Either I got a  raft of new readers and commenters, or the spambots have finally discovered me.  Woke up to a thoroughly clogged spam trap, and I sent the lot of them to the bit bucket.  If I erred on your comment, drop one here to let me know you’re actually a human being.

I was going to let my input on the tragedy today in Connecticut end with the previous post, and I still think that the thoughts I put there are the most important ones I can express.  But I made the mistake of interacting with other people today, both online and in real life, and things that were said and written got me to thinking.

Yes, the world is populated with a lot of evil people.  There have been evil people as long as there have been people and there will be evil people so long as people exist.  We cannot perfect mankind, so we cannot root out all of the evil.  We can try to mitigate evil, to limit it, but we cannot eliminate it.  All efforts to do so have failed miserably.  In order to live in this world, we must accept that there is evil and deal with its consequences.

I’m not saying this as an excuse for evil people killing innocents, because there is no excuse for that.  The greatest gift our Creator gave us was choice, including the choice to follow the path of evil.  We can choose to love or to hate, to do good or bad, to be sinful or just.  Most will choose the just path of life, but some will choose to do evil, sometimes with horrific outcomes.  In those circumstances, all the just can do is to try to prevent it, minimize the suffering, and deal with the pain it causes.  This is just such a case.

And yes, the animal who shot up a school today used guns to do it.  In other words, he abused his rights in such a way that the lives of others were destroyed.  All rights can be abused.  The right of free speech that allowed Martin Luther King to make resounding speeches calling for greater freedom for the oppressed is the same right that can be abused by bigots in calling for their continued oppression.  The right that guarantees that Ann Geddes can create pictures of the innocence and beauty of children can be abused to create child pornography.  The right for us to either worship, or not, as we see fit can also be abused to create cults of personality and tragedies like Jonestown.  My right to own and carry a firearm to protect myself and my family can be abused by a sick bastard to kill a score of school children.

The way to deal with those who abuse their rights to the detriment of others is not to abridge the rights of the vast majority that don’t.  I don’t know how we are to prevent this evil from happening again, but that isn’t it.

13Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. — The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 19, Verses 13 through 15

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering the horror of this day.  As a father, a friend, and a human being, I cannot imagine the pain, rage, and sorrow that is assaulting the families of Newtown today, and my heart weeps for them.  May the Heavenly Father take your loved ones into his arms and cradle them forever.

It’s 12:12 on 12/12/12.

Hoopla…

I guess.

Irish Woman, watching a show about the Revolution on the TV:  If we were around during the Revolution, what would you have done?

Me:  Joined the Army, what else?  I see you running a tavern somewhere, serving beer and hard whiskey.

Irish Woman:  I couldn’t have run a tavern!

Me:  Of course you could have.  You’re Irish.  I’m surprised you people don’t use them as maternity wards.

Irish Woman:  You know that women wouldn’t have been allowed to run a bar back then.  A brothel, maybe, but not a bar.

Me: ……….

John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John’s Pizza, has joined the chorus of businessmen calling out the emperor for walking around in his birthday suit.  He is predicting that franchisees of the pizza chain will find ways to reduce the hours worked by their employees in order to be exempt from some of the provisions of Obamacare.  He has also stated that the costs of implementing the program will raise the cost of his companies product, which will probably hurt business.

Now, is Mr. Schnatter lying?  I don’t believe he is.  When a business owner, whether they employ 10 people or 100,000, knows that their costs are going to go up, they will find a way to either soften the blow or dodge it entirely.  If you are going to have to spend millions of dollars to provide health insurance to people who work more than 30 hours a week, you’d be a fool to not bring as many people as you can below 30 hours a week.  Some will call this exploiting a loophole or accuse him of gaming the system, but those are codewords for “doing something that is legal but not what some would have you do”.  And I’ve heard Alan say it many times:  Corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect them.  If the cost of doing business goes up due to Obamacare or any other regulation or tax, then the companies will pass that cost on to their customers.  The President and his advisors and allies in the Congress obviously missed that day in Economics 101.

Is Mr. Schnatter being greedy by trying to deny his employees health insurance and lowering their hours?  I’d say not.  What he is doing is being a good, prudent businessman.  Yes, a business owner has a responsibility to her employees to provide a safe and fair working environment, but she also has a responsibility to the people who finance the business.  They must keep the doors open and keep making profits in order to afford to keep paying salaries and providing benefits, even if they aren’t as comprehensive or generous as the President would like.

I’ve met Mr. Schnatter, and my family benefits by his giving to the Louisville Zoo and to my youngest son’s school.  He and his wife are gracious, selfless philanthropists who have not forgotten where they came from.  Schnatter began his pizza company as a small business owner, worked his butt off, caught lighting in a bottle, and has been running with it ever since.  He also seems to be following the example of Andrew Carnegie in that he is spreading his wealth as widely and as wisely as he can.  He is also doing it in a very low-key manner.  I know of several charitable organizations that owe a great deal to the Schatters, but it is rare that you hear about it in the news.

So no, I don’t believe that Mr. Schnatter is advocating lowering working hours for his workers as a way to up his profits.  A man who has made as much money as he has and who gives away as much as he does without seeking glory knows to put people above profits.  But I do believe that he knows that if the cost of the mandatory expenditures for Obamacare are not managed or avoided, then he will have to lay people off.  Fewer hours is better than no hours.

As for those who are calling for a boycott of Papa Johns and other companies that are working to keep the wheels on under the yoke of the healthcare law, I pledge that the publicity for this issue will indeed drive my spending decisions.  But I think you’ll be disappointed to find that I will be spending my money at businesses whose owners are good businessmen, rather than those who throw money at a soft hearted and soft headed attempt to make life better with no thought to the costs.

Congratulations, you got the economy you voted for, the business climate you voted for, and the healthcare law you voted for.  Now I will enjoy watching the light of comprehension come into your eyes as you realize that the cost of your victory will be much steeper than you were promised. Enjoy your bite of the poop sandwich you handed the country.  I’m sorry that it won’t taste quite as sweet as you thought it would.

Guys, it’s time to give back to someone who’s given a lot to all of us.

Tam is one of the nicest people I’ve met.  To be honest, reading her blog, along with Brigid, Jay, and the Atomic Nerds, is the reason I decided to take a whack at this particular hobby.  She’s been a wealth of advice and entertainment for a long time.  Meeting her and shooting with her was the highlight of the Lucky Gunner Shoot for me last year.*  She’s a daily read for me and a lot of people.

Life has thrown Tam a curve ball recently, and it’s a hard one.  She hasn’t asked for it, but she could probably use a bit of help from all of us who call ourselves The People of the Gun.  Nothing in medicine is inexpensive, and anything we do would only be repayment for years of excellent writing and whit from Tam.

So if you’ve got a few spare shekels, why not go on over and help out a member of the tribe?  I’m in.

*Seriously. Any day that you spend loading M-16 magazines with Tam and Oleg, then have Tam offer to share her guns with you is a good day.