#190 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday November 8)
Good morning,
I thought I’d make this “Monday mélange” short and focused on notable headlines of the past few weeks.
I’M STARTING TO BELIEVE WE JUST AREN’T VERY NICE
Two themed headlines. First, we have the first Guantanamo prisoner testifying in court about our mistreatment and torture of prisoners. Second, we have yet another failed, grotesque death penalty by lethal injection gone awry. Some poor fellow, whose crime I do not know but who nonetheless didn’t deserve a torturous death, went into convulsions and vomiting in Oklahoma while writhing on a gurney in pain from the administration of a lethal injection.
Will we ever get past the desire not merely to inflict punishment, but to do so in a manner so depraved and devoid of humanity as to question our own moral stature?
TRANS-GENDER BATHROOMS
This seems one of the “third rails” of our current debates on social issues. And I have to say it’s hard for me to get behind either side. I understand the need to accommodate those of a non-binary or transgender nature. And I also see the need to accommodate those who still feel more comfortable using facilities limited to more traditional gender roles. But if there is a separate bathroom or stall or some other means of trying to accommodate both simultaneously and respectfully, doesn’t that seem reasonable? The number of protests—by students and parents—including vile and violent threats surrounding this issue—hardly is warranted in a world where we have rampant unaddressed homeless issues, climate issues, a pandemic, geopolitical instability, and a teetering economy. And I’m not even including the fragile state of our democracy, under attack daily and virulently, often by people who know better.
CANNABIS—ON THE SKI SLOPES AND IN A PRISON NEAR YOU
Over 40,000 people are currently in prisons throughout the United States, serving time for non-violent crimes related to the use, cultivation and sale of cannabis. Meanwhile, 18 states have legalized the use of cannabis, while 13 other states have decriminalized its use. There are more cannabis stores than liquor stores in Aspen, where cannabis sales now equal alcohol sales. Industries are being built around this business and those in business try to dance around federal illegality, all while providing a product that people want, in conditions and regulations designed to increase safety. Yet others still languish in prison.
PETA TO THE RESCUE—HERE COMES THE “ARM BARN”
Finally, an issue one can hardly care less about and emblematic of the single-issue focus that has doomed us to endless debates of the meaningless…
PETA is demanding that baseball change the name of the “bullpen” to the “arm barn.” I’m serious. Here is the crux of this ridiculous argument: “Words matter, and baseball ‘bullpens’ devalue talented players and mock the misery of sensitive animals,” according to PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.
I have yet to hear of a complaint from a single player or coach regarding the use of this quaint, archaic phrase for our glorious quaint, archaic game. Get. A. Life.
Have a good day,
Glenn
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