Public Domain
Friday, September 12, 2025
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Baby boomers in the 21st century
I'm a genuine baby boomer--born December 30, 1946.
Life was simpler then.
TVs were black and white with vacuum tubes and "rabbit ears" antennas. There were relatively few channels depending upon how far you lived from the TV stations. Programs were free and suitable for all ages.
By the end of the 1950s my family had one bulky window air conditioner. Many people didn't have air conditioners in the 1950s.
Family commerce was basically "cash and carry". Widespread use of credit cards came much later.
Cars were relatively simple and inexpensive--unlike today's cars.
If you got sick, then you went to the doctor. On some occasions, the doctor even came to you!
There were no sophisticated satellites, autonomous vehicles, drones, cellphones, smartphones, PCs, internet or electronic handheld calculators in the 1950s.
The 1950s had the cold war and the Korean war, and politicians--Democrats and Republicans. Some things never change.
Are we better off today than we were in 1950? I'm not so sure.
Monday, July 28, 2025
speak softly and carry a big stick
attribution: William Allen Rogers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ukraine
- Gaza
- India
- Pakistan
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Vietnam
- Korea
- etc.
attribution: George Santayana quotes and flickr
public domain
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
trash
On Thursday, July 3 the town put out a message that trash might be collected on the normal day (Friday). ... maybe on Saturday? We, along with the rest of our neighbors put our trash out on Thursday evening.
WM didn't collect the trash on Friday or Saturday.
https://www.strasburgva.com/administration/page/trash-pickup-schedule
It's now Monday afternoon. Trash for our entire neighborhood hasn't been picked up. After four days in the heat, it stinks. The town put out the following:
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 – 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟰
The plan moving forward is as follows:
Friday’s missed route from last week will not be collected until this coming Friday (7/18).
This is an OUTRAGE!!!
How stupid does WM and the town think that we are? WM is a BIG company that sponsors a yearly PGA golf tournament, donates large sums to charities, and pays for expensive advertisements on TV that claim that they're the greatest. Yet they can't meet their contractual requirement to collect the trash EVERY week because of "STAFFING ISSUES"? WM and the town must think that their customers are stupid.
WM and the town owe EACH and EVERY person in the neighborhood an apology and a rebate for their abysmally poor performance and breach of contract.
One thing that WM, Strasburg, and Shenandoah County have in common--they can't get their act together.
attribution: Jason Taellious and flickr
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
an act of God?
Yesterday a reporter referred to the cause of the tragic deaths in the Guadalupe River flood in Texas as an "act of God".
"an act of God is an extraordinary interruption by a natural cause (such as a flood or earthquake) of the usual course of events that experience, prescience, or care cannot reasonably foresee or prevent."
Is it?
Did God cause the flood? or were the deaths caused by the actions or inaction of human beings?
The facts are:
- Global climate change affects local weather. https://climate.nasa.gov/
- The US Army Corps of Engineers Hydraulic Engineering Center developed its River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) computer modelling program in 1964. It was released to the public in 1995. Flood limits can be determined for any location. All that is needed are topographic and soils maps and a rainfall rate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEC-RAS
- it's widely known that the Guadalupe River floods the area where the camps are located. Warning sirens were discussed. Nothing was done.
- If the Guadalupe River is modeled using the HEC-RAS program with the actual rainfall rate that occurred during the storm, then it would show flood depths and spread that match the actual depths and spread that occurred during the storm.
- There was no warning system other than "word of mouth", which is useless in a situation like the Kerrville flood. An effective alert system would have saved lives.
So, it appears that the tragedy in Kerrville TX was created by the actions and/or inaction of human beings. It's a wake-up call for everyone.
My recommendations:
- instead of using 100-year or 500-year rainfall rates, use rainfall rates that are equal to the maximum recorded rainfall event--plus 10%. It's been reported that the rainfall rate that caused the flooding in Kerrville was 12 inches per hour. Adding 10% results in a rainfall rate of 13.2 inches per hour.
- keep an eye on the effects of global climate change on local weather. Intense storms with larger rainfall rates are occurring more frequently.
- update the rainfall rate if the existing recorded maximum rainfall rate is exceeded. HEC-RAS will generate new flood depths and spreads.
- don't build or rebuild in a flood plain.
- post signs, install sirens and use early warning systems to advise people of danger in floodplains.
And, don't blame God for disasters that human actions or inaction cause.
attribution: rainier5 and wikipedia
Kerrville, Texas will forever be known for the Guadalupe River flood that killed hundreds on July 4, 2025. People from everywhere will come to Kerrville, Texas to see for themselves where the tragedy and recovery took place.
Suitable monuments and/or a museum should be built that tell the stories of those who died during the flood and the stories of their families. They should honor those volunteers who came from everywhere to help the people of Kerrville recover from the devastation.
The story of the Kerrville flood should include a chapter on the mistakes that were made by government officials during and before the July 4 flood. Part of the legacy of the Kerrville flood is that those mistakes should never again be repeated anywhere in the USA.
Monday, June 23, 2025
it's time to put an end to Iran's forever war with the US
https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-forever-war-against-us-regime-has-targeted-killed-americans-worldwide
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Don't you think that it's time to end iran's forever war against us?
khamenei, you can run but you can't hide.
attribution: Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, June 19, 2025
never forget
"In 1982, the Islamic Republic of Iran established a base in the Syrian-controlled Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. From that base, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "founded, financed, trained and equipped Hezbollah to operate as a proxy army" for Iran.[33] Some analysts believe the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran was heavily involved in the bomb attacks and that a major factor leading it to orchestrate the attacks on the barracks was America's support for Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War and its extending of $2.5 billion in trade credit to Iraq while halting the shipments of arms to Iran.[34]"
*Caption: The explosion of the Marine Corps building in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983 created a large cloud of smoke that was visible from miles away. Photo by: Official USMC Photo PhotoID: 2001101810128 Submitted by: Headquarters Marine Corps Operation/Exercise/Event: Beirut This photo taken from http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2001101810128, which, since it is a US Marine Corps page, is public domain.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Great America
President Trump wants to make America great again. He wants to annex Canada and Greenland. He wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Here's an idea. Change the name of the United States of America to Great America.
The name change may make it more appealing to Canada and Greenland and Ukraine to join Great America.
It's not a novel idea. Great Britain beat us to the punch.
Nonetheless, Great America does have a nice ring to it.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Monday, March 31, 2025
the corruption of college sports: NCAA, NIL, portal, big money, gambling, etc.
What a fine look for a Catholic university! Deep pockets--more $$$$$ to pay to "student" athletes.
What's this world coming to?
Villanova boasts: "As a Catholic, Augustinian University, Villanova values the sacredness of all creation, striving to follow Christ in an Augustinian fashion: in a personal, ongoing relationship and process of conversion. That is to say, always “on the way”, never fully arrived, walking in the footsteps of Augustine, informed and enhanced by his personal and communal experience. That ongoing relationship and conversion process is what can speak to us across the centuries to help us better understand how a follower of Christ can interpret the world in which we live."
https://villanova.com/sports/2024/12/17/villanova-athletics-fast-facts.aspx
Augustine's early life was "checkered". His family was "upper class". He went to the best schools. In his autobiography, "Confessions", Augustine agonizes over his past, recognizing that one does not desire evil for evil's sake. Rather, through an inordinate preference for these goods of a lower kind, the better and higher are neglected. In other words, man is drawn to sin when grossly choosing the lesser good over a greater good. Eventually, Augustine concludes that it was the good of "companionship" that allowed him to delight in sin.
In his thirties Augustine converted to Christianity. Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim, and later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo
What would St. Augustine say of Villanova's recent actions regarding its basketball program?
attribution: Jeffrey Liu and flickr
Friday, March 28, 2025
releasing details about a sneak attack
If anyone doesn't realize that releasing detailed information about an upcoming sneak attack isn't stupid, then they're a monkey's uncle.
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Zelenskyy took the bait
It just goes to show what happens when President Zelenskyy is the only adult in the room.
Shame on US voters who voted for draft-dodger and Putin boot-licker Trump. For all of its history, brave US citizens have fought and died for freedom. We need more leaders like President Zelenskyy and the proud citizens of Ukraine who will fight to their death for freedom. Draft dodger and Putin boot-licker Trump just doesn't get it.
"I learned long ago, never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." George Bernard Shaw
attribution: Matthew Kenwrick and flickr
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
fat cats
Fat cat Donald Trump and his band of merry fat cats aren't making America great again. They're making the USA a monarchy/dictatorship--USFC, the United States of Fat Cats.
Gut the Justice Department, IRS, USAID, etc.--any program that doesn't benefit fat cat Trump and his band of self-serving fat cats.
Endorse any program for the rich--including selling "gold cards" to immigrant fat cats.
And it's all happening right in front of us.
Say goodbye to the United States of America.
Good luck to all those who, like us, aren't fat cats. We may have to find another country to live in.
attribution: Dan Perry and flickr
My apology to Dan Perry's wife's cat. Comparing cats to fat cat Trump and his band of self-serving fat cats is an insult to cats.
Monday, December 9, 2024
freedom
people of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other countries that oppress their citizens,
Syria did it.
YOU can do it too!
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Friday, November 1, 2024
and you thought that George Santos was bad?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santos
This has been the nastiest, most partisan, most negative, most divisive, election that I've ever seen--local, state and federal.
Is our country divided? Does a bear poop in the woods?
Here's who to blame:
attribution: Democracy Chronicles and flickr
Saturday, October 5, 2024
breaking down the debate
It's simple.
- it's the extreme left democratic party vs. the extreme right republican party
- 1/2 of registered voters won't vote
- flip a coin
I'll be part of the 1/2 majority. I've got better things to do than to support extremist party politics.
attribution: Democracy Chronicles and flickr
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