{"id":26635,"date":"2021-11-05T20:32:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T00:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/?p=26635"},"modified":"2022-08-01T07:42:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:42:42","slug":"thoughts-large-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2021\/11\/thoughts-large-77\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts @ Large: 77"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 On October 9, 2o21, only days after I covered the topic<\/a> in this blog, The Washington Post reported<\/a> that the city of Albuquerque has established “a new category of first responder” wherein “911 dispatchers [have] an option beyond police, with social workers and others in related fields patrolling the city and fielding calls pertaining to mental health, substance abuse or homelessness that otherwise would have been handled by an armed officer.”\u00a0 Let’s hope that this model is successful and becomes the national standard — but with its own 988<\/em> number if possible.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 There’s always that scene in crime movies where the leader of the criminal enterprise is forced to remind the official “weak guy” in the gang, wavering in his dedication, of why the weak guy needs to get himself together and do his assigned job.\u00a0 But we all know that the weak guy’s ineptness and\/or his empathy for the protagonist is what lets the protagonist find and leverage a small advantage and ultimately prevail.\u00a0 So here’s to you, Weak Guys. Just be ready when your leader’s plans implode, because afterward, the tide rarely turns in your favor.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 I think I have discovered a side-effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.\u00a0 While those who get the COVID-19 virus often lose their sense of smell, people who get the COVID-19 vaccine seem to lose their sense of humor.\u00a0 Take me, for example.\u00a0 I got vaccinated in February\/March (and got my booster shot last week).\u00a0 Ever since getting my vaccines, I’ve had a really hard time finding anything funny about those who don’t.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 Actually, I wasn’t really joking here.\u00a0 Because I have in fact noticed that I am not really\u00a0 joking much, anytime, anywhere, and haven’t been for some time.\u00a0 “Take my melancholy… please!”\u00a0 I promise to work on my routine and come up with some fresh material real soon.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 Walked into the barber shop this morning.\u00a0 “Need a haircut?” Tony asked — the barber’s name was Tony.\u00a0 I say to Tony, “I don’t need a haircut, I need hair<\/em>!”\u00a0 So Tony goes over to his drawer and pulls out a rabbit.\u00a0 He brings it over and says, “Hare<\/em> you go!”\u00a0 I take a good long look at the rabbit.\u00a0 Then I turn its head to Tony and say, “That’s the best you could do on the whiskers?”<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 As I said, I’m working on my routine.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 My spouse gets credit for this thought.\u00a0 Those who don’t wear masks or get vaccinated and just go about business as usual, and then have the nerve to say to you, “I don’t live in my fears,” are not really referring to themselves but to you.\u00a0 They want you to know that you are a coward and they are king-of-the-hill, the childhood bully they once envied and now emulate.\u00a0 As always, it’s best to avoid bullies — no matter how old and stupid they are.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 I listened for hours on July 27, 2021, to the powerful and emotional testimony<\/a> of four of the police officers who, on January 6 of this year (yes, it was this<\/em> year), helped defend the U.S. Capitol and its occupants from a mob of American anarchists.\u00a0 But already, the events of that day are being swept under a rug of indifference by the burn-the-place-down faction of our “fellow” citizens.\u00a0 It is apparent that January 6 is destined to be considered quaint<\/em>, vis-\u00e0-vis<\/i> the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, just another case of the fringe rousing the rabble.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 We will never change the minds of libertarians (and other just-plain-selfish people) who interpret the U.S. Constitution (or the words they think it says) as affirming their faith that they deserve the benefit of living here and exploiting its advantages while remaining free of almost all its obligations.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 Why is there such a thing as locker-room culture<\/em>?\u00a0 More specifically, who decided it is OK for men to say and do things in locker rooms that are frowned upon everywhere else?\u00a0 (Answer: Men.\u00a0 Next question.)<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 You may not know it from the topics I write about, but I am weary of how social justice issues have come to dominate — if not monopolize — news reporting, left, right and center. Imagine if Woody Guthrie showed up at your house with his guitar, and at first you were pleased to have such a talent share his gifts with you, but then he played anti-fascist songs for hours on end, and you got so weighed down by it, you finally turned to him and asked, “Do you know She’ll Be Comin ‘Round the Mountain<\/em>?”\u00a0 That’s what it’s feeling like.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022\u00a0 However, if I was stranded on a desert island, and I had to choose between social justice stories and this version<\/a> of She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain<\/em>, I would pick the former and hope for a quick rescue.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022\u00a0 On October 9, 2o21, only days after I covered the topic in this blog, The Washington Post reported that the city of Albuquerque has established “a new category of first responder” wherein “911 dispatchers [have] an option beyond police, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-at-large"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26635"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26842,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26635\/revisions\/26842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}