The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Response" button to add your entry to the forum.

David Mitchell

Seems like a good day for a bus ride. Have fun kids. Say "Hi" to Thomas and Henry for the rest of us.

Michael McLeod

Is this real or am I in a Stephen King story?

I keep asking "do we really need guns that spit out 600 tumbling, internal organ-exploding bullets per second to be widely available?"  

And people keep saying, never mind that. Here's my talking point.

John Maxwell

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Jack--Sure wish I could join you.  Hope all of you have a wonderful time.  How about the Grand Canyon next time?

David Mitchell

I can't believe I had the wrong month (again). And I was so excited to post that "bus" video.

Memory shot to hell !

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mike to respond to your talking point....the debate can continue about adding more regulations on the buying/selling of semi-automatic weapons, however the physical reality of that many rounds per minute is disputed. While the politifact article is regarding a statement made that a person can fire about 700 rounds/minute using an automatic style weapon, the fact is that a semi-automatic can only be fired as rapidly as the shooter can pull the trigger and then have to reload once the magazine is spent.  This would seem to question the truth of a person actually being physically able to shoot a semi-automatic weapon at 600 rounds per minute. 

 https://www.pholitifact.com/florida/statements/2016/jun/14/alan-grayson/orlando-democrat-alan-grayson-700-rounds-minute/ 

https://www.quora.com/How-many-rounds-does-a-semi-automatic-rifle-fire-per-minute

Additionally, an opinion piece in the NYT yesterday expressed frustration over another reality regarding the ban on miltary style semi-automatic rifles.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/opinion/ar15-assault-weapon-ban.html 

I personally believe that the real crisis in America revolves around our acceptance of abortion. As St. Mother Teresa said,  "The acceptance of abortion is not teaching people to love, but to use violence to get what they want".  If we could begin with that premise, we might have a chance to change the hearts that seek to commit the murders of other innocent human beings. For it is in one's heart that either love or evil takes root.

https://www.catholic.org/clife/teresa/address.php

David Mitchell

I woke up this morning to the news about Jeffrey Epstein's suicide. I have been following that story and all it's disgusting details very closely I thought I would make a comment about that and how disapointing it is not to see him come to trial. But I will just leave it at these comments;

The problem of sex trafficking is a horrifying one, adn again I urge you to visit the website of "Exodus Cry". It is an organization devoted to exposing the (world-wide) problem, educating the public, and helping women (and men) escape the "slavery" of sex traffickers, pimps, and brothels. Another charitable cause worth giving a few dollars or your suppoort. And their Blog is full of unbleiveable stories from across the globe that will absolutely shock you. The overall awareness of the seriousnes of this problem is frightfully low.

There will no doubt be more to come on this Epstein story as the court documents had just been released (a suspected reason for the timing of his suicide). One detail - (in addition to his island in the Carribean - known as "pedophile island" by the locals) is his ranch in New Mexico where he invited many world-renouned scientists to hear his plan to "seed" a new generation of intelligent beings by impregnating intelligent women of the scientific and academic community, is so utterly disgsuting as to defy the imagination. And dozens of famous scientists had actually bought into the idea. Many of them are sudenly back peddaling from their connection to Epstein. 

(one last point - I am dumbfounded that there seems to have been no suicde watch on this man, especailly after he was found last week, crying on the floor of his cell, with serious marks on his neck - ?????)

----------------------

But today brings a new chapter in the debate about guns, and I am simply flabbergasted at some of your remarks,  Mary Margaret. 

To begin with, I will agree with your belief that there is evil in the world, and I myself believe there is a thread of connection between most evils. When we were children we called evil deeds that archaic word - sin. But nobody is allowed to use that term anymore, without being called an old fashioned religeous fanatic or a fool.

I choose to be one of those fools! And I choose to believe there is a "higher power" to guide us toward a more peaceful world. And I choose to beleive that that same "higher power" expects us to use the brains He gave us.

I think I made my position on abortion clear. But I don't think in my lifetime we will see any kind of compromise bill against it. So I choose to promote ideas like "VIRA NOVA" and it's  "Mother Theresa-like" answer to the problem.   (see my post above)

BUT, AS FOR ASSAULT RIFLES, I not only think you are not only waaaaaay off base, but you don''t even appear to be listening to the points of our disccussion !!!!

I did in fact know that 700 rounds per minute (or 600, or 850) was "fully automatic". And I was vaguely aware of the rate of "semi-automatic" - somehwere beween 150 add 190 rounds per minute (if you are really fast with your finger - and thank God "The Donald" signed a bill outlawing "bump stocks"). But there is still a huge difference in single shot (or "double action") firing mechanisms, and semi-automatic. 

And it is not just the rate of fire, but the general overal attraction to use these weapons by young exciteable males, who grow fascinated with the idea of a "military style" gun to "go into battle". 

*Many of us (incuding your brother, RIP, Kevin Cull, Al Judy, myself, and others) throughout history, were excited to "go to battle".  In many young American Indian tribes the younger "braves" were been excited to "go to battle". Its been a fact of nature. But it must be channeled. And I don't think the lonely lifestyles, with no spiritual guidance - nor the video games help the problem any.

But to restate: THERE IS NO REASON FOR ANYONE OUTSIDE OF LAW ENFOREMENT OR THE MILITARY TO POSSESS ONE OF THESE GUNS!

And no one's rights are violated without them - NO ONE'S. 

* Even a growing portion of the NRA members are in disagreement with it's (totally corrupt) leadership's position on this. I could spend a whole chapter on Wayne LaPierre's history as a congenital liar.  

I am never going to get a perfect compromise bill on abortion, and we are never going to erase the entire problem with guns, or mental health, or better discipline in schools, or happier healthier children, or working single moms (some of the unsung heroes of our socciety) . But we can try and take small steps. Failure to try is capitulation. 

I am NOT being and Elitest and I am NOT saying take away all their guns. I am saying there is a rational, reasonable, practical step to take this one part of the problem out of the equation. 

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

David Mitchell

Jim,

Your comments on the hollywood film "The Hunt" are well taken. The previews are so shocking and disgusting that it is astounding that anyone (of ANY political persausion) could make, sponsor, or support such a perverted piece of violence. 

I just read where it's release has been cancelled - thank God!

With all that "talent" in Hollywood, you'd think someone could make a few more good films - Historical, Literate, Romantic, Funny, even somewhat Clean. But those seem to be the exception to the rule.

Again, Mark and I strongly recommend  "YESTERDAY".

James Hamilton, M. D.

O. K., now for some news about love. Soon, in the southeastern part of Colorado near the Comanche National Grasslands, the annual migration of males searching for females will begin. Yes, the mating season of  Aphonopelma hentzi is about to commence. These male Oklahoma Brown Tarantulas will risk their lives crossing the highways near La Junta in search of their soul mates. Some will die "where the rubber meets the road" (remember that jingle from the tire commercial?) but many will survive to propagate the species. Alas, those successful males who avoid becoming roadkill will be destined to perish during the winter after their approximately ten year existence.

Thus is life and death on the plains...

Jim 

David Barbour

Jim

I recall something like that on Carmel Valley road, Monterey county, Ca.  There was a migration of toads

across the valley road to the river, I think, didn't get any interviews.  Must have been several thousand

killed, searching for love.  The fresh ones were a little slippery.  Love is very important, isn't it?

DB

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Two great inspirational stories for your enjoyment.  The second link is to the IndyStar - you will have to scroll down to find the story about Notre Dame WR, Chris Finke.  Chris was just elected one of ND's 2019's captains getting over 70% of the votes.  He is the son of my sister's best friend, Suzy Bernard Finke, who graduated with her from IC and Watterson. 

https://www.facebook.com/dailygoalcast/videos/2298162530433024/UzpfSTE2MDExMzAxNTQ6Vks6MjM5NzcxNjYwNzE1MTgxNA/?multi_permalinks=2397716607151814&notif_id=1565537446059321&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/notre-dame/2019/08/09/notre-dame-football-wr-chris-finke-keeps-converting-his-doubters/1920649001/   

David Mitchell

An Irish Salute to two Irish lasses celebrating yet another one of those darn "anniversaries".

Two blue-eyed Irish Mary's (Mary Ann and Mary Clare) deserve a duet from two Irish gentelmen.

(never thought I'd see these two, doing this together)  

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Great, Dave!

David Mitchell

Mary Margaret,

I wish to make a full and unconditional apology to you for my remarks on post #5924. Especailly the final line.

I am frustrated by my country's inability to reach consensus - even some small partial consensus - on this national epidemic. We continue to dither and delay, and get nothing done - absolutely nothing.

Shame on us! 

I am sorry I took my frustration out on you Mary Margaret. 

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Thanks for the birthday dedication, Dave. One of my favorite Irish tunes. 

Clare

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Hey, Jeanine. I think the Grand Canyon is a great idea. When’s a good time to plan for? You know, one when you won’t be traveling the world?  We could get some of the west-of-the-Mississippi crowd to participate and you can be our tour guide!!!  

Clare

Mark Schweickart

Maks Viktor Antiquarian Books

July 29 at 1:03 AM ·

 

 

 

 

 

Just thought I would lighten the mood.

 

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Clare--If we just go to the south rim from Phoenix, then October through April would be ideal.  The north rim can get really cold and if you are coming to Phoenix you don't want to be here in the summer (114 degrees tomorrow).  

There are other things to see in AZ--the red rock country in Sedona, the desert in bloom, the reservations, Indian ruins, etc.  But AZ is a huge state (four Ohio's would fit in it) so we'd have to decide what kind of tour people would like.  We could take a week or just go to the canyon for a day.  I'm game to plan anything.

David Mitchell

And don't forget, the view is much more spectacular from the "South Rim" - where most of the tourists hotels and several famous historic lodges are. Don't waste your time going to the North Rim. The sun's direction, the shadows, and the difference in vegitation from one side to the other makes the view from the "North Rim" much less exciting. Two completely different appearances - one (south rim) spectaclar, the other, (north rim) meh!

In the summer of 1961, I got to go to a  wonderful camp ("The Cottonwood Gulch Foundation") and travelled by trucks all over the "Four Corners" country. We got to hike through the Canyon from South Rim to North - among other highlights  Our group was 12 and 13 years old - about 18 of us. Took us about 30 hours, including sleeping in our bags on the Canyon floor - where one of the guys found a scorpion inside his bag when we got up that next morning!  I got to see the biggest damn rattle snake I have ever seen down in that completely differenct eco-system that exists at the bottom.

There used to be a small "dude ranch" at the bottom. Most people never see it - the steep walk down is harder on your legs than the walk back up and it's about a 10 or 12 hour hike - by way of the "Kaibab" or the "Bright Angel" trails. The "switchbacks" of the trails go on, and on, and on forever. You can ride donkeys part way or all the way down. It's no faster, and it bothers some people who cannot take being up on their backs while pacing slowly next to drop-offs that are thousands of feet down. 

(My uncle, my older cousin, my son and one daughter, and a nephew also spent summers of this same "Prairee Trek" - so did Kurt Vonnegut and a couple if U.S. Senators. It was and still is an incredible experience) 

(Yes, you can all say it - I was a spoiled, prividedged kid.)

Brice Canyon and Zion Canyon, Monument Valley (where they've shot about 100 Westerns) and Canyon de Chelly ("de Shay") are really more beautiful, but harder to reach, and don't have the great accomodations. I like to think that after God created Monument Valley, He sat back and said to Himself, "Wow, I'm good!".

(If you enter Monment Valley (Utah) from the south (Arizona), be sure and find the Navajo Tribe owned Burger King and see all the historic plaques dedicated to the famous WWII "Navajo Code Talkers". I seem to recall it's in Kayenta, a small Navajo town as you drive into the Valley.)

The "4 corners" area, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado are magical places! 

(sorry Jeanine and Clare - you got me started on one of the favorite memories of my whole life)

Michael McLeod

Hey Dave:

I once got a great assignment to go to Monument Valley along with a bunch of film school students who went there to talk to the locals who tell stories of a time when the great director John Ford descended on the area to film all those great westerns, the greatest one being The Searchers.

And as part of my research I ran across a quote from Ford's biggest star, John Wayne.

Somebody once asked John Wayne: "Why do you come here to film all your movies?"

And Wayne famously replied:

"Because this is where God put the west." 

Another thing I discovered - one of those totally weird and useless things that you pick up when you are a journalist:

There is an iconic formation in Monument Valley that you've probably heard of that they call the mittens -- two buttes that look like giant hands next to each other.

Well, if you ever watch Stagecoach, the old black and white movie with John Wayne and Andy Devine and John Carradine, the stagecoach starts a journey somewhere with the mittens in the background. And if you look closely, when it gets to its destination - there the mittens are again, having magically followed them, apparently. So much for realism.

Speaking of which: As a local story goes, Ford asked the navajos who were hired as extras -- their main function was to ride around and get shot by the good guys --  to mutter things in their own language to add realism to the movie. Apparently many of the things that the navahos jokingly proceeded to say to each other in their native tongue were not particularly complimentary to Ford and company.

David Barbour

Jeanine

Please count me in for anything in wintery Arizona.

DB

James Hamilton, M. D.

I am more of a mountain person than a desert person but I know that the deserts of the Southwest harbor some of the most beautiful places in the country. Despite the harsh environment and the extreme temperatures that occur in these locations a unique ecology of flora and fauna have developed and thrived.

If you have been following this Forum you will realize I am also sort of a critter guy. Dave M.'s mention of snakes and scorpions once again revived my thoughts on these animals. For many years I lectured on venomous animals such as snakes, scorpions, spiders, lizards (Gila Monsters) and some poisonings humans can get from eating certain fish and seafood (especially during algal blooms, red tides). I suspect that Jeanine and Lance and others who live in Arizona have encountered the first four on that list in their yards. As scary as these animals seem they do play a role in the environment.

The only scorpion in this country that is potentially very dangerous to humans is the Arizona Bark Scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus. It is small, about 3", and is often difficult to spot. It's sting is usually more like a bee sting but can make a person sick for a few days and can rarely be fatal to the very young (infants) and the very old (us?). Like with rattlesnakes, curious dogs - who sniff everything - often get hit on their snouts by these critters.

Rattlesnakes come in many varieties and sizes and are fully venomous from birth or hatching. Various species are present in most of these United States and Arizona has more than it's share. I believe that Arizona State University has one of the largest supply of venomous animal antivenin in the country and is the place to contact for hospitals across the nation when certain animal bites occur. This includes some bites that happen to zoo personnel and exotic animal "collectors".

The only venomous lizard in the USA is the Gila Monster. It has a very nasty bite and venom which, unlike snakes, scorpions and spiders, is not injected but rather chewed into the victim from it's saliva, mostly when the animal turns itself upside down as it gnaws on that victim.

Spiders are everywhere and the Black Widow and Brown Recluse are the ones with which most people are familiar in the United States.  Really, ALL spiders are venomous but most are not a significant danger to humans, even those tarantulas that I mentioned in a previous post.

Anyway, Jeanine, let me know what critters you have found around - or in - your home over your years in Arizona!

Jim

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Well, Jim, we had a Gila monster on a tree in our back yard (at a former house) that sunbathed for a few days and then left.  A bull snake (four feet long) crawled into the back of our dryer and died when I turned the dryer on.  Lance couldn't figure out what was wrong with the dryer when it wouldn't work and, of course, I didn't know (I ranked in the 4th percentile in mechanics on the Kuder preference test at WHS).  He almost had a heart attack when he took the back of the dryer off and found our visitor wrapped around the impeller (sp?).

One morning I went outside to get the newspaper from the driveway and, standing next to the paper, was a rather large wolf.  We lived across from South Mountain then.  He looked at me and I looked at him.  I told him I would read the paper when he was done and I went back into the house--quickly.

Many people find scorpions in their homes but we've never found any.  When the citrus is ripe, the roof rats come to feast.  They are small and we have no citrus on our property.  Coyotes are around, but they are all over the country.  We have no big cats in the city.

We've been here forty years and it never gets dull.

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

David--You are welcome any time.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Thanks, Jeanine, I figured you had to have encountered some wildlife down there in Phoenix. Critters do make life interesting! If you or Lance ever get a photo of a Gila Monster, please post it; I'd like one for my collection. 

Jim