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senoritafishThe first thing
The first was the general manager of KNX urging any cities in southern California that haven’t already made "safe and sane" fireworks illegal, and any youth groups that are using fireworks stands as fundraisers to rethink their positions. He went on about how many kids get injured every year and these stands are selling to kids, who set them off without any parental supervision. He also stated that there were so many ways to raise money, organizations would have plenty of other options, and that there are so many public fireworks shows, no one needs to buy any.The last time I did buy fireworks, in another city, there were big signs all over the place that they couldn’t sell them to anyone under 18. I’ve also noticed that since Huntington Beach made them illegal, there are a lot more of the more seriously illegal fireworks going off -- bottle rockets, firecrackers and roman candles, the kind you have to drive to Tijuana to buy -- than there were before. I start hearing them during the last week of June now. And I live a block away from the police station! The boy scout troop my brothers used to belong to had a fireworks stand - I believe I heard someone say once that they made a third of their budget the weekend before the Fourth. I doubt there are very many fundraisers that generate that much money in such a short time. Another half of their funding came from a beach parking lot was turned into condos at least 15 years ago. I wonder what they do now? As far as public fireworks shows: my city cancelled them this year because of budget concerns. Which makes sense - I’ve heard some of those "chrysanthemum" fireworks can cost thousands of dollars each.
It just makes me sad that so many things I enjoyed as a kid, and are fairly safe if done properly, ( glow snakes, sparklers, park merry-go-rounds, swing sets) are being taken away from our kids, because of the this massive fear that we are going to hurt ourselves. I have news for you. The mere fact of that you are alive makes living dangerous. Accidents happen despite any preparation to the contrary. You are going to get hurt at some point in your life - it's unavoidable. It's just as easy to break your teeth on plastic play equipment as metal, and as soon as one method hurting yourself is taken away, another one will appear in its place. I feel like soon they are going to make us encase our kids in bubble wrap as soon as they're born, and no one will ever leave the house for fear of raising their insurance rates. Of course I watch my kids like a hawk and do everything in my power to keep them from hurt. I am really more scared of the gas stove in the kitchen than a sparkler, if I'm close to them. That's my job as a parent. But it's going to happen eventually. It's how the universe works.
Plus I'm a closet pyro and I'm pissed my legal means of setting things on fire is getting squelched. >:p
The second thing
The next thing I heard on the news was that because of the states budget crisis, a program that gives a battery of tests for congenital problems to newborns is being scrapped. The tests cost about $20 per baby. Your typical penny-wise pound-foolish government decision. This will definitely come back to bite the state later, when so many problems that could have been diagnosed and treated as infants become major health problems later. Some people who do not get these tests will never know their child has a condition that could be life threatening until a crisis appears. Infuriating. I would almost be willing to be laid off myself.I realize I'm being somewhat contradictory in these paragraphs. I like both fireworks and healthy kids. Live with it.
