May 2: There are many things which happened this past week!

Baltimore during the week!

Police had to struggle this past week with the city officials, unruly crowds, and rule following marchers.

What started out as a peaceful demonstration overwhelmed the police department, the administration of Baltimore, and those who tried to keep the peace.  Many mistakes were made by the Mayor and others who tried to direct the response to rioters.

As the week progressed, the officials finally got their act together and declared curfews to stop destruction and injuries.  It worked!  Then as the week went on it became apparent that trying to appease meant the rush to judgment against six police officers.  The range of crimes from 2nd Degree Murder to failure to follow rules should have been bought before a grand jury.  It would have made a lot more sense to have fresh sets of eyes bring out the charges rather than a person who had been on the job for 4 months without much criminal law experience in her background.  I thought that she did a fine job of speaking and laying out the facts as she saw them, but when others realized that she was talking without much substance and a biased point of view it became a situation where she laid herself into a lot of criticism.  Far better it would have been to take the matter before a grand jury and let the indictments come from there.

Questions were raised by the police that their lives were put in jeopardy and also the destruction of property stemming from Monday night riots where the police had instructions not to interfere.

Justice systems vary, but the truth is that the Constitutions of the United States and that of Maryland need to be followed whether the rules are for the police or citizens.  Additionally, if there is a question of conflicts of interest because the State's Attorney has relationships with attorneys, aldermen, or the family of the deceased, an independent counsel might be in order so that the police involved can get fair and unbiased trials.

Naked May 2nd?  

Someone sent me a photograph of a person tending a garden and that person was naked!  It was the backside and nothing obscene was shown, but the idea was that on May 2nd, tending gardens was to be a naked time!  Funny for sure.  One of my neighbors said "Richard will not be tending to the garden today!"  I replied, that I would be, would you care to come and watch?  I did not say or infer that I would be sans clothing.

We have a weekend of vintage cars!

This weekend is the annual event here in Kingman on Route 66 where vintage autos of yesteryear are brought out by their owners to drive the existing route of Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman Arizona.  Events are planned along the highway where the drivers stop, get refreshments, BBQ, and the like.  In Kingman itself there are places where they all can show off their pride of ownership and gawkers can see what all the hullabaloo is all about!  A fun day for all and it is a celebration Americana which is peaceful and great sport.  The cars as they age get more and more valuable!  Prices on these relics of the past exceed $20,000.00 each.  If you are of the older generation, you might kick yourself when you think about that car of the 1950's you once owned and if you kept it what it would be worth today!

Enjoy the first week in May.   Get out and look around!

During the past week on Facebook there were a lot of discussions about Baltimore. 
Also, some statements about cell phones.  One of the things that I was discussing was the fact that I do not use a cell phone.  There are a lot of people who do and I am getting the feeling that I am now in the minority!  Probably true.  In the 1970's I had the first proto type of cell phones.  It was quite interesting because they worked mostly through the AT&T lines.  The size was about the same as they are now and you had to keep them charged.  Then came along the FM phones which were through local towers.  The cost was about $350 per phone (that is the wholesale cost).  Then resale was $700.  I started a company to do this and we sold one phone!  The buyer was a man who did repossessions of cars.  One week after he had the phone he called me.  Told me the phone saved his life because when he was repossessing a car the owner came out and started shooting at him.  From behind his tow truck he called the police for help.  They came and saved him!  That was the only sale every made by me.  We folded up the company and watched as the cell phone of today came into existence.

Have a great week...until next time...

April 28th and what has been going on the last few days!!!

During the past few days we have seen many disturbing images on the TV regarding Baltimore riots.  We have had speeches, denials, and statements which are blatently misleading.  Why people would not remember what they had said and blame others for twisting their thoughts is beyond my comprehension.

The poor mayor of the city is so caught up in not understanding what she is doing it is really quite sad.  What appears to have happened is that she came out of meetings with officers and others in her command posture and then said what she had been thinking in private.  Not realizing others heard her correctly, but she could not believe herself coming out with those strange utterances.  

By the way, she is the Secretary of the National Democratic Party!  A leader who has fallen on her sword!

Ferguson:

Can we ever understand why those people in Ferguson are now back in the streets?  This Freddie Gray incident was not theirs.  Yes, it seems that he was killed in a way that leaves a lot of questions which need to be answered!  There will be responsibility leveled at those who did this and they will have to pay the consequences, but why are the people in Ferguson taking to the streets?  There has not been anything yet said and the settlement of the issues need to be addressed by the justice system.  Cannot blame a whole police department and a mayor for the problems which came about, yet that is what is being done.  Are we going to have a summer of discontent all over the US?  Very sad indeed.

Curfew:

A curfew should have been put in place before 15 buildings were set on fire, 100 plus cars burned, and 20 or so police officers injured.  Waiting a day only added substance to the statement made by the Mayor that we had to give the protestors space to vent their rage.  A CVS store had been courted to come to Baltimore to provide quality and reasonable prices for their products.  Now will they even think about  rebuilding?  Remember, the riots of the 1960's destroyed neighborhoods of the minority communities and it took many years to rebuild them.  It took a lot of effort to get the stores to re-enter markets which had been so bad on them.  Now...the same thing is happening again and might just spring up in other communities across the nation.  The only ones who get hurt are the people living in this area of the minority neighborhoods.  Youngsters who have nothing to gain or lose are responsible.  Saying they need opportunity is not the answer!

What can we do to help the situation of impoverishment among black youths?

President Franklin D Roosevelt had a solution in the 1930's long before WWII bailed out the economy.  There were specialized job corps programs for both youths and adults.  People were given opportunities to work and earn their way back from poverty.  Today we do not have that setup at all.  We have food stamps, great, but there is no pride in getting them!  We give dole outs of clothing, housing, and the like, but no pride in getting them!  We need to change the system, Obama Phones are nice, but there is no pride in getting them.

Giving people jobs, doing work will instill pride!  Earn while you learn!  No, we don't pay youth to go to school, we should however, have  on the job training.  The infra-structure of this country is in disparate need of repair.  Why not have a summer of fixing.  Fix the bridges, roads, buildings, and build items of pride in communities.  High Schools in the great depression were able to obtain  stadiums whose construction created jobs for the people who built them.  Is it wrong to do the same thing once again?  Housing is sorely needed for low income families, Habitat for Humanity is a great program, but a government sponsored program would be a great step forward in getting the homes needed, giving jobs, and teaching skills that could be carried over into the creation of prideful jobs!!!

Wonder what ever happened to community gardens?

Looking back over the past 30 or so years we have seen many communities build parks, gardens, and spruce up neighborhoods.  Is that going on today?  The only  reason I question, I have not seen much of it in either the news or discussion on talk radio or community papers!  It would be very interesting indeed to see if this is still going on.  Food for those who need it!  What about paying for produce from a  community garden with food stamps which could be turned into cash to pay the youth who would tend these gardens and have pride in produce!  Pride in earning money so that they could go to school in the fall it will be with a little jingle in their pockets!

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I am putting out thoughts which I have regarding today's events, tomorrows events, and trying to make this world a better place.  Having taught college, practiced law, and participated in many community events through the years I see things through a more humanitarian set of eyes than I did so many years ago.  Please let me know if your are getting the message.  I am friends now with people all over the world!  Do  we speak the same language and care  about our  fellow personages enough to speak up when things go wrong?  I hope so!!!

Can you believe it is April 19th?

Here it is the 19th of April and it only seems like it was yesterday that it was January...I guess when you are living out in the area of the country where the weather stays nice and you do not have to suffer with snow, rain, and all the other maladies of life you can forget how long it takes to find sunshine and flowers.

Yesterday I was reading about some of the pioneers who helped develop the West.  It was interesting to read about some people who had been Minnesotans because they wanted to and then they branched out to make huge strides in the rest of the country.  There was James J. Hill a train baron who was helped by his good friend Frederick Weyerhauser in building the rail system which extended to the Northwest.  Both were very wealthy even by today's standards.  St. Paul was the city which they lived in because they liked it.  Weyerhauser was a man who loved the woods and back country.  He had many children and a wife who he left alone a lot of the time so that he could develop relationships with other timber barons in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and then in the Pacific Northwest.  There are several great books out there which bear looking into for the education of your children and their children.  

 Are you going to toss your hat in the ring?

Election campaigns are heating up and there are many more people stepping into the forefront so they can get their ideas into the mainstream.  Realize that only one person will be President!  There are so many who are announcing they are going to run, is it because they want something else out of their campaigning?  Many jobs are available once the President takes office.  Folks who run swiftly back the chosen candidate and help that person gain the office.  It is in this spirit that the chosen one gives patronage to those who helped getting elected.  Back in the day when Jimmy Carter ran I somehow had been put in place as the Chairman of Veterans for Carter in Minnesota.  When he won the election I was sent an application to apply for a job in the administration in the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I did not want to return to Washington DC so I declined.  I still have that application.  In fact, they even sent me an invitation to the Inauguration ceremonies and the balls which took place that evening.  I kept those as mementos, but did not attend!  Do you know how cold it gets in DC in January?

Summer is quickly coming...are you ready?

Is it quirky or is it just me?  I think of the heat of summer when I am out here in the desert, but reality is that we treat summer as though it were winter here.  We rarely go out into the 90 and 100 degree days.  What we like best is Spring until about early June.  Then we look forward to late September or early October when it cools down once again.  Right now we have our tomato plants out in pots, watering them daily as it is getting into the 80's now.  There are these nice green globules dangling from the plants and the yellow flowers are attracting critters which will pollinate them.  We have a plum tree and it is loaded this year!  The pomegranate tree is in full blossom and looks like it will have a bumper crop this year.  We placed a new shed in the yard and had to trim a couple of trees to get it there.  What resulted is that the trimmed trees have been going bananas and growing far larger than they ever had before.

Hoping that you all have a great summer!  I would like to get out there and do some fishing for a change.  Since being out here we have missed that part of our lives.  In Minnesota I used to fish a lot with my great friend George from Kentucky.  Life sure has changed a lot since those days.  When we lived on the houseboat we did a little fishing, but never really got into it on the scale that I had done before.  We purchased a lake place and it was great for fishing, but we only did a little.  My step dad Max went fishing when he and my mom joined us for a vacation at our lake place.  Max told me that it was the first time that he had ever gone fishing...I was happy to have given him that experience.

So long for now....
Clark    

April 1st...Fools and their money shall be soon parted!

The Main Theme today is Thrift: 

Are you saving money for the rainy day?  Do you live from paycheck to paycheck?  Have you ever thought about winning the lottery?

These are elements which get into today's thrift message.  Saving is great, but where do you put the money that you save?  The banks have such low interest rates that it might be better to invest your money into candy and gum...LOL.  The reason is simple, the prices of commodities shall be rising as the time marches on.  Look at the cost of oil, food, and other necessities of life.  They are constantly going up and yet wages are stagnant and in some cases are retreating. 

Those who are on fixed pensions get a little relief with cost of living increases, but do those increases really reflect the rising of prices?  There are some things which we all need and those prices are up and down.  Take oil for instance.  The cost of gasoline affects everyone.  Even if you take a bus the costs are passed onto you in one form or another.  What can you do about it?  VOTE!  Yes, vote for those candidates who are not aligned with interests which are detrimental to you.  You can easily check out the voting record of Senators, Congressmen, and local officials in your states.  If they seem to be voting along with the bloc of money grabbers, get them out of office.  If they are voting independently and based upon principle, then by all means keep them in!

One of the things that the internet is providing is a means for us to invest in foreign countries which have the same values that we have here in America.  An example is Australia.  The banks there are paying higher interest on deposits than we are paying here in the US.  We see that interest on savings accounts amounts to 1 percent if that.  They are paying more than that and we should investigate the banks there and determine if it is wiser to send out hard earned savings out of this country to another.  There are taxes to consider because you can be taxed on earned income from foreign countries just the same as the income from here which you earn.

It is the Day of Fools!

I can recall being pranked on a job when I got out of the Navy way back in 1958.  It seems that one of my co-workers thought it would be a good thing to leave me a message that Mr. Bear called and needed me to call him back.  Now, the co-worker did not know that my Step-Father was named Baer.  I thought tht it might be an emergency that he called because my mother had been ill.  However, there was a phone number left with this call so I returned the call to this number all day long.  It seems that the number was for the Zoo.  The Zookeeper kept getting calls all day long for Mr. Lion, Mr. Bear, Mr. Fox and so forth.  He was very pleasant about it when I finally got through, but can you imagine the number of hours this fellow wasted of the taxpayers money just because of foolish pranks?  If you try a April Fools joke make sure that it is of short duration, does not waste time and further that it is not a complete annoyance.

Just a personal note...my cold is a lot better now and at least I can sit without coughing or having a runny nose. 

March 28, 2015:  Many things have been going on around the world that it makes me wonder where all of this is heading!

Iran in talks to modify the relationship between their country and the nuclear weapon!

Secretary of State Kerry is being 2nd guessed at each juncture that he approaches.  Words are being leaked by many sources.  Is this a ruse to get reaction from the rest of the world?  Then, there is the release of information to the press about the TOP SECRET information regarding Israel's Nuclear program which has been going on since 1987.  It was released ostensibly several weeks before the election in Israel and seems to be an affront to their Prime Minister when he was fighting for his political life.

Wonder what would have been said if Israel would have interfered with our election in 2012?  Easily they could have come out and said that the Obama Administration has lied to them and have not provided the security they need to be kept safe from their neighbors.  Look at Yemen as an example of the poor communication being made by the administration to the public at large.  Is this a part of the openness doctrine which had been touted by this president when he ran for office in 2008?  I do not think so!  Now, that Yemen has collapsed and the president of that country was swift boated out of harms way, the administration continues to exhort us that all is good and we have our fingers on the pulse of Yemen.

Last news program of a couple of days ago said that Iran refuses to sign any agreement made with the United States!  A flat out affront to the "progress" claimed by Kerry in his talks.  These trial balloons of what we can expect as an agreement live you very confused as to what is the truth after all is said and done.  Will Iran be allowed to bury in a 'secret cave' all of their research and experimentation?  What about the sanction which were passed by Congress?  How can Kerry and Obama think that they have the authority to override Congressional approval?  The UN was never vested with the power to make decisions of this magnitude for the United States.  Obama certainly does not have this power under the Constitution.  

What is happening with the appointments which were shot down by the US Supreme Court?

A big question arises   about the standing of those people who were appointed to jobs by President Obama during the interim period between sessions of Congress.  The Supremes said that Congress was still in session even if they had gone home and there was not a break because things were planned to allow for calling itself in session.  Well!  What is the situation with all those people who were appointed?  Will there have to be a new session in Congress with vetting all those people?  The news media seems to be downplaying this decision and not giving any coverage.  Well?  You be the judge!

I just received the new issue of Esquire magazine...as my stepson Wayne said "What is this world coming to."

The lead in on the cover is...Women and Men, An issue about Our Current Difficulties...Great, if that was all there was about i.  But how about a Black & White photo of two totally nude people (be it their behinds) the cracks in their butts are clearly delineated.  It is a good think that the shipping label peels off easily so that it fits nicely over both of them!

That is enough for today...I have a cold and it is miserable!  Good thing for Halls Cough drops, they work!

                                                            - 30 -
 

March 23 and we are still kicking!

 Today I tried an experiment to see if I could upload a video.  I have no idea if it will work or take a lot of time, but I am always liking to try new ideas and things.

Last Blog I talked about the Hoover Floor product.  Well, we have tried it and it works great.  The cleaning ability on tile and grout is super.  We did a small area in the kitchen and used the recommended cap full of solution in the machines container bottle.  We all were surprised that you could do so much with so little effort.  It is cordless, easy to maneuver, and best of all even without much training we all could do it.  Slow and patient is the key with this machine.  Not that I am trying to sell them, but at Amazon they cost only $137.00!  Also, the liquid cleaner is about $9.00 for 16 oz and that is a bargain all in itself.

Was there interference in the Israel election?

There are several things coming up about the election and the people who were sent to help the opposition defeat Prime Minister N.  Well, it turned out badly for those trying to unseat this popular man who stood up to president and the Dems.  Now, will Israel have to pay a price for their electing someone that is contrary to the views of the United States President?  Hopefully, not!  It might be that those who have saner minds will prevail and the attempts to diminish a true democracy in the middle east shall fall flat.  Iran is a danger to all of the world and has the means to accomplish some horrendous ends if allowed to proceed unchecked and unhindered.  The sanctions which have had their toll on the ability of Iran to conduct its methodology which is to destroy oppositional forces need to be kept in full force and effect.

Has the Medical Community fallen into hard times?

The medical community and treatment of patients seems to be ignoring common decency in treating patients.  Have you visited a doctor's office lately?  They are crowded, dirty, and uncomfortable.  Some of the offices in the new buildings are just fine, however, in the older buildings it is appalling.  The use of the internet is not a substitute for common courtesy.  Today my wife had an appointment cancelled by the Doctor and in the Email which sent the notification was a statement that we should go to the portal at the hospital for more information.  There was none!  It was just a list which had the appointment blanked out and the appointment with another Doctor listed.  Upon calling, my wife was able to schedule  a new appointment with the Cardiologist for 34 days hence!  It would seem that when an appointment is cancelled the new one should be set as close as possible.  After all, she had waited two months to get the new one in the first place.  The office never has responded to any emails that we had sent regarding healthcare needs.  It seems they are not technology literate!  Considering the cost of medical services, it would be nice if there were a doctor out there who really showed some concern for the patients.

My visit to a doctor was different!

I visited a doctor a couple of weeks ago and it was a totally different experience.  My doctor was short on time,but never seemed to be rushing me out of  the office.  There had been concern about my kidneys and a nefrologist was the person who I saw.  She was pleasant, knowledgeable, and set me at ease.  Thank goodness I had no serious problems and she will be following up in 2 to 3 months.  There are ways to treat patients and there are other ways in which the mental state of a patient can be irritating.

Holidays are here again!

The Spring season brings Passover, Easter, Good Friday, and other religious events together.  This year we have the first sedar of Passover on Good Friday!  Interesting that Easter and the last supper were considered to be Passover in olden days.  Now we have them meshing once again!  We are an ecumenical household and celebrate both Christian and Jewish holidays.  We are, however, not going to have a Kosher Ham!  LOL.

Have a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  We are going  to be celebrating with friends and looking forward to seeing  everyone.  It is a solemn time and yet a joyous time to be alive sharing blessings together!

Here is March 8th and not too much going on!

This is the 8th of March and there is not too much going on.  We have been very busy with a new shed we had installed in the backyard.  It is 10' by 12'.  We have installed new shelves inside and a safety/security light outside.

Modern technology is really great.  The lights we installed today were solar and 500 watts.  Motion detectors and solar panels included.  Three of these lights cost $100.00(about 35 each) and were fairly easy to install.  Last night we tested one of the lights in the front over the garage.  It was exceptionally bright, covered the full driveway and was set to go off after 1 minute.  Worked out swell.  Then we installed one over the front doorway and will test that tonight, as well as the one on the shed.  

These lights are about the same cost for each as those little ones you would poke in the ground.  Those never seemed to last!  After a few months they all went out one by one.  Hope that these stay on for a longer period of time.  The battery is  replaceable and the solar unit seems really sturdy.

Next project, moving all the things into the shed after we have the Whirlybird on the roof installed so that we can have the hot air escape better.  The shed has two vents, but we were advised by friends to get the Whirlybird to compliment the exhaust system.

We painted the inside doors and shelves that we installed since splinters are always a nuisance from rough wood.  

Almost time to plant tomatoes!  We are lucky that our growing season starts early and it is fun to take advantage of that. We had discovered some  great plants at Walmart for herbs.  We put those in the window sill in  the kitchen and have had fresh basil, thyme, and parsley all winter long.  Bought a box to plant them in but it seems that it is too high and will have to get a better way.

As a writer for Amazon vine I get all kinds of things from them.  This time I got a floor machine made by Hoover.  It is battery operated and looks just like a  large regular vacuum.  However, it is equipped with brushes and when you go forward it emits water and scrubs tile and other hard floors (not for rugs) and when you bring it back it picks up the water.  We have not gotten to use it yet, but have it on our agenda to do so soon.  Well, I am away to putting some ribs in the oven and then will finish them on the grill.  We will have a yummy day for sure!