Cutting Off The Head

Yesterday, in response to Syrian leader Bashar al Assad's use of Sarin gas against his own people, the US fired 50 Cruse missiles against a Syrian airfield.  Syria, Russia and Iran have condemned the attack, but the rest of the world's leaders have almost universally hailed it as a measured response to a reprehensible act.

It seems to me that a more appropriate response would be to take out  Assad himself. 

Whenever this is mentioned, media quickly points out that this would be a violation of international law.  I don't think that is true.  Assassination of a head of state has been considered a no-no since about the 17th century, but only  if the nations involved are not at war.  Gerald Ford issued executive orders banning the CIA from assassinating foreign heads of state after a botched attempt on the life of Fidel Castro, but Reagan sent planes to bomb the home of Muammar Gaddafi. 

I think the real reason going after a head of state is universally frowned upon is fear of reciprocity.  It places a huge target on the back of the leader of the country that orders the hit.

But is it illegal.

No, it is not.

As Voltaire said, "Killing a man is murder unless it is done to the sound of trumpets."

In Assad's case, maybe it's time to strike up the band.

It's A Joke!

In what had to be the best, most effective, April Fools joke of the year, there was an article published saying that the Wyoming wildlife agency had released 90 kangaroos into the wild in an effort to see how they would adapt to the semi-arid climate.

Six days into the month, I saw a Facebook post this morning expressing dismay over the fact that the marsupials were being introduced in an area that had up to now hosted pronghorn and bison. The writer - who still hadn't got the joke - was outraged.

I think the joke worked so well because we have a history of screwing around with the environment,  usually with disastrous results. Consider the introduction of Kudzu to control soil erosion in Georgia, or the introduction of Nutria to control weeds in Louisiana rice canals, or the Asian Carp originally introduced to southern fish ponds and that are now threatening native species as far north as the Great Lakes.

Just Checking

One of our first acts after getting a travel trailer was to join the Good Sam Club, an organization that offers, among other things, discounts at RV parks across the country.  They also offer a program called Good Sam Roadside Assistance, which provides help when you encounter mechanical problems on the road.  

We have been GSRA members for nine years, and the program has paid for itself more years than not. In those years when we haven't used the service, the peace of mind has been worth the expense.

I was doing some on-line banking this past weekend, and saw an unauthorized one dollar charge from Good Sam on my debit card.  The last time I saw a similar charge, the billing company had been hacked.  The bank contacted me that time, and issued a new debit card with a different number.  This time, a call to the bank showed this as a valid charge, and the lady on the phone advised me to contact Good Sam.

I did, and I got a logical, if somewhat odd, explanation - Our Good Sam Roadside Assistance is set up for automatic renewal and will expire the end of June.  The Good Sam representative explained that before they bill for renewal they send a bill for a dollar to make sure the card listed on the account is still in effect.

I suppose that makes sense.  It does give them time to contact the customer and update billing procedures before coverage expires, but I can't think of any other company that handles things this way.

Gonzaga

 

March Madness is finally over - Gonzaga fell to North Carolina 71 to 65 last night.  We didn't watch, don't follow college basketball, and Honey resents the fact that it usurps time when the network normally shows some of her favorite shows. She did ask this year "What's a Gonzaga."

I told her I thought it was a Catholic school - I was right, but that was all I knew.

A bit of research this morning told me that it is a Jesuit college in Spokane, Washington.  It was named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian nobleman who gave up wealth and power to join the church. He fell ill while tending the sick during an epidemic, and died at the age of 22. 

He was Canonized in 1726, and is the patron saint of students, and also of AIDS patients and care-givers.

The other thing I learned this morning is that Aloysius and Luigi are variations of the same name.  They don't look (or sound) anything alike, but one is Latin and the other Italian for the same person.

Smooth

A little over a year ago, Honey developed a vision problem caused by Choroidopathy, a buildup of fluid behind the retina of her left eye.  The treatment for the condition was the injection of medicine into the eyeball.

Today we got up at zero dark thirty in order to make a 7:45 a.m. appointment to have her eye checked, and it was certainly worth the trip.  Her last injection was last May, almost a year ago, and photos of her retina continue to look normal!

 

Shell Houston Open

That's golf pro Ricky Fowler throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Minute Maid Park earlier this week.  The pitch was right over the plate, but high enough the catcher had to jump to catch it.

Right now, Fowler is probably wishing that golf was a game that could be played indoors.  He is three shots back, all alone in second place, going into the final round of the Shell Houston Open, but Mother Nature is not cooperating.

I don't think she likes the Shell very much - or maybe it's too much, since she always seems to make her presence felt.  

Rain caused the cancellation of play in this year's Pro-Am, and even heavier thunderstorms are expected later today.  Today's tee times were moved up to try to get the final round in before the rain hit, but there were thunderstorms over the course at 7:00 a.m.  

Rain also played havoc with the Open in 2013, and back when the tournament was held at Redstone, play was actually halted on a sunny day because of high winds.

Brakes and Glutes

I finished the brake replacement on the 5th Wheel Trailer yesterday, and the whole job went remarkably well.

At my age, whenever I do anything that requires serious exertion, I expect to be a little stiff and sore the following day.  I anticipated some aching in my biceps and shoulders, but what I didn't expect was how much strain I was putting on my gluteus maximus muscles.  

When I wasn't on my back operating the bottle jack from under the trailer, most of the job was done from a sitting or kneeling position.  Apparently, breaking loose lug nuts while on your knees causes a lot of pull on the old glutes.

The bottom line is the job is done, and I can now confirm that doing a brake job on the trailer was literally a pain in the butt.