I'll have to remember this sage advice.

So let’s arm all the teachers. Let’s give them a ten-hour or even 40-hour gun safety class and then strap a .40 cal. Semi-automatic pistol with a 14 round magazine on their hip and put sand bags under the teacher’s desk to provide a fortified shooting position. End of problem.

The average police officer on the street today has fired hundreds of rounds from his duty weapon at the range. He/she has fired at multiple targets from various positions. An officer has participated in simulator training watching movies and shooting laser guns at the suspects. An officer has participated in role-playing exercises that depict use of force situations. An officer is required to shoot at the range 6-12 times a year and obtain a qualifying score in order to be able to continue to work.
 

A .40 cal. Bullet will penetrate walls, car doors, certainly windows and bodies. When an officer fires his/her duty weapon, he/she is responsible for each bullet that is fired – hit or miss. Before an officer fires his duty weapon he/she has to conclude that there is a threat, who are the “good guys” and who are the “bad guys.” Who is behind the bad guy, even to the point of in the next class room if you miss. Is the suspect wearing body armor, is a head shot the only option, and so much more. Even with all this training, officers in the stress of the moment miss their target quite often.

So a couple of important questions: 1. Does the teacher even want that kind of responsibility? 2. Is the teacher mentally prepared to take the life of another? 3. Is the teacher covered civilly when, heaven forbid, the suspect shoots four kids and the teacher shoots two.

Arming school teachers is not simple and not the answer.

 

Creepy looking, and yet really cool, house.  You almost expect the witches from the TV show "Charmed" to come walking out of it.

 

Pretty cool photo of San Francisco.

 

My friend Jack, who has launched a few boats in his time, will appreciate this.  Pretty cool!!!

Happy birthday wishes go out to Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins who turns 62 years old today. Collins is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor best known as a singer and drummer of the group "Genesis." 
 

I don't think I even knew who Phil Collins was until he performed some of the music in the series "Miami Vice."
 

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Katharine Ross who turns 68 years old today. Katharine was born in Hollywood, Ca., and grew up in Walnut Creek, Ca.  Katharine Ross is married to actor Sam Elliott and they have a grown daughter.

Katharine starred as "Elaine Robinson" in "The Graduate" in 1967. She also starred as "Etta Place" in another classic, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in 1969.
 

The video clip below is of her bicycle ride with "Butch" to the song, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head" a #1 hit by BJ Thomas.

Went for a bike ride today, Monday, even though the temperature was 57 degrees at noon. Rode out of Riverside for my usual 21 miles.  I did some yoga/meditation at the half way point, which is where I took the first two photos below.
 

I saw the neighborhood coyote near the nature center this afternoon. He was just kind of prowling about, 40-50 yards from me. After I passed, he came down across the bike path and down into the valley below.

This was the sunset this evening from my front porch. Last night we had a brief thunderstorm rumble thru the neighborhood. I guess further north they got hail and lots of thunder. Lots of unusual weather lately.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to "Hawkeye", aka Alan Alda who turns 77 years old today. Alan Alda was born in the Bronx, New York, with the name Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo.  Alan Alda has been married to his wife Arlene for 57 years. They have three daughters and seven grandchildren.
 

Alan Alda has a BS degree in English from Fordham College and is currently a visiting professor at the State University of New York at Stoney Brook School of Journalism.

 

M*A*S*H is my favorite TV serial ever.  I still like to watch the reruns.  Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce, a Captain and lead surgeon, for a mobile army surgical hospital.  Alan Alda was with M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1983 winning 5 Emmy Awards.  Alan Alda not only acted in the series, but also wrote and directed many of the episodes. 

 

This article would make one believe that a banana a day keeps the doctor away is more accurate than an apple a day. 

The fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal cells.

As the banana ripens, it develops dark spots or patches on the skin. The more dark patches it has, the
higher will be its’ immunity enhancement quality.

The degree of anti-cancer effect corresponds to the degree of ripeness of the fruit, i.e. the riper the banana, the better the anti-cancer quality. In an animal experiment carried out by a professor in Tokyo U comparing the various health benefits of different fruits, using banana, grape, apple, water melon, pineapple, pear and persimmon, it was found that banana gave the best results.

It increased the number of white blood cells, enhanced the immunity of the body and produced anti-cancer substance TNF. The recommendation is to eat 1 to 2 bananas a day to increase your body immunity to diseases like cold, flu and others. According to the Japanese professor, yellow skin bananas with dark spots on it are 8 times more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than the green skin version.How does TNF kill cancer cells?

 

The NRA's teacher of the year!!!

“What if our religion was each other,
If our practice was our life,
if prayer our words?

What if the temple was the Earth
if forests were our church,
if holy waters—the rivers, lakes, and oceans.

What if meditation was our relationships,
if the teacher was life,
if wisdom was self-knowledge,
if love was the center of our being.” —Ganga White

My grandson Ethan playing some hoops.

I always loved playing basketball. I can remember spending hours on the basketball court at the elementary school across the street from our house in Chino.  Phi and Red and I against any and all comers.  Red was big and took up the middle and Phil was the shooter.  I was the playmaker and passer.  I was never all that good, and never went out for the high school team, but I sure enjoyed the game.
 

 

I suffered my first sprained ankle playing basketball in the gym at Chino H.S. and was on crutches for 2-3 weeks.  Of course once you sprain them, your ankles are never the same.  I sprained both ankles over and over again over my lifetime.  I guess I'm safer on my bicycle. 

 

 

There's a lot of truth in this one.