Skip to main content

Posts

Memories are the stuff that dreams are made of

"How old is that thing?" - If I had a dime for every time I heard that one! I thought I would do some more remembering. This is about another relative I got to know as a kid - Uncle Rufus. Uncle Rufus was a strange man, even by the standards of my other slightly strange relatives. He hated almost everything and everyone. He was the only man I know that would join a protest march and then join the counter-protest half way through. Luckily, Rufus did not have to deal with people a whole lot. Even in his job - see Rufus was a chinchilla farmer. He raised a herd, skinned them, and sold the pelts once a year at a furrier's market. In case you don't know, chinchillas are basically a cross between a squirrel and a hamster. From the face end they look quite a bit like a very large hamster. From the tail end they look like a squirrel with a bit less fluff in the tail. They are, however, blessed (or cursed, from their standpoint) with a fur that is about a soft as fur can ...

Even more headlnes

These are more headlines that are presented as real - whether they are or not - I love 'em. Here we go: COLD WAVE LINKED TO TEMPERATURES a simple start - no comment needed MAN IS FATALLY SLAIN Gotta hate when that happens - probably just meant to wound them AUTOS KILLING 110 A DAY, LET'S RESOLVE TO DO BETTER You gotta love a positive attitude NICARAGUA SETS GOAL TO WIPE OUT LITERACY They can start with newspaper writers and editors NEVER WITHHOLD HERPES FROM LOVED ONE Sharing is very important in a relationship MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH It is SOOOO hard to get reliable help LAWMEN FROM MEXICO BARBECUE GUESTS Want fries with that? NJ JUDGE TO RULE ON NUDE BEACH The bailiff should probably skip the "all rise..." part SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM Animal rights gone wild or just an Animal Planet show gone bad? And the Journalism Award of the Month goes to this gem: WAR DIMS HOPE FOR PEACE A Jimmy Carter devotee no doubt Gotta go read the pap...

I'm Baaaaaack!

I just finished a period of travel. I am now home for five weeks or so before I head out again. After Nashville for two days, Las Vegas for three days, and Atlanta for four days over the last four weeks, it is good to be home. The other good news is that the next trip I take (mid-October) is for ME! (or my wife and me) We are headed for Miami and the Bahamas on a cruise ship. Can't wait! This is just a collection of thoughts. Let's get this thing started: Friday was the 8th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I saw some stories memorializing the events, and some speeches and such. That is good. There was also a noticeable lack of attention in my opinion. For all the cries of "Let's never forget!" and other such sentiments it is amazing to me those that have apparently forgotten what happened that day. I saw and see news stories every day about releasing "enemy combatants"(we can't call them terrorists any longer, it may offend their sensibilities), f...

Let's eat, and eat, and eat...

As anyone with eyes can tell when walking around a mall or shopping center - America is populated by overweight people. Actually, we are an obese people. Now, I know there are those of you that work at it and actually are NOT fat. I know there are young people that are still obese-in-training. But, look around - we are a LARGE group of people. Although I have lost substantial weight over the past two years or so, it is a constant battle to keep all or even most of it off. I was mulling this over lately; and yesterday while we were strolling through an immense shrine to consumerism (Opry Mills mall), I had some thoughts as I was viewing the people strolling with us. First, no respectable mall is complete without a huge temple to caloric intake - the food court. This mall is no different, there is a huge space of tables and chairs flanked on one entire wall by a veritable cornucopia of gustatory delights (and not so delightful - who thinks of some of this stuff! - but that is another p...

A mind is a terrible thing - or mine is anyway...

My wife and I are on a bit of a road trip. We travelled to Nashville, Tennessee yesterday to meet with family members. The trip consists of about six hours of actual drive time and then you add in the stops for various and sundry things. That gave me over seven hours of time to let my mind wander. My mind wandering is kind of like a three year old at the mall - flitting here and there and no knowing where he is going next. One of the things I was thinking about was writing a post about the trip, so I traversed hither and yon with different comments based on the journey and travel in general. You will have to trust me when I tell you some of it was GREAT - because I don't remember any of the details of it. We had our usual bathroom trials and tribulations, but I have done that. If you are not aware of what I am talking about -see this: http://justsomeposts.blogspot.com/2009/03/to-pee-or-not-to-pee-with-apologies-to.html People have, and do, think I am weird (correctly so, in m...

Sorry, you're not real

This will be short and sweet. I am amazed by the coverage of the detractors of the Obama/Government healthcare plan; both the hundreds and thousands of people that are showing up to the "town hall" meetings and the thousands and millions that are writing and calling their representatives in Congress. Two hundred or more people show up at a town hall meeting and vociferously protest the plan or ask for details and they are villified and ignored! The democrat response? "They don't represent America." "This is not a true representation of the true feelings of the American people." Wow... PETA,Greenpeace, or some other anti-conventional way of life organization can show up somewhere with six or seven protesters and they are covered as the lead story on the nightly newscasts! The leaders of these groups are interviewed and quoted as if theirs is the only voice and opinion that exists! I have NEVER heard any politician or newsperson state or even questio...

Check please!

This is one that has been brewing in me for a while. You can hardly hear a discussion or debate about taxes nowadays without hearing someone talking about taxing the rich. Our problems would be over if we could just get those rich people to pay their taxes - right? I have done some research on who does and does not pay taxes in the U.S. Here are the results: I just saw this headline relating to 2007: Top 1% of income earners pay 40.4% of taxes. You got that? For the tax year of 2007 - the top 1% of taxpayers paid over 40% of the total income taxes. FYI - that is more than the lower 95% paid! 1% of the population paid more than 95% of the population. (the other roughly 20% of taxes were paid by the 4% from 95% - 99%. Now, these folks did earn over 22% of the income. (they are the highest 1% after all) But, even making 22.8% of the income, you wouldn't think would require them to pay over 40% of the taxes, would you? (another tidbit - to reach this top 1% leve...