Tag Archive for attack

My Thoughts on Kneeling

August 3, 2020 Comments Off on My Thoughts on Kneeling

This isn’t a political statement, so please don’t react to it as such.

In today’s negative climate, I think we’re too quick to assume that a person’s out-of-the-ordinary action is intended to be an insult to us personally. Take kneeling at the National Anthem, for example.

I don’t pretend to know the motivation of each person doing that, but I do know why some people kneel. They look at kneeling from its historical perspective: showing respect (as to a king or queen); showing devotion, esteem, or reverence (God); as a form of supplication ( God, marriage proposal, begging); mourning, sadness, vulnerability. If this is a person’s motivation, what’s wrong with it? Is it okay to kneel before our flag to show it honor and respect? To kneel during the National Anthem to show sadness at perceived wrongs going on in our country? Possibly even to kneel in silent prayer for the good of our country and its people?

To some people, could kneeling, especially with a hand over the heart and bare heads, actually be positive?

Maybe we’d be better off fighting the true evils that divide us rather than reading people’s minds and attacking them for actions that express what they’re feeling while doing no harm to anyone.

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Keep Your Privacy Private

July 6, 2018 Comments Off on Keep Your Privacy Private

Californians are getting the power to protect themselves. What is your state  or country doing?

Starting in 2020, Californians will have the power to control whether or not online companies can keep or sell our data.  Currently, online companies collect all sorts of information about us and use it either to bombard us with advertising or profit from it by selling it to others who attack us with ads…and worse.

Although the new law isn’t as strong as the one in Europe, it’s the strongest in the U.S.

Start bombarding your lawmakers with demands that they enact similar legislation.  We all deserve to avoid giving up part of our private lives every time we search or buy on the internet, go  to a website,  or download a movie or e-book.

Remember: Their taking our data isn’t just a bother to us; their having our information can also endanger us, especially the most vulnerable among our family and friends.

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Sailors Encouraged to Play with Xbox

September 20, 2017 Comments Off on Sailors Encouraged to Play with Xbox

Forget the legendary military absurd costs of $640 toilet seats, $660 ashtrays, $7,600 coffee-makers, and $74,000 ladders.  They’re getting it right on this one: Xbox controllers to operate periscopes on attack  submarines.

True, they’re less sturdy and may not last as long.  But at about $30 each, the Navy can afford to keep a case of them on board every sub.  They’ll replace the current Lockheed-Martin control, which costs $38,000 each, and do the job just as well.  Besides, there’s little training required, compared to the current controller, because who hasn’t used an Xbox controller?

Makes dollars and cents to me.

 

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Vote with Me

February 29, 2016 Comments Off on Vote with Me

After living through this past week, I’ve decided how to vote.  Maybe not the specific person yet.  But I know for sure that the person I decide to vote for will NOT be one who is acting like a spoiled 6-year-old.

I fear a President who deals with foreign heads of state–especially, say, North Korea or Russia–or represents the U.S. in settling the Israeli/Palestinian conflict–or decides how to handle Isis and other terrorist groups.  I fear a person who says to Congress-members, “It’s my way or the highway” rather than promoting thoughtful discussion of all sides of an issue and working toward a more unified, effective Congress.  I fear a President who engages in personal attacks rather than meaningful dialog, thus treating us citizens as though we don’t have a brain or know what’s good for us.  Yes, I fear a spoiled brat, egotistic, self-important 6-year-old President.

Now, although you don’t know who I’ll vote for in this coming Primary and General elections, I bet you can guess who WILL NOT get my vote.  And I urge you to vote with me.

 

 

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Men vs. Women–Take Heart

February 5, 2016 Comments Off on Men vs. Women–Take Heart

As we all know, men are different from women.  It’s important to remember that one of those differences is in how men and women experience a heart attack.  Today, which is National Wear Red Day to promote heart-attack-awareness for women, it’s appropriate to post a reminder of what the American Heart Assn. says are women’s symptoms, with a note about men’s:

Symptoms of a heart attack:

  • Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
  • Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
  • Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
  • Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

As with men, the most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain or discomfort. But it’s important to note that women are more likely to experience the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

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Another fight. I’ll drink to that!

October 6, 2014 Comments Off on Another fight. I’ll drink to that!

Sports are changing.  A baseball or football game used to be a family event.  Now not only is it too expensive for most families to go to the ballpark, it’s too dangerous. There are so many stories, like Bryan Stowe, beaten at a Giant’s game two years ago by rival fans.  In the last few days two more incidents have taken place.   At Levi Stadium two men attacked two others in the restroom not long before kick-off.  And at the Angels Stadium three people attacked a 43-year-old man and his cousin (an off-duty police officer, yet!) in the parking lot.

The news doesn’t answer my major question about all the attacks: how many of these incidents involved people who had been drinking?  With tailgating and free-flowing beer concessions–not to mention what is sneaked in–a good number of people at any game end up drinking enough to make them belligerent.  That mood is heightened by the heat of the sun, the roar of the crowd, and the emotional ups and downs each time a team scores.

Maybe it’s time to make games family-friendly and safe again.  Ban drinking at tailgate parties, and don’t sell alcohol in the stadium.  Does a fan really need to drink to enjoy the game?  Would fans’ behavior and language improve if they didn’t have alcohol-soaked brains?  Would–here’s a thought–fans therefore get more for their money, because they’ll actually see the game?  I imbibe a bit of the grain or grape from time to time, so I’m not suggesting another Prohibition…just a dose of common sense.

 

 

 

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Interesting D-Day Facts

June 6, 2014 Comments Off on Interesting D-Day Facts

D-Day was the largest-scale over-water attack in the world’s history.  Today is its 70th anniversary.  Read other interesting facts about this historical event by going to an article in the Constitution Daily.

 

 

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Thoughtful Thursday: Blow Everybody Up

May 23, 2013 Comments Off on Thoughtful Thursday: Blow Everybody Up

[The attacks in London and here in America brought this quote to mind.]

“The brotherhood of man is evoked by particular men according to their circumstances. But it seldom extends to all men. In the name of our freedom and our brotherhood we are prepared to blow up the other half of mankind and to be blown up in our turn.”  —  Dorothy Day

 

 

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