Still On My Soap Box

The news set me off again this morning.  In Kansas, a 27-year old convicted felon has been arrested for the murder of three people whose bodies were found on a farm on Monday.  The victims included two men and a woman, who had an 18-month old baby girl.  There have been no signs of the baby, and now she is "presumed dead".  Police have not  identified any motive for the killings.

The suspect previously served time for shooting a former employer in 2005 after being fired from his job.  That man was shot five times, seriously injured and never able to work again.  He died in 2011.  The suspect was sentenced to five years for attempted murder and released on parole in 2009.  Now he has been arrested for killing three people, possibly four.

In another case, William Spengler killed his 92-year old grandmother in 1980 by beating her with a hammer.  He was convicted of manslaughter and served 18 years in prison.  In December, 2012 he set fire to seven houses in a small New York town.  He had several kinds of weapons with him as he laid in wait for firefighters to appear, then ambushed them.  He killed two firefighters.  These killings took place on Christmas eve.

Those are two cases that have been in the news recently.  I also remember several cases locally in which convicted felons were paroled, only to kill again within months.  How can this happen?  As I grew up, I thought if you committed murder your freedom was gone.  To me, a murder conviction meant automatic life in prison with no parole.  Now I know that isn't true.  I wonder, how can a man beat his 92-year old grandmother to death with a hammer, serve 18 years and go free to kill again.  It was reported that when this man returned to his community neighbors were fearful because he was a known troublemaker.  Why was a known troublemaker who killed his own grandmother paroled?

I understand there is an overcrowding problem with prisons.  But shouldn't there be a more reasonable standard regarding who is set free?  It seems to me that the most violent offenders should be kept away from society.  Non-violent offenders can be paroled if need be.  For example, those convicted of possessing a small amount of drugs.  I have read that a large percentage of the prison population are in this category.  It seems like common sense to me to have a "triage" system by which to parole prisoners.  Non-violent offenders go first, and keep the most violent offenders behind bars.

My Soap Box

You know how you start out in the morning, just checking your email and the news online, and one subject leads to another, and before you know it it's been an hour or more?  Things come up that you weren't even thinking about in the first place.  That's what happened to me this morning.

I read that Hamid Karzai has told us he will allow the U.S. to establish nine military bases in Afghanistan.  That got my attention.  In the first place, why do we need nine bases there?  I thought we were getting out.  How much will maintaining and staffing nine bases cost?  Won't those bases be targets for terrorists?  Won't the populace resent them being there?  In the second place, I've recently been reading how the CIA has been handing over "bags full of cash" to Karzai.  Why did we do that?  What was the cash for?  Did we care what he did with it?  Is that the reason he is "allowing" us to build bases there?  Are we bribing our way around the world?

I was 15 years old in 1961.  Strangely, I remember hearing President Eisenhower speaking about the "military-industrial complex".  He warned about the "disastrous rise of misplaced power".  I thought about this at the time of the Iraq war, with V.P. Cheney being so closely involved with Halliburton, a contractor that made tons of money from the war.  Is this an example of what Eisenhower was talking about?

It seems we are thinking of entering an era of austerity in our country.  Teachers are being cut.  Public safety is being cut as police and fire units are reduced or closed down.  Municipalities are going broke all over the country.  Yet we can give "bags of money" to Karzai for unknown purposes, and we are considering building, maintaining and staffing up to nine military bases in Afghanistan?  This is all taxpayer money.  Don't we have a say in how it's used?  It seems we have very little to say about anything anymore.

That's me on my soap box today.  That's what happened when I sat down to look at my laptop.

Heaven

I hope they have music like this in heaven.  I love all the instrumental parts, the composer on the piano, the cello, the flute.  I like it when the composer sings along, too.



Music by one of my favorite composers, Antonio Carlos Jobim.  He was Brazilian, and he loved being at the beach.  He said this song "Wave" was inspired by watching the ocean.  It reminds me of the ocean, too.  It makes me feel like sailing.

Here is another, livelier version, with Herbie Hancock (he comes in with a one-handed solo just after two minutes).  Notice the man playing the guitar; you can tell he enjoys what he's doing!  I love seeing the masters at work.

One Ad I Love

Have you seen this ad for the Residence Inn?  It features the Van Der Beek Penguin family.  It's one of those ads that you don't mind watching!

Too Much Stuff!

Then I woke up this morning.  I felt like getting rid of "stuff".  My basement is a treasure trove.  Today I've been tackling it.  So far, I have six boxes packed up to give away.  I'm just taking a break at the moment to catch my breath.

I was googling "too much stuff" and I found these photos.  They felt very appropriate to my situation.

Well, back to work!

Lazy, Rainy Sunday

It has been raining all day today.  It's a gray day, a lazy day.  It was a little too chilly and damp to open the windows.

Here are Tiger and Munchkin looking out on the drizzly deck, where the feral cats' food dishes are.

Later, Tiger took a nap with his littermate, Tinkerbell.

It was so wet outside that there were ducks in our yard!  There are no ponds near us, so I wonder where they came from.

Finally, I found Tiger in a pose typical for him.  He looks a little tentative, hiding behind some furniture.  Tiger is a cautious little guy.

Good Friends