Yesterday, Katie let me know she was on the way to our place but it would take some time to get here. The delay wasn’t because she was coming from Tennessee — she was leaving for here from just across the highway — but the transportation was a golf cart.
I always love to see her and miss her the second she leaves. Like me, Bri and baby can’t wait until she moves back to good ole’ Indiana.
Crazy how times have changed…
Spending time in the car with my Momma headed to the dentist last week, we were talking about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and about how the video of him being shot circulated on social media. And then, Mom shared a story about my family from the early 40s.
My grandma, Bessie McKain, had 5 boys overseas fighting in WWII all at the same time. G’ma knew the boys weren’t stationed together because that was no longer allowed after the death of the Sullivan brothers. (Five brothers serving together were killed in action during the Battle of Guadalcanal.) But… she had no idea where any of them were.
No Facetime. No text messages. Occasional letters.
Mom said G’ma would get letters from the boys, but they were infrequent and they never included anything you might expect. Even simple problems like “the food is awful out here, mom,” and weather conditions which might indicate a location were blacked out. All mail was censored by the US government to protect sensitive information. No “loose lips” in WWII.
Can you imagine if it was your loved one(s) fighting in a war outside of the US and not knowing where they were or what they were doing?
To put things into perspective…
So in WWII, as a matter of national security, mail was censored so nothing would be revealed if it fell into enemy hands. Today, it feels like pretty much everything is blabbed for all to read online… and as citizens… we feel like we deserve to know it all. 🙄
Now you know: At one time there were 10,000 censors employed between the United States and United Kingdom just to review WWII mail.
I’m old enough to remember when you could trust the news and you couldn’t easily access a video of an actual person being assassinated. The clip of Charlie Kirk being shot is everywhere online and is the most graphic and haunting video I’ve ever seen. I’ve not watched one gore/slasher movie in my entire life that comes close.
And then some rejoiced publicly on social media.
Others are buying t-shirts.
WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE CELEBRATE A MURDER?? I’ll tell you what kind… teachers, doctors, cashiers, and even an active secret service agent — all seemingly normal people with regular jobs and families. I’ve even seen some of my FB friends post some pretty insensitive rhetoric. It’s disgusting.
The Colorado school shooting was also horrific — but I’ve not heard or seen one person celebrating that. Is it because they’re innocent children and Charlie Kirk got what was coming to him? In this country, you are free to cheer or condone the murder of someone — even for saying words you don’t like — but if that’s what you’re doing you’re a pathetic human.
The challenge is that the left wants stricter gun policies and the right doesn’t believe that’s the answer.
We live in a time where our borders were wide open allowing unvetted people, including criminals, to pour in. We live in a time where mental illness is affirmed and not treated. We live in a time where existing laws don’t deter intent — oftentimes they aren’t enforced and criminals are released to perpetrate violence again. And again, we live in a time where anyone can share anything and have it reach a bajillion people.
You can feel that the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the recent school shooting were horrific acts of gun violence — AND still disagree on the effectiveness of gun control without it meaning you don’t care. People who try to tell you differently are shaming you so you’ll agree with their viewpoint.
Having said all the above, I don’t have a problem with some stricter gun policies in Indiana — like state-level universal background checks and a required waiting period — but I personally don’t think stricter gun policies are going to stop school shootings.
And now, I’ll share a photo because I always do — and every post needs a featured graphic.
Now you know: Indiana is a major source of crime guns recovered in neighboring states like Illinois (strict laws). ATF data (2023) shows over 30% of Chicago’s traced crime guns originate in Indiana, facilitated by its lax private sale regulations.
A couple days ago I shared an aerial photo of the town I’ve lived just outside of for around 55 years. I mentioned that I couldn’t pick out any landmarks because I suck at that. I don’t know the names of hardly any streets in town, and I simply don’t pay attention to houses or where they’re at. Derp!
My buddy, Alisa, to the rescue!
The day I shared that photo and explanation, I got a text message from Alisa. It was that same photo with a big red circle around the house I lived in when we were neighbors. No. I couldn’t pick it out.
My friends are better than yours. ❤️
Alisa is the queen!
She may not rule a country, but she should be the queen of Crothersville.
Now you know: Dressmakers hoped to make Princess Diana’s wedding dress ‘twinkle like something out of a fairy story,’ and hand-embroidered sequins and pearls into the lace of the dress. The veil alone used a staggering 10,000 3mm mother-of-pearl sequins.
There was an ad that ran in the 80’s and 90’s about what your brain looked like on drugs. You remember it? Dude had an egg and said, “this is your brain.” He points to the skillet of hot grease and says, “this is drugs.” He then cracks the egg into the skillet and it loudly fries.
Have you noticed those types of ads lately? Me neither! There’s only one current advertisement that comes to mind about how you can die from a teeny tiny amount of fentanyl. I do see ads for every kind of prescription drug out there though. From Wegovy to Skyrizi… and from Vraylar to Dupixent… I know those by heart. Crazy, isn’t it?
This is my brain on ChatGPT:
You can do it too… for free even!
You’re limited to the number of images/prompts you can do per day without paying for a subscription ($20/m), but you can test it out on 2 or 3 photos without paying a cent. Just head over to ChatGPT, upload an image, and provide a prompt.
You’ve seen the “make me a rockstar” images from this post, but there’s so much more you can create. For example, choose a great photo of yourself or of you and a friend and try this fun prompt: “Transform this photo into a Marvel Universe scene, complete with heroic poses and high-impact shading.”
You’ll get something like this…
I have no clue why my fist looks like it belongs on a man, or who Perry works for named Ewdu. But if you see either of us looking like this in real life… RUN. 😉
Now you know: There are two high schools in West Bend, Wisconsin, that share a single building. The one you attend is determined by your birthday. Students who are born on even dates attend West Bend East, and those born on odd dates attend West Bend West.
The news is saturated with talk about transgenders. Especially in light of the recent school shooting, I’d venture to guess about everyone has an opinion, even if they don’t express it. I wonder how many of you reading this share my viewpoint.
My take on gender ideology:
Humans are either male or female — biologically there are only 2 sexes. I understand that there are rare conditions known as intersex (0.05% of people), where individuals are born with variations in sex characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, or anatomy) that don’t fit the typical definitions of male or female. That’s not what anyone is talking about.
I don’t care if you’re gay — and I don’t care if you’re straight. If you’re an adult and want to be the opposite sex from what you were at birth — and you’re not expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for your transition or your healthcare issues because of your transition — do whatever you want to do. Live your life as you choose — but remember for every choice there are consequences.
LEAVE KIDS OUT OF IT… period. Have a bathroom plan if you have a penis. (This plan should not involve sharing women’s private spaces.) If you want to compete in organized sports, you should be aligned with your biological sex and not the one you identify as. And don’t expect ME to call you by pronouns that you’ve chosen. Out of respect, I’ll avoid using any pronouns at all — but I will stick with reality if that isn’t possible.
It’s not your hair until you’re 21.
In today’s times, I know that sounds bat shit crazy — but seriously, I was not allowed to get my hair cut without my Mom’s permission even in high school (photo on L above), and I had to beg for MONTHS to get those fly back bangs. She always said, “It’s not your hair until you’re 21.” Even directly after high school, (photo on R above), I had to get permission to get the long strands whacked off.
Chemical castration or introducing hormones into your body — much more permanent than a freaking hair cut — should follow the same rule in my opinion.
Finally, it’s ok if you don’t agree with me. After all, this is only my opinion.
Just don’t come at me with excuses like kids feeling as if they were born into the wrong body and don’t fit in — because fat kids (I was one of those!) feel that same way. And we aren’t giving them Ozempic shots at school without their parent’s permission. At least I hope we’re not. 🙂
What’s your stance?
Now you know: UPS founder, James E. Casey, wanted yellow vehicles but a partner said they’d be hard to keep clean. They chose Pullman Brown instead – a color that hides dirt, mud, and grime, and is still used on UPS trucks today.
