September 2018 Blog Topics
Nationalism Over Globalism This Month
The president postpones an international trade meeting to work on seating a supreme court justice.
1930's Depression
Your bank could fail and you could lose your deposits and checking account just like back in the 1930's!
It's call the Bail In. While the FDIC insures your bank accounts, the bank might take the money and use it for other things (like paying off rich investors) instead of letting you withdraw it. In other words, instead of the government (the taxpayers) bailing out the bank, the depositors /customers have to help out.
Be aware that with gun control, the banks and the government can do bail ins a lot more easily. So it is important that you get out and vote in the 2018 midterms and choose your candidates carefully.
(This writer recommends Republican candidates in general.)
"You have been diagnosed with a severe case of jump-to-conclusionitis."
Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley Up In Flames
September 13, 2018. The probable cause
A major component (pressure regulator) in a gas substation malfunctions. Gas mains going miles out to several parts of the city (Andover, Laswrence, Methuen) are overpressurized.
In one house a delicate component in a water heater burst from the overpressure. Gas spews out into the basement.
The natural gas mixed with the air in the basement makes a very explosive mixture.
A spark, perhaps from a light switch normally flipped on or off, perhaps from someone using an electronic device such as a cell phone, ignites the gas air mixture, causing a fire or an explosion or both.
Just that one house burns. Or maybe the fire spreads to the next house.
Another cause. A gas main out in the street bursts. Gas seeps through the ground, between the outside of a pipe and the dirt around the pipe, ending up in someone's basement
A spark ignites the gas-air mixture. Just that one house burns.
People were told to evacuate. Most people just needed to sit outside not too close to the house. In a few areas much gas escaped into the outside atmosphere and people needed to go some distance away.
A news reporter said that as of 8 PM on Sept. 13, seventy buildings, scattered within those communities, were damaged or destroyed.
Power has been turned off citywide so there would be fewer sparks from air conditioners or other equipment cycling on and off.
For many of the buildings including undamaged buildings, the gas company will have to send crews from door to door to prime (bleed; purge) the gas lines in order to get air out and new pure gas out to the ends of the pipes and restart the water heaters and other gas appliances.
Silhouettes On the Shade -- You're On the Wrong Block
(news item) Police officer, going home after her shift, enters the open door of apartment she thought was hers and shoots the resident sitting in a not to brightly lit room..
(open questions) Would the city be willing to prosecute the officer as if she were an ordinary citizen who did the same, all the while ignoring any kibitzing from her union? Would the city leave her on her own to hire a lawyer, perhaps with a little help from her friends or from her union?
Discrimination In the News
Rejected Asian students with "better" high school records than "others" sue university for racial discrimination even though the university student body has more than twice the proportion of Asians than does the general population.
Free agent star black football player sues league for collusion when no team chooses him. He mentions racism even though player rosters have more than twice the proportion of blacks than does the general population.
Hot Weather Tips
Don't buy chocolate when the temperature is above 80. The chocolate will melt into a mess.
No boxes of chocolates. No chocolate bars. No chocolate truffles. No chocolate chip cookies. Even M&M's should not be eaten. While M&M's "melt in your mouth, not in your hand," I have had one squirt choculate out of my mouth when I chewed it the wrong way.
Wait for a cooler day to make the purchase.
A popular treat at Walt Disney World is the Mickey bar, chocolate covered vanilla ice cream in the shape of the Mickey head symbol. Very often a shard or two of chocolate falls to the ground (or on one's clothing). Since a lot of these bars are consumed at Disney World, it is easy to step on a tidbit of melted chocolate and track that all over the place including on carpets in the various buildings, or in your car.
Racism
Will the black community cut Asians a break?
Some recent current events and news reminded me of this from 20 years ago. At work I happend to pick up a co-worker's Chinese-English dictionary and I paged through it. I happened to find the "N" word. I don't read Chinese so I did not know what the context was. The book was probably published in China where it might have not have been proofread well before it went into print.
Unfortunately I did not write down the title and author so I could give you all a heads up if you should find that book.
Last updated Oct.4, 2018
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