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Saturday, November 03, 2018

News Weakly - 11/3/18

Positive Testimony from a Hostile Source
Apparently there is a huge rush in Silicon Valley (Cupertino to San Francisco, give or take) to seriously and completely eliminate any screen exposure from the lives of their children. They appear to have decided -- those who make this stuff -- that screen time is bad for kids. So they're hiring nannies with "no-phone-use" contracts and strict instructions to keep all screens off for the kids. Their standard: No screen time at all. I've written in times past about the danger of screens -- not just the message, but the media itself. It appears that people who ought to know and even who make their living in providing this stuff agree. Something to consider, parents?

A Change of Heart
The World Wildlife Federation has issued a report that warns that the planet's vertbrates have dropped by 60% since 1970. That's overall. In places like Central and South America it is as high as 89%. On an individual basis, like the African grey parrot in Ghana, the population is down 98%. According to the story, "The report highlighted how humans have negatively affected the general health of the planet."

As a result, they've declared school shooters, mass murderers, people like Niels Hoegel accused of killing over 100 patients, and perpetrators of genocide to be heroes of the planet and urge more people to either kill or to die because clearly the worst thing to ever happen to the Planet Earth (in caps because of its sublime value over against human life) is humans. Now, I'm not being serious, but I am coming to the only possible reasonable conclusion. They said that "a shift to green energy and environmentally friendly food production" ought to fix things. Really? On what planet?

Hate Speech
The other day in my city there was police activity on a major freeway downtown. Three officers were injured and the suspect was dead in a shooting that traversed the freeway and caused a shutdown for something like 18 hours, including the morning rush. A coworker arrived half an hour late grousing because "Trump must be in town; there's a traffic jam." I attempted to inform him that not all traffic jams were caused by Trump. He was dubious.

This week they buried victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Tragic. Reprehensible. Unfortunately, President Trump showed up to pay his respects. He was met by hundreds of protesters declaring "It's your fault." Because everyone knows that the only reason this monster walked into a synagogue and started shooting worshipers was because of Donald Trump.

I'm no fan of the president, but I don't understand this mentality. If something bad happens, it's his fault. If he does something, it's bad. There is nothing he can do that is good and the only good Donald Trump is a dead Donald Trump. At what point does this kind of vitriol qualify as hate speech?

Gun Control
Sonny "Tex" Gilligan is lucky to be alive after going hunting with his Rottweiler-mix, Charlie. You see, while they were out, Charlie shot Sonny. No joke. He survived being shot in the back and even forgave him. "Poor Charlie," he said, "He's a good dog."

Clearly it's time to incorporate better background checks. Let's keep guns out of the paws of dogs.

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