There has been a lot going on recently some of which we hear about in the media some of which we don’t. Maybe it’s time for another one of my random thoughts and quick hits columns.

There is a widely held belief that sexually based crimes, such as rape and sexual harassment, are more about power than sex. Let’s assume that that is true. Liberalism is also about power. Liberals love to tell us how to live our lives in almost every aspect. So it stands to reason that the majority of people who are being accused of committing these types of atrocious offenses that have been in the news so much recently are liberals.

Speaking of liberals losing their jobs, Matt Lauer, of course, is the most recent. I watched Savannah Guthrie’s response the day after all of this happened. She said she was heartbroken for her friend and partner and all that he was going through. She was sad that this had to happen to him. What about the victims? She made an innocuous reference to the victims but it was clear that she felt sorry for her coworker. He chose to act in this manner. His victims did not have a choice to be exposed to his boorish behavior. Charlie Rose’s producer said she wished she had handled the complaints made against him differently. She just told the women whom he had harassed that that was “Charlie being Charlie.” I read another one that said Al Franken’s victims knew what they were signing up for and are essentially to blame for what happened. Just more proof that liberals will do anything to defend their colleagues because it’s about power and not doing what’s right.

How is it that our parents were able to raise us without being able to look up how to be a parent on Google?

I don’t remember his name, I believe he’s a Democrat representative from California, but he’s beginning to complain that $174,000 a year is not enough for our elected officials to live on. I do understand, in theory, the need to maintain two households if you truly live in the district that you represent. The cost of living in Washington DC is high, no doubt about it. But our representatives are given $1.26 million and our senators are given $3.1 million to “run their offices." There is no accountability for how they spend that money. They can spend it on travel, staff salaries, themselves, if they like. They also get a $174,000 death benefit and they can retire at 80% of their salary, with that salary being paid for the rest of their life. It’s no wonder that so many of our elected officials leave office much richer than when they entered. Not only do we need to reform the system but if they cannot live on $174,000 a year, maybe we need to have them in Washington DC much less often.

Speaking of no accountability, $15 million has been paid out over the last 10 years or so to settle sexual harassment claims against our elected officials. The Republican leadership in Congress is refusing to identify against whom the allegations were made and how much was paid on their behalf. Once again, it is power taking care of power. But there is a little thing called the Constitution. That document requires that any monies paid out of the United States treasury must be recorded in a journal and made public for review by the citizens of this country. No, I’m not surprised that our elected officials are ignoring the law.

Why do we need ethics training? Because of all the sexual harassment claims being discussed, many people have said that for example our elected officials need to go through ethics training more frequently. The same suggestion has been made for people in private business. We’ve had ethics training and sexual harassment awareness training. It did not stop any of these people from committing these offenses. Maybe it’s because we’ve taken morality out of the public realm and stopped teaching it in our schools.

I have decided that being an adult is kind of like trying to fold a fitted sheet.

Say goodbye to your small or midsize sedan. Kia motors is the first company to announce that they will no longer manufacture small or midsize sedans. Other companies will be following suit. And why have they come to this decision? Uber and self driving vehicles. In urban and suburban areas the small to midsize sedan is used basically for commuting or running errands. Maybe you buy your teenager a small car when they get their license. But now so many people are opting for Uber that they don’t need those cars anymore. They are purchasing SUVs and pickup trucks for longer drives or taking the family on trips. Many parents are setting up Uber accounts for their teenagers which is not only less expensive but they can also track where their kids are going and when.

In a related story, Amazon will have a distribution center within 20 miles of 45% of our population within the next 25 years. Their delivery service will be able to bring you almost everything you need from toilet paper to food to clothing. And yes they are working on being able to build you a house as well. In fact people don’t really need to leave their homes anymore so why do they need a car other than to go on long trips.

So now Pocahontas is a racial slur. Why wasn’t it a racial slur when the movie came out? I remember being taught in school how the real Pocahontas saved a whole lot of people from starvation and death. I remember learning about the values by which she lived her life. Pretty much service to others, wasn’t it? But now it’s a racial slur.

Why aren’t pregnant women called bodybuilders?

For the second month in a row consumer confidence is at a 17-year high. Our economy is growing at a 3% rate. But the one to see a real indicator of how well President Trump is doing in reviving our economy? One of the biggest concerns for many of us has been the amount of consumer debt being held in America. It has been at astronomical rates, especially with credit card debt. In 2008 we were spending about 13.9% of our income to service our personal debt. Right now we’re spending about 9.7% which, historically, is about where we should be in order to have a healthy economy. The amount of consumer personal debt, expressed in dollars, has come down slightly but the reason for the significant drop in the percentage of our income we are using to service that debt is because wages have increased.

I don’t always learn my lesson, but you can bet when I do I learned the hard way.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the people who asked me for directions.

Have a great weekend!