A look at comedic duos in film and politics

Good Day World!

When it comes to comedic duos in films my favorite pair is Abbot and Costello.

Up until now, I didn’t have a favorite comedy duo in politics. That’s changed however, since Donald Trump and Ted Cruz hooked up.

Ted recently invited The Donald to join him at a rally highlighting opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. It just may be the start of a comedy act that’ll make political history.

President Trump and Vice President Cruz.

They’ll be a lot like Laurel and Hardy with Cruz playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Trump. Trump and Cruz’s signature tune (like Laurel and Hardy’s), will be "The Dance of the Cuckoos."

Like Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, they’ll perform slapstick sketches and deliver jokes. Their punch lines will be thinly disguised as policy issues on the campaign trail.

It’s obvious that Cruz will play the straight guy and Trump will be the joker. History has shown that Trump has some real laughable ideas.

For example, building a massive wall on the US Mexican border to keep immigrants out and making Mexico pay a couple of billion for it!

Yeah right! What a kidder.

Americans are fed up with the status quo in Washington. These are dangerous times when anything could happen.

Electing a comedy duo, like Trump and Cruz, would certainly be good for a barrel of laughs. 

And, no doubt, we’ll become the laughingstock of the world – if we’re not already!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

‘All Lives Matter’ Dangerous Rhetoric Threatens Cops, Deputy Murdered Today

It’s fashionable lately to accuse all law enforcement officials of being unthinking brutes that victimize the public they serve.

Lost in the rhetoric of “Black Lives Matter” activists is the fact that all lives matter.

It matters a lot that the national dialogue has been anti-law enforcement. An “Us” versus “Them” mentality is threatening to further degrade respect for all lives.

(Deputy Darren Goforth, pictured in this official image from Harris County Sheriff's Office. Handout / Harris County Sheriff's Office)

For example:

Authorities have arrested a suspect in the "execution-style" shooting of a uniformed Texas sheriff's deputy, Darren Goforth, today. The suspect, Shannon J. Miles, 30, is black.

Investigators did not know what the motive was and believe the suspect targeted the married father of two simply because he was in uniform.

"We've heard black lives matter — all lives matter," a visibly angry Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman told reporters. "Well, cops' lives matter, too."

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said that law enforcement needs support despite there being a "few bad apples" — an apparent reference to the recent spate of police shootings of unarmed people. (source)

Here’s a thought; who would protect us from people like Shannon Miles – a cold-blooded murderer – if we didn’t have cops? It’s really quite simple, without cops we slip into total anarchy.

Sadly, I suspect that’s just what some people want.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

USA has 5% of world population and 31% of world’s mass shooters

Good Day World!

Why does the USA have the most mass shooters per capita than any country in the world?

The answer may lie between the availability of guns and people seeking fame.

A just-released study found that although the United States has just about 5 percent of the world's population, it has 31 percent of the world's mass shooters.

The possible association between mass shootings and a desire for fame is particularly eerie, given the nation's latest high-profile killing.

A former employee at a local news station in Virginia killed a reporter and a cameraman on-air, while filming the shooting with a GoPro camera. He later posted the film to social media.

The apparent desire to broadcast the crime places the killer in the same company as many notorious mass shooters of the past decade. (The History of Human Aggression)

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Experts are finding that younger shooters want attention. That's why you see them wanting to have a bigger head count, a bigger body count, to try to outdo the last one or to do something that is going to cause more of a rise.

OVERALL CRIME STATS DROPPING

Interestingly, the rise in active-shooter events bucks the general trend toward less violent crime in the United States: Overall violent crime dropped 14.5 percent between 2004 and 2013, according to the FBI.

What did predict the number of mass shootings, however, was the prevalence of firearm ownership. Countries with higher firearm ownership rates have more public mass shootings. [Private Gun Ownership in the US (Infographic)]

Studies within the United States have also found links between gun ownership and gun crime.

Research published in July found that states with more gun-owning households had higher rates of firearm assault, robbery, homicide and overall homicide compared with states with fewer gun owners.

There is a 'fame at any cost' mentality.

Many mass killers explicitly cite fame as their motivation: A quick Google search for "wanted to top Columbine" reveals multiple news articles about killers or would-be killers mentioning the 1999 school shooting as their inspiration.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

The answer is simple, but probably unattainable thanks to gun lobbies and the NRA – make it harder to buy guns by having a nationwide backround check on prospective buyers.

Also, get the media to focus more on victims instead of their killers who are looking for their 15-minutes of fame.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Presidential Candidates Range From Cats to People With Fake Names

Good Day World!

It started with a 15-year old prankster.

Brady Olson filed to run for the President of the United States with the FEC on July 26 as Deez Nuts.

The rest is viral history.

Deez Nuts – running as a Republican - polled at 9 percent in North Carolina against Trump and Clinton setting off a firestorm of imitators.

Some people don’t think fake candidates running for president are very funny.

For example:

‘Deez Nuts’ Copycats Are Giving Election Officials a Headache

Imagine a presidential debate that includes Frank Underwood from “House of Cards,” Ronald Reagan’s Ghost, a Bill Clinton imposter and three fraudulent Joe Bidens.

But these wags — including a bunch whose names crudely refer to body parts or sex acts — are also potential headaches for federal regulators, who already struggle with limited resources and massive paperwork backlogs.

What follows are actual Statement of Candidacy filings from presidential pretenders I’m (almost) certain are giving America the business.

1. Dat Ass (Independent-New York)

2. Sidneys Voluptuous Buttocks (Independent-New York)

3. Sir TrippyCup aka Young Trippz aka The GOAT aka The Prophet aka Earl (Federalist-Wisconsin)

4. Underage Candidate (unaffiliated-California)

5. Buddy the Cat (Democrat-Arizona)

6. Captain Crunch (Independent-California)

7. Jeffrey Dahmer (Independence Party-Maryland)

8. Mary Jane (Libertarian-Tennessee)

9. Dank Ass Kaptain Kush (Independent-U.S. Virgin Islands)

10. H. Majesty Satan Lord of Underworld Prince of Darkness (Republican-Texas)

11. Ronald Reagan's Ghost (Independent-Minnesota)

12. Slim Sack Shady (American Party-California)

13. Jack Sparrow (Independent-Oregon)

(candidate source)

Currently, there are about 850 registered candidates running for president this election. And counting…

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Why stop at green when spray painting your lawn?

                                 Good Day World!

There’s a new slogan; “Brown is the new green in California.”

In other words, it’s cool to stop watering your lawn and let it turn brown. But a lot of folks can’t hang with that “dead look.”

The answer to their concern is a proliferation of “drought free” yards. They range from using rocks of various sizes surrounding drought-resistant plants, to artificial turf.

Oh yeah. And spray painting brown lawns green.

The paint is non toxic (according to the manufacturers) and grows out with the grass, similar to temporarily highlighting one’s hair. Furthermore, this practice is already quite common in golf courses, ballparks, and other athletic venues.

I have to ask…why stop at just one color?

Imagine designer lawns that match with the colors of your house?

The possibilities are endless. You could change colors every three months (that’s how long the paint is supposed to last before needing touched up).

Red-white-and blue lawns would undoubtedly be popular during patriotic holidays (4th of July, Veteran’s Day, and Memorial Day).

Go retro at Christmas with a green lawn. Maybe add touches of red reminiscent of Santa’s outfit for that extra festive look.

Valentine Day offers romantics a chance to paint their lawns pink with purple letters spelling out their names.

Yeah…you have to have a green lawn for St. Patrick’s Day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add a dash of gold for good luck. 

Perhaps the best chance for people to really get crazy with their designer lawns is Halloween. Black and orange lawns will be di rigueur. Blood-red lawns will also blossom in neighborhoods celebrating All Hallows Eve. 

Personally, I like the color blue. What about you?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

I’m a bit confused, maybe you can help me

Good Day World!

I’m trying to understand where the line is between political correctness run amok, and legitimate claims of racism.

It’s not easy.

For example:

A recent news story reported that members of a mostly black women's book club said a luxury Napa Valley wine train kicked them off because of their race.

Okay. So I did a little research.

The fact is that Napa Valley wine train kicks off a group every month (on average) for being too rowdy. Think about it. People drinking booze and partying.

I’m not saying any of the women were drunk. I don’t know that. But, according to the story they were warned multiple times to keep their hilarity down to a low roar because they were disturbing other passengers.

Getting kicked off the Napa train is not an unusual circumstance. However, this group of mostly black women are claiming they were kicked off because of their race. If that isn’t playing the race card I don’t know what is.

In the tense atmosphere of racial accusations of injustice, Americans are divided on what to do to make things better. One of those camps is all about political correctness gone wild. They play the race card regardless of the situation.

That camp is a problem for everyone.

Legitimate accusations against authorities and racists are watered down by those who chose to take advantage of certain situations to benefit themselves – or make themselves appear to be innocent victims of racism.

My problem is trying to figure out who is taking advantage of being black, and who isn’t.

If you have a formula for figuring this out, please share it with me.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

USA skies threatened with barely regulated drones

(Illustration source)

                                    Good Day World!

I’m down on drones.

Not the one’s the military are using – that’s another story.

I’m talking about much smaller drones.

The one’s that are available to American hobbyists/consumers, businesses, and people with bad intentions. 

Rogue drones operators are rapidly becoming a threat to our national security as they interfere with private, commercial, and firefighting aircraft. They invade sensitive airspace and private property — with the regulators of the nation’s skies largely powerless to stop them.

BAD INTENTIONS

Men Planned to Use Drone to Fly Contraband Into Md. Prison, Authorities Say

CLOSE CALLS

This year, two drones flew illegally near the White House, with one landing on the lawn.

HOBBYISTs or BAD INTENTIONS?

$75,000 in rewards offered to catch operators who flew drones above fires

Cheap Drones Are Interfering With Firefighters' Work

FAA records detail hundreds of close calls between airplanes and drones

BUSINESS DRONES

37 Critical Problems that need to be Solved for Drone Delivery to become Viable

ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN

Meanwhile, the lax regulation we have consists largely of an educational campaign that warns drone pilots of the few rules that exist, such as no flights more than 400 feet in the air, or no flights within 5 miles of an airport.

Lack of U.S. drone regulations creating dangerous ‘Wild West’ in American skies

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Fake African-Americans Hurt the Black Rights Movement

Good Day World!

There’s a lot of confused people out there.

Some “disremember” things and come up with alternative realities. Others are blissfully ignorant or looking for some other form of recognition.

Some are just clueless.

For example, take Rachael Dolezal, a former NAACP leader and Africana studies professor whose white parents publicly disputed her claims of being a black woman. Why did she have to lie about her race?

Dolezal ended up sapping legitimacy from the black rights movement.

It seems whites claiming to be African-American are fashionable nowadays. It’s kind of hard to understand, considering all the challenges blacks in America face. But it’s becoming a common theme.

Most recently Shaun King, a leader of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, has been accused of lying about his race.

I’m sure these racial imposters mean well. They just over compensate by trying to take on a racial identity to show solidarity. Nevertheless they aren’t helping black activists when they get “outed.”

Attacks from the right delegitimize the white folks who find value in the “Black Lives Matter” movement in finding them, in some cases, untrustworthy and, in other cases, crazy.

I can think of other efforts by whites disguising themselves as black, that were more effective.

In 1948, journalist Ray Sprigle disguised himself as a black man and wrote a series of articles under the title, "I Was a Negro in the South for 30 Days," which was published in many newspapers.

There’s also the more well-known story of “Black Like Me” a nonfiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin which was first published in 1961.

Griffin was a white native of Dallas, Texas and the book describes his six-week experience travelling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia passing as a black man.

You’ll notice however that in both cases the men reverted back to their white identity after a certain period of time. Their deception was short-lived but it gave a realistic look at the lives of blacks without ultimately lying about their own race.

Black activists – regardless of their color – would do well to read both accounts. That way the minions on the Right won’t have fodder to discredit the “Black Lives Matter” activists.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

What does paradise look like to you?

Good Day World!

Simply put, paradise is a term for a place of timeless harmony.

There are many versions of paradise.

Christians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and followers of Islam all have their own versions.

Individuals often have their own concept of what paradise looks like. I know I do, but before I share that with you, what’s your version of paradise?

“The Abrahamic faiths associate paradise with the Garden of Eden, that is, the perfect state of the world prior to the fall from grace, and the perfect state that will be restored in the World to Come.

In old Egyptian beliefs, the otherworld is Aaru, the reed-fields of ideal hunting and fishing grounds where the dead lived after judgment.

For the Celts, it was the Fortunate Isle of Mag Mell.

For the classical Greeks, the Elysian fields was a paradisiacal land of plenty where the heroic and righteous dead hoped to spend eternity.

The Vedic Indians held that the physical body was destroyed by fire but recreated and reunited in the Third Heaven in a state of bliss.

In the Zoroastrian Avesta, the "Best Existence" and the "House of Song" are places of the righteous dead.” (Source)

SO WHAT IS MY VERSION OF PARADISE? 

A lush landscape. Unpolluted air. A place where I’ll be reunited with friends and family forever.

There’ll be free high-grade marijuana plants growing in endless rows with vaporizer stations nearby with compassionate bud tenders.

Led Zeppelin will be playing “Stairway to Heaven” while we all dance the days away. Oh yeah, and there won’t be any politicians, or lawyers, to harsh our highs!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

 

I don’t mean to be facetious, but…

Good Day World!

Sometimes it’s best to have flippant views of the news.

The world is so damn serious it’s stressful. Of course, it’s all on how you look at things.

A playful attitude can put a silly spin on almost any news items. Being irreverent can also be about scathing condemnations.

PLAYFUL

North Korea is threatening war. Again. International observers have lost count on how many times the dark and dingy communist bastion has declared war on someone. They liken it to the cautionary tale of the boy crying wolf.

This latest dire warning is over eleven loud speakers. Talk about a war of words. This story would be scary if it wasn’t over such a stupid reason. Someone needs to tell the moon-faced leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, that words won’t hurt him.

FLIPPANT

The current birthright citizen debate has been like Brer Rabbit (from Tales of Uncle Remus) getting stuck in the briar patch for some GOP presidential candidates.

Both Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal's parents were not citizens at the time of their sons' births, although they were in the United States legally. Can you say awkward?

Sticky wicket eh? Other GOP candidates are calling for nixing birthright citizenship, apparently specifically targeting the children of undocumented immigrants. That ought to be popular with Hispanics…NOT!

IRREVERENT

The last story I’m going to comment on is this one:

'Super Predators': Humans Hunting Animals of Wrong Size and Age

How many studies does it take to figure out mankind is the ultimate predator? That fact was evident when early man fashioned weapons and went on a killing spree that has spanned the centuries until modern times.

Frankly, I’d rather see a study about saving animals. Or, why humans have to kill for sport? We know that we’re the most powerful and cruel animal on Earth. Maybe someday we’ll figure out how to live with other species without slaughtering them!

Time for me to walk on down the road…