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Pure Genius

4/7/2017

I think it's incredible that ancient Greek and Roman empires used aqueducts to move water into the city to supply public baths, latrines, fountains, and water to some private households. Aqueducts also provided water for mining operations, milling, farms, and gardens.

Think about how challenging it must have been from an engineering knowledge standpoint and the unsophisticated tools they had to use to accomplish such amazing feats. Maybe not as mind-blowing as how they built the Great Pyramids, but I'm astounded as to their brilliance.

Criticism

4/7/2017

I don't know about you but I don't feel much of a difference between someone giving me "constructive" criticism and just criticism.

Trade Deficits

4/7/2017

We could have a huge improvement in our economic outlook if we could put a dent in trade imbalances. If we were able to balance (a difficult challenge), our trade it could create seven million jobs in the U.S. That's right, seven million jobs! These are four countries who are enjoying our trade relationships way too much: 1) China $347B 2) Japan $69B 3) Germany $65B and 4) Mexico $63B.

I realize that some Liberals don't like for us to push "Made in America" or for that matter for us to act proud of being an American so we don't upset other countries, but the fact is we are being taken advantage of and I find it embarrassing that we haven't been calling these countries out. President Obama made us look weak in so many ways and for some Liberals to throw out thousands of years of history that proves you're more likely to have good outcomes when you are in a position of strength amazes me.

Syrian Bombing

4/7/2017

A lot going on politically so here are my thoughts:

1)    I think this strategic attack on Syria is a great example of differing political ideology. Democrats demonized the limited support of the United States to take in Syrian refugees but they didn't demonize President Obama for not doing anything about the Syrian peoples' reason for seeking refuge in the first place.
2)    One of the best things that happened with the bombing is that the State Department will have a tool in their negotiation box that Obama had taken away from the State Department and that is a military option. Other countries weren't concerned about Obama's response to their negative actions because economic sanctions only work if all countries abide. It is a false pretense in that politicians try to convince us they’re doing something when they’re not.
3)    Along with the strategic bombing in Syria came a hit to Liberals' narrative/lie about there being a bromance between Trump and Putin. This won't prevent some Democrats from continuing to sell the lie to their constituents who are so biased against Trump that the truth remains a distant object.
4)    Republicans invoking the "Nuclear Option" to ensure their Supreme Court pick will only serve to change the game permanently, because when Democrats have control they too won't worry about getting 60 votes. Both parties are constantly doing things for short-term gain that the other party uses against them later on. From what I can tell, constantly changing the rules has led to more divisiveness and less results. Our politicians aren't getting anything done. At this point we should ask ourselves why do we need them? We might as well set up an encrypted system to where Americans could vote on legislation.

Moe Berg

4/1/2017

Moe was a catcher who played in the major leagues for 14 years. He wasn’t a stellar player and often was a back-up but he was good enough for teams to keep around. Unlike a typical professional athlete Moe Berg had an advanced education having attended Princeton for his undergrad then graduated law school at Columbia University. He could speak several languages and was known to read up to ten newspapers a day. Fellow ball players always kidded around about him being the smartest and strangest player in the majors.

Some of our baseball teams would travel to Asia and Europe to play expedition games. Several Asian countries, including China, now have great baseball players. What no one knew except for a few people in the CIA, was that Moe wasn’t just a baseball player he was a spy for the United States. Because they were often given a variety of tours during their stay in the different countries, Moe would conduct reconnaissance taking pictures everywhere he went. He would go up on rooftops to scout out different buildings and the layout of different cities. He’d ask questions of unknowing cab drivers and tour directors to gain information for him to take back. Because his job was to get as much information as possible during every trip Moe learned 11 different languages.

Moe was great at what he did as no one knew what he was doing until well after he left the majors and his CIA operations were no longer classified. He eventually retired from baseball then eventually retired from the CIA.

Marshall Taylor

4/1/2017

Cycling was a big sport in the U.S. and around the world before the invention of cars. Marshall Taylor was one of the greatest cyclist in the U.S. and was so good that he wasn't allowed to compete in some professional races.

He competed in the World Cycling Championship in Europe and not only won but also broke the world record in the one-mile sprint. He enjoyed a lot of fanfare while there with the grandest hotels putting him up and the nicest restaurants taking care of his tabs. Then he returned to the U.S. where there was little celebration and he wasn't allowed to stay in many of the hotels nor go into many of the restaurants. Why? Marshall Taylor was African American.

Thank God we've come a long ways since then.

Old Fashioned Hospital Care

4/1/2017

Medical care around 1900 in New York City:

1) The X-Ray machine started being used in hospitals. Doctors and nurses couldn't believe their eyes when they could start seeing bone breaks beneath the skin.
2) Morphine replaced Cocaine as the preferred drug in hospitals.
3) Independent ambulance drivers would receive around $3 from a hospital for a patient who was alive and $1 for one who was dead. Dead bodies were needed for research.
4) Phones weren't widely used in the poorer communities so ambulance services would recruit people who lived there to let them know first if someone was sick. They'd pay the individuals around $.50 cents per pick-up. 5) Fights would often occur between competing ambulance services when they showed up at the same time so it was smart to have at least one person per ambulance crew who was a large brawler. If a policeman showed up the winner of the fight would typically give him $1 dollar to not file assault charges.
6) Some doctors were intrigued by the vacuum cleaner that was invented and came up with a way to use similar technology to suck blood through a tube (suction), which allowed them to see what they were doing a lot better when they performed surgery. This was a huge invention.

There's a lot more of course, but isn't it amazing how far we've come?

Time

4/1/2017

We won't have time unless we take the time because the fact is we can't make it. Time is already out there and it doesn't discriminate. It runs constantly even after we die and can no longer access it. We can let it slip through our fingers or we can take it and use it. Possibly the most important decision we make each day.

Charles Plumb

4/1/2017

I heard a true story about an Air Force pilot by the name of Charles Plumb whose plane was shot down during the Vietnam War and he safely parachuted down and was rescued. He said he was in a restaurant one time long after he retired when a man walked up to him and said hello and that he used to work for him in the military. The pilot asked him what he did and the guy said he was responsible for packing his parachute; in a kidding fashion the man said it must have worked.

The pilot was caught off guard by this because he never thought about how important these guys were before. He said he was just a cocky fighter pilot who never really paid attention to anyone but himself. His message in his speeches is "who packs your parachute?" Who do you owe respect, for what people do and mean to your life? A great message that I hope we all remember.

I'm Waiting for a Comment from Bernie

4/1/2017

I wonder why the mainstream media hasn't said anything about it being proven that Trump paid more than his fair share of taxes when compared to Biden, Clinton, Pelosi, Reid, Sanders, and Schumer? Yet another of countless examples as to their bias.

What I find most disgusting is that Bernie paid the least at 16.7%. He runs around talking about how people aren't paying their fair share of taxes when he's one of the guiltiest of them all. He's certainly paying less taxes than anyone reading this post and that's disgusting.

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Author: John Mann

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