Sandy Hook

It's been a few days since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

This tragedy is about mental illness and our failure to find a way to deal with it. The common thread in most mass shootings is a deranged person. Are we working on laws to deal with those people? Are we creating programs to deal with mental health issues?

 On the same day in China a man stabbed 22 children at a school. The Chinese are experiencing a rash of school attacks. The perpetrators pick schools for their attacks because they know that they will get a lot of publicity for their causes. The Chinese have been executing those responsible, but the trend of attacks continues.

Led by the Moron Mayor of New York, the anti-gun forces are now planning to pass more laws to restrict gun ownership. Why pass laws? There are laws against illegal immigration, but the Obama administration has announced that they will not enforce those laws. They will probably want to enforce gun laws, however. Maybe they should start by enforcing the laws that we already have. Anyone in the Obama administration ready to talk about Operation Fast and Furious??

Here's an interesting point to ponder. When a drunk driver or someone speeding kills people, there is never any talk of banning automobiles. Why?? Because everyone realizes that the cause is the individual and not the vehicle. Why then do they want to ban guns everytime a shooting occurs?

I have guns that have never killed anyone. Why is my right to own them being challenged? A few weeks ago a friend of more than forty years took his own life. That gun had sat quietly in a closet for more than thirty years until someone with a mental illness problem used it. Did the gun kill my friend or did he kill himself?? Except for the mental illness, the gun would still be on the shelf.

The government is focusing on the wrong element in this tragedy.

Christmas on the horizon??

Christmas is approaching at warp speed and I haven't done anything to get ready for it. So basically, everything is normal for this time of year. When I was a kid, my mother would get a Christmas bonus from the Jewish man she worked for a couple of days before Christmas. We would do all of our gift buying on Christmas Eve or the day before that. Some things don't change.

If you are a Tex & Shirley's customer, I probably won't see you this year. I will use this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas. I will be at Buffalo Church on Christmas Eve at 5:00 for our Christmas Eve service if you want to visit.

I rarely enjoy anything in the News & Record, but there was a great piece called "A child of divorce sees how life must move on" by Barbara Currie. I really enjoyed it. Here's a link: http://www.news-record.com/opinion/397580-94/town-square-a-child-of

My new job is going well. Life is full of new experiences and this is one of those. More on that later.

Johnny Mathis has hit bottom. I just saw him in an Old Navy commercial on TV.

Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner, has overturned the suspensions of several New Orleans Saints players. Apparently trying to intentionally hurt someone is less important than good relations with the players union. It's amazing that Tagliabue can stand without a spine!

While I'm on football, what's with all the players with shoulder length hair hanging out of their helmets? I turned on a game a few weeks ago and thought that the sport had gone coed.

Last football shot! The Panthers are demonstrating that just because the owner is successful in the restaurant business is no indicator that he will be successful in football. I lived in Tampa when the Bucs started so I have seen this show before. I'll pass on watching it again.

The customer base in fast food restaurants seems to thrive on piercings and tattoos. Why do people get their faces pierced? How do you eat with a hoop through your lip?

There is an all-vegan restaurant opening in Greensboro. I would have to take some beef jerky to eat while I waited for a table.

In related news, I think that Tex & Shirley's is giving up on their new Vegetarian Vegetable Soup. I'm tired of people stopping me in the grocery store to tell me how bad the new soup tastes.