Soapy Thoughts

This is going to be a clean message, but only because I am going to write about soap. I had another lapse in mind the other day and bought some of those designer soaps, including an "orange blossom and something' soap I used when I showed a few minutes ago. It inspired me to think about soap....or maybe the awful smell of it (it smelled like burnt orange and some other identified odor) was too much to take alone, and now I pass on to you the punishment of reading my soapy remarks.

There are to many soaps today. it use to be we had a choice of which white bar soap to buy. They are were simply made and did the same thing. No more! Now we have celebrity labeled soaps, liquid soaps, antibiotic soaps, fragrant soaps, soaps that treat skin disorders, soaps for dry skin or too moist skin, all natural soaps, facial soaps, dandruff soaps, decorative soaps..ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh It never ends. I even saw one soap that was billed as "Protects against Lycanthropic beasts" (that would be to save you from werewolves). It all smells to me, and it isn't a good odor.

Soaps have become like the bottled water that we are sold, a once simple product now jazzed up too much for marketing purposes. But real soap in its simplest and best form is nothing more than a combination of a fatty acid and an alkali oil...just two ingredients are needed...that's it. But no more. Now what is in soaps is a combination that would baffle anyone, all in an attempt to market brand a soap as better than a competitor's. Like water, basic soaps are all the same. So differentiation is needed to sell soap as in the many bottled waters created form plain water so that people spend their hard earned money to make the sellers wealthy.

Another of the fragrant soaps that I bought when I purchased the orange blossom soap I showed with today is called Fig Fuge bath Scent. Here's what in that one: Sodium Stearate, Aqua/Water/eau, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Layrate, Sodium Myristate, Glycerin, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Laurel Sulfate, Sorbitol, Tianium Dioxide (CL 77891), Parfum/fragrence, Butylated Hydrooxytoluene, Red 40 (CI 16035) Yellow 5 (CI 19140)

Gee, they make it so easy for us to understand the chemicals they put in soap. And I paid extra for this Fig soap. I wonder why there are no figs in the ingredients? Never mind! I'm eventually going to rub that soap on my face. It's better to just "clean" my mind of any more thoughts of soap. It's too dirty a topic for me. Frankly, it stinks.

Doomsday Again

Another Earth Day has passed, and it was uneventful as it probably should be in this age of alarmist environmentalism. This global warmed, green mentality is going to yet kill me. At least something will come to an end...me. But it won't be from any of the environmental doomsday scenarios we read . My blood pressure will rise at the latest foolish environmental doomsday idea, and I'll just keel over to become part of the earth again. See, I really am an environmentalist.

In conjunction with Earth Day those wacky scientists who love to paint dreary pictures based on maybe, might and could be opinions rather than the scientific method, have a new doomsday scenario for this year. They announced that world as we know it is likely to end within 90 years, and human civilization has only a 50 percent chance of surviving until 2100 without being hit by a man made catastrophe, according to two of the world's most respected scientists. That is from one (and only one) prominent scientist Martin Ree who made the prediction during a debate at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Don't ask me how he determined it to be 90 years as opposed to 89 or any other figure. Maybe he spun a wheel from the county fair and it landed on 90.

Another scientist at the festival said that beyond the tangible threat of a terrorist nuclear attack on a major city, climate change and overpopulation are the world's leading man made perils, and they will kill us all. But wait! We have more ways to "maybe" be destroyed. Astronomer Royal for Scotland, John Brown, cautioned that the planet is somewhat overdue for an asteroid impact.(Hollywood has already done it more times than nature) Hmmm I wonder if the asteroid will land on me before I am made toast by this global warming thing.

Brown also said that instead of dying by way of asteroids we might just become globally uncomfortable as electromagnetic solar storms that could fry electronics in orbit and on the ground cripple all those awful electronic devices humans are mindlessly addicted to. I just wish they would settle on one death fantasy for us. Even a condemned prisoner is executed only one way.

Thing is, all of this is conjecture and opinion, not conclusions based on the use of the scientific method. Since the beginning of mankind's ability to understand the universe its scientists have predicted extinction and always been wrong about it. But they continue to play the end of the earth guessing game because it's so much fun to read your predictions in journals and the media, and it's a break from real scientific research that can be boring.

We have many mechanisms in place that could spell our demise and always have had them. But to predict one of them with guesses is foolishness fueled by media coverage that can stroke the ego of the scientists who declare them. Sadly, the public believes them as "science" and anything that is stated as "environmental news" is accepted as truth. It's enough to make us all kill ourselves and rob the doomsday event of the pleasure.

What's In The New Today

I think the news overload we face each day is driving us mad. What wasn't news before is now prime time news on TV, radio, print and on the internet, and this reporting of every triviality and perversion of what most people experience in their daily lives has deterred us from finding real news that has a real impact on our lives. From daily updates on the lunatic actor Charlie Sheen to hysterical reports of the earth boiling us what we see as news today is not enriching our lives or defining issues with which we need to deal. It is creating a fantasy land that insulates us from reality.

Need another example of non news being portrayed as news? CNN.com had a feature story today about the Philadelphia Public Health authority giving 11 year olds free condoms, anonymously. They go on line, fill out a form, and receive a mailing of condoms...without mom or dad knowing a thing. It's a bizarre stupid anomaly by that city health department that is irrelevant to almost everyone who is asked to read the story, and it takes the place of real issues that we are uninformed about and neglecting. But this is what news has become today. Instead of being buried on an obscure web site, it is presented a feature story on CNN. it does not follow.

The "censor" or "editor" who screens what is put in print or aired by mediums seems missing in action. Instead, those whose job it is to choose what is to be presented as news now prioritize the sensational item above the substantive one. No wonder the world is so misinformed about what it should know. It's too busy being entertained and titillated to see and digest what is important. We have become children in a room full of foods, but who have the cookies and candy in our view and the veggies and fruits hidden beneath the sweets. It's just harder and harder today to find objective news about real issues that matter. As a result the world becomes less informed about what it should know.

Problem is, most people don't realize they have been euthanized by the junk that is portrayed to them as news. It's what happens when a medium explosion presents endless sources for news. With so many sources the most entertaining win out over the most important. Real news, mostly unexciting, is pushed to the background in favor of entertaining "news" which is more profitable for the news presenters bottom lines, given us the mentality we possess today of entertainment first, substance second.

How ironic that the glorious information source explosion of the internet and modern electronic technology would so quickly dumb down what it tells us into goo that humans can't get enough of. We avoid dealing with real problems and duties because by wallowing in the stupidity we are uninformed about the serious. Well, at least I know where to refer 11 year olds to get free condoms.

Kung Fu In The Sky

Airline travel is REALLY getting rough for the passengers these days. I'm not referring to those extra small seats, long delays, crazy charges added on to the cost of tickets, the lack of food served on airplanes, the frequent bump from flights, lost baggage, higher fares, fewer flights.....you already know about those passengers devils. But Hong Kong Airlines is now requiring its flight crews to learn a form of kung fu to deal with what it calls "nasty passengers". It seems that they will kung fu us now instead of bumping us from the flight. Delightful! Physical pain from flying too.

Hk Airlines says it averages three out-of-control passengers a week, and that delivering a kung fu blow might quiet them down and make the journey safer for everyone. I am not so sure. Training and encouraging fuing (is that a word?) among crew members could lead to some strange scenarios in passenger steward/stewardess relations.

"Oh, Stewardess, May I have a blanket?" WHOOP! (Oh my.,..she just fu'd that guy for asking)
"You are supposed to know that passengers must reserve and pay for blankets. There are no free blankets here."
WHOOP! (she got him again).
Two kungs for asking for a blanket. I hate to think what kind of treatment a passenger will get for using the rest room while the seat belt light is on.
"Sit down now" (says the hot the kung fu HKA Stewardess).
"But I have diarrhea. I have to go" , says the passenger.
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Oh my, three fu's and diarrhea everywhere in the plane...

Hey! After fuing the worst offenders, how about just installing and using ejection seats to send the nasty one on their way so the rest of us can be tortured in a more calm atmosphere? With the cracks forming in 737s these days, it should be an easy to do the ejection fu.

But if the flight crew will fu, what is to keep passengers from fuing too? I can envision an entire Jackie Chan fight scene on board when a passenger fails to turn off his cell phone in time. Haha The rest of the passengers could all sing that stupid 80's song, "Everybody was kung fu fighting" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUkGIsKvn0 while the battle ensues.

Flying might still not be much fun, but it will be more of an adventure with fuing going on. And after the king fu policy fails to subdue the drunks and other unruly passengers I can see the next brainstorm of those airlines that love to make us so uncomfortable. It's to arm the stewardesses with handguns. Hmmm Maybe they could play Dirty Harry music when they shoot the guy who sits in the wrong seat...

Royal Wedding Observations

If there is one thing I hate more than royalty and weddings, it's a royal wedding. But you get a break. I'll spare you and make that a rant for another day. Instead, what I have noticed about the media infatuation with the "royal wedding" of Kate Middleton and that Prince William guy is something on the periphery that brings up a couple of other observations separate from the idea that the world would be interested in a marriage ceremony of two strangers in a distant land. Uh, bad news for you is....you don't escape those other observations.

My first one is as to why the royal family refuses to use a last name. Maybe they think it separates them by status, that last names are for peasants. Well, we all know who they are because the media tells us every day. Maybe they don't need a last name. And I would not bow to a king or queen named Butch Schwartz or Bambie Tongoloia. Would you? I'll give them a pass on making their last names disappear.

If my memory serves me well, I think this British royal line choose 'Windsor" as the official royal family last name (though it is never uttered by any of them) because Prince Albert (the fellow who married Queen Victoria) was a member of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and the descendants of Victoria and he were linked to that German dynasty. Oh my...no good Englishman wants to be thought of as German. The solution was to change it to the more Brit sounding 'Windsor', which is what it still is now.

Are you confused yet? Well, how about this thought? Other first name only people of prominence are Prince, Bono, Beyonce, Twiggy, Pele and a cast of others. I challenge you to find a link between the royal family to those other first name only characters. I suppose this Kate Middleton lady will lose her last name after the marriage, just as that Diana Spencer woman did when she married that Charles guy. You remember, they only called her 'Princess Di' after the marriage and even after the divorce. The poor woman never got her name back. Maybe it was in the divorce decree to eliminate it?

My other observation surrounding that marriage is that news films and pictures of Kate seem to show she likes hats. I think she must sartorially, stylistically be a woman of the masses, because they wear a lot of hats in England. Even though I have ignored, no run away, from stories about the "royal wedding", given its utter vacuous value to society, when I read my newspaper or look at TV news I see many men and women in England wearing all sorts of interesting looking hats.

Americans don't wear hats anymore. After W.W. II the hat style fo wear disappeared as Americans embraced the sloppy shorts, T shirt and thong sandal code of dress. But the Brits still dress up often, and that includes hats. It must be true that cultures that dress more formally have more hats worn. I like to see it too and it'swhy we think that the British are an intelligent and well mannered population(uh.... when they don't go to soccer games).

I have a few hats myself, but no formal ones and no formal ones that I myself purchased. If I put on a hat, any kind of hat, I look even more hideous and repulsive than what I look like without one. But most people look more distinguished when wearing a formal style hat. I purchased only a couple of baseball style caps used to shade my head from the damaging rays of the sun when I am in it for a long stretch of time. I may have no brains, but I still want to keep them from being overexposed to the sun. But Kate Middleton looks great in her hats, and I think she must know that wearing nice hats will mark her as a legitimate member of the royal family. Don't send your baseball caps to Kate, because she doesn't need those kinds

I hope you will not waste your time thinking about my idiotic observations on the royal family name and the hat craze among Brits. There is no meaning or depth to my remarks. But if you do, I suggest you should be ashamed of sinking to my level, and you should go out and buy a big hat to conceal your identity so no one will recognize you thereafter. On that note, I tip my at you as I go.....

Have A Kinky Easter

I must say that I am not a big fan of Easter, not since I got too big to hunt for baskets of Easter candy. But if someone wants to hide chocolate candy for me I could become religious again at Easter, at least until the candy runs out. Truth is, although raised as a Catholic and respectful to all the rituals and events of Catholicism, even as a kid I felt Easter was a little creepy. Maybe 'kinky" is a better word.

This Easter on "Good Friday", Pope Benedict XVI washed the feet of 12 priests during a Holy Thursday Last Supper Mass, something kinky that popes do every Easter Holy Week ritual that leads to Easter Sunday. It's supposed to represent humility toward other humans, but a five minute ritual isn't really convincing enough for me. Let the Pope wash feet every day and I'll get the point of it. Charlie Sheen is humble in his movies, but not off screen. I want to see the Pope wash when the cameras are off.
Want another example of kinky element about Easter?

Every Good Friday a group of Filipinos march through villages while being beaten with sticks and ropes (in a re-enactment of Jesus Christ's suffering as he was led to the crucifixion). Whips and ropes and being tied to across like Jesus was....oh my... Now that is a S&M session any kinkster would love to play out. Not to blame the Philippines though, this ritual is also re enacted every Easter in other places too. But the Filipino kink sets the standard for holiday kink.

Is it not odd to role play such a bloody event? Most of the participants who undergo that kinky ritual say they do so to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life and give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles. It shows the power of religion over the poor. When one has no material possessions/comforts, he or she can be convinced that public flogging and being nailed to across is some how the way to reach happiness. A few years ago, inpsired by the Filipino ritual, a Japanese man sought to be crucified as part of a porn film in 1996 after learning of the kinky Catholic ritual, so I guess Catholicism is inspiring.....err...in a kinky kind of way.

The official Catholic Church policy is to disapprove of the crucifixion enactments, but the Church never has tried to enforce the idea with excommunication. It just sits and, I guess, enjoys the show while waveign a finger and declaring that those naughty filipinos should not do it. Those big event Easter kink shows inspire many Easter celebrants to engage in their own more private Easter kink traditions. How about the toddler Easter egg hunt, as an example. In that one baffled pre 5year old kids are gathered by the hundreds and sent into a ring where cheap candy is dumped. Someone blows a whistle and mom and dad push the little ones into the ring where they are beaten and stomped upon by kids of all faiths (I notice the other religions become one day Christian when their kids can get free candy).

To make matters worse, after the crying toddlers emerge from the arena, mom and dad grab what little candy they have happened to find and declare, "Only one piece for you, candy is bad for your health". I think those kids would have better mental and physical health if not thrown into the gladiator area of the Easter egg hunt. Oh well, to make the toddler egg hunt even more kinky, mom and dad usually eat the candy in front of the traumatized toddlers, all the while lecturing on global warming and unhealthy snacks.

So remember at Easter it is time to take your little ones to that 2 hour mass, dress him in as uncomfortable a cute suit as you can find, have him kneel on hard prayer kneel racks, make him recite prayers he doesn't understand, and if he is naughty....just tell him you will make him wait in the altar boy room with some kinky, drooling, child loving priests.

I do think Easter is the kinky holiday we celebrate, but it's also probably why it hasn't caught on as much as some of our other holidays. We all like a little kink in private once in awhile, but religion can sometimes take the kink way over the top.

Slimy Green Claims

When you shop do you often notice products labeled as "green", "organic," "fair trade" or "eco"? I can't escape them when I am shopping for cleaning supplies. I think in this country there will soon be more alleged environmentally safe products than the regular ones we have used all the years before the trendy green age started. Of course most of the green products are little different from the regular ones. But the consumer has been brain washed by advertisers who see a nice way to make big money, telling consumers that they must buy (and pay more for) them or feel guilty if they don't. After all, who wants to be the guy who supposedly polluted the planet.

The U.S. government now requires that all products bearing its 'Energy Star' (allegedly, you help to "save the planet" if you buy energy star. Haha) logo undergo third party testing to prove they're more efficient than are regular items. Previously, it required testing of only some products, and that led to every phony advertisement/product who wished to claim "green" to do so. But now the FTC is cracking down on vague, unsubstantiated claims.

I wonder if it is too late for that, given that most consumers don't trust many of the environmentally efficient claims made by manufacturers today. In my case, I ignore any product that claims to be eco superior and just buy whichever normal one I think works best. I, uh, don't have any trust in the environmentalist movement, as I have seen the lies and distortions used by it over the many years as it has become prominent.

Most of the green labeled products involve construction, personal health care products, foods, and any good that is made with "natural" ingredients (whatever that is?). The environmental lunatics who control the movement today stole the environmental movement early on, altering it with fabrications of the truth and wild claims, and have now so confused the public the environmental movement is gravely ill. In too many cases, when the subject is discussed, environmentalism is mentioned with laughs and derision.

Well, the sale of products that are not any more environmentally safe or efficient than what consumers have always used only adds to the loss of faith in environmentalism. If the FTC makes manufacturers prove their environmental claims it would surely restore some faith in the idea that choosing an environmentally better product, even if it is a little more expensive, isn't a bad idea. Right now too many consumers believe that the green movement is a scam, and that it only proves that a fool and his money are soon parted.

Income Tax Day

Income taxes were due in the U.S. on Monday. Few are happy about paying those taxes, and as unfair as they are as to who pays and how much, I can understand why. Mark Twain once said that, "The only difference between a taxman and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin." Twain makes a good point because in the United States income tax levies are one of the most unfair of all government programs. But the income tax is the single greatest source of revenue for the government, so it's not going to end in any lifetime. It could be called the biggest and most egregious entitlement of all because once it was levied it was destined to never be taken away.

Why is it so unfair? It's because less than half of Americans pay any income tax. They carry the burden for the others who do pay because they are labled as too "poor" to pay anything for the services they receive from government. It is of course a great big lie that they can not pay. Truth is, not so many decades ago, the rate of taxpayers to non taxpayers was 90% to 10%, not 50% to 50 %.

I don't think the smaller pool of taxpayers now is because of poverty. Some families with incomes of more than $70,000 a year are labeled as too poor to pay one cent of taxes. Rather, the shrinking pool of taxpayers and the ever larger responsibility of those who pay, to pay more, is because politicians love to get reelected to office. Lowering the threshold at which a person is required to pay the income tax makes those excused loyal to the politicians who provide the avenue for them to not pay.

That's why we hear the "tax the rich" cries so much. Yet more than 50% of all U.S. income taxes are paid by the top 10% of earners in America. It should expose the lie that the wealthy are not taxed enough and make the country face the real reality that too few people who are not wealthy are paying nothing. But it does not. There are so many deductions, exemptions and exclusions, provided by for politicians want to have us vote for them, that what we have wound up with today is one half of Americans paying for their government services they use.....and paying for the other freeloading one half's too.

Here are the reasons I think the American Federal income tax is undemocratic and should be abolished and replaced with a flat rate that is equal for every person in America.

1) It's too complex for any but the most clever accountants to understand. Filing taxes is like casting a fishing line in the ocean. You hope you are casting properly and fishing in the right area, but there is no way for you to know. Those who fish the right area (those who have great tax accountants) do well, while the rest pay an unfair amount. Taxes should be simple enough for even the least educated to understand.

2) The more productive a person is economically the more taxes he or she pays. Punishing those who create wealth should be the last objective of an income tax. Yet we reward the unproductive by excusing them from taxes (the most poor actually not only don't pay any tax, but receive a huge earned credit income check as a reward for not paying). Everyone should pay the same percent of taxes on his or her income.

3) It is unfair. The larger your family, the lower your income taxes. You are rewarded for having babies you cant afford to have. No wonder the poorest people here have far more children than those who are wealthier. For an example from this year's income tax payment rate take the case of a single man with no children who makes $60,000 and uses the standard income tax deduction. He'll owe $9,243 in federal income taxes. Compare that to a man with a wife and four small children earning $60,000. He will pay no federal income taxes. NOTHING! Uh...go forth and multiply to avoid paying taxes.

4) Finally, tax deductions and credits are offered for things that are deemed "good," for society. including charitable contributions or the costs of owning a home. But is it really the place of our government to try to encourage or discourage certain behaviors with monetary incentives and penalties? Of course not. Most of those deductions and credits are targeted at voters who will support the politicians who give them. That is their real purpose, to manipulate voters

It's nice to whine a little after writing those big income tax checks the other day. Maybe they will give me a whining deduction on next year's taxes.

Work Not Needed

The Census Bureau of Statistics released a statistic that the share of the working population in America fell to the lowest level since women started entering the work force in large numbers three decades ago. It is not surprising to me, and not because of a recession or aging population. It's all a reflection of the entitlement/welfare mentality that has taken root here now as fully as it is in Europe.

Only 45.4% of Americans hold jobs now. Yep! Less than half of the total population works. Given the normal percentage of children the disabled and elderly who are not expected to work, it is about 15% higher unemployed than should be. And why should they work. The U.S. is now a nation of welfare addicts who expect and receive "government help" to pay for the goods and services they use. The decline in workers, coupled with the fact that less than half the population paid any income taxes at all in America shows the distress the country is in economically.

One wonders if the U.S. economy is now doomed. For when incentive to work dies so does a nation's prosperity. No matter how wealthy you are, you have a problem if half the population is not working and depending on those who are. And that's what we have now. The politicians promise and give to the non workers more and more welfare, and the segment that contributes work and revenue is forced to pay more and more of its earnings for the have nots.

Right now if a person chooses to sit home and live off (albeit, it is not an extravagant existence, though for many it is preferable to working) entitlements paid by others he or she gets from the federal government, 99+ weeks of unemployment compensation, free health care, subsidized or free housing, food stamps, checks for having children and for child related "expenses' , and a gamut of programs temporary and permanent that pay cash or goods to those who choose to sit rather than work...and then there is the huge amount of state welfare each sate pays. But that is another subject of its own.

The loss of the work ethic loss and of personal responsibility in the U.S. is far worse than the economic disasters of the past few years. Too, 40 million or so uneducated, unskilled, illegal immigrants to the U.S. have added to the "I ain't gonna work because they pay me not to" mentality here. Lets see.... take away meaningful work, make work seem to be unnecessary, degrade the value of work to the nation and make people dependent on government handouts paid for by the work of only a few of the citizens. Who need al Quida or a war to ruin the country. It seems to be doing a good enough job of that on it's own.

Earthquakes

We just had a tremor from an earthquake in Washington's (the state on top of Oregon) Mount St. Helen range. It was just a 4.0 quake, very small, and the typical of the ones from that fault. But the house shook slightly and my grandfather clock chimes from the brass pendulum being rattled. I also did notice that some of the pictures hanging on the walls in my house were slightly askew. Those mountains in Washington have small quakes almost every day. Usually they range from 1.8 to 4.0 in magnitude, very small. The distance is far enough from Portland that we rarely ever feel any effect, and it probably will never have any big result, even if the quake is much larger.

The fault lines that people here "worry" about are along the Oregon and California coast lines. They are huge and the prediction from earthquake scientists is that every 150 years or so they are capable of initiating a big earthquake that will cause massive damage in areas around the fault, including Portland. The last quake there that had any effect (it was small) occurred about 100 years ago.

I was told when I bought my home here that the probability of my house being affected is remote to none at all, given the earthquake building codes here after the early 90's were made very rigid. My house was built in 2005 and is supposedly almost earthquake proof structurally. When I have examined the amount of concrete and bracing in the slab portion of the house, I can see why. It is as solid as one might make it be. But people in Portland with older houses are very much vulnerable to total destruction from a house collapse.

Over the past 150 years very little damage to any part of the Portland area resulted from any earthquake in the California, Oregon, Washington region. That's why only 20% of people in the Portland area (most of them owners of older houses in the city that sit on fault lines there) have "earthquake insurance". I do not have earthquake insurance on my home, given the location and type of structure it is. It seems highly unlikely any significant damage will occur here from a quake unless it is centered along the Oregon coast fault line and unless it is a quake the size of the one that hit Japan this year.

The earthquake possibility here is interesting to me though, since I moved here to escape the all too common hurricane and flooding problems of New Orleans. That scenario is not only likely in New Orleans again, it is almost a certainty to happen in New Orleans many more times in the coming years. As for an earthquake here, the most it could do to me would be to shake some sense into me. The house I have isn't going to go anywhere and is more stable than my brain

No Veils Allowed

The xenophobia French are at it again. They have just made their first two arrests when the two women wearing niqab veils were taken away by police for taking part in an "unauthorized demonstration" that protested the ban on covering faces for religious reasons. They were released later after being questioned and it wasn't disclosed whether they were fined according the the veil law passed a few months ago. Amnesty International condemned the detention of the women and others at the protest.

The French law says veiled women risk a $215 fine or attendance at special citizenship classes, though not jail. People who force women to don a veil are subject to up to a year in prison and a $43,000 (€30,000) fine, and possibly twice that if the veiled person is a minor. The ban affects women who wear the niqab and the burqa. Ouch! The Muslims don't like that. And the law allows carnival masks, motorcycle helmets that cover the face etc.

Obviously, the anti mask rule is a French attack on what French most hate- diversity and differences in their culture. The irony is that France, a democracy, is acting more like the Mid east Muslim immigrants totalitarian religious states from which the Muslims in France immigrated than like a democratic state. Soooooooooooo a woman in Cannes, France may take off her swimming suit top and parade bare breasted, but a woman in Paris can't wear a religious veil. It's quite illogical to claim this law is a security issue, but France is never logical when the subject of newcomers to France behaving in "non French" fashion. It's an example of how a person can immigrate to France, but never really be accepted as French. There will always be suspicion (paranoia) against the immigrant in the degree to which he or she is different from the native French culture.

Too, it is one thing for the French to behave with a surly arrogant, snug bearing toward the outside world, the "we are better that you" mindset that is classically French. But displaying that same attitude toward immigrants just won't fly without a whole lot of trouble for both groups. The French have invited their immigrants to reside there, for them now to demand submission to the French culture isn't realistic or workable. If I were French I would be so embarrassed by the anti veil law I would probably wear a veil to hide my embarrassment.

Prom Shopping

Sunday my daughter Jane and I went shopping for her prom dress shoes. Sigh. We spent the whole day Saturday getting the dress, but in the female shopping world, each purchase of one female clothing article requires an equal purchase of another the next day. All I heard form Jane was how impatient I was about my desire to get the shoes and go home. At one point (hour four!) I even suggested she choose some ill matched shoes, but she is too smart for that. But this browsing/shopping over and over again makes me crazy. Anyway, she found shoes to match (at a Macy's, the third Macy's we visited Sunday!) and the prom shopping should be over for this year. But then, Jane will do the prom dress bit next year and the same routine will occur (I should hide or run away from home).

Portland is environmentally politically correct. Uh...it is way over the top about the subject. The segment of the population that is in control politically here is driven by that global warming enthusiasm that is so trendy everywhere now. Portlanders recycle their shopping bags or use bamboo bags they carry everywhere. They ride their bikes whenever they can leave the car home. They always try to buy "organic". Bla bla bla....you get the idea. No need to list their many other "green behaviors "but they are what is expected here.

Well, it is a lovely place with a beautiful environment. So the net effect of their overzealous and pedantic obsession with protecting the environment is probably good if (ironically) wasteful. But here you have to get through some annoying and crazy aspects of the new age environmentalism. To illustrate, I have an example of one craziness I saw when I used the mall rest room today.

After doing my "business" in the toilet and washing my hands I proceeded to the hand dryer which has a message written in bold type on top of each had dryer: "This Hand Dryer Saves 24 Trees Each Year". I was amused, and when I got back into the mall corridor and met Jane again I told her about that odd advertisement of self congratulatory that is so common in Oregon. She laughed and remarked what I thought also when I read that self congratulatory line. "How do they know it is 24 trees", she asked?

One does not ask a global warmer for evidence of any, even the smallest global warming assertion, because we all know that in their words.... "EVERYONE knows the planet is being destroyed by man". I suggested to her that perhaps it was a guess (to a global warmer a guess is a "fact" when it applies to their theories of planetary heating) and that I wasn't going to ask anyone for evidence of any of their claims. The fact that the rest room hand dryers work via electricity generated at the tradeoff expense (there is perhaps more environmental damage from the hand dryers than by using renewable trees as hand drying paper) probably doesn't factor into that hand drying math equation I read in that rest room.

I feel an urge to go back to that bathroom and leave my own environmental message on that had dryer. "The electricity consumed to power these wasteful hand dryers is a greater planet warmer than all the hot air exhaled by Portland's global warmers. Save us all, and just wipe your hands on your shirts next time!"

Comedy

I had quite an animal tour yesterday when walking up the side of the crag in my subdivision. First I encountered a huge rabbit as I ascended and reached the top and looked up I was face to face with two huge deer. They looked at me and I at them. But they did not run. I sat down and watched them graze there for about 10 minutes. It's odd those wild deer ignored me (maybe they were observing a weird human). As I left and descended I stepped almost on top of a (harmless) grass snake. The creatures were out.

That comedy club was nice last night because the featured comic was hysterical. After the two "warm-up" comics didn't make me laugh much, the featured one (can't remember his name) was terrific. He did some great celebrity impressions and dialects in his act, including a funny bit where Arnold Schwarzennegar debates Sylvester Stallone. Just the concept of those to debating is odd. They are almost unintelligible when they say anything.

I think being a comedian must be a difficult life. Most of them struggle on stage and get little attention, making little money trying to make people laugh. Professional comics are a bred to themselves. I have read that most are very shy off stage, socially inept, that they are on average highly intelligent (quick ad- libs are part of their act so they have to think fast on their feet). Supposedly, they have a high rate for alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicide. It's ironic that the comic is often so unhappy. But I think they are driven people who must be "on stage" in order to relate better to the world than they do when off it.

It is said that many comedians are never able to be "themselves" because they lose their identity to their stage act. They can't be themselves with others. If a person is the type who feels compelled to get on-stage and bare his or her soul to a room full of strangers night after night, chances are that mind doesn't work in what society would consider a traditional way.

Depression, compulsive behaviors or severe anxiety is probably motivating them to be on-stage.
But stand-up comedians are, in general, much more sensitive and have more access to their emotions than the rest of us. They are like other painters, musicians and artists in that their world is somehow different from that of the mainstream. I notice that most comics really do thrive or wither based on whether the audience like their performance. The fact that the feedback they get is instantaneous and clear cut must be brutal when they fail to make the audience laugh

Taking Vitamins

I had to go to the vitamin store today. Not for me. I don't take any medications, never have and never will unless my life depended on it. Aside from the standard and inexpensive multi vitamin tablet each morning I am chemical free. But Jane has been told that a B vitamin complex will help her reduce her migraines headaches or prevent acne (I can't remember which), she is almost out of them and as a result I headed fro a Vitamin supplement store just a few blocks from my home.

Buying vitamins is like buying a car. The same product in different forms exists in huge numbers, at very different prices and with claims about each one's effectiveness that are impossible to believe. Fortunately, I knew what I wanted to buy (I had the empty bottle from the last time I bought them) and did not have to compare guess, ask salespeople what to purchase etc. But still....the experience of buying vitamins is a challenging one. The claims on the labels are often as much subjective as objective, and the regulations for vitamins are more about minimum requirements than proof in advertising.

I found the shelf for Jane's B complex and noticed so many of them with variations in price that equaled more than 100%. No problem, I just purchased the same vitamin item as she has been using. When buying vitamins it is best to pick one and ask few questions, sort of like buying candy with a small child. If you ask the child for an opinion you'll get too many, and either never choose one or you'll wind up with more candy than you want.

Anyway, most physicians say that unless suffering from some vitamin deficiency, other than purchasing a multi vitamin you are wasting money when you purchase the others. The are basically peed out when used, as the body already has enough of the vitamin you are adding. And all those herbs and other new age remedies they sell and make grand claims for at a vitamin store are nothing more than big profit makers for the seller. I think people who buy those are just addicted....not the the chemical they buy but rather to an idea that swallowing a plant root extract is somehow natural and therapeutic.

Vitamins were not even discovered until the early 1900's and the first synthesized into vitamin pill didn't come into production and sale until 1937. That was with just one vitamin in a pill, vitamin C. Those multi vitamin pills we take today came after World War II, more as a marketing gimmick than for health reasons. So all throughout the history of the world humans have done just as well without the vitamin, mineral, herb and other medicinal drug cache we see at stores today. This is quite upsetting! We are being hoodwinked. Hmmmm I wonder if I can buy a pill to take to alleviate being hoodwinked.

Smelly Words

I mowed the lawn today, not an eventful deed, though it was the first mowing since last October. I mentioned it because after I finished and closed my garage door the odor of the fresh cut partially wet grass on the blades of the lawn mower reminded me how much we treasure certain smells. That fresh cut grass has a smell that is singular. It both attracts and repels, and it does something that many other of our favorite smells do. It brings us back to childhood or earlier memories of the same smell.

When I think of the smell of fresh cut lawns I get images of myself, 9 or 10 years old, pushing a mower on a hot summer day. The odor of today's mowed grass brought me back, only momentarily but vividly, to the joy of boyhood with all it's irresponsibility and freedom. A good smell has power and, of course, a bad one can be equally impacting. If I asked you to name your favorite smells you can easily come up with a few. But if I ask about your least favorite smells

(though please spare me of the odors of body excretions) you probably have to stop and think awhile. Our memories are selective in that they treasure the good and pushing the bad into the dark areas of the brain.

The worst smell for me is a burned egg yolk. That's because, not only does it have an awful odor, but I remember as a child burning one badly at home while cooking eggs for my breakfast. I left the kitchen and was distracted while away, coming back to a dank odor of a well burned egg. It made me feel nauseous then and it stamped itself permanently as a hated odor. Maybe that's why I now dislike eating egg yolks at breakfast, and why when I fry eggs in a pan for breakfast I use three egg whites and only one yolk.

Smells have strong associative properties with the stronger associations being more positive, I think. That's why the smell of fresh baked bread is so pleasant for everyone. We all have had frequent run-ins with that smell, and it is always associated with a past good moment in our lives. Can you think of anything negative about that smell? I can't. Not only is the physical odor pleasant, but it is a comfortable one. bakeries, mom's home kitchen all the places we smell that are comfort association. Our sense of smell is connected really well to our memory. The smell of popcorn reminds us of being at the movies with a friend or the smell of tar can remind you of riding in a car to the beach.

I'm glad my sense of smell is still working strongly. As we age it fades, just like the sense of taste declines (the two are closely associated too). What are your favorite smells and why so? Any smell that especially repulses you? Oh, yeah... I already know that you probably think my comments today "stink". At least I am consistently smelly.

Obama Announces He Is Running Again

Barack Obama has announced he is running for re election as president in the November 2012 election. One interesting aspect of the announcement is that it was initially made simultaneously via E mail and at BarackObama.com to his supporters, not through means of the traditional press conference. In this age of media campaigning, Obama is a master of using the newer forms of media. It's a prime reason why he was able to raise so much money and win in 2008. It surely is beyond dispute that the electronic communications are what enabled Obama to win the Presidency in 2008. He is truly the first "Connected President".

Why does a sitting President need to announce he is running again more than 1 1/2 years before the election? It's money. By filing papers with the Federal Election Commission, Obama can begin to fund raise for his re-election campaign according to federal laws about campaign contributions. I have no doubt he will raise plenty of money to run again. But with an approval rating at only 46% among voters and a disapproval rating at exactly the same 46%, Obama has proven to be not the unifier, but the polarizing President....well....but not as much as was George Bush. But Obama has quite a few enemies now that he did not have in the first election, particular among independent voters like me who voted for him then but who are now baffled by his lack of vision, his lies and deceptions and his almost total inability to deliver on any of his last campaign promises.

Other than delivering on the gutted version of a health care bill that the majority of Americans say they did not want anyway, Obama's "Hope and Change" 2008 promise has turned into the "Changeless Lethargic Presidency". When a sitting President campaigns for re election he usually refers back to promises made and promises delivered. But Obama has few of those delivered promises to cite. A cynic would say that he might as well use all his campaigning material from 2008 since he hasn't fulfilled the promises made then.

So how does he campaign in 2012, given his failure to achieve so much of what he promised in 2008? I doubt he would brag about running up the largest deficit spending in the history of the world in just the first two years of office. The American economy is so broken it may be beyond repair, and Obama as President has shown no attempt to practice the leadership needed to tell voters what they must be sacrifice in order to fix it. Too, he can't run on the promise to end the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan, given they are still active and Obama has even instigated another new war with Libya. The economy is still awful and the President whose job it is to lead in times of crisis, acts as if he is in denial about even the existence of any economic problems. "Hope and Change" has lead to "Hopelessness" for many here in the U.S.

Well, Obama could sit and wait...hope that the economy improves before the election comes along. Voters most often re elect the president when the economy seems improved. He also could campaign on abstract issues such as his like ability quotient or the fact that most voters feel he is far more trustworthy than most recent presidents. Too, his Republican opponents are equally inept and so far offer no candidate any better than the impotent Obama himself. Obama might campaign on the "At least I am not as bad as they would be" mantra.

Well, it seems with the announcement, that Obama may just buy his way into a second term. Evidently the Democrats will raise enough money to propagandize enough voters to believe whatever message it is Obama will give and make them forget the ignored promises of the 2008 campaign. After all, in American presidential elections the candidate who spends the most money trying to be elected usually wins most of the time. Right now, Obama is way ahead in that regard.

More Privileges For Illegal Immigrants

When I read my newspaper today and saw the headline, 'Oregon Senate approves bill giving undocumented students in-state tuition', I almost fell on the floor. It's bad enough to call illegal immigrants "undocumented students", but to treat them as citizens is disgraceful and disrespectful to the legal residents here. Basically, it would allow illegal immigrant students living in Oregon to pay resident tuition at the state's public universities. The cost of tuition for an out of state resident (or in this case, an illegal immigrant resident) is three times higher than that of a person who legally resides in Oregon.

The sponsor of the bill( who lives in a district that is populated heavily with Hispanic voters and who can not win re election without Hispanic votes gave to same tired illogical reason for making legal Oregonians pay extra of illegal immigrants to use their colleges. He pronounced that children should not be "punished" for the actions of their parents. "We have in some cases invested $100,000 in their lives (for public schooling)," he said. "Why would we deny them the opportunity to attend our universities, improve their lives and give back to the state?"

How idiotic! First he admits that taxpayers take away from legal students the average $100,000 cost per illegal student schooling, and then give it to people who should not be in the U.S. The he falsely claims they are "denied the opportunity" to attend Oregon colleges. The illegal person should be denied that opportunity, but they are not.

The one politician brave enough (not in a Hispanic voting district) to oppose the bill said it best, "Unfortunately, children do pay for the sins of their parents," he said. "It is unfortunate, but it is reality. These educated kids can't work here." In stead of the "it's not my fault my parents broke the law and brought me here" irrational line we hear constantly, illegal immigrants should be told that they do not have the right to live where ever they wish. When mom and dad break the law by entering a country illegally, working illegally, not paying taxes and more, they, as juveniles, also have broken the law. Being a victim of irresponsible/criminal parents does not confer the right to citizenship or the privileges of citizenship.

If for, example, a parent burglarized a home and stole toys that he then gave to his or her children, would that mean the child could keep the toys after the parents was apprehended? According to the mentality of those who want to grant privileges to the children of illegal immigrants kids should be rewarded when their parents commit illegal acts....and at the expense of legal residents who must pay for those privileges.

The federal government generally purposefully leave undocumented students alone unless they get involved with crime. They pretend illegal immigrants are not here and do not allow state governments to regulate them because the U.S constitution makes immigration policy enforcement a strictly federal affair. States also pretend illegal immigrants have aright to be in the country illegally. When for example, schools ask illegal immigrants to produce a birth certificate at school registration the answer is always "I lost it". And the reply of the states is to accept that answer, enroll the illegal child in school, further overburdening taxpayers who must pay that $100, 000 average per pupil cost. The illegal immigrant family is never again asked to produce a birth certificate.

The reckless disregard for the rule of law by the Oregon legislators (and practically every other state's politicians) and the use of tax dollars to support illegal immigrants should be an outrage to legal residents of the state . There is no justification for giving taxpayer benefits to anyone who has entered and lives this in this state illegally. But then, reason was lost to political correctness long ago. I think we in the U.S. have been invaded by illegals with the help of those whose responsibility it is to represent legal residents and enforce the laws designed to protect us.

Senior Texting Language

The golden oldies (let's say....over age 65) are making their presence felt now more and more. It's not just their increasing numbers (in 1790 only 2 percent of the population was over 65, now it is 13%). They even tweet now, and like those teenagers who speak in tongues only known to each other, the oldies have their own tweet and chat language when they go on line. Just drop by any nursing home and check out the computer area. You'll learn allot about English by listening in on the golden oldie chat.

I found the most common senior acronyms on line, the STC (Senior Texting Code), and lucky you...you get to read and learn the acronyms. If you think Paris Hilton's "That's Hot" or that 13 year old girl's lol are passé, maybe you can start adopting the STC code instead. You don't have to be an oldie to use the oldie language. Here is the latest in STC you can use with others face to face, on line or in your phone.

ATD: At The Doctor’s
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring TheWheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk’s On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL… CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing… And Can’t Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where’s The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

Oh my, those old-timers are either creative with their acronyms or showing signs of Alzheimer's. But don't blame the oldies. They have to use this kind of language in response to because younger friends and family send them messages and tweets in their own acronym language. Old Mildred can't be blamed for sending her own texts in STC language. What's good for the 20 year old is good for the oldie or as they might text it, "I just WTFA again but I am ATD for my constipation. WTP! Good thing my bowel problems are CBM. WAITT.. Sorry, I sometimes can't remember. OMSG. Hallelujah! SGGP...CUATSC.