A witty saying proves nothing.
--Voltaire--
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Management rarely sees what has been done; they see only what remains to be done. It's up to you to show them.
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I'm amazed at the number of people who refuse to recognize a diamond in a yellow gold basket setting as a diamond. They seem to think if it's not in a platinum Tiffany high-prong setting, it can't be a diamond. Idiots.
Sadly, they do that with people, too.
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I don't particularly want to go to Florida any more. Compare the Zimmerman verdict to this story: Twenty years for a warning shot. Those folks ain't got no common sense.
NOTE: Later update. I did a bit more research on the warning shot story. There's another version of events here. The truth is somewhere, but it does seem that the fault lies in Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing laws. If she had actually killed the guy, her sentence would have likely been less, possibly just time served. Ok, different story, but still doesn't say much for Florida.
By the way, I'm tired of hearing "she used the n-word once twenty years ago". Uh, no. I read the actual text of the actual complaint filed by the ex-employee. I am fully aware that complaints are usually exaggerations, from one viewpoint, but in a civil case they do have to be at least close if you expect the case to be taken seriously. According to the complaint, in addition to other crap, in a restaurant owned by Ms. Deen and her brother, white employees could come in the front door, but black employees had to use the back door only. No black employees were allowed to be seen in the dining areas. White employees could use the customer bathrooms, black employees had to use only the restrooms in the kitchen area, and so on. The "Plantation-style" wedding dinner Ms. Deen wanted was not 20 years ago. It was maybe 2 years ago. And so on.
On the Zimmerman thing, I am also amazed at the number of people who say, "Martin threw the first punch; so Zimmerman had to defend himself."
I'm not aware of it having been asked, but what happened between the time Zimmerman got out of his car, and Martin punching him? Did Zimmerman walk up alongside him, smile, and say, "Good evening. I am so-and-so, and I'm on the neighborhood watch, responsible for keeping people here safe. I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you as a resident. Do you live here, or are you visiting some people here?" and then walked alongside him a bit.
Yeah, sure. Given Zimmerman's "They always get away" comment on the 911 call, I doubt it.
I suspect an angry and confrontational Zimmerman stepped in front of a frightened Martin, and tried to keep him from "getting away", frightening him even more. Did Zimmerman identify himself and his purpose? I doubt it. Maybe Martin did throw the first punch, but it's possible if not likely that an emboldened-by-gun Zimmerman pushed or grabbed him first to hold him until the cops came (we have only his version of events). Martin couldn't turn and run without risking being shot in the back. He defended himself with the only weapon he had - his fists.
Why didn't Zimmerman shoot to disable? The shoulder was as close as the heart.
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A crawl across the TV screen just warned of dangerous heat until 9 pm. It is now 97 degrees F, at 7:55 pm. Earlier today, at 4 or 5, I forget, it was over 100 both here and at the country house according to the weather service widgets on my laptop screen.
I barely notice the heat. I do notice the humidity. It makes it difficult to breathe. I don't know what the humidity is. I drove to the deli and picked up a diet Snapple, and by the time I got home, no more than 5 minutes, there was so much condensation on the bottle the label fell off.
My tomato and pepper plants on the porch and the pansies and geraniums in the porch hanging baskets are suffering. They have enough water, but the sun is burning them. Literally. The sides of the peppers and tomatoes facing the sun are actually cooked!
I am frustrated because I can't go to the country house. I have so much to do, but the a/c there is kaput. It's a groundwater-based heat pump, silted and salted up, and can't be repaired. It has to be replaced with a REAL system. I can cool that house fine by opening the basement door and using fans to pull cool air up, but that works only when the outside temp is no higher than about 87, tops. The back of the house is mostly glass and faces west, so the afternoon sun is less than helpful.
