Thanksgiving

BEN


















Biscotti

















BO




BED

Tis the season to be stupid

What would it take to get me to participate in this stupidity? Not even a free flat screen TV would get me into the middle of this stampede. Everybody's in a rush to get into where, Target? What a way to welcome the Christmas season.

Stay home, shop on-line, avoid the sales tax and human debris.

Caption Contest

Did I remember to record Top Chef?

T.S.A. agent accosts 3 year old child at security checkpoint

This is the end result of political correctness. If anyone else did this to a child they would be doing hard time. Too bad she didn't wear a berka, she would have avoided being traumatized. The TSA employee is only following orders. Where have I heard that before? Perhaps the Bill of Rights ceases to exist at the airport. The whole world is laughing at us, especially the Jihadists.

"You who philosophize disgrace, and criticize all fears. Bury the rag deep in your face, for this is the time for your tears."

Bob Dylan

The Lord Of The Pillow

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

God's Greatest Miracle

I spent my last day in Babylon at the Holocaust Museum.

I'm glad I was there alone because it isn't your usual slice of Americana exhibit. I'm only ten years removed from WW II, and it isn't as far removed from me as say the Civil War. Two doors away from me where I grew up was a doctor's wife who spoke beautiful Polish, she also had a tattoo on her arm. It wasn't talked about much , but usually the word got out that so-in-so was in the camps. I was taught that the Hun had this propensity and it hovered just below the surface and could rise up at anytime if not held in place by force. It was very convenient to think that this trait was some Germanic genetic aberration as opposed to plain old human nature.

I'm so cynical that I agree with the fellow who said "the question should not be, how can this happen, but rather how come it doesn't happen more often". Poland had a higher percentage of Jews than any other European country in 1930's. It seems that Poland's depth of antisemitism was especially deep, seeing that they had this vibrant minority that at 10 % of the population stood out among the peasant poor majority. I think my Polish grandmother was antisemitic ( my father thought she was Eva Braun herself). Luckily for me my parents had few prejudices.

The roots of antisemitism was really explained well. It is very complex but one character that played a major part was Martin Luther. I was amazed at what I read about old Martin years ago. At last. 10 years ago the Lutheran church has apologized for what flames of antisemitism he ignited during the reformation. The Catholic church and a host of other minor players kept this scapegoat mentality going till the 1930's.

I have read a dozen or so books on the Holocaust and probably a dozen personal memoirs. I am not a scholar but since childhood I always felt the holocaust was a sentinel event in mankind's march to perdition. Some things I've started to realize:
Hitler's antisemitism became rabid after England entered the war. He realized the U.S. would follow England and the war was lost.
Hitler's real goal was to conquer Russia and the Balkans and create an empire similar to England's.
The holocaust was Hitler's third front and actually hastened Germany's defeat.

Next time you're in D.C. take a day and spend it at the Holocaust Museum. It will be better for your spiritual growth than a weekend with Beth Moore. If you are looking for something to increase your faith, just look to God's greatest miracle, the Jews.

AC/DC

This is the world's longest escalator. It's at the D.C. Metro's Rosslyn station. It was like descending into the Nether-World. It's like a hundred yards long, without any break in it. Agoraphobics must poop their pants on this thrill ride. Since the people are level and the angle of the escalator is close to 45 degrees, the riders look like teeth on some maniacal rip-saw. Since people in D.C. power walk everywhere, you better stand to the right because the left is the passing lane where Metro's race up and down for exercise.

I imagined this ominous chunnel as a conduit for all our tax money being tossed into the abyss.


All the money that we working stiffs throw into the chunnel ends up here, in Pelosi's sand-box. Last time I saw the Capitol in 1962 it wasn't as big. it didn't have those extensions on either side. I saw it before it was a Triple-Wide. I hear Nancy "only plays to a big room".


This is my contact in D.C. Here is Ben at the "Origins of Life" exhibit at the Smithsonian. I didn't see Ken Ham (aka Canned Ham in our family) anywhere. Ben is at a statue of Homo-Erectus-Liberalis. It seems that even five million years ago he already had his hand out.

Things I noticed about D.C.

Everyone power-walked
People weren't obese
Metro doors could break your arm
Two thirds of the people are young women
There is no sign of a recession
Everyone carries at least three electronic devices
Everyone eats out
The clubs and bars are full
There is a distinct shortage of "Babba-Types".
The panhandlers are amateurs compared to Asheville
The incidental male appeared either gay or metro
No one was talking to themselves
You could walk a mile without seeing a Wal-Mart
People still had money for Starbucks

Well Babba is back in Asheville, " were suit and tie meets tie-dyed".

On The Fifth Day God Created Babba

Five days without Carol and Babba reverts to a Neanderthal.

Fuzz-Buster

While Marianne is in Ireland, she left her car in Asheviile to have her Subaru modified.
The new model is guaranteed to help her make it through the West Virginia speed-traps.

Stump the Chumps

This week on Car Talk, trucker Richard has a busted fuel gauge in his 18-wheeler. He's got a trusty stick to help measure the level of fuel in his cylindrical tank, but needs a formula to tell him whether that level means he's got 3/4 of a tank, or is running on fumes. You'd think two MIT grads would be able to help, but, well, you'd be wrong.

OK my smart friends, the tank measures 18 inches in diameter. Obviously when you dip the ruler into the tank you know that at 9 inches it means it's half full. What mark on the ruler would tell you the tank was one quarter full?

I came up with 7.1 inches. I used only geometry and as usual I did it in my head and can't explain exactly how I got my answer except I compared the area of an 18 inch square with an 18 inch circle. So, my smart friends, help me out. Tell me if I'm right because the problem with having Aspergers is that even when you don't want it, it's always there.

Remember, no calculus, no trig, no sliderulers, just a simple calculator.