The Unique Characteristic of Mayberry, N. C.; The Discovery of the Higgs boson and Other Short Comments on the News

Because It is Too Hot for Long Comments

The death of Andy Griffith does not mean the end of the Andy Griffith Show, which is playing somewhere every day in the state of North Carolina.  One observation that must be made is that the show was set in the town of Mayberry, North Carolina which was a totally unique community.  Mayberry was certainly the only town in North Carolina, the only town in the southern United States and probably the only town in the entire continental United States that did not have a single African American resident.

Physicists working at the large Hadron Collider (whatever that is) in Europe believe they have discovered a sub atomic particle that is the explanation of how life and the universe was created.  The discovery has produced information incredibly important to the lives of every one on the planet.  Well actually no one except the physicists who spend their lives in research meaningful only to them.

For example, the Higgs boson weighs in at 125 billion electron volts.  This apparently makes it one of the heaviest sub atomic particles, but one explanation is that the particle’s diet has been too high in fats and sugars.  A new diet is expected to reduce the Higgs boson’s weight to a more socially acceptable level.

One reason the particle was so difficult to locate is that it was spending its summers in France, and as everyone knows almost nothing takes place in France in August when the entire population goes on vacation.

In Michigan the Republican Governor has vetoed a bill that would have required a photo I.D. to vote.  In this case the photo I. D. was required to obtain an absentee ballot.  Since it is believed that absentee voters heavily favor Republicans, the veto was seen more as a method to protect Republican voters than to prevent barriers to voting.  In fact, an un-named spokesman for Conservatives said that legislators did not understand the purpose of requiring photo I. D’s to vote.  “That requirement is to block Democratic voters, not real Americans who vote Republican” the spokesperson commented.

In the emerging scandal involving banks and their manipulation of LIBOR and other interest rates one theme that is emerging is that the fault lies with the regulators (this is true).  The undeniable conclusion is, of course, that if we just didn’t have bank regulations then banks would never be in violation of any regulation.  Republicans in the U. S. and the Conservative party in Britain are said to be studying that idea.

Former Barclays President Bob Diamond demonstrated at a hearing into the Bank’s manipulation of interest rates why he is a natural leader who is not afraid to take responsibility for Barclays’ action.  Demonstrating rare courage Mr. Diamond said this.

LONDON — Robert E. Diamond Jr., the former chief executive of Barclays, told a British parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the manipulation of global interest rate benchmarks involving 14 traders at the bank had made him “physically sick.”

But the American-born banker, who resigned on Tuesday, also placed some of the blame for the rate manipulation scandal on regulators.

When asked if he didn’t bear some responsibility as President of the bank Mr. Diamond said no, he only was responsible when good things happened.  He added that he has an advanced degree in the art of blaming others for his own mistakes, and expects to earn a Ph. D. in the field.