This is going to be my last political posting for a while.... the news just keeps getting more disgusting, appalling, and hopeless each day. We, humanity, seem to be degenerating at a great rate at this point in time.
I am still reeling from the attacks made by all the groups that poured in to Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend for the "Unite the Right" gathering. We are having a march in Denver, tomorrow, to celebrate the life of Heather D Heyer, the paralegal killed last Saturday by a professed Nazi supporter. This is too little, too late, but we will honor the memory of a young woman who was protesting hatred by marching quietly on a street with her friends.
There has been an outbreak of attacks against innocent people this week. First, Thursday evening, the van attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain - that left 14 dead and over 100 injured. Then the attack in Camblis, a two hour drive south of Barcelona. (Camblis was where some of the planning for the 9-11 attacks took place.) There was also an explosion there the night before the attack at Las Ramblas, and police now believe that the people involved in the Barcelona attack had been planning to bomb several places before "something went wrong" at their manufacturing site, and they decided a vehicular attack was in order. The driver of the van at Las Ramblas is still at large and being sought throughout Europe.
Then there was the knife attack in the market square of Turku, Finland the following day. An 18-year-old man from Morocco attacked several women with a knife, killing two. He reportedly targeted eight women, one of which was pushing a baby carriage. Two men tried to intervene, and both of them were stabbed, as well; one of whom was so severely cut that he may lose his arm. The suspect was shot in the leg, arrested and taken to the hospital. Four other men have been arrested with suspected ties to the attacker.
This morning, a man in the Siberian town of Surgut, in Russia, stabbed at least eight people, seriously wounding two of them. The Russian police fired shots at the man and killed him. They are investigating the incident.
Friday night: In Kissimmee, Florida, two officers responded to a call and were apparently ambushed. One officer is dead, the other in serious condition. A man has been arrested.
In Jacksonville, Florida, two officers responded to a call about a man considering suicide. He greeted them with shots from a high-powered rifle, shooting one policeman in both hands, and the other in the stomach. The man was killed by the officers.
In Fayette County, Pennsylvania, two officers approached a man to serve a warrant. The man reached into his backpack, pulled out a gun and shot both officers. The officers shot and killed that man, also.
Too much death and destruction for me, folks.... I know this happens every day in our country, and around the world. But I want PEACE for all.
Then there is the ousting of Steve Bannon from the White House - he's going back to Breibart News to spew more hatred and ignorance.
The world needs help - compassion, love, and peace need to rule this place.
Showing posts with label killings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label killings. Show all posts
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Sunday, June 12, 2016
What Happened to Love Thy Neighbor?
I am so upset that I am nauseated. Another mass murder has happened, and, yet another seems to have been foiled. For the record, I am heterosexual. However, I have strong friendships with other women, as well as men, and I don't mind hugging them, holding hands, or giving them a kiss on the cheek in public. I think my folks raised me to be, and wanted me to be, open-minded regarding anyone's sex, or choice of partner(s). I believe that each person is what their own unique circumstances in growing up, and development, make them. I have no right to judge another person's life or lifestyle. I am NOT them; I have not lived their life; I am not God; I have no right to decide what is right or wrong for them.
As a human being in America, I make decisions almost every minute of my life. They are my own personal decisions and I am the person I am today because of all of my past decisions. I am grieving for the world as a whole today - between the seemingly inevitable choice of the Republicans to support Donald Trump as their candidate at the coming Convention, and between the decisions that two men made,possibly yesterday, possibly today that can help to continue the hatred in our world.
Around 2 a.m. this morning, a 29-year-old man made a phone call to 911, making reference to the two brothers of the Boston Marathon bombing atrocity, as well as pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. The young man was American-born and raised, and was trained as a security guard. He lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, and he had been interviewed by the FBI in both 2013 and 2014 for possibly having ties to terrorism. The FBI came away empty-handed and the young man was removed from the watch lists.
The man went into the Pulse, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender nightclub, after his 911 call. He was armed with an assault rifle and a Glock pistol. He began firing when he entered the door of the nightclub. Some people were able to escape through the bar area and out the back door. The man had chased people outside, and was continuing to fire his weapons at the clients when police arrived. The gunman ran back into the building and a stand-off ensued for three hours; then an armored vehicle was crashed into the building to allow engress. The gunman was killed. But the death toll is currently 50, with 53 wounded. This happened in Orlando, Orange County, Florida. One of the policemen who arrived on scene was shot in the face by the gunman; luckily, the Kevlar helmet stopped the bullet and prevented death, but the police officer might lose his eye.
What the heck happened? The gunman's father said his son was extremely upset to see two men kissing one another. How can an expression of love set off such an ugly, violent torrent of hate?
Then, today, in Santa Monica, California another young man was reported for acting oddly in a neighborhood. He was going around, pounding on doors at an early hour of the morning. He was stopped and questioned, and told officers that he was looking for a friend, and that they were going to the Los Angeles Gay Pride event. The officers checked the man's car and found rifles, including an assault rifle, ammunition and explosives. That man is in custody.
What happened to "Love thy neighbor?"
As a human being in America, I make decisions almost every minute of my life. They are my own personal decisions and I am the person I am today because of all of my past decisions. I am grieving for the world as a whole today - between the seemingly inevitable choice of the Republicans to support Donald Trump as their candidate at the coming Convention, and between the decisions that two men made,possibly yesterday, possibly today that can help to continue the hatred in our world.
Around 2 a.m. this morning, a 29-year-old man made a phone call to 911, making reference to the two brothers of the Boston Marathon bombing atrocity, as well as pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. The young man was American-born and raised, and was trained as a security guard. He lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, and he had been interviewed by the FBI in both 2013 and 2014 for possibly having ties to terrorism. The FBI came away empty-handed and the young man was removed from the watch lists.
The man went into the Pulse, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender nightclub, after his 911 call. He was armed with an assault rifle and a Glock pistol. He began firing when he entered the door of the nightclub. Some people were able to escape through the bar area and out the back door. The man had chased people outside, and was continuing to fire his weapons at the clients when police arrived. The gunman ran back into the building and a stand-off ensued for three hours; then an armored vehicle was crashed into the building to allow engress. The gunman was killed. But the death toll is currently 50, with 53 wounded. This happened in Orlando, Orange County, Florida. One of the policemen who arrived on scene was shot in the face by the gunman; luckily, the Kevlar helmet stopped the bullet and prevented death, but the police officer might lose his eye.
What the heck happened? The gunman's father said his son was extremely upset to see two men kissing one another. How can an expression of love set off such an ugly, violent torrent of hate?
Then, today, in Santa Monica, California another young man was reported for acting oddly in a neighborhood. He was going around, pounding on doors at an early hour of the morning. He was stopped and questioned, and told officers that he was looking for a friend, and that they were going to the Los Angeles Gay Pride event. The officers checked the man's car and found rifles, including an assault rifle, ammunition and explosives. That man is in custody.
What happened to "Love thy neighbor?"
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thoughts On Violence
I dislike violence. But I enjoy watching professional (and collegiate) American football and hockey games, and I used to get a kick out of watching professional wrestling. These are violent sports, where injury is always possible. Of course, I also enjoy horse back riding, both English and Western, and I have broken multiple bones and stopped counting concussions when the number got above 20...
But I abhor the violence that seems more prevalent these days - gun and knife violence. There have been more shootings at educational and shopping venues this past week. Adults and children have been stabbed in their vehicles, in parks, and on the street. I cannot sit back and keep my mouth shut... What is happening to our society? Why does it seem, apparently, that more and more people are using guns and knives to express and satisfy their anger and hurt?
I'm the first to admit that I really love to read - and I read lots of mysteries, thrillers, fantasies and histories. The mysteries and thrillers usually involve one or more deaths (and so, too, do the fantasies and histories) - but for me, these killings and deaths are at a "remove" - they are something I'm reading for entertainment, and unless the book is a history, are entirely fictional. Someone makes up horrible crimes in their mind, and then sets a protagonist to solve the crime and deal with the evil-doer. I enjoy them - and I'm always happy when the "bad guy" gets caught and turned over to the authorities, or, even killed by the protagonist... But I'm very aware that this is fiction. It is not real. - Reading history, on the other hand, can be sickening - reading of man's inhumanity to man over the years... How "better" methods of torture were thought out, and more horrific ways to die were/are planned, is, to me, like stirring an old body, just to see what types of insects and creatures might appear. On the one hand, you get to know how certain minds work; on the other hand, I always feel - soiled - after reading how someone decides to "improve" suffering and death.
Last night, while doing some research, I had the NBC network on... I could glance from my PC monitor over to the television screen, and focus on what was happening there. Last night, I enjoyed dipping in and out of an hour-long show about Shaun White, in his bid to make it to the Sochi Winter Olympics in two very different types of snowboard competition. That program was followed by a re-run of an earlier The Blacklist, a thriller-type show about the man most-wanted by the US Government... James Spader plays Raymond "Red" Reddington, and is excellent as a very nasty international player who helps the FBI capture people wanted on the Top Secret Blacklist. I have always enjoyed Spader's acting prowess - and last night left me pondering... In a scene in last night's episode, Red is trying to get a "tough guy" to give him some information. The two are sitting at a table, and Red has secured the other man to a chair. Red is smoking a cigar, and, as he continues to ask questions, which the other man won't answer, Red pours a flammable liquid all over the man's head, neck and chest. Red threatens him with the glowing cigar tip, and the man finally gives Red the information he desires. Red then shoves the lit cigar into the man's mouth - and stands there to watch the expected fireworks. The cigar has burned down to a stub, and the man is frantically rolling his eyes and trying to keep the cigar from igniting the liquid in his moustache and beard. Then, Red gives a light laugh, says, "Oh, the suspense is killing me," pulls a pistol from his pocket, and shoots the man with the cigar. - I actually laughed when I saw this scene.
During the night and this morning, I have pondered over my reaction. My mind keeps telling me that another bad guy bit the dust. It also says that "this is fiction!" And it also is revolted that Red can so cold-heartedly shoot the victim, who can't defend himself. Characters die horribly throughout this series - shot, poisoned, burned to death, put into acid baths alive, beaten to death. I watch it all, and am not appalled or sickened by the violence. - Is it because I am an older person, and know that such evil does exist in the world? Or have I become immune to seeing and reading such things to such an extent that it no longer bothers me? Is it because I know that this is fiction?
But if I can accept these scenes of extreme violence and death as every day occurrences, why, then, am I so horrified by the fact that young people are going out and committing these crimes in real life? Do we blames the news? Do we blame the media? Do we blame movies and television? Or has our society just reached a point where we need a more restrictive "Big Brother" looking over our shoulders? Why do the young people of today not seem to realize that the deaths of others is not an answer to their own pain? Why do they feel that it is fine to take a gun and explosive devices and kill and hurt people they don't even know? I am just plain old puzzled - and wish I knew the answers.
(Please do not take this as the rant of someone who is anti-gun, or anti-knife. Guns and knives are safe in the hands of trained individuals - it's the other folks who frighten me.)
But I abhor the violence that seems more prevalent these days - gun and knife violence. There have been more shootings at educational and shopping venues this past week. Adults and children have been stabbed in their vehicles, in parks, and on the street. I cannot sit back and keep my mouth shut... What is happening to our society? Why does it seem, apparently, that more and more people are using guns and knives to express and satisfy their anger and hurt?
I'm the first to admit that I really love to read - and I read lots of mysteries, thrillers, fantasies and histories. The mysteries and thrillers usually involve one or more deaths (and so, too, do the fantasies and histories) - but for me, these killings and deaths are at a "remove" - they are something I'm reading for entertainment, and unless the book is a history, are entirely fictional. Someone makes up horrible crimes in their mind, and then sets a protagonist to solve the crime and deal with the evil-doer. I enjoy them - and I'm always happy when the "bad guy" gets caught and turned over to the authorities, or, even killed by the protagonist... But I'm very aware that this is fiction. It is not real. - Reading history, on the other hand, can be sickening - reading of man's inhumanity to man over the years... How "better" methods of torture were thought out, and more horrific ways to die were/are planned, is, to me, like stirring an old body, just to see what types of insects and creatures might appear. On the one hand, you get to know how certain minds work; on the other hand, I always feel - soiled - after reading how someone decides to "improve" suffering and death.
Last night, while doing some research, I had the NBC network on... I could glance from my PC monitor over to the television screen, and focus on what was happening there. Last night, I enjoyed dipping in and out of an hour-long show about Shaun White, in his bid to make it to the Sochi Winter Olympics in two very different types of snowboard competition. That program was followed by a re-run of an earlier The Blacklist, a thriller-type show about the man most-wanted by the US Government... James Spader plays Raymond "Red" Reddington, and is excellent as a very nasty international player who helps the FBI capture people wanted on the Top Secret Blacklist. I have always enjoyed Spader's acting prowess - and last night left me pondering... In a scene in last night's episode, Red is trying to get a "tough guy" to give him some information. The two are sitting at a table, and Red has secured the other man to a chair. Red is smoking a cigar, and, as he continues to ask questions, which the other man won't answer, Red pours a flammable liquid all over the man's head, neck and chest. Red threatens him with the glowing cigar tip, and the man finally gives Red the information he desires. Red then shoves the lit cigar into the man's mouth - and stands there to watch the expected fireworks. The cigar has burned down to a stub, and the man is frantically rolling his eyes and trying to keep the cigar from igniting the liquid in his moustache and beard. Then, Red gives a light laugh, says, "Oh, the suspense is killing me," pulls a pistol from his pocket, and shoots the man with the cigar. - I actually laughed when I saw this scene.
During the night and this morning, I have pondered over my reaction. My mind keeps telling me that another bad guy bit the dust. It also says that "this is fiction!" And it also is revolted that Red can so cold-heartedly shoot the victim, who can't defend himself. Characters die horribly throughout this series - shot, poisoned, burned to death, put into acid baths alive, beaten to death. I watch it all, and am not appalled or sickened by the violence. - Is it because I am an older person, and know that such evil does exist in the world? Or have I become immune to seeing and reading such things to such an extent that it no longer bothers me? Is it because I know that this is fiction?
But if I can accept these scenes of extreme violence and death as every day occurrences, why, then, am I so horrified by the fact that young people are going out and committing these crimes in real life? Do we blames the news? Do we blame the media? Do we blame movies and television? Or has our society just reached a point where we need a more restrictive "Big Brother" looking over our shoulders? Why do the young people of today not seem to realize that the deaths of others is not an answer to their own pain? Why do they feel that it is fine to take a gun and explosive devices and kill and hurt people they don't even know? I am just plain old puzzled - and wish I knew the answers.
(Please do not take this as the rant of someone who is anti-gun, or anti-knife. Guns and knives are safe in the hands of trained individuals - it's the other folks who frighten me.)
Thursday, January 17, 2013
This 'n' That
It's a nice sunny day out - the squirrels and the birds seem to be happy. My kits have been having a ball, running in and out, chasing each other, but Jim, the maintenance man, just walked by, picking up trash, and both kits skedaddled back inside. Since I'm not walking the Rs again until Monday, I think that I may go and, finally, see The Hobbit this morning. I've taken all regular meds, plus my stuff for the bronchitis/pertussis, and I'll take a dose of migraine meds and anti-vertigo prior to heading over to the theater. Currently, the movie is only showing twice a day, so I'll go to the 11:10 showing...
I understand the new head coach for the Chicago Bears is the guy who prepared both Jay Cutler (current Bears quarterback, and known as a "coach killer") and Tim Tebow for the NFL combines, and that the coach really liked Tebow... Some sports figures are thinking that Tebow may be heading to Chicago. If that's so, I'll root for the Bears; but I'll never root for Cutler again. He totally alienated me when he was a Bronco.
We've had several more people killed in gun fights in Denver recently, and I'm beginning to feel as if I live in the old wild west... A woman was shot in the back and killed by a spurned ex-coworker; a woman was shot in the head while crossing a street; and yesterday a Denver policeman was shot, and three other folks were in the hospital due to a strange rampage. Then, too, the Adams County Sheriff's department has shot and killed two pet dogs, without provocation,in the past couple of months; one of those incidents was caught on video, the other happened when a friendly dog ran out to greet the officers, and was shot 3 times from a distance of 15 feet. Add the killing of the elk here in Boulder, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn't move away. (By the way, the Boulder District Attorney said he'll have an announcement about killing of the elk tomorrow.)
When I saw the advertisement for a lighthouse for sale yesterday, I was quite keen to look at it. It's three miles off the shore of Matthews County, Virginia, in the Chesapeake Bay;the Wolf Trap Light. It hasn't been lived in since 1971, and is listed as a "fixer-upper" - it has five floors, including the light, three bedrooms and two baths. The price is $288,000, which includes a waterfront lot on the Bay, for the parking of your land vehicle and the pier for your much needed boat. If I had the money, I'd dearly love to purchase that place and make it my own!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Today Seems Surreal...
After the extended weather forecast yesterday afternoon, I watched Kirk Montgomery and "The E Block" entertainment section on KUSA, Channel 9 news. Kirk talked about how some of the movie critics who did not like The Dark Knight Rises (another Batman movie) had received nasty letters and even death threats. I laughed. Then he reported on how some people were paying scalpers up to $300 per ticket to get into the cinema and see the first showing of the film. I laughed again. On the NBC national Evening News, even Brian Williams mentioned these things as his closing news segment for the day. I just shook my head...
I remember watching the Batman TV show as I was growing up - it was exciting, and fun, and very different with the graphics that were used. - I watched Star Trek , too. And I freely admit to being in line to see the first showings of the first three Star Wars films and the first three Star Trek films, and the first three Indiana Jones films. But not being a huge fan of the Batman movies, I really couldn't conceive of a midnight showing with a ticket price of $300. Right now, I am very happy about that.
When I arose this morning, I checked my home page on my PC - I didn't turn on the TV, and I haven't yet. The first thing that leapt to my eyes was the report of 12 dead and 50 wounded at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie - and then I did a double-, and a triple-take. This madness had happened at a movie theater in Aurora - about a 30-minute drive from my apartment. I couldn't believe it as I read it then, and I still really don't want to believe it now. It doesn't seem to be a part of the day-to-day reality of life.
A 24-year-old ex-graduate student of neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver has been arrested for what happened this morning. Police have tried to enter his apartment, but have found multiple types of booby-traps - the area around his apartment has been evacuated. According to reports, there was a violent gun battle being waged on screen, when an emergency exit door opened, and a canister of tear gas was launched at the front of the theater. Then gunfire burst out - a lot of people thought it was a part of the "Premiere" experience, but as people screamed and collapsed and bled, it turned out to be real. Twelve are dead, and reports vary, saying another 36 to 50 people in the theater were wounded. The gunman had four weapons, and was wearing a bullet-proof vest, gas mask, and a police-style riot helmet. He was arrested without a fight outside the theater, beside his car. His name is James Holmes.
What makes a person do such a thing? I might contemplate killing myself, but I cannot comprehend wanting to kill or injure others. And these senseless killing rampages seem to be increasing in both number and frequency... Or is just that, with the internet, cell phones, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook, a person can receive so much more information from around the world so quickly? What is turning our young people into hardened, unfeeling creatures who go out and kill, maim, and harm others "just for kicks?"
I remember watching the Batman TV show as I was growing up - it was exciting, and fun, and very different with the graphics that were used. - I watched Star Trek , too. And I freely admit to being in line to see the first showings of the first three Star Wars films and the first three Star Trek films, and the first three Indiana Jones films. But not being a huge fan of the Batman movies, I really couldn't conceive of a midnight showing with a ticket price of $300. Right now, I am very happy about that.
When I arose this morning, I checked my home page on my PC - I didn't turn on the TV, and I haven't yet. The first thing that leapt to my eyes was the report of 12 dead and 50 wounded at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie - and then I did a double-, and a triple-take. This madness had happened at a movie theater in Aurora - about a 30-minute drive from my apartment. I couldn't believe it as I read it then, and I still really don't want to believe it now. It doesn't seem to be a part of the day-to-day reality of life.
A 24-year-old ex-graduate student of neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver has been arrested for what happened this morning. Police have tried to enter his apartment, but have found multiple types of booby-traps - the area around his apartment has been evacuated. According to reports, there was a violent gun battle being waged on screen, when an emergency exit door opened, and a canister of tear gas was launched at the front of the theater. Then gunfire burst out - a lot of people thought it was a part of the "Premiere" experience, but as people screamed and collapsed and bled, it turned out to be real. Twelve are dead, and reports vary, saying another 36 to 50 people in the theater were wounded. The gunman had four weapons, and was wearing a bullet-proof vest, gas mask, and a police-style riot helmet. He was arrested without a fight outside the theater, beside his car. His name is James Holmes.
What makes a person do such a thing? I might contemplate killing myself, but I cannot comprehend wanting to kill or injure others. And these senseless killing rampages seem to be increasing in both number and frequency... Or is just that, with the internet, cell phones, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook, a person can receive so much more information from around the world so quickly? What is turning our young people into hardened, unfeeling creatures who go out and kill, maim, and harm others "just for kicks?"
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