Let’ Share – What Are Some of Your Daily Rituals?

                                     Good Day World!

I have daily rituals.

You may relate to this one:

One of the first things I do when I wake up is to put on a pot of coffee.

Without my morning caffeine fix my brain stays stuck in first gear. It takes two cups of Joe to facilitate the transformation from near zombie to a functioning person.

I think, in all fairness, what I have is an addiction and a ritual.

Rituals are a feature of all known human societies.

They include not only the worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also rites of passage, atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sporting events, Halloween parties, veterans parades, Christmas shopping and more. (source)

Another ritual I have:

When watching my favorite pro basketball team, The Los Angeles Lakers, I do this little thing with my hands to jinx the opposition when they’re taking free throws. Just before the shooter releases the ball, I shake my hands violently (in fantasy theory distracting him).

The crazy thing is I try not to overuse this tactic because if it comes to crunch time I want my mojo to be strong!

So what daily rituals do you have? C’mon…we all have them.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Coming Soon: Wal Mart Shoppers in Texas Openly Carrying Weapons

Good Day World!

Call me silly, but I’m just not comfortable sitting in a restaurant with people openly displaying pistols and assault-rifles.

When I think about how easy open-carry laws make it for nuts of all kinds to shoot people, I have to cringe. Someone as crazy as a loon can buy a weapon and walk around with it in public places now in Texas.

Please don’t tell me loons don’t “legally’ buy weapons. Happens every day. Especially in Texas, a mecca for anti-government and general conspiracy theories where backround checks to buy weapons are a joke.

The loons had to hide their weapons before. Now Texas has made it that much easier for wack jobs to “off” people in public settings by overturning a 145 years-old law.

That prohibition ended last month when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that made it legal to openly carry weapons on the streets of the nation's second most-populous state.

Some hailed the new law (fringe elements), and others (the general population) are simply not comfortable with it.

That’s the reason why an iconic Texas restaurant chain will not allow the open carrying of guns on its properties when the law goes into effect next January.

Whataburger — with some 780 locations in 10 states – president and CEO Preston Atkinson said many employees and customers are "uncomfortable being around someone with a visible firearm."

Duh…no kidding. Not too many people enjoy eating in a room full of weapons on display. Doesn’t do much for anyone’s digestion.

Especially when some pro-open carry advocates bring military-style assault rifles into businesses to make a point. That action prompted the Chipotle restaurant chain to discourage firearms on their premises.

Whataburger's decision is expected to pave the way for other restaurants to enact similar policies that will further limit where gun owners can openly carrying their beloved firearms.

But what about other private businesses? Imagine people strolling through Sears carrying semi-automatic rifles?

You want scary? Imagine armed Wal Mart shoppers!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Mean memes, Propaganda Memes and Funny Memes

Good Day World!

Not all memes are created equal.

A meme a day won’t keep the doctor away.

Great memes don’t all think alike.

Funny memes make us laugh (see photo of 2 dogs).

Propaganda memes reflect the worst in our society by spreading lies. For example I found one meme floating around on Facebook that was totally faked and full of hate. It centers around the Benghazi  controversy and the murder of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

The meme on the right is one of many particularly vicious one’s regarding the ambassador’s death. It is also completely FAKE.

He was overcome with smoke inhalation while trying to flee the burning compound and was discovered by some civilians who took him to Benghazi Medical Center where he suffered a cardiac arrest and doctors were unable to revive him.

His body was never desecrated and was shipped back to the states where an autopsy was performed before being turned over to his family.

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Then there are mean memes. This one of an overweight little boy is just one example of what’s being thrown about in social media sites.

Overweight people are a common target for mean memes.

Political memes can also be extremely mean and have become a common fixture in any election. It seems being mean is very popular.

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

Suffer the Children: 10,000 Kids Killed or Injured Every Year With Guns

                                            Good Day World!

America’s children have become victims of politics. 

Injuries from firearms send an estimated 7,000 kids to the ER every year, and an additional 3,000 children die from gunshot wounds before they can get to a hospital, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Doctors are pointing to the new data as further evidence of the serious public health toll that gun violence takes on America’s youth.

That should come as no surprise. The United States’ rate of mortality from firearms is about ten times higher than the rates in other wealthy nations.

The National Rifle Association’s assault on any gun laws have subdued Congress and destroyed every legislative attempt to correct the situation.

The results are scary.

The number of kids being killed by guns in the U.S. has been steadily rising over the past several decades, and the issue has captured headlines as the number of school shootings has intensified.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) estimates that firearms are one of the top three causes of death among children, killing twice as many kids as cancer does.

What can be done about this problem?

Some legal experts have suggested raising the legal age to purchase a handgun to 21, since research has demonstrated that there’s a peak in gun violence among youth between the ages of 18 and 20.

The AAP has also pushed for expanded background checks and safe storage to ensure that guns aren’t falling into the wrong hands. And more states could move to make adults criminally liable for allowing kids to have access to guns.

These are a few ideas that would help. There has to be other things that can be done to save our children from guns.

Our federal government, and state governments, need to put more emphasis on this problem. Children need to be more of a priority in American. Both their safety and education should be a national priority.

Sadly, that’s not the case. One can only hope we wake up in time to stem this deadly tide.

Time for me to walk on down the road…  

 

Rest in Peace ‘Red Dog’ – I’m Going to Miss You

A dear friend of mine, Robert Cunningham aka “Red Dog” passed away yesterday (photo). I feel like I lost a brother. There were five of us, all high school buddies who stayed in contact these past 50 years.

Now there’s only four. Tom, Larry, Ernie, and me.

I want you to know that Red Dog was very intelligent and a compassionate man. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and espoused passionate beliefs throughout his life.

He was also a loyal friend who was at my side during many important times in my life.

He was at Shirley and I’s wedding 41 years ago this August. At one point I came up to him and patted him on the back. He responded by throwing up on the table! I never let him forget that embarrassing moment – and he owned it in many conversations afterward.

Red Dog went to all three of my sons high school graduations, and their marriages. He was always there for important events in my life.

I don’t know how many times we went to wineries and restaurants as a group and had a fantastic time. Wine, love, laughter. Good times. Wonderful memories. Red Dog cracking us all up with his quick wit.

Red Dog was an independent person, unencumbered by many of societies rules. He was never afraid to speak his mind. And he had a lot of friends. It was an honor to be one of them.

I grieve for his passing. Just another sign of my mortality. He was younger than me. He was going to retire this year. He had the whole world ahead of him.

His big heart gave out yesterday. It’s hard to believe. Just a few days ago we were joking about a portable sauna that you can take camping. He said a luxury like that wasn’t really camping.

Red Dog knew about camping, daily walks, and hiking. He explored many beautiful national parks and especially loved Yosemite. He went on the harrowing 14-mile hike up Half Dome at least twice.

He was careful about the food he ate, always conscious of his weight and health.

Yet, Red Dog isn’t here today. I sure hope he’s in a place that allows dogs because he loved them dearly!

Good bye old Buddy…Cheers! 

I’ll see you down the line.

 

How Much For That Politician in the Window?

    Good Day World!

It’s easy to openly buy our politicians these days because of the corruption in both our government and the Supreme Court.

Illustration by Steve Brodner

The days of funneling money to politicians secretly are gone and forgotten. And why not? In today’s political climate there are no limits to how much money can be donated to buy influence.

In recent years, federal courts have knocked down barriers against the practice. A series of decisions, most notably the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, now effectively allows people and companies to spend as much as they like.

Perhaps the last bastion of restraint fell on April 2, 2014.

News item:

“Everyone knows that money talks. But today, the Supreme Court made it official: political donations are speech. Therefore, they ruled, the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment applies to them too. And that means removing the limits.”

So how can you buy a politician? I’m glad you asked. Check this video out:

How to Buy a Politician

Now let’s look at:

Who wants to buy a Politician?

Okay, now that you know how to buy a pol of your very own are you wondering What do people "buy" with the money they give to politicians?

I leave you with an article that’s five years-old, but still rings true today:

Who Owns Congress?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Jellyfish Stings, Muscle Cars, Tweeting Nazis, and More

Good Day World!

It’s my sad duty to report that urine doesn’t help with jellyfish stings. I don’t care what old wives tale you’ve been told, it’s actually the worse thing you could use!

Beach-goers on both coasts should know this. Perhaps what’s needed are additional signs – WARNING – PEE ON YOUR JELLYFISH STING AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

I grew up in the era of Muscle Cars, but cars today make them look slow. You can buy a car (street legal mind you) that rockets from 0-60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds with the press of a button!

We all have our heroes. In politics the names of famous statesmen get bantered about during election campaigns. Presidential candidates like to shamelessly throw out names of people who are also in the public eye.

On a scale of 1 to 10 for bad names to banter about, Ted Cruz easily earns a solid minus one! Why? Remember how important the Hispanic vote is to Ted? Guess who says he’s a big fan of Donald Trump!! Yep! Ted.

A clever campaigner…or just plain stupid? Your call.

Speaking of The Donald…

Trump campaign mistakenly tweets star-spangled Nazis

This story sounds like it could have been a fictional children’s book, but it’s true:

Police in Colorado say a stuffed toy helped save a 5-year-old girl's life after she fell out of a third-story apartment window.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Have You ever known a Hero?

                                        Good Day World!

Simply defined, a hero is a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.

My definition of a hero has evolved over the span of sixty-four years.

My earliest hero was Davy Crockett, as portrayed by Fess Parker on the Walt Disney Show. My Dad bought me a coonskin hat and a wooden replica of a cap-and-ball pistol that was the hot seller in toy stores in the early 1950s.

It wasn’t long before Davy was replaced with Audie Murphy, a WW II hero that went into the movies after the war was over. He was the most decorated combat veteran in the war.

Up until I was about 10 years-old, my hero’s all centered around WW II. My dad was a Marine stationed in the Pacific theater. My uncle was killed fighting in the Philippines. But it was the Hollywood hero's who captured my attention.

As I struggled through my preteens, my hero’s were baseball, basketball, and football players. Mickey Mantle and Jerry West weren’t just hero’s, they were gods.

When I entered my teens the world was reshaped. My new hero’s were Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. Credence Clearwater Revival and The Animals along with other fantastic rock groups also became my hero’s.

I wanted to be the next Bob Dylan or Woodie Gruthrie.

Then I turned 19 and went to Vietnam. Fighting for survival left me little time for hero’s. My best friend and I were ambushed in Cambodia in May of 1970. He was killed and I survived. Rogers was a hero. He always had my back.

After getting married in 1974 and having kids, I didn’t have time to ponder on who my hero’s were.

When my three sons grew up and went about their lives I began reflecting on all of my life experiences – and discovered something special:

My hero is/and always was my Dad. I just finally figured it out.

After raising three sons I understand him now better than ever. His good heart, intelligence, ability to adapt to any situation, and unconditional love makes him a real hero in my book.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Meet the Man Who Hopes to Reverse Legal Marijuana in America

Good Day World!

The man in this photo is trying to reverse all medical marijuana laws (23 states and DC) and legal recreational cannabis laws in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon.

His name is James Wootton, and he doesn’t give a damn about the positive aspects of marijuana. He could care less that the majority of Americans want legalized cannabis.

He could give a rat’s ass about what voters want. His personal crusade is to turn the clock back on all marijuana advancements made in the last decade. He cloaks his reason for this by claiming he’s saving America’s youth.

Forget the fact that alcohol kills more young Americans (and old) every year than pot. There’s zero pot deaths every year. That should tell the story to any reasonable person about which choice is more dangerous.

But Wootton doesn’t care. He shucks off facts like fleas on a dogs back. Here’s his online petition:

Lawsuit to Block the Legalization of Marijuana

His tact of using the U.S. Constitution to make his case is a manipulation of legalese coming from a strong conservative viewpoint.

Regardless of Wootton’s interpretation, States do have rights. Voters in those states have rights. The fact that one man is leading the campaign against pot tells you something. He’s not representing the majority of Americans.

Wootton could care less however. He’s using a federal law crafted to fight the mob to give marijuana opponents a new strategy in their battle to stop the expanding industry: racketeering lawsuits.

Wootton’s assault began by suing a Colorado pot shop and a laundry list of firms doing business with it — from its landlord and accountant to the Iowa bonding company guaranteeing its tax payments.

One by one, the defendants (afraid of massive legal fees) agreed to stop doing business with Medical Marijuana of the Rockies. That resulted in the business closing its doors. The owners had to sell off their pot at fire-sale prices.

With another lawsuit pending in southern Colorado, the cases represent a new approach to fighting marijuana. If the federal government won't stop its expansion, pot opponents say, federal racketeering lawsuits could.

Marijuana is legal under state laws. Wootton and cronies are claiming any marijuana business is organized crime under a loose definition of the RICO act.

The last time I looked, voters don’t vote for drug lords. By criminalizing all the people who can now legally use marijuana, Wootton hopes to stake a place out for himself in history.

Much like that ass Harry J. Anslinger who was responsible for making marijuana illegal in America in the first place after campaigning against it for seven years (1930-1937). The lies he spread are still told today. And they were lies.

Wootton continues in the same tradition.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

What Scott Walker and Andrew Carnegie Have in Common

Good Day World!

Presidential wannabe, Scott Walker, has something in common with Andrew Carnegie.

Both thought worker’s shouldn’t have any rights.

In Walker’s latest attack on Wisconsin workers he took away their guarantee of one day off per week. Now employers can force people to work seven days a week!

It’s hard to believe Wisconsin is even in today’s America. Walker, as governor, has turned the clock back more than a 100 years when American workers literally had no rights.  

His union busting has helped employers keep wages down to a minimum.

In 2012 Walker took away workers collective bargaining rights. Like Carnegie, he believes workers don’t deserve a living wage, forcing them into an endless cycle of poverty.

The amendment that Walker introduced dismantled a rule that had been in place since 1927, guaranteeing workers 24 hours off a week. Just another example of Walker administration's efforts to roll back worker protections.

Classical economists saw labor as commodity, to be bought and sold according to market demands. Walker is obviously a follower of that theory.

When Andrew Carnegie saw the move toward cooperation as opposed to competition he lamented “…the destruction of individualism, private property and the law of accumulation is upon us.”

The difference between Carnegie and Walker is that Carnegie finally figured out he’d been a bastard when it came to business and how he treated workers. During the last 18 years of Carnegie’s life, he gave away $350 million to charities, foundations, and universities.

Don’t expect Walker to wise up however. He doesn’t give away money, he collects it, and cronies in the form of PACs collect it for him.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Fringe elements in Texas are sure martial law will be declared today

Good Day World!

Texas under martial law.

U.S. troops patrolling chaotic streets.

Detention and rounding up of citizens.

FEMA trains that oddly enough look like the trains that the Nazis used in WW II.

A labyrinth of tunnels built under Walmart stores for military attacks on civilians.

A dictatorship under President Barack Obama.

Sound crazy?

Not to some conservative extremists in Texas.

The Texas Republican Party platform has long reflected concerns over federal and international overreach, with calls for a U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations and the elimination of the Federal Reserve.

When a U.N. agency named the Alamo, the location of a famed 1836 battle in the fight for Texas Independence, a World Heritage Site earlier this month, some Texans saw the move as a prelude to an international takeover.

What’s really frying some Texan’s grits is planned military training drills in the West and Southwest, including in the Lone Star state.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command exercise, called Jade Helm 15, has brought these fears to a crescendo. Some of the exercises, scheduled from July 15 to Sept. 15, will be held in this city located east of Austin.

FACT

Jade Helm will be held on public and private land, with the permission of landowners. The military said Army Special Operations Forces will train in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, with the terrain intended to replicate areas where soldiers find themselves operating overseas.

RESPONSE

In a move a Dallas Morning News editorial called "cringe-worthy," Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said he would dispatch the Texas State Guard to monitor Jade Helm to make sure it does not impinge on Texans' freedom.

Really? Apparently, the fringe element extends all the way to the Governor’s office.

Perhaps, because Texas is such a large state, it’s just a matter of odds – more people, more fringe lunatics. Whatever the reasons, conspiracy theories outnumber jackrabbits in Texas.

You don’t see the other states involved in the exercise going crazy with outrageous accusations. That’s because they’re in touch with reality, unlike the fringe elements in Texas.

The Lone Star state stands alone when it comes to crazy theories, and crazier responses to unfounded accusations.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Tunnel Tech: Mexican Cartels, U.S. Border Patrol Wage Underground War

    Afternoon update…new story                                

                                      Good Day World!

Mexican authorities have been searching frantically for the notorious drug kingpin known as "El Chapo” after his astonishing, elaborate escape from a maximum-security prison.

In a devastating embarrassment for the Mexican government, the kingpin, Joaquin Guzman, slipped into a shaft through the shower floor of his prison cell and got away in a mile-long, ventilated tunnel outfitted with a motorbike.

When it comes to tunnel tech, Mexicans have become experts.

According to the U.S.Border patrol there are four general methods for detecting tunnels:

Seismic activity (low frequency digging noises and tunnel transit noises)

Magnetic Anomaly (electrical power lines in the tunnel, metal digging tools or metal shoring)

Acoustic Activity (higher frequency noises)

Density Anomalies (the tunnel is a hole and so the amount of earth below the surface changes when you dig a tunnel)

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

One of the best ways to find a tunnel is to make a history of the area and then compare that history with what you initially found.

What is required is to first benchmark the border in such detail that any tunnel large enough to pose a threat can be recorded. The tunnel detector won't know that it found a tunnel, it will just record what it "saw."

Once a history is recorded for the border area of interest then new scans will show changes which would hint at something that is very likely to be a tunnel.

Some tunnels can be 3,000 feet long, three feet wide and seven feet high with concrete floors, railroad rails, electric lights, water pumps, and Port a-Potties half way along the tunnel.

Such tunnels are very deep.

Another good way to detect these tunnels is to detect not the tunnel, but the dirt being hauled away.

If you have a line array of seismic sensors and you listen to all the noises that are coming from south of the border then it is pretty easy to detect the thumps of trucks full of dirt driving over bumps.

By using several sensors it is possible to "point" to the spot where all those bump noises are happening. If this system determines that somebody must be building a ten story building and all that's on the site is a one story wooden house, then TUNNEL might leap to mind.

The best way - according to DHS in their instructions to border people - to find tunnels is to drive your vehicle over the ground and when your wheel falls in a hole, you have discovered a tunnel (really).

Despite the tunnel tech methods I’ve described drug cartels continue to make them by countering with their own methods – adapting after every discovery. So why do they even bother with tunnels?

Simple. Because they’re the cheapest (and safest) way to smuggle drugs and contraband into our country today.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Two Presidential Candidates to Avoid If You’re Pro-Marijuana

Good Day World!

Democratic and Republican candidates running for the presidency have stated their positions on medical and recreational marijuana legalization numerous times in the past.

Now someone has put together a guide detailing what presidential candidates think about marijuana legalization – both recreational and medical.

The folks at the Marijuana Policy Project have released their Voters Guide to the 2016 Presidential Race, detailing the candidates’ positions on marijuana policy.

They even gave them grades. The two worst grades given out – to no one’s surprise - went to Chris Christie and Rick Santorum.

Christie has even gone so far to say he’d turn the clock back on all of the progress made toward legalizing marijuana. 

Chris Christie

The New Jersey governor not only opposes marijuana legalization, but has spoken out repeatedly against states that have legalized it. He opposed the New Jersey medical marijuana law, which was passed before he became governor, and has hampered its effectiveness with strict limitations he has imposed.

Christie on marijuana policy:

"[Marijuana legalization]’s not gonna come while I’m here … See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado where there’s head shops popping up on every corner and people flying into your airport just to come and get high. To me, it’s just not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey and there’s no tax revenue that’s worth that." —International Business Times, July 25, 2014

*******

[In response to the question,"If you were president, how would you treat states that have legalized marijuana?"] "Probably not well. Not well, but we’ll see. We’ll have to see what happens." —Huffington Post, June 20, 2014

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[When asked if he would enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized and regulated marijuana:] "Absolutely, I will crack down and not permit it." …States should not be permitted to sell it and profit [from legalizing marijuana]." —Huffington Post, April 14, 2015

Rick Santorum

The former US senator from Pennsylvania rejects marijuana legalization for any purpose, does not believe states have the right to set their own pot policies, and supports enforcing federal drug laws even in states that have voted to legalize it.

Santorum on marijuana and drug policy:

"I think Colorado is violating the federal law. And if we have controlled substances, they’re controlled substances for a reason. The federal law is there for a reason, and the states shouldn’t have the option to violate federal law. As Abraham Lincoln said, you know, states don’t have the right to wrong." —HughHewitt.com, April 16, 2015

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"The federal government does have a role in making sure that drug use—that states don’t go out and legalize drugs. That there are drugs that are hazardous to people, that do cause great harm to the individual as well as society to the whole.

And the federal government has a role in making sure those drugs are not in this country and not available and that people who use them illegally are held accountable. Ideally states should enforce these laws but the federal government has a role because it is a public health issue for the country." —Santorum campaign event, Jan. 9, 2012.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Cruz Caught Cheating, His Book Got Buying Bumps From PACS

    Good Day World!

Getting caught cheating is not a path to the presidency. Its something presidential hopeful Ted Cruz needs to learn.

The New York Times has refused to put his bestseller on their list after finding evidence that his book sales were not authentic.

“According to New York Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy, “In the case of Cruz’s book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.”

Strategic bulk purchases is a polite way of saying that Cruz, his super PAC, or organization that he cut a deal with, bought the books in bulk to inflate his sales numbers and land him on the bestseller list.

Republicans have been using this tactic for years. Sarah Palin had her super PAC buy $64,000 worth of her books in 2010.

Mitt Romney landed on the bestseller list by declining speaking fees and forcing universities to buy tens of thousands of copies of his book.

Ben Carson’s “bestseller” was fueled by a pro-Carson super PAC buying up $150,000 of his books.

Bestseller list rigging appears to be a uniquely Republican phenomenon. President Obama became a legitimate best-selling author, the same goes for former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.” (source)

For more about how tactics are used by right-wing groups to pressure the media and spread misinformation to the public read The Republican Noise Machine

Republican candidates have been gaming bestseller lists for years, but list makers like The New York Times are beginning to catch on, much to the chagrin of people like Ted Cruz.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Gangsters are a bigger threat than international terrorists

Good Day World

Make no mistake, more Americans are killed by gangsters than from international terrorists.

According to FBI statistics there’s 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 1.4 million members are criminally active in the U.S. today.

Many are sophisticated and well organized; all use violence to control neighborhoods and boost their illegal money-making activities, which include robbery, drug and gun trafficking, fraud, extortion, and prostitution rings.

The number of gangs in the U.S. is on the rise across the country, as is gang-related violence, with no sign that it will let up anytime soon, according to a leading expert.

The gangsters continue to get younger. A fatal shooting allegedly carried out by a baby-faced 12-year-old named Jarrell Milton is the most recent example of gang violence in Nebraska.

Experts all agree that the problem remains a generational one: Gang members raising their children into the lifestyle.

In addition, gangs are using the allure of hip hop stardom to draw recruits. Slickly produced music videos uploaded online show members counting money, cooking drugs and flashing firearms.

To get a current overview of gang activity throughout the country go to the National Gang Center website.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE

Gang Violence Is on the Rise, Even as Overall Violence Declines

No city is safe from gangs.

While Washington DC deals with multiple neighborhood-based street crews that could span just three blocks, surrounding suburbs are homes to chapters of national gangs, such as Bloods and MS-13.

In the Virginia suburbs, “every town, every city, every county is at risk,” said Robert Vilchez, Arlington County Regional Gang Task Force coordinator. “Nobody is immune from this gang problem.”

The only way to really address our national gang problem is to break the generational gang ties. That’s going to take education and dedication from the communities riddled with gangs.

This idea is nothing new. There’s individual programs in communities that attempt to steer children away from a life of crime, but they are often limited by scant funds and participation from families.

The gang culture has to change. As long as gangsters are idolized by youngsters, they will continue to recruit them through the media, online videos, and from within gang families.

Perhaps that’s why I look at these gangs as domestic terrorists, and more of a threat to our society than international terrorists. 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Clueless comments common in presidential campaign

  Good Day World!

It’s absolutely amazing to hear some of the world-class out-of-touch comments coming from political candidates these days.

One of my recent favorites came from Jeb Bush when he told New Hampshire’s The Union Leader that to grow the economy, “…people should work longer hours.”

He later went on to clarify his comment (something he has had to do a lot of since declaring his candidacy). In a statement, a Bush aide clarified that he was referring to the underemployed and part-time workers.

Jeb isn’t the only clueless candidate.

Without a doubt, Donald Trump epitomizes clueless when it comes to politics and what Americans want in a leader. The guy is a joke, but Republicans aren’t laughing because he’s burning their brand with comments such as calling Mexican immigrants, "rapists" and "killers."

The quotes that really rang the bell were Trump’s claiming to have “…a great relationship with the Mexican people.” And, that he was going to “win the Latino vote” in the 2016 presidential election!

Then we have the following:

Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon who believes the human brain is too complex for anyone but God, and who compares gays to child molesters.

“Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn't matter what they are.”

Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist who refuses to talk about the age of the Earth and who thinks people in government are after him.

Paul didn’t help his credibility as a presidential candidate by declaring, during his Monday Senate speech against National Security Agency counterterrorism surveillance, that “people here in town think I’m making a huge mistake. Some of them, I think, secretly want there to be an attack on the United States so they can blame it on me.”

Marco Rubio, a man who doesn’t believe in climate change (despite the opinion of 97% of the world’s climate experts), or that man contributes to it.

“Our climate is always changing,” he said, noting that human activity has nothing to do with it and that any efforts to do something about it “will destroy our economy.”

Ted Cruz, a Harvard-trained lawyer beloved by creationists. He flat-out doesn’t believe in climate change.

Cruz is convinced the whole thing is a hoax. “The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming,” he told CNN earlier this year. “Contrary to all the theories that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn’t happened.”

Anyway, I could go on and on, but this is enough for today.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Message to Millennials: Ear Buds Aren’t Your Buds!

                                         Good Day World!

Now hear this…

Pull those ear buds out before it’s too late!

Doctors warn that a steady onslaught of loud noise, particularly through ear buds, is damaging the hearing of a generation wired for sound — although they may not realize it for years.

Earlier this year the World Health Organization warned that 1.1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss because of personal audio devices, such as smartphones, and damaging levels of sound at entertainment venues like electronic dance music festivals, where noise levels can top 120 decibels for hours, according to an NBC report.

"Probably the largest cause [of hearing damage] is millennials using iPods and [smartphones]," says Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri, an ear, nose, and throat specialist from Munster, Indiana.

Hearing loss among today's teens is about 30 percent higher than in the 1980s and 1990s, Cherukuri estimates.

"You (once) had a Walkman with two AA batteries and headphone thongs that went over your ears," he told NBC News.

"At high volume, the sound was so distorted and the battery life was poor. Nowadays, we have smart phones that are extremely complex computers with high-level fidelity."

Cherukuri tells young patients to stop wearing headphones — especially earbuds, which place the sound closer to the ear drum, enhancing volume by as much as 9 decibels.

According to the National Institutes of Health, repeated exposure to sound over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. Permanent damage can happen in minutes, experts say, and when the damage is done, it's irreversible.

"Noise exposure in kids is a growing concern," said Nicole Raia, a clinical audiologist at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.

Raia said she sees more tinnitus in young people, an early sign of hearing loss, but, "we don't catch them until they are in their 20s and 30s."

A study published in 2014 revealed that nerve synapses can be more vulnerable to damage than hair cells in the inner ear.

WHAT TO DO

Experts say the best way to protect young ears is to apply the "60/60" rule: Keep the volume on the MP3 player under 60 percent and only listen for a maximum of 60 minutes a day.

When using headphones in a noisy place like a school bus or subway, the tendency is the turn the volume up, so use headphones that cover up outside noise.

How is your hearing? Take this online audio test

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A 3-D printed car, 5-story apartment building, and other amazing 3-D products

"3D-Printed-Building-5641" by EdytaZwirecka - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3D-Printed-Building-5641.jpg#/media/File:3D-Printed-Building-5641.jpg

                                       Good Day World!

In the 1960s it was – “Beam me up Scotty.”

In 2016, it will be “Go ahead and 3-D me a car please.” 

I wondered where 3-D technology would go when I first read about it in 2010. What’s amazing is how fast 3-D printing has become commercial. It seems literally anything can be 3-D printed.

Some examples:

Startup Local Motors plans to get into the automotive industry next year when it launches what it promises will be the world's first 3D printed car.

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A Chinese company has successfully 3-D printed a five-story apartment building and a 1,100 square meter villa from a special print material.

World's first 3D-printed apartment building constructed in China

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The 3-D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3D Printing In Zero-G) experiment by NASA demonstrates that a 3-D printer works normally in space. In general, a 3-D printer extrudes streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create 3 dimensional objects.

3D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3D Printing In Zero-G)

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What Can 3D Printing Do? Here Are 6 Creative Examples

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What’s next? Are you wondering what’s coming up in the 3-D printer world?

Here’s Five big 3D printing trends to shape the year ahead

Time for me to walk on down the road…

The New Normal: Why I feel like a dinosaur

Good Day World!

I feel like a dinosaur sometimes.

Try to imagine the following scene:

Your standing on the steps of the New York Public Library watching three fat nude women getting their bodies painted by an artist.   

Nearby, little children, and their parents, check out this blatant act of public nudity with curiosity…and not much more.

This event actually happened.

The event was organized by Kimberly Massengill — who goes by the name of Substantia Jones — to mark the eighth anniversary of the Adipositivity Project, which celebrates fat bodies and works to combat sexism.

Okay. So this is supposed to be a good thing.

When I was growing up this same scenario would have been viewed quite differently. All three women, and the artist, would have been arrested for public indecency. Parents would have covered their children eyes up and hoped they weren’t scarred for the rest of their lives.

As my fellow baby boomers and I fade away into history, it’s not without a sense of wonderment, and disgust, at how some things have changed. The new normal has no limits.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I just know that once you cross some boundaries there’s no turning back. Like the dinosaurs.

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

When You Know Things are Going Wrong : 3 Brief Stories

                                            Good Day World!

The following three stories that I’ve selected to share with you today go under the category – When You Know Things Are Going Wrong…

1) Things haven’t been going well for the Iraqi Army – their ability to fight ISIS has been called into question numerous times. Think Ramadi. They had 10 times as many soldiers as their ISIS attackers but they fled the moment they came into sight.

How much worse could it be than that?

How about bombing themselves? An Iraqi military plane returning from a raid targeting ISIS positions mistakenly dropped a bomb on a Baghdad neighborhood on Monday, killing or wounded at least 16 residents, according to an NBC report.

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2) There were more than 2,000 shootings in Chicago last year, and the city is on pace for more this year.

When You Know Things Are Going Wrong

Newspapers run weekend shooting trackers, and the July Fourth holiday numbers are stark: at least 46 people were wounded and 9 others killed — including a 7-year-old boy.

The reality for residents: everyone knows what gunfire sounds like. Families learn to stay away from windows. Parents pray for safety everyday they send their children to school.

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3) Airplanes and terrorists. No more “Friendly Skies.”

Flying anywhere in the world today involves some measure of security – from light to heavy – depending upon the country, destination, etc.

People panic at the slightest thought of a terrorist on board (or waiting to board). If a person fits the description of what a terrorist should look like, sound, and say, they could be arrested.

A recent example, Meditating Portuguese actor mistaken for terrorist on Paris plane 

Sometimes it makes you wonder if the terrorists are winning.

Time for me to walk on down the road…