Find in Them Your Comfort

 Sailors seldom sail without a sea, of course

  To them, it's land beneath their feet

They view the ground as unstable liquid

  While the waters are concrete

They call the waves their mountains

  That's all they want to climb

The challenges of sea life

  To them, bring but peace of mind

Go ahead and bring them here to shore

  And see just what they'll do

They'll be staring back out to sea

  Before the day is thru

Now, if you sail the seas of life

  You've got to change your thoughts

Find in those billowing waves your comfort

  Think of them as what they're not

In the tossing of the seas of life

  Find in them your home

In the waves that seem to swallow

  Find but comfort in their foam

(Index: Poems)

We Can Help Haiti

    Haiti -- nay, there is hardly a poorer nation in all the Americas. And, if we are to help them, we must do more than take in their immigrants. We must do more than send them a dash of foreign aide. 

  And, we can help them. 

   They suffer from lack of skilled employees. They suffer from lack of electricity. They suffer from lack of medical facilities. 

    Could we not provide scholarships, or help their universities supply the workforce that comes with upper education? Could we not go in and help them create an adequate electric system? Could we not open medical facilities in the places where they are lacking?

    Haiti has a free-market economy, yet greater than 90 percent of its government's budget comes from Petrocaribe, which is a Venezuela-directed oil alliance. Let us not begrudge this too much, for we should want all countries to thrive -- including Venezuela. Still, we should be concerned that they are so reliant on a communist nation to pay their government bills. Tying them closer to us, in revenue sources, would be worthy. Perhaps, in becoming a supplier of electricity, we could help make that a tie to us.

   When we see a nation in need, we should look for the needs, and step in and help.

(Index -- Climate change info)

Toss Them Right Back into the Devil's Dominion

    A year and a half ago, kidnappings, car-jackings, robberies and armed crime in Haiti led the U.S. government to raise its travel advisory to Level 4 -- Do not travel here.

   Haiti -- one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Three-quarters of the people live on $2.50 or less a day. Less than a quarter of the country has electricity. Less than half the country has clean drinking water. Only 8 percent of the rural areas have health care facilities. An estimate 30,000 children live in orphanages. That is a crisis amount and the care provided in the orphanages much deepens the crisis. 

   Some countries turn to tourism for help. Haiti tried that, and sex tourism became part of it. That led to an epidemic that began in the 1980s. Today, each year an estimate 5,000 babies are born infected with AIDS.

   There was the 7.0 earthquake in 2010, with its 52 aftershocks, claiming somewhere between 92.000 and 230,000 lives. An estimate 250,000 homes and 30,000 commercial buildings came down or were severely damaged. Nearly 900,000 were displaced -- many left on the streets.

   There was Hurricane Matthew in 2016 with flood waters up to 40 inches and storm surges of up to 10 feet. No less than 580 were killed and an estimate 35,000 left homeless.

   There was Hurricane Laura in 2020.

   Then, the 7.2 earthquake Aug. 14 -- the strongest earthquake to tear at the island in 179 years. An estimated 2,207 died. Others were left missing, and an estimated 12,000 were injured. 

   Haiti -- a nation savaged by poverty, crime, natural disasters, and political upheaval. If you live there, you pray for the day you won't, perhaps. 

    This is the country we sent them back to, when we round them up at our southern border and deport them directly back to their homes. The kindness of a free airline ticket is not exactly kindness. Talk of the devil's dominion and curse them right back into the depths of it. 

 You count something as truth only when you've measured it.

(Index: Quotes) 

More is learned from the journey, than the race to get there.

(Index: Quotes) 

The race is not always won, but the journey is often still successful.

(Index: Quotes)

We Should be Concerned for the Welfare of Mexican Laborers

    The closing of the entry bridge at Del Rio had its adverse effect on the city. Workers who live in Mexico but work in Texas were locked out right along with all the migrants.  

   We should be concerned about them. We should be concerned about their livelihoods. These are not rich people. When they go without work for a couple few days, we have to imagine that makes it difficult for them to put food on the table. We should care. We should be concerned about them. 

   We should also be concerned about the employers on this side of the border. Lacking the workers who live in Mexico, how did they survive? Would be nice to have seen a story on this, but we don't give them much thought. We should. We should care about them. 

Deporting Them for Covid Concerns Lacks Good Reasoning

    President Trump's policy of deporting people due to Covid-19 concerns -- still being enforced by President Biden -- is hardly the best of policies, and one that does not help in the fight against Covid.

   If you are concerned about Covid, vaccinate them. If you are not doing that, but rather just packing them on a plane and sending them back to their home countries while they still have Covid, you are only acerbating the Covid problem. And, if you are sending them packing home when they don't even have Covid, you are expelling them without cause. 

   I hope this is not too harsh a comment, but sometimes our leaders show no wisdom, at all. 

It's Best not to Deport Babies and Children

   Nine or ten long months ago, President Biden stopped Title 42 from applying to babies and children. Title 42, the Trump rule that allows people to be deported because of Covid-19 concerns, could -- supposedly -- no longer force the removal of children. Despite that, according to a news report, at least 22 babies and children were deported to Haiti back in February.

   That's February, not now. But, we should be concerned. When you make a commitment not to jeopardize children, you should be very quick to explain when they are deported. Was it that the deportation officials were not aware of Biden's directive? What happened? It deserves an explanation.

 You tell if someone is a good person not by how they treat their friends, but by how they treat their enemies.

(Index: Quotes) 

 The quest for character begins with speaking well of others. 

(Index: Quotes) 

   There was a day when the Jehovah Witnesses were scorned and persecuted for not saluting the American flag. The U.S. Supreme Court even ruled in favor of forcing them to salute the flag. (A ruling that was later overturned.)

   When we demand that people homogenize their beliefs, when we require them to think the same, to have the same opinions, and to salute the flag the same, we erase the very essence of freedom. The Jehovah Witnesses were not traitors. They loved America. They simply did not want to place country ahead of God, and did not want to bow down to an idol, which is how they viewed saluting a flag.

   But, even if someone does not honor or love this country, and that becomes the reason they won't salute the flag, freedom says you don't require them to do so. Forcing someone to salute your flag is wrong. When we require someone to salute our flag, we take away the very freedom that that flag stands for.

If you can't take a lose, you won't last long enough to take a victory.

(Index: Quotes)

And then They were Gone

    And then they were gone. 

    As many as 15,000 migrants, mostly believed to be from Haiti, had been encamped under a bridge at Del Rio, Texas. 

   And, then they were gone.

   The massive encampment in the Texas border town has been completely cleared out, according to news reports today. At least 2,000 were deported and 5,000 are still being processed, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. That leaves 8,000 who were either released to go places in the U.S. while awaiting processing or who agreed to go back into Mexico. 

   It might remind some of how the homeless are often dealt with in U.S cities. Put them on a bus and ship them to the next town. They are an embarrassment. Get rid of them anyway you can.

   That is the sentiment. 

   What harm were these immigrants doing? Why not allow them to remain? Was it that there were not enough resources to feed them? We've got a nation of people who were hearing about them every night on the news. Could not money have been raised by a charity organization to support them?

   I again ask, what harm were these people doing? Were they in some way an inconvenience to the U.S.?  Aye, they were, to much of the media, Fox News included. Biden should be ashamed, was the essence of some news reports. 

   We should have let them stay. Allowing them to come on thru to their destinations in accordance with immigration law, to await hearings, was a good thing. And taking 5,000 in for processing was a good thing. But, putting them on planes back to Haiti and sending them packing back into Mexico were not the right moves. 

It is the fool who thinks he knows it all, not the wise.

(Index: Quotes) 

Wisdom has room not only for what it knows, but what it doesn't know.

(Index: Quotes)

We Should Keep Some of Our Systems off the Internet

   I suppose it would be possible to put a transportation system on the Internet. Have computer-guided cars gliding through the city, coordinated by the Internet.

   Don't do it, though. Consider the hacking. Consider Fancy Bear and whatever other foreign hackers are out there. No, we don't want then to be able to hack into our transportation system, our power grids, our voting systems . . .

   Or our banking. One wonders if there is a way we could still allow banking to be done from home, thru some other means other than the Internet -- some hardwire system, perhaps

 The climb to heaven is never made by climbing over others. 

(Index: Quotes)

Police in Utah Shoot More Often at Blacks and Other Minorities

    "Racial and ethnic minorities account for a third of the people shot at by Utah police over the past decade -- despite these groups making up just a quarter of the population."

   So says a Salt Lake Tribune story filled online Sept. 20, 2021. The Tribune analysis was done with the help of the PBS series FRONTLINE.

   The article says the conclusion is clear: Ethnic minorities are shot at at a disproportional rate compared to White people. 

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/09/20/new-data-utah-police/

Sometimes the Best of Humanity Stands Up

    Sometimes the best of humanity stands up. 

   Oh that humanity would stand up for the Haitians and others who are stranded at our border. Can we view what is happening and our hearts not cry out in pain for them? 

   Or, do we herd them like cattle? Do we get on our horses like cowboys, cracking our whips at them, and knocking them over as they try to wade across the river? Do we yell at them and demean them and tell them they need to go back where they came from? After their long and arduous journey to a country they revere and aspire to be part of -- a land of supposed hope -- how do we treat them this way? Do we immediately place them on airplanes and send them right back where they came from?

   Who are the savages here -- us or them? Clearly it is us.

   What if a few thousand of us were to go down there, to rescue them -- or to at least stand up to their oppressors and demand that they be treated right -- be treated humanely.

   Is there no anguish in our souls when we view them in their dire straits? "Enough is enough," it seems someone would cry out. "You will not treat these people this way!" 

   These are people that need someone to stand up for them. No, most of us cannot just abandon our lives and go help them. But, think of how many people came from all across the country to protest at the Capitol Jan. 6. They believed their cause that serious.

   Is there no one who sees the plight of the refugees as being that serious? Humanity is screaming. Will no one answer the call?

Who Really Knows but what Winston Whipple was Right

Winston Whipple

  And the man that he was

Went to church

  Because that's what a man of God does

He stayed for the night

  And slept in the steeple

And woke to stare down

  On all of the people

He jumped on the bell

  As it swung back and forth

And yelled how God's people

  Would come out of the north

And down in the streets

  They laughed at the sight

But who really knows

  But what Winston Whipple was right

(Index: Poems) 

Why is the Federal Officer not being Charged?

   If someone breaks the law, bringing a weapon to the Capitol, they should be so charged. If you warned those coming to last Saturday's protest that you would come down on them hard if they violated Washington's gun laws, you should not be lax on this. 

   It will not go unnoticed that the man escaping charges is a federal officer, employed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We should expect integrity of our federal officers. We should expect them to obey the law. If they cannot keep the law themselves, why do we have them arresting others? There is an element of hypocrisy. Nor does it go unnoticed that you are excusing one of your own. That he is one of your officers should not excuse him from the law. He should not have special exemption and preferential treatment. 

Nona Gaprindashvili was Beth Harmon before there was Beth Harmon

    As news breaks of former world women's chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili suing the producers of "The Queen's Gambit" -- just days ahead of this weekend's Emmy's where "The Queen's Gambit" is expected to win more acclaim -- it is interesting to consider that there was another movie about women's chess that hardly drew a drip of news or attention in the U.S.

   And, it came out at about the same time, Sept. 4, 2020, to Oct. 4, 2020, for "The Queen's Gambit" -- just a month and a half ahead of the better known film.

   And, it featured this same Nona Gaprindashvili.

   "Glory to the Queen" is a documentary of four women who ruled the world of women's chess. A trailer for the movie shows a woman saying, "It was like landing on Mars or Jupiter.  . . .  For 30 years these women carried the chess crown. That won't happen again in 5000 years, not even in a big country."

   Nona Gaprindashvili is one of the four women who ruled women's chess from 

   "Glory to the Queen" is about Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria, Maia Chiburdanidze, and Nana Ioseliani. From the 1960s to the 1990s, they ruled, bringing the world championship to Georgia and the Soviet Union ten times. 

   So it was that from a small country -- Georgia to this day only has about 3.7 million people -- four chess players rose and were so powerful, that for 30 years, no one could beat them.

   Of them, Nona Gaprindashvili is remembered as the greatest -- if not the greatest women's chess player of all time. The Georgians loved their chess stars, and flocked to see them. 

   "I'll never forget travelling home after becoming the world champion," she says, as the film shows her posing as a sculptor sculpts a bust of her. "Once we crossed the border into Georgia, the train stopped at every station." And, the film shows her exiting a train as a large basket of flowers is presented to her. 

  But, what is most significant about Nona, perhaps is that she was Beth Harmon before there was Beth Harmon. The Beth Harmon in the Queen's Gambit aspired to the world championship that had forever been owned only by men. The "Beth Harmon" in "Glory to the Queen" also aspired to win against the best the male competition the world could offer.

   The real-life Beth Harmon set her goal to beat the men, just like the fictional version. And, just like the fictional version, she did. "Chess Miss Gaprindashvili Beats 7 Men in a Strong Tourney," says a headline found in the New York Times. 

   Indeed, Nona Gaprindashvili went where no woman player had ever gone, earning grandmaster status -- the first female grandmaster in history.

   "The Queen's Gambit" became Netflix's biggest limited-scripted series ever. It won two Golden Globes this year and has garnered 18 nominations for tomorrow's Emmy Awards. Like "The Queen's Gambit," "Glory to the Queen" has also won its honors. A foreign film, it took home the audience prize at the Slobodna Zone movie festival in Belgrade earlier this year. 

   Hail both movies. And, hail both Beth Harmon and Nona Gaprindashvili. Both have cut against the world of sexism in the world of chess. Both Nona Gaprindashvili and "The Queen's Gambit" promoted chess and made it a bigger sport. Lawsuit or not, I am grateful for both.

   And, what was the lawsuit about? In the movie, someone remarks that never has a woman done what Beth Harmon was doing. Oh, there had been Nona Gaprindashvili, but she never played males, he says.

   But, she did, and like Beth Harmon, she won.  

Instead of the Rod, Try the Rein

    There is danger in the popular chant of our day.  "Spare the rod and spoil the child," it says. Their argument is that their parents whipped them, and they turned out okay.

   Oh, what are we teaching each other, as society? That lacing a child is normal? Beat the children, beat them!

  I look at the society I live in -- we live in -- and see so many children scared for life by the anger of a parent. I read news stories of children who received an angry bop on the head and died. No, we should not be teaching each other to beat our children. It is one of the most pervasive mantras of our time. It is one of the most damaging. Nothing is so precious as a child 

  Spare the rod and instead correct with love. A whip across the back of a child scars more than their flesh. A child cannot escape his parents (unless the child runs away). Nowhere to run to, no where to hide? Face the storms of hell with no hope of refuge? A child can quickly turn to feeling this way. I am not satisfied with the argument that your parents beat you, and you turned out okay. There are too many children who didn't turn out "okay." This is about them, about the ones who were scared for life. 

   Instead of the rod, try the rein.

Don't Remember Too Much Spanking from My Parents

    Comes the meme on Facebook: "Sorry but I have to disagree with people who are totally against spanking. them. I wasn't abused. I was DISCIPLINED. *Re-post if you got your butt smacked and survived. This is one reason kids to My parents spanked my behind. I don't hate them. I didn't have trust issues with them because of it. I didn't fear them. But sure respected them! I learned what my boundaries were and knew what would happen if I crossed them. I wasn't abused, I was DISCLIPLINED. *Re-post if you got your butt smacked and survived. This is one reason kids now a days have no respect for ANYONE!"

   To which I replied: "I don't remember too much smacking from my parents. I imagine there must have been some, albeit I am not remembering it. Still, I and my sibs turned out okay. I'm not sure spanking is a must-do thing. I look to the scriptures, to see how the prophets raised their children. Did Lehi ever tag Laman and Lemuel?"

   Then, remembering the adage, "Spare the rod and spoil the child," I further reply: "The three Proverbs on the topic are worthy of note. 13:24 'He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.' 23:13-14 'Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.' And, 29:15 'The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.' These scriptures link reproof with the 'beating.' Their point is that you need to correct and teach the child, or he will not grow up right. If some parents choose not to spank their children, I think those children can turn out okay. I would guess if we were to ask around, a lot of people -- fine people -- would say their parents didn't spank them a whole lot." 

Swat the Homeless Away Like Bothersome Flies?

    Would they toss the homeless out? Are the people camping on the streets of Salt Lake City on the verge of being evicted?

   Evicted from the streets? Who would have ever thought: You get evicted when you have an apartment, a place to live, but evicted when you don't even have a home?

   The cry against the homeless grows stronger, Listen to its voice: "You see drug abuse occurring. Needles on the street. Drug-crazed people staggering down the street," says John Gardiner, one of the business leaders who sees a need to remove the campers. Gardiner, being quoted in a Deseret News article, goes on, "Piles of garbage all over the place. Intoxicated people, and -- important to note -- violent people who threaten public safety."

   "We cannot stand by and continue to watch our capital city deteriorate," chips in former U.S. Attorney John Huber, also quoted in the DesNews article. The "lawless feeling" has to end, he says.

   One sits back and wonders. Crime is not good. Of course we are against it. But, must we kick the homeless out? And, if crime is the concern, do we blame it all on the homeless? Two key city leaders last week said they believe that overall, crime is down. Now, surely the homeless are a part of the crime. Certainly in breaking into buildings, and urinating in them, etc., they are the chief offenders.

   Still, let us find a way to take care of them -- even if it means providing them no more than a place on the streets. 

   Make the homeless even more homeless? Swat them away like bothersome flies?  I wonder if we could approach it differently.

Public Outcry Might have Led to this Chess Star's Death

   Do not be too quick to blame Russia for this one. Other explanations might be more reasonable. If there were foul play, it may not have been the Russians.

   It's been 18 months since 18-year-old Alexandra Vernigora and her 27-year-old boyfriend, Stanislav Bogdanovich were found dead on the floor of a Moscow apartment.

   Chess players, both.

   Bogdanovich was a star -- one of the better players on this planet. He had risen to be one of the top 10-rated blitz players in the world. In regular chess, he was also magnificent, his peak rating having reached a gaudy 2616.  He had been called, "perhaps the most-talented player in the entire history of Odessa." 

   Dead on the floor of a Moscow apartment, along with his girlfriend, also an accomplished chess player.

   Laughing gas. They say they died of laughing gas. Asphyxiation. A balloon with nitrous oxide was found at the site, and it is said they had plastic bags over their heads.

   I will tell you the fuller story of their deaths. Days before, Bogdanovich had switched flags  -- from Ukraine to Russia -- just before his death. With his new alliance, he had performed superbly in a tournament just days before. The tournament was March 1, the deaths March 5. 

   Now, there's a war going on between Ukraine and Russia. The two nations are not at all on friendly terms. Imagine the outrage of his fellow Ukrainians as they learned Bogdanovich was switching to the other side. Yes, there was a media frenzy. Political leaders entered the fray. The former Ukrainian minister of defense and a candidate in three of the last presidential elections, rebuked Bogdanovich. One national website listed him as an enemy of the state. 

   If you know of the public outcry against him, you know he and his girlfriend might, indeed, have committed suicide. Public distain can bring that.

   And, if they were murdered, would it not have been the Ukrainians who did it?

   Then, there is the matter that Bogdanovich's flat in Odessa had been robbed the year before -- about $30,000 lost, most of which he had won in tournaments. The criminals were never found, but should it not be considered that if someone had it out for him once, they might still have had it out for him later?

    Smaller chance at that one, though. The robbery was in Odessa; the murder in Moscow.

   So, what of the chance the Russians killed the two chess players? During the media brouhaha, Bogdanovich had indicated that in addition to wanting to be a peacemaker by playing for Russia, he needed the money. "I do whatever is better for business," he said. "Without donations, I could not play for any team."

   That obviously didn't go over well with the Russians. An official spokesperson responded: "We never pay anyone to participate. To play for your flag is a matter of personal prestige, not money."

   So, suicide, foul play -- which? We may never know. Time rolls on and such things are soon forgotten. They touch the news, but quickly are lost. It is said time heals all wounds. It should also be said time forgets them -- even when they should not be forgotten. 

'This is the Nation I Know'

   "At a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith. That is the nation I know," George W. Bush said this morning, commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9-11.

  "At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw Americans reaffirm their welcome of immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know. At a time when some viewed the rising generation as individualistic and decadent, I saw young people embrace an ethic of service and rise to selfless action. That is the nation I know."

Help the Afghans without Running Up the National Debt

    I lift my eye when I hear the Biden administration will ask Congress for $6.4 billion to bring 95,000 Afghans to America and assist in resettling them.

   Why the large expense? Put them on planes or ships and get them here. Often as not, they can probably buy their own tickets. Resettlement? Charities are jumping to help. They need our contributions, true. But, whoever pays for it, how does it come to $6.4 billion? A billion is 1,000,000,000. That's quite a collection of zeroes in that number. So, we take $6.4 billion and we divide it by 100,000 (using it as the rough number -- easier to work with -- for the 95,000 refugees). I'm not good at math, so if you find I'm wrong, that's cool. Still, I'm showing that's roughly $6,500 per refugee. 

   Too much? I love the immigrants. I love them bunches. But, I do not like deficit spending. I believe the refugees can be brought to America using our charities. I have not yet donated, but will donate a very small sum this coming week. Utah is fortunate to be receiving a number of these Afghan refugees and Catholic Community Services is among the organizations helping them. If each of us were to donate just a very small amount, we could help these people without running up the national debt.

This quote, poem, has what seems a million variations. Wanting to think of myself as a poet, I wrote three of my own.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

--

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And should I die before I wake
Let them bury me with a rake
⁠
--
⁠
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And should I die before I wake
Bring me back to life with a gentle shake

--

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And should I die before I wake
Let them bury me with a rake
⁠
--

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And should I die before I wake
Bring me back to life with a gentle shake

 Perfection is refined more than it is naturally pure. It removes its flaws rather than being born without them.

(Index: Quotes) 

Hatred is a malady unknown to those who carry it.

(Index: Quotes)

Tomorrows are there for all the times you wish were not todays.

(Index: Quotes) 

 Yesterdays flee and tomorrows come quickly, but sometimes it seems todays can last forever.

(Index: Quotes) 

Which quote is better, the first which has more concise language, or the second, which is more explanatory? Or, is the third version best?

Whispers

--

Whispers behind your back are silent. It is only when they are forced into the light of day that they are silenced.

--

Whispers behind your back you may not hear. They are as good as silence. It is only when they are forced into the light of day, and you do hear them, that you can really silence them.

--

Whispers behind your back are silent to your ears. It is only when you do hear them that you can silence them.

 (Index: Quotes)

 Truth doesn't give orders, it gives advice. It doesn't tell you what you have to do, it only warns you what will happen if you don't.

(Index: Quotes)

Don't Take Away the Trash Cans We Need for Recyclables

   No longer do they pick up our recyclables every week. No, now it is just every other week. I might be reading between the lines, but don't see how I am going astray in figuring out what is going on.

  People aren't recycling. 

  Most trash is recyclable. All paper is, as long as it isn't stained with food or oil. Tin and aluminum cans? Both good. Plastic containers -- though you should wash the food or whatever off them -- are all good.

  So, if most trash is recyclable, why reduce the pick-ups to every-other-week? Are we, the public, not using the recycle bins? Are we sticking all our recyclables in with the regular trash? I do not see this as a small problem. Recycling is important. When the city started the program, it was important. 

   It still should be.

 An accumulation of knowledge becomes a repository of faith.

(Index: Quotes)

Navalny Recognizes Sanctions Against Russia Harm the Commoners

    Would that we would listen to Aleksei Navalny -- and lift sanctions against Russia. Russia's most-famous prisoner suggests the economic sanctions America and Europe have imposed on Russia harm the ordinary citizens, and only serve to alienating them against us.

   If you are to have sanctions against any government -- be they against Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia or wherever -- those restrictions should not harm the people. If you truly care about the people in those countries, you help them; You do not harm them. If we are going to impose sanctions, they should be focused on the government leaders and not come down on the common people.

   Navalny recognizes this, and has criticized Europe and the United States and Europe more than once for their sanctions.  

You need not to fear failure, but you do need to fail to have fear. 

(Index: Quotes)

Monorail as Private Transportation

    An American city so modern it would consider monorails and/or magnetic levitation for its public transportation? There is the Moscow Monorail in Russia. There is the SC Maglev in Japan. And, there are others.

   What of America? Will it never catch up? Or, are these failed systems, and it is I who needs to catch up?

   What of an American city, willing to take these technologies and try them? Advance transportation to the day and age in which we live, the 21st Century. Perhaps even apply them to automobile transportation, as opposed to everyone having to ride public transportation. Still, the cars would run on the same line,  concurrently, so you could synchronize them. They would travel the same speed, and draw power from the same source. 

   Do we dismiss this as too futuristic? Or has it already been proven a failed experiment? I do not know. But, from my distance to what is going on, I suggest we should consider it. Americans are independent -- as are people in other countries. They like their automobile. They do not want to have to catch a bus that forces them to a schedule. They do not want to have to run down to the station to get on the train. They want their own cars, and they want to come and go on their own schedules. Freedom, we call it.

   Consider, then, the modern technology and bring it to the automobile level. Here's wishing just one city would try this.  

 What you stand for is more important than what stands against you.

(Index: Quotes)

I'll Call Them Dan

Those who find anger whenever they can

  Who take offense if you so much as mention their name

How do you befriend them

  When their hate comes before you've began

If it makes them happy, I'll call them Ann, Fran or Damn -- I mean Dan

I look at myself and I wonder why so

  I question what I've done from my head to my toe

Why draw I hatred when friendship's my quest

  I need to change something

And that is my test

The Road to Heaven is a Straight Line

   "From here to heaven is a straight line," he said, pulling out a pencil and drawing a line on the map.

    I was just intrigued that he had a map showing right where heaven was at. 

   "Now, I do say its a straight line," he offered. "But you will need to know that there are obstacles in the way. And some people think they have to veer off the path to get around them. Now, that Hain't following a straight line. Get around the law, get around the rules, get around doing what's right. . . . No, they hain't walkin' a straight line, but are always tryin' to get around doin' all the things they should."

   He looked me in the eye, his own eyes bearing down firmly. "It Hain't so," the old man said. "In order to get through the obstacles, you gotta go straight through them."

   Turning, he pointed down the path and waved, as if to say, "Off with you, then. Be off down the path to heaven."

  There was a deep mist, and I couldn't see what was down the path, but I knew there would be obstacles.

   "Plow thru them," he said. "If there are obstacles, plow thru them. The man who doesn't plow, doesn't reap."

(Index: Stories)

 There are variations of insanity, but everyone has it. The mirror can tell you more about insanity than peeking into the room of your crazy neighbor.

(Index: Quotes)

A river doesn't flood until it runs over its banks. Even so, the restrictions in our lives keep us channeled from doing harm.

(Index: Quotes)

The 21st-Centuryness of Magnetic Travel

    The 21st-Centuryness of magnetic transportation is being overlooked. If we are going to have an infrastructure bill that includes commuting across our nation, it is amiss without magnetic-powered transit.

    Should we set up a system so individual cars are magnetic powered? Should we -- experimenting with things -- try to get such a system set up for a whole city? Off top, I think we should. But, it is deadline time for this post and I do not have time to give it enough thought.

 Have both patience and anger with your ways. 

(Index: Quotes)

Millionaires Don't Make Their Money at Kool-Aid Stands

     Bumper cars, we've considered, and slot cars. Tonight, let's we shall consider the electric car, itself -- the one with batteries included.

   What if we were to try to convert a whole city to the electric car? These are on the market, already. Unlike bumper and slot cars, you wouldn't need to modify existing vehicles, though that could still be part of your effort.

   To begin with, let's not suppose the electric cars now on the market are fully the answer. They are expensive. A Tesla doesn't come for cheap. Sometimes, I wonder if those who would make millions aren't turning our eyes away from the old version of the electric car. The old, not-all-high-tech cars -- could they be the good part of the answer?

   Inexpensive. An electric car hasn't almost none of the moving parts of a combustion engine. If you cannot produce an electric car cheaper than a gasoline model, something's wrong -- even if you do plug in and use a lot of the new batteries and technology.

   The question is, are the car-makers not going to even consider selling something that won't turn them a good profit? Millionaires don't make their money by opening Kool-Aid stands.

   Maybe turn to the small businessperson on this one. Maybe a person without millions could make electric cars. Remember, no moving parts in the engines. Put the battery in, upholstery, a radio and air-conditioner -- and, slap some tires on it. That's about it. People rebuild and build custom cars all the time. Tell me there are not a million mechanics who could build an electric car.

   To save the environment, take the car out of the greedy hands of the rich, and put it in the greasy hands of the common person.

(Index -- Climate change info)

 Tomorrow only comes to those who love today. Those who do not love life will soon see it fade away.

(Index: Quotes)

 The greatest memories are the ones that have tomorrows. Yesterday is sweeter when you can go back and do it again.

(Index: Quotes)

 Love never takes a vacation, because the work it does is never work. You don't seek relief from things that bring you joy. 

(Index: Quotes)