Confusion

     Some people staunchly defend their opinions and beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Why? 

     One explanation is cognitive dissonance. Cognition is simply thinking and reasoning. It’s how we gain knowledge and understanding. Dissonance is a musical term that means a lack of harmony among musical notes, but it also means there is a clash that results from contradictory information. 

     In psychology, cognitive dissonance is mental discomfort that is triggered when a person's belief clashes with new evidence they have been introduced to.

     To reduce the psychological discomfort, they will have to change either their mind or their behavior to resolve the mental conflict and thus restore their mental and emotional harmony. Thus, many people will people will simply refuse to consider anything that does not agree with their beliefs. Instead, they prefer to vigorously defend, excuse, justify and keep their beliefs even when confronted with irrefutable proof they are wrong...it’s just easier that way! 

     To reduce dissonance, or , mental discomfort, a person can 1) change their behavior or belief so that it’s in line with the new information. 2) justify their behavior or belief by changing the conflicting information or 3) ignore or deny information that conflicts with their existing beliefs. 

     For example when a person, any person, be it a politician, religious leader, family member, anybody, has been shown to have lied, cheated, stolen or committed crimes that would send most people to jail, many people will still vigorously defend them despite credible and incriminating evidence. By doing so they reduce their cognitive dissonance. 

     Very often people will just ignore or deny information that conflicts with their existing beliefs by claiming it’s fake news or part of a conspiracy theory. 

     In the Bible, in the book of Jonah, God spoke of more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left. He was referring to the people of Nineveh who could not tell right from wrong. Last year Arizona state lawyers and the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority showed that they, too, cannot tell right from wrong. 

     The Supreme Court ruled that a person no longer has the constitutional right to present new evidence in federal court to support claims that they weren’t adequately represented at trial or on appeal. What that means is that there is no longer a safeguard against prosecutorial and judicial errors or misconduct. 

     People who have been wrongfully convicted are now left with nowhere to turn. It also increases the likelihood that some innocent prisoners will be executed. 

     The justices ruled 6-3 against two men sentenced to death in Arizona for murder who petitioned to present new evidence in their cases. In 2018, a federal court overturned one of the prisoner’s conviction because he did not receive effective counsel, a violation of his Sixth Amendment rights. In other words, the prisoner had a crappy court appointed lawyer who failed to even try and adequately represent him. The judge ruled that if he had received proper legal representation there was “a reasonable probability that his jury would not have convicted him of any of the crimes with which he was charged and previously convicted.” 

     Arizona’s attorney general appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. During their arguments the state prosecutors repeatedly argued that “innocence isn’t enough” of a reason to throw out a conviction. And, the Supreme Court agreed that innocence is not enough to keep the prisoner off of death row even if there exists a preponderance of evidence that he committed no crime.THAT IS A VERY SCARY RULING!

How fast is a centipede?

 

     Millipedes are a group of arthropods (invertebrates with jointed legs) that are characterized by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments. The name millipede is derived from Latin for "thousand feet,” no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of Eumillipes persephone, which can have over 1,300 legs. 

     Millipede are not to be confused with their cousins the centipedes’ they are entirely different. Centipedes are aggressive predators that use venom to subdue their prey. Centipedes are often the target of pest control measures, but in fact, they are one of nature’s best exterminators! They are night stalkers...they come out at night from their hidey holes to feed on cockroaches, flies, bedbugs, crickets, spiders and snails. Everyone thinks centipedes bite humans, but they don’t because they can’t get through your skin. 

     House centipedes have far fewer than the 100 legs their name suggests. They’re born with only eight legs and the count reaches 30 as they reach adulthood. 

     The house centipede’s legs get progressively longer toward the rear, which creates its characteristic outline and keeps them from getting tangled when they are running fast. 

     Of those 30 legs, besides used for walking, some are other useful and versatile tools. One paleontologist called them Swiss army knives because they use different legs for different functions. 

     When hunting, the house centipede uses its legs as a rope to restrain prey in a tactic called lassoing. The tip of each leg is so finely segmented and flexible that it can coil around its victim to prevent escape. 

     The centipede’s venom-injecting fangs are also modified legs! They are shorter and thicker than the walking legs and they are multi-jointed, which makes them far more dexterous than the fangs of insects and spiders, which hinge in only one plane. Because of this dexterity, the centipede’s fangs not only inject venom, but also hold prey in place while the centipede feeds. 

     They also function as grooming tools. The centipede passes its legs through the fangs to clean and lubricate their sensory hairs which need to be kept clean. They groom down one side of their body and then the other and if the process is interrupted , when they resume they simply pick up where they left off. 

     Because of their length and the fact that the centipede holds their hind legs aloft when they walk, the back legs give the appearance of a second pair of antennae making the house centipede look like it has two heads. 

     Of course it doesn’t have a second head, but the appearance of a second head, known as auto-mimicry and it occurs in some fish, birds and butterflies. It’s a defense mechanism that serves to fool predators. 

     New research turned an electron microscope on the centipede’s legs and found as many sensory hairs, or sensilla, on them as on the antennae. It was found that the house centipede's back legs rival its front antennae in length. 

     It’s believed that the presence of so many sensory hairs on the centipede’s long back legs are not merely dummies used for defensive purposes, but but they serve a special function, but scientists are not sure but think they are possibly in mate selection. During courtship, both the male and female house centipede slowly raise and lower their antennae and back legs, followed by mutual tapping and probing. On a final note, house centipedes are highly cannibalistic. 

     What about the question, how fast can they run? They can cover about 16 inches a second; that’s only about 0.91 miles per hour, but if you’re trying to step on one it’s fast. A common black ant runs at about 0.18 miles per hour. So, a house centipede is five times faster than an ant. However, as far as centipede are concerned, pound for pound about the same as a human running 42 miles per hour. Usain Bolt's average ground speed was a bit over 23 miles per hour although he did briefly hit almost 28 miles per hour. 

 

 

Boerboels

     The Boerboel is a big, self-assured, smart and calm dog. They look a little intimidating at first, but they tend to be affectionate and devoted to family. They also serve as reliable and obedient watchdogs. 

     They weigh 110–176 pounds ans are avout 4 feet tall. Their lifespan is 9–11 years. They belong to the guard dog breed group. 

     Although they are considered a generally healthy breed, they can suffer from the same issues that affect other giant pups such as hip dysplasia and cancer.

     They have substantial muscles from their necks to rumps and have thick, arched necks and sloping shoulders. Their skin is dark-colored which protects against the heat of the sun. Their coat is short and dense, and it can be brindle, brown, cream, reddish-brown or tawny. They have a wide, block-like head, strong jaws and broad chest.     

Thor dressed up for Christmas

     Boerboels are one of the strongest dog breeds as well as one of the biggest dog breeds in the world. They are highly intelligent and territorial. 

     They make great guard dogs with strong protective instincts. Boerboels take guarding their families and homes seriously. One Boerboel owner told me that if they let a person in the house the dog is OK with it and very friendly, but that would not be the case if a stranger barged in! That agrees with the statement that while they were bred to be aggressive defenders, they are fully capable of distinguishing friend from foe. 

     For the most part they are very quiet and don’t bark a lot, so when they do, owners need to take heed! Boerboels usually drive intruders away by their appearance alone. Also, they are very clean and don't shed a lot of fur. 

     That said, while they were bred to protect people, dog trainers and experts warn that they can be aggressive to people including their owners.

Wildroot Cream Oil Hair Tonic, Bonus: Communists and Alleged Communists

     Wildroot Cream-Oil, manufactured by a Buffalo, New York based company, was a men's hair tonic that was popular in the United States from the 1940s to the 1960s. The product provided a nice slick grooming with a medium hold and high shine. 

     The company first started selling Wildroot Hair Tonic in 1911. In the 1920s, the tonic was primarily marketed to women with advertisements warning that bobbed hair and tight hats would cause baldness, unless they used Wildroot!

     Wildroot started marketing the product to men in the 1930s. In 1937, the Federal Trade Commission admonished the company for claiming the product kept the scalp "healthy", "penetrates" the sebaceous glands, cleans up dandruff "completely", and that the results were "guaranteed."

     The company's original tonic was alcohol-based, but alcohol became more scarce during World War II, in the early 40s, chemist Emanuel Gundlach invented a new alcohol-free formula. 

     At first, he presented the Wildroot executives with a cream that came in a tube, but they rejected it. However, by adding more water they were able to bottle the product, and the new Wildroot Cream-Oil became a big success. 

     It’s main ingredient was lanolin, also known as wool grease, which is a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of sheep. 

     The new Wildroot Cream-Oil was first sold in 1943 and by the 1950s, the product was associated with teenage boys (including me) who slicked their hair down. 

     In 1951, the Wildroot Hair Tonic Company set up the Wildroot Foundation (now the Western New York Foundation), which provides funds for local organizations in Buffalo. 

     The Wildroot company was sold to Colgate-Palmolive in 1959 for $10.5 million. A "Wildroot Hair Groom" is still being marketed today by the Oakhurst Company.

     At the height of the product's popularity, the company advertised extensively in print, radio and television, claiming that is "again and again the choice of men who put good grooming first." 

     In print ads, the company encouraged consumers to try "the Famous Finger Nail Test": "Scratch your head and see if you find dryness or loose, ugly dandruff. If so, you need the new Wildroot Cream-Oil formula." 

     Wildroot sponsored many radio programs such as The Woody Herman Show, The King Cole Trio, The FBI in Peace and War, The Shadow, Twenty Questions and Sam Spade. 

     The Adventures of Sam Spade aired from 1946 to 1950. Sam Spade star Howard Duff and the program’s creator Dashiell Hammett were listed in the anti-Communist tract Red Channels.

     Wildroot didn’t like their names being associated with the show. Sam Spade was removed from the air in 1950, and replaced with a more Wildroot-friendly title, Charlie Wild, Private Detective. It ran from September 1950 to July 1951.

     Counterattack was an anti-Communist journal that published “Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television.” It was a pamphlet that named 151 actors, writers, musicians, broadcasters and journalists, accusing them of fostering Communist manipulation of the entertainment industry. 

     At the time the House Committee on Un-American Activities and Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin were making wild unfounded accusations of disloyalty or subversion against many prominent people without a shred of evidence. However, he did uncover some Communists, but in the process ruined the lives of many who were not. 

     McCarthy’s goal was to purge suspected Communist sympathizers from government service, Hollywood and other areas. He believed the Communists were making an effort to achieve “domination of American broadcasting and telecasting, preparatory to the day when … [the] Party will assume control of this nation as the result of a final upheaval and civil war.” 

     Duff was a staunch Democrat, not a Communist. He had signed a document supporting the Hollywood 10. Actually, there were 11, but one German born writer fled back to Germany. They were a group of motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in October 1947, and refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations. As a result they spent 6-12 months in prison for contempt of Congress. 

     While in prison one of them agreed to cooperate and admitted to being a communist and he gave the names of 26 others. The ten never worked in Hollywood again, but some wrote scripts under assumed names. 

     After Sam Spade was canceled, Duff couldn’t get work on radio for two years afterward, but he continued working in pictures and the stage. When he asked what he had to do to end the blacklisting he was told to just say you're not a Communist and it worked. 

     Dashiell Hammet’s story was different. He was politically active for decades, participating in several organizations including the Communist Party USA. In the age of McCarthyism, Hammett was swept up in the Red Scare and was imprisoned for refusing to name the sources of bail funds for communists. Later in 1953, he was blacklisted after testifying to a Senate Committee and his writings were branded “subversive.”

Bad Night At An Italian Restaurant

Just take your money back and leave!!

     The other evening we went into an upscale Italian restaurant that we frequent often. After being seated and waiting a rather long time (10 minutes, maybe) a waitress appeared and took our order for an appetizer (potato wedge) and iced tea. 

     After a brief while she returned and we ordered New York Strip steaks which included one side (mine was fried zucchini) plus a salad which is included with the steak. By the time she returned with the salad we had been seated about half an hour. We had to ask for the bread which the waitress had forgotten. 

     About half way through the salad (we had not gotten any refills on the iced tea) the waitress showed up and informed us, “We are out of steaks, so I will take it off your bill. Would you like something else?” We told her no, we had come in for the steak. At that point she left saying she would return with our check. 

     I went and found the “manager,” a young lady who looked like a teenager. I patiently explained that we did NOT come into the restaurant for potato wedges, salad, bread (which we had to ask for) and iced tea. We came in for a streak dinner and I considered those items, even though we paid separately, a la carte if you will, to be part of the dinner. And, we did not appreciate being told after sitting there for over 45 minutes that were would NOT be served a steak, but it would be taken off our bill. Of course it's going to be taken off our bill because we didn’t get it! I also advised her that it was NOT fair and not good service to serve us a partial meal then after nearly 45 minutes tell us we weren’t getting the rest of it.

     The “manager” simply looked at me and asked if we wanted anything else and when I said no, she, too, informed me they would take the steak off the bill? I asked her, "What are you talking about!? Of course you’ll take it off the bill because we didn’t get it." She just looked at me with a blank stare and said, “Sorry.” The whole time there was a young man who appeared to be a waiter standing there, but he didn’t say anything. 

     I returned to our table and informed my wife we would be getting a check for the cost of what we had eaten. At that point a waitress whom we had been served by several times in the past walked by and my wife stopped her and told her we appreciated her good service in the past, but we would not be returning again because of the poor service that night, plus we felt like we were being ripped off by being served what amounted to only part of a meal. 

     She tried to make excuses for the management, but we reminded her that the last time we had been in and ordered steaks, she had told us she would check with the kitchen to make sure they were available. That was not done by our current waitress. 

     At that point the our waitress returned and slapped a bill on the table and, again, announced she had taken the steak off of our check. By this time we were really upset and I asked her, "Why do you think you’re doing us a favor by not charging us for the steak we didn’t get?" She then began shouting that they have steaks, but they are frozen and she didn’t know they had sold the last one, etc., etc. This brought the young man back to our table, but he again remained silent.

     I told her just forget it, here’s the cash, just bring me my change so we can get out of here. She took the money and in a few minutes came back and said “they” decided “in the back” not to charge us and “just take the money back and leave.” 

     Naturally, the diners nearby were aware of the commotion and we think the silent young man was the owner’s son. In any case, we will NOT be returning.You do not serve customers half a meal and after 45 minutes tell them they aren't getting the rest of what they ordered and then charge them for a partial meal that only consisted of sides. And, when doing so you don't act like you are doing the customer a favor by not charging them for something they did not get!

Fun Bladder Facts

     The urinary bladder is a muscular sac in the pelvis, just above and behind the pubic bone. When empty, the bladder is about the size and shape of a pear. 

     Urine is made in the kidneys and travels down two tubes called ureters to the bladder. The bladder stores urine, allowing urination to be infrequent and controlled. 

     The bladder is lined by layers of muscle tissue that stretch to hold urine. Wrinkles on this inner lining called rugae help the bladder to expand. The normal capacity of the bladder is 14-20 ounces, or about 2 cups. The kidneys generate urine every 10 to 15 seconds, but it takes approximately 9-10 hours for your body to make that much urine. A healthy adult bladder can store up to 16 ounces of urine for between two to five hours. 

    As the bladder fills, nerve signals are sent to the brain. Once it is full, those signals from the bladder are responded to by messages to the muscles of the urethra to relax and the muscles of the bladder to contract and squeeze. If all the signals are in the proper order, you have a normal urination. 

     During urination, the bladder muscles squeeze, and two sphincters (valves or ring-like muscles) open to allow urine to flow out. Urine exits the bladder into the urethra, which carries urine out of the body. It’s normal to go to the bathroom four to eight times a day and no more than two times per night. 

     The bowels are right next to the bladder and so constipation puts extra pressure on the bladder. Fiber-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables can help the bowels stay regular and keep the bladder happy. 

     Holding in urine too long can cause bladder problems. If urine is held too long over an extended period of time, it can cause the bladder to not contract fully and over time it won’t empty as well. Not only does it put the bladder at risk in of not functioning normally, a full bladder gives bacteria an opportunity to grow causing a urinary tract infection. 

     Here’s an interesting question! How long should it take you to pee? The answer is surprising. House cats, elephants, humans, in fact, most mammals take about 20 seconds to urinate. 

     How do “they” known that? Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology stumbled upon the average amount of time it takes a person to urinate while working on a project to figure out a better design for water towers! 

     They used high-speed cameras to record animals urinating at zoos and discovered that mammals weighing more than 6.5 pounds take about the same time to urinate. Larger animals have longer urethras and that amplifies gravitational force and helps push urine out at a faster rate. 

     That 20-second rule is a good way to determine bladder habits need to be tweaked of if their might be a medical situation that calls for a trip to the doctor.

     Peeing too often or routinely holding it can cause the bladder-brain communication to go haywire. Regularly waiting to use the bathroom can train the brain to ignore the bladder’s signals that it’s full. This can result in taking longer when it comes time to actually pee. 

     On the other hand, short urinating times could be related to an overactive bladder meaning that signals are sent to the brain saying it’s necessary to pee even when the bladder isn’t full. 

     Not emptying the bladder often enough may cause issues with recurrent urinary tract infections due to bacteria sitting and multiplying in the bladder. Also, prolonged urination times associated with a weak urinary stream can be due to urinary obstruction, possibly related to an enlarged prostate or a narrowing of the urethra.