Kirkwood

Kirkwood
Originally uploaded by kmevans

Kirkwood, Missouri is a beautiful little place. I worked there for several years and now live about 5 miles west and work about 3 miles east. There are quaint little shops such as "The Bug Store", great restaurants and a farmers market in the summer. Last Thursday evening, 2/7/08, an irate citizen entered the council meeting at city hall and killed 5 people and wounded 2 more before he was gunned down by police. The stories are all over the news so I won't rehash it here.

I just wanted to comment on how disturbed I am by our country right now, and by people in general.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Ben Gordon, a black man from Webster Groves, said, "To me, Cookie Thornton is a hero. He was an athlete... He opened a business. He went to court, but the system failed him... We are sorry, we grieve, but (Kirkwood officials) share in this responsibility."

What??? Hero? How can someone possibly say that? How does killing innocent people make someone a hero? If I put away that logical part of my mind maybe these people think that he was defending his right to free speech. Okay, sure, you have a right to free speech, you don't have a right to kill someone if you don't think you got that right.

This man had managed to get himself banned from city council meetings for his behavior, then lost a lawsuit that he filed to be allowed back at the meetings. What is the next step? Go to the papers? File an appeal? No! Get your gun and SHOOT EVERYONE! Sure, that makes sense.

This is why it should be a hell of a lot more difficult to own a gun in this country.

2/8/08
Two women shot at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, La

2/7/08
5 people killed at city council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo

2/7/08
5 people dead in a LA shootout

2/3/08
5 women killed in a Chicago Lane Bryant clothing store

That's less than one week, and 17 people are shot and killed across the country.

I'm sad and I'm scared. I believe in the principles on which this country was founded, freedom, of religion, of speech, of the pursuit of happiness. I don't believe that this gives anyone a right to harm anyone else or have the free means to harm anyone else so easily.

Some statistics:
"In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death: Suicide 16,869; Homicide 11,348; Accident 802; Legal Intervention 323; Undetermined 231.(CDC, 2004)"

"The number of non-fatal injuries is considerable--over 200,000 per year in the U.S. Many of these injuries require hospitalization and trauma care. A 1994 study revealed the cost per injury requiring admission to a trauma center was over $14,000. The cumulative lifetime cost in 1985 for gunshot wounds was estimated to be $911 million, with $13.4 billion in lost productivity. (Mock et al, 1994)"

I don't believe in keeping a gun in your home for any reason. I don't believe in the society that we live in today that there is a need for guns. Media, video games, movies and music all sensationalize guns and violence rather than vilifying them.

My dad was shot and killed by a "bad guy" for doing no more than being a friendly guy when I was five years old. Does that color my opinion of this subject? Of course it does. But I think it also underscores my point. For every gun death in this country there is a ripple effect that never stops. It does not have to be a Virginia Tech or a Columbine for it to make an impact, the impact is there you just have to open your eyes to it

Rock the vote

So after much debating with myself and telling myself that I was basing my decision on the reality of who could actually get elected in this country, a black man or a woman, I went out and cast my vote for Hillary this morning. I, unlike many of my relatives and those I grew up with am NOT a racist. However, I am southern, born and raised. I once received a threat from the local KKK in the late 90's for dating a black man. Based on this I do not think that Obama has a snowball's chance in hell of actually getting elected in this country, and even if he did, I don't see it turning out well, this country is still to backwards for that. Does a woman have a much better chance? Unfortunately no. But if I'm being completely honest, and why not, because no one actually reads this, I voted for Hillary partly because she is a woman dammit, its damn hard being a powerful woman, lets give her our support when we can. What about the issues you ask? Well, Clinton and Obama are so close in my book on the important stuff that it cames down to other stuff for me. Right now, I care about getting the devil out of the office and not putting another warmonger in there. So we'll see what happens in a few months, it could be interesting.

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On other notes, the weather here is typically weird. It snowed 6 inches on Thursday/Friday, was 70 by Monday, thunderstorms and tornado warnings today and snow again by morning. Gotta love St. Louis.

Still battling some sinus/ear/throat congestion that drives me crazy if I don't take large doses of decongestant every few hours. The prednisone I am taking for my asthma is depriving me of lots of sleep, and I want to eat everything I can get my hands on. Which reminds me, had my very first slice of king cake today and got the baby, apparently I am king for the day and will have good luck this year!