A Popular Song From That Week

Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet” by Henry Mancini

Some Events of the Week¹

• June 22

• • The Cuyahoga River at Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire after an oil slick floating on the river ignited. Factories along the Cuyahoga had regularly dumped their waste products into the waters for decades. Before it was extinguished, the floating blaze burned two wooden railroad trestles and warped the tracks, with an estimated repair cost of $50,000. Cleveland Mayor Carl B. Stokes, citing that the city of Cleveland had no legal jurisdiction over the river, called upon the state of Ohio to take action against the licenses of industries that polluted the river.
  • Actress and singer Judy Garland was found dead of a drug overdose in her London home on Cadogan Lane.
• June 23 – Warren E. Burger was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the United States. Retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren administered the oath of office to his successor.
• June 24 – After white voters in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) voted to make their nation a republic, the last ties with the United Kingdom were severed as the British Governor, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, tendered his resignation.
• June 26 – A former NASA official told reporters in Houston that lunar module pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin had been originally been scheduled to become the first man to set foot on the Moon during the upcoming Apollo 11 mission, but that mission commander Neil Armstrong was “not unaware” of the importance of being first and that Armstrong decided to supersede Aldrin. “It shouldn’t be that he pulled rank,” said Paul Haney, the former public affairs officer for the Manned Spacecraft Center, “but I think he was not unaware of the importance of the first man who stepped onto the moon and he looked at it very carefully and decided that perhaps it should be the commander’s prerogative.” Haney added that the decision for Armstrong to be first had been made in mid-April, “Precisely why the change, I don’t know, but I do know that it caused quite an upset.”
• June 27 – Criminal penalties against homosexuality and against abortion were eliminated in Canada, subject to certain conditions, as royal assent was given to the C-150 bill that had passed the House of Commons on May 14 and the Canadian Senate on June 13.
• June 28 – The Stonewall riots, a milestone in the modern gay rights movement in the United States, began in New York City when an angry crowd of bystanders began throwing bottles, rocks and even a parking meter at NYPD patrolmen who were carrying out a routine raid on the Stonewall Inn², a gay hangout at 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan. At 1:28 in the morning, seven policemen came in to the Stonewall Inn, locked the doors, arrested the employees, and began lining up the patrons to transport them to a detention center and then releasing them, the usual practice for roundups. As one author would note later, “On that night, though, the customers did not slink off into the darkeness. On that night, they stayed, gathering outside the Stonewall Inn. These raids— and the horrible treatment of gay people— had to stop.”  The trigger, on one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, was when the police were forcing their way through the angry crowd to put one of the last customers into a police van (accounts differ as to whether it was a lesbian who resisted arrest  or a transvestite man who was violently shoved into the van.

1. “June 1969.” Wikipedia. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1969.
2. Image credit: Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. “Stonewall Inn” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 29, 2019. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-57e3-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

If I hadn’t been paying attention to the road, I could have been in a head-on collision yesterday.

I guess I wasn’t totally clear on what happened when I sent this text message to Karen shortly after it happened.

What I meant was “Stupid @#%$&@! van coming from the opposite direction moved into my lane – right in front of me – to make a left turn!”

I didn’t see who was driving the van.  I don’t know if it was a man or a woman, old or young.  All I know is that it was a big white van from a local concern and I would have hit it if I hadn’t come to a complete stop.  It had moved into my lane to make a left turn like they thought it was a turning lane.

Below is a satellite image of the road where this near mishap occurred.  The yellow arrow indicates my direction of travel to the east, the red that of the van to the west.  Unlike a couple of the main roads, this one doesn’t have a center turning lane for most of its length through town, though there is one for a few blocks 2/3 of a mile to the east.

Most of the time, traffic in America is pretty safe. Road signs and markings are very standardized, and, except for speed limits, most people comply with roadway expectations.

Every now and again, though, someone has a mental hiccup and does something they wouldn’t normally do.  For instance, several times over the years, I’ve stopped, looked both ways at an intersection, and almost proceeded while the traffic light was still red.  In each of these instance, stop signs had been replaced with traffic signals, sometimes decades earlier.

An hour or so after yesterday’s near miss, just to the west on this same road, a compact car started to change lanes into the side of my truck.  When I laid on my horn, the lady swerved quickly away.

Two close calls on the same day – and on the same road.

Image information: The image at the top of the page is an composite of two other images, intended for illustration only.  The out-of-focus road is the same road where the described incident occurred.

Being back in school is one of the most common dreams among adults of all ages.

In dream surveys, being in school often ranks in the top five categories subjects’ dreams, even among adults out of school for decades.

For one informal survey that included 128 people, respondents said they had dreams of high school (73%), college (34%), elementary school (12%), middle school (7%) (with a total of more than 100% if added because some had recurring dreams in more than one setting). 98.4% of respondents viewed their school dream experiences as somewhat unpleasant or very unpleasant, with some feeling their dreams went beyond anxiety to a panic level.¹

There are all sorts of articles online about the meanings of dreams like these from psychological meanings to mystical meanings.  Perhaps the dreams highlight unresolved childhood or young adult insecurities. Maybe there are lingering feelings of guilt, inferiority, or worries that misdeeds may be found out.  Some dream superstitions say that to dream of teaching at school is a sign of good fortune while dreaming of being a student may foretell setbacks in business or work, especially if you dream of forgetting your lessons.²

The meaning of dreams has been puzzled over for centuries.  Ancient Egyptians thought that dreams were either communications from the gods or prophecies of the future. Dream interpretation as a psychological field of study was scientifically established with Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, which laid the foundation for many of his theories of the unconscious mind.  Many experts now disagree with Freud’s conclusions and others believe that dreams don’t signify anything at all.³

Dreams are the stories our unconscious mind creates while we sleep. It’s thought that everyone dreams, though some people say they never remember having had any dreams.  While dreams sometimes seem fantastical or illogical, they usually involve elements from waking life – involuntary clips, images, feelings, and memories that occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) period of sleep.⁴

My school dreams have occurred occasionally for years with variations usually on two specific themes:

• trying to get registered as a new student in the high school I graduated from in real life, or
• failing to attend the same difficult college class, usually math of some sort, over and over, knowing that it’s happened before.

Unlike school dreams for many, mine never has any anxiety or panic.

Both themes have foundations, I suppose, on aspects of my school years.

In 1965, we moved crosstown in North Platte, Nebraska, and I had to switch to a different junior high school. Then, going into high school two years later, I had to enroll in a much larger school in the middle of Houston, Texas.  I only attended there one semester, moving to a smaller school just outside Houston.  I really didn’t want to change schools, but my mom and step-dad promised that, after that move, I wouldn’t have to.  We lived in 4 different rundown places between January 1968 and my graduation in May 1970, all of them in the same school district – and I didn’t have to change schools.

When I enrolled as a freshman at the University of Houston, I was driving a new-to-me used car that I had just purchased with my meager savings.  Before classes even started, though, I totaled it on the way home from work when I hit a horse that was tied up on a too long rope that allowed it to go into the middle of the road.

I was able to make it to classes my first semester by catching a ride with another student from my area.  Transportation home was by city bus and the closest stop was several miles from home.  I was too introverted to try hitchhiking, so usually walked the entire distance.  In the second semester, transportation was more difficult and, after a few weeks, I just stopped going.  I didn’t understand I had to officially drop my classes and ended up on academic suspension.

Years later, I went back to school in part to finish what I had failed to complete.  As a non-traditional student, I received an Associates Degree and a Bachelor of Science degree.

None of my school dreams are related to either of those

1. They Dream of School, and None of the Dreams Are Good – Peter Gray Ph. D., June 29, 2019, Psychology Today (accessed June 23, 2019)
2. What Does a Dream about Going Back to School Mean? – Craig-Hamilton-Parker, October 21, 2019, Dream Meanings, Dreamsleep.net (accessed June 23, 2019)
3. Dreaming – Psychology Today (accessed June 23, 2019)
4. ibid.

I’ve sat next to the ship’s commanding officer at a black-jack table while at 400 feet below the surface of the ocean — and, yes, we were gambling for money.

The original version of this post – Poker – was written at the end of 2005, in the middle of the poker boom.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played poker — and several of its variations. I’m just not attracted to like many others are.

Poker remains popular for many, though far less so than than it was during the poker boom¹ from 2003 through 2006. It’s not like it’s something new.

I was playing poker over four decades ago — and quit when it put my young family in financial difficulty.

It was in the 1970s — cold war period — and I was on a missile submarine in the North Atlantic. It was a three month patrol, 90 days without any way for the individual sailor to communicate with anyone not on the ship. We could receive five family grams during the patrol — 20 word limit each and censored to ensure there was nothing upsetting.

There wasn’t a lot of entertainment available to us for distraction. Video games, DVDs and VCRs weren’t around then. We had movies after the evening meal, but if you were on watch or asleep you didn’t get that. Most guys brought some books and there was a tiny library with a few more.

A lot of the time, for many, was filled with games, mostly card games like pinochle, spades, hearts, and cribbage. Some guys played backgammon.  Then, too, there was the weekly poker game and — in the middle of patrol — casino night. I’m not sure what the legality of it was, but as an enlisted man, I’ve sat next to the ship’s commanding officer at a black-jack table while at 400 feet below the surface of the ocean — and, yes, we were gambling for money. A percentage went to the “welfare and rec. committee.” Funds from it, I suppose, were available to help guys and their families who might, at times, be struggling to make ends meet. The only benefit I saw personally from it was the ship’s party held each year one of the times when we were the crew off of the ship. (The missile subs had two crews — the blue crew and the gold crew. I was on the blue crew.) As I recall it, there was only one casino night each patrol, and I always came out ahead from it.

The weekly poker night, though, is what brought me down. It wasn’t high stakes, but over a period of several weeks, one could lose quite a bit of money. A percentage of the proceeds from it also went to the “welfare and rec.” fund. Since most of the guys didn’t have much money with them, the winnings and the losses were kept track of in a notebook. I never really did terribly bad, but I seldom came out a winner — and, for a time, I couldn’t stay away from the game. When what I owed got to somewhere over $200, I stopped. It wasn’t more than we would be able to handle. However, I still had to tell my wife that we were going to have to get by with less money for a while and that I had lost it by playing poker.

I never played poker, other than for fun, not cash, after that. I really enjoyed playing the game, by I also recognized in myself that it was something that I could enjoy too much, that I could easily get very engaged in it and lose a lot more than I lost on that submarine when there wasn’t a drop of alcohol to be had anywhere. I hate to think how much I would have lost if American ships allowed liquor on board.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against gambling. I’ve gambled on occasion, never cards, just slot machines and the lottery,² but I don’t let my enjoyment of it overwhelm me, like I know it could. I keep in mind that I’m not going to win big and that I will likely take home less money than I came with, but I won’t lose more money than I planned.

1. The poker boom was a period between 2003 and 2006, during which poker, primarily no limit Texas hold ’em, but also other variations, became considerably more popular around the world. During the boom years the online poker player pool at least doubled in size every year. Wikipedia.
2. In 2008, Arkansas voters approved lottery ticket sales, with the first tickets sold in 2009. The closest store selling tickets is now just 3 miles down the road.

Image information: Cassius Marcellus Coolidge – Poker Game (1894) (accessed June 22, 2019)

Popular Song of the Week

Spinning Wheel by Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Some events of the week

• June 15 – Hee Haw, an American television show aimed at fans of country music, is aired for the first time, appearing on the CBS network at 9:00 Eastern time. Popular with viewers, and hated by TV critics, the show was described by one reviewer as “a hayseed version of Laugh-In” with “probably the worst title of any show to come along this season”
• June 16 to 18 – The South University Riot: a series of confrontations between local law enforcement and factions of a counterculture population that extended over three nights, from June 16-18, on or near the four-block South University Avenue shopping district in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• June 17 – “Oh! Calcutta!” opens in NYC. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time, because it featured extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female.
• June 20 – Troop withdrawal from Vietnam makes the cover of Time Magazine
• June 21 – Summer solstice 8:55 CDT.

In the first half of the 90s, I started out at somewhere around 280 pounds and, through a lot of walking and running,  managed to get down to 204 lbs.  I was maintaining it pretty well – until I got hooked on wallyball, a variation of volleyball that’s played in a racquetball court.  Volleyball was one sport that I really enjoyed in Phys. Ed. and, even though I was over 40, I held my own in wallyball.

Since I didn’t go out for sports when I was in school, I never had any sports injuries.  In a few short months of playing several times a week after work, I strained both rotator cuffs and a trapezius muscle and had a finger on my right hand dislocated. 

With recovery from each of those, I never did get back to a good fitness routine and then, at home in 1996, I had a lumbar disk herniate.  That put me on short term disability and bed rest.  I never had to have surgery for it, but recovery took a bit of time and by the time I was getting around fairly well, I was totally out of the fitness habit.

Now retired, I’m 67 and, like so many, have health issues that might have been prevented with regular medical checkups, exercise and weight loss.  I’ve been exercising very regularly for the last two years, but haven’t been able to lose much weight. After my last checkup with my doctor, I decided to try what has worked before – walking, and a lot of it.

Walking on the elevated track at the gym, one and a half to two hours a day, usually six days a week, I’m down about eight pounds in six weeks.  This time, too, I started at about 280 pounds. 

I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.  I’ve tried many, many times in the past with dieting and/or exercise, but I’ve never been able to have the success like I had back then.

Revised from a blog post written April 1, 2009

Two new national memorials to veterans of modern conflicts have been authorized to be built on federal land in Washington, D.C.,  one of which will be a few hundred yards west of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Combat patrols decades apart – Vietnam and Iraq

National Desert Storm and Desert Shield War Memorial

After Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait on August 2, 1991, President George H. W. Bush ordered the organization of Operation Desert Shield, which included a dramatic increase in troops and resources in the Persian Gulf.¹ The operation was to protect – shield – Saudi Arabia from Iraqi invasion and  assemble a coalition force that eventually totaled over 600,000 for the liberation of Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991 with five weeks of ferocious air and naval bombardments, clearing the the way for a ground campaign that drove the Iraqis from Iraq in 100 hours.²

The National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial Act authorizes the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association to establish a commemorative work on federal land in the District of Columbia to commemorate and honor those who, as members of the Armed Forces, served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield. The memorial will be built at the SW corner of Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street NW in Washington D.C.³

The memorial is expected to be completed in 2021.

Global War on Terrorism Memorial

The September 11, 2001 attacks killed 2,977 men, women, and children.  In response, American embarked on what became the longest, most difficult and possibly never-ending campaign: the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

Consisting of several “wars” and “operations,” and called by different names,  the subsequent military campaigns combating terrorism worldwide have resulted in nearly 7,000 additional lives lost and more than 52,000 wounded from among the more than 2.5 million Americans deployed to support these wars and operations.⁴

Establishing a memorial for the veterans of the Global War on Terror faced a significant obstacle in one requirement of  the 1986 Commemorative Works Act, which governs the development of new memorials.  The act imposes a 10 year waiting period after the official end of a conflict before a memorial in the nation’s capital can even be considered.

This would require waiting until 2021 for considering a memorial for  Operation Iraqi Freedom⁵ (Iraq War) and 2024 for Operation Enduring Freedom,⁶ which, while primarily referring to the War in Afghanistan, was the official name used by the U.S. for the Global War on Terrorism.  Operation Enduring Freedom was succeeded by Operation Freedom’s Sentinel⁷ in continuation of the Global War on Terror.⁸

The Global War on Terror has developed into a multi-generational conflict that could last for decades – or longer.⁹  Establishing a memorial for veterans of a fight with an almost unlimited geographical reach and no obvious endpoint¹⁰ would require a waiver of the mandatory 10-year wait.¹¹

A multiyear memorial campaign led to a bill waiving the 10-year wait.  President Trump signed the bill into law on August 18, 2017, authorizing the construction of a national memorial honoring those who fought and died in the Global War on Terror – and those doing so now and in the future. Expected to be completed in 2024, the project must go through a detailed process that includes fund-raising, site selection, design and construction.¹²

The bill had been introduced in the House on February 6, passed in the House on July 28 and the Senate August 3.¹³

Back in 2004

I think the first time I ever considered the possibility of some future memorial to the warriors fighting in Iraq and/or Afghanistan was about three years after the September 11 attacks.  The conflicts were in the news daily and, with the presidential election campaign in full swing, were in politics as well, along with election year controversies over the Vietnam era service of both candidates.

The following 2004 blog post captures some of my thoughts from almost 15 years ago – thoughts on that time, on the Vietnam war, and on whether a memorial would be needed to bring home the terrible reality of a war that already was being questioned.

An Iraq Conflict Memorial?

September 21, 2004 – The news today has many parallels to a war that was fought when I was young: The daily toll of lives taken, the rehashing of the war records of two candidates,¹⁴ the images on the television.

To be sure, Iraq is not Vietnam.

It’s not the same for our soldiers. Today they have the support of the public.

It’s not the same for me.

In 1967, I was a sophomore in high school, a somewhat introverted kid from Nebraska transplanted to the steamy heat of Houston, Texas. I was moving from a comfortable lower middle class life into poverty as a 15 year old. Vietnam was a far distant place and not a true reality for me.

I graduated in 1970, still in the Houston area, from the same high school I had been in for two and a half years, even though we had moved five times. Still poor; I drew a high lottery number. Vietnam was still unreal and far away, something in the papers every day and on the evening news. It was just a part of life.

I joined the Navy and got married. Our first daughter was born at Travis Air Force Base early in 1972. At that time, POWs were returning home, many of them for treatment in the same hospital my wife and baby daughter were in. But it was time for us to move on to our next duty station. Vietnam was a closer reality, but I was in the Navy, not likely to have to go there, and, besides, it was just part of life.

Time passed and so did the Vietnam conflict. It never was a war, they said. Just a conflict. It never was close to me.

I don’t remember when I first saw the memorial.

What I do remember is how striking it was. It fascinated me. It stunned me. It was emotionally painful. It brought tears to my eyes.

With all of the names on the wall and the little mementos left by family, friends, and comrades, the wall brought home to me some of the horrible reality and waste. The loss of all those young lives; the impact on families; the sons, husbands, and fathers who were lost; the terrible toll that it took on our country.

Iraq is not the same as Vietnam… and it’s surely not for me.

Iraq is far away, but it is very, very real to me. It’s not just because my son-in-law is in the service and could be sent there. It’s the wall. It brought the reality of that long ago conflict and helps, for me, with the reality of today.

I fully endorsed the attack on Iraq. I thought it was a just cause. I was wrong. My belief is that it’s taken us off track in the war on terror. We’ve lost ground because of it and it’ll take much, much longer to get past it. I don’t know that it will ever be won. I expect it will eventually just fade away.

Vietnam was just a part of life for me. The wall, with its simple stark beauty, showed me some of the terrible reality of a war we didn’t fight to win.

I just hope a memorial to the fallen in Iraq is not needed to teach anyone else that lesson for this conflict.

______

Blog post update:  January 1, 2007 – Around the time that I wrote this, I got back in touch, for the first time since 1971, with a friend from high school. She said she had wondered about me over the years and that, on a trip to D.C., she had searched for my name on that wall.

1. Bush orders Operation Desert Shield – This Day in History|August 7, History(.com), (accessed June 17, 2019)
2. National Memorial to Gulf War Veterans Moves Forward with Site Dedication – Richard Sisk, February 26, 2019, Military.com (accessed June 17, 2019)
3. National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial – The National Desert Storm Memorial Association (accessed June 17, 2019)
4. A National Global War on Terrorism Memorial – Dorian de Wind,  September 11, 2017, HuffPost (accessed June 18, 2019)
5. Iraq War – Wikipedia (accessed June 18, 2019)
6. Operation Enduring Freedom – Wikipedia (accessed June 18, 2019)
7. Operation Freedom’s Sentinel – Wikipedia (accessed June 18, 2019)
8. War on Terror – Wikipedia (accessed June 18, 2019)
9. Legislative History – Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation (accessed June 18, 2019)
10. The Time Has Come for a Global War on Terrorism Memorial – Paul J. Springer, September 10, 2018, Foreign Policy Research Institute (accessed June 18, 2019)
11. Advocates start work on what — and where — the Global War on Terror Memorial will be – Leo Shane III, September 24, 2018, MilitaryTimes (accessed June 16, 2019)
12. Trump signs off on Global War on Terror Memorial – Dianna Cahn, August 21, 2017, Stars and Stripes (accessed June 18, 2019)
13. H.R.873 – Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act – Congress.gov (accessed June 18, 2019)
14. George Bush and John Kerry

While all’s not rosy, all’s not lost for Social Security beneficiaries long term.

The most pervasive rumor and myth about Social Security is that it is going to disappear, if not for you, then for your children.  The good news is that its imminent demise is greatly exaggerated.

Social Security’s trust funds are forecast to be depleted by 2033 to 2037.¹ After that, continuing social security taxes are expected to be enough to pay 75 to 80% of “promised” benefits, unless needed changes are made before then.

With the slow-as-molasses progress of anything in Congress, now is the time that our Representatives and Senators should be working to shore up Social Security and implement long-term solutions.

2035 is only  16 years away, after all.

Putting that into perspective, that’s just 4 presidential election cycles.

Surely that’s enough time for changes to be made in Social Security to prevent adverse impacts to aging beneficiaries – the sooner the better to ensure that any changes have time to improve the health and viability of the trust funds.

Americans are living longer and having fewer children, resulting in an aging population. Today, as workers of lower-birth-rate generations replace those of the retiring baby-boom generation, 16% of Americans are 65 or older.  By 2040, this is projected to increase to 20%.²

This places additional strains on the system.

As the trust funds approach depletion, the rising percentage of older more-likely-to-vote constituents  should  increase the political pressure for making realistic changes to the system.

“In the 2016 presidential election…, 71 percent of Americans over 65 voted, compared with 46 percent among 18- to 29-year-olds, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.”³ Antagonizing older American voters dependent on Social Security is not politically smart.

Some suggested changes include:⁴

• Reducing benefits
• Raising the ceiling on income subject to Social Security tax ($132,900 in 2019)
• Raising the Social Security tax rate (currently 12.4%, split evenly between employee and employer, unless you’re self-employed)
• Reducing the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that help the value of Social Security keep pace with inflation
• Raising the full retirement age

Most beneficiaries will be opposed to reducing benefits or COLAs.  The other potential changes would be more palatable for those already receiving benefits and, by delaying implementation, for those soon to sign up.

One idea I haven’t seen is raising the age at which one can start receiving early retirement. For those born after 1960, full retirement age is 67, while early retirement age is 5 years earlier at age 62.  If the full retirement age is slowly raised for people born after, say, 1969, raising the early retirement age to maintain the 5 year difference between full and early retirement would seem to make sense.

For the near term, there’s no need to worry.

But further out?  Washington needs to do its job for its seniors!

1. The 2018 OASDI Trustees Report says 2034.  OASDI is the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program is the official name for Social Security in the United States. (accessed June 16, 2019)
2. Coping with the Demographic Challenge: Fewer Children and Living Longer – Social Security, Office of Policy (accessed June 16, 2019)
3. The Immense Power of the Older Voter – AARP, April 30, 2018 (accessed June 16, 2019)
4. 4 Social Security Myths That Need to Die – The Motley Fool, June 15, 2019 (accessed June 16, 2019)

Originally posted October 20, 2004

Give me a break!

I hear now the board that’s used in a classroom can’t be called a black board or a white board. From what I understand, it’s derogatory to blacks or to whites if you use that kind of descriptive words – it’s either chalk board or marker board.

I guess it’s a good thing that there’s not anyone that might be traumatized by the use of the words chalk or marker.

I don’t know what you would call the boards then.

And I guess we’re supposed to call flip charts something other than that because flip is a word that is offensive to Filipinos.

Granted, it’s not right to use a word in a derogatory manner like that when using it to refer to an ethnic group.

However, when did black become a derogatory term for blacks and white become a derogatory term for whites?

What am I supposed to call a back flip or flipping a burger (or the finger)?

Sometimes some peoples’ ideas of what is politically correct are just so retarded! ¹

Oh! sorry!

I meant, so MR!

What’s MR?

I understand it’s the politically correct term for mentally retarded.

I guess it’s politically okay to use an abbreviation in this case because they, the MR, can’t spell.

Give me a break!

Our society is carrying politically correctness to ridiculous extremes. Yes, we need to be sensitive to what is hurtful to others.

However, sometimes the folks that think these things up need a reality check.

1. Around the 1960s, “retard” and “retarded” began to be commonly used in place of “moron”, “idiot”, “cretin,” and “imbecile,” – terms that were perceived to be offensive. Since then, the terms “handicapped” (United States) and “disabled” (United Kingdom) have replaced “retard” and “retarded.” The term “mental retardation,” written in many of the United States’ laws and documents, with the approval of Rosa’s Law, will be phased out with “intellectual disability” replacing it. – Wikipedia (accessed June 15, 2019)

Publication history:

• October 20, 2004 – original publication on North Farnham Freeholder
• February 26, 2011 – Recovered from my abandoned North Farnham Freeholder blog at the Internet Archive WayBackMachine and saved to original publication date on Exit78
• June 15, 2019 – Updated and republished