JUST SOME POSTS

I am writing this in the aftermath of the horrible, senseless shooting at the Aurora, Colorado premier of the new Batman movie. As the news media does, it has covered every aspect of this tragedy. One of the things that always pops up after a shooting like this is the calls for gun control and gun laws. I am always amazed that there are actually sane and rational people out there that think more gun laws and/or bans will solve things like this. We cannot "put the genie back in the bottle", as it were. Unless there was a way to eliminate all the guns on the planet (and wouldn't the armies of the world look cute with their shiny spears) and the knowledge on how to build them, gun violence will never go away*. I think even the most adamant gun control nut would agree that is not possible. For those of you still with doubts, here are some examples - after billions of dollars and millions of arrests, is marijuana still available? How about cocaine, heroin, etc? Has pros...

I have put off posting for so long I thought I would do one this evening. As I have mentioned before, I have not had a lack of ideas, but too many. I was going to do politics (and some will consider this politics, but I am talking "pure" politics - this is political, but not politics), but I have done so much of it in the past that it would be redundant. I ask you to go read some of the from 2008 and 2010 if you wish to know more. They all still apply. This post is about the idiotic notion that is out there about taxing the rich, and how they are not "paying their fair share". I have done posts about this subject in the past as well, but I think this is a bit of a different take on the subject. Why "idiotic"? Here are some facts - as you should know (and again, I have posts on this prior to this) the top 5% of people based on income pay over 50% of federal income taxes. The top 1% pay over 35%. Now, they have a large percentage of the income, so maybe ...

All human beings are creatures of habit. Some of us are more a slave to their habits than others, but we all base a lot of what we do on habit. Now I have expressed this thought to people over the years, and I get an argument out of some of them - "I am not a slave to my habits" or similar is exclaimed. I ask if they shave, most say yes to at least some part of their body. I then ask do you have a starting point and a pattern you follow? Some then looked shocked as they realize they do. I can also ask about brushing their teeth (dentures, I am not so sure- not there yet). Most start in the same place and go approximately the same way through their mouth. There are many, many other examples that we all have, but these two usually get people. Now I know, having ritualistic movements and behaviors are one of the way we get through the mundane parts of our lives. I actually don't know anyone over the age of two or three that enjoys brushing their teeth. We do it because it ...

To all mothers everywhere, espcially my mother Edna Lou Poole, my mother-in-law Marlen Condon, and the mother of my children Carol Poole. May you always have someone to hold your hand when you have trouble walking and to pick you up if you fall; to celebrate your successes and help accept your defeats, and to salve your wounds and hold you close whenever needed. Happy Mother's Day! We all literally would not be here without you.

This might be considered a quite random post, but since I haven't posted in so long no one may notice. Anyway, this is how my mind works. I was just watching a movie. The way the main character, an assassin, got around a lot of the buildings (including a prison) undetected and outside of the security systems, was in the air ducts. Now, this was a woman, and a rather small one at that; but I have always been amazed at the ability of people in movies to travel through air ducts! One of the longer air ducts scenes in this movie was in a prison! Note- prison designers - DO NOT BUILD AIR DUCTS THAT CONNECT SECURED AND UNSECURED PARTS OF YOUR PRISONS. DO NOT EVEN BUILD AIR DUCTS THAT WILL SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OR DIMENSIONS OF A HUMAN! All of these buildings also had grates that could be opened by hand - even in the prison! The shaft she used to get out of the building had a metal ladder built into it leading to the roof! Good job by the designers. I would like to be in t...

As most of you know, my wife passed away last May from a rare neurological disease called MSA. One of my goals in life is to offer support to those patients, caregivers, and families affected by this rare, fatal illness. The American Academy of Neurology has a film contest each year where they pick a short film made by individuals about support for brain disease research. Entries are submitted to You Tube and a winner is selected by popular vote. The film is then shown at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting. This would really be important to help with MSA as it is very rare and still unknown to a lot of doctors and other medical personnel. I know this from personal experience. There is a film featuring a MSA patient that is entered in the contest this year. I would ask that you register, watch, and vote for the film. Even if you do not want to vote, please go watch the film. It will show you what MSA patients like my wife, go through with this illness. Please help mak...

One good thing about having done this now for over four years (!!) is that I have written about most everything common to our lives. With an election cycle in full swing I was going to write some election "stuff". However, I did a lot of it in 2007/8 and again in 2009/10 for the last two elections. So, to take advantage of that "work" I am just going to reference those posts. Some are attempts at humor and some are deadly serious. Here we go: My first "election" post. An attempt at humor about elections and the parties: http://justsomeposts.blogspot.com/2007/12/party-party-party.html Then a follow up to the same blog: http://justsomeposts.blogspot.com/2008/04/more-partying-and-such.html This one gets into specifics, some about the 2008 races: http://justsomeposts.blogspot.com/2008/10/this-one-gets-political-even-if-you-get.html This is the next post after the one above. Clarification and details: http://justsomeposts.blogspot.com/2008/10/follow...