Of Kindles And Politicians

 

Tucson Weather Today

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Yesterday my new Kindle arrived in the mail. I read the enclosed Quick Start Guide and learned that I should plug in the (also enclosed) Power Adapter in order to begin charging the device. I did so. While it was charging, I began reading the Kindle User's Guide. After learning all the fundmentals, I turned to my computer and began to search through Amazon.com's library of FREE books and stories for an appropriate first purchase.

The item upon which I eventually decided was an 8,000 word short story by Philip K. Dick titled The Skull -- I have no idea why I chose it... it was merely an impulsive decision. Of course, I had earlier read the available reviews.

It took less than three hours to fully charge the Kindle and by then I was ready to put into practice some of the things I had just learned.

Using my new Kindle, I entered the Kindle Store, searched for The Skull, and purchased it. The price was right: 0 dollars. In a matter of seconds, the story was delivered via WhisperNet.

Everything relating to my new Kindle is working flawlessly...

So far.

A couple hours after buying The Skull I could wait no longer. Carrying the Kindle, I went into the bedroom, lay down on the bedespread, opened the window blind to let in the bright Arizona sunlight, and began reading. The story was only about 8,000 words so, to my surprise, I had soon read the entire thing.

It was not a bad story, but it was horribly old-fashioned as to writing style, which is undersandable because it had been written back during the middle ofthe twentieth century. But I won't complain because it cost me nothing. And I enjoyed it more than some of the amateuish sttuff being written by lots of modern-day science fiction writers.

Anyway, I went ahead and searched out a FREE full length novel that I could start reading when I went to bed later. I read the Amazon.com Look Inside preview of a 400 plus page SF novel titled Turing Evolved and it appealed to me, so I bought it (0 dollars) and it was delivered in seconds and sat there patiently waiting for me to begin reading. Which I did at about nine p.m.

I have a feeling that I am going to get a lot of enjoyment out of my new Kindle.

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WORD FOR TODAY


politician [pahl-uh-TISH-uhn]

a person experienced in the art or science of government; especially one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government.

a person engaged in party politics as a profession.

a person primarily interested in political office for selfish or other narrow usually short-sighted reasons.

A politician, political leader, or political figure (from Greek "polis") is someone who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, inheritance, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest, divine right, or other means. Politics is not limited to governance through public office. Political offices may also be held in corporations, and other entities that are governed by self-defined political processes.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY



Robert Green Ingersoll


Born Aug 11, 1833
Died July 21, 1889

Robert Green "Bob" Ingersoll was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic."

Ingersoll enjoyed a friendship with the poet Walt Whitman, who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is Leaves of Grass... He lives, embodies, the individuality, I preach. I see in Bob the noblest specimen--American-flavored--pure out of the soil, spreading, giving, demanding light."

The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric.

Mike Douglas


Born Aug. 11, 1925
Died Aug. 11, 2006

Douglas was born Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr., and began singing as a choirboy. By his teens he was working as a singer on a Lake Michigan dinner cruise ship. After serving briefly in the United States Navy near the end of World War II and as a "staff singer" for WMAQ-TV in Chicago, he moved to Los Angeles. He was on the Ginny Simms radio show. Then, he became a vocalist in the big band of Kay Kyser, with whom he was featured on two notable hits, "Ole [or Old] Buttermilk Sky" in 1946 and "The Old Lamplighter" the following year. In 1950, he provided the singing voice of Prince Charming in Walt Disney's Cinderella.

He next surfaced in 1961 in Cleveland, where a onetime Chicago colleague hired him for $400 a week as an afternoon television talk-show host at WKYC-TV, then known as KYW-TV. The Mike Douglas Show rapidly gained popularity, and ultimately, national syndication in August 1963 on the five Westinghouse-owned stations.

Hulk Hogan


Born Aug 11, 1953
Age: 58 years old

Terry Gene Bollea, known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and 90s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWE), and as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

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All politicians should have 3 hats - one to throw into the ring, one to talk through, and one to pull rabbits out of if elected.
--Carl Sandburg