I’d like to give a big “Thank You!” to all the nameless scofflaws who spray-paint artwork on railroad cars. I never get tired of looking at it (and there’s not much else you can do at a railroad crossing). This is some highly creative artwork, an all-American platform, and there really needs to be a museum for it. How you get it there without tearing apart railroad cars, I don’t know. But anyway–thank you, anonymous artists, for making a little piece of life more interesting.
So this morning I’m heading west on Aboite Center, and toward me is coming an ambulance–lights flashing, siren blaring. The ambulance reaches the intersection at Homestead Road. All around the intersection, cars are stopped, as they should be. And then, just as the ambulance is ready to enter the intersection on a red light, an SUV headed south crosses RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT.
I was stunned. And I wondered: what prevented that driver from seeing the ambulance? From seeing the lights flashing? From hearing the siren? There are multiple possible answers.
A couple years ago, at that same intersection, I saw the same thing happen with a firetruck. An oblivious teenage guy forced the firetruck to come to a stop at the intersection.
All of which is an advertisement for defensive driving. If people aren’t noticing sirens and flashing lights and other cars stopped along the road, how are they going to notice my ordinary vehicle doing nothing special?
Kids are now texting in their sleep. The phone chirps (or whatever) to announce an incoming text, they respond to it–maybe sensibly, maybe with gibberish…and in the morning have no memory of it. One writer says, “It’s just like sleepwalking, except you can be really, really mean.”
Since Popes traditionally die in office, we’ve only had one infallible person on earth at a time for 700-some years. But I assume that once infallible, always infallible, even if you retire. So, with the selection of a new Pope, we’re looking at the prospect of TWO infallible persons at the same time. What if the two Popes have lunch together, and end up disagreeing about something? Can that even happen? And if it does, should they call in the President of the Mormon Church as an infallible tie-breaker?
When I go to gun & knife shows, like I did this afternoon, I’m disgusted by the anti-Obama T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. I guess if you’re a gun owner, you’re supposed to despise the president. I’m not in that camp–not as an American, and not as a Christian.
Here are three (out of many) T-shirts I saw vendors selling today: Beavis and Butthead peeing on President Obama, one saying, “We used to hunt communists. Now we elect them president” (do they even really understand what communism is?), and one with a picture of a guy saying “Take That Obama!” while holding up the middle finger.
I wanted to tell those vendors, “I don’t care who he is. You crap on the president, you’re crapping on your country. On MY country.” That’s how I feel.
My friend Nate Edwards nailed my feelings exactly: ”
There’s “making fun of the president,” which is one thing — you know, taking his personality traits and questionable policies and bashing him with jokes grown from little seeds of truth… But then there’s “hating the president,” which includes no humor, no creativity, no respect, and no decency, and I think that’s what you’re describing. It’s like that bumper sticker I saw on the back of a truck with the Obama “O” logo encircled by a larger red circle with a line through that, and, next to it, text reading “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012.”
Really? There are a lot of things to make fun of with this guy… His apparent lack of emotion in speeches, his very questionable drone warfare policy, his big ears, the fact that he was a lawyer and a law professor (I mean… so many lawyer jokes…), and all of those would be funny because of the seed of truth. But middle fingers, Calvin peeing on the president’s logo… it’s kind of disgusting and embarrassing. I have never seen such distasteful displays against a president in my short time here on earth.”
Indeed, there is much to criticize President Obama about, and to joke and even mock about. I could give you a long list of personal beefs. But hateful ridicule? There’s no place for that.
I certainly disliked a lot of things George Bush did. But he was still my president, democratically elected by my fellow citizens (okay, maybe with some help from the Supreme Court). There were people who threw hateful ridicule at Bush, and Clinton was subjected to it throughout his presidency. It’s one thing if it comes from the general populace. It’s quite another thing–a very disturbing thing–when it comes from Christians.
It’s why I won’t let my mind be polluted by folks like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity on the right, and Ed Schultz and Keith Olberman on the left. Garbage in, garbage out.
I love really great photography. The Atlantic website recently showed 40 photos, in very large format, from the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards, which attracted 122,000 entries from 170 countries. Many are fascinating. My favorite is the greyhound dog in a race. Also loved the shot of the city of Dubai, the giraffes running, and the forest of poplars.
Monopoly proposed five new game pieces, and let people vote for their choice via Facebook. Because Facebook users are the most discerning folks on the planet, overflowing with wisdom.
The results were announced February 4. It’s the cat, which got 31% of the vote.
But there can be only eight gamepieces, so one piece had to be retired. That fate fell to the lowly iron, whose function in contemporary society is akin to that of the butter churn.
I guess I’m not surprised that the cat won, but I expected it to be the robot. I thought the robot was very cool.
Amidst the many pressing world crises, my thoughts go to the insidious War on Cursive, which threatens to undermine Western civilization.
Two years ago, Indiana made teaching cursive writing optional, instead encouraging students to learn the arcane skill of “typewriting.” But vigilant state senators have approved a bill to require that students be taught cursive writing. And thus shall be preserved our way of life.
I agree with teaching cursive writing, based on scientific studies which show that that’s what I was taught. Not that I’m any good at it–just look at how I scribble my name with a stylus on those credit card thingies in the checkout line. But I’m aware of the concept of cursive writing, and I use it extensively every time I sign my name. And no other time, come to think of it.
It’s like mandating that kids be taught to change the oil, or speak French, or write haiku, or churn butter–things you’ll rarely need to do, but which older folks had to learn when they were in school, so they think it’s a Vital Life Skill.
Indiana, while mandating cursive writing, also dropped license and educational requirements for school superintendents. The intent is to give school districts the flexibility to hire “nontraditional candidates” as school superintendents. Meaning, “persons who are not trained to be educators, but whose uncle is the mayor.”
Here’s some arcane knowledge: a history of parking meters. I read it on Collectors Weekly. I came across it via Digg.com.
One piece of trivla: the first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City in 1935. Because, apparently, there is a shortage of wide open spaces in Oklahoma.
Jon Stewart said something like this the other night: “Global warming is a fraud. You know how I know? Because it’s cold, right now, where I live. That’s just science.”
I’ve not been hearing sarcastic global warming comments this winter; maybe the reality of climate change is finally getting through–the very hot summer, and now two very mild winters.
In years past, tobacco companies succeeded for many years in creating doubt in people’s minds that cigarette smoking was bad for you. But eventually, the science caught up with them, and now the tobacco industry is on the ropes.
In the same way, the oil/coal/auto industries work to create doubt in people’s minds–doubt that climate change is occurring, or doubt that it is caused by anything mankind is doing. It’s all about creating doubt–not about proving anything scientifically, but in saying, “Scientists don’t 100% agree on this.” (The book “Climate Coverup” illuminates all of these tactics.)
But we’re getting there.
Today, it was 4 degrees when I left the house. So today would be a good day for sarcastic global warming comments.
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