Friday, November 8, 2013

Rorschach Readings

Today's Google thing was Rorschach ink blots.  

They changed over the course of the day and I caught three of them.  

In the first one I saw two mothers leaning over baby strollers.  

The second one was two dragons breathing fire.

The third one was, get this, the guard house onto Dunnottar.  

I kid you not.  

I looked at it and looked at it and just couldn't see anything but that.  

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Aaron Got Me Thinking Again ... Back to 1787 ...

In 1787 the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America were NOT a bunch of old guys.  

These guys had four months to come up with a solution to the problems of a nation that was broke, losing status overseas right and left, plagued by self-serving officials, and whose people had lost all faith.  

Four months.  Fifty-five people, of whom only a handful were even in their sixties.  Starting from scratch.  Debating, arguing, compromising on lesser points but NEVER on the principles.  

And getting it right.

1787 was 226 years ago from this year of 2013.  

Not only have we not been able to improve on their efforts, it's beginning to seem as though we've all forgotten that those guys knew what they were talking about.

They gave us an experiment, something never tried before in the history of mankind.  

They didn't just come up with it out of the blue sky, you know.  

Most of them had been doing their homework for years, and I'm not just talking about old Ben here.  

They pooled what they all knew, put it all together, and gifted us with a form of government which, when properly administrated, is the best system ever.  

They didn't just know their history, either.  They knew people.  

If you do YOUR homework you'll find out that they figured certain situations would come up, and included provisions for dealing with them.  Those answers are right there in the Constitution of the United States, if you care to look.  

Anyway, those 55 guys took FOUR MONTHS and came up with a document that turned their troubled fledgling nation right around.

Yes they had Ben, who was 81 at the time, but the rest of them?  

Well.

Fourteen of them (14) were over the age of fifty.  Twenty-three (23) were in their forties.  Fourteen (14) were in their thirties.  Four (4) were only in their twenties.  

Here's a list with their ages:  
It's from TeachingAmericanHistory.org


Age – 50+


Hugh Williamson (NC) — (1735 – 1819) — Age: 52
Robert Morris (PA) — (1734 – 1806) — Age: 53
George Read (DE) — (1733 – 1798) — Age: 53
John Blair (VA) — (1732 – 1800) — Age: 55
John Dickinson (DE) — (1732 – 1808) — Age: 55
George Washington (VA) — (1732 – 1799) — Age: 55
Daniel Carroll (MD) — (1730 – 1796) — Age: 57
William Samuel Johnson (CT) — (1727 – 1819) — Age: 59
George Wythe (VA) — (1726 – 1806) — Age: 61
George Mason (VA) — (1725 – 1792) — Age: 62
William Livingston (NJ) — (1723 – 1790) — Age: 63
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer (MD) — (1723 – 1790) — Age: 64
Roger Sherman (CT) — (1721 – 1793) — Age: 66
Benjamin Franklin (PA) — (1706 – 1790) — Age: 81

Age – 40s


Gunning Bedford, Jr. (DE) — (1747 – 1812) — Age: 40
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (SC) — (1746 – 1825) — Age: 41
William C. Houston (NJ) — (1746 – 1788) — Age: 41
James McClurg (VA) — (1746 – 1823) — Age: 41
William Paterson (NJ) — (1745 – 1806) — Age: 41
Richard Bassett (DE) — (1745 – 1815) — Age: 42
Oliver Ellsworth (CT) — (1745 – 1807) — Age: 42
David Brearly (NJ) — (1745 – 1790) — Age: 42
Caleb Strong (MA) — (1745 – 1819) — Age: 42
Pierce Butler (SC) — (1744 – 1822) — Age: 43
William Blount (NC) — (1744 – 1800) — Age: 43
Elbridge Gerry (MA) — (1744 – 1814) — Age: 43
Thomas Mifflin (PA) — (1744 – 1800) — Age: 43
James McHenry (MD) — (1743 – 1816) — Age: 44
James Wilson (PA) — (1742 – 1798) — Age: 45
John Langdon (NH) — (1741 – 1818) — Age: 46
Thomas Fitzsimons (PA) — (1741 – 1811) — Age: 46
Alexander Martin (NC) — (1740 – 1807) — Age: 47
William L. Pierce (GA) — (1740 – 1789) — Age: 47
George Clymer (PA) — (1739 – 1813) — Age: 48
John Rutledge (SC) — (1739 – 1800) — Age: 48
Nathaniel Gorham (MA) — (1738 – 1796) — Age: 49
Robert Yates (NY) — (1738 – 1801) — Age: 49

Age – 30s


William R. Davie (NC) — (1756 – 1820) — Age: 30
Alexander Hamilton (NY) — (1757 – 1804) — Age: 30
Nicholas Gilman (NH) — (1755 – 1814) — Age: 32
William Houstoun (GA) — (1755 – 1813) — Age: 32
Rufus King (MA) — (1755 – 1827) — Age: 32
John Lansing, Jr. (NY) — (1754 – 1829) — Age: 32
Abraham Baldwin (GA) — (1754 – 1807) — Age: 33
Edmund J. Randolph (VA) — (1753 – 1813) — Age: 34
Gouverneur Morris (PA) — (1752 – 1816) — Age: 35
Jacob Broom (DE) — (1752 – 1810) — Age: 35
James Madison Jr. (VA) — (1751 – 1836) — Age: 36
Jared Ingersoll (PA) — (1749 – 1822) — Age: 37
William Few (GA) — (1748 – 1828) — Age: 39
Luther Martin (MD) — (1748 – 1826) — Age: 39

Age — 20s


Jonathon Dayton (NJ) — (1760 — 1824) — Age: 26
John F. Mercer (MD) — (1759 – 1821) — Age: 28
Richard Dobbs Spaight (NC) — (1758 – 1802) — Age: 29
Charles Pinckney (SC) — (1757 – 1824) — Age: 29
Do we have fifty-five people among us who could spend four months to fix OUR nation?  

For Pete's sake, we already HAVE THE TOOLS that they gave us.  


WITHIN EVERY CHILD

WITHIN EVERY CHILD
IS THE GROWN-UP
THEY WILL BECOME

WITHIN EVERY GROWN-UP
IS THE CHILD
THEY ONCE WERE

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

This saying is as old as ink.

Since everyone already knows it to be true, and why it's true, there's no sense in beating a dead horse here.

The pen is also more powerful than the tongue and can be used to cut that tongue right out of the mouth that speaks deceitfully.  

And that, my friend, is why the pen must be used with even greater care than either the tongue or the sword.  

A pen wielded in truth and honesty is probably the most powerful weapon of all.  

A pen wielded in deceit tends to splutter and splotch when faced with one of truth, as a weak sword will shatter when struck by one that is made strong and true.

Just sayin'.

Friday, October 18, 2013

I Ask You:

Does it make any sense to spend money you don't have to be told what you already know about, something that cannot be altered?