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Greetings, Quotaholics:
I
recently wrote about the flag and how we learned, as children, to respect
it.
Back then we were taught about patriotism, the flag, the national anthem,
the pledge of allegiance, and we participated because adults expected
it of us. Later in life as events such as the Vietnam war, segregation,
and the resignation of a president led to doubts about the leadership
of our country, some began to turn away from shows of patriotism.
The 60’s and 70’s were times of protests and changes. This lead to lawsuits
over the right of the individual to protest by means such as burning
the flag, or in the case of the 1968 Olympics, raise
a fist during the playing of the national anthem.
Events of September 11, 2001 led to a new wave of patriotism. We saw
more people standing during the anthem, more people flying flags. Most
Major League Baseball teams began playing “God Bless America”
during the 7th inning stretch. But with this newly found patriotism
came less tolerance of those who didn’t seem to be appropriately
patriotic. The New York Yankees even enacted a rule against moving during
the playing of “God Bless America”.
This rule recently lead to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a man who was
ejected from a Yankees game for attempting to go to the bathroom during
the song.
According to a New
York Times article, “The suit says the man, Bradford Campeau-Laurion,
30, of Astoria, Queens, was the victim of religious and political discrimination.
The suit says he was forcibly restrained and ejected from the Bronx
stadium on Aug. 26, after trying to walk past a police officer as the
patriotic hymn was played.”
To me there is a big difference between “God Bless America”
and the national anthem. I can see people expecting a certain amount
of respect during the anthem, but does “God Bless America”
deserve the same respect? For that matter, I’ve never been to
any sporting event and seen everyone in the stands come to a complete
stop when the anthem started. And I’ve never heard of a rule requiring
you to stay in the stands even during the anthem.
Isn’t it unpatriotic to force patriotism on people? Doesn’t
it seem a little Orwellian to force people to stay in their seats during
“God Bless America”? Isn’t patriotism, pride in your
country, something the government has to earn? Would you be upset to
be told you had to stay in your seat during the singing of “God
Bless America”?
Questioningly,
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“I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people
die of natural causes.” - Kati
“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” - Benjamin Franklin
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THE ITALIAN SECRET
FOR A LONG MARRIAGE
[Thanks Sied]
At Saint Mary’s
Catholic Church they have a weekly husband’s marriage seminar. At
the session last week, the Priest asked Giuseppe, who was approaching
his 50th wedding anniversary, to take a few minutes and share some
insight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman
all these years.
Giuseppe replied to the assembled husbands, ‘Wella, I’ve a-tried to
treat-a her nicea, spenda da money on her, but besta of alla is, I
tooka her to Italy for the 25th anniversary! ‘
The Priest responded, ‘Giuseppe, you are an amazing inspiration to
all the husbands here! Please tell us what you are planning for your
wife for your 50th anniversary? ‘
Giuseppe proudly replied, ‘I’m agonna go get her..’
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“I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren’t any rules, how could
you break them?”
“I never did say that you can’t be a nice guy and win. I said that if
I was playing third base and my mother rounded third with the winning
run, I’d trip her up.”
“I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.”
- all from Leo Durocher, born on this day in 1906
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Speak
right up!
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Poison
(Part 2)
As I’ve discussed, some plants are highly reactive to people with
sensitivity to chemicals in them. This is usually compared to the
3 "P’s", poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. But there
are others much more dangerous.
Many houseplants are deadly if ingested. The good news is, we don’t
usually eat our houseplants. Our pets do, and that is where the danger
really exists. Pets often eat plants when they are digestively challenged.
They will try to settle their stomach by eating grass, and even houseplants.
Many have died when they nibbled on decorative plants in the foyer.
What I find amazing is that we humans will eat poisonous plants, sometimes
knowing they are deadly. Rhubarb is deadly if not properly prepared.
The leaf can kill! But we still cultivate it for our pies.
Even cherry is dangerous, as is elderberry, but we make pies from
the fruit. I wonder who it was back in prehistoric times that stood
back and let 2 others eat from the elderberry, for example, to see
if the one who ate the leaves lived, or if the one who ate the fruit
lived. When the one died and the other didn’t, did they say, "Aha!
We can eat the fruit"? Who volunteered to be the taste tester?
Did they draw straws?
Many berries and fruit can be dangerous, as are the seeds. Sometimes,
the fleshy part of the fruit is safe, but eating the seeds within
can do you in. For example, the castor bean is quite deadly, yet we
use the castor plant to make castor oil, a medical remedy used many
years ago, and sometimes even yet.
We have all been told the difference between mushrooms and toadstools.
However, many people couldn’t tell the difference if handed one of
each. We’ve heard the tales about mushrooms that cause hallucinations.
So, unless you can tell the difference, let someone who is an expert
in mushroom types pick out your hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Here’s your quiz:
Have you checked to see which plants in your home may be dangerous
to your pets?
Are you the type to "taste test" nuts & berries you
find?
Have you investigated what plants are edible that grow in your area?
If lost in the woods for an extended period of time, would you draw
straws to be the "taste tester"?
Poison - Don’t Use Hemlock On Your Mouse Trap, It Doesn’t Work
Cliff (the High-Tech
Redneck who doesn’t rate a fancy ’signature pic’) 
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Email
Kirsten
“The
high loss of life suggests the police acted with extreme brutality
… A police force acting responsibly would not have allowed such a
tragedy to occur.”
~ Joe Stork ~
October 13, 2007 was a big day for Zofia Cisowski. Some time ago,
she had immigrated to Canada and made a nice life for herself in Kamloops,
British Columbia. Today her son, Robert
Dziekanski, was flying in from Poland to come and live with her.
The flight was due to arrive sometime around 1:00 in the afternoon.
Zofia waited in the International Arrivals area at Vancouver International
Airport, tense with anticipation. She wasn’t concerned when the constant
streams of arriving passengers did not include her son. Having been
through the process herself, she knew that it could take an hour or
two for Robert to be formally landed as an immigrant.
Several hours later, however, Robert had still not materialized. Zofia
made enquiries of the airport staff, but was unable to provide sufficient
flight information. Eventually, airport officials told her that her
son was nowhere in the airport. At about 10:00 p.m., she left the
airport, believing that Robert had missed his flight.
At that precise moment, Robert was in the section of the airport not
accessible to the non-travelling public. His flight had indeed arrived,
albeit two hours late. Robert had been on board the flight, and his
initial immigration processing had been completed. He probably spent
some time wandering around the baggage claim area - this is where
his mother had told him to wait for her, probably not realizing that
Baggage Claim is in a secured part of the airport, accessible only
to arriving passengers.
Robert tried to leave the Customs area at about 10:45, but was stopped
by officials who told him there was one more step to be followed in
his immigration procedure. This was completed sometime after midnight
on October 14th, and then he was taken to the International Arrivals
hall. And this is when all the trouble started.
After leaving the Customs area, Robert got very upset. Bystanders
and airport officials could not communicate with him because he didn’t
speak English well enough. For some reason, airport officials declined
to use the airport’s telephonic translation service. As Robert paced
around the Customs room in an agitated state, four RCMP officers arrived
(Canada’s federal police). He complied with an order to stand by a
counter, but at some point picked up a stapler. At that point, without
having tried any peaceful means to gain control of the situation,
one of the RCMP officers issued the order to use Tasers.
At the first strike, Robert fell to the ground, convulsing and screaming.
The officers quickly gained complete physical control: they pinned
and handcuffed Robert, and then - this is the part that gets me all
riled up - they continued to Taser him. He was struck with
the Taser at least five times, at which point someone realized that
his heart had stopped beating. No-one thought to administer CPR until
paramedics arrived fifteen minutes later.
The RCMP have their official version of the story, of course. They
felt threatened, they didn’t realize that Robert had picked up something
as innocuous as a stapler, the situation was completely out of control
and there was nothing else they could have done. The whole mess has
been the subject of an inquiry into the use of Tasers, in which all
kinds of witness accounts have come out of the woodwork.
What no-one counted on was the whole thing being caught on tape by
another traveller at the airport. It soon became clear that the official
accounts of what had happened did not match up with what was captured
by the video camera. The tape showed a man who was confused, scared
and desparate, being Tasered well beyond the point of having posed
any kind of threat or flight risk whatsoever.
Robert is not the only person to have died
after encounters with a Taser. At least 22 people have died in Canada
alone. Some police officers who have been Tasered as part of their
training have launched legal action, claiming serious injury. The
question I pose is this: when people die from being Tasered, and when
the police themselves claim serious injury, how on earth can the RCMP
hold onto their claim that Tasers are safe and non-violent?
I am all for law enforcement officers doing what they need to do in
order to keep us safe. But when someone is reacting out of fear and
desparation, he or she deserves to be treated not with brutality,
but with sensitivity.
Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten
Comment
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I like my new car better now. Oh, it’s still a wind-up toy and I can
forget any dreams of kicking it into overdrive and passing anyone
faster than a go-cart, but it’s fun. It reminds me of my youth.
Back then, I drove for fun. I loved taking a day-trip with my friends,
just to see what’s past the next turn. But what I was really doing
was hunting the next turn. There is nothing like hitting a corner
perfectly and shooting out the other end of it faster than you went
in. My little car can do that using two pedals, neither of which is
the brake. I haven’t done that in years, and forgot what a rush that
can be.
But there’s two parts to trusting a new car. It has to go, but it
also has to stop. You can’t really test that. Sure, you can go fast
and hit the brakes, but if they don’t work, you aren’t going to hit
anything. The only true test is on the road, when you *need* to use
them. I had one of those experiences too.
Whilst driving through Willamsville, there was a white Jimmy (think
small Hummer) that was slightly erratic when it got off the highway.
He didn’t merge with traffic, he forced his way in. Then he tried
to get into the left lane, then went back to the right. Then the left
lane started moving again, and I was about to pass him. I figured
if I could do that, I could get by everyone else and just be on my
way.
He had other ideas. He wanted to go as fast as I was going. So he
pulled into the left lane, where I was. Legally, I could have let
him hit me and not be at fault. Realistically, if I hit him, the air
bags would deploy and smack my new glasses into my nose. There is
a cup holder on the passenger side that is screwed in to the dashboard.
When *that* airbag deploys, there will be bits of that cupholder deployed
all over me as well. Oh, and I’d be driven into oncoming traffic and
be decimated. I decided to try to not hit the Jimmy, so hit the brakes
instead.
They work. They work real good.
Tim a’Musing
Having a Ball being Alive
Comment
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Deep-Frying Tips
The oil must reach a good temperature to brown the exterior of the
food quickly while cooking it. That temperature is almost always between
350F and 375F degrees. To be sure the oil is right use a frying thermometer.
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Good ones everyone. Did we run Julian off?
Julian? Where are you??
Next opening line…
This summer has really been hot…
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
There
once was a poor boy named Sid—
Who always remained such a kid—
In much later years
After having some beers
he would pretend that he was a squid. - Cassandra in New York |
There
once was a poor boy named Sid
You won’t believe what he did
He stood on his car
And pissed near and far
Then he ran off and hid. - Bonnie |
There once
was a poor boy named Sid…….
He didn’t but his sister did……….
Have lots of bad luck…….
So she fell from the truck…….
And asked, "You see what I just did?" - Skeeter |
There once
was a poor boy named Sid…..
Who thought he was well hid……
When he played hide and seek……
He didn’t see "it" peek…….
As he got under the garbage can lid - Skeeter |
There once
was a poor boy named Sid…….
Was really a pretty nice kid….
But he didn’t have much money….
So he didn’t get any honey…..
From the girls when he made a bid. - Skeeter |
There once
was a poor boy named Sid……
Didn’t have a quid…….
Or a buck or a mark……
"Cause didn’t have the "spark"……
To get ahead like his brother did. - Skeeter |
There once
was a poor boy named Sid
Who thought he knew more than he did.
He thought that a shark
Would turn tail if you bark.
So he swam out to try it — poor kid! - Author Unknown |
I went on
the creepiest date
The girl goes by the name of Kate.
She once was a he
And had a crush on me
She is my ex college roommate, Nate. - E. Cole Aye |
I went on
the creepiest date
We watched tarantulas migrate
Like CSI Grissom
I like to handle them
I like beasts that have a leg times eight! - E. Cole Aye |
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Re: Daughter’s New Career
I’ve got just one thing to say about these parents! Sick Horrible! Oh
hell, that was two things, sorry. I just do not think I could be that
supportive. I mean if my daughter chose that kind of thing, of course
I’d still love her, but I’d not encourage or help her in any way. That
to me is just disgusting. Nothing more to be said. - Tazz
Re: Cliff and Poison
We have Poison Oak and Sumac
here–no Ivy–Thank God!! I’m one of those people who have extreme reactions
to it. Don’t know about Oak and Sumac as I tend to stay away from them
on principle. My last bout with Poison Ivy cost over a hundred dollars
in doctor visits and medicine and that was enough for me. I have actually
gotten it from someone uphill from where we were living burning wood
that had it on it. Fortunately not from inhaling it–just getting the
residue on my skin.
No, I can’t identify the damned things, worse yet, so I mostly just
stay out of the woods. I have tried to look out for the plants but they
all tend to look alike to me. I stick to cleared paths on nature walks
and watch what I brush against. I don’t know if pollution or other factors
are making it worse–but each time I come into contact with it my reaction
is worse. All of these occasions have been years apart too.
I’ve had a similar reaction to stinging Nettle recently so I have to
watch out for it too. The rash it left got scratched when I wasn’t thinking
about it and left a nasty skin infection behind that was worse to clear
up than the actual rash.
There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to avoid getting a rash either,
so treatment depends on how bad it becomes. Everything from a couple
of doses of Benadryl to keep from scratching to ER visits and antibiotics
and steroids to clear it up. - Ruth in WA
What do I do when I get into some of these nasty things? Scratch of
course! LOL! No seriously, one day I was out in the woods behind my
house, and I got turned around, and my beagle decided that to walk rite
through a big patch of Poison was the thing to do, and he drug me through
it with him, and so when I got home I stripped off those affected clothes,
and got into a luke warm shower, and washed with soap, and then let
the water run over me for several extra minutes, and believe it or not,
I didn’t break out. I’m highly alerjic, and so it was for sure a nice
surprise. - signed, the Tennessee Tazz!
WE have poison ivy my husband mix yellow corn meal/ black pepper and/salt
.Which is very effective for him it seems to disappear immediately.-
dEE
My son has always been highly allergic to poison ivy. We found out salt
water cured it on a trip to the ocean. There aren’t many oceans near
Ohio, so we later improvised. A cup of salt in a bathtub about 2/3 full
and soak for 30 minutes. The salt dried out the blisters. - Patti in
SC, now near an ocean.
Re: Cliff and Butterflies
love this article as my nephew
and i raise butterflies and moths . we have raised 1000’s . this year
my nephew will easily have raised 200+ monarchs. i am raising monarchs,
black swallowtails, frittilaries , and cecropia moths and any other
little caterpillars we happen to find. always a fun hobby. - pat in
wi.
Sorry that I’m a few days behind, and this is slightly off topic - but
Cliff’s comments about the beauty of butterflies reminded me of the
following poem written by Pavel Friedmann in 1944 when he was 13 years
old.
Pavel was a Jewish prisoner in the Terezin concentration camp when he
wrote the Poem.
He was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz on September 29 1944, shortly
after writing the poem…
"The Butterfly"
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone. . . .
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ‘way up high.
It went away I’m sure because it wished to
kiss the world good-bye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here,
in the ghetto.
- by Pavel Friedman
Submissted by Michael,- Modi’in, Israel
[Thanks Mike. Next
time I see a butterfly, I’ll think of this poem and remember it’s author.
- Cliff]
Re: Viagra - Socialized Medicine
I
have to say that on this subject of national health care there are alot
of good points from both sides. I think that yes, there needs to be
some sort of a health care system for those who do not qualify for the
state aided insurance programs in their states, and yes, those who have
insurance and are happy with it, should be left to what they have, and
for those who do not want either then they need to be left to their
own devices.
As far as my own personal needs are concerned, when I had the money
and was working where insurance was available to me, I was very happy
to dump the medicaid insurance and go with a plan that I was able to
pay for myself. Now, I’m not working, and I have medicare, and the state
aided, insurance, Ten Care. I’m proud to have it, and would even be
willing to pay a small price for the Ten Care if I was asked. I think
that if they did have each person that could, pay for a bit of this
government assisted insurance the plans would go alot farther toward
taking good care of those who have it. I’ve never been one to want a
hand out, just a hand up. - Signed the Tennessee Tazz!
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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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