Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Given this a lot of thought and if I were a Democratic candidate running for President in Iowa I would come out hard against the Des Moines Register because of the way they handled the Carson King story. I think that would play well with all Iowans these days... Thinking this guy might be Mike Hunt's cousin... "You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." - CS Lewis... I actually want one of these... In Massachusetts there are safe spaces for heroin injections but now vape pens are against the law. Part of me wonders if vape pens have driven down the tax revenue in Mass the State was getting for tobacco sales and this in part explains the ban... Actually six if you include Billy Joel too. Wonder what the Vegas odds would be of Queen Elizabeth II outliving them all?... If I ran an NFL team all of the player contracts would have a clause that prohibits them from being vegans. Seriously. Looking at you Cam Newton...

Carson King and the Cancel Culture

Carson King became an instant celebrity when he held up a sign asking people to donate to his Busch Light beer fund via Venmo in front of ESPN's College Gameday crowd before the Iowa / Iowa State game.

Carson King became a hero when the amount donated became well in excess of what he'd actually need and he decided to donate the money to Iowa's Childrens Hospital. People appreciated the gesture so much that the amount donated to his Venmo account quickly topped $1 million.

Then Aaron Calvin, a "reporter" for the Des Moines Register tried to harm Carson King's reputation by digging up a couple of stupid Tweets from King from 2012 - when King was just 16-years old.

Carson King was acting from a pureness of heart. Aaron Calvin and the Des Moines Register acted solely out of malice. A malice brought on by the sick "cancel culture" gotcha ethos and lack of common sense. Where were the adults at the newspaper?

There was a backlash.

People were so disgusted by the actions of the paper that the Governor of Iowa honored Carson King for his actions and the amount raised has now topped $2 million for the children's hospital. Meanwhile people looked into Aaron Calvin's social media and found racist and homophobic posts from his past. The Des Moines Register was forced to fired the dick.

So it's a story with a happy ending.