Brexiterrible, explained with the help of British Comedy

Its too bad the members of Monty Python have either left this world or have semi-retired to an innocuous nostalgia,  since who else than they would be more capable of enlightening us on the Brexit nonsense?  We can only try our best to carry on in their absence, with a little help from the past ...

Its tempting to think the forces behind the recent vote to leave the European Union were led by Upper Class Twits of The Year.  But I expect a large number of 'Gumbys' were also involved.  Probably a smattering of Village Idiots too.

Certainly a powerful force of blind ignorance to the benefits of EU membership was involved. Even blind to the realities of Britain's own contributions to the Union.

Of course all of the arguments in favor of Leave ultimately were targeted at people's fears and baser motivations. (warning - inappropriate language)

Whatever the actual reasons behind the slim majority vote to Leave, the aftermath is already looking horrific, per HBO's in-house UK expert John Oliver (warning - adult language, and OK, this is not really 'British' comedy, but its close)

Ok, I know that to many of you this is not a laughing matter.  But to paraphrase an old saying, you sometimes have to laugh to keep from crying.

Good Luck to all my British friends, by far the majority of whom voted to Remain. I know the long tradition of British humor in the face of adversity will help get you through.  (Try to create some new material to help us in November, just in case ...)

Make It Stop!

In the aftermath of Orlando, this is what millions of people in America are thinking ...

I am thinking it too.

In my decades on this planet the same issue with gun violence and how to solve it has come up again and again.  We have yet to solve it, and millions of people are beginning to despair of ever solving it.

I have hoped for a long time that cool heads would work out reasonable legislation that would balance our 2nd amendment rights against the needs of citizens in a civilized society to be protected from gun violence.  It hasn't happened.  At times it appeared to be happening, but that was a temporary illusion.

For the record, I support the right of law-abiding, mentally stable citizens over 18 to own guns for self-protection and for hunting.  I also firmly believe that gun ownership carries with it an awesome responsibility to maintain gun safety and security, and to ensure this happens I support licensing and registration of guns, just as we do for cars.

Many will disagree with my last statement, and that's OK, as long as we talk about the problem and seek a working solution.  I don't think unregulated gun sales and unlimited carry laws do anything to solve the problem, but you may think differently.  I think very few of the mass shootings would have gone differently if many in the crowds were 'packing heat', but some of you may think they would have.  I believe that unlimited gun availability leads to many more impulse killings than would otherwise occur, but you might think those impulses might have been as easily satisfied with a knife or a bat.

I may think you are misguided and you might think that of me.

But none of that matters as much as speaking about solutions rather than continually arguing the problem.  If both sides continue to block each other to the point of nothing happening, there WILL be an increasing call for total gun ban and a change to the 2nd amendment.

There will, because people just want someone to Make It Stop, and so far nobody has.