Time Flies.....

.....when you are worn out.

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've posted anything to the blog.  Frankly, even though our nightmarishly busy season at work is over, I'm still buried alive in work to do.

Barely into the New Year, I found out that our IT person and all round Jack of All Trades had accepted a new job and would be leaving before the end of the month.  It was a scramble to try to find a replacement, get the new guy trained and have others on staff (mostly me) pick up the rest of the IT guy's duties.  Maybe, before I am eligible (and rich enough) to retire I'll be able to get back to doing my job duties instead of taking on more.  Yeah, right.  Add to this that our Development Director will be retiring in March (that deserves an entire post of its own), and I'm in stress overload.

When I get home from work I am beat.  I feed half the cats and the dog and then choose between fixing myself something for dinner or feeding the other half of the cats.  On a good day I can do all 3 plus scoop a couple of litter boxes.  Lately, I've been asleep in front of the television by 8PM.

I'm going to make this brief so I can get to the laundry, dishes and, of course, the litter boxes.  I hope you will check out the video links below.  I have been a fan of Bill Moyers since the first time I saw one of his PBS shows many, many years ago.  I am never disappointed and always come away better informed as well as angry about the latest injustice most often committed by our elected officials.  This week was no exception.  He began with the underhanded, but typical, Washington insider BS that gave half a billion dollars to AMGEN, an American biotechnology firm convicted in Federal court in December, 2012 and fined $762 million dollars.  Our tax dollars are supporting a criminal operation - imagine that!  The second segment was about Roe v Wade.  Once again, a thoughtful and informative piece of journalism.  It also gave me hope that the forces on the Right will not continue to dismantle this critical legislation.  I highly recommend watching the full show.

Weird Shit – It’s a Mystery To Me

I miss George Carlin.  He always had a bit about the weird shit in life.  You know, those things that when you look at them logically they just don’t make any sense.  That’s the kind of stuff that has been swirling around in my head lately.  So here are some questions for you……………….

People who hoard guns, including semi-automatic weapons and large ammo clips are, according to Wayne LaPierre of the NRA, just gun fanciers.  Yet women, most of them older, who rescue homeless, unwanted and often injured cats from the street are Crazy Cat Ladies.  So why does society value objects whose purpose is to kill and ridicule compassion? 

Why were states, ruled by Republicans, so concerned about voter fraud in the last election, especially when they could only provide, at best, less than 10 cases of voter fraud in the previous 5 or 10 years?  Yet this same political party reassures us that only reasonable people will buy semi-automatic weapons and large capacity ammo clips at a gun show or pawn shop, without any background check.  How does the damage done or the danger posed by a few hundred, thousand, or ten thousand fraudulent votes compare to the damage done by a 30 round ammo clip in a crowd of people?

 

Those very same state legislatures felt the most pressing agenda item was to further restrict a woman’s access to a legal (by Federal law) abortion, imposing a waiting period and counseling prior to having an abortion performed, yet they object to a 3 day waiting period to purchase a gun.  If abortion is murder to them, exactly what do they think the purpose of a gun is?  Costume jewelry?  A lovely wall hanging?  Maybe a hood ornament for their truck?

Why does society practically deify the Wall Street gamblers, most of whom get richer by having access to insider trading tips (cheating), instead of valuing the hard working people who go to their jobs, either creating tangible objects or providing a much needed service, each and every day?

In light of the damage done to our air, water, ground and overall health by the extraction and use of fossil fuels do humans choose fossil fuels over cleaner energy that will benefit the humans, plants, animals and environment?

Why do those who call themselves Pro-Life generally support the death penalty and the elimination of the social safety nets that primarily benefit living, breathing children?  How does a fetus have more value than an already born child?  

Why do those same Pro-Life people object so loudly to contraception, which is the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and decrease the number of abortions?  

Again, why do these same people, who say they are so concerned about fetuses continue to vilify Planned Parenthood, which in so many areas of the U.S. is the only source of low cost or free prenatal care?  Prenatal care is the best way to insure a woman gives birth to a healthy baby.

Following the exposition of the disgusting and deplorable actions of the Catholic Church, for hundreds of years, regarding their complicity in the thousands of cases of pedophile priests around the world, why are people still attending the Catholic Church and supporting anything said by any Catholic priest, bishop or Pope?

Consider this part of an ongoing list of things about society that continue to baffle, confound and anger me.  Feel free to add some of your own to the list in the comments.  I’d love to hear from you.