One Observationist

Death Penalty

2009-11-10T20:34:00.002-06:00

John Allen Muhammad, the DC sniper, was executed tonight. They are saying that he was peaceful when he died. One gentleman just stated that he hopes that the families will find some sort of closure with this execution.

Another man, Muhammad's trial lawyer, stated that this whole chain of events was a tragedy. Muhammad was apparently abused a child, he served in Gulf War 1, and his kids were taken from him. He snapped. Was he mentally unstable? What purpose did his execution serve? Was his execution truly just?

I struggle with this whole topic. I can certainly understand, though limited, with the victims families. If my family member were harmed by another person I have a pretty good idea of how I would want to respond. I would be angry, hurt, sad, disappointed, etc.

Then I see, or hear or described, this man being led to his execution. His death.

I truly have no idea what the "right" answer is. In all honesty, I have no idea what the "right" answer is. Most people that I have come to know on a personal level struggle with things every day of their lives. It is true that most of us, thank god, do not act upon these ideas, emotions, desires in a way that harms other people. Why do most of us hold our lives together and then there are others, like Muhammad, that do not? Why is that?

Song of the Week: Violent Femmes "Country Death Song"

2009-10-11T20:47:00.000-06:00

Ok. This is it for the Violent Femmes tribute.

Song of the Week: Violent Femmes "Kiss Off"

2009-10-04T20:38:00.000-06:00

During my angry period this song was a great outlet.

Song of the Week: Violent Femmes "Add it Up"

2009-09-29T20:37:00.002-06:00

This song is bad ass.

Song of the Week: Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun"

2009-09-22T18:21:00.001-06:00

Do you remember the bands that helped you form yourself in your youth? Maybe some people don't have those bands, but I do. The Violent Femmes. So many memories come flooding back when I listen to their music. My next few songs in the Song of the Week club are going to come from the Violent Femmes. God I love this band.

Song of the Week: Johnny Cash "The Man Comes Around"

2009-09-17T04:56:00.000-06:00

I wish I could have seen him perform live.

Ohio State Loses to USC

2009-09-13T00:52:00.002-06:00

I was a little unsure of how today was going to end up, but now I know it was a good day. During the bachelor party we were cruising bars in the old market and several had the USC vs Ohio State game playing. I just found out that USC won 18-15. What a day this was!!!! Anytime Ohio State loses is a reason to celebrate.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32815691/ns/sports-college_football/

Zero

2009-09-11T23:47:00.002-06:00

"He had come at last to zero, to a dark place where he had not only accomplished nothing; he had actually made matters worse. It was an awful truth, but a truth nonetheless, that coming to zero could deepen a person, could give one more to live for than one would ever have had otherwise - if it did not destroy him, if it did not devour hope beyond the spirit's capacity for recall.

"In that cold, empty room, with nothing except the very real possibility that he could let himself die of minor wounds, let himself die of guilt and despair -

"If you die, idiot - if you fold up and die like a wimp - who will watch after her?

"Who will watch her grow up?

"Suddenly Richard Sinclair was weeping, trying to find some last remnant of the demon Hope, weeping because he feared she was lost to him, and because there was nothing else to cling to." Page 407, Dust, Charles Pellegrino.

When I read this passage I had to reread it. Multiple times. It is profound insight into the minds of what some people go through when they have risked everything and are faced with the reality that failure after failure has cost them almost everything they considered to be valuable. The enormity of the situation, the expense of the war, the wounds of battle, have beaten them to a bloody pulp [zero]. A failure on a grand scale that impacts more than the person making the decisions.

This passage is real; for me.

The story does not end here. Richard rises up and moves forward. Richard is the man President Theodore Roosevelt describes, "who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." Richard failed in his own estimation, but because he persisted he was triumphant. He never saw his victory, but history would remember him as the man who "strives valiantly."

**A special thank you to my new friend for loaning me this book.

Song of the Week: BM LINX "The Outlaw Jimmy Rose"

2009-09-09T20:31:00.002-06:00

I like to listen to this song with just about any state of mind. Drunk, tired, depressed, pissed, happy, driving down the interstate doing mach 9. It makes me feel good.

Song of the Week: The Gossip "Heavy Cross"

2009-08-31T20:42:00.004-06:00

Flashback! Some of us are returning to the late 70s and early 80s!

This is the cool video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3VbMGIZeE

Friday Night: Rocco's Death

2009-08-29T23:06:00.005-06:00

Dinner: Pizza and wings and wine.

She stepped outside. The red and orange on the horizon was beautiful. The sun had fallen below the tree line, but it had not completely extinguished for the day. The dogs, the little one and Ms. Piggy, ran out underneath her feet.

He poured some Captain in her glass of Coke and walked through the door onto the upper tier of the back deck.

“Jobi, Pepper get in the house now. Jobi, Pepper get in the house now. Jobi, Pepper get in the house. GET IN THE HOUSE.”

He was in a daze. It was most likely a combination of the two glasses of wine, his wife yelling commands at the dogs, and the bizarre noises coming from the neighbor’s yard. What is that noise?

“Jeremy. There is something over there. There must be some other animal over there. JOBI, PEPPER GET IN THE HOUSE.” As the dogs ran up the steps he ushered the dogs into the house. She was in the middle of the yard, “There is something over there Jeremy. What is over there I can’t see what’s over there.” Jeremy walked on the lower part of the deck towards the neighbor’s fence. Jesus, what was that noise, he thought to himself, what the hell is happening over there?

The world was cartoon like. It was an odd sensation. His wife was by his side. His dogs were safely in the house. He looked through the slats in the fence.

“They’re stuck. They’re stuck.” He ran to the gate, opened it, rushed across the side yard, jumped down the retaining wall. The world seemed to get brighter. The light shining through the trees. God it was so dim, but it was clearer than he had ever seemed to remember. On his way to the neighbor’s backyard gate he rang their door bell twice. His flip flop fell off his foot. He went back twice for it. God damn it. Why didn’t he have his shoes on?

There was a concrete block in front of the gate. He dug his fingers under the block and he felt the cool dirt fill the space under his nails. He flipped the latch on the gate and tossed it open.

He turned the corner of the backside of his neighbor’s house. God, his house looked different from this perspective. The world was different from this point of view. Huh. Amazing.

Jack’s lower jaw was twisted around Rocco’s collar. For a brief second Rocco looked at him. The sad eyes. The eyes were beginning to droop. Rocco was giving up. Rocco was leaving. In a split second the eyes lost it. They lost their spark. Shit.

He ran to them. Jack was struggling. Jack was still on his feet but his lower jaw was twisted and deformed with the collar. That has to hurt; bad, he thought. The collar had become a part of Jack’s face. They were intertwined as one. He tried to release the collar but it was pressed into Rocco’s skin so tightly that he could not unloosen it from Jack's jaw. The latch to the collar was twisted around Jack's lower jaw in such an odd way. Jack was stuck on the lifeless body of Rocco.

She magically appeared behind him. “I need something to cut Rocco's collar off. I can’t get them apart. Shit. Go get something quick,” he yelled at her. She ran back to the house as he continued to get the dogs apart. God damn it. His blood was racing. What the hell do I do? He thought. Think man. Think god damn it. Fuck. She seemed to be taking forever.

He ran back to his house, opened the door through the garage yelling for her. He ran back to the neighbors and she was trying to cut through the collar with a dull box cutter knife. “It’s not working,” she screamed in desperation. For a brief second, a second that felt like an eternity, he stood there watching. His one thought was, fuck, what the fuck do I do. He ran back to his garage. He grabbed a hedge trimmer (shit), he grabbed the branch clippers (this is taking too fucking long) and he hurriedly took three other gardening tools.

Over in the neighbor’s backyard she was trying her hardest to get the dogs apart with the dull box cutter. He threw the tools on the ground next to the dogs and grabbed one of them. The small one with the curved blades and the red handles.

“Keep hold of Jack and I’ll cut.” He was pressing hard against Rocco’s neck. Damn the collar was tight against Rocco’s neck. “Rocco’s dead. Think of Jack. Just cut the fucking collar off,” the thoughts accelerated as the seconds past. He dug the cutter deep into Rocco’s neck. He pressed harder than he had ever pressed his hand against a body. It was a flash. “I can’t get the collar cut, shit.”

“Try the branch cutter, it is sharper,” she said and as he reached for it; the collar snapped and broke loose.

"It's off. It's off," she shouted. Jack ran towards the back corner of the yard; thankful to be loose no doubt. Jack didn’t know these people. These people weren’t his humans. Who the hell were these people? Jack was visibly shaken. The living dog walked over to his dead companion and began to sniff. The couple stood there in shock. She looked at him, then Jack. “Come here Jack. It’s okay Jack. Come here.” She walked toward Jack and he ran towards the back of the yard again. She is so amazing with animals, he thought. She always knows what to do with them. She knows how to gain their confidence. He was glad to be her partner.

“Hey babe. Just grab the tools,” he was tired. He was crashing from the drop in adrenaline. It was hitting him all at once.

“We have to make sure Jack is okay. We can’t leave him here.” Jack was trotting back towards Rocco as they backed away towards the gate.

“We’ll come back for him babe. Jack needs to say goodbye to his buddy. Just grab the tools. We will come back for him.”

They gathered the tools and walked out the gate. He latched the gate shut and placed the concrete block in front of it to make sure that Jack would not escape. As he turned the corner into the neighbor’s front yard he almost collapsed. She was a few feet in front of him. It hit them both at the same moment. It was over, but in some ways it had just begun. The emotions hit them both. They both had tears.

Time seemed to stand still. How long had it been?

They threw the tools in the garage, checked on Pepper and Jobi, grabbed Pepper’s leash, and went back for Jack.

"Change is Good. Revolutions are better."

2009-08-28T09:48:00.001-06:00

"People are not buying these concepts that are completely foreign to America," [Senator] Inhofe said. "We're almost reaching a revolution in this country."

http://www.chickashanews.com/local/local_story_239102559.html/

Song of the Week: Hey Champ "Gold Dust Girl"

2009-08-24T08:07:00.000-06:00

I like this song because it reminds me of how similar we are today to the people from times past (think 80s).

Song of the Week: Santogold "Lights Out"

2009-08-18T19:53:00.003-06:00

I love this song. It reminds me of my sister Shar!!! LOL!! I expect to see her singing it on YouTube!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwNkuw-YTVo

How is your day going?

2009-08-12T18:47:00.002-06:00

Song of the Week: The Limousines "Very Busy People"

2009-08-12T05:42:00.000-06:00

The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuXOao6jBoM

Soccer and My Bro

2009-08-06T23:13:00.001-06:00

Here's a video by/with Rivers Cuomo (Weezer lead singer) that made me think of my bro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLcPOD6fLd0

Song of the Week: Ida Maria's "Oh My God"

2009-08-05T06:44:00.000-06:00

Oh My God

Here's the Link: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=25815570

Road Rules U.S.A.

2009-08-04T06:50:00.004-06:00

Here are a few rules of the road in the U.S. of A.

Interstate and other four lane (two each direction) roads:

1. If you are going to drive the speed limit get OUT OF THE LEFT (FAST) LANE. [This is # 1 for a reason.] When you hold up traffic by driving the speed limit in the left lane you can be ticketed in places like Missouri. It is inconsiderate for sure, but it is also dangerous. Move over slow poke.

2. You can typically get away with going 5-10 mph over the limit. But check your local listings. Also, this is a little more dangerous if you are in an area you do not know well. At home I know where most of the speed traps are so I crank it up a little more than when I'm driving in a foreign city.

3. Cops that ticket for minor traffic violations during rush hour need to be fired. This is so dangerous and resource draining. Rubberneckers will hold up traffic and cause accidents. People are late for work which causes them and/or their companies to lose productivity/money/etc.

Side Note:
4. 18 Wheelers (semis, tractor trailers, etc) - These people are freaky dangerous. Some are serial killers, some text while driving, some sleep while driving, some drive like maniacs by pulling in front of you and cutting you off almost causing you to ram in to the car next to you or head for the ditch. I love the laws that larger cities have in place. No vehicles over three axles in the left two lanes. This is awesome and should be implemented nation wide. Better yet. What if we just made a special lane for these travelers? A dedicated lane for the truckers. Kind of like a railroad track. Only allow them to enter major metro areas through certain roads. I think it could work.

Anti-Depressants

2009-08-03T16:37:00.001-06:00

Oh my. This is so funny to me.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03411375.htm

Why is it ok for people to take prescription drugs but not one's that are natural (pot)? This is why I have no faith in our society. We are idiots.

Let people smoke cigarettes without discriminating against them. You can take drugs, but only the ones that the government claims are ok?

Where are the public service announcements about prescription drugs?

Money.

God

2009-07-31T19:48:00.000-06:00

Why do you believe?

One for the road

2009-07-30T22:23:00.002-06:00

Two days ago I switched from Copenhagen Chewing Tobacco to nicotine gum. It's like switching from one bad habit to another (It's all bull shit folks).

And the thing is; I'm ok. Kinda. I mean, this thing called life is... yeah, you guessed it... bull shit folks.

Here's my deal right now. If God can't take the time to beat me over the head with what it means for me to be going through all of this "bull shit" then I'm going to go on thinking about how effed up it is. And what exactly does that get me? baaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkkkkk, wrong question. What doesn't this get me? This doesn't get me anything. I'm still in the same effed up position I was 20 seconds ago.

So, for all you positive pellies out there. Gawd bless ya. Good luck to ya. We don't relate. C ya on the other side. Maybe.

clarification

2009-07-30T22:17:00.002-06:00

Positive Christian: "What did you just say?"

Christ Following Realist: "I said, it's all bull shit folks."

PC: "You can't say that."

CFR: "Why?"

PC: "Because it is too negative. We live in a society of values and we value things like clean (free by our definition) speech. This is truth."

CFR: "Is truth always a positive?"

PC: "Yes. We praise God because God is great. God is good. God is awesome."

CFR: "Ok, have fun with your "god" thing. Adios amigo."

2009-07-30T22:07:00.002-06:00

I wonder if blogs will die. After I posted my last comment there was an advertisement about learning Hebrew. I guess it might have had something to do with all the "god" comments. Guess blogger (google) is losing some $. Oh, wait, didn't I hear something about that? Nothing in life is free, right?

Oh, btw, Uncle Sam is effing me up the ass right now. Here's something for you.

Christians are mostly pro-America. America was founded by a bunch of anti-government rabble rousers that thought they had a better way. The Bible says "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's". Why? Because the government somehow protects us from all the B.S. Well, if this is true then why do we (Christians) support our government? Our government rebelled from our previous government. God told us to remain loyal to our government (previous).

Here's the deal. Christians today that are patriotic to their country are frick'n retarded because they are missing a key point to the whole following Christ thing. It's all bull shit folks.

long time

2009-07-30T22:00:00.002-06:00

Life is so ... (thinking, thinking) short. Paul, the dude that wrote most of the N.T., is a Christian. He made a comment one time. "To live is Christ, to die is gain." The longer I live the more I understand that comment.

Life sucks. For me, life sucks because I don't have an effing clue wtf is going on. I mean seriously. What the hell is going on with life? Help a few people out, enjoy the scenery, walk the dogs (kids), go on vacation, blah, blah, blah... For what.

I read this book called "The Shack". It's a popular Christian book these days. And I sort of got it, but there was something nagging. Why? There is always the why and the why is going to follow all of us to the grave.

Anyway, have a good night. Hope you figure out what you're here for. I'm still a search'n.