Tim Bryce: It's getting strange out there

What in the world is going on?

As if our political world isn’t enough to drive us crazy, we seem to be bombarded by a constant barrage of bizarre events that are difficult to comprehend. Nonetheless, the news media insists on producing stories testing our common sense.

They would be funny if we knew they were false, but they aren’t, causing us to shake our heads in bewilderment. I’ve noticed such shaking has become commonplace among people reading newspapers, be it in a cafe or library, or watching the news on television.

To illustrate, I picked a few news stories from Oct. 23 to this past Thursday. There was nothing special about these dates other than to demonstrate the frequency of bonehead shenanigans going on in our country. Keep in mind, this was a busy week politically where we saw Hillary Clinton testify before the Benghazi Committee, the third GOP debate in Colorado, and Paul Ryan elected Speaker of the House. Despite those major news events, we were treated to these oddball events:

First, there was the announcement by the World Health Organization (Oct. 26)  condemning the consumption of processed meats because they may cause cancer. Basically, the report was designed to make us think of meat as another form of tobacco and encourage us to convert into vegans.

From my perspective, it appeared to be another “Climate Change” type of announcement to make us feel guilty for eating meat. Sorry, my conscious is clear, so leave me alone.

Incidentally, another story appeared later in the week claiming the oldest living person in the United States, a 116-year-old Brooklyn woman, Mushatt Jones,  claimed to enjoy life by eating four rashers of bacon every day. Take that, World Health Organization.

When I first read about the “EEOC Wins Discrimination Case For Muslim Truck Drivers Fired For Not Delivering Beer” (Oct. 25),  I thought it was a joke. Sadly, it wasn’t. Two Muslim truck drivers were hired specifically to deliver beer for a Midwest distributor. When they complained that the job violated their religious beliefs, they were fired. They sued through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which awarded them $240,000.

Yes, there’s the obvious question of why would you apply for a job you know you cannot fulfill? But I guess the EEOC knows better. Somehow this reminds me of the frivolous lawsuit brought by an elderly woman years ago who spilled hot coffee she was holding between her legs in an automobile.

A host on MSNBC, Melissa Harris-Perry (Oct. 27), tried to update the political correctness vernacular by insisting the expression “hard work” should not be used. She contended that a picture in her office, showing slaves from the 1800s picking cotton, is the only true depiction of “hard work.”

I guess she wants us to believe only African-Americans understand the meaning of such labor. I would then assume our founding fathers, such as those at Plymouth Rock or Williamsburg, had no concept of “hard work,” nor the Jews and slaves imprisoned in European concentration camps during World War II, or the millions who suffered through the Great Depression. She wants us to believe she alone holds a monopoly over there meaning of “hard work.” Yea, right.

A seventh grader in Katy, Texas, (Oct. 27) came forward with a story of her reading teacher instructing her class that God isn’t real. Further, any of the students responding to the contrary on their tests would warrant their grades being docked. Actually, such stories are more common than you may think, not only to frame religious theory, but to make political statements as well.

And finally, my favorite, the Springfield, Missouri, City Council is being sued over their indecent exposure law (Oct. 27), by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Free The Nipple movement (I’m not making this up). Evidently, they look upon women walking around topless as a First Amendment free speech matter.

Such lawsuits are certainly not new and have been tested many times. My question, though, is why stop there? Why not allow the exposure of genitalia for both sexes? Frankly, I predict we’d see a substantial rise in traffic accidents.

What bothers me about these strange stories is that they’re becoming more – not less – frequent. Have we really lost all common sense? Maybe there really is something in the water.

Keep the Faith!

Tim Bryce is a writer and managing director of M&JB Investment Co. of Palm Harbor, Florida. He has more than 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. His website is timbryce.com and he can be reached at [email protected]. Column courtesy of Context Florida.