Morons Galore

There is never a shortage of most anything in our society, and that includes morons. Some couple sued one of the Airlines for $12,000.00 because they ordered 7-Up but received Sprite instead. At first the court (more morons!) awarded the money to the couple, but an appeal court overturned it. Amazing, there are still some sensible people out there, even in our justice system.

Another couple sued the same Airline Company, because they were not served in French. Unbelievable! That’s how this whole problem with the language started in Manitoba. Georges Forest didn’t want to pay a parking ticket ($2.00 in 1979 I believe), because it was written in English and not in French. I knew the man. I’m not calling him a moron, because he was a nice man and helpful. My first car insurance broker and he spoke perfect English. I don’t believe it was a language issue with him; he just didn’t want to pay his ticket, but now he is hailed as Language rights activist. The morons were the people who blew it into something so huge and costly to every Canadian.

One of the more infamous cases of being a moron is that woman who sued MacDonalds for four million dollars when she spilled a cup of hot coffee over herself. There are plenty of such cases. In many instances the courts actually awarded these troublemakers and idiots money. I think they should have sued the lawyers and the judges for being such morons.

My wife says not to call them morons. They are far from being that, because they are actually quite smart. They’ve figured out a way to get money for doing nothing. Okay, so they are a bunch of extortionists, vultures, opportunists, shitdisturbers, etc. Not nice names, either. I can go with that. I know someone who would call them A-holes.

I know I’m using politically incorrect names here, but I’m not politically correct. I’ve said that before. We have to call a spade a spade. It’s an overused phrase but it fits.

Something I saw yesterday in the news. Some people are offended by certain Halloween outfits, especially the ones representing native peoples, like Indian Princess. One woman said natives don’t dress in such skimpy outfits. Perhaps they don’t, but these are fantasy costumes. One man put it quite right, “If I want to wear an Indian headdress I do it because I think it looks nice. There is no disrespect in that.”

Would people be offended if someone wears a costume looking like a bullfighter, a Ninja, an angel, a devil, a Ukrainian dancer, or a Hula girl? What makes wearing a native costume a sign of disrespect, but wearing a costume from another culture not? It seems to me there are people out there who are constantly on the search for things they can blow out of proportion just to create trouble and havoc. Like I said—Morons.

#Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

 Anyone who ever read the bible, especially chapter six of the Book of Revelations, which predicts the Apocalypse, knows about the four horsemen:

Pestilence.

War.

Famine.

Death.

When you search the internet, you’ll find many predictions, mainly from fanatical religious preachers, about the  #‘End of Times’. “The End is near.” We’ve heard and read about it for decades.

With all the things going on right now in the world, one begins to wonder. Perhaps the end is finally here.

Take the horseman of ‘War’ for instance. Fighting never seems to stop anymore. There are wars going on everywhere. However, right now the greatest danger we face, is #ISIS (also known as ISIL). Over 30,000 crazy, bloodthirsty psychopaths are on the warpath. They are fighting a jihad, a holy war, bent on killing the infidels, the non-believers, in their quest to bring about an Islamic state in the Middle East. A dictatorial state run by religious fanatics. The most dangerous type of government you can have. Besides, what is holy about any war? The followers of this group are nothing but terrorists. They are using religion only as an excuse to still their hunger for power and their sick desire to kill innocent people.

The #Book of Revelations talks about Satan and his dark forces killing anyone who rejects Satan. Could it be that ISIS is this dark, evil force? It makes sense. Peaceful, good people do not kill others who are of different opinions and faiths. A god that allows his followers to murder others is an evil god. Good will triumph in the end, which is reassuring, but in the meantime millions of humans will have to suffer.

With the threat of the Ebola virus, the aids virus, and other new viruses popping up, one cannot help but think of another horseman: Pestilence.

What about the horseman ‘Famine’? With the weather patterns changing and all the disaster happening all over the globe, we may soon face food shortages. And the way humans are multiplying, especially in the third-world-countries, famine is pretty certain. Wasn’t it last year when so many people died of starvation in Africa?

The last horseman: Death. Self-explanatory. With war, pestilence, and famine comes death.

I am not particular religious. I don’t believe the bible stories about how the world (universe) was created. I don’t believe Earth was created in seven days, or, as some people believe, 6,000 years ago. I believe in the theory of evolution. Of course, I admit, I could be wrong.

As a writer of Fantasy and Science Fiction stories, I keep an open mind to anything. Who really came up with all those ‘revelations’? Perhaps they were travelers from the future who lived through all these terrible happenings and they managed to escape into the past and brought back those predictions. Perhaps everything happens in cycles. It has happened before, many times maybe, and the predictions are just racial memories from people who lived through and survived the last cycle. (Don’t laugh about those kind of speculations. Anything is possible. I knew someone who still believed the Earth was the center of the universe and the sun circled the Earth! And no, I’m not that old ☺)

Interesting theories and something to ponder. For me, anyway. However, it doesn’t matter if these predictions are merely fantasy stories written centuries ago, or by people who foresaw them in their dreams, or if they are ‘memories’, the fact is, humanity is experiencing and facing dire times.

Perhaps there are forces out there who want to make those predictions come true by causing many of these things to happen. Obviously, they can’t control the weather. Or can they? However, we can’t lie back and say, “Well, it has been written and God will come to the rescue. There is nothing to worry about. It will all turn out well in the end.”

That, of course, is like the proverbial ostrich that hides its head in the sand, pretending everything is okay. We need to wake up, take a stand and fight fire with fire. We have to fight this murderous force with everything we have. Not just bombs from the air. It is imperative to have military forces on the ground and fight these maniacs in the streets of the cities they’ve already taken over. They don’t show any mercy to anyone; raping women, murdering even children, cutting off heads and recording it, executing prisoners, threatening the whole world with death, and so forth. We cannot show them mercy, either. They must be eradicated from this Earth for good. By that I don’t mean throwing them in jail.

According to the news we hear and see on TV, there are around 80 young men in Canada right now who have returned from ISIS-training camps. Apparently, our Spy-agencies are tracking them and keeping an eye on them. Pardon me? Why did these traitors not get arrested the moment they stepped out of the airplane that brought them back to Canada?

They should have been taken into custody, their Canadian citizenship revoked, charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and thrown in jail with no lawyer to bail them out. Any lawyer showing up who wants to represent them should also be thrown in jail and charged with ‘association with known terrorists’.

Harsh? Yes, but it will have to be done before they can get organized and bring the war to our doorsteps. Do innocent people have to die before we wake up and take drastic measures?

I’m the last person who wants to live in a police state, but it doesn’t have to come to that. All we need are tailor-made laws to allow such actions and make them legal. We cannot listen and give in to minority groups, especially non-Canadians, who will definitely object to such laws. Innocent Canadians won’t have to worry.

#The Ebola Plague. Be afraid! Be very afraid!

 

A new plague is threatening mankind. Most people still treat it with a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing to worry about. It’s over there in Africa, on the other side of the world.”

Well—I’m worried.

The Ebola virus is not anymore only in Africa. It is in Spain. It’s come to the USA, and, possibly, also to Canada. One man brought it with him on a plane. He neglected to tell anyone that he helped a woman, who was infected with the Ebola virus, move before he boarded the plane to the US. Even though he was infected it didn’t show up when they screened him after getting off the plane. Four days after he landed he became ill. He had all the symptoms and yet, the hospital he went to for a check-up, sent him home again. Somebody goofed up majorly.

The man is dead now. He infected one of the health care workers in spite of precautions that were taken. There is a good chance he also infected his girlfriend and others he came in contact with.

This whole incident shows how easily a deadly virus can be transferred to anywhere in the world. Nobody is safe. The authorities assure us they have it under control. They are prepared. Prepared for what? An outbreak? By then it is too late. Thousands have already died from the Ebola virus and more will die, despite the effort to prevent it from spreading. Researchers are trying to develop a drug, but even if they are successful to find one, it will need to be mass-produced. And that’s where the problem lies. Some pharmaceutical company will want to take advantage of it to make money and some will get rich. Somebody always gets rich from a disaster, from a war, and from the outbreak of a disease.

How long will it take to make the drug available to the public?

 So, let’s assume there is a serious outbreak and there is a drug available by then, how much is it going to cost the taxpayer to buy the medicine?

What worries me most is the fact that it is difficult to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, no matter what the authorities are trying to make us believe. Infected carriers cannot be detected until it is too late. They’ve already admitted that much.

One way to stop the spread is to quarantine every country where the Ebola virus has taken hold. Close the borders. Nobody is allowed to leave; nobody is allowed to enter, except doctors and health care workers who understand the risk. No planes fly to those countries and no planes are allowed to leave those countries. There can be no exception, even for humanitarian reasons. The risk is too great.

Unchecked, the Ebola virus could kill millions, wipe out whole populations. It could be the next Bubonic Plague.

Maybe it is nature’s way of controlling the numbers of humans on Earth. Here is food for thought: According to some scientists, the cradle of humanity lies in Africa, that’s where humans began their migration across this planet. Aids, an epidemic still rampant, originated in Africa. The Ebola virus comes from Africa. Perhaps the end of humanity will come from Africa. It would be only fitting.

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Observations on a boring day

The other day I was sitting in a mall selling raffle tickets for the hunting club I’m a member of.

It’s a boring job. Not much to do but sell the odd ticket, read a book, or, in my case, write a book or whatever. This post was the ‘whatever’.

Another way to pass the time is watching the shoppers, and that can be quite entertaining, sometimes even a bit unsettling. It is pleasing when a pretty woman walks by.

I usually look at the way people dress. Some people dress nice, some not so nice. Most men wore jeans or cargo pants. Some pants fit quite nicely; others were baggy and sloppy-looking.

With the women, there was a greater variety. U saw very few skirts. Older women wore long skirts, while younger women wore them quite short. Most young women wore tight-fitting pants or jeans. The ones that puzzled me were the girls and women who wore ripped jeans or jeans with actual holes in them. There was one woman with holes so large her knees were exposed. I felt uncomfortable just looking at her. That can’t feel good having your bare kneecaps getting caught in those holes.

The ones that unsettled me were the women who were covered up from head to toe. I only saw the eyes of one woman; the rest of her was hidden behind loose clothing. I saw men with turbans and scraggly beards.

I realize we live in a so-called free country with religious freedom and freedom of choice, but I still ask myself why these people come to my country. You know—when in Rome to as the Romans do. To me that means dressing like the citizens of the county you have chosen to be your new homeland. If you don’t like that or refuse to accept new customs and laws, stay away! (I’m venting again, but this is a dear subject to me.)

Watching all these foreigners in their outlandish garb creates negative feelings and one cannot help but be prejudiced. Multiculturism, as noble as it seems to be, doesn’t work. Just like having reservations for our native people doesn’t work. We have plenty of problems with them. I hate to be a doomsday preacher, and I hope I’m proved wrong, but this whole thing cannot  and will not end well. It only creates friction and a host of problems. Integration is the only way.

Footwear is another subject. Shoes, sneakers, low boots, high boots, sandals, and even a few tongs. I saw them all. The whole day I sat there, I saw only one guy with red sneakers. I even saw a guy wearing what looked like pajama pants. His sneakers were untied, huge, and sloppy.

Surprisingly, I saw only a handful of people texting while walking. It seems people are finally smartening up...or maybe not. As I wrote this, two women walked toward me, texting; one of them almost walked into my desk.

Quite a few women were pushing baby carriages—big, cumbersome looking contraptions. Whatever happened to those simple carriages we had when our children were babies?

I mentioned boots before. Only two of the women/girls walking by wore boots with high heels. Ahh, the good old days when all the girls wore high heels. It was murder on their feet, but, hey, they looked terribly sexy.

Most people had descent haircuts, men and women alike. Only 2 guys had long, unkempt hair and long, scraggly beards. They must have gotten lost in the wrong part of town.

And what’s with that cloth hanging out of guys’ pockets? Is that for wiping your hands? Or are they possibly auto mechanics? I only saw two of those.

I think it depends on the area how people look and dress. There is a distinction between the people of different areas. Some are just more...how should I say it without sounding snobby and prejudiced...smarter? Classier? More sophisticated? Richer? Poorer? Cleaner? More educated? More ambitious? Lazier? I don’t know, but the fact is there is a class difference, no matter what some people want us to believe.

Another thing I was acutely aware of: Most people were actually slim to a little overweight. I counted only 4 obese people. We were recently in the USA, and I have to say the number of fat and obese people we saw there was alarming. I apologize to my readers from the US, but it is the sad truth. I wrote about that in one of my last blogs. Too much junk food, portions too large and the food too greasy.

It’s amazing the things one sees and learns on a boring day.

#Hot Salsa

I’m not talking about dancing here. If you’ve expected that, you’re reading the wrong blog ☺

Today was a typical Fall-day: Cold, cloudy, and rainy. So we stayed indoors and made Salsa. Actually, we did the same thing last year, only a week earlier.

This year was not a good year for growing some vegetables in the garden, but we did manage to get enough tomatoes and peppers to make one batch of Salsa and a couple batches of ‘Pfeffersosse” (Peppersauce). The tomatoes are not as nice as last year, neither are the peppers. Not many red peppers. Most of them were yellow and many were still green. At this time last year I took a five-gallon pail filled with beautiful red tomatoes to the soup kitchen in Selkirk. This year we barely have enough for our own consumption.

The Salsa turned out nicely. We’ll be eating some tonight. There is nothing better than homemade salsa. They don't put these quality ingredients into the stuff you buy in the stores. We made it hotter this year by adding more hot peppers. Here is the modified recipe:

Note: This recipe makes a hot salsa. For a milder salsa use less hot peppers.

Ingredients:

Chop:
*5 - quarts ripe tomatoes (Roma are the best) (2 Ice cream pails)
*7 - large sweet peppers

*6 - hot peppers (Hungarian banana peppers) (finely chopped)

*3 - medium sized onions
*5 - tablespoons fresh parsley (finely chopped)
*3 - leaves fresh basil (finely chopped)
*2 - teaspoons fresh Oregano (finely chopped) (or dried)

*3 - cloves garlic (crushed)
*1 - tablespoon salt
*Juice of 1 lime

Boil chopped tomatoes for about 15 minutes in a large pot (6 quarts steel pot). Remove most of the liquid to decrease cooking time. Dip a ladle into the boiling tomato pulp and let the foam run into the ladle.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Boil for 30 minutes on medium heat, and then simmer on medium low until thick, stirring frequently. (Don’t overcook, otherwise Salsa will turn to mush.)

In the meantime:

Sterilize 9 – 500 ml (1 pint) mason jars with Sodium Metabisulfite.

Sterilize new lids

Fill hot water into the jars to make them hot.

Ladle salsa into hot mason jars.

Put sterilized lids onto filled jars. (Don’t overtighten the screw bands. Just fingertip tight)

Put filled and sealed mason jars into 250 F preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Remove jars from oven. Lids will pop and seal when they cool. No need to keep filled jars in fridge.

Note: I use Sodium Metabisulfite to sterilize the jars. Sodium Metabisulfite is available from Wine making supply stores. You just fill one jar to the rim and transfer the sterilizing liquid from one jar to the next, pouring the liquid back into the storage container when done with the last jar. The liquid can be used over and over until it doesn’t smell anymore. After sterilizing rinse with warm water.

#Borscht

This year I had a good crop of red beets. Many nice big ones, although I lost quite a few to some rodent. I did catch a mouse and a vole in the trap, but I don’t know which one was the culprit.

Last week we made Borscht. Actually, my wife made it; I just eat it. This is the second batch she made this year. She makes the best Borscht I’ve ever eaten anywhere, and she isn’t even Ukrainian. She got the recipe from my daughter-in-law, who got it from her mother. Her mother was half-Polish and half Ukrainian and she had many ‘Old country’ recipes. I know Ukrainians claim the recipe for Borscht originates in the Ukraine, but I did some research, and found that Russians claim it came from Russia. The Polish people claim it is a Polish recipe. There are also rumors that the ancient Romans already made Borscht. We won’t ever know. The origin of Borscht is lost in the mist of time like so many other things. It doesn’t really matter where it comes from, but whoever developed it, my thanks goes to them, because it is a tasty treat. People who have never eaten a bowl of Borscht don’t know what they are missing.

There are many recipes for making Borscht. Every ‘Old Country’ grandmother has her own favorite recipe. My mother used to make it from Cabbage, but my wife uses only Red Beets. Lots and lots of beets (the soup has to be thick). Here is the recipe:

5 cups peeled, grated beets (3 – 4 medium beets) –uncooked-

1 chopped onion

½ cup grated carrots

½ of a celery stalk (grated)

1 tsp. parsley

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1 – 14 oz can pork and beans with tomato sauce (rinsed)

8 tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup half and half cream

1 tbsp flour

12 cups of water (read paragraph about the water!)

Boil shredded beets, onions, carrots, celery, parsley, pepper, and dill for 15 minutes in liquid (see paragraph below).

Meanwhile, mix flour and cream and put through a sieve to remove lumps.

When vegetables are done, add can of pork and beans. Cook for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice. Cook for 1 minute. Add cream and flour mixture quickly to broth. Cook for ½ minute and remove from heat.

My wife changed the recipe she got from my daughter-in-law a little. Instead of putting in a piece of pork meat into the 12 cups of water, she uses pork broth. When she makes pork ribs, she boils the ribs before we put them onto the barbeque. They are tenderer that way. But that is another recipe. She saves the broth every time we have ribs (we freeze it in containers) and uses it to make Borscht. If she doesn’t have enough broth, she adds some chicken stock and very little water (Approx. 2 cups) to make up the 12 cups of liquid. Too much water makes the Borscht taste watery. Some people use sour cream instead of cream. And let’s not forget the fresh dill. When we eat the Borscht, we sprinkle some chopped dill on top.

I’ll be eating my last bowl today for lunch. My wife made a double recipe. We keep out enough for a few meals and freeze the rest. This way we can have Borscht even in the winter. To eat Borscht is a bit messy because of the red color, so I usually wear a bib (actually just a paper towel tugged into my collar) to cover my shirt. I know, it doesn’t look very macho, but, hey, it keeps my shirt from getting red spots all over.

In case you don’t have broth from ribs, here is the original recipe:

12 cups of water

2 tsp. salt

1 lb pork buttons or ribs

Add salt and pork (or ribs) to water. Cook for ¾ hour. Remove pork.

Add ingredients and boil for 15 minutes...etc.

Enjoy

I am an odd guy, but otherwise I’m quite normal

This blog may be a little controversial and I apologize in advance if it offends anyone.

Some people think I’m odd, old-fashioned, and intolerant. I’m not naming people, but I’m married to one of them. She thinks I’m odd because of my opinions and little quirks. (She does agree with some of my opinions, though).You be the judge. I’m baring my soul here.

Ø      I don’t like sweet and sour. Either sweet or sour, not mixed.

Ø      I don’t like pineapple on my pizza.

Ø      I don’t like ice in my drinks. Neither do I like a beverage so hot it burns my lips when I sip it. I cool down my tea before I drink it.

Ø      When I go out for supper, I don’t want my beer brought before the food arrives. I want it served at the same time. I don’t like stale beer.

Ø      I buy Yogurt only when it’s on sale and then I stock up.

Ø      I like only strawberry ice cream. In a pinch, I will eat other flavor, but I don’t care much for chocolate ice cream.

Ø      I think people who cover their God-given bodies with tattoos are morons.

Ø      Guys who wear earrings are sissies.

Ø      People who put pins, bolts, and rings through their tongues, lips, eyebrows, and other body parts (except earlobes) should see a shrink. It may be alright for primitive tribes living in the jungles of Africa and South America, but not for civilized people. There is no help for guys with buttons in their earlobes. Their only hope is to die before they get old, because they’ll trip over their floppy earlobes.

Ø      Women who buy and wear brand new jeans with holes and rips already in them have no taste and they should have their heads checked for holes. I don’t even wear jeans like that in the garden. (I have to admit, though, some of them look damn cute and sexy in their frayed cut-off jeans. Who cares if they’re bubble-heads.) [That’s right, I’m a regular guy and that shallow. Guys think like that!]

Ø      I like women with long hair.

Ø      I don’t care much for women with a man’s haircut. (They probably don’t care much for me, either, or any other man).

Ø      Guys with long hair and ponytails should get a descent haircut. They look ridiculous not macho. Old guys with long hair and ponytails are just simple imbeciles. Stupid isn’t a word strong enough for those guys and girls with spiked, brightly colored hair. Do they ever look in the mirror? The other day I saw a guy who looked like a rooster with his blue and red spikes on an otherwise bald head.

Ø      I think guys who race in ditches with their snowmobiles are idiots.

Ø      Guys who wear their baseball cap with the shield in the back look like morons; guys who wear the shield sideways are morons.

Ø      Guys with stubble on their face are not cool and handsome. They look grubby and unkempt. Same goes for long, scraggly beards.

Ø      I shudder when I see guys walking away from urinals without washing their hands.

Ø      Doctors should stop telling people that you can’t get a cold when your body or head is chilled. I get a cold every time my head gets chilly.

Ø      I don’t believe gay people of the same gender should get married. I don’t care if they live together as a couple, but marriage should be left to a man and woman, the way it has been for centuries.

Ø      Fat people should stop griping that they can’t lose weight. My advice is: Don’t stuff your face with too much food. You find very few overweight people in third world countries. That should be a clue.

Ø      Skinny people? I have nothing for you. I used to be skinny myself. Just keep on complaining about not being able to gain weight. Eat as much as you can and hope for the best.

Ø      I don’t follow trends. I think people who do are sheep and have no mind of their own.

Ø      We should not make up cute names for people with problems. A fat person is not weight-challenged. A mentally handicapped person is neither mentally challenged nor ‘Special’. A Mongol child is not blessed and a gift from God; it’s a heartbreak and a curse. We should face the truth and say it as it is not sugarcoat it.

Ø      Parents who continually stuff their children with greasy, fast foods and snacks that cause them to become obese should be charged with child abuse.

Ø      Anyone letting a child under twelve years old handle a gun, or worse, an assault rifle, should be charged with a criminal offense.

Ø      Children should be taught discipline and respect. They should be told not asked what they want to wear or what they want for supper. They should learn to be responsible for their actions and punished if they misbehave. If they don’t make the grade in School, they should be failed. That is real love, because if they don’t learn when they are young, they will fail later in life.

Ø      A teenage girl or an unmarried woman getting pregnant is not a wonderful event; it is a tragedy. One can only hope that teenage girl has understanding parents who give her support, otherwise that unwed mother and her kid(s) will most likely end up on welfare and become a burden to society. Besides, children need a father in their life. And I don’t mean two fathers. Neither do they need two mothers.

Ø      I think there should be no insanity pleas for murderers. A person murdering another human being is not sane. It should not be an excuse to get away with it.

Ø      There should be an automatic death sentence for anyone found guilty of premeditated murder.

Ø      Child molesters should be castrated.

Ø      Immigrants who don’t accept our Canadian laws and customs should be deported back to their country.

Ø      Anyone with more than five children should not be allowed into Canada. Even five children is already too many in this crowded world. Who will feed them?

Ø      Anyone found guilty of terrorism should be sent to jail for the rest of his life and his family deported back to their country of origin. If they are immigrants who have become Canadians, they should be stripped of their Canadian citizenship. The same goes for any other country.

Ø      There should be no dual citizenship. Either you are a Canadian or not.

Ø      It irks me if people tell me only their views are valid, mine are wrong, and I’d better change mine. I don’t tell them to change theirs.

Ø      I can’t find sympathy with people who complain they have nothing to eat, nothing to wear, their houses are in need of repair, but they do nothing about it, waiting instead for the government or other people to do it for them. My advice: Stop whining, grow a garden, raise rabbits and chickens if you have the room, keep sheep or goats for milk, butter, and cheese. Sow your own clothes or fix up the old ones. And, for heaven's sake, stop having more children. My family did all those when I was young and when things were bad after the war in Europe. We are living in a great country and with a little bit of hard work and determination anything is possible.

I did not write this to offend anyone. These are my views and I have a right to have and to express them. We’re still living in a free country. Anyone who feels offended might need to do a little introspecting and learn to accept other people’s views and opinions. That person might just have a few issues of their own and, possibly, also be a little odd.☺

I believe in being tolerant and I try to accept other people the way they are, with all their different opinions and little quirks. It’s what makes us different from each other and not just clones. I hope others accept me the way I am—not perfect, just human.

I’m not in the habit of quoting scriptures, but today I’ll make an exception:

 “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” Mathew 7:5

That’s right, I may not be considered a religious guy, but I do know the bible.
After rereading my list of opinions I realize I should be the first in line to follow that quote. Sigh.