THE 3 "NO NO'S"

REVISITING A 2019 RANT ABOUT THE 3 "NO NO'S"

lushed with the enormous success of my prior blog entry about religion, politics and sex, I will continue with some more of such entries (at least for now,)  As I said before, there are the three topics that we are warned about bringing up... however, they are also the most interesting to most people.

Religion:  The Pope

In 2013, Sarah Palin was monopolizing the "scene" and according to The Week Magazine, she "expressed her disapproval of Pope Francis, saying he's 'taken me aback' with his statements, which she described as 'kind of liberal.'"

When was the last time you heard someone say "aback?"  Sarah had lots to say back then.  However, after she had almost destroyed the Republican Party, she hasn't been heard of much.  At least, I haven't heard much about her.

(The paragraph above could also count as a Politics entry.)

Politics:  trump talk

Danika Fears had this published in the New York  Post some time ago.  They were quotes from our fearless leader.



"It is not 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!"

Who, besides you, says it's false?

"I grew up in New York City, a town with different races, religions, and peoples.  It breeds tolerance."

Did you know any black people except those who lived in the slums you rented out?  And were you acquainted with any Moslems?"

"How stupid are the people of Iowa?"

Well, Iowans must be kind of stupid to  have voted for you.

Sex: Censorship

The Week Magazine reports in 2017 that Facebook told an Italian art historian to remove  images of Neptune from her page, because his genitals are showing.  The photograph of Neptune was deemed to be "explicitly sexual."

"Sexual" author Frank Harris said something in his "Life" work about this kind of censorship.  I don't have the quote handy but I'll try to bring it back into my memory and paraphrase is:

Curates and prudes are merrily 'going their rounds', ("killing" our appreciation of art) by binding up genitals with "bounds" (fig leafs.)

Religion: Marriage (and Sex)

Susan Squire writes in her book: I Don't: A Contrarian History of Marriage about Martin Luther.

"The father of the Protestant Revolution argued passionately against Rome's idea of marriage as a necessary but evil 'dumping ground' for sex, thus apparently laying 'the theoretical groundwork' for gender equality."

I continue to be amazed at the statements made by Martin Luther.  I do like the fact that he loved his beer, and loved his girl friend almost as much.

Politics: Security for djt

The Week Magazine reported in 2017 that Security measures in Trump Tower can cost up to $500,000 per day!  Real estate brokers are using that estimate and advertising that condos in the Tower are now the safest in Manhattan.

Sex: Circus Tents

The Saturday Evening Post reported that "in a 2015 auction,  one successful bidder paid $16,500 for a pair of Queen Victoria's underpants.  They had a 45-inch waist."

"We are not amused!"

Politics, Sex and Religion

The Toastmasters Organization says that there are three things one should never speak about with others:  Politics, Sex and Religion.  However, those are the three most spoken about topics for human beings.. even within the clergy.

So here goes.  I will try to quickly cover the three topics.  (I don't have much time today.) Perhaps I will make a habit of it.

Politics:

Xi Jinping: and China's new role in the world. (The Week, November 2017)

"Xi has made references to the declining role of the U.S. and its unpredictable president. As America withdraws from the world, China is moving to fill the void. "China will be increasingly disinclined to accept international norms or rules it did not create."

I wonder why trump feels that he can get the better of Xi in a trade war.  He's like a babe in the woods about to be eaten by a hungry wolf.  Our soy bean farmers are already feeling the pinch of trump's stupid tariffs.  trump will bankrupt us yet..  don't the republicans understand that he is a business failure and a con man?   It's very clear to me and  to all of our (now former) allies around the world.

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Sex: 

No longer boys and girls?  (The Week September 2016)

"A New Mexico elementary school principal instructed teachers never to call students "boys and girls" under the school's new Gender Identity Procedure Directive."  Teachers were supposed to use gender-neutral terms, such as "students" for the kids in her school.  Somebody squealed to parents and they raised hell.  The school board apologized and saved face by blaming the principal.

The Boys Club.. what would that be called?  The Boy Scouts?  Girl Scouts?  Silly.. silly.

I read an article in the Washington Post the other day, in which the writer used all gender neutral terms.. including saying "they" instead of "he" or "she."  It sounded dumb.  Of course, he said that he did it because some boys used to be girls and vice versa, so he wasn't sure of the proper gender word to use.   I would suggest that you use the gender word that the person wants you to use, regardless of how they look.

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Religion:

Martin Luther did what?  (The New Yorker July 2017)

In an article about the problems Jews have had with anti-semitism over the centuries, I found the following article extract amazing:

"... Martin Luther, in Germany, urged the Protestant faithful to raze the Jews' synagogues, school, and houses to forbid their rabbis on pain of death to teach, and to burn all Jewish prayer books and Talmudic writings."

Luther was just acting like other leaders of the time.  This was when Ghetto's were formed.  I assume that Lutherans have now decided that anti-semitism is not a nice thing..  at least I hope so.   I live at Carroll Lutheran Village, and many of our neighbors (including Elaine herself) are Lutherans.  I have not heard anything bad said about Jews or even any other group of people as long as I have lived here.

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Random Thoughts

Just for fun, I randomly selected 5 items from my Blog-preparation file.  I will try to comment on each of them, so that someday in the future, my Great Great Grandsons will be able to read them and figure out what strange thoughts occupied my mind, back there in the Dark Ages.

1.  A  Sting:  The Week reported that a Canadian motorist was ticketed for removing his seat belt so that he could reach for his wallet in order to give money to a homeless person on the side of the road. Unfortunately for the motorist, that "homeless person" was really an undercover cop and gave him a $175 fine!

Boo!  Boo!  Dirty pool!  In Canada too?  I hope that the motorist fought the fine in court and that the judge gave the fine to the nasty cop instead. IMHO.

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2. Neanderthals:  Abigail Tucker writes that "Humans tend to dismiss Neanderthals as  dimwits, yet the brains of our doomed cousins were actually larger than our own."

"... humans have barrel-shaped chests and narrow pelvises, Neanderthals had bell-shaped torsos with wide pelvises."

Miki Ben-Dor, a Tel Aviv University archaeologist thinks that the difference between the two types was caused by the food they ate.   In the colder places where Neanderthals lived, there was not much fruit and vegetable matter to be eaten, so they consumed mainly animal meat, made of fat and protein.  These foods may have caused their livers and kidneys to enlarge, and cause their chests and pelvises to widen to accommodate for their increased size.  The skinnier, fruit eating humans were able to run rings around those fat guys.

I wonder about belly fat in women.  Women usually do not have big bellies; however, in some families that is not the case.  Some female French Canadian family ancestors had paunches; and some  female Yankee family ancestors had paunches.  Sad for my progeny who  have relatives from both families.  Could there be some Neanderthal blood in the family tree?

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3. Book to Write:  I have a strong urge to write a book.  I think of plots all the time.  Here is one of my possible creative endeavors: 

Fangs for the Memory

A hopeless romantic recalls his days in a snake-infected jungle.

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4.  Talking to the Dead:   Muhammad A. Ahmad wrote an interesting piece in the Saturday Evening Post.  He suggested that with our current tech knowledge, we could create a simulation of a deceased person that we  could converse with.

Not so far fetched:  Way back in the 1970's, I wrote a computer program version of Eliza.  The original Eliza was made to fool people into thinking "she" was really talking to you.  I tried to get my Eliza to do the same.  I programmed "her" to respond to questions typed on a console.. but the responses were tricky.  For instance, if someone typed: "What will the weather be tomorrow?"  My Eliza would respond: "What would you like the weather to be tomorrow?"

If someone typed "Who was George Washington?"  My Eliza would respond:  "Who do you think George Washington was?"   

Get the picture?

I also had stock answers to some questions.  If someone typed: "What day is it?"  Eliza would refer to a built in "date app" (although computer routines were not called "apps" then) and print: "Today's date is.....(whatever it was)"  So.. it's all tricks.. however, lots of people believe that simulated responses are real  and their computer has passed the Turing test.

(This reminds me of the time that I was running a large scale computer test on one of the many gigantic systems at the Social Security Administration.  My secretary knew where I was and called me there to  let my know that analyst Cobb Addabo wanted to talk to me.  I told her to send Cobb down and we could talk while my test ran.

Prior to Mr. Addabo appearing, I programmed a little routine into the console, and when he showed up I asked him if he thought that computers could think.  He said that was silly.  I told him that this computer was able to communicate with him... all he had to do was type in "Hello, Computer"..

Saying again that it was silly, he nonetheless typed in "Hello, Computer." I told him to then press a button, and when he did so, the computer roared for a second and a message typed out on the console:  "Hi, Cobb!"  Cobb almost had a heart attack.)

OK.. I'm convinced that with recorded videos of the deceased, voice recordings of the deceased, and with some tricky programming, a person may end up with simulations of the deceased.  Perhaps a good sculptor could even make a nice soft robot copy of the deceased to encase that simulated material.

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5.  A Sweet Mystery.  The New York Post (not always the most reliable newspaper) recently reported that a large amount of Skittles candies fell out of  a truck en route to a cattle feed station in Dodge County, Wisconsin.  Skittles manufacturer, Mars Inc says they don't know anything at all about the spill or where the candy came from, and why it was going to be fed to cattle. (Does your steak taste sweeter lately?)

Perhaps the candy actually came from the planet Mars.  I've always thought that humans were allowed to evolve so that at some time in the future, Martians could come down and help themselves to plenty of high protein creatures.  Their planet seems rather barren.  Martians are obviously living underground and eating mushrooms, so a nice supply of humans might be their means to resume getting enough nutrition to come out of the depths.

(Speaking of steak, I love filet mignon and order it at least twice a week from our dining venue.  However, in honor of the Year of the Pig, instead of filet, they are substituting duck.  I've never tasted duck, but one billion Chinese folks can't be wrong.  They like it.)

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Enough of this nonsense!
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Words

I love to learn new words, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and even Hungarian.  I learn most of them from the crosswords that I love to do.  American crossword puzzles, for the most part, are straight-forward definition-based.  Spanish and French crossword puzzles are quite easy, American types. German puzzles are quite varied and fun to do.  British cryptic crossword puzzles bend your mind and, regardless of scientists saying that puzzles do not ward off Altzheimers, I think they are wrong when it comes to  cryptics.  Hungarian puzzles have me stumped.. because I am having a very hard time with the language.  It may take me a few years to be able to do even one of them.  We'll see.

When I can, I purchase German puzzles at an international delicatessen.  I purchased French and Spanish puzzles on the Internet. One of my programmers at the Social Security Administration brought me Italian puzzle books when she returned after a long Government assignment in Italy.  My Hungarian puzzles were brought to me by Elaine's daughter, Emily.  She and her family lived in Europe for a year.

I just purchased a Great Courses seminar called "words."  I'm looking forward to 24 30-minute lessons on word origins and usage.  This will be lots of fun for me.

I boxed up a couple hundred Enigma's and sent them to RON, a fellow member of the National Puzzlers League (NPL).  Enigma is the monthly puzzle magazine published by NPL. The copies I sent to RON are mostly pristine, because I do the puzzles on separate sheets of puzzles.

RON is a Nom.  Everyone in the NPL has a nom.  Mine is AHAB.  (you know, New Bedford and the whale thing.)

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"The Romans had a word for it."  Yes.. and here is a little of how they used words.

Marcus Aurelius:  "Do not forget: a man needs little to lead a happy life."

Ovid:  "Everywhere chance reigns, just cast out your line and where you least expect it, there waits a fish in the swirling water."

Terrance: "An easy task becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance."

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The word IRONIC is often misused.  The Readers Digest offered this information on irony.

"Strictly speaking, irony involves a reversal.  A traffic cop who has 13 unpaid traffic tickets is ironic because that is not expected.  Rain on a wedding day may be dampening and a tall man named Tallman might be coincidental... but it's properly ironic only if the rain falls on a sun festival or if Mr. Tallman is short."

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Interesting (at least to me) words and phrases as pseudonyms encountered in crossword puzzles:

Every Mother's Son ...  A 1967 NYC Rock Band extracted this phrase from A Midsummer Night's Dream and used it for their name.

OUIDA ... Pseudonym of English novelist Maria Louise de la Ramee. He wrote A Dog of Flanders.

ERTE ,,, Pseudonym of Romain de Tirtoff (1892-1990) Russian born French artist and designer.  He is known as the "father of art deco," and the "oriental ballet" designer.

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Here are a few mis-used words, as submitted to the Mensa Bulletin in September 1976.

Barnett Shaw:   assiduous Big in the hips.

Phil Beggs:   horary  A place for ladies of the evening.

Lawrence Perkins:  pismire  Swampy ground used as a latrine.
                                midrash  A skin rash over or near the belly.

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Here is some more inanity from 1976 Mensa:

"Tell a man that his son is a 'cheeky young pup' and he just grins."
"Tell a man that his son is an 'insolent son of a bitch,' and you have a fight on  your hands."

The British call women "birds".. so:

Call one your 'pigeon' or 'turtle dove,' and get a nice kiss.
Call one a 'crow' and get a nice slap.

Tell a woman she has a well-built chassis, and get that nice kiss.
Tell a woman she's built like the back of a bus, and get that well-deserved slap.

Likewise:

''Shapely filly' vs 'a bit horsey.'

'Pretty young heifer' vs 'a young cow.'

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Some Interesting Signs:

"Ears pierced while you wait."

"God helps those who help themselves."  vs  "God help those who help themselves."

"Road wet when it rains."

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Fellow Mensan, Richard Lederer, is a word expert and his articles are very well written.  I will try to steal some examples in the future for your enjoyment.

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The Gelatinous Wizard of US

The score is now:  Pelosi 2: trump 0

Our glorious leader is now being called "Caveman" for giving in twice to Nancy Pelosi.  At last, I hope, he has met his match.  After regaling us with new "fake news" about the Southern border of the U.S., he allowed the Government to open again... but with the threat to throw another tantrum if money isn't allocated for his "wall" by February 15th.

His bosom buddy, Roger Stone has at last been arrested.  What a sweetheart!  I'm told that he has a picture of Richard Nixon tatooed onto his neck.  I did see his office with its picture of Nixon on display.  He also gave the Nixon victory salute to the crowds outside of the arraignment center who were shouting "Lock him up!"  He was released on $250,000 bail, which he can probably afford easily.

Roger said that he would never be a "rat" for trump.. but these sleezebags often "flip" when they realize that there is a chance that their protector might be in jail too and not able to give them a pardon.

Gene Weingarten wrote a Washington Post article about his "no-effort, magic, no-diet diet."   I liked the humorous article and recommend it to you.  Meanwhile, let me  pluck out of his article a line related to his special diet, yet, which could also be related to a famous person.  You guess who.

"... Kiss goodbye that huge gelatinous tub of lard whose image has haunted you day and night."

I love the Nation magazine.  I read it all, cover to cover, and work the cryptic puzzle in each issue. One of the highlights of the magazine is its poems by Calvin Trillin.  I hope he will not mind me writing a copy of his latest wonderful poem.

If he can't get the wherewithal
To build at once his precious wall..
A wall that's thick, a wall that's tall,
The strongest, toughest wall of all
Then to the floor he'll surely fall,
And pound his little fists and bawl."

Dana Milbank also had a great article in Sunday's Washington Post, with the title: What If Trump Was Comic Relief?
Some of his misspellings and made up facts are already kind of funny, and the way he runs the White House is hilarious.  So, the idea is to beat him at his own bumbling game and have some fun doing so.  How about whoopie cushions in the oval office?  Pepper in his french fries?  Short sheets in the Lincoln bedroom? 

Seriously though.. this is a tough time for the U.S. with this incompetent person in charge. Nobody knows what he is going to do or say next. It's time for a new deal, and I agree with most of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley's "Blueprint for a 'We The People' Democracy."

o  Pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.

o  End partisan gerrymandering.

o  Abolish the Electoral College.

o  Provide a pathway for voting representation in Congress for U.S citizens of DC and Puerto Rico.

o  Reinstate the full protections of the Voting Rights Act:
     Allow early voting
     End purges of voter lists
     Re-enfranchise ex felons
     Allow same-day voter registration
     Establish Nation-wide automatic voter registration.

Jeff... You have my vote!

Time Travel

Why do people try to figure out how to time-travel when we have it already in our power to move forward or backward in time?  Yes we can.  By using our brains. For instance, I can think about the house I lived in over 70 years ago, and it as though I were there again.  Also, I can visualize a future time in my "mind's eye" ..

For now, let's travel back to 2008 and see what was going on then.. and maybe guess at what became of that period's burning issues, and what may happen to them in the future.

Year 2008:  P. Babcock. 35, of Kansas had been sitting on her boyfriend's toilet for two years.  As a result, her skin had grown around the seat.  The seat was detached and forwarded with Pam to the local hospital, where it was surgically removed from  her butt.

Year 2018:  P. probably is one of those 600 pound plus persons now and probably would crush any old fashioned toilet seat.  We'll never know for sure, but we can guess and visualize.

Year 2028:  I predict that P goes to Doctor M in Atlanta and loses 450 pounds after a stomach by-pass procedure.  After a "flabby skin shave," P becomes a svelte model.  Nobody knows she is 55 years old.  She and her boyfriend have started their own business, selling organic toilet seats.

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Year 2008:  A 50-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia filed for divorce because he husband lifted up her veil and looked at her face while she  was sleeping.  She had kept her face hidden for 30 years and although her husband apologized, she will  not forgive him.

Year 2018:  I suspect there was a different reason for hiding her face than religious fervor.  She probably was ugly as hell.  Today, at 60, she is probably wishing she still had her ex husband in her lonely life.  Although, now that she can legally drive, maybe she would not need a husband anymore.

Year 2028:  The Saudi woman tricked everyone by becoming one of the wives of the new crown prince.. the former one is awaiting execution for the murder of some journalist or other.   At 70 years of age, she runs the harem.  Since she was 50 years old, no other man has even tried to sneak a peek at her face.

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Year 2008:  German tour company OssiUrlaub has started the world's first nudist airline.  After boarding, passengers can drop their trousers and sit on hygienic seat covers, as they wing it to a "naturist" spa on a Baltic island.

Year 2018:  Some nudists have planned weddings on that Baltic island and some now have even had their weddings on the plane.  There have been some problems with that though, like when the wedding party couldn't agree on who was the "best man,"  and then they didn't like where he wanted to hold the ring.

Year 2028:  Since the whole Baltic area has now become mandatory nudist territory, many airlines serve that population.  Lots of folks fly in for a vacation where they can "hang out" for a fortnight.

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Year 2008:  Yoda, the cat with four ears, has become an Internet sensation.  However, many people feel that Yoda is the devil incarnate.  She certainly looks evil enough. And who can prove that is not true.

Year 2018:  At 20 years of age, Yoda does not seem to be aging as her fellow felines.  Perhaps she is the devil, or at least an imp.  She has a big staff of humans who do her every bidding.   But then, that is not much different from what other cats manage.

Year 2028:  Now 40 years old, Yoda is still around.  She hasn't even begun to work on Life #2.  One suspects now that Yoda is really Donald Trump, former President.  We all know that DJT disappeared early in 2019 when Nancy Pelosi put a curse on him.  As evil as he was, he must have made a  pact with the devil to keep people working for him.  We wonder what he offered Satan for his transformation, because he obviously did not have a soul to barter with.

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Quick Views

I'm finding less and less time to do blog entries, but I need to keep my fingertips in the pot.. so to speak.  So, here are a few thoughts.

Toys R $ for this Kid:  Ryan, who is 7 years old, reviews toys on YouTube and this earned him $22 million in 2017!  Almost as much as trump received from  his father when he was 7 years old.

(When I was 7 years old, my 2nd grade teacher slugged me.  I must have done something really bad.)

(My short-lived life of crime probably started in 2nd grade.  It stopped when I was in 4th grade.  And there is an amazing story there, which I recount in other blog entries.)

(A poor little 7 year old died from dehydration after her trip from Guatemala, to our nasty border.  I would bet that there are lots more bad stories like this.  When will we ever learn?)

Retirement $ for this Retiree:  I read where  Americans expect to have saved $250,000 by retirement, although they feel as though they need $610,000.  Doesn't seem to add up.  Experts say that if you want a "nice" retirement, you need to have saved at least $1,000,000 at retirement time. (I was a millionaire once, believe it or not.)

 However, retirement living in a continuing care community ate most of that up in short order.  But... the community will take care of me til I die, even if all of the rest of my money evaporates.. so the expense is worth it, in my opinion.

Pending Legal Claim:  Two women who broke into a closed amusement park are suing for injuries sustained when they were hurt sliding down a non-operating mechanical ride.  They want damages because the park owners   "should have had safety features which worked when the ride was shut off. 

They will probably win their case if the judge rules like was done in another case where a guy broke into a home to burglarize it, hurt himself, and then sued for damages... and got them!

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