Friday, December 14, 2012
The Good Pirates and the Grinch
I was harvesting articles to read from the New York Times last month when I came across a couple that really threw me into the Christmas spirit — first in a negative way, with ire and bile — but then in a most enjoyable way with the spotlight on my favorite part of the season: giving.
Let's get the nastiness over with first, shall we.
In "A City Ban Changes the Christmas Scene" (11/19/2012), Ian Lovett reported that after six decades of Nativity scenes in Santa Monica’s Palisades Park, they are gone.
A series of 14 Nativity scenes had been in the park since the '50s. But in recent years, Damon "The Grinch" Vix, a local atheist, started objecting to the religious scenes’ presence on public property and put up his own signs in the park with messages like “Religions are all alike — founded upon fables and mythologies,” a quotation from Thomas Jefferson.
(Please note that John has nothing against atheists, just like he has nothing against those PETA people, as long as they mind their OWN business - and stay out of his.)
Last year, Vix kicked it up a notch and got fellow atheists to apply for a bunch of spaces in the park to set up displays — and that crowded out the Nativity scenes.
There was national attention, vandalism to the Vix displays, political pandemonium, and in June, the Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously to ban all unattended private displays from city parks.
Per the story, Vix said, “I think the ban has been a good thing for the city. Any time there is an intrusion of religion in government, that’s a bad thing.”
Well, everybody has the right to their opinion in this great country, but I believe we have a little thing known as freedom of religion, too. And I think that freedom will inspire the Nativity folk to rally back against Vix and his spirit crushers. That will be my Christmas wish.
And now, here's a good story, made even better because it's about giving, and made even better YET because it's about $1 coins and PIRATES! (I loves me pirates!)
In the November 19 story "Buried Treasure, Unburied for a Greater Good," reporter James Barron opened with: "In an adventure about buried treasure (real), pirates (made up) and clues (too complicated, it turned out), the temptation is to talk like a matey and tell the world: The cap'n says to quit yer foolish searching because the booty's not there now. The laddies who put it in the ground dug it up and gave it away."
And that is the gist of it.
It seems that back in 2009, two Brooklyn guys, Vincent Bova and Damien Eckhardt-Jacobi, hid a chest filled with 10,000 one-dollar coins (See, Joe Biden! SOMEBODY is using these coins!) and released eight videos featuring creatures playing pirates who dropped hints about where the loot was, per the story. And the best part? Finders keepers!!! (They wanted to promote their business.)
Long story short, some searchers were warm, none got hot, and then came Hurricane Sandy. Messrs. Bova and Eckhardt-Jacobi decided to dig the money up and give it to a good cause — Lava Girl Surf, a surfing school that had turned into a relief group.
And here's how Mr. Barron closed his story: "Mr. Bova described his initial call to Davina Greene of Lava Girl Surf. 'I said I want to talk about a donation, but it's kind of bizarre,' he said.
"He mentioned $10,000. She told him she was going to cry.
"Then he mentioned pirates and said, 'It's a treasure chest bursting with coins.'
'She started laughing hysterically,' Mr. Bova said."
Take THAT, Grinch Demon Vix! There is still good in this world, and it will take better than you to stop it.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
My newsprint addiction
Let history show that the price of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch increased 50% today, from $1.00 to $1.50.
Having worked for a newspaper or two in my time, I have ink in my veins, as the saying goes. I enjoy the look and feel of a newspaper. I'm comfortable that I can scan over all the news that's fit to print at my leisure, can clip and mail some of it to others, and can reuse or recycle the remainder.
I can depend on the regular existance of a newspaper to give me a report on the world as a large group of reporters, photographers, artists and editors see it - and want me to see it.
And it's not just the Post-Dispatch. When passing through other towns or states, I will pick up any and all available local newspapers and obtain the same enjoyment.
I am hooked.
I will spend the extra 50 cents per day. I will not be pleased, but I will pay it.
But I will challenge newspapers to get a bit more creative in the departments that make what I want possible: advertising and circulation.
The Internet has greatly hurt the print newspaper. Classified ("want") ads are quickly taking up less and less space - especially for vehicles. And with all the other options afforded to them, folk find it too easy to pass on a newspaper that regularly nickles and dimes them with rate increases.
Newspapers need to sell more ads, and get the paper into more people's hands so they can show the potential advertisers that their ads will be seen.
Lots of folk are out of work. I read that in the newspaper. Newspapers need to hire these folk and set them to work selling ads and subscriptions. Let them get creative - give them special deals and let them hit the streets. Plenty of folk thrive on the opportunity to sell for their money, and they will sell.
Follow the Benjamins and get more ads and more subscribers - and quit raising rates. We print junkies have to eat, too.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
May I have a definition?
If you've never been, you owe it to yourself to attend a spelling bee. It's a very underappreciated spectator event, and it really helps remind you of your place on the gray-matter ladder of evolution.
I have two spelling bee stories - one from years back, and a great one from yesterday.
Years ago when I wrote for the St. Joseph Gazette, I was covering a regional spelling be at the Ramada Inn. The contestants were all seated in chairs on a temporary stage set up in a ballroom, a temporary curtain behind them.
Pretty noticeable in the back row was a kind of big kid who just had "the look" that he wouldn't last two rounds. He was tipping back on the back legs of his chair, resting his elbows on something unseen, making faces and trying to talk with his nervous neighbors.
All of a sudden, there was a quick flash of bright light and the kid was gone!!!
Turns out he was leaning his elbows on the push bar of a fire exit door and he leaned back too far, causing him to take a tumbling exit into the parking lot. He wasn't hurt ... but he didn't win the bee.
Yesterday afternoon at the Columbia Daily Tribune Regional Spelling Bee, 53 contestants from third to eighth grade competed with words like shogun, cantata, langosta and incorruptible; the winner spelled neptunium correctly. (I think the long ones are sometimes the toughest.)
One young man stepped up to the microphone in the second round and was given the word caucus. It's a good word, in the news in this election year, and I thought if he even glanced at the Daily Tribune in preparation, he might know it.
He repeated the word, somewhat with a questioning emphasis. The announcer repeated it for him.
The boy, without asking for definition, language of origin, or any of the other time-extending options spelling bee contestants can use to buy time, began: "Caucus - c - o - c - k" (pause, again looking questionably at the announcer) "a - s - s." Caucus."
He must have thought it strange to be asked to spell a "dirty word(s)" in public, at a spelling bee, but he did his duty.
Deftly supressing a snicker, the announcer said, "I'm sorry, that's incorrect," and spelled the word correctly for the lad, who seemed eased to be removed from further pressure. Afterall, it was an unseasonable 80 and still sunny outside.
I have two spelling bee stories - one from years back, and a great one from yesterday.
Years ago when I wrote for the St. Joseph Gazette, I was covering a regional spelling be at the Ramada Inn. The contestants were all seated in chairs on a temporary stage set up in a ballroom, a temporary curtain behind them.
Pretty noticeable in the back row was a kind of big kid who just had "the look" that he wouldn't last two rounds. He was tipping back on the back legs of his chair, resting his elbows on something unseen, making faces and trying to talk with his nervous neighbors.
All of a sudden, there was a quick flash of bright light and the kid was gone!!!
Turns out he was leaning his elbows on the push bar of a fire exit door and he leaned back too far, causing him to take a tumbling exit into the parking lot. He wasn't hurt ... but he didn't win the bee.
Yesterday afternoon at the Columbia Daily Tribune Regional Spelling Bee, 53 contestants from third to eighth grade competed with words like shogun, cantata, langosta and incorruptible; the winner spelled neptunium correctly. (I think the long ones are sometimes the toughest.)
One young man stepped up to the microphone in the second round and was given the word caucus. It's a good word, in the news in this election year, and I thought if he even glanced at the Daily Tribune in preparation, he might know it.
He repeated the word, somewhat with a questioning emphasis. The announcer repeated it for him.
The boy, without asking for definition, language of origin, or any of the other time-extending options spelling bee contestants can use to buy time, began: "Caucus - c - o - c - k" (pause, again looking questionably at the announcer) "a - s - s." Caucus."
He must have thought it strange to be asked to spell a "dirty word(s)" in public, at a spelling bee, but he did his duty.
Deftly supressing a snicker, the announcer said, "I'm sorry, that's incorrect," and spelled the word correctly for the lad, who seemed eased to be removed from further pressure. Afterall, it was an unseasonable 80 and still sunny outside.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Welcome to Wal-mart --- NOT!!!
Rob Walton, Chairman of the Board
Walmart
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611
Dear Mr. Walton,
Please bring your greeters back.
I just finished reading your father's "Made in America," which gave me a greater appreciation for not only the man, but for the company, and for the Walmart store I visit almost every day.
About the same day I heard greeters would be leaving the front doors from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., I picked up "Made in America" for 50 cents at a Salvation Army thrift store. (Talk about a low price!)
Since the news broke, at my Supercenter #29, I don't think I remember seeing a greeter at all – at any time – and that disappoints me.
As Sam Walton wrote on Page 217, "… the bigger Wal-Mart gets, the more essential it is that we think small." And went on: "If we ever forget that looking a customer in the eye, greeting him or her, and asking politely if we can be of help … then we ought to go in to a different business because we'll never survive this one."
Walmart is the only place (except Waffle House) where I get greeted at the door, and I really like it. Here I am, going into this great big store, but there's always somebody there to greet me. I always reply. It makes me feel good.
I go to Walmart regularly, here, up in Columbia, or to any I find when I travel, and I always know when I cross the parking lot that I'm going to get that big greeting from the company that thinks "small."
I remember years ago when I lived in Northeast Missouri and patronized the Kirksville Walmart, I wrote the manager and suggested a fishbowl where folk could get a chance at a Walmart gift card for bringing in a shopping cart, and I'll be darned if that store didn't do it! Now, they went big, with a glass aquarium, which broke – but that didn't stop them. They went to a smaller bowl on a stool, and the greeter would give you a slip to put your name and address in for the drawing, and thanked you.
I'm still impressed with the response to my suggestion.
Anyway, I hope you consider bringing back the greeters. I always see the kids smile when they get a sticker placed on them. (Now there's just a big roll up by the entrance, but that's like having to award yourself a medal.)
Sincerely,
John
Loyal Walmart customer
PS: Go Hogs!
PSS: The book I'm reading now? Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth." On the cover is a big orange circle that reads, "Wal*mart, 2 for $1." Now that was a great idea!
Walmart
702 SW 8th Street
Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611
Dear Mr. Walton,
Please bring your greeters back.
I just finished reading your father's "Made in America," which gave me a greater appreciation for not only the man, but for the company, and for the Walmart store I visit almost every day.
About the same day I heard greeters would be leaving the front doors from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., I picked up "Made in America" for 50 cents at a Salvation Army thrift store. (Talk about a low price!)
Since the news broke, at my Supercenter #29, I don't think I remember seeing a greeter at all – at any time – and that disappoints me.
As Sam Walton wrote on Page 217, "… the bigger Wal-Mart gets, the more essential it is that we think small." And went on: "If we ever forget that looking a customer in the eye, greeting him or her, and asking politely if we can be of help … then we ought to go in to a different business because we'll never survive this one."
Walmart is the only place (except Waffle House) where I get greeted at the door, and I really like it. Here I am, going into this great big store, but there's always somebody there to greet me. I always reply. It makes me feel good.
I go to Walmart regularly, here, up in Columbia, or to any I find when I travel, and I always know when I cross the parking lot that I'm going to get that big greeting from the company that thinks "small."
I remember years ago when I lived in Northeast Missouri and patronized the Kirksville Walmart, I wrote the manager and suggested a fishbowl where folk could get a chance at a Walmart gift card for bringing in a shopping cart, and I'll be darned if that store didn't do it! Now, they went big, with a glass aquarium, which broke – but that didn't stop them. They went to a smaller bowl on a stool, and the greeter would give you a slip to put your name and address in for the drawing, and thanked you.
I'm still impressed with the response to my suggestion.
Anyway, I hope you consider bringing back the greeters. I always see the kids smile when they get a sticker placed on them. (Now there's just a big roll up by the entrance, but that's like having to award yourself a medal.)
Sincerely,
John
Loyal Walmart customer
PS: Go Hogs!
PSS: The book I'm reading now? Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth." On the cover is a big orange circle that reads, "Wal*mart, 2 for $1." Now that was a great idea!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
New Madrid Earthquake Return? Don't Bet on It!
"ST. LOUIS — Just days after the 200th anniversary of a series of massive earthquakes in southeast Missouri, residents woke up Tuesday to a rumbling reminder that they live in one of the continent's most active seismic areas.
"The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of a magnitude-4.0 earthquake at 3:58 a.m. was located near the town of East Prairie, Mo., roughly midway between St. Louis and Memphis. Several people in five states — Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee — felt the quake, along with scattered people in four others, as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, according to responses to the U.S. Geological Survey website.
"Only minor damage was reported, such as items falling from shelves, broken windows, minor cracks in walls and sidewalks, said Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist for the Geological Survey office in Golden, Colo. No injuries were reported." — Associated Press, 2/21/2012
List this Missouri resident in the "Not Concerned" column, please. After attending "It's Your Fault: A Conference Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the New Madrid Earthquakes" on February 18 at the University of Missouri, I'm confident today's "rumbling reminder" was simply an aftershock from one of the most unusual earthquakes ever recorded.
Allow me to elaborate.
First to the dais at the conference was Walter Schroeder, MU associate professor emeritus of geography, who gave some historical background on the series of massive (8 or more?) earthquake which generated out of the New Madrid area between December 1811 and February 1212.
At the time, the area was a swamp, populated by maybe 1,500 folk. The state's last wild bison were found there in 1847, and bear and elk were there as late at 1867, so there was not a lot of manmade stuff to be damaged.
The folk who did live there had already experienced the arrival of Haley's Comet in September, and the Aurora Borealis was seen a few days before the first quake, so they were primed for "a time of extraordinaries" and "a terrible visitation of Providence."
Per recorded history cited, bottoms of lakes elevated and were later planted with corn. The muddy Mississippi changed to a reddish hue and produced a great deal of foam. Sparks sprung from the earth and whole forests were found fallen flat.
Men who make it their life's business to study earthquakes — Mian Liu, MU professor of geology, and Eric Sandvol, MU assistant professor of geology — made it pretty clear to me that the earth is made up of tectonic plates, along the edges of which most earthquakes occur. New Madrid is in the middle of one of these plates, which makes it unusual.
Unusual, but not exclusive. As Professor Liu pointed out, China has also had earthquakes at locations in the middle of tectonic plates, and they have recorded history of earthquakes that go back 3,000 years. The Chinese actually appoint individuals to record the effects of earthquakes.
For example, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 is the deadliest on record, killing 830,000 people and destroying a 520-mile-wide area. The Tangshan quake of 1976 killed a quarter of a million people. And on a lesser scale as far as strength and human loss – but far closer to home and our own time – there was the November 9, 1968 quake that originated in Illinois and was felt in 23 states.
Earthquakes are a fact of life, but another earthquake happening on the New Madrid fault, where the MU professors theorize the trembling like that today may be unique aftershocks 200 years after a most unique earthquake? Well, I put my money with Professor Liu:
"If you bet an earthquake will happen in the same place, the odds of winning are zero."
"The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of a magnitude-4.0 earthquake at 3:58 a.m. was located near the town of East Prairie, Mo., roughly midway between St. Louis and Memphis. Several people in five states — Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee — felt the quake, along with scattered people in four others, as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, according to responses to the U.S. Geological Survey website.
"Only minor damage was reported, such as items falling from shelves, broken windows, minor cracks in walls and sidewalks, said Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist for the Geological Survey office in Golden, Colo. No injuries were reported." — Associated Press, 2/21/2012
List this Missouri resident in the "Not Concerned" column, please. After attending "It's Your Fault: A Conference Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the New Madrid Earthquakes" on February 18 at the University of Missouri, I'm confident today's "rumbling reminder" was simply an aftershock from one of the most unusual earthquakes ever recorded.
Allow me to elaborate.
First to the dais at the conference was Walter Schroeder, MU associate professor emeritus of geography, who gave some historical background on the series of massive (8 or more?) earthquake which generated out of the New Madrid area between December 1811 and February 1212.
At the time, the area was a swamp, populated by maybe 1,500 folk. The state's last wild bison were found there in 1847, and bear and elk were there as late at 1867, so there was not a lot of manmade stuff to be damaged.
The folk who did live there had already experienced the arrival of Haley's Comet in September, and the Aurora Borealis was seen a few days before the first quake, so they were primed for "a time of extraordinaries" and "a terrible visitation of Providence."
Per recorded history cited, bottoms of lakes elevated and were later planted with corn. The muddy Mississippi changed to a reddish hue and produced a great deal of foam. Sparks sprung from the earth and whole forests were found fallen flat.
Men who make it their life's business to study earthquakes — Mian Liu, MU professor of geology, and Eric Sandvol, MU assistant professor of geology — made it pretty clear to me that the earth is made up of tectonic plates, along the edges of which most earthquakes occur. New Madrid is in the middle of one of these plates, which makes it unusual.
Unusual, but not exclusive. As Professor Liu pointed out, China has also had earthquakes at locations in the middle of tectonic plates, and they have recorded history of earthquakes that go back 3,000 years. The Chinese actually appoint individuals to record the effects of earthquakes.
For example, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 is the deadliest on record, killing 830,000 people and destroying a 520-mile-wide area. The Tangshan quake of 1976 killed a quarter of a million people. And on a lesser scale as far as strength and human loss – but far closer to home and our own time – there was the November 9, 1968 quake that originated in Illinois and was felt in 23 states.
Earthquakes are a fact of life, but another earthquake happening on the New Madrid fault, where the MU professors theorize the trembling like that today may be unique aftershocks 200 years after a most unique earthquake? Well, I put my money with Professor Liu:
"If you bet an earthquake will happen in the same place, the odds of winning are zero."
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
You're No Gold Dollar, Joe Biden
Quoted in one of his noted ramblings regarding "government waste" and the scaling-back of production of the dollar coins, Vice-President Joe Biden is quoted as saying: "Nobody wants them."
Hello, Mr. Biden. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Nobody.
As I've blogged previously, I love the gold dollars. I'm not a collector, I'm a distributor. I use them to stimulate the economy with purchases, tips, and as gifts to kids and panhandlers.
Just because the government is afraid to offend the single company that makes the currency paper and a few vending machine folk, we have a true snafu - there is law in place that the coins be produced, but there appears to be little interest in them.
Well, it would help to 1) PROMOTE them and 2) follow Canada's lead and do away with the $1 bill.
We won't be breaking new ground here. Canada has done it. Major European countries have done it. The USA needs to do it, too.
I'm still mad at the frequent-flyer-mile addicts for queering the whole deal with their greed and bringing one of the simple joys of my life before the attention of the HOG that is government that occassionally will do a gas-passing on something they say will "save" the people money ... but I'll survive.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden, Nobody plans to vote for Anybody but you in November.
Hello, Mr. Biden. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Nobody.
As I've blogged previously, I love the gold dollars. I'm not a collector, I'm a distributor. I use them to stimulate the economy with purchases, tips, and as gifts to kids and panhandlers.
Just because the government is afraid to offend the single company that makes the currency paper and a few vending machine folk, we have a true snafu - there is law in place that the coins be produced, but there appears to be little interest in them.
Well, it would help to 1) PROMOTE them and 2) follow Canada's lead and do away with the $1 bill.
We won't be breaking new ground here. Canada has done it. Major European countries have done it. The USA needs to do it, too.
I'm still mad at the frequent-flyer-mile addicts for queering the whole deal with their greed and bringing one of the simple joys of my life before the attention of the HOG that is government that occassionally will do a gas-passing on something they say will "save" the people money ... but I'll survive.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden, Nobody plans to vote for Anybody but you in November.
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