Puffs

“O MY GOSH . . . WHAT ELSE” A common expression made by many people when they just learned of something new they thought would never happen.

Last week there were a couple of those experiences I had and would like to relay on to you.

• Cocaine in the White House . . . In spite of all the ‘Top Secret’ documents that left the government in the personal files of President Trump and President Biden, VP Pence and who knows how many others, I’ve always felt the White House was a pretty secure place. But with President Biden’s son, Hunter being a drug addict, I should not have been surprised when the national news media announced that cocaine was found in the White House in a place where everyone was surprised.

I certainly don’t have any idea of how it happened, but just that it did happen made me think “What Else.”

• A cargo ship in a New Jersey port was burning for days . . . Yes, I’ve read many a story about ships burning while in water, but this surprised me. Why they could not control and extinguish the fire on a boat sitting at a pier in water is beyond my understanding. “What Else?”

• Jimmy Carter celebrates 77th wedding anniversary . . . In spite of maybe being among the top five presidents of the U. S. that was very unsuitable for the job and has earned a negative approval rating for his work as the U. S. president, he deserves credit for the longevity of his marriage. I understand he just celebrated his 77th wedding anniversary. A nice surprise.

• The Hoover Dam . . . Even though I’ve seen the dam, I seldom give it much thought, but last week marked the 93rd year since construction was started for the structure. July 7, 1930 was the day they started building the dam even though some 30 years went into the concept and planning of the structure. Seems some 21,000 men worked on one of the largest manmade structures in the world. Contractors finished the work two years ahead of schedule and millions of dollars under budget. In WWII even the Nazi Germans knew of the dam and did some planning for its destruction as part of their war effort. What other little known facts about other items may come.

• Woke . . . Dictionaries are constantly adding words, changing definitions and otherwise confusing the common man. One word that has been used quite a bit lately (especially in political discussions) is the word “woke.”

I finally took the time this week to seek the meaning of the word. Traditionally is simply means to wake up, or get up from sleep. For most of my life that is what I thought of when I saw the word.

However, in recent years someone started using the word in political discussions that had little connection to the traditional meaning. In Sunday’s newspaper’s comic section I read a definition of the word as it is used today in most political circles. It said “woke” just means alert to discrimination and injustice. I looked the word up on the computer and it said essentially the same thing.

However, if that is what was originally meant by the word, the meaning has changed ever so quickly. For many people, if not most people, the word now carries a negative connotation in that it means those people who have answers to all of today’s racial, social and economic situations and want to force their answers on everyone. For example: allowing what is called a “trans-woman” to compete in sports against biological women; or to force all of society to accept the idea that there is no need for ‘male’ and ‘female’ public bathrooms.

Of course, after I thought about it for a little bit, I realized the people trying to paint a positive viewpoint of the word “woke” did so in the “comics” section of the newspaper . . . so maybe I should not worry too much. Maybe it was meant to be a joke all along. What else? Comics are meant to be educational.

• GUESS WHAT: “Abortion is Women’s Health Care . . .” For many, many years we’ve heard Planned Parenthood spout the line about abortions being critical to women’s health care. Well, consider the following statement following the announcement that they had to close three centers in Iowa: “At a news conference in June, Planned Parenthood North Central States representatives said staffing shortages, funding limitations and the fluid nature of abortion laws in Iowa and across the Midwest have made it difficult to provide consistent care.”

Nowhere do they say anything about how important abortions are to women’s health. Because they are doing fewer abortions these days they have less money and can’t pay staff. Women’s health apparently is not important any more for Planned Parenthood. What else can PP come up with?

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