Bed Bugs, Book Burnings, and Screaming Babies

I must admit, I'm a little scared. I have to go to Minneapolis tomorrow morning and I just read where they are one of the cities where bed bugs are thriving. I also noticed that 3 of the top 10 cities for bed bugs are in Ohio. Now that's a statistic that probably won't make it into the Chamber of Commerce brochure.

In case you haven't seen it on the news broadcasts lately, bed bugs are making quite a comeback. It used to be that they were associated with seedy boarding houses and the like. Now they're in upscale hotels and apartments. I guess they're "movin' on up" like the Jefferson's. So what's the reason for the sudden increase in these critters? It's probably because we've watered down the pesticides to the point that they won't kill anything anymore. Now everything has to be "organic" and "safe for the environment". Whether or not it will kill a bug seems to be secondary. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to go back to the days of DDT and Chlordane. I've seen my Dad come out of the tobacco field after spraying that stuff and his nose would bleed. That's not good. But it also doesn't do any good if it doesn't kill anything. I went to Home Depot to get some stuff I used last year to kill Japanese beetles. Well, they don't make it anymore. Too strong, they said. But they offered me some other stuff that was "safer". Problem is, it doesn't kill anything. I think the idea is to just keep spraying the bugs with it until they eventually drown. I don't have the patience for drowning. I want to spray them, then watch them immediately fall over on their little backs, with their legs kicking in the air, and die a slow, painful death. Now, what could possibly be wrong with that?

In case you missed it, we had a good, old-fashioned book burning over the Labor Day weekend. The most publicized was the one in Florida, which really never materialized. Another was right up the road from us in Springfield, TN. I actually used to go to church with that guy, but never suspected he could be quite that radical. Certainly he wasn't 25 years ago. Here's my problem - how can we expect people to get behind burning something when we can't even agree on how to spell it? Is it Koran, Quran, or Qur'an? Surely when Allah passed it down to Mohammed, he told him how to spell it correctly. Those of us who are Christian have our differences about what's inside the Bible, but so far as I know, we all spell it the same way. At least we can agree on that. Besides, I'm not sure burning the Koran does anything except alienate those who believe in it. I've never felt that kind of thing was very effective in changing someone's mind. It will, however, incite the radicals on both sides, which only drives us further apart.

And now, check this out from the Associated Press:


CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (AP) -- The owner of a coastal North Carolina restaurant is fed up with screaming children who bother other diners.

So Brenda Armes has posted signs at Olde Salty restaurant in Carolina Beach that read "screaming children will not be tolerated." She told WECT-TV in Wilmington that the signs have worked by attracting more customers than they turn away.

Customer Gary Gibson agrees, saying he likes the signs because a meal isn't enjoyable when kids are screaming.

But a mother of two, Ashley Heflin, says parents can't help it if their children scream.

If a child is screaming, Armes says a restaurant employee will ask the parent to take them outside. They won't be asked to leave the restaurant for good.



Well, it's about time! Finally someone has the gumption to do something without worrying about whether it is politically correct. My thoughts on this subject are well documented (see the post from March 1, 2009)). Hey, if you can't make your kid behave, take him outside so he doesn't bother the rest of us. What's wrong with that? It makes so much common sense, it has to be controversial. But hats off to the folks at Olde Salty for taking a stand.

Well, it's off to Minneapolis where "sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite" takes on a whole new meaning.

Till next time..........