A Wandering Mind Gathers No Moss

Worries Mount as Syria Lures West’s Muslims- so blared the headline for a story in last Sunday’s New York Times. Evidently much ado is being made about who is helping the rebels. “Young Muslims are traveling to Syria to fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad, raising fears among American and European officials of a new terrorist threat when they return home”. Not necessarily true. Foreigners fighting in the Spanish Civil War were the inspiration for some great novels- not terrorism. Maybe some young radicalized Muslim will return from Syria and write “For Whom The Muezzin Calls”. We may even see some  historical epics like “The Cedars Believe In Allah” or “Winter in Damascus”. Then again they may return as more accomplished bombers.

Carlos Danger, aka Anthony Weiner, is giving user names a bad name.

Finally got a letter from The Plain Dealer explaining how pleased I’ll be with their 3 day a week home delivery and what a treat their e-edition will be. Re-read it three times and I still was not thrilled until I realized that there was indeed a plus side to the reduced delivery of hard copies. Fewer papers to put out for recycling. As for the e-edition, my DEL button will handle the trashing.

I haven’t written much about the hard playing Cleveland Indians who are currently 2.5 games behind the Division leader. I’m not going to start now since I’m mindful of Chief Wahoo’s curse. If only the Dolans would retire him, first place would be a cinch.

The Cleveland Browns opened training camp last week. They are apparently way ahead of schedule- one concussion already reported.

Kudos to Senator Sherrod Brown. He's moving to Cleveland from the outer suburb of Avon. Another way of looking at it, the good senator is putting his money where his mouth is.

One way to beat cancer - redefine it! A group of experts has determined that as far as cancer is concerned we are still living in the nineteenth century. What to do? They have recommended changing the definition of cancer and eliminating the word from some common diagnoses as part of sweeping changes in the nation’s approach to cancer detection and treatment. That will bring the cancer rate down dramatically. Now we need to redefine what obesity is and eliminate so many fat people walking the streets.

I need a smart phone like a hole in the head

In a moment of weakness, I dumped my dumb phone and got myself a smart phone. What’s so bad about that? Nothing other than I need a smart phone like I need a hole in the head. Let me be clear about my smart phone. It’s an Android, not an iPhone. There is too much “I” in everything we want or do these days. Besides it is also more expensive than the Android. Family members who have iPhones expected no less from me. The High Primal was elated, especially when I convinced her that her dumb phone and my smart phone would be able to communicate in a crowded mall.

I’ve had the phone for over a month now and have only made a couple of phone calls with it, both of which were “no answer“. I’ve been too damn busy trying to understand what makes it so smart. I’m at the point now that I’m comfortable with enough Apps that I can relax and start treating it like a phone - oops, a smart phone.

My phone tells me where I’m at and even pinpoints it on a map. I’m sure that the folks at NSA like this feature. It also navigates but I don’t really need this App - my High Primal can get me lost a lot easier. It plays music but I’d rather sit in my easy chair and listen to the radio. All in all it has more Apps than I can possibly absorb.

I now have an appreciation of why Androids (and of course iPhones) are called smart phones. They are smart - very smart. Their IQ, I’m sure, exceeds that of most users ( yours truly excepted). I’m amazed - I can walk around with a computer in the palm of my hand.

(I go back to the days of having to write a Basic program in order to get some information out of a dumb computer. My first personal computer was the TRS-80 (better known as the Trash80). If you weren’t acquainted with MS-DOS, there was no way that the machine could spit out any information. My point is that now have a computer, aka a smart phone, in the palm of our hand which outperforms most personal computers of the past.)

As far as walking around with a smart phone is concerned, I have so far avoided looking like a zombie with a box held to his ear. The smart phone remains in my pocket except when I‘m comfortably seated somewhere. With all these caveats about the use of a smart phone, one might ask why I got one in the first place. Probably because I actually do have a hole in my head.

I wish I could say that this post is being sent to Blogger via their blogging App but I can’t. The procedure appears to be too complicated. Hell, I haven’t even learned how to take a decent picture, never mind posting to this blog.

I’ve got to bring this post to an end - my phone is talking to me. Oh yes, I didn’t mention that these things have something called voice recognition. If the High Primal finds out, I’m sure she will want one. She loves to make small talk.

Adding Insult To Injury

Future Rock star

Every now and then, Toby the Toyota demands that I navigate him to his favorite drinking spot, the neighborhood Shell station. Usually the stop is uneventful except for the ever increasing price of Toby's favorite drink. Luckily Toby does not demand top shelf; regular suits him just fine. Our most recent stop proved to be traumatic, at least for me. Some asshole had decided that it would be a good marketing gimmick if while satisfying an auto's thirst, there was music playing at the pump. Perhaps the intent was to take some one's mind off the dollars ticking away while the Toby's of this world satisfied their insatiable thirst. Bad marketing ploy! The music is trash, the audio is garbage. The oil company only succeeded in adding insult to injury.

I had a little talk with Toby as we drove away tanked up. He just had to learn to quench his thirst. Better yet, I asked him to come up with a drinking spot where all we heard was the click, click of the gas pump. If he didn't cooperate, I threatened to replace him with someone who just soaked up electrical juice.

About The Four Freedoms

We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want . . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear . . . anywhere in the world.--President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress, January 6, 1941

We are still looking forward to a world founded upon the four freedoms spelled out by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Seventy-two years later we live in a world where freedom of speech and expression is under scrutiny in the name of national security. We live with religious intolerance and persecution. Starvation in third world countries is commonplace. We live in a world where instilling fear in a populace is the weapon of choice in order to foster a particular ideology.

At one time it was anticipated that the United Nations would be the instrument to finally realizing “a world founded upon four essential human freedoms”. To some degree this international body has brought focus on genocide, starvation and deprivation of human rights in the world. Given the political maneuverings which dictate every move the United Nations makes, we should be grateful that trying to address the problems causing human suffering is even on its agenda.

Highlighting the four freedoms is part of FDR’s legacy. Achieving them awaits that leader who can finally convince people that humanitarianism should take precedence over their own personal perceived needs. John F. Kennedy took a stab at it in his inaugural address (1/20/1961) when he implored his fellow Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country". Again they became words for a legacy.

The chances of a world in which  freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear are the rule rather than the exception, are about as good as the NRA supporting a repeal of the Second Amendment.

  

A Movie And Free Dishes

The High Primal ,as I've noted before, is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to movies. Halliwell's "Film Guide" never strays far from our TV set. One would think we venture out to a movie theater frequently. Not so. For some unknown reason (the fact that I'm not a movie buff may be a clue) we get our fill of movies via Netflix, an occasional DVD purchase and Turner Classic Movies on the boob tube.
 
While watching a vintage movie, ”Footlight Parade”, on TCM, I couldn’t help going back in time when it was a treat to go to the neighborhood theater for a night at the movies.

Dish night at the Family Theater in the 1930's is especially memorable for me. If it wasn't for china set giveaways, I doubt that neighborhood theaters would have survived at the height of the depression era. A free piece of tableware was handed out as you gave your 15 cent (as I recall) ticket to a grouchy theater owner. My mother and my aunt competed as to whose set of china would be completed first. The highlight of the evening was not the movie but the sudden crash of a dish as someone scrunched through a row of seats to get to an empty one in the middle.

It's amazing that in the midst of a deep depression, people found the few pennies to get to a movie in order to get something free. Amazing but understandable. It's the American way. Just think, in the midst of the sequester the very rich are looking for a free pass on taxes. But I digress.

 Maybe the High primal and I would get to a movie more often if they gave away something like Marx Brothers bobble heads. Hmmmm, just when was the last time we saw the inside of a movie theater? Don't get me wrong. I'm not too cheap to venture out to a movie, but to be honest, I'm scared shitless of vampires.

You're next trip may be sooner than you think!

I received an offer today (along with a few million other consumers) from an unnamed credit card company. Action was requested on my part ASAP in order to take advantage of all kinds of deals and rewards on my travel plans. Not being a frequent traveler or a fellow traveler for that matter, I quickly decided to relegate this "offer I could refuse" to my favorite trash can. As I was doing so , my eyes focused on a dramatic plea obviously meant for non-frequent travelers - "You're next trip may be sooner than you think". My God, that's true, but why do I need a credit card when that trip rolls around. I know that funeral directors take every penny that they can but do they take credit cards? Anyway, my plans are to put off that last trip for awhile. As for the credit card company, their application was properly cremated and the ashes were unceremoniously flushed down the toilet.

ed note: The High Primal received the same offer but chose to tell the credit card company to stuff it up their ass.

Father Knows Best

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

On July 4, 1776 the  British  colonies of America evoked these rights to shed themselves of a government bent on denying them "certain unalienable rights" and began the American Revolution. On July 3, 2013 the Egyptian military in response to a perceived will of the people, deposed a democratically elected President of the country and ended Egypt's experiment with democracy.

 Democracy is never an easy birth. A coup d'e-tat ( although Washington will be reluctant to deem it so)  to achieve the reforms that people clamor for is an abortion of democracy. Once again the Egyptian Generals are playing the role of "Father knows best". Whether a democracy will be conceived again is up to the Egyptians. It is their choice, not ours.