Today I would like to reach into my Blog "grab-bag" and talk about anything that pops up.
Nutrition
In The Week for August 22, 2008, it was mentioned that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) wants space on any Mexican/American border wall, so that they can post the following message: "If the Border Patrol doesn't get you, the chicken and burgers will... go Vegan."
Apparently, PETA feels that Mexican food is a lot healthier than what Gringos eat. I feel sad for Elaine who has suddenly developed a garlic allergy. Eating even a small amount gets her innards in an uproar. Before she had this problem, I did not have any idea how much of our restaurant and grocery food contains garlic.
Beethoven
Great Courses recently advertised a course for a ridiculously low amount of money. My favorite lecturer, Professor Robert Greenberg, from San Francisco, is the presenter on a CD. He will get into the life of old Ludwig and how he affected music for all time. I like to play such courses on my car audio system as I zoom around town visiting Doctors. Recent courses I have listened to had the following subjects:
Memory
Doctors' Rounds
The Golden Age of Islam
Great Thinkers of the Middle Ages
Forensics
I love the Great Courses and highly recommend them to one and all.
Texas Again
The Week for December 2, 2016 mentions that Texas lawmakers want to require public school teachers and counselors to "out" LGBT students to their parents. This is called a "right to know" law and joins a lot of other "nutsy" (in my opinion) Texas laws.
One of these laws would require women contemplating abortion to get "counseling" and watch a sonogram of the fetus before getting the treatment. The law is being pushed by "male members" of the Texas legislature. One of the "lady members" (Jessica Ferrar) has filed a counter-suit requiring men buying Viagra to get "counseling"before purchase. I could be a little wrong on these details... to check up on such activities in Texas, one can read The New Yorker magazine article on that subject in a July 2017 issue..
Cellphone Addiction
Chuck Shepherd writes in the Funny Times for June 2017 that police in Wisconsin released surveillance pictures of a woman in the act of robbing some banks. During each event, the lady never stopped talking on her cell phone.
Goldman Sachs
I seem to remember reading that Goldman Sachs might have been responsible for our recent recession, and that jail time had been suggested for some of their executives. Meanwhile, I notice on a document mailed by Public Citizen, that Mr. Trump has filled some of his cabinet posts with folks in some way connected with that concern, such as:
Secretary of the Treasury: Steve Mnuchin
Steve spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs.
Director of National Economic Council: Gary Cohn
Gary was COO of Goldman Sachs for over 10 years.
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Jay Clayton
Jay was a partner with Sullivan and Cromwell, which was a Goldman Sachs law firm for many years.
Chief White House Strategist: Steve Bannon
Steve worked at Goldman Sachs for six years.
I wonder how many of these guys were at that meeting with President Trump when the attendees each pledged their allegiance to the "fearless leader." What have we become?
Animal Intelligence?
The Week magazine for August 21, 2009 reports on the Florida man who claims that his cat downloads child pornography to his computer when he isn't looking. Good try, guy.
Beer with me a moment.
I'm told that Kona Beer is brewed in New Hampshire. Their motto is "liquid aloha."
Is that deceptive advertising, or not?
Languages!
I heard a radio ad for Austin, Texas. It said that 145 different languages are spoken in Austin. Huh? How do we find out if that is true. Maybe the lady in my cell phone can find out for me. I'll let you know if I find out anything.
My relearning of German is going ok. I spend 30 minutes every day reviewing and studying vocabulary, I read the German newspaper every week, and I do the German crossword puzzles. However, I doubt that I will ever be able to speak the language again, but that's ok, I just want to be able to read German books easily again. Once that is accomplished, I may try to relearn one of these three languages: Spanish, German, Russian. (I hope this all keeps my brain young.)
Cryptics
Big breakthrough for me today. I came the closest I ever have come to solving a BBC cryptic crossword puzzle. One word short. E_C_I_ (Euclid? El Cid?) British cryptics are tough, but the BBC ones are monstrous because you need to also have knowledge of all kinds of musical terms, composers, operas, etc. Doing one of these puzzles gives old brains a good workout.
Originalists
The late Antonin Scalia called himself an "originalist" and so does his replacement, Neil Gorsuch. Originalists believe that Government should not be able to do anything "unless it is authorized in the Constitution." Roger Carasso writes in the April/May issue of the New Yorker:
"Where does the Constitution specifically authorize the treatment of corporations... as people?"
Where does it treat "money as speech?"
Where does it "give the President the right to start wars?"
Where does it "allow for racist voter suppression?"
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OY!
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