Perhaps everyone went mad some time
ago. Maybe I’m just noticing it more with the Presidential election behind us. Whatever
the explanation, I’ve no doubt that we now live in a mad, mad world.
This notion really hit me when I
heard about women in a Boston-area retirement home knitting sweaters for
chickens. They provide their distaff skills for fowl that can’t keep warm in
New England. These are apparently tinier birds that shed their feathers in winter
months or ones that come from tropical climates. The video that accompanied the
piece was adorable, and a spokesperson said egg production has
improved since the birds began wearing these jumpers. It still seems
like a madcap endeavor to me.
Keeping with the subject of
animals, but sadly in a cruel way, a group of poachers broke into the rhino
enclosure in a wildlife preserve in a Paris suburb one night. They shot and
killed a rare white rhino and sawed off one of his horns. Rhino horn, when
powdered, is believed to have “medicinal properties” in some Asian countries.
It’s maddening that animals aren’t safe even in zoos anymore. I wish someone
would cut off the erect appendages of everyone in the supply-and-demand chain
for this exotic powder.
Next we have a report of a $26,500
fine for a Calgary man who tied 100 helium balloons to a lawn chair almost two
years ago. His lift off went up about two and a half miles, creating a danger
for airplanes. No word on whether he was still in the chair at the time. Also
no explanation of why it took this long to decide the fine, which can easily be
calculated to be $265 per balloon. Crazy Canadians. At least he wasn’t playing
“Around the World” on the saxophone while he soared. (That was for you, Lynn.)
In the realm of good news for those
on fixed incomes, we have a quote from Charles M. Becker (not Decker) of Duke
University, by way of Time magazine. “Trailer parks can be thought of as gated
communities for people who aren’t so wealthy.” Yeah. And jails can be
thought of as gated communities for criminals, while insane asylums are gated
communities for those who have gone mad since the election. They have waiting
lists.
Since I can’t avoid talking
politics if the subject is a mad, mad world…
Deputy Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee
Sanders, one of the President’s spokespersons, answered Martha Raddatz’s question
about the alleged Obama wiretaps with: “I
will let the President speak for himself.” Newsflash: dictionary
definition: “Spokesperson: a person who speaks for someone else.” It’s not: “Spokesperson: a
person who let’s someone
else speak for himself.” Maybe she meant
to say: “I will let the President tweet for himself.” We can’t fault her for
that.
Finally, still on politics, Rex
Tillerson, Trump’s Secretary of State, is also quoted in Time, saying: “I didn’t want
this job.” We’re not sure that Trump wanted his
new job, either. But Steve Bannon and Mike Pence would sure love to have it.
Eeny, meeny, miny, mo…
