tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45207131652667355252024-03-14T05:59:10.575-04:00It's Nuts Out ThereIn this crazy world, everything makes sense some of the time but nothing makes sense all of the time. So it's all about timing, right? Stay with me for the ridiculous, the sublime, the personal and always, the humorous. But be aware, it's nuts out there.Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-25253981747095175332022-02-14T07:34:00.000-05:002022-02-14T09:05:38.571-05:00Why the 5 most important words an athlete can say after the big game are: "WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFveOt7wA4zI_5XHooKRVKIPOXPIN-AAWI5FzLgY40mmL1fCnsBmZ1EMRWccdNheIJBcu9_piG2KS-c86VQHLB262BTnBtxNkSNTTgu69wc5b5c4bV1LogsyWMVqjHkwuTDvq4_lgArU2/s306/+disney+world.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="306" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFveOt7wA4zI_5XHooKRVKIPOXPIN-AAWI5FzLgY40mmL1fCnsBmZ1EMRWccdNheIJBcu9_piG2KS-c86VQHLB262BTnBtxNkSNTTgu69wc5b5c4bV1LogsyWMVqjHkwuTDvq4_lgArU2/w400-h216/+disney+world.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>"WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!"</i></b></p><p>Of course you are. It's a great paying gig for any BM/WOC (Big man/woman on campus) that almost everyone knows. Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player usually gets an offer to make a quick buck by promoting Disney World. This year, it was Q.B. Tom Brady and his buddy, tight end Rob Gronkowski who pocketed big dollars. Rumor has it Brady got quite a bit, possibly as much as $300,000... plus half price on all tickets (kidding).</p><p><b>Here's something you may not know:</b> It was quarterback Phil Simms of the New York Giants who won Super Bowl XXI in 1987 that was the first paid to say that phrase. He received $75,000... and so did loosing quarterback John Elway of the Denver Broncos, because when the Disney contract was signed before the game, the winning team was not known, so Disney was ready either way. The one exception is that Elway, as the loser, was not committed to go. That's what I call easy money.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImJXqnfLBRmCWDH9Q0MEbxH0S8W2_vBVV1Bx6qrJUSe4HjWRLdUfi5HvZYPljDnMNRNFaeg_dwwN6q0pl2qOlz_6L1-marBt8TlJR4AcZYyT6FD8UMfjXbY4VRoqzEsXlQm9NT4Vy1x9P/s640/Rutan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="640" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImJXqnfLBRmCWDH9Q0MEbxH0S8W2_vBVV1Bx6qrJUSe4HjWRLdUfi5HvZYPljDnMNRNFaeg_dwwN6q0pl2qOlz_6L1-marBt8TlJR4AcZYyT6FD8UMfjXbY4VRoqzEsXlQm9NT4Vy1x9P/w200-h156/Rutan.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>However the first to actually say that phrase was Dick Rutan, who, with Jeana Yeager in December of 1986, piloted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager">the first aircraft to circle the globe </a>without stopping or refueling, in 9 days. While dining with Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney and his wife, Jane, Yeager was asked what he was going to do next. He said, <i>"I'm going to Disney World." </i>It was Jane Eisner who suggested to her husband, that comment would make a great commercial. Thus, one of the best marketing ideas in the world was born. That gem, all for the price of a dinner.<p></p><p><b>All in all, that phrase, <i>"I'm going to Disney World,"</i></b> has sent more than 100 speakers and counting to see Mickey Mouse and all that mouse represents, in Orlando or Anaheim. It has been spoken mostly by NFL players, perhaps because the Super Bowl has a super large audience, and there is not any other commercial playing during the game that is less expensive ($5.6 million for 30 seconds this year) or better remembered than <i>"I'm going to Disney World." </i></p><p>Miss America said it commercially in 1988 as did two American Idol winners later. A few Olympians, several race car drivers, the entire US Women's National Soccer team, and a few NBA, MLB and NHL players have made the trip. So also have four worthy college graduates. </p><p>Who is next? We'll see.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gwdM-tFDePGcwY7el-Aohcy81KxWtuH5LQ03lfCgkm6GWbfrcy0qhNP4Kp8yvdmORhb_6gGmn8lGz6IsKXJYMh11ve9DDiVZyZy1m6yHBZcHAEEqZOKp7b6DfQZK69Dzsw7xmNF4SqTS/s276/bowling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gwdM-tFDePGcwY7el-Aohcy81KxWtuH5LQ03lfCgkm6GWbfrcy0qhNP4Kp8yvdmORhb_6gGmn8lGz6IsKXJYMh11ve9DDiVZyZy1m6yHBZcHAEEqZOKp7b6DfQZK69Dzsw7xmNF4SqTS/w200-h133/bowling.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>Extra stuff and forced relevance, but ego satisfying: </b>So why am I filled with angst about all this? I guess I was just born too soon. You see, even before there was a Disney World (but there was a Disneyland) I had my chance. When I won the <b>National Collegiate Bowling Championship</b> (really) at the American Bowling Congress tournament held in Toledo that year, I was ready. After the trophy was awarded I was being interviewed on radio by Bill Stern (Who? Never mind.) who had a national syndicated sports show. I quite remember, when asked what was next for me, I said <i>"I'm going to Steak 'n Shake."</i> Walt Disney probably couldn't get a hold of me but he should have. (True story of that follows.) so I took the next best thing, two steak burgers (pickle and onion) with french fries and a chocolate malt. No Mickey, Minnie or Donald Duck. Beside the honor and trophy, I got a new bowling ball. Did you ever try to fly home with a bowling ball that won't quite fit under the seat? <p></p><p>I was on the All America first collegiate bowling team that year and actually had my name in the National Bowling Hall of Fame at one time. I actually spent much of my youth in my dad's bowing alley. But no one wants to grow old smelling of sweat and smoke of that day. Love, marriage and wonderful children far outpace any 300 game. I don't do that any more but it was great in my youth.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xMuWSh-c4HDWcwZRU4fAqeSnGN7Dv8XbKMKEV5x8mx5HApC6GmzcwXfrwrciwUX-2IZ5Pj1hxtNe7YtXwwSCkL5s_WJdAKB3gdxamD_w6IsURy8cq86EadmvkHHYRnRbpCNY1ofi_sxM/s308/steamboat+willie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="308" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xMuWSh-c4HDWcwZRU4fAqeSnGN7Dv8XbKMKEV5x8mx5HApC6GmzcwXfrwrciwUX-2IZ5Pj1hxtNe7YtXwwSCkL5s_WJdAKB3gdxamD_w6IsURy8cq86EadmvkHHYRnRbpCNY1ofi_sxM/w200-h106/steamboat+willie.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>Now, why should Walt Disney seek me out?</b> Well, my dad was one of few people there when Mickey Mouse was created. That was in a small, one-time strip-mining town, Toluca, Illinois, where my dad was born. And, as the story goes, when Disney was traveling by rail from Hollywood to Chicago, that train made a water stop--what trains of that day did--early one Sunday morning. Disney, who had been up all night sketching a new character, peeked out his window and saw the water tower with 'Toluca' painted across its side. Looking back at his sketch, he knew what he had drawn was some charactered mouse with a high pitched voice named Mickey, who would be the star of his new black and white cartoon, <i>Steamboat Willy.</i><p></p><p>TaDah!</p><p></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-42976104697023564702022-01-05T16:53:00.000-05:002022-01-05T16:53:31.718-05:00WHERE IS WALDO? He is here... and so are you.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-2_uPOJhuhSw3QavG6-KRP1g3mId0L_Q4_K9wLDxrSrJPFsWTc8OtXOF4nZLalNMaUGjZOZC5qX58lYYNHNPV69qEiPQcuPHyHf0s2Aen2tQVS9Ff-jpltT0ajtSNZp2vSn5_fO7us8kfRAu7ANp4UwpKV-QZ3pNLsoPLcnafPo2VvQj6nMhFHTqe9w=s259" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-fpXuodbOJo27c6cfUXoVzYjvD6e4dOwuC9auUwlrLPu11K13W-saoj16AehsWMVuU7L8rTr2vNcDsXgsN_63UiZRCLJgUs5U37EfpOZl4MlOhuUDnl9Sjgyvt8zTe-5Pzdnc_INqu1XxSgQ4jMrMUAutCYUXT6XX0u4wq1CcaPNCzKZDsf3mhazjfQ=s259" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-fpXuodbOJo27c6cfUXoVzYjvD6e4dOwuC9auUwlrLPu11K13W-saoj16AehsWMVuU7L8rTr2vNcDsXgsN_63UiZRCLJgUs5U37EfpOZl4MlOhuUDnl9Sjgyvt8zTe-5Pzdnc_INqu1XxSgQ4jMrMUAutCYUXT6XX0u4wq1CcaPNCzKZDsf3mhazjfQ=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>Where is Waldo? </span><span style="text-align: left;">Though </span><span style="text-align: left;">he is fictitious, you aren't.</span></b><b style="text-align: left;"> </b><span style="text-align: left;"><b>But you are both in this most remarkable photo.</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIG5mwSeZagR_8arA7IGP5L37yZv1OVID5Nv2DZSFaqjxs_V3V-rJ0K3-T8fgQBfQdK0FhpHXqPAFL8Vd_uhJW72KF7Cmp-YNQm0chi5gpEGu0CzeWp2Rnykm1Cs58iWV9pn9697scc2MNNDbM1IvxMRLJtkwdtIc8157-azjqpcFNOyG_Wk65YcqspA=s2292" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2292" data-original-width="1588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIG5mwSeZagR_8arA7IGP5L37yZv1OVID5Nv2DZSFaqjxs_V3V-rJ0K3-T8fgQBfQdK0FhpHXqPAFL8Vd_uhJW72KF7Cmp-YNQm0chi5gpEGu0CzeWp2Rnykm1Cs58iWV9pn9697scc2MNNDbM1IvxMRLJtkwdtIc8157-azjqpcFNOyG_Wk65YcqspA=w278-h400" width="278" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><i>See that very faint, very tiny white dot a little more than half-way up in that dull red streak? That's earth, pictured in a ray of sunlight, photographed by Voyager 2* when it turned it's cameras toward us as it exited our solar system.</i></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Actually, that's how minuscule we are in the scheme of all things</b>. (<i>There should be some introspective thinking here as we hold ourselves so all knowing and important. We, as a civilization and a world, are but a dot... and not a very big one at that. Think smaller than a grain of sand... and the period at the end of this sentence</i>. <i>That's earth</i>.)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">After two-and-counting incredible years of "the plague," could we look forward to our new year as better, and perhaps be done with the thing that brought major change to the world. You do know we will never be the same again. But better? We could hope.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are, as a whole, predominantly good. Sadly, 'good' does not make the news often. Bad is what the news is about. Bad actors, selfish public servants, hate, revenge, I win, you lose, loss of a moral conscious, guns and killing, assaults and thefts, wild weather, global warming... and on and on.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">But in the end, since we are here for such a short time, you'd think we could do better. As a civilization, we have mostly been at war with one another since the beginning of time, either as a nation or as one who always seems to know better. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><br />As John Muir, naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist and advocate of the preservation of earth </b></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>said:</b><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoHjCRTAUIKUOIcMAOonSTAY37bgequjOr0nfIM7gEYRzBVbiJvwTfyh8FLYelFApot_9VKo4-n-MoRNVoFYy7eoDDgIWYRnVk5XNNuuZYBdPlzMy_d8VsjTV7jkrGaq-igkLUHkFFdL7Hxuodk8nQxNKthIwIxXztp1X7hdV-UtRQswWZJK8Lk7PNXg=s276" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoHjCRTAUIKUOIcMAOonSTAY37bgequjOr0nfIM7gEYRzBVbiJvwTfyh8FLYelFApot_9VKo4-n-MoRNVoFYy7eoDDgIWYRnVk5XNNuuZYBdPlzMy_d8VsjTV7jkrGaq-igkLUHkFFdL7Hxuodk8nQxNKthIwIxXztp1X7hdV-UtRQswWZJK8Lk7PNXg" width="276" /></a></i></div><i> “When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.”</i><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"><b>Why would we want to mess with that?</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My wish: May we all do better in this new year. We must, or the world we leave to our children and all the young will not be a place that we would choose to live.</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HAPPY, JOYFUL, HOPEFUL, BLESSED </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">NEW YEAR </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">TO ALL. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">May we find the hope that makes the best of each and every one of us, better. Dogs are proof that there is still good in the world.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhOztYpblcUq3o7DAEajuoDx8uhOtvI5hk1ItGY8N9El6NmRwUBqgaLkaCbymuR2NyZbPMP6st1EFrh5w-1yvDoVq7ZBvoeWVuc-b98P1-41A0H0LvfwO4wJyhlzUtgsVGwks18mVKXUDIHViqL08DOWFLRvHrivke8qFwtowmUgUSN5BcXE7WEFFwVQ=s726" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="681" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhOztYpblcUq3o7DAEajuoDx8uhOtvI5hk1ItGY8N9El6NmRwUBqgaLkaCbymuR2NyZbPMP6st1EFrh5w-1yvDoVq7ZBvoeWVuc-b98P1-41A0H0LvfwO4wJyhlzUtgsVGwks18mVKXUDIHViqL08DOWFLRvHrivke8qFwtowmUgUSN5BcXE7WEFFwVQ=w375-h400" width="375" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><i style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">*Voyager 2</i><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">successfully fulfilled its primary mission of visiting the</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Jupiter" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Exploration of Jupiter">Jovian system</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">in 1979, the</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Saturn" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Exploration of Saturn">Saturnian system</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">in 1981,</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Uranus" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Exploration of Uranus">Uranian system</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">in 1986, and the</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Neptune" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Exploration of Neptune">Neptunian system</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">in 1989. The spacecraft is now in its extended mission of studying</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_medium" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Interstellar medium">interstellar space</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">. It has been operating for 44 years, 4 months and 8 days as of December 29, 2021</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">as of November 28, 2021, it has reached a distance of 129.3 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Astronomical unit">AU</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">(19.343 </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000000000_(number)" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="1000000000 (number)">billion</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometre" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Kilometre">km</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">; 12.019 billion </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Mile">mi</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left;">) from Earth.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-voyager_5-0" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2#cite_note-voyager-5" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[5]</a></sup></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-48064444026882053052021-11-04T16:10:00.000-04:002021-11-04T16:10:53.339-04:00LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU ARE SORRY... OR NOT!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pDydqF9UXoMg6BvH7gQue5obEzqrw1fl3hEHwyBQRIYGT_IceeRRt6CiK5ykY_mD4OFwC__MSSLz_PnCXzDlcGhenpu6Ckq3UF-nYh8s10Ad3_591g0z42Ntj6bgWoInME2W7PDKTIuT/s268/love+story.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pDydqF9UXoMg6BvH7gQue5obEzqrw1fl3hEHwyBQRIYGT_IceeRRt6CiK5ykY_mD4OFwC__MSSLz_PnCXzDlcGhenpu6Ckq3UF-nYh8s10Ad3_591g0z42Ntj6bgWoInME2W7PDKTIuT/w281-h400/love+story.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_(1970_film)"><i>Love Story</i>, </a>the movie, was a popular tear-jerker, first screened in 1970. And if you saw it then, or now, you will cry. I promise.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That was then, as a tearful Oliver (Ryan O'Neal) tells his love, Jenny (Ali McGraw) who is in the hospital dying of cancer, "I'm so sorry." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"Love... " she clasps his hand and whispers bravely, "is never having to say you are sorry." (Cry here.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So is it true that love means never having to say you are sorry? My 98 year-old mother had a take on that. She roused suddenly from a catnap in her wheel chair and said, "You know that story... when the man says, 'I will fall into your arms and there I will gladly die'? "</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">"Yes mom," we agreed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">"That's a lot of crap." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Really, she said that. And yes, she was a beloved character.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Is it true that love is out and revalued as "Money (not love) means never having to say you are sorry?" You may be right mom. At least it seems that way.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3bWnivLz1oUuarGpWcyFit7E0WexXea2rx4iq1gE4iVRp_OrbAqvEzWcAAC1EsyZqj4Typsepdjr6cVK9bLnxiU0aZS5svr6lVo4DmDxDKiv8RU9ugQIYv8J_5mVmWcFRI_lBHFbiHrO/s299/Ethan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3bWnivLz1oUuarGpWcyFit7E0WexXea2rx4iq1gE4iVRp_OrbAqvEzWcAAC1EsyZqj4Typsepdjr6cVK9bLnxiU0aZS5svr6lVo4DmDxDKiv8RU9ugQIYv8J_5mVmWcFRI_lBHFbiHrO/s0/Ethan.jpeg" width="299" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Want proof... as if you need it? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You may not recall the name Ethan Couch, AKA: the "Affluenza Teen.' Here is Wikipedia's summation of what he did on the evening of June 15, 2013 </span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i>... according to authorities and trial testimony, 16-year-old Couch was witnessed on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Walmart">Walmart</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>store then speeding off with seven passengers in his father's red 2012<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Super_Duty" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Ford Super Duty">Ford F-350</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>pickup truck. </i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i>Approximately an hour after the beer theft, Couch was going 70 miles per hour on rural, two-lane Burleson-Retta Road where motorist Breanna Mitchell's sport utility vehicle had stalled. Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby, who lived nearby, had come out to help her, as had passing<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_ministry" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Youth ministry">youth minister</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Brian Jennings. Couch's truck swerved off the road and into Mitchell's sport utility vehicle, then crashed into Jennings' parked car, which in turn hit an oncoming<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Volkswagen Beetle">Volkswagen Beetle</a>. Couch's truck then flipped over and struck a tree. Mitchell, Jennings, and both Boyles were killed, while Couch and his seven teenage passengers, none of whom were wearing seat belts, survived—although one was paralyzed—as did the two children in Jennings' car and the two people in the Volkswagen.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">Three hours after the incident, the teen-ager had a</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Blood alcohol content">blood alcohol content</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">of 0.24%, three times the legal limit for adult drivers (21+ years old) in Texas,</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">and he also tested positive for</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Marijuana">marijuana</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">and</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diazepam" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Diazepam">diazepam</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">.</span></i></span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> </i></span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So did they throw the book at him? Hardly. In trial testimony,<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>a psychiatrist said that growing up with money might have left Couch with psychological afflictions, too rich to tell right from wrong. Then, free on bond, he and his mother fled to Mexico in an effort to evade sentencing, which for the teen-ager, could have been as much as 20 years in prison.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">His attorney urged probation, because "he (Couch) was too rich to know what he did was wrong. He was unable to link his actions to consequences because of his parents teaching him that wealth buys privilege." Oh, really? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When Couch and mom were caught and returned, he spent two-years in a state-owned inpatient mental health facility. </span></p><span style="font-size: large;">So justice (?), was served, right? Ask those who lost loved ones. Ask <a href="http://MAAD.">MAAD.</a></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now here is the "money means never having to say you are sorry" comes in. When rich, you might virtually bear no responsibility. You can get away with almost anything... unless you are also stupid.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Yes, they were filthy rich.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Elsewhere, there are non-rich people pulled over by police for perhaps a broken tail light or a double yellow line violation or maybe just looking suspicious, and hurt no one, but pay with their lives. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_DFqKXmknlL32SBj2mZnRxGvuy4qYF_T11w3t3R5lShsXbbUFG8yCkWNRbNmYx5Ki7o77dQnJI-j8E7quO7jVZ4kkauzadCR7WNo9lHLkK6WtWIOdnoRWhpIHeTioIoUj5Ka5iCcVdx9/s300/43+cents.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_DFqKXmknlL32SBj2mZnRxGvuy4qYF_T11w3t3R5lShsXbbUFG8yCkWNRbNmYx5Ki7o77dQnJI-j8E7quO7jVZ4kkauzadCR7WNo9lHLkK6WtWIOdnoRWhpIHeTioIoUj5Ka5iCcVdx9/s0/43+cents.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Sobolewski doing 43 cents worth of time.</td></tr></tbody></table></b></span></p><p><b style="font-size: large;">Here is what can happen when you are very opposite of rich:</b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Joseph Sobolewski was arrested a few month ago after he underpaid for a bottle of Mountain Dew at a Pennsylvania convenience store</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The store sold two 20-ounce bottles of Mountain Dew for $3. Sobolewski, wanting only one, put $2 on the counter, took the drink and left the store. But he didn't realize that a single bottle of Mountain Dew was priced at $2.29 plus tax, which meant that he had underpaid by 43 cents. Sobolewski didn't know he underpaid as he thought one Mountain Dew would cost half ($1.50) of the $3.00 price and the two dollars would cover the tax.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The store called the police, who arrested Sobolewski, charging him with a felony under the state's "three strikes" law for retail theft.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Since this was Sobolewski's third offense (with two other petty crimes over the past decade) he was held on a $50,000 cash bond which he couldn't meet, and spent seven days in jail before a public defender got him released pre-trial. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The charge carries a prison sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison per the state's "get tough on crime" law.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">A Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman<span class="Apple-converted-space"> said</span> that a third retail theft offense is automatically treated as a felony, regardless of the dollar amount. “Troopers cannot decide to not charge someone for a criminal case, only victims of certain crimes can decline charges,” she wrote in a statement.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Ultimately, the State showed some sense and dropped the charges, perhaps because of all the bad press, and obviously, it was an embarrassment.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Then there is BIG BUSINESS AND EXXON is BIG!</b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpZoZ-ys0ngFEKs3W8QYAsbMhslBopoAfnQJbxg0zI9gR4pv9VyTgYUThOrRn6BBqwWP-uY4viZAn8yA_zBnuQ0mWBITGlecW4DOD7pv1y9pOaA7YitDgkRUUO40XZuBb27Gf_7-lN6kD/s275/exxon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpZoZ-ys0ngFEKs3W8QYAsbMhslBopoAfnQJbxg0zI9gR4pv9VyTgYUThOrRn6BBqwWP-uY4viZAn8yA_zBnuQ0mWBITGlecW4DOD7pv1y9pOaA7YitDgkRUUO40XZuBb27Gf_7-lN6kD/s0/exxon.jpeg" width="275" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.1px;">An Exxon Lobbyist, since fired, gave out a few 'supposed' company tactics (denied by the company) to support Exxon's efforts and debunk climate change science at Exxon's expense. In a filmed interview recorded by an offshoot of Greenpeace, the lobbyist said, "Do we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes."</span><p></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Did we join some shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that's true... but there's nothing illegal about that. We were looking out for our investments, we were looking out for our shareholders."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Obviously, we could go on and on. But you get the picture.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">MONEY MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU ARE SORRY.</span></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 1.667; margin: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: center; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;">About LOVE, I'm sorry.</span></p><div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: #262626; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><p class="zn-body__paragraph speakable" data-act-id="paragraph_0" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_AC75B404-0315-538A-CE7F-624EB78501DD" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66667; margin: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: center;"><br /></p></div><p></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-32203435660179877562021-08-14T13:07:00.000-04:002021-08-14T13:07:53.254-04:00TWO MEN WHO MADE THE WORLD BETTER. CAN YOU NAME THEM?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDd_FXqi1HWj8rhfGa4vox8iRdvKmTE1BCipTvDINmAYsKY-KhYIZfybuj-_jiu5kwaRYK9rbOhpoVJ5HdFCRJObwk9u1sqAb5ZArWx0Ed6nLQmB206WB5JoO95LW5sV-KNreIJODq6X32/s286/albert+Einstein.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDd_FXqi1HWj8rhfGa4vox8iRdvKmTE1BCipTvDINmAYsKY-KhYIZfybuj-_jiu5kwaRYK9rbOhpoVJ5HdFCRJObwk9u1sqAb5ZArWx0Ed6nLQmB206WB5JoO95LW5sV-KNreIJODq6X32/w400-h246/albert+Einstein.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The person on the left is 1921 Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, </b>perhaps the world's most renown physicist, meeting Charlie Chaplin, the world's greatest silent movie comic artist. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">These two men changed the world for the better in their own manor and style.<b> </b></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It was said that Charlie Chaplin was the only person in Hollywood that Einstein wanted to meet. In 1931 at the premier of Chaplin's new film, <i>CityLights (</i><a href="https://youtu.be/7vl7F8S4cpQ">trailer here</a>), the two geniuses met for the first time.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It was the Nobel Prize committee that shared this exchange in their conversation:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Einstein:</b> <i>"What I most admire about your art is your universality. You don't say a word yet the world understands you.</i>"</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Chaplin:</b> <i>"True, but your glory is even greater! The whole world admires you, even though they don't understand a word of what you say." </i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrzQBYRO9MM94fv8RKj1FdqgrYX1NPhX3K8y16bVvQm3ZQa9i412xupqS1RuSqbvIoXxOfxe7hV9UaY5N6ffjql-fmKB3t1uNJu_tXmg_TUEWIawAbbu8Q06UucykOBrl6yRcVKY035Ua/s276/the+world.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrzQBYRO9MM94fv8RKj1FdqgrYX1NPhX3K8y16bVvQm3ZQa9i412xupqS1RuSqbvIoXxOfxe7hV9UaY5N6ffjql-fmKB3t1uNJu_tXmg_TUEWIawAbbu8Q06UucykOBrl6yRcVKY035Ua/w400-h265/the+world.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's simple. </b>Science and comedy do actually make our incredible world go 'round. The science to better understand the improbabilities of life and the comedy to better deal with it all.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A lesson of life as we know it:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiLLykqXxzvzaW9RrX-EnWmLWchVhXtLJqT4l6Yb65OdmJWTCMGlQRkqCCru0ct3PcJyiKV6v_leKge-AAh9JlqldPvBy0JR7GB9XWrnRFYK1lL9Fex-RkdFFztGxZU7bA-QyEWwNO02f/s275/mother+daughter.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiLLykqXxzvzaW9RrX-EnWmLWchVhXtLJqT4l6Yb65OdmJWTCMGlQRkqCCru0ct3PcJyiKV6v_leKge-AAh9JlqldPvBy0JR7GB9XWrnRFYK1lL9Fex-RkdFFztGxZU7bA-QyEWwNO02f/w200-h133/mother+daughter.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Today, in the cutest voice, my young daughter asked me to start recycling. I smiled and asked, <i>"Why?"</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"So you can help me save the planet," </i>she told me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And why do you want to save the planet?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Because," </i>she explained <i>"that's where I keep all my stuff."</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thanks to<a href="https://www.marcandangel.com/2010/12/27/101-short-stories-that-will-leave-you-smiling-crying-and-thinking/"> Marc and Angel Hack Life</a> website</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">ARE YOU LISTENING PEOPLE OF EARTH?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-2087152562063663082021-08-04T11:50:00.000-04:002021-08-04T11:50:34.070-04:00You are what you read... or are you? Your favorite reads? And mine.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3N7OcoteTOXJkUxmZ0vzl2H-mZBtSesEhnUMYUMuWiu58jE_cfo3SiK07KJKYj_OAjfV5l_hylXnThC37NebVZDorLXTcWnaP43hSrEwoFMvt0GcO5quPsQkJ7e_m7ozAx-Q6lqYo6qF/s277/Klara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3N7OcoteTOXJkUxmZ0vzl2H-mZBtSesEhnUMYUMuWiu58jE_cfo3SiK07KJKYj_OAjfV5l_hylXnThC37NebVZDorLXTcWnaP43hSrEwoFMvt0GcO5quPsQkJ7e_m7ozAx-Q6lqYo6qF/s0/Klara.jpg" width="182" /></a></div><br /><b style="font-size: large;">It seems odd to start with a book I DID NOT LIKE, </b><i style="font-size: large;">Klara and the Sun.</i><span style="font-size: large;"> It was authored by Kazou Ishiguro, winner of a 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. He also wrote </span><i style="font-size: large;">Remains of the Day</i><span style="font-size: large;"> and </span><i style="font-size: large;">Never Let Me Go</i><i style="font-size: large;">. </i><span style="font-size: large;">I have </span><span style="font-size: large;">read neither<i> </i>but both</span><span style="font-size: large;"> are soon to be movies. So what have I missed?</span><p></p><p><i style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm either not smart enough or just like to be more entertained, and that's harder if there is no popcorn.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDBsyDdz00sH-bJBP8jcCwOGjwh26g0vcrGqmXVGHvT3Mi8czfxPZRrFLi8YhlxD6mrVmW-zFX8xui0167mifEadPLbxdK9IN0z7GkDZrdGrH8esuTji3RhUSxkOqfkp3JP_gKRMU0MoC/s278/fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="181" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDBsyDdz00sH-bJBP8jcCwOGjwh26g0vcrGqmXVGHvT3Mi8czfxPZRrFLi8YhlxD6mrVmW-zFX8xui0167mifEadPLbxdK9IN0z7GkDZrdGrH8esuTji3RhUSxkOqfkp3JP_gKRMU0MoC/s0/fish.jpg" width="181" /></a><b>I loved this book, <i>Why Fish Don't Exist </i></b>by former NPR Radio Lab personality Lulu Miller who writes so incredibly well. It is a non-fiction story with incredible art that made it a great read for me. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Aptly described by Sy Montgomery who wrote NYTimes best seller, <i>The </i><i>Soul of an Octopus, </i>(another great read)<i>: "Riveting. Surprising. Shocking, even! Why Fish Don't Exist begins with a mesmerizing account of the life of distinguished biologist David Starr Jordan--and then, quite unexpectedly, turns into so much more. Narrated in Lulu Miller's intimate, quirky voice, this is a story of science and struggle, of heartbreak and chaos. This book will capture your head, seize your imagination, smash your preconceptions, and rock your world."</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Now it must be known that I like to read both fiction and non fiction,</b> and I often have several books going at any one time. And some of my reads are wide-ranging for reasons I can't explain. But it is nice to try to suck everything in.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsQRy3jrdwzzsGEhwdCsAFA0r6yZQlTeO4vyXrmijg2HFl7mPpUH3gcnR8ZPThA9ivBLcBXCikDicnPT9BXiHDnu77x5WE9ihExVCGbVx5N6maADJk0fA3yWxewkO_EOwjuRiMunbZbrr/s279/Stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="181" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsQRy3jrdwzzsGEhwdCsAFA0r6yZQlTeO4vyXrmijg2HFl7mPpUH3gcnR8ZPThA9ivBLcBXCikDicnPT9BXiHDnu77x5WE9ihExVCGbVx5N6maADJk0fA3yWxewkO_EOwjuRiMunbZbrr/w130-h200/Stand.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />I've got my eye on the new Steven King book, <i>Billy Summers. </i>It was King who gave me my most favorite, <i>The Stand, </i>in 1978 and almost all of his early books until I tired of the supernatural twist. But he is good and I am ready once again. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L6ieC3Jbnk6qUz5i0rDXNfM9sMuKBTnN9MiBDkYIr1pDG0Elh2zU-y7INKpaRrDefQZHh7eDD6UaxQ3-YBcfGRpWzccI4mV7SiwhqtmgtctcgwXlqrWMvpzAnUTEExSTY9lcbTLT3TAb/s456/20000+leagues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="304" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L6ieC3Jbnk6qUz5i0rDXNfM9sMuKBTnN9MiBDkYIr1pDG0Elh2zU-y7INKpaRrDefQZHh7eDD6UaxQ3-YBcfGRpWzccI4mV7SiwhqtmgtctcgwXlqrWMvpzAnUTEExSTY9lcbTLT3TAb/w133-h200/20000+leagues.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">The first book I recall that totally blew my 3rd or 4th grade mind was Jules Verne's <i>Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. </i>I could hardly wait to see what happens next and had, for the first time, that bittersweet experience of closing the book when done. I wanted more!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm also looking forward to <i>A Libertarian Walks into a Bear: the Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and some bears)</i> by first-time author Mathew Hongolitz-Hetling, a strange but true story of one New Hampshire town that became the nexus of a collision between bears, libertarians, guns, donuts, parasites, firecrackers, taxes and one angry llama. Is that not an intriguing run of words? We'll see.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMghjwgPUbYXH8Ji6uNaqr9tlCqBd-YNEyDbVhO7FGtOrsRkELzH_JP5x4qvi_4jjetFeKglgyl_BywZz0W2gL3n7mH2AqVjzdCNGjsTMF763YfngDHWEtb3qP0dywpSXKKAB_OfwePao8/s226/Gladwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="226" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMghjwgPUbYXH8Ji6uNaqr9tlCqBd-YNEyDbVhO7FGtOrsRkELzH_JP5x4qvi_4jjetFeKglgyl_BywZz0W2gL3n7mH2AqVjzdCNGjsTMF763YfngDHWEtb3qP0dywpSXKKAB_OfwePao8/s0/Gladwell.jpg" width="226" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><b>Raise your hand if you have read any or all of Malcolm Gladwell's books</b>. He is a Canadian writer, lecturer and thought-provoker who's first five books--<i>THE TIPPING POINT: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, BLINK: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, OUTLIERS: The Story of Success, WHAT THE DOG SAW: And Other Adventures</i> and<i> DAVID And GOLIATH: Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants</i>--made the NYTimes best seller list. His work has often appeared in <i>The New Yorker.</i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">His 'take' on so many of the things we imagine differently in our minds is often an 'eye-opener.' For example, did you know that Goliath was actually the big underdog to David? Very logically, yes. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Gladwell is, for me, a good read.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ok, so who is on my nightstand now? <i>The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell</i> by Robert Dugoni, <i>Lily and the Octopus</i> by Steven Rowley, <i>Fall of Giants</i> by Ken Follett, <i>A Promised Land</i> by Barack Obama, <i>Sailing Alone Around the Room</i> by Billy Collins and <i>Draft No. 4</i> by John McPhee. More coming and going. That's how to read.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Books are incredible for the places they take us</b>. So what are your reading choices of note? And what is your next book to be? </span><span style="font-size: large;">Share at pjsjerry@gmail.com Love to hear.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEwM4rfhp40gRQvTysww5y2uUoj8ZNJgTnhnXbuoaWRwD3kI2zJSBrKdUa5B8HIy1Bhvq0Ybex_IR0v-o-yzrKTGJeVXhCm1EYxEo_Uo9Kl9fUZYyMWr9_6btEcbpdti2id9M7E2YEAPl/s310/library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDEwM4rfhp40gRQvTysww5y2uUoj8ZNJgTnhnXbuoaWRwD3kI2zJSBrKdUa5B8HIy1Bhvq0Ybex_IR0v-o-yzrKTGJeVXhCm1EYxEo_Uo9Kl9fUZYyMWr9_6btEcbpdti2id9M7E2YEAPl/w400-h210/library.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-64949873786304150452021-08-01T09:08:00.000-04:002021-08-01T09:08:02.227-04:00NAME YOUR POISON: A Serious Reflection of here and now.<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWWGEyEwGOk_9uPGaDNJeFekysKHsh1UNn6-2_LTlAgJnZmB7sHp3Vd0phQ0bU9yqTPn13SHUV8Ns6NdnzT-o83L5yqsN49zEiboSiyoCOhZF4p2ZAs2-SeGEdMYWXfs7G1wNdQ9YaDMB/s204/poison+game.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="204" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWWGEyEwGOk_9uPGaDNJeFekysKHsh1UNn6-2_LTlAgJnZmB7sHp3Vd0phQ0bU9yqTPn13SHUV8Ns6NdnzT-o83L5yqsN49zEiboSiyoCOhZF4p2ZAs2-SeGEdMYWXfs7G1wNdQ9YaDMB/w320-h318/poison+game.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, from <i>The Princess Bride</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If</span></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> you don't think this applies to you, it does.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">We--by action, inaction, consent, default, ignorance and other ways--are killing ourselves.</span></b></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It's a strange, beautiful, wonderful world we live in, filled with so many good creatures and wonderful ideas. But we, God's receivers of all these gifts, are literally poisoning ourselves in so many different big and small ways.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>We don't have to be bad to do bad, </b>and most of us aren't. We can be innocent bystanders. But even bystanders have obligations. Sometimes our actions are biased, prejudiced, naive, unconcerned, unbelieving short-sighted and more. And yes, more often than not, we are bad actors.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But in our own way, we are the killers.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Global warming... *or not:</b> Does it matter what you call it? In Death Valley, California it was 135 degrees for three days in a row. That is verified, the hottest temperature in the recorded history of our world. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I can cook a roast in my crock pot at that temperature. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Our last decade was the warmest ever. Our warmest six years have all been since 2015 with 2016. 2019 and 2020 being the top three. June, 2021-- just one month ago-- was the warmest month ever. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Go figure.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqilw98ud8FoBcKlxrcD2LiXT8GH4uzpW2Amut1zI8Hs_YaZ_-hbswKT-Nb_NaI1vOLZ-AxNB5r1A0YyCoZZaEbjKMy7D-jVQOj7benI7VNTJ3aqxOnYxyYvxXqYsrLse9M6oIGICAXqhS/s275/fires.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqilw98ud8FoBcKlxrcD2LiXT8GH4uzpW2Amut1zI8Hs_YaZ_-hbswKT-Nb_NaI1vOLZ-AxNB5r1A0YyCoZZaEbjKMy7D-jVQOj7benI7VNTJ3aqxOnYxyYvxXqYsrLse9M6oIGICAXqhS/w400-h266/fires.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />The drought, the lightning and the fires: </b>What should we call this ugly phenomena? New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd suggested "The Day After Tomorrow was Yesterday" would be an apt title. Seattle was 108 degrees, British Columbia unbelievably hit 121. The world is experiencing 'once in a lifetime' rains, flooding and drought as weather patterns have changed. Forest fires world-wide are more ravaging than ever in places that have never seen this before. Smoke from our fires in the West have darkened New York and East Coast skies. The dire climate fears scientists have warned are coming in 10 or 20 years are already here. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And this is just a foretelling. What will next year be like... and the following? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Destruction of natures' balancing act: </b>Oil companies making billions of dollars mining the Niger Delta region in Nigeria are leaving ruin and devastation for the natives in what once was once one of the most incredible ecosystems in the world. The Amazon rain forest in Brazil is combating continuing major loss by man's hand of this treasure that was a key weapon in combating greenhouse gas emissions. These things are happening world-wide as never before.</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldxUtix_FyUKBU8bTqcZbtLquib9P8NzG-KaNL0iFvduxY3JeKyqPo-blIueP8bZKtV0u4ejHNjSZkGUrb4yaT_3BJJwtulpC8SsQjW7DYgpzQJfYsV_e5Kg-q5xGTmyP2ZWsEO9LiDgV/s1525/greta.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1525" data-original-width="1111" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldxUtix_FyUKBU8bTqcZbtLquib9P8NzG-KaNL0iFvduxY3JeKyqPo-blIueP8bZKtV0u4ejHNjSZkGUrb4yaT_3BJJwtulpC8SsQjW7DYgpzQJfYsV_e5Kg-q5xGTmyP2ZWsEO9LiDgV/s320/greta.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greta Thunberg</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Some deniers have delighted in the mocking of Nobel Special Award recipient Greta Thunberg as she continues</span><span style="font-size: large;"> to raise the cry. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>There is discord and the lack of common good:</b> The United States and much of the rest of the world has no common ground on which to build. You would think survival and critical times would be a universal enemy, but we, as a people, seem not to believe even that. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The pandemic... and the ones to follow: </b>We, in a general sense, seem to hate each other, just because. With the every day problems we face even before we tackle the greater problems of mankind in general, we can't seem to get to first base. We can't decide to wear a mask or not, get vaccinated, or disbelieve on principal or suspicion, or, as I said, just because.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>We are a gun totin' country</b><b>: </b>In the United States, 316 people are shot by a gun every day. And of them, 106 die. There have been 147 mass shootings--defined as four or more shot or killed, excluding the shooter-- in America already this year and we still have five more months to go. We are awash in illegal 'ghost guns' (firearms without ID markings, easily hand made or otherwise) popular by those who use them in every illegal way. And, if any legal gun is purchased, half of the buyers are not 'background checked.' We still legally sell weapons that can easily be converted to fire 20 or more rounds in seconds. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We do not have an issue with those who own and use legal guns acquired legally. But make no mistake, we do have an issue.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Then we have water to contend with... and water has no master:</b> Because of global warming, an enormous chunk of ice has this spring broken off the Antarctic ice shelf. The floating mass covers more than 1,600 square miles making it the largest iceberg in the world... so far. For comparison, that is just a little shy in size of the state of California which is 1,637 square miles. Already water is encroaching on the world's shores and experts' projections warn this is just the beginning. Even inland Chicago is at a point of no return with water control problems as man is no master of nature. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/07/climate/chicago-river-lake-michigan.html">This incredible video tells that amazing story</a>. Mother Nature isn't done with us... not by a long shot.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Golden Rule is now defined as "He who has the gold, rules." </b>And money talks... but not for everyone, It originally read "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Remember?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So which poison is it that proves a tipping point? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The ray of hope is that we become more aware every day of the things we can do and while an unsatisfactory course is already upon us, know the worse can be altered. We are taking some positive action and making progress, but the tide against us is fast-moving and relentless. And not everyone is of the same belief and/or as willing to make the effort and sacrifices required to alter a perilous way forward.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I hope and pray we strongly advocate for the better, lead when we can, be vocal to those who need to know how we feel, elect those who believe, and work with the empowered to take this challenge seriously. Time's a'wastin'.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The universal question should be, "What will we leave our children?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><u>*Note of caution to those who do not believe in global warming:</u> Be careful if you are near the edge of the earth so you don't fall off.</span></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-52286148928235392172021-06-18T10:59:00.000-04:002021-06-18T10:59:04.371-04:00The Difference Between You and a Rich Person<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm7VC5Odka9RtBddxa1f-HvZMRY38IOOH6q6xfWr0JWVruVAQSwYhETesVa7SrJoHXVcA0XmdSLhKu9oE-GUDFrtWd07nD8vRHuRs5pjtCdk7ZIoDUDejKKQEd25HFxYNb25n6mUO6Ogo/s284/rich+poor.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm7VC5Odka9RtBddxa1f-HvZMRY38IOOH6q6xfWr0JWVruVAQSwYhETesVa7SrJoHXVcA0XmdSLhKu9oE-GUDFrtWd07nD8vRHuRs5pjtCdk7ZIoDUDejKKQEd25HFxYNb25n6mUO6Ogo/s0/rich+poor.jpg" /></a></div><b style="font-size: large;">You probably have an idea </b><span style="font-size: large;">of where you stand between the richest and the poorest.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here are some of the extremes:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The C.E.O. of Palantir, a data mining company that gets half of it's revenue from government contracts, earned $1.1 billion ($1,100.000,000) last year and was the highest paid executive of a publicly traded company.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you were paid the U.S. minimum legal wage of $7.25/hr. (which hasn't changed since 2009), you would have to work 137.931,034.5 consecutive hours (15,749 years) to make that much... if you could live that long. Even Methuselah, who lived to celebrate his 969th birthday says the bible, would just make chump change.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But thankfully, most of us--but not all--are making more than minimum.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Even if you were pulling down $100/hr. 24/7, you would have to work100 non-stop years to make that much. Oh, not that $100/hr. is shabby. In a regular 40 hour work week you would be making $208,000 annually... certainly comfortable perhaps but not rich by current standards.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYzmF2030HJLAmCtjqMJ3ZwgDI-runRBUhr4cG-a2utzVfz_xL6xAP48ugGhdGbLRzYL9lAPnhAcS3NdGErh4JcIIhO9eg-AOgR9X1EY21dXYL3X5uW5XsDk3W1kFUEK3CgAUJV5BkHSp/s261/macKenzie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYzmF2030HJLAmCtjqMJ3ZwgDI-runRBUhr4cG-a2utzVfz_xL6xAP48ugGhdGbLRzYL9lAPnhAcS3NdGErh4JcIIhO9eg-AOgR9X1EY21dXYL3X5uW5XsDk3W1kFUEK3CgAUJV5BkHSp/s0/macKenzie.jpg" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />Here's an incredibly beautiful example of how hard it is to be rich when you are trying to give it all away. It's called "win-win."</b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos's ex and one of the richest women in the world, made a pledge to give all of her fortune away. Despite her great effort, she is finding that harder to do than you could imagine.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">She just announced a new round of grants that give $2.74 billion directly to non-profits for benevolent uses. This is her third such donation since her 2019 divorce that awarded her billions in Amazon stock, which keeps growing beyond her generosity. She has already donated $8 billion before but she keeps getting richer. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah, the curse of the rich. Those who have no need keep growing richer just by breathing. And, latest revelations show, they pay less tax proportionally than you do and some pay no tax at all. Try to tell the I.R.S. that and see how far you get before being thrown into jail.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> But thank you, MS Scott for the continuing effort. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>And that's why we often feel those ultra rich are so above us in more ways than one.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpRrGIv6KzChgzy1pUIcQqNRMNlcBS50OcaARThb8b2CGpdyvjZ5VBtUKQsuI0xvJLDnTatN2TCAjiKj14HpVx5Cpp5dKZcM6QNaGqLRYRJORG10qFCr0jgxTQpvWVNqjevs5SZcY-P9U/s300/metro+disaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpRrGIv6KzChgzy1pUIcQqNRMNlcBS50OcaARThb8b2CGpdyvjZ5VBtUKQsuI0xvJLDnTatN2TCAjiKj14HpVx5Cpp5dKZcM6QNaGqLRYRJORG10qFCr0jgxTQpvWVNqjevs5SZcY-P9U/s0/metro+disaster.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">When the Mexico City Metro disaster ,which claimed 26 lives and horribly altered so many more, was blamed on construction flaws and political pressure, Mexico's President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador explained, <i>"The humble and hard working people understand that, unfortunately, these things happen"... </i> but not to him.</span><p></p><p><span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>See what I mean? Being that rich is unfathomable in so many ways.</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">If you found a ten dollars bill, you'd feel lucky. If you were that rich, you might see hundreds of ten-dollar bills on the street as just litter, and to them, you'</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">d be right.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_-QC91rkZ3dK0s7OWflXFIY5SENOEQa4szn16t5fUWLXzd0edQ6KWhqrWmErIHWvniFznd2rlcAj3dfXHWZda9BOnutirpnrsC2lychYNVqOn3Ai4t0vKHp79LrWZ2HJmGvK3_4wvn6q/s300/declaration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_-QC91rkZ3dK0s7OWflXFIY5SENOEQa4szn16t5fUWLXzd0edQ6KWhqrWmErIHWvniFznd2rlcAj3dfXHWZda9BOnutirpnrsC2lychYNVqOn3Ai4t0vKHp79LrWZ2HJmGvK3_4wvn6q/s0/declaration.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><b>But here's the harder to understand:</b> Our Founding Fathers promised in The Declaration of Independence <i>"... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." </i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That is backed by 27 amendments to date--from freedom of speech to rights to vote--and also the right to own more guns per capita than any other country in the world... another inalienable right. Seems some inalienable rights are easier to handle than others.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We are a capitalist country built for many to make money. There is no sin in that. Many of the moneyed are generous thinkers and doers. But we don't do that well for those at the bottoms side of the system, unable for so many reasons to put food on the table for family and children, to be able to receive needed health care, to have a roof over their heads, to have the basic footing to pull themselves up. Money makes money automatically. Lack of money makes poverty, automatically. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Trump's tax act in 2017 literally made billions for the top, just a pittance for the middle and almost non existent for the bottom. So why today, for infrastructure and health care, food on the table and opportunity for those unable to grasp it themselves, can't we take a lesser sum back and make sure everyone has some proportional tax to pay? That just makes common sense. <a href="https://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2021/05/if-not-now-then-when-never-is-not-choice.html">See more here.</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYX64vNgFqWjI_eaPJ8UbbDPdjl6eJsc8Hxv-PMOoJM2-RTW1nWGhX8-6dfzrVPl4GXNKcZblwyuA1pmwcqqWxhJhxWPt1Oxi81O5MRNZs_HU-zKV2cNnchhjrmbcYyhkAaHhp1foekmB/s300/poor+vs+rich.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYX64vNgFqWjI_eaPJ8UbbDPdjl6eJsc8Hxv-PMOoJM2-RTW1nWGhX8-6dfzrVPl4GXNKcZblwyuA1pmwcqqWxhJhxWPt1Oxi81O5MRNZs_HU-zKV2cNnchhjrmbcYyhkAaHhp1foekmB/w400-h224/poor+vs+rich.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Life is not fair. We, as Americans, could... should do better to balance the scale. Where the top 10 wealthiest are richer than the all of bottom half of us combined, there is room. It's an attitude problem.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-14262941436260600062021-06-07T18:03:00.000-04:002021-06-07T18:03:00.426-04:00So, all this time it was real. UFOs are seen almost daily by military and commercial pilots. And ETs are here now, maybe... just maybe.<p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSaxAKoAsjsZIY5TIidBNi2jDdKLzF2nruS90sIR9-7BIjzZtW-awRi-cYtDDmhZy1kLgItZbEwP7MDpXPdmrUjYJVqkHd0N3Ub5eRJ0kN6ct_xVMnVuW2bpFj0c1cO2W3cAr1EWeCQdRh/s300/et.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSaxAKoAsjsZIY5TIidBNi2jDdKLzF2nruS90sIR9-7BIjzZtW-awRi-cYtDDmhZy1kLgItZbEwP7MDpXPdmrUjYJVqkHd0N3Ub5eRJ0kN6ct_xVMnVuW2bpFj0c1cO2W3cAr1EWeCQdRh/w400-h224/et.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />E.T. The Extra-terrestrial (1982)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><b>No matter how cleverly disguised,</b> there is a growing belief that UFOs exist and ETs (extra terrestrials) may already be here. </span><span style="font-family: Times;">Ufologists (Those who study UFOs) have seen public sightings rise to more than 7,200 per year.</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">From </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">The New York Times</i><span style="font-weight: bold;"> recently:</span></span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">"</span><i style="font-family: NYTImperial; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">WASHINGTON </i><span style="font-family: NYTImperial; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">— </span><i style="font-family: NYTImperial; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">American intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of a highly anticipated government report.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"The report determines that a vast majority of more than 120 incidents over the past two decades did not originate from any American military or other advanced U.S. government technology, the officials said."</i></span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPbgfpO18LbUQLRRzJmR3_Q6y3L_q09WXsS-ZHE8iIlCNmzLbs2yHyyHC2AUxQrnfOgf0hyrkvsM4izG6N7X3l9vn8ZvC3Ow3gXIKU7hZtyYASNSM4EU4ZgG2mokEMsuiS3G5u4CQIWzh/s300/ufo.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPbgfpO18LbUQLRRzJmR3_Q6y3L_q09WXsS-ZHE8iIlCNmzLbs2yHyyHC2AUxQrnfOgf0hyrkvsM4izG6N7X3l9vn8ZvC3Ow3gXIKU7hZtyYASNSM4EU4ZgG2mokEMsuiS3G5u4CQIWzh/s0/ufo.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Photo taken by a US Navy pilot</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;"><span><b>The Pentagon acknowledges</b> that we are </span></span><span style="font-family: NYTImperial;">seeing unexplainable and incredible things in the sky. And finally admitting, so are they... things so mind-blowing in appearance and performance that we can't yet imagine how that could be.</span></span><p style="font-weight: bold;"></p></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I personally accept that there could be aliens and UFOs because, why not? The universe is the most mind-blowing actuality that engulfs us... for real. And who can say that we, a tiny speck in unending space, are alone and supreme. That takes some nerve and/or naivety.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We've had our fun and movies aplenty in disbelief. If you've seen the 1996 movie </span><a href="https://youtu.be/DqtjHWlM4lQ" style="font-size: large;"><i>Mars Attacks!</i></a><span style="font-size: large;">, you know how dangerous it could be to us humans if Martians choose to ''take over." This movie has the credibility of superstars Jack Nicholson, Glen Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short and Danny DeVito, so would they lie?... unless they were themselves, aliens?</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Do Not Panic! I repeat, Do Not Panic!</b> (Just pretend there is a gasoline shortage.) The increase in sightings is not seen as an imminent invasion, but because of covid, more people are looking to the skies and noticing "things."</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Which begs the question: What then will we do when we actually make human contact and perhaps, find them among us? That, my friends, is a knotty next step. Fortunately, this has been given some cogent thought by someone more conceptual than me. More on that later.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do we fight or do we flee... or are they friends? And why wouldn't they be... unless they look as us and see squabbling and differences filled with hate, spite, racism and polarization and decide "Who wants to buy into that?" So how will it all go down?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most interesting guess so far was a 1959 episode of the then popular TV series, <i>Twilight Zone,</i> titled, <b>'To Serve Man."</b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The show was in black and white (that is, before color television) and the opening was solemnly spoken by series originator Rod Serling: </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; text-size-adjust: auto;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZBoCpa9mmoV7MdySndnjnuMBKxMZryaaN1NeHCbevkc1Rjxu7qyLx82hemVZjkYv9-au0HAAj-GNkDKu99GZLqk5XzCN4y60xmCkC08zzV6n2dshgOeHcU9NuMypDetjozO4p26oE2b8/s275/rod+serling.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZBoCpa9mmoV7MdySndnjnuMBKxMZryaaN1NeHCbevkc1Rjxu7qyLx82hemVZjkYv9-au0HAAj-GNkDKu99GZLqk5XzCN4y60xmCkC08zzV6n2dshgOeHcU9NuMypDetjozO4p26oE2b8/s0/rod+serling.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><b>"</b><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Respectfully submitted for your perusal –</b> a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we're going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-size-adjust: auto;" title="Christopher Columbus">Christopher Columbus</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone."</span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOo9CgO-Or9LPjo44fGopbMMIUDPU5qrv1Q0qRI2zhnJxnZRrg6_UPkT4GWb-k3eAjafgLxZiRQS_WKrIcwHn7eotHb6Yfa3AQDuWWD1nGoM04CNEf8I27xcC5ntOjwPqI1S4OMX4awXj/s225/TO+SERVE+MAN.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOo9CgO-Or9LPjo44fGopbMMIUDPU5qrv1Q0qRI2zhnJxnZRrg6_UPkT4GWb-k3eAjafgLxZiRQS_WKrIcwHn7eotHb6Yfa3AQDuWWD1nGoM04CNEf8I27xcC5ntOjwPqI1S4OMX4awXj/s0/TO+SERVE+MAN.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><b>*THE STORY UNFOLDS:</b><i> </i><span style="font-family: times; font-style: italic;">The setting changes to several months earlier, on Earth. The Kanamits, a race of 9-foot-tall (2.7 m) aliens, land on Earth as the planet is beset by international crises. As the</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary-General_of_the_United_Nations" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: times; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Secretary-General of the United Nations">Secretary-General</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;">announces the landing of aliens on Earth to the worldwide public at a</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: times; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" title="United Nations">United Nations</a><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;">news conference, one of the aliens arrives and addresses the assembled delegates and journalists via telepathy. He announces that his race's motive in coming to Earth is to provide humanitarian aid by sharing their advanced technology, including an atomic generator that can provide electric power for a few dollars, a nitrate fertilizer that can end famine, and a force field that can be deployed to prevent international warfare. After answering questions, the Kanamit departs without comment and leaves a book in the Kanamit language, which leads to Michael Chambers, a US government</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;"> </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographer" style="background-image: none; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #0b0080; font-family: times; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Cryptographer">cryptographer</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-family: times; font-style: italic;">, being pressed into service.</span></span><p></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Initially wary of an alien race who came "quite uninvited", international leaders begin to be persuaded of the Kanamits' benevolence when their advanced technology puts an end to hunger, energy shortages, and the arms race. Trust in the Kanamits seems to be justified when Patty, a member of the cryptography staff led by Chambers, decodes the title of the Kanamit book:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> "</span>To Serve Man." The Kanamits submit to interrogation and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Polygraph">polygraph</a>, at the request of the UN delegates. When declaring their benevolent intentions, the polygraph indicates that the Kanamit is speaking the truth.</i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Soon, humans are volunteering for trips to the Kanamits' home planet, which they describe as a paradise. Kanamits now have embassies in every major city on Earth. With the U.S. Armed Forces having been disbanded and world peace having been achieved, the code-breaking staff has no real work to do, but Patty is still trying to work out the meaning of the text of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To Serve Man.</i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>The day arrives for Chambers's excursion to the Kanamits' planet. Just as he mounts the spaceship's boarding stairs, Patty runs toward him in great agitation. While being held back by a Kanamit guard, Patty cries: "Mr. Chambers, don't get on that ship! The rest of the book,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> '</span>To Serve Man,' it's... it's a cookbook!" Chambers tries to run back down the stairs, but a Kanamit blocks him, the stairs retract, and the ship lifts off.</i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Chambers is in the shipboard room now, and is again offered a meal. He throws it to the floor, but a Kanamit retrieves it and encourages him to eat: "We wouldn't want you to lose weight". At last Chambers, in one of the few instances of the series where a character breaks the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Fourth wall">fourth wall</a>, says to the audience: "How about you? You still on Earth, or on the ship with me? Really doesn't make very much difference, because sooner or later, we'll all of us be on the menu...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>all of us." The episode closes as Chambers gives in and breaks his hunger strike.</i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">*Thanks to Wikipedia for this synopsis.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-17565222633840959032021-05-02T18:22:00.007-04:002021-05-04T13:12:11.355-04:00If not now, then when? (Never is not a choice.)<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Not intending to be biased</b> (though it may seem so to some), President Biden has proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to congress and the American people. And the question, "If not now, then When?" is fair.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/31/politics/infrastructure-proposal-biden-explainer/index.html">Here's what's in that impressive plan and its approximate cost,</a> as reported by CNN. It is divided into 11 sections: Transportation, Home care services and workforce, Manufacturing, Housing, Research and development, Water, Schools, Digital Infrastructure, Workforce development, Veterans' hospitals and federal buildings and finally, How to pay for it.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mspRZc-F119BNzx66qDvwWRMMHGiv_xw1MrZyTKsxF2rnucU-K2Salyi9nYsCtvDcsz75zx7fWrB0bQnD7De521-kQelfPEZ6BSIEe83Q-9exO7GGhikGaqB4JWEWDm5IykLi5tz_-fo/s259/bridge+disaster.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mspRZc-F119BNzx66qDvwWRMMHGiv_xw1MrZyTKsxF2rnucU-K2Salyi9nYsCtvDcsz75zx7fWrB0bQnD7De521-kQelfPEZ6BSIEe83Q-9exO7GGhikGaqB4JWEWDm5IykLi5tz_-fo/s0/bridge+disaster.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The need for the desired end result is approved by about 3 of 4 Americans. (Polls are taken often and they vary, so you can check the latest by asking Google.) The most visible to us... the more than 90,000 miles of roads and 71,000 bridges that are in dangerous disrepair according to a 2010 study by U.S. PIRG (United States Public Interest Research Group) as the deterioration continues unabated. The plan identifies other critically related needs and benefits as well as how it will be paid for.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"On the last two report cards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. got a D+ and it urged the government and private sector to increase spending by $2 trillion over the next 10 years in order to improve not only the physical infrastructure, <u>but the country's economy overall</u>."</i> reports PBS.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHc-dRwbbGHeBn5feGqJebLngoWsyuzD006-9X7hGjT2MLgrXxO2AJTKtfPQ27PUWsyaAhaM8wMC9KKnDwJXDk8rnnt12lbmRy3SDNSp30N7buuFE3XgxHqCE45xrk6PCX92xT3pM9-JVo/s259/highways.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHc-dRwbbGHeBn5feGqJebLngoWsyuzD006-9X7hGjT2MLgrXxO2AJTKtfPQ27PUWsyaAhaM8wMC9KKnDwJXDk8rnnt12lbmRy3SDNSp30N7buuFE3XgxHqCE45xrk6PCX92xT3pM9-JVo/s0/highways.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Now here's where it gets interesting: We know this work needs to be done because we are living with the need every day. But our political bias insists it matters when, how and by which administration gets it done... i.e. takes credit for it, while the other party squirms and wiggles like a fish out of water... or, "Will this get me reelected?" We haven't seen "for the need of the people" play out too well lately.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">How will we pay for it? Biden proposes an increase in taxes on the wealthy (those making $400,000-plus) and corporations which are showing record gains with some paying no tax at all, to a level less than the gain over the 2017 tax cuts which added trillions to our national debt and has yet to 'trickle down.' </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And best yet, along the way, all of this makes more jobs for more people to make more money to do more things to buy more stuff... the American way.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Want to see something amazing? Look what <a href="http://Inequality.org">Inequality.org</a> has searched out:</span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">"As ordinary people around the world suffer from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, billionaires have actually seen their fortunes expand. According to the Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes data, <u>the combined wealth of all U.S. billionaires increased by $1.138 trillion (39 percent) in the 10 months between March 18, 2020 and January 18, 2021, from approximately $2.947 trillion to $4.085 trillion</u>. Of the more than 600 U.S. billionaires, the richest five (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Elon Musk) saw an increase in their combined wealth during this period, from $358 billion to $661 billion. We will be regularly updating this analysis <a href="http://here.">here.</a> "</span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Good for them, really. They have earned it. And many 'super rich' are quite benevolent. This IS, after all, the land of opportunity. But sadly, not for everyone. Those scrapping by or less have virtually no chance to measurably better themselves the way we are going. On July 4, 2009 the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 an hour... and it remains there today, 12 year later ... $7.25 for an hour's labor. And worse, at that rate there just aren't enough hours in the day/week/year to make that work. We are breeding poverty.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So tell me, with the price of everyday commodities ever increasing, who would you guess will suffer most without a better path? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This is the making of that path.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When one of our senators against the plan was asked how he liked Biden's proposal, he said the speech could have been shortened to just 10 words: "Good evening fellow Americans. Send all your money to Washington." Fact is, he must have been taking about he and his colleagues because I know most of us don't make $400,000 a year, but most in congress do. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The old axiom, "It takes money to make money" has a modestly good news flip side: "Those who have little money will not have to sell their yachts to make ends meet." (Confession: I made that last quote up.😏)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>To repeat the question: If not now, then when? (Never is not a choice.) H</b>ere's an added last thought based on the history of the world: If we don't get it right, it will cost far, far more in time (which is finite), money and rancor (blaming the other person) to re-fix the fix or force us to live with the missteps forever. It just doesn't get any easier.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">OK, take a breath and read on:</span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSzHIKNqqv7vPWJUQFyhg-eQqLaFHxJu27gYbn_FdH7G2Z3gTgogw1Zme4FhiuG6KMNLktvKLcVkwSxQ5mrTh5nJ8ZPC8rYl9gdPQ7h1t-jT9_J71_TEhNM-9VTYPajFFqaxGPvjY-zHe/s300/poor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSzHIKNqqv7vPWJUQFyhg-eQqLaFHxJu27gYbn_FdH7G2Z3gTgogw1Zme4FhiuG6KMNLktvKLcVkwSxQ5mrTh5nJ8ZPC8rYl9gdPQ7h1t-jT9_J71_TEhNM-9VTYPajFFqaxGPvjY-zHe/s0/poor.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><b>Here is the companion piece to infrastructure, </b><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/american-families-plan/index.html"><b>Biden's Family plan</b><i>. </i></a> If the poor and all of those not able to put food on the table just had a yacht to sell, I'm sure they would be ok. However, yacht ownership of that economic group doesn't show strong, especially in this pandemic time with a horrible death total (576,000 to date) and loss of jobs and opportunities. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">If any billionaire saw a $1 million dollar bill (I know, but hypothetically) laying on he sidewalk, he/she technically should not stop to pick it up because that person's real time is worth more than the time it takes. If a more average person saw a $10 bill on the sidewalk, it could make the day.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Is it morally and practically good to be a 'have' without concern about the 'have nots?' Historically, kingdoms have toppled and heads have rolled in such times. That was 'then.' Here is 'now,' and this is America. That's the difference between 'need' and 'have.'<br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>We, as a country, have proven we can do anything we set our minds to do. Sometimes, we just don't.</b></span></p><p><br /></p></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-65838553680598533822021-04-23T11:45:00.000-04:002021-04-23T11:45:18.375-04:00"Please listen carefully as our menu has recently changed.": Customer service or customer disservice, that is the question. AND, A PROMISE that the most valuable information you may ever receive is the last sentence of this blogpost.<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1kdpLKEswxugkWDJl2obyLZoHHjlkxGCF1u5N1W9lq_rjv_NFUeghWhyphenhyphentJqCuOoI7j3T9hzUBovnYK67_C0H-TBbp4b0Q-ipT4Ky-0AI778mcmULUi3JwiXJ-EC4PX-tYGVlR_S65baj/s500/customer+service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="500" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1kdpLKEswxugkWDJl2obyLZoHHjlkxGCF1u5N1W9lq_rjv_NFUeghWhyphenhyphentJqCuOoI7j3T9hzUBovnYK67_C0H-TBbp4b0Q-ipT4Ky-0AI778mcmULUi3JwiXJ-EC4PX-tYGVlR_S65baj/w400-h230/customer+service.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you Scott Adams for <i>Dilbert </i>which helps to vent our frustrations.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The blessing, however,</b> is that it is more often a parody of our frustrations rather than <i>'every single time.</i>' But hey, it happens.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Last week I listened to <i>"... our menu may have changed"</i> through three sets before I got a crack at a real person. At last!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Our agents are presently helping other customers. Your call is important to us and we will be with you as soon as possible."</i> .... pause, then a very pleasant machine voice tells me <i>"... an agent will be with you in (</i>pause<i>) 3 hours and 40 minutes. You can leave your number and we will call you back. You will not lose your place in line." </i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">As I said, that was last week so I am expecting that call... let's see... (checking my watch)... any minute now. Really.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Business must have been so good they were just too busy to call back. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Aaargg!</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there are those calls that come with a warm, real voice that try to have a pleasant, understanding, helpful conversation and get it right. Thank God, life can be more real at times.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Amazon, the biggest company in the world, may not do everything right (and they don't) but it's success is built on getting more right, from a consumer standpoint. Almost nothing from Amazon involves a phone call, which is not perfect, but we do build up a resistance against customer service that often isn't and the commitment of time. Time is not money. It is much more valuable.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Oh, lest I forget those robo calls that happen at dinner time or any time... t</b>hey are different than consumer service of course, but somewhat in the same vein of how the phone reorders our lives, and in this case, our time AND money.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm sure my 14-year-old car might have an expired warranty but I can live with that. And I don't regret that I could <i>"... already be a winner," </i>many times over if I had just paid attention to what was being offered.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't you wonder how much time and effort it must take to scam us one way or another? Here's a really terrific piece from the <i>AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) Bulletin </i>on scammers and how they operate. It is the very best real life story of <i>'them'</i> that I have ever read and a most compelling read:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://securelogix.com/news/lessons-from-inside-the-fraud-factory/">Lessons from inside the Fraud Factory</a></b>: We Witnessed International Phone Scammers In Action. What we Saw Will Both Terrify You And Help Keep You andYour Money Safe and Secure. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-74473635239730006012021-04-10T15:25:00.001-04:002021-04-10T15:25:13.759-04:00Something my 98-year-old mother taught me before she died: A primer on how better to live.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbI8yAzTtwFtF2odpi6ok4JrDI6aO7nGsQJobIZ20CI5dyfxkKbJz1enmmy3R_3Nhnwc5MqSdOjTp7xtRQ8U-9iNJ2vZX8OHCrY61DEsd7lMnEk4cc2c1bcZle85xZY2TuOP7iVihe8xf/s640/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="478" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbI8yAzTtwFtF2odpi6ok4JrDI6aO7nGsQJobIZ20CI5dyfxkKbJz1enmmy3R_3Nhnwc5MqSdOjTp7xtRQ8U-9iNJ2vZX8OHCrY61DEsd7lMnEk4cc2c1bcZle85xZY2TuOP7iVihe8xf/s320/photo+%25281%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><b>She was with the world, though feeble. She made us laugh and lived believing "into each life, a little rain must fall." </b></p><p>"You know that story, 'Into your arms I will fall and there I will happily die' ?"</p><p>"Yes, mom. I remember," I answered because it made her happy.</p><p>"Well, she said, looking straight at me. "That's a lot of crap!"</p><p>Mom had a way with words. When she was 89, I dropped in one morning for coffee and noticed with some delight, a finished crossword puzzle sitting on her side of the table. Looking closer, I saw the first answer was not correct. Then, I saw a few more, then a lot more. </p><p>"Mom," I asked, "there are some wrong answers here."</p><p>"I didn't say it was right," she told me, "I said it was done." </p><p>Mom had a smile for everyone she passed, would stop and talk if she detected an opening. To her dying day, she could remember almost anyone she met when she saw them again, though she did have a propensity to tell the same story she heard or read, every 15 minutes or so. And therein, the lesson:</p><p><b>She was beloved because she was lovable.</b> Never had an enemy except for that darned newspaper boy who would always put the plastic tie from his paper bundle into her convenient garbage can. "I think he's stalking me," she believed.</p><p>But the key was her smile. She would smile at the drop of a hat... and people would smile back. Is that the key to a better world? I wouldn't be surprised.</p><p>So is it a curse that gives us a pandemic to be best fought behind a mask? Love the mask/hate the mask... but wear the mask because it works... or not, says 'Karen.'</p><p>In our most hostile world of today, the collateral damage seems that every smile behind the mask is a smile that has no place to go, no return smile to see. And we desperately need that.</p><p>According to <a href="http://VeryWellMind.com">VeryWellMind.com</a> promoting trusted mental health information, <i>"Many see smiling simply as an involuntary response to things that bring you joy or inspire laughter. While that is certainly true, it overlooks an important point: Smiling can be a conscious, intentional choice. It appears that whether your smile is genuine or not, it can act on your body and mind in a variety of positive ways, offering benefits for your health, your mood, and even the moods of people around you."</i></p><p><b>Smiling, it tells us...</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Helps you live longer</li><li>Relieves stress</li><li>Elevates mood</li><li>Is contagious</li><li>Boosts the immune system</li><li>May lower blood pressure</li><li>Reduces pain</li><li>Makes you attractive</li><li>Suggests success</li><li>Helps you stay positive</li></ul><p></p><p>Have you noticed, as I have, that in the super market, on the street or anywhere, people are not as genial or conversational or nodding as they were before the pandemic... before the mask. Oh, they may still smile but who can see it. The eyes don't convey a smile very well. That's the lips' job. and a whole face reveal. Besides, we are more concerned about maintaining those six-feet between us.</p><p>But of course, first things first... the pandemic, then, God willing, normal... whatever that may be. "One for all and all for one"... wouldn't it be nice? We beat this thing then the smiles will come back because that's human nature. And, we will have one more reason to smile. We saved lives, we won. It is tomorrow.</p><p><b>So you say not wearing a mask is swell?</b> Well, if that's you, then you probably don't smile that much anyway. Not wearing a mask appears to make you defiant, falsely proud, determined to strut "your legal rights," etc ... but those things don't create smiles. They create snarls or a firm-lipped resolve.</p><p><b>Visible or not, smilers still smile and show it. Even animals show 'happy.' (</b>This information came from <i>The New York Times</i> monthly special segment for the young.)</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Octopuses change color to blend in to their surroundings, but when they are relaxed and happy, they fade to white.</li><li>Kestrels (of the falcon species) says one expert 'fancier.' "When released, they soar high to the sky and then tumbling down, stopping just feet above the ground--over and over and over."</li><li>Belugas blow bubbles.</li><li>Elephants wag their tails. </li><li>Dogs and cats... of course.</li><li>Orangutans do it best. They just crack up. Well, we do share 97 percent of our DNA sequence so maybe through their evolution... and ours also, we smile.</li></ul><p></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvn5Pyr3FeabuszNTlqXQZmptsrBauCPahsFS-ukfSzx1X0IuKQp3B3uzqd_Cs_y_-xKjp-QqshE6G8wjwpF3EJuY86FH1CEUE3Je7mQN81YGhrnaYftOug4PEGYdIxNeOfPjuxO0kGmN/s252/laughing+monkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWvn5Pyr3FeabuszNTlqXQZmptsrBauCPahsFS-ukfSzx1X0IuKQp3B3uzqd_Cs_y_-xKjp-QqshE6G8wjwpF3EJuY86FH1CEUE3Je7mQN81YGhrnaYftOug4PEGYdIxNeOfPjuxO0kGmN/s0/laughing+monkey.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"WELL I'LL BE A MONKEY'S UNCLE!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy early Mother's Day mom. You were great!</div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-37507187933680065822021-03-19T14:33:00.002-04:002021-03-19T14:38:14.240-04:00All dogs go to Heaven... God told me that Himself. And cats too, but don't ask a dog this.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TVza0Bu2rBPBm_MqH90cESv1b3VqdDo1LKLgRqaio5BRF25zE0_FBEuwP84n0di_nayL0r0gcoj5bGGgaAIwuZaY_hMcECjvhgHyMZ1ptwS6UP93pVY0UW61D_WYpTnYC6wh8q-_hVc2/s353/puppies.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="143" data-original-width="353" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TVza0Bu2rBPBm_MqH90cESv1b3VqdDo1LKLgRqaio5BRF25zE0_FBEuwP84n0di_nayL0r0gcoj5bGGgaAIwuZaY_hMcECjvhgHyMZ1ptwS6UP93pVY0UW61D_WYpTnYC6wh8q-_hVc2/w400-h163/puppies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"><b>"So you think it's just a coincidence that God spelled backward is dog?," God asked me recently. "C'mon, I gave you brains. Is the Pope Catholic? See what I mean?"</b></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">A little background: You know the author Mitch Albom? His first big seller was <i>The Five People You Meet in Heaven </i>followed later by <i>The First Phone Call from Heaven. </i>So this guy really knows, right?<i> </i></span></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13); color: #0d0d0d;">Now I'll let you in on a little secret... mine was the second call. I guess I kinda' won the lottery.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Ed. note: Confession is good for the soul. So, "Bless me Father for I have sinned, I wrote parts of this blog post six years ago. But that's ok, right God? ... God? ... God?"</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"><b>And yes, I'll share that call with you, but first, a brand new, really cute dog (and cat) story:</b></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">From the <i>Washington Post</i>: Eight-year-old Darius Brown's sister taught him how to sew a bow tie. So he did, and when he wore it to school the next day, his school friends loved it and wanted their own bow ties, which he made for them. This small thing he shared made many of his classmates happy.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">When Darius was 10, he recalled hearing of the hundreds of dogs and cats left homeless in Florida and Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Irma in 2017. Darius couldn't have a pet in his apartment but he felt for all those animals that needed new families. So he wondered if he could help them by making bow ties to get more attention in the crowded shelters when people came looking for an animal to rescue.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4hUd7QaxLAzOJuYGb7B_YGe9i_04hY0K4gcMCLsrVVJLE7Ek6w5LoKv-PysFGe4CAokisZO3CWGqyhd2sZjz9ZNM2J3pGdQlkijPZsyjZrJBRwNc4e_ozvURvqP75VboIWhk0-cOORS3/s899/bow+ties.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="899" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4hUd7QaxLAzOJuYGb7B_YGe9i_04hY0K4gcMCLsrVVJLE7Ek6w5LoKv-PysFGe4CAokisZO3CWGqyhd2sZjz9ZNM2J3pGdQlkijPZsyjZrJBRwNc4e_ozvURvqP75VboIWhk0-cOORS3/w200-h150/bow+ties.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #0d0d0d;">With his sewing skill, he made the dogs look hilarious and adorable wearing one of his bow ties. </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">It worked even better than he could hope. "We never used bow ties before'" said one worker, "and right away we saw a big difference."</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">Today, Darius is 14 and has made and donated more than 600 bow ties to shelters in eight states. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"><br />"Polka-dot ties, stripped ties, ties with rhinestones... every tie is different," he says. "Even something small like a tie can help an animal get adopted because a bow tie is unique and helps bring out a pet's personality."</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(13, 13, 13);"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p><b>Like I told you, I got that second phone call from heaven.</b> Yes, it was from God.<br />
<br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMb_ZcBVzAlcGacvY5Sp2PthEdZ_5__DFWWjU0tntggPd0nSQfFIIk600CGplOJSgW7zt9IsRlXzkqPqDqhQtv62EgvAxu2r4dsAUTLAyGF4mdPOF7_DQeMv4M8VtAU4zwEaFk9JlGxwK/s1600/images-22.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMb_ZcBVzAlcGacvY5Sp2PthEdZ_5__DFWWjU0tntggPd0nSQfFIIk600CGplOJSgW7zt9IsRlXzkqPqDqhQtv62EgvAxu2r4dsAUTLAyGF4mdPOF7_DQeMv4M8VtAU4zwEaFk9JlGxwK/s1600/images-22.jpeg" width="158" /></a></div><p>
<i>"Hi Jerry. This is God."</i><br />
<br />
"Oh, hi God. This is really a surprise."<br />
<br />
<i>"Well, if my guy, Pope Francis calls regular people, so can I. By the way Jerry..."</i><br />
<br />
Then I heard all this barking in the background and could barely hear God.<br />
<br />
<i>"SHUT UP DOGS, I'M ON THE LAND LINE (of course) WITH JERRY!" </i><br />
<br />
And it became instantly quiet.<br />
<br />
"Oh my God, God... oops, sorry... "<br />
<br />
<i>"No problemo, Jerry. If I can part the Red Sea, I can surely train
these billions of dogs up here with a clicker. I will say though, it is taking longer than I thought. Where is Cesar Milan when I need him?"</i><br />
<br />
"I thought he died just recently."<br />
<br />
<i>"Don't believe everything see on the internet, My son."</i><br />
<br />
"So there ARE dogs in heaven, right?"<br />
<br />
<i>"Of course."</i><br />
<br />
"May I say 'Hi' to Snert and Hagar and Gretchen and Alix and Abby and Tess?"<br />
<br />
<i>"You want to do it personally?</i><br />
<br />
"Uh, not today God, OK?"<br />
<br />
<i>"Ha ha. Good one Jerry. OK, we'll save that for later."</i><br />
<br />
"Whew!<br />
<br />
<i>"Hey Jerry, I gotta run now. It's my turn in Stratego. I'm playing
Julius Caeser, Napoleon, McArther and Alexander the Great. Bonaparte is
cheating, but we all know it and there is a lot of kidding going on.
Just wanted to say 'Hi'."</i><br />
<br />
"Wait God... are there cats in heaven too?"<br />
<br />
<i>"Oh, sure, but I even gave them free will so not even God knows...
I mean I don't even know what goes on in that brain of theirs. See ya
later, Jerry."</i><br />
<br />
"You got it God... Oh, wait a second... God, when you say 'later,' what do you mean?<br />
<br />
Click. bzzzzzzzz<br />
<br />
"God? GOD?<br />
<br />
So, straight from The Horse's mouth, so to speak, great news for those
of you who have experienced one too many sad trips to the Rainbow
Bridge. We'll all be together soon enough. Hmmm, I wonder if God lets Tess on His couch?<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">All in all, nothing beats a good cup of memories... and coffee.</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCbCSYTUXEUuc9FVlzpVF7Y1rclNfakzKTB6YV0v4JvNDTmYkT4IlxRB5cILwLZ49p_NYvOSeh2KyUJsQPQFIvbVtEYshwIAuB96kz7D4trN0BmPuopOE0ohQm_P-Psc-VIIf8RI9vaAy/s640/IMG_0556.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCbCSYTUXEUuc9FVlzpVF7Y1rclNfakzKTB6YV0v4JvNDTmYkT4IlxRB5cILwLZ49p_NYvOSeh2KyUJsQPQFIvbVtEYshwIAuB96kz7D4trN0BmPuopOE0ohQm_P-Psc-VIIf8RI9vaAy/w400-h300/IMG_0556.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTN7cmeRs29MZ60963FynEVV99c3rGIR6HS_jSAJLQeFf0bihe4S9PO3cXJ-jq2tH05U5OIvCTPM6klRcqZykoPxghPsC31u4VQR_-FnpnA-SFslGG6i4GU474YlYLbBmpBbo4qmua3T6/s640/IMG_0548.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-35256232044627973632021-03-15T15:18:00.005-04:002021-03-15T15:18:46.470-04:00I've got a book for you that could save a life. It's a good read, with relevant information. PLUS: Other personal book recommends. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcVj59-feR8yFrSVSJ2vG2AmWQ5aX5dFufr08q50_MgwzcyaRy2taKBnCfpCk-aYphEfKrlc3ZwJjffBoKvCrsOzy8J3hZboAVbd2I2FEYCNEO688AYwp-WJOV7x138WtL2Cky2mg-9b4/s225/anxious+people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcVj59-feR8yFrSVSJ2vG2AmWQ5aX5dFufr08q50_MgwzcyaRy2taKBnCfpCk-aYphEfKrlc3ZwJjffBoKvCrsOzy8J3hZboAVbd2I2FEYCNEO688AYwp-WJOV7x138WtL2Cky2mg-9b4/s0/anxious+people.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>I<b>n more than 800 posts, I've never featured</b><b> a book,</b> especially one that is not a classic (to make myself sound really smart), but a popular read with warmth, humor, good story telling... and just a touch of suicide.<p></p><p><i><b>Note:</b> Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2018, there were 48,000 deaths by suicide, more than those dying in auto accidents. More significantly, suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10-34 and 4th for ages 45-54. Although I use the term silliness in describing parts of this book, it is the author's method of unraveling a compelling story.</i></p><p>It's the suicide element that justifies the small touch of silliness, mixed with well done characters. It's a backward story in a way because some of its telling only reveals itself fully as you get deeper into the story.</p><p>At the end, you say, "Oh, I get it now!"</p><p><i><b>"</b></i><i>Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long hidden truths." --<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cafeinated Reviewer</span></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWT_Qo1kBvJylb3wwBnjbdobaO6Qhfd3j8Y0Gkhd_VFUXAlnqGr0dJ9dVU6fc5cAj8UMXcANI2hbx7j-ldI34Kik_T7hqmB8Wwx4AXhnTW-8tzX2B8bk4AAD4aBCiMzyoYicyErHAqJc-6/s272/backman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWT_Qo1kBvJylb3wwBnjbdobaO6Qhfd3j8Y0Gkhd_VFUXAlnqGr0dJ9dVU6fc5cAj8UMXcANI2hbx7j-ldI34Kik_T7hqmB8Wwx4AXhnTW-8tzX2B8bk4AAD4aBCiMzyoYicyErHAqJc-6/s0/backman.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>You may be familiar with Fredrik Backman</b>. He is the Swedish author who wrote <i>New York Times</i> bestsellers, <i>A Man called Ove, </i> <i>My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She's Sorry </i>and my favorite, <i>Us against You, </i>which is better appreciated as a completion of his previous book with a hockey setting, <i>Beartow</i>n<i>. </i>He writes believable characters and situations that will have you reading more of his books if you enjoy the way he tells the tale, which obviously, I do.<p></p><p>And yes, this one involves the suicide of a stranger at the very beginning.</p><p>All of Backman's books have been translated from his native Swedish, which has me wondering, "How do they do that?" It takes more than knowing the language because of the nuances of storytelling. So maybe Backman isn't really very good but his translator is a genius and this is really his/her story. Nah! I know better. But hats off to the translators who do it so well you can't imagine how it could have ever been written in Swedish, Italian, German or any other language than what you are reading.</p><p><b>Now here's the important stuff I promised from the endpaper of this book. </b></p><div>IF YOU NEED SOMEONE:</div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The National Suicide Prevention Hotline: <b>800-273-8255.</b></li><li>The Crisis Text Line: <b>Text "talk" to 741741</b></li><li>For information and support, whether it's for yourself or someone close to you look at <i><b>Suicide.com</b></i> and/or <i><b>sprc.org</b></i></li><li>(My insert) Starting July 16, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted<b> 9-8-8</b> (on par with 9-1-1- in use now for emergencies) as the new three-digit number to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. Why the long wait? It's the government... these things take time.</li></ul><p><br /></p><b>As long as I'm on books worth reading, a few of my latest good reads:</b><p></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8n5x_RmyTHUn_S04AHs3Y2QrIlJ-U5h5QRqVBImIwRkDDB7JDXPGPz9NBtQ0A87CxlPETPHuzOUe3xRlJBYzsJVKW-YRog5DpMqP57cD0Yqi6lFhSXAy4d2WdhgTypsezfkUJm4GfmGF/s278/fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8n5x_RmyTHUn_S04AHs3Y2QrIlJ-U5h5QRqVBImIwRkDDB7JDXPGPz9NBtQ0A87CxlPETPHuzOUe3xRlJBYzsJVKW-YRog5DpMqP57cD0Yqi6lFhSXAy4d2WdhgTypsezfkUJm4GfmGF/s0/fish.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br /><b>Why Fish Don't Exist: </b>A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life</i>, is wonderful non fiction by a really good writer, Lulu Miller, who you might know from NPR's Radio Lab and This American Life.<p></p><p>About the book: <i>"Some years back, Lulu Miller disappeared down a very strange rabbit hole that led her to places neither she nor you would ever be able to anticipate. I highly recommend you follow her down the hole, because of her singular and gigantic gifts as a writer and storyteller, but also because of what's down there: love, chaos strychnine, a gun, dangerous delusions, heroic dandelions, a cow, a snorkel mask through which grander truths are revealed... this book is perfect, just perfect. It's both lyrical and learned, personal and political, small and huge, quirky and profound."</i> --<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of <i>Stiff</i> and other remarkable books, all of which I have read and recommend.</span></p><p>Then there's this: "<i>Riveting. Surprising. Shocking, even! Why Fish Don't Exist begins with a mesmerizing account of the life of distinguished biologist David Stall Jordan--and then, quite unexpectedly, turns into so much more. Narrated in Lulu Miller's intimate, quirky voice, this is a story of science and struggle, of heartbreak and chaos. This book will capture your heart, seize you imagination, smash your preconceptions, and rock your world</i>. <span style="font-size: x-small;">--Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus, and another great read of mine.</span></p><p>To be longwinded, this was one of my all time favorite books, (with 15 really wonderful illustrations by Kate Samworth), though it took me a few early pages to recognize that. It finished with great satisfaction that only comes when reading something that 'rocked your socks." (Yes, damnit, I'm old-ish )</p><p><br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpobbLB8l_gSBBUoiO57s_z6QgTxX-Y8F1sfsz6qVnmUrdnDl8VnUj9y0iexaXgKoW659XjWrVm_vbAo9cgYQrz2g7m8UfXyWHDGwApEzf5-jISqj6kO44UktoG3agOLRMBnnHzAxDjzIp/s261/michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpobbLB8l_gSBBUoiO57s_z6QgTxX-Y8F1sfsz6qVnmUrdnDl8VnUj9y0iexaXgKoW659XjWrVm_vbAo9cgYQrz2g7m8UfXyWHDGwApEzf5-jISqj6kO44UktoG3agOLRMBnnHzAxDjzIp/s0/michael.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />Subtle Acts of Exclusion:</b> <i>How to Understand, Identify, and Stop Microaggressions, is more a business textbook book that dares reading. It tells how subtle, sometime unintentional bias can profoundly impact people's sense of belonging and strives for a more thoughtful and understood world... one that starts on your doorstep. It's real life. And--BIG AND--it is co-authored </i><i>by Michael Baran, my son-in-law, who lives and works for this better world.</i><p></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"> </i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkeguH1PlPxOsn1wOKYzRka-YpvSDrfUqK1ZICb6397thyphenhyphenLKP2hflCgS3eQuBLc5dH7Y8MiTIa1odxe3BCkgxPqfv71A2dKJNnvzzCrf4bS_gLuPg9rsHENQuaDegr49Ooode_qLO-FU2/s368/Barack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="252" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkeguH1PlPxOsn1wOKYzRka-YpvSDrfUqK1ZICb6397thyphenhyphenLKP2hflCgS3eQuBLc5dH7Y8MiTIa1odxe3BCkgxPqfv71A2dKJNnvzzCrf4bS_gLuPg9rsHENQuaDegr49Ooode_qLO-FU2/w173-h253/Barack.jpg" width="173" /></a></div><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Then there is<i> A Promised Land, </i></b>by Barack Obama, which tells in detail, how one decides to enter the political world, what it's like to campaign for office at every level, then very succinctly, what life and decision making in the office of President of the United States is like. It is apolitically revealing of the toll it takes to be "The Man" or The Woman" leader of the free world.</p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(15, 17, 17); color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-7286625701945414442021-02-25T15:37:00.001-05:002021-02-25T15:37:13.874-05:00What is a pixel? It's a spot of ink about the size of the dot at the end of this sentence . A printer uses these dots to produce a newspaper . One square inch equals = 9,216 pixels.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlswa0Qa9NNBKOYffv3cjEPYA8v7XXnRFygn1-t2gOpn-r6R-409yt0SM_GiTKMPxkRLvIdu0DWDKQ8P0wl2hSCNDxUe9ilM-yWQJ7kWZjpIWogdEysbnUlutbGHNln5gAx3kZFKA-gu9/s640/IMG_0446-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlswa0Qa9NNBKOYffv3cjEPYA8v7XXnRFygn1-t2gOpn-r6R-409yt0SM_GiTKMPxkRLvIdu0DWDKQ8P0wl2hSCNDxUe9ilM-yWQJ7kWZjpIWogdEysbnUlutbGHNln5gAx3kZFKA-gu9/s320/IMG_0446-3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>If you look at this front page of The New York Times, </b>Feb. 21st edition, the large illustration that dominates the page used 500,000 pixels to print... 500,000 dots the size of this period . <p></p><p>And each single dot in that 17" x4" graphic represents one man, one woman or child in the United States that died of Covid 19 since Feb. 6th last year.</p><p>That number more is than all who died in World Wars I, World War II and Vietnam combined. And wars are for killing! (Wow! As I wrote that it felt just terrible... but sadly, true.)</p><p>Individual vignettes of those we have lost bleed out in virtually every newscast since then, and the only sad conclusion is that there are not enough newscasts to make this more real.</p><p>Did you lose a father, a mother, a child, a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, a spouse, a school crossing guard, a postal deliverer, a teacher and/or anyone else that you knew or shared a memory? Then that one death of those 500,000 who have died, magnified your loss exponentially. It was personal.</p><p>Years ago when Russia's strongman, Joseph Stalin, was listening to another Russian official sadly enumerating the millions of people dead and dying of famine in Ukraine, Stalin stopped him advising. <i>"If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that's only a statistic."</i></p><p>Ours is never to forget, but to remember. Without personal tangency, it is easy enough to lose the sense of each and every life lived and lost, but the grief of each of our fellow humans must be acknowledged with tribute. The news media try to give tragedy a face. </p><p>When our covid death toll crested 100,000 less than 10 months ago, <i>The New York Times </i>tried to make it personal, running <a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2020/05/luke-workoff-33-huntington-ny-his.html">1,000 clipped personal obituaries</a> that covered its entire front page and several more inside. To read any, many or most of those was to deeply appreciate what the loss of those lives took from all of us. Television vividly chooses representative mini stories to create the personal sense of loss. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9ZXkz3nYLgkGeUpu_0zCz_PQ6NIUlJekEZUFriWSmdlgP6rNyGFbxSYT8VCn66e-_y4SJbMIBoH9A7HUoSlLc1MrgDs-tNS5g6i6XC3UfWoFxcN2dfpnDx9ECzik7WxGaNGglCc9CsK7/s640/IMG_0507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9ZXkz3nYLgkGeUpu_0zCz_PQ6NIUlJekEZUFriWSmdlgP6rNyGFbxSYT8VCn66e-_y4SJbMIBoH9A7HUoSlLc1MrgDs-tNS5g6i6XC3UfWoFxcN2dfpnDx9ECzik7WxGaNGglCc9CsK7/s320/IMG_0507.jpg" /></a></div>President Biden and Vice President Harris once again memorialized the 500,000 and counting as we lower our flags in tribute. It's so very personal to so very many. <p></p><p>In the end we have no choice but to look forward. The past cannot be altered, and then there is a pandemic to battle, global warming to attack, racism, secular prejudice and strife of one against another to repair.</p><p><b>There is this ultimate reality:</b> We only have one life to live and no time to waste. We also know that those we care about that do live on must deal with what we have left for them. We can do better because we must. Even though there is work to be done, Martin Luther King Jr. made us believe: <i>"We shall overcome."</i> </p><p><b>TO ALL OF THIS WORLD: We've no choice but to go forward together, or die (literally) trying!</b> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-50252548052411649672021-02-18T17:51:00.000-05:002021-02-18T17:51:39.350-05:00HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD, or not: Don't they make great films anymore?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERVtKSYz1mJrHBWxPSWGOMaLcpwWGtSCBCwSIEIzm739m98rEyR-r4iDoP_31uW8zecRuH4z-1A1cQKYgEdziWrPQSanSaHVoiMNeJXxvnQ-Lpk47dWptFntLhM3wxugG8TSQMZrLA40p/s272/oscars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERVtKSYz1mJrHBWxPSWGOMaLcpwWGtSCBCwSIEIzm739m98rEyR-r4iDoP_31uW8zecRuH4z-1A1cQKYgEdziWrPQSanSaHVoiMNeJXxvnQ-Lpk47dWptFntLhM3wxugG8TSQMZrLA40p/s0/oscars.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><b>What is the greatest film ever made?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Oh, you know it but you'd never guess what and why. Well, I'm about to tell you.</div><div><br /></div><div>With the Golden Globes happening February 28th and the Oscars April 25th, this may be an opportune time to talk about the best picture ever made.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>A touch of background: </b>Most listers of the top 10, or the top 100, or whatever. best movies of all time usually start with Citizen Kane, or Casablanca, The Godfather, Grapes of Wrath, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With The Wind, The Graduate, On the Waterfront, etc. and these are good. They however don't offer what we seem to need most in a movie that tells a story, makes us smile and offers a life lesson. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is one though. And don't laugh or think I'm crazy (well, maybe that), but this one offers joy--both overtly and subliminally--in a belief that has been told over and over again but hidden in the ways it braces our spirit with love, hope and redemption seasonally, year after year.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can start guessing but you'll never get it... until now. <i>Miracle on 34th Street</i> won three Academy Awards in 1948: for Best Story, Best Writing and Best Supporting Actor, Santa Claus/Edmund Gwenn. OK, so it's not Christmas but just live with it, will you?</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBy41V4IX9vAB8u5WdITWgT3yVSmpZrlI5AyMTSXiFCJ2-LPT2YgLwdoWneYMF6-l8knQsr3w-BgyjKbELYKYt9u5_tWTm8MIZcbxLYAMMQUR5uuizB_r1MLaImJ5KCBRzpyXGPgFWAei/s259/edmund+gwenn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBy41V4IX9vAB8u5WdITWgT3yVSmpZrlI5AyMTSXiFCJ2-LPT2YgLwdoWneYMF6-l8knQsr3w-BgyjKbELYKYt9u5_tWTm8MIZcbxLYAMMQUR5uuizB_r1MLaImJ5KCBRzpyXGPgFWAei/w200-h150/edmund+gwenn.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><b>It was the black and white original version </b>that best told every child's story. It spread a spirit and the hope that prevails at the appropriate time every year* despite the arguments that Santa isn't real. But he is, and the United States Postal Service officially proved it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Historically, Santa Clause/St. Nicolas, was first 'real' about 300 years after Christ's birth, revered as a kind and generous monk. He was born in where modern day Turkey is on the map, and was admired for his piety and kindness. He was the subject of many legends because he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. There are many supporting stories. Perhaps he was Mother Teresa before she was.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIIVtEQJbxg9uTltrAB_jG88w3s4YkqA5J-yd0J81fcNsUqdQuq6nWKoQm6WYFv_UfRBAsIoVMoWLNbCO6GlnTxyQAuFE2WYXaZbgtGf0E_ZEiijgW3jdYiiosnWNipy0fsQfXSOflU4m/s299/st+nicholas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIIVtEQJbxg9uTltrAB_jG88w3s4YkqA5J-yd0J81fcNsUqdQuq6nWKoQm6WYFv_UfRBAsIoVMoWLNbCO6GlnTxyQAuFE2WYXaZbgtGf0E_ZEiijgW3jdYiiosnWNipy0fsQfXSOflU4m/s0/st+nicholas.jpg" /></a></div>Over the years he became known as the protector of children and sailors. And, as we learned as kids, if <br />you say 'St. Nicholas' 10 times faster and faster, it turns into 'Santa Claus.' </div><div><br /></div><div>Told you so. </div><div><br /></div><div>Though you've probably seen <i>Miracle on 34th Street</i> many times, it should be most remembered for what it expresses through the eyes of a child, our tomorrow. </div><div><br /></div><div>This was not the first time such irrefutable proof was offered. In 1897, a newspaper writer for The New York Sun was given a task to to make something good happen by answering a little girl's 'Letter to the Editor.' Who doubts his answer was truth itself. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>That Question:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Dear Editor--</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Virginia O'Hanlon</i></div><div><i>115 West Ninety Fifth Street </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>His response</b><b style="font-style: italic;">, </b>written with all verbosity and lacking some of today's correctness, nonetheless focused on the spirit and goodness of Santa that we all hold childlike within us to recreate annually for our little ones... and all the rest of the world. Remember, this was 134 years ago<b>:</b></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ur6I7s-j-d8f5gV3kURXLPbsBSR4ZybnlgN_3ay99dL4cEd55S-8HniiGKHW28wlfiNFfTSKPyIJdWDRHFUru9BvOAsBhqrr_j4Y36pyMk-pC61now9BBvTFBx-teVC4WDsh9H_SfvVC/s656/The+sun.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="424" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ur6I7s-j-d8f5gV3kURXLPbsBSR4ZybnlgN_3ay99dL4cEd55S-8HniiGKHW28wlfiNFfTSKPyIJdWDRHFUru9BvOAsBhqrr_j4Y36pyMk-pC61now9BBvTFBx-teVC4WDsh9H_SfvVC/w129-h200/The+sun.gif" width="129" /></a></div><br /><b>Virginia, your little friends are wrong.</b> They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.</i></span></div><div><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i>No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.</i></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>Believe in Santa or not. But to continue without wonder and awe means there is no magic</b> beyond what we know, experience and see. And that would be very sad indeed, especially for the young whose minds should be filled with the wonder and belief in the magic of good. The world we call 'real' will come soon enough, when we can no longer hear the bells.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*That original version of Miracle on 34th Street, is now only available to stream on Disney+ so you will not see it broadcast at Christmastime, or elsewhere to stream. It can still be purchased for home viewing. </span></p></div><div><br /></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-27312460711256877292021-02-09T11:40:00.000-05:002021-02-09T11:40:09.641-05:00We've come a long way baby... or have we? You may be very surprised.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCO639L4ZjlWWTZmGtuJuEf50rvOuG2R-oVS3o2P8IKq5vybJ376uAgxVzG2cYWaYvsBLxBdZjsY7zPQ8Rrkl1vs936KU-sYnhEpTbWSLfV8V5JELIqmSX0hGst00q41GmR5ik5nDcKII/s284/future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCO639L4ZjlWWTZmGtuJuEf50rvOuG2R-oVS3o2P8IKq5vybJ376uAgxVzG2cYWaYvsBLxBdZjsY7zPQ8Rrkl1vs936KU-sYnhEpTbWSLfV8V5JELIqmSX0hGst00q41GmR5ik5nDcKII/w320-h199/future.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><p><b><br /></b></p>That's a yes</b> <b>AND no </b><b>quest- ion </b><b>be cause now we actually know the answer. </b><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>You may be very surprised.</b></p><p>Alvin Toffler wrote <i>Future Shock </i>51years ago. The book sold six million copies internationally and is still selling. The book's updated front page notes <i>"Future Shock is the classic that changed our view of tomorrow... Its startling insights of accelerated change led a president to ask for a special report, inspired composers to write symphonies and rock music, gave a powerful new concept to social science and added a phrase to our language. <b>Future Shock</b> is the most important study of change and adaption in our time."</i></p><p>It's always difficult to define something that hadn't yet happened. Initially the book was seen as science fiction but without a 'Flash Gordon' protagonist. So what did Toffler see from his 1970 perspective? </p><p><b>In what ways have we/have we not come a long way?</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_8SOtkSGjneLiGtEkz4mLYjJOXc2-70YN9TlucBPg0hJLogtLFVTK-O4-ExWm6Y_yFYfpNNVA7ifTPXDxh8bdSe3yBo2cTU-u8JB2uEl1FPohF8nDneWDhAy7m4xFf1j2m-VynIgdnDF/s231/tracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="219" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_8SOtkSGjneLiGtEkz4mLYjJOXc2-70YN9TlucBPg0hJLogtLFVTK-O4-ExWm6Y_yFYfpNNVA7ifTPXDxh8bdSe3yBo2cTU-u8JB2uEl1FPohF8nDneWDhAy7m4xFf1j2m-VynIgdnDF/w190-h200/tracy.jpg" width="190" /></a></div>In 1950, super detective Dick Tracy had a wrist radio, he called it... but that was science fiction. Car phones... ridiculous!<p></p><p>In Tracy's time there was something called 'a telephone' that was connected to the wall with a too short cord and it didn't even tell you who was calling. And get this, you would never know if anyone called because it didn't take messages. If you ever had to use one of those today, odds are you wouldn't know how. Is that ridiculous or what? Today, everyone has a wrist phone and/or Apple watch and/or cell phone and always knows who was calling, when they called and what they said. And as an added bonus, there is text, Twitter, Linkedin, Zoom, etc. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYLR6YgmwMj3ql2T7cDaNxXFVMOIWbxV7V8687NwUomvnMEvJszWZIx_WTb_b4RSYkBVHz4bRZxdbVAfiM49TjbTUdS0L3F-5iJz_1Nsav3SDcE4Zdw0bbcqStk58yVnAIkONlD-0KKjF/s640/IMG_6071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYLR6YgmwMj3ql2T7cDaNxXFVMOIWbxV7V8687NwUomvnMEvJszWZIx_WTb_b4RSYkBVHz4bRZxdbVAfiM49TjbTUdS0L3F-5iJz_1Nsav3SDcE4Zdw0bbcqStk58yVnAIkONlD-0KKjF/w150-h200/IMG_6071.JPG" width="150" /></a></p><p><b>Remember when a picture you might want of Aunt Milly and Uncle Fred acting silly?</b> That required something we ancients called 'film' to put into 'a camera.' The 'film,' possibly in black and white, had to be sent to a developer in Chicago... or other exotic places, and in mere days or weeks, returned to you as a photograph on shiny paper. All photos were either pasted in an album or stuck in a bottom drawer to be viewed after your death by heirs getting rid of all that stuff? We never took pictures regularly because it cost money for film and processing. Young people never took pictures... ever. Now everyone, especially the young, takes pictures of everything for any or no reason, posts them on social media to be seen by anyone and everyone, and stores them by the thousands on our 'smart phones/cameras/computers or 'the cloud,' never to be erased except by technical 'glitches.' We were made for Instagram, Tic Tok and so many others.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Remember when the Wright brothers first flew that rickety airplane at Kitty Hawk?</b> Well, someone watching then, in 1904, has also witnessed us putting a man on the moon just 65 years later. That's progress! Even going to the moon is so yesterday. We have already been virtually on Mars and are planning to live there. In real estate, it is location, location, location. We'll put the strip malls on Venus. And presently, a Tesla with a manikin representing David Bowie at the wheel is speeding past Mars into space forever. Really. </p><p><b>The internet would not exist until January, 1983.</b> No one then on earth could reach everyone else on earth... ever. Today, instant access to all everywhere is the norm. And we can say, or believe anything we want and everyone will know who and where we are. We can be caring, concerning, kind, love cats and/or we can terrorize, lie, cheat, bully... and everything in between. There is no privacy and all of our personal data is available to any hacker who wishes it.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOcyHDfpUwSerMKitT0k7hSwB59TY8u5wDnHw6Dk8tZjMz0600cB6yezZQBKE8mMatInL7WRMXya4LvJnKjZGNwFi3J4weI-707f2zDZCA4DwBx64Nd_5JBR78b6ZTJDzGC63NTVv7ax6/s300/Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitOcyHDfpUwSerMKitT0k7hSwB59TY8u5wDnHw6Dk8tZjMz0600cB6yezZQBKE8mMatInL7WRMXya4LvJnKjZGNwFi3J4weI-707f2zDZCA4DwBx64Nd_5JBR78b6ZTJDzGC63NTVv7ax6/w200-h112/Lucy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Censors wouldn't let Lucy and Ricky Ricardo sleep in the same bed </b>in their <i>I Love Lucy </i>classic television series. Today, we laugh at that because we can view virtually everything on our TVs. Lucky us.<p></p><p><b>Comedian George Carlin shocked so many</b> because one of his comedy routines included the seven taboo words you couldn't say on the air. Curious? check out "Seven Dirty Words" on Wikipedia. Heck, (no, that's not one of the words) we've certainly broken that barrier by a long, long way.</p><p><b>We can own more guns</b>... today in the US, we have 800 million firearms in 125 million households for a world record: more guns than people. No other country can brag that. And the number is growing exponentially with every school massacre or scare, real or imagined. True. But then, we've always had lots... 800 million is just the current number on our way to 1 billion-plus. That's progress I suppose. </p><p><b>Today, one person... just one, could kill millions of people in a seconds.</b> We, as a world, have gotten so proficient at killing and technology has created so many more tools and toxins that it doesn't take an Army. Latest proof of this vulnerability: During Super Bowl LV in Tampa this week, a hacker or foreign terrorists--we don't yet know--broke into Tampa's water supply computer just a mile away from the stadium, instructing the computer to add a lethal dose of sodium hydroxide to the water supply for its 3 billion-plus customers! Thankfully, safety controls involved caught and stopped this or... ? </p><p><b>We can cure diseases, </b>some of which weren't even known in 1970, and we can miraculously heal so many more in so many ways. It's still that the poor and different just don't get the full benefit of such remarkable advances or insurance they may not be able to afford.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53aH6xruwsSBItu7IDXLI1Cp7gPdA_ZdodBMN9Gpbt0WNAYp9S9FPvtXabsnQR_B3IMp-BuqLzWY3vZXRyUaKETjNVhGxFRrB01rL4e8KdB82w0IhkvCXgWolulFs4ROLvv9zJh37iUtn/s266/God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="190" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53aH6xruwsSBItu7IDXLI1Cp7gPdA_ZdodBMN9Gpbt0WNAYp9S9FPvtXabsnQR_B3IMp-BuqLzWY3vZXRyUaKETjNVhGxFRrB01rL4e8KdB82w0IhkvCXgWolulFs4ROLvv9zJh37iUtn/w143-h200/God.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><p><br /></p><b>We didn't used to fear global warming </b>because we didn't accept it as a threat then, true even today by some of those who don't even believe the Earth is round. Looking backward, we have just experienced the hottest six years ever recorded on earth: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and wonder if God is trying to tell us something. Just who does He think He is, anyway?<p></p><p>One little girl said it best: When asked by her parents why she prayed for the Earth, she said "Because that's where I keep all my stuff."</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>The point is, the world around us is changing faster and even more dramatically than Toffler predicted,</b> and it will continue to accelerate at hyper speed. We as a people are more divided than ever, accepting any premise and tale the internet pushes out that supports or appeals to what we choose to believe. The world of internet has no fact checkers per se but accepts the oxymoron 'alternate facts ' which says 'if you believe it, it's real,' without a blink.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">So, we've come a long way baby... or have we?</span></b></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-65196003868205930022021-02-01T15:24:00.000-05:002021-02-01T15:24:47.198-05:00In the market for a used car? Have I got an unbelievable deal for you!<p><b>This baby is a racy red two-year-old Tesla Roadster,</b> like new with perfect tires and, get this, it goes from zero to 42,600 miles-per-hour so fast it could make your head look like this: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qh39NMLqY9w" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qh39NMLqY9w"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p>Yes, Teslas are impressive.</p><p>So what's the catch? OK, the car does have a few miles on it... just a little over 93 million and counting, but it gets great gas mileage,11,745.9 per gallon... really. It is out of warranty but according to the calls I receive around supper-time at least 4 or 5 days a week, I can extend my warranty if I act now. Delivery is problematic but hey, it's a Tesla, right? </p><p>Oh, that figure in the car is a manikin in honor of David Bowie listening to <i>Space Oddity</i> nearly 300,000 times in right ear and <i>Is There Life on Mars</i> about 400,000 time in the left if the battery is still working...and I wouldn't bet against Elon Musk. <a href="https://www.whereisroadster.com/">This tells more.</a> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5vpRuzpAsnpZgpz-fdYjQu8Y-J3o_DhP-VAqma-skJ9MZT5uYZs749wkS0vlbDo8ZGPE9GNzcZG5ejnAZIEOgl1nCpFONGmUAzlnFnxc2rCBRTxsGRNf1KMg3rrtyglIYYiB9uoWcp5v/s580/tesla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="580" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5vpRuzpAsnpZgpz-fdYjQu8Y-J3o_DhP-VAqma-skJ9MZT5uYZs749wkS0vlbDo8ZGPE9GNzcZG5ejnAZIEOgl1nCpFONGmUAzlnFnxc2rCBRTxsGRNf1KMg3rrtyglIYYiB9uoWcp5v/w400-h224/tesla.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />You can see the car somewhere near Mars but you'd have to wait for when a telescope that is about 8,000 feet in diameter is invented to do the job.You perhaps remember the story, and it is really impressive, so a reread is called for. Below is that blog post I wrote when this happened three years ago. <p></p><p><b>And yes, I am a fan of Elon Musk who, coincidentally, just became the world's richest man, </b>worth $185 billion and passing Jeff Bezos. He is eccentric and that makes him even more interesting. And he makes rockets to send people into space (like his car) and return to earth standing up on the launch pad just as the did when they left.</p><p>That blog post: </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #cc6600; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2018/02/both-are-unbelievable-but-one-is-true.html" style="color: #cc6600; display: block; text-decoration-line: none;">Both are unbelievable but one is true, one is false. Any guesses?</a></h3><div class="post-header" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4349849950207424843" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYg4XdoTgIRMoT0KCIizCuwFZJuEoZHhO5zBpRyUQFEAuBK9NVz5DYqI8vC7ld3i6Ylemfpt4UjR7oS8wpAP4-rEkaBOUdyOQIyBWN3zUht7TmvlSyb3vDHgngbCLsZGR8aRKhAzJN6wd/s1600/ET.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #999999; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYg4XdoTgIRMoT0KCIizCuwFZJuEoZHhO5zBpRyUQFEAuBK9NVz5DYqI8vC7ld3i6Ylemfpt4UjR7oS8wpAP4-rEkaBOUdyOQIyBWN3zUht7TmvlSyb3vDHgngbCLsZGR8aRKhAzJN6wd/s400/ET.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 4px;" width="400" /></a></div><b>We were thrilled</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>when Henry bicycled across the moon with ET in his bike basket.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEO2cBJYDtfCiYLNLEFVHx8iBwfkS7zXUfNwP7sctXe81XWTI8oHzpJVMdcGIOYqNUTzUuAvIq1OFuMd3nhaol7OG8OBT8_iX_O3rR9H2ehelTyrgHcyr3vioTFToF09wL28FUGTK0V6t/s1600/tesla2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #999999; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEO2cBJYDtfCiYLNLEFVHx8iBwfkS7zXUfNwP7sctXe81XWTI8oHzpJVMdcGIOYqNUTzUuAvIq1OFuMd3nhaol7OG8OBT8_iX_O3rR9H2ehelTyrgHcyr3vioTFToF09wL28FUGTK0V6t/s400/tesla2.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 4px;" width="400" /></a></div> </div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4349849950207424843" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b>We were also thrilled</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(sort of) when the red Tesla streaked past the earth on it's way past Mars.<br /><br />OK, everyone knows ET will never reach home in the basket of Henry's bicycle. But could a red Tesla ever speed past Mars, with David Bowie's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Space Oddity</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>blasting on its audio device, and drive forever into space? Most incredibly amazing, it could. That IS an actual photo you're looking at.<br /><br />Is there anyone today more interesting and inventive that Elon Musk? Truly this South African born<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 4px; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMGr78_C7NB8wS6p8xmdGEu6VJ_U056OfjfgfQS0EvFelyf3UQr-iMJN6PY-q_3k0Eay-gXqHpFgcP2n5vyu1_HgLYRML-WuA5DHvtzRhIgLLmKGbrR0Ywps8IeSMbUi_3OQTwWD76xgl/s1600/Musk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #999999; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMGr78_C7NB8wS6p8xmdGEu6VJ_U056OfjfgfQS0EvFelyf3UQr-iMJN6PY-q_3k0Eay-gXqHpFgcP2n5vyu1_HgLYRML-WuA5DHvtzRhIgLLmKGbrR0Ywps8IeSMbUi_3OQTwWD76xgl/s200/Musk.jpg" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" width="135" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.399999618530273px; text-align: center;">Elon Musk</td></tr></tbody></table>Canadian American billionaire at age 48 has done more than even the best fiction writer could imagine... but it's true. He founded Xcom which became Infinity which bought PayPal which was bought by ebay. He founded the automotive company that developed the Tesla automobile and founded SpaceX which developed the most powerful rocket booster that put his red Tesla with a manikin driver behind the wheel into space forever. Even more astounding, two of the three rocket boosters on the most powerful rocket actually returned to base, landing as if reverse of the take-off. Take that NASA.<br /><br />So his failure is that the space-bound Tesla that was supposed to land on Mars but missed, is destined to drive forever, at 42,600 miles per hour, into outer space for infinity. It joins with NASA's two Voyager missions to infinity. Imagine the incredible gas/electric mileage per gallon and what would happen if it was ever pulled over for speeding by an alien patrol officer with radar. "Sorry officer, I was running late for Mars so I stepped on it and didn't realize how fast I was going."<br /><br />Consider that perhaps, eons from now, a distant civilization will encounter both Voyager spacecrafts with their golden records of us saying 'Hello" in 140 different languages and also the Tesla playing David Bowie's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Space Oddity<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and wondering who in the hell those people are/were.<br /><br />Well, that's space for you.<br /><br /></div><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-9164151108746573902021-01-18T11:54:00.003-05:002021-01-18T11:54:32.176-05:00Where to find a reason to laugh today: Rule number 1, no clowns... well, maybe just the one below.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0_HLGTobkZWyBPQVwR_Puro-mkTGf-jnHWamrSaDG5wQO5ANa0t7g_UsJo2fUPbUkfFBVv240Aq85U5pLEW38i5rWLtQnhtOBcdI1F8D7VmX0vTASxTsX_ljLv3WxImpinmzLsv7Gt8e/s361/laugh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="361" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0_HLGTobkZWyBPQVwR_Puro-mkTGf-jnHWamrSaDG5wQO5ANa0t7g_UsJo2fUPbUkfFBVv240Aq85U5pLEW38i5rWLtQnhtOBcdI1F8D7VmX0vTASxTsX_ljLv3WxImpinmzLsv7Gt8e/w400-h155/laugh.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Editor's precede for perspective:</b> In these somber pandemic and political unrest days, it is hard to find a reason to laugh, and the media pushes it all right in our faces. But thankfully, these are not 'forever days' and the soul must laugh or die a thousand deaths. So keep looking and finding cause. Your life depends on it.</span></p><i style="font-weight: bold;">"Laughter is the closest distance between two people."</i> Victor Borge<p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">E</span></b>ver walk down the street with a smile and nod to the stranger(s) walking toward you? Most smile back... not counting the few who think you are an idiot. However, this is absolutely guaranteed to give at least one person--you--a lighter step. And you can be sure it affects a few more than that.</p><p>A lighter heart is a free, non-toxic, over-the-counter drug that is good for almost anything that may ail you. The welcome side-effect is that it is infectious.</p><p>Here are a few tips to bring a smile and more to your psyche so you can be on your way to a better day.</p><p><b><i>'The human race has only one effective weapon, and that is laughter."</i></b> Mark Twain</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>B</b></span>elow are/were headlines of real stories from newspapers (<a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2019/07/so-starbucks-will-stop-selling.html">what are newspapers?</a>) around the country. Typically, headlines are written, often at the last minute before deadline, by an editor who reads the story quickly then writes the headline to fit the space allotted. The headline capsules the story in just a few words to pique the reader's interest. And some goofy headlines--I personally know this--were written purposely, to elicit a smile and not get fired:</p><ul style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; text-size-adjust: auto;"><li>Include your children when baking cookies</li><li>Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say</li><li>police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers</li><li>Drunks get nine months in violin case</li><li>Iraqi head seeks arms</li><li>Is there a ring of debris around Uranus? (personal favorite)</li><li>Would-be women priests appeal to pope<br /></li><li>Panda mating fails; veterinarian takes over</li><li>Teacher strikes idle kids</li><li>Clinton wins budget; more lies ahead</li><li>Plane too close to ground, crash probe told</li><li>Miners refuse to work after death</li><li>Juvenile court to try shooting defendant</li><li>Stolen painting found by tree</li><li>Two sisters reunited after 18 years in checkout line</li><li>War dims hope for peace</li><li>If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last a while</li><li>Couple slain; police suspect homicide</li><li>Man struck by lightning faces battery charge</li><li>New study of obesity looks for large test group</li><li>Astronaut takes blame for gas in space</li><li>Kids make nutritious snacks</li><li>Local high school dropouts cut in half</li><li>Typhoon rips through cemetery; hundreds dead</li></ul><p><b><i>"Seven days without laughter makes one weak."</i></b> Mort Walker</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg73UeHXb14BJzh0ADdYx4iswjIY5vv-aRlaI22ir3my4zvmOVSJZXPIRX31kXScqfMRwlYWBEtdnDHMaG_1GPun3JOkovcWRRQYZF1C1tvBT6mSdIwWWpeQh5uw0-5YhNvNSlLoU8-4BW/s400/pies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg73UeHXb14BJzh0ADdYx4iswjIY5vv-aRlaI22ir3my4zvmOVSJZXPIRX31kXScqfMRwlYWBEtdnDHMaG_1GPun3JOkovcWRRQYZF1C1tvBT6mSdIwWWpeQh5uw0-5YhNvNSlLoU8-4BW/w200-h150/pies.jpg" width="200" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>T</b></span>hen there is the old <a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2015/07/pie-in-my-eye.html">'pie in the eye'</a> thing, more popular years ago, that shows comedians Laurel and Hardy setting a world record you won't believe: more than 3,000 pies in the face! That always used to get a laugh, right up there with the banana peel on the sidewalk... today replaced with some home video of a trick going awry with some object smacking into a man's crotch on <i>America's Funniest Videos. </i>I guess today we just demand something more sophisticated. <p></p><p><b><i>"Maturity is the bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything."</i></b> Kurt Vonnegut</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A</b></span>re we so somber today that monkeys have a richer sense of humor than we do? Primates don't just laugh, they crack jokes.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dAoSagW24Mez38wRqgEQnps840QZycrK0X20xF-MdOw0eO_8p8yPHNdspFC_nrP5Pys5XgEDvq1sSc553BR8EFQAbWZnQK17ri_cK94qgpx4AtMJDHe7tQOQFD2QhQOhI6UbaT5brETZ/s300/Koko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dAoSagW24Mez38wRqgEQnps840QZycrK0X20xF-MdOw0eO_8p8yPHNdspFC_nrP5Pys5XgEDvq1sSc553BR8EFQAbWZnQK17ri_cK94qgpx4AtMJDHe7tQOQFD2QhQOhI6UbaT5brETZ/s0/Koko.jpg" /></a></div>Koko, a famed gorilla who died a short while back at age 47, knew sign language and had a 2,000 word vocabulary. When she was asked, "what can you think of that's hard? She signed "rock" and "work." Another time, she tied her trainer's shoelaces together and signed "Chase." That's a true story. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_(gorilla)">Ask Wikipedia.</a></div><p></p><p>Why do waiters like gorillas better than flies? Have you ever heard a customer complain "Waiter, there's a gorilla in my soup!"</p><p><b><i>"Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter."</i></b> Friedrich Nietzsche</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>O</b></span>bviously Nietzsche didn't know Koko, but his quote is mostly accurate. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCZHd84GZzrrUibYXcmjM5bmhvOgchwjJz88RXvTjsdehwH1qqKNMRzUTm-LC7U1qysD0-JW7G_gol9jy-Tz4ns04fUJ9H5QlxICyZcKcGMXuEk4ZcD459NycG5RjbUgmxVdMbmj_3Jdy/s624/chevy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="624" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCZHd84GZzrrUibYXcmjM5bmhvOgchwjJz88RXvTjsdehwH1qqKNMRzUTm-LC7U1qysD0-JW7G_gol9jy-Tz4ns04fUJ9H5QlxICyZcKcGMXuEk4ZcD459NycG5RjbUgmxVdMbmj_3Jdy/w200-h162/chevy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The greatest cause for laughter is when you look in the mirror. It is you. I remember the last time I changed the oil in my car. (Hint: it was also the first time.) I was cleaning and waxing my first car, a '54 Chevy coupe, and thought I'd save myself a few dollars and change the oil. All went incredibly well until I leaned over the front of the engine to pour the in new oil and noticed that my feet were starting to slip out from under me.<p></p><p>Seems like I missed step no. 3: Be sure to put the cap back onto the oil reservoir before refilling.</p><p>And that is the closest I ever came to car repair.</p><p><b><i>"Comedy is defiant. It's a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it's the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale."</i></b> Will Durst</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XdpJbyxVaCKDU6IcRb8SLolysngXmA_xXMOy9s3i-Z0xUTkKxp2xP21BRSKsR2hxhVzheLi1dkHyk8H4mbr_rFUjAnaKs_4oHrwonvrlloHktyhbA2r1EUIDlY9l-0NaIMEeQXKzv_4J/s275/clown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XdpJbyxVaCKDU6IcRb8SLolysngXmA_xXMOy9s3i-Z0xUTkKxp2xP21BRSKsR2hxhVzheLi1dkHyk8H4mbr_rFUjAnaKs_4oHrwonvrlloHktyhbA2r1EUIDlY9l-0NaIMEeQXKzv_4J/w133-h200/clown.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><p><span>C</span>huckles the Clown of the old Mary Tyler Moore show was eulogized at his death by Mary who remembered his favorite line: "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer in your pants." It is the epitome of how laughter and crying are spun from the same emotion. <a href="https://youtu.be/YmBK5GslDaQ">You can decide here</a> if it makes you smile or cry. Or, I'm betting, laughing out loud.</p><p></p><p><br /><b style="font-style: italic;">"If you want to make others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." </b>Dalai Lama</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I</b></span>'m a Cubs fan (why are you laughing, I haven't got to the punch line yet) but I couldn't exclude this little story for a laugh: </p><p>A Chicago first grade teacher admits to her class that she is a die-hard Cubs fan. She asks her class if they are Cub fans too. Most, perhaps not really knowing what being a Cub fan is but wanting to please their teacher, raise their hands. All, that is, except one young lady in the back row.</p><p><i>"Then what are you?"</i> the teacher asks. </p><p><i>"I'm a Chicago White Sox fan,"</i> the girl says.</p><p>The teacher, taken aback, because that's how Cub fans are, asks why she is a White Sox fan.</p><p>"My dad and mom are White Sox fans and I am too."</p><p> "Well, if your mom was a moron and your dad was a moron, what would you be then?"</p><p>"Then," says the girl, "I'd be a Cub fan."</p><p><b><i>"Laughter is a gift from God which requires a different kind of thank you note."</i></b> Me</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>H</b></span>ow important is laughter? It's important enough that most television comedy sitcoms have laugh tracks. I thought this was demeaning to the viewer so I started to blog about that. It was then, I discovered, it really does have a place. <a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2017/04/if-all-world-had-laugh-track-nothing.html">And here's why</a></p><p><i style="font-weight: bold;">"Laughter is like a windshield wiper. It doesn't stop the rain but it allows us to keep going" S</i>omebody smart.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNQ9fKAYicqvb11iwRAvoWLBs9d9D3KokLwynULBYobskee9edLmtEoNaCR5aBNbPDRdYv0OVSx4AuBkNcq4-dvNwGnt6vND9pbAMBj5uPg5GmT8V6a4pYIodnnJWSlcCnRYMhwwMXLp7/s80/Jerry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNQ9fKAYicqvb11iwRAvoWLBs9d9D3KokLwynULBYobskee9edLmtEoNaCR5aBNbPDRdYv0OVSx4AuBkNcq4-dvNwGnt6vND9pbAMBj5uPg5GmT8V6a4pYIodnnJWSlcCnRYMhwwMXLp7/s0/Jerry.jpg" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>True confession:</b> I've been blogging for about 12 years now and have posted more than 800 times, so many that I sometimes actually forget what I've written. Some of this post is repurposed. To see all I've written about, check the links that run beside my blog and have a look. I often make myself laugh but how about you, out of sympathy perhaps. </span><p></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-14461280379294643222021-01-03T17:19:00.000-05:002021-01-03T17:19:25.533-05:00You ever feel like a fish out of water?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_ZqNF_GwrWhyphenhyphenNq4BxMF8eBf9lp6A9M_wa1-2HbTL6LADP00lkEylmFuWrjzQAX5itH8dfmoc4OTHACkr7CplKRgJ-Z2B66KNxOVy3sAYqQ258eOc5rjMeL-cc4RUAjzU1y16pllrYiJl/s640/IMG_0352.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_ZqNF_GwrWhyphenhyphenNq4BxMF8eBf9lp6A9M_wa1-2HbTL6LADP00lkEylmFuWrjzQAX5itH8dfmoc4OTHACkr7CplKRgJ-Z2B66KNxOVy3sAYqQ258eOc5rjMeL-cc4RUAjzU1y16pllrYiJl/w240-h197/IMG_0352.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>I sometimes feel like a fish out of water... </b>and no, I didn't do that. Found this fish half-mile from closest water... and it made me think.</p><p>I feel sometime lost and am betting I'm not alone. The world that used to be wasn't always incredible, but it was pretty darn good. </p><p>These pandemic months are now almost a year long, and while the light may show the end of the tunnel, we still have to make it that far. </p><p>Sadly for many, the canary has already died.</p><p>The next <i>surge-upon--surge upon--upon surge</i> predictions are for 450,000-plus deaths with more to follow until we reach herd immunity in mid to late summer or even later. It still feels insane to think that some don't take this whole thing as a fact. One 'Letter to the Editor' guy even urged 'all true patriots' to throw down their masks and walk proudly anywhere they choose.</p><p>Well, as Joseph Stalin who ruled The Soviet Union for more that 30 years said, "One death is a tragedy. But one million deaths is a statistic." And he should know.</p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4KRoB9PxCIz0j6hqmMAzUjCVN8XE4AcKs9qv35galBMsVHURKUjShHd5X_Uz6AqZWFRBK9IvjmgRQzFxqZ4yaEWgMGFtnL3KTNPzyno6MaJ5YF6SW-Yk77U9a72PdYFsOac6V7UHjfut/s320/NYT+obits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4KRoB9PxCIz0j6hqmMAzUjCVN8XE4AcKs9qv35galBMsVHURKUjShHd5X_Uz6AqZWFRBK9IvjmgRQzFxqZ4yaEWgMGFtnL3KTNPzyno6MaJ5YF6SW-Yk77U9a72PdYFsOac6V7UHjfut/s0/NYT+obits.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br />The New York Times </i>in May of this year ran four full pages <a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2020/05/luke-workoff-33-huntington-ny-his.html">(1,000 names) </a>of covid-19 victims along with a defining sentence on each individual, taken from their obituaries, to personalize that vitally important individual who once lived, loved and was loved, is more that a statistic. But we forget.<p></p><p><b>Imagine that if <i>The NY Times</i> ran the names</b> of all the victims to date (about 350,000 and counting) it would need 1,400 pages... and counting. Really!</p><p>And while many still feel it is their inalienable right not wear masks nor practice social distancing, some do fall victims themselves. But most think they get away with it. Sadly, we do not know how many others subsequently become infected from them and yet they feel no responsibility. And now, the greater peril is at hand as a recent mutation has made that strain considerably more contagious.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipup-Dbnq5aMbLyVeU3SDW-KXDC1rbNz84b0rZJGyBsYwrjT7H3EyKa7XIYRFNFTnMane5B1HxrMtAgEaURgWAxaK13hZPdoxa4aKLIYrkcKyG-JLnm_2dqrHP9f52EiF2US0oJ5rV7ic5/s225/bummer+of+a+birthmark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipup-Dbnq5aMbLyVeU3SDW-KXDC1rbNz84b0rZJGyBsYwrjT7H3EyKa7XIYRFNFTnMane5B1HxrMtAgEaURgWAxaK13hZPdoxa4aKLIYrkcKyG-JLnm_2dqrHP9f52EiF2US0oJ5rV7ic5/s0/bummer+of+a+birthmark.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.<br />by Gary Larson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Here's what many of the most vulnerable of us</b>--the older, those with compromising health conditions, the oft-trodden minorities and those living in poverty-- feel like.</p><p>We have an invisible target on our backs... and it's open season every day.</p><p>We will, as a world, reach herd immunity we believe... a point where so many of us are immune and the virus has fewer people to infect. Experts theorize (a specific number is not projectable) that perhaps 70 or 80 percent of us have to be immune because we have either received vaccinations, have caught the virus and lived or have caught the virus and died. (Gulp!) As cartoonist Gary Larson would say to the most vulnerable, "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-bgDlAkEgXUuNqhRQQWDq8AqS7jzvIw9Z6Qcr6R7e86GquYG9jcugIoH_B4lrZCimt6zxwxT4YHZKd_CTbO8lb7OYL5ZoJ8dDw-DTGzcE8qeYbXf5KlXjbW_USWBADpvjGQG1WBvi9p_/s268/uncle+sam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-bgDlAkEgXUuNqhRQQWDq8AqS7jzvIw9Z6Qcr6R7e86GquYG9jcugIoH_B4lrZCimt6zxwxT4YHZKd_CTbO8lb7OYL5ZoJ8dDw-DTGzcE8qeYbXf5KlXjbW_USWBADpvjGQG1WBvi9p_/s0/uncle+sam.jpg" /></a></div><b> If you are young and crazy or old and dumb</b> or anywhere in between, the virus doesn't care. As uncle Sam would say if he were this virus, I WANT YOU!<p></p><p>So aside from the virus and the terrible tole it continues to inflict onto us, there is also the loss of landmark restaurants and businesses, the instant militarization of differing ideas and the guns to back them up, the loss of friends and relatives, the disconnect of parents to grown children and grandchildren, the covid-19 way of Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, Birthday, Wedding, out of school learning, political hate and rancor, etc., etc...</p><p>I SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER.</p><p>There is no doubt that we can do better as a people. Going back lots and lots of years, my freshman English teacher made us memorize poems we would remember all our lives. So far, so good I guess.</p><p><b>His favorite:</b> <i>There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it scarcely behoves any of us, to be chatting about the rest of us.</i> (last line to be delivered in double time and with emphasis or I will slap your fingers with my ruler, he said.) A little out of vogue, would you say?</p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">But...</span> as Lena Horn sang in the stage play <i>Showboat</i> (and Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Ava Gardner also sang) <b><i>"Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly... "</i></b> then you know there is no room in this world to feel like <b>"... a fish out of water.</b>" So world, we've got work to do to get America right again. The most important challenge in the world starts with the first step.</p><p> </p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-51866554262573032112021-01-01T06:35:00.000-05:002021-01-01T06:35:05.909-05:00I wish you a richer "YOU" in this new year, no matter your race, sex, beliefs and status in the world. You are my brother, sister, them in this world we share.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73J8bmRR9FveH3aZdbjaQwQsyZkXJCFia9HAoOjpaHiQUmZPCSh8yEI5Uo0isFtNcdN38P4HRoR5eCc8RiLXNXxLFTHKIBbX6kPZDiW4Bm2GgGf3hxOY10TEY_FqOgcXt_euq_OKTVEK6/s275/francis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73J8bmRR9FveH3aZdbjaQwQsyZkXJCFia9HAoOjpaHiQUmZPCSh8yEI5Uo0isFtNcdN38P4HRoR5eCc8RiLXNXxLFTHKIBbX6kPZDiW4Bm2GgGf3hxOY10TEY_FqOgcXt_euq_OKTVEK6/w400-h266/francis.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Saint Francis of Assisi lived in the 12th century</b> yet he helped shape the world we live in today with his love of animals, passion for the environment and commitment to human values. This post, shown as his prayer, is not intended to be religious per/se because that is every human's choice, but a perspective on a path of life that is rich and full of humanity which should be every human's goal.<p></p><p>His values honor the richness of love, respect and empathy with a golden rule perspective, have been rephrased in many ways, but his simple prayer-like statement is perhaps as rich as it gets.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.</i></p><p><i>Where there is hatred, let me sow love.</i></p><p><i>Where there is injury, pardon,</i></p><p><i>Where there is doubt, faith,</i></p><p><i>Where there is despair, hope,</i></p><p><i>Where there is darkness, light,</i></p><p><i>Where there is sadness, joy.</i></p><p><i>O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.</i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>May this new year bring peace, love, closeness and an end to this pandemic that has literally and figuratively stolen our very lives. Blessings to you and yours.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-79052002003300804542020-12-23T11:57:00.003-05:002020-12-23T11:57:53.144-05:00THE GIFT OF THE MAGI by O. Henry: Wishing you the spirit of Christmas.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRk1_Db_BaunMlkXB0LleBN3Rp-6dLV-iyK8YRJQ55oOw5vk_-OIWQw9PFdUFyKxX_5gqaK0zCW3yHvcWTWVinxX3kyrXwUy3iKow65XVV-s2Yx4BumisOWDoUya8E_4bOY8d82wiptLz4/s348/gift+of+the+magi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="348" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRk1_Db_BaunMlkXB0LleBN3Rp-6dLV-iyK8YRJQ55oOw5vk_-OIWQw9PFdUFyKxX_5gqaK0zCW3yHvcWTWVinxX3kyrXwUy3iKow65XVV-s2Yx4BumisOWDoUya8E_4bOY8d82wiptLz4/w400-h166/gift+of+the+magi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Gift of the Magi</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">O. Henry</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1905</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b> One dollar and eighty-seven cents.</b>
That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one
and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the
butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of
parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it.
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.</div><p></p><div class="story_middle"><div class="story_middle_inner">
<div class="story_text" id="1"><p>
There was clearly nothing left to do but flop down on the shabby
little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral
reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with
sniffles predominating.</p><p> While the mistress of the home
is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look
at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar
description, but it certainly had that word on the look-out for the
mendicancy squad.</p><p> In the vestibule below was a
letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from
which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto
was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."</p><p>
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period
of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when
the income was shrunk to $20, the letters of "Dillingham" looked
blurred, as though they were thinking seriously of contracting to a
modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came
home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged
by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della.
Which is all very good.</p><p> Della finished her cry and
attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and
looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard.
To-morrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to
buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months,
with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had
been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy
a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning
for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling -
something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being
owned by Jim.</p></div>
</div></div><div class="middle_banner"><div align="center" data-google-query-id="CMXshu_f1e0CFQjNKAUd8cICeg" id="eastoftheweb_728x90_320x50_shortstories_incontent_1" style="flex-direction: column;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/15184186/eastoftheweb_728x90_320x50_shortstories_incontent_1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"><br /></div><div id="google_ads_iframe_/15184186/eastoftheweb_728x90_320x50_shortstories_incontent_1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none;"><br /></div></div>
</div><div class="story_middle_2"><div class="story_middle_inner">
<div class="story_text"><p> <b>There was a pier-glass between
the windows of the room</b>. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8
Bat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection
in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate
conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.</p><p>
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass.
Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour
within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall
to its full length.</p><p> Now, there were two possessions of
the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One
was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's.
The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat
across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out of the
window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and
gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled
up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he
passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.</p><p>
So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a
cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself
almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and
quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or
two splashed on the worn red carpet.</p><p> On went her old
brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with
the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she cluttered out of the door
and down the stairs to the street.</p><p> Where she stopped
the sign read: 'Mme Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds.' One Eight up
Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white,
chilly, hardly looked the 'Sofronie.'</p><p> "Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.</p></div>
<div class="pagers" id="3"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="3"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="3"><br /></div>
<div class="story_text"><p> <b>"I buy hair," said Madame. "</b>Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."</p><p> Down rippled the brown cascade.</p><p> "Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.</p><p> "Give it to me quick" said Della.</p><p>
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the
hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.</p><p>
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one
else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had
turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and
chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and
not by meretricious ornamentation - as all good things should do. It was
even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must
be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value - the description applied
to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried
home with the 78 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be
properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was,
he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap
that he used in place of a chain.</p><p> When Della reached
home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got
out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the
ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous
task dear friends - a mammoth task.</p><p> Within forty
minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her
look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection
in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.</p><p> "If Jim
doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look
at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I
do - oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?"</p></div>
<div class="pagers" id="4"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="4"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="4"><br /></div>
<div class="story_text"><p> <b>At 7 o'clock the coffee was made</b> and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.</p><p>
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and
sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered.
Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and
she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit of saying little
silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she
whispered: "Please, God, make him think I am still pretty."</p><p>
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin
and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two - and to be
burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was with out
gloves.</p><p> Jim stepped inside the door, as immovable as a
setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there
was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified
her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor
any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared
at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.</p><p> Della wriggled off the table and went for him.</p><p>
"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my
hair cut off and sold it because I couldn't have lived through Christmas
without giving you a present. It'll grow out again - you won't mind,
will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say 'Merry
Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-what a
beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."</p><p> "You've cut
off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that
patent fact yet, even after the hardest mental labour.</p><p> "Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"</p></div>
<div class="pagers" id="5"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="5"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="5"><br /></div>
<div class="story_text"><p> <b>Jim looked about the room curiously.</b></p><p> "You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy.</p><p>
"You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you -
sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went
for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with a
sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you.
Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"</p><p> Out of his trance Jim
seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us
regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other
direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year - what is the
difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer.
The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark
assertion will be illuminated later on.</p><p> Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.</p><p>
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't
think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo
that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that
package you may see why you had me going a while at first."</p><p>
White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an
ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to
hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of
all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.</p><p> For
there lay The Combs - the set of combs, side and back, that Della had
worshipped for long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure
tortoise-shell, with jewelled rims - just the shade to wear in the
beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her
heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of
possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have
adorned the coveted adornments were gone.</p></div>
<div class="pagers" id="6"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="6"><br /></div><div class="pagers" id="6"><br /></div>
<div class="story_text"><p> <b>But she hugged them to her
bosom, </b>and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile
and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"</p><p> And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"</p><p>
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to
him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to {lash
with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.</p><p>
"Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have
to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I
want to see how it looks on it."</p><p> Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.</p><p>
"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep
'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch
to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops
on."</p><p><br /></p><p> <b>The magi, as you know, were wise men -</b>
wonderfully wise men - who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They
invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts
were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in
case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the
uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely
sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in
a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who
give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts,
such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL.</span></p></div></div></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-65209995141534147192020-12-19T09:23:00.000-05:002020-12-19T09:23:30.356-05:00Poop makes the world go 'round... or so it seems. (Parental alert: This blog contains a little potty humor... not unlike TV's Charmin commercials. )<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8thhBVaFMWmU5Q8GDx2aTwKn7zD9ToQYjejvjp_pj_rClaoLTasHSMUgbcKf92Kl3Zr-PHCFnLN9BX4Ybi962LhH5wlT68szs8W4NJ1VtaP8DHBkru2G2jU3-f1dhgW7pIj3DwCjBRWz/s275/poop.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8thhBVaFMWmU5Q8GDx2aTwKn7zD9ToQYjejvjp_pj_rClaoLTasHSMUgbcKf92Kl3Zr-PHCFnLN9BX4Ybi962LhH5wlT68szs8W4NJ1VtaP8DHBkru2G2jU3-f1dhgW7pIj3DwCjBRWz/s0/poop.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Let's get one thing straight right upfront... we all poop.</b> </p><p>But I suppose what distinguishes us humans is our sophistication. We are the only animal that uses toilet paper. Oh, and we don't eat ours as is common of the 'lesser species.' Woohoo! We are on the top rung on the ladder of life which we regularly prove once or twice every day.</p><p><b>There is more to say of course,</b> but first, a little story to showcase my expertise on the matter so you know you are hearing from a pro:<i> A number of years ago, my wife and I were walking our dogs with our son and his dogs. Along the way, two of the dogs pooped at the same time. As our son dug for the plastic sack every good pet owner carries, my wife held him back saying, "Jerry's got it. He is the King of Poop."</i></p><p><i>Of course! At that moment it dawned on me that I had found my true self and was justifiably proud. I did my thing with a flourish (high fives, etc.) Then I thought, wait a second. King of Poop. What is better than that? I guess I could go for my brown belt and become the Ace of Poop. And with a little hard work and lot of practice, maybe the ultimate.... the mustard-yellow belt. I could become the Joker of Poop... or am I already there?</i></p><p>Yes, many animals eat their own and others' poop with relish (not the condiment but the emotion.) Why? Because it tastes good to them. What dog doesn't love deer poop? It tastes sweet, I was told, though I have no personal experience in the matter. Makes me wonder how 'they' know. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItERjdnDJ4ClI5HGn0D5_Oo6MaqChrsGhWHp6W0tdII9effh8AAUfcPaAe8fxmnT4Jj0ObDnDUUTHtAV1bv6KKcafHbCX4spx-QqI_e8lvNmjERPEuJq4YT47J0d0OdMmjQP0vZx9Cb5O/s310/gorilla.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItERjdnDJ4ClI5HGn0D5_Oo6MaqChrsGhWHp6W0tdII9effh8AAUfcPaAe8fxmnT4Jj0ObDnDUUTHtAV1bv6KKcafHbCX4spx-QqI_e8lvNmjERPEuJq4YT47J0d0OdMmjQP0vZx9Cb5O/s0/gorilla.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Must have been something he ate.</td></tr></tbody></table>Gorillas have been seen catching other gorillas in the act and whisking it into their mouths before it hit the ground and got all 'germy' and cold. (True!) People expert in the field say they seem to savor every chew.<p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsEJOsBmPq9oJrQkM_AYTy_0YT52lMZlvImHP75uu5BfyO2wnerO9wfalk9lfIkfo1sYTim3V8PKf2UmaKNe93tofpR5l5fvXBO6BmuYk2sv5N0y9GYQ6QIEmGKE3xX0cii0VQp-kFQDA/s276/koster.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsEJOsBmPq9oJrQkM_AYTy_0YT52lMZlvImHP75uu5BfyO2wnerO9wfalk9lfIkfo1sYTim3V8PKf2UmaKNe93tofpR5l5fvXBO6BmuYk2sv5N0y9GYQ6QIEmGKE3xX0cii0VQp-kFQDA/s0/koster.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />The Koster Site </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Way back in my working life I helped an archeologist publishing a magazine </b>that served his field. In return I was invited to come with him to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koster_Site">Koster Dig, a prehistoric archeologist site on the U.S. national register of historic places</a>, at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi river near St. Louis. <p></p><p>There I saw dozens of working archeologists and college volunteers, patiently and with dedication, using small brushes to help sift through and examine every inch earth from many different shallow and deeper depressions, in search for answers. Who once lived there and what was that like? At the Koster site, their meticulous work has uncovered 25 'horizons' or strata of civilization that occupied that fertile valley, amazingly going back to the archaic period, BC 7500!</p><p>They find human and animal bones, shards of clay pots, arrowheads and other early tools, evidence of housing and some of everything used by its prehistoric occupants. They were able to track migration and much more by looking at long-dried feces and noted eating habits. They found fruit pits, digested seeds and remnants of anything that may have come from different parts of the continent and elsewhere in the world. They used every clue and indicator the earth left for them. When all was put together in context, they could understand who these people were, where they came from, how they got there, wars they fought, how they lived and how they died.</p><p>From what they continue to find they are building a comprehensive history of past civilizations in that area.</p><p>It was all totally amazing... and poop was one of the primary indicators. "It talked to us," I was told. Imagine, history written in talking poop? I can only imagine. </p><p>So what do you think of poop now? </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1My0TV50DONBNpioww49Y2A4leKj18TPnLowwccLV8p5jeOKZnVacRx02kejPlZQCUj7tQ19g1e9s5MFRCcpJR64NT_Z5N7VJ-Rd-6VYsIC3q7Oe9rbAJ8x5E92-JYsQkXb5iGtgKoQXW/s300/rocky.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1My0TV50DONBNpioww49Y2A4leKj18TPnLowwccLV8p5jeOKZnVacRx02kejPlZQCUj7tQ19g1e9s5MFRCcpJR64NT_Z5N7VJ-Rd-6VYsIC3q7Oe9rbAJ8x5E92-JYsQkXb5iGtgKoQXW/s0/rocky.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>I feel like Rocky </b>atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as I raise my arms in triumph and proudly proclaim, I AM THE JOKER OF POOP! (Has anyone heard when the statue goes up?)<p></p><p><br /></p><div style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></div>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-33413213186486380042020-12-17T06:47:00.000-05:002020-12-17T06:47:17.354-05:00A tale of two worlds... and I forbid you to say, "Yes, but... " in response to the second world.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbexWSimA-fBNVGLD-YMsyCxek-4roLTLtH6EAgX7fY2xjpoMO2J9kaOGmxApPDf1uL-Xot_EK0xYdxpjm92LqOPAHTCyjMkODDdn8PLuF7Q0NZdmpfvRLL8PSGQyArDnEy4ntxTnyQfOP/s299/MBezos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbexWSimA-fBNVGLD-YMsyCxek-4roLTLtH6EAgX7fY2xjpoMO2J9kaOGmxApPDf1uL-Xot_EK0xYdxpjm92LqOPAHTCyjMkODDdn8PLuF7Q0NZdmpfvRLL8PSGQyArDnEy4ntxTnyQfOP/s0/MBezos.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>This is MacKenzie Scott. She was married to the world's richest man, Amazon's Jeff Bezos until recently. </b>She is the world's richest woman at somewhere around $60 billion net worth.</p><p>Don't feel too bad for ex-husband, Jeff Bezos. Even though his amicable divorce cost him billions, he remains the world's richest man, having to get by on only $113 billion. If he were to see a one-million dollar bill (not that there is one, because there isn't) lying on the street, it would cost him more--measured in time spent in the effort to pick it up--than he would typically earn for that moment. That's how rich he is.</p><p>What does one do with all that money? The answer: anything he/she wants, pretty much.</p><p>While I have repeatedly talked about how the most rich have benefitted by every tax break and option in life to increase wealth, which they have, many have shown a benevolent side. MacKenzie Scott has, in the last few months, given $4.1 billion to 384 most worthy causes helping fulfill basic needs for many Americans struggling in these times.</p><p>"This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling," she says. "Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, people of color, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires."</p><p>Recipients of her 'no strings attached' benevolence include community colleges and universities like Blackfeet Community College in Montana; food banks and meal providers like Feeding America, America's Second Harvest and Meals on Wheels' and other non-profits.</p><p>Many billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are benevolent with large foundations organized to donate to worthy causes in the United States and around the world to fight poverty, disease and hunger. Some donate to further their own interests and political influences. Those who have billions can spend without fear of going hungry. It would seem that no billionaire can go broke even if they tried.</p><p>That is the world at the top.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>This is the world at the bottom as told by one incredibly articulate woman who lives it. </b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTqpWUKaKVz6jCPw6PlgwL9ZIeqcfDHWLMsol6bKUWm-5jfb5umPFgOyrD45K2PTR6MAJoXNcVWq2MERJplABDV444T5XGPQ0AgOPp8EH-zsiZ6VIe78nqRsge_Xe1O8gLE9ASZI5BrBk/s2048/Screen+Shot+2020-12-16+at+3.41.54+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTqpWUKaKVz6jCPw6PlgwL9ZIeqcfDHWLMsol6bKUWm-5jfb5umPFgOyrD45K2PTR6MAJoXNcVWq2MERJplABDV444T5XGPQ0AgOPp8EH-zsiZ6VIe78nqRsge_Xe1O8gLE9ASZI5BrBk/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-12-16+at+3.41.54+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>No writer could tell her story better than she does. Watch! It's just five minutes long-- five of the most real and revealing minutes you might ever spend. This is Amy Jo Hutchison of West Virginia giving her testimony on February 12, 2020 in front of a Congressional Committee on Oversight and reform about poverty guidelines in America.<p></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 18px;"><a href="https://youtu.be/-ptHavHrDuE">Watch here... and don't say "Yes, but... " when finished.</a> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">(you can "skip ads" after a few seconds.)</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><b>This is the same America, isn't it?</b> Depends on who you ask. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour remains unchanged for the last 11 1/2 years. The cost of living has risen 23.4 percent in that same time. Really! We ought to be ashamed of ourselves.</span></span></p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-26046286368407121642020-12-10T13:28:00.000-05:002020-12-10T13:28:29.535-05:00I have a brilliant win-win idea that will make a big difference in today's world... really I do.<p> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBdSPq2dBojs_Lp_Vfu7ImQkdgpssv5R7CuAXY85VkzkD-dSbzzKzs9wCsqjqMKN8nd5Q-2vDkYwtt4YshMT6eutNCfFS1D1oc6xD2BHeVxWLKPDwOdQtW1Bov-i9cmir6An8k2hjM6ax/s253/change+belt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBdSPq2dBojs_Lp_Vfu7ImQkdgpssv5R7CuAXY85VkzkD-dSbzzKzs9wCsqjqMKN8nd5Q-2vDkYwtt4YshMT6eutNCfFS1D1oc6xD2BHeVxWLKPDwOdQtW1Bov-i9cmir6An8k2hjM6ax/s0/change+belt.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you ever seen a change belt?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></p><p><b> But first, a riddle (</b>everybody loves a riddle, right?<b>) for you to solve which gives a hint of how this great idea came about:</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Q. </b> How much change could you have in your pocket (or purse) and still not be able to make change for a dollar?</p><p><b>A. </b>Answer at the bottom of this post. If you get it right (or wrong), then you, my friend, get your second cup of coffee free at McDonalds.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now you may ask, what problem (one at a time please) are we going to solve?</p><p><b>About 26 million Americans don't have enough to eat each week</b> according to the latest census data. So many children need food assistance, breakfast and lunch, at school or they go home hungry. Many non-profits, religious groups, food kitchens run by volunteers, food banks and other benevolent actions are working as hard as they can to fill that void but there is much more help needed as the scale is just too great. The enormous effort this Christmas time is evident and more-so is the need.</p><p>According to The Washington Post, <i>"We're long past the old debates about welfare and self-reliance. Thousands of Walmart and McDonald's employees count on SNAP food stamps to feed themselves and their families.</i></p><p><i>"What is the federal government doing about this crisis hitting 1 in 10 U.S. adults? Not nearly enough. The federal government gives food banks just $500 million in a normal year. That's about $20 per hungry American (children included) a year. Now, in this pandemic, Congress is struggling to raise SNAP by 15 percent, which would add just 80 cents to the maximum daily benefit for each member of a family of four. Thats literally less than a can of beans."</i></p><p><b>Now, to my brilliant idea:</b></p><p>I started this blog post titled, "The Day I Stopped Using Change," before I realized this could turn into something much more meaningful. I literally stopped using change (pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters) early in this pandemic. Seldom do you see a half-dollar. </p><p>So the person at the McDonald's drive-thru window says your order comes to $6.31. You hand in seven dollars. What do you do with your change--4 pennies, 1 dime, 1 nickel and 2 quarters perhaps--because that's what the cash register said you got back. Sadly, many can't make change in their heads easily today. Or, write cursive... but that's another story.</p><p>Now you have a bag with sausage biscuits, a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. Then you get a receipt and a fist-full (8) of coins. You really need three hands, but you manage. Some change falls on the floor or goes between the seats never to be spent again. Sound familiar?</p><p>There must be a better option. And there is. Just say to that eager to please worker on the other side of the plexiglass, <i>"Just round up my order to seven dollars to help feed the hungry please."</i></p><p>McDonalds, or any other server, automatically records the 'round up' change by a keypad touch and 'viola!' the hungry just got 69 cents for food. Now was that too hard?</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DODBNQmRwObfMd5ua0oK1R3ri4JzEaeWI1CfbGSu_9K6_wV4qHU2vsqdd924qqIZScbS-QRvYBbNunyjciIQMeat1SrqLiXjLPqAf_nAQ6M-m00HGgiOqk31xe9O503R30oyPY_f_MrC/s257/pennies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="257" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DODBNQmRwObfMd5ua0oK1R3ri4JzEaeWI1CfbGSu_9K6_wV4qHU2vsqdd924qqIZScbS-QRvYBbNunyjciIQMeat1SrqLiXjLPqAf_nAQ6M-m00HGgiOqk31xe9O503R30oyPY_f_MrC/w244-h186/pennies.jpg" width="244" /></a></b></div><b><br />OK, here's a better explanation:</b> Loose change is often a 'pain in the neck' to us consumers. Moreover, one penny costs the U.S. Mint (us taxpayers) 1.99 cents to make and a nickel costs 7.62 cents. Kind of unbelievable, right? We make millions and millions these little valued coins at a loss! In 2018 we manufactured 7.5 billion pennies and 1.2 billion nickels. That's $280 million dollars more that all those coins are worth. Taxpayers automatically lose that much every year. At this pace, In 10 years we lose $2.8 billion on minting pennies and nickels alone. Is that smart?<p></p><p>Now just imagine if the IRS gave businesses a specific tax credit of 'round up' dollars and cents collected as an incentive to every business that allows customers to 'round up' for this specific purpose, it would be a real 'win-win-win situation.</p><p>Would consumers 'buy in' to the idea? The bottom line is that most of us are very benevolent minded. We always have been. And the pennies, nickels and more are little valued by most of us. Most would hardly miss it. The 'round-up' decision is entirely at the option of those tossing pennies, nickels and more back to a great cause as to when if any and how much of a 'round-up' (anything from a few cents to whatever).</p><p>It could be promoted by the government who would have to administer the process and agree (if that could ever happen again) to disperse 100 percent of the net dollars (less the modest tax incentive to the collecting businesses) and perhaps even reduce current but modest government expenditures.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYne6FFEEL8FyOLgUhkPMc-wOUNPXF8oB_ZdfQJ98nAQiveRdACKGSzJnlgMT2c8jCrFxLa1l6mvoJ7JASLE6W4EIuMr7mP2gLKSdsl75G9MSWSNXSCAgz676N3LtUN0YTXwIi-IE3i5X4/s275/coins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYne6FFEEL8FyOLgUhkPMc-wOUNPXF8oB_ZdfQJ98nAQiveRdACKGSzJnlgMT2c8jCrFxLa1l6mvoJ7JASLE6W4EIuMr7mP2gLKSdsl75G9MSWSNXSCAgz676N3LtUN0YTXwIi-IE3i5X4/w200-h133/coins.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>As for value of change in America,</b> we throw away $62 million in coins every year according to Bloomberg. "The coins get swept off restaurant tables (what's a restaurant?), mixed in with scraps when people empty their pockets and vacuumed up from carpets or sofa cushions." The average American has $28 of change just laying around, one study showed, with a caution that the belief is, the totals are underestimated by at least twice the amount. And this is just for 'lost change.' We have proven we are far more generous with our 'found' change. <p></p><p>I have blogged about <a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2019/06/21-trillion-can-you-imagine.html">two trillion in free money</a> for all Americans, somewhat tongue in cheek, somewhat real, but fun. You might enjoy it. </p><p>BUT REALLY, HOW ABOUT MY IDEA? OK, LET'S DO IT. I know this is really simply stated and may have a detail or two yet to work out, but the concept, I believe, has merit and is simple-- something the government would make complex and polarizing in a second. But there should be no person or family in our country that can't put food on the table. And about those pennies and nickels? Come on. Get real </p><p><b>Now about the riddle answer: </b>You can have as much as $1.19 cents in your pocket or purse and still not be able to make change for a one dollar bill. In that case, you would have one half-dollar, one quarter, four dimes and four pennies-- $1.19. Did you get it? </p><p> </p>Jerry Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00754564229129008507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520713165266735525.post-2604633876959574362020-12-06T09:56:00.000-05:002020-12-06T09:56:29.306-05:00Beep - beep - beep- beep - beep... Beep - BEEP!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJpaLv95RVkz268ES8YrLrRVLoA1G0utFx_KvuUUal2GmlykugDSliG5BdSq9khZyL6Hcgf_2QIVK7wctwq__lQHs_sO5g02AoUe8YKGR4lVLLZ4K-aDFslMohT1nU7t0F5oPpWjw31VJ/s275/car.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJpaLv95RVkz268ES8YrLrRVLoA1G0utFx_KvuUUal2GmlykugDSliG5BdSq9khZyL6Hcgf_2QIVK7wctwq__lQHs_sO5g02AoUe8YKGR4lVLLZ4K-aDFslMohT1nU7t0F5oPpWjw31VJ/s0/car.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><b>Come on, admit it. You fell for this</b> <b>and then smiled after you said it.</b></p><p>In our world today with Covid-19 having taken so many and threatening every one of us, our divided country of Trumpers and Bidenites, global warming largely untended and millions of hungry, what have we got to smile about?</p><p>Well, everything really! If we haven't yet learned that a smile, a laugh or light-heartedness of any kind has a sanctifying place in creating a coping mentality and staying sane, then we are doomed. The human spirit will always be there, deep down, even as it strays far from the surface many times. We can't laugh when we cry, but we can and do survive long-term because that's just what we do.</p><p><i><b>Tip from my daughter</b>--the same one who urged me to loudly say "Marco!" in a supermarket aisle and listen for someone within hearing distance to return "Polo!"-- try honking when sitting in your car in a parking deck and wait for a return. My record is two out of five tries... and a couple of odd looks.</i></p><p>When times are dark we often have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and look for a stress buster. Life always has its ups and downs. The ups when we are happy, the downs to tell the difference.</p><p>I had a friend who was bipolar. When he was down, he was really down. But when he was up, he was almost euphoric. He told me that he had found peace with medication but it came with a cost. The medication "leveled him out," in his words. He never dipped so low that he had dire thoughts... but he also never reached the joy of living he sought. "Life for me, " he said, "was one even path down the middle without notable highs or lows... and it sucked in its own way."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK13jmxebZDEvDESMZQBZfT9i7XiuarFsDEH9Xs7Gjne8R5z-oQNE6JmL9A05iwWcg79RPTJV01M2Zus3p6XhKqZ0HD0IUFSlF0ze1kSwwWtl5aP5tgzAMyP4OpKPjLouG7jAh_K3hAXu/s263/the+meaning+of+life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK13jmxebZDEvDESMZQBZfT9i7XiuarFsDEH9Xs7Gjne8R5z-oQNE6JmL9A05iwWcg79RPTJV01M2Zus3p6XhKqZ0HD0IUFSlF0ze1kSwwWtl5aP5tgzAMyP4OpKPjLouG7jAh_K3hAXu/s0/the+meaning+of+life.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>So I looked for some sage advice on life and found it in a most unusual place.</b> Monty Python had a brilliant movie that told it all. <p></p><p>If you were born later, you may never have known the Monty Python experience. The Pythons, as they referred to themselves, had an almost 'cult-like' following until they all started dying, damn-it. They first shared their incredible sketch comedy on Britain's BBC in 1969 and hit the big screen 10 years later with award-winning <i>Monty Python and the Holy Grail. </i>Then there was <i>Life of Brian</i> followed by <i>The Meaning of Life</i>. </p><p><i><b>Blogger's Hint:</b> if you haven't seen any of these, you haven't yet lived. I loved them all but perhaps The Meaning of Life was my fave. They were absurd and they were great.</i></p><p>The Meaning of Life consists of five different brief stories including the lead story's feature song, "<i>Every Sperm is Sacred." </i>And if that doesn't give you a hint, then you wouldn't go very far on "<i>Jeopardy.</i>" (<a href="http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/2020/03/in-todays-coronavirus-world-what-is.html">Note: I've got this song and that whole story on an earlier blog post here</a>.)</p><p>This blog post is about balancing our stress-filled lives with a dash of perspective, done lightly as an example. So here are the lyrics to Monty Python's "<i>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,"</i> written by Python member Eric Idle, to cheer you up... or not:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life</b></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Some things in life are bad</div><div style="text-align: center;">They can really make you mad</div><div style="text-align: center;">Other things just make you swear and curse</div><div style="text-align: center;">When you're chewing on life's gristle</div><div style="text-align: center;">Don't grumble, give a whistle</div><div style="text-align: center;">And this'll help things turn out for the best</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the light side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If life seems jolly rotten</div><div style="text-align: center;">There's something you've forgotten</div><div style="text-align: center;">And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing</div><div style="text-align: center;">When you're feeling in the dumps</div><div style="text-align: center;">Don't be silly chumps</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Come on)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the right side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For life is quite absurd</div><div style="text-align: center;">And death's the final word</div><div style="text-align: center;">You must always face the curtain with a bow</div><div style="text-align: center;">Forget about your sin</div><div style="text-align: center;">Give the audience a grin</div><div style="text-align: center;">Enjoy it, it's your last chance anyhow</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So always look on the bright side of death</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Just before you draw your terminal breath</div><div style="text-align: center;">Life's a piece of shit</div><div style="text-align: center;">When you look at it</div><div style="text-align: center;">Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true</div><div style="text-align: center;">You'll see it's all a show</div><div style="text-align: center;">Keep 'em laughin' as you go</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just remember that the last laugh is on you</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And Always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the right side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">(C'mon Brian, cheer up)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the bright side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">I mean, what have you got to lose?</div><div style="text-align: center;">You know, you come from nothing</div><div style="text-align: center;">You're going back to nothing</div><div style="text-align: center;">What have you lost? Nothing</div><div style="text-align: center;">Always look on the right side of life</div><div style="text-align: center;">Nothing will come from nothing, ya know what they say</div><div style="text-align: center;">Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin (Always look on the right side of life)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There ya are, see</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's the end of the film</div><div style="text-align: center;">Incidentally this record's available in the foyer (Always look on the right side of life)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some of us got to live as well, you know</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Always look on the right side of life)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Who do you think pays for all this rubbish</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Always look on the right side of life)</div><div style="text-align: center;">They're not gonna make their money back, you know</div><div style="text-align: center;">I told them, I said to him, Bernie, I said they'll never make their money back</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Always look on the right side of life)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Ep9Vzb6R_58" style="text-align: left;">Want to see Eric Idle sing</a><span style="text-align: left;"> it while hanging on a cross like a thief, not like You Know Who. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">And yes, </span><span style="text-align: left;">kinda funny. It caps the final story and is really not sacrilegious... much. Ya gotta see it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">(Available on Amazon plus, Showtime and Netflix)</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_9vvbOKaqmGIVyj-IspOdM2qdMhCjGNYJjpZRTXOkzEWByeDAXMxKsnLCQUu7LXw-5i3WmglctCk7xWX__YF1ficyEO2IezNws9notm8K_r6HBMLDKeY0Z5E5xOirWty3Z7eCSJdEAzT/s480/bright+side+of+life.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_9vvbOKaqmGIVyj-IspOdM2qdMhCjGNYJjpZRTXOkzEWByeDAXMxKsnLCQUu7LXw-5i3WmglctCk7xWX__YF1ficyEO2IezNws9notm8K_r6HBMLDKeY0Z5E5xOirWty3Z7eCSJdEAzT/s320/bright+side+of+life.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><p><apple-music-player apple-music-id="song.apple_music_id" ng-if="song_ctrl.should_load_apple_music_player()" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Programme, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" url="song.apple_music_player_url"></apple-music-player></p><div class="apple_music_player_desktop_positioning_container apple_music_player_desktop_positioning_container--visible" ng-class="{
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