The nature of “warnings” has changed in the last few years. I remember the day when a “tornado warning” meant someone had spotted an actual tornado. But the other day I saw a warning issued because of circumstances that were likely to lead to a tornado. Twenty miles offshore. I mean no disrespect to the…
Because I love torturing myself, I occasionally use social media to check on some of the Christians I have known in the past who have shown signs of faith slippage. Invariably I find what I expect. It’s a sickness. I need to stop.
Anyway, one lovely young girl from our past got a tattoo on her foot awhile back. It reads, “Everything happens for a reason.” She has a beautiful baby girl now. Never been married. I doubt she sees the irony.
On April 27, 2017, off-duty border patrol agent and expectant father Dennis Dickey fired a high-powered rifle at a target packed with an explosive known as Tannerite. It exploded in a huge ball of blue smoke, indicating to the delighted crowd of friends that his child would be, in fact, a boy.
To put it mildly, things went downhill from there.
Alton Brown, my favorite foodie, has a real attitude about what he calls “unitaskers” — that is, kitchen implements that serve only one function. Strawberry slicers, rice cookers, countertop rotisseries, basically anything sold on late-night television — scrap them all. The only unitasker you should have in your kitchen, he says, is a fire extinguisher.
It is the exception to the unitasker rule that I would like to address here.
It’s time for another report from the Facebook links. Really, one of these days I will quit watching these things. But then again, if I did, where would I get ideas for this column?
Anyway, in this particular instance a woman was being interviewed by a TV reporter because she had difficulties while dropping her children off at school. She was running late, so she decided to cut through an elementary school parking lot to get to another school in the neighborhood, driving around two traffic cones while doing so. One schoolteacher was so upset at her actions that he literally threw himself onto the hood of her car.
We ship Kylie back to college this week. It’s sad on multiple levels. But it is part of the process of watching a young person grow up. On the whole, it would be much, much sadder if it didn’t happen. If I tell Tracie that enough times, maybe she will start to believe me.
American efforts at sex education are ridiculed by many for a strong emphasis on abstinence. “We know kids are going to have sex,” the argument goes, “so we should teach them a safer way.” Whether this curriculum “works” or not is irrelevant in my view, as it avoids the central issue. The problem is not kids getting pregnant or getting STDs; the problem is kids going to hell.
I have to admit, I am not a big fan of walkouts. And I appear to be in the minority. Everyone seems to be staging walkouts these days. Generally, as I understand it, a walkout involves people abandoning their proper, useful activity such as school or work and spending their time instead telling people how righteous their cause is — as though school and work are not righteous causes themselves.
I’m not doubting the sincerity of the people involved, nor am I necessarily casting aspersions on their respective causes. I’m just saying, it’s very convenient to pat yourself on the back for taking a day off.
Emily Ratajkowski, well known body-paint model and social commentator, complained recently that she doesn’t get “serious” roles in Hollywood. (I have trouble assigning the word “serious” to anything related to Hollywood, but that’s another article.)
People are odd. There are places in this country where, when something horrible (as they define “horrible”) happens, riots break out. In those same places, when something wonderful (as they define “wonderful”) happens, riots break out. I’m starting to wonder if maybe there are people in this world who just like to set fires, break stuff and steal things.
