Before I get into something actually interesting in this post…like grand baby Alex…I gotta digress for a few. Although this is about politics…it ain’t political…but if you’re easily offended, bored by politics or just don’t want to read about them any more…feel free to skip down a bit.

This week…we saw 3 resignations from congress…one Senator and two House members. Mr. Conyers may…and I stress may as I’ll discuss in a minute…have done something he needed to resign for. Mr. Franken…well ‘round these parts we think he’s an idiot and most definitely don’t agree with much he says…but he was also hounded out of office…primarily by his own side…and most definitely not deserved. Mr. Franks also resigned.

Now the official reason all of these members resigned…not to mention Weinstein, Spacey, and the other dozen (at least) high profile folks who’ve gotten into trouble the past few weeks…is because of inappropriate actions, sexual harassment, assault, or whatever it’s being called today.

Meanwhile…over on Fox a female commentator made what seems to me to be a perfectly valid point. She asked why we anointed the statements of the female victims of these actions as gospel truth without any investigation and what happened to innocent until proven guilty…and said that we needed to stop the current trial by social media. She did not say that the women should be disbelieved…she said that why should what they say be considered absolute truth and whatever the man in the situation said be considered as completely false. She encouraged investigating allegations…and if they were proven the perpetrators be punished…but insisted that due process be provided to determine the facts.

Mr. Franken was forced out by his own party for political purposes…the Democrats want to be able to say they took the high ground so that in the event Mr. Moore wins the Senate race down in AL they can demand his immediate ouster. As far as I’ve read…and I’ll admit I have not researched it in excruciating detail as Ima getting tired of it…none of his actions took place while he was a Senator but are leftovers from his previous career as a comedian. Back in the day…he was one of those comedians that specialized in being a jerk…I’m not approving of his actions but I find it strange that the woman involved didn’t complain back in 1998 or whatever it was but waited until now.

I’m obviously against sexual harassment and assault…who wouldn’t be…but let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. When a woman (or man as in the Spacey case) alleges something…by all means investigate. The police, House Ethics Committee, district attorney or whoever the appropriate party is should determine the facts and if warranted then either charge the offender with a crime, force them to resign, or whatever other action is appropriate.

What should not happen is what is currently happening…with all the #Metoo hashtags and Silence Breakers as Time called them…is that any woman can allege anything about any man…and she will be believed absolutely…and the man will not be believed and his career and life as he knows it is effectively over. 

That just ain’t right.

I think this from the Internet sums it up quite well…don’t read anything into it being Ms. Pelosi’s photo as her party does not have a monopoly on stupidity.

Come on people…we’re better than that. Investigate and punish the guilty rather than just punish before finding out any facts.

Ok, on to something more interesting…ya’ll that skipped down before can start reading here.

We had a great visit with Alex and his mom and dad the past week. Leaving last Sunday after Mass we stopped over night just about the GA/SC border and proceeded on up to Midlothian the next day. We spent 4 great days seeing Bryan, Jen and Alex…cooked dinner for them one night, ate out, baby sat Alex, and just generally did the grand parent thing.

Here’s a shot of Alex and his granny on the couch.

He’s actually a pretty smart kid it seems to us…and he’s at that age where you can actually have an intelligent conversation with him…and when he’s still interested in being helpful.

After our visit was done…we headed back south Friday morning. Dropping Alex off at Isabel’s grand mother’s house for a play date about 0730 we bought gas, cokes, and bagels and headed south. It rained pretty much the whole day…and by 1100 when we were half way through NC we saw it was snowing in Midlothian…we got out of there in the nick of time I guess…and they had 4 or 5 inches I guess by the time it was done. 

We stopped 650 miles later in Gainesville FL after a long day of driving in the rain…and got up Saturday morning and did the last 250 miles back to Seminole where we picked up our 4 packages that came in during the week and got unpacked. Weather is pretty cool in FL when we got back…it’s only about 70 and overcast and rainy.

All in all…a good time and we were so glad to see both the kids and Alex for a visit. We’ll see them again in the spring and fall to bookend our travel season this year as we’re headed to the Canadian Maritime provinces which means we’ll go up the east coast and then back down.

Interesting things from the net this week.

Everybody has heard the story of Sleeping Beauty…but have you ever heard the origins of the story? Check out the details here.

This link…If Scientists Wrote Christmas Carols…comes from facebook and is a short video showing you how Christmas Carols would be different if they were written by scientists. Thanks to Jen for this one.

For those of you who still have that 4 letter word W-O-R-K in their life…just be glad you don’t work for Johnson and Johnson.

Here’s an article about a guy whose shed was getting burglarized who called the cops.

Mother Nature is just showing off out in Hawaii on the big island where the volcano is erupting.

And in the Christmas spirit…

This is the most Russian headline I’ve ever seen.

Some town up north got themselves a new salt/sand spreader for the winter…go ahead and hum along with this one if you’re over 50…you know you want to. For those of you under the age of 50 who just don’t understand…google Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and their song from 1959 sung by Brian Hyland about a shy lass that wore a revealing bikini at the beach.

And finally…the Lord’s Prayer as rewritten by a publican (that’s a bar owner for those of you under the age of 50)

Cyas.