RNC Activity; Prison Expose; Pottygate; Foreign Accent Syndrome; Foreign Languages Tip; Hitler and Lenin

The "Stop Trump" faction got "trumped" when they tried to get a vote on the Convention Rules.  They definitely were not happy.  I wonder what they will do next... they know that his nomination dooms the Republican Party for years to come.

Prison World View

For those of  you who watched Orange is the Next Black on Netflix, check out the Mother Jones magazine issue for July and August 2016.  Investigative reporter, Shane Bauer, went undercover at a Louisiana private prison for four months.  Amazing story!  Think about it and then think about the Baltimore city prison where the inmates were in charge.  Eyeopening.

Mind Your Pees...

Mother Jones reminds us of "Pottygate."  In 1990, Denise Wells was arrested in Texas for using a men's room at a concert to avoid long lines to the Ladies' Room.  She was acquitted only when hundreds of women offered to pay her fine.  (Welcome to the Lyric Theater in Baltimore.  Between acts of an opera, long long long lines of women wait to use their toilets .. one on each floor .. and miss the opening and part of the next act.  While men go in and out of their toilets in minutes.  Not fair.  Sometimes we men would stand guard while women used our toilet.  This was, of course, frowned upon.  When will women and the disabled be truly free?)

The Gift of Tongues

The Week magazine reports that after jaw surgery, a Texas woman suddenly sounded like a Brit.  This is called the "Foreign Accent Syndrome."  Around  100 people have had this ailment over the past century.  What makes this one more interesting is that the lady involved normally has a Southern/Hispanic accent.

Accents are funny.  When I was in Germany, German friends said that I spoke the language with their accent... was this because I came from Massachusetts?

Now.. when I traveled in Europe, people thought that I spoke lots of languages.  I have a secret.. and it works very well. 

When conversing with someone using a language you are not familiar with, just repeat the last word they said and shake  your head in agreement.  Works almost every time.

Or, if you know a little of their language, you can try this... while shaking your head, say the following:

In Germany:  doch!  doch! .... or Ja! Ja!

In France:  oui, oui

In Spain:  si, si

In Russia:  da, da.. and maybe once in a while throw in a "spasebo!"

So.. now you know.

Now, Adolph, shame on you!

Mental Floss magazine recommends a new book by Giles Milton.  The title is "When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain".  I quote from the magazine: ""did you know that Hitler was on as many as 80 drugs when he invaded Soviet Russia (including meds for his chronic flatulence)?"