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THE BEST OR WORST OF TERRY’S TIDBITS – By Terry Gray
December 27, 2004

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Weather.  January 2004.

Last week the meteorologist told me that it was 48 degrees, but with the wind-chill it felt like 46.  Burrrrrrrr!  Hey weatherman, why bother telling me that?

They tell me that they aren’t sure what tomorrow’s weather will bring – right before they give me a two week extended forecast. 

I say that there is a secret weatherman society, and they have secret handshakes and everything.

Moral Relativism in Politics.  February 2004

I heard a very interesting statement a few days ago.  I thought of not writing this little jewel because politicians may discover it and further justify their actions.  But then I realized that politicians seldom listen to us and don’t really care too much about the constitution anyway.  I heard that lying is a 1^st amendment right.  I had to mull this over for awhile and then I had to agree.

We draw the line at perjury and slander, but should we?  I guess it depends on your outlook.  Today, we don’t take our constitution quite as seriously as we once did.  But I’d lie to protect my right to speak out.  I guess I’d also be protecting my right to lie, according to this statement.

When a soldier swears into service, he promises to uphold the Constitution, as do many others in professions of public service.  When a soldier in time of war is captured, he is encouraged to lie to protect our nation and thus, our Constitution.

I guess our politicians do lie to us to protect our country and thus our Constitution.  I guess they are moral giants and subscribe to ethical relativism and Bentham’s Utilitarianism Calculus.  Ethical relativism teaches us that things may be morally right in South Carolina and morally wrong in Oregon.  Utilitarianism teaches that it is right to act wrong if acting wrong produces a right.  Bentham’s Utilitarianism Calculus measures how much pleasure we feel from the action.

I think politicians leave out the ethical part and just subscribe to relativism.

So remember when one of our politicians looks at you, smiles and winks and says, “Trust me on this one,” he’s just saying it to feel good.

YOU – MEDICINE JAR

If you have lost contact with the real you, now you’re available by prescription.  I saw it on television, so it must be true.  You will need to ask your doctor and be sure that he knows exactly who you are before he writes the prescription.  It would be terrible to seek yourself and find someone else.

FAULTY AMBER.  April, 2004

A system is only as good as the people operating it and, in this case, people failed the system.  Some idiot cancelled the alert before a missing baby was found.  I will give them credit for describing the baby though - “New born, 19 inches long.”  I jumped from my chair and screamed, “I know that baby!”

An Open Letter to Louisville’s Metro Council.  May, 2004 

Somewhere along the line, some of you have forgotten what your job in metro council is.  You were elected to represent the people of your district and the community.  Smoking bans are not wanted, and enacting such legislation will make a mockery of your jobs and of our way of government.  Let me remind you that we are a representative government.

Numerous surveys and polls have been conducted, and every one of them has shown that the community is against such legislation.  I recently campaigned for office, and, in my months of walking the precincts and talking with people, only 3 voters were in favor of bans.  My opposition to smoking bans was the second item on my campaign agenda.  You folks might want to consider the surveys that have been conducted, and you may want to do some research of your own.  Go to the businesses in your districts, especially restaurants, and find out how they feel.  Do a random walk of your district and find out what the citizens want.  This exercise might also put you back in contact with those who voted you into office and can easily remove you.

I know that you had Dr. Stan Glantz speak to you on the perils of second hand smoke and his Helena “study”.  That “study” is the laughing stock of the scientific community.  It has been termed a “non-study” by most of the respected members of the scientific community that even acknowledge Mr. Glantz.

As for economic impacts on smoking bans, you are sadly misinformed.  There are hundreds of restaurants and bars that have gone out of business in areas where smoking bans have been legislated.  Many other businesses are suffering in those areas.  Cities have lost conventions, a mainstay of economic opportunity in Louisville.  You have also been misinformed concerning the health risks of second hand smoke.  In listening to speakers that are for bans, they will often cloud the distinction between smoking and second hand smoke.  This interchanging of terms makes second hand smoke seem more dangerous than it is 

I also want to remind you that businesses are still private property.  These business owners have poured their time, money, and futures into their businesses.  The public has been invited to join them in a mutual exchange of enterprise.  Those patrons not wishing to participate need not do so.  Tobacco smoke is an entirely different scenario than unclean conditions. Smoke Free Louisville would have you believe that they fall under the same protective measures.  Food poisoning associated with an establishment’s uncleanliness is a hidden danger.  Patrons cannot “see” what may affect them until it is too late.  Tobacco smoke, on the other hand, is obvious.  Should a patron not wish to associate himself with the danger or assumed danger of tobacco smoke, that patron has the option of not participating. 

Our businesses are the backbone of our community.  Without them, there would be no jobs.  It is a very dangerous proposition that calls for any prohibitions on our local businesses, one that can wreak economic havoc as well as the removal of elected officials.

I encourage you to go to:   http://forces-int.net/index.php  and browse around a bit.  Better still, do some research at that site.  There are links to many publications and studies on smoking and second hand smoke.

Make the right decision on this non-issue which has been made an issue by one group of oppressive people.

DRUG BUST A BUST.  June, 2004

Shelby County officials hail it as a success, but what else could they say?  They had warrants for 72 accused drug dealers, and the cops gathered in the early morning hours to nap these criminals.  Everything had to go right, because a year had been spent on this investigation and $60,000 dollars of taxpayers’ money was on the line.

So at 6 A.M. the cops, a task force from several departments, began their sweep.  The early morning timing was chosen because drug people usually sleep in.  Of course they do; they respond to market demand just as any good business person would do. 

When all was done and the count was made, 34 hardened pushers were behind bars.  Way to go!  Shall we celebrate the task force’s 48% success rate?  If an average person’s employer came to him concerning a 48% success rate in his job performance, he would be carrying a severance check and showing the dude the door.  Can one graduate from any school with a 1.9 GPA?  Don’t we have special places for people that perform at that level?  Obviously we do; it’s called law enforcement.

When is law enforcement going to wake up and leave drugs alone?  Don’t they realize that crime surrounding drugs is mostly caused by its legal status?  Drug laws create criminals.

AUTO REVERSE WINDOWS.  July, 2004

I say just crank it the other way.  But seriously, automakers may have to install power windows that will automatically reverse when an object such as a child’s head, hand, or ice cream cone is placed in the way of a closing window.  Okay, but what if someone is trying to get in and you are trying to close the window?  All they have to do is stick their hand or their knife or their gun in the window and viola, the window stops and reverses. 

 

Once again we are creating a problem that could be remedied by parents actually paying attention to what is going on around them.  “Honey, don’t roll up the window, little Johnny’s head is hanging out again.”

Watch for lawsuits as Suzy is dragged from her car and raped because she couldn’t roll up her window while Mr. rapist had his hand in it.

POT BUST.  August, 2004

Have you ever noticed how a few pot plants that might be just a neighborhood project are suddenly worth millions when the cops find them?  What makes their value go up like that?  What do the cops have against neighborhood projects?  A small crop could take a lot of people off the streets who would otherwise be out looking to buy illegal weed.  I’m all for community gardening.

 I have to point out to the cops that that $1.5 million dollar crop that they dig up isn’t worth $1.5 net.  Oh it might gross that much if it is in fact for retail sale.  But they haven’t figured in expenses.  It isn’t cheap to grow pot.  There are starter pots, fertilizer, soil, grow lights, and the starter stock.  Then one has to transfer the starter plants to a safe area where pigs won’t root around in them.  And there is all the hassle of marketing without the aid of advertising.  What about security for the crop?  It is a tough profession even if the market demand is very high and most of the big profits go up in smoke.  Puns intended.

EMERGENCY.  August, 2004 - Again

  Most every piece of important paperwork we fill out asks us to list someone to contact in the event of emergency.  I think emergencies should be prioritized.  Missing a deadline isn’t the same as dropping dead.  Dropping dead probably isn’t an emergency either but some people do become upset by it.

     But I have a real question about the emergency contact information.  Why do they want the address of the person to contact?  If something is important enough to be listed as an emergency it is too important to need an address.

     “Mrs. Jones, your husband has sustained a serious injury at work and requires your immediate attention at City Hospital.  Sincerely, His Boss.”  I hope they overnight it at least.

SEX CLUBS.  September, 2004

I saw a couple of upstanding busy bodies on the news the other night who want to be sure that the citizens of Louisville have a voice against adult entertainment.  It seems to me that there is already a voice and its called supply and demand.

These two people, a man and a woman, say that people in Louisville don’t like sex clubs.  I wonder why there are so many flourishing adult entertainment clubs then.  It must be the same rule that is used for smoking; see someone that doesn’t want to be around sex or smoking and drag them into the nearest place that offends them. 

It seems that Louisvillians don’t have a personal choice when confronted with such earth-shattering vices.  Build them, and they will come.  As if mesmerized, otherwise meek citizens who use sex exclusively for procreation will find themselves standing at the edge of a stage with a handful of dollar bills vying for the attention of a lovely dancer.  When the dollars are gone, they’ll amble away in search of an ATM and a cigarette.

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a knitting shop.  I’ve heard tales though - all that yarn and dangerously long needles just lying about the place.  Old ladies glancing nervously about scare me.  Don’t they know that those needles can put out an eye?

I live in constant fear that some day I’ll take up knitting.  It won’t be a conscious thing but will be subconsciously caused by the influences of the existence of such places.  I bemoan the day when a gaggle of elderly grandmothers hijack me on the sidewalk and cart me off to their den of evil knitting.  And there is no amount of personal decision making that will change the outcome.  I’ll be introduced and seduced not through choice but by force.  I’ll be overwhelmed by the intoxicating yarns they spin.

SMOKING IN HOMES.  October, 2004

Ever since fanatic anti-smoking groups began their nonsense, they have assured us all that they do not want to eradicate tobacco or come into our homes.  Those fighting the bans called them liars and justifiably so.  They have lied about most everything else when pursuing their oppressive legislation, and freedom fighters have seen their ilk before.  We know these fanatics.

I’ve told you why they don’t want to kill tobacco; they make too much money from it.  But when it comes to legislating where one may smoke, they are all over the place.  The Ontario Medical Association now says, “The OMA is recommending government turn its attention to raising awareness around the issue and, possibly, instituting a ban on smoking in any homes, vehicles or facilities that offer childcare services.” 

This isn’t about smoking around kids, however.  This is about smoking in homes where kids live or visit and cars in which kids ride, even if kids aren’t present when someone is smoking.  “The reason, (sic) is that cigarettes release gaseous chemicals in smoke that condense on surfaces, and are then re-released later.”

Tobacco smoke is magical, don’t you know?  It lies in wait in the form of a solid and then suddenly turns to gas when kids are around and pounces on them.  That sounds like a fool’s mission.  Since tobacco smoke is so crafty, it would seem that while in the gaseous state it would fly around seeking out children rather lying dormant and waiting for children to come to it.

The OMA is talking about home businesses for the most part and, for right now, only those home businesses that serve children.  However, this is just another brick in the oppression highway.

"This report will lead the way in taking action against SHS in spaces that children should feel safe and protected," said Dr. John Rapin, President of the OMA.”  Coming soon to a home near you.

Cigarette smoke doesn’t just get on surfaces in buildings; it also gets on smokers’ clothes.  We smokers are walking arsenals of tobacco toxins.  Our lungs serve as conveyors of death, and our clothes are like the bandages of lepers.  Egads!

Those “No Smoking” signs that you see plastered all over everything may very likely change to “No Smokers” if the nannies have their way.  “Smokers’ elevator in the rear.”  “Smokers must report immediately to the biohazard room for detox before being admitted to other areas of this building.”  “No valet service for smokers, sorry.”

 I smoke, and there is a brownish film on my car windows when I’m cleaning them.  There is no doubt in my mind that the film is solidified tobacco smoke.  In the hopes of getting rid of this film, I invited some kids to go for a ride with me.  I expected to hear some evil sound like that of a demon awakening while the solid poison altered itself to a gaseous state and attacked.  However, it was very anti-climatic.  The film didn’t move, the kids didn’t cough, and I’m stuck with a bottle of Windex and a shop rag.  I thought I was on to something.

 I would like to point out that the OMA does not provide any hard statistical data.  They do acknowledge various “studies” but they provide no details.  Further, all the studies that they do cite are studies that have been funded by other nannies, like – Louis Gleeson; Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco (OCAT), Michael Perly; (OCAT), Ontario Medical Association, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, Conference on Tobacco and Health, Physicians for a Tobacco-Free Canada, EPA, and Stan Glantz.  Glantz has admitted that he has filed falsified reports.  Go figure.

NEW CIVICS IN CONGRESS

“A good history covers not only what was done, but the thought that went into the action. You can read the history of a country through its actions.”

                                                                  Benjamin L. Hooks

 If you place a frog in a pan of hot water, it will jump out if it is able.  But if you put a frog in warm water and then gradually increase the heat, the frog will stick around for awhile.  Incremental indoctrination seems like the way to go, whether you are trying to cook a frog or brainwash a society.

“The American History and Civics Education Act of 2003” would have created 12 federal academies to teach “new” civics and history to top students nationwide.  Thankfully, it was bottled up in the House Education Committee. 

Now comes “The American History and Civics Education Act of 2004”.  The new bill has the same sponsors and same name and is the same bill as its namesake and predecessor.  However, it does differentiate from the previous bill, H.R. 1078, in that all of the details of the new bill have been conveniently omitted.  This bill is being scurried to the house floor in a rapid time frame so there can be no committee hearings or committee vote.  The bill could be introduced as a non-controversial bill, meaning that no amendments would be allowed.

Let’s take our top students, test them to see if they are crazy, drug them, teach them false history, and unleash them on the country.  We can create a whole new Nazi Youth Program, but far superior, in that our program is one of democracy and freedom.  The frogs in this scenario will likely be programmed to stay in the water long after it begins to boil.

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