Random Thoughts

There have been so many thoughts swirling around in my head this week that I couldn’t pick just one, so decided to write about them all.  Each of the following paragraphs has its own thought, starting with the national and working down to the personal. 

After having been in public office I know how constant battering can adversely affect someone’s thinking, if allowed to do so.  (I didn’t allow it, by the way.)  For this reason, I really admire President Obama’s decision regarding the tragic situation in Syria.  I understood, and semi-agreed with his decision to use a military strike against Syria for using toxic Sarin, but on the other hand, I know that if some other country didn’t like what we did, and decided to hit us with a military strike, we would consider it an act of war.  I’m sure the Syrians would have retaliated in some manner, which we would have considered a hostile act, etc., etc.  Thus, when President Obama immediately accepted and changed his policy to pursue the diplomatic path, I didn’t consider him weak at all.  It takes a strong character to see a method for achieving one’s goal other than what one had been advocating, and take the more peaceful path, regardless of where the idea for the peaceful path came from.  From my perspective, kudos to Obama for choosing peace over war. 

California has long been bashed by businesses for being against business because of its regulations.  Since North Carolina, I believe it was, passed that anti-abortion law at 11:30 PM on the last night of the legislative session, without any public knowledge of it, and therefore no public input, with the governor signing it instantly, I am deeply grateful that can’t happen in California.  The reason?  California has what is called the Bagley-Keene Act that requires prior notice on the part of the state legislature that prevents that sort of action from happening here.  And for cities, counties and special districts there is the Ralph M. Brown Act that prevents the same thing.  But the more recent event that occurred back east was the fire that burned down 40 businesses on the Jersey Shore.  These were some of the same businesses that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy just last year.  Apparently the fire started in one small stand/shop, and then roared through the other 40.  That couldn’t happen in California because of our fire laws.  Individual shops in a row must have a firewall between them, and newer ones sprinkler systems in them.  New Jersey claims that because of its lack of regulations it is business friendly.  It doesn’t seem to me to be particularly business friendly when the lack of regulations allows 40 businesses in a row to burn down.   

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has designated the county in which I live to be in extreme drought.  Small communities all over the county are dealing with little or no water in their aquifers.  Some of the aquifers are quite large, and some fairly small.  People in these communities are angry with local governments that they didn’t “do something” about this problem.  Actually the people should be angry at the real estate and development community (re&d) for advocating “growth at any cost”.  Well, the cost is not being borne by the re&d, but by the people who bought homes or farms without being made aware that there was a great deal of concern by a lot of people that there simply was not enough water available to be used by so many people and activities.  Be angry with re&d.  They deserve it.  That is, if the more greedy members haven’t packed up, taken their profits and left town already. 

Years ago, before the rise of feminism, there was a whole heck of a lot wrong with the society.  One thing that was not even, at the time, questioned was that when a woman got married she changed her name to that of her husband.  It was neat and tidy.  With the rise of feminism, however, many women chose not to change their names.  On Christmas cards it became necessary to write two names on the envelopes.  That wasn’t too difficult, and independence was worth it.  But now with the advent of same-sex marriages, life is getting even more complicated.  When our daughter and her partner got married recently, the marriage vows read, “Do you, A, take B to be your lawful wedded spouse?”  Then vice-versa.  Ok, that sounds great since they are both women.  But, does that make our daughter’s new spouse our spouse-in-law instead of daughter-in-law?  Introducing them isn’t too difficult because that can be just, “I’d like to introduce you to our daughter’s spouse”.  Ah, complications.  And as happens infrequently, someone will start complaining about the man or woman their heterosexual child married, and then they will look expectantly to see what we have to complain about.  Since we have nothing, we have always said, “We love our sons-in-law”.  But, thanks to one of our other daughters who thought this one up, we now say, “We love all of the men and the woman our daughters married”.  It does keep stretching our minds, to say the least!!