The Shady World of Politics

     There’s this guy, just an acquaintance really, and we almost never agree on anything, but the other day he said, “When I talk about politics, parties are immaterial. I am an Independent - both parties are deeply corrupt in many different ways...” At last, there is something upon which we can agree!
     Transparency International is a website that they say is intended to give voice to the victims and witnesses of corruption, work together with governments, businesses and citizens to stop the abuse of power, bribery and secret deals. They add that they want a world free of corruption. Good luck with that! 
     They maintain that in 36 out of 62 countries surveyed, political parties were rated by the general public as the institution most affected by corruption. After political parties, the next most corrupt institutions worldwide were perceived to be parliaments followed equally by the police and the judiciary. 
     An interesting statistic was that half of the low income respondents believed that corruption is a big problem, but only 38 per cent of high-income respondents felt the same. The poor also reported the biggest impact of corruption on their personal and family lives. That’s no surprise. As an attorney once told me when the subject of bankruptcy laws came up...he said the laws were written to benefit the rich, not the poor and middle class. 

A case of the pot calling the kettle black… 

 
     Last year The Atlantic ran an article titled, The Corruption of the Republican Party and asked “Why has the Republican Party become so thoroughly corrupt?” Why single out the Republican party? 
     The online magazine Week ran an article “The Democratic Party is suffused with wretched cowardice” and claimed “great swathes of the Democratic structure are permeated to their very marrow with moral rot and cowardice, unwilling to do anything...” and went on to say, “If America is to be purged of the Republican Party's lawlessness and corruption, only somewhat less serious problems in the Democratic Party must also be rooted out first.” 
     Political corruption is defined as the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain. An illegal act constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties, is done under color of law or involves trading in influence. 
     Corruption includes bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft and embezzlement. Corruption may facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking, though is not restricted to these activities. 
    Naturally there are loopholes. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government. And, in some cases, government officials have broad or ill-defined powers, which make it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal actions. Campaign contributions are almost impossible to police.
     One of the biggest frauds perpetrated on voters is what I like to call “reverse wording.” It’s used to turn “No” votes into “Yes” votes and politicians use it all the time on ballots. Depending on how a question is put on the ballot, a measure can become confusing and a no vote can be turned into a yes vote, or the reverse. 

     Voting along party lines is to vote in a manner that is consistent with the official policy or opinion of one's political party and it is irresponsible. As columnist David Davenport opined in Forbes magazine:

“...there is now a growing cancer on Congress. The rapid and pervasive rise of party-line voting is a cancer that is eating at the effectiveness of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. As a consequence, what was once the world’s most deliberative body, the US Senate, hardly deliberates at all, and what little is accomplished in Washington is done through party-line votes and executive orders, with devastating consequences.” 

He continued… “Unfortunately party-line voting has become the new normal. As recently as the early 1970s, party unity voting was around 60 percent but today it is closer to 90 percent in both the House and Senate.” 

    Mr. Davenport concluded, “Apparently party discipline is more important than finding the right solution...” Nothing new in all this. 

8 Early American Political Scandals - From an early sex scandal to a mass conspiracy to siphon taxes from the federal treasury, get the facts on eight political controversies from the 18th and 19th centuries. Juicy stuff! 
American Presidential Scandals 
Political Corruption in Postbellum America 

When a Candidate Conspired With a Foreign Power to Win An Election - It took decades to unravel Nixon’s sabotage of Vietnam peace talks. Now, the full story can be told. Interesting reading.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

     PTSD has been known by many names in the past, such as shell shock during the years of World War I and combat fatigue after World War II. One of the most famous incidents was General George Patton’s slapping of a couple of soldiers during World War II. But, PTSD does not just happen to combat veterans. 
     It is a psychiatric disorder that can occur not just with combat veterans, but also in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, serious accidents, life-threatening illnesses, physical abuse and sexual assault during childhood or adulthood. Abuse can be especially traumatic for children...see THIS article in Psychology Today.
     A traumatic event that precedes the onset of PTSD can be experienced either directly or indirectly by an individual. Learning how a loved one died a violent death, or watching someone be assaulted, are examples of indirect trauma. A trauma often threatens a person's sense of self, world, and future, causing trauma-exposed individuals to experience substantial emotional distress. 
     In the United States it is estimated that 61 percent of men and 51 percent of women have experienced at least one trauma during their lifetime. Fortunately, only 8 percent of men and 20 percent of women develop PTSD. 
     With time most people recover, usually within about three months. Common reactions following a traumatic event include intense fear and anxiety, re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive memories and nightmares, avoidance of trauma reminders, irritability and anger, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, difficulty sleeping, feelings of guilt and shame, disrupted relationships, decreased interest in sex, impaired concentration, and activation of other traumatic or negative memories. 
     Individuals who are sexually assaulted develop PTSD at much higher rates than individuals who experience other types of noncombat traumas.  But, any traumatic event can be a watershed moment that creates a discontinuity between someone's pre- and post-traumatic life. At its worst, the trauma will cause prolonged symptoms of PTSD that affect an individual's day-to-day well-being. 
     PTSD symptoms are organized into four subgroups: intrusive symptoms, avoidance symptoms, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. 

Intrusion Symptoms: 
* Unwanted, distressing memories of the event 
* Recurring trauma-related nightmares 
* Flashbacks – involuntary and vivid re-experiencing of the experience 
* Intense emotional distress and/or noticeable physiological reactions to reminders

Avoidance Symptoms: 
* Persistent avoidance of thoughts and memories related to the trauma 
* Persistent avoidance of external reminders of the trauma (e.g. avoiding the location or people that are that reminders of the trauma. 

Negative Alterations in Cognitions and Mood: 
* A complete lapse in memory of or a feeling of blacking out for parts of the trauma. 
* Perpetual negative expectations about everything Continuous blame of self or others about the traumatic event 
* Persistent negative emotional state and/or the inability to experience positive emotions 
* Loss of interest or participation in significant activities or activities once interested in 
* Feelings of detachment from others and feeling others cannot relate or understand the experience. 

Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity: 
* Easily irritable or angry 
* Reckless or self-destructive behavior 
* More alert 
* Easily startled
* Problems with concentration 
* Difficulties sleeping 

     It is also common for individuals to suffer from depression and some turn to alcohol, drugs or medication to cope with the distress. 

     Acute Stress Disorder is a related condition. It occurs in reaction to a traumatic event, just as PTSD does, and the symptoms are similar. However, the symptoms occur between three days and one month after the event. 
     People with acute stress disorder may relive the trauma, have flashbacks or nightmares and may feel numb or detached from themselves. These symptoms cause major distress and cause problems in their daily lives. 
     About half of people with acute stress disorder go on to have PTSD. An estimated 13 to 21 percent of survivors of car accidents develop acute stress disorder and between 20 and 50 percent of survivors of assault, rape or mass shootings develop it. 

Five Ways To Cope With PTSD
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs National Center for PTSD

Strange Smells In Your House

     If there are strange smells in your house you may have a bigger problem than just the stink! The top five strange smells are: 

1. Dead Animal 
     If you smell animal pee/poop, or any other pet smells, that’s probably what it is, assuming you have a pet. However, if the smell is a noxious sickly smell, most likely you have an insect nest or dead animal somewhere in your house. 
      Sometimes, people think they are smelling sewage, but it very possibly could be a dead animal. It happens. Squirrels and raccoons are ingenious when it comes to finding a way in and if they die in your house they’re going to stink. Snakes, possums, rats and cats are pretty good at finding their way in, too. Short version, if you smell a dead animal, it probably is one.

2. Fish Smell 
     This one is really critical! Unless it is fish, the smell is probably emanating from a burning electrical component. 
     Electrical shielding, wires, and other plastic components emit a fish or urine smell when exposed to high heat. If you smell something fishy, go around your home and look for outlets and other electrical equipment that looks burnt or melting. 

3. Sewage 
     If there is a sewer smell in your home, this might be caused by a dried up trap. The purpose of a trap is so that water gets trapped, creating an air block for any sewer gases that might rise up. If, however, you have not used your drain in a while, the water could evaporate, clearing the way for noxious sewer gases to infiltrate your home. Simply run water in the drain. Also, see number 5 below. 

4. Moldy and Musty smell 
     If you smell a musty or moldy odor, it is a sign that something is not right. Moldy and musty smells are similar in nature and both are caused by the presence of mold or mildew. 
     Mold and mildew are both fungi and grow in the presence of moisture or water. Mildew is a powdery or downy surface growth and is most often found on plant materials (fruits and vegetables, flowering or decorative plants). 
     Molds are usually thicker and can cause more structural damage since they penetrate deeper into the material they are growing on. Molds can grow on plant materials as well, but are also commonly found on building materials like walls and flooring and most home contents (books, cardboard, clothing, etc.) 
     The primary difference between moldy and musty odors is in the strength of the smell; musty odors are usually not as strong as moldy odors. Since both moldy and musty odors suggest mold growth it’s important to take action quickly when you notice an odor to prevent extensive damage to your home and the lingering musty odor that can penetrate non-moldy materials in your home making eliminating them difficult. Go around your house and check for water leaks, damp items and moisture to find the source of the problem. 
     Mold varies in severity from being merely cosmetic to dangerously toxic. For small areas of mold you can clean it up yourself. However, if the problem is larger than you can handle, you may need to call a plumber. You may need to re-caulk plumbing fixtures to prevent water from entering the area between the fixture and the wall, which could cause water damage and foster mildew and mold growth. You may also need better ventilation, especially in areas of high moisture like your basement, bathrooms, and kitchen. 

5. Rotten Eggs 
     The smell of rotten eggs is a tell-tale sign that you have a gas leak or a problem with your plumbing. The smell of sewage often smells like rotten eggs. The first thing you should check is if the smell is coming from your drains or when you turn on the water as mentioned in number 3 above. 
     If you notice the smell more when you have the hot water running, then the problem is probably your water heater. 
     The other, more dangerous, cause of a rotten egg smell in the house is a gas leak. Manufacturers add a chemical to natural gas and propane to give it a distinctive odor, as they are naturally colorless and odorless. This smell is a safety precaution and it is supposed to bother you. If you suspect a gas leak you should call the gas company or a plumber immediately.
     You should be aware that if you call the gas company they will err on the side of safety.  They will instruct you to take your pets and lock up and leave immediately.  They will bring a locksmith with them to gain entry into your house. 

The Chronically Disgruntled

     We have all met people who no matter what you do will find fault, complain and generally be disgruntled. When you do something for them they somehow manage to leave you feeling guilty or even angry because what you did was not appreciated. Why are some people so demanding and dissatisfied all the time? 
     According to new research, narcissism (excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance) does not explain some people’s lack of gratitude. 
     Charlotte Witvliet and her colleagues at Michigan’s Hope College in a recent study concluded that some people just lack the quality of gratitude. They noted that as a trait, gratitude “is an experience of abundance, with awareness that one is the recipient of a good gift from a giver.” And, some people just don’t have it. 
     If gratitude is, as the authors claim, a personality trait, then it means that a person who is never satisfied is likely to remain an ingrate for their entire life. Also, besides being perpetually ungrateful they are likely to be chronically unhappy. As they are unable to experience an inner satisfaction that comes from having a sense of abundance, they can never be truly happy. 
     Previous research has shown that people who feel a lot of gratitude, when offended by others, regard the offense not as an insult, but instead as an opportunity for growth. 
     Cognitive appraisal is involved. A cognitive appraisal is an assessment of an emotional situation in which a person evaluates how the event will affect them, interprets the various aspects of the event, and arrives at a response based on that interpretation. So, when dealing with the ungrateful, any favors you do for them will probably go unappreciated because they are programmed to view favors as never being good enough. 

     A danger for the ingrate is that life becomes an endless self-fulfilling prophecy of other people’s failure to do right by them. Ingratitude becomes a part of their personality. What often happens is that people give up on trying to be nice to the ungrateful person and as a result the person’s ingratitude begets more ingratitude when they conclude that they will not receive any rewards for their own nice behavior. 
     For some reason, perhaps early in life, their hopes were squashed and they learned never to expect anything out of anybody. They don't see the good in what other people do for them and when they feel rebuffed, they react with anger and resentment. The result is that they often find themselves one of those type of people no one wants to help. 
     What the study did show was that gratitude is a quality that can be nurtured to some extent. 
     It should also be pointed out that there are medical reasons why some people are angry all the time.  For example, a hyperactive thyroid which increases the metabolic rate, diabetes which affects blood sugar levels, cardiovascular disease and dementia.  
     Otherwise physically healthy people can also experience anger because they cannot deal with fear, disappointment, frustration or embarrassment. Then there are people who want to control everything and everybody, but cannot. And, some feel like they are a failure or worthless and blame others for everything that goes wrong.

Further reading:
Dealing With Angry People
The Power of the Disgruntled Employee
Seven Habits of Chronically Unhappy People


 

Advice From Apple Eaters

Can Being Underwater Protect You From Bullets?

Water is 800 percent denser than air, so unlike a bullet fired above the surface, once the bullet hits the water it immediately begins slowing down. For a full discussion you can read THIS post from Science ABC 

Ice Road Truckers

     There are REAL ice road truckers. It’s a highly dangerous job and ice road truckers get paid some of the highest salaries in the business. 
     What makes the job so dangerous? The drivers have to deal with freezing weather and snowstorms which make driving significantly more dangerous. And, they really do drive over frozen lakes, ponds, rivers and swamps and some drivers report being able to hear the ice cracking as they drive over it. Ice road truckers must always keep moving. The ice can hold the weight of a 100,000 pound truck – when it’s moving. If the truck comes to a standstill, the ice can only hold about 60,000 pounds of weight before it caves in so stopping is not an option. 
     The trucks themselves are specially outfitted at a cost of around $10,000. Special cab and engine heaters, satellite phones, first aid equipment and fuel additives. 
     The weather in Northern Canada can be brutal...it’s not uncommon for temperatures to drop to 50 below zero, not counting the wind chill factor which can make it feel twenty degrees or more colder. Drivers can even face hypothermia. Drivers have to carry food, water, supplies and other stuff. 
     Ice road trucker jobs are scare, mostly because of the high pay. They are paid between $20,000 and $80,000 for the season. The length of the season will vary depending on the climate. Typically, the season starts in the middle of January and will run to the middle of March. Some seasons can be as short as six weeks, while others can last several months. 
     It requires drivers with years of experience and recent truck driving school graduates need not apply. It also helps if you know someone in the business. Many drivers quit after their first trip and the turnover rate is upwards of 70 percent. That’s the real skinny on ice road trucking, but what about the reality show Ice Road Truckers? 
     Since its debut in 2007, Ice Road Truckers has been a ratings machine for the History Channel. The opening of the show from the first season showed a huge truck breaking through the ice and falling into the water. Question...how did the camera crew happen to be right there when it happened? Easy. They used miniature models. 
     Of course, the show is scripted as attested to by cast members then further edited to make them look like either heroes and villains. On the show danger lurks at every turn and over every hill as trucks slide on the ice, risk breaking through the ice and sinking into a lake and nail biting trips through horrible blizzards plus any other drama the producers can think up. 
     In 2013, the website The Trucker polled truckers about their opinions on the show. One person complained the show perpetuates stereotypes and makes truckers look like buffoons. Others admitted that in spite of the reality of ice road trucking, it wouldn't be interesting enough to keep viewers entertained for an hour. 
     Of course, driving on the show is not always as dangerous as it appears...film crews are always camera crews in front of and behind the trucks, which requires being extra safe. Also, they don’t want to risk damage to all that equipment. That doesn't mean there aren't risks involved. They are still dealing with heavy trucks and icy roads. It’s been determined that the best speed to get dramatic shots is 40 mph, which on ice is pretty fast especially with the film crew dangerously close. 
     Like all reality shows, it's not.

Sheep Mentality

Also known as herd mentality, mob mentality and pack mentality, also lesser known as gang mentality, describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make different decisions than they would have individually. Think of a sheep blindly following the flock no matter where they go just because that’s what the herd is doing.
     You’ve probably been asked, “If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” Insane, but under the right circumstances many people would though most wouldn't, but what about iPhones, fidget spinners, investors rushing to buy a stock because it’s hot or selling because the price is going to drop, or even something so ridiculous as the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of the 1980s or the Tickle Me Elmo craze of the 1990s?
     In 2008, Professor Jens Krause and Dr. John Dyer of Leeds University conducted an experiment where groups of subjects were told to walk in a random path inside of a big hall while not communicating with the other subjects. They also told a few of the subjects exactly where they should walk. The result: people who were told exactly where to walk started being followed by the subjects walking randomly. 
     Sheeple is a term of disparagement, in which people are likened to sheep. It is often used to denote persons who voluntarily acquiesce to a perceived authority or suggestion without sufficient research to understand fully the ramifications involved in that decision, and thus undermine their own human individuality or in other cases give up certain rights. 

The implication of sheeple is that as a collective, people believe or do whatever they are told, especially if told so by a perceived authority figure believed to be trustworthy, without critically thinking about it or doing adequate research to be sure that it is an accurate representation of the real world around them. The term is generally used in a political, social, and sometimes in a spiritual sense. 

Reasons people become sheeples: 
1) They know that if they fail to conform, they will be rejected by others, so they conform to avoid the anticipated pain of rejection or to avoid humiliation.
2) Once people conform and fit in their actions may betray thier values. New conflicts may arise: self-rejection and/or guilt. The result is internal conflict. 
3) To rid themselves of the internal conflict or self-rejection the adopt the standards or values of the group as our own; they undergo an identity shift in order to resolve the internal conflict. 

What happens when a person is asked to follow a standard that betrays their moral standards? Say, they are asked to lie to a customer. There are some signs that a person is facing an identity shift in a morally relevant situation. 
1) A feeling that something isn’t right: Signs that you are in a toxic environment and may be susceptible to a shift: 
A) You are the target of threats, intimidation, humiliation or ostracism 
B) You dread going into the setting. 
C) You feelthat what’s going on in this setting is not right. 
D) You afraid to speak up 
2) Signs that you may be about to undergo the identity shift: 
A) You get uncomfortable when people ask you about what is going on. 
B) You feel inner conflict about the situation 
C) You feel guilty 
3) Signs that you may have undergone the identity shift: 
A) You think you have no choice about it. 
B) You believe that anyone would do what you did, if they found themselves in your situation. 
C) You tell yourself that’s just how it is 
D) You feel yourself growing cynical.

Confusing Math

     Part of the answer as to why many people believe such stupid and unfounded things they see on social media lies in the way they think about things...are they an intuitive or a reflective thinker?​ 
     An intuitive thinker tends to rely on instinctive or gut feelings when making a decision. They understand reality in the moment, without logic or analysis.
     Reflective thinkers will think about the matter more analytically. 
     There is a little test to see if you are an instinctive or a reflective thinker that uses the cost of a bat and ball.  I've changed it slightly to keep it in whole numbers. 

A bat and ball cost $110. If the bat costs $100 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost? 

The instinctive answer is $10, but that's wrong. If the ball costs $10 then a hundred dollars more would be $110 for the bat, so the total cost would be $120. 

The correct answer is the ball costs $5. A hundred dollars more would be $105. Therefore, the ball costs $5 and the bat $105. 

Congressman Wins Reelection While In Prison

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” 

     In the margins a book titled Condorcet’s Treatise Outlines of an Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind, President John Adams wrote a note where the author, a French philosopher, predicted that a free press would advance knowledge and create a more informed public. 
     Adams took umbrage with that opinion. His scribbled note read, “There has been more new error propagated by the press in the last ten years than in an hundred years before 1798.” 
     The 1795 book believed that a press free from censorship would result in an open debate of ideas, with rationality and truth winning out. Adams’ belief was that when the truth is up for debate, the press, which he thought was partisan, would take the opportunity to spread falsehoods...you know, like lies and fake news that we see all over the place today. 
     If you go back to the 1640s and read the newspapers and pamphlets published in both England and the colonial U.S. America they were way ahead of their time with misleading stories. 
     Exactly what is fake news anyway? In a 2017 paper published in the journal Digital Journalism, researchers at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University came up with six definitions. How many have you seen on social media? 

1) News satire, which use humor to contextualize and mock real-world events.
2) News parody which differs from satire in that platforms create made-up stories for comedic purposes. 
3) Propaganda created by the government to influence public perception. 
4) Manipulations of real photos or videos to create a false impression. 
5) Material produced by advertising or public relations teams that appear as though it has been generated by reliable news outlets. 
6) News fabrication which is material with no factual basis that attempts to pass as legitimate news. 

     Sometimes it can be very, very difficult to tell when you’re reading fake news, especially when stories are published by a a site run by a political party.  These days we also see a lot of politicians dismiss genuine reporting that they disagree with by claiming the real news story is fake news and it is false and misleading. 
     Thomas Hutchinson was a businessman, historian, and a prominent Loyalist politician of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the years before the American Revolution. He cried that freedom of the press had been interpreted as the freedom to “print every Thing that is Libelous and Slanderous.” 
     In 1765, arsonists burned Hutchinson’s house to the ground over the Stamp Act, an act of the British Parliament in 1765 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. The problem was, Hutchinson was not even in favor of the Stamp Act! He was a victim of fake reporting by Samuel Adams, a statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States with little regard for facts. 
     An example of partisan reporting was the National Gazette established in 1791 by Philip Freneau, a friend of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.  Its purpose was to give the new Democratic-Republican party an alternative platform to the Federalist newspaper of record, the Gazette of the United-States. 
     As president, John Adams suffered vicious and personal attacks. The Philadelphia Aurora called the him old, querulous, bald, blind, crippled and toothless.
     The influential Federalist newspaper, the Porcupine's Gazette, actually urged the government to regulate the press. "Unless opposition newspapers were dealt with immediately a set of villainous Republican editors, most unquestionably in the pay of France, would continue to distribute their corroding poison throughout the Union."
     The Federalists wanted to prevent attacks they believed were dangerous to the stability of the new United States and at the same time protect the First Amendment right to a free press. That’s why it was left up to the courts and juries to decide whether printed material was truthful or inflammatory and seditious in the Sedition Act of 1798. 
      In one of the first tests of freedom of speech, the House passed the Sedition Act, permitting the deportation, fine, or imprisonment of anyone deemed a threat or publishing “false, scandalous, or malicious writing” against the government of the United States. 

    Vermont Congressman Matthew Lyon was the first to be charged under the Sedition Act. During his trial he argued that the Sedition Act was unconstitutional. He further argued that the allegedly seditious letter he wrote against John Adams was written before the act was passed. He also pointed out that he had no malicious intent and that the content was truthful. The jury found Lyon guilty and he was sentenced to four months in jail and a fine.
     Behind bars, he remained vocal about the injustices of the Sedition Act and became the first congressman to run and win reelection in prison.

Red Light Runners

     On Aug. 5, 1914, a four-way traffic signal was installed in Cleveland, Ohio at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street. It wasn't automatic; it was operated by a police officer in a booth. And there were only red and green lights. 
     Other attempts had been made to control traffic via light signals, but they were miserable failures: a gas-powered traffic signal installed in London in the 1860s exploded, and a device created by Lester Wire in Salt Lake City in 1912 was considered temporary. The one installed in Cleveland two years later was the first one that was a permanent fixture from a patented design. 
     With only a red and green signal, drivers didn't have an interval to slow down, so an early attempt to solve the problem was with a warning whistle or buzzer. It didn’t work and at noisy intersections they caused accidents. In 1920, a Detroit police officer named William Potts added the yellow signal to warn drivers. The yellow signal was patented in 1923 by Garrett Morgan who sold the patent to General Electric. 

     In Ohio, a solid yellow light is just a warning that the light is about to turn red. In other words, you can enter an intersection while the light is still yellow, but not after it has turned red. 

Yellow lights in Washington and Oregon.  
How long are yellow lights? 
More on Yellow Lights.

    The traffic light was modeled after the signals used by the railroad. There's little evidence as to why the colors red and green were chosen, but science has proven the decision to be correct because red light has a longer wavelength than green and it can be seen from farther away. The sooner you see the light, the sooner you hit the brakes. 
     Go 100 feet down the street from out house, make a right turn and drive two miles and you will come to the end of Clinton Avenue. There’s a traffic light there and if you have to wait on a red light, when it turns green you had better make sure that the traffic on North Ridge Road has come to a stop before turning on to it! Why? Because people run the red light on a regular basis. Why? Who knows, but they do. 

     The intersection is actually in a small village that has no police department; the Sheriff’s Department is responsible for the area and you never see them because there’s almost never any crime in the village. But, they could make a fortune catching red light runners. 
     Get caught and it’ll cost you. Stop sign and red light violations are misdemeanors in Ohio. The exact classification and possible penalties depend on how many prior convictions the motorist has had within the past year: 
* First offense. Minor misdemeanor, which carries up to $150 in fines. 
* Second offense. Fourth-degree misdemeanor, which carries up to $250 in fines and/or a maximum 30 days in jail. 
* Third or subsequent offense. Third-degree misdemeanor, which carries up to $500 in fines and/or a maximum 60 days in jail. 
     A stop sign or red light conviction will add two demerit points to a motorist’s driving record. A driver who accumulates 12 or more points within a two-year period faces license suspension. However, eligible drivers can get a two-point reduction by completing a remedial driving instruction course. 

According to the Rowlett (Texas) Police Department: 
# You are more likely to be injured due to a red-light running related crash than any other type of crash. 
# Running red lights or other traffic controls is the most common cause of all urban crashes. 
# Someone runs a red light an average of every 20 minutes at urban intersections. 
# In the last decade, red-light running crashes killed nearly 9,000 people. 
# An estimated 165,000 motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians are injured annually by red-light runners. 
# Half of the people killed by red-light runners are not the signal violators, they are passengers, other motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. 
# There are an average of 7 fatal crashes and over 1,000 injury crashes EVERY DAY at signalized intersections across the United States.

Dr. Robert Payne

     His real name is Durwood Fincher, an entertainer, linguist and comedian, whose specialty is corporate communications. 
     As Dr. Robert Payne, he portrays the bad example, the worst-case scenario of contemporary business-speak, using language to mislead. As a bumbling, bureaucratic stereotype he uses mind-numbing language designed to distort reality, make bad seem good and the intolerable seem tolerable. 
     Introduced as Dr. Payne, head of a government agency which is pertinent to whatever business at which he is speaking, his presentation is salted with buzzwords, jargon and other references that result in his listeners total confusion. Eventually the audience catches on. He has been seen on numerous television shows. He’s always good for a laugh.

 

How Fast Can A Fly Fly?

     First, before revealing the answer, let’s consider size relative to speed. If you are six feet tall, 10 miles an hour doesn’t seem very fast, but if you were six inches tall it would seen a lot faster. A dragonfly’s top speed is 18 miles per hour and if it were the size of a human that 18 mph would feel like 324 mph. A mosquito’s top speed of 1.2 mph would feel like 40 mph. More on this later.
     Considerable research has been on on insect speeds. In 1991 two scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, used a pressure-sensitive plate and high-speed cameras to track eight American cockroaches. They can fly but rarely do and are the fastest when they run on their two hind legs. They hit speed of 3.4 mph. 
     In 1996 scientists in the Netherlands tested two species of Australian tiger beetles which cannot fly. They are the fastest running insect and they hit speeds between 4.2 and 5.6 mph. That’s 8 feet per second and at that speed its visual system can’t keep up, so it has to slow down to see anything. 
    The reason they go blind at such high speeds is because they don't gather enough photons (illumination into their eyes) to form an image of their prey. That’s why they have to stop, look around and take off running again. In the middle of a hot pursuit they have to stop three or four times to reorient themselves relative to their prey. The stops don’t hurt it though because it’s so fast that even with them it can can out run whatever it’s chasing. 
     Measuring body lengths per second is another way of measuring speed. In a contest of speed relative to size, the fastest known species of tiger beetle, Cicindela hudsoni, can run at a speed of 5.6 mph, or about 125 body lengths per second. Usain Bolt, the 100 meter world record holder, runs at 27.3 mph, but 6 feet 5 inches tall that only translates to 6 body lengths per second which is pretty slow compared to a cheetah’s 16 body lengths per second. 

     A mite found in southern California, known as the Paratarsotomus macropalpis, was recorded at 0.5 mph. With a body length of a little over one quarter of an inch, it equates to 322 body lengths per second. 

     Throwing out the idea of considering relative speeds though on the logic that size is not normally considered in other speed contests such as fastest land vehicle, according to the Smithsonian, the title of fastest flying insect belongs to the dragonfly, which hits speeds of 35 miles per hour. The fastest butterfly is the West Indian butterfly which can hit speeds of 29.8 mph. Don’t tell Usain Bolt he can’t out run a butterfly. 

     What about flies? A ale horsefly (Hybomitra hinei) can hit 90.5 mph. Remember the relative speed discussed earlier? That equates to a whopping feels like speed of 4054.4 mph.
     A common house fly may travel as far as thirteen miles from its birthplace. It’s wings beat 20,000 times a minute and it zips along at 4.5 mph with a feels like speed of 810.9 mph.

Educate Yourself

     That’s what I wanted to tell the person who posted a meme on Facebook from a website run by a certain political group. 
     It said that once Trump is impeached we MUST reverse all Trump legislation, executive orders and appointments so we can return to a pre-Trump state and that we “must erase this traitor from out past.” 
     Only a person totally ignorant of the U.S. Constitution and the way the government works would believe such twaddle. I would ask, “What Trump legislation?” and “What Trump appointments?” Has this person ever read the Constitution? Has anybody who believes this fiddle-faddle ever read the Constitution? Do the people who make up this stuff up think we are stupid? Obviously they do because so many people swallow it without question   The President has only limited powers under the Constitution. 

1) President Trump only SIGNED legislation that CONGRESS PASSED. 
2) Executive orders require no approval from Congress. They are directives from the President that have much of the same power as a federal law, but they can be blocked by Congress or declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. You can view President Trump’s Executive Orders in the Federal Register and decide for yourself which ones, if any, ought to be reversed. 2018 2019 
3) HIS APPOINTMENTS HAVE TO BE APPROVED BY CONGRESS. 

     During his first year in office President Trump signed 117 bills into law. The following is a just small fragment of those bills that the meme says need to be repealed. THESE LAWS WERE PASSED BY A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS. They were NOT mandated by President Trump...he has no authority to do that. 

* Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act-establishes requirements for the Department of Justice with respect to investigating and prosecuting elder abuse crimes and enforcing elder abuse laws. 
* Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act-levies new sanctions against Russia and restricts Trump's ability to ease sanctions in place against Moscow. He was opposed to it, but signed it anyway. 
* Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017- gives the agency's leaders the ability to fire inept employees and protect those who uncover and report wrongdoing at the VA 
* Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act- requires that 17,519 acres of land be held in trust for, and be part of the reservation of, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians 
* SAFER Act of 2017-This law aims to continues to reduce the rape kit backlog and makes technical changes to the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2004. 
* Jobs for Our Heroes Act-makes it easier for veterans to apply for commercial drivers licenses. 
* United States Fire Administration, AFG, and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act of 2017-reauthorizes and expands certain grant programs for firefighters. 
* Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act-designates a "human trafficking prevention coordinator" and include human trafficking prevention activities. 
* Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Consolidation Act of 2017-provides for the integration of employment, training, and related services programs for Indian tribes 
* VALOR Act-expands access to apprenticeship programs for veterans. 
* Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2017-increases veterans' wartime disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. 
* PROTECT Our Children Act of 2017-reauthorizes the National Internet Crimes Against Children Data System and the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction through year 2022. 
* Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2017-amends the Public Health Service Act to revise programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns and infants, including to expand the programs to include young children. 
* Follow the Rules Act-protects federal employees from retaliation for refusing to violate a federal rule or regulation. It expands upon the protections of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1987, which shields employees from backlash for refusing an order to violate federal law. 
* Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission Act-creates the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission to plan, develop, and carry out programs and activities to honor Frederick Douglass for the bicentennial anniversary of his birth. 

    I could go on and on, but I am tired of typing. President Trump's personality grates on a lot of people, but the point is if he signed it into law or made the appointment, Congress approved it.  As for those Executive Orders, Congress can, if they wanted to, get around them by simply passing a law and then overriding the President's veto, or simply refusing to provide the funds to carry out the Order.

Valerie Andre

     A list of the 50 most popular women on the web per Google search results includes Lady Gaga, Kesha, Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna and Britney Spears. Frivolous and featherbrained come to mind. They can’t compare to Valerie Andre. 
     Valerie Andre (born April 21, 1922 in Strasbourg) is a veteran of the French resistance, a neurosurgeon, an aviator and the first female member of the military to achieve the rank of General Officer, in 1976, as Physician General. In 1981, she was promoted to Inspector General of Medicine. A helicopter pilot, she is the first woman to have piloted a helicopter in a combat zone. She is also a founding member of the Académie de l'air et de l'espace. Read the story of this amazing lady in Vertical magazine.