It is an emotional time for many of us as we watch and wait for our government to represent we the people. Citizens laugh, cry, get angry and many apparently look for a certain type of temporary relief from anxiety.
Crocodiles actually do cry tears when they eat. More to my topic, in spite of all those teeth, they do not chew their food, they swallow stones to grind their pulverized prey in their stomachs. The stones also fill them up and serve a dual purpose of helping them dive deeper. In a dramatic shift over the last 20 years humans are openly interested in the medicinal and recreational values of getting “stoned”. At last count 10 states and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational “weed”- interesting that Vermont is the only state where the law was implemented through the legislative process, the rest were the result of voter referendum. Twenty five states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use and ten of those states decriminalized possession of small amounts. This leaves 15 states complying with federal law, leaving marijuana use completely illegal. I have been told that Idaho will never change, guess time will tell but one poll of the United Stated estimates 61% of Americans favor legalization. I am not going to get all “buzzed” about these issues unless prohibition comes back into vogue.
I am very disheartened by the partial shutdown of our Government and feel great empathy for the 800,000 workers who are furloughed or working without pay due to their essential status. Although there have been several escape routes proposed some might look “foolish” in the wake of the heated discussions of the past 13 days. Bottom line for me-put our people back to work and negotiate border security issues by a new deadline. In this case I do want a “Rush” to doing what is right not what is least embarrassing.
A bit of trivia and humor for our first 2019 message. I am guessing we all know that zebras are black with white stripes. Tigers have the exact same pattern on their skin as on their fur. The African elephant has only four teeth to chew its food and the baby elephant sucks on its own trunk for comfort. My granddaughter Clio prefers an elephant binky. Penguins laugh when tickled. A male goat pees on its own head to smell more attractive to females. Finally, as we have discussed before the Ostrich is not known for its flexible solutions to problems. The big bird may have an excuse, the eye of an ostrich is bigger than its brain.
Colin Powell closes the message with words I believe will get us through the current leadership crevasse “perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year. Mike