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Greetings, Quotaholics,
I
often wonder what people in the future will think of our society.
I
suspect our dependancy on living creatures for food will seem as barbaric
to them as killing a mastodon with sticks and stones seems to us. I also
suspect that our habit of locking ourselves inside metal containers and
smashing them together at high speeds will seem pretty silly too.
I’m
sure that in the future there will be safe and efficient means of getting
from one place to another. They will probably be amazed that for, at this
point, almost 100 years we killed people daily in auto accidents.
There
are attempts by various groups to make auto travel safer. Mostly these
attempts are seen as too expensive or too invasive on our rights. Instead
we create “awareness” programs to educate the public about
ways to make themselves safer. However according to an article in the
Edmonton
Journal at least one expert believes these awareness programs don’t
work.
Speaking
at the recently held International Conference on Traffic Safety in Edmonton,
Deborah Girasek, the director of social and behavioural sciences at the
Uniformed Services University in Maryland said, “I don’t think the
public understands that a lot of that money is wasted; it’s feel-good
stuff. I mean, it sounds wonderful to have an assembly before the prom
and tell the kids they shouldn’t drink and drive.”
“‘High
school drivers’ education has not only not been shown to prevent injuries
and crashes, it has actually, in some studies, been shown to increase
them,’ she said.”
“To
actually change behaviour, you need incentives, Girasek said. In the case
of seatbelts, the incentive was a fine for not complying.”
“‘We
made a law and all of a sudden … 75 per cent of adults were wearing
seatbelts.’”
So
we can spend a lot of time and money telling people that driving slower,
wearing seatbelts, or in the case of motorcycles helmets, will save their
lives and they won’t do it. The reason according to Girasek is “…people
don’t think it can happen to them. The majority of drivers see themselves
as above average and are prone to believe most crashes are preventable.”
In
the U.S. the problem is even more difficult because of our belief in personal
responsibility. If it doesn’t affect me, why should I care if a
motorcycle rider wears a helmet?
“‘When
motorcycle laws were passed in the U.S., in the end the way they got them
passed was by showing that most people who die of motorcycle crashes don’t
have medical insurance, so the state was paying for their health care,’
Girasek said. ‘So that’s how they got them to wear helmets. It wasn’t
because we were saving their lives.’”
So,
according to the article, I’m not likely to care if you kill yourself
but if my tax money goes to your care then I’ll support a law requiring
you to wear a helmet.
How
do you feel about this? Would you support lower speed limits and tougher
enforcement if it saves lives? Would you be in favor of massive spending
to upgrade our highways to make them safer? Would you pay more for safer
cars? Are you in favor of helmet laws and seatbelt laws?
Or
do you think the solution is to spend more on driver training and awareness
programs? Is Girasek full of bull? Do these programs work in your opinion?
Belted
in,
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“The most important thing is to be whatever you are without shame.”
- Rod Steiger
“I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by
looking up something and finding something else on the way.” - Franklin
P. Adams
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New Baby
There was a baby
born in the hospital. The odd thing about him was his testicles weighed
five pounds and the rest of his body weighed five pounds.
The nurses and doctors didn’t know what to do with him. The chief
of staff arrived and asked “What’s wrong?” The head nurse replied,
”We don’t know what to do with this baby boy.”
The chief looked and said, “Well it’s obvious that you should put
him into a mental institution.
Why,” asked the head nurse. “Well,” replied the chief surgeon, the
boy is obviously half nuts.”
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“An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly
must have a warm heart for his fellow men.”
“Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes.
Only when I fall do I get up again.”
“I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but
I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than
I am, which is my life, the power to create.” – all from Vincent van Gogh,
born on March 30, 1853
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E-Mail
the Imp
I’m
not a fan of Country Western or Cowboy music, I much prefer Beach, Boogie,
and Blues. Over the years there have been a few of those Country songs
that crossed over into the Pop Charts that I’ll listen to because they
are so good I can’t ignore them. One of those songs is “Cool
Water” by Marty Robbins.
That song is a reminder to me of
the developing crisis around the world for potable water for an
increasing worldwide population, and the scarcity of irrigation water
for raising crops and livestock. The UN
has been studying the increasing tensions around the world between
nations that share reservoirs, rivers, and underground water acquifers.
Here in the U.S. of A., Water Wars haven’t broken out anywhere, yet.
In fact, the only time we seem to worry about water is when there’s
too much of it in one place at one time, i.e., floods. In 2008, the
Midwestern region of the country experienced record levels of rain and
subsequently record flood levels. In the meantime, rainfall in the Southeast
was considerably less than seasonal averages for the fifth year in a
row, and our drought condition continues. Georgia and Tennessee are
squabbling over ownership and control of the water sets in reservoirs
along their border, but no war yet.
You might think that the changing weather patterns in the Midwest that
are bringing record rainfalls will guarantee that potable water will
be available to all. But the flooding is putting farm chemicals and
toxic waste from landfills into the acquifers, requiring an increased
investment into purifying and distributing it.
Where I live in the South we haven’t seen flooding as a problem so far
but we periodically experience “voluntary” water restrictions, and tainted
water is very rare. That usually occurs when the Water Authority flushes
out the system or makes extensive additions or upgrades. Home filter
systems can back up municipal water purification, capturing heavy metals
and bacteria, not all, but a lot of it. Thankfully breakdowns of municipal
systems here are short lived, and are most often preceded by natural
disasters.
But the tainted
water that a Ft Lupton, CO couple is experiencing can’t be corrected
by any home purification device. Their water burns. I don’t mean burns
because it is hot. I don’t mean burns because it is contaminated by
bases or acids. Run the water, strike a match, and you can get a flame
out of the tap with the water. Somehow natural gas from gas wells surrounding
their home is getting mixed in with the water, and no one knows where
the leak is.
I say, look for the silver lining. They can build hot tubs and open
a spa. They’d make a fortune since they could heat the water for free.
They could open a BBQ restaurant. Merely run the water down an open
trough with a grille over it, throw in a match and start cooking. The
hot water at the end can be sent to the scullery for cleaning pots,
pans, flat and silver ware, and assorted kitchen utensils. Even if the
food sucked, the novelty would bring in customers. They could charge
for tours of the kitchen and sell pint jars of “Burning Water” as souvenirs.
Lastly, this may be the opportunity to make all those ads in the back
of trashy, pulp magazines come true…the ones that say, “You can convert
your car to run on water!”
The Bad Sied 
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Speak
right up!
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Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Ever
since the wheel was invented, men have embellished their vehicles. Chariots
had spikes and emblems added to them. The horses who pulled them were
even decked out with fancy harnesses and gilded paraphernalia. It has
become one of the "feathers" a man uses to attract a mate.
Shiny street rods belching fumes at eardrum breaking volume have become
an extension of the modern man.
Cars
are simply a way to show the opposite sex that a man can show that he
can afford nice things, and he can actually keep something clean. Women
are attracted to those qualities. Often referred to as a "chick
magnet", cars are kept nicer than his home. You can eat off his
clean dashboard, but his dining table needs a grant from the government
for hazardous waste cleanup.
To
further the masculine attraction, men will buy all sorts of mechanical
beast. "Quad runners", jet skis, airplanes, and even tanks
and armored military vehicles are collected. Private aircraft, albeit
reserved for those of the more wealthy persuasion, are parked in large
quantities at municipal and regional airports. We won’t consider the
ones used in agriculture as they are work vehicles.
Men
love their toys. If a man had enough room and the liquid income, I swear
he would have his own train,
or even a monorail.
With enough space, one would build an entire amusement
park!
Here’s
your quiz:
Would you buy a large or unusual vehicle if you had the money?
Have you ever had a "hot rod"?
Is it overcompensation when men own fancy or large vehicles?
Are women really attracted to fancy or expensive vehicles?
If it guaranteed the attention of the "special person" you
had your eye on, would you buy a special vehicle?
Planes,
Trains & Automobiles - Not Just For Getting Around
Cliff (the High-Tech Redneck who doesn’t rate a fancy ’signature pic’)
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Email Kirsten
“About
26.5 hours from now, the judgement will begin. Difficult but not impossible,
necessary, nerve-wracking and fun. What fun is life without a little
death? It’s interesting, when I’m in my human form, knowing I’m going
to die. Everything has a touch of triviality to it.”
~ Dylan Klebold - Journal entry, April 18, 1999 ~
On April 20th, 1999, two extremely angry young men walked into the
high school where they were seniors, and executed a massacre that
killed twelve students and one teacher, injured twenty-four other
students, and shattered the lives of hundreds - possibly thousands
- of people. After they had shot their final victim, they spent a
few minutes roaming the hallways, making eye contact with terrified
survivors, and then returned to the library - the scene of most of
the massacre - and put an end to their own lives.
When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine
High School on that terrible day, things did not quite go according
to plan for them. Because they had made plans - very elaborate, extensive
plans mapped out over a period of a year prior to the shootings. This
was not a case of two guys waking up filled with rage, and deciding
on a whim to go to school to kill the fellow students they perceived
to be their tormentors. They picked the date, drew up timelines, and
carefully selected their ammunition. They placed their weapons strategically
in bags and pockets, and taped ignitor strips to their arms so they
could light and throw bombs at speed. They even did demographic research,
and coordinated their plans so that the attacks would begin when the
cafetaria was at its fullest.
The first part of plan went without a hitch. Harris and Klebold went
into the cafetaria and put down two bags, each containing a twenty-pound
propane bomb. No-one was suspicious. The bags were placed with the
other students’ bags; they just blended in. The pair went back outside
and waited. Their intention was for the bombs to go off, and then
to stand outside with their guns picking off survivors as they tried
to run for safety. They would then attack neighbouring houses with
Molotov cocktails. Their stated goal was to kill more people than
Timothy McVeigh had in the Oklahoma bombings four years and one day
previously. But the bombs failed to detonate. Harris and Klebold had
to revise their plans on the fly, and they went into the school and
killed people using guns instead of bombs.
A topic of much speculation since the Columbine shootings is whether
the tragedy was preventable. A number of warning signs were definitely
there. The biggest clue, had anyone been looking for clues prior to
the massacre, would have been Eric Harris’ website, originally created
to host levels that he and Dylan Klebold had created for Doom (a disturbingly
violent video game that both were addicted to). The site also included
a blog, which as time went by, contained increasing references to
his hatred toward society and his desire to kill people who annoyed
him. His blog included specific death threats against a fellow student,
something that caused enough concern for investigators to create a
draft affidavit for a search warrant of the Harris household. Harris’
website also started to include instructions on how to make explosives
and a log of what weapons he was collecting.
Other
signals were there too. For a creative writing assignment, Harris
had written a violent story about the “hero” shooting his enemies
from a safe distance. Both Klebold and Harris submitted a number of
morbid essays and poems, filled with bloody violence. For a joint
assignment, they made a video - one which turned out to be eerily
prophetic - depicting them gunning down their school enemies. Fellow
students recall seeing them with knives, talking about violence, engaging
in lunch-time conversations about blowing up the school. Fifteen months
prior to the shootings, the pair had been caught with property stolen
from a parked van. They were sentenced to “juvenile diversion”, which
included anger management classes. Perhaps no-one could have predicted
exactly what these two were planning, but it is clear that they were
very troubled youths.
In response to the shootings, there was widespread criticism to gun
control laws. Schools started instituting safety precautions - metal
detectors at school entrances, see-through backpacks, ID badges for
all students and staff. The media started reporting on the violence
in the video games kids were playing, in the TV shows they were watching
and the music they were listening to. Awareness of bullying was raised;
school boards put in place anti-bullying programs and zero-tolerance
policies. Psychologists came up with checklists; catalogues of warning
signals for peers, teachers and parents to look out for in potential
mass-murderers. All of these measures - collectively given the label
“Columbine effects” - have been put in place for the stated purpose
of preventing this kind of tragedy from happening in the future.
As we approach the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shootings, there
are a number of questions that we ask ourselves. What is going through
the minds of the families of the deceased? What physical and emotional
scars remain with the survivors? Will witnesses ever be able to turn
off the images of the atrocity that they saw? Can they handle loud
noises, sudden movements, and enclosed spaces without having panic-filled
flashbacks? Will the tears, nightmares, and sense of utter loss and
devastation ever go away?
But perhaps the most burning question we need to ask ourselves is
this: what did we as a society really learn from this tragedy, and
how hard have we really tried to prevent it from happening again?
Some schools appear to be making a real effort to curb bullying; others
still turn a blind eye and respond to complaints by telling parents
that victims need to work harder at not being victims. Violent video
games are still being created, with enhanced graphics and effects
more realistic than ever. Some of these games award extra points for
commiting crimes and killing policemen. What’s perhaps more disturbing
than the manufacture of the games is the fact that parents are buying
them for their kids. Teenagers are still being put onto antidepressants,
despite increasing evidence linking teen consumption of these drugs
with suicide and violence. When governments need to save money, they
start cutting community programs aimed at giving youth something positive
to do with their time. When concerned citizens set up charitable programs
for youth to give them constructive outlets for their energy, they
get great media coverage but no funding. Essays incorporating violence
and clearly disturbed thinking are regarded as creative free speech
rather than red flags of impending catastrophe. There are online articles
and videos that portray violence as something cool to be bragged about.
And ten years after Columbine, troubled teens with scary amounts of
pent-up anger still walk into schools and shoot people.
So we need to ask ourselves: are we creating a society in which parents
can send their kids to school without being afraid for their safety?
Or are we creating the conditions for another Columbine tragedy? Could
there ever be any way to better honour the memories of those who died
at Columbine and all of the other school shootings than to really
step up and make the world a positive place for our kids to live?
Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten
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I
don’t feel like writing today. I’ve been busy, and I just want to take
a day off.
Do you want to know the funny part about this? You can’t stop me
from not writing today, as I didn’t write yesterday. It wasn’t Monday
when I didn’t write this. It was Sunday. Yeah, I was sitting around
and just decided not to write a piece, so I ain’t gonna entertain
you today.
If you wish to file a complaint, go right ahead. Nobody will read
it until at least Wednesday, and by then I’ll probably be writing
again.
Oh, don’t you know who to complain to? Funny, neither do I. You should
probably ask which one of us wants your grief. Personally, I have
a policy of reporting complaints as spam, but I wouldn’t worry about
that. You’ll just need to get a new identity on the net.
Tim a’Musing
Having a Day Off.
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Store cheese in your refrigerator, which approximates the temperature
of aging rooms. Keep it wrapped tightly in plastic, away from air.
Air helps mold grow on cheese. If you get a little mold on the outside,
just cut it off. The English say if mold won’t eat your cheddar it
can’t taste very good.
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Either my lines are getting worse or you guys
(and gals) are getting lazy!
Here’s a line from Cliff,
Next opening line…
There once was a gullible fool…
Hints:
Here’s a great new rhyming/composition tool. http://www.writerhymes.com/
There’s also a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/
Limerick rules. http://freespace.virgin.net/merrick.sheldon/limerickrules.htm
Submit
Opening Line
Submit
Limerick
I
wanted to bake a nice pie
And I really don’t understand why
My hands are all bloodied
The kitchen is flooded
And there’s flour all over my tie - Julian,
England |
I
wanted to bake a nice pie
One to give to my guy
But into a problem I did run
Baking was simply no fun
So,myself to a bakery I did hie. - Bonnie |
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Re:
FDA
The FDA has not worked for the best interest of the citizens for a very
long time, and it’s not just political. Who do you think pays for their
studies? Pharmaceutical companies and mega-giant corporate farming interests.
So, you tell me, what do you think the findings of those studies are
going to show? Or favor? Follow the money, guys.
Remember the tainted peanuts? The American Peanut Company behind all
that, had just been inspected and found to be better than excellent.
How many drugs have been approved by the FDA, and subsequently jerked
from the market after killing people, and then you find out later, that
they knew about the problems the whole time? How about the links between
cigarettes, and cancer and heart disease? Or auto exhaust? Or CFC’s
from refrigeration units? It’s better than our justice system. All drugs,
and other products are innocent until proven guilty. - L&K, herm
If you do a little research,
you will find that the FDA is for sale to the highest bidder. You can
get any poison approved if you have enough money. - rodneyblmachine
Mike, You crossed the line. The topic is too political.
Although we just concluded eight years of the most "anti-science"
Administration in the History of the United States, discussions regarding
the scope of its behavior are off limits. - Mike from Florida
Re: Toilet Paper
In reply to the killing of
trees for toilet paper, most companies that make paper own plots of
land where they continually grow trees for their products. Pine is one
of the top "paper" trees and has been farmed for quite some
time. The biggest users of "slow to grow" are in the specialty
woods for construction and furniture manufacturing. Tree farming is
the second leading crop in Mississippi and is a great renewable resource
while providing all of the benefits. - Mississippi Ron
Every week on the way to see the kids, we pass by the MeaswestVaco ‘farm’
where they grow Carolina pines for paper production. The first year,
I was horrified to see the raw field where all the trees were cut to
send to the paper mills. We will soon be here five years now. That field
is covered with six to eight foot high trees once again.
I remember reading it takes twenty years to grow full size. So each
year, they clear 1/20 of their property to make us some paper. Over
by the mill, it stinks. Over by the tree farm, it is 1/20 pure ugly.
But the other 19/20 is beautiful and smells like pine forest. And the
paper comes in handy. - Patti, in South Carolina
Re: Drunk Not Driver
I don’t
agree that you should be able to arrest someone if they seem to be about
to do something illegal. However, it could have been avoided if the
police had approached the driver and warned him he would be arrested
if he started to drive. That would have avoided the whole case, his
severe life alteration, and it would have kept the drunk driver off
the roads. That being said, if the driver had so much as pulled out
of the parking space, he certainly deserved to be arrested with all
the accompanying troubles. - Angela
This is for Jacques (in S-E Ont.)
Sorry, that’s the law here in the states too. At least for most of the
U.S. States. If you have the keys on your person, and you’re intoxicated
(not necessarily "drunk"), you could potentially drive the
car, therefore you can be arrested for DUI. AGAIN we run in to the discretion
problem. If you’re on a freeway, pulled over with the car running, I
say arrest him. How did he get there? He was endangering people. But
in the parking lot of the bar??? Yeah, give him a ride home. - Chris
in Utah
Re: Battle of the Sexes
Bob of the North, you
said: About that ability to recognize 9,457 colours - I produced, from
memory, in one try, a paint chip that vanished on a dinner plate my
girlfriend wanted to match. Is that so hard for other guys, or just
all the trendy names?
I can barely remember what I was doing a half hour ago (haha), but I
have always had perfect color recall. Many are the times I’ve amazed
family and friends. One of my better "feats" was in matching
a sweater to a tiny line in a plaid skirt my mom had. It was my Christmas
present to her, and turned out to be a perfect match. I was, I think,
13. One of my oldest friends brings this up almost every time I see
her. She’s quite impressed (and this is a woman with an incredible resume).
Now, if I could only figure out a way to make money out of it, here
in NE Ohio, I’d be set. At least, I know when I get dressed for work,
everything looks right together.  (oh, and my husband is pretty hopeless
when it comes to color. He’s not color-blind, but apparently his brain
processes color differently than mine. My son, though, is almost as
good at color recall as I.) - OhioKat
I can match colors
from memory, unless they are greens. I have to have greens present and
then can match them perfectly. Last I checked, I was still XX but even
so … - Patti, in South Carolina
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Disclaimer- All quotes printed in this publication are believed to be
accurately attributed, but no guarantees are made that some incorrectly
attributed, or even outright false quotes won’t get in here from time
to time. I assure readers that I will do my best to weed out incorrect
quotes, and will print a retraction as soon as I become aware of any errors.
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