Month: April 2015

Why II or, Gods and Insects II

I asked myself, why anyone would put this kind of hatred in a public space and on display for the secular and non-secular world to witness. I am of course talking about new signs popping up touting the killing of Jews as worship.

If you want to conquer a country you must first divide it. It would be much easier to conquer a country divided and fighting itself.
You take control of the media so you can keep control of the narrative.
You divide the folks through propaganda, provided by the media and other outlets like sitcoms and movies that attack conservative values from notable people who we see in movies and sitcoms.
You keep the people distracted through sports venues, 100’s of TV channels and other internet distractions which disseminate a narrative that is in line with an agenda.
Silence dissenting views through arms of the government and you distract with issues which demand your attention through outrageous acts of barbarism.
You pull out a page from a “magician’s handbook” by causing the world to look at the other hand and not the one containing the next “trick.”
You allow or instigate actions which are so heinous that the government is forced by its citizen’s to call out to its government to come in and revise those rights that we hold dear to protect us from the bad people in the world and finally we disarm the citizen’s making them helpless and unable to care for themselves both with armory and even through the control of their ability to fend for themselves if the infrastructure were to break down.
You destroy any candidate from either party that might actually do something to stop this train wreck from happening. Make no mistakes, there are people on both sides that want this country to change and fall in line with the rest of the world.

Let’s see, we have this imaginary war on women, we have racial strife, and we have a division between the law and the people. Now all cops are painted with the same broad brush that a few power hungry cops have used, overstepping their boundaries. We have millions of illegals in the country that the tax payer is supporting through taxes that are burdensome and unfair to say the least.

We have a media that is complicit to the left (far left) calling any kind of criticism of the current regime or the far left established empire of the Clinton’s just foolish talk. We have smoke and fire and a lot of the dots depicting these folks as a dynasty who clearly thinks of themselves as Gods and the rest as insects; being protected by the far left media.

You enlist Hollywood to get familiar faces to speak to its base and against those who see the Wizard of OZ for who he /she really is, just a power hungry money grubbing entity whose agenda is gaining more money and more power, damned the consequences. Even if that means giving control of our Uranium to Russia, though backdoor deals!

The little people, you and I are kept in the dark by this media and when we listen to or hear talk that is of a nature that is diametrically opposite of the far left they we are painted as Tea Baggers and far right loons.

“BTW a Tea Bagger is a very offensive term which means one who puts their “balls” in someone’s mouth during sexual acts, which many find offensive but yet the left really does not care if they are offensive.”

Most of the people have little time to study current events so many don’t spend their precious TV time watching the news. The newspaper is mostly liberal so if they read it they get the progressive point of view. Objectivity does not sell papers or subscriptions and let’s face it, they are left leaning. To further that, a majority of people only care what is going on in the world if they are directly affected. If someone comes to their house and demands their guns or else, they might care then, of course by then it would be too late.

Silencing the opposition through coercion, corruption, bribes and or by destroying their credibility by having people of distinction publically attack them in malicious manners, much like Harry Read lying about Romney not paying taxes to dissuade voters from voting for him. I find it interesting that he had no remorse for his lies and felt that the ends justified the means.

And finally through free speech you allow hate mongers and or other groups to sew seeds of discontent that are so malevolent the people rise up and demand that it be stopped which the government then has a free pass to modify your rights in such a way that you give them up.

That is how we got the patriot act, porn scanners, groping of grandma and children and strip searching of anyone that they like, and the government’s ability to spy on you without a warrant. Do you feel safer now?

The hateful speech in question would require a change in the 1rst amendment which conversely would affect all law abiding citizen’s ability to speak out against those things which they found offensive. By pushing the envelope by allowing these Jihad signs in New York; they are hoping to get enough people to cry out to their government to do something about it.

Top Down, Bottom up, inside out!

Do you really want to forfeit more of your rights, to stop those with hateful rhetoric from offending you?

“A word regarding the second amendment.”

We as people are lulled into a false sense of security. We have the NRA lobbying for the legal gun owner of this country to keep and bear arms. If it came down to a firefight between you and a criminal the odds are good that the criminal would already out gun you as they might have Russian made automatic weapons or even American made automatic weapons as they are not restricted by laws.

If it came down to fighting our government “you know the real reason that there is a second amendment” to stave off a tyrannical government, I know for a fact that drone strikes would not be off the table, much like we are seeing in Syria today where the government uses poison gas on its people.

So, if you are under the illusion that owning a handgun gives you some modicum of protection from anyone other than the common thug, you are dreaming.

If the NRA wants to ramp up the conversation, how about my ability to own an RPG or two?

The bottom line is to vote intelligently and get your news from something other than the liberal left or the loonies out in Hollywood who have some lollipop idea that the world would be great if we all fell in line like the rest of the countries who limit your speech, force PC speech and oh yes, limit your rights to guns or religion and keep you all working for the “common good” thus destroying capitalism.

The only wealthy people are the Gods, and the rest are insects! The insects work for the Gods; or they are exterminated, which one are you?

You don’t need the government to stop idiots. You just need yourself and a few friends who also think outside the box.

-Best

Freedom of speech @GregAbbott_tx @thefive

Freedom of speech

Here in the good ole USA we have something in our Bill of Rights called the first amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This is important enough to be the “First Amendment!”

Recently a Vet tried to take away a flag from some protestors on some college. The protestors were desecrating the flag to make a point and the veteran was having no part of that.

There most certainly must be a better way for the protestors to get their point across, rather than desecrating that which most of us hold dear, it is their right to do so!

Trampling on a flag is a form of speech according to the law so I have another form of speech that is being abridged and we are doing nothing about it.

manhart-screen-capture — She denies doing this for publicity… You be the judge.

Female-vet-defends-flag — Being arrested for stopping some students from trampling on the American Flag.

If I am traveling down the road and see some cop lurking in the woods waiting for some speeder; and I flash my lights to warn fellow travelers I can get ticketed.

Folks that is wrong on so many levels and nothing is being done about it. Some days don’t you just feel like a sheep with the cops and other bureaucrats as the big bad wolf?

Flashing my lights is my right under the first amendment. Just as it is my right to flip on the CB or other communication device and warn people.

Waze-navigation-app — I have tried this with some success. It is better if you have a passenger so you don’t have to fool with something while driving.

maxresdefault (2) — From about the same time as Smokey and the Bandit.

B002LZUY8A-1 — One of the best on the market.

The problems are twofold.

First and foremost traffic tickets have been a source of revenue generation and that is wrong as it removes objectivity from the equation. In many cases it turns traffic enforcement into a game and guess what it does for public relations between citizen’s and the police?

Secondly what is flashing my lights? It is a code. What is a code? It is a form of speech, my speech!

This is actually a case for the ACLU… My free speech is being abridged here!

Not only I am well within my rights to flash my lights, I am doing a public service in that I am actually slowing traffic back to whatever the legal limit is; which is the sole purpose of the traffic cop in the first place.

This needs to be a change.org thing.

This will probably be better suited for the states to deal with rather than trying to get those inside the beltway to do anything. They have to take a poll to figure out if they should go to the bathroom much less actually vote on something that matters.

As always, I welcome your input, thoughts and enlightened conversation about this or any of my other blogs.

The Cat has escaped, or Slavery Again?

The Cat has escaped, or Slavery Again?

It was interesting to learn that Willie Nelson is going after his own brand of “weed.”

Just this afternoon there was another story about a couple trying to make a “weed empire.”

I use the word “weed” interchangeably with marihuana because, marihuana is just too hard to spell! I am kidding of course but, if I were stoned; it may very well be too hard to spell.

We live in an escapist society.

There are 150 some odd cable channels. There is Netflix, Amazon, Redbox, other venues of streaming media via Roku, Google, YouTube, Hulu, Apple TV and the list just goes on. If you have the internet; you can distract yourself indefinitely.

There is some year-round sporting activity of some sort whether it be Baseball or some other sport with “ball” somewhere in the name.

There is music of just about any Genre so if you want to just “veg out” and listen to, or play music there is that.

Some people escape into other, darker areas of the internet like online video games, chat rooms, and even pornography. As the matter of fact if it was not for online porn, I doubt that the internet would have ever taken off. I know that Al Gore did not invent the internet but he was trying to get some Chakra’s released with female masseuse which made the news a few years ago so maybe, we could gift him with the title of creating internet porn… ?! Ok, maybe not.

Some of us are news junkies, we can’t get enough and of course we believe everything that we read because it is right there on the screen, it must be true!

Some of us reject the modern day trappings and escape into the Bible or some other Religious quest thinking it a nobler thing to do.

Some escape into books, science, physics, astronomy and snob ourselves out, thinking we are above the fray.

Life is messy

If you want to live in this world you have to get your hands dirty. You have to deal with drama. You have to submit to a government, and all of their bureaucracy.

To survive you have to find a way to earn money and that, in and of itself, has its own sets of drama.

Sitting at a restaurant listening carefully you will hear many different conversations, most of them will center on what someone did at work or what his or her boss expects or how crappy an employee is etc. Drama!

Politics takes on the look and feel of a sports team as people tend to vote for one team or another, damned the facts. The media makes it “easier” by siding with one team or another. They point out all of the bad things that the other team has done, even if it is not true. Hollywood takes a part in that too as they too have a favorite, even though their favorite is most notably the group that ruined every country that its philosophy was ever tried in. That philosophy allows a select few to be at the top and actually has them in the role of parasites living on the sweat and toil of the people who were either foolish enough to vote for them, or those that were not in the majority and suffer from the results of the actions of those that have not the intellect to vote responsibly.

Today some celebrated 4/20 a pot holiday of sorts for Colorado. I am not sure what percentage of people in Colorado actually take part in this “event” but suffice it to say making pot legal has done nothing to raise the IQ of the good folks of Colorado.

We could get into this huge debate about pot use and intelligence as we have done previously with booze use. In the end we would collectively agree that using such substances kills brain cells and then we must ask “how many can you afford to kill before you become a blithering idiot?

I really think that those that partake in such recreational exercises should remove themselves from the voting public. As the matter of fact, they should probably remove themselves from any situation where their opinion matters!

How harsh is that?!

Twenty two odd years ago I was almost killed by a drunk driver. This person not only was drunk, he was taking medications that should not have been taken with alcohol. His powers of making decisions were questionable at best.

When you alter your reality through artificial means it does not take too long before you perception of what “is” matches up with a straight persons idea of what “is, is.”

If we looked at it on a Venn diagram, we may see some areas that are in common but, the odds are great that your perception of reality would not match up with “normal folks”
perception of reality.

If one can no longer relate to the masses, voting would be futile, and could damage the collective.

Common Core and dumbing down our country

$common-core-math-300x216$

I am not certain where common core started and I have to tell you that it is nothing short of a disaster. When rational people who give a damn look at it they ask, “and rightfully so” “what is this shit!?”

Between dumbing down our kids and making things like Marihuana legal, I can’t help but wonder what is going to happen to this country.

The next thing you know instead of the LGBT community rattling sabers because they think that they were not given “more equal treatment” than straight people you will see the stoners marching on DC “if they can find it,” looking to change laws forcing companies to do away with drug test and provide high wages even though their vernacular will consist of words like “cool, and far out!”

Is that why we are forcing companies to pay $15 an hour for people to flip burgers because in their stoned out state, that is all that they are able to do? Are we going to force them to allow being stoned at work?

We are going the wrong way.

I cannot speak from experience as I have never tried anything like this. I do know that recreational chemistry is a gateway to harder stuff, much like beer to whisky. Some can handle it and not become addicted and then there are those that cannot. Once you open Pandora’s box; you really have no idea how you will react and you have no clue what changes will occur.

If this country is going to survive these progressive idiots currently ignoring history, or hoping that you are ignoring it or never learned history, the country is going to need smart people with critical thinking skills. You cannot be your “best” if you are stoned.

Back in the days of slavery it was illegal for blacks to learn to read. The people in control knew that knowledge was power and if these folks ever figured out just how ignorant that they were, and that they were being kept that way to be controlled; that it would be impossible to keep them in bondage.

By dumbing down our kids and by killing brain cells, we are putting yourselves and our kids in the next position to become slaves.

By taking our collective eyes off of the Ball, people like Hillary can spin any yarn that they like. Enough people will vote for her because she is a women, or because they are emotionally drawn to her for one lie or another. She stands a good chance of becoming “madam president” even though she far from an ideal candidate.

If the progressive’s stay in the white house, we may all “need the weed,” just to be able to not give a shit!

Now that the kitty is out of the valise, (pot is legal) we may be looking at the beginning of that transformational change that our current leader talked about 7 years ago. Many, too many Americans are already slaves and are too dumb to realize it. The only difference is that they are comfortable in their indentured servitude. As long as they have the “rights” to the distractions (internet, cable TV, porn…) they don’t care. That is a sad commentary on society.

We can fix things but it is going to take a change from what we are doing. Firstly, we have to get someone in there who knows what to do. There are very few current candidates that I feel are actually in this to “help the country” but rather in it to go sit in that Ivory Tower.

The allure of power must be an incredible aphrodisiac! To have that much power in one’s phone and pen must be incredible! Every decision that one in that position makes has to be perfect! There is no room for error!

No matter what he or she does the opposing side will defame them and call them stupid and of course arm chair quarterback because “they magically know!”

Can you imagine sitting in the oval office or west wing or wherever he or she would make such decisions lamenting over dropping a bomb on someone, or turning the military loose to do what they do?

How many nights do you think that they get a good night’s sleep? The weight of the world is on their shoulder and then there is the first lady or dude that influences them.

When he or she takes time away to play golf or just get out of DC they are excoriated by the press. As a business man I can tell you that more business is done on the golf course than in the office. If I need time to think I go play golf. Usually somewhere between 1 and the 19^th hole I have come up with a solution to whatever it was I was working on.

Right now my money is on Scott Walker.

I will really be interested to see who he picks for a running mate. If the Dems had a brain in their collective heads, they would come up with someone to run against Hillary. Her history is going to catch up with her and there are only so many times you can ask “it depends on what the definition of is is?”

If you find my blog harsh, it is really meant to be blunt but not offensive. I have no desire to offend but we do need to wake up! We need to wake up and if we are afraid to talk about things that might offend others we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We must discuss things that are sensitive topics so we have a dialogue vs someone calling the PC police.

Political Correctness is a cancer eating at the fabric of our society, it is time that we kill the cancer.

Political correctness is another progressive idea that is stupid, and past it usefulness.

-Best-

If you disagree, drop me a line. If you agree let me know. I value your opinion. We as a country must have this dialogue if we are going to fix the things that are wrong.

The CFL, Good idea or Bad

The CFL

The CFL Good idea or Bad

I have spoken about this bulb before and how we as Americans have been duped into paying for expensive bulbs to replace the .25bulb with one that cost several dollars. Today I had one of these bulbs fail and it was not a normal failure.

Seated inside base of the CFL bulb is this circuit board with a couple of dozen components on it. Fluorescent bulbs work by ionizing the gas inside the tube where it interacts with the phosphor coating the inside of the tube making light.

Let me stop here for a moment and say that I am a large fan of folks who think outside the box. Huge fan! I like it when people don’t accept status quo and look for a better way to do something. The fluorescent bulb is one such invention. LED bulbs are another. I think we can do better and we should.

Having said that I have issues with the government forcing it down our throats by doing away with the incandescent bulb forcing us to adapt “pay for “much more expensive technology.

These CFL bulbs have mercury in them which is bad. These bulbs if broken have special cleanup procedures that just about require a hazmat suite.

CFL bulbs are expensive. Researching the issue I think that they have finally come out with models that work in dimmers but that was not the case with my failure, it was a simple on-off lamp.

The pluses are that these things are supposed to last much longer than a normal incandescent bulb.
They uses about a 4th the wattage of an incandescent.

When an incandescent bulb goes out there is typically a flash associated with the energizing current hitting the filament and poof, you are groping around in the dark looking for a flashlight or other lamp to find a new bulb and replace it.

CFL bulbs start out much dimmer than a normal bulb and while they may get to a brightness that is acceptable, most need that brightness when they flip the switch, not 10 minutes later after it warms up.

CFL bulbs should never be used in places where the light needed is just for a few moments i.e. closets or bathrooms. CFL bulbs should not be turned off before they are allowed to reach operating temperature as doing so shortens their life.

LED bulbs start out bright and as they age lose their intensity or luminance as they age so, a bright bulb will eventually turn into a very dim bulb.

The prices of the alternatives are still higher than they need to be to rationalize an ROI on the product. The average house does not use enough electricity on bulbs to generate an ROI to justify using expensive bulbs. Stores and office building do but, the average home does not.

Typical government thinking is that one house, no, two houses no, a neighborhood full of houses all using $6 bulbs vs .25 bulbs, and you save some energy and the bulb companies make a hell of a lot more money than on a few $0.25 bulbs.

The energy company then has to raise their rates to make up the difference in the losses of lower usage, so everybody wins! Everybody except you the consumer.

Because larger incandescent bulbs are being removed from the market, we are forced to buy an alternative whether we want to or not.

When a CFL bulb just stops working instead of dimly glowing or flickering before its time, why? What happens to it if it simply stops!

The circuit board which I alluded to earlier produces the voltages necessary to make the bulb work. As I have done with the Wall wart in an earlier post, I have also done with the bulb. In my job, I have to determine the “root cause analysis!” What failed and why. In this case it is a design flaw.

Scott's Bulb Look at the dark area on the board you can see where it has gotten plenty hot! — Scott’s Bulb
Look at the dark area on the board you can see where it has gotten plenty hot!

Scott 100 watt CFL that died prematurely. — I am not sure if you can tell but, the solder joints that hold on that three legged component which I think is an SCR of some sort (guess) has become much too hot and actually melted the solder away from the pins. This part should have a heat-sink on it. Using the rule of thumb method of engineering. If you cant put your thumb on it because of the heat, better re-engineer it. This is the 100 watt model of the CFL which uses 23 watts.

Here you will see the circuit board and its associated components. You can see where the board has gotten hot, so hot in fact that the solder connection to this part have come loose causing the failure of the bulb.

burned-bulb — Failed bulb found on the internet. There are many such stories out there but I am trying to determine why.

One cannot help but wonder how much of a fire hazard that these bulbs are.

I would not leave my house with these things on, as I don’t think that they are that trustworthy.

I would certainly make sure that my smoke detectors had good batteries as well.

-Best

www.timedok.com

www.guard-protect.com

#interesting facts

Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

Gold is the only metal that doesn’t rust, even if it’s buried in the ground for thousands of years.

Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.

If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

The song, Auld Lang Syne, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.

Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent.

Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn’t smoke unless it’s heated above 450F.

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean.

Blobfish_large — The blobfish was this week voted the world’s ugliest creature, but in defence of the oceans, they also possess perhaps the most beautiful in the form of nudibranchs.

The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man.

(I think other creatures besides man could do this as well but, the point is that the banana needs help.)

Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

The University of Alaska spans four time zones.

The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

In ancient Greece , tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

Warner Communications paid 28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.

The-song--22Happy-Birthday-22-brings-in-about--242-million-in-licensing-revenue-to-Warner-Communications-who-hold-the-copyright-to-the-song-fact-2851 — Who’s was it to sell?

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

A comet’s tail always points away from the sun.

The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/swine-flu-vaccine/

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.

http://worldofcaffeine.com/controlling-pain/

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art31354.asp

The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

einstein-pickles-salutes — I like this myth better …

If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

http://www.snopes.com/science/well.asp

I pretty much called BS on this one before I even looked as someone who wrote it has no clue how light works. Now, if you hit your head while at the bottom of the well or chimney you may very well see stars!

When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight.

I can tell you from first hand experience that the sight is the first thing to go… I did not get all the way to sound so we will have to wait and see regarding that…

In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.

True I think…

Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.

http://treesandshrubs.about.com/od/fruitsnuts/f/FruitsWithSeedsontheOutside.htm

This is pretty interesting stuff… If you have insomnia it is great!

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

FRUIT FACTS
Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

Apples contain an antioxidant that fights cancer .

The banana plant is in the same family as the lily and the orchid.

A medium-sized orange contains the amount of vitamin C that a healthy adult should eat daily.

Olive trees can live for more than 1,500 years.

Kiwis are packed full of cancer fighting Beta-Carotene and contain twice as much Vitamin C as an orange.

People who eat a lot of fruit need to consume less water.

Lemons are popular for cleaning because they are high in acid – which kills bacteria.

Grapes have grown wild since pre-historic times.
Pear wood is hard and can be used to make furniture.
There are more than 100 varieties of bananas, some even have red skin.
Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.
100% percent fruit juice is a great way to get started every morning.
Kiwi fruit is said to promote respiratory health and ease wheezing and night coughing.
The largest fruits are giant pumpkins, specially grown and bred for their size. The largest ones can weigh over 1,000 pounds!

The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year. (actually 1.5)

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/moon-earth-wobble-tides-nemesis-130726.htm

The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/01mar_meteornetwork/

Asteroid Earth Falling Meteor Planet Space World — As the earth gains mass one has to wonder if it will effect the moons orbit. One must also wonder if the earths orbit will be effected as the earth is “falling” towards the sun in an orbit determined by its speed and mass. As the mass changes so would the orbits of all satellites including the moon and…the earth as a satellite to the sun must also change as its mass changes. Yep, this is my sci fi brain at work.

Due to earth’s gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters.

some mountain somewhere — I would not bet money on this “bit of trivia” as this field of study is still active and someone might come along with a new mathematical formula any day…or not. It has a lot to do with the earths mantle, size of the earth and so forth. As the earth dies and cools this might change, I think it is more dynamic than one thinks.

Mickey Mouse is known as “Topolino” in Italy.

http://wfp.tumblr.com/post/11396221427/mickey-mouse-speaks-italian

Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down.

could be true

Everything weighs one percent less at the equator.

suomi-npp-photo-earth-blue-marble-east — http://www.livescience.com/32504-would-i-weigh-less-at-the-equator.html

For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off.

Gravity Works!

kate-upton-zero-gravity-gif-4 — Kate Upton Zero Gravity for Sports Illustrated Photo Shoot.

The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.

More dumb facts found…

Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.
In ancient Egypt, Priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.
3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30.
In ancient Egypt, people used to shave their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats.
In ancient China doctors would only receive fees if the patient stayed in good health. Sometimes if the patients health became to bad, the doctor had to pay them.
Married women could not view the Olympic Games in ancient Greece under penalty of death.

(The contestants were nude and I am guessing their husbands were somewhat insecure so….they made it illegal!)
Glasses have been worn for about 700 years.
About 300 years ago, people used toothbrushes made from hog bristles.
During the Middle Ages, people used spider webs to try to cure warts.
Rockets were first made by the Chinese more than 750 years ago.
The 100 years war lasted 116 years.

http://www.history.com/topics/hundred-years-war
During Martin Luther’s Reformation, he claimed the Catholic Church to be the anti-christ, and in response, they claimed he was the anti-christ. The common people, assuming one must be the anti-christ, believed that the Apocalypse was coming. It never did.
The first sound recording ever made: “Mary Had a Little Lamb” in 1877.
In 1848, Niagara Falls stopped flowing for 30 hours because of an ice jam blocking the Niagara River.

And last but not least:

This is called ‘Money Bags.’ So send this on to 5 people and money will arrive in 5 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui, the one who does not pass this on will have money troubles for the rest of the year.

Superstitious or not, I passed this along because it is interesting information.

Pretty much doubt that it will work but just in case… 🙂

-Best

Guns Don’t kill People

My Gun

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Remington 30.06 right in the doorway. I left 6 cartridges beside it, then left it alone and went about my business.

While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, the neighbor boy across the street mowed the yard, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign near the front of my house.

After about an hour, I checked on the gun. It was still sitting there, right where I had left it. It hadn’t moved itself outside. It certainly hadn’t killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities it had presented to do so.

In fact, it hadn’t even loaded itself. Well you can imagine my surprise, with all the hype by the Media about how dangerous guns are and how they kill people.

Either the media is wrong or I’m in possession of the laziest gun in the world.

The United States is 3rd in Murders throughout the World. But if you take out just 4 cities: Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom, in the entire world, for Murders.

These 4 Cities also have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.

It would be absurd to draw any conclusions from this data – right?

Well, I’m off to check on my spoons. I hear they’re making people fat.

Monica for President 2016, She knows what “IS IS!”

Monica for President 2016

It is no surprise that as a White House insider, Monica would find her true calling as the next president of the United States!

She was privy to many secretive meetings of Clinton administration and should be well versed at dealing with both foreign dignitaries, as well as the highest level white house staff.

Through her private tutelage under Bill, she learned what the definition of “is, is”. Although it is clear that Bill is still a little foggy on the term.

140507190558-tsr-dnt-foreman-monica-lewinsky-vanity-fair-article-00011427-story-top — Cute couple, yes?

Knowing her adversaries, well, planning a successful campaign strategy should be a piece of cake, simply tell the truth as the Clinton’s have never tried that strategy before.

I think that she is going to put away the blue dress and opt for red, as she is not happy with Democratic philosophy!

Yes, Monica for president 2016, its the only obvious choice!

-Best

Yes, this is satire…. Kind of like Hillary running should be!

Traffic

According to the searches that people use to find my blog, if I wanted to increase my traffic, all I would really need to do is write about nude people, or naked people, or topless people, or nipples……Isn’t that just sad?

We can talk about many things besides this. History, art, literature, physics, science, philosophy, theology, spiritual awareness. There are so many things of interests and yet it all comes down to sex or nudity.

I for one would like to stick to things beyond the baser instincts man. This blog is for enlighten conversation. While I don’t perport to have all of the answers to all of the woes or all of the things going on this planet. I’m reasonably intelligent and more than happy to engage in debate or conversation on just about any topic.

I am guessing that the human condition is more about emotions, or primal instincts than it is regarding asking why, or how.

Just a random observation I thought I would share.

-Best

Why

Why?

Why are there no casinos in Texas?

Texas-Map — This is a map of the locations of Casinos near Texas draining revenue from this state and what are we doing about it? The larger question is why?

With the huge influx of aliens from Mexico and beyond, we clearly could use the revenue so again I ask; why are there no casinos in Texas?

Why should Texas Dollars end up in BFE Oklahoma or Shreveport or even Vegas?

We have the lottery; so it really can’t be religious objections. You could blame them if you want but, I for one would not believe you.

Why not Casinos with places that can host Vegas style entertainment as well as produce revenue from those with a penchant for gambling?

We have horse races for Pete Sake, why not Galloping Dominoes?

Why are we letting all of that revenue go north, or east, or to Nevada? If it is an Indian thing, we have Texas Indians too. I know this for a fact so, why? Why does it have to be an Indian thing?

I would bet that the good folks at Winstar or Choctaw or even Shreveport or possibly some of the folks in Vegas who manage an Oasis in a desert, would love to open up a casino here.

After you have scurried around trying to come up with an answer I have a bigger question than that, Why the hell doesn’t California have Casinos? They are billions in debt, why not bring some dollars to their state via Casinos. With competition everybody wins!

After asking yourself this question and going through all of the possible machinations of why, we can take it one step forward and probably answer the question.

What would happen if Texas and California allowed it, along with the other states?

What would happen to Vegas?

What would happen to Winstar, or Shreveport, or even Chocktaw, if they suddenly had competition?

And the multi-million dollar question is, why do we care?

In 2011 a town in northwest Arkansas which had been dry for ever, wanted to sell alcohol. It was put on the ballot and by a margin passed.

Previously just outside the city limits were several “boozatoriums” which were set up to sell to that city along with other surrounding cities just outside their borders.

It turns out that the people who owned those or who had interest in them, alerted the various churches that this town wanted to go wet and got the people all up in arms. The churches were the pawns for the owners of the existing stores which would lose business if the local Walmart could sell booze.

Never mind the fact that people would go out of their way to buy beer at the towns edges and start drinking it on the way home, on mountainous roads! Those folks who owned the “joints” didn’t care if people got drunk on the way home and drove off a cliff! There was the bottom line and after all, what else is there?

A dichotomy existed between those that wanted to buy booze and those that thought it was the work of Satan, the latter being stirred up by the folks who owned the existing stores on the periphery of the city. Huge vinyl yard signs were created and distributed to the town’s people both for and against; in the end Walmart and others who actually had businesses in the town won. Tax dollars for Booze now went into the city, which hosted the stores and had to provide the infrastructure for its people.

Who is pulling our chains?

People with an interest in gambling will go to where it is legal, much like those with a desire to smoke pot; they will either simply do it, damned the consequences; or they will go to where it is legal.

Instead of making all of these toll roads in Texas, which is nothing more than a hidden tax on the people, let’s use funds from gambling to build our infrastructure and stop charging the people for services that you should already be providing! Since our population is increasing from external sources who will all need medical and scholastic services, let’s find the funding for it from those that already spend the money elsewhere.

I welcome dissenting opinions and arguments, as I love good debate.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers but, if there is dialogue then maybe we can learn to at least ask why, and think outside the box!

The answers are out there, we just need to ask the questions and not be satisfied with “because,” or “that is just the way it is,” or “it’s the law.” If it’s the law and it is stupid, let’s change it, or change the people who made it!

People need to rise up and question the status quo, if the status quo does not make sense!

-Best

Spring Road Trip 2015

Spring Road Trip 2015 Rohmers’ and Muenster

Every now and then I run across a place that is worthy of mention either for good or not so good. These last few days I found myself on a road trip of sorts. West of Gainesville Texas a few miles is a town called Muenster. The Town founded in 1889 lies about 15 miles west of Gainesville. My road trip consisted of Antiquing, eating, and a visit to Winstar Casino. One of the highlights of this trip was Muenster and Rohmers. http://www.rohmersrestaurant.com/

coconutpie — This was really good as well…

The down home feeling one gets once inside the establishment is unmistakable. While I have never been there before I was made to feel like a local, and was treated the same as they would treat anyone else. The food was top notch, fresh and brought in about the normal time one would expect. I found the food rather bland but I suspect that might be the culture and as I was not going for Tex-Mex or some spicy food so it was as you might expect. I usually do not eat dessert when I eat out as the serving sizes today are too large to accommodate room for it however; when I entered into the establishment I spied what looked like fresh made pies on the counter top. Inquiring about them well into the meal indeed; the pies are made fresh each morning. Lemon pie pecan pie and coconut pie are made fresh daily. Folks, good lemon pie is hard to find. This was the real deal including the pie crust which was light and flaky. I give this place two thumbs up and suggest you give it a try if you are ever in the area. That night I stayed in Gainesville at the Comfort Suits right off of I35.

TX846A1 — Nightmare stay, too much for too little with rude ass patrons.

Requesting a room away from the freeway we were placed at the west end of the hotel. Right next to us with an adjoining room separated by a locking door they placed a family with young children and a dog. The room keys were not created correctly the first time and I had to wait over 20 minutes in line to get them re-created. The girl behind the desk was chatty and nice enough but the manager was the one who quietly got things done. The room / hotel was under construction so an afternoon nap before dinner was out of the question. The room was barely what I would call clean with stains of some sort on the couch and although the sheets appeared clean they did not smell fresh. As the matter of fact the pillows had the distinct smell of burned hair. There was a free breakfast in the morning which we opted to skip as we did not want to take any chances on the food being taken care of the same way that the hotel was. This hotel gets two thumbs down and although the manager was trying, I think it is going to take a village to get that place where I would want to stay there again.

A note to the “assholes” in the room next door. If you have a child and you stay in a hotel, your child should not be allowed to scream at the top of their lungs until they tire of exhaustion. And just as an FYI, you really can hold the doors until they close as to keep them from slamming and the same is true of the toilet seat. I found it a true amazement that the dog was better behaved than the child!

Sanger sports one antique mall worth a visit. The Sanger McDonald’s however is a travesty managed by a complete buffoon. I cannot understand how someone can take the tried and true methods of McDonald’s and screw it up as badly as this one is! Gainesville sports a couple Antique stores worth the time, Muenster had one good one with a few other little shops worth the visit and the little town of ST Jo a few more miles to the west was also worth a visit, as they had one small antique mall worth a visit to. I found the folks in ST Jo also very friendly and the local DQ while very clean and well run seemed to be a local hangout. Marietta Oklahoma had one antique mall that was rather interesting. We went up the road to Ardmore where there was several small antique malls / stores where things were priced not much differently than one might find on eBay. The old adage about eggs and cars being cheaper in the country does not seem to apply to junk / antiques in stores that depend upon visits from folks you like you and I. If I want to pay eBay prices I will shop on eBay. Winners, Losers, Zombies and Geriatrics Crooners, Arriving at Winstar around 3 we were unable to check in until after 4, although I did watch several check in at 3 while I was waiting in line. They have something called a guaranteed check in at 4. The purpose of the trip was to see Merle Haggard, Chris Christopherson and Willy Nelson perform. As we could not check in until after 4 we elected to go check out the casino. The casino is massive and requires a lot of walking and after a few hundred feet it all looks the same. The noise is what you would expect, the smoke is filtered pretty well but, if you have asthma, I would stay away. The algorithm for the electronic bandits are all pretty much the same. Give you a little taste of winning, and then empty your pocket. I would love to have access to the P&L as I doubt that there are any “big winners” ever. I remember that someone won over 11 million dollars there; they refused to pay because it was an “error.” http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=81798

I have no expectations when I visit such a place as I understand how it all works. The only way you stand a chance of winning anything is to play cards or some other game that is not tied to a computer. Once upon a time it was a algorithm built into the mechanical wheels cogs and gears of the machine, now it is programmatically accomplished. I would recommend setting a budget and understand that it is entertainment and expect to lose what you set in your budget.

I understand math to an acute level and I still purchase a lottery ticket every once in a while. The odds are so far against me they are unrealistic. My one or two dollars is spent thinking “if I win…” That is it. I supports education and I can feel good about that. The concert was not the greatest. I have paid much less for better but, let’s face it, where are these three going to get billed at some place that seats many thousand folks. I grew up with them so it was an honor to see them possibly for the last time.

The chairs were less than comfortable and pushed so close to the next guy that even skinny folks were sitting on each other laps. During the intermission there was piss poor planning where the bathrooms were concerned as a few thousand worked their way through the maelstrom of bumping and shoving and by now some folks who had drank too much, and were in a hurry to pee!

While paying extra for Good seats, this too would have been better if televised to some private cable channel or PPV where you would not have bubba in the seat ahead of you with a hat and a camera trying to video the whole event, when the signs clearly said “no cameras of any kind!” There were 20 something year old kids with “security uniforms” on which did not fit them correctly, trying to garner the respect of the mostly geriatric crowd. These kids still had pimples, trying to boss around people who were in their 60’s and 70’s and beyond. It was laughable actually. Get some booze in these old folks and well, you can guess what the conversations went like. I know I heard the kids voice crack as he was telling one guy that he could not film the event.

Hundreds were filming and taking pictures with their damned flash on so either the whole damned crowd is illiterate, or just simply does not give a fuck! You tube has much better video of them and you can download all of it you care to, no pimple faced kids to harass you unless of course your kids are there and don’t like what you are downloading.

The act started out with Chris who I must say I was impressed with. Merle had little breath to sing with, but he could still play the guitar. This was my second time to see him in concert and I feel will probably be my last. Willy put on one heck of a show for an 81 year old guy. I felt it unfortunate that the camera angle showed his wrinkled skin in all of its glory. Like his guitar, he has seen better days. His style has changed over the years as he too most probably lacks the breath to croon as he used to. He talks a good part of his songs but all in all, still puts on a good show! I would have really liked Chris to start out one of his songs with “look who’s advertising…..” I know him best in a Star is Born. There was one surprise of the night and that is when his daughter Kelly came out and did a duet with her father. She is attractive and has a good voice. I look for her to do some good things in the future!

article-2313275-19708E19000005DC-195_634x766 — Chris and Barbara who not only dated for a time but also starred in A Star is Born back in the 70’s

287a068e50e20ad7adb074d4028d02bd — He has several of these around the country.

Toby Keith Entrepreneur.. A flaw with the casino is they really don’t have enough eating establishments for the crowds that they draw. When checking in you are given coupons for one thing or another and one of them was for free chips and salsa at Toby Keith’s restaurant. Heading to the place at 4:45 to eat and make it to the show by 7 there was already an hour and a half wait! There was even an hour wait at the El-Fenix! Since getting in your car and leaving is not an option, you are a captive audience, so bring energy bars, and don’t think about eating there if there is a show that you are going to see. We decided to go after the show, at 10:15 there was still a 15 minute wait and we left the show early to manage that. Folks, I know food. I ordered a $31 dollar 6oz filet, medium-well. It took the better part of 45 minutes before the food was delivered and … not only was the meat “not a filet” it was cold. It was raw and when I put the bloody raw meat into my mouth to discover it was cold, EWWWWW!

I have no idea what cut of meat they served me or where it came from. — This is a filet…

My guess is that it was prepared and sat somewhere for a while and allowed to get cold before it was delivered. The baked potato was warm as was the cornbread. When one orders a filet, as in beef, it means beef tenderloin! I guess you can call anything a filet but if I were a place with a name like Toby Keith I don’t think I would split hairs and call any cut of meat a filet! I can eat medium rare if it is hot, I don’t typically eat under-cooked food however as the dangers of illness are much greater. Retiring to the room was different. The room was $233 for one night. Now I have stayed all over the world so $233 is not really out of the way but, for Oklahoma?! That is $233 a night for 19 hours of which you are in the room for possibly 8. $12.26 an hour. I heard others complaining about the $149 a night, so I am guessing that once you become a “player” offers for cheaper rooms to get you back will be forth coming. Here is the rub. While the room was quite, really quite, no noises from the hallway, the rooms next door or above us, the damned bed was hard as a rock! Not only was the bed rock hard, the pillows were so fluffy that I had to roll up a towel and use it for a pillow as I cannot have that much of an extreme angle of my head without risking a pain in the neck! Had the bed had some give it might not have been that big of a deal.

The room was clean, the bathroom was clean and there was a sign in the bathroom cautioning people about stealing things but in a clever manner. It went something like “We are glad that you enjoyed your visit, take it with you! If you like the towels or radio clock or such, contact hotel management for pricing! I laughed at that, as we all know someone who takes the extra soaps and shampoos and other extra shit, and we may know people who have actually taken towels and things. Cheap bastards the lot, but those people visit these places too.

I get dirt cheap rooms from the Hard Rock in Vegas.

I can use miles to get there, practically free, and I get free drinks delivered to me by some attractive lady at the machine on the floor as opposed to $5 well drinks from the bar, delivered by someone who has the attitude of F U if you don’t like it. This guy at the bar really did exude an FU attitude, like he did not like white folks.

Vegas is a plan ahead, make reservations , flight to and from and taxi ride etc. well Winstar is 65 miles north of me, short car ride.

This is my third Indian owned Casino that I have stayed at, the first being The Mystic in Minnesota. The theme that is re-occurring is the smoke, and Zombies that are at a machine when I retire; and still there when I awake and no booze. The Mystic actually had the cigarette smoke in the hotel that was thick even in my non-smoking room.

Winstar is the first casino that actually had Alcohol, so why not take it the next step and give it away like Vegas does? You got people dropping $4 a throw, spending $100 in less than 10 minutes, you can afford a free drink!

We crossed some imaginary line with a drink in hand and were accosted by some older gentleman who fussed at us for having alcohol near the hotel. We originally bought it in the casino, we were in the casino when he accosted us and we had just walked near a shop in the hotel for a second and then back into the casino when we were forced to throw it out.

Taking a line out of WKRP in Cincinnati from Less Nessman, watch out for those imaginary lines!

Of the three, Chocktaw probably has to be my favorite of easily accessible casinos; as I really don’t care about alcohol, and it is not so big that I cannot get my car and go find food that is not tethered to the casino. I need to check out Shreveport and see how it stacks up. If Winstar wants to compete with Vegas, they need to hire people who like White Folks. They need to get some comfortable beds and loosen up on the rules with imaginary lines and drinks for Christ sake! Nobody but nobody likes to be harassed about such things when you are trying to have a good time. Go spend a little time in Vegas. People are walking around everywhere with drinks in their hands on the streets, and the cops just look the other way even though it is probably illegal. So walking from the carpeted area to the tile for a few seconds gets Barney Fifth upset!!!!?

Oh, here is the kicker, it was sierra mist, as you guys don’t have 7up, it was not even booze, although it was in a plastic cup from the bar which once had rum and sierra mist in it, 4 hours ago! Why? I like to keep the amount of Styrofoam that I use to a minimum and you folks must burn through it like crazy!

Toby Keith needs to go and visit his place, and hire someone who can manage it better. Maybe you could ask Gordon Ramsey for a little help? The live entertainment was surprisingly good and the waitress was personable. How the food was allowed to get cold is your expediter’s deal, if you have one. There was no manager, no apology, nothing. Really a disappointment.

As an aside I have visited Gordon Ramsey’s place in Vegas, TOP NOTCH!

What is your take?
Which Casinos have you visited and what did you like?
What did you not like, other than losing money?
Would you return?
Do you Antique?
If you are in the area or even close are there places that you would recommend?