Saturday, September 30, 2006
ACADEMIC ACNE There has been a random proliferation of strange educational facilities of late. If the seeming trend is allowed continue schools will, before too long, outnumber students. Colleges and universities of every level, type, description and financial standings from superbly erect to sub-supine are being created to meet needs of any breather of the thin air we share. It is painfully obvious that they are not and never have been educational institutions. The vast majority of them are blatant false fronts for money-grabbing schemes with eager students and equally gullible parents as victims. One has to wonder how our duly elected officials can allow existing to live and see new ones being created almost daily. You don't need a special degree of any sort to know that which I am herein making reference. If you read, even slightly, any printed materials newspapers, magazines, or if you seek entertainment and edification by way television, radio or Internet you know, from personal experience, exactly the type of "school" we are allow to pollute our lives, our livelihood as they we pay and over-pay them to destroy our basic cultural values. We don't need any new laws to combat such evil! Not one! We do need to alert our present, duly-elected official to enforce existing laws. Beyond that the single most important step in the whole process of clearing the air so we can get at the crime being done. Encourage your political representative to fight such evil and it is most important that we support him when he does so!o. Far too often a political concept is a background for this sort of dishonesty in business. To cheat in then educational area is bad; to do so in the medical even worse but cheating should not be permitted in any occupational field.'' The illicit "schools" are growing in number. They are causing hurt in many areas. Your local college probable needs funds to undertake worthy project they have planned for years. Even a small portion of the million of dollars spend annually on fake schooled at every level, would be most welcome in the average college budget. To start with: to what extent is a "publication" responsible when a subscriber is financially harmed because of neglect to properly evaluate their client's background? This is not too remote from the concept of an employer hiring a non-citizen when he knows their proffered Social Security number is a fake. We need to oppose these "college degrees for everyone" scams. Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-30-06 [c-434wds]
Friday, September 29, 2006
MOD MEDI was privileged to have yet another "Cat Scan" examination at one of our local hospitals this week and I was, as always, impressed with the fine way they have of staying touch with improvements. The specific x-ray unit into which injected this time was a neat, tan colored unit unit designed so was injected was a new, modern unit, gently molded of what appeared to be a soft, rather malable plastic rather than cold, hard metal. It appeared to be newer than the one used the last last time I was a guest of that particular area of the hospital . It was designed, I'm sure, with the intent of soothing and assuring the not-always-too-eager-to-be-there patients that it is that it is a friendly apparatus and not like a metallic Dracula monster seeking new blood.- which even make other patients to become apprehensive of seemingly possible electrocution with tightening encasements encircling one's body made of wheels, twisted red, yellow and green wires, vacuum tubes from old-fashioned, junked radio apparatus. Yes, one remembered the older models as being rather graphic in whatever they were doing at their convenience - looking at un-lookable areas, palpitating places, feeling curiously along the edges of previously unfelt specific point glaringly illuminated by sheets and spikes of flashing light and warm, glowing, white-hot filaments beating in vacuum tubes. The trade name of the unit loomed in large letters above and to the right of the recumbent passenger but several have been vibrated loose and lost over the years rendering the unpronounceable name tragically invisible as well. Angry, trey metal shapes glare back at viewer where each letter used to be. There are many memories associated with visits to the Cat Scan area of your local hospital. The fact that attractive, young ladies are still in charge is a positive thing for me. They are, generally friendly and a bit more talkative, too. They are, I think, among few people who can make anyone believe that the curved slab of stainless-steel which serves as a "bed" on the Cat Scan platform can be made "comfortable" - even for just the fifteen minutes nuts or so the procedure usually takes. My particular young lady this time told me she would be given me verbal instructions from time-to-time during the test. I was somewhat taken aback, when within a minute of the routine the - the big wheel spinning over, beside, under and all-around, a male voice with a marked English accent - one I remembered touched my hearing aids gently. He , of course, was taped from the old machine and issued his urgings only when he was prompted to do so by the young lady at the Control Room touching the button on Control Room board. His is a voice to which one responds easily. For that quarter hour, I responded as to an old friend of many years. I, at his request. "commenced" to breath, "returned to regular breathing"; take a deep breath... Hold!"..."Breath." I'll hear the results of the tests in a few days. My health problem is that my right arm has started swelling recently and won't stop. It is rather disquieting for me. Devilish inconvenient, too...don-cha-know! With my arm swollen in that manner,I simply can't enjoy wearing my Rollexes, or would that be "Rollex-i" if it were true? Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-29-06 [c581wds]
Thursday, September 28, 2006
HOW MANY CAPS? How many capital cities can one state have? I about that point recently when I read that the State of Georgia has had five. That could be a record, I suppose. The first one, you might guess, was Savannah. It was June 9, 1732 when King George II signed the charter which entrusted James Oglethrope and a group of trustees to start a new British colony special "motive" of the new charter was to benefit "the worthy poor".It was to be named "Georgia" honoring the doner. The King , and many others , thought a buffer state next to neighboring Spanish Florida would strengthen the existing colonies to the north; expand trade for "The Crown" and work toward additional navigational advancements. Oglethorpe was aware of the fact that a treaty had been made with the native tribes if the area saying no new colonies would be started below Carolina. Even though the King had granted him the territory, Oglethorpe wanted to get the permission of the area Indian tribes, as well. Oglethorpe landed at Yamacraw Bluff nine months later. He found only one group of Indians about a hundred Yamacraw's under Chief Timochichi about fifty miles from the landing site. The Chief greeted Oglethorpe with kindness and was pleased with the prospect of new settlers. The name Mary Musgrave, occurs during this era. She was a daughter of an Indian woman and a white trader and was hired as Oglethorpe his translator. He brought in one hundred and twenty settlers. Complete stories of each of the states' capitals would fill a book, so we have to hurry along. In 1751,Oglethorpe left Georgia for the last time and the trustees relinquished the King's charter. This automatically made Georgia a British colony. By the start of the American Revolution Georgia had a population of 35,000 and 2,500 of them called Savannah home. When the British captured Savannah, the capital was moved, first, to Head's Fort in Wilkes County then to Augusta and back to Savannah in 1782. From 1783-1785 the General Assembly rotated between Savannah and Augusta. It unsettledness . The third Capital was at Louisville. It was named after King Louis XIV in appreciation of French aid during the revolution. The first permanent capital building was completed there in 1796. The infamous Yazoo Land legislation was rescinded in that red-brick, two story capital building of which nothing remains today. In 1804 the legislature moved the state capital to a more central location at Lawrenceville, on the banks of the river Oconee. It remained the capital city for sixty-one years. The legislature next gathered there for one session after the Civil Warn and then moved to its present address in Atlanta where it seems to have settled in quite well. Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-28-06 [c473wds]
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
A TROUBLED TRAIL The native American tribesmen called the common web of paths by which they travel north and south along the eastern edge of the North American Continent - the Iroquois Trail. They did so because the northerly tribe dominated much of the area.. The route was bit inland from the Atlantic Ocean because that enabled them to avoid the rigors of traveling through swamp land areas such as “The Great Dismal” on the Virginia-Carolina border. It afforded them more ready access to wild game – much more plentiful and varied - on which they depended to sustain life along the way. Then, too, they made use of a natural highway of sort provided by the gentle contours of the Shenandoah Valley through of Virginia. The Iroquois tribes of the north were, in the early days, the strongest and made many trips southward in winter- especially in the Fall of each year to trade – the trail was generally considered to be “theirs.” Only later, in historical times, did the Cherokee from the Scioto River area of Ohio, pose any real threat to the Iroquois' supposed ownership. What we say about any highway system, of course, to a large extent what we are asked. It become rather plain right away that the qualities of comfort and ease are not paramount in our thinking. Such trails were, to put it mildly, universally poor in and we are unlikely to called “roads” - certainly not “highways” or “turnpikes. They were simply trails in a primitive sense. The Valley of Virginia, often depicted as a paradise strip between two long ranges of mountains – those toward the east curiously blue in color much of the time. Tribal differences among many Indian families of North American Indian seemed to have a special knack for hating each other, reflected, it then appears,in clan and family disagreements among others. No one tribe seemed confident to take the Valley, for instance, as their own and hold it.. They were not as numerous as we find in Hollywood's versions. They were unorganized wanders, in some cases. They lacked political sense, it is said - which I, sometimes, think may have been a special blessing in many ways. Shawnee, Mingo, Cherokee, Catawba, and and others can be identified along the edges of the trail connecting north to south. The major cross road for the Iroquois Trail came east-west from a few mile from Richmond, Va. to the Beverley's Mill area in Augusta. It was called “Three Chopt Road” and a fragment of it is still known by that name in Richmond, Va. It crossed the Blue Ridge through Wood's Gap - “headin' for Kentuk”.It was so-called because it 's meanderings were identified by three ax chop on trees along the way. At one time it had another name - “Rouge's Road” because of the frequency of trail-way-men in ambush. In 1722 Governor Spotswood of Virginia and Governor Burnett of New York set forth a treaty with the northern tribes which forbade them the use of any trials east of the Blue Ridge. In effect they were told: “You've got your own road – use it” They were required to stay with it down to Bent Mountain or Fancy Gap when they could cross the Blue Ridge to trade with the Ocaneechee Tribes in the Carolina. Isn't it odd that we are still having troubles with the use and mis-use of that same Valley trail now called “Interstate 81” in A.D.2006? What could we expect? Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-27-06 [c-595wds]
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
WORD THINGS What do you think the two words: “kayak” and “racecar” have in common? The differences are plain enough. One is a water craft and the other a motorized vehicle designed for running in speed contests. They have different purposes. In what way are they alike? We have been told they are the only words in the English language which can be spelled correctly starting at either end. I rather doubt that statement. Our English language is far to fluid, flexible, fattening always on bits of linguistic nourishment from other tongues to allow oddities to exist very long. We absorb technical and “inside” terms: “Abba” - a certain pop-music groups, for example. Another one which has probably been negated by this time is the one which says that the word “typewriter” is the longest word in the language which can be made using the letters of one only of keys on the standard the query keyboard. Maybe you can think of one that will outstretch “typewriter.” The longest word in our expansive language is said to be one which has one thousand nine-hundred and nine letters. I don't know who has ever actually spelled it, how often it may have been used but it is reported to have been subjected to actual use. It's a mysterious term which might someday be used to describe a distinct portion of DNA, but don't plan to just sit around just sit around waiting for someone else to do something about it. Get busy. People who make a living working with words says that the shortest sentence we can say is: “I am.” The jury seems to be way, far out on this one. Much depends on what a person calls a sentence, I suppose or what dialect as persons favors. I have heard the words “No!” and “Yes!” used as complete literary works each in itself! Slanguage makes them “Uh-un” and “Yup!”; body language makes them a nod or a head-shake, a finger-circle tossed into the air or a coy wink of one eye. Geography provides some interesting spelling problems. The big one which just about everyone on planet Earth. All of the continents start and end with identical letters. I had another word I wanted to mention, but I can't seem to remember what it was. That means I am a person who suffers from a strange illness called “lethologica.” Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-26-06 [c-415wds]
Monday, September 25, 2006
VEEP STATS We, in a general way, pay very little attention to the men we select to become Vice-President of our nation. The choice comes about largely because we grant the newly nominated individual for the office President to "choose" the man or woman he thinks might serve him well in the office of Vice-President. It becomes decision, then, to name someone he feels will work closely with his own plans and ideals; someone who is capable of backing him up as Presiding officer of the Senate. The ones named ought to exemplify the leadership qualities which will make him or her a likely candidate for a future presidential race. The choice made will, no doubt, be heavily weighted with demographic considerations to gain support of certain groups of “special concern.” The choice of a person who can - and will - work closely with the new president becomes less assured the more career-centered stalwarts of the president's own political party are consulted, it seems. I, like most Americans, I fear, am woefully ignorant of which Vice President served with whom and when. I keep a typed list of thirty-two of them...Aaron Burr (Jefferson) to Richard B. Chaney (George W. Bush). The proper placement of names such as Colfax, Morton, Fairbanks, King, Tompkins, Sherman and others may give me trout if I am called upon to pair them up with their presidential cohorts. I always know one such Pres-Veep team, but for the wrong reason, I suppose. Garret A. Hobart was President William McKinley's Vice-President. I know that paring well, not because of anything either of those two fine men ever did for our nation, but because in our family possessions we happen to have a four-inch, cast-iron representation of a handsome housefly. It shows it was, at one time, covered with a heavy coat of gilt paint which identifies it as an election souvenir – the wings fold out – an ash tray. The heavy letters cast into the the metal and gold covering made it “The Gold Bug” of the 1907 McKinley-Hobart election. Now, all I seem to need to become proficient concerning which “Veep” served what “Prexy” is a score or so of election souvenirs. The ways we find to ignore our Vice-Presidents are marks against us in somebody's Little Black Book. Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-5-06 [c-404wds]
Sunday, September 24, 2006
OUT THERE! I find I rather difficult to believe that it has been thirty years since we watched the spacecraft "Voyager I " being launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was a "twin" mission, too, but "Voyager II" was not sent on it's tour until a month later, in August of that same year of 1977. Such ventures into space were rare in those days and it shows us how far we have progressed in the business of space spaced exploration. We retained some negative reservations in the back of our minds concerning possible faults at take-off time. That's when it was a good feeling to know we had "back-up"craft ready to go with and modifications and corrections to assure good flight When "Voyager II " did go it went on its own. They were the same size and type in most details. The wide bell-like it extended in space measures about twelve feet across and the longest, trailing antennae line is fifty-seven feet in length .They seem to have been downright "tiny" when compared to just the cargo our present-day shuttle craft deliver to the International. As I recall both Voyage I and II had the same memory capacity as did my own desktop computer at that time - 74K. Those men women who have had the job of guiding the crafts from earth stations were forced to remove portions of the craft's memory in order to have room t insert orders, directives and change; after which they would restore the memory needed. I am sure that was a minor thing these scores of people had to do over these thirty years or so. We should honor them highly as we "gloat" a bit over the obvious success of both mission units. Both missions, studied from their infancy, can lead you to your destiny. These craft were placed in an orbit which swung them from one planet to another at greater rates of speed. Look for such a special path in our educational planning. We call our solar system into an area know as the sheathing. It will be there for a while because the heliosheath is three or four billion (that's"b", mind you!) miles from Earth, until it reaches the very edge which remains unknown. It need not remain so. Space talk fascinates me. One of the most amazing things about it all is the fact that somewhere about us there are young men and women who will solve all the mysteries of space which puzzle us today in this year called 2006. Voyager I is to be out there in the heliosheath for another ten years or so before it arrives at heliopause. Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-24-06 [c-462wds]
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