Perplexing things

At sundry times I have not been able to figure out why people think like they do.  The latest is this Lochte controversy. I admit I don’t know all that went on, nonetheless, I can’t figure out why no one holds Brazil responsible.   Suppose I was still in business and I ran a gas station.  You came into my gas station, blasted out of your mind, causing trouble, tearing stuff up—worse than anyone alleges in the Lochte incident.  But if I pulled a gun on you, do you think the police would lock me up or you? Brandishing a gun can still be a felony charge in most states.  Apparently not in Brazil.  Moreover, the Brazilian government now wants Lochte to pay $47,000 to avoid charges??? Isn’t it time someone told Rio to go to hell?  And take all those Tijuana operators with them.

            Nobody was more clever about feeling our pain that Bill Clinton.  When disaster happens, it is up to the state to clean up.  We never see federal regular Army troops taking charge.  FEMA is only a loan/payment agency.  Governors used to routinely ask Presidents to not come to a disaster area immediately because it causes too much disruption of responders.  That’s why W. just flew over Katrina in a plane.  But Slick Willie transposed the governor’s function of showing up at a disaster into the Presidency and won huge acclaim for it.  So Trump went to Louisiana and scored a big Clinton-like win.  Obama is taking the guff for golfing.  But given that Bill is married to Hill, why does no one ask where she was?  Where was Slick’s wife?

            We have two candidates who are 69 and 70 years old.  Only half of all Americans live to age 65. Avg. age at death is 78. Reagan was 69 and everybody was concerned about his health, which turned out to be robust with an active lifestyle and proper eating. Still, he had Alzheimers within 4 years of serving.  8 of 44 Presidents have served because of death of the former guy. Why does no one ask about Trump or Hillary Health? And then KFC announced they are making sunscreen that smells like fried chicken.  Where can I get this?  If you’ve ever tried to walk houses campaigning and met vicious dogs you might come to realize that if you eat a nice greasy burger, they tend to start wagging tails and licking hands.  I want to find that KFC sunscreen!

            Why is everybody, and I mean everybody, making bacon cheeseburgers with jalapenos?  Don’t get me wrong.  I love bacon.  But the strong flavor overwhelms the sandwich.  Add jalapenos and you can’t taste beef anymore.  Is this what passes for gourmet?  Whatever happened to charbroiling, mushroom-swiss, bleu cheese, and carmelized onions?  Is every taste a desire for bacon and peppers?  But then I was also the guy who wondered why the burger joints didn’t offer alternatives to French fries like Wendy’s.  Don’t tell me nobody is interested.

            Given that the research of the last 15 years points to the rarity of an earth-like planet nearby, why does everyone explain anything they can’t understand as caused by aliens.  If something in history is a mystery, it must have been intervention by mysterious aliens.  If a mystery in science, maybe it’s aliens.  Somebody figured-out something new, maybe he was helped by aliens.  Isn’t this the same baloney that people used to think about leprechauns, ogres, trolls and fairies?  By golly, I think the pyramids were built by fairies.  With tin-foil hats.

            Given that ISIS and all sorts of Islamists would love to cripple USA and that hundreds of thousands of illegals have crossed our borders in the last ten years, why aren’t we worried about terrorism cells?  Why doesn’t some pop-culture saavy network adopt this as a theme—how to protect yourself in time of terror emergency?  If one of those mideastern countries had an atomic weapon and medium range missle launcher and didn’t want to get caught, they would park a ship offshore, launch the missle at the center of our country, detonate in the atmosphere (doesn’t take any guidance system) and cause an EMP explosion that would destroy virtually every computer network in America—cars couldn’t operate, electrical grid would go down, no internet or phones.  The same effect would happen if a large solar flare were to erupt.  One does every hundred years.  Why does no one plan for this?

            My conclusion therefore is that people don’t like to think about bad things.  They love the familiar and status quo.  You can’t control Brazil or a solar flare. They just don’t want to think about anything that challenges their notions.