I was last on a plane a few weeks before 9/11, so I haven’t personally gone through the airport-security nightmares that other people experience when they fly. However, I don’t have to go through the screening process to know that it’s fundamentally retarded – just like I don’t have to shoot my own foot to know that it’s painful and bloody. When Americans can’t have simple things like a current knitting project or baby formula on the flight, there’s a problem – and when the new, swiftly introduced policies forbid passengers from leaving their seats during the last hour of the flight or removing their hands from plain sight, there’s a huge freaking problem.
Oh, sure, Yahoo! News reports that these new policies are relaxed, meaning that they’re now at the captain’s discretion, but the point here is that we’re screwing with innocent passengers as a pitiful substitute for going after those who pose real threats to our safety and lives.
I’m all for profiling because it works. You don’t have to sniff every single passenger’s panties in order to win this round of Spot the Jihadist: just look for the passengers who meet the general profile and go from there. Leave granny and her knitting needles alone. Leave the preteen and his MP3 player alone. Leave the mother with three kids in tow, and their sippy cups of orange juice, alone.
Profiling, however, is “offensive” to some people, so we refuse to embrace it despite its effectiveness. We’d rather risk peoples’ lives than tick off a few crybabies because our priorities are backward. When widdle feewings become more important than innocent peoples’ lives, you have an epic problem on your hands: one that all the security checkpoints, procedures, and employees can’t fix.
In yet another installment of “You Must Be Joking: Textbook Nuthatch Edition,” we have a 10-year-old New Yorker suspended from school because she…wait for it…brought peppermint oil with her.
FOX News reports that the girl was suspended because she was in possession of an over-the-counter drug. District officials’ reasoning is that, because the oil’s label instructs people to keep out of reach of children, the kid merits suspension.
What? They couldn’t just take the peppermint oil from her and make her parents pick it up later? Gee…when my parents were in school, teachers and principals confiscated all sorts of items until either the end of the day or the end of the school year, whichever was deemed more fitting. Dad lost a few good pocketknives that way because he insisted on farting around with them during class time instead of giving the teacher his attention. I don’t see why school officials can’t act so reasonably when we’re talking about peppermint oil.
If district officials want to take away kids’ stuff for a while, I’m not going to say a word about it unless we get some weird, “Administrator denies child his insulin” situation. It’s the suspension part that gets me because this kid really needs to be in school, not sitting around the house wondering why some so-called adults are so bloody stupid.
I just found out that Taurus offers a free shot timer app for the iPhone. Mom snagged a copy for Sis’ phone (it’s the only iPhone in the family), but we’ve yet to take it out to the range for testing. Playing with the app at the kitchen table (read: without any firearms involved, so no thorough testing) gives us positive thoughts about it, though. The app’s easy to navigate, comes with a Help file, and doesn’t crash, so it’s worth checking out. “Free” beats the snot out of “a hundred twenty bucks for a basic shot timer,” after all.
Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone. Here at Chateau Cranky, we’re watching the weather to see if we get some of the snow that’s hitting Big, Nearby City. I’m…not used to snow. I’ve seen the stuff only once in my entire life, being a native Texan and all (did some growing up in South Texas and now live in the Central area – other parts of the Lone Star State see snow, but not us). However, I’ve watched enough TV to understand that, if we do get enough of that weird, cold, white crap, somebody’s catching a ball of it right in the freakin’ face.
To us, though, Christmas is really about our faith and each other, so we hope that everyone out there in Blogland has a fantastic time with the people you care most about – snow or no snow. Be safe, have a wonderful day, and enjoy the great food. Sis and N00b are cooking this year and, in keeping with our family’s tradition, are doing non-Christmas food. This year, we voted for Italian…mostly because Mom and I have a garlic-bread fetish that won’t quit no matter how much of the sweet, wonderful stuff we cram into our pie holes.
And to those who aren’t all together this year because someone in the family is kicking ass and taking names on our behalf in another part of the world: thank you all so much for what you’re doing. We’re thinking about you and yours and pray that everyone comes home safely soon.
Senator Alan Grayson (D-is-for-dude’s-a-dummy, Fla.) is calling for Eric Holder to investigate a citizen because she had the audacity to speak against him (Grayson). Angie Langley launched a Web site, MyCongressmanIsNuts.com, as an effort to organize the voters that are needed in order to defeat Grayson in the upcoming elections. Note, please, that Langley is not the only person involved with the site, and that the message is directed primarily at voters in Grayson’s district. The site explains the mission, and resulting problems with Grayson, better than I can:
Alan Grayson’s recent self indulgent behavior has paralyzed his ability to serve as an advocate for the citizens of Central Florida. By asking Attorney General Eric Holder to fine and imprison Angie Langley for exercising her first amendment right to free political speech, Alan Grayson has sunk to an extremely alarming and potentially dangerous new low. It is clear that this man has no business representing the good people of Central Florida. Please join our effort and encourage others to do the same. This disgusting attempt to use the law enforcement arm of the federal government to silence his critics is proof positive that Alan Grayson is not only unfit for office, he is completely and utterly NUTS!
Pledge your support today, so that we may deliver our message to all the voters of Central Florida.
In a four-page letter sent to Holder, Grayson accuses Langley of lying to federal elections and requests that she be fined and imprisoned for five years.
Her lie, according to Grayson, is that she claims to be one of his constituents. Langley, Grayson says, is misrepresenting herself by using the term “my” in the Web site’s name.
Langley is a resident of Clermont, Fla., which is outside Grayson’s 8th District. Oh, my.
So a person outside of his voting district is telling people who are in his district that he needs to go. Big freaking deal. I griped about Ray Nagin (mayor of New Orleans) while the people who actually live there were busily reelecting him after Katrina. I complain about Pelosi even though I don’t have the privilege of casting a ballot against her. What – we aren’t entitled to opinions anymore?
The article goes on to inform us that:
“Ms. Langley has deliberately masqueraded as a constituent of mine, in order to try to create the false appearance that she speaks for constituents who don’t support me,” Grayson writes in his complaint. “[She] has chosen a name for her committee that is utterly tasteless and juvenile.”
I’ll get into “tasteless and juvenile” in just a moment.
Langley’s response, also in the article:
Langley defended herself Tuesday, saying that she was “born and raised” in Grayson’s district and is “embarrassed to be represented” by him in Washington.
“This is the United States of America. A member of Congress represents all of us — no matter where we live,” she said.
Freedom of speech is a God-given, natural right, not limited by geography or voting district. I’d also like to point out the fact that the federal government, made up of these federal-level critters, makes decisions that screw us all regardless of where the individual cockroach calls home. The first reason is more than enough for us all to criticize the critters, at least as far as I can see, but the second only reinforces that idea.
But let’s get back to Grayson and why he’s a scumbag. Do you all remember when he stood up on the Floor in front of God and C-SPAN and presented his cute little poster boards informing us that the Republican idea re: health care is for us to “die quickly”? I remember that! Here’s the video if you don’t:
Gee…that’s not very tasteful or mature, now is it? It also strikes me as highly hypocritical, but that’s bog standard for politicians these days.
In October, Grayson appeared on “The Joy Behar Show” with some interesting comments about “tea baggers,” as he calls us:
Yeah, yeah: tea baggers are weenies. I get it, dude. Go play with your markers and poster boards while the grown folks talk, mmkay little buddy?
If you want “tasteless and juvenile,” Grayson has given us more than one fine example. Apparently, he can say whatever he wants, but citizens who exercise the same right are threatened with Holder. Gee, that seems fair and right.
I also want to say “nice job” to Langley and the other people involved with MyCongressmanIsNuts. You’ve done a fantastic job of exposing yet another instance of Grayson’s idiocy and general assholery. Hopefully, voters in his district are getting your message and will respond accordingly on Election Day.
Sarah
Mom
