Archive for November 12, 2014

A Day for Rats and Mice

November 12, 2014 Comments Off on A Day for Rats and Mice

I admit to a prejudice–against mice and rats.  I’m, to say the least, not fond of them.  But today I’ll give them their due, because it’s AFERMA Fancy Rat and Mouse Day.  I  kid you not.  There’s actually an American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFERMA), and they hold a yearly celebration of their favorite critters.  Their website invites us to “Celebrate Fancy Rats and Mice, the Rat and Mouse Fancier, and the Rat and Mouse Fancy!”  Take a look at their logo for the day (yes, those are mice):

Fancy Day Pic

If you want to celebrate or read more about them, learn to raise them or care for “orphans,” read books about them, attend shows, etc., their website is http://www.afrma.org/affiliate.htm.  As for me, I’ll just spend the day being a wee bit guilty about those traps set in my kitchen and garage.

 

 

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The Arizona, Veterans, and Remembering

November 11, 2014 Comments Off on The Arizona, Veterans, and Remembering

I have vivid memories of my experience in visiting the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii.  The visit began with a film showing the horrors of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  My eyes blurred with tears.  Then there was the choppy boat trip to the monument, a short distance from other coffin-ships which suffered the same fate as the Arizona.  So many names filled the wall behind the altar-like steps, and the hush of the crowd echoed the silent voices trapped deep beneath us.  Little was said on the trip back to land, as we all found ourselves deep in thought.

This Veterans Day I’m thinking the Canadians are right to call it “Remembrance Day.”  It’s important to remember and honor our veterans, those who fought for our way of life.  It’s even more important to remember that we should work toward a time when the reason for such occasions is only a bad memory.

Hug a veteran.  Pray for peace.

 

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A Sensible Saturday Offering

November 8, 2014 Comments Off on A Sensible Saturday Offering

A simple truism:

 

 

 

 

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Society Says, “Die Alone”

November 7, 2014 Comments Off on Society Says, “Die Alone”

Imagine you’re dying of cancer and totally alone, 24/7, except for the doctors who visit to take care of you.  Now imagine you’ve been on death row for 34 years because, as a dumb 24-year-old, you thought signing a confession would give you rest from the 3 days of constant questioning you’ve been going through.  You didn’t commit the crime–as all the evidence indicates–but you did sign that confession.

This is the plight of a real-life person named Max.  Despite the fact that he has very little time to live, evidence that shouts “not guilty,” and a questionable confession coming out of confusion and exhaustion, Texas will not grant him and his family the basic human compassion of being allowed to die at home and with those who are suffering with him.

Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, explains more about it in Let Max Soffar, an Innocent Man, Die at Home.  Read it and watch the video.  Then, if you agree, sign her petition on that same site.

 

 

 

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Origin of Love and Hate

November 6, 2014 Comments Off on Origin of Love and Hate

In today’s Thursday Thought, Nelson Mandela has an interesting theory on how we come to love and hate:

“People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela

 
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To End the Political Season

November 5, 2014 Comments Off on To End the Political Season

OK–one last political jab–one that most people can relate to:

Political Jab

 

(Thanks to Jim Knudsen for sending me this one.)

 

 

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Checklist for Today

November 4, 2014 2 comments

⊂⊃ VOTE!  Or you lose the right to complain about politicians and laws until the next election. 

 

 

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American Trivia: Getting Around a Tax

November 3, 2014 Comments Off on American Trivia: Getting Around a Tax

To begin this otherwise serious political week, here’s a bit of American historical trivia you might enjoy.  See if you are playing with a full deck.

Card games have always been an American pastime.  ‘Way back, some politicians decided that cards should be taxed—but only (politician logic here) the ace of spades. Of course, people can always find a way around paying taxes, as they did in this situation: they bought decks with only 51 cards (no ace of spades).  Trouble is, how many games can be played with only 51?  Not many.  True card-players thought this was absurd, that the people pulling this tax ploy were stupid or dumb—because they weren’t “playing with a full deck.”

Like the politicians who dreamed up that tax in the first place….????

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