The latest international food and rescue crisis, this one in Pakistan, has me thinking about the whole concept of emergency aid to nations, particularly renegade or corrupt ones like Pakistan. The world aid to Pakistan following the floods there is intended to be used to provide food, clean drinking water and to deal with the burgeoning health crisis there after the floods (caused by the, uncaring, incompetnet and corrupt government in Pakistan). No doubt much of it will be stolen by thugs in and outside of Pakistan, so that much of the aid never reaches the targeted population. Much of the feed the children and rescue aid the west sends to nations like Pakistan amounts to nothing more than a process by which the poor in rich countries subsidize the rich in poor countries throgh more taxation on the givers to pay for it.
Food aid donations have fallen sharply since the economic crisis of 2008 while the number of people facing acute need in emergencies of different kinds has increased. Or at least they scream louder to the same western natons to give, give, give. No, I am not insensitive, but I do think concessions should be made by those nations continually recievign financial aid when the world's haves give to those who face a crisis or a general inability to in take care of themselves. In the U.S alone, trillions of tax dollars have been spent on foreign aid, and there is now greater poverty and corruption in Third World countries than when aid was begun.
A former African head of the World Bank wrote a book in which criticized the western welfare as that of "systemic foreign assistance that undermines public accountability, fosters corruption, leads to less savings, increases poverty, throttles the private sector of the economy, and promotes what amounts to a culture of dependency among those who are supposed to be its beneficiaries".
This is not to say the wealthy countries (of course some super rich nations in the mid East and Asia, like Saudi Arabia, are often the last or are absent when comes time to giving....particularly when it involves their "Muslim brothers", whom they seem to wholly ignore in times of need) should turn their back in an emergency, but rather should cut off the flow of the non emergency funding that is practically an avalanche and which creates the situation in which those nations can't cope with disaster themselves when it arises.
Yet despite the failure of long-term aid to reduce poverty or promote economic equity worldwide, is falsely promoted in the west as a cure of terrorism, which allegedly is produced by poverty and oppression. "Donate to the poor", is the pitch and we can end terrorism and promote competency in governments everywhere. We are supposed to believe that cultural and social movements are caused simply by changes in economic and other material conditions. That if we give our money a magical transformation of the have nots will begin. It has not and it won't in the future without stringent conditions attached to the gifts.
I say we should attach strings to every dollar given. Demand that the aid be distributed by the givers, not the corrupt governments that receive it. Enact real measurable progress standards as a condition to getting any more aid, as measured by independent monitors. I am personally tired of paying for entitlements to the undeserving in my own country. Now international entitlements have risen to demands for more, more, more, as the receivers of the aid do less, less less for themselves, I've lost any enthusiasm to be financier for the undeserving and have gained enthusiasm for nations being more responsible before begging at the altar.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Hating
I saw a poll of Americans and it says that 20% of Americans surveyed said they think Barrack Obama is a Muslim. This is odd , given like every politician who wants to be elected again, Obama and family often have their images photographed entering or exiting a Christian church on Sundays. Obama also advertised his Christianity on the campaign trail and early in his administration, including distributing pamphlets about his religion. Too, it's hard to believe but 46 percent of African-Americans say they don't know what religion he is.
So why the lack of knowledge about his religion? Maybe it's hate that makes them believe it. Like Bush before him, Obama is a polarizing figure. Many who dislike him are willing to believe anything negative about Obama so they will have more reason to hate him. Propaganda as in "Obama is Muslim" seems to stir up a great deal more passion when its object is hatred, not understanding. Jonathan Swift wrote,"Hatred by fools and fools to hate.Be that my motto and my fate."
So I guess hatred is an art and the mere mention of the name Barrack Obama paints a big picture of it. I don't think I ever hated anything or even approached a state of rabid dislike. I voted for Obama but dislike his performance and lack of character since taking office. However, I will not change his religion to a currently unpopular one, nor use the art of lying to discredit him. I think he is doing a good job of discrediting himself without help form others.
My point isn't really about Obama or anyone else being hated because of lies and misinformation. It's about hate itself. Is it the strongest emotion? Why do we create it when scared, confused or when we are threatened? It even motivates people to do what they ordinarily would not do. Wars are fueled by it.
I think hate endures far longer than love. We can love another person but easily fall out of love, divorce that person. People stop loving, but they rarely stop hating. Does this imply we are more negative than positive beings? Why, even religions hate. For two examples, think extremist Muslims today and the Catholic Church during the time of the crusades.
Surely, irrationality is the basis of hatred. Hmmm Have you ever or do you hate anyone? If so, why? Do you regret the hatred? Uh, just to let you know, I'll hate you if you don't answer.
So why the lack of knowledge about his religion? Maybe it's hate that makes them believe it. Like Bush before him, Obama is a polarizing figure. Many who dislike him are willing to believe anything negative about Obama so they will have more reason to hate him. Propaganda as in "Obama is Muslim" seems to stir up a great deal more passion when its object is hatred, not understanding. Jonathan Swift wrote,"Hatred by fools and fools to hate.Be that my motto and my fate."
So I guess hatred is an art and the mere mention of the name Barrack Obama paints a big picture of it. I don't think I ever hated anything or even approached a state of rabid dislike. I voted for Obama but dislike his performance and lack of character since taking office. However, I will not change his religion to a currently unpopular one, nor use the art of lying to discredit him. I think he is doing a good job of discrediting himself without help form others.
My point isn't really about Obama or anyone else being hated because of lies and misinformation. It's about hate itself. Is it the strongest emotion? Why do we create it when scared, confused or when we are threatened? It even motivates people to do what they ordinarily would not do. Wars are fueled by it.
I think hate endures far longer than love. We can love another person but easily fall out of love, divorce that person. People stop loving, but they rarely stop hating. Does this imply we are more negative than positive beings? Why, even religions hate. For two examples, think extremist Muslims today and the Catholic Church during the time of the crusades.
Surely, irrationality is the basis of hatred. Hmmm Have you ever or do you hate anyone? If so, why? Do you regret the hatred? Uh, just to let you know, I'll hate you if you don't answer.
Finding A Barber
Since I have moved to the Portland area, one thing I need to find now is a good barber shop to have my hair cut simply and quickly. I like the old fashioned barber shops that men have been patronizing since the first time they had their hair cut professionally. It's not an easy find anymore, here or anywhere in the United States. That's because "hair styling salons" have put most barbers out of business. Those hair saloon chains can cut hair about the same price as a barber but make it look like the recipient is getting a whole lot more than a cut. And the shops are often big chains that are clean and fancy equipment. Hmmmmm A clean barber shop is like a clean restaurant...tasteless.
All I want is the same simple cut I always get, along with the odd conversation the barber engages in with me when he is cutting my hair. Those salon hair cutters are too sophisticated to be earthy, are too practical, and don't know anything about about sports and women. How can a male converse with them? If the hair groomer (I will call the fancy saloon cutters "groomers" to make a distinction between they are the barber) at a salon chats it's likely to be with and between me and a big bosomed babe who tends only to complain about her boyfriend or a gay guy (are all male hair cutters in saloons gay?) doing the same about his boyfriend. I can't relate to that. And I refuse to have a boob job or turn gay to start relating. Instead, I want a real barber with bad breath.
I prefer the ignorant rants of a uneducated barber who passionately orates about things he doesn't really understand but doesn't realize. At least he is not a phony who panders for the big tips those groomers get. With a real old fashioned barber I can have my hair cut the way I like and also hear the solutions to all the world's problems at the same time...for one low price. And I don't need a personal cutter. There is always a "Kenneth" in a salon who is the darling of the customers, particularly the ladies. They call him "My Kenneth". "I have an appointment with My Kenneth Today", they exclaim on arrival at the salon. Appointment! Who ever heard of making an appointment with a barber? It isn't done that way in a barber shop. It's first come first serve there and there are no gay Kenneth's on the premises anyway!
Since I am new here and need to be educated about the local politics, a barbershop, not a salon with a groomer, is the place to hear about that. Every barber knows how to run the local city government better than the politicians that are in office and who are allegedly corrupt (according to the barber's wife whose nephew works in city hall) and will not mind sharing that knowledge while shaving hair from a head. What do groomers know about politics? Nothing! Most are not even registered to vote.Wish me luck in finding a barbershop nearby, because I surely don't want to have a bob job or turn gay to go to a hair saloon. I already have boobs of sort from my fat.
So if I can't find a barber shop, you can just start calling me "Kenneth" .
All I want is the same simple cut I always get, along with the odd conversation the barber engages in with me when he is cutting my hair. Those salon hair cutters are too sophisticated to be earthy, are too practical, and don't know anything about about sports and women. How can a male converse with them? If the hair groomer (I will call the fancy saloon cutters "groomers" to make a distinction between they are the barber) at a salon chats it's likely to be with and between me and a big bosomed babe who tends only to complain about her boyfriend or a gay guy (are all male hair cutters in saloons gay?) doing the same about his boyfriend. I can't relate to that. And I refuse to have a boob job or turn gay to start relating. Instead, I want a real barber with bad breath.
I prefer the ignorant rants of a uneducated barber who passionately orates about things he doesn't really understand but doesn't realize. At least he is not a phony who panders for the big tips those groomers get. With a real old fashioned barber I can have my hair cut the way I like and also hear the solutions to all the world's problems at the same time...for one low price. And I don't need a personal cutter. There is always a "Kenneth" in a salon who is the darling of the customers, particularly the ladies. They call him "My Kenneth". "I have an appointment with My Kenneth Today", they exclaim on arrival at the salon. Appointment! Who ever heard of making an appointment with a barber? It isn't done that way in a barber shop. It's first come first serve there and there are no gay Kenneth's on the premises anyway!
Since I am new here and need to be educated about the local politics, a barbershop, not a salon with a groomer, is the place to hear about that. Every barber knows how to run the local city government better than the politicians that are in office and who are allegedly corrupt (according to the barber's wife whose nephew works in city hall) and will not mind sharing that knowledge while shaving hair from a head. What do groomers know about politics? Nothing! Most are not even registered to vote.Wish me luck in finding a barbershop nearby, because I surely don't want to have a bob job or turn gay to go to a hair saloon. I already have boobs of sort from my fat.
So if I can't find a barber shop, you can just start calling me "Kenneth" .
The Beloit Mindset List
The annual Beloit College (it's in Wisconsin) list of truisms for every college freshman who will leave college in four years, is out and again makes me feel out of touch and "old". I have attached it so you can have the same useless feeling as I. Some of the items are astounding...starting with number one. That one says most college freshman can't write in cursive! And people blame me for ranting about the addiction and mind numbing technology today. That one item itself gives cause for reflection.
The purpose of the list is to show how their culture is different from ours ("ours" includes even being those even a mere 10 years older), and to show how quickly culture changes today. No wonder we live in a throw away culture. What we are presented with hardly lasts long enough to be recognized. This brings to mind the idea of comparing cultures to determine if this one is better or worse than previous. of course, it can not be examined that way, for each generation sees its own values as more appropriate to others.
If ever one need to define what the old "generation gap" phrase of the 60's meant, he or she need only read this list. And there is no way of slowing down the pace of change in a culture. Technology has made change naturally faster and more severe today. I am sure a list such as the Beloit one, if published in the year 1850 would be pointless. One would have to search many generations prior to 1850 to find even a hint of cultural difference from the 1850 generation.
Oh well, as Heraclitus once wrote, "There is nothing permanent except change."
The purpose of the list is to show how their culture is different from ours ("ours" includes even being those even a mere 10 years older), and to show how quickly culture changes today. No wonder we live in a throw away culture. What we are presented with hardly lasts long enough to be recognized. This brings to mind the idea of comparing cultures to determine if this one is better or worse than previous. of course, it can not be examined that way, for each generation sees its own values as more appropriate to others.
If ever one need to define what the old "generation gap" phrase of the 60's meant, he or she need only read this list. And there is no way of slowing down the pace of change in a culture. Technology has made change naturally faster and more severe today. I am sure a list such as the Beloit one, if published in the year 1850 would be pointless. One would have to search many generations prior to 1850 to find even a hint of cultural difference from the 1850 generation.
Oh well, as Heraclitus once wrote, "There is nothing permanent except change."
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Too Many Clothes
When I was in New Orleans waiting to move full time to Portland I acquired more clothes, which means that I brought them with me when I drove here from New Orleans. It also means that I had to get rid of more of what I already had in Portland in order to fit them in my closet here. This is painful, but I did it last week. I now have enough room to pack in my clothes like sardines in a can. You see, my rule of thumb is to never throw away clothes unless....and here is the rub..I have no room to fit them in my bedroom closet.
Given I had in my former homes and now have a walk in closet in my bedroom that has much space, it means I have way too many clothes. Yet I feel pain when having to discard them. I do eventually bundle them and deposit them at charity sites like 'Good will", which resells them and uses the money for charitable enterprises. But what to throw away? One person's ideal in clothes is another's terror. Given that I am a sloppy dresser who likes comfort over style, I usually keep the worst clothes..the T shirts and casual pants, and throw out the better ones. When someone stopped working his attire degrades in porportion to the time since he has stopped.
This time, besides getting rid of pants too tight because of my increasing fat, I made over use and non use the standard as of what to give away. That is, if I used then so much they are beginning to look worn they are candidates to be thrown away. Similarly, those clothes never worn or barely worn (if they aren't comfortable, I don't wear them) get tossed too.
It amazes me how many clothes I have that I bought and never wore. What was I thinking when I bought the item? Oddly, this seems to be a male transgression more than a female one. We men tend to wear a smaller range of clothes than do women, because we are not nearly as concerned with fashion style. If we men wear something "too much" it matters not the look, because it's probably comfortable. So this time I threw out many clothes never yet worn. No wonder there are so many new clothes to be bought at thrift stores like 'Goodwill'.
I have too many suits and suit coats, because I rarely wear such clothes now. I did manage to get rid of one suit and one suit jacket, but after looking at all the pretty suits and sport coats I could not bring myself to jettison any more of those. I saw some that I wore in films I worked in. Who knows when the next film will come my way? With luck, maybe the cleaners will ruin a few of them instead of me having to discard them. When going through those suits I found some were so old the store that sold them has been out of business for 20 years or more! Yet, they look brand new and are still of good style. How can I throw out such antiques?
I easily got rid of some button down shirts because I wear more casual non collared knits now. Sadly, I also know that I will never wear the many that I kept. My T shirts....oh, I love them. I only threw out a few well worn ones. I don't know how many T shirts I have but it must be about as many as some female shoe collections...too high to count. My message shirts are also off limits as to discarding. How could I throw out T shirts that say things such as, "Who are these kids and why are they calling me dad", "I'm huge in Japan", "With a shirt like this, who needs pants"? Uh, those are just a few of them, and I DO WEAR them often as a perverse fashion statement.
My sport T shirts, some with logos and all with at least the team name, never get discarded...no telling when I will need my Yankee shirt (I wear it only at Yankee stadium when watching the Yankees play), my LSU, Tulane or UNO (University of New Orleans) sport shirts....or my latest incarnation, my green "Oregon" T shirt. My holiday T shirts are also items I never discard. What would I do without my Mardi Gras or St Patrick's day shirts.... or my orange shirt that says 'This is my Halloween costume' T shirt? I have shirts for every holiday that I wear just one time a year. Wearing them on the right day is a sacred ritual. Those are all identity shirts, and to discard any would be to lose my already shaky identity. For a man to discard team or holiday shirts is psychological castration.
I noticed quite a few of my collared knit shirts were never worn. I got rid of them on the grounds of 'non use' and wasn't sorry They either were too tight or had too much l. I don't wear collar shirts that are uncomfortable. Then there are the "untouchable shirts" that have memories attached to them. Those are kept as reminders of better days of youth and fancy. Can you believe I still have my many sizes now too small navy issue wool Petty Coat? A wool Petty Coat today sells for as much as $1000. How can I part with that! I would only send my memory items those to a museum, if any museum would take them.
I think I have made my point and need not continue my discard report. But if the old adage that says "Clothes make the man" is true...I am a complete mess.
Given I had in my former homes and now have a walk in closet in my bedroom that has much space, it means I have way too many clothes. Yet I feel pain when having to discard them. I do eventually bundle them and deposit them at charity sites like 'Good will", which resells them and uses the money for charitable enterprises. But what to throw away? One person's ideal in clothes is another's terror. Given that I am a sloppy dresser who likes comfort over style, I usually keep the worst clothes..the T shirts and casual pants, and throw out the better ones. When someone stopped working his attire degrades in porportion to the time since he has stopped.
This time, besides getting rid of pants too tight because of my increasing fat, I made over use and non use the standard as of what to give away. That is, if I used then so much they are beginning to look worn they are candidates to be thrown away. Similarly, those clothes never worn or barely worn (if they aren't comfortable, I don't wear them) get tossed too.
It amazes me how many clothes I have that I bought and never wore. What was I thinking when I bought the item? Oddly, this seems to be a male transgression more than a female one. We men tend to wear a smaller range of clothes than do women, because we are not nearly as concerned with fashion style. If we men wear something "too much" it matters not the look, because it's probably comfortable. So this time I threw out many clothes never yet worn. No wonder there are so many new clothes to be bought at thrift stores like 'Goodwill'.
I have too many suits and suit coats, because I rarely wear such clothes now. I did manage to get rid of one suit and one suit jacket, but after looking at all the pretty suits and sport coats I could not bring myself to jettison any more of those. I saw some that I wore in films I worked in. Who knows when the next film will come my way? With luck, maybe the cleaners will ruin a few of them instead of me having to discard them. When going through those suits I found some were so old the store that sold them has been out of business for 20 years or more! Yet, they look brand new and are still of good style. How can I throw out such antiques?
I easily got rid of some button down shirts because I wear more casual non collared knits now. Sadly, I also know that I will never wear the many that I kept. My T shirts....oh, I love them. I only threw out a few well worn ones. I don't know how many T shirts I have but it must be about as many as some female shoe collections...too high to count. My message shirts are also off limits as to discarding. How could I throw out T shirts that say things such as, "Who are these kids and why are they calling me dad", "I'm huge in Japan", "With a shirt like this, who needs pants"? Uh, those are just a few of them, and I DO WEAR them often as a perverse fashion statement.
My sport T shirts, some with logos and all with at least the team name, never get discarded...no telling when I will need my Yankee shirt (I wear it only at Yankee stadium when watching the Yankees play), my LSU, Tulane or UNO (University of New Orleans) sport shirts....or my latest incarnation, my green "Oregon" T shirt. My holiday T shirts are also items I never discard. What would I do without my Mardi Gras or St Patrick's day shirts.... or my orange shirt that says 'This is my Halloween costume' T shirt? I have shirts for every holiday that I wear just one time a year. Wearing them on the right day is a sacred ritual. Those are all identity shirts, and to discard any would be to lose my already shaky identity. For a man to discard team or holiday shirts is psychological castration.
I noticed quite a few of my collared knit shirts were never worn. I got rid of them on the grounds of 'non use' and wasn't sorry They either were too tight or had too much l. I don't wear collar shirts that are uncomfortable. Then there are the "untouchable shirts" that have memories attached to them. Those are kept as reminders of better days of youth and fancy. Can you believe I still have my many sizes now too small navy issue wool Petty Coat? A wool Petty Coat today sells for as much as $1000. How can I part with that! I would only send my memory items those to a museum, if any museum would take them.
I think I have made my point and need not continue my discard report. But if the old adage that says "Clothes make the man" is true...I am a complete mess.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Twist
I see from my online reading that Chubby Checker is appearing in New Orleans this weekend. If you don't know who Chubby is you probably need to "twist" a bit to hear. Chubby is the guy who recorded the biggest selling rock song of all time “The Twist”, recorded by Chubby Checker in 1960 and long a sensation both musically and culturally. The twist is not only the No. 1 song of all time, and the biggest song of the greatest decade of pop music, the ’60's but the song that started rock in rollers dancing again.
So 2010 is the 50th anniversary of people on the dance floor doing their own thing. Chubby himself claims that after recorded The Twist and people said, “We can exercise to this,” music and aerobic exercise became a permanent fixture in society. Maybe so. I hate dancing with a passion but I have done the twist in my childhood years. Haha And I haven't danced since!
Everyone who likes the 60's music has done it. Silly as it is, it sort of loosened up the music of the era and made it charming. "Every time someone goes on the dance floor and dances to Lady Gaga, they’re doing the Chubby Checker. Every time a kid goes on the floor and they’re dancing by themselves, they’ve just renewed Chubby Checker, " that according to Chubby himself.
So Chubby Checker is traveling far and wide celebrating 50 years of people dancing apart to the beat. At age 70 he still looks twist able and young at heart. No doubt that 'the Twist' and the sequel ( Sequels are always a disappointment, and the sequel to 'The Twist' is too, but people still bought it like crazy) to it, “Let’s Twist Again”, are iconic tunes, hall of fame caliber. The first rock ’n’ roll song to receive a Grammy was “Let’s Twist Again”. Sadly, beyond those two songs Chubby Checker never again came close to a hit. Being a one hit wonder. or two hit wonder in his case isn't so bad though. His songs are still alive and feeding Chubby with pay outs for the concerts he gives all across the country and in Europe.
If you are interesting in twisting with Chubby, try the link of the audio version of the song that many think made rock in roll popular allot faster than it would have been if no one had twisted,.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqVFJNcQ4X0&feature=related
So 2010 is the 50th anniversary of people on the dance floor doing their own thing. Chubby himself claims that after recorded The Twist and people said, “We can exercise to this,” music and aerobic exercise became a permanent fixture in society. Maybe so. I hate dancing with a passion but I have done the twist in my childhood years. Haha And I haven't danced since!
Everyone who likes the 60's music has done it. Silly as it is, it sort of loosened up the music of the era and made it charming. "Every time someone goes on the dance floor and dances to Lady Gaga, they’re doing the Chubby Checker. Every time a kid goes on the floor and they’re dancing by themselves, they’ve just renewed Chubby Checker, " that according to Chubby himself.
So Chubby Checker is traveling far and wide celebrating 50 years of people dancing apart to the beat. At age 70 he still looks twist able and young at heart. No doubt that 'the Twist' and the sequel ( Sequels are always a disappointment, and the sequel to 'The Twist' is too, but people still bought it like crazy) to it, “Let’s Twist Again”, are iconic tunes, hall of fame caliber. The first rock ’n’ roll song to receive a Grammy was “Let’s Twist Again”. Sadly, beyond those two songs Chubby Checker never again came close to a hit. Being a one hit wonder. or two hit wonder in his case isn't so bad though. His songs are still alive and feeding Chubby with pay outs for the concerts he gives all across the country and in Europe.
If you are interesting in twisting with Chubby, try the link of the audio version of the song that many think made rock in roll popular allot faster than it would have been if no one had twisted,.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqVFJNcQ4X0&feature=related
Food Police
First we got the Global Warming police, those zealots who insist that everyone must believe that humans are warming or changing the climate (but at the moment they seem to not be sure which it is changing or just warming) even though humans can not even accurately predict a weather forecast beyond a week or so. If we dare to deny global warming we are labeled as stupid, evil or both. But wait! That isn't as nutty as the latest trendy politically correct zealotry. The newest one is the Food Police crusade.
Now we are told we must eat "healthy" food (Not sure if their diet is actually what the body wants or needs though) or be shunned by the respectable segments of society. Food activists, the government that taxes, legislates and litigates away foods we like to eat but they don't (Obama even named a chef as a "senior policy adviser for healthy food initiatives", one of 35 Obama has selected to make us eat what they think we should), scientists (the same type who jumped on the global warming bandwagon hop on the healthy food mandate crusade because it is career enhancing to do so), academics, and private citizen groups (mostly brain washed crusaders who chirp their spiel like parrots).
Without the national media promoting the so called politically correct diet, most of us would ignore food mandates for what they are- nonsense. But in our unthinking age, one is which the sheep follow the head of the herd, we are corralled and branded with the healthy food label and expected to eat in accordance. Among the tactics that food police types have used to try to kill my noble donut and similar delicious fare include: suing parents or doctors of kids who eat fast food and who are obese, passing zoning laws to exclude restaurants who have menus that do not meet the food police agenda, banning diet soda from sale at schools, labeling candy and other treats with sugar as "food porn", banning the sharing of food snacks on school campuses, placing a sin tax on fast food restaurants for their "sinful food sales", and even make age 18 the minimum one for allowance of the purchase of candy and other sweets.
The latest and most ridiculous food police assault comes from England, where the Imperial College of London researchers has issued a request that all fast food outlets..hold on to your fried chicken because this is crazy......that fast food sellers should consider handing out cholesteral-lowering statin drugs to customers to combat the "effects of fatty food". They say we should not take an aspirin a day to keep the doctor away, but rather a statin a day to cancel a cheeseburger and milkshakes effect.The Imperial College advocates say the statins should be handed out in those small satchels that ketchup and other condiments come in at the fast food places. The idea of handing out drugs because a person wants a tasty burger is so far fetched and idiotic that I need not list the many other problems with such an idea. The lunacy of it is par excellence with some global warming suggestions.
Yet, the zealotry of the food police patrol is as blind to reason and common sense as is the global warming crowd. Until people start to think and act for themselves instead of being swept into foolish, trendy frenzy they will be forced into a "diabetic coma" of the tofu world. What I want (besides a piece of apple pie) is simple. Give me the personal responsibility and freedom to eat what I want, not a food police tofu burger.
Now we are told we must eat "healthy" food (Not sure if their diet is actually what the body wants or needs though) or be shunned by the respectable segments of society. Food activists, the government that taxes, legislates and litigates away foods we like to eat but they don't (Obama even named a chef as a "senior policy adviser for healthy food initiatives", one of 35 Obama has selected to make us eat what they think we should), scientists (the same type who jumped on the global warming bandwagon hop on the healthy food mandate crusade because it is career enhancing to do so), academics, and private citizen groups (mostly brain washed crusaders who chirp their spiel like parrots).
Without the national media promoting the so called politically correct diet, most of us would ignore food mandates for what they are- nonsense. But in our unthinking age, one is which the sheep follow the head of the herd, we are corralled and branded with the healthy food label and expected to eat in accordance. Among the tactics that food police types have used to try to kill my noble donut and similar delicious fare include: suing parents or doctors of kids who eat fast food and who are obese, passing zoning laws to exclude restaurants who have menus that do not meet the food police agenda, banning diet soda from sale at schools, labeling candy and other treats with sugar as "food porn", banning the sharing of food snacks on school campuses, placing a sin tax on fast food restaurants for their "sinful food sales", and even make age 18 the minimum one for allowance of the purchase of candy and other sweets.
The latest and most ridiculous food police assault comes from England, where the Imperial College of London researchers has issued a request that all fast food outlets..hold on to your fried chicken because this is crazy......that fast food sellers should consider handing out cholesteral-lowering statin drugs to customers to combat the "effects of fatty food". They say we should not take an aspirin a day to keep the doctor away, but rather a statin a day to cancel a cheeseburger and milkshakes effect.The Imperial College advocates say the statins should be handed out in those small satchels that ketchup and other condiments come in at the fast food places. The idea of handing out drugs because a person wants a tasty burger is so far fetched and idiotic that I need not list the many other problems with such an idea. The lunacy of it is par excellence with some global warming suggestions.
Yet, the zealotry of the food police patrol is as blind to reason and common sense as is the global warming crowd. Until people start to think and act for themselves instead of being swept into foolish, trendy frenzy they will be forced into a "diabetic coma" of the tofu world. What I want (besides a piece of apple pie) is simple. Give me the personal responsibility and freedom to eat what I want, not a food police tofu burger.
Information Overload
I'm looking around the room in my house where my computer rests and seeing bookcases filled to the rim (and I threw out quite a few books when I moved to Portland). It makes me wonder about information, or more specifically information overload. I think I have reached the level of information overload because I find myself being less and less curious about more and more information that is thrown at me each day.
Do you read less now? I do. Selectivity is the theme for me now because I just can't keep up with all the information others want me to know.. It's almost as if putting more information in my head makes me lose some of the existing good "stuff" (the forgetful oldie syndrome) to make room for the silly new. I also think putting too much information in my head confuses me as well. Why do I need gossip, TV show celebrity news and thousands of other modern information tid bits that are of no real use and simply take up space in our brains? No wonder I forgot to zip up today!
We are in the information overload age. Our computers and other technology constantly bombard us with stimulation. Problem is, most of the bombardment is useless or even idiotic information. I think too many people today know the idiotic facts and too few know the important ones. In a sense, informational overload makes us less smart because it distracts us from knowing what we need to know to understand and interact in the real world in which we live.
I bet more Americans can name the "stars" of reality TV shows than can name their own area Senator or Representative who is in congress to (allegedly) protect and work in their interest. It's probably because with so much information thrown at us every minute if every day, particularly information that is unimportant to knowing reality, we lack the discrimination skill to sort the good form bad information. A hundred years ago when information was far less available people knew what they needed to know clearly and thoroughly. That is not the case today.
Maybe the monks in a monastery have it right in their belief in simplicity. Perhaps the understand the truly important questions in life because they are apart from all the maddening stupidity that is thrown at the rest of us in the name of 'importance'. But I don't want to be a monk. Perhaps it is hopeless and we should be resigned to letting the trivial information overload kill the important. But it's not the kind of world I like. I will try to recognize what information is important and what is not, and in the process, be at least a little aware of reality and importance.
Oh..by the way..in case you didn't realize it. What I wrote today falls in the idiotic and trivial classification.
Do you read less now? I do. Selectivity is the theme for me now because I just can't keep up with all the information others want me to know.. It's almost as if putting more information in my head makes me lose some of the existing good "stuff" (the forgetful oldie syndrome) to make room for the silly new. I also think putting too much information in my head confuses me as well. Why do I need gossip, TV show celebrity news and thousands of other modern information tid bits that are of no real use and simply take up space in our brains? No wonder I forgot to zip up today!
We are in the information overload age. Our computers and other technology constantly bombard us with stimulation. Problem is, most of the bombardment is useless or even idiotic information. I think too many people today know the idiotic facts and too few know the important ones. In a sense, informational overload makes us less smart because it distracts us from knowing what we need to know to understand and interact in the real world in which we live.
I bet more Americans can name the "stars" of reality TV shows than can name their own area Senator or Representative who is in congress to (allegedly) protect and work in their interest. It's probably because with so much information thrown at us every minute if every day, particularly information that is unimportant to knowing reality, we lack the discrimination skill to sort the good form bad information. A hundred years ago when information was far less available people knew what they needed to know clearly and thoroughly. That is not the case today.
Maybe the monks in a monastery have it right in their belief in simplicity. Perhaps the understand the truly important questions in life because they are apart from all the maddening stupidity that is thrown at the rest of us in the name of 'importance'. But I don't want to be a monk. Perhaps it is hopeless and we should be resigned to letting the trivial information overload kill the important. But it's not the kind of world I like. I will try to recognize what information is important and what is not, and in the process, be at least a little aware of reality and importance.
Oh..by the way..in case you didn't realize it. What I wrote today falls in the idiotic and trivial classification.
What A Way To Quit
I Guess by now everyone saw the story of the JetBlue flight attendant, Steven Slater, who got into an argument with a passenger when one of the passengers apparently got out of his seat to grab a bag from an overhead compartment. The flight attendant walked over to tell him he had to sit down. The two of them got into an argument and somehow the flight attendant got hit in the head with either the bag or the
compartment door on a flight just arriving in New York. He cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane, yelling "I can't take this job anymore" as he left. What a way to have a breakdown and quit a job. The problem for that guy though is that he violated law by leaving through the emergency exit by activating the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1 and then launching himself off the plane that way.
About one half hour after he drove home, federal agents arrested him for doing it. He has been charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Though he acted irresponsibly in response to another of the endless line of crude, rude passengers who fly today and think they rule the airlines, quite a few of the passengers on the airplane applauded his response. This is an indication that the "everyone can fly because it is so cheap' milieu has created an uncomfortable flying situation not only for passengers who have to endure the stupidity of obnoxious fellow fliers, but also for flight crews.In some ways, when air prices were higher and the lowest element could not afford to fly, the atmosphere on airplanes was much more comfortable. To many passengers are spoiled, rude, arrogant and have a sense of entitlement when on board. They way in which they treat flight crews is more than infrequently disgraceful.
The old adage about the customer being always right is a false one in this age of "me" "me" "Me". Abusive customers are wrong to behave badly and should be told so and not be allowed the privilege of flight when out of control. The polite, respectful customer is always right is the correct adage. Great hospitality is a two-way street because a customer has as much to do with the success of the human interaction on board a flight as the server does. Servers are not servants. But one would not think so by the way some passengers address and act toward them.
Even though it is amusing to read , Slater was wrong to have the tantrum he had. But no matter how well flight attendants and pilot are trained to interact with fliers, they are human and can "lose it" like Slater did if pushed repeatedly by abusing fliers. Maybe the lesson from all this for all fliers is to try and be a little more polite and cooperative with those who provide service on board our flights.
compartment door on a flight just arriving in New York. He cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane, yelling "I can't take this job anymore" as he left. What a way to have a breakdown and quit a job. The problem for that guy though is that he violated law by leaving through the emergency exit by activating the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1 and then launching himself off the plane that way.
About one half hour after he drove home, federal agents arrested him for doing it. He has been charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Though he acted irresponsibly in response to another of the endless line of crude, rude passengers who fly today and think they rule the airlines, quite a few of the passengers on the airplane applauded his response. This is an indication that the "everyone can fly because it is so cheap' milieu has created an uncomfortable flying situation not only for passengers who have to endure the stupidity of obnoxious fellow fliers, but also for flight crews.In some ways, when air prices were higher and the lowest element could not afford to fly, the atmosphere on airplanes was much more comfortable. To many passengers are spoiled, rude, arrogant and have a sense of entitlement when on board. They way in which they treat flight crews is more than infrequently disgraceful.
The old adage about the customer being always right is a false one in this age of "me" "me" "Me". Abusive customers are wrong to behave badly and should be told so and not be allowed the privilege of flight when out of control. The polite, respectful customer is always right is the correct adage. Great hospitality is a two-way street because a customer has as much to do with the success of the human interaction on board a flight as the server does. Servers are not servants. But one would not think so by the way some passengers address and act toward them.
Even though it is amusing to read , Slater was wrong to have the tantrum he had. But no matter how well flight attendants and pilot are trained to interact with fliers, they are human and can "lose it" like Slater did if pushed repeatedly by abusing fliers. Maybe the lesson from all this for all fliers is to try and be a little more polite and cooperative with those who provide service on board our flights.
Man Food Over The Top
Ok...one more commentabout food. As Americans (me too keep eating more and more food and getting fatter as a result the food merchants keep tempting up with oddball food combos and offerings. I just read about this trend as it is applied to those summer time country fairs. they are serving some weird man-food (that which is disgustingly over the top in calories and fat and far more popular with men). The food sellers today believe that they have to have something disgustingly new to keep people entertained when hungry. Every year they are try developing more weird selections for the clogged artery set.
So I come here with this topic today to make you either jealous or disgusted at what we pigs are eating at those fairs. The two biggest selling new heart attack foods this year are a hamburger served between two Krispy Kremes (those ultra sugared donuts), known simply as the doughnut burger. Ugh! Even I wouldn't eat that glob of goo. Why defile the noble donut with meat? But those who like it say the sweetness of the doughnut and the saltiness of the beef make the burger special. The number two new one is deep-fried butter. Haha The butter seller first freezes the butter and covers it in cinnamon before cutting it into cubes and frying it in something that's been at those county fair for years... funnel cake batter. Supposedly it tastes like a buttery cinnamon roll.
Other oddball fair foods this year include; deep-fried sushi, deep-fried dill pickles, deep-fried candy bars, chocolate-covered popcorn balls, root-beer marinated ribs, the garbage burger (a pork patty covered with pulled pork on a bun), and chocolate-covered bacon. I don't think the American heart Association will recommend any of those. There does seem to be a great deal of grease and sugar on those offerings.With selections like those Mc Donald's restaurants may become the new standard of healthy food. And now I think my awful diet might not be so bad after all. I would try the deep-fried candy bars, the root beer marinated ribs and the chocolate covered popcorn balls. What about you?
So I come here with this topic today to make you either jealous or disgusted at what we pigs are eating at those fairs. The two biggest selling new heart attack foods this year are a hamburger served between two Krispy Kremes (those ultra sugared donuts), known simply as the doughnut burger. Ugh! Even I wouldn't eat that glob of goo. Why defile the noble donut with meat? But those who like it say the sweetness of the doughnut and the saltiness of the beef make the burger special. The number two new one is deep-fried butter. Haha The butter seller first freezes the butter and covers it in cinnamon before cutting it into cubes and frying it in something that's been at those county fair for years... funnel cake batter. Supposedly it tastes like a buttery cinnamon roll.
Other oddball fair foods this year include; deep-fried sushi, deep-fried dill pickles, deep-fried candy bars, chocolate-covered popcorn balls, root-beer marinated ribs, the garbage burger (a pork patty covered with pulled pork on a bun), and chocolate-covered bacon. I don't think the American heart Association will recommend any of those. There does seem to be a great deal of grease and sugar on those offerings.With selections like those Mc Donald's restaurants may become the new standard of healthy food. And now I think my awful diet might not be so bad after all. I would try the deep-fried candy bars, the root beer marinated ribs and the chocolate covered popcorn balls. What about you?
Bite Of Oregon
I went to Portland's 'Oregon Bite' food fest Sunday. Given the lower quality of food in Oregon as compared to New Orleans, and the fact that New Orleans has many food fest related events, I decided to check this one here to compare and contrast it to those in New Orleans. Finding food of top quality here is a mission often ending in futility. Oregon has great basic fruit and vegetable products, more than adequate seafood and meat, and excellent bakers (the one aspect of food here I find good) but the preparation phase of most food here is of lower quality. As I have remarked before, I think that in Portland there is little passion for good tasting food and great passion for huge portions of what is eaten.
The Oregon Bite event has been growing here year by year and is a part of what I am told is a multi year quest to upgrade food demands by the residents of Portland in an attempt to upgrade the quality of food being served in Portland restaurants. In general, it's an attempt of the city of Portland to move from a city of fast and chain restaurant food to one of fine dining. I have been told that progress is being made, as for example, in the number of high quality "food truck" that line some streets in Portland.
Those trucks serve lunch food of very good taste each weekday. the idea is that foreign and out of state restaurateurs of high skill, but who can not afford the cost of starting a restaurant in a Portland building, first vend via trucks to earn money to purchase or rent a fixed site and build a reputation. I have eaten at a few of the trucks and think they are clearly serving the best food in Portland. This should heighten demand for better food in restaurants here.
I also have read often in the local Portland newspaper, The Oregonian, articles praising chefs here, promoting recipes and in general sending a message that Portland wants to be more like San Francisco. That is, it wants to build a reputation as a food mecca city. Since perception is a big part of reality, it is a nice attempt to make. And how was that campaign promoted at 'Oregon Bite' this year? Well, in my view not so well.
I walked the grounds of the event, which was nicely laid among shade bearing trees out along the pretty Willamette river front in Portland. What I saw though was more of a wine and beer event than a food one. How typical! Portland has a well deserved reputation as a city of great breweries and wine making. Portland itself has more breweries per capita than any city in the U.S., too many to even count. As for wine, the valley adjacent to Portland is a prime grape growing one and holds many wine making companies that sell here and elsewhere an exceedingly good quality wine.
It seemed there were as many wine and beer vendors as food vendors at the Bite. But why? The area already has the fine wine and beer industry, but a lower quality of restaurants. Walking and sampling some items from the food sellers at the Bite confirmed my disappointment in the food there. I had to look intently to find food of any appeal. Unlike in New Orleans, where a food fest is an endless array of food from many great restaurants, there were too few vendors and too few quality servers at this Oregon Bite Fest. I saw one cooking demo, and that was of a dish requiring only elementary skill. The four dishes I tasted were all below average in my opinion, yet remarks that I overheard from the patrons tasting them seemed to be that of total satisfaction. It does not follow....unless the people here have a low food IQ.
It will be a long battle to upgrade the food of Portland, primarily because the people here have little passion for good food but great passion for volumes of mediocre food (buffets, chain restaurants and fast food are what is prominent here). But with the high quality of food ingredients available in Portland and the desire of leaders in Portland to upgrade the food here, I think the attitude of the citizens will change gradually to one in which the residents demand better things to eat. Until then, I will simply have to use my pots and pans at home myself more that I want to cook with them
The Oregon Bite event has been growing here year by year and is a part of what I am told is a multi year quest to upgrade food demands by the residents of Portland in an attempt to upgrade the quality of food being served in Portland restaurants. In general, it's an attempt of the city of Portland to move from a city of fast and chain restaurant food to one of fine dining. I have been told that progress is being made, as for example, in the number of high quality "food truck" that line some streets in Portland.
Those trucks serve lunch food of very good taste each weekday. the idea is that foreign and out of state restaurateurs of high skill, but who can not afford the cost of starting a restaurant in a Portland building, first vend via trucks to earn money to purchase or rent a fixed site and build a reputation. I have eaten at a few of the trucks and think they are clearly serving the best food in Portland. This should heighten demand for better food in restaurants here.
I also have read often in the local Portland newspaper, The Oregonian, articles praising chefs here, promoting recipes and in general sending a message that Portland wants to be more like San Francisco. That is, it wants to build a reputation as a food mecca city. Since perception is a big part of reality, it is a nice attempt to make. And how was that campaign promoted at 'Oregon Bite' this year? Well, in my view not so well.
I walked the grounds of the event, which was nicely laid among shade bearing trees out along the pretty Willamette river front in Portland. What I saw though was more of a wine and beer event than a food one. How typical! Portland has a well deserved reputation as a city of great breweries and wine making. Portland itself has more breweries per capita than any city in the U.S., too many to even count. As for wine, the valley adjacent to Portland is a prime grape growing one and holds many wine making companies that sell here and elsewhere an exceedingly good quality wine.
It seemed there were as many wine and beer vendors as food vendors at the Bite. But why? The area already has the fine wine and beer industry, but a lower quality of restaurants. Walking and sampling some items from the food sellers at the Bite confirmed my disappointment in the food there. I had to look intently to find food of any appeal. Unlike in New Orleans, where a food fest is an endless array of food from many great restaurants, there were too few vendors and too few quality servers at this Oregon Bite Fest. I saw one cooking demo, and that was of a dish requiring only elementary skill. The four dishes I tasted were all below average in my opinion, yet remarks that I overheard from the patrons tasting them seemed to be that of total satisfaction. It does not follow....unless the people here have a low food IQ.
It will be a long battle to upgrade the food of Portland, primarily because the people here have little passion for good food but great passion for volumes of mediocre food (buffets, chain restaurants and fast food are what is prominent here). But with the high quality of food ingredients available in Portland and the desire of leaders in Portland to upgrade the food here, I think the attitude of the citizens will change gradually to one in which the residents demand better things to eat. Until then, I will simply have to use my pots and pans at home myself more that I want to cook with them
Moving Trip
To say I am relieved I have finally finsihed my move and that the long drive from New Orleans to Portland is over is an understatement of epic portions. I would do a cartwheel to celebrate ending the drive...if I weren't so tired and could remember how to do one of those. never mind..why destroy myself cart wheeling after surviving a brutal five day, 10 hour a day drive. I am very happy and grateful that I had no accidents, auto break downs and the use of my GPS which guided me easily and without any worry or fault along my route.
I saw bleak landscapes, stepped out in oppressive heat when getting gas for the car, eating a quick snack or peeing (be grateful I didn't use the more graphic words for my urination and bowel movements), and observed life in the middle of America from my seat in my automobile along the various U.S. highways and Inter states. Because I did little more than drive my car, no time for sightseeing permitted, I have no exciting tales to tell. But I do have observations of my trip and you will get them today. Uh....you are allowed no "pee" breaks while reading my review of the journey, despite the epic length of this.
Some of my observations follow.- The first day I drove about 525 kl from New Orleans to a suburb past Dallas called 'Denton'. Memories of that day include the "Cracklins and Boudin here" signs on small groceries in 'Krotch Springs', Louisiana. It's a tiny town on the periphery of Cajun country, and it reminded me of all the great Cajun/Creole food I am leaving behind in moving to the mediocre food region of Oregon in which I now reside. I enjoyed this first leg because I saw what I already knew, Louisiana.
The swamp lands, cyprus trees draped with Spanish Moss and small farms of Southern Louisiana were of special interest as a verification of what I have known all my life. Then the charming rolling hills and farms of heavily pine forested Northern Louisiana were a pleasant contrast that kept me awake (and still peeing) while driving. As I crossed into the state of texas, sate police cars seemed to appear and to apprehend the speeders. I speeded only accidentally because I wanted to treat my car like my baby, so it wouldn't break down and cry and strand me. It never did.
My drive into East Texas showed me vast farmlands, some cattle ranching, the rose growing center of Tyler, Texas and the outskirts of huge but impersonal Dallas.I left for Portland on a Sunday because the roads are far less traveled. Zipping though Dallas on Sunday evening was fortuitous, but I find Dallas, sterile and uninteresting anyway. I steeped a little harder on the gas peddle to exit Dallas and end my first day in a northern suburban town of Denton. East Texas is famous for it's barbecued pork and beef, so I sampled the pork at a semi fast food spot near the motel I bedded in that night. Sad to say, the mediocre barbecue pork sandwich that I ate was probably the best food of a food poor journey. Outside of some places in America the food is not distinguished.
- My second day started at 4 am, as most of my days do in any case. But I lingered until about 8 am before refueling the car (I seemed to be in a constant state of anxiety about having enough gas, given that in some stretches of the trip there were no gas stations for as much as 40 miles. But I always found gas as needed.) and heading due north into the ranching lands of North Texas.
I saw Quarter horse and thoroughbred racing farms and breeding farms for those racers, big cattle ranches and dairy farming ranches as well. North Texas is a working man's/woman's region, and I am grateful they let a lazy man like me ride through and peer at the sights. When I reached the most northern big city in Texas, Fort Worth I was in the midst of a city that not only hosted some of the most notorious gunfighters of western legend, but also was where Clint Eastwood may have drawn his shooting iron in one of those bad Hollywood films. There were cowboy memorabilia for sale in and wound Fort Worth, showing that cowboys never die. They just merchandise their image to tourists.
Leaving Fort Worth brought me north into Oklahoma, a sort of mini Texas, but one with far worse highways. It seemed there was construction on-going all long the route that I took directly through the center of Oklahoma. Yet the way my car bounced and lumbered defied the notion that any progress was being made in leveling the highways there. The landscape of Oklahoma is mostly flat. This is good for cross country driving, for it makes for faster and smoother motoring.
In Stillwell, I stopped for gas and noticed the love the city had for the local university, Oklahoma State. There were OK State Cowboy mascots in a number of places, mostly painted on the sides of buildings. The pride in the University by Stillwaterians mirrored the great pride I noticed Oklahoman's have in their state. Well, given the somewhat dull lifestyle of that state, I suppose pride is a necessity to avoiding total boredom. One can't communicate with cows all day. Oh, and I also noticed on my three pit stops in Oklahoma that the people there are very nice. It ought to call itself 'The Not Pretty But Nice State'.
I left Oklahoma and ventured into the longest drive of all- the Kansas ordeal. I drove both north to south through Kansas, then turned left and drove an entire east/west segment. It is a horrendous drive because Kansas is a prairie land state- flat land surrounded by farms, few people, terrible climate (awful heat on my summer jaunt. You can have Kansas. I won't fight for that god forsaken place.
I stopped in Salina, Kansas for a sandwich (yes, to pee too) and a small break from the endless drive time. It was 108F (42.2222 C) at about 2 pm as I exited the car and was hit in the face with a heat blast from the famous prairie wind. In Kansas there is a constant wind on the prairie. When the temperature is 108F that wind turns into a furnace. A local woman said to me as she left the sandwich shop, "It's so hot. I can hardly stand it." To which I replied, " I can. I am leaving this place forever after the last bite of my meatball. My condolences to you for having to stay. At least Salina has taught me what hell is like. Hmmm I wonder if that is my future destination.
After I left Salina I started to doze off as I drove, fighting sleep but being unable to stop because I was in the middle of prairie land with many corn, wheat and other grain and foodstuff farms on both sides and towns absent. Pulling onto the side of the road is dangerous given the proximity of a stopped car to others which whiz by. I had to endure the fatigue and keep moving until there was civilization that would allow me to rest. In praise of Kansas I must say that Kansas and Nebraska are not only the breadbaskets of America. they also feed many in other parts of the world. The farms are amazing there.
I had about 40 kl to drive before I could stop at the next gas station or town and walk off sleeplessness. The prairie terrain is exceedingly monotonous. This lends to sleeplessness in many drivers, as I noticed on big 24 wheel trucker fighting as well. He swerved from side to side and when straight for an instant I bolted past him to leave in wonder whether he made it as I did. Having driven too many miles I found little Colby, Kansas to be a good spot to sleep for the night and found a motel for that.
After checking in I drove across the street for gas and asked some locals at the station, 'Where is the local style food found in Colby." They replied, "We don't have any," meaning fast food and chain restaurants of mediocre serving abounded. I found this true in all the places outside of Louisiana and Texas. There is both little ingenuity in food in middle America and very little of good taste there as well. It's why I had to eat fast food most of the way. Oh well, for a man, donuts are good and sufficient sustenance anytime.
- Day three of the drive went from Colby to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I still had 60 kl of Kansas prairie to get through before entering Colorado, and that included the only rain (a 10 minute shower) on my drive. I exhilarated but when I got to Colorado I began the endless mountain climbs and descents. I remember the highest portion of my trip was on the Colorado/Wyoming border. The elevation was over 9,200 meters. That eventually descended into Denver, or at least the fringe of Denver, as I drove around it and headed into Wyoming. I would have enjoyed seeing denver but had no time for tourism. I liked Colorado for it's beauty and the good quality of mountain road. But as I crossed into Wyoming, like turned to concern about the pathway.
Before me lay the Wyoming landscape, barren of vegetation and moon-like. To make it worse were the mountains to climb and descend, my car wheezing with each climb. In Wyoming I passed into the city of Laramie, famous for mining and the cowboy cattle rodeo. No wonder the university nickname is the Wyoming "Cowboys". I had lunch in a chain restaurant there (no local food nearby was available there either, I was told) and chatted with my very pretty waitress about Wyoming and how she wound up there. She told me she was a student at the university who left a tiny mining town called Colby and that "There is really not much to do in Wyoming". She told me she had always wanted to go to New Orleans to see the sights and that life for most was a bit dull for younger Wyoming residents. It made me realize that I was lucky to be born and live in an active big city like New Orleans.
Wyoming roads were the worst that I experienced on the drive. I saw more than the usual number of cars and trucks broken down along the isolated mountain roads and wondered how those people would ever get out of there. And I had visions of myself being stranded. Haha Unluckily for you, my car saved me and you still have to deal with me now.
One thing I remember was the 'Smallest Town in America' sign that announced an isolated "town" high in the Wyoming mountains composed of, yes, one resident. I saw the sign ( 'Population 1') the state put up announcing it but I did not see the town itself. Perhaps I turned my head and missed it. It represented the whole state as a microcosm for its small size. Wyoming has far more cattle and sheep than humans. It's quite ruggedly pretty with its rock canyons and reddish buttes, but why would anyone want to live there if he or she had a choice in the matter? The answer is we live where we are born most of the time. Leaving is not always a practical avenue.
I ended my day in Rock Springs, Wyoming, population about 8000. But finding accommodations was not as easy as one would imagine in such an unglamorous place. In the nearby tourist city of Green River there was what one motel desk clerk told me "was a big Leanne Rymes concert" that explained the crowded motel condition there that night. I used to like Leanne but she bumped me from the motel that I wanted. But alas! I was given at a big price discount, a "pet suite" (an bigger, better room that is sold to travelers with pets) at a very nice motel. Maybe Leanne isn't bad after all.-Day four began with breathtakingly pretty scenery as I speed away from Rock Springs and into the state of Utah. That route was mountainous with the Wasatch Mountains and Echo Canyon being beautiful sights amidst the dreary dry landscape of Utah and Idaho. While driving around Salt Lake City I saw the famed 'Great Salt Lake, a body of water so filled with natural salt that little life can survive in the huge lake. It is impossible to drown in the Great Salt Lake, as the huge volume of salt in the water makes every thing float on top.
I remember seeing the town of "Little America" in Idaho. It was so small that I think fewer than 50 people lived in it. There were American flags on the signs announcing the town, but I have no idea why that tiny place in the Idaho mountains is called "Little America". Idaho is mostly dry desert land and bald mountains (no greenery on them) mixed with lower land formations that are suitable for farming. The famed Idaho potatoes were growing everywhere in the low farming areas.
Boise is the "big city" in Idaho, with a population of about 200,000. It's become a high tech center in recent years but is so isolated the land around it for many miles seems dead. I drove through Boise as quickly a possible opting to stop for the day further from it in Western Oregon. Idaho is not place one would choose to live. It is too dry, too mountainous, and offers only mining and agricultural work in most of the state. Uh, I suggest that idaho is a little "culturally deprived". I wanted away from it because the driving is treacherous in some of the Idaho bad grade mountain roads.
Very soon after going out of Idaho into Oregon the look of the land turned lush. The mountains in Oregon are wet, lush with trees, and the roads in Oregon are among the best and safest of all. This is in contrast to the dry mountains of Wyoming and Idaho. On first entering Oregon the land is a fertile farming and cattle region with the population being small. I drove on to Baker City, an isolated old mining town in Southeast Oregon and spent the night there because of its location and the lateness of the evening. Baker is nestled among many ghost towns (formerly thriving cities that are now empty because the mining activities there are closed). Baker City is famed as tourist site because it was in the path of the Oregon Wagon trains of the 19th century. One can see wagon wheel ruts that carved impressions into the land as the settlers struggled to reach the Pacific Ocean farther to the west.
- My final days drive was shorter, about 5 1/2 hours to my home in Portland. In the beginning as I exited Baker City I passed through some of the most beautiful mountain range sights that I have ever seen, 'The Blue Mountains'. Those mountains are densely wooded in fir and spruce trees making it appear to be a Christmas huge tree farm. Two young fawn dear came out of the forest high in the mountains to stare at me as I drove through. No doubt I am a more odd creature than they. The climb up and own was very steep, and I could see evidence of recreational climbing in the Blue Mountains in the many campers that passed and by the signs indicating recreational places in the Blue Mountains.
After exiting the Blue Mountains I came upon land that was rolling range land and the famed Columbia River. For almost 100 miles I drove parallel to the Columbia River and could see the state of Washington on the opposite bank of the river. The section of the Columbia about 70 miles from Portland has a series of dams one of which has locks that allow the millions of huge salmon to move upstream and breed. The Cascade locks have a viewing window in which the public can see the tiny avenue across the dam in which every salmon must negotiate to exit. I saw that on a previous trip here. This was evidence I was almost home.
It was a relief to see the beauty of Oregon in contrast to the more bleak sites of the other states in which I traveled from New Orleans. Viewing the environment of Oregon in contrast to all the others showed it was clearly the prettiest and most desirable state of all. I think I made a good choice in my relocation. Now that the drive has been made, and I am home we shall see if I was correct.
I saw bleak landscapes, stepped out in oppressive heat when getting gas for the car, eating a quick snack or peeing (be grateful I didn't use the more graphic words for my urination and bowel movements), and observed life in the middle of America from my seat in my automobile along the various U.S. highways and Inter states. Because I did little more than drive my car, no time for sightseeing permitted, I have no exciting tales to tell. But I do have observations of my trip and you will get them today. Uh....you are allowed no "pee" breaks while reading my review of the journey, despite the epic length of this.
Some of my observations follow.- The first day I drove about 525 kl from New Orleans to a suburb past Dallas called 'Denton'. Memories of that day include the "Cracklins and Boudin here" signs on small groceries in 'Krotch Springs', Louisiana. It's a tiny town on the periphery of Cajun country, and it reminded me of all the great Cajun/Creole food I am leaving behind in moving to the mediocre food region of Oregon in which I now reside. I enjoyed this first leg because I saw what I already knew, Louisiana.
The swamp lands, cyprus trees draped with Spanish Moss and small farms of Southern Louisiana were of special interest as a verification of what I have known all my life. Then the charming rolling hills and farms of heavily pine forested Northern Louisiana were a pleasant contrast that kept me awake (and still peeing) while driving. As I crossed into the state of texas, sate police cars seemed to appear and to apprehend the speeders. I speeded only accidentally because I wanted to treat my car like my baby, so it wouldn't break down and cry and strand me. It never did.
My drive into East Texas showed me vast farmlands, some cattle ranching, the rose growing center of Tyler, Texas and the outskirts of huge but impersonal Dallas.I left for Portland on a Sunday because the roads are far less traveled. Zipping though Dallas on Sunday evening was fortuitous, but I find Dallas, sterile and uninteresting anyway. I steeped a little harder on the gas peddle to exit Dallas and end my first day in a northern suburban town of Denton. East Texas is famous for it's barbecued pork and beef, so I sampled the pork at a semi fast food spot near the motel I bedded in that night. Sad to say, the mediocre barbecue pork sandwich that I ate was probably the best food of a food poor journey. Outside of some places in America the food is not distinguished.
- My second day started at 4 am, as most of my days do in any case. But I lingered until about 8 am before refueling the car (I seemed to be in a constant state of anxiety about having enough gas, given that in some stretches of the trip there were no gas stations for as much as 40 miles. But I always found gas as needed.) and heading due north into the ranching lands of North Texas.
I saw Quarter horse and thoroughbred racing farms and breeding farms for those racers, big cattle ranches and dairy farming ranches as well. North Texas is a working man's/woman's region, and I am grateful they let a lazy man like me ride through and peer at the sights. When I reached the most northern big city in Texas, Fort Worth I was in the midst of a city that not only hosted some of the most notorious gunfighters of western legend, but also was where Clint Eastwood may have drawn his shooting iron in one of those bad Hollywood films. There were cowboy memorabilia for sale in and wound Fort Worth, showing that cowboys never die. They just merchandise their image to tourists.
Leaving Fort Worth brought me north into Oklahoma, a sort of mini Texas, but one with far worse highways. It seemed there was construction on-going all long the route that I took directly through the center of Oklahoma. Yet the way my car bounced and lumbered defied the notion that any progress was being made in leveling the highways there. The landscape of Oklahoma is mostly flat. This is good for cross country driving, for it makes for faster and smoother motoring.
In Stillwell, I stopped for gas and noticed the love the city had for the local university, Oklahoma State. There were OK State Cowboy mascots in a number of places, mostly painted on the sides of buildings. The pride in the University by Stillwaterians mirrored the great pride I noticed Oklahoman's have in their state. Well, given the somewhat dull lifestyle of that state, I suppose pride is a necessity to avoiding total boredom. One can't communicate with cows all day. Oh, and I also noticed on my three pit stops in Oklahoma that the people there are very nice. It ought to call itself 'The Not Pretty But Nice State'.
I left Oklahoma and ventured into the longest drive of all- the Kansas ordeal. I drove both north to south through Kansas, then turned left and drove an entire east/west segment. It is a horrendous drive because Kansas is a prairie land state- flat land surrounded by farms, few people, terrible climate (awful heat on my summer jaunt. You can have Kansas. I won't fight for that god forsaken place.
I stopped in Salina, Kansas for a sandwich (yes, to pee too) and a small break from the endless drive time. It was 108F (42.2222 C) at about 2 pm as I exited the car and was hit in the face with a heat blast from the famous prairie wind. In Kansas there is a constant wind on the prairie. When the temperature is 108F that wind turns into a furnace. A local woman said to me as she left the sandwich shop, "It's so hot. I can hardly stand it." To which I replied, " I can. I am leaving this place forever after the last bite of my meatball. My condolences to you for having to stay. At least Salina has taught me what hell is like. Hmmm I wonder if that is my future destination.
After I left Salina I started to doze off as I drove, fighting sleep but being unable to stop because I was in the middle of prairie land with many corn, wheat and other grain and foodstuff farms on both sides and towns absent. Pulling onto the side of the road is dangerous given the proximity of a stopped car to others which whiz by. I had to endure the fatigue and keep moving until there was civilization that would allow me to rest. In praise of Kansas I must say that Kansas and Nebraska are not only the breadbaskets of America. they also feed many in other parts of the world. The farms are amazing there.
I had about 40 kl to drive before I could stop at the next gas station or town and walk off sleeplessness. The prairie terrain is exceedingly monotonous. This lends to sleeplessness in many drivers, as I noticed on big 24 wheel trucker fighting as well. He swerved from side to side and when straight for an instant I bolted past him to leave in wonder whether he made it as I did. Having driven too many miles I found little Colby, Kansas to be a good spot to sleep for the night and found a motel for that.
After checking in I drove across the street for gas and asked some locals at the station, 'Where is the local style food found in Colby." They replied, "We don't have any," meaning fast food and chain restaurants of mediocre serving abounded. I found this true in all the places outside of Louisiana and Texas. There is both little ingenuity in food in middle America and very little of good taste there as well. It's why I had to eat fast food most of the way. Oh well, for a man, donuts are good and sufficient sustenance anytime.
- Day three of the drive went from Colby to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I still had 60 kl of Kansas prairie to get through before entering Colorado, and that included the only rain (a 10 minute shower) on my drive. I exhilarated but when I got to Colorado I began the endless mountain climbs and descents. I remember the highest portion of my trip was on the Colorado/Wyoming border. The elevation was over 9,200 meters. That eventually descended into Denver, or at least the fringe of Denver, as I drove around it and headed into Wyoming. I would have enjoyed seeing denver but had no time for tourism. I liked Colorado for it's beauty and the good quality of mountain road. But as I crossed into Wyoming, like turned to concern about the pathway.
Before me lay the Wyoming landscape, barren of vegetation and moon-like. To make it worse were the mountains to climb and descend, my car wheezing with each climb. In Wyoming I passed into the city of Laramie, famous for mining and the cowboy cattle rodeo. No wonder the university nickname is the Wyoming "Cowboys". I had lunch in a chain restaurant there (no local food nearby was available there either, I was told) and chatted with my very pretty waitress about Wyoming and how she wound up there. She told me she was a student at the university who left a tiny mining town called Colby and that "There is really not much to do in Wyoming". She told me she had always wanted to go to New Orleans to see the sights and that life for most was a bit dull for younger Wyoming residents. It made me realize that I was lucky to be born and live in an active big city like New Orleans.
Wyoming roads were the worst that I experienced on the drive. I saw more than the usual number of cars and trucks broken down along the isolated mountain roads and wondered how those people would ever get out of there. And I had visions of myself being stranded. Haha Unluckily for you, my car saved me and you still have to deal with me now.
One thing I remember was the 'Smallest Town in America' sign that announced an isolated "town" high in the Wyoming mountains composed of, yes, one resident. I saw the sign ( 'Population 1') the state put up announcing it but I did not see the town itself. Perhaps I turned my head and missed it. It represented the whole state as a microcosm for its small size. Wyoming has far more cattle and sheep than humans. It's quite ruggedly pretty with its rock canyons and reddish buttes, but why would anyone want to live there if he or she had a choice in the matter? The answer is we live where we are born most of the time. Leaving is not always a practical avenue.
I ended my day in Rock Springs, Wyoming, population about 8000. But finding accommodations was not as easy as one would imagine in such an unglamorous place. In the nearby tourist city of Green River there was what one motel desk clerk told me "was a big Leanne Rymes concert" that explained the crowded motel condition there that night. I used to like Leanne but she bumped me from the motel that I wanted. But alas! I was given at a big price discount, a "pet suite" (an bigger, better room that is sold to travelers with pets) at a very nice motel. Maybe Leanne isn't bad after all.-Day four began with breathtakingly pretty scenery as I speed away from Rock Springs and into the state of Utah. That route was mountainous with the Wasatch Mountains and Echo Canyon being beautiful sights amidst the dreary dry landscape of Utah and Idaho. While driving around Salt Lake City I saw the famed 'Great Salt Lake, a body of water so filled with natural salt that little life can survive in the huge lake. It is impossible to drown in the Great Salt Lake, as the huge volume of salt in the water makes every thing float on top.
I remember seeing the town of "Little America" in Idaho. It was so small that I think fewer than 50 people lived in it. There were American flags on the signs announcing the town, but I have no idea why that tiny place in the Idaho mountains is called "Little America". Idaho is mostly dry desert land and bald mountains (no greenery on them) mixed with lower land formations that are suitable for farming. The famed Idaho potatoes were growing everywhere in the low farming areas.
Boise is the "big city" in Idaho, with a population of about 200,000. It's become a high tech center in recent years but is so isolated the land around it for many miles seems dead. I drove through Boise as quickly a possible opting to stop for the day further from it in Western Oregon. Idaho is not place one would choose to live. It is too dry, too mountainous, and offers only mining and agricultural work in most of the state. Uh, I suggest that idaho is a little "culturally deprived". I wanted away from it because the driving is treacherous in some of the Idaho bad grade mountain roads.
Very soon after going out of Idaho into Oregon the look of the land turned lush. The mountains in Oregon are wet, lush with trees, and the roads in Oregon are among the best and safest of all. This is in contrast to the dry mountains of Wyoming and Idaho. On first entering Oregon the land is a fertile farming and cattle region with the population being small. I drove on to Baker City, an isolated old mining town in Southeast Oregon and spent the night there because of its location and the lateness of the evening. Baker is nestled among many ghost towns (formerly thriving cities that are now empty because the mining activities there are closed). Baker City is famed as tourist site because it was in the path of the Oregon Wagon trains of the 19th century. One can see wagon wheel ruts that carved impressions into the land as the settlers struggled to reach the Pacific Ocean farther to the west.
- My final days drive was shorter, about 5 1/2 hours to my home in Portland. In the beginning as I exited Baker City I passed through some of the most beautiful mountain range sights that I have ever seen, 'The Blue Mountains'. Those mountains are densely wooded in fir and spruce trees making it appear to be a Christmas huge tree farm. Two young fawn dear came out of the forest high in the mountains to stare at me as I drove through. No doubt I am a more odd creature than they. The climb up and own was very steep, and I could see evidence of recreational climbing in the Blue Mountains in the many campers that passed and by the signs indicating recreational places in the Blue Mountains.
After exiting the Blue Mountains I came upon land that was rolling range land and the famed Columbia River. For almost 100 miles I drove parallel to the Columbia River and could see the state of Washington on the opposite bank of the river. The section of the Columbia about 70 miles from Portland has a series of dams one of which has locks that allow the millions of huge salmon to move upstream and breed. The Cascade locks have a viewing window in which the public can see the tiny avenue across the dam in which every salmon must negotiate to exit. I saw that on a previous trip here. This was evidence I was almost home.
It was a relief to see the beauty of Oregon in contrast to the more bleak sites of the other states in which I traveled from New Orleans. Viewing the environment of Oregon in contrast to all the others showed it was clearly the prettiest and most desirable state of all. I think I made a good choice in my relocation. Now that the drive has been made, and I am home we shall see if I was correct.
More Opinions
Ok, sorry..but I am not finished ranting about opinions... One thing opinion can do is to make a person seem prejudiced, biased or stubborn. This is or is not the case, depending on whether the opinions are "informed ones" or just ignorant guesses one convinces him or herself are truths. Uninformed people who hold opinions that they don't truly understand or haven't thought out are best left alone, patronized or slapped across the face. Just kidding about the slapping, though maybe it might make them think more and opinion ate less.
It's interesting how opinions can become dogmatic beliefs that the holders are certain are not really opinions, but rather universal truths the rest of us are too dumb to yet know. So they spend their lives trying to educate us that their opinion is fact. Smiling without comment is the best way to deal with those dogmatic opinion givers.
One of the worst things to have an opinion about is religion. No matter what a person thinks about an aspect of religion, there will always be other opinions to counter whatever religious opinion is expressed. My strategy when hearing someone express a religious opinion is to change the subject. Discussing religion, a subject that is complete opinion in itself since it is faith based, is like arguing about which band is best or whether apple pie is better than lemon. Too, the religious opinionaters (It's my opinion that this isn't a real word, but it sounds cute) inject many opinions about their favorite subject of religion.
Take prayer in school, as an example. It is my opinion that prayer doesn't belong in school, education does. If kids don't have to pray at the doctor's office, the neighbor's kid's birthday party or before turning the TV on or off, why must they pray in school? School prayer makes about as much sense as church math.
I just gave an opinion, something smart people try to avoid. I am unable to avoid it, ergo I am....never mind that. If I ever ran for political office I would not get many votes. I have too many opinions that rub others the wrong way. For instance, I don't like abortion, but I like those people who like abortion a whole lot more than those who campaign against abortion. Who would vote for a politician that would say that? No one. Of course, that's just my opinion. And I am done writing about it..
It's interesting how opinions can become dogmatic beliefs that the holders are certain are not really opinions, but rather universal truths the rest of us are too dumb to yet know. So they spend their lives trying to educate us that their opinion is fact. Smiling without comment is the best way to deal with those dogmatic opinion givers.
One of the worst things to have an opinion about is religion. No matter what a person thinks about an aspect of religion, there will always be other opinions to counter whatever religious opinion is expressed. My strategy when hearing someone express a religious opinion is to change the subject. Discussing religion, a subject that is complete opinion in itself since it is faith based, is like arguing about which band is best or whether apple pie is better than lemon. Too, the religious opinionaters (It's my opinion that this isn't a real word, but it sounds cute) inject many opinions about their favorite subject of religion.
Take prayer in school, as an example. It is my opinion that prayer doesn't belong in school, education does. If kids don't have to pray at the doctor's office, the neighbor's kid's birthday party or before turning the TV on or off, why must they pray in school? School prayer makes about as much sense as church math.
I just gave an opinion, something smart people try to avoid. I am unable to avoid it, ergo I am....never mind that. If I ever ran for political office I would not get many votes. I have too many opinions that rub others the wrong way. For instance, I don't like abortion, but I like those people who like abortion a whole lot more than those who campaign against abortion. Who would vote for a politician that would say that? No one. Of course, that's just my opinion. And I am done writing about it..
In The Opinion Of
You know what we have too much of today? Opinions! I think we have become a world of experts because every citizen seems to have a fixed opinion about every issue. The trouble is, the collective opinion is usually wrong when it extends beyond those things that are our fixed moral absolutes (Golden Rule, Ten Commandments etc.).
If you had everyone in a nation vote on every issue that comes before it that country would be a mess, because the opinion voters decided to legislate would most often not be correct. Of course I am only referring to incorrectness in YOUR opinions and THEIR opinion. Mine is always right...you already know that so let's leave that aspect of opinions alone.
Since opinions come from a person's beliefs ("But it says so in the Bible."), perspectives ("Where I come from we don't believe that."), understanding (It's too complicated but Opray says it's true.." and desires ("I hope and have faith that it's right") there is plenty of room for inaccuracy. Most people are not logical when making a decision that calls for logic. That's a major reason that an opinion might be factually wrong.
Of course the leaders people elect or those leaders who are dictators are supposed to make decisions for their constituency based on reason. Instead, they lie and manipulate and even create false opinions among the masses in order to benefit themselves. Look at the Muslim population of Pakistan, for instance, and you can see substantial numbers of them have bad opinions based on prevarication by their local Imans.
Public opinion is nothing more than the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the population, and that is very easy to influence or control (see Nazi Germany for widely held horrific opinions). And there are many other kinds of opinions apart from an individual's control, those that "they believe" that "I must accept" since "they" are the majority. In fact, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.
One example of opinion that is hard to judge is "scientific opinion". The formerly precise and more accurate opinion methodology of scientific opinion has been contaminated by the modern political correctness notion. Scientists now often hold opinions not based on the scientific method but on what others want to hear ("If I support what the government wants it will give me a big research grant,"). Scientific opinions arrive and mutate all the time now. I don't trust most of them.
One kind of opinion that I like is the newspaper editorial opinion. It is well thought-out and the giver does not claim to be infallible or even right, just stating a perspective that makes the reader think for him or herself. I think editorial opinions are the best kind because they are not dogmatic and require the person to read the entire side before commenting.
The major kind of opinion we hold is that of the personal opinion. (Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.) Those are the worst kind and least accurate of opinion. If you need evidence just read the endless blogs on line or read any of my stupid opinions I have sent to you here. Hmmmm everyone is entitled to my opinion.
As bad as collective opinion is, personal opinion is worse because it is very hard to change, even when faulty or wrong. Most of the time I don't listen too carefully or too long to a personal opinion. It's usually just a rearrangement of the speaker's prejudices, not real factual content. I hate to quote the bumbling ex president George Bush but what he said makes some sense..."I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them
I suppose you have an opinion about all this...but I really don't need to hear it.
If you had everyone in a nation vote on every issue that comes before it that country would be a mess, because the opinion voters decided to legislate would most often not be correct. Of course I am only referring to incorrectness in YOUR opinions and THEIR opinion. Mine is always right...you already know that so let's leave that aspect of opinions alone.
Since opinions come from a person's beliefs ("But it says so in the Bible."), perspectives ("Where I come from we don't believe that."), understanding (It's too complicated but Opray says it's true.." and desires ("I hope and have faith that it's right") there is plenty of room for inaccuracy. Most people are not logical when making a decision that calls for logic. That's a major reason that an opinion might be factually wrong.
Of course the leaders people elect or those leaders who are dictators are supposed to make decisions for their constituency based on reason. Instead, they lie and manipulate and even create false opinions among the masses in order to benefit themselves. Look at the Muslim population of Pakistan, for instance, and you can see substantial numbers of them have bad opinions based on prevarication by their local Imans.
Public opinion is nothing more than the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the population, and that is very easy to influence or control (see Nazi Germany for widely held horrific opinions). And there are many other kinds of opinions apart from an individual's control, those that "they believe" that "I must accept" since "they" are the majority. In fact, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.
One example of opinion that is hard to judge is "scientific opinion". The formerly precise and more accurate opinion methodology of scientific opinion has been contaminated by the modern political correctness notion. Scientists now often hold opinions not based on the scientific method but on what others want to hear ("If I support what the government wants it will give me a big research grant,"). Scientific opinions arrive and mutate all the time now. I don't trust most of them.
One kind of opinion that I like is the newspaper editorial opinion. It is well thought-out and the giver does not claim to be infallible or even right, just stating a perspective that makes the reader think for him or herself. I think editorial opinions are the best kind because they are not dogmatic and require the person to read the entire side before commenting.
The major kind of opinion we hold is that of the personal opinion. (Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.) Those are the worst kind and least accurate of opinion. If you need evidence just read the endless blogs on line or read any of my stupid opinions I have sent to you here. Hmmmm everyone is entitled to my opinion.
As bad as collective opinion is, personal opinion is worse because it is very hard to change, even when faulty or wrong. Most of the time I don't listen too carefully or too long to a personal opinion. It's usually just a rearrangement of the speaker's prejudices, not real factual content. I hate to quote the bumbling ex president George Bush but what he said makes some sense..."I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them
I suppose you have an opinion about all this...but I really don't need to hear it.
Hairy Thoughts
'Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining,gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there, momma, everywhere, daddy, daddy
Hair, flow it, show it
Long as God can grow, my hair'
No, I am not going crazy thinking about hair. I'm just reflecting about it after having my hair cut today, and think the lyrics from the old "Hair" tune above is a good way to get you into a hairy mood. What do you feel when you have your hair cut or "done" (most makes, me included, just get a cut, not done)? I get a number of impressions and unluckily for you will waste you time today reflecting on them.
Getting haircut is a rebirth experience for me. Uh, I believe (or pretend) that I have a more boyish look after it's done and that it makes me feel younger. No wonder children cry then the barber cuts their hair. If there is anything a 5 year old doesn't want it is to look like, it's a 3 year old. But I haven't been five years old in at least a couple of years.
I also think it changes our personality when we have our hair cut or styled. It's a case of believing what we expect to be. This is not to say i think i am brad Pitt after today's cut. Women have this feeling more often than men because they both cut and/or style their hair more often than men and they are more appearance oriented than men. That's because we men know we are pigs regardless of what our hair looks like. So we care less how it looks.
Another thing that happens when I get a haircut is I get plenty of philosophy thrown at me while sitting in the barber chair. The barber and everyone else in the shop suddenly become philosophers about politics, sports, women and the general state of the world. Often I think they are all wrong, but I always agree with the barber/hairstylist since he or she is the one with the straight razor pushed against my face. But why is it that women in their "beauty salons" would rather gossip than solve the world's problems as we men do in the barbershop?
Hmmm Oh well, maybe my barber put too much cologne on my face today and I am just thinking too much about nothing
Shining,gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there, momma, everywhere, daddy, daddy
Hair, flow it, show it
Long as God can grow, my hair'
No, I am not going crazy thinking about hair. I'm just reflecting about it after having my hair cut today, and think the lyrics from the old "Hair" tune above is a good way to get you into a hairy mood. What do you feel when you have your hair cut or "done" (most makes, me included, just get a cut, not done)? I get a number of impressions and unluckily for you will waste you time today reflecting on them.
Getting haircut is a rebirth experience for me. Uh, I believe (or pretend) that I have a more boyish look after it's done and that it makes me feel younger. No wonder children cry then the barber cuts their hair. If there is anything a 5 year old doesn't want it is to look like, it's a 3 year old. But I haven't been five years old in at least a couple of years.
I also think it changes our personality when we have our hair cut or styled. It's a case of believing what we expect to be. This is not to say i think i am brad Pitt after today's cut. Women have this feeling more often than men because they both cut and/or style their hair more often than men and they are more appearance oriented than men. That's because we men know we are pigs regardless of what our hair looks like. So we care less how it looks.
Another thing that happens when I get a haircut is I get plenty of philosophy thrown at me while sitting in the barber chair. The barber and everyone else in the shop suddenly become philosophers about politics, sports, women and the general state of the world. Often I think they are all wrong, but I always agree with the barber/hairstylist since he or she is the one with the straight razor pushed against my face. But why is it that women in their "beauty salons" would rather gossip than solve the world's problems as we men do in the barbershop?
Hmmm Oh well, maybe my barber put too much cologne on my face today and I am just thinking too much about nothing
Common Lies
Today I heard an Islamic "Iman" on a segment of news ranting about how the holocaust of Jews is a "myth". Not only does the volume of eye witness and recorded evidence show that the Iman is wrong about describing it a myth, he's more likely guilty not of mythologizing, but rather of lying about that event. It seems that many people today hold onto beliefs that are more rooted in delusion or lying (given the preponderance of evidence), ignorance (the have never discovered or attempted to view evidence to support or deny their belief), or propaganda (I suspect the main reason so many Muslims believe no Jews were murdered in the holocaust is because of the heavily controlled propaganda of them combined with their hatred of anything non Muslim).
Despite the advancements of science I think there are at least as many lies today as in any other age. How about the "organic food is better for your body" lie that has made billionaires of those selling the organic superiority myth that is wholly unsupported by fact? But then every society is bade on or sets up lies in order to control the masses from thinking for themselves. One only need see the Global Warming hysteria to view how an unproved hypothesis has become sacred truth for many people who live in the west.
Distinguishing between something that is true and something that is believed to be true should be the quest of every human. But it is not, because thinking for oneself is harder and more upsetting to people. So we blindly accept what some authority tells us is true or simply believe what the consensus is, given that it is safer for us since we will rarely be challenged. The Greek philosopher Protagoras said "Man is the Measure of All Things", meaning if more people believe something to be true, even if it is not, it becomes a truism to the society (For example, everyone believed the earth flat in his day, therefore the earth was flat).
We both can think of a litany of those kinds of lies, but here are a few I present for you. Perhaps you believe one or more of them them to be true.
- UFO's are real and there "must" be advanced life forms somewhere in the solar system
- Families have the right values. (ever notice how many family values are dysfunctional ones)
- If it is printed in the Newspaper or heard on the News, it must be true.
- It's not nice to judge others.
- The right answer should always make you happy.
- Terrorists present a real the threat to most people.
- Modern technology makes for better communication among and between individuals.
I know...most of my comments to you are suspect too....
Despite the advancements of science I think there are at least as many lies today as in any other age. How about the "organic food is better for your body" lie that has made billionaires of those selling the organic superiority myth that is wholly unsupported by fact? But then every society is bade on or sets up lies in order to control the masses from thinking for themselves. One only need see the Global Warming hysteria to view how an unproved hypothesis has become sacred truth for many people who live in the west.
Distinguishing between something that is true and something that is believed to be true should be the quest of every human. But it is not, because thinking for oneself is harder and more upsetting to people. So we blindly accept what some authority tells us is true or simply believe what the consensus is, given that it is safer for us since we will rarely be challenged. The Greek philosopher Protagoras said "Man is the Measure of All Things", meaning if more people believe something to be true, even if it is not, it becomes a truism to the society (For example, everyone believed the earth flat in his day, therefore the earth was flat).
We both can think of a litany of those kinds of lies, but here are a few I present for you. Perhaps you believe one or more of them them to be true.
- UFO's are real and there "must" be advanced life forms somewhere in the solar system
- Families have the right values. (ever notice how many family values are dysfunctional ones)
- If it is printed in the Newspaper or heard on the News, it must be true.
- It's not nice to judge others.
- The right answer should always make you happy.
- Terrorists present a real the threat to most people.
- Modern technology makes for better communication among and between individuals.
I know...most of my comments to you are suspect too....
Too Many Holidays
If I said "Today is a holiday", you probably wouldn't be surprised, even though it isn't a holiday (as far as I know). My point is there are a whole lot of holidays in every country, many more than in the past. It's a wonder any work ever gets done these days. With so many cultures mixing in nations all over the world, more holidays are introduced into countries. Also, it's a trend to give even the smallest minority or belief their own holiday that the majority has to celebrate too.
For example, in the U.S the latest holiday to be named honoring a person is Martin Luther King Day here in late January. It's a mandatory day off for all government workers, banks, the post office etc. Nobody can do much work that day. But in the next month there are holidays for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and a day called "President's Day to honor more former U.S. presidents with a holiday. Why don't they just give all the presidents and Martin one day to celebrate so work can be done. I think many holidays are just an excuse to take a day off work.
Even within a single nation one section may get a holiday for one thing and another for their own holiday. Take New Orleans, for instance. It has Mardi Gras day, and all workers, even federal government employees get that day off. I think they trade President's day for Mardi Gras Day, working on the former and partying on the latter. But if you took the Mardi Gras holiday away from people in New Orleans and south Louisiana they would be so upset they might refuse to work the rest of the days in the year.
Some holidays are sacred and universal, like Christmas day. Even non Christians love it because there is so much non religious about it that's fun. I doubt the world will embrace all religious as they do Christmas. Few non Muslims will ever get excited about Eid Al-Fitr day. Muslim holidays are not fun like the Christian holidays. Instead of Santa Clause and gingerbread cookies, Eid Al-Fitr makes you fast and kneel and pray to exhaustion. If the Muslims want to be
In the holiday celebration calendar they have to make their holidays less serious and more ridiculous like the Christians do. Ho Ho Ho.
I could go on and on about the presence of too many holidays today, but I will leave you with the names of some real January holidays some people celebrate during one random month (January). Are you ready to get emotional about...
Baby Boom Birthday (officially began, 1946)
Snake Eyes Day (for gambling addicts, I presume)
Great Fruitcake Toss Day
National Cream Puff Day
Positive Postcard Day
Working Women in the White House Day
Festival Of Sleep Day (I should sleep through that one)
Humiliation Day (but I already humiliate myself daily)
Birthday of the Blender Day
Bean DayCuddle Up Day
National Shortbread Day
I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore DayPeculiar People Day
Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day
Blame Somebody Else DayNational Good Teen Day (Founded by an Ohio school teacher, this day has actually been approved by the U.S.Congress)
Popeye's BirthdaySquirrel Appreciation Day (I never knew we've been un appreciating squirrels)
Granola Bar DayWomen's Healthy Weight Day (prepare to be slapped by the nearest woman if announcing that day)
Mad Tea Party Day (Lewis Carroll author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's Birthday)National Toilet Day (you can read this on the toilet, then flush it that day)
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (How does a human show appreciation for Bubble Wrap?)National Inane Answering Message Day (Well, I can relate to the insane part)
For example, in the U.S the latest holiday to be named honoring a person is Martin Luther King Day here in late January. It's a mandatory day off for all government workers, banks, the post office etc. Nobody can do much work that day. But in the next month there are holidays for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and a day called "President's Day to honor more former U.S. presidents with a holiday. Why don't they just give all the presidents and Martin one day to celebrate so work can be done. I think many holidays are just an excuse to take a day off work.
Even within a single nation one section may get a holiday for one thing and another for their own holiday. Take New Orleans, for instance. It has Mardi Gras day, and all workers, even federal government employees get that day off. I think they trade President's day for Mardi Gras Day, working on the former and partying on the latter. But if you took the Mardi Gras holiday away from people in New Orleans and south Louisiana they would be so upset they might refuse to work the rest of the days in the year.
Some holidays are sacred and universal, like Christmas day. Even non Christians love it because there is so much non religious about it that's fun. I doubt the world will embrace all religious as they do Christmas. Few non Muslims will ever get excited about Eid Al-Fitr day. Muslim holidays are not fun like the Christian holidays. Instead of Santa Clause and gingerbread cookies, Eid Al-Fitr makes you fast and kneel and pray to exhaustion. If the Muslims want to be
In the holiday celebration calendar they have to make their holidays less serious and more ridiculous like the Christians do. Ho Ho Ho.
I could go on and on about the presence of too many holidays today, but I will leave you with the names of some real January holidays some people celebrate during one random month (January). Are you ready to get emotional about...
Baby Boom Birthday (officially began, 1946)
Snake Eyes Day (for gambling addicts, I presume)
Great Fruitcake Toss Day
National Cream Puff Day
Positive Postcard Day
Working Women in the White House Day
Festival Of Sleep Day (I should sleep through that one)
Humiliation Day (but I already humiliate myself daily)
Birthday of the Blender Day
Bean DayCuddle Up Day
National Shortbread Day
I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore DayPeculiar People Day
Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day
Blame Somebody Else DayNational Good Teen Day (Founded by an Ohio school teacher, this day has actually been approved by the U.S.Congress)
Popeye's BirthdaySquirrel Appreciation Day (I never knew we've been un appreciating squirrels)
Granola Bar DayWomen's Healthy Weight Day (prepare to be slapped by the nearest woman if announcing that day)
Mad Tea Party Day (Lewis Carroll author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's Birthday)National Toilet Day (you can read this on the toilet, then flush it that day)
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (How does a human show appreciation for Bubble Wrap?)National Inane Answering Message Day (Well, I can relate to the insane part)
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