According to a recent French study, 42 percent of people who participate in sports are at risk of sports addiction. When we think of addiction it’s usually drugs, alcohol or tobacco, but there are other things that people can be addicted to. As a chessplayer I have seen people with an unhealthy obsession, an addiction actually, to the game. Chessplayers aren’t the only ones though; people can be addicted to sports of all kinds. In a 2016 article Karin Jongsma, a bio-ethicist at the University Medical Center of Gottingen in Germany who is interested in identity, technology, representation and autonomy, made some interesting observations. Sports have certain heath benefits, encourage self-discipline, and develop teamwork. Participation in sports contributes to improved cardio-respiratory and muscular fitness, lowers the risk of osteoporosis and depression and can actually increase life expectancy. It’s known that people often experience a high after exercising that is triggered by the release of so called happiness hormones such as dopamine and endorphins, which have mood-altering effects. These effects can be habit-forming.
However, an unhealthy sports addiction is both real and harmful. Sport addicts actually experience many symptoms common to other addicts. For active participants the intensity, duration and frequency of workouts can be harmful because people don’t take time to recover from injuries. Also, undetected health problems can put them at risk. But, beyond that sports addicts can suffer psychological damage. They become dependent on training for feeling good and they can develop tolerance to the high, and so require more and more exercise to get the same result. When not exercising, they experience withdrawal effects, depression and anxiety.
There are also a negative social effects when addicts prefer training over friends, family and work, or are so preoccupied are they mentally elsewhere in social situations. Besides those physically addicted, there are also those addicted to sports on television. It is not unusual for sports-obsessed people to spend three to four hours each evening (and much more than that on weekends) watching the games or sports highlights on television.
Often, even while at work, sports talk radio is playing in the background all day and computer checks of what’s happening in the world of sports are frequently performed. Fantasy sports are also exceedingly popular with addicts. Spectator sports is a ubiquitous obsession. Sitting on the couch snacking on junk food for hours for hours all week and watching people they don’t know playing a game held in a distant location, cheering, yelling and screaming while pretending it all has something to do with themselves is not rational. It can even be dangerous. As a kid, Mr. Stebbens, the old man that lived behind us had a heard attack and died when he became angry and started cursing at the Cleveland Indians baseball team for making a bad play...no kidding! Spectator sport addicts take the results of the games very seriously and when their team loses they will often be devastated, frustrated and depressed for hours or even days afterward. They are not just watching games for entertainment, but because they are living vicariously through the achievements or failures of their favorite teams. So, whether their team wins or loses they take it personally. When these addicts are away from sports for awhile, especially if an important game is taking place at the same time, it is difficult for them to concentrate on anything and they are constantly checking the score and getting updates. Some addicts will even make excuses for missing an event so that they can stay home and watch the game. The spectator sports addict simply can’t stop obsessing over sports. Signs Of Spectator Sports Addiction * The amount of time spent watching sports has a negative impact on relationships with others and real-life obligations. Signs include missing family events to watch the game, thinking about sports all the time and feel depressed when their team loses or get an adrenaline rush when their team wins. * Their obsession with watching sports can affect their finances. They’re so obsessed with collecting jerseys and memorabilia that they’re willing to max out credit cards to buy an item they want. * They obsess about hearing the latest news and are unable to think of anything else or have conversations that weren’t related to sports. * Addiction to physical exercise. This is characterized by longer duration or high-intensity workouts, loss of control (Fitness abusers can’t stop or cut back on their workout sessions once they’ve built up a tolerance), and spending too much time engaging in gym workouts and aerobics. * Most of their friends are sports addicts and their friends are limited because their only interests are sports related. * A bad result on game day ruins their mood for an extended period of time. * There is a psychological void that is only filled when watching sports. There is also a hidden danger few people are aware of. According to the partnership for Drug-Free Kids, kids who are sports fanatics are more prone to substance abuse than the general population. They feel an overwhelming pressure to be the best among their peers and so may turn to performance-enhancing drugs to boost performance. According to the British Medical Journal, one in three doctors in England have had patients who have used substances to improve athletic performance. For teenagers for whom sports is a way to get college scholarships, the pressure can cause them to turn to drugs. The drugs include narcotics, cocaine, amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. For some students contact sports such as hockey, soccer, football and wrestling can lead to substance abuse and alcoholism because these sports teach young athletes that pain and violence are a part of life.
Additionally, full contact sports can lead to traumatic head injuries. In 2013, professional American[ football players received about $765 million in settlements after suing the NFL over concussion-related brain injuries.
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t require just one big blow to cause traumatic brain injury. A Boston University study revealed that repeated blows to the head cause degeneration of the part of the brain that regulates impulse control. This leads to suicidal thoughts, emotional instability, depression and extreme mood swings. Individuals going through any of these symptoms might turn to illicit substances.
Once upon a time, actually from the 1920s to 1990 the city of Castalia, Ohio, was home to the mysterious Blue Hole, which was a tourist attraction drawing over 165,000 visitors a year, for almost a century. It’s now off-limits to the public. The Blue Hole is an artesian spring (water coming from underground) that’s about 40 feet in diameter. It’s water is void of oxygen, very clean, very clear and very high in iron and calcium. The water is cold...fluctuates between 48 and 54 degrees all year long. The water in the hole has great clarity and a vibrant blue hue. It was sort of mysterious because it was said to be bottomless, but in reality it’s about 43 to 45 feet deep. The Blue Hole is fed by a passing underground stream which discharges 7 million gallons of water daily into Sandusky Bay to the north, feeding into Lake Erie. The surrounding terrain is developed on limestone bedrock and exhibits karst topography due to dissolution of the limestone by ground water, creating water-filled sinkholes. The Blue Hole was known to American Indians and was first recorded in history in 1761 and several similar blue holes are known to local residents. There is another hole similar in size with water that is an eerie bluish-green. THE Blue Hole is located on the grounds of Castalia Trout Club while thoe “other” blue hole is owned by the Castalia State Fish Hatchery operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife and is open for public viewing.
The private Castalia Trout Club was founded in 1890 and in its heyday the Blue Hole had picnic tables, lush vegetation, a concession stand and a gift shop that sold everything from postcards to wooden shot glasses. It closed down in 1990, and like many things, you can blame it on the government. The government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act which forced the Blue Hole to have to upgrade a lot of facilities to accommodate the new law. With the Hole facing declining attendance, the financial outlay to upgrade the facilities to comply with the ADA (handicap accessibility) act simply was not feasible. Another factor was that attendance was declining because the Hole had became less of a mystery and with Cedar Point Amusement Park nearby and other modern attractions being built nobody was interested in seeing the Blue Hole anymore. However, the cold water is perfect for the club’s fish hatchery. They oxygenate the water and use it to incubate about 30,000 eggs a year, keeping the streams stocked for members who come from as far away as Oklahoma. The “Other Blue Hole” is located at the back of the state fish hatchery which is down the road. In fact, it’s one of at least a half-dozen on private farms around the area.
The holes have roots to the south in Bellevue, Ohio in the Seneca Caverns which are several stories deep and gets down to what is called the Mystery River which is part of an underground river system.
The state fish hatchery incubates about a half-million eggs each year to stock 70 different lakes and reservoirs throughout Ohio and is open to the public on weekdays.
There’s actually a third Blue Hole that’s open to the public, but it’s less exotic...it’s a large duck pond in the center of town. Like the others, it contains no oxygen and because of the constant flow of water, it never freezes. The Castalia Historical Society holds a raffle in April every year and 20 winners get to visit the Castalia Trout Club and see the original Blue Hole. I have a confession to make...I saw The Blue Hole back in the 1950s and didn't find it all that impressive...it was just a small blue pond with water flowing out of it into a small stream with some small fish swimming around in it.
Is it possible for a free society to succumb to tyrannical forces? You betcha! And, we’re seeing it happen little by little. Columnist Stella Morabito describes how it happens in six phases: 1) Laying the groundwork, 2) Propaganda, 3) Agitation, 4) Government takeover of institutions 5) Coercing conformity and 6) Final solutions. 1) Laying the Groundwork This takes some time, perhaps even to the point of stretching the groundwork out over a couple or three generations. The goal is to get people's minds closed to reason and influenced by emotion and propaganda. Today’s mass media is an excellent tool. Just look at the proliferation of fake news sites and people who believe if it’s on Facebook it must be true. 2) Propaganda Propaganda becomes more forceful and is focused on driving people to demand some agenda be met. It also involve making subtle changes to the meaning of words and the creation alternate facts and realities.
Included are the revision of history, confusion over gender, political correctness and the threat of rejection if people don’t conform to political correctness. Using the illusion of public opinion to support agendas is another tactic. 3) Agitation Once the groundwork has been laid and propaganda absorbed by enough people, it’s time to begin agitating them in the form of protests, parades, marches and demonstrations for whatever the cause is. It also involves simply shouting down any opposition and making false accusations. Ms Morabito observed that it’s in this phase that “imitative behaviors proliferate.” In other words, everybody starts doing something such when NFL football players started kneeling during the national anthem and the next thing you know they were all doing it. At first some owners protested, but they were soon forced to get in line and accept it. Also, during this phase hate starts popping up and we see defacing of public statues and monuments and demands they be removed because somebody is offended by them.
Hollywood gets in on the act such as when certain actors publicly state they want to throw s**t in the president’s face and another pretends to urinate on the president’s Hollywood sidewalk star.
The education establishment becomes involved by politically educating children even to the point of cultivating hostility towards their parents, religion or anything else that’s not part of the agenda. 4) Takeover Anything designed to protect the individual from encroachment by the government is attacked and destroyed including the family and the church. Constitutional rights are attacked. As just one small example, we are fast approaching the point where a Transportation Security Administration approved driver’s license will be required to board an airplane. Not too far behind will be the day you can be stopped by the police and asked to produce your papers just like they did in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. 5) Coercing Conformity As Ms Morabito points out, this is the stage where you are told to conform and convert...or else. The result of this phase is false confessions, apologies and recanting for even the slightest hint of a politically incorrect viewpoint.
State surveillance grows as employees are required to report politically incorrect private conversations. 6) Final Solution The body count, whether in the graveyard or the prison system, begins to grow. Violence is considered a necessity and things such as due process, respect for free speech, the Bill of Rights, etc. no longer exist.
The first guy mentioned, Tom Edward Ketchum (October 31, 1863 – April 26, 1901), better known as Black Jack, was a cowboy who later turned to a life of crime. He was executed in 1901 for attempted train robbery, but his hanging didn’t go well. All the gory details...
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was born Rosetta Nubin in Cotton Plant, Arkansas and was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings that were characterized by her unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and music that was a precursor to rock and roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as the Godmother of rock and roll. She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. She was felled by a stroke in 1970, after which one of her legs was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes resulting the curtailment of her performances. On October 9, 1973, the eve of a scheduled recording session, she died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a result of another stroke. She was buried at Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Hokum blues was a humorous type blues song that uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos. It goes back to early blues recordings and is used from time to time in modern American blues and blues rock.
An example of hokum lyrics is this sample from "Meat Balls", by Lil Johnson, recorded about 1937: Got out late last night, in the rain and sleet Tryin' to find a butcher that grind my meat Yes I'm lookin' for a butcher He must be long and tall
If he want to grind my meat 'Cause I'm wild about my meat balls. One popular hokum blues artist was Washboard Sam who recorded hundreds of records in the late '30s and '40s, usually with his brother singer/guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. There were a lot of washboard players at the time, but Washboard Sam was the most popular because of his skills on the washboard talent, his a songwriting skills as well as his voice. Besides Broonzy, he also accompanied bluesmen like Bukka White, Memphis Slim, Willie Lacey, and Jazz Gillum. Born Robert Clifford Brown on July 15, 1910, Washboard Sam was the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, who also fathered Big Bill Broonzy. Sam was raised in Arkansas and worked on a farm and moved to Memphis in the early '20s to play the blues. While in Memphis, he met Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon and the trio played street corners, collecting tips from passers-by. In 1932, Sam moved to Chicago where he played for tips, but soon he began performing regularly with Big Bill Broonzy. Within a few years, Sam was supporting Broonzy on Bluebird recordings, and he began supporting a number of different musicians on their recording sessions, including pianist Memphis Slim, bassist Ransom Knowlin, and a handful of saxophone players, who all recorded for Bluebird. In 1935, Washboard Sam began recording for both Bluebird and Vocalion Records, often supported by his brother. Throughout the '30s and '40s, Sam was one of the most popular Chicago bluesmen, selling numerous records and playing to packed audiences. After World War II, his audience began to shrink, largely because he had difficulty adapting to the new electric blues. In 1953, he recorded a session for Chess Records and then retired. In the early '60s, two of his old recording artist friends tried to persuade him to return to the stage to capitalize on the blues revival. Initially, he refused, but in 1963, he began performing concerts in clubs and coffee houses in Chicago.
He also played a few dates in Europe in early 1964 and that year made his final recordings for the small Chicago-based Spivey label. The year 1965 saw his health quickly declined and he stopped recording and playing shows. On November 6, 1966, he died at the age of 56 of heart disease and, sadly, was buried in an unmarked grave at the Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery, in Homewood, Illinois.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Washboard Sam among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. On September 18, 2009, at the Howmet Playhouse Theater in Whitehall, Michigan, executive producer Steve Salter, of the Killer Blues organization, a concert was held to raise money for a headstone for Washboard Sam's grave. A headstone was placed in October 2009. Note: Washboard Sam recorded two versions on Momma Don't Allow: Lyrics 1 and Lyrics 2.
Leasing a car, like buying one, is a game of strategy you play with a dealer and they usually have the upper hand. You want the lowest cost and monthly payment, and the dealer wants the most money and most profitable deal he can make, at your expense of course. Dealers make their money on leases the same way they do on a purchase which means the higher the selling price, the more money they make. Most people know they can negotiate a lower price when they purchase a car, but most don’t know they can do the same with a lease. Because the attraction of leasing is lower monthly payments, customers tend to focus only that, but the dealer can manipulate the price to get the customer the monthly payment he wants. The customer may walk away satisfied, but not knowing he could have gotten a much better deal by haggling over the price. Dealers like to get customers focused on monthly payments and they have tricks up to manipulate the deal to get a better payment...for themselves.
They can switch models (or options) without telling you to one that is less expensive so that it appears you are paying less, but in fact may be paying full price. Or, they raise the down payment and you don’t find out about it until you’re ready to sign the papers...they know that by that point people are less likely to object or back out.
They can also lower the annual mileage limit or increase the length of the lease which gets you a lower payment, but with conditions that you were not informed about. Dealers don’t lease cars themselves! Instead, they arrange leases on behalf of their manufacturer’s or distributor’s finance company. Once the lease has been approved, the dealer sells the car and assigns the lease to the finance company. The dealer gets paid and the finance company becomes the owner of the vehicle. Afterwards, the dealer is out of the picture and the lease arrangement is between the finance company and the customer. Often the finance company is the manufacturer’s own company. For example, Ford Credit.
What this means is that the dealer can only negotiate one factor in a lease and that is price. Stuff like the finance rate, residual value of the car, acquisition fee, disposition fee and other terms are beyond a dealer’s control. Therefore, as a customer all you can haggle over are costs controlled by the dealer, not lease factors. Leasing is not renting! The difference is that payments are lower because the car is returned (or purchased) at lease end for the remainder of its value that was not paid during the lease.
If for any reason you decide you don’t want the car before the lease is up, you are likely to owe thousands of dollars to end the lease early. Remember, at lease end, if you want to purchase the car it is going to cost you a much bigger car payment for another 3-4 years! This is because normally when you buy a car, after three years you have paid roughly two-thirds of the purchase price, but in a lease that figure is only about one third. So, for the leasing company to get their money, they have to charge you for the remaining two-thirds owed on the car. That means if you have a three year lease and want to purchase it at lease end, your payment goes up a couple hundred dollars for another 3-4 years. Also, the car is out of warranty. The obvious way of reducing monthly payment is to make a large down payment which is much more significant in a lease than in a loan. When leasing you are only paying the difference between vehicle price and the value of the car at the end of the lease. If you have a trade-in and use it as a down payment it’s the same principle. A down payment has a much greater effect on lowering lease payments than on loan payments. Many times sales people will not mention something called GAP coverage. With it you are covered for the entire lease payoff should your vehicle be stolen or totaled in an accident during your lease. Without it, you could owe several thousand dollars if your insurance doesn’t cover the entire debt. Another thing is wear coverage. Before turning the car in at the end of the lease it will be inspected and you will be responsible for any damage beyond normal wear and tear.
Lease agreements normally describe wear and tear...things like how long scratches can be before you have to pay for repairs. You’ll also be responsible for things like bad tires, cracked windshields, etc. Some companies, like Ford for instance, offer a “wear care” plan for a small monthly fee added to the lease payment. It’s probably a good idea so you don’t get dinged for a bundle if the car is damaged when you turn it in. Ford, for example, covers repairs up to $5,000. I believe. Remember, dealers are looking out for themselves. And, salesmen are usually nice, friendly people...that’s part of being successful, but they are NOT your friend. They pay their bills at your expense so they are looking out for themselves and their family. You have to read the contract and not rely on the dealer to explain it! Know what you are paying for, negotiate items that are negotiable, refuse added items you don’t want and don’t need and ask questions! Don’t let them rush you.
Also, remember, at the end of the day no matter what you do, you are getting skinned because the car is worth nowhere near what you’re paying. But, what are you going to do? You need a car. All that said, there are advantages to leasing. Consumer Reports discusses them in THIS ARTICLE. The Biggest Car Leasing Scams and Tricks
A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that only one in four Americans could name all three branches of government and a third of them couldn’t name even one! 39 percent believe that the Constitution gives the president the power to declare war and 17 percent think he has the power to raise taxes. It is amazing how many people don’t understand impeachment and I’ve run into a few who thought President Trump was getting kicked out of office when he was impeached by the House of Representatives. Impreachment doesn't mean automatic removal...when the House of Representatives launches an impeachment inquiry, it's analogous to prosecutors launching an investigation into a suspect in a crime. Impeachment of a federal officer, including presidents, vice presidents, and federal judges, is found in Article 2, Section 4 of the US Constitution, which says "the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Nobody knows exactly what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors. Besides President Trump, three other presidents have faced impeachment proceedings, but only two have been successfully impeached, but they were not removed from office. In 1868, Andrew Johnson was impeached, charged with breaching the Tenure of Office Act, but the Senate narrowly acquitted him by one vote.
In 1974, Richard Nixon faced an impeachment inquiry, but he resigned before he could be impeached.
In 1998, Bill Clinton was impeached, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Johnson was the first president to ever face impeachment proceedings. It began when he removed his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office in 1867, which breached the Tenure of Office Act which said he couldn't fire any important officials without first getting the Senate's permission. At first, he had suspended Stanton and replaced him, but when Congress reinstated Stanton, Johnson fired him on February 21, 1868.
On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives impeached Johnson because he'd violated the law and disgraced the US Congress. Starting in in March and continuing for 11 months the Senate conducted a trail and finally voted to acquit him, 35 guilty to 19 not guilty. One more guilty vote would have met the required two-thirds that's necessary for a conviction. Starting early in 1994, President Bill Clinton was dealing with scandals, beginning with a financial investigation known as "Whitewater." Also in 1994, Paula Jones sued him, accusing him of sexual harassment. Clinton argued he had presidential immunity from civil cases, but in 1997, the Supreme Court rejected his argument. Then in January 1998, Clinton, under oath, perjured himself when he claimed he'd never had sex with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In August he admitted that he lied. On October 8, 1998, the House voted for impeachment proceedings to begin and on December 11, the House charged Clinton for lying to a grand jury, committing perjury by denying his affair with Lewinsky, and obstructing justice. The next day, he was charged with abusing his power. The House impeached Clinton for perjury and obstructing justice, but he refused to step down and was tried by the Senate and acquitted on February 12, 1999 when the guilty votes didn't meet the two-thirds majority necessary to convict. President Donald Trump is the third president to be impeached on two counts: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The House of Representatives launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump on September 24, following a whistle blower complaint claiming that he abused his political power in exchange for an investigation into a political opponent, presidential candidate and former Vice President “Creepy Joe” Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The question was whether or not Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure them into conducting an investigation into the Bidens for corruption. On December 18, the House voted along party lines for impeachment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still has to send the charges to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. She also has to announce who will make the case against Trump as "impeachment managers" before a jury comprising the 100 members of the Senate. But, Pelosi is stalling and said she isn’t going to do that until she is confident about the nature of the process in the Senate and the witnesses. Truth is, Republicans in the Senate will almost surely vote on party lines meaning and they will use their majority and find President Trump not guilty.
So, if realistically that is the case, why have the Democrats been obsessed since day 1 with impeaching the President to the point that Congress has been consumed over the issue and have accomplished very little? Simple. They simply want to see how much political (and personal) damage they can do to the President.
All receive and hold sewage, but what happens afterward is what differentiates these 4 receptacles. With a septic tank, the waste flows to a leach field where it undergoes a filtration process. Cesspools and tight tanks lack the ability to filter waste and the sewage eventually contaminates the surrounding soil. For this reason, cesspools and tight tanks are outdated and illegal in most areas. If you live in an older home with one of these, there are likely regulations mandating it be pumped and cleaned out on a regular basis.
In the case of Hollywood, there is also the lack of a filter and sewage gushing out of there also contaminates everything. Unfortunately, there are no regulations mandating it be cleaned out on a regular basis. Hollywood is a place where there are no restrictions or rules of conduct. Casting couches have been around since Hollywood existed, but sleazy, morally-challenged degenerates, predators, pedophiles, rapists and men and women projecting their warped beliefs onto the public and those in its own environs who are unable to resist are the norm. And, they delight in abusing, exploiting and raping women and teens and they even take delight in giving each other awards celebrating their perversions. Famous child actor Corey Feldman has gone public with many accusations such as when he was 14, he was surrounded by child molesters who acted like vultures and adding that pedophilia is Hollywood’s biggest problem.
Then there was Corey Haim (1971 – 2010), a Canadian child actor who starred in a number of 1980s films including several along side Feldman. Haim's early success led to money and fame, but he was troubled by drug addiction throughout his later career and died of pneumonia. Haim was reportedly raped on a movie set when he was just 11.
Feldman says Hollywood is famous for grooming parties for kids which are really opportunities to lure kids into the world of sexual conquest and sexual perversion; it’s part of the culture. Hollywood is a nasty place. But, did you know that some researchers are now viewing pedophilia as a behavior that a person is born with and can't be changed? The next step will be the conclusion that its natural and so it's OK. Read more...
