Perspective

I’m sure that there is such a thing as objective fact, but I wonder if it has ever actually been perceived. 

Like the blind men with the elephant, we all observe the world/time/events/politics/religion/universe/etc.  from our own unique and personal point of view, one that has been colored by our perceptions and reactions to everything that we have experienced before. 

If my lower back had felt like this two weeks ago, I might have been complaining – Yeah, I’ll admit I’m a bit of a whiner – but it is so much better than last week that I’m very happy. 

It reminds me of the first time the Ringling Brothers - Barnum and Bailey Circus played the Astrodome.  We knew that the aerialists were 50-something feet above the arena floor, but they just weren’t exciting when looking Down on them from the cheap seats several stories above.

Memorial Day and the Flag

When I was in fifth grade at Oak Forest Elementary, Val Jahnke and I (and one other kid) were given the honor of being on Flag Patrol.  That meant we were the ones who oversaw the raising and lowering of the American Flag on the school grounds every day. We took our job very seriously, even reporting that other kid to the principal for not taking it seriously enough. 

Today, desecration and burning of the flag is defined as Constitutionally Protected Free Speech, but we were sure that we could go to jail – or was it Hell? – if we allowed the flag to touch the ground.

Supreme Court notwithstanding, there are federally mandated rules of  flag etiquette.  Unlike most federal laws, there are no defined penalties for breaking the rules and no means of enforcement.

Everyone thinks they know the rules, but most are wrong on one aspect or another.  For example, were you aware  that the law states that the flag should only be flown at half-staff until noon today, then raised to the top of the pole?

The actual guidelines can be read Here.

Exodus, Part Two - Problem Solved

 

 

 

 

The law of unintended consequences seems to come into play with every attempt by governments to solve almost any problem – witness the American decision to arm the Mujahedeen against the Russians in Afghanistan.  In spite of that, I’ve come up with a plan to solve a whole passel of problems in one fell swoop.

To be honest, this column started out as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the better I like it.  So, here’s the plan in a nutshell:

Give Israel back to the Palestinians, and move the Israelis to a New Israel along the US-Mexico border.  Make Jerusalem a truly international city with free access to all the holy places - administered by someone with no dog in the fight - someone like Samoa or Nepal.

Within its current borders, Israel is about 8,000 square miles, with part of that occupied by Palestinians.  That same 8,000 square miles could provide them with a two-mile strip of land from Matamoros to Tijuana.  Personally, I think we should expand that to 100 miles or so, and maybe throw in all of Baja California.

We could buy the land from Mexico.  Even if all the Arab States that want Israel gone weren’t willing to help foot the bill, the purchase would pay for itself in short order in the savings to the US in the costs of suppressing drug traffic and illegal immigration.

Would Mexico give it up?  Hell, yes!  There would be lots of rhetoric to the contrary, but send Hillary Clinton down with “an offer they couldn't refuse,”  and Calderon would fold in a heartbeat.  It would actually be doing Mexico a favor; they have proved themselves unable to control the area anyway.

Would brokering such a move make the Muslim extremists hate us any less?  Maybe -  Probably not -  But at least they would have to come up with another excuse.

There would be plenty of land for everyone; no need for the indigenous population to leave.  Of course nobody threw the Palestinians out after the Balfour Declaration. They left on their own, or at the urging of their Muslim neighbors. 

While prostitution is legal in Israel, they do have laws against brothels, so the border town whorehouses might have to go.  Given today’s social climate, boys from Texas high schools and San Diego naval bases ought to be able to get laid at home.

So what is the upside for Israel?  For once in their history, nobody would be lobbing rockets at their cities.  They would have lots more land with some valuable natural resources in a climate similar to where they are now.  The New Israel and the old would be located at  approximately the same latitudes – 29 something to 32 something – but the new state would stretch through several time zones. They already have a seaport on the Mediterranean now, but the move would give Israel  ports on the Atlantic (Gulf) and the Pacific.

As for the problem of the drug cartels, I have no doubt that the Israelis would have that situation squared away in no time at all.

Dog Treat

Saw this cicada emerging from its shell yesterday morning and ran to get my camera.

I had planned to document the event with pictures every few minutes, but it was too low on the tree trunk.  By the time I went out to take the next picture, the dog had eaten it. 

While I didn’t actually see it happen, I’m sure that Tinker, our black and tan miniature dachshund, was the one that did it.  She is a dedicated hunter that eats everything she catches – moths, crayfish, lizards, moles – you name it, if she can chase it down or dig it up, she’ll eat it. 

Dachshunds aren’t supposed to be climbers, and they aren’t supposed to jump, but she doesn’t know it;  I’ve seen her go halfway up the side of our house after a lizard.

Filters

 

We have a bunch of coffee filters that I have been meaning to throw away since we got our Keurig coffee machine.

Today, I came across this list of uses for coffee filters and wondered how many of you have used them in any of the listed ways.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10 Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliquéing soft fabrics.
16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18 Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a zip-lock plastic bag until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.
And they’re cheap! You can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for $1.00, even the large ones.

OH YEAH, THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR OLD COFFEE MAKERS

Fill In The Blanks

Nothing to post this morning.  I’ve got an idea for a great column, but it is going to take a lot more thought than I’m willing to spend right now.

So – help me out. 

Please feel free to use comments to write your own Boggy Thicket post…..

Sock It To Me

Not much Blog fodder today.  About all there is to talk about is the continued lack of rain here at the Boggy Thicket and the terrible weather conditions elsewhere – been there, done that, got the T-shirt, etc.

My back still bothers me a little, but it’s much better and the subject is really sort of boring.

So………

Today’s post is sort of an age test.  If you recognize the picture below, you’re old enough to remember some of the funniest bits ever aired on television.