It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pity to be guilty of what I condemn, but just a few weeks after criticizing the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ignorance is bliss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stance of some people, particularly politicians, I find myself having done the same thing.<\/p>\n
Let me explain.<\/p>\n
I refer to the admiration Herman Cain received a few weeks ago by professing his ignorance of world affairs, matters that a prospective U.S. president ought to know something about. You may recall that Cain prided himself on his dearth of knowledge on geography, politics and history. And I quoted passages from Sam Cooke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s song, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Know Much About History,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d trying to make the point that to many people, lack of knowledge is admirable.<\/p>\n
Well, ignorance is not bliss. Really. Sure, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153what you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hurt you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but the ignorance\/bliss saying goes beyond that. Thomas Gray, an 18th-century English poet, wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where ignorance is bliss, \/ \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTis folly to be wise.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite the same as saying that being in the dark makes people happy.<\/p>\n
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote something similar when he penned: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A little learning is a dangerous thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
So, circumlocutiously, as is usually the case in these columns, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to make a point. That point is simply that for several months, the name Kardasian has arisen. I read Argus Hamilton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s humor column in the daily press and come across that surname, sometimes including the given name Kim.<\/p>\n
What is a Kardasian? Seriously, with the dawning of a new year, I have resolved not to try to learn anything about it\/them. Late-night talk shows invoke the name Kardasian, usually as a prelude to giggles. Is he\/she\/it some rock star? A no-talent zillionaire like Paris Hilton? What exactly is a Kardasian? A mega-bucks athlete, an heir or heiress?<\/p>\n
I seriously don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, but in swearing I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care to know, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m practically inviting readers to fill in the blanks. If you see me on the street, please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to enlighten me. Rather, please shake your head and say to yourself, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There goes that unenlightened man who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know who the Kardasians are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible to read a newspaper or watch TV without coming across the name, that tells me that he\/she\/it is\/are famous. But how did the fame happen? So this is one case in which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m blissfully ignorant.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
The new year will be fraught with resolutions: In my case, the wish to shed pounds, something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve attempted for years, with varying degrees of success. Quite to my surprise, I was one of the winners (third place) in weight-loss competition at the Abe Montoya Recreation Center. The latest overall winners are Johnny Martinez and Alex Aragon, who has won previously.<\/p>\n
The eight-weeks competition, named after the late Mayor Tony Marquez, invites members to weigh in and have measurements taken before and after. When fitness tech Albert Tafoya informed me I had placed in my age group, I was pleased. I believe Albert said I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d lost three pounds. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a start.<\/p>\n
And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s encouraging to hear him and rec center director Loretta Martin say that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153muscle is heavier than fat.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTis true, but in my case, can anyone tell the difference?<\/p>\n
I hope the competition, sponsored by Alta Vista Regional Hospital, the City of Las Vegas and Subway, continues several times a year. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a camaraderie in our striving for the same goal.<\/p>\n
But I wonder: Is total weight loss the main criterion? Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it likely, for example, for a heavyweight to lose more pounds than, say, a small-boned person who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s carrying 10 extra pounds? I suggest a competition based on percentages.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
Remember the hordes who camped out overnight in anticipation of the opening of Krispy Kreme Doughnut shops? Clearly all the first-to-get-served customers live in their parents\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 basements. And didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t some of these health-food stores close down?<\/p>\n
The Krispy customers are closely related to those who last week practically created a riot, wanting to be the first to buy their new Air Jordan athletic shoes at about $180 a pair. In some locations, police needed to use pepper spray to break up the fights.<\/p>\n
Pepper spray? Well that recalls the case of the woman who used that potent people repellent to post her place in line during a Black Friday promotion in November. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t these businesses know that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trouble brewing when they entice customers by offering certain items at a hugely discounted price and have just a few such models in stock?<\/p>\n
My wife and I once became part of the mob, several years ago, when we bought a discounted TV and VCR at Walmart. I recall the sale began at midnight, and as we got there a few minutes later, we saw a procession of customers leaving the store after having loaded those exact same items into their carts.<\/p>\n
People talk sneeringly about others, the supposed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153privileged,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d who own flat-screen TVs. But do TVs come in any other configuration? Nowadays, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all flat-screens.<\/p>\n
A Christmas visit with our sons and their families made me recall the evolution of entertainment electronics in just a few short years. Remember when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rent movies in a bulky cassette called VHS and need to rent an even bulkier machine on which to play them?<\/p>\n
Soon enough came DVD, and a machine that eventually became affordable. Now the rage is Blue-Ray, which delivers an amazingly sharp image on one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flat-screen TV (is there any other configuration?). It would be nice is the creators of this high-tech stuff would allow us to enjoy their products for a year or so, before all the electronics become obsolete or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153so yesterday.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
Happy new year. See you in a sennight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pity to be guilty of what I condemn, but just a few weeks after criticizing the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ignorance is bliss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stance of some people, particularly politicians, I find myself having done the same thing. Let me explain. I refer to the admiration Herman Cain received a few weeks ago by professing his ignorance of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions\/851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}