TRUTHS OF NATURE (Biography)

While recovering from the effects of a collapsed lung in 1953, Robert C. Reynolds and I were with a now defunct steel company looking for magnetic iron ore among the sphagnum moss swamps known as muskeg, second-growth forests, and lakes of northern Minnesota. Until we got our “sea legs,” falls were frequent because of tripping over stones and rotten logs concealed by underbrush in the woods. Because of my poor condition resulting from the collapsed lung, the job was exhausting.

The main enemies, however, were the bite of black flies, the sting of mosquitos, and the sticky mud of the muskegs. The bite of the black flies would raise welts as broad as a dime. Every morning before we were to start our traverse, we would lather our faces, hands, and any other exposed parts with the popular mosquito repellent of the day called 6-12 which would keep these insects perhaps nine inches away because they didn’t like the smell. Because of the magnetic ore, the usual magnetic compass could not be used as it would point to the ore rather than North so we used a sun compass. One had to stand still at the sun compass to take a reading, and a cloud of mosquitos would gather ‘round generating quite a hum. We waited for perhaps a minute to let a good cloud of them develop, then quickly run about ten feet away, wheel around and zap them with a burst of DDT spray from an aerosol can which gave one a few moments of peace.

The first inevitable step into the cold, wet muck of the muskeg in the morning was always difficult, turning your dry, comfortable boot socks into a clammy, filthy mess. For each step, you had to pull your foot out of the resisting muck, perhaps knee high, making a slurping sound. It was exhausting. There were compensations, of course, such as the beauty of the lakes, the sound of the breeze through the tree tops, the wild strawberries in the spring, blueberries in the summer, and raspberries in the autumn. It was there that I learned two truths of nature. One was that if it clouded over in this land where a magnetic compass was useless, you were lost. The other was that no matter how tall or short you are, spider webs are always built mouth-high.

Reprinted from GeoTales IV, Memories from GSA members, v. 4, p. 47, 2009

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JOBS, JOBS, JOBS?

The current Democratic administration has been severely criticized for spending so much time on the Obamacare legislation instead of creating jobs. Of course, President Obama campaigned on getting a health care bill passed and he did. So now that the Republicans have taken over the House of Representatives, what are they doing to create jobs?

Well first they read the constitution out loud (HR 5). Well, they read most of it, eliminating the parts about slavery, for example. Their first bill (passed unanimously) was to get the Government Printing Office to stop printing so many copies of bills and resolutions that can be read online, saving maybe $6 million (only $1.3 trillion to go). What’s more, this legislation will probably eliminate some jobs, not increase them. Oh well, it will save some trees.

Then of course, we had the vote to repeal Obamacare (HR 2). Everyone knew this piece of legislation was going nowhere so, even though Obamacare was billed as a jobs killing bill by the Republicans, this vote of principal created no jobs.

I believe the next piece of legislation in the House will be to make sure that there is no government funding of abortions (HR 3). President Obama has already given an executive order to stop any Federal money that might go to abortions, but I guess the House wants redundancy. Lack of government money to fund abortions will probably decrease jobs somewhat (surgeons, nurses, etc.), but it is the principal of the thing.

Also high on the list is the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act (HR 4) which has 254 cosponsors and is currently in committee. My first thought is that eliminating paperwork will cause some job loss because the people won’t be needed to fill out the paperwork, but then it may be neutral because the people that would do the paperwork may be replaced by others doing more productive work. My guess is that the bill will be passed, possibly unanimously.

Also to be addressed is HR 5 which is the New House Rules and, of course, doesn’t deal with jobs.

So when will the house start to deal with jobs?

SECOND AMENDMENT SOLUTIONS (Poem)

Rep. “Gabby” Giffords in the “crosshairs.”

“Gabby” Giffords down.

Six dead, 14 injured.

Reload, Sarah Palin.

Nineteen to go.

Deranged assassin of course.

Armed and dangerous.

Passed the background check.

Bought a semi-automatic weapon.

Your “second amendment solution,”

Sharron Angle.

“Bullets instead of ballots”

You got it, Joyce Kaufman.

Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King,

President Reagan, James Brady,

Columbine High, Virginia Tech,

George Tiller gunned down in church,

Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords,

All by deranged assassins.

All armed and dangerous.

Just what you want, Michelle Bachman?

“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous...”

Arizonans too?

The Wild West still reigns.

Note added February 25, 2011: The seditious talk continues. "An elderly man at a Tuesday night meeting asked the Republican [Rep. Paul Broun] from Georgia, “Who is going to shoot Obama?” Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50180.html