As It Stands: A Boomers story: once I believed, but now I don’t

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

I didn’t start out distrusting our government.
 

 I was proud to say the Pledge of Alliance when I went to school in the 1950s and early 1960s. I never questioned what our government was doing because my teachers told me our government was an institution that maintained people’s rights.
I believed them. My parents believed them. Almost everyone believed our government protected our civil rights.

Except for African-Americans and some progressive whites. That segment of society had to fight for equal rights, but I didn’t see much of the battle for a couple of reasons.
For starters, I seldom watched television. When I did, it was only for special programs like watching the Mickey Mouse show, or Howdy Doody. News about civil rights demonstrations seldom slipped into my social studies classes. When it did, in the early 1960s, the coverage was spotty at best.
 

It wasn’t until I graduated from high school in 1968 and went into the Army that I began to have misgivings about our government. After my tour of duty in Vietnam (1970) I was a different person. For numerous reasons. When I got out of the Army in 1971, I bought a car and traveled around the country.

Like other Vietnam veterans at the time, I was not given the red-carpet treatment for serving my country. My country had changed. Or, I was the one who changed. I now knew that I had grown up clueless, and I began to see the world around me for what it was. 

For the first time I followed the news. I was in Ohio on June 17th, 1972 when the Watergate burglars broke into the Democratic Party’s National Committee headquarters. The rest is history. I tore up my honorable discharge because it was signed by Richard M. Nixon.

 My disillusionment was so great I felt compelled to do something about it. That was a turning point in my life, when I knew I had to expose all the lies I grew up with and the machinations of the current administration.

 Throughout my career in newspapers I sought the truth behind political intrigues and exposed everything I believed the public should know. My ability to get information during the late 1970s through the early 1990s, was limited compared to what’s available these days to anyone who has a PC and the internet.
 When I began this blog and the newspaper column in 2008, I returned to politics and news with renewed interest. A lot has happened in the last five years. Two historic elections, a great recession, and now the revelation that the government has been spying on all Americans for an unknown period of time.

 They still do. Yes, I know you can argue that PRISM and other secret government programs are for our own good. You can also argue that our government has gone too far in monitoring our every activity.

 I admit I’m more concerned about our freedoms now than ever before in my life. I’ve watched the Patriot Act morph into other secret programs in the name of national security, and it appears we’ve got to live with Big Brother watching our every move, even after exposing him.

 I’m not surprised George Orwell’s 1984 is selling like hotcakes lately. The sales rankings for Orwell’s dystopian view of the future spiked like crazy two weeks ago, according to Amazon.com.

 A new generation is discovering this classic book. I think that’s a good thing. People need to question what’s happening when the government starts stripping away liberties in the name of safety and ideology.

 Knowing that what I’m write here could put me on a secret government list, deeply disappoints me. I’m proud to be an American. I fought for freedom, not an overbearing government. But as revelations continue to unfold about the NSA’s, CIA’s and FBI’s illegal activities, I can’t trust our government.

 After five years immersed in political history and current events, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Obama administration continues to follow in the footsteps of every president since Richard Nixon.
Those footsteps have led to a disconnect between the government and the people and have resulted in the biggest case of spying in our history.

The image of Watergate fades beside the enormity of what’s happening in America today.
 As It Stands, my disillusionment is somewhat abated by the fact that social media has become so powerful, government corruption is harder to conceal. 

As It Stands blog: If employee’s ‘Too Hot’ boss can fire them says court

Good Day World!

So, it’s come to this:

A dentist acted legally when he fired a longtime assistant because he had grown too attracted to her and worried he would try to start an affair, the Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed Friday in its second crack at the controversial case.

Coming to the same outcome as it did in December, but clarifying its rationale, the court found that bosses can fire employees that they and their spouses see as threats to their marriages. The court said such firings do not count as sex discrimination because they are motivated by feelings, not gender. (Read story here)

What’s a poor girl (or guy) going to do now? Start dressing like clowns and gain lots of weight quickly to become unattractive to save their job? I don’t know about you, but that just doesn’t seem right. I hesitate to guess what the courts will say next…on any subject!

You can bet on one thing, it’ll be about something some prigs think needs changing because it doesn’t conform to the laws of Big Brother!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Did you know that 1 in 10 adults use phones during sex?

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As It Stands blog: Massive icebergs, plants that smell like corpses, flash floods, plane safety & a princess accused of ‘Slavery’

    Good Day World!

Let’s start off with the massive iceberg, larger than the city of Chicago, that broke off of Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier on Monday and is now floating freely in the Amundsen Sea, according to a team of German scientists. What’s that mean to you and I?

What’s up with plane safety? Lap-only seat belts started disappearing from cars decades ago — after all, they're a nearly 100-year-old technology. Yet we still click them in modern airline seats. There is early indication that some of the injuries suffered during the crash landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 resulted from passengers being thrashed about while restrained only in their midsections. Could better seat restraints have prevented more injuries?

Under the category “It Seems Odd To Me” is this story about a flower that smells like “a dead body lying in Florida for two weeks” and attracting some 5,000 people to the National Botanic Garden of Belgium outside of Brussels this week. That’s ten times their usual draw.

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again, flash floods rising as high as 2½ feet caused a massive mudslide Wednesday that swept away a car, stranded many others and closed a busy highway in the Colorado Springs area.

The flooding shut down a four-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 24 for almost three hours west of Manitou Springs as motorists rode out a summer storm that dumped heavy rain and golfball-size hail on the region.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A summer storm shuts down a 4-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 24

El Paso County officials said at least 21 vehicles were stranded on the highway.

And at least one was swept off the road — an incident that was captured in this dramatic video.

Finally, we have a Saudi Arabian princess who is accused of “slavery” after a woman who was allegedly held against her will as a domestic servant escaped from a three-story building, flagged down a bus and alerted authorities in Irvine.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

As It Stands blog: Record Day in Death Valley: Rangers ask people to stop frying eggs unless they clean the mess!

   Good Day World!

With current temperatures hovering above 120 degrees, rangers in Death Valley National Park have some advice for would-be visitors: Drink plenty of water, avoid excessive outdoor activity and, please, stop trying to fry eggs on the pavement.

It doesn’t work, it makes a mess and the staff has better things to do than clean up after you. In fact, the proliferation of broken shells, discarded cartons and accumulated goo has reached such a point that the park recently took to its Facebook page to implore people to stop — or at least use a pan or tin foil and dispose of the results when they’re done.

Today, the park’s holding an event to commemorate the hottest recorded temperature in the world, which was set when the thermometer at Furnace Creek hit 134 degrees on July 10, 1913.

The centennial celebration will include talks by meteorologists and park rangers who will discuss why Death Valley gets so hot, how the park last year wrested its title back from El Azizia, Libya, and other issues of interest to “extreme weather enthusiasts.”

Visitors will also be able to participate in a popular Death Valley tradition by accompanying rangers to the Furnace Creek weather station to read the temperature, a ritual that has occurred daily since 1911.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

As It Stands blog: It’s Tuesday & did you know there’s a city in America that doesn’t allow cars… really!

   Good Day World!

 It’s Tuesday, perhaps the most uncelebrated day of the week,and I’m feeling lazy.When this happens to me I reach into my bag of tricks (like Felix the Cat!) and pull something out of the cyberspace.

Today’s offering idea was sent to me by my friend Larry.He thought it was interesting. I think it’s interesting. What about you?

Photo credit: Street-Marada on Flickr

Meet the American City Where Cars Have Been Banned Since 1898
Written by Stephen Messenger

“When early automobiles first arrived on the scene in the late 19th century, few people could have imagined that they would one day take over the world. In fact, some towns found the noise and exhaust from these novelty ‘horseless carriages’ so off-putting that early cars were actually outlawed in some places.

In time, of course, restrictions were lifted and the car soon became ubiquitous across the country — but there is still one place in the United States that has yet to change its mind. Meet Mackinac Island, where cars have been banned since 1898.

Located just offshore of mainland Michagan, in Lake Huron, Mackinac Island and its namesake city have long been a favorite spot for a relaxing getaway. So, when automobiles first began to arrive, loudly sputtering along the island’s once-quiet roadways, startling horses and spitting out smoke, it quickly became apparent to locals that this new invention was not for them.

Photo credit: Bicycles-Cletch on Flickr

One resident at the time was quoted as calling cars “mechanical monsters” — clearly not a glowing review.

Naturally, in 1898, the Mackinac village council moved to outlaw the automobile before the monsters had a chance to take over: “Resolved: That the running of horseless carriages be prohibited within the limits of the village of Mackinac.” — Mackinac Island Village Council, July 6, 1898”

Such legislation might seem quaint and old-timey, but in Mackinac, it has yet to be repealed. So what is life like in place where one of the most impactful inventions in history has been outlawed? Well, it’s quite nice, actually.

Although the small island is home to only around 500 people, in the summer, that number swells to 15,000 as tourist flock to the island. However, aside from a couple of emergency vehicles, there’s nary a car to be seen. Transportation on Mackinac is limited to walking, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycling — a pleasant departure from the car-centric society that exists beyond its borders.” Read the rest of the story here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands blog: 6 Famous Geniuses You Didn’t Know were perverts

    Good Day World!

Since it seems like every movie star, athlete and politician is just a sex scandal waiting to happen, you could almost think that it's not possible to be a prominent person without also having an utterly depraved sex life behind the scenes.

And looking back at the great men of history..you gotta wonder!

Let’s start with #6:

Albert Einstein, Time magazine's man of the century, is simply the most famous scientist in the history of the planet. He was the first to postulate the theory of relativity, he convinced FDR to build the atomic bomb, he was offered the chance to be the first president of Israel and is considered the father of modern physics. You wouldn't automatically think of a physics geek as getting more ass than a toilet seat, but...

But Behind Closed Doors...When he wasn't sciencing the shit out of everything, Einstein spent his time postulating his wiener into as many women as possible. Even though he was married twice (once to his cousin), he cheated on both of his wives with about 10 different women. Though in his defense, he presented his first wife with a list of rules, one of which was "expect neither intimacy nor fidelity."

Before Einstein finally settled on his cousin Elsa, he apparently almost married her 22-year-old daughter instead (Elsa was his first cousin through his mother's side AND second cousin through his father's side. In addition to the theory of relativity, Einstein was the only human capable of conceptualizing the branches of his own family tree that he had sex with).

Then he supposedly got some side action from Elsa's sister when they were younger, which he defended in a letter to Elsa by pointing out "You can't blame me; we were young and she was willing."

I imagine he used the same defense when he was caught boning his best friend's niece years later. Einstein would also write to his stepdaughter and wife to tell them which women he was currently sexifying, and sometimes had his stepdaughter act as a messenger to deliver letters to his mistresses, because if you're going to not give a fuck you might as well go all the way.

Wait until you see the next five perverts: you’ll never guess who’s number one! (Hint, he liked being spanked!) GO HERE and find out.(Via Cracked)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Some enlightening things about lightning strikes

 By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
May lightning strike you if you don’t tell the truth!

That old phrase/threat went through my mind when I read about lighting strikes in the Midwest recently. Oddly, I also recalled when the Pope resigned in February and lightning struck the Vatican on the same day!

The key to not getting hit by lightning is to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before you hand me a cookie and tell me to go away with that seemingly stupid observation, let me explain:
It doesn’t matter where you stand, what you wear or carry, the best thing to do is to avoid the locations where lightning can strike. Does that sound better? For example, anywhere outdoors or in unprotected structures.
Let’s say you’re somewhere outside where there are no buildings to hide in. A car (with a hard top of course) will protect you. A direct strike to your car will flow through the frame of the vehicle and usually jump over or through the tires to reach ground.

Note I said usually. If you happen to be unlucky enough to touch the metal frame with your arm (or other body part) it could ruin your day. Especially if you don’t get out of the vehicle and check it out. Fuel can be ignited by a strike and cause a fire or explosion.

Did you know it’s relatively rare for people to die from a lightning strike? Mary Ann Cooper, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, estimates that nine out of 10 people survive!
As a matter of fact there are so many survivors they’ve formed an organization: The Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors. It’s even international. If you want to read some startling stories, look that group up.

Many of them have been zapped more than once. 
Make no mistake however, the small percent who do die adds up. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an estimated 24,000 people are killed worldwide each year.

 Over the last 20 years, the United States averaged 51 lightning strike fatalities, according to NOAA, placing them second behind floods for weather killings. That should be eye-opening news for us all. Don’t underestimate them.
Mankind has always been fascinated with lightning, generally attributing it to angry gods.

The Greeks had Zeus whose habit of throwing lightning bolts at people made him feared among his believers. 

The Aztecs had a god, Tlaloc, who, depending on his mood, could bring beneficial rain or killer lightning bolts, flood, and disease. In Slavic mythology, the highest god of the pantheon was Perun, the god of thunder and lightning. There are more, but lack of space doesn’t permit their inclusion.
I’ve got a couple of medical terms dealing with lightning I bet you never heard of: Keraunomedicine (study of lightning casualties and associated treatments), and Keraunopathy (the study of effects of lightning on the human body).

Illuminating as all of this information may be, being struck by lightning is not something most people worry about. That is unless you’re a statistic and this information comes too late for you!   
For those of you who don’t think about being struck by lighting…bravo. There are lots of other things to be more concerned about, I’m sure. Like where your next meal is coming from or if you can find a babysitter so you and your spouse can go out for a romantic dinner.
  Forgive me for being so flippant about a subject that strikes terror into some people. Sometimes I can’t help myself. I’ve never been struck by lightning (knock on wood!) nor have I ever met anyone who was. Like most of you, I’ve heard and read a lot of lightning strike stories, however.
One of my favorites is Frankenstein. Who can forget that tense moment when Dr. Frankenstein opened up the ceiling of his lab to allow a bolt of lightning to bring his monster to life? Zap! “He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s alive!”

As It Stands, if you can hear thunder you are within 10 miles of a storm and at risk.

As It Stands blog:A dark day for LA, Dwight Howard thumbs his nose at the Lakers!

Good Day World!
What a sight! Mitch Kupchak met with Dwight Howard two hours before he decided to go to the Houston Rockets, and groveled for him to stay with the Lakers!
Coach DiAntonio, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jim Buss, and Tim Harris, also pleaded with Howard to stay in LA and win a championship. Howard however, already had plans to leave LA one way or another. It was a bidding war between The Golden State Warriors and The Houston Rockets,and the later prevailed.
Still no word, as of this posting, on what the Lakers got in return for the leagues best center.To say the Laker’s future looks murky is an understatement.Who knows if Kobe can come back from tearing his Achilles heel? No one else has successful done it yet. That leaves an aging Nash with back, knee, and ankle problems, who’ll be lucky to play one-quarter of the season!
I can’t see Staples Center selling out NBA season tickets for the failing purple-and-gold dynasty this year.For a 50-year fan like me…this is agony!
Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands blog: It feels like Friday…looks like Friday…TGIF!

        Good Day World!

Whatever you have to be thankful for don’t forget to ring the bell at happy hour wherever you imbibe your favorite spirits these evening. Speaking of spirits:

The biggest Vodka heist I ever heard of took place in Florida yesterday. Thieves with a very expensive taste in liquor were caught on camera lifting $1.1 million worth of Spirits of the Tsars Golden Vodka!

Friday night trivia: A recent poll revealed which women’s shoes men hate the most: wedges! I would have guessed high heels.The damn pointy things hurt when you get stepped on by one!Especially if she’s drunk and big!

Real romance? Smitten spies? Snowden got two proposal tweets from Russian agent. Seems like the sneaky types stick together like birds of a feather. Getting together is another matter, but stay tuned…you never know these days with online dating!

Time for me to walk on down the road…