Robert (gurdonark) wrote,
Robert
gurdonark

turbulent times

After work, I walked in Travis Farm Park in Murphy.  This park has an open field which is nice to walk upon just before dark. A Red-Tailed Hawk flew by, its call a bit like the old Colbert Report raptor sound effect.

As I began my walk, a bloodhound came up to check things out. I dislike dogs being off leashes in parks other than dog parks. But this bloodhound was a friendly fellow. I said "hey buddy!".  His owner called "Max! Come on back, Max!".

At lunch, I walked in Sachse's David Sanford Park. I was able to get a few thousand steps there. I liked the Blue Jay foraging for acorns. The weather was supposed to be warmer today, but it felt pretty chilly with moisture in the air.

The news today featured allegations that former Alabama judge and current senatorial candidate Roy Moore, who lost his judicial post due to his refusal to follow a federal court order. The current allegation is that in his 30s, he behaved inappropriately with an under-age teen. He denies the allegation. Senator John McCain publicly asked him to step aside from his campaign. Senator Mitch McConnell, always a politician, asked him to step aside "if the allegations are true".

But the shocking thing is that a couple of local Alabama politicians have been quoted as saying that if it happened, it happened decades ago, and they would still vote for Moore even if he engaged in unwelcome wrongful conduct with an under-age girl.  These politicians should all resign their posts. The Washington Post reporter who broke the story had to tell the world that the principal accuser is Republican.

Today also five women reported disgusting conduct toward them by the comedian Louis C.K. The network HBO reacted immediately to remove him from a pending project. The deluge of disclosure continues, and I sense this is the beginning rather than the middle.

I tweeted how I enjoyed the novel "The Others" and was grateful to Salt Publishing for selling its e-book DRM-free. The author kindly responded to my tweet. I like the way social media is faster than writing a letter about things like that.

The news from Sutherland Springs near San Antonio, still is sad. This small town near San Antonio was the locus of the latest mass shooting. Twenty-six people in a Southern Baptist Church were killed by a gunman. The gunman apparently used a picture of an rifle as his profile picture on Facebook.  He was alleged to have belonged to atheist groups, a fact too often mentioned by those trying to extract some political/religious meaning from his madness, and not mentioned at all by folks who tweeted "you never hear of atheists committing mass murders" when trying to draw some political/religious meaning from members of other faiths' episodes of violence. There is a discussion to be had about guns, because no matter how many Dunblanes and Port Arthurs happen in this country, nothing gets done.  But there is also a discussion to be had about mental health treatment, as there seem to be lots of violent, disturbed people.

I cannot imagine losing dozens of neighbors in a small town setting to one gun nut.

breakfast: nutri-grain bar
lunch: 3 soft chicken tacos
dinner: pork loin, 1/2 sweet potato, asparagus











(lovingly copied by hand from Dreamwidth by the LiveJournal cyber-angels)
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