Foolishness...Or Is It? Has Been Around Since 2006. I Think It Is High Time We Had a Pop Quiz.

Which bullet point is not true? (I’ll give you a hint. Pick the middle one.)

• Abraham Lincoln could count to 87.
• You can trust the Internet to always give you the correct information.
• Thomas Jefferson was a good writer.

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I have been stumbling around the Internet again and I just stumbled across a Writing Tool named The Paraphrasing Tool that would make My Dear Readers believe I can write better than I can write...Or could it make them believe that?

The people who invented The Paraphrasing Tool say that it is a Paraphraser and Grammar checker for faster, smarter, and better writing.

...Or is it?

You know I am a Noticer but did you know some people say I am a Quibbler? My computer tells me a Quibble is, “An Unimportant Distinction or Petty Objection”.

I want to come to the defense of myself and say I am not a Quibbler especially with regards to my objection to the Paraphrasing Hatchet Job The Paraphrasing Tool did to Abraham Lincoln’s Words below but first let’s look at what they did to Thomas Jefferson’s Words.

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Jefferson Wrote: “When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.”

The Paraphrasing Tool Rewrote: “A decent respect for the opinions of mankind necessitates that they declare the reasons that drive them to the separation whenever, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands that have connected them to another and to assume among the Powers of the Earth the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them.”

Would you think Fella would be Quibbling if he asked, Is This Better or Is It Just Different?

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Father Hatrel said to me back in High School, “Fella, Mathematics Is an Exact Science” and, in this case The Paraphrasing Tool is Exactly Wrong!

Lincoln Wrote: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”.

The Paraphrasing Tool Rewrote: “Our ancestors established a new nation on this continent four hundred and seven years ago, founded on the idea that all men are created equal.”

I don’t think I am pointing out anything Unimportant or Petty if I point out that a score of years is 20. This means four score and seven years ago is 87 years ago (1863 – 1776 = 87) and not 407 years ago.

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Last but not least. How does The Paraphrasing Tool handle Foolishness?

Fella Wrote: Foolishness...Or Is It?

The Paraphrasing Tool Rewrote: Is it foolishness, or not?

My Dear Readers, that is an unimportant distinction all wrapped around a petty objection if I ever saw one.

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Here is the URL for The Paraphrasing Tool... https://paraphrasing-tool.com/

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: Final Pop Quiz...Can you define any of these: an Ostent or a Vinal or a Tun or a Katun?...

Term	Equivalent Time
1 minute	60 seconds
1 ostent	6 minutes
1 hour	60 minutes or 3,600 seconds
1 solar day	24 hours or 1,000 swatch beats
1 week	7 days
1 fortnight	14 days
1 vinal	20 days
1 lunar month	29.531 days
1 financial month	30 days
1 nodical month	27.212 days
1 quarter	91.3125 days
1 tun (financial year)	360 days
1 year	365 days
1 solar year	365.242 days
1 leap year	366 days
1 decade	10 solar years
1 katun	7,200 days
1 score	20 solar years
1 generation	30 solar years
1 century	100 solar years
1 millennium	1,000 solar years
1 bismuth half-life	2000042716454701.5

 

Someday Someone Will Pay Attention to My Foolishness...Or will they?

 

I often blog about important stuff but I surround the important stuff with Foolishness and Humor and I end up with My Dear Readers laughing at the Foolishness and the Humor but not thinking about the message coming at them about the Important Stuff.

A good case in point is Social Media. Many years ago I blogged about the smartest man who ever lived in the entire history of humankind on the face of the earth (the link to that Blog Posting will be found near the bottom of this Blog Posting).

I won’t for a second try to claim that this blog of mine is the reason for the attention being paid at present to the problems Social Media is inflicting on our young people but I sure wish I could claim that credit.

Did you just say, “What attention is Fella talking about?” Fella says,, “Where you been? It’s all over the Internet.” I searched the Internet for “restrict access to social media” and here is some of what I got back...

Ø Social media age restrictions

Ø Social media restrictions on employees

Ø Government restrictions on social media

Ø Social media restrictions in China

Ø North Korea social media restrictions

Ø Media restrictions in the U.S.

Ø State Laws Ban Access to Workers' Social Media Accounts

Ø Ohio could require parental consent for kids to use some social media

Ø 9 social media blocker apps to stay focused and productive

Ø Are We Entering a New Era of Social Media Regulation?

Ø These Countries Have Outlawed Social Media

One thing everyone involved and/or concerned can all agree on is it is not their fault. In other words the other guy did it.

Fella’s not so humble opinion is It Ain’t Going to Be Fixed because the Genie is Out of the Bottle and We Will Never Find the Bottle Key So We Can Open The Bottle and Put Him Back In.

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We are now near the Bottom and here is the Link I promised up Top that I would give you here at the Bottom... https://forii.blogspot.com/2019/01/i-first-wrote-about-this-subject-almost.html

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: Yea, you can accuse me of being a Doom and Gloom Fella about never finding the Bottle Key. I am convinced of this because the obsession with the Smartphone and all the evil that comes with it is too powerful. Here’s how you might prove to yourself that I am right...

Ø Go to a coffee shop of your choice that has an outside sitting area that is on a busy street where people are walking past a lot.

Ø For 1 hour keep count, using your fingers, of the number of teenage walkers that go by that do not have a phone in their hand as they bustle by.

Ø At the end of the hour, you will have a count that did not require a third hand and you probably did not even have to use the thumbs.

Let’s face it. We all want to know what the each of us had for lunch. It’s going to be hard to stop this crescendo from continuing to wreak havoc with us.

Why Do They Do That?

Since you are not me (The Noticer) you have not noticed that there are people out there that have nothing better to do than to go around baffling people like me into saying to myself, “Why Do They Do That?”

Today’s baffling notice is shoppers who go into Costco (and other grocery stores), put products in their carts and then go to other parts of the store and take the products out of their carts and leave them where they do not belong.

It might look to you as if I have nothing better to do than take pictures of the Re-Displayed Products in grocery stores and it looks like that to you because it is true I have nothing better to do than to do that. Half the fun of noticing things is the giving in to the strong desire to tell people what I have noticed and it makes me no never mind that they don’t care a whit about what I have noticed.

Here is photographic evidence that Grocery Re-Displayers are really out there and I have nothing better to do than take pictures of their Re-Displayed Products...

Why this not a Nice Thing To Do?...

Ø Costco has to employ people to go around their stores and gather up the Re-Displays and return them to where they were originally displayed.

Ø Some of the Re-Displays require Refrigeration or even Freezers and may have to be thrown away if not rescued in time.

Ø It makes Costco look bad in the eyes of their shoppers who say to themselves, “Costco does not know how to set up proper looking displays. I’m going to shop elsewhere.”

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While we are talking about Costco let’s talk about this about Costco...

Costco sells a lot of clothing from big displays where the clothing piled on top of the big tables. When the day starts the clothing is neatly folded and very eye appealing. Then the customers start browsing and pick up, look at and fondle the clothing trying to decide if they are going to buy or not. If they decided not to buy, they drop the clothing as if it were a hot potato and move on to pick up, look at and fondle other pieces of clothing. It does not take long for the eye appealing displays to look like a big mess because they customers are expert at unfolding but absolutely clueless about refolding.

Again Costco has to employ Re-Folders to constantly get the displays back into the Before-They-Opened-The-Store-Eye-Appealing Look.

One day I slithered up behind a Costco Paid Re-Folder and sort of whispered in her ear, “You do know that Sam’s Club (located a block away) employs people to come in here and mess up Costco’s Clothing Displays”. She did not look at me as she kept folding but I know she heard me because she started to laugh.

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OK, that’s it for today. I bet you are glad you not me...Or are u?

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Supply and Demand

 

Go ahead and admit it, the subject of this Foolishness...Or Is It? "Supply and Demand" is all you remember from the Economics Class you took in college.

Those of you who did not go to college are also familiar with "Supply and Demand" because you have heard many Talking Heads on TV say it over and over for many years because that is the only thing they remember from the Economics Class they took in college.

However, if you combine your Supply and Demand knowledge with what I am about to tell you, you could become very rich in the years to come.

I will give you the Bottom Line right here at the top...

Invest All You Have In the Raising Of Sea Snails

I know what just happened. You just said to yourself, "Self, the Fella has lost it this time for sure. Sea Snail raising is Foolishness of the highest order. I'm not going to read any further."

I would advise you to resist this stop reading impulse of yours. What's the matter with you? Don't you want to be rich?

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OK. I'll give you the Rest of the Story...

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth may have found the strongest natural material humankind has ever known.

And it's a sea snail. Specifically, it's a sea snail's teeth.

The snail I am talking about is the Limpet which is a small aquatic snail with a distinctive cone-shaped shell.

Its teeth are so small they had to be examined under a microscope.

The article goes on to say that the teeth are so strong the material could be used to make the "cars, boats and planes of the future".

Prof Asa Barber said, “We discovered that the fibres of goethite are just the right size to make up a resilient composite structure. This discovery means that the fibrous structures found in limpet teeth could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula One Racing Cars, the Hulls of Boats and Aircraft Structures.”

Did the light just go on? Yea, you got it. Do you realize how many snails are going to be needed in the future to supply us with cars, boats and planes?

Start lining up your investment capital now. Go to the pet store and buy all the fish tanks they have. We are going to need a lot of snails. There's millions of dollars in those little teeth!

Good luck and I hope you have a very big backyard.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

What Do You Mean I Know Nothing? I Don’t Have To Know Anything. My Smartphone Knows Everything For Me.

Walter Brennan did It, Gabby Hayes did It and I understand the Duke of Wellington did It but no one does It any more.

Did I just hear you say, Do What? Pardon me. I got ahead of myself again.

Immediately I am going to digress again before I reveal what It is. The reason why we are not doing It any longer is because we are too busy.

Actually, that’s not right either. We are not doing It because we are distracted by...

Ø Messages coming out of our Smartphones.

Ø Notifications coming out of our Smartphone.

Ø Reminders coming out of our Smartphone.

Ø Emails coming out of our Smartphone.

Ø Tweets coming out of our Smartphone.

Ø Insta Things coming out of our Smartphone.

Ø Snap Things coming out of our Smartphone.

The Smartphone is dominating our lives...

Ø More and more we are not wearing Wrist Watches because we use our Smartphone to find out what time it is. Since our Smartphone is in our hand at all times, it is easier to look at it to see what time it is than having to go to all the trouble of having to push up our sleeves to see what time it is.

Ø After pulling into parking spots many drivers play around with their Smartphone for awhile before they get out of their cars.

Ø People walk while looking at their Smartphones and fall down as they bump into trees, benches, parking meters, walls and other people. Many times they do not seem to notice they have fallen down because they keep looking at their Smartphones as they get up and walk away while still looking at their Smartphones.

Ø People get off Greyhound Busses from Baltimore look around and say, "This does not look like Toledo".

Ø After getting into their cars and before they pull out of their parking spots drivers play around with their Smartphones for awhile.

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I did not forget about what Walter, Gabby and the Duke of Wellington did that we don’t do any longer. What they did and we don’t do is Whittle Wood.

Whittling was relaxing. It was therapy. It was fun you do not know you were having while you were having it.

There once was a whole industry built up around Whittling Wood. There were Whittling Retail stores everywhere. All of this is gone from the Fruited Plain. It has been replaced by people playing around with their Smartphones and pecking out things like this...

Ø I had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.

Ø I fiddle with my Smartphone while I watch TV. Yesterday I saw something really shocking on my TV while I was fiddling with my Smartphone. I would tell you about it but I did not see what I saw because I was looking at my Smartphone when I did not see it so I can’t remember seeing it.

Ø Do you wanna do lunch?

Ø Are you as bored as I am?

Ø The other day one of our fighter planes shot something or other out of the sky over Billings or St. Louis or the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California or South Dakota or one of our other coastal states.

Ø I just fell into a water fountain while walking through the mall while I was looking at my Smartphone! My brother-in-law is a lawyer and, if that fountain water has ruined my Smartphone, he is gonna sue whoever put that water fountain there! He says I have a good case.

What do you mean I don’t know what I am talking about? I don’t have to know what I am talking about because what I don’t know my phone knows and it will tell me (if it is still working after I and it fell into that water fountain).

I’m gonna get a new Smartphone because I understand there is a new App that will warn you if you are approaching a water fountain.

I don’t know what I did before I got my Smartphone. One thing is for certain, before I got my Smartphone, I did not fall down near as often.

I know we love our Smartphones. What I do not know is do our Smartphones love us back.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Are You Having Trouble Understanding Cisgender? Fella Is Here To Help.

I started to not understand what I was reading when I reached the word “Sociologists”...

Sociologists Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook define cisgender as a label for "individuals who have a match between the gender they were assigned at birth, their bodies, and their personal identity".^[1] A number of derivatives of the terms cisgender and cissexual include cis male for "male assigned male at birth", cis female for "female assigned female at birth", analogously cis man and cis woman,^[5] and cissexism and cissexual assumption.^[6] In addition, one study published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society used the term cisnormativity, akin to sexual diversity studies' heteronormativity.^[7][8] A related adjective is gender-normative because, as Eli R. Green writes, "'cisgendered' is used [instead of the more popular 'gender normative'] to refer to people who do not identify with a gender diverse experience, without enforcing existence of a normative gender expression".^[9] In this way, cisgender is preferable because, unlike the term gender-normative, it does not imply that transgender identities are abnormal.

Now do you understand?

Glad I could help.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Get The Rope! Get The Paint! We Gotta Get To Work!

 

Dumb Guy said, “Hey, Dumber Guy, I just found out who that there memorial is dedicated to. The fools who created that memorial chose to honor an awful man who single handedly was responsible for more damage to the Earth’s Environment than any other person in all of recorded history. This terrible person was Edwin Drake. He was the guy who drilled the First Oil Well. If he had not done that, oil would never have been discovered and the Earth would have more than the 12 weeks it has left to be the Earth.”

Dumber Guy said, “Unbelievable! People like that should not have memorials dedicated to them. I’ll get the paint so we can desecrate his statue. I’ll get the rope so we can pull his statue down! Then you and I can jump up and down on his statue. No need to remind me to get the sledge hammers we will need to break his evil likeness into small evil pieces. I always carry sledge hammers in my back pack.”

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Then it happened. A nearby Potted Plant spoke up and asked the Dumb Guys a simple question, “Hey, Guys, what is made from petroleum?” They did not know where the question came from but they, in unison, answered, “The only thing that comes from Petroleum is Gasoline!” as they continued to look around for the source of the question.

Out of the Potted Plant came a hand holding a printed list of some (but not all) of the things that are made from Petroleum. It read as follows...

There is quite a large list of products made from petroleum. This list is constantly growing as new inventions are created. Here are some of the items which are made from petroleum...

Solvents	Diesel fuel	Motor Oil	Bearing Grease
Ink	Floor Wax	Ballpoint Pens	Football Cleats
Upholstery	Sweaters	Boats	Insecticides
Bicycle Tires	Sports Car Bodies	Nail Polish	Fishing lures
Dresses	Tires	Golf Bags	Perfumes
Cassettes	Dishwasher parts	Tool Boxes	Shoe Polish
Motorcycle Helmet	Caulking	Petroleum Jelly	Transparent Tape
CD Player	Faucet Washers	Antiseptics	Clothesline
Curtains	Food Preservatives	Basketballs	Soap
Vitamin Capsules	Antihistamines	Purses	Shoes
Dashboards	Cortisone	Deodorant	Footballs
Putty	Dyes	Panty Hose	Refrigerant
Percolators	Life Jackets	Rubbing Alcohol	Linings
Skis	TV Cabinets	Shag Rugs	Electrician’s Tape
Tool Racks	Car Battery Cases	Epoxy	Paint
Mops	Slacks	Insect Repellent	Oil Filters
Umbrellas	Yarn	Fertilizers	Hair Coloring
Roofing	Toilet Seats	Fishing Rods	Lipstick
Denture Adhesive	Linoleum	Ice Cube Trays	Synthetic Rubber
Speakers	Plastic Wood	Electric Blankets	Glycerin
Tennis Rackets	Rubber Cement	Fishing Boots	Dice
Nylon Rope	Candles	Trash Bags	House Paint
Water Pipes	Hand Lotion	Roller Skates	Surf Boards
Shampoo	Wheels	Paint Rollers	Shower Curtains
Guitar Strings	Luggage	Aspirin	Safety Glasses
Antifreeze	Football Helmets	Awnings	Eyeglasses
Clothes	Toothbrushes	Ice Chests	Footballs
Combs	CD’s & DVD’s	Paint Brushes	Detergents
Vaporizers	Balloons	Sun Glasses	Tents
Heart Valves	Crayons	Parachutes	Telephones
Enamel	Pillows	Dishes	Cameras
Anesthetics	Artificial Turf	Artificial limbs	Bandages
Dentures	Model Cars	Folding Doors	Hair Curlers
Cold cream	Movie film	Soft Contact lenses	Drinking Cups
Fan Belts	Car Enamel	Shaving Cream	Ammonia
Refrigerators	Golf Balls	Toothpaste	Gasoline

Having read through the entire listing, they, in unison, said, “See. I told you so! Gasoline does come from Petroleum!”

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: I just heard a shouted out question from one of my Dear Readers, “But we are running out of Petroleum and other Fossil Fuels! ... Or are we?”

According to the American Petroleum Institute...

Ø We have enough oil in North America to fuel every single passenger car and long-haul truck for the next 430 years.

Ø We have enough natural gas to provide electricity for every business and household for the next 535 years.

Ø We have enough coal to provide electricity for about 500 years.