I KNOW THE FEELING!

A HIGHLY SKILLED DEMONSTRATION OF SELFISHNESS

A rather sad comment on our society is that that many of it's members think supremely selfish and dangerous behavior such as this is "cool" and to be admired. In fact it simply shows an incredibly overgrown ego and a total disrespect for the safety of everyone else on the road.

A TRAGIC MORNING IN DALLAS

I am not much for politics and do not all that often that often voice my opinions [in public at least]. I have never voted, either back in the UK or since coming to the US, there has never really been anyone I would want to vote for and personally I think anyone who actually wants power has a fatal character flaw that makes them singularly unsuitable to hold power but that is just me. That said this morning I awoke to news of a tragedy in the city I call home, Dallas, and for once I feel obliged to opine.

There is rightful outrage across this country at what seem often times to be unjust shooting deaths of blacks by police; in this age of social media and instant coverage there have been many cases that seemingly cannot be argued, the cell phone footage is too damning, and where the actions of individual police officers were unjust even given the fact they have to make life and death decisions in an instant [and most of us, myself included, do not have, and never will have, the slightest idea of what it is like to try to do that].

I have never lost someone to violence so I guess many would say I do not know what I am talking about - perhaps they are right - but I would like to think that even in what must be the darkest moments of a life I would be able to recognize that randomly targeting a "group" for the ill deeds of an individual cannot be the right thing to do. Personally I do not see the sense in revenge on the individual either, those lost are not returned as a result of it so what is the gain, but at least I can see some sort of perverse logic there.

If someone on my street shoots a friend or family member would it make sense for me then to target everyone on my street? If a car hits my car and kills or injures a family member would I then be justified in seeking to take action against all car drivers; of course not, everyone would see that as insane.

There is good and bad in every group be those groups defined by geography, color, religion, race or anything else for that matter; to think otherwise is not to think at all.

"Stealing" from several different tweets this morning:

• All Cops are not bad
• All African Americans are not thugs
• All Hispanics are not illegal
• All Whites are not racist
• All Muslims are not terrorists
• Labels are for clothes not people

BREXIT - UK ON THE RUN

As a British ex-pat I have been tempted to weigh in on Brexit but so far I have resisted the temptation. That said I found this meme from express.co.uk particularly amusing.

NEVER GIVE UP NO MATTER THE ODDS!

AN FDA APPROVED REMEDY FOR OUR OVER PC SOCIETY

Posted to the Facebook page Fsensitivity we have Growacet, a potential answer to our ever more PC society where the only minority that has no special rights is the majority and where democracy has been redefined to mean "minority rule"!

FROG JUMPING LAWS - WHAT DO OUR LAW MAKERS SMOKE?

Sometimes I wonder what our legislator's smoke! Take the California Fish & Game Code Sections 6880-6885 which pertain to "frog-jumping" contests.

First off it applies only to "frog-jumping" contests open to the public AND advertised or announced in a newspaper. So presumably a contest not advertised, or private, or both is an unregulated "free for all".

Then we get a section that seems to say if you seriously injure a frog in the process of taking a frog for a "frog jumping" contest then the assumption is you were not actually taking the frog for a "frog-jumping" contest!

Next we read that anyone can take as many frogs as they like for "frog-jumping" contests but if they die [or are killed] they must be destroyed and cannot be eaten!

And finally if you take frogs but do not keep them in a manner reasonable to preserve their life they are outside of these rules. By implication this means it is perfectly OK to keep them in a manner that is not reasonable to preserve their life, it simply means they are not covered by these regulations.

I will resist the "animal cruelty" aspect of this as the law appears to indicate cruelty is fine and simply removes the frogs from being covered by these rules and speak only to the fact that to me these seem like utterly banal and pointless regulations that some group of legislators one day unaccountably actually thought their crafting was a good use of people's time. I have to believe there are "bigger fish to fry" [or frogs].

MUHAMMAD ALI - GREAT BOXER - GREAT MAN

Muhammad Ali passed a few days ago. He was a great boxer and perhaps an even greater man and certainly a loss to the world at large.

Though I am not religious by nature and despite the fact that my beliefs have changed many times over the course of my life this quote spoke to me. Whether I personally "believe" or not it has always seemed to me incredibly sad and dichotomous that a large number of the wars our species has fought, and continues to fight, have been conducted in the name of religion.

Ali's words from his autobiography "The Soul Of A Butterfly" certainly ring true to me!

CHICKEN TRUMP

CENTRAL PARK - CRUISE SHIP STYLE

You could easily be forgiven for thinking this is a photo of a rather cool land based outdoor atrium, perhaps associated with a large hotel, a mall or other complex.

In fact it is actually one of the "neighborhoods" on board the Royal Carribean cruise ship Oasis Of The Seas taken during a 2015 cruise. Sometimes technology has its issues and perhaps progress is not always for the good but I have to say that in this case that is not so; the Oasis is simply an awe inspiring technological, design and construction marvel.

THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THAT ANYMORE!

They sure do not make things like they used to! As a youngster I would hear older folks say that and I would swear to myself I would never become "that old guy" but of course we all do in the end. Case in point; car design where, for the most part, these days they all look like they come out of the same mold because of the constant drive for cars designed by computers with ever better aerodynamics in order to get the best gas mileage.

That was not always the case of course, aesthetics took more prominence in a far greater number of design decisions in times gone past, and the Arrowhead car seen below certainly demonstrates that.

Designed in 1936 by W. E. Miller for Arrowhead Water and featuring a striking teardrop shape, round and wide in the front tapering to a point at the back, that was aimed at promoting the company's product by calling to mind a drop of water thus meeting the primary requirement of a marketing vehicle by providing a strong visual connection to the product being marketed.

According to Hemmings.com the vehicle was a great success but lasted only a single year as it was completely destroyed in a wreck in 1937.


Photo from the Pop Culture & Nostalgia Facebook page

JALAL'S 2016 PRANK COMPILATION

It seems that the Jalal brothers video pranks have caused some controversy along the way. They are of course "set ups"; I am surprised anyone would have thought otherwise but there are news stories of the brothers having problems with the authorities [this one among many].

As is almost always the case these days, in my opinion, those in authority are not able to get their priorities right, are ruled by the need for "political correctness" and are totally unable to accept a little harmless fun. At least that is how I see it; make up your own mind based on the sample video below or others on the brothers Youtube Channel.

LIFE STAGES

THE HUMAN POPULATION EXPLOSION

This very cool animation from World Population History certainly illustrates the extent to which our species is "taking over" the planet. Somewhat reminiscent of the spread of a virus! Notice how the Black Death decimated Europe in the 12th Century; wonder when we will see the next "natural correction"?

NBC'S NEXT BIG SERIES - THE VICE PRESIDENT

So Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2016 US Presidential Election. Having made his name in real estate AND reality TV maybe he needs to look to the latter for a VP that can help him actually get to the White House [and - at risk of my getting "flamed" - I know I should never talk politics here] while I am not particularly enamored of the idea of Hilary may the good Lord help us all if Trump moves from Trump Tower to Pennsylvania Ave.

Survivor is a popular and longtime reality show where the basic premise is this - how do you persuade people you have maligned and "pissed off" to vote to give you the prize! Richard Hatch for VP anyone?

So, continuing the TV Theme perhaps NBC's next big series could be a spin-off of "The Apprentice". You know the show, people get given a task each week and then Trump gets to "fire" the worst performer. Perhaps a collection of VP "candidates" with tasks like "persuade" a group of women to vote for a misogynist, "persuade" Latino voters that he was just joking when he called Latino Immigrants "Criminals" And "Rapists" and so on. I would watch!