(378) RESPONSES

See the Comments to (374) "Follow the Money". Anonymous has corrected me on the words to one of my favorite fight songs. Please see his comment. I assume he is correct, however, I am confused. First, Georgia’s colors are red; second, and perhaps I have never heard the song without being in the presence of a bunch of Georgia Technicians, but my rendition of the words are more to the point, even if they differ from the official verse. Sorry to all of you purists in the crowd, but here is the way I have been singing the song for years and still sing it when I am in the presence of my Georgia Tech friends:

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d send her up to Athens to cheer the Bulldogs through.
But if I had a son, Sir, I tell you what he’d say,
He’d say ‘To hell with Georgia,’ like his daddy used to do.
I’m a ramblin’ wreck from Georgia Tech,
and a hell of an engineer . . ."

Also, my friend Ryan makes some sage observations, vis-a-vis, his Comment to (374) "Follow the Money". I encourage observation and discussion, even if the observations are critical to my observations. Ryan opines that most shootings are committed by drunken teenagers. There is something to his position, however, few drunken teenagers cause mass destruction. This morning’s paper brought the news that 48 people were blown up at a wedding party in Iran, and 200 people had been killed during the past week. All of these crimes are related to religion and politics. Moreover, no drunken teenager blows up a Wal-Mart, an airplane, an airport, a ship, or a wedding. I concede that lunatics cause a certain amount of destruction, but, worldwide, the destruction caused by drunken teenagers is small change compared to those who kill in the name of their god or in the name of political beliefs.

Keep the good words coming!

Respectfully submitted,
Donald M. Heavrin,
Your servant of Truth in the Garden of Life

QUICKIE 01/25/'11

Behind all prejudice is passion.

Submitted for your consideration,
Donald M. Heavrin

(377) JUSTICE BLACK

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d send her up to Georgia to cheer the Bulldogs through.
But if I had a son, Sir, I’d tell you what he’d say . . ."
[C’mon, Joe, I know you’re out there, and you may be the only person who is reading the ‘blog who has a clue what the next line provides.]

*****

See the comment by Navin R. Johnson to the "I Like Ike" post–it is brilliant.

*****

I don’t know how much of the stuff I write fits into any equation, so if you think this is out the ordinary, that’s good. In 1937, Hugo Black was nominated by Franklin Roosevelt to the United States Supreme Court. At the time, he was a United States Senator, and the Senate approved his appointment easily. After his confirmation, a firestorm erupted. The press reported that the native of Alabama had once been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, which was true. However, he had resigned from the Klan years before he became a United States Senator, and, in the Senate, he was known as a Constitutional pioneer who favored civil rights and civil liberties. Now the part of the story that interests me: on October 1, 1937, Mr. Justice Black, who had already been confirmed to the Supreme Court, sat in front of an array of microphones from various radio networks. Much like today when someone is making a speech, there were hundreds of reporters shoving microphones at him and asking questions. As far as I know, there were no questions asked, but the media was present via their microphones. In response to the allegations that he had been a member of the Klan, and how that might adversely affect him as a Justice of the Supreme Court, he calmly explained his renunciation of the Klan and their doctrines. The amazing part: the radio broadcast of Justice Black’s press conference drew the largest radio audience since the abdication of Edward VIII.

Fortunately, no one moved to impeach Hugo Black, and he went on to become one of the great Civil Libertarians of all time–not perfect, but better than most.

Respectfully submitted for your information,
Donald M. Heavrin,
An observer

(376) I LIKE IKE

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d send her up to Georgia to cheer the Bulldogs through.
But if I had a son, Sir, I’d tell you what he’d say . ."
[Someone provide the next line, please]

*****

Fifty years ago, Eisenhower gave his farewell address as he was leaving the presidency. Beside the famous remark about being careful of supporting the "military industrial complex," he gave some specific information, exempli gratia: "This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than thirty cities; its two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat, we pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

In today’s bizarre political climate, Eisenhower’s observations have proven to be true. An economics student can explain the guns-versus-butter analogy, but by the time he gets out of college and into politics, he has abandoned the concept of finite resources and believes that you can have both guns and butter at the same time–hence, we have trillions of dollars in deficit spending. This money could have provided medical care for everyone, housing for everyone, and food for everyone. If we are going to have a socialistic society, the members of society should reap some of the benefits, rather than a select few who profit from war. And, as I have said on many occasions, if we are going to have war, then let’s proceed with scorched Earth.

Respectfully submitted,
Donald M. Heavrin,
A Dinosaur

(375) CHOCK FULL OF NUTS

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d send her up to Georgia to cheer the Bulldogs through.
But if I had a son, Sir, I’d tell you what he’d say . ."
[Someone provide the next line, please]

*****

The recent shooting in Arizona illustrates the fact that humanity is full of random violence. A letter to the editor this morning asked the question, "What have we become?" The unfortunate answer is there have been no changes. How many Presidents have been assassinated? How many drive-by shootings have there been? How many abortion clinics have been bombed? Most of the time, violence stems from dogmatic political or religious beliefs. If we could eliminate politics and religion, we would have, for the most part, a peaceful society. There are exceptions to this rule: for instance, Hitler and his minions wanted to conquer all of Europe and create a Reich that would last 1,000 years. An examination of the British Empire illustrates that all Kings were at risk all the time. When someone has the power, someone else undoubtedly wants the power. 6,000 years ago, humans created the first cities. At the same time, we have the first records of organized warfare. Someone wanted to live in the city, some invading force wanted the city. Imbalance and irrational behavior is stock-in-trade of the human animal. I wish I could tell you that we would soon evolve out of this nightmare, but it is unlikely that we will ever overcome our romance with violence.

*****

In 1972, Konrad Lorenz wrote On Aggression, in which he traces the violent nature of [male] humans back to the time we started keeping records by painting on the walls of our caves. Because he had the audacity to assert that men were territorial and aggressive by nature, and mostly irrational, he was held up to scorn and ridicule by the academic community. The academic community has slowly recognized that Lorenz was right, and he is no longer the subject of ridicule.

Sincerely yours,
Donald M. Heavrin

(374) FOLLOW THE MONEY

"If I had a daughter, Sir, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d send her up to Georgia to cheer the Bulldogs through.
But if I had a son, Sir, I’d tell you what he’d say . ."
[Someone provide the next line, please]

*****

The smell of money has drawn people out of the woodwork and into the fray. This morning, the Morning Show brought the news that Brett Favre had been accused by a massage therapist at the Jets of inappropriate conduct. As far as I could tell from the news story, he sent a text message to the massage therapist that said, in essence, ‘I am lonesome tonight.’ How on Earth could that be inappropriate? I have always believed that a man or woman can ask, and the other person has the right to refuse.

*****

Meanwhile, the Navy is disciplining a captain who made a tongue-in-cheek, amusing video several years ago (four to be exact) that contained some foolishness. The deadly-serious Navy has finally gotten around to relieving the captain of his command as Executive Officer of the USS Enterprise. Looking back over the past four years, absolutely nothing happened that was negative as a result of the videos. You can always tell if a country is in crisis when they focus on form versus substance, and the irrelevancies in life take precedence over the important stuff. When we, as a culture, cannot deal with the relevant, we focus on the irrelevant.

*****

I also saw a clip on the History Channel where someone in the Senate of Rome stated an unpopular opinion, ‘We constantly go to war to achieve peace.’ Does that sound familiar? This erroneous, stupid, irrelevant proposition has been advanced as an excuse for war for centuries. When is the human animal going to start thinking?

*****

Have you noticed that milk is increasing in price, along with gasoline and other items that we purchase on a regular basis? Again, I suggest that you buy a handful of silver coins to protect yourself against an economic collapse. Is it going to happen? I certainly hope not, but it does not cost a whole lot to be prepared. Silver has almost doubled in value in the last 12 months.

Peace on Earth,
Donald M. Heavrin