FRIDAY STIR FRY - Out With The Old

https://morguefile.com

I want to blow up 2016. 

I know a lot of people are saying what a horrible year it's been, especially with all the celebrity deaths. But, let's face it, famous people die every year. There's more to the hatred I have for this year than that.

Here is my list. 

1. My health took a turn for the worse. Chalk it up to getting older. Body parts are wearing out. I spent a week in the hospital in the spring going through a whole litany of tests. Diagnosis - a-fib. Not a death sentence, but something I have to deal with on a daily basis. Then in June I had oral surgery to remove a growth from the roof of my mouth. Fun stuff. 
2. The horrible shooting in Orlando at Pulse Nightclub. Of course, it wasn't the only one, but perhaps the worst. When are we going to reach some kind of common sense with our gun control laws?
3. Terrorism. Nice, France, Germany and other places. I will never understand the minds of people who murder innocent souls to prove some political or religious point. 
4. Aleppo. How can you look at that death and destruction and not have your heart bleed for those people? 
5. Fires and floods. California, Tennessee, and Louisiana. So much destruction and loss of life. But, hey, climate change isn't real. Please.
6. This year's election. What a disaster. The mud slinging, the e-mail crap, the pussy grabbing. There has to be a more civilized way to pick our elected officials. And, the results don't give me a "peaceful easy feeling" to quote the late Glen Frey and the Eagles.
7. And if all that wasn't enough - the Cubs won the World Series. WTF

According to my son, I'm too negative. I guess I just proved his point. I've never been a glass half full kind of gal. I'm more fill it back up with some booze and let's try again. 2017 can't be worse, can it? Maybe we should all knock on wood, hang horseshoes over our doors, and keep our fingers crossed. And don't forget to eat your black-eyed peas.

Next week I'll tell you what New Year's Resolution I've already given up on. 

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Common Sense

https://morguefile.com

I have made it a point not to get political on here or other social media.
But, I broke that pledge this last week, because I can't stay silent any longer.

I guess you could say Orlando was the last straw for me.

I've un-friended several people on Facebook. I just don't want to read their stupidity any longer. If the NRA and the 2nd Amendment are so far up your ass you can't be reasonable about some gun regulation, then I don't want to be associated with you. And if I lose some blog readers, so be it. 

I don't care if people own hand guns or hunting rifles. But, no civilian needs an automatic gun or one with a large magazine of bullets. Period. The only reason to own them is to shoot a lot of things fast. And in the last several years those 'things' have become humans. What is wrong with banning the sale of these weapons, especially to people on the "no fly list" or on a terrorist watch list? 

I've heard people say there is no use because there are already thousands and thousands of these guns out there. Okay, here's my reasoning. First of all, when our founding fathers wrote that amendment, they only had muskets. Slow to load muskets with not much range. They are probably rolling over in their graves at the fire power guns have now. Pretty sure not what they intended. 

Secondly, when elephants and rhinos were nearing extinction from the ivory trade, we banned the sale of ivory. Has that stopped all the killing? No, but it sure has slowed it down. A lot. And these animals are making a come back. Are humans any less important? 

We have to start somewhere people. Because this carnage is unacceptable.