"Wisdom from the Northwoods..."
(and other such nonsense)
(and other such nonsense)
"CAP'N DEE... making people smile, frown, growl, snarl, and roll on the floor laughing. Right here, for a whole twenty-fifth of a CENTURY!" Something new added every few days to the above buttons. Click and enjoy!
If you have read this far down on the home page, odds are this is your first time checking out my website, rather than a 'regular' who comes here to read the latest DAILY blog. I have no sponsor, no ads, and no hidden agenda. My writings are simply because of strong core values and a love of writing, coupled with the time and desire to do so. And I welcome you as a new reader.
The words are based on truth as I FIND IT, not on truth as I SEE IT. My 'rants' are honest opinions and are presented as OPINION. Ex-sailors tend to use strong language on occasion. It often helps get a point across. If you offend easily, this website is not for you.
If you prefer hype and bullshit, those type sites are all over the internet.
The words are based on truth as I FIND IT, not on truth as I SEE IT. My 'rants' are honest opinions and are presented as OPINION. Ex-sailors tend to use strong language on occasion. It often helps get a point across. If you offend easily, this website is not for you.
If you prefer hype and bullshit, those type sites are all over the internet.
Send Cap
an email
an email
REASON to SMILE!
I sense a broad (but yet weak) dramatic shift in world affairs that has a very positive potential to, so to speak, set the world straight. To bring the world (certainly including the USA) to a degree of sanity and common sense perhaps never before experienced. The signs are unmistakable to me, and they are NOT a trend towards Socialism.
And that is not based solely on what appears to be a distinct recovery of the USA from our recent and still ongoing recession. That, of course, IS very much a part of it however. The dramatic and expressed change in attitude of the USA about the West bank Jewish 'settlements'. The ongoing and hotly brewing violence in Iran directed at the current administration. World opinion taking a firm stance against actions of North Korea with no opposition from China. Russia showing signs of strength without aggression.
In our country a distinct feeling that Congress is 'cleaning house' with more to come. A genuine public and growing intolerance for greed and corruption, not only in government but also in the business sector. To a degree that I can not recall in my long life. Even our president publicly coming out against malpractice excesses!
And speaking of him, I imagine that many folks are becoming well aware of the change in many of his far left positions expressed during the campaigns. To the point where he actually seems to be coming across as a MODERATE! (Much to the dismay of the far-left who had visions of a Socialist government in the making.) Even Al Gore has become a bigger laughing stock than he already was to begin with!
Now I know all of this is causing great concern amongst the purveyors of doom and gloom about the dismal future that lies ahead of us (at least in their 'pointy talking heads'). Horrors! They are being proven wrong so often that all the 'egg on their collective faces' will soon cover their flapping lips to the point that they will fall silent. THAT ALONE is reason enough to make me smile!
CAP 6/20/09
I sense a broad (but yet weak) dramatic shift in world affairs that has a very positive potential to, so to speak, set the world straight. To bring the world (certainly including the USA) to a degree of sanity and common sense perhaps never before experienced. The signs are unmistakable to me, and they are NOT a trend towards Socialism.
And that is not based solely on what appears to be a distinct recovery of the USA from our recent and still ongoing recession. That, of course, IS very much a part of it however. The dramatic and expressed change in attitude of the USA about the West bank Jewish 'settlements'. The ongoing and hotly brewing violence in Iran directed at the current administration. World opinion taking a firm stance against actions of North Korea with no opposition from China. Russia showing signs of strength without aggression.
In our country a distinct feeling that Congress is 'cleaning house' with more to come. A genuine public and growing intolerance for greed and corruption, not only in government but also in the business sector. To a degree that I can not recall in my long life. Even our president publicly coming out against malpractice excesses!
And speaking of him, I imagine that many folks are becoming well aware of the change in many of his far left positions expressed during the campaigns. To the point where he actually seems to be coming across as a MODERATE! (Much to the dismay of the far-left who had visions of a Socialist government in the making.) Even Al Gore has become a bigger laughing stock than he already was to begin with!
Now I know all of this is causing great concern amongst the purveyors of doom and gloom about the dismal future that lies ahead of us (at least in their 'pointy talking heads'). Horrors! They are being proven wrong so often that all the 'egg on their collective faces' will soon cover their flapping lips to the point that they will fall silent. THAT ALONE is reason enough to make me smile!
CAP 6/20/09
Interesting!
Bush-Whacked
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | June 18, 2009
Perhaps tired about being publicly blamed by the current administration for all our current ills, Bush spoke out in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday at the 104th annual gathering of the Manufacturers and Business Association.
On the same day President Obama announced expanded policing authorities for the Fed to deal with a "culture of irresponsibility," another move many feel will stifle the risk takers and entrepreneurs needed to grow the economy, Bush extolled the virtues of capitalism and the free market.
The stimulus did not escape his criticism. "It's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the Washington Times quotes him as saying. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend it."
As for charges Bush himself opened up the government spigots with the TARP, he defended his comparatively limited actions. "I firmly believe it was necessary to put money in our banks to make sure our financial system did not collapse," he said. "I did not want there to be bread lines, to be a great depression."
Bush isn't the one who is burdening future generations with ever-higher taxes and upwards of $10 trillion dollars in new debt. He is not the one nationalizing the auto industry, banks and health care.
He noted that his administration tried to rectify changes Democrats made to the Community Reinvestment Act and to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bush has been blamed by the current administration for the housing bubble collapse. "We tried to reform (them)", Bush noted, "but we couldn't get it through the vested (Democratic) interests on Capitol Hill."
As for health care, "there are a lot of ways to remedy the situation without nationalizing (it)," Bush said. "I worry about encouraging the government to replace the private sector when it comes to providing insurance for health care."
So do we, seeing how well it's worked elsewhere. We note that when asked, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs couldn't name one country where a single-payer system was working.
On the war on terror, Bush said he too would have liked to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. "(But) I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at the drop of a hat, and I don't believe persuasion is going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."
Certainly under Bush, trained terrorists would not be relocated to the beaches of Bermuda, and others wouldn't be getting lawyered up for trials in American civil courts. And no terrorist would be read his Miranda rights under any circumstances.
On the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that Obama has said compromised our moral principles, Bush said he wanted to "use every technique and tool within the law to bring terrorists to justice before they strike again." He succeeded.
President Obama has said his wouldn't be a third Bush term. Unfortunately, he has kept this campaign promise. We are paying and will continue to pay the price.
Bush-Whacked
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | June 18, 2009
Perhaps tired about being publicly blamed by the current administration for all our current ills, Bush spoke out in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday at the 104th annual gathering of the Manufacturers and Business Association.
On the same day President Obama announced expanded policing authorities for the Fed to deal with a "culture of irresponsibility," another move many feel will stifle the risk takers and entrepreneurs needed to grow the economy, Bush extolled the virtues of capitalism and the free market.
The stimulus did not escape his criticism. "It's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the Washington Times quotes him as saying. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend it."
As for charges Bush himself opened up the government spigots with the TARP, he defended his comparatively limited actions. "I firmly believe it was necessary to put money in our banks to make sure our financial system did not collapse," he said. "I did not want there to be bread lines, to be a great depression."
Bush isn't the one who is burdening future generations with ever-higher taxes and upwards of $10 trillion dollars in new debt. He is not the one nationalizing the auto industry, banks and health care.
He noted that his administration tried to rectify changes Democrats made to the Community Reinvestment Act and to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bush has been blamed by the current administration for the housing bubble collapse. "We tried to reform (them)", Bush noted, "but we couldn't get it through the vested (Democratic) interests on Capitol Hill."
As for health care, "there are a lot of ways to remedy the situation without nationalizing (it)," Bush said. "I worry about encouraging the government to replace the private sector when it comes to providing insurance for health care."
So do we, seeing how well it's worked elsewhere. We note that when asked, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs couldn't name one country where a single-payer system was working.
On the war on terror, Bush said he too would have liked to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. "(But) I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at the drop of a hat, and I don't believe persuasion is going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."
Certainly under Bush, trained terrorists would not be relocated to the beaches of Bermuda, and others wouldn't be getting lawyered up for trials in American civil courts. And no terrorist would be read his Miranda rights under any circumstances.
On the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that Obama has said compromised our moral principles, Bush said he wanted to "use every technique and tool within the law to bring terrorists to justice before they strike again." He succeeded.
President Obama has said his wouldn't be a third Bush term. Unfortunately, he has kept this campaign promise. We are paying and will continue to pay the price.
PRIORITIES
Besides my loved one who shares my daily life, the most meaningful people in my world are my five children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. (And in all likelihood, some of those numbers will grow!)
About five or so years ago I was given a new mouse pad for use with my computer. It has a picture of a tow-headed lad of about six or seven standing on a sandy beach, hands in the back pockets of his oversize blue jeans, staring out at an expanse of open water. (With my love of the water, and all the years I have spent on it, this could have been me at that age!)
There are words inscribed on the mouse pad next to his picture, words that I see EVERY day, because I write every day. And I can't begin to tell you how often I take a moment to both read them and then think about the message for a minute or so.
Today's website posting is a verbatim copy of those words. They are more important than ANYTHING coming out of Washington D.C. or any so-called 'breaking news.' And so... I now share them with you:
PRIORITIES
"A Hundred Years From Now It Will Not Matter What My Bank Account Was, The Sort Of House I Lived In, Or The Kind Of Car I Drove...But The World May Be Different Because I Was Important In The Life Of A Child."
CAP 6/22/09
Besides my loved one who shares my daily life, the most meaningful people in my world are my five children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. (And in all likelihood, some of those numbers will grow!)
About five or so years ago I was given a new mouse pad for use with my computer. It has a picture of a tow-headed lad of about six or seven standing on a sandy beach, hands in the back pockets of his oversize blue jeans, staring out at an expanse of open water. (With my love of the water, and all the years I have spent on it, this could have been me at that age!)
There are words inscribed on the mouse pad next to his picture, words that I see EVERY day, because I write every day. And I can't begin to tell you how often I take a moment to both read them and then think about the message for a minute or so.
Today's website posting is a verbatim copy of those words. They are more important than ANYTHING coming out of Washington D.C. or any so-called 'breaking news.' And so... I now share them with you:
PRIORITIES
"A Hundred Years From Now It Will Not Matter What My Bank Account Was, The Sort Of House I Lived In, Or The Kind Of Car I Drove...But The World May Be Different Because I Was Important In The Life Of A Child."
CAP 6/22/09
UNDERSTANDING.
How Things really work.
These days many of those same folks that voted for Obama are among his loudest critics, howling with cries of disillusionment as Obama changes his mind on a campaign promise, goes in the opposite direction on another, does absolutely nothing on still one more. And when his overall thinking not only moves more to the middle, and in several cases is actually the VERY SAME as that of Bush, the howls become louder and louder as reality sets in.
Meanwhile, many of those who voted against Obama (myself and my loved one included) are trying very hard to keep from saying "I told you so" when our new President was out making all of his flowery campaign promises. When he actually has to come face to face with the CONGRESS in order to fulfill all those grandiose ideas of his (even when his own party controls both houses) it is as if he goes to a gunfight carrying only a pocket knife. And not a very sharp one at that.
So just for today, dear Obama lovers, no matter how well-intentioned he 'might be' on all the wonderful things he promised you during the endless campaign, it is way past time for you to understand that responsibility for the vast majority of our nation's present day problems lies squarely on the shoulders of the power-hungry lying lawyers, adulterers, con artists, perverts, thieves and drunks who... when once banded together... pass for our CONGRESS. And if you want to know who bears the responsibility of putting them there, just look in the mirror.
CAP 6/23/09
How Things really work.
These days many of those same folks that voted for Obama are among his loudest critics, howling with cries of disillusionment as Obama changes his mind on a campaign promise, goes in the opposite direction on another, does absolutely nothing on still one more. And when his overall thinking not only moves more to the middle, and in several cases is actually the VERY SAME as that of Bush, the howls become louder and louder as reality sets in.
Meanwhile, many of those who voted against Obama (myself and my loved one included) are trying very hard to keep from saying "I told you so" when our new President was out making all of his flowery campaign promises. When he actually has to come face to face with the CONGRESS in order to fulfill all those grandiose ideas of his (even when his own party controls both houses) it is as if he goes to a gunfight carrying only a pocket knife. And not a very sharp one at that.
So just for today, dear Obama lovers, no matter how well-intentioned he 'might be' on all the wonderful things he promised you during the endless campaign, it is way past time for you to understand that responsibility for the vast majority of our nation's present day problems lies squarely on the shoulders of the power-hungry lying lawyers, adulterers, con artists, perverts, thieves and drunks who... when once banded together... pass for our CONGRESS. And if you want to know who bears the responsibility of putting them there, just look in the mirror.
CAP 6/23/09
NEDA.
I read the entire recounting of the killing of this young lady in Iran. Guess I am not the tough old geezer that many think I am. Or the once-young 'macho dude' impervious to hurt. I didn't (and won't) look at her actual death on all the footage of it floating around the internet. Don't have to in order for the tears to flow down my cheeks. And keep flowing even after reading the recounting. I think once again about the root cause of why she died.
The total inanity of religion when carried to extremes, as it has been since the earliest record of opposing religious factions. For all the blessings, all the good, the serenity to help them through the trials of life, that religious belief brings to the vast majority of 'true' believers, none of it... NONE OF IT ever has or ever will change one basic hard cold truth: "Man's inhumanity to man" while in the pursuit of establishing THEIR particular belief as the superior and only true one.
And the oh, so sad part of all of that? Other than the 'power-seekers' in power? The fragility of the human mind that allows emotions to rule over common sense. The dark side of the human condition that allows war to happen, justifies killing, encourages martyrdom, suicide bombings, and now the murder of Neda.
The total inanity of religion when carried to extremes, as it has been since the earliest record of opposing religious factions. For all the blessings, all the good, the serenity to help them through the trials of life, that religious belief brings to the vast majority of 'true' believers, none of it... NONE OF IT ever has or ever will change one basic hard cold truth: "Man's inhumanity to man" while in the pursuit of establishing THEIR particular belief as the superior and only true one.
And the oh, so sad part of all of that? Other than the 'power-seekers' in power? The fragility of the human mind that allows emotions to rule over common sense. The dark side of the human condition that allows war to happen, justifies killing, encourages martyrdom, suicide bombings, and now the murder of Neda.
Neda, I cry for you.
CAP 6/24/09
CAP 6/24/09
BLOOD.
(And then she was gone.)
(And then she was gone.)
An immediate response that came in to my yesterday's 6/24 posting about NEDA:
I did look at the actual footage on YouTube this morning....very sad.
How much blood is enough? You could empty the oceans of the world of water, fill them with blood. THAT would not be enough. WHEN will mankind ever tire of seeing it? When will a train wreck in Washington D.C.; a murder at an abortion clinic; killings at a school, and on & on... quit attracting hordes of people to SEE the event in person? To look at the blood stains that remain. I suspect NEVER.
There is a very good reason WHY I chose to NOT see the footage of NEDA'S death. In my long lifetime of well over 82 years I, for one, have seen enough. ENOUGH, ALREADY! Have seen blood in every form and in every situation possible, washed my hands after handling a body oozing life. Only to later see blood where there is none. On those same hands.
Is that what it takes to lose the interest in seeing MORE blood? To live that long? To see it in so many ways? To immerse hands in it? All the while in a matter of just HOURS, multi-millions of ordinary everyday people flock to the 'YouTubes', 'FaceBooks', gory and sensationalist websites, and inane TV programs such as the disgusting and self-important Nancy Grace to see more bloodshed, more perversion, more killings.
Or maybe what it will take is what the Bible portends to be "Armageddon", an uncertain finality to put an end to it. Maybe the current TV series "Life After Humans" will start a mass movement towards some semblance of sanity before it is too late. Global warming, the 'GREEN' movement, current 'fads'...? How about starting a RED MOVEMENT???
Red... like in blood.
I did look at the actual footage on YouTube this morning....very sad.
How much blood is enough? You could empty the oceans of the world of water, fill them with blood. THAT would not be enough. WHEN will mankind ever tire of seeing it? When will a train wreck in Washington D.C.; a murder at an abortion clinic; killings at a school, and on & on... quit attracting hordes of people to SEE the event in person? To look at the blood stains that remain. I suspect NEVER.
There is a very good reason WHY I chose to NOT see the footage of NEDA'S death. In my long lifetime of well over 82 years I, for one, have seen enough. ENOUGH, ALREADY! Have seen blood in every form and in every situation possible, washed my hands after handling a body oozing life. Only to later see blood where there is none. On those same hands.
Is that what it takes to lose the interest in seeing MORE blood? To live that long? To see it in so many ways? To immerse hands in it? All the while in a matter of just HOURS, multi-millions of ordinary everyday people flock to the 'YouTubes', 'FaceBooks', gory and sensationalist websites, and inane TV programs such as the disgusting and self-important Nancy Grace to see more bloodshed, more perversion, more killings.
Or maybe what it will take is what the Bible portends to be "Armageddon", an uncertain finality to put an end to it. Maybe the current TV series "Life After Humans" will start a mass movement towards some semblance of sanity before it is too late. Global warming, the 'GREEN' movement, current 'fads'...? How about starting a RED MOVEMENT???
Red... like in blood.
CAP 6/25/09
MORE ABOUT BLOOD.
(Ours, This Time...)
My loved one is a long-time blood donor. A many multi-gallon-donor who drops everything when the Red Cross blood donor collectors show up in our wee Village, and she gives another pint. (I kid her that the only reason she does this is for the free COOKIES they provide after they do their vampire act on her!)
Nothing will dissuade her from giving her regular donations, that is just the kind of person she is. And she does not seek (nor does she want) any credit or plaudits for her generosity. Again, that is just the kind of person she is. Strictly a voluntary deed on her part. Quite unlike the INVOLUNTARY donations we gave to hordes of blood-sucking mosquitoes, 'humpies', black flies, horseflies, and gnats when we first started personally building our paradise here in Wisconsin 23 years ago.
During those early years we often thought these pests were as plentiful and as bad as what we had seen in the swamps of Florida, islands of the Caribbean, and wilds of Alaska during the short summers up there. So we set about doing something about it. First built three large multi-unit Purple Martin houses. Then a 'bat house'. Followed by many Bluebird houses, and a bunch of nest boxes under the eaves of the buildings. (After the overhang was added onto the large pole barn, the Barn Swallows moved in and filled the rafters with nests.)
These days we often have Robins that produce TWO hatches of chicks; and, almost every year Phoebes that do the same. For some strange reason every year, besides using nest boxes, one Phoebe builds her nest on top of the outdoor light fixture that is about 16 inches from the busy back door of the main house. Then she lays a brood of usually 3-5 eggs in short order. As she did this year, the young ones fledged only a week ago, and already she has laid 4 new eggs in her nest.
So this year I have yet to have a mosquito bite, a horsefly bite, or a 'humpie' bite! There are so few skeeters here that as soon as the Purple Martins have all fledged, they leave for better hunting grounds!
Life is bloody good!
My loved one is a long-time blood donor. A many multi-gallon-donor who drops everything when the Red Cross blood donor collectors show up in our wee Village, and she gives another pint. (I kid her that the only reason she does this is for the free COOKIES they provide after they do their vampire act on her!)
Nothing will dissuade her from giving her regular donations, that is just the kind of person she is. And she does not seek (nor does she want) any credit or plaudits for her generosity. Again, that is just the kind of person she is. Strictly a voluntary deed on her part. Quite unlike the INVOLUNTARY donations we gave to hordes of blood-sucking mosquitoes, 'humpies', black flies, horseflies, and gnats when we first started personally building our paradise here in Wisconsin 23 years ago.
During those early years we often thought these pests were as plentiful and as bad as what we had seen in the swamps of Florida, islands of the Caribbean, and wilds of Alaska during the short summers up there. So we set about doing something about it. First built three large multi-unit Purple Martin houses. Then a 'bat house'. Followed by many Bluebird houses, and a bunch of nest boxes under the eaves of the buildings. (After the overhang was added onto the large pole barn, the Barn Swallows moved in and filled the rafters with nests.)
These days we often have Robins that produce TWO hatches of chicks; and, almost every year Phoebes that do the same. For some strange reason every year, besides using nest boxes, one Phoebe builds her nest on top of the outdoor light fixture that is about 16 inches from the busy back door of the main house. Then she lays a brood of usually 3-5 eggs in short order. As she did this year, the young ones fledged only a week ago, and already she has laid 4 new eggs in her nest.
So this year I have yet to have a mosquito bite, a horsefly bite, or a 'humpie' bite! There are so few skeeters here that as soon as the Purple Martins have all fledged, they leave for better hunting grounds!
Life is bloody good!
CAP 6/26/09
P.S. Now if we could just figure out what loves to eat WOOD TICKS!
P.S. Now if we could just figure out what loves to eat WOOD TICKS!
HEALTH CARE COSTS OUTRAGEOUS?
(Read This and learn WHY.)
As a young child I was told "Sass the teacher and you will get a whuppin"; or, "Use swear words and you will have your mouth washed out with a bar of soap." So when I did those things anyhow, what was promised actually happened ... and I damn sure never did them again.
Few years later we were told "Never go near a dog that is foaming at the mouth"; or "Don't pick up snakes"; and such things as "Look both ways before crossing the street." Some kids ignored that advice. They were buried. Those that lived NEVER did those things again. End of story, either way, and life went on.
40 or 50 years later suddenly the colleges are turning out so many lawyers that there simply is not enough 'normal' gainful employment for them, as there was back when being a lawyer was a noble and prestigious job. So they started to create work out of whole cloth!!! They sued the owner of the rabid dog, the hospital that couldn't save the kid with a venomous snake bite, the owner of the car that hit the kid who raced across the street without looking first.
The lawyers became great actors who were able to bring juries of everyday citizens to tears. And out of just plain sympathy the juries would award outrageous amounts of money to the survivors of the disobedient kids. So dog owners, hospitals, auto owners started to take out liability insurance from insurance companies. And the smiles on the faces of the wily and sleazy lawyers broadened from ear to ear.
They quickly discovered that the insurance companies would settle 'out of court' without even having to go to trial! So the lawyers went a step further, they began suing DOCTORS (as well as the hospitals) for "malpractice" and an entire new industry was born. Then the lawyers pressured the lawyers in Congress to CANCEL the laws that prevented lawyers from blatant advertising for people to sue on behalf of. It used to be called "ambulance chasing". (And TODAY you can turn on any TV, to any channel, and watch the disgusting ads run by legal firms all across the country.)
The insurance companies are not a bunch of dummies. As claims grow bigger and bigger, come faster and faster, they simply raise insurance rates sky high so that they can continue making big money to pay THEIR LAWYERS. Which causes hospitals, doctors, drug companies ALL to raise THEIR rates, fees, and prices sky high simply to protect themselves.
Some doctors have actually QUIT PRACTICE because they can't afford the premiums anymore for malpractice insurance. While other doctors tripled THEIR fees to compensate for their outrageous premiums. As did hospitals. While lawyers all across the spectrum become even more wealthy (think JOHN EDWARDS here) and ever more greedy. Which has caused ANOTHER explosion of NEW un-needed lawyers graduating from the colleges, where they have been taught the very latest techniques on how to separate the insurance companies from THEIR money.
Do you see something in all of this? NOW do you understand? (You have my express permission to copy this posting in its entirety, send it far and wide, and/ or publish it in any form of the media.)
CAP 6/27/09
P.S. Words to consider: Lawyers do not MAKE anything, CREATE anything, BUILD anything, or ADD anything to the national product. And they comprise the majority of Congress in Washington who, bottom line, think and act on behalf of lawyers as a whole, regardless of which political party they profess to represent. Many, many years ago, was Shakespeare on to something when he said his famous words?
(Read This and learn WHY.)
As a young child I was told "Sass the teacher and you will get a whuppin"; or, "Use swear words and you will have your mouth washed out with a bar of soap." So when I did those things anyhow, what was promised actually happened ... and I damn sure never did them again.
Few years later we were told "Never go near a dog that is foaming at the mouth"; or "Don't pick up snakes"; and such things as "Look both ways before crossing the street." Some kids ignored that advice. They were buried. Those that lived NEVER did those things again. End of story, either way, and life went on.
40 or 50 years later suddenly the colleges are turning out so many lawyers that there simply is not enough 'normal' gainful employment for them, as there was back when being a lawyer was a noble and prestigious job. So they started to create work out of whole cloth!!! They sued the owner of the rabid dog, the hospital that couldn't save the kid with a venomous snake bite, the owner of the car that hit the kid who raced across the street without looking first.
The lawyers became great actors who were able to bring juries of everyday citizens to tears. And out of just plain sympathy the juries would award outrageous amounts of money to the survivors of the disobedient kids. So dog owners, hospitals, auto owners started to take out liability insurance from insurance companies. And the smiles on the faces of the wily and sleazy lawyers broadened from ear to ear.
They quickly discovered that the insurance companies would settle 'out of court' without even having to go to trial! So the lawyers went a step further, they began suing DOCTORS (as well as the hospitals) for "malpractice" and an entire new industry was born. Then the lawyers pressured the lawyers in Congress to CANCEL the laws that prevented lawyers from blatant advertising for people to sue on behalf of. It used to be called "ambulance chasing". (And TODAY you can turn on any TV, to any channel, and watch the disgusting ads run by legal firms all across the country.)
The insurance companies are not a bunch of dummies. As claims grow bigger and bigger, come faster and faster, they simply raise insurance rates sky high so that they can continue making big money to pay THEIR LAWYERS. Which causes hospitals, doctors, drug companies ALL to raise THEIR rates, fees, and prices sky high simply to protect themselves.
Some doctors have actually QUIT PRACTICE because they can't afford the premiums anymore for malpractice insurance. While other doctors tripled THEIR fees to compensate for their outrageous premiums. As did hospitals. While lawyers all across the spectrum become even more wealthy (think JOHN EDWARDS here) and ever more greedy. Which has caused ANOTHER explosion of NEW un-needed lawyers graduating from the colleges, where they have been taught the very latest techniques on how to separate the insurance companies from THEIR money.
Do you see something in all of this? NOW do you understand? (You have my express permission to copy this posting in its entirety, send it far and wide, and/ or publish it in any form of the media.)
CAP 6/27/09
P.S. Words to consider: Lawyers do not MAKE anything, CREATE anything, BUILD anything, or ADD anything to the national product. And they comprise the majority of Congress in Washington who, bottom line, think and act on behalf of lawyers as a whole, regardless of which political party they profess to represent. Many, many years ago, was Shakespeare on to something when he said his famous words?
SELF-SATISFACTION.
It ALWAYS makes you feel good about yourself when you finish a tough or demanding job, or accomplish a goal that you have set for yourself. Nothing to do with ego or 'pride', just that you tried, did your best, and things turned out good. Or even sometimes better than expected! Then a person tends to not only feel on top of the world, they start to keep their eyes open for the next task to tackle, or challenge to be met.
And more importantly, this applies twofold once you hit the "golden years". I speak from personal knowledge here. Just the past month since getting back from my annual two-week spring fishing trip in NW Ontario, besides writing daily for this website and handling a goodly amount of correspondence, I personally started and finished a hefty building addition to our home. All the while re-habbing a house that I was forced to take back--starting a sales campaign to sell the damn place, drawing all the papers, and then personally selling it on the first showing, with almost immediate closing and all the hoopla that goes along with a real estate deal.
Found time to twice spend over two hours to mow our grounds with my tractor-mower, draw the working plans for my next project, do my quarterly tax work & monthly bookkeeping, and do a couple crossword puzzles each day. And completely tear out, remodel and reorganize my office-den-study and PC set-up. All this in a month.
Biggest problem now is that I have a large pile of unread weekly and monthly magazines, with barely enough time to read three daily newspapers, feed the cat, clean up his hairballs, and empty his wonderful litter box. But you know what???
LIFE IS GOOD... and I can't wait to start each new day!!!
CAP 6/28/09
P.S. But what the hell do I know. I am only in my 83rd year here on planet earth, just a youngster still learning the road to the century mark!
It ALWAYS makes you feel good about yourself when you finish a tough or demanding job, or accomplish a goal that you have set for yourself. Nothing to do with ego or 'pride', just that you tried, did your best, and things turned out good. Or even sometimes better than expected! Then a person tends to not only feel on top of the world, they start to keep their eyes open for the next task to tackle, or challenge to be met.
And more importantly, this applies twofold once you hit the "golden years". I speak from personal knowledge here. Just the past month since getting back from my annual two-week spring fishing trip in NW Ontario, besides writing daily for this website and handling a goodly amount of correspondence, I personally started and finished a hefty building addition to our home. All the while re-habbing a house that I was forced to take back--starting a sales campaign to sell the damn place, drawing all the papers, and then personally selling it on the first showing, with almost immediate closing and all the hoopla that goes along with a real estate deal.
Found time to twice spend over two hours to mow our grounds with my tractor-mower, draw the working plans for my next project, do my quarterly tax work & monthly bookkeeping, and do a couple crossword puzzles each day. And completely tear out, remodel and reorganize my office-den-study and PC set-up. All this in a month.
Biggest problem now is that I have a large pile of unread weekly and monthly magazines, with barely enough time to read three daily newspapers, feed the cat, clean up his hairballs, and empty his wonderful litter box. But you know what???
LIFE IS GOOD... and I can't wait to start each new day!!!
CAP 6/28/09
P.S. But what the hell do I know. I am only in my 83rd year here on planet earth, just a youngster still learning the road to the century mark!
SOMETIMES!
If a person will just accept what life hands them and then move on, life not only becomes less stressful, you just might discover a POSITIVE side to the matter. One that quickly chases away the negative first impression of what was sent your way unneeded, not asked for, and was unexpected.
Example at hand: Each winter our half-mile driveway is plowed by a man with exceptional plowing skills using either an immense "V" plow mounted on a huge truck, or a road grader when the drifts get so bad that even his king-size plow can't get through.
Graders do not differentiate between snow and sod, especially when the ground is not frozen solid and it is rock-hard. End result, each spring we rake out and try to put back the sod from the last several hundred yards he plows, which is what passes for a "lawn" at our place when summer (finally) arrives. But the last couple hundred feet have been scalped so often, that ordinary GRASS refuses to even consider coming back in that area.
Instead, some kind of green stuff has taken over that part of the driveway. Don't know if it is a weed, some strange grass, or something from another world. But it NEVER needs mowing, grows only an inch or so tall, and is usually greener than our 'regular' grass, especially during drought periods, such as the one we are going through now.
So what should I do each year? Hire someone to haul in truckloads of sod (and raid my beer money to pay for it) only to have the grader dump it all to one side NEXT winter? Which would then put me smack dab back to square one?
OR... and I repeat, OR... accept what nature has blessed us with! A GREEN part of our lawn that does not need mowing! Yes, it does not look like GRASS, and yes, we are NOT some kind of 'lawn-freaks' that demand that the 'lawn' is 'perfect', right down to the last blade of grass! Guess what our choice is! LIFE IS GOOD, and our "lawn" is GREEN. Well, at least when it is not winter (7 or 8 months) and there is no drought (subtract a 2 or 3 more months for that).
CAP 6/29/09
If a person will just accept what life hands them and then move on, life not only becomes less stressful, you just might discover a POSITIVE side to the matter. One that quickly chases away the negative first impression of what was sent your way unneeded, not asked for, and was unexpected.
Example at hand: Each winter our half-mile driveway is plowed by a man with exceptional plowing skills using either an immense "V" plow mounted on a huge truck, or a road grader when the drifts get so bad that even his king-size plow can't get through.
Graders do not differentiate between snow and sod, especially when the ground is not frozen solid and it is rock-hard. End result, each spring we rake out and try to put back the sod from the last several hundred yards he plows, which is what passes for a "lawn" at our place when summer (finally) arrives. But the last couple hundred feet have been scalped so often, that ordinary GRASS refuses to even consider coming back in that area.
Instead, some kind of green stuff has taken over that part of the driveway. Don't know if it is a weed, some strange grass, or something from another world. But it NEVER needs mowing, grows only an inch or so tall, and is usually greener than our 'regular' grass, especially during drought periods, such as the one we are going through now.
So what should I do each year? Hire someone to haul in truckloads of sod (and raid my beer money to pay for it) only to have the grader dump it all to one side NEXT winter? Which would then put me smack dab back to square one?
OR... and I repeat, OR... accept what nature has blessed us with! A GREEN part of our lawn that does not need mowing! Yes, it does not look like GRASS, and yes, we are NOT some kind of 'lawn-freaks' that demand that the 'lawn' is 'perfect', right down to the last blade of grass! Guess what our choice is! LIFE IS GOOD, and our "lawn" is GREEN. Well, at least when it is not winter (7 or 8 months) and there is no drought (subtract a 2 or 3 more months for that).
CAP 6/29/09
LET'S PLAY 'SUPPOSE':
Just for a minute, suppose that I wanted to start a new company that would entirely prey on human weakness. That without question would create crime, criminals, cause bankruptcies and destitution, broken families and felonies, suicides and murders all across the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its purpose? Simply to enrich myself by taking money from people, many of whom needed it far, far more than me, just to exist on. Do you suppose that would be O.K.?
And once I was told it would be legal, the government would say "Sure, here is a license to do that", a lot more greedy folks (many of them with criminal pasts) would jump on the bandwagon and open their own legal money-sucking businesses patterned exactly after mine. Would that also be O.K. with you?
After a few years passed, and all the bad things mentioned above were now happening across the nation with increased frequency, homes and families destroyed by the thousands, do you suppose that would STILL be O.K. with you?
And then suppose that shady characters in some other country on the other side of the world saw me piling money up faster than I could count it. Then somehow managed to convince THEIR government to give them a license to start a company just like mine. Once they got it up and running and started to bleed the livelihood out of the citizens of that country, in a feeding frenzy others jumped in with more such companies, fast spreading them across THEIR country.
Now suppose that country on the other side of the world saw what evil can of worms they had opened and suddenly said STOP! "ALL THOSE COMPANIES ARE NOW ILLEGAL AND THEY WILL BE CLOSED COMPLETELY." Do you suppose that would be a repressive BAD thing for that country to do, throwing all those people siphoning money from the public out of work? NO, you say???
Well, in case you missed it, hidden in the back pages of the news on 6/29, this is EXACTLY what has just happened to all the casinos and slot machine parlors in Russia. They have now been put out of business. While in the USA those leeches blithely continue along, creating havoc, crime, misery, and poverty. Do you suppose that is still O.K.?
CAP 6/30/09
Just for a minute, suppose that I wanted to start a new company that would entirely prey on human weakness. That without question would create crime, criminals, cause bankruptcies and destitution, broken families and felonies, suicides and murders all across the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its purpose? Simply to enrich myself by taking money from people, many of whom needed it far, far more than me, just to exist on. Do you suppose that would be O.K.?
And once I was told it would be legal, the government would say "Sure, here is a license to do that", a lot more greedy folks (many of them with criminal pasts) would jump on the bandwagon and open their own legal money-sucking businesses patterned exactly after mine. Would that also be O.K. with you?
After a few years passed, and all the bad things mentioned above were now happening across the nation with increased frequency, homes and families destroyed by the thousands, do you suppose that would STILL be O.K. with you?
And then suppose that shady characters in some other country on the other side of the world saw me piling money up faster than I could count it. Then somehow managed to convince THEIR government to give them a license to start a company just like mine. Once they got it up and running and started to bleed the livelihood out of the citizens of that country, in a feeding frenzy others jumped in with more such companies, fast spreading them across THEIR country.
Now suppose that country on the other side of the world saw what evil can of worms they had opened and suddenly said STOP! "ALL THOSE COMPANIES ARE NOW ILLEGAL AND THEY WILL BE CLOSED COMPLETELY." Do you suppose that would be a repressive BAD thing for that country to do, throwing all those people siphoning money from the public out of work? NO, you say???
Well, in case you missed it, hidden in the back pages of the news on 6/29, this is EXACTLY what has just happened to all the casinos and slot machine parlors in Russia. They have now been put out of business. While in the USA those leeches blithely continue along, creating havoc, crime, misery, and poverty. Do you suppose that is still O.K.?
CAP 6/30/09
IT'S ONLY A GAME!
Don't know if young kids still play the game "King Of The Mountain"; rather doubt it, what with all the tech marvels, TV games, 'Tweeting', etc. now available to them. But years ago when we often only had other kids to play with, and only our imaginations for 'toys', games were created that didn't cost anything. (Mainly because parents had NO discretionary money to waste on toys!)
And so games like King Of The Mountain, Hide And Go Seek, Rubber Guns, Slingshots, Hopscotch, Cowboys And Indians, etc. kept young bodies and minds busy and out of trouble... and HAPPY. And at the end of the day, tired... and HAPPY. Then one day the kids turned around, looked in the mirror, and they had become young adults. And 'King Of The Mountain' took on a brand new meaning.
We worked, struggled, made money, supported families, all the while trying to be 'King Of The Mountain' in our chosen line of work. Striving to get to the top, seeking recognition for our honest efforts to succeed. Some did better than others, a few rose to the top, became King Of The Mountain. Once there, it is not uncommon that all hell broke loose in the form of supreme egotism for some.
And that is when the "wheat" is separated from the "chaff". We see it every day, the overpaid athlete that comes crashing down; the politician who discovers hypocrisy is a quick trip to unemployment; the entertainers who wake up to find that they no longer are entertaining anyone and have become 'has-beens'. LIFE IS ONLY A GAME! Whether you win or lose is not half as important as how you play it!
Guess what I am saying today is that it doesn't hurt to now and then remember that 'life ain't permanent no-how', 'Kings' come and go, and the fact that a person is able to succeed, do really well, is absolutely no reason to become (in the words I often heard as a child)
"Too Big For Your Britches."
CAP 7/1/09
Don't know if young kids still play the game "King Of The Mountain"; rather doubt it, what with all the tech marvels, TV games, 'Tweeting', etc. now available to them. But years ago when we often only had other kids to play with, and only our imaginations for 'toys', games were created that didn't cost anything. (Mainly because parents had NO discretionary money to waste on toys!)
And so games like King Of The Mountain, Hide And Go Seek, Rubber Guns, Slingshots, Hopscotch, Cowboys And Indians, etc. kept young bodies and minds busy and out of trouble... and HAPPY. And at the end of the day, tired... and HAPPY. Then one day the kids turned around, looked in the mirror, and they had become young adults. And 'King Of The Mountain' took on a brand new meaning.
We worked, struggled, made money, supported families, all the while trying to be 'King Of The Mountain' in our chosen line of work. Striving to get to the top, seeking recognition for our honest efforts to succeed. Some did better than others, a few rose to the top, became King Of The Mountain. Once there, it is not uncommon that all hell broke loose in the form of supreme egotism for some.
And that is when the "wheat" is separated from the "chaff". We see it every day, the overpaid athlete that comes crashing down; the politician who discovers hypocrisy is a quick trip to unemployment; the entertainers who wake up to find that they no longer are entertaining anyone and have become 'has-beens'. LIFE IS ONLY A GAME! Whether you win or lose is not half as important as how you play it!
Guess what I am saying today is that it doesn't hurt to now and then remember that 'life ain't permanent no-how', 'Kings' come and go, and the fact that a person is able to succeed, do really well, is absolutely no reason to become (in the words I often heard as a child)
"Too Big For Your Britches."
CAP 7/1/09
YES!!! DARE TO DREAM!
They CAN Come True! I Know.
Seventy-five years ago as an 8-year-old boy I was allowed to walk alone down to the banks of the Mississippi River from my home in LaCrosse Wisconsin where I was born. This, during summer school vacation. There, at Riverside Park next to what was known as "Monkey Island" (real live monkeys in an enclosure surrounded by a moat) I would lay for hours just waiting to see the next wood-burning paddle-wheel steamboat go up or down the river.
Many of them would stop at the city docks in LaCrosse to unload cargo and/or passengers and then take on cargo and/or passengers. Watching them come in and tie up, and the huge clouds of smoke from their tall smokestacks, the sounds when they started up to cast off to leave, beat the devil out of ANYTHING I see on modern day TV. Bar none. It was all my young mind could understand and take.
On a good day there might be 3 or 4 paddle wheelers to watch, some days there would be a long wait just to see one. But those days were not wasted. I would just lay on my back in the sweet green grass and watch the endless clouds go by. And try to figure out what many of the clouds looked like. A cow? A bird? A flower? There was no end to my imagination. And I would dream about all the places those steamboats were going, or where they came from. And why. And dream that maybe someday I could go all the way down the Mississippi to where it ends. (In 1972 I did just that. Solo. A five week trip.)
In the 75 years since that summer I have traveled the world, the North American Continent from Panama to where the road ends in far North Alaska. Been a bum, been a winner. Been up, been down. Lost some, won some. Been poor, and not poor. Almost all my dreams from those long ago days have come true. Sure, it took a lot of hard work to make some of them happen. But I would do it all over again in a second. My dreams turned into reality.
The biggest 'reality' of them all? There is no place like home. (Wherever and whatever 'home' is to you.) And 'home is where the heart is.' Which for me, is here, back in beautiful Wisconsin where I was born and raised, with its four-seasons of nature. The grass IS NOT GREENER on the other side of the fence. I know. Been there, done that.
CAP 7/2/09
Seventy-five years ago as an 8-year-old boy I was allowed to walk alone down to the banks of the Mississippi River from my home in LaCrosse Wisconsin where I was born. This, during summer school vacation. There, at Riverside Park next to what was known as "Monkey Island" (real live monkeys in an enclosure surrounded by a moat) I would lay for hours just waiting to see the next wood-burning paddle-wheel steamboat go up or down the river.
Many of them would stop at the city docks in LaCrosse to unload cargo and/or passengers and then take on cargo and/or passengers. Watching them come in and tie up, and the huge clouds of smoke from their tall smokestacks, the sounds when they started up to cast off to leave, beat the devil out of ANYTHING I see on modern day TV. Bar none. It was all my young mind could understand and take.
On a good day there might be 3 or 4 paddle wheelers to watch, some days there would be a long wait just to see one. But those days were not wasted. I would just lay on my back in the sweet green grass and watch the endless clouds go by. And try to figure out what many of the clouds looked like. A cow? A bird? A flower? There was no end to my imagination. And I would dream about all the places those steamboats were going, or where they came from. And why. And dream that maybe someday I could go all the way down the Mississippi to where it ends. (In 1972 I did just that. Solo. A five week trip.)
In the 75 years since that summer I have traveled the world, the North American Continent from Panama to where the road ends in far North Alaska. Been a bum, been a winner. Been up, been down. Lost some, won some. Been poor, and not poor. Almost all my dreams from those long ago days have come true. Sure, it took a lot of hard work to make some of them happen. But I would do it all over again in a second. My dreams turned into reality.
The biggest 'reality' of them all? There is no place like home. (Wherever and whatever 'home' is to you.) And 'home is where the heart is.' Which for me, is here, back in beautiful Wisconsin where I was born and raised, with its four-seasons of nature. The grass IS NOT GREENER on the other side of the fence. I know. Been there, done that.
CAP 7/2/09
SPIDERWORT, aka BLUEJACKET
One Of The Most Beautiful Wildflowers
Found In The Boonies Of Good Ol' Wisconsin. (Notice The Bee.)
One Of The Most Beautiful Wildflowers
Found In The Boonies Of Good Ol' Wisconsin. (Notice The Bee.)
HIRED HANDS.
OBAMA and IRAN.
PATRIOTISM.
Let's cut to the chase and call Obama exactly what he is. A HIRED HAND. Exactly what each member of Congress is, sleazy and inefficient as they may be as a group. They are nothing more, nothing less, than HIRED HANDS. Not hired by one person, or even a half-dozen folks acting as a group. Hired by the MAJORITY of the citizens of the USA who were eligible to cast their vote in complete freedom.
Like it or not, that is how it is. They all have signed on with a contract between them and us: Representatives for two years, President for four years, and Senators for six years. They are NOT elected for life. They ARE subject to controls, called checks and balances, and separation of powers. ALL of them, every one, can be fired by way of impeachment if what they do while working for us is crooked or treasonous. Yes, it happens. Think Nixon, Blagojevich, and not just a few others.
But while they ARE actually working under the contract they signed when they first went to work for us, they are obliged to do their best on behalf of our country. As we so often discover, some of them just plain ain't up to the job and are replaced when the contract comes up for renewal. Some, we soon discover, prove the wisdom of never "buying-a-pig-in-a-poke."
So now we have Obama having to live with and up to his words and deeds, as well as those that came from beneath him from folks who were doing his bidding as far as Iran (AND North Korea) are concerned. At this stage of the game, no opinion or comment from me on that topic. I will wait and see what time brings, and in the meantime I shall NOT laud him, NOR ... demean his efforts ... which simply would validate, justify, encourage, and lend support to our nation's enemies in their zeal to kill all Americans.
And right about now it is time for every sane and reasonable person to understand AND ACCEPT that the vast majority of Iranians, be they followers of their flaky president or rabid supporters of the current opposition in Iran, that the VAST MAJORITY of them love their country just as much as we love ours! Never forget... Iran once was 'Persia', and along with Iraq, Mesopotamia, they in actuality are the birthplace of civilization as we believe it to be. When the USA began as a country 233 years ago tomorrow, THEIR country was already many, many CENTURIES old, and their people, at the end of the day, are just as proud of THEIR country and as patriotic as we are of ours!
And tomorrow, July 4th, 2009, regular readers of this website (my newspaper and mag columns and articles, my books...) they know what to expect here! (See you then!)
CAP 7/3/09
OBAMA and IRAN.
PATRIOTISM.
Let's cut to the chase and call Obama exactly what he is. A HIRED HAND. Exactly what each member of Congress is, sleazy and inefficient as they may be as a group. They are nothing more, nothing less, than HIRED HANDS. Not hired by one person, or even a half-dozen folks acting as a group. Hired by the MAJORITY of the citizens of the USA who were eligible to cast their vote in complete freedom.
Like it or not, that is how it is. They all have signed on with a contract between them and us: Representatives for two years, President for four years, and Senators for six years. They are NOT elected for life. They ARE subject to controls, called checks and balances, and separation of powers. ALL of them, every one, can be fired by way of impeachment if what they do while working for us is crooked or treasonous. Yes, it happens. Think Nixon, Blagojevich, and not just a few others.
But while they ARE actually working under the contract they signed when they first went to work for us, they are obliged to do their best on behalf of our country. As we so often discover, some of them just plain ain't up to the job and are replaced when the contract comes up for renewal. Some, we soon discover, prove the wisdom of never "buying-a-pig-in-a-poke."
So now we have Obama having to live with and up to his words and deeds, as well as those that came from beneath him from folks who were doing his bidding as far as Iran (AND North Korea) are concerned. At this stage of the game, no opinion or comment from me on that topic. I will wait and see what time brings, and in the meantime I shall NOT laud him, NOR ... demean his efforts ... which simply would validate, justify, encourage, and lend support to our nation's enemies in their zeal to kill all Americans.
And right about now it is time for every sane and reasonable person to understand AND ACCEPT that the vast majority of Iranians, be they followers of their flaky president or rabid supporters of the current opposition in Iran, that the VAST MAJORITY of them love their country just as much as we love ours! Never forget... Iran once was 'Persia', and along with Iraq, Mesopotamia, they in actuality are the birthplace of civilization as we believe it to be. When the USA began as a country 233 years ago tomorrow, THEIR country was already many, many CENTURIES old, and their people, at the end of the day, are just as proud of THEIR country and as patriotic as we are of ours!
And tomorrow, July 4th, 2009, regular readers of this website (my newspaper and mag columns and articles, my books...) they know what to expect here! (See you then!)
CAP 7/3/09
