Daylight Savings Time

Why do we have to wait until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to turn our clocks forward? I say we do it now! Not only would we not lose an hour's sleep, but we would gain an hour of daylight. We would get one more hour of summer! And, really, who's going to miss 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon?

What to do with a Brain

I was thinking, why isn't vacuum spelt vacwm?

Franklin Pierce (#14 on the NASCAR circuit).

According to the White House's bio site, President Pierce (1804-1869) was Prez from 1853-1857. He was a Democrat, which today would mean he was a Republican, or something like that. A veteran of the Mexican War, he became a small time New Hampshire politician. He was truly an unknown who got nominated for the presidency because he survived all the elimination rounds. He did win the election, but not by much.

Slavery was a big issue at the time, an issue that Pierce would probably have been content to ignore. Pierce, though, did work to expand the United States (as he said, for our own security). Of course, that brought up the whole question of whether those new states would be slave states or free states. This even led to the purchase of what is now pretty much southern Arizona for a southern transcontinental train route (the one that was supposed to go through Rock Ridge). Of course, if the train goes south, then that land would be settled quicker, and would more than likely be slave states. Ya gotta love Pierce for that. If you can't tell, he was pretty much a tool for the Southerners.

Unfortunately (for Pierce and Kansas) a bill was passed (thanks to the untiring work of the socially conscious Stephen Douglas) that allowed residents in new territories to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted slavery (and who better to decide what is sinful than the sinners?). When that fails (or the vote doesn't go your way), you can start shooting, which is exactly what happened in Kansas. Even though Pierce's term ended on a peaceful note, more or less, he wasn't nominated to run again. Buchanan won the Democratic nomination and the presidency, and, of course, after Buchanan was the little known president, Abraham Lincoln.

After his presidency, Pierce changed his first name to Hawkeye and went on to star on the sitcom M*A*S*H. After the show ended, following the Compromise of 1981, he put forth legislation that all Internet sites that might be used for research be required to include at least one paragraph of complete nonsense, thereby marking those students who plagiarize the Internet as the complete losers that they are. Unfortunately, Pierce's Bill was turned down in committee, mostly because Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet yet.

Just an Observation

When I was checking out the Discussion Board for the Langston Hughes’ story, I noticed that a lot of you said that it was never right to lie. And, in turn, that reminded me of the classic conundrum. It’s 1939 Holland. You are hiding Jews in the attic of your house. The Nazis come to your door and want to know if there are any Jews in your house, and, of course, there are. If you tell them, “No,” you know they’ll go away. It's guaranteed. However, you know it is always wrong to lie. What do you do?

And one more thought: Why is the intellectual discussion of religion considered taboo in our society?

Happy Groundhog's Day!

First the bad news. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so there will be six more weeks of winter. Now the good news. In six weeks it will be the 16th of March, and that’s four days before Spring actually begins. So either way, we win! Now I know there are people out there who don’t believe in the prognosticating abilities of a mere rodent. However, the way I figure it, why not? I mean, if people believe that Nostradamus is reliable, why not Punxsutawney Phil?

Book Club... Sort Of

I've decided to start a book club, more or less. You only have to do it if you want. It's not a grade.

I'll start it off by deciding the first book. Then you (those who want) all have to go out and find a copy. We'll all read it, and, say, after a couple of weeks, we'll all blog about it. Since I'm starting it, everybody would just leave comments at my site. Heck, you don't even have to waint until you're done with the book. Comment away!

Then, when all of us who have read it are through with our comments, each of us (well, maybe not me) will suggest another book. It doesn't have to be one you're already read. It doesn't have to be some great piece of literature. It can even by a graphic novel. (But no porn.) It just needs to be something you'd like to share. Then we'll all vote, more or less, and whoever "wins"... well... we'll all just move over to her or his blog for the next round.

Okay. Here's the book: The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. You can probably find a cheap copy in a used book store. It's worth owning... or so I say.

Let's say in two weeks we'll all plan on having it read. Let's say by Monday, February 9. If you finish it sooner, let us know. If you're not done yet, no worries. We'll pace ourselves.

If you want to join in just let me know. Well, I guess you don't even have to do that.

El professoro dice...

Why aren't there Spanish See-N-Say's? You know, that round thing where you pull the cord, the little arrow spins around, and wherever it stops, it tells you what that animal says?

"El boca dice, 'Moo.'"