That Football Thing

I'm not a football fan.  Especially the NFL, and it has nothing to do with the kneeling controversy.  I wasn't a fan for years before; I simply had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon.  But, it is impossible to not know that last week, a Brows player ripped the helmet off a Steelers player and smacked him with it.

And, the question becomes: Should he be criminally charged?  I think not, ad I'm happy to explain it.  It goes to something called implied consent and the Games People Play.

We can all pretty much agree that it's against the law to shoot someone, but if a bunch of folks get together to play paintball, it's good clean fun.  However, if you take that paintball gun into the Dollar General and light up the cashier, you can believe that the cops will be along soon to admonish you.  Consent is important.

Another example:  If I slip up behind my wife and kiss her on the neck, it's endearing.  But, if I try that with he clerk at the Dollar Store, the police will be along shortly.  It's all about Consent.

Laws vary from state to state, but pretty much everything that happens on a football field could be considered an assault, or a battery.  The simple act of suiting-up and stepping onto the field implies consent that you know you may  have the living-hell knocked out of you.  It's part of the game.  It has rules and it has penalties, and the players are disciplined for breaking the rules.

I don't watch much football, and especially not at the NFL level.  I believe that they are overpaid, pampered prima-donnas who generally spend too much time playing a child's game.   But, its a huge money-maker and I understand why some people like it.  I simply have better things to doon Sunday afternoon.

Louisiana Screws Itself

Louisiana has once again elected a Democrat governor, by the slimmest of margins.  The deep-blue urban voters came through to elect a governor that would be unacceptable as a Democrat in many areas of the country.  He's pro-choice, pro-Second Amendment, and claims to be bi-partisan.  We will see how bi-partisan he truly is, because our legislature is solidly Republican, with a super majority.  Hopefully, he won't do any more harm than the has already done.  Louisiana is shedding population, and precisely the population no state wants to shed.  The taxpayers are leaving at a prodigious rate.  I, personally, had two adult, tax-paying children leave Louisiana this past summer for better opportunities than they could find in Louisiana.  This outward migration has occurred thousands of times this year, to the tune of Louisiana population declining by some sizable percentage of the population this year.

But, the urban tax-grabbers want to elect another Democrat.

It was a close-run thing, but Louisiana should be ashamed.  Our only hope now is the Legislature.  With a super-maority, hopefully we can tamp down the excesses that the governor wants to foist upon us. 

Peanut Brittle

We had a family gathering today, and while we were preparing, Belle whipped up a quick batch of peanut brittle.  She makes this treat occasionally, normally during the cool months, and today she had a sweet tooth.

This candy is easy, it really is.  It's all done in the microwave.  The recipe is here.

In Louisiana, it's a big voting day.  This is our general election, and were deciding our governor and a host of local races all over the state. 

School Shooting Southern Cal

Evidently, there was a huge problem at a high school in southern California today.

The Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department just held a press conference and confirmed that two students aged 16 and 14 have died in the hospital. The shooter is alive but gravely injured and under medical care. The shooter's social media accounts are being investigated. The weapon used was a semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol. Thursday is the shooter's 16th birthday.

It's quite disturbing the number of laws that were broken there today.  By my calculation, it is quite illegal for a 16-year-old to possess a handgun without an adult around.   It's also illegal for a handgun to be on a school campus, and it's decidedly illegal to shoot someone with it.

I would also note, for the record, that once again, a mass shooting happened in a gun-free zone.   I haven't seen any reporting on how the shooter became wounded, whether by his own hand, or by other armed personnel.

Safety Tip

A winter safety tip from the Glen Rose (TX) Veterinary clinic.



That's good advise, and a cautionary tale.

Baked Mac and Cheese

My grandfather would make macaroni and cheese whenever he got a hankering.  Not that stuff in the box, no, this was baked in the oven.  He'd start digging in the cabinets, looking for pasta, and he didn't care.  Elbow macaroni, spaghetti, even lasagna noodles would go in the pot.  While that boiled, he'd grate whatever cheese he could find, mix it all in a bowl, and add mild, then stir in a little salt and pepper.

When the noodles were cooked, he would drain them, put them in a casserole, and add it the cheese/milk mix, stirring it together. Then he'd add enough milk so that he could see it was enough (Sorry about that) and put the casserole on a cookie sheet.  I asked him about that.

"When it boils over, it's done."  He'd take it out of the oven and let it rest on the stove top for a few minutes to firm up. 

That's what I cooked today.  Along with a standard green-ban casserole, and made a big honking meatloaf. 

The boys will eat when they get off the school bus, and later they can nuke a plate if they are peckish.  I'm done cooking today.  And, yeah, the mac and cheese boiled over when it was done.  Good thing I had a cookie sheet under it.

Hillary Dreams

Hillary evidently said on BBC: I Think About What Kind of President I Would Have Been All the Time'

I bet she does, which is why I'm very happy that Donald Trump is president.  Frankly, I"m tired of listening to her whine.  She's not the first person in America to lose an election.  (I know; I lost one last month.)

But, America moves on.  And we've done quite well without Hillary. 

Cold

Global warmening has bit us in the butt.  The weather-weenies are telling us that a severe arctic front has descended upon us, stetting records all over the US.  Here is the weather-weenie graphic for central Louisiana.

Wut?  19 frigging degrees tomorrow morning?  Yeah, I ain't in the mood for that.  I"ll spend a goodly portion of the day making sure that our stuff is going to be okay.  I have seen 19F before, but I don't believe I've seen it in November.

Veteran's Day

I am not a hero.  I'm a soldier. 

I have known heroes and was privileged to walk beside some very heroic people.  To a man, they were always a bit surprised that people called them heroes.

I simply served the best way I knew how, based on the training and experience of my mentors.  Many of them didn't realize what mentoring meant, had never heard the word.  They were my superiors, and insisted on a rigid code of behavior and a firm reliance on discipline.   They didn't like me much, or at least never showed it, but they were always fair about what they expected of me because they expected the same things of themselves and the other people that they supervised.   We stood in the same mud and breathed the same dust.  They were there with the rest of us.

I had good duty, and crappy duty, but the duty I remember best was the duty that was the crappiest.  It was there I was the happiest.  In the field with other soldiers, doing soldier-stuff.  The absolute joy in a hot cup of bad coffee after a cold, wet, night.  The honor and privilege of commanding American soldiers.  When you tell a soldier to do something dangerous, and he looks you in the eye, says, "Yes, sir.", then picks up his rifle and walks off, trusting that you know what you are doing.

I'm not a hero, but I had the privilege of commanding heroes.