Guns: People Sometimes Agree
Seventeen died in another terrible school shooting. So, we clamored for a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. States began planning to arm defenders in every school.
Then a teen walked into another school protected by two officers, killing 10 with a shotgun and handgun. We urge better background checks and age limits on purchases.
Then an angry seventh-grader with two hand guns shot his classmate and a teacher.
Are we ready to admit that all the rules money can buy won't guarantee safety? No law prevents guns getting into the wrong hands, for instance, the mother who bought the gun used at Sandy Hook.
But, gun owners and non-owners alike agree that some new measures will help - this according to a survey of 602 owners and 1,522 others, reported in the American Journal of Public Health.
Some 80-90 percent of both groups approved of universal background checks, and testing requirements for concealed carry permits. A slightly lower percentage favored gun violence restraining orders.
(We're not sure why that couldn't be 100 percent; the right to bear arms comes with a duty to be responsible and expect others to do likewise.)
About 80 percent of non-owners want licensing requirements for all gun purchases, and child access prevention (safe storage), while just 60 percent of owners agreed.
Lower percentages of both groups, about 20 percent lower for owners, favored an age-21 limit for handgun ownership, an assault weapons ban, and a high-capacity ban.
But, where the two sides mostly agree, if one survey is representative, we would think politicians could easily act.
Like every controversial issue, there is no perfect answer for a free people. Some individuals are immature, some temporarily angry or depressed, some always angry, some in gangs, some mentally troubled, some with PTSD (so much for all veterans and officers getting an automatic pass), and don't forget the spiritual aspect. Then there are officials who fail to act on measures already on the books, such as legal confiscation and sharing information.
Those on the no-guns extreme, and those unwilling to accept common-sense limitations, aren't saving any lives.
Jimmy
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Today's blog was supposed to review the history of witch hunts,
but our source material mysteriously disappeared. Not kidding.
Call the Truckers
April 24 at 3 a.m., state police were called to an overpass near Detroit to negotiate with a man threatening to jump. While they talked with him, police shut down the interstate and called on more than a dozen truckers to park their rigs tightly under the overpass.
Their trailers would have prevented the man from falling far. He finally climbed down from the edge.
As We Forgive Others
"Those of us who have been sinned against (and that's all of us) have a choice. We can do the hard work of overcoming... Or we can be perpetual victims, unappeasable." - Andree Seu Peterson
Turkey 'Progressing' Backward
President Erdogan's government has stifled dissent. They have jailed more than 50,000 citizens and silenced the press, except for state-run newspapers and TV.
Audacity to Believe
"We need to be a people with the audacity to believe in prayer. We need to be a people, when we see overwhelming challenges, who know we serve a mighty God and can go to Him in confidence and in prayer, knowing that the battle is not ours: It's His." - Kay Coles James, president of the Heritage Foundation.
A Word to Husbands
"God calls husbands to sacrifice themselves if necessary to protect their wives. Those who (abuse) their wives deserve no protection." - Marvin Olasky
How I Love You; Let Me Count the $$$
In 2017, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. was $25,764.
Need a job? Try the wedding business - food, clothing, rentals, photography.
Jimmy
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Golden Knights Can Make History
We seldom watch hockey, but this is special.
Some night - June 4, 7, 10 or 13 - North American pro sports could register its first-ever championship by an expansion team. In their first year of existence, the Vegas Golden Knights have reached the Stanley Cup final series. So?
So, the National Hockey League makes its champion navigate the toughest course in all professional sports. To earn the Cup, a team must win four best-of-seven series. And this, after playing 60 some rough and tumble games starting in the fall. Talk about "animals..."
We doubt that any old timers, before mouth guards and helmets, escaped with their teeth intact.
The closest thing to Vegas was the 1950 Cleveland Browns, who won the NFL title in their first year, playing 14 games. Lou Groza kicked a field goal with 28 seconds left to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, as my dad and I listened on the radio.
But, the Browns already had played four years in the All-America Football Conference.
Last night in Las Vegas - it wasn't a great night for goalies - in Game One the upstarts beat the Washington Capitals 6-4.
The Golden Knights have had the most successful inaugural season in North American pro sports. Much credit goes to Vegas GM George McPhee, formerly an executive with the Caps, who had fired him!!!
He built the Knights from the ground up. McPhee had drafted 13 of the 21 Washington players who have spent the most time on the ice this season.
Game Two is tomorrow night. If the series goes to seven games, the winner will be crowned Wednesday, June 13.
Jimmy
 |
We seldom watch hockey, but this is special.
Some night - June 4, 7, 10 or 13 - North American pro sports could register its first-ever championship by an expansion team. In their first year of existence, the Vegas Golden Knights have reached the Stanley Cup final series. So?
So, the National Hockey League makes its champion navigate the toughest course in all professional sports. To earn the Cup, a team must win four best-of-seven series. And this, after playing 60 some rough and tumble games starting in the fall. Talk about "animals..."
We doubt that any old timers, before mouth guards and helmets, escaped with their teeth intact.
The closest thing to Vegas was the 1950 Cleveland Browns, who won the NFL title in their first year, playing 14 games. Lou Groza kicked a field goal with 28 seconds left to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, as my dad and I listened on the radio.
But, the Browns already had played four years in the All-America Football Conference.
Last night in Las Vegas - it wasn't a great night for goalies - in Game One the upstarts beat the Washington Capitals 6-4.
The Golden Knights have had the most successful inaugural season in North American pro sports. Much credit goes to Vegas GM George McPhee, formerly an executive with the Caps, who had fired him!!!
He built the Knights from the ground up. McPhee had drafted 13 of the 21 Washington players who have spent the most time on the ice this season.
Game Two is tomorrow night. If the series goes to seven games, the winner will be crowned Wednesday, June 13.
Jimmy
Monday, May 28, 2018
Democracy vs. Militarism
One hundred years ago today, the U.S. First Division in France went on offense for the first time, facing the best military, maybe in the world.
Among Germany's enemies, Russia had quit the war and endured revolution. Britain, France and Italy were about spent after 3-1/2 years of battle.
President Wilson had promised not to get involved, until it appeared that world democracy was at stake.
It had been 53 years since Americans saw combat, in 1865. The implements of war were much advanced over the days of Lee and Grant.
Historians still debate the origins of World War I. Hundreds of thousands of Americans joined an army that scarcely existed.
Citizens planted victory gardens, bought war bonds and endured rations, for a cause of no material benefit to the nation. They rallied for an idea: democracy; and for a right: freedom.
German commanders were skeptical of American power and resolve. During the spring offensive of 1918, they pounded Yankee defensive positions for effect, including use of gas.
In its first independent action, the First Division under Lt. Col. George Marshall took a town in one day, and never stopped advancing. We celebrate the victory on November 11, and remember the cost on Memorial Day.
Individuals such as Eddie Rickenbacker and Sgt. Alvin York became heroes. U.S. Marines and other forces earned high praise.
African-Americans - second-class citizens - had to fight under the French flag. Their heroism earned high praise from the enemy, which called them the (Harlem) Hell Fighters.
Several months of combat and disease took 117,465 lives. Others came home wounded or disabled by exposure to gas.
One hundred years ago today, the U.S. First Division in France went on offense for the first time, facing the best military, maybe in the world.
Among Germany's enemies, Russia had quit the war and endured revolution. Britain, France and Italy were about spent after 3-1/2 years of battle.
President Wilson had promised not to get involved, until it appeared that world democracy was at stake.
It had been 53 years since Americans saw combat, in 1865. The implements of war were much advanced over the days of Lee and Grant.
Historians still debate the origins of World War I. Hundreds of thousands of Americans joined an army that scarcely existed.
Citizens planted victory gardens, bought war bonds and endured rations, for a cause of no material benefit to the nation. They rallied for an idea: democracy; and for a right: freedom.
German commanders were skeptical of American power and resolve. During the spring offensive of 1918, they pounded Yankee defensive positions for effect, including use of gas.
In its first independent action, the First Division under Lt. Col. George Marshall took a town in one day, and never stopped advancing. We celebrate the victory on November 11, and remember the cost on Memorial Day.
Individuals such as Eddie Rickenbacker and Sgt. Alvin York became heroes. U.S. Marines and other forces earned high praise.
African-Americans - second-class citizens - had to fight under the French flag. Their heroism earned high praise from the enemy, which called them the (Harlem) Hell Fighters.
Several months of combat and disease took 117,465 lives. Others came home wounded or disabled by exposure to gas.
Source: Scott Arceneaux, president of a political consulting firm.
Today, we have complicated diplomatic/military issues in the Middle East and Asia, economic and cyber issues with other nations, and 100 years of further weapons development.
Will it ever end? Not until Jesus returns to break the nations and dispatch evil spirits, says the Bible.
Jimmy
Sunday, May 27, 2018
It Is the Nations
That Will Be Terrified
Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry
and your wrath has come.
*
Psalm 2:6
I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy hill.
Revelation 14:1
Then I looked and there before me
was the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion.
*
Psalm 2:8
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
Revelation 2:26
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end,
I will give authority over the nations.
*
Psalm 2:9-10
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.
Therefore you kings, be wise, be warned,
you rulers of the earth.
Revelation 2:27
He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery.
Revelation 12:5
She will give birth to a son, a male child,
who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.
Revelation 19:15
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations.
He will rule them with an iron scepter.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
It's Been Demonstrated Already!
We are incurably mystified by the incredulity of learned people. The more the sun shines, the more they insist it is dark.
Scientists and researchers, now more advanced, have
demonstrated - optical system, hearing, heart, lungs,
liver, digestive system, complex cells - that none of this could have formed and reproduced one mutation at a time. The pupil would not have existed for years before the retina showed up.
Lungs could not have reproduced while waiting for the heart. Every organ needed blood, immediately, to live.
Darwinists don't even talk about the brain.
Even if the first lucky collection of mutations occurred, how would he or she reproduce? Male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).
Creationists call this "irreducible complexity." Forget the fudgey age of the earth. It is all or nothing. Once or never. Prehistoric or Adam.
Darwinists give those in other professions an excuse for acting - and sometimes instructing others to act - as if there is no God. That's how they prosper in the ways of the world.
Some with seminary degrees invented Theistic Evolution to have their cake and eat it too. Those people obviously have not received the Spirit of truth, sent by Jesus to light our way.
God reveals to children what he hides from the learned. His invisible attributes are clear enough (Romans 1:19-20).
It matters. Homicides, suicides, and other illegal or immoral behaviors reveal the extent to which we people of faith have opportunity to share the good news.
Jimmy
We are incurably mystified by the incredulity of learned people. The more the sun shines, the more they insist it is dark.
Their hero, Charles Darwin, was more open to the truth. He wrote,
"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed
which could not possibly have been formed by numerous successive,
slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down."
Scientists and researchers, now more advanced, have
demonstrated - optical system, hearing, heart, lungs,
liver, digestive system, complex cells - that none of this could have formed and reproduced one mutation at a time. The pupil would not have existed for years before the retina showed up.
Lungs could not have reproduced while waiting for the heart. Every organ needed blood, immediately, to live.
Darwinists don't even talk about the brain.
Even if the first lucky collection of mutations occurred, how would he or she reproduce? Male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).
Creationists call this "irreducible complexity." Forget the fudgey age of the earth. It is all or nothing. Once or never. Prehistoric or Adam.
Darwinists give those in other professions an excuse for acting - and sometimes instructing others to act - as if there is no God. That's how they prosper in the ways of the world.
Some with seminary degrees invented Theistic Evolution to have their cake and eat it too. Those people obviously have not received the Spirit of truth, sent by Jesus to light our way.
God reveals to children what he hides from the learned. His invisible attributes are clear enough (Romans 1:19-20).
It matters. Homicides, suicides, and other illegal or immoral behaviors reveal the extent to which we people of faith have opportunity to share the good news.
Jimmy
Friday, May 25, 2018
By the Numbers
29,168 murders were committed in Mexico last year.
257 women gave birth thanks to abortion-pill reversal therapy. Never heard of it.
5.9 percent per 1,000 live births, infant mortality rate in the U.S. For black children, it is almost twice that high.
17,000 pieces of undelivered mail a Brooklyn postal worker put in his vehicle, apartment and work locker since 2005, or earlier. He claimed to be "overwhelmed" by his workload.
And we're overwhelmed that it took more than a
decade for the USPS to notice that. So, we'll rest for now and be back tomorrow...Lord willing.
Jimmy
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Taking on Two Belligerents
How would you like Mike Pompeo's job?
At West Point, he learned engineering and combat, but it's diplomacy based on strength that will be tested in Iran and North Korea. As if Korea isn't enough on his plate, not to mention Russia, China and Syria, Pompeo just summarized a plan to accomplish what the Obama-Kerry team said they wanted - to bring Iran into the community of nations.
As you know, President Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Congress never ratified. The U.S. wants Iran to stop uranium enrichment, pull troops from foreign nations, and free any U.S. citizens held there.
Otherwise, Iran will face, "the strongest sanctions in history." The secretary of state will ask the Senate to ratify any pact, making it truly a U.S. Government agreement.
We say, look for sanctions on both countries, and who knows from there.
China Takes Another Step
China's dictator-for-life demands that all commercial airlines flying in and out of his country consider Taiwan to be part of China, in thought, word and deed. Lufthansa, Air Canada and British Airways have caved. No. U.S. airline has complied, but are "reviewing" the matter. Defiance will cost them.
Dems Trying to Lose Next Election
The president's opponents quickly jumped on his use of "animals" to describe MS-13 gang members, accusing him of being anti-immigrant. Will most voters buy that?
About a third of the gang members crossed our border as "unaccompanied minors," or so we read. They are said to live in at least 40 states, engaged in drug and human trafficking, and murdering young people so viciously that some are left unrecognizable.
A law enforcement officer who deals with MS-13 on Long Island suggests that families of victims decide what label best fits.
Jimmy
How would you like Mike Pompeo's job?
At West Point, he learned engineering and combat, but it's diplomacy based on strength that will be tested in Iran and North Korea. As if Korea isn't enough on his plate, not to mention Russia, China and Syria, Pompeo just summarized a plan to accomplish what the Obama-Kerry team said they wanted - to bring Iran into the community of nations.
As you know, President Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Congress never ratified. The U.S. wants Iran to stop uranium enrichment, pull troops from foreign nations, and free any U.S. citizens held there.
Otherwise, Iran will face, "the strongest sanctions in history." The secretary of state will ask the Senate to ratify any pact, making it truly a U.S. Government agreement.
We say, look for sanctions on both countries, and who knows from there.
China Takes Another Step
China's dictator-for-life demands that all commercial airlines flying in and out of his country consider Taiwan to be part of China, in thought, word and deed. Lufthansa, Air Canada and British Airways have caved. No. U.S. airline has complied, but are "reviewing" the matter. Defiance will cost them.
Dems Trying to Lose Next Election
The president's opponents quickly jumped on his use of "animals" to describe MS-13 gang members, accusing him of being anti-immigrant. Will most voters buy that?
About a third of the gang members crossed our border as "unaccompanied minors," or so we read. They are said to live in at least 40 states, engaged in drug and human trafficking, and murdering young people so viciously that some are left unrecognizable.
A law enforcement officer who deals with MS-13 on Long Island suggests that families of victims decide what label best fits.
Jimmy
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Can We Long Endure?
In 1863, President Lincoln said the Civil War is "testing, whether that nation ...conceived in liberty and so dedicated, can long endure."
The nation endured, more for the better than for worse.
Today, a different test.
Unelected people in fortresses such as the IRS and the DOJ connive to outsmart the voters. Benedict Arnold, for money, tried to deliver fortifications at West Point to the British, only after he judged the Revolution to be a lost cause.
Today's treachery involves people already enriched by the system, who still try to outsmart the voters. They skirt the laws of their country, and if there are no consequences, we'll see more of the same going forward.
Example: Jim Long, ex-FBI with 20 years of service, wrote a column about James Comey and his new book, A Higher Loyalty. Long listed eight common FBI rules and how Comey, the director himself, broke every one. Comey's book and media tour itself is prohibited while an investigation is pending, even though he is no longer in government.
Showing Their Fidelity
Yesterday, we passed a vehicle with a blue flag
and a lightning bolt - for the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, known as the "Bolts."
Tonight, the Bolts play the Washington Capitals,
the winner going to the Stanley Cup (world series of
hockey.) Players and fans of one of those teams
will be miserable. Can't win 'em all.
We also have a message on our vehicle.
It is on the license plate frame, Jesus is Lord.
Win or lose, he is our forever Lord. Hockey fans? Wait 'till next year.
Here's a message:
In 1863, President Lincoln said the Civil War is "testing, whether that nation ...conceived in liberty and so dedicated, can long endure."
The nation endured, more for the better than for worse.
Today, a different test.
Unelected people in fortresses such as the IRS and the DOJ connive to outsmart the voters. Benedict Arnold, for money, tried to deliver fortifications at West Point to the British, only after he judged the Revolution to be a lost cause.
Today's treachery involves people already enriched by the system, who still try to outsmart the voters. They skirt the laws of their country, and if there are no consequences, we'll see more of the same going forward.
Example: Jim Long, ex-FBI with 20 years of service, wrote a column about James Comey and his new book, A Higher Loyalty. Long listed eight common FBI rules and how Comey, the director himself, broke every one. Comey's book and media tour itself is prohibited while an investigation is pending, even though he is no longer in government.
Showing Their Fidelity
and a lightning bolt - for the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, known as the "Bolts."
Tonight, the Bolts play the Washington Capitals,
the winner going to the Stanley Cup (world series of
hockey.) Players and fans of one of those teams
will be miserable. Can't win 'em all.
We also have a message on our vehicle.
It is on the license plate frame, Jesus is Lord.
Win or lose, he is our forever Lord. Hockey fans? Wait 'till next year.
Here's a message:
From the throne came flashes of lightning (Rev. 4:5).
Jimmy
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Pick Your State
Which of these two states would you rather call home?
State No. 1 is swampy, hot and sickly. Pioneers named some of its places after Hell. This is the least populated state in its region of the country.
Houses were built to take advantage of the breeze, with high ceilings and large windows to let air flow through. The only summertime relief is to sit or swing on a shady porch, and even at night, the best sleep is found on a porch or balcony.
No laws require fences around cattle pastures, so cows roam the roads and frequently get hit.
People fight off mosquitoes with smoke from smudge pots. Inhale the smoke or get bit - those are your options.
State No. 2 is one of the most populous, at 21 million. Traffic snarls within five miles of either coast and around a major entertainment destination. Chemical sprays control mosquitoes.
Subdivisions sprawl everywhere, replacing forests, groves and swamps, while displacing wildlife for which these communities are named. Most homes don't have porches.
Time's up! What's your choice?
State No. 1 was described in the present tense - above - as recently as post-WWII years. Seventy years later, air conditioning has transformed No. 1 into No. 2.
It's all Florida.
During the holidays, 1949/1950, my sister and I visited Florida No. 1 with Mom and Dad - from freezing Pennsylvania to sunny Key West in a 1940 Chevy, average speed
< 45 mph. What a memory.
The old and new Floridas do have something in common - alligators. They're ugly, but they don't drive up electricity demand.
Jimmy
Which of these two states would you rather call home?
State No. 1 is swampy, hot and sickly. Pioneers named some of its places after Hell. This is the least populated state in its region of the country.
Houses were built to take advantage of the breeze, with high ceilings and large windows to let air flow through. The only summertime relief is to sit or swing on a shady porch, and even at night, the best sleep is found on a porch or balcony.
No laws require fences around cattle pastures, so cows roam the roads and frequently get hit.
People fight off mosquitoes with smoke from smudge pots. Inhale the smoke or get bit - those are your options.
State No. 2 is one of the most populous, at 21 million. Traffic snarls within five miles of either coast and around a major entertainment destination. Chemical sprays control mosquitoes.
Subdivisions sprawl everywhere, replacing forests, groves and swamps, while displacing wildlife for which these communities are named. Most homes don't have porches.
Time's up! What's your choice?
State No. 1 was described in the present tense - above - as recently as post-WWII years. Seventy years later, air conditioning has transformed No. 1 into No. 2.
It's all Florida.
During the holidays, 1949/1950, my sister and I visited Florida No. 1 with Mom and Dad - from freezing Pennsylvania to sunny Key West in a 1940 Chevy, average speed
< 45 mph. What a memory.
The old and new Floridas do have something in common - alligators. They're ugly, but they don't drive up electricity demand.
Jimmy
Monday, May 21, 2018
Engage In Chess Match
While the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex
(a large, scenic county with cliffs along the English Channel) unite in marriage, the U.S. and China are breaking up. But, it's only a mutual, partial agreement, not an all out divorce.
Trade has a long history. Esau traded his birthright for bread and lentil stew. Marco Polo and others traded gemstones for silk, or was it the other way?
President Obama traded five high-level terrorists for one, AWOL soldier. Long ago, we kids traded baseball cards.
Could we say, Jesus traded places with the entire human race?
In terms of worldly wealth and goods, U.S.-China trade has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, gave Americans boatloads of affordable consumer goods, and provided more than a billion customers for American farmers.
But, the two partners don't need each other as before, and are rethinking their $700 billion annual trade in goods and services, says the New York Times.
By 2025, China plans to be competitive in 10 advanced manufacturing sectors now dominated by the West. We have our own strategy of sorts, to reduce our reliance on Chinese-made components, machinery and other essentials.
President Trump is targeting industries where customers might easily switch to suppliers at home or in friendly countries. The Administration plans tariffs on products China doesn't yet export, but hopes to in the near future.
So, probably no BIG trade war. More like a chess match. That's not to say it's friendly competition. (Ancient) China's government believes the world belongs to them. They are working to make it reality, stealing and cheating as they go.
By the way, anyone have a Bob Feller baseball card you're willing to trade for a Joe DiMaggio?
Jimmy
Sunday, May 20, 2018
 |
| Bishop Curry at Windsor |
Preaching Jesus at Royal Wedding
This wasn't tradition. The new duke and duchess chose the bishop of the American Episcopal Church to preach at their wedding. Bishop Michael Curry spoke without notes for at least 10 minutes.
If the last royal wedding is an indication, more than 2 billion people worldwide saw and heard an energetic, passionate call for redemptive love - it was a wedding after all - while praising the source of love - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Who knew?
Here is our summary, if you missed it:
God is love. Those who love God live in God and God lives in them.
There is redemptive power in love.
Love is the only way. There is something right about it.
God himself is the source, the power of love.
Love has power to heal. Love has power to lift up, to liberate...
...when nothing else will.
Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
And he said, Love your neighbor.
On these two hang the law and the prophets...everything!
God has unconditional love for the world.
His love will transform, change the life of the world.
Jesus gave his life for the good of others.
Imagine, when love is the way -
homes, neighborhoods, governments, businesses and nations
will bring justice, and end poverty and hunger,
and men will lay down their swords and shields.
The discovery of fire made possible great benefits we take for granted.
Imagine if we harnessed the power of love.
It would be the second great fire of history.
Is the bishop is describing the Millennium, when Christ comes to rule? Politically, we guess he is liberal, as is his denomination. But, no doubt, more Godly love on our part would mean fewer nightmares and more of God's vision for families and nations.
Jimmy
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Friday, May 18, 2018
Motor Mouth
Did we ever tell you about our great
motor trip of years gone by?
We went to the motor pool to pick up our motor vehicle. Then we motored along the motorway, which was busy with motor trucks, motor homes and motorcycles.
At the end of the first day, we stopped at a motor inn.
Next morning, we motored on, arriving at our destination and checking in at a motor lodge.
We spent the next day riding motorboats, motorbikes and motor scooters. As it was the 4th of July, we also found ourselves in a motorcade with other motorists, all flying flags except us. Oh well.
Lastly, we took a touring motor bus ride through the city. The motorman was very informative.
Returning, we spent a night at a motor court, and the last day, dropped off our motor vehicle at the motor pool. That left us motorless.
But a good time was had by all.
Gunman Shot; Teachers and Kids Safe
It worked out well in Dixon High School, Illinois.
A 19-year-old former student opened fire in a high school hallway. An officer returned fire and wounded the shooter, who is in custody. Faculty and students barricaded themselves in classrooms, as trained.
Jimmy
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Root for Your Team
To Beat the Spread
In our youth, and beyond, it was awesome to walk into view of a great stadium, hand over our ticket stub and make our way into the expansive arena. Better than Christmas morning.
Today, we can't imagine stopping at a betting kiosk to spend some bucks on the Bucks, or Bucs, or (name a team), to win or lose by a certain margin. Even without participating, we can't imagine keeping one eye on the spread while the other eye is on touchdowns, fumbles, home runs or strikeouts.
But, it's coming, maybe in your state and maybe mine.
By 6-3 the U.S. Supreme Court - correctly - threw the flag on a 1992 federal law prohibiting sports gambling. It is a victory for states' rights.
That doesn't mean sports gambling, beyond New Jersey and Las Vegas, is just what the doctor ordered. Gambling - including lotteries - spawns social headaches, sometimes even for winners, and it does not guarantee a better economy.
State government promises of boost for education etc. can be fraudulent, as with Florida's voter-approved lottery in 1986.
The only guaranteed winner is the gambling industry. When addicts and their families are in trouble, the public pays, not the industry.
Public opinion has evolved, and sports betting is big in Vegas. Some states are ready to go for it, and even professional leagues are hinting at joining the fun, as if they don't have enough $$$ through ticket sales, TV rights and merchandise.
Greed, not need.
If your team wins by 6 when it was favored by 7, are you going to be upset, when it isn't an upset?
Jimmy
In our youth, and beyond, it was awesome to walk into view of a great stadium, hand over our ticket stub and make our way into the expansive arena. Better than Christmas morning.
Today, we can't imagine stopping at a betting kiosk to spend some bucks on the Bucks, or Bucs, or (name a team), to win or lose by a certain margin. Even without participating, we can't imagine keeping one eye on the spread while the other eye is on touchdowns, fumbles, home runs or strikeouts.
But, it's coming, maybe in your state and maybe mine.
By 6-3 the U.S. Supreme Court - correctly - threw the flag on a 1992 federal law prohibiting sports gambling. It is a victory for states' rights.
That doesn't mean sports gambling, beyond New Jersey and Las Vegas, is just what the doctor ordered. Gambling - including lotteries - spawns social headaches, sometimes even for winners, and it does not guarantee a better economy.
State government promises of boost for education etc. can be fraudulent, as with Florida's voter-approved lottery in 1986.
The only guaranteed winner is the gambling industry. When addicts and their families are in trouble, the public pays, not the industry.
Public opinion has evolved, and sports betting is big in Vegas. Some states are ready to go for it, and even professional leagues are hinting at joining the fun, as if they don't have enough $$$ through ticket sales, TV rights and merchandise.
Greed, not need.
If your team wins by 6 when it was favored by 7, are you going to be upset, when it isn't an upset?
Jimmy
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Auto Fatalities...in the House
After our neighbor died, his son came south to deal with the house and everything not nailed down. Including the automobile.
He asked to park his father's Hyundai Genesis in our driveway for a couple days.
Seeing that it was loaded with keepsakes etc., to be shipped north with the car, we decided to park it securely in our garage. This was my first experience with push-button ignition.
Somehow, I knew to push the start/stop button to shut off the engine. Otherwise, Mrs. Donut and I might have joined our neighbor in the ever-after.
Most of us have an unconscious habit - turning a key to shut off our vehicle. That's becoming a problem for drivers with newer, keyless buttons...especially the elderly who might not hear quieter engines.
More than two dozen people have died from carbon monoxide, after a keyless vehicle continued running in a garage. Dozens have suffered injury, some with brain damage.
Keyless ignitions are standard in more than half the new vehicles sold in the U.S., according to Edmunds. Toyota models account for almost half the deaths and injuries.
What to do?
The Society of Automotive Engineers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have proposed inexpensive ways to shut off the engine, or sound warnings. It cost GM only $5 per car - recalls - to install automatic shutoff in 2015. Ford provides a similar feature in new cars.
But the auto industry opposes mandatory regulations. Since the traffic safety administration postponed adopting regs - for the third time - 21 people have died.
PS. We drove our neighbor's Genesis out to the main street where a long flatbed truck awaited. We pushed the STOP button, and stood by until our "guest" - with a mounted deer head riding shotgun - was securely chained and on its way to New Jersey.
He asked to park his father's Hyundai Genesis in our driveway for a couple days.
Seeing that it was loaded with keepsakes etc., to be shipped north with the car, we decided to park it securely in our garage. This was my first experience with push-button ignition.
Somehow, I knew to push the start/stop button to shut off the engine. Otherwise, Mrs. Donut and I might have joined our neighbor in the ever-after.
Most of us have an unconscious habit - turning a key to shut off our vehicle. That's becoming a problem for drivers with newer, keyless buttons...especially the elderly who might not hear quieter engines.
More than two dozen people have died from carbon monoxide, after a keyless vehicle continued running in a garage. Dozens have suffered injury, some with brain damage.
Keyless ignitions are standard in more than half the new vehicles sold in the U.S., according to Edmunds. Toyota models account for almost half the deaths and injuries.
What to do?
The Society of Automotive Engineers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have proposed inexpensive ways to shut off the engine, or sound warnings. It cost GM only $5 per car - recalls - to install automatic shutoff in 2015. Ford provides a similar feature in new cars.
But the auto industry opposes mandatory regulations. Since the traffic safety administration postponed adopting regs - for the third time - 21 people have died.
NYT
JimmyPS. We drove our neighbor's Genesis out to the main street where a long flatbed truck awaited. We pushed the STOP button, and stood by until our "guest" - with a mounted deer head riding shotgun - was securely chained and on its way to New Jersey.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Sorry, Big Ben
They Know You Not
In the U.K., some schools are removing analog clocks because teenagers have a hard time reading clock faces. To reduce anxiety, kids raised with digital clocks no longer will be tested on big hands and little hands.
So long, Big Ben and charming coo coo clocks. See you in museums with sun dials.
Bye bye, Cinderella. No more fairy tales about clocks striking midnight. No more mice running up a clock, where the clock strikes one.
End of the line, grandfather clocks.
Someday they'll remove ticktock from the dictionary. It won't have any meaning.
Five Ways to Live Longer
Yesterday we were giving scientific conclusions a bad rap. Today, we have study results you can live by.
If you are not yet 50...
1. Eat a healthy diet
2. Don't smoke
3. Be physically active, regularly
4. Consume alcohol (if at all) moderately
5. Maintain a normal weight
For each of the above behaviors you follow, the longer your life expectancy. A man who adopts all five might live 12 years longer than the man with none, and a woman, 14 years longer.
These conclusions are based on a 34-year health and lifestyle information study.
Of those studied, less than 2 percent had all five factors going for them. A full third of them followed two or fewer.
While they didn't address people already over 50, we assume most older people also can improve health and longevity with these behaviors.
Jimmy
Note: It's also advisable to avoid volcanoes. Since the year 1500, worldwide 278,000 have died from volcanoes and tsunamis created by a volcano. No charge for this additional tip.
They Know You Not
In the U.K., some schools are removing analog clocks because teenagers have a hard time reading clock faces. To reduce anxiety, kids raised with digital clocks no longer will be tested on big hands and little hands.
Bye bye, Cinderella. No more fairy tales about clocks striking midnight. No more mice running up a clock, where the clock strikes one.
End of the line, grandfather clocks.
Someday they'll remove ticktock from the dictionary. It won't have any meaning.
Five Ways to Live Longer
Yesterday we were giving scientific conclusions a bad rap. Today, we have study results you can live by.
If you are not yet 50...
1. Eat a healthy diet
2. Don't smoke
3. Be physically active, regularly
4. Consume alcohol (if at all) moderately
5. Maintain a normal weight
For each of the above behaviors you follow, the longer your life expectancy. A man who adopts all five might live 12 years longer than the man with none, and a woman, 14 years longer.
These conclusions are based on a 34-year health and lifestyle information study.
Of those studied, less than 2 percent had all five factors going for them. A full third of them followed two or fewer.
While they didn't address people already over 50, we assume most older people also can improve health and longevity with these behaviors.
Jimmy
Note: It's also advisable to avoid volcanoes. Since the year 1500, worldwide 278,000 have died from volcanoes and tsunamis created by a volcano. No charge for this additional tip.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Studying the Studies
A survey of all scientists concludes 100 percent
that Views By the Sea is a daily blog originating
in Hudson, Florida.
Do you believe it? If all scientists did the research, they would agree. But there never has been a survey of all scientists.
So, remember when you read that 95 percent of all scientists agree that global warming is our top priority...or any other unassailable "truth." Often, when someone claims agreement among scientists, there has been no such agreement.
Joe Belz of WORLD magazine reports that more than half the conclusions in peer-review journals are unsupportable, because the particular studies can't be reproduced.
Group-think and insufficient skepticism can infect even highly intelligent people, because bias is a disease with no favoritism. The problem gets hairy when policymakers pass off unsupported studies as totally legit.
Amgen, a biotech firm, looked at 53 "landmark studies" in hematology and oncology, validating only six.
If you wish to verify our claim that Views By the Sea is a daily blog, you can do the research at jxdonut.blogspot.com. You won't find us every day on Facebook.
Sign outside a Catholic church:
 |
| Truth or Rewards? |
A survey of all scientists concludes 100 percent
that Views By the Sea is a daily blog originating
in Hudson, Florida.
Do you believe it? If all scientists did the research, they would agree. But there never has been a survey of all scientists.
So, remember when you read that 95 percent of all scientists agree that global warming is our top priority...or any other unassailable "truth." Often, when someone claims agreement among scientists, there has been no such agreement.
Joe Belz of WORLD magazine reports that more than half the conclusions in peer-review journals are unsupportable, because the particular studies can't be reproduced.
Group-think and insufficient skepticism can infect even highly intelligent people, because bias is a disease with no favoritism. The problem gets hairy when policymakers pass off unsupported studies as totally legit.
Amgen, a biotech firm, looked at 53 "landmark studies" in hematology and oncology, validating only six.
If you wish to verify our claim that Views By the Sea is a daily blog, you can do the research at jxdonut.blogspot.com. You won't find us every day on Facebook.
~ ~ ~
Sign outside a Catholic church:
You are on Heaven's
most wanted list
most wanted list
Jimmy
Saturday, May 12, 2018
A Little Child Shall Lead Them
Or maybe not. Isaiah 11:6 points to a future age when there is peace on Earth.
Here and now, this week we were conversing with Rex (not his real name) about high school kids marching and telling us on TV they've had it with our guns and our attitudes. Can't blame them for their anger at a system that sometimes fails.
We don't like some things too - warnings that go unheeded by authorities, mentally troubled young men given access to rifles, and politicians who use others' misery to advance their hidden agenda.
Rex is troubled by 16-year-olds, articulate as some are, telling the rest of us they know how things should be, and to get out of their way.
There is a reason one must be at least 25 to be elected to Congress, 30 to be a senator, and 35 to be president.
We pointed out that Washington, DC entertains thoughts of letting 16-year-olds vote. He replied, "At 16 they don't know anything."
Can't argue with that. We still didn't know much in our 30s.
Wisdom comes with age, Rex said. To which we added, for some, it never comes.
He frets that politicians use the youth to voice their agenda, banking on the horror of terrors like Parkland, Fla. (Never let a crisis go to waste.) Remember that line from Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago.
It's good to listen to youth, agree when possible, and pray for them.
But every generation leaves an imperfect world for the next, and in time these future grown-ups will do the same. Meanwhile, they need to understand the prospect of unintended consequences, and they need to wait their turn to vote.
Jimmy
Or maybe not. Isaiah 11:6 points to a future age when there is peace on Earth.
Here and now, this week we were conversing with Rex (not his real name) about high school kids marching and telling us on TV they've had it with our guns and our attitudes. Can't blame them for their anger at a system that sometimes fails.
We don't like some things too - warnings that go unheeded by authorities, mentally troubled young men given access to rifles, and politicians who use others' misery to advance their hidden agenda.
Rex is troubled by 16-year-olds, articulate as some are, telling the rest of us they know how things should be, and to get out of their way.
There is a reason one must be at least 25 to be elected to Congress, 30 to be a senator, and 35 to be president.
We pointed out that Washington, DC entertains thoughts of letting 16-year-olds vote. He replied, "At 16 they don't know anything."
Can't argue with that. We still didn't know much in our 30s.
Wisdom comes with age, Rex said. To which we added, for some, it never comes.
He frets that politicians use the youth to voice their agenda, banking on the horror of terrors like Parkland, Fla. (Never let a crisis go to waste.) Remember that line from Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago.
It's good to listen to youth, agree when possible, and pray for them.
But every generation leaves an imperfect world for the next, and in time these future grown-ups will do the same. Meanwhile, they need to understand the prospect of unintended consequences, and they need to wait their turn to vote.
Jimmy
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