When Speech is Threatened, Speak More

Speak or not censorship graphic

Wow, I didn’t get far writing this before I was already “corrected.” Just typing the title, auto-correct, speech-predicted algorithms thought the appropriate verb form should be “threatening” not “threatened.” And see what a difference that makes. The subtle, or not, assumption being that some speech is dangerous, rather than the censoring of it being dangerous.

As speech and expression in general has become increasingly under attack, to extreme lengths I honestly can’t believe are real, I have decided to start posting to my long-dormant blog again. Do people still blog?? Maybe I should start a Substack. Soon.

There are so many things that I think are wrong these days, it’s hard to even know what to write about first. But I think at the core of everything, is free speech, freedom of expression. If we can’t speak freely and share our thoughts, our ideas, our feelings, and our fears, what do we really have? To me, all other things can’t be either maintained or changed, if we cannot first speak. Other rights gained can be lost, and others never come to be, if only the in-fashion, officially acceptable narrative of the day is allowed space. And the pendulum always swings both ways. Something it feels like the extreme woke, censoring left of today has forgotten. Those of us who speak for free speech are fighting for that right for us all. As the saying goes, free speech isn’t for speech you like or agree with, it’s for speech you hate or disagree with. Continue reading

Comprehensive Coverage by CNN on 'Toxic America'

There was a very interesting program on CNN the other night that I found very refreshing. Their coverage of ‘Toxic America’ as they called it, was very extensive and offered hopeful alternatives as well as the scary chemical facts. It’s not often that I agree with so much of mainstream… Continue reading

News of the Weird – Dog Helps Man by Eating His Toe

You know how sometimes you hear about dogs being able to smell cancer on the breath of their people? Well, here’s a dog who appears to have used his impressive sniffer to detect the infected toe of one of his human family members, Michigan man Jerry Douthett. But instead of… Continue reading

Bee Sting Remedy – Hail to the Onion!

Going barefoot is one of the perks of summer. But it’s not without its risks. That was brought home today when I stepped on a bee/wasp of some sort. It’s one of those feelings you forget until you feel it again. Even without severe allergy dangers, there’s still that stab… Continue reading

Airbus Fantasy Plane Meets Star Trek

On the subject of air travel and reducing its carbon footprint, or flyprint as I have decided I like to call it, I wrote yesterday about Boeing’s lower emission 787 Dreamliner. For all its improvements environmentally and in passenger comfort, it still looks more or less like airplanes look these… Continue reading

Improving Aircraft Carbon Footprints – Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Maybe I shouldn’t say improving carbon footprints, but carbon flyprints. Despite exciting advances in solar technology including the manned Solar Impulse plane that can fly day and night now, passenger solar flight seems a ways off. But also exciting are more immediate improvements to commercial airplanes with their huge environmental… Continue reading

Forget Jail, Forget Nursing Homes, Take a Cruise

The following joke/scenario thing reminds me of an earlier forward I wrote about which contrasted life in prison and a nursing home. It also brings to mind the old chestnut, “the truest words are spoken in jest.” Underneath so many of these little comedy bits are some pretty apt observations… Continue reading

Chewing Gum Has What In It?

It’s funny how often a story that’s written for one purpose can sometimes also end up informing us of something else entirely. This happened to me when I read a Reuters article about a new recipe for chewing gum that will loosen the gum’s grip. Before you say who cares,… Continue reading

Antibiotic Chloramphenicol in Chinese Imported Honey

We may live in a small world, but within that small world are many different sets of national regulations. Whether it’s lead or cadmium found in toys or glasses, or melamine plastic in pet food, we are all too often unwittingly exposed to things that shock us once we discover… Continue reading

Jail Versus Nursing Home – Time To Swap?

Sometimes you get an email forward that you just can’t resist sharing. “Jail vs Nursing  Home” has the benefit of being both funny, and also contributing a great social commentary on some rather skewed priorities. I suppose in all fairness, the rights and treatment of these two segments of the… Continue reading