Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

Apparently the polls show that people trust (?) Trump more with the economy than Harris. It seems rather strange that the mug with a history of bankrupts, losing money on a casino, and having all these outstanding debts because he does not pay his bills is trusted.
His plan to raise tariffs which is nothing more than putting a tax for the consumer on items seems to have no effect on opinions. He spent 4 years in the White House and used every second of it to steal from the people for self enrichment. His entire life has been and continues to be about the amassing of wealth. His campaign offers nothing in the way of policies except on the issue of tariffs, and getting rid of immigrants
The present administration has brought jobs back to this country, improved so many things including the economy and VP Harris has been a part of that and yet economic trust goes to the man with a felony record. Time to wake up. Our democracy is in the balance with the plans the republican backers have with project 2025 we are doomed. The wealth behind that movement truly indicates that for all their professors of religion and christian values they are nothing more than self absorbed asses.
The plan would put religion ahead of the government. Every nation that is run as a theocracy is totally messed up. The nations of the middle east are living proof of what a giant mess that system creates. It is especially true of women’s rights, they have none. That program would take away their vote, their right to health care, maybe their right to education and the list could be endless.
In the 1960’s Kennedy ran for President and he was the first Catholic to do so. The great fear was that he would take his orders from the Pope rather than the American People. That did not happen and even today we have a Catholic President, but it is the members of the Supreme Court that are taking orders from an outside source and that is not the Pope but they do tend to follow the teachings of the church rather than the Constitution.
The nation was established with the ideal of being welcoming and encompassing of all that wished to come here. No where in the Constitution does it reference God or a particular religion. Today we have people making statements like the Church should run the Government, and those that do not follow our mandates should be put to death. The inquisition all over. Why does anyone want to become a lemming and run headlong over the edge of the cliff and into the sea? The only reason for such behavior is that as an individual you cannot believe in yourself enough to accomplish anything unless you bring along a spiritual life preserver to keep you afloat.
The need to have an out when things don’t go the way you hoped, like the election was stolen from me, maybe the reason for claiming to be religious. The question then becomes do you give the faith the credit when good fortune comes your way or is it because you are just too wonderful in your own right? This is the paradox of religion and many that profess religious faith and it is especially true of those that try to force their faith down your throat.
As for faith or trust in the candidates in this election we should look to those that have our best interests at heart. The candidate that believes it is better to lift people rather than trod on them.

Umbrellas were once used only by women.

Umbrellas have been around for a long time — at least 3,000 years, according to T.S. Crawford’s A History of the Umbrella — but they were used by only select segments of the population for much of that history. Ancient Egyptians used them to shade their pharaohs, setting the tone for an association with royalty and nobility that would also surface in China, Assyria, India, and other older civilizations. Meanwhile, they were deemed effeminate by ancient Greeks and the Romans who assumed many of their cultural habits. It should be noted that these early umbrellas protected against the sun, not rain, and were generally used by women to shield their complexions. The association between women and umbrellas persisted through much of Europe for centuries, and stubbornly remained into the 18th century, even after the first waterproof umbrellas had been created (around the 17th century in France).

In England, at least, the man credited with ushering in a new age of gender-neutral weather protection was merchant and philanthropist Jonas Hanway. Having spotted the umbrella put to good use during his many travels, Hanway took to carrying one through rainy London in the 1750s, a sight met with open jeering by surprised onlookers. The greatest abuse apparently came from coach drivers, who counted on inclement weather to drive up demand for a dry, comfy ride. But Hanway took the derision in stride. Shortly after his death in 1786, an umbrella advertisement surfaced in the London Gazette, a harbinger of sunnier days to come for the accessory’s reputation as a rain repellant for all.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

Saw an article about a new product line. The items mentioned are based on some very common items you see all the time. The unique aspect of these particular items is brought about by a very real concern that has been created by a gross misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment.
If you are guessing at what this product line might be, well glory be, it is bullet proof products for your child to attend school. Backpacks, pencil bags, note books, just to name a few. Do we dare ask why this has even been thought of? The answer is simple, the phrase “The Right to Bear Arms” .
Every time there is a school shooting or a shooting involving a minor the advocates of the 2nd Amendment that scream and holler about their rights should all have to walk around with a label on their chests so the rest of society knows who to blame. Sounds punitive doesn’t it ? The tale of the Scarlet Letter or the sign the Jews had to wear in Nazi Germany come to mind. Both the result of punishment for doing or being something not approved of.
So what has brought this armor plating to our schools is the lack of common sense. Guns may have been invented for purposes other than killing other humans, but that sort of technology always advances during times of war. The number of wars and the number of advances in ways to kill have been numerous during mankind’s history. The items that have been developed specifically for use in conducting war need to remain in the hands of those that are going to war, not John Q Public.
The father that bought his son a weapon of war while the son was underage in Georgia has now been charged with equal crimes as the son who used that weapon to kill people. Lack of common sense or abject stupidity.
Those are the obvious causes for why the gun laws in this country are so obviously screwed up. The right to have access to, or carry a weapon should be weighed against the potential harm that can be done with that weapon in the wrong hands. What are the wrong hands? Well think about the people you know and the different personality types you encounter. Someone that is not quite bright, someone that gets angry at the slightest provocation, someone that has a habit of demeaning or threatening others, all of these types need to be evaluated before they are even considered for gun ownership.
It seems that the gun advocacy people are not concerned with public safety but rather only with their right to have guns at any cost. Common sense still says they don’t need weapons of war unless they want to be consolidated into a militia and drilled and prepared to be utilized for war as the nation sees fit. The other common sense thing that needs to happen with guns is to treat them like the law treats pets, boats, rvs, automobiles and income and tax them annually. The more you have the higher the cost, the type makes a difference as well and they must be insured so that any death caused by one of those instruments provides compensation for those left behind. That requirement alone could easily be enough to make the selfish attitude of “I gotta have it” a serious reassessment.

Although the sky is blue throughout the year, it’s often a richer blue in the fall and winter, especially at latitudes farther from the equator. Why? Well, the answer has to do with both electromagnetism and the biology of the human eye. As a refresher: All visible colors are tied to some wavelength along the electromagnetic spectrum. When sunlight enters Earth’s atmosphere, gas and dust particles reflect the shorter wavelengths of visible light (such as blue) more than longer wavelengths (such as red). That — and the sensitivity of the human eye to the color blue — is why the sky appears as a cool sapphire.

However, as the seasons progress, one part of this equation changes: the sun’s position. As the sun gets lower and lower in the sky during its annual journey back toward the equator (and eventually the Tropic of Capricorn), the angle of the sun’s light hitting the atmosphere causes even more blue light to scatter, while red and green light decrease. That causes the sky to turn an even richer blue. These blue skies are especially easy to see in much of North America as cooler temperatures mean less moisture (and therefore fewer clouds), giving you an uninterrupted view of that deep azure atmosphere.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The nation is again being held hostage as the republican party under Trumps (he is at present a private citizen with only personal interest) orders to sink the entire country or give him what he wants. This is absolute lunacy and anyone with a brain knows it.
The law they are making a fuss over already exists, they just want a way to stop people from voting so they are twisting another requirement into the language of the order. Everyone of the people that are putting us at risk should not be reelected and should have all of their benefits stripped as they leave. They should also be banned on pain of imprisonment from becoming beltway bandits, or lobbyists.
It seems that we have this out and out conflict between parties and we the people are powerless to do anything about it. The project 2025 has a listing of all the requirements they think are necessary to become a civil servant. A code of ethics is no doubt included in the description, none of the points of the description or points of ethics are met by Trump. We need a set of standards to put people in office. They need to have a list of parameters they must follow and violations should be punishable by determination of employment. Government is a business and it needs to run like one.
To enlist in the military and have the opportunity to select a career choice you must meet certain requirements. Your intelligence is tested to see if you are capable of the job, your background is investigated to make sure you are trustworthy, and of course, you have to be physically fit. To be employed in the highest ranks of our government all you have to be is capable of getting enough money together to campaign. No one checks the rest of the stuff and as a result we have idiots and less than honest people in the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court, and another is trying to get into the Presidency.
We seem to have the system built backwards, a soldier that carries a rifle into battle has to have a better character rating than your representative in Congress. No wonder people don’t trust the government. It is a case of when you have the money to get elected then you run for office. Then when something major happens in your region back home, you have the money to take a vacation in Mexico till the power is back home and the mess is cleaned up. Perish the thought that you should be there helping get things done.
It is time to start the process of putting people in office that wish to represent the people. They need to be intelligent and willing to compromise for the greater good, not just stubborn and obnoxious to get their way. Governance has a limit as to how far into the lives of the people legislating can go, and that limit is set by where helping and uplifting end and interfering begin.
The laws we have established are all telling us what not to do, like the 10 Commandments tell us what not to do, proving they were written by man on God. A deity that is powerful enough to do all that is attributed to him would be giving guidance to encourage joy and unity, such as Love Thy Neighbor, not negatives all the time. Positive approach methods do not teach hate or evil or divisiveness so why are we listening to all that from someone that thinks of himself as a God?

History’s Real Peg-Legged Pirates 

While peg legs weren’t nearly as ubiquitous as popular culture suggests, they weren’t entirely fictional either. We do know of a couple of documented cases involving high-profile pirates with prosthetic limbs.

The most famous is arguably François Le Clerc, a 16th-century French privateer. When not being paid by various European rulers to act on their behalf, Le Clerc sailed independently as the leader of a pirate fleet. He was one of the first notable pirates of the Caribbean and was known for his peg leg. His nicknames included “Jambe de Bois” and “Pata de Palo” (in French and Spanish, respectively), both of which translate as “wooden leg” or “peg leg.”

Another example is Cornelis Jol (1597-1641), a Dutch corsair, admiral, and privateer — in other words, pirate-adjacent — who was nicknamed “Houtebeen” (Dutch for “peg leg”) due to his wooden leg. It’s worth noting, however, that both Le Clerc and Jol were sailing the high seas before the golden age of piracy, which is the era typically associated with peg legs, parrots, and eye patches.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

We have 44 days till the election and the mudslinging and name calling just gets more intense. One candidate is the focus of racial slurs, gender bashing, and anything else negative that her male opponent can think to call her. She is calling him on his record of failures, promises not kept, and basic inability to do much of anything but tell lies.
When this campaign is over and a winner is named it is a sure thing that when he loses he will be calling it cheating and stealing the election again. As we move closer and closer to the day of decision he is losing more and more of his base. Even the most ardent of his followers have to be getting tired of his constant whining about being a victim. According to the news mainstream republicans are looking to sever ties with him. So we can only hope that he will be through screwing up our political landscape with his shit.
The time has come for him to retire to the back of the theater and use your imagination. His departure from the scene and ultimately from our midst will be mourned by very few and celebrated by many.
Regardless of the position held in society the loss of our democracy is a loss that will be devastating. The wealthy that have funded Trump may think that they would be better off but that is not really likely. At present if they believe they are being treated unreasonability they have recourse, if we lose our democracy that will change. They will be doing as they are told and that will be it.
As for the rest of us, life will get a lot more difficult. The ones that feel their allegiance to Trump is somehow going to improve their lot will discover that his concern for them is as fleeting as his ability to remember where he is. If he spent 2 hours in a closed studio for a debate and then comments about audience response, is he really aware of anything?
His comments about not having to worry about future elections means we will have no voice. When you live in a society run by a dictator, that is the last right he is willing to give you, a voice. His is a fairytale world where he gets to do as he pleases and there are no consequences ever.

In California, You Can’t Eat Frog That Was in a Jumping Contest

California has somewhat complicated laws surrounding jumping contests involving frogs. In the Golden State, it’s legal to challenge frogs to compete against one another in a jumping contest, but if you try to eat one of them, you could be in hot water. According to the state’s Fish & Game Code, “if such a frog dies or is killed, it must be destroyed as soon as possible, and may not be eaten or otherwise used for any purpose.” As well, the red-legged frog — the species that starred in Mark Twain’s 1865 California-based short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” — is barred from competing, due to its status as an endangered species. The popular choice for the real-life Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee is the non-native eastern bullfrog, and it’s illegal to return them to the water after the contest, because they’re a big part of the reason that their red-legged cousins got so endangered in the first place.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

There has been so much written and said about immigration and how the people coming here are criminals and rapists and anything but acceptable. This applies to all immigrants, or does it? Well if you look at who has come here seeking a better life and couple that with who among them has been a positive influence to our society, you will see that most have been positive versus the negative preached by the right.
One person came here and has built a fortune for himself, continues to be highlighted in the news and seems to feel quite empowered to help destroy our democracy. His country of origin is South Africa and since he is fortunate enough to be very wealthy, feels his voice should be heard even if all he does is tell or repeat lies.
On one side of this issue there is the fact that he came here and has contributed to the nation by innovation and the growing of wealth for himself and for others. The other side is the question of why did he come here to do these things? Perhaps he could not do them where he is from, or he would not have gained as much wealth from his projects there. It is possible that nowhere else could he have hoped to do as well as he has done here, so why when the country that has provided such opportunity now his target to destroy the very thing he came here to find, freedom, opportunity and all that it offers?
How do we test for intentions when someone wants to immigrate? They have to be vetted which means background checked. After that is done we say yes or no as to the person’s entry. The same process is used to fill top level jobs in government and industry and yet we promote some people into positions that they should not have. As an example , the last 3 Justices that were put on the Supreme Court.
When people seek to become members of Congress they go through a process to validate their acceptance by the party they want to represent. At present within both houses of congress we have to wonder who took the day off and put the kindergarten students in charge to make the selections. What we really have to observe from some of the more recent elected members is that “You can’t fix stupid” but apparently you can vote them into office.
The reasons for the lack of qualified, honest and intelligent people not running for Congress may include expense, right at the top of the list, and a history of service, and local support. Having identified those issues we would presume that a history of service would be valuable for letting everyone know where you are coming from. Now if you look at who has been elected to be President then you have to believe nothing matters but money.
Is apathy one of the reasons for the lack of qualified candidates? Another reason is that for many they are already putting in excessive amounts of time just to make ends meet. Support both on the home front and in the public sector may not be easily obtained. At any rate we need to encourage younger, inquisitive, intelligent, progressive thinking people to become part of the steering group to help our nation grow and prosper.
Our history has several people that came here, made a fortune and then made contributions to society that no one ever thought they would do. Carnegie made his fortune in steel and then built libraries. These are the kind immigrants we need, not the ones that make a fortune and then team up with the forces that wish to destroy our democracy.