In The News

My mom is busy having a colonoscopy this morning so I'm sharing my Nest with the Dog Who Must Have Body Heat Or He Will Die. That means I'm sitting crooked so he has plenty of room and I'm covered up with a fuzzy blanket so that he's comfortable. It's a dog's life.

Tomorrow I have a mammogram and a pain doctor appointment. Should be a real. good. time. not. I thought the mammogram was today and when I called to postpone they told me it was actually tomorrow. Glad I found out before I drove down to Gainesville. That would have been a bummer. I'll have about an hour and a half between appointments tomorrow which I will hate but I will hate it less than driving down there two days in a row. The mammogram is free and I'm grateful but it still bugs me that things that are boob and uterus related are free but any other body part is out of luck.

Anyways. I was really bored with Summer television a few weeks ago and thought, "we need to have some major news story to capture my attention"... and then Jill Dugger turns up pregnant so BINGO! Just kidding. I mean, she's really pregnant but that's not the big news story. No... despite the fact that an American was slaughtered by a terrorist yesterday, the only news story that's getting airtime is the rioting in Ferguson, Missouri. Here are my thoughts about the situation:

Michael Brown was a thug who lived a thug life. He was in the middle of his getaway from robbing a convenience store. He came across a policeman who may or may not have known what Michael just did but MICHAEL knew and was obviously defiant and defensive. I've heard various stories about what exactly transpired but one thing we know to be a fact is that the officer has a shattered orbital bone or whatever you call that bone around the eye. He no doubt was in fear for his life.

Was there another way to subdue Michael other than using deadly force? I don't know. I wasn't there. Missouri is one of a handful of states where it is LEGAL for police to use deadly force in a multitude of situations. Like Florida's Stand Your Ground law, this may not be the best practice or necessarily a "good" law but it is law. Having everyone from the Governor of Missouri to Thug General --- I mean Attorney General Eric Holder not be aware of this is somewhat disconcerting. If I was a policeman in Missouri I would turn in my badge. Knowing that if things go wrong you'll be vilified, not supported as a law enforcement officer tells me to just let the thugs have their way. Let Al "The Truth Is Not Important" Sharpton be King of the Thugs and let them all just live in the squalor they create.

I know by first-hand experience that life ain't always fair if your skin ain't fair. I get it. I've had friends of color who were ticketed for "driving black" and I know it happens. I get that there is a contentious relationship between the black majority in Ferguson and their white police force. But honestly... if I'm charged with keeping the peace over a group of people who think it's ok for 18 year old thugs to just go into stores and take whatever they want by threatening law abiding merchants... I'm going to shoot first and ask questions later. It becomes a kill or be killed environment that the white police force did not create.

What disturbs me most is the looting that has followed. Will stealing a carton of cigarettes bring Michael back? Most of the people being arrested there don't LIVE there. They are a band of lawless thugs who use any perceived slight as an excuse for taking what doesn't belong to them. The New Black Panther Party is calling for the death of the police officer. It's just insane.

Do I think that there is racial inequality? Maybe. To some degree. But it's no excuse. I didn't have a lot of advantages growing up. My parents struggled to raise the five of us. We didn't have the best of everything. But my brothers are all law abiding contributing members of society including a lawyer and a pastor/counselor and I don't know what the other two do but they make a good living. I made a living and survived being a single mom with only a fraction of the child support that I was owed. Growing up we didn't have a lot but we ate dinner together at the table every night and we went to church every time the doors were open and my parents sacrificed a lot for us to participate in activities that interested us. My grandmother was a single mom and she managed to raise three law abiding citizens. My other grandparents were poor but they raised seven decent human beings. Honestly, poor or disadvantaged or being raised by a single mom are not excuses for being a thug. If you're unhappy with your station in life IMPROVE it by getting an education (there are grants and loans and scholarships) and working hard. If you're unhappy with the community where you live, MOVE. I imagine there are millions of people in other parts of the world who would think an apartment in government housing is a palace.

Anyways. This whole thing is under my skin. Life may not be fair in Ferguson but show me somewhere life IS fair. Michael Brown's death, in my opinion, is as much his fault as anyone elses. In the presence of law enforcement do what they tell you to do. It might have felt humiliating for a few minutes but then life would have gone on. In the meantime, in Chicago this weekend there were several murders. Who is marching for them? An innocent U.S. citizen was beheaded by a terrorist. Who is marching for him? Who marches for the babies who are aborted every day? Who marches for the veterans who die because their healthcare is inadequate? Who marches for the multitude of people dying from the ebola virus? For the people in Gaza who are used as human shields for Hamas? Who marches for the people like me who are abandoned in the gap without affordable health care? I'm just saying.

And that's all I have to say about that. Congratulations Jill and Derek on the first of what I'm sure will be many, many children.  Happy Wednesday. Love and hugs, y'all!