Hold on... in These titles mean nothing.

I got my new computer Sunday and I’m pretty happy with it. In fact it’s a very nice computer. An HP, which I’d never had before. It doesn’t seem to have a name, which is ok. It’s black, fairly good sized and it has a number pad on the right which is new to me. I doubt it comes with a spread sheet so I’m not sure what I’d do with a number pad but that’s ok. It’s a lap top and it cost just under $300. I paid for it with log money - so it’s a WINDFALL!!!! Get it?

I have a lot to say but I’m out of the habit of writing here. To write well takes effort and I’m not particularly into effort.

One thing I’d like to tell my Australian and other friends who do not understand the United States insanity on the gun issue is that they are not ignored. Sunday we went to meet a very pleasant candidate for the Democratic nomination for Iowa’s governor. His name is John Norris and he is very good, almost perfect in fact and I hope he wins both the nomination and the general election.

At one point he was asked about gun control and he gave a rather nervous and not very good answer. He said as a boy on the farm, his father had taken him to the local hardware store with his gopher trapping money to buy his first gun - which he still uses to hunt with. He said that the NRA would not support him no matter how reasonable he was toward guns and he said he was in favor of doing all that can be done to pass laws that can be passed to control guns. That was not a very strong answer but it probably was about all he could do. Guns are not an easy issue in the U.S.

But what I want my Aussie (and other) friends to know was that there was quite a bit of mumbling about the Australian answer to guns. More Democrats than I would have expected knew what was done in Australia - where all guns were turned in (except certain hunting gun) and that has stopped almost all deaths from guns. One of my favorites here tells of an aunt who didn’t turn her guns in but felt so bad that she gradually put them out in the garbage one at a time over a period of time.

When the candidate figured out what had happened in Australia - he asked if Australia had a version of the NRA - and of course it didn’t. Nothing as strong and rich and all-encompassing as the US version for sure. But it made me feel good to know that my common sense friends down under are at least recognized here in the middle of America.

More later.

Last updated March 15, 2018