Almost every day there’s something in the news that is ridiculous, stupid, or just downright indecent. For anyone with more than two working brain cells you must sit back and say to yourself, “What have we evolved into?” because of what is taking place. It’s not just in America that humanity seems to have been lost, it’s all over the world, in various forms. You just cannot escape the FACT that common sense and decency have all but been obliterated from society. All sorts of theories have been put forth as to why it has happened and, perhaps, some of them have merit…but which ones? You might examine this or that theory and decide that it was correct and then, the very next day someone comes along and presents a different one, and you accept THAT one because it more closely resembles your own thinking. As the King of Siam was supposed to have said, “Tis a puzzlement.” … and it is.
There was a time, within human memory of us older folks, when our country was The One. We were at the top of the heap and we saved the world from the evil forces that were trying to take it over. Yes, we had allies in both of the World Wars, but it was, and is, the United States that bears the brunt of the efforts. In that “magical time” we made it, we invented it, or we took what there was and improved it…that’s what The One was supposed to do, and we did it. Now, things are different and when I say different that means SO different that it boggles the mind! A report by the U.S. Commerce Department says “The United States is heavily dependent on critical mineral imports. If China or Russia were to stop exports to the United States and its allies for a prolonged period, similar to China’s rare earths embargo in 2010, an extended supply disruption could cause significant shocks throughout U.S. and foreign critical mineral supply chains.” Now, does it strike anyone else that we are in a bind here? Our military uses these so-called rare earths are often used in the production of aircraft, computers and GPS systems and it’s been noted that we also buy microchips from China that MAY have pre-installed “bugs” in them. The idea that China could possibly interrupt or control our military weaponry by the use of their built-in bugging is not something we should ignore. China has noted that it could cut off the U.S. from some rare earth minerals should the trade war continue. World conditions are such that we could be involved in some sort of shooting war with China or Russia at some point in the future. Do we need to buy military by-products from our potential enemies? I think not.
In July 2017, a pajama-clad woman approached a police car in Minneapolis. It was early evening, there were two policemen in the car and one was a Somali immigrant, ostensibly the first one on the force.
The facts are that the officer sitting in the passenger seat drew his weapon and fired at the woman who was standing at the driver’s door talking to that officer. The woman died on the spot. He claimed, at his trial, that she “startled” him. That’s a difficult observation to swallow since he watched her walk to the car from where her apartment was, and she was wearing pajamas so no weapon could be concealed. The silence surrounding this case was deafening until he came to trial and was sentenced … to 12 and a half years. The fact that his neighbors described him as “jumpy,” “ill-tempered,” “strict” and “disrespectful of women and blacks.” Certainly did not help his case, and showed that he really should not have been on the police force at all. The sentence he got was, in my not-so-humble opinion, way too easy. You take a life, you give up yours … an eye for an eye, that is my take on common sense. This police officer had an entirely different outlook on civilization and some people thought that if Justine Damond was wearing a hijab, she’d be alive. The reality is that Noor should never have been a police officer, and only was because he was Muslim and the city was trying to have Somalis assimilate…which they will not.
Maybe I’m alone in this, but I didn’t know who or what an Ashton Kutcher was until re-runs of a TV show called Two And A Half Men began airing. He showed up as a rather good actor and in a light comedy mode, perhaps the next Cary Grant, even though those are very large shoes to fill. It just occurred to me that there aren’t THAT many light comedies being filmed anymore and perhaps it’s because there’s no good actors. Now, as to Kutcher…he and his ex-wife Demi Moore run Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, which helps victims of human trafficking. With their help, law enforcement has been able to identify 5,894 child sex trafficking victims. 103 children were also rescued from grievous situations of sexual abuse in 2017. For that alone, he has earned my respect, and his acting ability is a bonus.
Parting shot: We, as humans, simply have to learn to get along, or we are going to perish as a species, right?
