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Police departments don't actually have a constitutional obligation to protect people.
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Published Wednesday, June 01, 2022 @ 9:23 AM EDT
Jun 01 2022

Richard Scarry

(We pushed the button a bit early today; have some major items to complete around the house that are time critical.)

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The Supreme Court ruling that suggests police in Uvalde won't face major consequences. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that police departments don't actually have a constitutional obligation to protect people.

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After the Texas school shooting, my wife wondered aloud how an 18 year old could afford to buy two assault weapons. Why, with grabagun.com's Shoot Now Pay Later® program! "Now better than ever! Easier approval. $0 Down. Pay no interest for 90 days (on some offers)**. Easy installments up to 36 months. Approvals up to $5,000. No hard credit inquiries for Pre-Approval. Apply and Buy Today!"

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Add shortage of movie popcorn to nation's woes. And not just popcorn. Supply disruptions are also creating shortages of buckets and bags for popcorn, not to mention cups for drinks, trays for nachos and other necessities. This is a major concern for theaters who generate most of their profit from concession-stand sales.

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Supreme Court blocks Texas social media moderation ban. HB 20 - which forbids banning, demonetizing, or downranking Texas users' posts based on "viewpoint" - will be blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds. A lower court had already blocked the law in 2021 before the Fifth Circuit unblocked it this May.

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Florida man searching for frisbees in a gator-infested lake... well, you know.

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It's blue, fuzzy and lives in your belly button, and it actually has an important function... What is this mysterious substance, and why does it gather there?

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LONDON (AP) - In Britain, there are several traditional elements to a royal anniversary: pageants, street parties, the Sex Pistols.

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The doctor prescribed an obesity drug. her insurer called it 'vanity.' Many insurance companies refuse to cover new weight loss drugs that their doctors deem medically necessary. Doctors say obesity is a chronic disease that should be treated as intensively as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or any other chronic illness are. But, they say, that rarely happens.

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Want to raise successful kids? Science says this controversial habit makes them smarter. Researchers said they found that kids who spent more time playing video games than their peers over a two-year period wound up with higher IQs as a result.

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Five warnings to shoppers from ex-Walmart employees

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Miscellany:

Birthdays:

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On this date in:

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June is:

Adopt-A-Cat Month, African-American Music Appreciation Month, Cataract Awareness Month, Children's Awareness Month, Country Cooking Month, Entrepreneurs "Do It Yourself" Marketing Month, Fight the Filthy Fly Month, Fireworks Eye Safety Month, Great Outdoors Month, International Men's Month, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, Men's Health Month, Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month, National Accordion Awareness Month, National Aphasia Awareness Month, National Burglary Prevention Month, National Candy Month, National Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month, National DJ Month, National Dairy Month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, National Frozen Yogurt Month, National Homeownership Month, National Iced Tea Month, National Microchipping Month, National Rivers Month, National Rose Month, National Safety Month, National Scleroderma Awareness Month, National Soul Food Month, National Zoo and Aquarium Month, Turkey Lovers' Month, and Vision Research Month.

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Today is:

Dare Day, Dinosaur Day, Don't Give Up The Ship Day, Flip a Coin Day, Global Day of Parents, Global Running Day, Heimlich Maneuver Day, International Children's Day, National Go Barefoot Day, National Hazelnut Cake Day, National Nail Polish Day, National Olive Day, National Pen Pal Day, National Tailors' Day, New Year's Resolution Recommitment Day, Oscar The Grouch Day, Say Something Nice Day, Stand For Children Day, Wear a Dress Day, and World Milk Day.

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Friends and patients of the late Lawrence J. Nelson, MD... A memorial will be held Sunday, June 12 at noon at the George Irvin Green Funeral Home, 3511 Main Street, Munhall.

Categories: Belly Button Lint, Florida, Florida Man, Guns, Medicare, Medicine, Queen Elizabeth, Second Amendment, Sex Pistols, Shortages, Supreme Court, Walmart

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Grandma
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Published Wednesday, June 01, 2022 @ 12:00 AM EDT
Jun 01 2022


(Grandma and Edie, 1972)

My paternal grandmother, Esther Schotting, passed away on this date in 1979. She and my grandfather were my de facto parents. They and the late Earle Wittpenn were my role models and mentors.

Grandma had the most influence over me, and she took her responsibility seriously. She made certain to watch for me as I walked home from elementary school in the afternoon, or crossed Eighth Avenue to go to Isaly's or McCrory's for her. She was always at a window, always looking for me. When I lost track of time while reading at the library, she'd call to confirm I was there and ask the librarian to tell me to head home when I finished whatever I was reading.

In her later years, when I would change buses on my way to my night shift job in Pittsburgh, she would be there in the window of the apartment on Ann Street. I probably looked like an idiot, waving in the dark at a 45° angle into the night sky. But I knew she was there and even though I was all grown up, in my mid-20s with two kids of my own, her presence gave me comfort.

My grandmother claimed to be an "old-time Baptist", although the only time I ever saw her attend church was for my wedding. She kept her faith in her own unique way, and she did it, no pun intended, religiously. She had several Mahalia Jackson and Tennessee Ernie Ford albums she liked to play, and she watched all the televised Billy Graham campaigns (as long as they didn't conflict with Joe Pyne or Studio Wrestling).

She had a big, heavy, brown leather-bound Bible prominently positioned in the living room, but it served primarily as a storage location for important papers, not as a source of spiritual inspiration. She had porcelain statues of Jesus scattered in various locations who, unbeknownst to her, also served as stern military commanders who would give details of upcoming missions to my G.I. Joes and who whacked the troops with their shepherd crooks when they failed to deliver.

She also had a Jesus statue in a wooden boxlike thing that, frankly, reminded me of a cuckoo clock (but, of course, I never told her that). The only picture allowed on the shelves with any of the assorted Jesuses was a white plastic framed picture of the then recently departed President Kennedy, but many of my friends' houses in Homestead in the early 60s had those as well, as all faithful FDR Democrats would.

It may seem that I'm disparaging my grandmother's religious beliefs: far from it. What she lacked in attendance was more than offset by her actions. While she didn't go to church, she made certain I went to Sunday School. I alternated between attending Lutheran and Presbyterian churches and summer camps, which provided indelible memories. (♪ On the hills of Lutherlyn, we'll slip in the dip and roll the ball along... ♪)

If you were a friend and down on your luck, Grandma would let you and your kid crash on the couch for a couple days and even give you two or three bucks if she had hit the numbers for a penny that day.

We had a full table every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and half the people there were older acquaintances from the neighborhood who lived alone and either had no family or weren't welcome.

When I told her we couldn't go to a local diner because my school friend was black and the owner told us to leave, she put on her good black orthopedic shoes, hobbled down the steps of our third floor apartment and ripped into the proprietor with a righteous fury rivaling the intense monologues Jack Webb would give on her favorite police show, Dragnet.

When she passed, I asked the local Baptist minister I knew from my time at the Homestead Messenger if he would conduct her service. He graciously agreed and appeared wearing his trademark attire, a loud patterned sports jacket that Bill Currie would have envied.

He talked to me and several attendees I didn't know, folks Grandma had helped in the distant past who recalled her kindness and willingness to help and came to offer their respects. I guess it's an acquired skill the clergy develop over the years, but his service was surprisingly accurate and sincere- informed, no doubt, by the acquaintances to whom he had spoken.

I held up pretty well until he ended his eulogy to a woman he never met with a poem by Margaret Widdemer that precisely described her:

She always leaned to watch for us,
Anxious if we were late,
In winter by the window,
In summer by the gate.

And though we mocked her tenderly,
Who had such foolish care,
The long way home would seem more safe
Because she waited there.

Her thoughts were all so full of us,
She never could forget!
And so I think that where she is
She must be watching yet.

Waiting till we come home to her,
Anxious if we are late,
Watching from Heaven’s window,
Leaning on Heaven’s gate.

Categories: KGB Family, Margaret Widdemer

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