Why can't people be charged with a crime for this?

Okay, dusting off the soapbox again. I've found something else to rant about. Be prepared.

How is this acceptable? Not the assault, but the fact that people recorded the incident on their phones but did NOTHING to stop it, to call the cops, or in any way do something to help the victim. All they were interested in was getting it uploaded to social media. (Beware watching the video. It's brutal.)

I wasn't really aware of this other than in passing until Himself actually pulled up an article on it. Apparently the attacker is now in jail in Salem under a $35,000 full cash bond. I can't find the article he was looking at that talks about this. She ended up turning herself in.

Himself made the comment of “I don't want to live on the planet anymore”. Honestly, I can't disagree with him on that point. What the hell are people thinking, watching a young woman get beaten – to death for all they know at the start – and all they do is pull out their camera phones and start recording? How is that even allowable in our society?

Where did the compassion go? I can understand not wanting to get involved in the fight, but surely there were a few strong young men there who could have helped pull her off. Maybe someone could have called the cops instead of leaving the woman to find her own way to get help. What about the danger the woman's two year old was in. I'm so sick to my stomach about this that I don't even know what to say.

I think what happened to the victim was horrendous. I think what the onlookers did was despicable. I can honestly say I wouldn't have gone in to rescue the woman. I'm not that strong and I'm a little afraid of physical violence. But I would have called 911. I wouldn't have stood there with my phone out recording the whole thing. Why do young people – and probably some not so young people – this this is right?

Something else I found in one of the articles I read made the comment that the Salem police were contemplating criminal charges against the onlookers but the subject was dropped by the prosecutors. Why? Aren't they as guilty of a crime as the woman's attacker? I think they'd be accused of being accessories to it because they did nothing to help.

I'm not being very coherent here other than saying “why is this a thing” and “why is this happening”, so I'm going to step off the soapbox now. But seriously, this just pissed me off and made me lose all faith in humanity.

No really. WHY IS SOMETHING LIKE THIS CONSIDERED OKAY?

Childhood

I was on FB yesterday when I saw one of the trending news things. (I hate that trending thing but will occasionally go read something that catches my attention.) I knew that he'd been taken off life support so I was both glad and sad to see that Casey Kasem was dead.

There's a lot about his music and radio career on there but the biggest thing I remember him for is Shaggy in Scooby Doo. I grew up on Scooby Doo, both reruns and the series that came about because of the original series. I had a few reservations about Scrappy Doo, but I still loved the cartoon series.

I loved Scooby Doo. I loved how mysteries could be solved so quickly, and that in most of the series, it was just a person in a costume. It taught me that behind all the evil things there was a person with a reason, even if that reason made no sense or was intended to hurt someone.

Cartoons taught me so many things when I was growing up. How to stand up for myself. How to be honest. How to love. How to be creative. I wasn't allowed to watch too many of them as my TV time was limited, but I picked my favorites and religiously watched them, even if it meant getting up at 6:30 in the morning. Sometimes, when I got up that early, I'd sneak in an extra show or two before my mother got up.

Saturday morning cartoons are a thing of the past now. The networks have taken them off the air for the most part to make way for other programming. So children now don't have the opportunities many of us did when we were growing up. I used to wonder what made them take them off the air. I have a feeling it has to do with the way parenting has changed since I was a child.

I can remember riding in the back of our station wagon, curled up in a nest with my younger sister. When I rode in the back seat, I didn't have to wear a seatbelt. When I was allowed to go outside to play, I didn't have to be back in until my mom called or until it started getting dark, whichever came first. I could ride my bike without a helmet. Strangers weren't regarded in the same way as they are now.

When did society change? What made it change? When did we go from an easy going society to a hyper paranoid one? Children these days aren't allowed to play, to fall down and get hurt, to just be kids. They're taught from the time they're small that they have to be miniature adults. A friend of mine put her son into preschool. She was horrified that her son wasn't given much of a chance to play. He was given worksheets that he had to fill out, books he had to read, homework he had to do. In preschool. She looked around for a new one but couldn't afford the ones that would give him what she wanted. So she pulled him out and turned him loose to play and learn on his own.

We are hurting children by not letting them do art, play at both home and school, discover new things on their own. So many parents regulate everything their children do to the point that children don't learn to think for themselves. Our schools are only reinforcing this by having children learn things to pass tests. It's feared that as adults, they're not going to know how to deal with life. It's going to cause a lot of problems for them.

When did childhood stop being about the children? What do you think about the way things are going now?

Thursday Thoughts - Inequality of Women

I'm a woman. Did you know that admitting that (physical attributes aside) means I'm a second class citizen compared to men? I didn't either, until I started studying and learning things that the men in my life didn't want me to learn.

This epiphany came about years ago, when I was in college and studying to get my degree. I was originally going to study Business but I was "encouraged" by my counselor to study education instead. "Business is a man's world. Women belong teaching children, not running a board room." That was what I was told. And like a good little sheep I believed it.

Then I noticed that there were women studying Business. That they were more than happy to take the classes. So I made friends with one of these women and asked her what made her decide to study Business. Her response? "Because one day I'm going to open my own business and be my own boss, and I need to know how."

This was back in the mid 90's. Back then, it was rare to find anyone willing to give a female entrepreneur money to do anything. Most of the grants and loans went to men. That thankfully has changed, but still the gender inequality is there. Just as it lurks in the mainstream workplace as well. In fact, it's more prevalent in the mainstream workplace.

Women still get paid less than men. In one study done by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, it was found that in 2011 women made .77 to every dollar that men made. Now I don't know what the current figures are but I strongly doubt they've changed much in the last two years. It's a simple fact that even though more and more women have become the primary breadwinners in the family, they are still getting significantly less then men in the same positions.

Did you know that there are a lot of religions out there that emphasize the subjugation of women? Mormon, Catholic, most of the mainstream Christian faiths in fact, along with Muslims (though I will admit the Muslims are more extreme) try to force women into subservient roles in the family. Women are supposed to obey their husbands, take care of the home, and give birth to children to continue the cycle. I am appalled by this continued enforcement of patriarchy in our homes. Our society has moved beyond that. Women are free, independent, thinking beings who have recognized that we are such and for the most part are no longer willing to be subjugated by husbands and fathers. We need to encourage this, not try to enforce an antiquated notion of patriarchy that should have gone out of style in the 50's.

Look at every major religion and business in the world. How many women are in positions of power compared to men? There are far fewer women in those positions. The world is still a male dominated society. Something needs to change.

I'm not saying that there are jobs out there that women aren't as suited for as men. On the contrary, there are jobs where men are better at it than women. Just as there are jobs where women are better at it than men. What I'm saying is men and women deserve equal treatment and equal pay for the equal work that they do. A fair and equitable wage for everyone should be the norm, not based on gender stereotypes and racial profiling.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni's running out of pithy titles for these things

Hello everyone!

I know, I know.  I'm late with getting this up.  It's still Sunday for another two hours here so it still counts as a proper SFU.  I'll be a little better about getting it in on time next week.  At least, I hope I will.

This week has been full of same crap different day.  Himself is still unemployed.  I've gotten another lovely "meeting with a manager" over with.  I still have a job.  Twitchy is still a pain in the ass.  You know, the same stuff I tend to complain about.

Writing is going well.  The Beauty and the Beast retelling is finally taking off.  I've found ways of making it fit the dark, twisted vision I've had all along.  No light and fluffy, although it does have a happy ending.  I can't quite completely obliterate the faerie tale out of this story.

This week my SFU is going to be a little different.  I'm dragging out my soapbox again.  I'm bringing up some things that bothered me over the last week in regards to news and the like.  The first thing that I want to talk about is something that's not far from a lot of minds: the debt ceiling talks.

Gee, who DIDN'T think that the talks were going to collapse?  Seriously.  The Republicans are so fucking protective of the wealthy in this country that they feel that destroying this country is worth it.  REALLY?  Come on.  There are people starving to death in this country because we don't have enough money.  There are elderly who are choosing between medications and food, knowing they need both to survive and yet they don't have enough to buy both.  Whole families are living homeless because of this shit.  It has got to STOP.

But they won't listen to us.  Maybe when the entire fucking country is unemployed, starving, and littered with the corpses of people who fought to the end to survive and ultimately failed they'll begin to understand what their bullshit is doing to this country.

Another thing I wanted to talk about is how focused people are on Amy Winehouse.  I didn't even know who she was until I Googled her when she started showing up all over my Twitter feed.  I hate to break it to you folks, but, well, a musician overdosing on drugs and alcohol and dying from it isn't news.  It's more common than it should be, actually.

Now, I'm not saying her death isn't tragic.  It's sad to think of someone so young dying.  I don't know if she had more musically to offer the world but she was still a person who had friends and family who loved her.  How must they be feeling right now, knowing she's dead because no one could seem to help her fight her self-destructive behavior?  Where were they when she was self-destructing?

Too many people stand back and go "Too bad, so sad. but she did it to herself so she deserves it".  No one stops to think of the people left behind who have to live with the feeling that they might have been able to do something to prevent it.  Just like what happens when someone suicides because of depression.  Or when a doctor misdiagnoses something and a family has to watch a loved one die when, if they'd just pushed a little harder they might have convinced that loved one to see a different doctor.

Death is tragic, no matter what the circumstances.  How about we take a moment to remember, not only Amy Winehouse, but all of the teens who've killed themselves because of persecution for being part of the LGBT community, or were too intelligent or too creative for their peers to understand, or are being abused and death is the only way out they can see?  Or all of those civilians killed in every war that we've ever had?  Or for all of the soldiers that have laid their lives on the line, who are still laying their lives on the line, and who are getting screwed over by the country they've sworn to protect?  Or how about those who die due to the incompetence of medical practitioners?  Or those too poor to be able to afford doctors, who die in the streets or in their homes because they don't have any way to get help?  Who will remember all of the silent casualties of a war that should never be fought in the first place - a war against humanity that large corporations and politicians seem to want to wage with us as the unwilling (and unknowing) soldiers?

*puts soapbox back in her closet*

To close out, here's the usual music videos.  Enjoy.

Well, there goes my last shred of faith in our justice system

Mother whose son was killed in hit-and-run faces 2 years in jail for jaywalking

I just...

I mean...

WHAT THE FUCK, PEOPLE?

I have no words to express how much of an outrage this is to me.  A mother of four children is about to be sentenced to two years in jail for cutting across the street - like everyone else was doing - when the guy that murdered - yes, I said MURDERED - her four year old son got 6 months?  How the HELL is that justice?

The man admitted he was popping pain pills and drinking when he ran this woman and her children down.  The four year old was killed.  And the guy drove off without any thought to the family he'd just hurt.  And they gave him SIX FREAKING MONTHS?  And she's getting TWO YEARS because she was trying to get her kids home and inside faster?  That is seriously some fucked up shit going on in Georgia.

I understand jaywalking is illegal.  But when you're one of a dozen or more doing it, and the cops single you out when you lose your child to an asshole who's driving intoxicated and who speeds off into the night, that's just wrong.  The fact that the article says the public is largely unsympathetic to her just makes it worse.  She just lost her son.  Now her children will lose their mother.  Those kids, if their dad isn't in the picture and there isn't a family member willing to take over their care, will end up in some kind of foster care situation through CPS.

Let's not get me on the soapbox about CPS.  I think that, for the most part, the people who are in it are powermongering hypocrites, liars, and home wreckers.  There is NOTHING you will say that will convince me otherwise.  Yes they do serve a purpose, and there are those times when they do good.  But all of the times they've done good have been washed away by the gross miscarriage of their power that I've seen and experienced.

To be perfectly honest, my heart goes out to this woman and her children.  I don't think we should condemn a tired mother for trying to take the fastest route home with her children.  In the middle of a heat wave.  After they'd already missed their first bus.  I think we should condemn the bastard who ran them down.  I think we should condemn the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury who are persecuting this woman because of this situation.  I think we should condemn the hard heartedness of the general public in her area because no mother should ever have to go through the agony of losing her child and find herself on the wrong end of a legal witch hunt.

That's my .02 on this.  Feel free to discuss in the comments.  I'm off my soapbox for now.

The whole "cablegate" and WikiLeaks drama has got to stop

Dear WikiLeaks Supporters,

Okay, we get it.  You're pissed that the government is trying to prevent the release of private documents that WikiLeaks has no business releasing.  We get the fact that you think that information is vital and needs to be released.  We get the fact that you're upset because *gasp* the government wants to hold someone responsible for taking information that wasn't theirs to begin with and releasing it to the public.

I DON'T FUCKING CARE!  I don't care who releases what, who objects to what, or if any of this really embarrasses anyone (and I don't think it will...let's be serious here folks.  Those uber secret documents?  Were probably all over the desks of other ambassadors and intelligence agencies long before WikiLeaks got them.)  The WikiLeaks founder is in jail because of a completely unrelated crime.  I don't hold with the conspiracy theory that these are trumped up charges to pigeonhole him until someone can figure out how to bring him up on more serious charges related to the WikiLeaks thing.

These denial of service attacks that some of you are performing to "prove your point"?  They're going to have the OPPOSITE effect that you want.  You want the internet to stay free and independent?  Then stop with the attacks.  You're GIVING THE GOVERNMENT AMMUNITION.  They're going to start pushing for tighter regulations on the internet now just to prevent another denial of service attack from taking down a major corporation's servers.  What happens then?  Tighter restrictions on downloads (not that they aren't already stifling as it is).  Preferred service packages that were shot down earlier this year.  The blacklist that we so recently got rid of?  It'll be back.

And you know what?  Because of you fucktards swearing this is a "data war" and you want all information to be free and easy to access?  THE FUCKING GOVERNMENTS ARE GOING TO GET THEIR WAY.

Please use those brains you've got for something other than hair growth and bleating uselessly about "freedom of information".  All you're doing is denying other people the same right to enjoy that freedom.

No love,
Me

P.S. To the various Facebook pages supporting Julian Assange and WikiLeaks....NO I WILL NOT SIGN YOUR PETITION/LIKE YOU/FRIEND YOU.  I think the vast majority of you are MORONS.

P.P.S. To those of my friends on Twitter and Facebook who support this whole thing, I don't think YOU'RE morons.  I think the people who started this whole mess are.  I also think it just needs to be dropped from our tweets and our Facebook pages because this is a battle that should never have been taken to the public forums in the first place.  If you continue to tweet about it or post to FB about it, I won't do something juvenile like block you.  I'll just do what a reasonable person would do and ignore that particular tweet/post.  But can we please do with a little less of the WikiLeaks stuff?  Please?

P.P.P.S. To the rest of you media moguls out there who are capitalizing on this, shut the fuck up and let us all get back to our daily doses of conspiracy theories and bemoaning the fate of the economy.  I know I'd prefer that to all this WikiLeaks shit.

Winter sucks...and so do the holidays

Before I get jumped on about how the holidays are "wonderful" and are the time of year to "be with one's family", let me make one thing clear...I DON'T HAVE A FUNCTIONAL FAMILY.

I come from a very dysfunctional background.  The only members of my family who give a DAMN about me are my husband, my oldest sister, my oldest sisters 3 kids, and one of my brother's stepdaughters.  Everyone else would be very happy if I fell off the face of the planet.  They sure as hell won't be spending the Christmas holidays with me.  I have 3 other nieces and a nephew out of my brother and other older sister.  They're not talking to me either because their parents aren't.  So the whole "Christmas is a time for family" bullshit pisses me off.

My husband doesn't have any family to spend it with either.  His sister is married and moving to the Netherlands - and hates us for not following her and my mother-in-law to Texas like good little sheep.  His parents are divorced.  His dad is in Florida with his new wife and has nothing to do with us.  His mom isn't talking to us either, much for the same reasons as his sister.  Long story about the move from Washington to Texas with us stopping in Idaho.  I might even share it some day.  Not today.  I'm already in a bad enough mood as it is.

What makes the holidays even worse is the emphasis on kids.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE kids.  I want kids.  I desperately want kids.  I can't have them.  Not capable of having children.  And because of the state of our finances, and the fact we're living in a 3 bedroom house with a total of six people sharing very limited living space, we can't adopt.  We haven't been in a position to adopt for a long time, and I don't see that changing any time soon either.

But having the fact that I DON'T have children shoved in my face at every opportunity by people around me sucks.  My workplace did something where co-workers and managers could nominate families in need and everything would stay anonymous but gifts would be purchased based on what the nominees who were chosen needed/wanted.  I nominated a single mom on my team at work because she's putting in overtime just so she can pay rent and buy groceries.  I also know she was chosen.  I'm glad because this means she'll get some help for the holidays for her and her three kids.

I ALSO know, due to having overheard a conversation I probably shouldn't have, that I was nominated for help because of the fact I barely break even most months on bills even with both of us working.  We don't have much in the way of appropriate work clothes and it bothers my boss (in a sympathetic, not nasty way) to see me wearing the same worn out work clothes day in and day out.  He nominated my husband and me because he felt we too could use some help.  He was told by HR (and this is the conversation I got to overhear since I sit right next to his cubicle) that because we don't have children WE DON'T QUALIFY FOR THE COMPANY'S HELP.  Their whole goal is to help "families in need" and because we don't have children we don't count as a family.

What the FUCK ever.  I'm not upset because we didn't get chosen.  There are a lot of people who need help more than we do.  It's the REASON we weren't chosen.  Because my husband and I don't have kids, we're not a REAL family.  That's what pissed me off about the whole situation.

We've had a lot of snow dropped on our heads.  I almost didn't make it to work alive yesterday because people around here don't know how to drive with snow on the ground.  I'm grateful my husband does because he's the one driving and he kept us safe yesterday.  I half jokingly asked my boss what would happen if I called out for today because of road conditions.  He said, "The company doesn't care if you can't drive in. If you don't have any more sick time, you'll be fired for calling out."  I just stared at him.

"You mean they'd rather you DIE because of bad weather conditions than call in because you can't make it to work?" I asked.  He just nodded.  He looked as upset as I was.  Apparently he got an email from the center manager telling him that if anyone called in because of the weather, and if they didn't have the time to cover it, he was to tell them to swing by when they could and get their stuff from security.

When I was told I had 3 planned days left and I needed to use them before the end of the year, I jumped on the chance to take today off.  I also have a 4 day weekend next week (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon).  I need the time off so I can get some writing done.  I also need the time away from the "YOU RUINED MY KIDS' CHRISTMAS!" from parents who have NO concept of managing personal finances.

I'm doing handmade Christmas gifts this year.  I'm knitting hot pads for dinner tables, glasses cases (pretty much everyone who's still talking to me in my family wears glasses), and trying my hand at a purse.  I'll probably scrap that one in favor of the easier presents and do the purse for a birthday or something.  I don't know.  I'm at the point where I don't even want to do Christmas presents.  Just send everyone a Christmas card and call it good.  It's not like they don't know how hard hit we've been in the last several months.

*sigh*  It doesn't help Twitchy (the roommate who owns the house) has a house full of people right now.  They've been here since before I got home from work last night.  They were loud and obnoxious all night and I finally grabbed my Benadryl and took four of them to get to sleep.  (Two doesn't work on me anymore. I've used them as sleeping pills way too often in the past 9 months.)  Apparently my husband went out and ranted to one of our other roommates - his best friend Parker - about the whole situation because HE was pissed off by it too.  Also about the fact that he was told he couldn't say even a quarter of the stuff he wanted to say in response to Twitchy's younger sister and her two boy toys' bullshit.

My husband and I both have to worry about random piss tests for drugs and alcohol.  It's part of life right now for us.  Twitchy's younger sister's boyfriend SPIKED MY HUSBAND'S SODA.  It was just a damn good thing he noticed and spit it out.  The boyfriend thought it was freakishly hilarious, even more so when he found out the consequences if hubby got caught drinking.

The two boy toys also set off my "creep meter" big time.  I didn't even get a good look at them before bolting for  the bedroom.  Twitchy was rather offended by the fact I didn't stick around to talk to her and the others hanging out.  My husband reminded her I suffer from social anxiety.  Twitchy's response? "But these aren't strangers!"  My husband pointed out that to me, since I didn't know anyone except Twitchy's best friend, they were.  There were four people I didn't know (and three I did) drinking in our rather small dining room/living room area, being very loud, and two of them set me off so bad by just being in the same room that I ran for it.  Yeah...not going to stick around for that.

Twitchy asked me if I was going to make my white enchiladas tonight.  I told her only way I was making them is if the house guests were all gone.  I'm not leaving the bedroom while they're still here.  She got all butthurt and told me if I couldn't handle her family being here then maybe I should learn to get over it.  I wanted to smack the shit out of her but I restrained myself.  I told her that since she was so inconsiderate to NOT pay attention to the fact that she has FOUR ROOMMATES and that she's inconveniencing all of us with her house guests, why should I care about her being upset I'm not making one of my all time best dishes to serve them?  They're not my house guests.  They're not my friends.  And after that shit last night, I don't trust them.

Winter makes me all kinds of moody.  I'm not a summer or winter person.  I like spring and fall - it's neither too hot nor too cold, and there's always something pretty to look at.  The only pretty thing in winter is the mountains and it's just too damned cold to go outside and enjoy looking up at them.  Inconsiderate roommates and nasty ass bitches at work piss me off.  Not having anyone I can trust to rant to aside from my husband (who's already heard all of this, by the way) wears me down.

My husband and I hit a very rough patch about 2 years ago.  During the intervening 2 years, I've lost almost all of my so-called "best friends".  There are a few people who've stuck with me but I hate whining to them all the time about life because I'm sure they've gotten sick of hearing about it.  Just like I'm sure all of you, my dear readers, are probably tired of listening to me whine on this post.  So I'll stop here with this.

Just be aware that I am VERY moody at this time of year and you may get another rant post or two.  You may also get to see the first draft of a new short story I'm working on (not ranty, not anti-holidays, and NOT fan fic...LOL) if I ever get it done.  Heading off now...hopefully they'll all shut up enough my sound canceling ear phones will do their job and I can focus on writing.

Thoughts and Such

I've been saving things up, so beware.  It's been one of those months and I'm rather sick of all the crap.  So some brief commentary on some of the stuff I've seen trending and some rants about life in general.

First of all, the TSA.  SHUT UP ABOUT IT, OKAY?  Look, we're the ones who wanted increased security in our lives.  That's how we ended up with the Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act.  9/11 scared us - as it should have.  But now we've created terror in our own homes because of it.

For those calling for a boycott of TSA, forcing them to do full body pat downs instead of walking through the scanners, all you're going to do is piss off your fellow travelers who don't give a rat's ass and just want to get to see their families.  We pushed the TSA for stronger security methods at our airports to prevent another terrorist attack like the ones that claimed so many lives on 9/11.  Congratulations!  We've got them!  Now deal with it.  Don't like it?  Drive, take the bus, or take the train.  There are other methods of transportation.

Here are a couple links about the TSA that I found with a random search.  They're probably not the ones you're thinking of.

Something positive, and an explanation for a video that's shocked so many people
The TSA blog where you can get many questions answered

Next...Bristol Palin.

For the love of green apples, lay off of her, okay?  She's a teenager.  She made mistakes.  Her mother is an idiot.  Don't let her mother's mistakes be her burden too.  She's got her own to worry about.  What her mother has pushed her into is disgusting because she's using her own children to push her political agendas.  If you don't like what's going on with Bristol, stop supporting Sarah Palin.  Simple, right?

Third...NaNoWriMo.

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm a major failure this year.  I had all sorts of plans but they've all fallen through since I seem to have lost the drive to finish either of my manuscripts.  I couldn't even hardly start the one dealing with the psionics.  Then I got another idea that I started and made it upwards of 33k.  And there I've stalled.  I've got too much going on over the next few days to try to make up the rest of that.  I haven't written more than 300 words in the last two days.  Part of it is I get depressed around this time of the year because the holidays remind me of what I've lost over the last two years.  I'm to the point where I just don't care anymore about anything.  I get up, go to work, come home, stare at the computer and attempt to write.  It doesn't work.

Fourth...writing in general.

I'm stalled, and probably won't be doing much for a while.  I can hope this funk will pass, but I don't know how long it'll take.  I'm entertaining myself by writing lame fan fic because, hey, it's writing SOMETHING, right?

Fifth...Thanksgiving.

What am I thankful for?  I'm thankful I have a job.  So many people don't.  I hear horror stories from people every day because of my job.  Some of them are probably overblown to get sympathy and help from me.  *shrug*  That's part of my job.

But to the older lady I spoke with who can't pay us, is trying to help an elderly friend move closer into town because his health is so poor that he needs to be where the other people are even though she's about to lose her own house...I wish her a happy Thanksgiving with someone giving her the help she so desperately needs.  To all of the elderly who call because they need help and then stay on my line because they're lonely and need someone to listen to them...I hope your families come to see you and that they spend hours talking with you and giving you lots of company.  I hope your grandchildren and great-grandchildren spoil you rotten.  To those who don't have families, I hope the warm comfort of friends and good companions will make your holidays bright and happy.

What else am I thankful for?  I'm thankful for my husband.  So many people are divorcing/breaking up and it just breaks my heart.  I'm glad I have my husband, who loves me in spite of everything we've been through and all of flaws in my character that he helps me deal with on a daily basis.

I'm thankful that my oldest sister was well enough to travel this year so she could come see her grandsons.  I'm hoping that before she leaves I'll get a chance to see her since I haven't seen her in years. I'm also hoping to get the chance to see and play with my great-nephews, since I dearly love children and enjoy playing with them.

I'm thankful that, in spite of my various aches and pains, I'm still a reasonably healthy woman.  It could be so much worse.  I've got a lot of things that scare me about my health, especially given my family history, but for now I'm still healthy and working slowly towards a more fit lifestyle.

I'm thankful for a roof over my head even if the company I'm keeping (outside of my husband and our friend Parker) is less than ideal.  I can deal with it because I've been homeless.  I don't want to be that way again.

In conclusion...

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.  Stop and take some time to offer assistance to those who are less fortunate if you can, even if it's just listening to an elderly person babble on about their lives or letting a young mother cry on your shoulder about how frustrating life is.  Remember, we all have our burdens and if we can help someone share their load they may be willing in the future to help share ours.

Things I read today that bothered me greatly

I've got a blog and I've got an opinion.  Many people are scared to utilize their blogs to express their opinions.  I'm not one of those.  As I've stated before, I'm opinionated and cranky - and I'm not afraid.

The first thing that got my attention was this set of blog posts recently tweeted on my Twitter feed.
Laurie Halse Anderson's Blog
Myra McEntire's answer to this same situation

There's also a tweet chat hash tag for this.  If you've got a Twitter account and want to follow it, I highly suggest you do so: #SpeakLoudly

First, I HATE censorship and denying access to books to people that might give them hope or help...or might just entertain them for a brief time.  I'm all for allowing people to read/watch whatever they want.  Let them form their own opinions.  I understand there are some things that you don't want a child to read, but that's up to the PARENTS to monitor - not society, not outsiders, and most certainly NOT an outspoken man who claims to be a Christian.

Now, for the record, I'm a Christian.  I'm not one of those in your face, Bible thumping, "do it my way or you're going to HELL" Christians.  I don't go in for that, and will walk away from people who do that.  But today...today I couldn't walk away.  I couldn't stay silent, and I won't be silenced.

I am referring to the horrific statement by Wesley Scroggins, referring to the rape scenes in the YA novel SPEAK as "soft pornography".  I was already feeling sick because of a stomach bug I seem to have caught.  That made me want to puke even more.  (My apologies to my more sensitive readers but again, I won't censor myself on this blog.)  Spoken like someone who has no concept of what rape does to a victim.

Here is Scroggins' article, for those who are interested

Rape is a violent and brutal violation of a person's body - and their soul.  They begin to doubt themselves when society - people like Wesley Scroggins and those who share his beliefs - says that it must be their fault they were raped.  I'm sorry, but in this case I am deeply ashamed and disgusted to be a Christian because the opinions of people like this man and his rabid, foaming at the mouth followers give the rest of us who have a personal and more compassionate connection with God and Christ a bad name.

I've never read the book in question.  That doesn't mean I'm not qualified to give my opinion on the situation.  That book has also been moved to the top of my 'to-be-read' list over on Goodreads and will be one of the first books I try to get from the Library.  Why?  Because I want to see what this story is about.  I want to know what I'm defending and why Scroggins thinks it's evil.  Personally, when fanatics like him swear it's evil I end up loving it and adding it to my personal collection.  I can quite cheerfully say I own quite a few of those books that are now on the "banned books" list.

Religious fanatics in general irritate me.  This leads to another link that got tweeted that really got to me.

A journalist apologizes for his fellow Americans

I used to shop at Paul's, a local grocery store that is only (or so I've seen) really popular in Southwestern Idaho.  I made friends with a woman who lived in my old apartment complex who was Muslim.  She was a very sweet woman who was living there with her two daughters.  She'd left her abusive (Christian) husband when he told her that she and her daughters were no longer allowed to practice their religion and would have to convert to his.  She was working as a cashier.  She wore the head scarf that Muslim women wear, and I always thought she had some of the most beautiful things ever.  Bright and colorful, I always knew where she was and would go through her line even if there were several people there.  I just loved being able to say hi to her.

One day I found myself apologizing to her for the behavior of the people in front of me.  They were a couple of young male college students (they'd been bragging to the young ladies in front of THEM in line about their studies which is how I know this) and one of them tried to reach over and pull off her head scarf.  She stepped back, smiled, and politely asked him not to touch her.  He went off and started screaming at her about being a terrorist, asking her how many babies she'd murdered, how many people had she killed, if she'd been bin Laden's lover, etc.  I almost clobbered the guy and I'm not a violent person.

My estimation of the store owner and managers went up 1000 times that day as they came out of the office when one of the other cashiers called them.  These were a trio of older men who walked up to the cash register.  The louder of the two young men demanded that my friend be fired, or at least that she be required to remove her head scarf when serving "real Americans".  The other guy, who'd been quiet up until now, chimed in that since she was a Muslim we were at war with her and technically that meant that all Muslims who still followed their beliefs were war criminals.  My brain about exploded at this.

The owner of the store, who also lived in our same apartment complex, saw me and knew that I was this woman's friend.  He asked me to take her back to the break room so he could personally deal with the two men.  I did as he asked, and let her cry into my shoulder.  I reassured her that I thought that those two college students were bloody idiots and that I loved her and her daughters as some of my dearest friends.  A few minutes later, the manager came back and asked her if she wanted to go home.

I applauded my friend's bravery as she looked up and shook her head.  She asked for a few more minutes to get herself back together and some time to wash her face, and then she'd be back on her register.  He told us that the two men's sale had been voided and they'd been forcibly ejected from the store.  They were also banned and that if anyone - customer or employee - saw them in the store we were to notify the managers who would call the police.

I went back out and picked up a couple items I'd forgotten and went back to her cash register.  I was disgusted by the fact that there were still people mouthing off about how she deserved everything she got.  But I was also touched to see that the other cashiers stepped in and told them to leave, and those who were there and actually cared spoke with my friend and assured her she was beautiful and she was their favorite person to deal with.

Two months later, my friend's apartment was vandalized and her younger daughter was rushed to the hospital with multiple lacerations due to being next to the sliding glass door when some fucking ASSHOLE threw a cinder block through the glass door.  My friend and her daughters disappeared.  I've had two emails from her in the last year.  All she'll tell me is that she and her daughters are living "somewhere new".  I think she's still scared of being attacked again.

So...to my friend, to the non-extremist Muslims who just want the option granted by the First Amendment to ALL Americans, and to those who truly believe that people should have the freedoms we're given by the Constitution and Bill of Rights that people seem to want to deny them (Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion being the main ones these days)....I APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF ALL THOSE THAT ARE TOO BIGOTED, STUPID, OR BLIND TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE'RE ALL HUMAN AND DESERVE THE SAME RESPECT REGARDLESS OF WHO WE ARE OR WHERE WE CAME FROM.

Censorship isn't just for the written word.  It comes when we deny the basic right to believe as they wish to people.  We need to remember that.  We also need to remember, for all our "holier than thou" bullshit attitudes, that Americans destroyed the lives of the Native Americans because of bigotry and racial hatred - just like we're accusing the Muslims of doing to us.  Christians have been persecuting people who don't follow their beliefs for centuries.  We've even killed people for it (the Crusades, anyone?  Spanish Inquisition?  Do those ring a bell?).  We need to step back and realize that we are all humans, and that while there are those fanatics out there who try to ruin it for everyone, that NOT every Christian/Jew/Muslim/Pagan are the same as all of the others who profess to follow the same faith.