Stick With Me On This One. I May Have Said Something Brilliant! … Or May I Have?

Today it seems like all the TV Talking Heads and the Newspaper Writing Heads are bombarding us with stories about Big Social Media and the way they are controlling what we hear and read about.

The Conservative Side of the Spectrum wants us to worry about what stories are not allowed to reach to us at all. They contend Conservative Thought is being stopped dead in its tracks by the Googles and the Facebooks of the world.

Prager University is actually suing YouTube (owned by Google) for banning its Videos. Fella has watched many of the Banned Videos and found that many of the many simply appear to be History Lessons. They are not even Leaning History Lessons. They are just History.

Recently I communicated with 14 people in my Address Book and pointed out a Prager Video that sang the praises of the British Empire. As I watched it I felt unease about the glowing praise it spoke about the British Empire.

Anything as large as the British Empire must have done something wrong but this video gave no hint that the British Empire had ever strayed from Truth, Justice and the British Way (excuse me, Superman, for using your 1950s TV Show Introductory Words).

Google's corporate mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." 

http://panmore.com/google-vision-statement-mission-statement

Think about the above Mission Statement as you read on…

Based on its own Mission Statement, if YouTube (owned by Google) does not agree with the contents of the video, it is not within its prerogative (according to its own Mission Statement) to ban it. The video is the opinion of those who made the video. If YouTube (owned by Google) were being true to its Mission Statement, they would publish the information (see the words “Universally Accessible” in the Mission Statement). Those who saw the video could counter the “facts” presented in the video (there were many comments countering the “facts” of the British Empire video) but they would have been informed about the beliefs of the people who put together the video.

The people who did not like the “facts” of the video might even change their minds. There was a time, before the time we live in when people actually changed their minds.

Changing your mind is unlikely when you do not see anything but those things that support what you already believe.

Google's corporate mission is not "to organize the world's information that we approve of and agree with and make it universally accessible and useful." ... Or is it?

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The above may not be as brilliant as I had hoped it would be. Allow me to try again…

Starting Point…

Ø The Wall Street Journal is Conservative

Ø Google is Liberal

YouTube (owned by Google) is preventing publication of Conservative Videos from Prager University.

On June 27, 2019, the Wall Street Journal published a Commentary where the first 2 paragraphs were…

“America will never be a socialist country,” President Trump said as he launched his bid for re-election last week.

That declaration was an effort to frighten Americans and undermine growing support for expanding Medicare and Social Security—two popular programs that have long been derided as “socialist.” Mr. Trump’s declaration hypocritically ignores that he and his Republican colleagues are the nation’s leading purveyors of an insidious form of corporate socialism, which uses government power and taxpayer resources to enrich Mr. Trump and his billionaire friends.

Do any of you think the Wall Street Journal agrees with these 2 paragraphs? Knowing what we know about the WSJ we should all be able to agree that they do not agree with these 2 paragraphs but the entire commentary was published in the WSJ for all to read and agree or disagree with.

Fella has a question for all of my Dear Readers to think about…

Think about how YouTube (owned by Google) is Censoring Prager University Conservative Videos. Then think about this, if the Wall Street Journal were the Google Street Journal and it used the same criteria YouTube (owned by Google) uses to decide what to publish or not publish, would Google Street Journal have published Bernie Sanders’ Commentary as the Wall Street Journal did on June 27, 2019?

It gives Fella great comfort to know that all my Dear Reader Liberal and Conservative friends agree with every logical word I have pecked out in this brilliant Blog Posting…Or should I feel so comforted?

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: I am sorry this Blog Posting was so complicated. It’s not my fault. It is they (whoever they are) who have made it so complicated.😀

Droves Of People Are Leaving Our State Because We Tax Them Way Too Much. Maybe, If We Give Them A Little Bitty Bonus To Stay, They Will Not Leave. Then We Can Continue Taxing Them Way Too Much.

(This Blog Posting was originally published on April 18, 2017)

I apologize for this Blog Posting being so long but there is a lot of Silliness in Connecticut.

Somewhere in Connecticut’s past, this bullet-pointed conversation happened in their State House...

(Yes, the people in Connecticut talk in bullet points.)

Ø We need more money.

Ø I have an idea. Let’s tax the other 49 States.

Ø We don’t have the power to do that.

Ø Are you sure we don’t?

Ø I’m not certain and I will check on it but, for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that we don’t have that power. Let’s continue to kick around some ideas about how we can increase revenue.

Silence...Thinking…Silence

Ø What about cutting spending? Wouldn’t that be like increasing revenue?

Ø Come on now! We were not sent up here to not spend money. We were sent here to spend money and we have done an excellent job of that if I do say so myself.

Silence...Thinking…Silence

Ø The only tried and proven method of increasing revenue I can think of is we will have to tax the people here in Connecticut some more.

Ø Do you think they will stand for that? We have started to hear rumblings that they have taken note of what we have been doing to them.

Ø They have rumbled before. We have not pushed them to the breaking point. Besides, Football Season starts this weekend and they will not pay any attention to us till early February and, we all know what follows February, March (College Basketball) Madness and then the NBA Playoffs. Trust me. We can do this to them a lot more.

Ø OK, I’ll defer to your political savvy. You were right about the last 12 tax increases.

Ø Good! That settles it! Let’s go to Happy Hour!

Ø You know you said the same thing after we decided to enact each of the last 12 tax increases. OK, let’s go to Happy Hour.

Actually, the above Bullet Point Conversation is Foolishness. As you read on below you will see ample evidence that the people of Connecticut have taken notice of their tax burden as evidenced by the fact that they are leaving in large numbers for other states.

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What caused The Fella to start pecking out a Foolishness...Or Is It about little ole Connecticut? To find the answer, read on and learn about Connecticut’s Tale of Taxation Woe...

Ø Connecticut’s progressive tax experiment has hit a wall.

Ø Tens of thousands of residents are leaving for lower tax states.

Ø 25 years ago Connecticut was a low-tax haven for Northeasterners.

Ø In 1991 the state enacted an income tax and it was later made steeply progressive.

Ø The Slippery Slope started doing its slippery thing but, as is usually the case with taxes, it was upward slippery.

Ø In a fine example of Taxpayer Trickery, the top rate on individuals earning $500,000 or more has been lifted to 6.99%.

Ø The beleaguered taxpayers of Connecticut breathed a huge sigh of relief because they had feared that the rate was going to go up to 7%.

Ø Many taxpayers were heard to say, “I’m going to find out if my representative voted to keep the rate below 7%, and if he did, I’m going to be sure to vote for him again”.

Ø In 2012 the Tax Foundation ranked Connecticut’s state and local tax burden second highest in the country behind New York.

Ø Due to recent Property and Income Tax Hikes, Connecticut may now be in the lead.

Ø You don’t need a Yale degree to figure out that the tax hikes have been a disaster.

Ø A net 30,000 residents moved to other states last year.

Ø Since 2010 seven of Connecticut’s eight counties have lost population.

Ø In the last five years, 27,400 Connecticut residents have moved to Florida.

Ø More than 3,000 Connecticut residents have moved to Zero-Income-Tax New Hampshire in the last two years.

Ø In a fine example of the Blind trying to Lead those they believe are the Stupid, many Legislators are denying that tax policies influence personal or business decisions.

Ø After losing General Electric last year, the Governor bribed the hedge funds Bridgewater and AQR Capital with $57 million in taxpayer subsidies not to leave the state.

Ø Other beneficiaries of the Governor’s corporate welfare include Cigna, NBC Sports, ESPN and Charter Communications. (If these giveaways continue, Connecticut is going to have to raise taxes.)

Ø Legislators have now taken the subsidy idea one step further by proposing a tax credit averaging $1,200 for grads of Connecticut colleges who already live in the state to stay in the state after graduation.

Ø It is estimated this tax credit would cost the state $6 million each year assuming only 10% of eligible college grads sign on.

Ø They better pray that more than 10% don’t decide to take the State up on this silly offer. (If these giveaways continue, Connecticut is going to have to raise taxes.)

Ø The elephant in the room and the main reason young people are escaping is the lack of job opportunities because businesses are leaving because of high taxes.

Ø Since 2010 employment in Connecticut has grown at half the rate of Massachusetts and more slowly than in Rhode Island or New Jersey (another high tax state).

Ø Meanwhile, Legislators are worried about a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit next year because tax revenues keep trailing projections. (No Chit Sherlock!)

Ø To make matters worse, the state’s teacher pension bill is projected to grow by a third over the next two years.

Ø The Legislators who are causing all this mess have a solution. Some of these mental midgets want to impose a 19% tax on Hedge Funds’ Carried Interest.

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By now you are thinking I made all this up.

It looks like many of the We’re Gonna Stay Here for $1,200 (Wink Wink) Graduates will use the money to spend on Graduation Parties and then they will move out of state anyway to get a job.

I have an idea! What they ought to do is Build a Wall Around Connecticut!

Did I just hear you say a Wall is a silly idea? Do you want to read something sillier? If so, scroll back up this Foolishness and read Connecticut’s Tale of Taxation Woe again.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella 

Lagniappe June 2019:

Corporate Tax Rate and Corporate Welfare

Ø In 2015 Connecticut imposed a 20% surtax on top of the state’s 7.5% Corporate Tax Rate, effectively raising the tax rate to 9%.
>>Connecticut estimated the Corporate Tax Hike would raise $241 million a year.
>>Revenue increased by only $161 million in 2016.
>>Meantime, the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, in 2016 alone spent $358 million (mostly on direct payments and loans) to induce businesses to stay in the state or move to the state.
>>This means that Connecticut doled out more than twice as much in Corporate Welfare as it generated from the Corporate Tax Increase.
>>The business handouts cost even more than that because the state tapped bond funds to pay for them.

Thus we have Connecticut’s business model: Raise costs for everyone and then leverage taxpayers to provide discounts for a politically favored few. 

Business Flight

Ø More and more businesses are leaving Connecticut as they get walloped with higher taxes that are bleeding the state.

Ø The state has lost population for the last five years…
>>As stated above, in 2016 GE moved its longtime headquarters from Fairfield to Boston.
>>Hallmark, RBS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Rogers Corporation have also announced job cuts or moves.
>>Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which had already received $26 million from the state to stay, checked out of New Haven in 2017.
>>While United Technologies will continue making jet engines in Connecticut (at least for now) 100 of its high-paying corporate jobs will move to Boston.

All this could have been averted if only the “Geniuses” running Connecticut had read my Blog Posting of April 18, 2017. If they had, they certainly would have seen the error of their ways and changed their ways…Or would they have if they had?

Community To College: As An Institution Of Higher Learning You Are A Mere Shadow Of Your Former Self. One Of Our Juries Has Just Levied An Award Against You Of $44 Million. Community To Jury: You Got It Right!

In a recent Blog Posting, I used this word string… “My postings are all about Silliness, Foolishness, Goofiness, Folly, Absurdity and such”.

After you have read this Blog Posting, I hope you will agree that this modified word string is appropriate… “My postings are all about Silliness, Foolishness, Goofiness, Folly, Absurdity like what happens at Oberlin College”.

Oberlin College is being run by the Silly People who are supposed to be preparing Silly Students for the real world. 

To complicate things even further Oberlin’s Silly Students have been bombarding administrators with endless demands for accommodations like these…

Ø Abolish midterms.

Ø  Ban grades below C.

Ø An $8.20 hourly wage for engaging in activism.

Ø Addition of “trigger warnings” to classic literature (Yes, I had to look up “Trigger Warnings”)…
>>Definition of Trigger Warning: A statement cautioning that content (as in a text, video, or class) may be disturbing or upsetting. Colleges across the country have been wrestling with student requests for what are known as “trigger warnings”. These are explicit alerts that the material they are about to read or see in a classroom might upset them or, as some students assert, cause symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Victims of Rape or in War Veterans.

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Here come the Bullet Points…

Ø On Nov. 9, 2016, an African-American male Oberlin student attempted to buy wine from Gibson’s Bakery using a fake ID.

Ø A grandson of the shop’s owner, refused to sell the underage customer alcohol.

Ø The grandson then noticed the student had two bottles of wine concealed under his shirt.

Ø The grandson called the police.

Ø The student fled and dropped the bottles on the floor as he fled.

Ø A scuffle ensued when grandson pursued him.

Ø Two African-American female Oberlin students, apparently accomplices of the suspect, joined in the physical confrontation.

Ø When police arrived on the scene, the three were beating Mr. Gibson on the ground.

Ø None of these facts were ever in dispute, even among the three suspects…
>>They all pleaded guilty to an array of charges.
>>The first suspect swore in his plea statement that Mr. Gibson “was within his legal rights” to detain him.
>>He also swore he did not believe Gibson’s actions were racially motivated. 

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That’s the name of that tune. Open and shut case. That’s how the cow eat the cabbage…Or is it?

Ø Oberlin students organized and began a campaign alleging these suspects were actually victims of racial profiling.

Ø Students launched a campaign to destroy Gibson’s Bakery, a fifth-generation family business that had served the Oberlin community for more than 130 years.

Ø Students organized protests and distributed leaflets accusing the Gibson family of racism.

Ø Students worked with school administrators to impose financial sanctions on the bakery.

Ø Demonstrations became so aggressive that police say they considered calling the riot squad to restore order.

Ø Oberlin administrators agreed to boycott Gibson’s, which had long held catering contracts with the college’s dining service.

Ø Oberlin administrators allowed students to skip class to participate in protests.

Ø One of Oberlin’s Deans handed out a flier accusing Gibson’s of having a “long account of racial profiling and discrimination”.

Ø College copy machines were used to print up the flier.

Ø College Administrators told the Gibsons they’d reinstate the catering contract if they dropped charges against the 3 shoplifting students and promised to contact the school, not police, if other students stole from their store in the future.
>>This is Fella…Wow! They anticipated more theft by their students. I wonder if the College ever told the students that theft was wrong. 

Ø Ignoring the facts, the College and Students attempted to destroy a business without concern for the damage they were inflicting on a family and workers in their own community.

The Gibson Family went to court and showed that using the legal system, it is possible to fight back and win.

For Oberlin, it didn’t have to end this way. At the height of the controversy, the Gibson family says it asked the school to send a letter to students reiterating what had already become clear: The bakery didn’t engage in racial profiling.

Oberlin refused the offer. Had the college agreed to refute the baseless claims of racism, it is unlikely that the Gibson family would have pursued the matter in court.

The amount of money awarded is certainly a big story but it is far from the only big story. The jury spoke loudly when it held accountable a college that had lost concern for the lives of working people in its community.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: In researching for this Blog Posting I came across the courses that have been taught by one of the Key Professors in this whole crazy affair. I know I am old fashioned but I don’t have a lot of respect for the preparation for the real world that these courses of instruction will impart to the Knowledge Seekers being “educated” at Oberlin College…

Ø  Gender and Sexuality

Ø  Race and Ethnicity Studies

Ø  Social Justice

Ø  HIV/AIDS

Whatever happened to Reading, Writing and Rithmatic?

I Am Absolutely Devastated That The NBA Finals Are Over!

Did I just hear many of you say any or all of the following?...

Ø Shucks I really wanted to watch the Finals but I did not know they were being played.

Ø I’m really sad they are over! Did Michael Jordan do well?

Ø What’s the NBA?

Oh well, we don’t all have the same interests.

Time to Get On With the Foolishness for Today

I know how I could get 1 Million Instagram Followers very quickly. First a little background…

Ø The newly crowned NBA Champions, the Toronto Raptors, have a ballplayer who averaged only 3.4 Minutes Played and only 1.1 Points Scored through the entire playoffs and, since he was on the team (on the bench on the team), he will still receive a Championship Ring just like all the players who earned a ring while actually playing in the games.

Ø This player may not have made a huge impact on the court but he has a strong following on Social Media because he boasts nearly 2 Million Instagram Followers.

My plan is simple. I am going to play with the Golden State Warriors next year and I am going to Play 1.7 Minutes and Score .55 Points/Game. This is half of what he played and scored. That ought to be good enough to get 1 Million Instagram Followers.

You are snickering. Don’t deny it! I can see you snickering. I am not going too far out on a Proverbial Limb here. It’s not that I alone think I am good enough to achieve these less-than-lofty goals. The Golden State Warriors think I am good enough.

Now that they have been dethroned I just know they are going to come looking for me and my considerable talents again.

Allow me to explain the word “again”…

Ø It was only a couple of years back that the Warriors thought I was good enough to play on their team.

Ø The General Manager called me on the phone and begged me to join them in time for their playoff run.

Ø While I negotiated with him I could hear several of the players shouting words of encouragement to the GM in the background.

Ø Encouragement hell! They sounded desperate!

Ø We negotiated a very Lucrative Contract but at the very last moment, he asked if I had any Tattoos and, when I replied in the negative, he abruptly hung up the phone.

I am certain that they now see the error of their ways (they lost) and they know for certain that I am what they need to Get Over the Hump and claim their 4^th Title in the last 6 years.

Just to play it safe and to make sure they do not hang up on me when they call this time, starting tomorrow I am going to get the first of 24 Tattoos and I have already started Growing a Beard that any Muslim would be proud to have growing out of his face.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

If We Are Going To Be Warned That There Is A Strong Possibility That We Are Going To Die, Should The Warning Not Be More Specific Than This?

I saw a warning on the Internet the other day that told the people who were in a Tornado Danger Area that they might be in Danger and, if they were anywhere in the Danger Area, they ought to move out of the Danger Area but they should be aware that the Safe Area they might move to may be a Danger Area and the Danger Area they moved away from may actually not be a Danger Area but may be a Safe Area where they ought to stay because it is Safe and not Dangerous. (Yea, I know the preceding sentence is too long and it does not make sense.)

I copied this warning from the Internet…

"A dangerous day for weather was forecast Monday in portions of Texas and Oklahoma with at least 2 million people in the path of possible tornadoes."

"An outbreak of tornadoes, some potentially long-track and violent, is expected today into this evening," the Storm Protection Center (SPC) warned.”

"The prediction center placed parts of the eastern Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma under a High-Risk Area for Severe Weather, the most serious of SPC’s five risk categories.” 

Here is the exact wording of the warning that confused Fella. I ask you, my Dear Readers, what would you do?...

The latest forecast from SPC has increased the tornado probabilities from 30% to 45% from northwest Texas into central Oklahoma, the center said in its midday forecast. This means there's a 45% chance of a tornado forming within 25 miles of any spot in the area.

The people who are being warned must come to grips with these words, “chance of a tornado forming within 25 miles of any spot in the area”.

Now I am going to start using Technical Words like…Huh? What does “within 25 miles of any spot in the area” mean? Does that not mean everywhere? Actually, it is worse than everywhere. It really means Within 25 Miles from Anywhere.

I have taken on the charge in my life of writing Blog Postings that confuse those who dare to read them. My postings are all about Silliness, Foolishness, Goofiness, Folly, Absurdity and such. Now I ask you, should not those who are charged with telling us we are about to die be more specific?

Somehow I have a feeling that the people who wrote up the Bolded Warning above are the direct descendants of those Public Servants who came up with…

If An Atomic Bomb Explodes On the Top of Your School House, Duck and Cover Underneath Your Flimsy Desk!

Would I kid u?
Smartfella

Lagniappe: There’s A Tornado! There’s A Tornado!
https://preview.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/dangerous-violent-tornado-outbreak-predicted-for-monday/ar-AABCzfI

President Kennedy Was Not Too Smart-Part 3

A computer-generated illustration shows the trajectory of the Apollo 11 mission and the stages of the spacecraft from launch to orbit and return. (Claus Lunau / Science Source)

Is It Possible the Mission To The Moon Was Easy?

Looking back at all the slick footage about the Moon Landing it seems to have been a Well-Oiled Machine. It was Well-Oiled and the Good Ole USofA landed on the Moon several times but it was Not Easy.

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Ten Thousand Problems Had To Be Solved To Get Us to the Moon

Every one of those challenges was tackled and mastered between May 1961 and July 1969. The astronauts, the nation, flew to the Moon because hundreds of thousands of Scientists, Engineers, Managers and Factory Workers unraveled a series of puzzles, often without knowing if the solution they came up with to their particular puzzle was a workable solution. 

In retrospect, the results are both bold and bemusing but because President Kennedy was so smart (Or was he?) and because he could see into the future (Or could he?) this is what happened…

Ø The Apollo spacecraft ended up with what was, for its time, the smallest, fastest and most nimble computer in a single package anywhere in the world. 

Ø That computer navigated through space and helped the astronauts operate the ship. 

Ø In actuality, the computer was the equivalent of a 1990s Lap Top.

Ø But the astronauts also traveled to the Moon with paper star charts so they could use a sextant to take star sightings—like 18th-century explorers on the deck of a ship—and cross-check their computer’s navigation. 

Ø The software of the computer was stitched together by women sitting at specialized looms—using wire instead of thread. 

Ø Actually an arresting amount of work across Apollo was done by hand…
>The heat shield was applied to the spaceship by hand with a fancy caulking gun.
>The parachutes were sewn by hand and then folded by hand.
>The only three staff members in the country who were trained and licensed to fold and pack the Apollo parachutes were considered so indispensable that NASA officials forbade them to ever ride in the same car, to avoid all of them being injured in a single accident.

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Today Most of Us Have No Idea How Expensive the Moon Landing Really Was

 (This is a repeat of part of President Kennedy Was Not Too Smart- Part 2)

I warn you ahead of time that you ought to read these cost figures slowly to let them sink in and many of you will go back and read what you just read again because these are Really Big Numbers!…

Ø Three times as many people worked on Apollo as on the Manhattan Project to create the Atomic Bomb. 

Ø In 1961, the year Kennedy formally announced Apollo, NASA spent $1 million on Apollo for the year. 

Ø Five years later NASA was spending about $1 million every three hours on Apollo, 24 hours a day. 

I’ll read it again for you…

Ø $1 million every three hours!

Ø 24 hours a day!

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At Least the Moon Landing Had the Full Support of the American People

What made it all work was that everyone in the Good Ole USofA was in Full Support of the endeavor and believed that the sacrifices needed to be made were worth the Time, Effort and the Money Being Spent on the Mission…Or did they?

Ø On the eve of the launch of Apollo 11, civil rights protesters, led by the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Marched on Cape Kennedy.

Ø Americans constantly questioned why we were going to the Moon when we Couldn’t Handle Our Problems on Earth.
>Were they really saying mankind should never move ahead toward New and Better and Different until all Existing Problems Had Been Solved?

Ø As early as 1964, when asked if America should “go all out to beat the Russians in a manned flight to the Moon” and only 26% said Go All Out. 

Ø During Christmas 1968, NASA sent three astronauts in an Apollo capsule all the way to the Moon, where they orbited just 70 miles over the surface, and on Christmas Eve, in a live, prime-time TV broadcast, they shared pictures of the Moon’s surface, as seen out their windows. Then the three astronauts read aloud the first ten verses of Genesis to what was then the largest TV audience in history.  >Four weeks after Apollo 8’s telecast from lunar orbit (see the underlining above), the Harris Poll conducted a survey and asked Americans if they favored landing a man on the Moon and only 39% Were In Favor.
>Then they were asked if they thought the space program was worth the $4 billion a year it was costing and only 55% said It Was Worth It.

Ø In 1961, a U.S. Senator released his own poll of U.S. Space Scientists. The question was: Was sending astronauts to the Moon, at the earliest feasible moment, of great scientific value?
>He polled the membership of the American Astronomical Society and received 381 written replies from Astronomers and Space Scientists.
>36% said a manned Moon mission had Great Scientific Value.
>35% said it had Little Scientific Value.
>He also asked about unmanned, robotic missions to the Moon and 66% of Space Scientists said they would have Great Scientific Value.
>This Senator, a member of Kennedy’s own party, had gone to some trouble to establish that America’s Actual Space Scientists judged that the race to the Moon Wasn’t Worth It. 

Ø In an interview in late 1961 a professor and legendary mathematician at MIT, dismissed Apollo as a “moondoggle”. (The critics of the program loved the invention of this play on words.)

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A Bit of Golly Gee About All of This

Ø We were flying to the Moon in an era when Batch-Processing Machines took up vast rooms of floor space but the Apollo spacecraft had real-time computers that fit into a single cubic foot of space. This alone was a stunning feat of both engineering and programming. 

Ø The Apollo spacecraft—command module and lunar module—flew to the Moon at almost 24,000 miles per hour. 

Ø That’s six miles every second. 

Ø The astronauts couldn’t wait a minute for their calculations; in fact, if they wanted to arrive at the right spot on the Moon, they couldn’t wait for a second because in that second they had traveled another 6 miles. 

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I’ll finish with a bit of Silliness

As Neil Armstrong was stepping onto the Surface of the Moon he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. 

There are Modern Mental Midget walking among us who think Neil Armstrong should not have said “Man” or “Mankind”.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

A computer-generated illustration shows the trajectory of the Apollo 11 mission and the stages of the spacecraft from launch to orbit and return. (Claus Lunau / Science Source)

President Kennedy Was Not Too Smart-Part 2

As I was writing the prior Blog Posting, President Kennedy Was Not Too Smart, I already knew that there was going to be a Part 2 but this is not it.

Part 2 is actually now going to be Part 3 because of the comment Herr Ludwig made about Part 1 before he knew there was going to be a Part 2. Herr Ludwig commented his comment and his commentary made this Blog Posting (Part 2) necessary and the original Part 2 will now become Part 3 in a couple of days.

I’m sorry if the above paragraph confused you. Actually, I’m not sorry. I just love trying to confuse you.

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In his comment, Herr Ludwig said, “Little did he know the huge cost of the project”. He is right. President Kennedy probably did not know how much the mission was going to cost before it was over. He was learning the cost as the project rolled along and, of course, kept growing for many years after he was killed.

I am here to tell all of you that Fella, thanks to hindsight and the Smithsonian Institute/Magazine, knows how much it ended up costing. You are about to know because I am going to tell you.

I warn you ahead of time that you ought to read the cost figures slowly to let them sink in and many of you will go back and read what you just read again because these are Really Big Numbers!…

Ø Three times as many people worked on Apollo as on the Manhattan Project to create the Atomic Bomb. 

Ø In 1961, the year Kennedy formally announced Apollo, NASA spent $1 million on Apollo for the year. 

Ø Five years later NASA was spending about $1 million every three hours on Apollo, 24 hours a day. 

I’ll read it again for you…

Ø $1 million every three hours!

Ø 24 hours a day!

Some NBA Basketball Players do not make that much!

Would I kid u?

Smartfella