Not Everything I Publish Is Foolishness. Some Things (Like This One) Are Just Plain Interesting...At least I think they are.

The Good Ole USofA was called the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II...

During the Second World War, "Arsenal of Democracy" was the slogan used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a radio broadcast delivered on 29 December 1940. Roosevelt promised to help the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by giving them military supplies while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. The president announced that intent a year before the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

One of the most important ships constructed during the War was the Liberty Ship...

Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. The class was developed to meet British orders for transports to replace ships that had been lost. Eighteen American shipyards built 2,710 Liberty ships between 1941 and 1945, easily the largest number of ships ever produced to a single design.

Here comes the Just Plain Interesting Part (see subject). Actually I think it is the Really Interesting Part...

Ø In January 20, 1942 it took 250 days to build a Liberty Ship.

Ø By December of that same year it took only 50 days.

Ø The Oregon Shipbuilding Company in Portland later produced one in 10 days.

Ø Not to be outdone the workers at the Henry J. Kaiser plant in Richmond Yard #2, working around the clock, built one from keel to launch in exactly 4 days 15 hours and 29 minutes.

Huh? Go back and look at the picture above. That’s a really large ship!

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The source for the 2 bold small print parts above was Wikipedia.

The source for the 4 Bullet Points above was The Great Courses course World War II: The Pacific Theater narrated by Craig l, Symonds, PhD.

The Great Courses are Great! ... https://www.thegreatcourses.com/

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: Mike, as I already told you, I don’t get a kickback from The Great Courses. My sole motivation for plugging them is they are Just Plain Interesting!

Bien Hoa Pick-Up 1965

 

As a Medical Evacuation Helicopter Pilot (Call Sign...Dustoff), I would often fly out for patient pick-ups in active combat areas. Each time I did I would see the conditions that the ground troops had to endure and I would often draw comparisons to my own situation.

They would be dirty, often very wet, often very hot, often they could not see 10 yards into the jungle in front of or behind themselves and in danger of receiving enemy fire at any moment. At the end of the day they were still in these horrid conditions and now they had to try to survive the night.

My situation was different. We were often in great danger but, at the end of our missions, we had a clean bed to sleep in, good food (lots of hamburgers) and security of some kind...Or did we?

I often thought that I would not trade my job for that of an infantry soldier for anything.

As Major Paul Bloomquist told me on my first day in Viet Nam, as we sat in a downtown restaurant, "This is the best war you will ever fight in. You get to fly around and get shot at and, if you survive, you get to go downtown at night and eat a steak."

One day we flew up to Bien Hoa to pick up patients and transport them back to Saigon. The patients were not ready when we arrived and we shut the ship down to wait.

I was sitting on a skid and talking to walking wounded from the aid station. Most showed some sign of the wounds they were recuperating from...bandages, crutches, limps, etc. These were the infantry soldiers for which I had often felt so sorry.

At one point, one of wounded stood towards the front of the ship and while looking up at the Plexiglas in front of where we sat but not looking at me he said,

"I would not have your job for all the money in the world."

I guess we are all comfortable with what we know and are trained to do.

Not kidding u,

Smartfella

Lagniappe: In 1966 I sent this story to Reader’s Digest for publication. I expect to hear back from them any day now.

Final Election Notification...Or is it?

If you are like me, you are covered up in solicitations for Political Donations. They come at me in the form of Emails, Text Messages and the U.S. Mail. I am in fear that my shredder is going to explode from overuse.

Next thing you know, I’m going to find an exhausted Carrier Pigeon trying to catch its little breath on my front porch having just arrived with a mail bag that is bigger than he is. 

Yesterday I received a piece of mail where the envelope had a large stamp on it that read...Final Election Notification.

Dare I hope this is true?

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: I forgot one (I'm old)...

If You See A Crime Being Committed, What Are You Supposed To Do?

Homeland Security keeps telling us...

If You See Something, Say Something!

I read in my newspaper where a seeing citizen repeatedly called 911 to report cocaine trafficking in his neighborhood.

Officials found no cocaine activity.

This seeing citizen was put in jail for making False Crime Claims. Officials said he was guilty of multiple counts of False Reporting of a Crime.

After they locked the door to his cell he probably kept saying to himself with a dazed look on his face...

They Told Me To Say Something!

Would they kid us?

Smartfella

Calling the Wuhan Virus the Wuhan Virus Is Racist...Or is it?

The naming of a virus or disease after a location — including a lily-white location like Lyme, Connecticut (Lyme Disease) — is just how it’s done and has been done for a long time.

All of a sudden it's now Racist, even though the very same media declaring it Racist is the very same media that first called it the “Chinese Virus” or the “Wuhan Virus” over and over back in January.

Examples:

Ø “Japan and Thailand Confirm New Cases of Chinese Coronavirus,” The New York Times, 1/15/20

Ø “The CDC and Homeland Security begin screening for Chinese Coronavirus at three major US airports as outbreak spreads in Asia,” CNBC, 1/17/20

Ø “Vaccine for new Chinese Coronavirus in the works,” CNN, 1/20/20

Ø “First U.S. case of potentially deadly Chinese Coronavirus confirmed in Washington state,” Washington Post, 1/21/20

Ø “Chinese Coronavirus outbreak has reached U.S. shores, CDC says,” Los Angeles Times, 1/21/20

Ø “The First Case Of The Chinese Coronavirus Has Hit The US, CDC Reports,” Buzzfeed, 1/21/20

Ø “First case of Chinese Coronavirus confirmed in Washington state,” NBC’s Today Show, 1/24/20

Ø “Chinese Coronavirus infections, death toll soar as fifth case is confirmed in U.S.,” Washington Post, 1/26/20

Ø “Japan confirms case of new Chinese virus, spread is ‘concerning,'” Reuters, 1/15/20

Ø “How the Chinese virus outbreak impacts Lunar New Year travel,” National Geographic, 1/24/20

Ø “China Coronavirus ‘spreads before symptoms show,'” BBC, 1/26/20

Ø “Over a thousand ‘likely’ infected by Wuhan virus in China: Study,” Al Jazeera, 1/18/20

Ø “Stop the Wuhan virus,” Nature Magazine editorial, 1/21/20)

Ø “China confirms Wuhan virus can be spread by humans,” CNN, 1/22/20

Ø “First U.S. Case Reported of Deadly Wuhan Virus,” Wall Street Journal, 1/22/20

Ø “Here are the symptoms of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus and when you should be worried,” Business Insider, 1/22/20

Ø “Something Far Deadlier Than The Wuhan Virus Lurks Near You,” Kaiser Health News, 1/24/20

Ø “With Wuhan virus genetic code in hand, scientists begin work on a vaccine,” Reuters, 1/24/20

Ø “The Wuhan Virus: How to Stay Safe,” Foreign Policy, 1/25/20

Ø “Something Far Deadlier Than The Wuhan Virus Lurks Near You,” USA Today, 1/29/20

Ø “10-Year-Old Boy Raises Fears Wuhan Virus Could Spread Undetected,” Bloomberg, 1/29/20

Ø “Your Questions About Wuhan Coronavirus, Answered, National Public Radio, 1/30/20

Ø “Will the Wuhan virus become a pandemic?” The Economist, 1/30/20

To sum this up, the media floods these words and terms into the American Lexicon, and then sanctimoniously turns around and attacks those who repeat their words by calling them Racist.

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You have now entered Fella’s Oh Yea Department. This Department is used when someone contradicts me or does not believe me and I get my dander (whatever that is) up and I say, “Oh yea! I’ll show you!”...

Here are 17 other diseases named after populations or places:

Ø West Nile Virus...Named after the West Nile District of Uganda discovered in 1937.

Ø Guinea Worm...Named by European explorers for the Guinea coast of West Africa in the 1600s.

Ø Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever...Named after the mountain range spreading across western North America first recognized first in 1896 in Idaho.

Ø Lyme Disease...Named after a large outbreak of the disease occurred in Lyme and Old Lyme, Connecticut in the 1970s.

Ø Ross River Fever...Named after a mosquito found to cause the disease in the Ross River of Queensland, Australia by the 1960s. The first major outbreak occurred in 1928.

Ø Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever...Named after its 1940s discovery in Omsk, Russia.

Ø Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever...Named in 1976 for the Ebola River in Zaire located in central Africa.

Ø Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)...Also known as “camel flu,” MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and all cases are linked to those who traveled to the Middle Eastern peninsula.

Ø Valley Fever...Valley Fever earned its nickname from a 1930s outbreak San Joaquin Valley of California, though its first case came from Argentina.

Ø Marburg Virus Disease...Named after Marburg, Germany in 1967.

Ø Norovirus...Named after Norwalk, Ohio after an outbreak in 1968.

Ø Zika Fever...First discovered in 1947 and named after the Zika Forest in Uganda.

Ø Japanese Encephalitis...Named after its first case in Japan in 1871.

Ø German Measles...Named after the German doctors who first described it in the 18th century. The disease is also sometimes referred to as “Rubella.”

Ø Spanish Flu...While the true origins of the Spanish Flu remain unknown, the disease earned its name after Spain began to report deaths from the flu in its newspapers.

Ø Lassa Fever...Named after the being found in Lassa, Nigeria in 1969.

Ø Legionnaire’s Disease...Named in 1976 following an outbreak of people contracting the lung infection after attending an American Legion convention in Philadelphia.

The English Language is always evolving. Fella thinks we are not far from the day when Merriam-Webster will have this new entry for Media...The English Language is always evolving. Fella thinks we are not far from the day when Merriam-Webster will have this new entry for Media...

me·​dia | \ ˈmē-dē-ə  \

plural medias

Definition of media

a singular or plural in construction : MASS MEDIA

b medias plural : members of the mass media

c foolishness

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

I Saw It On The Internet, Therefore, I Know It’s True...Or is it?

Skimming is authorized for this Blog Posting because there is a lot to read in this one. However, I must warn you that Skimming with Reckless Abandon may result in you missing some Interesting Foolishness. 

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Fella takes no position on either side of the 3 Issues presented in this Blog Posting. I simply want to know where I can go to find out the Truth. As you will see below the Internet is not that place.

On the other hand, finding the truth can be dangerous. Oedipus spent his whole play seeking out the Truth, and when he found it, he gouged out his own eyes.

On the other other hand, in defense of Oedipus, finding out you had Killed Your Father and Married Your Mother is a Truth that is hard to come to grips with.

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Example #1: Coffee Will Kill You...Or will it?

Coffee Is Bad For You... 

Ø Increases the risks of Insomnia, Anxiety and Depression.

Ø Increases Hypertension and Heart Attack Incidence.

Ø Does not truly relieve Constipation.

Ø May increase the risk of Cancer.

Ø Reduces Fertility.

Ø May cause Miscarriages and Impair Fetal Development.

Coffee Is Good For You...

Ø Is good for Constipation.

Ø Is good for Kidneys.

Ø Is good for Blood Pressure.

Ø Can help you Burn Fat and Improves Physical Performance.

Ø May drastically lower your risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Ø May lower your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Ø May be extremely good for your Liver.

Ø May decrease your Risk of Premature Death.

Ø Is loaded with Nutrients and Antioxidants.

And there is this good news for people who think one cup of coffee in the morning just isn’t enough—by drinking at least four cups of coffee a day, you’ll reduce your risk of death by 64% compared to people who don’t drink any.

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Example #2: Bacon Will Kill You...Or will it?

Bacon is bad for you...

Ø For decades, nutritionists have been concerned about the health effects of Bacon and other Processed Meats.

Ø Many observational studies have associated a high intake of processed meat with Cancer and Heart Disease.

Ø In particular, processed meat has been associated with Colon, Breast, Liver and Lung Cancers.

Bacon is good for you...

Ø The Protein found in bacon is extremely valuable in Maintaining our Energy Levels.

Ø Protein also goes a long way helping to develop and maintain a Fully Functioning Healthy Body.

Ø If you suffer from Inflammation, bacon is your best friend because of its high monounsaturated fat content bacon can Improve Tryglycerides and Lower Blood Pressure.

Ø Bacon is loaded with saturated fat. Your brain, which is mostly made up of Saturated Fat and Cholesterol, is a fatty acid powerhouse. 

Ø Bacon is full of a vital nutrient called “choline,” which helps increase our intelligence and memory. Studies have shown that choline improves memory, intelligence testing and Reduces the Speed of Damage to the Brain from Dementia.

Ø Bacon has one of the highest amounts of essential amino acids (meaning your body needs them but can’t make them) out there, including Tryptophan (important for brain health), Leucine (builds muscles) and Glutamic Acid (essential for your nervous system).

Ø From bacon, we receive: 65% of our Recommended Daily Intake of Thiamin (Vitamin B1) as well as 47% of our Niacin (Vitamin B3), 38% of our Vitamin B12, 36% of our Zinc, 24% of our Vitamin B6, 22% of our Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), 22% of our Phosphorus, 10% of our Pantothenate, 10% of our Magnesium and 9% of our Iron.

Ø The Protein to Fat Balance in bacon is actually 4 to 1, which is one of the highest protein to fat balances found in any meat, fish or fowl found on Earth.

Ø Bacon is a Natural Mood Enhancer that helps encourage positive mental states.

Ø Bacon contains Omega-3 Fatty Acids, which are the same nutrients found in fish. The healthy benefits of Omega Fatty Acids are the Reduced Cholesterol and Improved Overall Health in the Heart. 

Ø Several studies show that the Omega-3 Fatty Acids and “choline” found in bacon can actually Protect the Heart.

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Example #Last: Polar Bears Are Going Out of Existence...Or are they?

Decreasing…

One of the most frequent myths we hear about polar bears is that their numbers are increasing and have, in fact, more than doubled over the past thirty years. This is not true...

Ø Polar bear habitat is disappearing due to global warming.

Ø Even the most careful on-the-ground management doesn't matter if polar bears don't have the required habitat.

Ø Polar bears depend on the sea ice surface to efficiently catch their seal prey.

Ø A shorter duration of ice cover over their productive hunting areas means less opportunity to hunt.

Ø A reduction in sea ice has been statistically linked to reduced stature and weight in polar bears and to lower survival rates of cubs.

Ø Declining habitat now and the assurance it will decline in the future is why polar bears were listed as a threatened species.

Ø Planetary physics require the world to warm as greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so without greenhouse gas mitigation, the ice will continue to melt.

Ø As the ice decline continues, the plight of the polar bear only can worsen.

Increasing…

Polar Bear numbers reach new highs and their population has increased to the highest levels in decades...

Ø A new paper written by zoologist Dr Susan Crockford has found that global polar bear numbers have continued to rise.

Ø Polar bears are continuing to thrive, despite recent reductions in sea ice levels.

Ø This finding contradicts claims by environmentalists and some scientists that falls in sea ice would wipe out bear populations.

Ø There is now very little evidence to support the idea that the polar bear is threatened with extinction by climate change.

Ø We now know that polar bears are very resourceful creatures. They have made it through warm periods in the past and they seem to be taking the current warming in their stride too. 

Ø Numbers have been steadily increasing since 2005, with 2018 data estimating the highest number of polar bears globally since they were protected by international treaty in 1973.

Ø Numbers are so high that Inuit Leaders have been pleading with the Canadian Government for more polar bear population control as violent attacks against native populations have dramatically risen in recent years.

Ø Despite marked declines in summer sea ice, Chukchi Sea polar bears continue to thrive: reports from the first population-size estimate for the region, performed in 2016, show bears in the region are abundant (almost 3000 individuals), healthy and reproducing well.

Ø National Geographic received such a profound backlash from its widely viewed ‘this is what climate change looks like’ starving polar bear video of a Polar Bear Dying of Old Age, released in late 2017, that in 2018 it made a formal public apology for spreading misinformation.
>>>Here is the video: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/12/polar-bear-starving-arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change-spd/

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: Your doctor has just finished telling you all the things you Should Not Eat. You say, “Doctor, you have just told me not to eat every food that is Tasty and Delicious”. You doctor replies, “That’s true, and if you think of anything else Tasty and Delicious that I did not mention, don’t eat that either”.

 

Renaming Colleges, Buildings, Anything and Everything A Mob Gets A Hankering To Rename Is In the Constitution, and Even If It’s Not, It Ought to Be

Fella thinks the above Subject covers it all...Or does it? This Blog Posting has this to say about that, “Not so fast, Fella. What about People?”

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I felt so sorry for him. He looked so sad and downright bewildered as they put that net over him and took him away.

He was still holding a still dripping paint brush in one hand, a can of spray paint in the other hand and a Marks-A-Lot Jumbo Permanent Marker between his teeth and he was mumbling around the Marker, “I don’t know what to do. There must be a way forward. It’s just not fair”.

Officer Krupke was there (he’s always there). I asked him what the netted guy’s dilemma was. He knew the answer (he knows everything), “He really wanted to change that guy’s name and he was stumped about whether he should or even whether he could change his name”.

Still confused I pressed on, “What guy’s name?”

Officer Krupke, sounded a lot like Sergeant Joe Friday when he replied, “That George Washington Carver Fella, Fella”.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Please Tell Me, Officer Krupke, How Did This Terrible Happening Happen?

There stands Officer Krupke and you. The 2 of you are standing next to the horribly crumpled deceased jogger. You say to Officer Krupke, “Please tell me, Officer Krupke, how did this terrible happening happen?”

Officer Krupke has seen this kind of terrible happening before and he is ready for your question, “I am very familiar with these kinds of terrible happenings. The jogger was concentrating so much on the many techniques of proper jogging that he forgot to pay attention to where his proper jogging was taking him and he ran into that big tree. I am certain he did not suffer long”.

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We have all heard this said in the past, “If you ask him what time it is, he will tell you how to make a watch”. The Internet knows how to make a watch and it will be ever so glad to tell you.

Maybe a different way to put this is to ask, Why does he (it) have to make everything so complicated?

For example, if you want to go jogging just go out and jog. It is not that complicated...Or is it not?

Here is the beginning of Complicated R Us’ “simple” explanation about Complicated Jogging...

“When it comes to running, posture is extremely important. If you want to lower your risk for injuries, keep your level of soreness down, and also protect your joints so you can keep running, posture is vital to focus on. Running with poor posture can lead you to hurt yourself or feeling sorer than necessary the next day. Plus, running with the right posture will help improve your time.”

For the best possible posture for running, keep all of these tips in mind:

Ø Avoid Bouncing: If you’re bouncing a lot when you’re running, that means you are spending too much energy lifting yourself off the ground. Focus on keeping your stride low to the ground, land softly on your feet, and run lightly.

Ø Hands at Your Waist, Arms at Your Side: This tip is pretty straightforward. You don’t want to tense up your fists, because that tension will move up to your shoulders and your neck. As well, don’t keep your arms up closer to your chest because it will spend your energy up quicker.

Ø Head-Up: You may be tempted to watch your feet while running to avoid tripping. However, it’s better to look about 10 to 20 feet ahead of you. It will avoid adding tension to your neck and shoulders too.

Ø Relax Shoulders: If you tense up your shoulders too much, it’ll lead to them feeling sorer after your run, which can discourage you and can even restrict your breathing. So, remember to relax them and don’t hunch them forward too much.

Ø The Z Angle: This term refers to the proper posture of running as if you’re running with the right form it’ll make a z shape with your body. To do this correctly, ensure that your hip is parallel to the top of your pelvis, your hip is straight to the ankle of the leg that is running, and that your feet land firmly on the ground so your ankle doesn’t curve up too much.

If there is that much to worry about about jogging, maybe you ought to consider Beer Non-Jogging (sitting on your patio, drinking a beer, thinking about jogging but not jogging).

I’ve said it before and I’m about to say it again, “Staying Healthy Is Enough to Kill You”.

Would I kill u? ... Oops! ... Would I kid u?

Smartfella

My Potted Plant Outfit Has Come In Handy Again

 This Blog Posting was originally published on August 7, 2018. Here it is shortened and the Lagniappe has been updated. DO NOT MISS READING THE LAGNIAPPE!

One of our major airlines has reported it was flying about 700 service animals daily, a 150 percent increase since the prior year. The company also reported an 84 percent rise in “animal incidents,” including urine, feces and aggressive behavior.

Another airline noted a 75 percent jump in animals on board from a year earlier, and a “significant increase” in onboard incidents involving them.

Two airlines are banning certain animals totally from traveling in the cabin, including hedgehogs, ferrets, insects, rodents, snakes, spiders, amphibians, sugar gliders and non-household birds.

Airlines are considering barring animals with tusks, horns or hooves, except for trained miniature horses acting as service animals.

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Since this issue is so much in the news I put on my Potted Plant Outfit and went slithering about our Transportation Department in Washington D.C. to see what’s going on in the world of Transportation. It just so happened that I picked an action packed day to go slithering about.

It was absolute chaos! The office was full of advocates from People for the Advancement of the Right to Take Any Animal Anywhere who were busy loudly advocating their cause.

You may not be aware that our Airlines are under assault by this and 32 other organizations of a similar persuasion.

Here is one of the conversations I overheard...

Ø Animal Advocate (AA) said, “Peacocks are not that big! An Ostrich is big but a Peacock is only large and large is not big”.

Ø Beleaguered Transportation Official (BTO) said, “Looks pretty big to me”. (What the BTO should have said, “That’s silly! Get the hell out of my office!”)

Ø BTO said, “Innocent passengers have been injured by Peacocks on Airline Flights”.

Ø AA said, “That’s an exaggeration! There has not been an Airline Peacock Attack since last week!”

Ø BTO said, “You may have a point. I’ll take that fact under advisement but first I will need to talk to that passenger who was attacked by that Peacock”. (What the BTO should have said, “That’s silly! Get the hell out of my office!”)

Ø AA said, “You will have to wait. He will not be out of the hospital till after Labor Day”.

Ø AA said, “I’ll bet you are not going to take the feelings of the Peacock Community into consideration, are you? Peacocks are people too. These proud sensitive animals have been raised to care for their emotionally challenged caregivers. Your preventing them from fulfilling their mission in life takes a very hard toll on their psychological makeup”.

Ø BTO said, “I never thought of that. I’ll be certain to call an emergency meeting of our Rules Committee right after lunch today to consider the very cogent point you just presented me with”. (What the BTO should have said, “That’s silly! Get the hell out of my office!”)

Ø BTO said, “While you are here, we should discuss Pooping by Birds on our planes. Our Janitorial Union has filed a grievance against this new rather unpleasant responsibility”.

Ø AA said, “Well I never! I am of a mind to file a counter grievance against their grievance with my Congressman.

Ø BTO said, “Why am I having to go through this when I am only weeks away from retirement!” (What the BTO should have said, “That’s silly! Get the hell out of my office!”)

The Bottom Line: As soon as our 9% Approval Rated Congress gets back from vacation it ought to pass a Federal Law that a Beleaguered Transportation Official ought to be allowed to say to an Animal Advocate, “That’s silly! Get the hell out of my office!”

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: You think this issue could not get crazier. Think again...

Why do people say they need Emotional Support Animals to fly on airplanes? We are told they cannot get on planes without being Emotionally Supported by their Emotional Support Animals...Or can they?

It looks like this Emotionally Challenged Student was able to get on her plane after she came out of the Airport Rest Room...

February 11, 2018...BALTIMORE, MARYLAND — A college student is alleging that she flushed her emotional support hamster down a toilet after a Spirit Airlines employee would not let her board with the furry critter.

The Truth Will Come Out ... Or Will It?

Lagniappe at the Top: I first wrote this Blog Posting on July 18, 2012 but I did not finish it until now.

When I was a child my father, my brother (when we could find him hiding somewhere in our 1 bedroom house😃) and I spent many nights in the family grocery store stocking the shelves for the rush of customers that was sure to come the following day. These memories are still very comfortable and pleasant way back in my ageing mind’s eye.

While we stocked the shelves, we had a companion with us. It was our radio. It was always on. We were entertained by Gangbusters, The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Mollie, The Lone Ranger, Ozzie & Harriet, The Fat Man, The Life of Riley, The Jack Benny Show, George Burns & Gracie Allen, etc.

The radio did more than entertain my small but developing mind. It also educated me about life. It taught me things like...

Ø The bad guy was always caught.

Ø Dirty words were not necessary to put on a realistic and entertaining show.

Ø Filthy words were not needed to tell jokes to get your audience to fall over laughing (now comedians just say the filthy word without the joke attached and the audience falls over laughing).

Ø Jokes could be told about Italians, Jews and Wives and very few Italians, Jews and Wives got offended or got their feeling hurt and most Italians, Jews and Wives laughed right along with everyone else.

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I learned that the way to get to the Unvarnished Truth was to go to trial in our Great American Judicial System. I just knew that our Courts would somehow find a way to get to the bottom of it all. Truth will out! The truth will make us free.

This was Fantasyland before Walt Disney invented Fantasyland.

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You all can make up your own list of high-profile trials in recent years where we all were certain of the guilt of the defendant.

Some of the more cynical of us probably spent time lamenting the waste of time and money by bringing to trial such an obviously guilty person. Then we were all shocked at the innocent verdict that was handed down.

Did our Judicial System simply not find the truth or was it helped along by those who are paid to find the Technicality?

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe at the Bottom: In defense of the defense. I said above, “obviously guilty person” but we who were shocked and surprised by the verdict were not in the courtroom and we did not hear the evidence that was presented. We were fed our Indignation by the Nightly News.

What Shortage?

It seems only a few days ago that there was a Shortage of Hand Sanitizer in all our stores. Now there are Hand Sanitizer Displays all over our stores, not just in the drug departments.

Do you remember what it was like...?

• Hand Sanitizer Seekers were dashing about the stores with frightened looks on their faces searching for Hand Sanitizer Bottles.
• After you got tired of looking, if you asked a store employee for Hand Sanitizer, they laughed in your face and pointed you out to their fellow associates (formerly known as "employees") who also laughed at you.
• Everyone was going onto the Internet and ordering these huge bottles of Hand Sanitizer that arrived and turned out to be a lot smaller than they looked in the picture on the Internet but the price remained huge.
• You got mad. You thought about returning the little bottles you thought were going to be big bottles but you feared they were the last bottles you would ever see in your lifetime and, if you did return them, the manufacturers would get mad at you and ban you from buying their even smaller bottles at even higher prices in the future.
• Early on when, you did find Hand Sanitizer in a store, fellow shoppers were stealing them out of your basket while you were on your hands and knees looking to see if any bottles had fallen on the floor behind the empty display basket.
• The stores would only allow you to buy 2 High Priced Small Bottles. I followed a High Priced Small Bottle Purchaser out of a store and watched as he put his High Priced Small Bottles in his car. He then put on a fake mustache and headed back into the store.
• I looked into this car after he had gone back into the store and saw a plethora of mustaches, wigs, hats, big sun glasses and masks of Elmer Fudd, Rocky Balboa and Al Gore.

Have I ever lied to you when I did not tell you I was lying to you? What I am about to tell you is going to make you think I am lying to you while not telling you I am lying to you.

I passed a major grocery store yesterday where a sign company had its big crane out front and they were removing “Grocery Store” and changing it to “Hand Sanitizer Store”.

Ok, I am now telling you I just lied to you...Or did I?

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

What A Guy! His City Faces A $9,000,000,000 Deficit and He Is Getting Out His Box Of Band Aids.

This guy is good with numbers...Or is he?

Did I just hear you say, “Which guy?”

Pardon me. I thought all my Dear Readers were aware of how sharp Hiz Honor Bill De Blasio the Mayor of New York City is with numbers, so when I pecked out $9 Billion and Numbers you would know who I was talking about.

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OK, I’ll slow down and explain myself better...

First of all, A Disclaimer...In researching for this Blog Posting I kept running into many different Budget Deficit Numbers for NYC. I’m going to use $9 Billion because it is sort of right in there somewhere.)

Ø The City of New York has run up a Budget Deficit of $9,000,000,000 (In case so many zeros confuse you, that’s $9 Billion. In case $9 Billion confuses you, that’s 9 Thousand Million Dollars.)

Ø Because he is a Man of Action, Mayor De Blasio has taken action to address this awful situation which is crying out for action to be taken.

Ø Hiz Honor has announced that nearly 500 employees of his office will take five days of furlough between October and March in an effort to save close to $1 million ($860,000) from the cash-strapped municipal budget.

Ø De Blasio said there is a chance the furlough would extend to the entire city's 300,000 person workforce but for the time being the nearly 500 employees is a firm number.

Being somewhat good with numbers myself (but not as good as Hiz Honor) I calculated that $860,000 is 0.009455556% of the $9 Billion shortfall. This is what Hiz Honor means when he says he is taking the Bull by the Horns...Or is he?

Don’t you dare think Hiz Honor is not going to step up to the proverbial plate Hiz Self. He is included in the Furlough Plan and his week’s lost pay sacrificial contribution will amount to $4,972 of his own hard earned money. That’s a 0.00005524% Step Up!  

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When you started reading this Blog Posting you may have thought when I pecked out $9 Billion I was talking about New York State and not New York City. That’s not the case. In stumbling around the Internet I came upon a December 19, 2019 article that said New York State was going to go into the New Year only being $6 Billion in the hole.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: I’ve got an idea. Hiz Honor’s wife should be hired for $4,972 to help him out with this Budget Shortfall. I understand she is even better with numbers than he is...Or is she?

https://thefederalistpapers.org/opinion/nyc-mayor-de-blasios-wife-fire-losing-850-million