Friday, 8 June 2012
Contradictions
I find it amazing that in the country that gave us so many inventions and made so many discoveries there exists a political party that despises the intellectual elites and seems hellbent on dismantling the public school system.
The GOP presidential candidates pandered to religious extremist groups which encourage teaching creationism as science and repudiate the theory of evolution. They're suspicious of science and scientists.
Ironically, they like to remind us of American exceptionalism, but not for the countless remarkable achievements over the past few centuries. No, it seems that to them, America is exceptional in the sense of shoving "democracy" down people's throats, invading and manipulating other countries.
Ignorance and vulgarity are glorified. Television is full of inane programs that show people at their worst. Political pundits spout idiocies every single day. Dumbing down is rapidly accelerating.
Where would we be without the things on the following list, all invented or discovered by Americans? The people who dedicated their lives to make our lives better are now despised as belonging to some mythical, evil elite, as if being curious and innovative were cardinals sins.
There's so much to make any American proud, yet the GOP chooses to massage the egos of people who are proud to proclaim that the only book they've ever read is the bible.
Here's a very short list of American achievements and I would like to thank and pay tribute to the truly exceptional people who made all these things part of our everyday lives.
Morse code
Combine harvester
Circuit breaker
Medical glove
Safety razor
Hearing aid
Windshield wiper (invented by a woman)
Pop-up toaster
Band-aid
Iron lung
ATM
Microwave oven
Carbon dating
Correction fluid ( a woman again)
Air bags
Heart-lung machine
WD-40
CPR
Video tape
Laser
Integrated circuit
GPS
LED
Personal computer
Computer mouse
CD/DVD
Pocket calculators
MRI
Cellphone
Heimlich manoeuvre
Barcode
Digital camera
Lunar module
Space shuttle
Wheeled luggage
Nicotine patch
Vitamins A, B, E and many others
Several life-saving antibiotics
DNA structure
Heparin
Warfarin
Polio Vaccine
And many, many other things we take for granted.
Labels:
politics
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Something to make you smile
MD sent me a nice collection of photos, some cute, some funny and a couple of moving ones. Thank you, MD.
Labels:
heartwarming,
pets,
photos
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Mission accomplished
Our ceiling fan is installed and works beautifully. Our friends Keith and Hilary arrived at 11 am, we had coffee, then Keith and Peter got on with it while the girls caught up with the latest gossip and prepared lunch. The whole thing was up by the time we sat down to eat, all that was left to be done was connecting the cables, which Keith did in five minutes.
Now we have to wait for the next heatwave...
*****
Mrsgunka sent me a nice, short joke:
An old married couple was at home watching TV.
The husband had the remote and was switching back and forth between a fishing channel and the porn channel.
The wife became more and more annoyed and finally said,
"For god's sake! Leave it on the porn channel. You already know how to fish!"
Thank you, Mrsgunka.
Now we have to wait for the next heatwave...
*****
Mrsgunka sent me a nice, short joke:
An old married couple was at home watching TV.
The husband had the remote and was switching back and forth between a fishing channel and the porn channel.
The wife became more and more annoyed and finally said,
"For god's sake! Leave it on the porn channel. You already know how to fish!"
Thank you, Mrsgunka.
Labels:
funnies
Monday, 4 June 2012
Fun and games chez nous
I'm sorry I didn't post anything interesting today. We had a plumbing emergency. All the meters are in the basement and we never go there, but today I happened to pass by the door and heard a gushing noise. When I opened the door, I was hit by a strong jet of water, so I rushed upstairs to call Peter and ring a plumber.
Peter closed the main valve and I told the neighbours what had happened. Our plumber's wife, who's in charge of fielding his calls, can only be described as a witch (we had previous experience with her when the apartment was being modernized). I explained what was going on and she promised to ring me back as soon as possible. A good hour passed without any response from her, the husband or his sidekick didn't turn up, and nobody in the building had any water.
As luck will have it, a local plumber has a warehouse where he stores his equipment just down the road from us and the plumbers had just arrived to leave their van on their way home. I quickly went to them and explained our plight. They came, had a look, talked a lot in impenetrable French, welded the pipe, asked me to test our taps (faucets) and that was it. When I asked how much I owed them, they said they would send me a bill. All within half an hour.
I rang the witch and got the answering machine, so I left a message saying thank you, but everything was ok and we wouldn't need their services after all.
How's that for an exciting day, eh? Tomorrow we're installing a ceiling fan with the help of a friend who knows what he's doing. That's very good, because we don't have a clue.
Wish us luck. Considering the fact that I managed to steam one of my assets while cooking dinner last night and the burst pipe today, I think we're going to need it!
Peter closed the main valve and I told the neighbours what had happened. Our plumber's wife, who's in charge of fielding his calls, can only be described as a witch (we had previous experience with her when the apartment was being modernized). I explained what was going on and she promised to ring me back as soon as possible. A good hour passed without any response from her, the husband or his sidekick didn't turn up, and nobody in the building had any water.
As luck will have it, a local plumber has a warehouse where he stores his equipment just down the road from us and the plumbers had just arrived to leave their van on their way home. I quickly went to them and explained our plight. They came, had a look, talked a lot in impenetrable French, welded the pipe, asked me to test our taps (faucets) and that was it. When I asked how much I owed them, they said they would send me a bill. All within half an hour.
I rang the witch and got the answering machine, so I left a message saying thank you, but everything was ok and we wouldn't need their services after all.
How's that for an exciting day, eh? Tomorrow we're installing a ceiling fan with the help of a friend who knows what he's doing. That's very good, because we don't have a clue.
Wish us luck. Considering the fact that I managed to steam one of my assets while cooking dinner last night and the burst pipe today, I think we're going to need it!
Labels:
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