WILL HISTORY DISAPPEAR

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HISTORY?  Scratching your head yet as to why I am asking that question?  Well, lets look at what is going on. 
Ever since the advent of smart alec phones and other electronic media items, like I pods and I pads , and nooks and cranny's, the current crop of people spend the bulk of their time looking down.  At their hands. Well, not really at their hands, but at what is in their hands. Like the above named devises.  Or maybe they are just vices.  And they do this in most waking moments, while working, driving, walking, eating or whatever.  
And with all of this, the schools are no longer teaching cursive writing. Teaching students how to print. And with the shortcuts they use in the pods and pads and nooks and cranny's, they will soon forget how to print.  And all the old history documents? Well, they are written in cursive and will soon become as a foreign language to most and thus discarded and lost. And well, you know the saying, ( paraphrased) those who fail to read the past history and the mistakes, are bound to repeat them.  I fear for the history that will be written in the new smart alec phone language. who will really remember, in a few years, just what lol really means?  Bring back cursive teaching.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

YOU JUST HAVE TO WONDER

NAMES IN THE NEWS: Or rather the lack of names.  I read an online news paper on a regular basis, and one of the items listed almost weekly are the local police blotters.  Of all the things that are on the blotter is the number of times the officers are called and the result is that someone, or several someone's, have been drinking.
Or they are called to a bar or a club where drinking is going on and a fight broke out, often between family members. Sometimes to the extent of an injury being inflicted. Occasionally a fatal injury.
Yet, still they drink, and fight and just don't seem to understand the correlation between the two.
Yes, I agree, not all problems are the result of drugs and alcohol, but so often it is and one just has to wonder why they don't understand this and just stay away from those influences.
OH Well, THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

TICS, OR NEWS, ON THE NEWS

JUST A FEW OBSERVATIONS:  A sad situation last week when an Amtrak train derailed in the Northeast. An even more sad part to this is that the Democratic part of Congress hopped on a band wagon blaming Republicans for the accident. Their mantra;  If the Republicans hadn't cut funding this wouldn't have happened.  
Well, lets look at the real reason, as far as we know it.  The reason the train derailed was because it was doing over 100 MPH on a 50 MPH curve. Why was it going so fast? Well, that is yet to be determined, but it had nothing to do with politics. Fact: Amtrak funds are supplemented by tax payers. And it has been so for many years. Republicans have never cut that funding, as claimed by the Democrats in the wake of the recent accident.  Republicans have cut increases in funding from time to time, but not the funding that was already in place. And again, speed, not funding or tics were to blame for the accident.
Next, one has to wonder why the news media constantly harp on Republicans running for President. As in:  Do you think it was the proper thing for George Bush to go to war in Iraq? Every candidate said,  Based on the information he had at the time, yes, it was proper. But the reporters don't like that answer. They want the candidates to say it was wrong, knowing what we know now. And because the candidates won't answer in the way they want, they call it a mis step on the part of the candidate.  Yet, Hilary is never ask these type of questions, or any questions at all, for that matter, and in spite of the many things that she has done, she is touted and fawned on by the media. I just don;t understand it. Even thought she and husband Bill claim to had earned $30 million in the last 16 months, she claims to be the champion of the middle class. She has no clue.
And finally, President Obama has stated this weekend that there was a glitch in the system that allowed 2000 illegal immigrants to ignore a federal judges order and now Obama's administration is begging these individuals to tear up their work permits. Uh Huh, like that's going to happen. And like there really was a glitch. If you believe that, lets talk about that proverbial Arizona Ocean Front Property.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

THERE SHOULD BE A LAW

OR MAYBE THERE IS: But not in my favor.  In the last few months my wife and I have been to numerous Doctors appointments.  Mostly for the purpose of check ups. Not because we were ill. Just because we were old. At least that is what one Dr. told my wife. Only to refute it when she repeated it to a nurse.  One of the tests I needed was so a specialist could view my insides through a personal travel channel.  First I was put into a deep sleep and then he went on his trip. When the scenery wasn't very interesting, he changed the route and it left me kinda down in the mouth. It seems like this is actually an invasion of privacy, in the most personal way. So, I think there are laws against this. The invasion of privacy thing.  Well, there is, but before the Dr. can go on his travels, I had to sign a paper giving permission to travel on this private road. Guess that is duplicity on my part. So, why this post. No reason, I just hadn't posted for a while and couldn't think of any thing else to say at this time. Hope you don't give up on me. I will come up with something better for a future post.  AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

AND THE NEWS SAYS SO.

A PERSON JUST HAS TO WONDER. A black man commits a crime and is arrested and dies in police custody. Or a black man commits a crime and is shot while evading police, or well, you watch the news. And the news reports that the protesters are tired of black people being treated this way by law enforcement and just want justice. 
WHY DON'T THE NEWS FOCUS ON THE CRIME THAT WAS COMMITTED. And these people in Baltimore are not protesters. They are looters using an excuse to loot, burn and pillage. Every one of them should be locked up and brought to trial to answer for the crimes they committed in the name of justice.
I don't care if it is in California or Washington, Florida or Maine or any point in between. When someone commits a crime and the police respond, and the criminal gets hurt while the officers are trying to do their duty, that does not give a large portion of the people of the same nationality the right to destroy property, attack police and cause hate and discontent among the citizens.
And I just can't understand why the news media refuses to focus on the initial crime that was committed and on the crime being done in the name of justice.  If, in my uneducated opinion, cameras and reporters would focus on the crime, and condemn those committing it, maybe some, and I repeat some, would not be so quick to riot. And just maybe the leaders, in this case, of the Black community, would acknowledge that the people being hurt or killed in police custody are criminals and not pillars of the community.
Maybe, at times, the police use excessive force. And maybe they could handle things differently. But then, if they did, they would have to get rid of hind sight.
And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

SOMETHING GOING AROUND

A NEW DISEASE: Well, not really new, just a new name.  It is called, for the purposes of this post, Accelerated Gender Entitlement.  You only catch it if you happen to be suffering from Often Later Development.  It seems the Doctors of late, are using this on a number of people. It also seems that my wife and I both have this disease.  While the title of this disease has the names I have given it, it goes by the acronym of OLD AGE.  Yep, we suffer from it.  Seems a shame that we have this disease and we don't really feel that it should apply to youngsters like us.  But this is what brought it on.
My wife went to the Dr. for an unrelated problem, and he just said, you need an endoscopy. Why? Well, to check things out, because at your age you just need this test. So, off we went to a
Dr. who does these kinda tests in a neighboring city, (120 miles away) and she met with that dr. and he said, "At Your age, you need to move to a larger city where there are more Doctors and hospitals to take care of you."  Arrangements were made and we returned a few days later so he could do the actual test. Which he did.
Now, I went to my PCP for a follow up on the anemia problem he said I had, and the blood tests said that all was well.  Well, except that I seem to have anemia.  So, "Since at your age you have never had an Endoscopy, you need to have one." Why, I ask. Cause you have never had one and at your age you need to have one and see if there is something causing the problem in your stomach.  I didn't say so to him, ( he probably weighs 130 pounds soaking wet ) but the only problem with my stomach is it needs to shrink. I'm working on that. But, the appointment was made and in a few weeks off we will go to the neighboring city to let the Dr. there have a look at the inside of me.  And, like my wife, he will probably tell me I am suffering from Accelerated Gender Entitlement brought on by Often Later Development. 
Hey, we should be happy for that. Not every one gets to actually suffer from this disease.
And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE VOTE

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS: on the upcoming presidential race.  Here is my opinion. You may voice yours in the comment section if you like. 
Hillary has announced that she is running for president of the United States. The surprise would be if she did not run. She wants to be the first woman president. So, I will comment on that along with a few other things.
1. Richard Nixon deleted a few minutes of a tape recorded message and wound up having to resign the presidency.  Hilary deleted hundreds of e mail messages and it seems to be OK.  Brian Williams lied and said he had been under fire in Afghanistan, or Iraq and he is suspended from his job for 6 months and may not come back at all.  Hilary also lied and said she had been under fire in Iraq and she is running for president. It has pretty much been established that she lied about Benghazi and then when caught she said  What difference does it make.  So, would you vote for her?  I will not and I hope no one else does either.  I also know that is more than I can expect.
So, who would you vote for. A few comments and opinions. Hilary says it is time for a woman president. I say it is time for a sensible president, either male or female. Republican or Democrat. Don't vote for Hilary just because she is a woman. I don't think we need another Clinton in the white house. We have had enough of them. For the same reason I will not vote for Jeb Bush. We don't need another Bush in the white house.  And while I may vote for Marco Rubio, it would be because I feel he is the best candidate, not because I feel it is time for a Hispanic in the white house.  I think Sarah Palin would make a good President. However, I would not vote for her because I think her presidency would be so controversial that even less would get done than is getting done now. 
So when all is said and done and it comes time to vote, vote for the one that will actually work for the people and get something done. Not because they are a woman, or a Hispanic, or what ever gimmick the candidate come up with. Remember, they will never be able to keep the promises they make, even if they want to, which most don't.  And never forget all that Hilary has done and lied about.   AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK