An amazing bunch of demographics. I was especially surprised to learn there are more high IQ kids in India than there are kids in the USA. Some of the stats also point at the need for the USA to accept immigrants.
Filed under: Conservative, economy, family, Government | Tagged: demographics, education, Illegal Immigration, Population, Society | Leave a comment »
Can someone please shed some light on these questions for me?
1. Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety-one?
2. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea…does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?
3. Why do croutons come in airtight packages?
Aren’t they just stale bread to begin with?
4. If people from Poland are called Poles, then why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?
5. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
6. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car is not called a racist?
7. If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
8. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, then doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
9. Do Lipton Tea employees take ‘coffee breaks?’
10. What hair color do they put on the driver’s licenses of bald men?
11. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use, Toothpicks?
12. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don’t they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?
13. Is it true that you never really learn to swear until you learn to drive?
14. If a cow laughed, would milk come out of her nose?
15. Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?
16. Why, Why, Why do we press harder on the remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
17. Why do banks charge a fee due to insufficient funds; when they already know you’re broke?
18. Why is it that when someone tells you that there are one billion stars in the universe you believe them, but if they tell you there is wet paint you have to touch it to check?
19. Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?
20. Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
21. Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
22. Whose cruel idea was it to put an “s” in the word “lisp”?
23. If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
24. Why is it that, no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?
25. Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
26. Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
27. Why do people run over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it and then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
28. How do those dead bugs get into the enclosed light fixtures?
29. Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that’s falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
30. Why, in winter, do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
31. Do you ever wonder why you gave me your e-mail address in the first place?
And A FAVORITE:
32. The statistics on sanity say that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends.
If they’re OK..? (then it’s you!)
REMEMBER, A day without a smile is like a day without sunshine!
And a day without sunshine is, like………..night!!!!
Filed under: Education, Humor | Tagged: Questions | 1 Comment »
WELCOME to 2015:
Our Phones are“ Wireless
Cooking is“ Fireless
Cars are“ Keyless
Foods are“ Fatless
Tires are“Tubeless
Dresses are“ Sleeveless
Youths are“ Jobless
Leaders are“ Shameless
Relationships are“ Meaningless
Attitudes are“ Careless
Babies are“ Fatherless
Feelings are“ Heartless
Education is“ Valueless
Children are“ Mannerless
Our Country is“ Godless
We are SPEECHLESS
Congress is CLUELESS,
And our President is WORTHLESS !
I’m scared shitless
Filed under: Election, Society | Tagged: Koolaid, Obama | 1 Comment »
Finally, I finished reading a book called Galileo’s Telescope. It took a month, but I did it. Whenever it takes me that long to read something it is because it is a difficult read. Three author’s were required to tell this short story of how Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s moons became known to the world. The time frame was 1590 through 1620. That alone gives a clue about how hard it must have been to research the events that unfolded.
A Dutchman who made eyeglasses for a living invented the telescope. The novelty of the device spread quickly across Europe and ultimately landed in Galileo’s lap. The early telescopes were crude devices with poorly made lens but had a 3:1 magnification. People were astounded by being able to see things far away come close. Galileo was a mathematician and immediately recognized the value of studying the heavens with a telescope. He took it upon himself to improve the device. He didn’t believe anyone else but he could do the job. He learned how to grind lens, and sent to Venice for the finest glass available. His math skills enabled him to calculate the lens curvature needed to yield a 30:1 magnification.
He first examined the moon. He learned the surface had mountains, valleys, and desert. He made the first pencil sketches of the moon’s surface. Then he focused on Jupiter and realized that four moons spiraled the planet. He published his findings in a book titled Sidereus nuncios.
The story told focuses on how the world rejected Galileo as the inventor of the telescope which is correct. He never claimed he invented the device. There is a short discussion on how he used the scope, and the rest on how he spread the news.
During that era, the Catholic Church taught that the universe revolved around the earth, and they excommunicated scientist Copernicus for teaching that the earth revolved around the sun. Many people of Galileo’s time warned him to present his findings as a mathematical phenomenon, and not as a Philosophical one for fear of being rebuked by the Church. Jesuits were the renowned philosophers of the time, and they still are today. They set up the Inquisition to keep people from deviating from Holy Doctrine. The current Pope Francis came to mind throughout this reading. He is a Jesuit and has the same stubborn stance on Global Warming as the Jesuits of the sixteenth century had about Earth being the center of the universe.
Anyway, this book told the story in two hundred and forty-six pages. I would have condensed it into ten (The words in this post are enough for me). The story contains too many difficult Italian names, dates, and places. We won’t see a movie on this one for sure. As hard as it was to read, I enjoyed the story.
Filed under: Book Review, Education, Science | Tagged: Astronomy, Galileo, Inquisition, Telescope | 1 Comment »
Life is like a road trip. Often, we spend time on a super highway with a very definite destination. At other times we are on a side road through a very dark and dense forest with lots of curves, and the destination is unknown. My life is now on one of those twisty paths where the next mile is unknown, and the destination is unclear, yet the journey consumes life.
My writing has been sparse of late because of the twists and turns of daily living. Many unforeseen incidents have arisen which have taken precedence over the joy of transferring thoughts to paper. A friend with dementia, a child with cancer, a second house that needs preparation for sale, all of these twists have cut me off from the interstate headed for enjoyment.
Perhaps, when this curvy road straightens out, and I return to the super highway, then, Grumpa Joe’s Place will again become a priority. Until that happens, please bear with me.
Filed under: Aging, Biography, family, Funk, grief | Tagged: Cancer, depression, Dimentia, Illness | 2 Comments »
Death Of the Shining City
