Brains for Halloween

I think this is a great treat for kids. Instead of giving out candies...and eventually cavities...to the little trick or treaters this or any Halloween, how about giving them food for brains? There must be one or ten old children’s books floating around in your home that hasn’t been touched in years. Why not put them to good use again? I’m sure there are plenty of children out there who would appreciate a good read more than a visit to the dentist.

Check out this link: booksfortreats.org

Besides, it’s not like this country couldn’t use a few more brainy kids anyway. Gotta start somewhere.

Typical Americanian

Isn’t the American education system great? There are kids out there who actually are less informed than this ditzy character from the “Luann” comic strip, which appeared on Sunday. At least Tiffany, the comic character, knows that there is some war going on in a land called Iranistan and wants to bring the troops back home.

Noble...I guess.

Most children in the United States of Delusions don’t even know we’re at war. Well, not really. War was never officially declared by the U.S., but that’s another story. Many children don’t even know what 9/11 was about. I wish I was kidding but I have heard it with my own ears. Is it any surprise that most children can’t even find their own country on a world map? Since most kids attending American schools are already kind of dumb anyway, let’s cut the budget for education even further.

Besides, what is really the benefit in knowing where one’s own country is located? Or Iranistan? I was reading in Homer’s blog the other day that some Republican politician in Arizona was quoted saying: “Education does not create jobs.”

Wow!

Am I shocked? Yes. Am I surprised? No. Again I wonder why there isn’t more of an outrage about such a comment. I guess a career in flipping burgers and barely making minimum wage is every American’s dream. Americans will fight to the death for the useless right to bear arms but won’t move a finger to achieve something beneficial like...oh, let’s say...having universal health care for every single citizen. I forgot to mention that health care too is a “privilege” in this country. Some Republican politician said so on TV a few days ago.

In most of the industrialized nations around the world, free access to education and health care is an undisputed basic human right. In the United States of Cluelessness people have the right to own big guns and beat up gay people.

Is this a great country or what?

A Cold Grumbler

And they say Americans don’t know anything about their own history.

I’m sick of being cold all the time. I’m sitting here at work every day in front of the computer and no matter what I do I just feel extremely cold. It doesn’t matter if I wear a sweater or a jacket. My fingers are like icicles and my skin is dry and breaks up to a point where I start to bleed.

In other words...I’m sick of winter.

Mind you, the winters here in Las Vegas are mild in comparison to the recent ice storms in the Midwest, where the temperatures dropped well below freezing. People there are without power due to downed power lines and probably will be for weeks to come. I remember the frigid cold of many winters in Germany when I grew up there. I was such a tough cookie back then. I’d run around in short sleeve shirts or wearing a light summer jacket when it was freezing cold out. It didn’t bother me then, nor did I ever get sick. Now I turned into a wimp. Sniffling, sneezing and shivering my way through the winter season.

But we live in a desert, damn it! Granted, it’s a high desert where colder temperatures during the winter months are not that unusual. But still. We are also experiencing one of the coldest and longest lasting winters in decades. With lots of snow even here in Las Vegas. Snow that actually stuck around. If it would ever snow here, as it rarely does, it would be nothing to brag about. It would consist of a few flurries really.

Nevertheless, we had yet another big winter storm blasting through the valley this last weekend. There’s over 20 inches of snow up on Mount Charleston. According to the weather forecast there’s another winter storm approaching.

Enough already!

Like I said, I turned into a wimp. A crybaby. Just because it’s a little colder here than usual. And I don’t like it! I hate winter! It’s not like we have to deal with blizzard-like conditions. Or with another extreme on the opposite side of the spectrum, such as the wildfires which are currently ravaging in Australia. Close to 200 people have perished there. Livelihoods destroyed. A true tragedy.

And here I am complaining about having cold fingers.

I shut up now!

Until the temperatures in Las Vegas reach way over 100 degrees Fahrenheit again in a few months. Guess what I’ll be complaining about then?