News Roundup...Oh, Puh-leeze!

It's been a while since my last post.  I decided that with so many things in the news, it would just be better to try and absorb what's going on before writing.  Some things have been very disturbing, most notably, the terrorists attacks in Paris.  I pray for the families of those that were killed and injured.  I also hope that France's president continues to be steadfast in fighting the war against the terrorists.

There have been a number of things in the news and on social media that I wanted to address.  I'll do this over my next few posts.

President Obama appears on 60 Minutes and is interviewed by Steve Kroft.  During the interview, Obama says that climate change is the biggest threat our country faces.  Seriously? I mean really? What about terrorism?  I know he considers ISIS (or ISIL if you prefer) to be a JV squad, but he can't really believe that arming ourselves with carbon credits is the most effective way to protect the homeland...can he?

                                               
The Mizzou saga.  Well,  initially, this one was a little hard to grasp.  Mostly because the media did a very poor job of giving us pertinent facts as the saga unfolded.  Details were murky to say the least. We were told that the campus was a virtual hotbed of racist activity and that the administration turned a deaf ear to the needs of black students.  We also learned that a grad student, Jonathan Butler was on
a hunger strike and would not end it until the school's president resigned. Butler was upset that the school had decided to end subsidies to pay for the health care of grad students employed by the school.  In just a few short days, Butler was able to enjoy all of his favorite foods, because both the school's president and chancellor resigned. But it wasn't until after the saga, that more details began to emerge.  See the timeline of events here.

As far as I'm concerned, Butler, an activist and organizer for Black Lives Matter, took advantage of the naive students.  Armed with more details and video, the whole thing seems to have been carefully orchestrated to cause disruption and restore Planned Parenthood to the campus (look at the timeline). I'm not saying there weren't incidents of racial slurs being used (there were also a couple of anti-Semitic incidents--both involving the use of feces), but from everything that's been said thus far, the slurs seem to have been made by people who may not have even attended the school.  Also, before Butler goes on the hunger strike, you'll see from the timeline that the school acquiesced early on, restoring health care subsidies, implementing diversity training and giving Planned Parenthood a new contract.  As for the threats to Butler and the handful of other students that were disrupting the homecoming parade, well, take a look at the video and see for yourself.

But I'm not upset with the students (Butler, a trust fund brat, is another story).  When you're in college, you get a pass for pushing boundaries, challenging authority and things of that nature.  There's plenty of time to wise up and join the rest of the world.  If there is any finger-pointing, it should be directed at the school.  Not just Mizzou, but a large swath of schools. Institutions of higher learning have done more to cultivate a bunch of wimps, rather than scholars. That's right, I said it.  Mizzou is just an example of  what's happening with our so-called best and brightest. Someone calls you a name... and you fall apart? Is is really a national crisis? Please.  But that's pretty much what happened when the head of a leading black organization on Mizzou's campus, rushed to social media to exclaim disbelief that someone in a pickup truck used the n-word in close proximity to him.  And then there are the protesting students (black and white) that faculty members said they were trying to protect (which was weird because there is virtually no opposition). And how were they protecting the students?  By clearly trying to intimidate and shut down student reporters who presumably were neutral to the cause and simply wanted to document the activity.

And let's not forget the rapid expansion of so-called safe spaces (wimp rooms) on campuses.  If you're not familiar with safe spaces, they're all the rage. They're places where students can be protected from ideas they don't agree with or from people with different views.  A safe space at Brown University was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies.  Did I mention that safe spaces are found on college campuses, not nursery schools?  Good grief.  In my day, someone in a pickup truck yelling racial slurs, would have sped away after getting hit with a hefty dose of "what the @!#$! did you say you stupid mother!@#$#@!? Oh yeah, we made our own space safe.

Next post...two more news items.



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