Well, today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of my beloved grandfather: Carl F. Routh. I can not believe that it has already been a decade since that awful day. So much has happened that I wish he could've been a part of. Yet, I honestly can not say for sure that any of it would've happened without this loss. His passing was a "kick-start" of-sorts for me that prompted me to start pursuing greater things rather than my ambitions at that time. Thus it is hard to say whether I would have done ANY of the things I wish so desperately that he could've witnessed. OK, enough Tmaxx Baggage.....
ANYWAY, the last couple of days have been full of various compelling topics that I believe warrant discussion by all of us. First of all is this striking fellow:
Muammar Qaddafi. The "Mad Dog of the Middle East" is done. At this time (noonish on Wed. 8/24/11) has yet to be found. The rebel forces have taken over his compound where this statue stands before the un-repaired aftermath of the 1980's attack by the United States:
It is a hand grasping / smashing an American fighter jet out of the sky. From what I remember, Muammar narrowly squirreled away, avoiding being completely blown to smithereens by American bombs with luck. I am not at all certain that this is a proper characterization of the events but I guess when you are the totalitarian dictator, you get to bend history a tiny bit. In my opinion, it is not at all dissimilar from me picking a fight with one of those UFC guys and then claiming to have completely beat his ass when in reality, I locked myself in my car after the first punch.
(This image is from the from a 2005 Sumatran quake.)
Also we have the EARTHQUAKE, the horrible earth shaking that caused un-imaginable.......oh wait, it didn't. One wouldn't have known though from watching the cable news networks (which I happened to be when the quake happened) and they are STILL having the USGS guys on as guests constantly. It does bring up a great point though; for some reason, east coasters believe that there are
no earthquakes in their neck of the woods. Thus their skyscrapers etc are not nearly as ready as those in the west. This is a wake-up call to everyone to finally pay attention to the experts who have NEVER made such a silly claim. One other thing that struck me: there were 0 serious injuries, NO serious damage, NOTHING newsworthy yet the entirety of all cable network coverage focused on the event. This irritates me because the only reason it was news is because it actually hit them where the news offices are. Out west, we have butt-loads of quakes that cause a hell of a lot more damage that do not even get a passing mention. Yes, there are many important and old structures in the area but still...... I guess it is a personal gripe. I admit that!
There is also hurricane Irene which is now bearing down on the eastern seaboard.......The experts predict landfall off of the North Carolina coast sometime on Saturday. Every time one of these things strikes our nation, I think we all wonder
why people do not exit the area when we have all seen what a hurricane can do to a region! I understand wanting to protect your house
but boards on windows and gas generators are not enough to prevent the force of the storm from killing you and all of those you are trying to protect! Having been through several 110+ mph wind storms, I do know the force the wind can be and those were not accompanied by a storm surge nor did they last for days. I have seen the wind propelling
rocks through the are as missiles and steel buildings nearly succumb, I have had to tie myself off to various structures as I was maneuvering about outside to prevent
steel lids and tools from becoming airborne as they were being ripped from their screws (a feat I eventually gave up on......I did not want to die!) ....a full hurricane would be far worse than even that! I truly hope that everyone evacuates if deemed necessary. There has been almost a week of notice so, loss of life
should really be minimal. Imagine how much lower Katrina's death toll would have been if the warnings had been heeded?
Finally, the definition of pedophilia is being challenged. A group called: "B4U Act" is petitioning the American Psychiatric Association to redefine the definition of "pedophile" in order to remove the stigma that is attached to such a diagnosis. Sadly, for you guys, I may just reserve this one for the show.........I think I have a viewpoint that would prompt some great discussion and I do not think I would like to waste it here. As with everything in life, one
must look at the issues on their merits alone.....to the exclusion of knee-jerk reactions. I think this is a GREAT topic for that kind of discussion......thus I shall set it aside for later!
-Tmaxx
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