Postcard From My Trip

One of the things I admired while in South Africa was this twenty-old 'jeep' that a couple were using to transit South Africa. 

Their 'drive' was settled around six months of just driving through every single inch of the country, and into some rough vallies. They had the tool-kit, the camping gear, the grub, and all the necessities of life. 

They had the gear to camp out, and occasionally stay in a hotel or B/B.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s....you could have done this and had zero fear except for lions or snakes.  Today?  With all the violence and criminal activity....it's generally unwise.

There used to be people in the US who'd go and do some three-month period of adventure trek, and live out of a jeep for weeks.  Today, it's rare. 

On Tear-Gas

I sat and watched some news piece this morning over the crowd at the Texas border, and the use of tear-gas.  The journalist (safe to say they were awful supportive of the migrant guys)....laid out this terrible in-humane use of tear-gas.  After sixty seconds of their chatter, you had this feeling that it was the 'end of the world' for these people who'd been hit with the tear-gas.

I sat over this.

Around in January of 1978 (six months into my enlistment into the Air Force), I was in-processing through the last part of Rhein Main's introduction period, which meant a half-day of fake combat training (my term for it).  You had to be able to grasp the wearing of the chem-warfare suit, and there was this three-hour period where they talked about the terrible things which would occur if war started up and the Soviets used chemical warfare. 

Then came this brief one-hour introduction to the gas-mask, and a visit to the 'room'.  You basically entered with a group of five folks and the instructor....with the full-up mask on.  The instructor had some tear-gas capsule set off, and he wanted you to take the mask off....count to three....then put the mask back on. 

You got a pretty good 'huff' of tear-gas.  Then he let you leave the chamber.  It was one of those miserable experiences that you disliked, and repeated every twelve months, for the next 18 years.  Toward the last three years in the Air Force, I found various ways to skip out and miss the training episode.  So I probably did at least fifteen of these tear-gas episodes. 

I kinda look at the journalist hype and just start laughing.  It's harsh stuff, but it won't kill you.  If you don't like tear-gas....don't get into some stupid environment where it's going to be used. 

DNA Story

It's an interesting science piece from the Brit Daily Mail.....which discussed DNA discoveries, and the likely history of mankind.

Scientists went and took DNA samples from 100,000 animals, and to include humans in the 'test'.  Conclusion?  Roughly 250,000 years ago...something of a major consequence occurred, with ONLY one set of parents left for the humans, and roughly 90-percent of the animal breeds (across the globe).  That one set of parents....reignited life on Earth.

The scientists in this project?  More or less shocked....every single theory that they had on evolution...now, more or less, tossed out the door. 

Questions?  Thousands of them.

The last big enormous event to wipe out most life on Earth.....was 65 million years ago (that killed off the dinosaurs finally, or at least they believed that).  So was there another big wipe-out in the range of 250,000 years ago?  No one has ever suggested that.

The Noah story?  Well....the problem here is that you have various lands which weren't land-connected and animals would not have crossed over to re-populate regions.

So you end up alien-Joe and alien-Francis, who arrived and reset the balance of things on Earth.....that's my theory.  Various animals were dumped off in certain areas, and the world was given some kind of chance number 2. 

If I Were Going to Make the White House Press Rules

I'd have a list of ten rules for press behavior:

1.  Your question can't be longer than 20 words.

2.  If your question can't be understood by the typical average American, I'd ask you to rephrase it.  If it take three requests to rephrase it, and they all fail my 'typical' test....then we skip you and move on.

3.  You have to stand....state your name and press organization, then render the question, and finally sit as I respond.

4.  The phrases 'don't you think' or 'haven't you thought' won't be used.

5.  Any ridicule of the President or personal criticism.....renders your press pass void for two weeks.

6. Tie and suit required.

7.  I'd only do the conference on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

8.  If you attempt to make a speech (going two full minutes of chatter) as part of some fake-question....my answer will be for you  'Dallas Cowboys' (every single time).

9.  At the end of each week, I would hand out a 'Jean-Claude Van Damme' award for most dramatic journalist of the week (to signify overacting or bad-acting).

10.  The first row and priority questions would go to newspaper journalists of small towns in rural areas of the US.  They would get the first three questions.

Zucker in Freefall

This week, it looks more and more like Mark Zuckerberg will end getting fired from Facebook as the CEO.  His capital investment?  It's still there and he's still got a hefty amount of money.  But the loss of status, and a zeroed-out CEO pay-situation?  It would make things a bit more interesting.

The odds of catching on as CEO with another company?  I think it's near zero percent.

The odds of getting another Facebook-like idea?  Zero percent.

The odds of some political career?  Zero percent.

His value at 70-odd billion dollars?  At some point, Facebook is going to evolve and fall into some lesser value scale (maybe not 2019, but definitely in the next five years). 

My gut feeling is that he goes through 2019 and sells half of the Facebook stock and buys some newer player in the APP market, and tries to make some comeback in 2020 or later.  Who knows....he might even show up in Europe and try to pick up several developmental companies and try to evolve on his Facebook concept. 

My Suggestion For a New TV Series

There's so much 'crap' loaded on the networks these days....that you really go begging for shows to watch.  Reinventing?  Well....why not go to another different scenario?

One of the ten great characters of all time, was 'Cliff' from Cheers.  Cliff was the postal guy who seemed to live out of the bar....knowing virtually everything in life but rarely telling you his life story. 

So my idea is this....instead of using Cliff for Cheers at age 47.....retell Cliff's situation in life at age thirty.

Cliff was this guy who got the postal job at 18 but rarely showed up to work, yet never got missed.  In his part-time, he attended (without paying, naturally) various college classes and lectures.  At some point, he puts on a suit and sets up fake lectures at the university....pretending to be some PhD guy, and has the lecture hall filled to capacity.  Eventually, the university figures all this out, being highly embarrassed at the accomplishments of the fake Cliff professor.....then decides to give Cliff a PhD under the table if he just quietly leaves. 

Cliff returns to the real postal world and can't find happiness in a full-time work capacity.....so he drinks a good bit to make up for his situation in life. 

Carl's Imaginary World

I sat and read through a piece which quoted DC journalist Carl Bernstein a good bit.  The commentary?  Carl says that the cable news networks ought to stop broadcasting White House press conferences and briefings in their entirety.  Reason?  Carl says they are merely "propagandist exercises."

I sat and pondered over Carl's commentary.

With the exception of ESP*N.....I can't think of any network that has carried the entire WH press conferences in their 45 to 60 minute version.  The ABC/CBS/NBC folks will splice a 2-minute piece for their nightly newscast with three minutes of commentary or attached 'extra' political chat.

The CNN folks might have three or four clips that they run....but they rarely if ever will carry an entire press conference.

So what is Carl talking about?  I think he's imagining that various networks carry the full WH press conference.  Yes....a rather fake comment about an imaginary event that simply doesn't happen.

This is another reason why I think journalism is worthless today.