Controversy

Over the past year I've posted a couple of blog entries about the current state of the news media, and the sad fact that a truly objective, unbiased, news outlet does not exist. 

I also complained that CONTROVERSY sells, and that reporters are determined to create controversy where there is none.  The latest example of this is the truck pictured above.

This past Christmas, Wal-Mart offered a little eighteen wheeler with a livestock trailer in their toy department.  According to a story I read today, this toy truck is at the center of a huge CONTROVERSY!  

According to the story, complaining parents said the purpose of a livestock hauler was to carry cattle to slaughter and they thought it was unconscionable for Wal-Mart to introduce their innocent children to the concept of death at such an early age.

Although the story didn't say so, I have to assume the complainers were

• Total idiots
• Members of PETA
• Vegans
• Folks who think meat comes wrapped in cellophane from the supermarket
• All of the above

The first amendment does give anyone the  right to complain about anything.  Thank God it doesn't require us to pay attention.

Honors

Like most TV viewers, we watched the Kennedy Center Honors last night.  As usual, it was a pretty good show with only a few disappointments - James Taylor's version of "Up on the Roof" and just about everyone toasting Rita Moreno were two of the weak spots for me.

One of the things I found most impressive was not part of the entertainment.  

I found it amazing that Cicely Tyson at 90

Looks so much younger than she did when she played Miss Jane Pittman back in 1974.

 

Place Holder

Nothing new to report today.
Honey is out walking.  It is 44 degrees and overcast, and she's bundled up like she was going out in a blizzard.  At least she is out and I'm not - maybe later, maybe not.

Fifty One

Today Honey and I celebrate fifty one years of marriage.
She had been a true partner - one who makes the rough times easier to deal with and the good times even better.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Dogs

Those who follow this blog know that the Boggy Thicket family includes two miniature dachshunds, Tinker and Dusty.  That's a very old picture, but the dogs and the pillow are the same today. We still call them the puppies although they are twelve years old and their muzzles are completely gray. 

I was going to the bathroom last night when I heard Honey calling frantically from the living room.  I couldn't tell exactly what she was saying, but I did hear "Help, Tinker and Hurry!" I ran into the living room to find that Tinker had managed to get one toe-nail caught in the fabric of the pillow the pups lie on and couldn't get it out.  I had to get scissors and then hold Tink down while Honey cut the nail loose.  It took several snips at the fabric, but once she was loose everything was fine - no damage to the dog and only minor damage to an old, worn pillow.

Oddly enough, I had already decided several hours before that today's post would be about the pups, but I planned to write about Dusty.  She is the younger, and until last year the smaller of the two dogs - at their last Vet visit, Tinker had dropped a little weight and now weighs in just under ten pounds while Dusty added a few ounces and weighs ten and a half.  Although smaller, Dusty is the Alpha dog. She runs the household, and if you don't believe me, just ask her.

She also snores, and the older she gets, the louder.  That led me to write...

There’s simply no way to ignore

Dusty when she starts to snore

She rattles the dishes in the sink

Makes the walls shake, and I think

Vibrates the terrazzo tile on the floor

12/26/15

Made it through Christmas - back home in one piece.  
Happy but tired - Christmas takes longer to recover from than it used to.
 

Christmas Eve