The Daily Dose/August 8, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
ME, ME, ME! It is human nature, we suppose, for someone to want to defend themselves and their beliefs.
A Time To Reap, A Time To Sow: As with everything else, there’s a time for it, though. There is a time to assert yourself and a time to keep your yap shut. The hours and even days following two mass shootings is a good time for the latter. No one is interested in hearing your facts and figures.
We thought of this recently as we read some figures someone felt our lives would not be complete without knowing. You may have seen it. It was by someone officially Famous, though we don’t get out much and hadn’t heard of the person before. It ran on the planet’s spewfest, Twitter, though his apology ran on Facebook.
Running The Numbers: Evidently, the 34 mass shooting deaths in the past 48 hours paled in comparison with other types of deaths during the same time frame. For example, in the same time period 200 people died from car accidents, 500 to medical errors, 250 to suicide. There were others. We didn’t fact check them because their accuracy isn’t the point.
What is the point is, one, it was witless and insensitive to bring it up and, two, the numbers are not particularly relevant. Every nation on the planet has car accidents and suicides and medical errors.
FunFact: No other nation on the planet has mass shootings to the extent America does and few have them at all.
Dry, Technical, Matter: Every mass shooting and its aftermath is the same. Thoughts and prayers are issued, t-shirts and hashtags saying Insert-City-Strong are issued and people on both sides of the gun control argument trot out the Second Amendment. All of this points to one thing:
America is broken.
We have been at war every day for the past 30 years. Our current spending and accumulated national debt are almost beyond comprehension. Those two elements themselves are enough to destroy our country, perhaps before this half-century is out.
Oh Yeah: Our biggest problem though, is our deep social divides. Rich vs. everyone else paced by the Democrats that want to tax the rich so they can pay for things to give to the not rich. Whites vs. everyone else, paced by a racist president who has grand wizards from Charleston to Biloxi achieving states of arousal they haven’t seen since prom night.
Well, Now Wait A Second: Actually, the biggest problem is an America electorate that is putting up with this nonsense. Every two years we keep reelecting a partisan, fractured and bickering government and every two years we keep getting partisan, fractured and bickering government. Long after America has collapsed, when there are all new people on this planet and they look back at us, they won’t have to wonder what happened because it will be obvious:
American voters refused to demand better.
USA! USA! The good news is the solution to America’s problems looks us in the mirror every morning because there is no problem a united America cannot solve. Concerned and conscientious, participating and demanding citizens can deliver an America we can be proud of again.
But we must demand better at the ballot box. It’s up to us – you and me, we the people – to make it right. Until we do, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow meets some serious drinkers at the hotel, while at the VSO he sees what’s shaking at the department staff meeting. Today’s Diary.
Just for funsies, I went to part of the 1400 welfare department staff meeting…Not everyone was there, but I was still the only guy and to start we each listed two true statements and one false statement about ourselves and the others had to guess the lie…My three were:
- Avid reader
- Former TV newscaster
- Mostly retired sports official.
I am not particularly surprised my valued co-workers picked former TV newscaster as the lie, but I was rather dismayed at how quickly everyone pounced on it…I was hoping for, at least, even a second or two of thought, maybe even some anguish over it, but nooooooooo…TV newscaster was dismissed immediately.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
More drivel! Click on the button to read all of The Diary of a Nobody. $5.99 includes all entries, past, present, and future:
On This Date
In 1974 – President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, in a speech from the Oval Office. He was succeeded the following day by Gerald Ford. The speech cited highlights of his presidency and looked toward the future, which received mixed reviews. Some applauded the fact it did not dwell on current circumstances, while others derided the lack of contrition. The speech was written by Nixon’s chief speechwriter Richard Price, who had written both his inaugural addresses, as well as President Gerald Ford’s speech pardoning Nixon.
In 1900 – The first Davis Cup competition – then known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge – begins at the Longwood Cricket Club near Boston. Thought up by four members of the Harvard tennis team, the first opponents were from Great Britain and the US won the competition 3 matches to zero, with the fourth match not finished and the final match not played. The Davis Cup is named after Dwight Davis, who played in the first competition and who paid for the trophy. The challenge was not played in 1901, but resumed in 1902 and first featured other countries (France and Belgium) at the 1904 competition in London.
In 1960 – Hank Locklin is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Sides chart – for the 13th of 14 consecutive weeks with Please Help Me, I’m Falling. It was the second and final #1 for Locklin on the country chart and the second of his nine Top 10 country hits. The song also peaked at #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Locklin’s only Top 40 pop hit, and was the third of only five #1 country songs for the year.
Quotebook
Amid world beating hearts, the tumult and the shouting starts.
Grantland Rice
The Start
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The Oscar for Best Original Song for the year 1982 was won by Up Where We Belong. The song was written by – and the award issued to – Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings and was sung by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.
Today’s Stumper
When was the first Davis Cup not played on grass contested? – Answer next time!
