Cornhusker Blog Lite

Eating "Tainted" Fish + Shameless Joke Stealing + G.O.M.E.R.

Mental Health & Blogging

• Journaling is one of many activities that can help us cope with clinical depression & chronic anxiety. You may have noticed [with some relief] that I haven't been blogging as often for at least the last month or so. My "substitute journaling substitute" has taken the form of the plethora of devotions that I write for Orphan Grain Train.
• Walking is also one the list of activities that can help with chronic issues like these. Unfortunately, I stopped walking Sammy pretty much after I hurt myself while hiking in Northeast MN last June. The injury to my neck vertebrae prevented me from putting Sammy on a leash & having him jerk me around. After my last appointment, my PT therapist gave me the green light to start walking him again. I started walking him again but w/o the sense of urgency as before. I'm trying to get back to my previous routine, which was walking my dog once in morning before I headed to OGT & once in the late afternoon after I returned.

Food for Thought

From OWH, 10/6:  "North Korean workers prepare seafood for U.S. consumers. Americans buying seafood for dinner @ Walmart or Aldi may inadvertently have subsidized the North Korean government as it builds its nuclear weapons program, an AP investigation has found. Their purchases may also have supported forced labor . . . Often the fish arrives in generic packaging. But some were already branded in China with familiar names like Walmart or Sea Queen, which is sold exclusively at Aldi supermarkets." COMMENT #1:  I wonder if NK is branding its ICBM's w/the "China label" to sneakily shifting the blame to China [whom we know is a good friend to the USA [lol]. COMMENT #2: If you are an anti-war and/or anti-nuclear power advocate, wouldn't buying fish from Walmart or Aldi make you a hypocrite? 

Criminal Minds - California Edition

From USA Today, State by State, 9/28:  "Two people from San Bruno were charged after breaking into an apartment, pepper-spraying a resident & stealing a cat. Police say the suspects knew the victims, & there was a dispute over who owned the cat." COMMENT:
According to my sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, the REAL reason these people got pepper-sprayed is because they refused to vote in favor of "sanctuary status" for San Bruno.

Department of Shameless Joke Stealing

From TV Week, latelaughs, OWH, 10/6:  "In TX this weekend, a movie theater hosted a showing of the movie 'It,' that was for an audience made up entirely of clowns. Only one car showed up, but the place was packed." (Conan)
Ditto:  "I heard that Hillary will actually be signing books at a Costco in Connecticut. It's gonna be awkward when someone gets to the front & goes, 'Oh, I thought this was the line for cheese samples.'" (Jimmy Fallon)

G.O.M.E.R. *

I'm getting a little(?) tired of all this brouhaha over the NFL players. Here's my take for what it's worth.

• Freedom of speech is important.
• The players are employees & their employers--team owners--have the right to shut down the protests and/or fire those who take part in kneeling and/or locking arms.
• Freedom of speech works both ways. Those who support the players' right to free speech but condemn President Trump for his tweets are being hypocritical.
• Yes, it's debatable whether our President should have inserted himself in the fray.
• However, I believe that actions have consequences. Therefore, President Trump is suffering from the natural consequences of his behavior--more criticism from both ends of the political spectrum--although those condemning him are/were in the anti-Trump camp to begin with. He can't have it both ways.
• This also means that players who join in these "demonstrations" have to understand that getting fined, fired, and/or blackballed is also a consequence of their behavior. They, too, can't have it both ways. Martin Luther King, Jr, stood for civil disobedience. As I understand it, he preached that people who practice civil disobedience must be willing to accept the consequences of their behavior. It may be the right thing to do, but choosing to practice civil disobedience can lead to arrests, jail time, fines, etc. Yet I also think he thought this was more effective [taking the moral high ground] than using other means to achieve good. [I'm talking more about those whose public protests have resulted in property damage, injuries, looting, etc.]
• And NFL owners have to accept that these players are costing the NFL big bucks. They can't have it both ways, i.e., supporting the players on one hand & condemning those who choose to spend their money elsewhere, whether fans or advertisers, for . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . actions . have consequences.

* Grumpy Old Men & their Elucidating Rants