Nothing Is Clear - But It's All Good. I Think.

There's the nitter-natter of gun control on-going in Washington and other places again, some more. Yes, that's deliberate on-purpose because they talk and talk and talk and, in the end, do nothing. Until next time when it's like a clockwork doll being wound-up again.

As I and others who think as I do have already said, we have a plethora of gun control laws and a plethora of vermin (aka bad guys). The vermin don't pay attention to the gun laws which is why we have shootings. Until the vermin do pay attention to the laws, the shootings won't stop.

Sorry - but the genie is out of the bottle, Pandora's box has been opened and here we are. We have guns, they are readily available no matter what the ill-informed hand-wringers want to believe, and until these vermin are stopped in their tracks - taken down, taken out - they will continue to do heinous things. The laws don't matter because the people who do these things don't and won't abide by them (I'm hoping that by repeating myself, this might sink in a little more).

The only legislation that would help - not solve but help - would be eliminating gun sales at gun shows. If you want to buy a gun of any kind, anything beyond a plastic water pistol that is - you have to go to a licensed gun dealer, fill out the paperwork, take the gun safety test, etc. I still think this needs to go farther.

I still think that beyond the simple paperwork and background check, anyone who wants to own a firearm should have to go through a thorough medical screening. In my opinion giving up the right to medical privacy is a small price if you really want or feel you need to own a weapon. If you want to own a firearm, you should have to undergo a screening - similar to those which police academy applicants have to go through. You should also be required to attend firearm safety classes - including shooting and firearms handling - similar to the training policemen and military trainees go through.

Will that be a 100% surety? No. But I'm willing to wager that among the law-abiding it would clear the risky and allow the rest of us to breathe a bit more easily if open carry becomes popular and more common in states other than Texas and Arizona.

I was interested to see an article about a sheriff in upstate New York who is asking permitted citizens and off-duty policemen to carry their weapons. Heck, since the laws aren't a deterrent because they're just a bunch of words on paper the vermin will never read, perhaps a visual aid will do the trick. While he's posting that, I'll go back to advocating for firearm education and open carry.

In the meantime, as sorry as I am for what happened in San Bernardino, it is yet another situation about which I can do nothing. I have no effect for change, no ability to undo. Instead, I have a life ahead of me and it's calling.

Browsing the news again this morning I see the politicians are playing politics again. The Senate passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood for one year (as if that will do any good) and strip some of the assets from Obamacare (as if that will do any good). It'll go back to the House where they'll wet themselves over what a great job they're doing. It'll get passed back to the Senate and, eventually, will end up on Obie-One's desk.

Now, do you really think for one nanosecond that he's going to sign a bill that removes a part of  his "landmark" legislation - his pride and joy - and defunds one of his favorite organizations in one swell-foop? Not on your life. It's laughable and pathetic. It's just something these yahoos can point to going into an election year and say, "we tried".

Closer to home, today is the dreaded Holiday Party. I suspect that, as these things usually turn out, I will get there and have more fun than I expect to have right now. Right now it's the dread of trying to figure out what to say to a bunch of people I don't know beyond work, and a whole bunch more who work in other offices in other cities. Back to the wallflower impression - standing in the corner, glancing at my watch, wishing it would just end. Unfortunately, getting blitzed is not an option. I really don't want to start tomorrow morning with my head hanging over a toilet bowl. However, I may just get silly - to encourage the start of conversation. What do you think about this:

As for tomorrow, as soon as my feet hit the floor at six o'clock I have a full schedule. Daughter is nearing her Time with Baby No. 1 - the end of February which is just around the corner. I have a carload of furniture and books and dolls to pass along. Her hubby isn't particularly thrilled with my largess because they're moving in a few months, after the baby is born, and he's not looking forward to packing all this stuff up to move it. If they weren't moving nearly 1,000 miles from here, I'd say 'wait' and then deliver it next summer or so.

Unfortunately, they are moving nearly 1,000 miles from here and I don't know how soon I'll have a chance to get up there to visit them. With other things bubbling in my background, it might be a while.

Which means that tomorrow I get to take a long (two hour) drive out to the place where they're living so I can dump my largess on them. Then I get to drive two hours back and do my errands. At least it's a pretty drive - out west toward the Sonoma County coast. This is the best time of year in these parts, in my opinion. It's chilly, but the colors on the trees are pretty - gold and yellow and bronze with a sprinkling of red in some places. With the rain we've been getting, the hills are greening a bit after being gold and brown for the summer, as they always are.

I'm also thinking forward. I have a lot ahead of me - some of it sad, some of it tremendously scary but beyond those, hopeful and (I hope) happy.

Life does go on. We do get up the morning after and make our coffee and take our shower, get dressed and move forward. We go to work, talk to our associates and colleagues. Share information and gossip, eat and, hopefully, make it safely home again.

Wishing you a safe and happy day, a hopeful future and only pleasure.

Best~
Philippa

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Why Do Some People Play The 'Blame Game'?

Very sad news from Lake County last night. One woman, Barbara McWilliams who was 72-years old with multiple sclerosis, died in the Valley Fire that is still burning. I learned of this on Facebook this morning, along with the FB post that prompted me to write this.

The FB post blames emergency personnel for not "doing something". Perhaps this individual who put it up spoke from emotion rather than logic and has since thought better of it, but I still feel compelled to speak up about this kind of 'blame game'. It happens far too often and, perhaps, this will give someone pause in future.

At least one of her neighbors who knew Ms. McWilliams was there stopped to help her. They offered to take her to safety while they were in the midst of evacuating themselves, but she declined. She probably didn't realize how bad it was and thought she would 'ride it out'.

By the time her family realized what was going on, it was too late. The area was cordoned off and fire crews and law enforcement had their hands full trying to get others out, keep the roads clear for the fire equipment and so on.

It's horrible. It's tragic. Unfortunately, it almost couldn't be helped given the entirety of the situation if the woman wouldn't agree to leave when she had the time and opportunity.

It's easy after the fact to point fingers and place blame. Which is what got me started on this. A post on Facebook where one woman "demanded" to know why "someone" didn't do "something" - laying blame squarely on the doorstep of the emergency crews. Another, Ms. McWilliams's caretaker, is doing the same.

This is an ugly sport in which people participate. When something like this happens, fingers fly and blame soars. But I cannot help but ask everyone to stop and answer one simple question: What were emergency workers - already spread thin across the state of California - supposed to do when there were hundreds of other people trying to get out, to find safety?

Take a look at this map:

These are the fires currently burning in California. How many thousands of exhausted, overstretched firefighters are on the lines of those fires, working ten, twelve, fourteen and more hours per day with little rest, doing their level best to keep things from getting worse? How many sheriff's deputies, CHP and police officers - on and off duty - are helping to keep things moving around these fire zones, to keep the way clear for firefighters and emergency crews? Yet people lay blame and, personally, I think that's shameful.

Yes, Barbara McWilliams's death is tragic and horrible, but it's no one's fault. Except, and yes, I will be "brave" enough to say it, perhaps her own for refusing the ride to safety when it was offered.

It's not as if she was deliberately left behind by the emergency crews. No one laughed and pointed and said, "Sorry, no ride for you!" Now that, if they had, would have been beyond criminal - but no one did.

Instead, they tried. The neighbor tried. Emergency crews, when they had the opportunity, tried but, by then, it was too late.

I am terribly sorry for Ms. McWilliams's death. My heart and prayers, along with those of many others, go out to her family but, knowing the little that I do about this woman, I don't think she would be proud or pleased to know that others are blaming the people who were and are doing their level best to save lives and property.

Think about that and, instead of laying blame try offering a hand and a quiet 'thank you'.

Philippa

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