Things That Make Me Go Hmmm. Or WTF??

Have you been following the news story about Mr. TB, aka Andrew Speaker? There's got to be a back story there. Does it seem odd to anyone else that some random guy ends up with some rare, bacteria resistant strain of TB... and his brand new FIL just happens to work at the CDC... studying strange and rare strains of TB? Might be a clue about your welcome to the family. I'm just sayin'. And I saw an interview clip the other day about how he's got tapes of conversations saying that he wasn't contagious. And other clips about how he didn't know he was sick. Um. Okay. Isn't ironic that he, a personal injury lawyer, is asking forgiveness from all of the people on those planes and in those other countries that he may have put into danger? I think it would serve him right if they all sued him. Every last one of them. Hurry up and have children. We need more like you running around. Also, I feel so safe about our borders - the border guard scanned the passport and an alarm popped up - don't let this guy in, contain him, don protective gear and call for help and what does the guard do? Lets him in. Yet they stole a pair of safety scissors from me. *headdesk* Glad security is on the job. I feel much safer now. Really.

Have you heard about the Cuban book that the Florida school board is discussing banning? First off, banning books or anything else just p*sses me off. But the reasoning behind this ban is that the Cuban Americans are all up in arms 'cause the book isn't political and doesn't bash Castro. "To many in this heavily Cuban-American community, "Vamos a Cuba" ("A Visit to Cuba") is extremely offensive because it lacks any criticism of the country's dictator Fidel Castro or his communist government. That's why the Miami-Dade County School District will ask a federal appeals court Wednesday for permission to remove all 49 copies of the book from its libraries. ...In seeking to remove the book, the board overruled the decision of two academic advisory committees and the county school superintendent. Frank Bolanos, a former school board member who championed the district's fight to remove the books, said the board is right to pursue its appeal. Bolanos, who stepped down last year to run unsuccessfully for state Senate, said the case highlights the need for more give and take between school district bureaucrats and parents over what is appropriate for children to read. "It sort of pits parents against a school system that seems to think it has absolute right over what's given to our children," he said. But another parent, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Miami-Dade Student Government Association challenged the removal in court. "Access to information in libraries with all points of view — libraries serving as a marketplace of ideas — that is the heart and soul of what the First Amendment is all about," said Florida ACLU director Howard Simon. "This is very dangerous ground the Miami-Dade School Board is treading on." I'm sort of scared that I agree with the ACLU, but here's the thing from my point of view - you have the right to decide what your children read. Not what my children read. *growl*

Oh, and here's a more personal WTF?!? My dad, as I think I've mentioned, is retiring from the really big tire company. Because I'm senile, and lazy, I don't remember and have no intention of looking to see what I've already posted about this. But, they were supposed to send a letter. Instead, they posted something on a bulletin board saying something like "Dear valued employees, Everyone who wanted to retire is going to. Your last day is May 31. Have a nice life." Then, for the party for everyone, they sent around a sheet. "Dear valued employee, Please join us for punch to celebrate your pending retirement." So Dad, always the most easy-going of individuals, decided that if after 47 years, they couldn't be bothered to put his name on something, he wasn't going to go to their party. His last day was supposed to be Thursday night, since he works the night shift. Their little punch fest was Thursday morning. Wednesday night he went in and they asked him to stay after to meet with a vendor. (They scheduled him for nearly 80 hours DURING HIS LAST WEEK.) Anywho, the vendor was a trick to get him to the party. Then the HR people came up and said that he doesn't actually get to retire for another three months 'cause they need him to train his replacements. They haven't actually hired said replacements yet. Good to know that they've got their sh*t together, isn't it?

And, here's another personal WTF - dedicated to my brother. While I love him, he's an idiot. This spring, he finally split with his girlfriend. I liked her, she was alright but they dated for almost 2 years, and for almost a year and a half of that, he's said he wanted out. But that's not what's got me all stirred up now. He was flirting around with this girl at his work. We'll call her S2FS (for skanky two faced slut, a term of endearment to be sure). S2FS is married. With a two year old. She chased after my idiot brother, claiming that her marriage was a sham, her husband didn't pay any attention to her, they slept in separate bedrooms for 10 years, yadda yadda yadda. She called. She emailed. She left the company they had in common, invited him to her going away party and neglected to tell him that he was the ONLY one she invited. So on and so forth. He told me about all this around this time. I christened her the skanky 2 faced slut at that time and inquired how someone whose husband hadn't touched her in 10 years ended up with a toddler. I told him to just say no, he didn't need THAT kind of noise. The idiot got involved with her anyway. After four weeks, he was "in love" and thinking forever. Then her cell phone bill arrived at her house. And her not-involved husband correlated her calls with her "working late" and "acting weird" and confronted her. Sounds like someone who doesn't care, doesn't it? The long and the short of it is that she told my brother that she couldn't communicate with him anymore 'cause her meanie husband won't let her and threatened to take her child away. My brother is more upset over this than the end of the 2 year relationship. I think part of the reason is that he's not getting any sympathy from me, or mom. My parents tend to be pretty conservative. I'm not, but I do not poach. Ever. It's a thing with me and knowing that my brother doesn't seem to have a problem with it has really affected the way I look at him. Yeah, I know. HE's not the one married and therefore not the one breaking a vow. I don't care. Keep your paws off that which is not yours. It's common couresy if nothing else. So, WTF is wrong with him??

And lastly, why am I still at work at 9:30 at night? What is wrong with me? Hmmm?

(NOTE: link to the article I was quoting above is here.)