Over the weekend we worked on Moments of Motivation for the ROAMcare site for September and October. It’s a good thing we’re almost done with the year because I’m not so sure I can keep a positive enough outlook to find another 9 or 10 somethings to feel motivated over.
Here are some random thoughts that gave me pause this weekend.
The US has more guns than people. We currently stand at 1.2 guns per person. I know for a fact that neither I nor my daughter have any, so someone is walking around with over 3&1/2 guns. Actually, there are some walking around with way more than their 1.2 allotment. Late last week, local firefighters responded to a house fire but had to wait an half hour or so until the 20,000 rounds ammunition stored in the building stopped exploding before being able to move in to fight the fire. Crews salvaged more than 100 firearms.
Dingy Donald was in Scotland last weekend to play golf at his newly acquired second golf course there, drop in on his original course there, and visit a third that somebody else still owns. I guess because the American taxpayers paid about $10 million in transportation, lodging, staffing, and security, he figured he owes us something, so he also paid a short visit with the European Union President to sign the new tariffs deal. After signing the deal that lowered tariffs to 15%, the grifter in chief said, “We did it.” Oh, care to take a guess what the tariffs rate with the EU was before the orange menace was crowned…err sworn in. If you said 15%, give yourself a piece of Belgian chocolate.
In the interest of fairness (I suppose) news came over the weekend that not all violence is gun violence. Eleven people were stabbed at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan on Saturday in what a Michigan sheriff said appeared to be a random act. No,I don’t think so. The stabbings were done with a folding knife. So this random dude decided to go Walmart with a knife in his pocket, decided to take it out, decided to open it, and decided to slice and dice his nearby fellow shoppers. Does that sound random to you? The sheriff may have trouble with his overall view of life though. He also mentioned to reporters, “Eleven is too many.” Hmm. No word on what the right amount for a weekend stabbing spree would be.
And lastly, on the international front. On Friday, the Russian parliament (who knew they had one?) passed a law to make it illegal to search the Internet for “extremist materials,” punishable by a fine up to the equivalent of US$64. No word on what constitutes extreme. According to an article in the AP “the official definition of extremist activity is extremely broad.”
Okay, that last one did it. I can whip out another dozen Motivation Moments now no problem.
The Real Reality Show Blog 
No word on what the right amount for a weekend stabbing spree would be.
I’m laughing out loud at this line. You raise an excellent point. I await an update from the sheriff clarifying his answer. 🙄
We all have said stupid things but it takes a while different brand in stupid to say then to a group of reporters laid to hang in your every word. Twice! 🙄
“Grifter in Chief”…if you’ve said that before and I missed it, bad on me! Spot on…spot on! 😣
In not sure if that’s a new reference or not. It’s certainly an apt one
Yes, yes, yes! Among a few others that are not share-worthy right here! 😜
Yep!
Orange menace — another great moniker. No one in my family – immediate or extended has guns so that keeps upping that ratio. Crazy!
I can’t claim orange menace as an original. It’s been used so often I’m sure it’s public domain by now. And like yours my extended family are gunless so yes, that ratio does keep climbing. Crazy indeed!
It makes me sad that we’re so prone to violence in this country; well, actually, in the world. When we see others as not worthy of life, as if we have the right to make that choice. Yet you keep a sense of humor, even in the bleak and despairing. I appreciate that. Truth is truth, and you expressed it well. Even your digs at our President were done with a bit of humor, not malice. This is depressing–I had no idea we had so many guns in this country. Who would have thought?
Oh Dayle, likely nobody would have thought 1.2 guns per person, 1200 for every thousand, nearly 417 million guns in total. Sad – and scary. It’s why I keep mentioning it. So people do think of it. And that they think when they see the orange menace playing golf that’s costing us more money that all of SNAP did last year, and that people treat mass violence whether gun violence of a stabbing spree as just another news story. It’s time we all started talking about them. But gently.
Thanks for keeping us aware, my friend. The violence in this country is frightening. We’ve become calloused to the bad, which is why we need to mindfully choose to be hopeful and encouraging. As you said, we can choose to be kind.