My favorite childhood memory is not paying bills. –Unknown

Welcome to the big column to end the week “Caught My Eye” (CME)!

If you are a first-time visitor, welcome! CME is the once a week column that is posted here every Friday morning. This is when I take a look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. There may be some sarcasm and pointed commentary so be warned!

Here are the topics that “Caught My Eye” this week:

• Remembering Sandy Hook
• Gun Deaths
• Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
• Scholarship Tax Credit Program
• Chargers/Chiefs
• TWW Christmas Party
• One More Thing

Remembering Sandy Hook:

It was on this date (Dec. 14) back in 2012 that 20 children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Here are the names of the children:

Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Allison. 

I actually thought that Sandy Hook would change things. I thought the elected officials across the United States would work together to make our country safer.

It did not change things and our country is even more splintered. Our elected officials didn’t do one damned thing after a man killed 20 children (ages six and seven) and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school, not one damned thing. The New York Times reported in February 2018 that more than 1,600 mass shootings have taken place in America since Sandy Hook.

The bottom line: Our elected officials are chickenshits.

Gun Deaths:

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died by guns last year, marking the highest number of gun deaths in decades, according to a new analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database. (CNN)

That’s a record high. That’s about 109 people per day that died by guns in 2017.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs:

Applause to Montana Senators Jon Tester (D) and Steve Daines (R) for holding officials accountable during a hearing about Indian country’s missing and murdered indigenous women.

You can read a press release from Tester HERE. You can read a press release from Daines HERE.

The bottom line to all this is the government agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the FBI don’t care that much about Native Americans who go missing. Native Americans were forced onto the reservations and forgotten.

Hopefully, Tester and Daines can make officials care.

Scholarship Tax Credit Program:

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down by a 5-2 vote a state-run program that gives tax credits to people who donate to private-school scholarships, saying the program violates a constitutional ban against giving state aid to religious organizations. (AP)

Amen to that. It was doomed from the start. It shows that we have some idiots serving in the Montana legislature who don’t understand the Constitution.

The bad news – these bozos will be back at it next month!

Chargers/Chiefs:

The Los Angeles Chargers took some of the swagger out of my Kansas City Chiefs last night by winning the game with four seconds left. That was the first time the Chargers led in the game. It was a dagger – the Chargers scored a TD and then went for a two-point conversion and got it. They won 29-28.

As I wrote earlier the loss by the Chiefs hurts, but they are still in first place in the AFC West because of a better record than the Chargers in the division. The Chiefs travel to Seattle for a game on the December 23 and host the Raiders at Arrowhead on December 30. If the Chiefs win out they are AFC West champs and have home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Chargers play host to the Baltimore Ravens and then close out the season with a game in Denver.

The game was not very well officiated. Several calls on both teams were questionable. There were 17 penalties in the game, with 10 called on the Chiefs.

This loss might be what the Chiefs need to get it together. It certainly took them down a notch. Of course, for us Chiefs fans we know all too well how they often go on 2, 3, and 4 game losing streaks during the season. This would be a bad time to start one of those.

TWW Christmas Party:

The staff of The Western Word will be holding our annual Christmas Party Saturday night. We do celebrate Christmas here. Since the staff consists of one person (me), it will be a short celebration with maybe a beer or two and some hot wings.

Happy holidays and/or Merry Christmas (whatever floats your boat).

One More Thing:

Donald Trump’s Twitter tirades remind me of the quote from comedian Ron White, “I had the right to remain silent…but I didn’t have the ability.”

Have a great weekend!

 

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