Tag Archives: news

The Laws of the Road

Posted in Uncategorized by

I’m headed down the road and out of the corner of my eye, I see a police car. Instantly, my eye goes to the speedometer. We all do it, or at least most of us. None of us wants a speeding ticket. Not only is it a heavy fine, but my insurance would go up too. Perhaps, maybe I would lose my insurance altogether. For that matter, if I get too many speeding tickets, I could lose my operators license and have to walk a while, or maybe I could get a bicycle.

Yet the law does have a purpose, a reason to exist. Take for instance the car I saw coming up quickly behind me as I was going over the I-55 bridge on Goodman. I was going west at slightly below the speed limit as I was approaching a car in front of me going slower.

At this particular time, the traffic was not that bad and if the man wanted to get in the right lane and take the southbound lane for 55 he could have moved over and would have been completely unobstructed. However, instead of getting in the right lane, he quickly dodged in front of me without warning from the right and then into the left lane.

It somewhat confused me because there was noting at all keeping him from moving into the left lane before he reached me. Then, of all things, he made another lane change to get in front of the car in front of me. While I was still shaking my head about that maneuver, he moved over to the right lane and took the cloverleaf down to southbound I-55.

The wife and I had to just laugh at it, dangerous as it was. We couldn’t make up our minds whether he was a driver who was having a hard time making up his mind or if he was just a very reckless driver. Law or not, if his insurance agent had seen that little stunt, he would have probably had a very difficult time ever getting insurance again. Certainly, if I were his agent, I would have pulled his policy in a heartbeat.

I don’t know why people pull stunts like that. It absolute served no purpose and it did put others in danger. Regardless, most of us try to follow the rules of the road. It is a benefit to others when they know what we are going to do and it is even a benefit to ourselves. As my brother used to say, on our birthday, we all like surprises. While driving, not so much. It is far better that others know what I am going to do and it is better that I know what all the other drivers are going to do.

The rules of the road, the laws help us do that. Without the laws and conventions, driving would be far more difficult and very dangerous. Driving at whatever speed we want to go, might get us to our destination faster. On the other hand, we might not get there at all.

I have often said, I do respect the policeman, but maybe just a little less when he pulls me over. I mean there are many others out there that disobey laws much worse than me. Moreover, I do have places to go and people to meet. Besides, I was only going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit.

Indeed, in some such situations, it is most difficult to remember that that law enforcement officer is literally risking his life in order to keep me and my fellow motorists a little safer, in spite of my wanting to go just a little faster.

When you come right down to it, the motor vehicle codes of the various states are relatively new laws. They came onto the scene only sometime after 1900 when cars became commonplace, especially in the cities. In addition, the roads and highways have been built. In the days of the old west, it would be very difficult to find a street with a painted double yellow line, or for that matter, a left turn lane. It is fortunate that Edison invented his light when he did. It would be difficult to see where we are going and of course, there are the signal lights that started popping up all over the place.

Laws in general, however, are not new. Moreover, they are a vary important part of life. They are extremely necessary for civilization. Today, we have a political party that it would seem would like to do away with the laws and the law enforcement. I guess. I am a little guilty. However, it is the lawyers I’d like to reduce.

I have no idea when the first laws were made. I am sure there are some that would have some accurate estimates. Nonetheless, I suspect, the first time more than 50 or so people started to live in one village, some laws of some type started being made, even if they were not written. As I said, they are a requirement for people to live in proximity to each other. If not, the people will be at each other’s throats. In some regards, thy are anyway.

It is both Biblical and historical that when the Hebrews left Egypt, they were twelve tribes, not a nation. As near as I can tell, there were no laws, no rules. The only law they lived under were the laws and edicts of Egypt and the Pharaoh. It only made sense that one of the first things God did when He brought them out of bondage, that he gave them laws to live by.

However, these were not just any laws. They were the laws as made by God and they were presented to the Hebrew people as a gift. If they lived by them, the new nation would thrive and become rich and powerful. On the other hand, if they did not live by the law, then the nation would suffer. Indeed, Moses told them if they did not live by the law and refused to repent, that they would be sent into slavery.

It was not only a warning but a prophecy. Israel was first taken and then about a hundred years later, Judah became slaves. Both nations were warned & warned again and finally, as forewarned, the punishment was announced and carried through.

Before we go too far with this, let’s take another closer look at the law, first the Ten Commandments then many more. The combination was later referred to as simply the law. Let’s get one thing straight. The law was not given to all of mankind, but only to Israel, at least as near as I can tell. I have read the Bible many times and I have yet to find anything that says that the law was given to anyone outside of God’s chosen people.

God connected a blessing to the law, that if they obeyed the law, the nation of Israel would be great. We, as non-Jews are not given such a promise. However, there is a certain logic that tells us it is to our advantage to follow the laws. Would anyone suggest that lying would be a good thing for a nations citizenry? Is theft something that that would benefit any country? Certainly, if we could do away with murder in this nation, it would be far better for the US or any nation, for Mississippi or for any state and certainly for any city, great or small.

Yet as with the traffic officer, we have become defiant. There are those who want to defy the laws, whether from God or man, and we live and die recklessly as the man who gig-zagged past me and the car in front of me. He defied the law and he got away with it. No officer was there to see him so he did not get pulled over.

Yet, we all know that we are better off with the law and it would be better if the man had been caught in the act, so to speak.

Is it so horrible that we post the Ten Commandments in public places. On the other hand, is it better that we not remind the lawless to live by the law, regardless of where that law comes from.

Let’s face it. There are those in all societies that don’t like the law and they don’t like seeing it posted in front of them. They would prefer to ignore it. When they drive recklessly and are involved in an accident, it is someone else’s fault, not theirs. I mean, the streets, the cities, the world does belong to them, right.

Down With Tobacco

Posted in Uncategorized by

When I went into the Marines, I would guess that at least 75% in the armed services smoked. Even then the Surgeon General spoke of the evils of it. If I remember right, it was about then that the tobacco companies were asked to withdraw their advertisements from TV. After all, the ads were aimed at the youth of the time. They encouraged children to pick up the “cancer sticks,” as they were referred to.

To be sure, everyone knew they weren’t healthy, but many didn’t care, for a number of reasons. Certainly those in war zones where their life was in danger anyway, had little reason to give up smoking. After leaving the service, the habit had its hold in most of those who did not have the forethought of the hazards.

All four of my brothers picked up smoking and three smoked until the day they died. One of them gave up the habit at 70. Ironically, the smoking did not figure into the deaths of any of them. However, I knew many who did die of tobacco related deaths. I for one was glad to see the virtual death of the tobacco industry.

How-some-ever, when we tried to do away with alcohol, we failed. Most of the common, law abiding folks gave it up. However, if a person could look in on the lives of the rich, the famous and the politicians, I think we would have seen many who were living well outside the law and without anything that resembled a conscious or law enforcement for that matter.

I can’t prove it. I don’t have the where-with-all to do the research. However, you and I both know that for every death or injury caused by tobacco, there are likely 3 or 4 caused by alcohol. This is as measure of both direct and indirect.

I have seen the affects of alcohol both in person and in the news. The true question is, can the real measure of destruction ever be measured? I don’t know, but when I was in the Marines, I was told by truly reliable sources that alcohol caused more problems than all the other drugs in the Marine Corps. I would suspect it is also true in the other services.

Yet, drinking of alcoholic beverages is not discouraged. Indeed, it is encouraged. Those, as me, who do not drink quickly are on the outside. With any promotion over the rank of E-5, a “Wet down,” is expected. When I made E-6, I’m sure I was expected to do something, but I didn’t. When others had wet downs, I didn’t attend. When the squadron I was in had beer a party, I didn’t go. You can imagine the results that had.

When I was in Vietnam, we occasionally ran out of soft drinks, but never beer. The priority of alcohol, even in a combat zone was right at the top. I suppose something could be said about it helping the morale of the troops but what did it imply to those of us who didn’t drink.

While in the Marines, I thought it would be different in civilian life. The fact is that it is the same, just in a different way. Those who don’t drink are encouraged to start. Those who start as a result of the pressure and become alcoholics are fired because they can’t do their job anymore.

We no longer encourage children to smoke. On the other hand, drinking is encouraged regularly. Even family shows such as on Hallmark, show people drinking at virtually every opportunity. It is displayed as even more commonplace than it is.

Every time the TV crime solvers solve another crime, they meet in their favorite bar and they celebrate. I’m not in law enforcement but, I really hope that is not the common practice in reality. Moreover, I am sure there are those in law enforcement who don’t drink and I wonder how they are treated when I remember how it was for me while in the Marines.

It does make me wonder what might happen if the surgeon started requiring warning labels on bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages. I wonder what might happen if it would become illegal to advertise alcohol on TV. I wonder what might happen if people start becoming shamed for showing scenes of people drinking on TV, especially in a positive way.

I don’t think that will happen. For every ounce of power in our political system that tobacco had, alcohol has a pound, maybe two. It simply won’t happen. Nor will they start trying to tax the industry out of existence as with tobacco.

There is no way I would ever want tobacco to contribute to my income. However, if I were high in the industry of tobacco, I might have a tendency to yell, unfair. Moreover, I think I would have a just reason. Alcohol is much worse and, not only is it not discouraged, but it is encouraged. And yet, no one complains.

Little ol’ me; I really don’t think anyone is going to pay any attention to me, certainly not those who like the sauce, certainly not those who make their fortunes from it. In the meantime, people die from it. People become crippled and maimed in car accidents. Wives and children are abused because of it.

Then again, it’s not the fault of those who make and distribute it. Also, we all know how important the beverages are. Those who partake of them know that they just can’t live without them.

And so it is that we continue to encourage the most costly drug this nation has ever seen.

On the other hand, we sure did take out the tobacco industry, in what, two decades. Maybe it’s time to start suing those making whisky, when someone dies with a bad liver. (Don’t think that will work)

Watch, No Prison Time For Hunter

Posted in Uncategorized by

Remember, Hunter knows where all the skeletons are. He knows where all the bodies are buried. Behind the scenes, all the pressures are being applied. If it all fails, Old Joe will have to come through or Hunter will write a tell all book. When that happens, Old Joe will be but one of many to suffer.

How-some-ever, Hunter should pay the price. After all, it is the dems who have fought and are fighting for gun laws, such as the those that Hunter broke. Aren’t they trying to take guns away from drug users and mentally ill? Indeed, it is possible that Hunter might have used the gun while under the influence if he had kept it. It is the reason for the law.

If ANY LAW is not enforced, why have the law? if it is not enforced for Hunter, why for anyone? If Hunter is let off, others who are convicted will point the finger and ask, why do I go to prison and he got off Scott free? And they will have a point. They will be able to say he was not punished because of who he knows, especially should he be pardoned or sentence commuted.

One more thing. Hunter had a chance at making a deal and he didn’t. It sort of says, he still thinks he got away with it. He likely will. Old Joe said he did nothing wrong. Maybe its time he admit to Americans Hunter did do something wrong. Perhaps, now Old Joe will admit it to himself.

As an aside. Trump was convicted of a crime invented by the dems, by a dem prosecutor, with a highly biased dem judge, in a city of almost totally dems… and will likely be overturned. It might be overturned even before it reaches The Supreme Court.

Hunter, on the other hand was convicted of a well established law by political friendlies, that is to say, those in the jury likely were not republican. The only appeal likely will be to dear Ol Dad.

Let’s see if knowing the pres. will help him.

The Leadership of Pollsters?

Posted in Uncategorized by

There is an earth shaking decision to be made. Immediately, the order is made, “Ask the pollsters. And tell them hurry.”

Is it possible. Is it probable. Can it be that we are the nation being ruled by the pollsters. I guess, in a way, that is ruling by the people. That is to say, if the polls are fair and accurate.

Just how much is the poll being colored by the pollster. The choice of how the question is worded can make a 5 or maybe 10 points difference.

Of course, this is tongue & cheek. Still, I do wonder how many decisions are made based on polls. Consider the border. There was nothing on earth that would change the mind of Old Joe, or the dems for that matter. They are determined to increase their voter base.

Then, what? 5 months from the election, suddenly, Old Joe wants to send illegal aliens home.

Remember, nothing on earth could alter Joe’s mind. Well. Maybe that isn’t so. You see, 5 men with fancy brief cases and charts walk into the Oval Office and, instantly, Joe changed his mind.

Those 5 men, or was it 6. no one knows for sure. They must have been awfully powerful guys. They must have had some very convincing numbers, facts and figures.

Now, Old Joe is in a quandary. How does he keep the border open while blaming it on the Republicans. Then one of his brilliant yes men says, “I have an idea. We get that bill passed the Republicans shot down.”

Old Joe says, “That won’t work, will it. I mean, it didn’t work before.”

Another yes man jumps in. “We get the media to apply a lot of pressure. They paint them as obstructionist.”

And so it is, they march out the politicians and put them on the talk shows. Then a few weeks later, Old Joe has his visitors again.

Guess what. Suddenly Joe is talking really deporting illegal aliens. I mean, he’s not really going to do it. It will all be done with smoke and mirrors. All the while he deports them, he’ll be sneaking them in at night on big jets.

Well, so we see, the pollsters don’t really run the country, though sometimes it appears that way. That Old Joe, his puppetmasters are just too smart for those that do the polls.

For What Reason?

Posted in Uncategorized by

Thousands died because of the methods and procedures employed by Old Joe in Afghanistan. Are we supposed feel great because he had the right reason? Do you think it makes the surviving relatives feel better that Joe’s heart was in the right place? Does it make things 1 iota better to know that Joe really had the right motives?

I didn’t lose anyone remotely close to men becauseof that fiasco. Guess what, it doesn’t make me feel any better. It was a horrible mistake from beginning to end and I believe, for that reason, he deserves to be hung by his toes until he stops breathing. Unfortunately, he will have to wait to have that justice measured out to him. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect Hell already has a place with his name on it.

Nonetheless, I keep hearing that Benjamin Natenyahu is prolonging the war for political reasons. Let’s imagine that’s right. Does that make his decision any more right or wrong? More likely, it has nothing to do with it. If it’s right, then it is right regardless of reason.

I happen to believe that Old Joe’s reasons in Afghanistan were totally political. Is that what caused his plans to blow up in his face?

The fact of the matter is Old Joe is the primary reason the war between HAMAS and Israel has gone on as long as it has. It is because of the encouraging Joe keeps giving HAMAS. If Joe had kept his nose out of it all, the war would be over…a long time ago. There would have been far less destruction. There would have been far less death. But Joe don’t care. He hasn’t lost anyone he knew.

But, as long as we are going after people for doing the wrong thing for wrong reasons, it is abundantly clear Old Joe’s political gains are right at the top for his motivation. He doesn’t want to lose Michigan in the upcoming election.

Going back to one man I really look up to and respect. The enemy trying to destroy his nation and his people. Do you really want to believe folks here, thousands of miles from the problem, know any better or have any motive more pure than Primenister Natenyahu?

A Little Outside of My Expertise

Posted in Electric Automobiles by

I might be wrong and I likely am. It just seems to me that the auto engineers have bypassed the opportunity to rid electric cars of one of the weaknesses of cars, the differential. Ever since cars have made their entry on the scene they have had a weakness. Getting power from both power wheels and still allow them to turn at different speeds. It is why it is called a differential.

Many things have been done to resolve this problem with some success. Even so, at best it is at substantial cost and reliability. Positraction helps in situations where one of the power wheels may slip. Some of these possibilities include sand, ice or even loss of contact with the road.

As far as I know, all or most electric cars have one electric motor for each set of drive wheels. The 4 wheel drive cars use two motors, one for each set of wheels. At least this has some advantage. Power is delivered to the front and rear wheels separately which does permit maximum torque for front wheel and rear wheels independently. However, in this situation, there are two differentials, on each on the back and front wheels.

So, when they came up with electric cars, why one motor? Why not one motor for each wheel?

Well, as I said, it’s outside my knowledge. Still, it does make me wonder just how successful a car would be with two motors. I guess, a single motor failure might be a problem, but how often is that going to happen. Moreover, the car could be designed so that if one motor quit, the other one would too.

Then the question comes to mind, is the cost of two motors more than the cost of a differential. Also, the differential does add weight and reliability considerations.

The one thing I certainly have no understanding of, how would the car drive with two motors, with perhaps different torque to the wheels. Perhaps, tests would have to be made on the motors to get two matched motors. That in itself would add costs.

I don’t know. My wife is always telling me I think too much. Maybe I do.

The Solid South

Posted in Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, Politcal Opinion, Truth by

When we moved into Mississippi we moved into the Solid South and we knew it. It was a time that politicians around here did not admit to being Republican. And, by the way, there were very few Republicans, if they admitted it or not.

Virtually, almost literally, all public officials were Democrats. I would like to take credit for the rapid change but I think it was more a matter of timing.

In a matter of just a few years, it seemed the Solid South went from solid Democrat to solid Republican. One thing I found odd about that is that the Democrats that were holding office became the Republicans holding office. The terms changed but the people remained the same.

It caused me concerns but I simply did not know what to make of it. The same people I was opposing became the politicians for which I was voting. I’m not sure how that happened, to this day.

So I am now voting for people who were really Republicans that were in disguise or I am now voting for Democrats who are now in disguise.

I think a lot of that was going on all over the country. It was an enormous upheaval. The end of it all is that we now have a bunch of Democrats who are pretending to be Republicans. They simply did not want to give up the power base they built so they donned the sheepskin and pretended to be what they aren’t.

So it is we have what appears to be a solid Republican south, but in truth, it just ain’t that solid. There are many red states with representatives voting with the blue states. That’s just not working out well at all.

Not in My Lifetime

Posted in Electric Automobiles, Gas vs Electric, Going Green by

The declaration has been made. It has been determinedgames. couple of short decades, maybe a tad more, cars made in the US will not have internal combustion engines. I would argue the point. In fact I have very vigorously. Can’t see how that will happen, but the more I argued the point the less people listened.

So, I have accepted the inevitable. In fact, I bought an electric car. For me, it is really working out well. Considering how little I drive, it is wonderful. About every 4th day, I plug it in and go quietly motoring right by all the gas stations, which brings me to the real object of this post, gas stations.

Can you foresee it, the gradual fading away of something that polkadoted our landscape since, oh, about 1905 or 1910, I guess. Some would have to remain for some gas powered vehicles: trucks, buses, police cars, ambulances, etc, etc, and so forth.

The proverbial gas station will fade, fade away. We can and will likely fight it. However, those ecologist do seem unstoppable.

This means the service station will need to change or go out of business. It makes me wonder what it will be like, though I’ll not ever see it in my lifetime. Oh, I will see a little change here and there. But just how things will be are decades away, maybe longer. To be sure, obstacles will be encountered. Problems will have to be solved.

The way I see it, the biggest problem is charge time. Mostly, it slows the long trip. Let’s say I want to go see the Grand Canyon. It’s around 1500 miles from here. If I have a car that has a 300 mile range, it means at least 5 stops to recharge, more likely 6. That does assume recharge stations are located at ideal spots along the way. Right now, that means each stop must be a minimum of 30 minutes. That does not count time waiting for a charging station. You see that family that left this area 2 minutes before me will get to that charging station before me. That means waiting 30 minutes for him to finish charging his car.

Now, let’s look at the converted recharge station. Instead of 10 pumps, it now has 10 rechargers. Instead of taking 5 minutes to refill a gas tank we’re looking at 30 minutes, six times longer to recharge the cars.

I guess we won’t have as much gas stations, but likely 5 or 6 times as many charging stations.

I suppose this problem might be somewhat resolved with a charging system that is a lot faster. That does, of course, leave those in the future with 2 more problems. Distribution of that much electricity without a big improvement to the grid. The second problem is generating that much electricity without making a bunch of greenhouse gasses.

Some People Just Can’t Think Beyond Their Nose

Posted in Uncategorized by

As the official objective observer of Memphis, I can’t help but think those guys who live north of me can’t seem to go a day without shooting themselves in the foot.

The city government seems to intentionally be driving residents and businesses out of town with taxes and substandard schools. It would seem they are also getting help in their endeavor by the criminal element.

Surely some have already left. Others are standing ready as soon as they are ready and able.

Then, just today, I see a story about people breaking into cars in FedEx parking lots.

Please, please let me explain, warn and caution those who occupy homes north of me. If the Memphis city government and the criminals of Memphis succeed in combining their efforts at driving FedEx out of Memphis….

Stop. Please stop and think just what will happen when FedEx pulls up the anchor, some other location will greatly benefit. Memphis will have a huge problem. People will be wanting to leave by the thousands but the value of their houses will plummet.

That wonderful beautiful home you just bought will become an anchor holding you in place because, guess what. No one will buy that house at half what you paid for it.

Nearly thirty thousand Memphians will either have to leave or find some other way of making a living. Those thirty thousand spend a lot of their earnings in Memphis and the surrounding area. Apartments would be vacated decreasing rental revenues. Sales of many businesses will plumet. When you consider many of those businesses are already on the brink of shutting down already, it might be the final straw. That, in turn will cause more job losses.

Let’s not overlook the big thing concerning the city. Sales tax will drop. Real estate revenues will take a huge hit. Conceivably, the snowball effect just might be the thought no one wants to think. Yet, they better, lest it become a reality, not just a nightmare.

Consider, please? Memphis has roughly 500 thousand residents. I would guess no more than a third bring home a paycheck, many from city and county. You simply cannot cut out 30 thousand of those checks without rocking city and county governments bunches.

Actually, it would like send tremors out into Desoto and Crittendon Counties too. Many FedEx employees live in Mississippi and Arkansas.

McDonald’s Error

Posted in Fast Food by

I noticed on the news is McDonald’s is making changes. I would guess they are having problems, which is no surprise to me. I mean when it takes 15 minutes, literally, to serve a barely warm Big Mac, they are headed for real problems. Marketing is important but it will only go so far.

The company broke into fast food by serving good tasting food fast. Now there are many “nice sit down” places that serve food faster. As a matter of fact, I just visited a good Mexican place that served me a good meal in less than the 15 minutes. It does make me ask, why should anyone go to McDonald’s when we can get a much better meal at not much more cost?

Personally, I have found when I am in a hurry, it’s hard to beat Subway. Unless they have an unusually long line, I’m usually eating within 5 or 6 minutes after entering the door. Chick-fil-A is fast too, but I usually have a long walk across the parking lot. I suppose it is a reasonable price for popularity.

At any rate, it’s sort of difficult for the McDonald’s employees to provide reasonably good service when they are so busy talking amongst themselves. Many-a-time, I have had to wait for the conversation to be completed before I could expect any attention.

Mostly, if people have to wait 15 minutes for less than hot food, McDonald’s will likely just fade away, regardless of any marketing methods.

As an aside, the same thing can be said of other fast food places too. I mean it is basic. People go to fast food places to get food fast.