Curious

If society gave every adult the right to kill just one adult without any penalties, who do you think would be the first one to kill you?

Oh, my bad. I guess I should be asking which one person would you want to kill and do you think they'd stay alive long enough for you to be the one to make the kill?

More importantly, would you actually kill someone just because you could? Would you use up your free kill as quickly as possible? Or would you wait until someone truly worthy of death came along?

Do you think you'd regret the quick kill and be frustrated when someone more - worthy, I guess - came along and you had no free kill left? Would you kill that second time?

Would you go to your own grave never having made that free kill?

How many other people do you think would refrain from killing?

Would religions spring up helping people to make the right kill choice?

Would there be anti-killing groups trying to push no-kill legislation?

Would there be no-kill towns or communities?

Would people living in a no-kill community conspire to drive someone they disliked into a kill zone?

Would the legal age of adult rise to provide younger adults time to contribute to society and gain experience and skills?

Would senior citizens form death stalking clubs?

This whole line of thought sprang from a headline that said "man executed for murder of 4 people" and wondered if he was being executed because he exceeded his bag limit.

And yes, I know how terrible that sounds, but I was also thinking about gardening, composting, and hunting when I read that headline and this chain of thought just seemed natural to me.

And having written out all these questions, I have this story idea forming. A couple of characters are nattering in the back of my head, just beyond audible range, and I'm seeing this society through its obit pages...

Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit is pretty. I'd happily grow the cactus for the fruit - did you know it flowers under the moon and if not pollinated, dies and produces no fruit? The sun is too harsh for the delicate flower, but gives the fruit its vivid coloring.

Sadly, dragonfruit isn't much of anything once you get under the skin. It's mild, and timid, and no amount of coaxing will embolden it. It's easily overwhelmed by other fruit flavors, but florals tend to complement it - rose, violet, lavender. But not too much, because even these delicate florals can dominate the mild, mild dragonfruit.

It's pretty, though. The pulp is a milky white with soft black seeds, very Goth looking. It's a good fruit for a zombie - all looks and not much else.

You really want dragonfruit to be spectacular, to wow your tastebuds as much as it does your eyebuds.

But it doesn't. it's not even all that nutritionally good, just - blah.

But rambutan - rambutan are pretty and bees love rambutan, and the fruit is sweet and mildly acidic, like grapes. It makes for a delicious jelly and a fine pie or fruit for a bread where one would use fresh grapes.

Budget Cuts

For the 4th straight year, we are getting deep budget cuts. We're getting hit with a 7% budget cut on top of the 8% one we got in January (and no guarantee we won't get another cut later in the year) and the 22% total budget cuts we got last year...and the year before, and the year before. How do they expect us to operate with such severe budget restrictions? We're already doing furloughs and workloughs and have taken pay cuts and had more of our personal pay taken to cover "benefits" we can't afford to use and laid off 1/3 of our staff.

The departments that got the hardest hits: the Secretary of State - eliminated, the Human Rights Commission - eliminated, Consumer Credit Protection - 38%, Judicial Complaints Commission - 67%, OK Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs - 33%, OSSM - 15%, Fire Marshal - 9%, Indigent Defense - 9%, Civil Emergency Management - 8%, Merit Protection - 7%, Ethics Commission - 5%, Libraries - 7%, Arts Council - 9%. Odd how it's the agencies that protect the citizens the most and provide the most benefits that took the greatest hits.

And the ones that benefit rich people got increases: Corporation Commission - up 15%, Supreme Court - up 12%, Senate and House - up 7% - those stand out because they are the only ones to see budget increases.