BALDERPUCKY.COM

Musings of a sometimes thinker

Welcome

Several years ago while teaching a class, I was struck by the fact that,
although there may not be any stupid questions, there can be stupid
answers! From students and even from their teacher.

In the midst of great frustration from what I was hearing in the discussion
(and not wanting to say what I was really thinking) I blurted out "balderpucky" to an obviously inappropriate and ridiculous answer. Needless-to-say all discussion stopped! When one of the students asked me what it meant, I told them that I had no idea, since I, like Shakespeare, just made up the term.
 
I have no idea if I really was the first to come up with this term since I have seen something like it but I was the first to register the domain. I have recently noted a blog that repeatedly begins with the word and last year someone actually offered to buy the domain from me.

My intent here is to comment on what I think are stupid answers, actions, behaviors, responses, emails, etc. that I come across. Of course, perhaps also just some random musings.
 Why "Balderpucky"
WELCOME
RESPONSES
ARCHIVES
LINKS
CONTACTS
1 August 2013
 
Driving through western Kansas, we stopped at the Calvary Museum at Fort Riley.  A subtle commentary in one display reminded me that there is nothing in the Constitution about maintaining a standing army.  There were questions after the War of 1812 about how to maintain things, especially out west.
 
It further occurred to me why we continue to have "wars".  How else can we maintain the forces we have?  How else can we continue to support the "military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned us about?
 
We still hear about how we demobilized after WWI and were caught unprepared at the beginning of WWII.  Oh, horrors!!
 
So now we are talking about Immigration reform and what the current bill proposes is keeping the Haliburtons and military suppliers in business.
 
Still no real talk after Iraq and Afghanistan about scaling back -  How about no standing army if there is no war?  Can you imagine the screams we would hear? Or, where will the next "war" be to justify an army? 
                                                                                                         22 February 2015

So I was going to church today. Got there in plenty of time - for a change! However, when I got to the parking lot it took almost 5 minutes (!!) for some driver to get their Suburban out of the parking space. They would back up a foot, pull forward a foot -- over and over and over again! All this when there was a lot of space on both the front and the back to move farther and faster!

My remedy is to require people who want to drive those big vehicles (including the extended cab pick-ups) to get licenses to drive trucks! After all, the frame for those things are truck frames, and even though they may not always have a truck plate, they are indeed TRUCKS.

So this may have to be a special license and not the "chauffer's license" that commercial drivers have (in Missouri).The other thing would be to require proof of this license when the vehicle is registered, like a proof of insurance.
                                                                                28 February 2015

Recently heard people talking about needing to get God back into schools, etc., and that we need to change the laws.

As a retired teacher, I will say that God and prayer will always be in schools as long as teachers give tests!

I also think that if God needs help from our government then God is not all
powerful and almighty. That is not my God. My God is beyond that.
                                                                                1 March 2015

We don't know much about what is in the TPP, the massive trade deal many are calling "NAFTA on steroids." But we do know that it contains a provision called "Investor-State Dispute Settlement" or ISDS.

ISDS allows multinational corporations to challenge laws passed by our government -- things like environmental or safety regulations -- to potentially win millions of dollars in "damages" that would have to be paid by American taxpayers. And they could do all this without ever having to go to court in the United States.

As Sen. Warren wrote in a Washington Post Op-Ed on Wednesday, headlined "The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose":

    "The name may sound mild, but don't be fooled. Agreeing to ISDS in this enormous new treaty would tilt the playing field in the United States further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty."

I agree with Sen. Warren: Any deal that undermines U.S. sovereignty by giving international corporations the power to challenge laws by seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in an unaccountable tribunal is unacceptable and Congress needs to vote against it.
                                                                     1 March 2015
Just got a call to remind me to vote on Tuesday, March 3. In the City of St. Louis, Tuesday is a primary election.

I do not know if you have a primary or not but, basically, any time you have an opportunity to vote - JUST DO IT!  [Sorry Nike]

Protect your interests! Remember that if you do not vote, it is the same as voting for the other side.

But equally important is that we need to keep after our elected officials to do what they were elected to do. Our roles do not end with voting.  It does not happen without us!