Sunday, December 30, 2012

I Giggled Through Both Sets of Comments



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Jonah Goldberg linked the story above, noting it's "Not a Parody".

If you don't want to follow the link, I'll give you a quick recap.  Sirota's son has a book called "The Jolly Barnyard".  It's a Golden Book, if you have kids you know these are short little stories for the 2 - 5 year old set.  Tommy  had "Poky Little Puppy", then we moved on to Time magazine because he was smarter than me.  Anyway, apparently Chick-fil-A has put their logo on a republication and they are giving them away.  The kid loves the book and demands it be read every night.

What's the problem?  Well, the Sirota family are vegetarians and Sirota doesn't know how the book got in the house and he hates the book and he's mad he has to read it.

So Sirota threw it away?  Umm, no.  He gives in to the two year old and keeps reading.

So Sirota blames????????  Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A and takes a swipe at Cathy's views on gay marriage.  He also rails that Cathy shouldn't be lying to children?  What?  You think they should write a truthful book about where the chicken comes from????  You're killing me!

The best comment on Goldberg's post reads in part -
Good grief, Sirota!
Would you prefer that precious toddler be reading "Fun at the Fowl Factory"? "Punky and the Poultry Processors"? Perhaps "Abby Goes to the Abbatoir"?

Sirota is as asinine as the vegetarian neighbor I had who wanted me to discipline my son for an action he hadn't taken, but might have.  He told me this while his limp children watched.  He walked toward me as he spoke.  He was taller, I am sure I was supposed to be intimidated.  I walked right back at him laughing.  Later he secretly asked a neighbor when my husband was returning from a business trip.  I was hugely insulted!  When his wife told me later he didn't mean it.  I told her I didn't care and he shouldn't be worried about John so much as he should worry about  me, lol.

Anyway, Mr. Sirota, don't blame Dan Cathy or Ed Harris (he also hates that his son knows the jingle for the "orange monster", Home Depot) for your massive shortcomings as a parent.  Get rid of the book, shut of the TV.  How did your son even hear a commercial?  Are you watching/listening to something other than PBS & NPR?  For shame!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

What???? I've Been Busy

My parents have decided to sell and I am going to land in......Hull.  Is it the greatest?  Is it the biggest?  Was it the cheapest?  No, but it is on the water, and I mean, building; one lane road; dune.  I am on the ocean side of the building and it has hardwood floors and a reasonable closet.  For my birthday I might be asking for those hurricane shutters......lol.

So I've been sorting and packing and discovering the joy of "Air Bags" and throwing things away.  Today I threw away a feather pillow that I bought in 1982.  It was beat to hell and it was in a box of other bedding.  What was I going to do with it?  Is there a "feather pillow reviving" place?  Anyway.

Frank and I made a quick New York trip.  Didn't get much done but we ate off of street carts and lived to tell the tale.  I asked William Shatner to handle the hotel for me and we got.....Andaz on Wall Street, it's on the Conde Nast Gold list.  Just lovely.  It was good recon for when I go back in a few months.

I've been holding my tongue on a lot of the Newtown/gun control/mental health debate because some people's ignorance is so appalling.  If I started, it would end with the Secret Service on my doorstep.

Let me just say that I am surprised at how many act like this is the epitome of evil.  Newtown was awful and I grieve with my fellow Americans, but it was not so long ago that Islamic Chechnyan terrorists killed 185 children in Beslan.  One of the things people rightfully point out about Americans is that we are rather self-centered.  WBCN used to have a DJ who joked about a chart that measured American lives against foreign lives.  This is a perfect example.

Lots of people point to European models when talking healthcare or social services.  Well, let's look there now. People who advocate for gun control categorize Russian gun laws as "Restrictive" but as I said guns killed 380 people there including 185 children.  How about Norway?  Another "restrictive" country, yet Anders Breivik managed to kill 77 people there, 50 of whom were 18 & younger.  So my question is, where will more gun control get you?

So you're upset that children are dead?  Well then you must have backed US action in Afghanistan where we were helping to educate people and rebuild the infrastructure.  After all, what better way to make inroads against the nearly 20% child mortality rate there.  Lot's of children waiting to be saved in Afghanistan.

Oh, no?  It's American children you care about?  Well then, you must be out there advocating better car seats & safer driving because the leading cause of death in American children 5 to 14 is motor vehicle accidents.

More children in gun owning households die from gun accidents.  Yeah and more children in two story house die of falls than in one story houses.  More children in homes with pools drown than those without.  More children on farms die in machinery accidents than city kids.  What's your point?

But really, that's not what this is all about is it?  It's just an opportunity to attack the 2nd Amendment.  Like Rahm Emmanuel said, "Never let a crisis go to waste.".  If you bought Obama's tears at that press conference then I don't know what to say to you.  If you don't understand that the 2nd Amendment is an important check in our system of checks and balances, then I don't know what to say to you.  If you don't understand that Newtown is more of an indictment of our mental health system than the 2nd Amendment, then I don't know what to say to you.

Newtown, like Beslan and Norway, was an evil thing.  It's not a lesson or an opportunity.  It's just evil and evil exists and will never be stopped.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Irony

Saturday I had to go meet Frankie someplace I had never been before.  I missed the train but Google said there was a way around it.  The whole trip took twice as long as imagined.

But on the way back, I realized that there was a very easy way to have done this.  Easier than the train and free because I have a T pass.  I also got a good sense of the place from walking all around.

So you know what this means, right?

I'll never have reason to go there again.

USS Constitution Christmas Tree Lighting

I was down in the Charlestown Navy Yard for Old Ironsides Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.  Santa visited and with the help of one lucky child flipped the switch to illuminate a tree donated by Mahoney's and decorated by loads of children.

Boy Scout Troop #511 of Burlington,MA were aboard to participate and help out.

Directly after evening colors, Santa came aboard to the cheers of everyone present.  After the tree was lit there were cookies and cocoa for everyone.

I was hanging with my friend Tom who is one of the 1812 Marines.  Here we are in front of the goat locker!

You can see more pics of the event on USS Constitution's Facebook page.

Saturday, December 01, 2012

Sometimes Being Polite Is Overrated


A young woman was attacked in Charlestown last Saturday evening coming from the Community College T Station.

Here story is printed in the Charlestown Patch.

First let me be clear, this woman is a victim who did nothing wrong and the only one to blame is her attacker.

But let's look at this incident and try to put together some "Lessons Learned"

The part that really struck me about "Michaela"s story was when she said she knew as the man approached her that something was wrong.  Many security specialists will tell you that victims, particularly women often feel something is wrong, but don't act.  It's largely attributed to how women are raised to be more compliant than men.  They are expected to go along, be polite, don't kick up a fuss.  No one wants to be embarrassed.  Even when something primal inside us says "RUN".

I would suggest all women read Gavin de becker's "The Gift of Fear"  it's ages old, but still relevant.

I want to say to all women in Charlestown think about this now and decide that when your creep radar goes off you will act.  Turn back to the place where you saw people.  Don't stop when someone asks for the time, a dollar or directions.  Not when you are alone at night.

When you leave the well-lit and populated T station, zip your phone in your pocket or bag; take your ear buds out of your ears; pull your bag tighter; walk near the curb & be ready to step out into traffic to get attention; watch your shadow for people behind you.  Look behind you, it's not paranoia, it's situational awareness.  Walk purposefully.  Don't walk with your head down. Avoid isolated, dark shortcuts.

If you are worried about appearing rude, who cares?  What?  Is this stranger going to take you off his Christmas card list.  Your safety is paramount.