Dumb Teaser

   Fox Cable
news network kept using a story about dogs as a tease to keep people tuned
 through the commercial.  "In our next segment we'll look at a report in 
Science Magazine" that questions whether your dog really loves you or is
 genetically programmed to appear that way."  It seemed so silly that I 
looked up the story in Science Magazine on the internet.  It turns out that
 the actual research had nothing to do with the "tease."  It was about how wild
 wolves evolved into dogs.

   The tease line is interesting, because we often have this false question
 of duality in philosophy.  For example, "Do we have free will or are we
 genetically programmed to act the way we do." or "Is a criminal responsible
 for his actions, or is he genetically programmed to behave that way."  The
 logical error boils down to stating the question using what is termed the "exclusive
 OR" as opposed to "AND/OR".  In other words, both propositions can be true.
   Here are some other "tease lines" in the same catagory.  Stay tuned to 
find out:
"Is your stomach pain real or do you just have an irritated lining?"
 
"Do you really see that painting you love, or is your retina just sending
 impulses to your cortex?"
  
"Do we really have a philosophy club or just a bunch of people who like to 
exercise their intellects?"  Interpreting "or" as "and/or" rather than
"exclusive or" solves these difficulties.   Arf. Arf.

Which do you think has more value to us as a nation? A growth industry that saves lives, uses high tech equipment made in the USA or another growth industry that is degenerative to human lives and uses high tech equipment manufactured in China? Perhaps that's stated a bit strongly, but how else can I make my point? We get all up tight when health care grows and takes a bigger share of the gross national product. We run out and buy stock when we find out that electronic entertainment or video games are selling off the shelves at Xmas. Why do we go nuts and look for "solutions to the problem" when health care spending goes up, and glow with stock market happiness when entertainment expenses go up? Why do we see health care growth as a negative and brain numbing games as a positive. I think we need to push the reset button on our thinking. If video games were provided by the government from our taxes the same way that liberals propose to provide health care, maybe we'd have a federal death panel in charge of video games usage.

Which Industry should grow?

Which do you think has more value to us as a nation? A growth industry that saves lives, uses high tech equipment made in the USA or another growth industry that is degenerative to human lives and uses high tech equipment manufactured in China? Perhaps that's stated a bit strongly, but how else can I make my point? We get all up tight when health care grows and takes a bigger share of the gross national product. We run out and buy stock when we find out that electronic entertainment or video games are selling off the shelves at Xmas. Why do we go nuts and look for "solutions to the problem" when health care spending goes up, and glow with stock market happiness when entertainment expenses go up? Why do we see health care growth as a negative and brain numbing games as a positive. I think we need to push the reset button on our thinking. If video games were provided by the government from our taxes the same way that liberals propose to provide health care, maybe we'd have a federal death panel in charge of video games usage.

Verstunkener Reporters

Are reporters just dumb? Many a time we've seen a reporter shove a microphone in someone's face and ask "How do you feel?" while the blood of a loved one is still oozing over the sidewalk at a crime scene or their house is four feet under water. Don't you wish the person would smack the reporter across the face? The other unnerving thing that reporters do is ask questions from a predetermined list. The guest has just said that he or she thinks that a massive earthquake will destroy the city of San Francisco tomorrow morning at 8 AM and the reporter asks where the earthquake will occur. I've yet to see a guest say, "Haven't you been paying attention?" Don't you wish someone would?

Ferstunkener Wind

I was about to ridicule a friend on his blog http://tvpclub.blogspot.com/ for his crazy ideas concerning Gaia, the Earth goddess. But first I had a chore to do. I needed to repair some ripped screening caused by my dog attacking a squirrel. Out I went with my trusty aerosol can of contact cement. As soon as I masked the area off and got on my rubber gloves, the wind whipped up. Ferstunkener wind! Then I realized that the wind blows anytime I want to do spraying!
Aha! Absolute scientific proof that Gaia exists and doesn't like aerosols.

Stinky or verstunkener "Hone"

I hate it when people on TV say they "honed in on" something or another when they "homed in on" something. One can "hone" or "sharpen" one's skills or "hone" or "sharpen" a blade. Homing in is what a guided missile does on a target.

fershtunkener plumbers

I have the urge to shout "stupid plumbers!!!" Actually they're pretty smart. They arrange things so they'll always have work to do. Every time I do a repair to my fairly new house it's the same story. After fixing the faucet or toilet or whatever, I stand back with pride to see how it functions and then I hear the drip, drip, drip of the shutoff valve. I know these valves are not made to take constant turning on and off, but how about ONE on-off cycle. Tomorrow, I'll make another trip to the hardware supply store and buy a new shutoff valve. Crawling under the sink to replace the valve with a new one will be a worse task than the original job. I pray that the fittings won't leak, because that's the next weak point in an unending chain of misery.