All the News That
Fits, We Print
Some may recognize the above title as the former mast head
of the NY Times, slightly modified. Back in the day the original read “All the
News That’s Fit To Print.” Obviously for
much print news media that is no longer the case.
So where to start
this day, 11/21/2019?
In Florida
oddities, a man was arrested after being discovered hiding in the ceiling of a
Walmart in (where else) South Florida. Bad enough to be there. Worse to be
discovered. But, his refusal to come down was apparently the last straw for the
law enforcement officers who were called to the scene. After refusing several
times to present himself on the floor, he was “tased”. He came down. Somewhere,
Darwin is chuckling..
In the “PhDs aren’t
always bright in other areas”, category, Economist Walter Williams is at it
again. He denounces essentially the entire scientific community for claims supporting
the idea that global warming is a real problem. He does so, using just one book
by an author, not a recognized scientist, by the way, who has cherry picked data
to fit his narrative (and sell books to deplorables). Williams apparently
believes this, in spite of all the 90 + percent of the world’s reputable (and
actual) scientists who maintain otherwise.
Sadly, this
approach has become the norm for many conservatives who only hear what they
wish to believe. If the good doctor grants credibility to this book, which I
choose not to publicize by name, he must really pleasure himself to Erich Van
Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods.”
In a more local
item, a man was arrested yesterday in nearby Lady Lake, for possession of
Marijuana and Cocaine with intent to sell. So? Not all that unusual, right? Well,
maybe a little. It seems that location is everything. When arrested he was
found to have cocaine in, among other locations in the vehicle, his ear! I’ve
heard of snorting, but...? Without further amplification, one can only guess how
this was meant to turn out. But wait, there’s more. The charges were escalated in
severity because he was within 1000 yards of a church. At first, I was unable
to come to a rational conclusion as to why this was a matter in aggravation,
and then it hit me! This addendum to the law was urged by the churches, themselves,
who are determined to eliminate competition regarding distribution of opiates
to the masses.
In Kansas,
animal control personnel responded to a call regarding three animals traveling together
as companions along a rural county road. Oddly enough, the three escapees were
a camel, a donkey and a cow. (honest!) I assume they were a sort of moving
creche, getting an early start to Bethlehem. They won’t make it this year, though,
as they were herded into a van and returned to their owner.
Appropriately, the US Navy, in a rebuff to Donald Trump, who pardoned and actually promoted one of three
war criminal SEALS, over the specific objections of the Chief of Naval Operations,
did what Trump cannot undo, remove their SEAL designation. For these three
trigger happy assassins this is equivalent to revoking their licenses to kill.
Lest you think I’m turning on the service I
served for 26 years, let me make this clear: SEALS do a nasty, clandestine and,
for security reasons, usually under-recognized job. This job requires
discipline and professionalism, which most maintain in the face of unimaginably
difficult and split-second circumstances. As Jack Nicolson says in A Few Good Men,
these guys are “The sentries who stand on the wall and protect us.” As in the
same play, however, these three went off the reservation, posing proudly with
their “kills” and in one instance slitting a young woman’s throat when she was
captured.
As with Submariners,
of which I was a very senior one, SEALS are trained to a higher level, and expected
to exercise discipline in doing their job. Don’t even for a moment think I’m
equating the mission of Submariners with that of SEALS. The essential difference
is that the training Submariners get and constantly hone is aimed at doing what
is necessary in a crisis to save the lives of their shipmates or insure the
survival of the boat. SEAL training is completely different, since it generally
involves killing, even if while saving others.
In civilian parlance
it’s somewhat similar to comparing Police Officers to Fire Fighters. Both are
terribly difficult and sometimes life-threatening callings, but with almost
diametrically opposite aims in most cases.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice was crafted
to deal with these differences between military and civilian job requirements. Sadly,
some of those same folks who blindly support a policeman who kills an unarmed
individual, seem to feel that the rules are similar for the military. Not so
much.
Famous trial lawyer,
and former Marine fighter pilot, F. Lee Bailey, famously said that if he were
to be tried for a serious offense, he would prefer a military court martial over
any civilian court. He went on to explain that military courts are generally far
more fact driven and less emotion susceptible.
When a Senior
force Commander convenes a court martial the result is probably more likely to
reflect a just determination of fact than a civilian court. When Trump overrides
not one, but three verdicts over the express strenuous objection and
recommendations of the senior naval officer in the nation and issues pardons
for serious crimes, he is standing in waters he cannot fathom. Ordering the
promotion of one of the offenders is yet a further insult. In this case, Trump
is playing to an ignorant support base who have no idea of what is truly
involved.
On a lighter note to close:
An Arizona man was
recently shopping the meat aisle at a Buckeye (yep, really) Arizona, Walmart. Arizona
is a state which, in true Joe Arpaio spirit, requires zero proof of any sort
for a gun owner to either open or concealed carry a handgun, so our stalwart hero felt free to carry his
piece "commando-style" (unholstered) beneath the waistband of his
jeans. As he shopped, the unsecured gun drifted down into his jeans. Reaching
to retrieve said piece, he inadvertently pulled the trigger while repositioning
his weapon. He shot his own sausage, blowing off a significant portion of his
low hanging fruit. Having shredded his ability to reproduce (see, there is a
bright side) he survived, sadder, lighter, but probably little wiser. This article
produced several amusing responses on a Facebook page where it was posted. Entries
included:
"Was his gun named 'Lorena'? "So, he went off half-cocked?"
"Fresh sausage half off!" “His barrel was shortened that day."
"Friends call him 'snub-nose' now."
“He's not half the man he used to be."
And my favorite: "Clean
up on Aisle 4."
Until next time.
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