Tuesday Tidbits...

And, it's going to be an interesting "Spring" day...
The snowfall originally predicted for yesterday has take it's own sweet time getting to the Hoosierland, so we're getting it TODAY.
We're expecting about 1/2 inch later this morning, with temps never getting past freezing...and breezes gusting to 30 MPH...sound likes MORE than a bloody "breeze" to me...sounds more like WIND (break out the kites). Might even see the sun after this passes.
Call it partly sunny or partly cloudy, depending on how YOU feel about it.
In the meantime, pour another cup of your preferred beverage and let's get this show on the road.
*** First out of the garage today, is the FACT that Hoosier homeowners are "quietly" getting those "smart-meters" (from NIPSCO) for the natural gas lines to their houses.

And this comes from (of all things) a letter to the editor of today's Journal-Gazette.
Here's the link to the letter:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140325/EDIT09/303259997/1021/EDIT
Now, I blogged about this quite some time ago (archive post - 20 May 2010), and most recently, 13 Jan this year.
Pretty sneaky of NIPSCO, isn't it?

The company that MAKES the smart-meters.

Granted the original post dealt with the ELECTRIC grid (initially), but you just had to know this would also apply (eventually) to both natural gas and water utilities. The trickle down effect of "Big Brother"...because the government "cares"...(yeah, right).

The company INSTALLING the meters.

I will be checking into the phone number given (1-855-368-2494), and see about getting on the DENIED ACCESS list (add that to the no-call list that too many telemarketers don't pay attention to) and see about the legitimacy of this crap.
*** Next up, Indiana has become the first state to dump the Common Core curriculum.
Here's the story:

Be afraid...be very afraid.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140325/LOCAL06/303259973/0/SEARCH
The state board of education will be tasked with drafting new standards that will outline what students should be learning in each grade.
There are some who believe that whatever OTHER standards are set, they will be akin to common core, and will appear to have little difference from what was done before common core, which many say was similar to common core.
Sounds like a damned if you do, damned if you don't potential scenario to me.
*** Wifey came home yesterday and told me something that I could not believe came from the mouth of a teenage student.

A PRE-Spalding model.

He maintained that basketball was invented by "some black guys in the ghetto"...
((...record-scratch...))
With ALL the technology that can provide information at the touch of a button (or screen) and THAT is the best this kid can come up with???
I'd say this boy needs to get his brain wrapped around a sports-history book, or better (and easier) yet, let's see the WIKI, Bob...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_basketball
Well, there 'ya go then...it was invented by a WHITE guy  - Canadian doctor James Naismith, back in 1891 at Springfield University (Mass.)

HE invented the game...period.

Now who could have figured THAT one out.
And, it was originally invented to condition FOOTBALL players during the winter months.
The advent of BLACK basketball didn't start until 1906 on Brooklyn, NY when the Smart Set ATHLETIC CLUB established an all-black team to play other athletic clubs.

The Smart Set Athletic Club players

There was nothing even close to an "NBA" at that time.
-- In 1910, Howard University became the FIRST college to have a varsity black team.
-- The (then all-white) National Basketball League began to integrate in 1942, with 10 black players added to rosters.
-- By 1951, the NBA had been established and was integrated.
-- Chuck Cooper - first black player drafted into the NBA.
-- Nat Clifton - first black NBA Player to sign a contract.
The rest, as they say...is history.

I don't even LIKE basketball, and I can find all this sh*t out in a heartbeat...
No excuse for being dumb these days...absolutely none-at-all.
To this misinformed student...get your primate nose into some REAL HISTORY, and use that smartphone for something PRODUCTIVE for a change.
Wise up, kid..
*** Next,  George Will was talking with Bill O'Reilly last night, and they got into this whole missing airliner media buzz, and how it's been on front pages and at the top of every news program for the past two weeks.

The word sensationalism came up a few times, and I have to say I agree with them. This HAS been the "top story" for way too long, and that's not to minimize or marginalize the families that have suffered with the loss of loved ones on that flight.
But, as George Will stated, it has become part of our "CULTURE"...there's that dreaded "C" word again.
I admit we seem to live from one bombastic event to another...and like I have said here many times...it's all about being "entertained".

It's the whole "Bread and Circuses" thing.
We've grown too accustomed to that, and shrugged off more responsible pursuits.
*** The UK  show TOP GEAR had a marvelous two-part show as the boys trekked off to Myanmar (Burma) to travel over 1200 miles to the river Kwai and build a bridge over it.

That's NOT the Kwai river.

It was some of the most beautifully scenic, AND hilariously funny 3 hours I've spent in front of the TV for some time.
That land is a real study in contrasts, especially when it comes to the SHAN province, where civil war has been the "deal of the day" for the past SIXTY YEARS. Fortunately the film crew did not encounter any of that.

They looked a LOT worse later on.

The trucks the boys got for the journey were utter rubbish, too, and as time and miles rolled by, it became all too evident.
It was remarkable to see the capital city of Burma with paved roads 18 lanes wide...and NO traffic on them, as if they were built for the future...that never did show up to this day. In some ways, it did mirror roads in SPAIN (and we know how bad THEIR economy is).
You got to see the side of a country the travel brochures never tell you about.
*** Lastly today, have you been mulling over the question I posed yesterday about CULTURE?
Well, we all should be, because it's in our face every day.
When we talk about culture, we're typically talking about a certain set of say, values, foods, music, heritage...all of that, right?

But, what should be properly defined AS culture has become so much more than the simplistic aspects I just mentioned.
And all of that becomes an aside to what is being defined as SUB-cultures, for there are a plethora of them as well now.
What we need to do, is to sift through ALL the chaff to find the wheat, as it were, and we shall be doing that in upcoming posts (where time and space permits). To do a strict multi-part series would be a huge undertaking, and at MY age, I shy away from things than mention "undertaking"...LOL
(ain't ready for that pine box yet, he said confidently)
So stick around, become enlightened, and maybe we can unravel this Gordian Knot regarding culture.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.