drunk driving

and speaking of......drunk driving. Drunken drivers cause approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States and on average, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. The deadliest drunk-driving accident in the U.S. occurred in 1988 on Interstate 71 in Kentucky when a drunk driver with a BAC level of .24 g/dL caused a head-on collision with a church activity bus. The crash and ensuing fire killed 27 people (most of them children) and injured 34 others. Credits: www.randomhistory.com & me

bridal veil

and speaking of......bridal veil. Have you ever pondered the origins of the bridal veil throughout generational history? Thought so, me neither! ........ But for what its worth, came across the answer the other day and here it supposedly is: The bride's veil traditionally symbolized her youth and virginity. Veils also hid the bride from jealous spirits or the Evil Eye. In the past, veils could be red, blue, or yellow (the color of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage). The modern white veil became popular during the Victorian era as a symbol of purity and modesty. A white veil also connoted that a bride was wealthy enough to wear white.

credits: www.randomhistory.com & me

dumb and dumber

and speaking of......dumb and dumber. The following article gleaned from philly.com would seem to reach the height of absurdity -

Spit Happens : Arrest Happens

The two wasted South Jersey guys that broke into a Radnor, Pennsylvania constable's van over the weekend and took goofy photos of themselves pretending to get arrested - really did get arrested when they accidentally locked themselves inside and smoked cigarettes and "spit saliva all over" - to pass the time. When an inebriated friend arrived to rescue them, he, too, was confounded by the vehicle's lock system and called 9-1-1 for help, ensuring that the men would not only get out of the locked vehicle, but also that they'd get locked right back up. "It was un-freaking-believable," said Radnor Constable Mike Connor, whose van the men burglarized. Both were charged with attempted theft of a motor vehicle, public drunkenness and criminal mischief, police said.

"Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest," to the extreme.............

hemingway

and speaking of......hemingway. We remember Ernest Miller Hemingway mainly for his undeserved reputation as a high living, boozing, and sometimes cantankerous old 'has been writer,' living out his life in decadent Key West. However, few men have been more maligned and misunderstood. He was actually an American giant of literature, as a much acclaimed and accomplished author and journalist. His distinctive writing style influenced 20Th-century fiction as did few others. Many of his works are classics of American literature and in 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. While on an African safari in 1952, he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Click to the Wikipedia entry for a well rounded and enlightening account of his half century of accolades and accomplishment........

fifteen minutes

and speaking of......fifteen minutes. Where's mine??? Have been searching for it ever since Andy Warhol said in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." I started searching, with much enthusiasm, immediately thereafter. Over the years there have been numerous interpretations and derivations of his phrase, with probably the most familiar, being; "my fifteen minutes." That's the one that me and umpteen millions of other seekers like to use. All of us in this 'informal club' are still searching. Boy, its sure nice having so much company on my journey to fame. Every now and then me and the others start to despair, then Wham!, along comes someone like, say, Casey Anthony or maybe even the Octomom. Hmmm!!!, lets see who else that we might want to emulate, Hmmm!, maybe Charlie Sheen or even John Edwards. And maybe, "NOT". They all got theirs, where's ours? Hmmm!!; 'but' - maybe we don't really want it bad enough after all, me and the others. Still searching, me and the others................ Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/ & me

political scenario

and speaking of political scenario......Republicans are said to be conservative. Democrats are said to be liberal. President Clinton is a Democrat and President Bush '43 is a Republican --- Upon leaving office Clinton left Bush '43 with a budget surplus that the Congressional Budget Office projected in January 2001, would entirely pay off the national debt before 2010. Still with me? --- Bush '43 and a Republican Congress added over $7 trillion to the deficit, by giving huge tax cuts to their fat-cat wealthy friends, and funding two trumped up wars, while further increasing the debt by at least $1.3 trillion in borrowed money - and in total raised the debt ceiling 7 times during the decade. It all came home to roost during the watch of Bush '43, with the great recession and financial meltdown in the Fall of 2008. Still with me? --- Now... given the above scenario, which by the way is easily verifiable, it would logically follow that the much touted conservative/liberal labels of the presidents and their respective parties have been completely reversed, leaving the political parties in a state of total disarray; which by the way, is precisely the state that they are in as of this date.......................

common sense

and speaking of......common sense. It has been said that, "common sense is decidedly uncommon". Can this be true? Albert Einstein said that "all 'common sense' is nothing more than a collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen". How's that for a simpletonian phrase from an individual acclaimed the world over to be a genius? I prefer this unattributed quote: I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency, and therefore this makes me forever ineligible to to run for any political office. Too bad this credo can not be universally applied to politics as a whole. Credits: Wikipedia & Me

wars again

and speaking of......wars again. Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower warned the world of the dangers of the 'military-industrial complex'. We all listened, but a crying shame that nobody remembered. What a waste of precious lives and resources, and all for the power and enrichment of a power hungry few. Makes you wonder about the state of humanity.............

costly wars

and speaking of......costly wars. The following article perfectly reflects my sentiments concerning our continuing involvement in the two no-win wars and relentless meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations. The article appeared as a Letter to the Editor in the Greensboro News & Record, July 15, 2011............ Costly Wars Contribute to Escalating Deficit --- Another Washington hoax. The so-called “debate” on reducing the $14 trillion debt is being used to cut vital programs of education, Medicare and Social Security. Any budget “deal” won’t end obscene tax breaks for the wealthy or massive corporate tax loopholes that enable many corporations to pay no taxes.Meanwhile, what is the true monetary cost of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? President Obama proclaimed that the wars have cost $1 trillion.

A recent nonpartisan study from Brown University puts the cost of the wars at $4 trillion, plus another $1 trillion of interest for this war debt.

Starting with Republican Bush and continuing with Democrat Obama, the government has invaded sovereign countries to defend U.S. oil companies. These criminal wars, based on lies, inflict unspeakable crimes against other peoples. The same study estimates 225,000 (mostly civilians) killed by direct conflict and 7.8 million displaced. Now the war comes home through austerity programs directed at workers, the poor, the elderly and the young as bailed-out Wall Street laughs all the way to the bank.

Mark Dimondstein
Greensboro, NC

summer

and speaking of......summer. It's hot, getting hotter by the day, and I love it. My wife, on the other hand, definitely does not agree. Imagine that! With my ideal temperature at 76+ and hers at 67-, life can sometimes become very interesting indeed. Life experience tells me that this situation isn't at all unusual within marriages. Ah!, the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Gotta love it............