HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR WEIRD BLOGS, KEN?

HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR WEIRD BLOGS, KEN?

One of my friends asked me how I come up with the weird questions that I deal with on this blog. Believe me, it is no simple task. First of all, you must possess certain characteristics: you must personally be weird in some ways, you must read a lot of books or online shlop, or occasionally view a smattering of the pulp TV offerings available. I can confirm that I check all of those boxes. Let me illustrate my method by using one small news item as an example:

“A US judge has handed down a sentence of at least 15 years to a man who stole an LGBT pride flag from a church and burned it outside a strip club. Adolfo Martinez, 30, admitted to the media that he took the flag from Ames United Church of Christ due to his animosity towards homosexuals. He was found guilty last month of hate crime harassment, reckless use of fire and being a habitual offender.”

After reading that news item I was racked with a bundle of questions. First of all, I was a little amazed that the guy was sentenced to “at least 15 years” for his crime. It seemed a little steep to me for burning an unofficial flag. In a recent court decision, a local man who attacked a woman in a road rage incident was sentenced to three years in prison for beating the woman with a metal crowbar and fracturing both of her arms. If I had the choice, I would far rather contend with the flag burning nutbar than the crowbar basher. And yet who was hit with the longer sentence? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Then I wondered what kind of prison sentence included the term “at least” in front of the 15 years. Did it mean that if someone, sometime in the future felt like extending it to 16 or 17 years it would be alright? I thought a sentence was a definite period of time, often less, but never with the option of maybe more. Have you ever heard of that? I was puzzled.

Then I wondered whether if it had been a boy scout flag or a state flag if the penalty would have been more or less. Is there a hierarchy of flags of importance and do they have ascending sentence times if you lit them with a match? Would an American burning the Stars and Stripes get a longer jail term than if he burned our Canadian Maple Leaf flag? What if a Canadian burned an American flag? Would the sentence, like our dollar only be about two thirds as long?

Did the fact that it was stolen outside a church have some bearing? If it had been taken from in front of city hall or a school would it make a difference? How important a factor was the location of the theft in determining the sentence.

Does the fact that the flag was incinerated outside of a strip club carry a greater penalty than if it had been burned in front of a Walmart or Costco? Given the connotations associated with a strip club, it appears that the offense is far more serious and degrading.

It is funny how a seemingly simple first sentence of a news item can generate so many questions in my mind. Or do the same questions enter your mind as well? Is it any wonder this blog is entitled “Questions, Questions. Questions”? Well, that is another good question!

Rather than illustrate my question generating skills any further, I will not continue with the second and third sentences in the above article. I think you get my drift. Or do you? Sorry, I just can’t stop. I think I have become a questionaholic!