Early 2019 Blog Topics

January - May 2019 Blog Topics

Alabama #1

A few months ago a robber held up a Huntsville convenience store using a knife. But the clerk pulled out a machete of his own and fought back. They went outside where among other things the clerk motioned the knife carrying accomplice away using the machete and whacked the getaway car, breaking several windows. The robber and getaway driver took the cash register but were caught and jailed a few minutes later with bail in the high 5 figures. The clerk was not charged with anything.

The clerk's only comment was that he wanted to mark the car so police could identify it more easily.

That the clerk damaged the car could be proven easily using video that went viral. Some would argue that the clerk should have retreated after the robber exited. Supposedly the car was impounded and the cash register recovered. Could the city declare the car forfeited as an item used in a crime in order to prevent the owner from going after the clerk for repairs Would the city do that?

Alabama #2

The governor just (May 2019) signed into law a prohibition on abortions with up to 99 years in jail for a doctor or other person who performed the abortion although no penalty for the mother to be.

But a victim of rape or incest and, if she were a minor, her parents, still have a choice.

In the same fashion as in recent law in New York and North Carolina, the mother, after the birth and delivery, can immediately take the infant to a hospital (if not already there). There, she would make the infant comfortable, and have a conference with her parents and/or other relatives and with a doctor. Should the mother elect not to raise the child, the safe haven law takes over.

Uber and Lyft

(... and others.) Why do we call it ride sharing when the vehicle carries only one person who needs to get from one place to another?

Converting to Islam

(News item: A sixth grade teacher assigned a topic for an essay: Write a letter to your parents explaining why you want to convert to the Islam religion.)

Dear Mom and Dad:

Today in school we spent two hours learning about Islam. But I do not want to convert to that religion.

I do not want to wear the hijab all day long every day. I would rather wear what I want to wear. Perhaps a skirt and blouse one day. A sundress the next day. Maybe even a tee shirt and jeans once in awhile.

In December I still want to be able to kneel down in front of Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus and have Santa Claus come over and ask me what I would like to get for Christmas.

I know you might have want to have some say in the matter but when I get a little older I would like to be able to choose the boy I want to marry. Instead of having you bring home someone you choose and force me to marry him.

With love,

(signed) Your loving daughter

Jussie Smollett

A few days ago the prosecution dropped all of the charges against Jussie Smollett. The records of the case were sealed so we will never find out whether things like the following happened behind the scenes.

1. Someone spoke to someone who spoke to someone who eventially got in touch with former president Barack Obama.

2. President Obama said that someone connected with the prosecution acted stupidly.

3. President Obama invited Mr. Smollett and some of the prosecutors to his opulent residence to converse and enjoy dinner and drinks.

4. Mr. Smollett decided not to press charges against the two persons he identified as having assaulted him at which time the prosecution decided to drop all of its charges.

It is doubtful that President Trump will invite Mr. Smollett and also the prosecutors to the White House to enjoy Big Macs and Dominos pizza together with some drinks.

Making Mail Bulky and Heavy

My parents told me that if I am going to mail a check to someone I should wrap it in a folded sheet of paper so the envelope would not be too soft.

Suppose that everyone mailing checks or cash register receipts or other small slips of paper did the same thing. Then millions of pieces of mail will be a little heavier and take up a little more space in mail bags than before. Mail carriers might not be able to carry as many pieces of mail as they used to carry and would have to go back to the the mail truck or post office more often.

Grapes Versus Raisins

I am not saying that you should not spend more money buying fresh grapes but do keep in mind that a handful of raisins has the same nutritional value as a bunch of fresh grapes.

Dueling Proverbs

1. Lightly grease the hinges and latchs of your car doors for quiet and long lasting operation.

2. Keep exposed parts of the car, including the door frame and latch, clean and dry so as not to soil the clothing of persons riding.

Transgenderism

Joel Achenbach, in his book Why Things Are, (chapter 10; published in 1991) writes:

"Why can't scientists keep severed heads or disembodied brains alive by percolating fresh blood through them? ... They can. ... Dr. Robert White, of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland [Ohio] ... said that brains can indeed be kept alive. . ... If spinal cord research ever comes up with a way of regenerating central nervous system tissue, then head transplants ... might become attractive, [according to Dr. White, who prefers the term 'body transplants'].

"Maybe we'll even be able to [open up] a catalog and pick a body we like. A weight-lifter frame. Olympic swimmer. The opposite sex!. The possibilities are so exciting. The philosophers could debate whether a person with a man's head and a woman's body is a man or a woman. (We'll weigh in now with our pronouncement that it depends solely on what's in the pants.)"

Indigo in the Rainbow?

Recently people have been talking about the rainbow as having six colors, not seven. They left out indigo, which they feel is just part of the transition from blue to violet.

Many references credit the group of seven rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) to 17'th century scientist Sir Isaac Newton. He had a few reasons for the significance of 7, one reason being the 7 notes of the do-re-mi musical scale, using only the white keys on a piano.

But look at the spectrum projected on white paper using a prism as opposed to in the sky as a rainbow. There are almost an infinite number of intermediate shades of color, for example a lot of reddish oranges, a lot of greeninsh blues.

Still, most of you will observe reds, oranges, yellows, greens, light blues, dark blues, and violets in that order. The exact appearance of the colors will vary from one person and his opinion to others. At least to some people, and perhaps Newton himself, dark blue looks "darker" than violet.

So the transition from light blue to dark blue to violet is a light-dark-light transition that some folks would think of dark blue as a separate color for. As opposed to the transition from yellow to green where it is harder to decide whether there should be a separate color yellow-green in the rainbow.

Newton could well have named his group of colors red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet, again seven colors in all.

No, Radio Stations Did Not Broadcast This

Beep! Beep!

This is not a test. This is the emergency alert system. This is not a test.

President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This station serves southern Hillsborough County including the city of Nashua, New Hampshire. If you are in this area please stay tuned for important information.

President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

(pause)

There are currently no special instructions for southern Hillsborough County including the city of Nashua, New Hampshire.

We now return you to our regular programming.

Beep! Beep!

We have reason to believe that an upcoming Democratic administration will be declaring national emergencies that adversely affect most if not all counties at the same time.

Save James

The subtitle is not a hashtag. We are not active members of Twitter or Instagram.

Deep in the heart of Texas a child was born. S/he was named James and as far as anyone knew s/he was a boy. Fast forward six years and his/her parents divorced acrimoniously. Almost of course, the mother got custody and shortly she declared that the child wanted to be a girl. The mother gave the child the name Luna and the child dressed like a girl. Meanwhile when the child went to the father for visitation rights the child insisted s/he ia boy and be called James.

The mother has since filed a child abuse charge against her ex, denamding that he pay for transsexual therapy and also future chemical sex change therapy for the child.

The sad part of all this is that, if the mother wins, the child will be the big loser. The real solution is for the child to make the choice and spend all his/her years up to the age of eighteen to make that decision.

The child needs to have at least two environments in which to grow up and make his decision. If the father is cooperative, his home and nearby school can be the second environment. Included would be clothing for both boys and girls and the child could freely choose different outfits each day. The mother's home would not be a suitable environment unless the mother were similarly cooperative in letting the child freely choose his identity for each day. The schools' duty to respect gender identiy includes accepting each student even if his/her outfit was different from what it was the previous day. No one should be permitted to make any discretionary bodily invasive act upon the child. Anyone who does so, including doctors who administer sex change chemicals to a minor, should be charged with child abuse or child endangerment.

Meanwhile, up in Michigan, some doctors were charged with child abuse for performing unnecessary, discretionary and (sexually) disabling surgery on some young girls using religion as the reason. These doctors should be punished.

Another case of child abuse, this time by a government agency that insisted that their medical treatment was the correct treatment: Do a Google search on "Justina Pelletier:.

This Month's Political Correctness Or Not

Q: What is flexh color for example for a crayon?

A: (1) The color of the exposed human flesh after a thin, say, 1/50'th of an inch, layer of skin has been shaved off for example for a biopsy or after a mishap with a sharp tool, and before blood starts to ooze out.. (2) For most persons the color of the skin on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.

Shut Down the Government

The above is the wrong way to describe it. If President Trump does not like the budget he should simply veto it and write an explanation of his objections. This same issue happened about a year ago. President Trump was presented with a budget that did not include something he wanted. He had just two choices, sign it or veto it. Signing it was equivalent to caving (in to Concress and its lobbyists). Vetoing it would have been equivalent to shutting down the government. Last year President Trump signed the budget and lots of his supporters said he caved. It is about time that President Trump and the Republicans in Congress stopped caving in to the Democrats. Fortunately on December 7 President Trump has another chance, another bite at the apple, to not cave. This time he ought to veto the budget. Neither he nor his supporters should say he shut down the government. All they should say is that the budget got vetoed (if President Trump does veto it) and that Congress has the chance to present a different budget.

Last updated May 31, 2019

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