government. Especially in its failures. Take, for example, the recent problems with the TSA and the lengthy lines at airports. Consider the DMV.
Only government bureaucracies fail to deliver and then demand more money and more power. To fix those problems... they say.
Before you say "privatization is the answer," I know it also happens in large corporations. I've seen it myself.
I don't have answers, just questions.
[10]
I have a lot of thoughts about politics these days. But I shall not bore you with them... it's enough that Faye is sick of politics right now.
I was thinking about the little things that irk us every day. Why, you ask? Because we are in that period of the year, here in Paradise, when we get thunderstorms each day around 4-5 PM. Personally, I like thunderstorms.
When I was 7 years old and at camp in Massachusetts, we had a big storm roll through and the wind and rain was terrible. I had to help hold the tent flaps together (we were housed in groups of 10 in tents that were on wood platforms) as the storm was whipping things around. At one point, the rain was getting in under the sides and the floor was pretty wet. Anyway, there I was... trying to hold the main flaps together when I was almost knocked off my feet when lightning struck nearby. I learned later that the pine tree about twenty feet away was struck and that a counselor was within 10 feet of it when it happened. He survived (as did I) but was injured (I wasn't injured at all but my feet tingled for some time).
One might think I would be nervous around after that experience but I am not. In fact, I enjoy the buildup to a storm... the smell of ozone in the air, the distant rumbling, the excitement that builds.
Weird, huh?
[11]
I ask you readers that (or something near to it) from time to time but I get few answers... this means you agree with what I wrote or disagree so vehemently that you're afraid to leave a comment.
I obviously don't have much today or I would expound ad nauseum. Tomorrow I get an MRI at some local imaging center and I'll find out if I actually have a brain. I am not having a good time with the medication one of my doctors has put me on. It's an anti-viral medication and it gives me headaches (one of the possible side-effects).
Wish me luck on having a brain!
[12]
So to speak... Remember when I wrote about some new toys I got? Well, it turns out that that iRULU tablet had no support. I went looking for a manual for it after buying a 64G microSD chip and I couldn't find the slot for it. When I couldn't find that manual, I tried going to support to get the link but that failed and all I got was a stonewall.
Here's a part of the exchange with their support:
I received the tablet but only found a "quick start" guide. I'd like a manual so I can install a MicroSD chip.
Hi,there is a TF card slot on the tablet, you could install a Micro SD card in that slot.Please see the slot in the attached picture.
Here's the problem: I cannot locate that slot. It is possibly behind a covering along that side (the one where you plug in the power adapter). If so, how do I remove that cover? There appears to be a symbol that looks like an SD chip but all my efforts have been for naught.
Hi,could you please tell us if you purchased WalknBook 1 Notebook Tablet? If not, please notice us the s/n number on the back of the tablet firstly?Then, we will help you to check.
I gave them the S/N and studied the picture they attached and then gave up. I chatted with NewEgg (who were very professional about this... as always) and got a return authorization and shipped it back. I should get a credit against my Discover card.
I do not recommend purcasing anything from iRULU!
Dr. Oz would shut off his spam! No matter what I do, I cannot get that spammer to turn off the spigot.
Every few days, I get some stupid offer for weight loss or some other garbage that likely does not work and I attribute the spam to either the NY Times or Fields Mototors in Lakeland, FL since these are the only two entities I gave that particular email address to.
[13]
I promised no more politics. However, I think the events of the last week make the subject important enough to break that promise.
I don't know if you consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican, if you consider yourself a conservative or liberal That is not important to me. What is important is whether you consider yourself an American (those who are residing outside the US can ignore this) and whether you think the US is in trouble.
How you think the US is in trouble matters also. Those on the left think the problems come from the right and those on the right think the troubles come from the left. I personally think the trouble is not a matter of left or right, I think the system no longer works because those who we've put in charge have figured out the system and taken advantage of it to enhance, expand, and use to seek power.
The Founding Fathers put together a system that avoided the corrupting influences of their time. Over the last 200 years, those influences have changed and we are possibly in more trouble than when we sought independence.
I don't much like Trump but I definitely don't like the direction in which this country is headed. I worry about this nation every time we have elections... what seems so clear to me is, apparently, not so clear to my fellow citizens.
Or, maybe, I am just getting old and cranky.
[14]
My mother is slipping away. She's 89 and she hasn't been herself for many years. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in her sixties and was put on a wonder drug, of sorts, called Aricept. It held the disease at bay to some extent for decades. Her short term memory went first, of course. But Mom, a clever woman, saw this as a benefit. Every day was a new world, a new life. She always had an optimist's view of life. Now I don't know what she sees or hears or knows. This disease took away the woman who raised me. After my father passed away, I took her into my home. We tried to care for as best we could but the time came when we could no longer see to her needs. She has been in the care of some nice people out at an assisted living facility for several years now.
I go to see her when I can... and when I think I can handle it. It's hard on me. I remember her as a vibrant, cheerful, witty woman who was always there when I needed her. She could always cheer me up when I was down or life seemed bleak. Now she can't. Now I have to do that on my own. And the worst is after I have been to visit her. I look for some sign of recognition in her eyes and never see it. I visit just before lunch because she seems the most animated at that time. I try to think of things she used to say to me to cheer me up and repeat them to her in the hopes they'll somehow break through that fog in her brain. She seems loved by the ladies who tend to her needs. They all speak of her with caring and joy. Some are as sad as I am to see her as she is now.
My mother had a way of getting a point across with humor. She would admonish me to be careful by warning me that "If you break your leg, don't come running to me." Or, "If you drown, I'll never speak to you again." As silly as these were, they stuck in my mind. Nothing seemed serious with her while you still knew how concerned she was. Her humor has failed her now. She doesn't smile much and, when she does, there's no way to know why.
It doesn't seem fair that this woman should finish out her life oblivious to most of the things around her. She read, she painted, she wrote stories, she even invented childrens' games. Oh, none were ever published or developed but that didn't matter. Her paintings were always flawed in some technical way; shadows fell the wrong way, perspective just a little off. They were nothing you'd expect to find in an art show but her family loved them. Her stories were simple and naive. Her games too easy. But you could see her slight off kilter view of the world in them.
Because I didn't get along with my siblings, I spent many of my years far from my parents. I rarely wrote or even called. It was never my way. I took after my father in that regard. In the last couple of decades, I tried to re-connect with my parents. I think I did re-establish some relationship to my father, just a little, in the few years before he passed away. My mother acted as if I was never far away. Now I don't know if she knows I exist, that she had a son, what her universe is like. I think that is what hurts the most... to not be a part of her life anymore.
Mom passed away in July of 2008, I was by her side that evening. Give yours a hug for me if you can.
It's a funny thing about accents and our biases. I wrote once about the British accent and how we Americans seem to be suckers for it so it's used in a lot of ads on radio and TV.
The southern US accent makes people think the speaker is ignorant (unless its a woman's then she's adorable) while a New York City accent makes us wary.
Southerners are as smart as anyone else but that's not the stereotype, is it?
Frenchmen are smooth and Frenchwomen are coquettish. New Englanders are subtlety wise but Texans all have a drawl... except they don't. So-called Native Americans (they aren't, they just immigrated here first...about 15,000 years before Europeans) don't use contractions (but the ones I've talked to do), a trait shared with robots and space aliens.
I am sure you can think of more but will you?
[16]
