in the news – Page 15 – This Old House 2

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday morning

I’m full of them today… are you ready?

I’d really love a magnolia tree to plant in the yard as a mothers day gift. Do you think the family will read my post?

Do you know, the least likely people to read your posts if you blog, will be your family? My mom is a writer, a reader, a supportive mother, and a computer user. Other people in town tell her the latest recipes and stories and pictures of family I’ve posted on the blog. My husband walks into the local breakfast place and a favorite resident of mine will tease him about the latest silliness. And yes, silliness lives here. That same favorite resident friend also knows more about my family than an Uncle whose family I lived with for four years when I was young. Perhaps it’s redundant… after all, they already know you, right?

I’m maybe a little bit horrified that the jury in the Jodi Ar*as trial is still deliberating. Really? Do they really need three days (so far!) to figure this one out? It’s kinda cut and dried information they were given, no? Actually… stabbed!..27 times, slashed throat, then bullet to the head…and left to ferment in a shower stall naked for five days… that kind of cut and dried. If they come back with anything like a hung jury, a mistrial, an aquital… our system is shot and millions of dollars have just been wasted on this waste of a human being. She’s selling T-shirts and artwork and tweeting online… that’s disgusting, after what she’s done. How is this allowed?

this is her MUG SHOT… seriously?

Amazing and also horrifying, the story of three woman and a child held captive and God knows what else for 10 years, all living within two miles of where they were abducted. By three brothers. That means three brothers all agreed that this was an acceptable thing to do to these women and the child. And they did it for ten years. TEN… YEARS…. of those young lives, spent locked in a basement and God knows what else. Long road to recovery for them, so glad they made it out alive.

I just noticed I’m starting to sound like Nancy Grace 🙂

The Monsanto Protection Act – Anonymously added to a recent budget bill, the controversial rider would protect U.S. biotech companies from litigation if their GMO seeds turn out to be dangerous. GMO means Genetically Modified Organisms. GMOs are created by Monsanto and other biotech firms. While there’s no hard evidence that GMOs can harm humans, some worry about undiscovered health risks and the possibility of manmade genes spreading to wild plants, potentially wreaking ecological havoc.

That’s bull. If you’re gonna mess with the food supply, you better take responsibility and be held accountable. Producing GMO’s is a huge money maker… that shouldn’t have anything to do with jeapardizing your health, and yet it always does.

Here’s a link if you’re interested in reading about the bill on the table to label our foods GMO if they contain genetically modified ingredients. It also explains why some are opposed. MONEY has everything to do with it, not your health.

http://vtdigger.org/2013/05/07/gmo-labeling-bill-positioned-for-action-next-session/

I want my food labeled, I don’t think that’s too much to ask. At the very least, I should be able to make my own decision on whether I want my family to ingest GMOs. It is believed by many that so many people are now having trouble ingesting wheat (you are probably aware of the Gluten-Free issue.. not only for celiacs but others who are finding they feel a heck of a lot better when they don’t ingest things that contain Gluten). WHEAT… (gluten) is a big GMO crop. Modified to be more disease resistant and grow faster, heartier. Perhaps that is why the wheat of years ago, before GMO, was a main stable and not the serious allergen that it appears to be today.

It’s gonna rain today, I’m doing a happy dance. I can’t tell you how very dry everything is here at This Old House. Bring it!

After the horses and chickens are fed and let out and barn is mucked and gardens are watered and laundry is switched and folded and put away and the dishes that piled up in the sink after this morning’s breakfast are cleaned and stacked, I’ll be working on my found treasure – that old dollhouse I told you about. Why do I feel guilty about that, I ask you?

It’s a new day, all – make it a good one!

Suspect in Custody – but…..

Those were awesome words sprawled across the CNN screen last night. SUSPECT IN CUSTODY. Relief absolutely. No one else was hurt or killed, the city of Boston can return to life as they usually know it. Suspect No. 2 is now in custody and hopefully will survive his injuries to face judgement day. People were literally cheering in the streets, chanting USA, waving the American flag.

Inspiring as that moment was, there is little consolation for the families of the victims. What’s done is done. The losses are permanent and lives are altered or erased forever.

For what?

Here’s the big problem. That was just one pair of extremists. There are many many more. Is that what they were? We don’t even know yet, do we. I think the 19 year old was dragged down into his brother’s dark world of Isl*mic extremism out of some loyalty he felt for his brother. Sad, this.

As the nation watched, riveted to the images on the screen, the endless (ENDLESS!!) banter of hyperventilating newscasters giving us minute by minute verbal vomit about every detail over and over again…. I was thinking about what might be running through the mind of that 19 year old on the run. Just a kid, really. Did he even know or fully understand or BELIEVE in whatever the reason is going to be for this hideous terror act he and his brother had committed? Now that Brother was gone, and hey, he ran him over in his hasty retreat, that’s not gonna be an easy pill to swallow… what was left for him? Did he feel he accomplished something? and what would that be? Was it worth giving up the good education, the quality life he was building here in the good ole US?

For these extremists, there is no sense to their brand of violence. So we’re never going to find it, or make them “see the light” and reverse their radical ways. They use their religious beliefs to justify their actions. As Suspect No. 2 said to a friend.. “it’s not terrorism if the cause is justified”. How do you reason with that line of thinking?

You can’t.

And so this issue isn’t going away any time soon. As much as I hate the idea of racism or ethnic profiling, those who are radical extremist Musl*ms have made us all weary. Trust.. it’s like a piece of paper. You can hold the piece of paper fresh, crisp… then crumple it into a ball in frustration. You can open up that piece of paper again to give it another go, but it will never be the same… the inevitable lines and crinkles will remain.

When you heard about the bombing, what was your immediate thought as to who might be responsible? And when you first saw the pictures of the “persons of interest” what was your immediate thought then? Exactly. And I HATE that I felt that way but it’s not because of my own closed mindedness or ignorance. It comes from experience, lessons learned.

I love the idea of a world where all can live together peacefully – practicing their own set of beliefs, living their own way of life…coming together in areas of need and working together when necessary. It’s totally possible. I don’t ever want to judge a person by the color of their skin, the slant of their eyes, the prominent nose or their freckle pattern, the God they worship. We are all inhabitants of this earth with a right to live by our own ideals.

But the as*holes of this world have tainted our ability to do so. And yeah, you better believe I am wary and weary of the followers of a religion that states we are all deserving of death if we don’t follow their leader.

Excellent article in the Boston Globe I agree with whole-heartedly can be found HERE. Thanks Susan.

*sigh*

This is where it gets really discouraging….

A 19 year old? A NINETEEN YEAR OLD??? …Who has been in the US for over 10 years. He came here along with many family members to seek a better way of life. To get a better education. And he DID! He was an excelling student at U-Mass, also a fitness buff. To all who knew him, he seemed like a good soul, a good sport, the outgoing friendly kind of guy. What sort of hold his brother had on him we’ll probably never know, because I don’t see this ending well, do you? No, I don’t see him him giving himself up readily to undergo the interrogation.

He had a good life here, had friends and family nearby. What the hell could have possibly ignited such hate or anger or whatever it is that compels a person to do such a horrible thing.

I pray he does not slip through the dragnets, the thousands of law enforcement officers who are looking for him. We need answers.