Generally, if you wait five to seven days after a mass shooting....you start to get to the 'real' story (usually not gun-related). In the Charleston episode....Dylann Storm Roof....was taking medication.
Suboxone.
You take Suboxone when you are already addicted to some opiate drugs, and you want to get off them. If you have pain-related issues....you DON'T get any relief with Suboxone. Once you get on Suboxone....unless you really pay attention and have a limited amount of the drug.....you will become permanently addicted to it (at least the experts say this).
There's this one odd affect of Suboxone.
If you've been taking Suboxone for a while and gotten pretty accustomed to it......then you think you want to quit it, in most cases, you will become aggravated and violent. Based on what I've read.....you have a sudden bout of physical frustration and uncontrolled reactions to real-life situations. In effect, you are a walking-time-bomb.
As much as some people want to desperately blame guns for this particular act.....it's again....drug-abuse. The hint usually, which I will offer as simply common sense, is that normal regular people don't walk up to a group of people and utilize a gun in a cold-hard fashion to kill a group of people. It's a different case where you have an ex-wife or ex-husband who wants to take out the former spouse with a gun. They have motivation and don't require any drugs to reach their intended goal. But when you talk about strangers, and a group of people....it just doesn't work the way that most people think.
As for a just punishment for this kid? You have no choice.....he was stupid enough to be addicted and it's his own fault. It may take six years, maybe even fifteen years.....but he'll eventually be put to death.
Saturday, 20 June 2015
Friday, 19 June 2015
The $10 Bill Figure?
There's talk this week that within the next couple of years.....the Treasury Department will put out a new $10-bill....without Hamilton's face on it. Instead, it'll feature a woman's face. Who? Currently....undecided (at least that's what they say). Congress will have some words over this and I'm pretty sure that they will have the final say.
My choices?
1. Marilyn Monroe. I know....she's a lusty gal with drug issues but she's iconic.
2. Amelia Earhart. I know....she's the missing gal from the 1930s. But she's also iconic.
3. Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii. The last queen of the Pacific Island.
4. Mila Hamm. Retired American pro-soccer player. I know.....no one much has heard of her but within the soccer field.....she's known.
5. Annie Oakley. Best female shooter that ever lived, period.
6. Calamity Jane. For a decade or two.....she was one of the best shooters of the 1800s. Then life went into a spiral, and she drank herself to death.
7. Clare Barton. The Red Cross gal and a fairly genuine person (no thrills, no gossip, no pimps, no issues).
8. Margret Mead. Probably the most intellectural gal that the US ever produced.
9. Pocahontas. Basically.....she was not an American (this was way before 1776) but she was Native American and it'd count double on approval rating if you put her on the bill.
10. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Yeah, she's the one who wrote Little House on the Prairie. It might be hokey but folks have some image of her, and American culture.....so she's an icon.
My guess is that it'll be awful hard for the Senate to reach some conclusion and in the end.....they will pick someone like Pocahontas as the acceptable figure for everyone.
What this does though....is open the door for changes with the $1, $20 and $100 bills. I suspect within five years after we get this issue with the $10 bill resolved.....other suggestions will pop up and even the figures on the coins will come into a debate. Who knows.....maybe Elvis will eventually make his way onto the 25-cent coin.
My choices?
1. Marilyn Monroe. I know....she's a lusty gal with drug issues but she's iconic.
2. Amelia Earhart. I know....she's the missing gal from the 1930s. But she's also iconic.
3. Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii. The last queen of the Pacific Island.
4. Mila Hamm. Retired American pro-soccer player. I know.....no one much has heard of her but within the soccer field.....she's known.
5. Annie Oakley. Best female shooter that ever lived, period.
6. Calamity Jane. For a decade or two.....she was one of the best shooters of the 1800s. Then life went into a spiral, and she drank herself to death.
7. Clare Barton. The Red Cross gal and a fairly genuine person (no thrills, no gossip, no pimps, no issues).
8. Margret Mead. Probably the most intellectural gal that the US ever produced.
9. Pocahontas. Basically.....she was not an American (this was way before 1776) but she was Native American and it'd count double on approval rating if you put her on the bill.
10. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Yeah, she's the one who wrote Little House on the Prairie. It might be hokey but folks have some image of her, and American culture.....so she's an icon.
My guess is that it'll be awful hard for the Senate to reach some conclusion and in the end.....they will pick someone like Pocahontas as the acceptable figure for everyone.
What this does though....is open the door for changes with the $1, $20 and $100 bills. I suspect within five years after we get this issue with the $10 bill resolved.....other suggestions will pop up and even the figures on the coins will come into a debate. Who knows.....maybe Elvis will eventually make his way onto the 25-cent coin.
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Advice on Hearing Aids
Having gone through the 'game'....I will offer these ten bits of advice:
1. My humble guess is that a quarter of all guys over the age of fifty....have a fair amount of hearing loss, due to weapons firing, heavy equipment or work over the years. Out of every ten guys with problems.....I'd take another humble guess of only one woman with similar hearing loss. Why? Unknown. I'm still waiting for some university to do research.
2. The real cost of a hearing test? Some health insurance policies will cover it.....some work it into the deductible. A typical low-end price is $75, and a typical high-end cost is $225. The test itself takes roughly 40-to-50 minutes. For your general state of mind.....pay the cost and have it done at least once by age fifty.
3. Hearing loss goes across a spectrum. You could have significant loss on only ONE single part of the spectrum. It could go across each spectrum. The only way to tell....is the test.
4. The person conducting the test and trying to sell you the hearing aid deal.....is the same person. Just be aware of that.
5. When the test is complete.....the tester will give you a sheet identifying where your hearing is good or bad. Ask for a copy of this (demand if necessary).
6. Once the tester says you got issues.....the salesmanship starts. The guy or gal will say that they DON'T sell cheap hearing aids and the lowest they sell is $2,750 (the usual low-end). They will fit you with this one and run the bird-chirp CD, and you will be amazed at the quality of the sound.....being better than your damaged sound picks up. Then they will pull out the $6,500 hearing aid and it'll be twice as good or three-times as good as the cheaper $2,750. What the gal is not telling you.....is that the cheaper one has a 'button' which you could max the sound-pick-up double or triple what you had before.
7. The $6,500 hearing aid will always be on sale this month, with $450 off (typically). Act amazed.
8. Are there $1,499 or $1,999 hearing aids that work as well and sold nationally? Yes, at COSTCO. Brand X type devices, and they work the same way (four-star quality).
9. Why the warranty matters? Well.....guys with their first hearing aid screw up and allow water or rain to get it wet and screw it up. You learn after that.....to remove the hearing aids at times of physical action (hauling hay, driving the tractor, cutting grass).
10. There is a difference between the in-the-ear hearing aid and the hanging-off-the-ear aid. If you don't want folks knowing about your issue....the in-the-ear deal works OK. Think about this option before buying it.
Sadly, the hearing aid folks are counting on you spending $3,000 to $6,000 and help pay for their salary structure. You can get a decent deal for less. The battery deal? Well.....yeah.....if you try hard....a typical battery will last you four days. Rechargeable batteries exist.....check into them.
1. My humble guess is that a quarter of all guys over the age of fifty....have a fair amount of hearing loss, due to weapons firing, heavy equipment or work over the years. Out of every ten guys with problems.....I'd take another humble guess of only one woman with similar hearing loss. Why? Unknown. I'm still waiting for some university to do research.
2. The real cost of a hearing test? Some health insurance policies will cover it.....some work it into the deductible. A typical low-end price is $75, and a typical high-end cost is $225. The test itself takes roughly 40-to-50 minutes. For your general state of mind.....pay the cost and have it done at least once by age fifty.
3. Hearing loss goes across a spectrum. You could have significant loss on only ONE single part of the spectrum. It could go across each spectrum. The only way to tell....is the test.
4. The person conducting the test and trying to sell you the hearing aid deal.....is the same person. Just be aware of that.
5. When the test is complete.....the tester will give you a sheet identifying where your hearing is good or bad. Ask for a copy of this (demand if necessary).
6. Once the tester says you got issues.....the salesmanship starts. The guy or gal will say that they DON'T sell cheap hearing aids and the lowest they sell is $2,750 (the usual low-end). They will fit you with this one and run the bird-chirp CD, and you will be amazed at the quality of the sound.....being better than your damaged sound picks up. Then they will pull out the $6,500 hearing aid and it'll be twice as good or three-times as good as the cheaper $2,750. What the gal is not telling you.....is that the cheaper one has a 'button' which you could max the sound-pick-up double or triple what you had before.
7. The $6,500 hearing aid will always be on sale this month, with $450 off (typically). Act amazed.
8. Are there $1,499 or $1,999 hearing aids that work as well and sold nationally? Yes, at COSTCO. Brand X type devices, and they work the same way (four-star quality).
9. Why the warranty matters? Well.....guys with their first hearing aid screw up and allow water or rain to get it wet and screw it up. You learn after that.....to remove the hearing aids at times of physical action (hauling hay, driving the tractor, cutting grass).
10. There is a difference between the in-the-ear hearing aid and the hanging-off-the-ear aid. If you don't want folks knowing about your issue....the in-the-ear deal works OK. Think about this option before buying it.
Sadly, the hearing aid folks are counting on you spending $3,000 to $6,000 and help pay for their salary structure. You can get a decent deal for less. The battery deal? Well.....yeah.....if you try hard....a typical battery will last you four days. Rechargeable batteries exist.....check into them.
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Simply Observations
One. Rachel Dolezal and the "I identify as Black" concept. It's kinda surprising that the label thing has taken quickly with some news media folks and sold across as acceptable. A guy might look at this and say: "I identify as a Redneck" and expect folks to just accept that. Someone might say: "I identify as a meth-head" and expect folks to just accept that. Some gal might say: "I identify as a right-wing conservative Christian and deny gay marriage" and expect folks to just accept that......well.....oh.....that ID doesn't sell well on TV, I guess. Expect tens of thousands of t-shirts to now sell by this weekend....entitled as "I identify as such-and-such".
Two. It's one of those odd stories. The ISIS folks have a fairly decent turn-over situation in Iraq and Syria. So, they have an HR department. You'd kinda be dazed when this comes up.....but they are that 'smart'. The current gimmick of the HR department of ISIS? Well....they pretend to be social workers coming to your door to "help" you. Once inside your friendly side......they use recruitment ideas and get you signed up to be a player. It wouldn't surprise me if they even threw in some benefit chat or gave the guy a coffee cup.
Three. Syria finally came up yesterday and asked the EU for help. Basically.....the one million Syrians in Jordan are now too much to handle. What the EU will say or do? Unknown. If this were a six-month long problem concerning a previous earthquake or tidal wave.....no problem. But this is a potential decade-long issue and you can't say what will happen to the Syrians sitting around in various countries. It's possible.....that none will ever return in this lifetime to their country. To have imagined this a decade ago? Not possible. More Syrians to Europe? There's only two or three countries with an open view on this presently. Oddly, no one ever mentions Russia.
Two. It's one of those odd stories. The ISIS folks have a fairly decent turn-over situation in Iraq and Syria. So, they have an HR department. You'd kinda be dazed when this comes up.....but they are that 'smart'. The current gimmick of the HR department of ISIS? Well....they pretend to be social workers coming to your door to "help" you. Once inside your friendly side......they use recruitment ideas and get you signed up to be a player. It wouldn't surprise me if they even threw in some benefit chat or gave the guy a coffee cup.
Three. Syria finally came up yesterday and asked the EU for help. Basically.....the one million Syrians in Jordan are now too much to handle. What the EU will say or do? Unknown. If this were a six-month long problem concerning a previous earthquake or tidal wave.....no problem. But this is a potential decade-long issue and you can't say what will happen to the Syrians sitting around in various countries. It's possible.....that none will ever return in this lifetime to their country. To have imagined this a decade ago? Not possible. More Syrians to Europe? There's only two or three countries with an open view on this presently. Oddly, no one ever mentions Russia.
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
The Thing About Donald Trump
The announcement came today of Trump running for President. For most folks who consider themselves Republicans or leaning-independents-toward-Republicans.....Trump is this nutcase guy who can't win the Presidency but in the space of ten minutes.....says five things that really spark your interest.
Trump isn't a politician, nor does he fit any realistic profile of a guy running for office. Dirt dug up on the guy? For every pound of dirt that any news organization digs up.....Trump has people who dig up twice that much on the newspaper or news organization involved. Pound for pound.....Trump extracts a pay-back.
A couple of guys would sit there and imagine Trump winning.....but when you get down to actually voting for the guy.....I could see one in ten actually voting in some primary for the guy. Maybe if Cruz or Walker said some really stupid stuff.....you might have ten percent of either guy's group move to Trump as some opposition vote.
Would you really want some CEO guy running America.....firing the CIA guy when he did something stupid, or dumping the VP in the middle of some meeting and telling him to just go home? The Chinese? They'd be in utter fear of what this guy might do.....same for the Saudis and the French.
The guy most shocked by a possible win? Trump himself, my humble opinion.
Trump isn't a politician, nor does he fit any realistic profile of a guy running for office. Dirt dug up on the guy? For every pound of dirt that any news organization digs up.....Trump has people who dig up twice that much on the newspaper or news organization involved. Pound for pound.....Trump extracts a pay-back.
A couple of guys would sit there and imagine Trump winning.....but when you get down to actually voting for the guy.....I could see one in ten actually voting in some primary for the guy. Maybe if Cruz or Walker said some really stupid stuff.....you might have ten percent of either guy's group move to Trump as some opposition vote.
Would you really want some CEO guy running America.....firing the CIA guy when he did something stupid, or dumping the VP in the middle of some meeting and telling him to just go home? The Chinese? They'd be in utter fear of what this guy might do.....same for the Saudis and the French.
The guy most shocked by a possible win? Trump himself, my humble opinion.
The House of Clinton versus The House of Bush
Since yesterday's announcement of Jeb Bush running for President.....some people are quietly forecasting (at least in their little world).....this mythical battle of the House of Bush versus the House of Clinton. It's kinda like Game of Thrones or Mad Men series of appealing scenarios that people would like to be a part of or participate in some fantasy world.
Yeah.....things are a bit screwed up.
In this fantasy epic.....the House of Bush would tear up the Republican competition in Iowa and lay down Cruz and Walker in a matter of four weeks after the primaries started. Rubio might be a problem, and they'd have to bring in some heavy hitters to talk the slant against Rubio (he's a foreigner....he's a Mexican.....he's a lawyer.....etc). The House of Bush would then easily win the primary series and ride the white horse into the Quicken Convention Center in the mythical city of Cleveland.
I won't bore you with details, but in this fantasy.....Cleveland-land (double usage of words intentional).....Republican values would be laid out and Fox News would find the sixteen actual Republicans who live in Cleveland-land and feature them with the beast-killer.....Jeb.
A white pony would be brought out by the House of Clinton.....as a joke to Jeb, and the four-month battle "royal" (pronounced the French way) would start up.
Court jesters would line up with NBC, CBS, and ABC to help the House of Clinton as much as possible. Old white male court jesters would line up with Fox News to help the House of Bush.
About a week before elections in November of 2016.....people would wake up from this dazed experience and ask themselves.....do they really want either the House of Clinton or the House of Bush in reality? The answer is.....NO.
For this reason, I suspect that Jeb....while with honest and good intentions.....is on a marginal campaign and will not be able to mount any clear numbers of success in Iowa, or the first five state primaries that occur. He might take five to eight states by the end, and be part of the convention battle in Cleveland-land (it's a catchy phrase.....you must admit). But in my humble opinion....Jeb is sixteen years too late for this epic run (he is the better Bush, I do admit).
So, in your fantasy world......this all-out battle between the House of Clinton versus the House of Bush.....it's just fake. Don't get pepped up over nothing. Settle back.....drink some PBR....eat a bran muffin....and watch some repeats of the Rockford Files. It'll be more entertaining.
Yeah.....things are a bit screwed up.
In this fantasy epic.....the House of Bush would tear up the Republican competition in Iowa and lay down Cruz and Walker in a matter of four weeks after the primaries started. Rubio might be a problem, and they'd have to bring in some heavy hitters to talk the slant against Rubio (he's a foreigner....he's a Mexican.....he's a lawyer.....etc). The House of Bush would then easily win the primary series and ride the white horse into the Quicken Convention Center in the mythical city of Cleveland.
I won't bore you with details, but in this fantasy.....Cleveland-land (double usage of words intentional).....Republican values would be laid out and Fox News would find the sixteen actual Republicans who live in Cleveland-land and feature them with the beast-killer.....Jeb.
A white pony would be brought out by the House of Clinton.....as a joke to Jeb, and the four-month battle "royal" (pronounced the French way) would start up.
Court jesters would line up with NBC, CBS, and ABC to help the House of Clinton as much as possible. Old white male court jesters would line up with Fox News to help the House of Bush.
About a week before elections in November of 2016.....people would wake up from this dazed experience and ask themselves.....do they really want either the House of Clinton or the House of Bush in reality? The answer is.....NO.
For this reason, I suspect that Jeb....while with honest and good intentions.....is on a marginal campaign and will not be able to mount any clear numbers of success in Iowa, or the first five state primaries that occur. He might take five to eight states by the end, and be part of the convention battle in Cleveland-land (it's a catchy phrase.....you must admit). But in my humble opinion....Jeb is sixteen years too late for this epic run (he is the better Bush, I do admit).
So, in your fantasy world......this all-out battle between the House of Clinton versus the House of Bush.....it's just fake. Don't get pepped up over nothing. Settle back.....drink some PBR....eat a bran muffin....and watch some repeats of the Rockford Files. It'll be more entertaining.
Sunday, 14 June 2015
Civilization and the GPS
Last Thursday, I left on aI s four-hour drive from central Germany to Leiden, Netherlands. For six years now.....I've been a dedicated GPS guy. I haven't been lost since 2008. I've got a fairly new GPS.....eighteen months old. When I bought it......it came with a update deal for one year. So around December of last year.....I did the last big update of the system.
So I'm driving along about two-and-a-half hours into this trip.....when I start to look down at my amazing little gadget which is feeding me eight significant factors every second or two (location, speed, course direction, kilometers left, kilometers since start, the route ahead, etc). There's something now occurring of a unique nature.....the red road ahead and land features are rapidly disappearing.....I've got about a kilometer in front of me with some road left, then NOTHING.
I'm kinda freaking. Nothing.
Sure enough.....forty seconds pass and I'm in uncharted territory. It makes no sense. I've got full connectivity, full power, and a European map (not a Germany-only) map loaded.
I start to look at the autobahn area and note......it's all brand new. New blacktop, new signs, new landscape, new trees planted, etc. All of this....probably since January.
I figure maybe.....after five miles of this.....we will come to the old road area and it'll all come out great.
Well.....this took roughly twelve miles.....before suddenly terrain appeared and a road appeared on the GPS. Data starts to flow. My nerves start to return to normal.
You see.....I've been through a massive change in life. For roughly fifty years of my life.....I readily accepted being lost on an occasional basis and it was just part of life. With the GPS revolution.....I follow my status....my route.....my remaining time left....etc. I know where I'm at.....throughout a four-hour trip to the Netherlands. I can't imagine not having this capability at my disposal.
Returning from the Netherlands? Well....it's safe to assume.....I didn't take the same route.
As for updating my GPS? I'm agreeable to doing the update.....but the old side of me.....hating to spend money on things....is peeved. I will have to throw 40-odd Euro into some stupid GPS update, and I may have to do it yearly.
So I'm driving along about two-and-a-half hours into this trip.....when I start to look down at my amazing little gadget which is feeding me eight significant factors every second or two (location, speed, course direction, kilometers left, kilometers since start, the route ahead, etc). There's something now occurring of a unique nature.....the red road ahead and land features are rapidly disappearing.....I've got about a kilometer in front of me with some road left, then NOTHING.
I'm kinda freaking. Nothing.
Sure enough.....forty seconds pass and I'm in uncharted territory. It makes no sense. I've got full connectivity, full power, and a European map (not a Germany-only) map loaded.
I start to look at the autobahn area and note......it's all brand new. New blacktop, new signs, new landscape, new trees planted, etc. All of this....probably since January.
I figure maybe.....after five miles of this.....we will come to the old road area and it'll all come out great.
Well.....this took roughly twelve miles.....before suddenly terrain appeared and a road appeared on the GPS. Data starts to flow. My nerves start to return to normal.
You see.....I've been through a massive change in life. For roughly fifty years of my life.....I readily accepted being lost on an occasional basis and it was just part of life. With the GPS revolution.....I follow my status....my route.....my remaining time left....etc. I know where I'm at.....throughout a four-hour trip to the Netherlands. I can't imagine not having this capability at my disposal.
Returning from the Netherlands? Well....it's safe to assume.....I didn't take the same route.
As for updating my GPS? I'm agreeable to doing the update.....but the old side of me.....hating to spend money on things....is peeved. I will have to throw 40-odd Euro into some stupid GPS update, and I may have to do it yearly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)