I had written the blog for today and then woke up Friday morning to another mass shooting, this time in New Zealand. This was another psychotic shooter, with no caring for other humans. His name needs to be forgotten, but we do need to pay attention to the meaning behind his insane rant. I didn't read all his words but enough to see what he wanted was one thing-- to strew mayhem. He put out some kind of twisted manifesto, which deserves to also be forgotten but what we should remember is how these kind of evil people want to divide and destroy others-- not just those they killed or injured but from all walks of life. He had excuses for his killings, but they weren't reasons. They were attempts to elevate himself and his cause of destruction. People like that don't deserve to be elevated. They deserve to go to prison for the rest of their miserable lives, never able to send out their words again-- words intended only to hurt others.
So, yes, I had a life this week and wrote about it. It'll be after you hit Read more. I don't intend to let that life be destroyed by the evil of one person. I do believe we all need to say less anger-filled words and be more inclusive in our language recognizing that good and bad exist sometimes side by side. We need to pay attention to the good and bring more of it into life.
I intended Slippery Slope for today's title for other reasons but it fits what happened in New Zealand too. The slippery slope can begin with hate-filled rhetoric. I try to keep with the philosophy that if I don't like someone or what they say, sometimes it's walk away and other times it's try to make my point where it sticks to that point and not become an accusation. Nobody but the shooter is responsible for what happened in New Zealand, but life is better when we dwell on what is good-- not on what is bad. Some days are harder than others to do that. This has been one of those times. I have been waking up feeling upset without a firm reason for why and then i remember. I don't know how we escape that. The big thing is that we don't get dragged down by the lowest elements of humanity.
fairy duster
Once our little neighborhood was annexed into the nearby Oro Valley, everything got more complicated. Counties also have regulations but often less complicated than when you are in what considers itself a higher economic level community with man-made ponds, fountains and golf courses. We originally considered ourselves part of Casas Adobe, which was older with modest homes-- in short places like ours. It tried to become a city but was refused while Marana and Oro Valley succeeded. I guess it was inevitable that one of them would get us as it's all about the taxes, baby ;).
Zoning and regulations are good for communities, but they sure can complicate getting work done.
Surprisingly, it's been colder than usual for March (of course, not like cold in other parts of the country), and we've had some healthy rains. They used to talk about Tucson being in drought. Looks like not for a while will they say that.
Otherwise, I follow the news when I can stand it. It was disappointing this week to see Hollywood stars, people who otherwise seemed like good people, caught up in a cheating scandal to get their kids into major universities. How do people lose touch with ethical behavior? Were they cheaters all along with many times they'd managed to cheat the system or did they lose track where it came to their kids? Very sad.
One thing about ethics is it can be a sliding scale. People cheat on little things and then find themselves tempted to cheat on something bigger. In this case, these people seem nice, but they deserve to get some jail time, something I bet they never guessed they'd ever have happen. If we punish 'ordinary' folks for breaking laws, why not celebrities? I'll feel bad for them unlike some who are smirking over it. The reality is-- don't cheat on anything. It can get easier the next time and the next time before it suddenly catches up.
This week, I spent quite a bit of time doing research for the historical blog where I post once a month. That got quite interesting as it was about ranch history from the early 1900s and gets into WWI and family dynamics. If you are interested in such, check it out.
4 comments:
I love the sunset pictures and very much enjoyed the link to Sweethearts of the West.
I am terribly sad that conservative and mainstream media have become so defensive in their presentations of what happens. It is clear that Public Broadcasting showed the suspect of the mass murder making a White Supremasist hand signal to support their interpretation. They gave examples of how the individual engineered his crime to broadcast it in social media, presumably an attempt to give the go ahead to copycats.
I am going to invest in one of the Great Courses. Theories of Knowledge: How to think about what you know.
What Conservative media are you talking about? I read his words, perhaps you did too (not all of them for me) and saw them trying to cause civil war in the US and play into our gun debate. Which side was he actually on? My theory is he wants you to think he's a white supremacist but why would that be? I mean using this supposed code signal which used to just mean okay or what we used in yoga poses. I think the ones trying to make this about Trump are all analysts (and I use the word loosely) on the left and if you have been hearing it, you get NPR, MSNBC or CNN predominantly. What I heard from Fox Friday (and I did go there to look) is that they didn't make it about Bernie when the Bernie lover shot the GOP baseball players. They were asking for people to not jump on this.
Did you see the Muslim student in NY who pointed her finger in a very accusingly and threatening way at Chelsea Clinton and said the shooting was her fault. The blame game is always a mistake and it does lead to those who want to blame all Muslims for what one does-- or in this case all whites who are not terrorists for what one did.
the other main story, the one I had originally before sorrow overcame me on what happened to NZ, was on parents bribing schools to get their underachieving students into top universities. I hope this goes further than those parents, who clearly did wrong. This is about a university system in at least part of it that is broken to let in a student who does not have good grades and also was never in crew but gets in based on supposedly a crew scholarship. That cheats all the kids who worked hard through high school but don't have rich cheating parents. The universities deserve to be investigated-- all of the ones where this has happened.
We have a broken system on so many levels that it's frightening. I don't know how we fix it :(
I agree that systems are broken. I had trouble going to sleep last night partly because I suspected biased sifting of NPR,MSNBC,and CNN. In the case of Public Broadcasting public funding time and the reporting of NZ was scant last night with two special reports on products that allow the disabled to lead normal lives. And the shorter than usual news last night was followed by pleas for funding and a Rick Steve short segment.
So I was alarmed because I did not see the Muslim University student blaming the shooting on Chelsie Clinton. Social media is a great enabler for these terrorists to get attention they seek. Also I suspect that the populous bar room hate speech is a world wide encouragement to solitary want to be terrorists. Can't blame it all on one or two persons. At the same time Trump does not slow the current of violence. And the reports I heard acknowledged that in reporting the shooting they were doing exactly what the terrorists wanted - giving them attention.
We have a voice to fix it. Vote.
I think the bigger problem is what they leave out as you mentioned. I don't depend on TV for my news and like newspapers like The Guardian and UK Mail, both of whom lean left but cover more stories. To find one source is beyond me as whether it's right or left, they all cover what suits their agenda.
[Chelsea berated by Muslim students]. It's insanity as can anyone imagine her encouraging anyone to do something violent, but I guess because she came out against those who call Jews evil, she is a target.
Post a Comment