Their Own Private Playground

February 27, 2016

This is the second state I’ve lived in where a legislator wanted the entire state to go to year-round Daylight Saving Time so he could have more time outdoors. In Louisiana the guy said it was because he wanted more time to go home and work on his garden. I don’t know what the Missouri guy’s deal is.

But they want to take the rest of us down with them. Never mind how dark it is when little kids go to school. You just go on about your business—which is supposed to be our business, but clearly isn't.

Here’s a thought: Since you have all this clout, why don’t you just go home from your jobs an hour early? 

Bless His Heart!

February 27, 2016

Archbishop Robert Carlson is holding a prayer service for victims of abuse: sexual, emotional, physical, or verbal.

Big of him, considering how he obstructed investigations into sexual abuse by clergymen. Maybe he's had a change of heart.

Bishop C. also wants local churches to sever ties with the Girl Scouts, on the grounds that they promote Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem as role models, and teach girls about birth control and abortion. 

If that's true, things have sure changed a lot since I was in Brownies!

His FAQ site had the question, “Does this mean I shouldn't buy Girl Scout Cookies?” I wondered if anybody really asked that. It’s a frightening thought.

Anyway, Bishop C.’s response was that the girls selling the cookies shouldn't be approached on the subject. “This conversation should remain among adults.”

Thanks, Bishop, for discouraging the Faithful from scolding little girls selling cookies. I appreciate your restraint.

Maybe the Strain Was Getting To Them

February 27, 2016

I guess the legislature felt qualified to censure the professor’s bad behavior (see “Law School 101”) because it finally installed an oversight program to stop legislators from sexually harassing interns—but not before at least three interns brought charges.

But behaving well seems to be putting an intolerable strain upon their good-decision-making abilities.

The Missouri Senate gutted a bill that would have made lawmakers wait a year after they left office before they became paid lobbyists. Now the legislators just have to finish out their terms before they can accept money to lobby for certain ideas or businesses.

Wow!

Law School 101

February 27, 2016

A professor at the University of Missouri behaved badly, and the legislature decided to cut funding to the University unless they fired her. No letting the university work out its own issue, nothin’. Just cut funding—essentially bullying the University into doing what the legislators wanted.

Aren’t the majority of these people lawyers? Haven’t they ever heard of due process?

The Greater Good

February 24, 2016

To convince us that he’s the right man to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate, Roy Blunt has vowed to block any person that President Obama nominates to the Supreme Court, regardless of the person’s qualifications.

Senator, I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way. I think you’re supposed to be trying to find the person who will do the most good for your constituents, not act like a little kid who’s just trying to annoy some other kid he doesn’t like.

Taylor House

February 17, 2016

Hey, Everybody.

I’m plugging another book.

The book is Taylor House, by Andrea Maxwell. It’s historical fiction, but the themes are still very much in play today.

I read an early draft of this book a few years ago, and enjoyed it; and it’s gotten even better. I’m jumping the gun, because I haven’t finished it yet, but I wanted to let you know it’s out there.

A preview is available on Amazon.

So preview it, and then buy lots of copies.

Enjoy the Fun Stuff

February 10, 2016

We had a light snowfall the other morning. I knew I should be getting ready for work, but in this situation a person has certain responsibilities.

So I put on my snow boots and scuffed around in the fluffy snow for a minute. What a great feeling!

When Will They Ever Learn? (Part 2)

February 8, 2016

Having spent oodles of money in their failed attempt to keep the NFL in St. Louis,

officials are assuaging their grief at the loss

by considering spending oodles of money to lure a Major League Soccer Team here.

Second verse, same as the first.

When Will They Ever Learn?

February 7, 2016

Remember the song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” The chorus is, “When Will They Ever Learn?”

Stan Kroenke and a partner want to build a project here in Maryland Heights.

Stan and his partner want (drumroll, please) taxpayer funding, and to build in a flood plain.

In addition to Stan’s open disdain for St. Louis, and to the money the area lost on trying to keep his Rams here, the St. Louis area was just hit by historic flooding, in part caused by relentless building in flood plains. You’d think this would be the trifecta of a no-brainer: NO, Stan! NO!

But officials are considering the proposal.

When WILL they ever learn?

Open Carry

January 15, 2016

Texas is now allowing people who have the proper permits to carry guns openly instead of hiding them.

I never understood the concept of making people hide them in the first place. If you've got a permit for a gun, why can't you carry it openly; and if you're not allowed to carry it openly, why do you need another permit to have it concealed? It never made sense to me.

Besides, I'd rather know somebody was packing than find it out the hard way.

I could only ever think of 2 reasons why a gun had to be concealed:

1. Maybe if the gun wasn't handy, it would make it harder to whip it out and shoot somebody on the spur of the moment; or

2. Maybe a miscreant or suspected lawbreaker could be charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit when there was nothing else to bust him for. 

Anyway, I'll be watching to see if allowing open carry affects the crime rate. Might increased availability lead to more shootings? Or might the increased visibility encourage people to use more circumspection in their dealings with each other?

Restless Minds

January 29, 2016

Since I run in place a lot, someone commented on my “nervous energy.” I told her that it’s not nervous energy—it’s my primary form of exercise, as otherwise my idea of a rigorous workout is reaching from the armchair to the bookcase.

I was reminded of that exchange the day I saw the article on making fancy Superbowl snacks. Someone put mini footballs on deviled eggs; and a figure of a football player in the home-made caramel corn; and they made some mushroom snacks, and a bunch of other stuff. Whatever happened to chips with Velveeta dip, to be mindlessly eaten while people were yelling at the screen? Does anybody really appreciate well-crafted Superbowl snacks?

I think that making fancy snacks for the Superbowl is a symptom of nervous mental energy. Like the thousand ways of making decorative placecards for your Thanksgiving table out of pine boughs or little turkey figures; or braiding plastic bags into rugs. But nobody ever calls it “nervous mental energy”; they call it “creativity.” And they write articles lauding this behavior, and encouraging other people to engage in it!

You say “Creativity”; I say “Restless minds.”