“What this country needs is a really good 5 cent cigar.” (- Thomas Marshall 1920) Times were simpler then, or maybe Cigars were a lot better in the old days, if that is all it took to take care of things.
SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT US
- I read where 95% of all humans have health problems – right now. The single biggest health problem in the U.S. is Back Pain. Why? From lifting heavy things? Or is the heavy lifting from lifting ones own excess weight? Sometimes I wonder if ‘Back Pain’ is an easy way to get pain meds. I’m looking at a note from 2009 that says there were 3.8 million Americans weighing over 300 pounds. That could cause bad backs. I read where heart disease is caused more by over-eating (resulting in obesity) than by eating wrong food groups. This was concluded by studying the bones of the ancients and hunter gatherers. (I am going to start losing weight – right now.)
- I read where it says sodas account for 25,000 deaths a year. I also read that a can of Coke has 13-15 teaspoons of sugar in it. (How can this be? Is this even close to the truth? I tried to put 13 teaspoons of sugar in an empty can and I found it very difficult.)
- Did you know Americans prefer artificial Maple Syrup, 3 to 1, to the real. (I’m in the minority on this one. Plus, what would happen to the price of real Maple Syrup if the masses decided they preferred it? Let them eat fake.)
- I read where 43% of those seeking food-aid are employed. 1/3 of bank tellers rely on some public assistance to get by. Over 110 million of us are 0n food stamps – that’s almost 1/3 of our population.
- 40% of 19-40 year olds text while driving. 10% of them do it regularly. 20% of all drivers text while driving. 67% talk on the phone while driving. 27% do it regularly (Things will improve when we have driver-less cars, perhaps.)
- Hot weather kills more Americans than all other natural disasters combined. (Add being over-weight to hot weather and you have a reason to kick the Coke habit and the over-eating and the going out-doors this summer.)
- Studies show rich Americans do better after heart surgeries than the non-rich. (How do you get money for these studies?)
- A Study shows Americans care more about a lock-out by the NFL than the slaughter of elephants in Gambia. (The respondents must not have understood the question. I choose to believe that.)
- 40% of American people, who are married, do not know how much money their spouse makes.
- 1 of 33 American adults are under some sort of Correctional control. (Prisons, jails, etc.)
- A study shows ‘High Power People’ drive through crosswalks with pedestrians in them at 4 times the rate of ordinary powered people. High Powered People also switch lanes without signaling more than I do. FYI: Apparently, wealth leads to Power in this country and that is how you eventually get to ‘High Powered People’ (Once again, self driving cars could lead to utopia on the road, unless the High Powered People have an over-ride button on their Teslas and will still be able to turn into your lane in a moment’s notice.)
- Another thing: Twenty-seven million Americans live in places of ‘High’ potential for ground-shaking earthquakes. More of us live by flood potential riverbeds. Yet more live in dry forest areas – with fire potential. (Well, we have to live somewhere. No? And we can’t all afford NYC or San Francisco and they are in the rising water zone, anyway. Pray for the best, I guess. Maybe the floods and the fires will come when we are out the house, recuperating from heart surgery in Mexico, or watching an NFL game in a Stadium in London. This world seems to get strange at times. It would be better off if we would fix it.)
- Here are some thoughts on some of our Founding Father’s behavior: James Madison called slavery “The most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man”…but he did not free his own slaves. Jefferson did not free his. Washington kept a few. Patrick Henry, the “Give me Liberty”kind of guy, did not free his because of the general inconvenience of doing without them. And so it goes.
When asked what he thought of ‘Modern Civilization”, Mohatma Gandhi replied: “That would be a good idea.”
I’ll be back to you later, if the waters don’t rise. (-cem)
