Momentary Masters Of A Fraction Of A Dot

Included with this Blog Posting is a video and its accompanying words which were put together by the Famous Astronomer Doctor Carl Sagan in the early 1990s.

 

This excerpt from Doctor Carl Sagan's book, Pale Blue Dot (1994) was inspired by an image taken, at Sagan's request, by Voyager 1 on Feb 14, 1990.  From a distance of about 6 billion km Voyager 1 (which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System) was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take one last photo of Earth across a great expanse of space. The accompanying words, written so many years ago are still relevant no matter when you get around to watching and listening to this video.

 

As for myself, I'm going to keep the video so I can view it periodically as my dot fades into the distance.

 

I love words. Dr. Sagan created great words when he said in the video, "momentary masters of a fraction of a dot".

 

Please enjoy Dr. Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot by clicking here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=wupToqz1e2g

 

Would the doctor kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: I have often wondered if there is any place can we go to find the Unspun (If that's not a word, it ought to be.) Truth. In that vein I once blogged about how we can go to the Internet and find lots of "proof" that the polar icecaps are melting and we can also find lots of "proof" that the polar icecaps are growing. It is in the hope that there may be a place where we can find The Truth that I offer you...https://www.justfacts.com

 

Words of Caution... Don’t get mad at Just Facts when you find some of your long-held “truths” are not true.

 

I sure hope that someday I do not find out that Just Facts is run by some Left-Leaning or Right-Leaning Organization.

 

Is It Necessary To Tear Down Others In Order To Boost Up Those You Want To Boost Up?

Here I go stumbling into places where I should not stumble.

 

Those who want to promote The Cause of All Things Woman seem to feel they have to denigrate the Image of All Things Men in order to have women seen as they want women to be seen.

 

There once was a Television Show called Father Knows Best. The family in the show seemed happy enough...Or were they?

 

That show could never be aired today because, even if the show content was allowed, the Title Itself would not be allowed.

 

Today TV Commercials are used to put Men and Fathers into their proper modern place whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not...

Ø Red Cross TV Ad...A house is burning down and a Mother and 2 Children are standing in the street watching it burn down and they are all crying. There is no Father there with them.
Think About It...Why is not a Father allowed to be crying right along with the rest of the Family?

Ø Planning For the Future TV Ad...The Financial Planning Company Salesman is consulting with a Woman who has worked hard all her life but is worried about having enough for her retirement.
Think About It...Why does the Financial Planning Company’s Advertising Department not think it is necessary to have a Husband sitting next to his hard working Wife?

Ø Laundry Product TV Ad...There is a little girl in a princess dress running around and a Father is talking about doing the little girl’s laundry properly. There is no Wife in this commercial.
Think About It...Doing the laundry is an important and necessary thing that needs to be done. Why can’t the Husband and Wife at least be seen holding hands while they do this important and necessary chore?

Ø Diaper Product TV Ad...A Husband is Changing a Baby’s Diaper. There is no Wife in the commercial.
Think About It...Why is there not a Wife in this commercial? Is Changing a Baby’s Diaper now seen as demeaning? Sure seems to be important work to me.

Ø A TV Ad (I don’t remember what is being sold)...A Husband is walking the floor late at night while holding a sleeping baby. There is no Wife in this commercial.
Think About It...Why is there not a Wife in this commercial? Is walking the floor with a sleeping baby now also seen as demeaning? Sure seems to be important work to me.

Ø Another TV Ad (I don’t remember what is being sold)...A Father is making Daughter’s breakfast. The Father then drives his Daughter to school. Later the Mother calls on Face Time. She is in Military Uniform. Mom is in The Army!
Think About It...Is this progress?

Ø An Automobile Company TV Ad...A Mother and her Daughter go into the woods and cut down their own Family Christmas Tree. The Mother puts it on top of their Family Car. The Mother ties it down. They drive away happily.
Think About It...Why is there no place in this Family Commercial for a Husband?

Ø A Jewelry Store TV Ad...A woman presents a Engagement Ring to a man and proposes marriage to him.
Think About It...Aw Come On! Is this considered progress? Maybe it is simply cute. There are times I really hate cute.  

Ø A Big Box Hardware Store TV Ad...A woman goes to a big Box Hardware Store and buys all different kinds of Tools. The salesman is not a salesman but is a saleswoman.
Think About It...Are there any men left out there in Advertising Land?

Ø A Gigantic Front-Age Picture in My Newspaper...The picture shows soldiers in Afghanistan eating Thanksgiving Dinner. The 2 happy soldiers walking away from the buffet line with their plates of food are both Women.
Think About It...I’m all out of thoughts.

 

I know. I know. I should not have addressed this Elephant in America’s Living Room. I know I should have continued to talk about Foolishness. On second thought maybe I have been talking about Foolishness. Did you not recognize it?

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

  

Congressional Summary

A Document Summary is a shortened recap of a Longer Document, is it not? ... Or is it not?

 

Congress likes to issue Summaries so that the readers of their prodigious mountains of information can get to Happy Hour on time.

 

I recently saw where Congress also issues what they call, “Expanded Summaries”. Knowing how Congress works, my concern is that the “Expanded Summary” will end up being longer than the Original Document before it was Congressionally Summarized.

 

Your first thought was probably, “Oh my heavens! A lot of members of Congress are going to be late for Happy Hour!”

 

Your second thought should be, “I fear not for them. I know they don’t read those bills.”

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Don’t Cry Plagiarism At The Fella

This is Not Plagiarism because I am not using the words of Retired Senator Alan Simpson I am only quoting his fine and piercing words.

 

As Senator Foghorn Leghorn would say at this point, “It’s a quote, son, it’s a quote! Don’t ya get it?”

 

In Senator Simpson’s excellent eulogy of George H.W. Bush he said, “A few days later he’s getting hammered by the press for some extraordinarily petty bit of trivia”.

 

Do you see the Excellent Piercing Words? ... You got it! They are “Extraordinarily petty bit of trivia”.

 

Need I refresh your memories? I think I need, so I will...

Ø Ronald Reagan was referred to as the Teflon President because nothing stuck to him but (haw haw) ole George was called the Velcro Vice-President because he was stumbling around with all kinds of unpleasant and unwanted things stuck to him.

Ø President Bush was accused of doing great damage to the broccoli growers and their families because he publicly said he hated broccoli.

Ø After President Bush’s death some in the News Media had the gall to resurrect the 1992 story about his being out of touch with the American People because he expressed his amazement at a Price Scanner in a grocery store, even though this story has long ago been debunked as a made up and exaggerated fabrication. (Is it possible Fake News was around way back then?)

Ø They had a field day with President Bush New World Order...
>It imposed too many restrictions on subjugated nations.
>It was vague and its parameters were hard to define.
>It involved a heavy level of funding for military efforts.
> It established the rule of law but did not incorporate humanitarianism.
> It implied too much reluctance toward US intervention in foreign affairs.

Ø President Bush was called a Patrician New England Elite who could not understand Ordinary Americans.

Ø After President Bush’s death some in the News Media actually brought back criticism of his infamous Willie Horton Ad. This ad was not put out by Bush but was the creation of a third-party group.

 

President Bush was very familiar with trivia. He was an extraordinary man and, in their desperate attempts to hurt him, his petty opponents often resorted to trivia to attack him. Thank heaven he could tell Fly Chit from Pepper.

 

If only President Bush could see the nice things that were said about him after he was gone from this life. The ridicule from the ridiculers has been replaced by high praise.

 

Too late, phony people, hopefully he can hear you but also hopefully he is not listening because he has better things to do and your petty is too petty to distract him.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

There Ought To Be A Law To Prevent That! You Say There Is A Law To Prevent That But No One Pays Any Attention To It. Well Pass Another Law. That Will Fix That...Or Will It?

I have blogged in the past that there are so many laws we ought to just ignore them. Could it be that that is, in fact, what we are doing?

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The Problem...

Ø 437,000 children are in foster care nationwide.

Ø In 1996 President Clinton issued a directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to find ways of escaping the foster-care “trap” that put children in “limbo” without permanent homes.

Ø In other words the children go into foster care and never come out.

Ø Congress responded to President Clinton by enacting the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (Congress sure knows how to come up with names to convince us that it is fixing things).

Ø This law mandated, if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the past 22 months, the state must move to terminate parental rights.

Ø The law directed states to undertake “reasonable efforts” to help parents regain custody, but not in cases of abandonment, torture, chronic abuse or sexual abuse.

 

There’s that word “reasonable” again. When “reasonable” is in a law, lawyers salivate because they know they are going to spend decades arguing (and getting paid handsomely) about what is “reasonable”.

 

Ø Child-welfare agencies routinely disregard President Clinton’s directive (law).

Ø Foster parents say these family-court cases drag on for three years or more.

Ø Sometimes parental rights have already been terminated for the children’s siblings because of severe neglect or chronic abuse but caseworkers and family-court judges are all too willing to give parents one more chance for the siblings still in foster care.

Ø Thus children, including infants and toddlers, spend years bouncing from one home to another without forming the attachments they need for normal intellectual, social and emotional development.

 

The law contains detailed specific monetary penalties for violations but the penalties are not enforced.

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The federal government could also help foster children find permanent homes by passing laws to...

Ø Lower barriers to adopting children across state lines.

Ø Prohibit discrimination against religious organizations.

 

That’s it! That’s what Congress ought to do! It ought to pass more laws!

 

After all, these laws which we are currently ignoring are a quarter of a century old. We need new laws passed so we can get busy ignoring them too.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Furthering Your education About What Brassieres And Jock Straps Have In Common

Until WWI came along Corsets dominated the undergarments of wealthier women in the western world for centuries.

I have not lost it. I have not made this up...

The War To End All Wars Put an End to the Corset and Brought Us the Bra

So how did the war help popularize the bra? In a word, or two words in this case, it was because of a Metal Shortage that the war created. We needed more metal so we could make those people dead over there.

The making of corsets required quite a bit of metal. Thus, in 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked American Women to help their “men win the war” by not wearing or buying corsets.

This may seem like it would only make a small difference but, in fact, during the war it is estimated that the killing of the Corset freed up around 28,000 tons of steel.

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Bob Dylan just came into my computer room and he asked me to tell you, The Times They Are A-Changin...

The women of the Good Ole USofA’s working environment changed dramatically during the war...

Ø American women found themselves working in factories.

Ø In this work environment it simply wasn’t possible to function properly while wearing an ultra-tight and ultra-restrictive corset.

Ø Still needing some support in these active jobs, the bra became the most used alternative.

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The History of the Modern Brassiere...  

Ø Actually the need for the Bra was preceded by the Modern Invention of the Bra by many years (History tells us that bras were being worn in the 14^th century in Greece).

Ø The apparent “first” modern bra design patented in the U.S. was made in 1910.

Ø The lady inventor got the idea for her invention when she was just 19 years old and heading to a ball.

Ø Her dress for the evening was a sheer gown.

Ø Owing to her large breast size, the dress and a corset didn’t work because the whale bone in the corset stuck out of her dress at the top.

Ø With the help of her maid, she took two handkerchiefs and some ribbon and sewed them together to make something like a modern day bra, so she would still have support but not need to wear the corset.

Ø After her bra was the talk of the party, with several women requesting she make bras for them, she decided to make a business out of it and patented her “backless brassiere”, with the patent being approved on November 3, 1914.

Ø She initially didn’t have much luck selling her bra and decided to close down the business, selling the patent rights to Warners Brothers Corset Company of Connecticut.

Ø From the sale she profited $1,500, which is approximately $30,000 today.

Ø This was considered a tidy profit until you consider that Warners Brothers Co. managed to do quite a bit better with the patent, ultimately earning an estimated $200-$300 million in today’s money from it in the following three decades.

Ø By the end of the war, fashion-conscious women in North America and Europe were now mostly wearing brassieres and soon mass-production of bras ramped up, despite their no longer being metal shortages nor were as many women still working factories.

Ø Soon women in Asia, Africa, and Latin America followed the trend.

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Medical Issues with the Corset...

These Medical Issues had always been a problem but women worldwide finally had an alternative...

Ø Corsets were designed to accentuate the curvy Victorian Ideal of beauty by cinching the waist and boosting the breasts (Queen Victoria sure gets blamed for a lot things).

Ø This made it very difficult to breathe.

Ø This process squeezed women’s waists so much that often organs were displaced.

Ø There were also other Internal Problems like...
> Fainting
>Gynecological Issues
>Flushing
> Nausea

The bottom line is, with corsets out, women could move and breathe again, and even back then, breathing was important.

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Enter the Jock Strap...

I know some of you are saying to yourselves, “But, fella, what does this have to do with Jock Straps?” (Those of you who were saying this to yourselves have a special place in my noticing heart because it shows you are paying attention to my Silliness.)  

Ø In 1977 two athletically inclined ladies saw the need for the Sports Bra and, before history knew what had happened, they had fashioned the modern day Sports Bra out of two Jock Straps.

Ø They teamed up with professional clothing designer and soon the “Jogbra” was available to the general public.

 

Before I get to the Kidding You part, I feel compelled to again tell you again... I did not make any of this up.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: From my More Than You Need To Know Department...Did you ever wonder why the sizes of brassieres are referred to as, “Cups”? Even if you have never wondered why, you are about to know what you have never wondered about...

Ø An A cup accommodates 8 fluid ounces

Ø A B cup accommodates 13 fluid ounces

Ø A C cup accommodates 21 fluid ounces

Ø A D cup accommodates 27 fluid ounces

Is He Or Is He Not An Idiot?

As the Good Ole USofA continues to be torn apart, I have been sitting here Deep in Thought about how the Good Ole USofA is being torn apart.

 

There I go right at the beginning of this Blog Posting trying to confuse you by talking about Deep Thinking which is a term with which many in the Good Ole USofA are not very familiar. That’s because Practice of Thinking Deeply disappeared quite awhile ago (right before or right after Common Sense vanished).

 

Here is what started me pecking out this Foolishness...

Ø Someone calls a Very Important Person an Idiot and immediately the supporters of the Very Important Person come to his defense by saying, “You can’t call such a Very Important Person an Idiot because he is a Very Important Person!”

Ø The supporters of the Very Important Person are those who owe their livelihood to him, those who beat him like a drum at poker and don’t want to lose the extra income they derive from beating him like a drum at poker, his wife, his children and his mother.

Ø The same holds true if the Potential Idiot is an Elected Political Leader.

Ø We are told we have to have Respect for the Position.

 

I am of a different mind-set. People who hold such positions Can Still Be Idiots. The positions they hold do not prevent idiocy. They might have been an idiot before they obtained their important position and, after their election, they continued where they did not leave off.

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Let’s shift a bit and talk about Dishonesty. What if someone said, “That guy is a crook!” Should he be defended by someone saying, “You can’t call someone in his position a crook!”

 

From where I stand (a Deep Thinker) the proper comeback ought to be, “Let’s find out if he really is a crook before we say you can’t call him a crook!”

 

Having pecked out the prior paragraph, I am the first to admit that the prior paragraph is not often put into practice because Deep Thinking and Common Sense may be dead but Vested Interest is alive and well.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: Boy I am glad this Foolishness is over! I am so pleased I made my major points so clear and easy to understand that Deep Thinking was not required...Or did I?

Little Known Facts

First Little Known Fact

Since the beginning of the Mueller Investigation (May 17, 2017) the word “Mueller” has been used in news reports 83,592,412 times.

Second Little Know Fact

The number of words that Mueller has been reported to have said in news reports is exactly Zero (give or take a Zero).

Don’t ask how I know the 83,592,412 number above. Let it suffice to say I have my sources and besides, after all these years of reading my Foolishness, you know better than to question me...Or do u?

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Trivial Trivia

We often hearken (whatever that is) back to the Good Old Days. Everything was better in the Good Old Days.

 

According to Time Magazine, in July 2007 it was reported in the news that...

Ø John Kerry (remember him?) orders his Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches with Provolone instead of Cheese Whiz.
> This was being played up by the News Media as demonstrating his Remoteness from the Average American.

Ø Mitt Romney (remember him?) had spent $300 on a Makeup Artist.
>This was being played up by the News Media as demonstrating how out of touch he was from Average American Voters.

Ø Al Gore (remember him?) wore Earth Tones during his campaign for president because he was heeding the advice of a Political Consultant.
>This was being played up by the News Media as demonstrating his Insecurity as a Candidate.

Ø John Edwards (remember him?) had just embarked on 12-city tour to highlight the persistence of poverty in America after getting a $400 Haircut (I sure hope for that price he got them all cut and not just one).
>This was being played up by the News Media as demonstrating his inability to relate to Low-Income Americans.

 

The really bad news about the 4 Bullet Points above is the Good Ole USofA was certainly having really Big Problems back in 2007, same as we are having really big problems now, but Trivial Trivia was bigger news to the News Media than Big Problem News was.

 

Whatever your political leanings are, all of us would probably agree that the world we live in today is really in deep trouble. If you agree with this Doom and Gloom, I am about to make you feel even worse.

 

July 2007 is 11 years and 4 months ago. Stop and think about this. 11 years and 4 months from now we will be looking back at today and calling today the Good Old Days because we always look back at the past and look around at the present and say it was better in the past, probably because it actually was better in the past.

 

Does this Blog Posting make you feel better?

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

I Know I Am Treading On Thin Ice With This One

I am on thin ice with this one only because in the Good Ole USofA today we are not allowed to try and make sense or even joke about the use of “He” and “She”. Please do these 3 things before you attach a scathing comment to this Blog Posting...

Ø See the humor.

Ø Read what the Blog Posting has to say before you stop reading and start writing your scathing comment.

Ø See the humor.

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I understand it is only a matter of time before we will have Female Presidents of the Good Ole USofA .

 

When that happens it will no longer be correct to say things like, “All of the men who have served as President in the past” instead, it will be proper and correct to say, “All of the men and women who have served as President in the past”.

 

Until that time, it is still correct to say, “All of the men who have served as President in the past” because there has never been any female Presidents who have served as President.

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They Roam the Halls of Congress

At this point I wish to state an undeniable fact...

Some of Our Senators Are Mental Midgets

One such Senator is roaming the halls of Congress at this time because I just read where he said (Note: I did not say “he or she said” because he is only one person and he is a he), “The President deserves to have a Secretary of State that agrees with him or her in general on a foreign-policy direction”. (Note: I did the underlining.)

 

Come on, Senator, we only have one President at this time and, as unfair as that may be, he happens to be a he...again.

 

Senator, you would be correct if you were speaking in general terms and you said, “A President deserves to have a Secretary of State that agrees with him or her in general on a foreign-policy direction”. (Note: I did the underlining.)

 

Until such time as we actually have had Presidents that have been a She, it is not proper to refer to all our past Presidents as “He or She”. Therefore, when we have actually have had Females as Presidents and you want to say, “The President deserves to have a Secretary of State that agrees with him or her in general on a foreign-policy direction”, you will then have my permission to remove “Mental Midget” from your Senatorial Business Card.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

One Call...That’s All!

According to the Wall Street Journal we now have a problem in the Good Ole USofA that we have not had in a long time...

The Labor Department reported roughly a million more job openings than unemployed Americans at the end of September. The unemployment rate is at a 49-year low of 3.7%.

Because of this severe shortage of Unemployed to fill Job Openings in the Good Ole USofA many companies are hiring sight unseen based on phone interviews alone. Sometimes this involves only a single phone call. There are even cases where the interview is entirely conducted by a Computer.

 

Allow me to paint a picture for your Mind’s Eye (whatever that is)...

Ø The Chairman of the Board and the Chief Operating Officer of a Major Mega Bucks International Corporation are seen standing in the lobby of their Palatial International Headquarters.

Ø They are staring intently at their newest employee on her first day on the job.

Ø It is evident that they are perplexed because many visitors are standing back at a distance shouting at the new employee as if they are afraid to get any closer to her.

Ø Their newest employee is smiling and going about her assigned duties but there are several things that are different about her when compared to employees who have held that same position in the past...
>She has several Tattoos on her head, neck and arms like a Snake across her forehead whose tail drifts down her nose and appears to disappear into her left nostril, a large Skull and Crossbones on her right cheek, a 4 inch long depiction of Red Human Lips on her Neck, several large Ants on her Left Cheek, Chinese Lettering on both arms that read a message (unknown to her) from the Tattoo Artist, “I can’t believe this jerk actually paid me to tattoo all this craziness all over her body”.
>Her Nose has a large Gold Ring hanging out of it.
>Her Lips have smaller Silver Rings piercing them in seven places.
>Her Ear Lobes are stretched and have Quarters inserted in them.

 

Since I had my Potted Plant Outfit on I got close enough to the perplexed Chairman to overhear him saying to the CEO, “I don’t want abandon our One Call Phone Hiring Initiative but maybe we should have put her into a position other than Company Receptionist?”  

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At another location in the article a Transportation Company’s Vice President of Driver Employment said...

The Labor Shortage is so acute we have to be able to make an informed decision as quickly as possible.

I have been known to quibble. Allow me to quibble about this VP’s statement. I take issue with two words...“Informed Decision”...Or is it?

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella