Curmudgeons Corner
Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Friday, June 22, 2018
Thinking about how Charles Krauthammer was injured brought me to mind an incident from my childhood that might have placed my in the same situation had things gone differently. It happened a long time ago when my sister was about to be born and, partly to get me out of their hair, partly because my dad thought his oldest socially awkward, bookworm son would benefit from what Teddy Roosevelt called the “strenuous life”, I was packed off to summer camp for a couple of weeks.
It was not the sort of vacation I would have picked, not now or at 11 years old, but for the most part I enjoyed the experience. I especially liked horseback riding, something I had not done before or since.
To make a long story short, I mounted on a horse outside a barn on the campgrounds when, for some reason, it spooked and went off at a full gallop. This enough was disconcerting, but then the saddle gave way and I started to slide down the side of the horse as it was going hell bent for leather across a field. I’m not sure how I did not panic, but during that moment it occurred to me that being dragged across a field by a galloping horse or, worse, being trampled was not a good thing. So I kicked myself free from the stirrups and fell, head first, onto the field. I had seen cartoons in which characters see stars when taking a head shot and I assure you that it is a real thing.
The upshot was that I got up, dusted myself up, and raised my arms yelling that I was alright to the crowd of people who ran toward me. Thinking back I probably concussed and should have been seen by a doctor. However, the incident, while exciting, was not important enough for me to make that big a deal about it, until I learned how Dr. Krauthammer came to become paralyzed.
The then medical student and future sage dove accidentally into the shallow end of the pool and hit his head on the bottom, snapping his neck. It occurs to me that a slightly different angle, a harder surface than a grassy field, and a harder impact might have put me into a wheel chair.
There but for the grace of God doesn’t quite describe it.
It was not the sort of vacation I would have picked, not now or at 11 years old, but for the most part I enjoyed the experience. I especially liked horseback riding, something I had not done before or since.
To make a long story short, I mounted on a horse outside a barn on the campgrounds when, for some reason, it spooked and went off at a full gallop. This enough was disconcerting, but then the saddle gave way and I started to slide down the side of the horse as it was going hell bent for leather across a field. I’m not sure how I did not panic, but during that moment it occurred to me that being dragged across a field by a galloping horse or, worse, being trampled was not a good thing. So I kicked myself free from the stirrups and fell, head first, onto the field. I had seen cartoons in which characters see stars when taking a head shot and I assure you that it is a real thing.
The upshot was that I got up, dusted myself up, and raised my arms yelling that I was alright to the crowd of people who ran toward me. Thinking back I probably concussed and should have been seen by a doctor. However, the incident, while exciting, was not important enough for me to make that big a deal about it, until I learned how Dr. Krauthammer came to become paralyzed.
The then medical student and future sage dove accidentally into the shallow end of the pool and hit his head on the bottom, snapping his neck. It occurs to me that a slightly different angle, a harder surface than a grassy field, and a harder impact might have put me into a wheel chair.
There but for the grace of God doesn’t quite describe it.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Charles Krauthammer on Obama's NASA Muslim Outreach Program
The one pity about Charles Krauthammer passing now is that he will not be around to witness Americans returning to the Moon.
Charles Krauthammer is with the ages now. I like to think that he work up in that green field with the sun in his face, feeling and mobility restored for the first time in decades. A giant intellect, he is even now being greeted by the greats of history and is starting, for the first time in almost a year, a panel discussion of current events. He will be missed.
Melania Trump Plays the Role of Medieval Queen
Maybe we can have a remake of 'The Lion in Winter' for the House of Trump.
How Trump's Space Force Would Help Protect Earth from Future Asteroid Threats
I guess great minds think alike. What would the mission of the United States Space Force be?
Finally, a United States Space Force could provide the ultimate defense against a threat that could arrive from deep space that could end civilization, if not the human species. Sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth in the region of the Yucatan, ending the reign of the dinosaurs and ensuring the rise of mammals as the dominant species on Earth. A similar event would destroy the human race, putting an end in one blow to thousands of years of achievement and progress.
Movies such as Deep Impact depict desperate efforts to ward off such a killer from the heavens. If an organization is in place already that has developed and tested the tools to ward off or destroy a world-killer from the heavens, then the human species would be better prepared to avoid the fate of the dinosaurs. To paraphrase the statement made by the Roman author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, if we want to continue to live, prepare for our annihilation.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Report: A Next Generation Sequel Could Be Included in Alex Kurtzman's Expansive New Star Trek Deal
Personally, I don’t see any purpose for getting the now elderly crew of the Enterprise-D back together, except maybe as an animated show. Instead, what about “Star Trek: The Third Generation” with a new Enterprise and a new crew? If we really need Jean-Luc Picard back he can be trotted out for the pilot episode to see the new folks off as a retired admiral or something.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
From Space News: What would the mission of the United States Space Force be?
President Trump’s recent directive to the Defense Department to create a new branch of the military, a United States Space Force, was not an idle musing. Trump’s proposal derives from a growing debate inside military and political circles about how to best meet the threat posed to American space assets by potential enemies: Russia and China, to be precise.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Study: The States With The Most Psychopaths Seem To Be Blue The question arise, does the political culture of blue states cayse psychopaths or do that psychopaths cause the political culture?
Shot: Trump announces he's directing Pentagon to create 'space force' branch of military
Chaser: The case for a new branch of the military: United States Space Force
And then there is the soon to be former Senator Bill Nelson's take
"The president told a US general to create a new Space Force as 6th branch of military today, which generals tell me they don’t want. Thankfully the president can’t do it without Congress because now is NOT the time to rip the Air Force apart. Too many important missions at stake."
"If Napoleon had remained emperor of France for the six years remaining in his natural life, European civilization would have benefited inestimably. The reactionary Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia and Austria would not have been able to crush liberal constitutionalist movements in Spain, Greece, Eastern Europe and elsewhere; pressure to join France in abolishing slavery in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean would have grown; the benefits of meritocracy over feudalism would have had time to become more widely appreciated; Jews would not have been forced back into their ghettos in the Papal States and made to wear the yellow star again; encouragement of the arts and sciences would have been better understood and copied; and the plans to rebuild Paris would have been implemented, making it the most gorgeous city in the world."
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Following Allegations of Abuse, Chris Hardwick Has Been Pulled from AMC Programming and San Diego Comic-Con. This news is horrible and I hope the allegations are untrue. I rather liked "Talking Dead" and would hate to see it go away.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
In the Hill newspaper: NASA’s unnecessary $504 million lunar orbit project doesn’t help us get back to the Moon
As part of the return to the moon program, NASA is planning to build a human-tended space station in lunar orbit dubbed the Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway (LOP-G.) The lunar space station would accommodate crews of four for 60 to 90 days. According to the space agency, the LOP-G crew “will also participate in a variety of deep-space exploration and commercial activities in the vicinity of the Moon, including possible missions to the lunar surface. NASA also wants to leverage the gateway for scientific investigations near and on the Moon.
Friday, June 15, 2018
Seattle businesses rejected tax as ‘wrong approach’ to homeless crisis — now what will they do? Amazon is already working in healthcare, so what it proposes to do for affordable housing would be interesting to see.
Why football teams who sing their national anthem with passion are more likely to win or take that Colin Kaepernick
Thursday, June 14, 2018
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