I Believe

I believe that Americans are capable, and in fact, best at solving our own life problems. We should not depend on or even want the government to resolve our problems.

I believe that the United States of America is such a great nation, not because Americans are inherently superior, but because this country was founded on principles which encourage maximum individual achievement and personal freedom.

I believe that "Bipartisan" means a larger than usual deception is being carried out.

I believe that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

I believe it is better to have a backbone than a wishbone.

I believe in the non-intrusive government defined by The Constitution of The United States.

I believe that societies founded on restraining government rather than the individual are preferable to governments that restrain the people and obstruct their efforts to achieve a better life for themselves and their families.

I believe "The Tangerine Factor" (Schrodinger's Cat), "The Benefactor Factor", "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis, and "The Opening Night Excitation" episodes of The Big Bang Theory are the best episodes of all.

I believe that I am responsible for my own actions and history. I am not responsible for anything my parents, grandparents or any other ancestor did, thought, promoted, or practiced. No human is responsible for anyone's action other than their own.

I believe that men and women are not at war and that those who foster enmity between men and women are primary enemies of society. They should be ignored or, better yet, belittled.

I believe that strong, wholesome family values are the core of a productive, prosperous, peaceful, and happy society.

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Take your kids to work day, 1996

I was the IT manager (sometimes - mangler) for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in Kansas City for seventeen years.  I made a presentation on "Take Your Kids To Work Day" in 1996.  The presentation was about the internet.  The internet was pretty new and many people had no idea what it was and very few people in the group had internet access at home.

I connected to several sites around the world and explained to the kids that we were looking at the fast lane on the information highway.  We connected to the University of Moscow Library and the kids saw copies of Russian historical documents and even Bolshevik revolution documents. We looked at an atomic bomb museum in Hiroshima, Japan and wonderful art pieces at The Louvre.  We saw castles on the Rhine and one of Adolph Hitler's death camps in Poland. Remember, it was 1996 and public access to the internet was only a few years old. 

By far, the most popular site was the Discovery

Museum in San Francisco. We looked at demonstrations about gravity, light, space and medicine.  One demonstration was the dissection of a cow eye. It was a series of videos and was very detailed. The structures, such as the lens, retina, optic nerve and muscles of the eye were removed and discussed.  Some of the kids were grossed out but most were very interested. The demonstration wound up telling the kids that their parents could purchase cow eyes from slaughter houses, biological supply houses or the Discovery Museum. One boy came up to me after the demonstration and asked a lot of questions. He was fascinated about the cow eye! 

Over the next few months several DOL employees stopped by my office and told me that their kids drove them nuts about getting the internet at home. I was pleased.  I retired in 2007. At my retirement open house a woman came up to me and related a story that still gives me shivers. She said her son was fourteen at the time of the “Bring Your Kids to Work Day” and was totally enthralled by the videos.  It was the boy that came up afterwards and asked questions.  He pestered her to buy dissection kits, microscopes and eyeballs. She said that he decided to go to medical school and specialize in ophthalmology. He is a practicing ophthalmologist in Denver, CO.

I actually inspired a young person on his life work. It doesn’t get any better!

"Assault Rifles

Question of the day? Which rifle is an "assault" weapon?

The answer is NEITHER!

The fact is both weapons are identical; same muzzle velocity, same rate of fire, use the exact same round, a 223 caliber (5.56mm). The ONLY difference is appearance. The so-called "assault" weapon has a pistol grip handle. The horror, a handle! O...and plastic fore grips! In fact, in Nam we joked about the M16 looking like it was made by Mattel!

I trained on the M14 (7.62mm NATO caliber) and carried the M16 (.223/5.56mm NATO caliber) in Vietnam. The M14 and M16 are military weapons, capable of full automatic fire. The AR-15 is NOT a military weapon and is only capable of semi auto rate of fire! The M16 has a "cyclic rate of fire" on full auto of approximately 720 rounds per minute. The AR-15 is one trigger pull for one round down range. At best, maybe 50 rounds per minute. You could not hit the broad side of a barn at 50 rounds per minute! The M14 (7.62mm) is a better weapon for longer range shooting (bigger, heavier bullet) while the M16 is lighter and easier to manage in jungle or other heavy growth situations. The military 7.62 is closely related to the standard .308 caliber hunting round BUT the .308 hunting round is actually a hotter load by nearly 10,000 psi of chamber pressure!

As to addressing the mass shooting problem in America....The decay of society and the feeling of hopelessness is the root cause of the problem. Banning guns is a poor band-aid. In fact, the problem relates more to absent fathers, divorce, violent video games, and over medicating our children than to the availability of guns.

I often say...If you take an aspirin for the brain tumor, you may feel a little better but you are STILL gonna die. Banning guns and trampling on our Constitutional right to defend ourselves will not solve the mass shooting problem.

Reestablishing self worth and hope for the future and love and respect for others is the only solution. It is also the most difficult and, sadly, the least likely to happen. There is evil in the world and it has taken root. Throwing band-aids at the problem will just make things worse.

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