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A Little Bit from Elaine
Elaine Carlson will provide weekly columns to the Beat.
By Elaine Carlson
"They said some guy arrested for murder in Las Vegas had a 'history of questionable actions.' Can you imagine if we were all held to that standard?"
What I would like to imagine is what would happen if our country adopted that standard in our Presidential Elections. One thing we would have to do is get used to not having that position filled. Better yet, let's all imagine what it would be like if our country did not have a President.
It is the comedian George Carlin (5-10-1937 – June 22, 2008) we need to thank for that observation and question.
By Elaine Carlson
"They were high school sweethearts," she said. "They got married when they were 21."
"Did they go on to climb Mount Everest?" he asked. "Or did they work on the Manhattan Project?"
"This isn't history – this happened not too long ago," she said. "They joined an evangelical church and became best friends with the minister and his wife."
By Elaine Carlson
Two weeks ago a relative sent me a message criticizing the media for not paying more attention to the then Presumed Presidential Candidate Joe Biden's "quick to anger syndrome." And asserted, "Failure to vet a candidate could result in a nuclear war."
It was rare to have someone contact me to inform me of one of Biden's faults. I have certainly been told about (and have read about) the various missteps and faults of President Donald Trump. Should I have put the word alleged in that sentence? Anyway I was glad to see some balance. Maybe not balance (meaning even) but at least something negative about the President's opponent.
By Elaine Carlson
Probably the biggest big story that so far hasn’t been a big story in the coverage of the 2020 Presidential Election is the fact that one of the candidates was bitten by a bat.
Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Jo Jorgensen (63 born May 1, 1957) had to skip scheduled campaign stops in Louisiana and Mississippi while she was getting rabies treatment after being bitten by a bat.
Before and after being side-lined by a bat Jorgensen has worked hard on telling people in her campaign she is NOTpromising free ponies to all with an extra offer of free cheesy bread and a Waffle House on every corner.
By Elaine Carlson
In 2010 I started to use a walker. Then I was using a cane and since I have been going back and forth between the two. I have to use something when I am out because I am disabled.
I got the walker from my husband Brad. He went to the hospital with a bad liver infection. When his doctors were talking to him about discharge they suggested he leave with a walker. He started to say that he didn’t think he needed one but then thought of me. So he got it for me.
By Elaine Carlson
For years years, many women have accused the American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. In fact more than eighty women have made such accusations. But we must not forget that Weinstein was not an ordinary man. He was well known producer and had a lot of hits (Sex Lies and Videotape, Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love). And he had powerful allies that protected him from his accusers.
Two articles were what turned the tide --- one in The New York Times (October 5, 2017) by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey and one in The New Yorker (October 10, 2017) by Ronan Farrow. Both made the charges well known and eventually led to him becoming a defendant in a trial.
By Elaine Carlson
"Tell Oscar to sleep on the roof."
A doctor and the Public Health Nurse Margret Sanger (1879 – 1966) were on a house call to a poor woman in one of New York City's tenements. She injured herself and was weak after giving herself an abortion. When she asked how she could avoid "having this happen again" the doctor answered with that rude comment about where her husband could sleep.
In 1993 one of Planned Parenthood's clinics in Manhattan got a National Historic Landmark Designation and the City Council voted to name a nearby intersection the Margaret Sanger Square.
Note to the Readers: This week I am doing something different in my column. I am posting a short story I wrote. I hope you like it.
Actually Not An English Class
by Elaine Carlson
Angela Meredith figures she is just about ready to reach out and grab her purse, turn down the thermostat and leave. She didn't make a shopping list last night but still thinks she should get some groceries on her way home.
She looks up and is surprised to see a policeman walking into the room.
"Hello," she looks straight at him, "May I help you?"
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