Blog Archives

Mr. Whipple

3/22/2025

Dick Wilson (Mr. Whipple) was a very accomplished actor even though most people probably remember him just for the "Don't squeeze the Charmin," ad campaign. In all, he performed in around 80 movies and television shows including: The Untouchables (he was the sheriff), The Rifleman, The Virginian, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Gomer Pyle, McHale's Navy, Bewitched, Petticoat Junction, The Flying Nun, Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Marcus Welby M.D., The Bob Newhart Show, Maude, Fantasy Island, etc.

He and his wife, Jill, were married for 57 years all the way up until his death at the age of 91. They had three children, two daughters, and a son. Bonus trivia: Dick Wilson was a great acrobatic dancer. He had the kind of moves with the flips and stuff that dancers are using today. Who knew that Mr. Whipple could bring it like that?

Soon after Mr. Wilson died in 2007, P&G began an advertising campaign featuring old clips and paying tribute to both Dick Wilson and Mr. Whipple. The tribute indicated that the deceased actor will be "In Our Hearts Forever." The bad news for Mr. Wilson is that there's only one toilet paper in heaven and it's called: "Angel Soft." Sorry, I couldn't help myself. :)

The Early Bird

3/22/2025

My wife, Maggie, is not an early bird as she's an extreme night owl. This is her mantra: "The early bird can have the worm because they're gross and mornings are stupid anyway!" That's how she rolls!

Powerful Message

3/22/2025

“When your heart is breaking for someone who is broken, but your words can’t reach them and your love can’t save them, ask the angels to go where you cannot. To whisper into their hearts what their ears can’t hear: “We will not give up on you. Don’t give up on yourself.” – 3am thoughts

The 1950's

3/22/2025

These are the songs most played from the 1950's: 1) That's Amore - Dean Martin 2) Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra 3) Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Pressley 4) I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash 5) I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra 6) In the Mood - Glenn Miller 7) All Shook Up - Elvis Pressley 8) La Bamba - Ritchie Valens 9) You Make Me Feel So Young - Frank Sinatra and 10) Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis.

What I can't figure out is how I knew most of these songs considering I was born in 1963? Somehow mom and dad piped that music into our brains, I just don't remember it happening.

A Great Country

3/20/2025

There is a privilege out there and it is American privilege. Just the fact that someone is born here gives him or her a leg up on around 90% of those who live in other parts of the world. Someone here could make good choices in life and end up in the middle to upper income bracket, while the same good choices wouldn’t net much difference if you were born somewhere like Syria or Venezuela. Even if someone might think they aren’t blessed in this life, he or she would only need investigating conditions around the rest of the world to realize being an American is a tremendous honor.

So, with the above in mind, almost anyone who is born in the U.S., should have a good outlook on life. Why shouldn’t we? Don’t we have our basic needs? Don’t we own more “things,” than other people around the world (i.e. cars, homes, video games, smart phones, televisions, etc.)? Don’t our poor eat significantly more than poor people in other parts of the world?

There are a lot of young people who can’t stand our country, and this is so upsetting to me because they’re clueless. If someone could tell me why they've gone so far astray, please let me know. They don’t count being an American as something to be proud of which is why they have little to no respect for our founders or for the men and women who fought for us throughout our history. As far as our country is concerned, we’d be way better off getting rid of these ungracious young people and swapping them out for young immigrants who want to be here and understand our nation’s value.

Morton Salt

3/18/2025

One of my company’s clients was Morton Salt based out of Chicago; an awesome city except for winters plus you want to stay out of South Chicago due to the violence. I admit that I was focused on their salt when we first began talking about partnering up. I was surprised to learn that their company did a lot more so I thought I would provide a little insight on their company so you can be surprised too.

The company launched in 1848 and was named after the owners’ family name of Morton. It was Joy Morton and her son Sterling, who started the company. Isn’t it amazing that a woman that far back had her own company? Because of their distribution network, Morton is still the leading brand of salt. They created the Morton Salt Girl in 1914 with a famous ad slogan of: “When it rains it pours,” which is still in the Top 10 of all-time advertising slogans.

Morton has/had several operating divisions including aerospace (rocket propulsion). They have a large chemical research division as well. Speaking of aerospace, Morton was part of the investigation into what happened in the Challenger explosion. The Challenger was doomed by a failed rubber seal, called an O-Ring on the booster. They hadn’t anticipated the temperature variance (colder than planned), that day and one of the seals didn’t flex into position which left a gap for the fuel to get through. One of Morton’s employees tried with all his might to get them to scrap the launch because he was afraid of what would happen with their boosters in cold weather, but he didn’t receive support – how tragic!

The family was pretty much out of the operation when a Germany company purchased Morton for $1.7 billion dollars in 2009. Not bad for a company that started with around $10,000 ($300,000 in today’s dollars).

Immigration

3/18/2025

As you well know, some Democrats (and some Republicans), care absolutely nothing about the truth when it negatively impacts their narrative. Democrats and the mainstream media often attack our country on immigration yet:

1) We take in four times the number of immigrants than Germany which is in second place and five times as much as Britain. We are the most generous country when it comes to allowing people from other countries in.

2) The U.S. is more multi-cultural than any country in the world.

3) The U.S. ranks extremely low when it comes to U.S. citizens seeking citizenship in other countries. Meaning people don't want to leave.

4) If we weren't a great country, then why do so many people want to live here?

It just blows my mind why so many citizens are angry with our country especially young people who are ignorant to our country's history. Just how bad is it to grow up in the U.S. compared to others? These young people aren't oppressed, they are privileged to be born here which is what we hear from pretty much all the immigrants seeking citizenship.

I want representatives who believe we are a great nation and "why," we are great, so we don't lose the foundation that has successfully sustained us all these years.

Video Games

3/18/2025

Hard to believe but the original coin-operated pinball machines first went on the market in the 1930's. In 1971, Students from Stanford University came up with a video game that I really liked called: "Galaxy." Another one of my favorites is "Space Invaders," in 1978. Atari came out in 1972, with what was at the time an exciting game to play, and it was called: "Pong." Pac-Man was introduced in 1980, still one of the greatest arcade games of all time. Ms. Pac-Mann followed two years later. When gaming companies like Atari came out, it was so exciting, yet we didn't have a clue how far it would advance. Total immersion in video games will continue and it will become even more difficult to get anyone to play Monopoly. :)

The Truth About Slavery

3/18/2025

Slavery existed as far back as historians could write. The Israelites were slaves several times. Slaves were typically used to power ships for over a thousand years. Slavery basically existed anywhere where territorial disputes occurred. Blacks were slaves in Africa well before there was a slave trade. When one tribe defeated another, usually the women and children were kept as slaves and the men were usually killed. Sad as it may sound, many blacks had their lives extended because they became a commodity that African tribes could sell.

Same thing in our country when we arrived. There were numerous Indian tribes, but they were fading in number because as the larger tribes began attacking the weaker ones, their land was taken, and the women and children were placed into slavery and the men killed. On a personal note, I dislike that we rooted American Indians out of their land, but whites weren't the only race oppressing other humans over the thousands of years we've been roaming the earth. But this truth doesn't stop people from demonizing our country. Think about it, every country in the G-8 was engaged in slavery at one point or another and it wasn't always African Americans who were made slaves.

Since blacks were willing to enslave other blacks in Africa, they have no moral authority to place the sole blame of slavery on white people. They were willing to enslave fellow blacks when they arrived in the U.S., as these wealthier black Americans weren't only part of the slave trade and making money, there were also around 10,000 slaves that were owned by African Americans. Once again, even though this is the case, white people are blamed for bringing this evil into the world.

This is what we're up against. We're called names. We're said to be morally bankrupt when all the evidence shows something entirely different. I've mentioned this before but there's absolutely no evidence that African Americans are more morally conscious than whites or any other race. There's no evidence that if the roles were reversed, that blacks would've refused to enslave whites. It makes no sense that they wouldn't. They were willing to enslave people from their own race, why in the world wouldn't they be willing to put white people in chains? There's not even evidence that blacks would've fought through the court system and on the battlefield, to free white slaves. Would they have done it? No one knows for sure but based on factual data, there's nothing to say that they would've been any better than white slave owners. Think about it, we are judged by African Americans over our morality when they don't have the moral authority to do so. Shoot, Democrats and the media both make it appear that whites should be ashamed.

Slavery did exist, but white people living today, and several generations before us, had nothing to do with slavery. A very small percentage of Americans had ancestors who were slave owners. Mostly rich people with large plantations owned slaves and there weren't that many of them. If someone had a relative living back then, more than likely he or she was either a farmer or a tradesman. So not only should whites not be demonized for slavery because our families had absolutely nothing to do with it, but even if they did, we are not responsible for choices made back in history. It would be ridiculous. Thus, why for so many reasons, there should never be reparations.

Please speak up. I've stopped being worried about how I'm perceived by people who quite frankly, I don't respect. In many cases it's not about creating change because quite frankly there's not much we can do beyond the many things our country has done for the African American community such as the trillions of dollars that have been spent helping them with clothing, food, shelter, etc. Instead of seeing where we could actually improve things it has gotten to the primary goal of revenge. It's about making white people suffer like they've "supposedly," suffered even though it's not true that they have.

They don't have a clue about using separate restrooms, water fountains, schools, etc. For sixty years, they've had the benefits that blacks and whites have fought and died for with legislation like The Civil Rights Act. They aren't being oppressed like their ancestors. They act like they have and that they're justified in shaming white people, but they aren't. There is no systemic racism, and they have absolutely no proof that there is, but it doesn't stop them from pushing a false narrative with the help of Democrats and the mainstream media that they are victims of white people. They want us to pay for our sins. What sins? I'm okay with being held accountable for my behaviors but I refuse to be held accountable for others.

The bottom line is that race relations will never improve to any reasonable level, if African Americans continue to blame others for their plight. It's just common sense and logic.

If we remain quiet about allowing people to block the streets, loot and set buildings on fire, assault other people, then when will it end? How bad can things get? Fight the good fight. Don't allow other people to use false narratives just because of the color of your skin. Demand that you be judged by the content of your character and not accept the Democratic Party's attempt at demonizing our beloved country.

Please keep in mind, that what I wrote above isn't a statement about all African Americans. Millions of blacks agree that no one can fix their core problems but themselves. They don't demonize white people. In other words, there are awesome African Americans who use common sense and logic versus following a philosophy that is predicated upon no accountability for someone's own actions. It's hard to improve when we point a finger at someone else and place all the blame there versus looking inside for answers.

Funny

3/18/2025

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Author: John Mann

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