You know there have been a lot of shootings lately when the joke comes instantly. On Friday, as reports of the Empire State Building shooting were read by people at work, one of the techs said to our new interim General Manager (our previous GM lasted almost two years, a record, while we are on #5 in a little more than four years), "You better watch out, Randy."

Lending some credence to the "threat" is this particular tech's actual arsenal of guns, but it was definitely a joke. I think. We all laughed.

Ever since the turn of the fiscal year (July 1st), it's actually been alright around here, weather-wise. We've gotten a lot of rain (almost back to normal for the year), and had the wettest August in years (and the month isn't over yet). Of course, it's still hot. It's still the summer. And my Sunday afternoons practicing with the band have been saunas for the last few weeks.

But we aren't experiencing the great drought of the Midwest this summer (that's so last year). There are, however, shootings and meth busts and incredibly strange homicides around here. We're not immune.

Dave Mustaine, leader of the speed-metal band Megadeth, weighed in on the upsurge in shootings across the country by creating one of the stranger (and pretty insulting) conspiracy theories: Obama is staging the shootings to curtail gun rights. 

This is pretty much like saying the Republican Party is staging rapes to curtail abortion rights. Except the Republican Party doesn't have to stage anything, they're curtailing abortion and women's health rights. Period. No conspiracy, in actuality. Mustaine has, so far, not had a problem with this at all (maybe because it isn't a conspiracy, it's out in the open).

And, so far, no one is drafting any kind of legislation to curtail gun rights. Not in an election year. And probably not ever. People really love their guns, which is kinda creepy to me.

Because it's hot out there, and we're all sweating.

I think its somewhat ironic that an "act of God" is descending on the chosen location for the GOP convention this year. Just saying.

I think the Republican ex-governor of Florida endorsing Obama is really his way of telling God to just "leave me out" of the coming hurricane apocalypse.

It's almost as ironic as the GOP Presidential nominee running on creating jobs, when he made most of his money by downsizing corporations.

But there's no room for truth, justice and the American Way in the Presidential elections anymore. Because it's way too hot out there to think rationally. 

So this hot summer isn't going to end anytime soon. The proliferation of vitriolic campaign ads will continue to make our blood boil well into the fall.

Matt Worley shaved his beard instead of picking up a gun and shooting.