I have always been extremely happy that I am a native-born American - a born and bred citizen of the United States of America. America is my country, right or wrong. As a voting citizen, I must follow our laws and rules of conduct. I have always been proud to state that I am an American. After the shootings last week in Colorado Springs, and the shootings today in San Bernardino, California, I am not sure if I want to claim to be "proud" any more.
Today is the 334th day of 2015. The San Bernardino shooting was the second mass shooting of the day in the United States. It was the 355th mass shooting incident of this year - and the day is not yet over. What has become of our great nation? Why are these stupid shootings happening? When did "the normal thing to do" become loading up one's assault-style rifles, adding hand guns, and then bombs to deal with something or someone who upsets you?
This reeks of sheer terrorism by the individual, to me. Our movies, television shows, and computer games seem to make the majority of the public believe that it is fine to go out and kill anyone who makes you angry....
I am very sorry, and disgusted, that our country has fallen to this level of depravity.
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Baltimore
Gee, I feel like I'm a kid again - and not in a good way. Besides idyllic times on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands during the summers, I can easily recall the Cuban Missile Crisis and being taught to crawl under desks or tables and cover our heads if we heard the missile warning; I remember seeing my Father cry watching the news of President Kennedy's assassination; I can remember my parents taking mys sister and me to Civil Rights marches and activities; I remember the march in Selma and how profoundly upset my parents were, and them explaining why they were upset to me; I remember all the protests that followed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and I remember hearing news of his assassination; I remember the rioting across the nation following Dr. King's death - and the violence in Baltimore at that time; and I remember the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and how deeply shaken my entire family was by what seemed to be a one-two punch: first Martin, then Bobby. The world seemed about to break apart, and I was frightened.
Flash forward about fifty years. Today I am looking at rioting, again, in Baltimore, Maryland. I always try to think of Baltimore as a happy place - the place where my parents spent their honeymoon back in 1948. For me, Baltimore has always meant the Chesapeake Bay, boats, seafood, sailing, and shipping; now it's yet another city disrupted by racism. Things have been rocky for some time, and I know it started long before the media was shining a spotlight on it - but it seems the list of men killed (African-American, Hispanic, white and other races) continues to grow without ceasing. My mind immediately pulls up the names of Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Timothy Thomas, Michael Brown, Joel Acevedo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and, now, Freddie Gray. Unarmed men, beaten and/or killed by law enforcement officers. What is happening in our country?
Less than two hours after the funeral of Freddie Gray, the latest victim of law enforcement officials, people were rioting in the streets of Baltimore. Even though this young man's family was aasking for peaceful protests, if any, a few people got that adrenaline rush and decided to "push back" against authority. I can easily understand marching and protesting with chanting and signs, I can easily understand a silent sit-in to commemorate the loss of life, I can easily understand getting upset over a huge and long-standing failure of care for those in custody. But I cannot understand a mob mentality; I cannot understand attacking a CVS Pharmacy, breaking all the glass out of the building, stealing all the merchandise, and setting the business on fire. The owners and employees there were not responsible for the death of Freddie Gray. The Community Center next to a church that went up in a three-alarm blaze had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray. Folks who's cars were torched on the street had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray. - Then, again, perhaps all of us, who sit back and watch these things happen, are, in part, responsible. We haven't made our voices heard regarding the inequity between the races.
I live in Boulder, Colorado. My best friend here is African-American. She is a part of the 1% of African-Americans who actually live in Boulder. I don't have children of my own, but I have my husband's children from his previous marriages, and I'm happy and proud to say that two of those three kids fell in love with, and married, an African-American. Skin color, eye color, hair color - any type of color of anything - should never make a difference in how a person regards another. That is just plain stupid.
I feel for the victims and the families of the victims of these crazy shootings, beatings, and deaths. They each need to be thoroughly investigated, and punishments for those who did wrong - including any law enforcement officials - need to be meted out. Unfortunately, none of these men can be restored to their lives. No one knows how each of these persons might have changed the world - for the better, or for the worse. I only know that there is no price tag attached to a human life. Each and every life is priceless. None of the above named men needed to die. I can understand the anger - but anger must be controlled and used to make specific decisions; hopefully, those decisions will help change laws and procedures for the good.
Flash forward about fifty years. Today I am looking at rioting, again, in Baltimore, Maryland. I always try to think of Baltimore as a happy place - the place where my parents spent their honeymoon back in 1948. For me, Baltimore has always meant the Chesapeake Bay, boats, seafood, sailing, and shipping; now it's yet another city disrupted by racism. Things have been rocky for some time, and I know it started long before the media was shining a spotlight on it - but it seems the list of men killed (African-American, Hispanic, white and other races) continues to grow without ceasing. My mind immediately pulls up the names of Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Timothy Thomas, Michael Brown, Joel Acevedo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and, now, Freddie Gray. Unarmed men, beaten and/or killed by law enforcement officers. What is happening in our country?
Less than two hours after the funeral of Freddie Gray, the latest victim of law enforcement officials, people were rioting in the streets of Baltimore. Even though this young man's family was aasking for peaceful protests, if any, a few people got that adrenaline rush and decided to "push back" against authority. I can easily understand marching and protesting with chanting and signs, I can easily understand a silent sit-in to commemorate the loss of life, I can easily understand getting upset over a huge and long-standing failure of care for those in custody. But I cannot understand a mob mentality; I cannot understand attacking a CVS Pharmacy, breaking all the glass out of the building, stealing all the merchandise, and setting the business on fire. The owners and employees there were not responsible for the death of Freddie Gray. The Community Center next to a church that went up in a three-alarm blaze had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray. Folks who's cars were torched on the street had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray. - Then, again, perhaps all of us, who sit back and watch these things happen, are, in part, responsible. We haven't made our voices heard regarding the inequity between the races.
I live in Boulder, Colorado. My best friend here is African-American. She is a part of the 1% of African-Americans who actually live in Boulder. I don't have children of my own, but I have my husband's children from his previous marriages, and I'm happy and proud to say that two of those three kids fell in love with, and married, an African-American. Skin color, eye color, hair color - any type of color of anything - should never make a difference in how a person regards another. That is just plain stupid.
I feel for the victims and the families of the victims of these crazy shootings, beatings, and deaths. They each need to be thoroughly investigated, and punishments for those who did wrong - including any law enforcement officials - need to be meted out. Unfortunately, none of these men can be restored to their lives. No one knows how each of these persons might have changed the world - for the better, or for the worse. I only know that there is no price tag attached to a human life. Each and every life is priceless. None of the above named men needed to die. I can understand the anger - but anger must be controlled and used to make specific decisions; hopefully, those decisions will help change laws and procedures for the good.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Sunday Comments
I thought that I was adult enough to let go of a grudge. Apparently that is not true, as every time I think about KUSA and the Breeders Cup programming last night, I can feel all my muscles getting tense. It's over, it's in the past; I need to let go of this foolish anger. Today I'm writing bits and pieces - little things I've forgotten, or let drop from my mind because of Hurricane Sandy and the guilty pleasure of watching (and betting on) the Breeders Cup races. By the way, I use Xpressbet so I can watch the races at home, and bet when I feel like it. (http://www.xpressbet.com/ is a sponsor of the Breeders Cup races.)
I talked to Lovey and Nedi all week long about the time change Saturday night and Sunday morning. I told them about Daylight Savings Time, and that we would get to sleep in an hour later beginning Sunday. Silly me. Lovey wanted up and out at her usual time, which was at 5 a.m. this morning - but I wouldn't get out of bed until my alarm said 6:00 - so I had an hour of talking and soft paws on my face and a cold nose in my ear. ... Just as the Breeders Cup coverage began yesterday on NBC Sports, the maintenance man for the apartment building was banging on my door. Seems the sewage system backed up, and I got to mop up an inch of disgusting stuff from the bathroom floor - then I scrubbed it with bleach (I have a tile floor). ... The Gators barely squeaked by Missouri yesterday before the racing; South Carolina had a bye week; and I was so disappointed when Alabama came back with that touchdown with a minute left in the fourth quarter. I had wanted LSU to win. ... Today I'll be cheering on the Broncos and Redskins; the Jets have a bye week. I like Tim Tebow; I don't think that he's Superman or the second-coming, I just like the young man who has such a tremendous work ethic. I watched a sports commentator the other day say that it's this week for the Jets to switch to Tebow as quarterback - now or never. The Jets are 3 and 5 halfway through the season; something, somewhere, isn't working right. I think they would do better if they allowed Tebow to play several sets straight - not the weird way they bring him to be a quarterback for one play, then a blocker, then a fullback... But I'm not the coach, and I don't own the team, so I'll shut up. .... Yesterday, people living on Chincoteague were joined by other folks from the mainland, and they cleaned up a good deal of the storm wrack - especially at the schools and parks and downtown. A large contingent also headed up to Queens, NY to assist the folks living there perform a clean-up over the weekend. Teaguers might be a bit insular, but they are quick to volunteer to help out others less fortunate. .... I have my work schedule straightened out for this month - the person who usually cancels was informed that if she cancels this time, she will be charged as if I were there - she has informed me that she does need me, and will pay whatever I decide to charge her. .... Yesterday started out nice and sunny, then became cloudy at mid-morning and stayed cool and bleak-looking all day. Today started out cloudy - long banners of pink and blue clouds across the eastern sky, and just plain grey ones above and to the west. Hoping for a high of 62 today.
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