You
will note that the Potpouuri Poll has disappeared from the blog.
Responses were minimal, but we may bring it back as the Presidential
election draws near. Also, we have added some advertisements to the
blog. We neither select nor endorse the ads. And if you have any idea of the location pictured off to the right, send me an Email at riart1@aol.com.
Beside an old short story from my archives, there are some interesting items on today's posting. Unfortuantely, none of you submitted anything to include this time around. I wish that you had. Certainly, some of you have the skills and opinions to come up with an interesting contribution to this blog. Give it a try.
Jack Lippman
Advice from my Gym Teacher
I had a gym teacher back in
elementary school who said that we should believe about 25% of what we hear and
about 50% of what we read. There was a
lot of philosophy dispensed while we were doing “two sixteens” of “up and
touch your toes” or “duckwalking” around the gymnasium. There was no internet
in those days and no Email. If there
were, I think Mr. O’Sullivan would have added that the 50% rule also applied to
well documented sources of information on the internet, but circulated Email,
with the original document unsigned, warranted no more than 5% credibility.
Unfortunately, there are
very large numbers of Americans who are totally misinformed about important
things and believe everything that they read on the internet. Recently, surveys in Mississippi and Alabama
among likely voters in the Republican primaries there indicated that more than
half of them believed the President was a Muslim.
I am thankful that some of
my more conservative friends include me in their Emails, which also go to hundreds
of others, probably less discerning than I am.
Without them, I would not know that (1) there is still significant doubt
about the birthplace of President Obama, (2) the Affordable Health Care Act
requires everyone who sells a house to pay a special tax, (3) that the
President and the Vice President were stupid enough to push for retraining of
“cattle guards,” which are not people but mechanical devices used on ranch
roads. 4) that the United States is willing to throw Israel “under the bus,” (5)
that the government is engaged in a fight against religious freedom, etc., etc., etc.
Please, I ask you, read
whatever political Emails you receive carefully, and in your own mind, question
what they are saying. Look for the source of the information. Just because it is a web site or a blog doesn't automatically give it legitimacy.
JL
Is there a War on Women?
Contrary to what I am
hearing from the liberal media, the G.O.P. is not waging a war against
women. Their failure to support
provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act which provide for payment of
benefits for abortions and contraceptives is merely an attempt to lock in the
support of the people who do believe for religious reasons that taxpayers
should not pay for such services. Except perhaps for the unelectable Rick
Santorum, most Republicans don’t believe that themselves, but why shouldn’t
they seek the votes of those who do? The
end justifies the means.
Such measures, incidentally,
do not attack religious freedom. They do
not favor or establish any particular religion or denomination. They require that all taxpayers share in the
providing of such services, even if they personally do not believe in
them. That is the price of living in a
democracy. Consider that individuals who
choose to home school their children or have them attend a religious rather
than a public school are not excused from paying taxes to support public
schools. Excluding them from paying for
the female services mentioned above because their religion objects to them, in
the name of religious freedom, would be a travesty on the First Amendment.
JL
Baseball Season Approaches
The sharp sound of a
baseball being struck by a bat … the
thump of a fastball being caught in a catcher’s mitt … the
umpire’s cry of “Play Ball !” It all
comes together each Spring as 32 major league teams each battle their way
through 162 games involving our
“national pastime.” Baseball is old
fashioned. It is played pretty much the
same way as it was played a century ago.
Rules have changed very little. That’s why America loves it. Baseball is
like a comfortable old pair of shoes. Along
with the players’ salaries, ticket prices, unfortunately, have
skyrocketed. But most games are viewable
on television, from which Major League Baseball makes loads of money.
Mike Palfrey
Last week, we saw an exhibition game between
the world champion St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets. When New York starter Mike Palfrey yielded a
first inning homer to Cardinal David Freese, a leather-lunged Met fan sitting
behind us bellowed out, “Atta boy, Mike, you’re in mid-season form alreddy!” When we left the stadium eight innings later,
our shoes made crunchy noises as we trod on the peanut shells the fans had
deposited on the concrete floor by their seats. Welcome back, baseball!
JL
An Interesting Luncheon
Cal Thomas is a right wing
columnist with whom I almost always disagree. I feel that most of his views are
reprehensible. But inside of his repulsive persona, Cal is probably a nice guy.
He eats lunch every day.
Cal Thomas and Rachel Maddow
Recently, at a
conservative political convention, he got the crowd cheering when he mentioned
that contraception would have been a good thing for Rachel Maddow’s parents to
have practiced (Maddow is a liberal MSNBC commentator) and that applied to
others at that station as well. A few days later, Thomas realized that he had
gone too far and apologized to Maddow in his column and suggested they go to
lunch together and get to know each other’s thoughts better.
A couple of weeks later, after infamous right wing pseudo-journalist Rush Limbaugh called law student Sandra Fluke
a “slut” and a “prostitute” because of her outspoken views on the availability
of contraceptive drugs, Thomas chimed in, writing that perhaps Limbaugh (who had
weakly apologized to Fluke on the air) should invite Fluke to lunch to talk
things over. Obviously, Cal Thomas
supports the kind of lunches which can be considered as business expenses and
hence, a tax deduction. I did Email Cal
suggesting that he and Rush make it a foursome and go out together with Rachel
and Sandra for lunch. I am still waiting
for his reply.
JL
Future Radio, A Glimpse into the Future
Jack Lippman
When I picked up my new car at the
dealership and the salesman went over all of the goodies which were included, I
remember asking about an unfamiliar looking purple sticker on the AM-FM radio.
“I dunno what that is, never saw it
before,” he had said, “but I’ll check it out with the service department and
call you if it means anything. Probably
some extra examination the car went through.
They’re always adding new procedures to make sure everything works fine,
and your car checks out great!” And
after three months of enjoying the pleasures of owning that car, that was
exactly my opinion too!
Except for the radio. As soon as I had gotten home with the car, I
tried to set the radio pushbuttons for the stations to which I usually
listen. It wasn’t an easy job, because
whenever I pressed a button to set a station, the words FUTURE OPTION kept
popping up briefly on the digital dial screen.
I studied the manual but found nothing about that in it. I even called the dealership but they weren’t
able to help either. Finally, after
setting up the pushbuttons the way I wanted them, my curiosity got the best of
me about this FUTURE OPTION thing, whatever it was, and I started fiddling
around with the buttons when I saw those two words flashing on the screen. After a few tries, I accidentally hit the
SEEK and SCAN buttons simultaneously and to my surprise, the words started flashing
even more rapidly and changed to a purple color. Frankly, I didn’t know what to do next but to
my amazement, the screen started scrolling upward and now read in blinking purple
letters, TONY, PUSH SEEK AND SCAN TOGETHER NOW TO CONTINUE. Somewhere between being frightened out of my
wits by this radio which apparently knew my name, and being unable to resist
the temptation to find out what was going on, I took a deep breath and
simultaneously pressed the SEEK and SCAN buttons once more.
My entire body starting shaking when next I
heard a deep voice, resonating through eight Bose speakers announcing, “Welcome
to the future. We wondered how long it
was going to take you to figure out how to get here, Tony. Although you car’s manufacturer will deny it,
and rightly so since they know nothing of what I am about to tell you, your
car’s radio system has been selected by a technology you are not capable of
understanding to be equipped with a special band enabling you to listen to
future radio broadcasts. By simply
moving the tuning arrows, which will reflect digits from 100 to 1000, you will
be able to tune in on radio broadcasts from one hundred to one thousand years
into the future. Development of this
system is not yet sufficiently advanced to enable you to select the frequencies
to which you may listen, but generally, transmissions of news or current
affairs stations will be provided. In
order to make certain that you, or the next few generations of your offspring, Tony,
will not be able to profit from information heard on these broadcasts from the
future, the system has been programmed so that it cannot access broadcasts in
the relatively near future, that is, within the next hundred years. We hope this limitation will not lessen your
enjoyment of your Future Radio experience!”
After my initial shock wore off, I started
tuning in on the future. At first
tentatively, but shortly with the gusto of a computer surfer who just went on
line, I found that I was able to listen to English language newscasts which
reported what was going on in the world and depending on how far into the
future I tuned, even in the rest of our solar system over the next thousand
years.
Now, just to set things straight and answer
what might be the most obvious questions of anyone who is reading this, insofar
as I have been able to discern from my future listening experience thus far, it
appears that a world-wide nuclear war did not take place during the next
millennium. In fact, it appears that
weaponry of mass destruction for use on our own planet was not a significant
factor in the future. I would guess that
something occurred during the next hundred years, which of course I was not
able to listen in on, to resolve that problem or at least push it into the
background. I did, however, listen to a
few broadcasts from about five hundred years down the road when people on our
planet did use what sounded like a very sophisticated weapons system to prevent
a force from another part of the universe from colonizing another planet in our
solar system. Apparently, there was great
loss of life in this venture, and a holiday memorializing it started being
celebrated throughout the planet shortly thereafter.
Through the future centuries, however, I
heard many, many broadcasts dealing with an ongoing struggle the earth’s human
population was waging against the planet’s insect, bacterial and viral
populations. Most of the world’s
technical and financial resources seemed to be devoted to this apparently very
exhausting battle against these other forms of life for control of the planet.
But beyond this necessarily brief summary
of what I have learned about what will occur during the next millennium, let me
report to you on what I feel is, thus far, the most memorable story which I
heard while tuned in on news broadcasts from the future.
It is unusual in that while I failed in my earlier attempts to record these transmissions, I had no difficulty whatsoever in making a tape of this particular broadcast, and with such ease that I suspect that it was intended that I be able to do so. Here is the tape, which reproduces a narration by a gentleman I presume to be a Walter Cronkite type in the year 2752.
“It
has been three days now since observers have been reporting seeing what appears
to be a horse and rider in the sky circling the planet. Although readily visible with rudimentary
telescopes and occasionally to the naked eye, authorities have been unable to
approach the horse and rider, due to a force field of some kind surrounding
it. Since it does not appear to be
hostile, is not interfering with our sky routes and probes indicate that it
does not possess weaponry, government action at this point has been limited to
continuous observation.”
“Reaction
among the Earth’s population, however, has not been so reserved. Although traditional religions are still
legally permitted to be practiced on Earth, most of the world’s population, for
better or for worse, have limited their faith to a simple belief, far short of
worship, in an omnipotent power, similar to what in the past was referred to as
God. Nevertheless, many groups on the
planet still do have knowledge of and follow some of the old rituals
historically used in worshipping this power, or God, as they still often call
it, and it is these groups that have been particularly enthusiastic in attributing
great significance to the appearance of the horse and rider.”
“Leaders
of the Muslim religion have announced that the horse and rider are nothing more
than the promised return of their Prophet, Mohammed, who had ridden off on his
horse to Heaven centuries ago from an elevated area in Jerusalem. The Catholic Church, from its offices in the
Vatican City, has proclaimed that while no horse was actually needed to carry
him, close-up views seen by equipment at the Georgetown University Observatory
leave no doubt that the rider is actually Jesus Christ, coming again as
proclaimed by his followers. Protestant
leaders have echoed this Catholic assertion.
And in Jerusalem, Orthodox Jews in black hats can be seen dancing in the
streets, firmly believing that although the Messiah they expect is neither
Mohammed nor Jesus Christ, what is going on certainly indicates that this is a
most propitious time to expect his arrival.”
“And
so it was that this morning when the horse and rider were expected to swoop
down, setting foot on the ground near Jerusalem, there were nearly two million
Muslims, Christians and Jews assembled waiting in awe. Among them were the leading clerics of what
formal religions are still being practiced on Earth. The planet’s leading ministers, priests,
imams, rabbis and holy men of all varieties, sizes and shapes had come there
and shared a set of bleachers authorities had quickly set up when their
tracking systems confirmed the time and place of the impending landing. Finally, as the horse and rider touched down
amidst the din of a million prayers being chanted, whispered, wailed and
mumbled in a myriad of tongues, there was reported an overpowering gleam of
light filling the sky, forcing all present to raise their hands to shield their
eyes at the same time as a sudden and eviscerating silence blanketed the
assemblage. When the gathered believers
finally dropped their hands from their faces and opened their eyes and looked
before them, there was neither horse nor rider to be seen. And then, as if following some universal but
silent directive, the crowd quickly dispersed amidst a warming, unnatural and
all-encompassing calm which seemed to pervade the atmosphere and seep into the
consciousness of every individual there, imparting a sweet feeling of
well-being. They all smiled inwardly
knowing, if they were Muslim, that their Prophet had returned and if they were
Christian, that the resurrected Jesus had come again, and if they were Jewish,
that the Messiah now walked among them, all of which means, I guess, that in
the eyes of believers, God’s in his Heaven and all’s right with the world. This is Correspondent 4456 reporting from Jerusalem.”
Frankly, I was surprised that the
newscaster finished his story, which speaks for itself, with a line from a poem
by Robert Browning and I wondered how much more of our cultural heritage
survived into the twenty-eighth century.
That’s what I was thinking as I waited outside of CBS News’ offices in
New York City. The door opened and the
gentleman I had spoken to on the phone came out.
“Tony, we’ve listened to your tape and
frankly, we can’t use it.” He said as he handed me back the manila envelope
containing my cassette. “It’s a good
story, but how can we prove that it isn’t a hoax. You know, a lot of these stories end up being
fabrications when we get to the bottom of them.”
“I expected that you would be saying
something like that. If you’d come out
to my place, you could listen to the radio yourself and see that this is no
hoax,” I replied.
“Fair enough,” he said. “I live out your way and I’ll stop by on the
way to work tomorrow. Would eight in the
morning be too early?”
“See you then,” I said. “You have my address, right?”
“Yup!”
When I got home that evening, my car was
missing from the garage where I kept it under lock and key, and the lock showed
no signs of having been tampered with. I
immediately notified the police and at about one in the morning, the phone
rang.
“Mr. Green, this is Officer Morton down at
police headquarters. Good news! We found your car in a parking lot at a
mall. Looks like some kids must have
taken it, did some riding around and left it there. They didn’t do any damage either other than
ripping out your radio. Damn neat job of
it, they did, too. Didn’t leave a
scratch. But that’s no big deal, I
guess. Don’t worry. We’ll catch them. We usually do, sooner or later. Can you come down in the morning, get the
paperwork done and pick up your car?
Okay?”
I didn’t reply right away and after a few
seconds, Officer Morton repeated his question.
“Are you okay, Mr. Green? Will
you be coming down tomorrow? Is anything
wrong?
“No, Officer. Everything is alright. I’ll come down in the morning to take care of
the paperwork.” And I silently added to
myself that I knew very well that the police would not be able to catch
whomever or whatever it was that departed with my car’s radio. Not for a very, very long time, anyway.
Most readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting appears. If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by contacting me at Riart1@aol.com.
Also, be aware that www.Jackspotpourri.com is now available on your mobile devices in a modified, easy-to-read, format.
Our family of web sites includes: www.computerdrek.com - www.politicaldrek.com - www.sportsdrek.com - www.healthdrek.com.
Check all of them out, find out what “drek” really means and feel free to submit your thoughts and articles for publication on these sites, which, while still “under construction,” already contain some interesting content.
Jack
Lippman
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