September 24

 Cloudy with rain predicted today. Had a nice three hours crocheting and then got some of the What-Not room straightened up. Have a lot more to do. The big problem is organizing things so I can find them again. I don't know how many times over the years we have bought something simply because we needed it but couldn't find what we already had. In between I also got some little chores done. Haven't really started reading e-mail yet.

However, the news actually has been focused on the shooting at the Ice Facility in Texas. I have a few observations of what has gone on so far--which isn't much. First, I am so glad so many politicians, including Ted Cruz, are speaking out against political insisting it must stop. However, my second observation is that all of the statements seem be insisting that the political violence against government, government agencies, or government-allied persons must stop. There is an old joke that asks what is the difference between a tax collector and a robber? Answer: official permission. We can say the same thing about Ice. What is the difference between a masked, unidentified group of thugs who kidnap people off the street and a group of gangbangers? One is an Ice "officer" hired by the government and the other is just a thug. The politicians are supporting those with official permission leaving unaddressed the underlying mess beneath. Third, we really have no firm notion of the shooter's motive except anti-Ice message written on his ammo. Might they be misdirection? Who knows? Fifth, who were the victims? Finally, someone has asked whether the Ice personnel were the targets and the shooter was a really lousy shot? Or did he have a grudge agains immigrants? Again no one knows. So much verbiage expended and so little facts!!

Another news item that has been churning in my mind was Trump's and Bobby Kennedy's insistence that pregnant women and young children shouldn't take (or be given) Tylenol. For years (decades, actually) Tylenol has been suggested for pain during pregnancy, especially for those who can't use aspirin or had digestive issues that made such pain meds dangerous. As usual in these pronouncements the assertion was made that acetaminophen MAY cause autism. No real evidence and totally ignoring a number of studies which indicate there is no link between the two. But I wondered because Mom's general physician warned against using aspirin because she already prescribed a low dose aspirin to help regulate her blood pressure. I said we could shift to Tylenol but the doctor strongly nixed that. I decided to do some research and found that in high doses (I didn't see a definition of "high") acetaminophen can raise blood pressure. Interesting.

Oh, well! Time to go to my reading.

Denise Donaldson at PONDERMENTS asks if we feel rushed. She writes from her perspective as a crafter. I know what she means. I just got the latest Herrschner's catalog and a large part of it features Christmas projects with a sprinkling of of Spring items. And, yes, I have noticed for a couple of decades now how I have noticed how Christmas shopping season has crept closer to Labor Day. Thanksgiving and Halloween have sort of faded from view. My own response is simple: I don't pay much attention to the speedup. I am a crafter but none of my projects is really geared to a holiday. The only one I can think of at the moment is one with holiday penguins I have been working on for about four years (on and off, mostly off) and am only about a third done. It will get done--someday. I remember a crochet afghan (full bed size) that took me almost a decade. Life just kept intruding.