Dave Richards for December 26th
--When I was a young boy, I thought the whole world stopped on Christmas Day. Hey, what did I know? Since I’ve worked on December 25th most of my adult life, I know better now. Hundreds of millions of people may not be participating, but the more than a billion others are finding it just another day.
This week we’ll comment on a few items which came across the news wire on Christmas Day……..
--Thank your lucky stars you went to church in Woonsocket yesterday instead of New York. The security measures to protect the venerable St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan were unprecedented. Worshipers had to navigate barricades, blocker trucks, bomb-sniffing dogs and heavily armed police to get inside. They even checked everyone for radiation, in case you might be smuggling in a dirty nuclear bomb inside the church. To go to these lengths when there is no direct threat is nothing short of remarkable. Imagine what it would be like if someone actually received a credible threat against the landmark or its faithful?
Security was also stepped up around the tree at Rockefeller Center, but I would not want that job. Can you imagine sniffing people’s old ice skates?
--Here’s an item which tells us that thousands of people on the island of Puerto Rico are still without electric power as the year draws to an end. I don’t even know what to say about that, except I seem to remember there was trouble in the summertime when a contractor which was hired to restore power after the hurricane essentially destroyed their entire grid work of wiring was demanding three times the going rate to do it and they were fired. I can understand that, but where is the most harm going to come from? Paying too much to get it turned back on fast, or waiting many more months to get the juice. I don’t know. But it makes you understand why so many Puerto Rican people are moving to the mainland.
--Here’s one from our “You’ve Got To Be Kidding!” Department. This guy from Canada refused to open one of the gifts under his tree this year. The gift was wrapped in blue paper and was given to him by a girl when he was 17 years old some 47 years ago. The two of them broke up and he never opened it then, just didn’t want to. What’s strange is that he still doesn’t want to. Even his children ask him why he won’t open it and they are told “too many bad memories”. Then why doesn’t he throw it away? He can’t answer that one either. He keeps it, still fully wrapped, and even sees it is placed under the Christmas Tree in case he changes his mind one year, but he never has. “Maybe after 50 years…….”, he says, quietly.
--This next item suggests a number of jokes……..all bad. You know how so many people have been saying rotten things about Russian President Vladimir Putin? They say he’s a criminal. I don’t know myself if that is true, because after all, they say that about everybody they don’t like. President Trump has been called a criminal and he’s called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a criminal, and lots of people called President Obama a criminal. The only one I am satisfied was really a criminal was Mr. Nixon. The rest is rhetoric, I say.
There’s a man in Russia who wants to run for President this March against Mr. Putin but they won’t let Alexei Navalny on the ballot because they say he is a criminal. His offense, according to the Reuters wire story, is that he organized protests against certain government policies, which, I guess, really is a crime in Russia. Ironic, though isn’t it?
I can just hear the comics now, “They won’t let a criminal run for elected office……….they don’t want the competition.”
By the way, the polls say things in Russia are pretty much as expected. The incumbent has a sizable lead and is expected to win.
--Before I go, I need to remind those of you who have made pledges or won items in the Milk Fund Auction that we need you to settle up by the end of this week so we can put these donations to work buying milk for those who need it next year. I am grateful to all who have stepped forward over the last month to help. You are all part of what makes Woonsocket great!
--That’s what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.
Thanks for reading, and thank you for remembering The Milk Fund.
--30—
