Thankful for: 12 Years with My Cat

Tuesday was a sad, but inevitable day at Casa Greenlee. Our fluffy tuxedo cat, Jinx, saw the end of her days after a string of close calls. When they say cats have nine lives, they were talking about Jinx. We rescued her on her expiration date--after hours--at the pound, and from there began a mostly wonderful dozen years. Jinx wasn't a scairdy-cat, and had little fear of people. She was cool with you rubbing her belly, and you could play with her toes. She could be bitchy, but in a way that was full of personality. She was a vindictive pooper. But always in an easy-to-clean spot. And, she was my buddy. I'm married to a flight attendant, so when The Other Half is away, I always have had someone to talk to.

Now that she's gone, the house is less a home. And I find I'm talking to myself. It's a transition every pet owner makes, especially if it's their only pet, and for such a long time. Honestly, the sadness is bearable, as I know she had her life extended so many times. The hard part is definitely the decision to actually make the call, to end things. We couldn't do it the first day. Or the second. By day three, we knew we were just stalling, and committed. Blubbery messes we were. Jinx was just sort of annoyed, though she enjoyed her treat of beef jerky. She was her same adorable, fluffy, aloof, bitchy self on her last day. Which was kind of perfect.

As essentially an atheist, I can't really go in for mysticism, or spiritualism. But there is a little wistful part of me that hopes if there is anything to any of that stuff, that my cat gets to lounge on fluffy clouds, and eat endless bags of Jack's Links jerky, and piles of Daddy's rugs to poop on. RIP, Jinxy. You'll be a tough act to follow.

Major Explosion at Plant in West, Texas

Not western Texas, but the town of West, Texas. It looks bad, as this eyewitness video shows, and then it gets worse at about 30 seconds in. . .

[Excerpt]

Deadly fertilizer plant blast levels homes in small Texas town
A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, leveled several homes and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people. . .

Read more at (with more video): CNN.com

Patton Oswalt on Boston Marathon Bombings

Image from Oswalt's
Facebook Page

By now, you've heard about the bombings at the Boston Marathon, and frankly, there's not much I can add to that. I'm not going to speculate on who, what or why. If I'm right, what have I gained? If I'm wrong, I expose my own prejudices, or at least would appear to. So, I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm passing along something else you may or may not have seen. It's from comedian Patton Oswalt. I'm a big fan, for several reasons, and this just makes me like him more.

From Patton Oswalt's Facebook Page

"Boston. Fucking horrible.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, 'The good outnumber you, and we always will.'"

Source

I Want a Gun Rights Activist to Respond to the Following

This quote is culled verbatim from one of my favorite blogs, Joe.My.God.:

"If roads were collapsing all across the United States, killing dozens of drivers, we would surely see that as a moment to talk about what we could do to keep roads from collapsing. If terrorists were detonating bombs in port after port, you can be sure Congress would be working to upgrade the nation’s security measures. If a plague was ripping through communities, public-health officials would be working feverishly to contain it.

"Only with gun violence do we respond to repeated tragedies by saying that mourning is acceptable but discussing how to prevent more tragedies is not. But that’s unacceptable. As others have observed, talking about how to stop mass shootings in the aftermath of a string of mass shootings isn’t 'too soon.' It’s much too late." - Ezra Klein, writing for the Washington Post.

So, how 'bout it, 2nd Amendment disciples? Why is gun violence the one bad thing we're not allowed to discuss without histrionics from the right?

Another Shooting, This Time Little Kids in Connecticut

Wow, we just had a shooting in a mall this week, and already a school shooting? And now I'm hearing that the teachers should have been armed, if it hadn't been a gun-free zone, blah, blah, on and on. And it's only considered "politicizing" a tragedy if you have even the mildest interest in discussing what could be done to prevent these tragedies. If you're pro-gun (and by that, I mostly mean the gun nuts, the fetishists), you're allowed to drone on about "gun grabbers" and whatnot, that's okay. Somehow, that's not "politicizing." [Story continues below]



Well, I'm tired of the line that nothing can be done. Guns are such an important part of America, the 2nd amendment so much more important than any other law, any other anything, we've just got to live with occasional (and much more frequent) shooting sprees? And it is particularly odd that it is conservatives who are adamant that nothing be done to make it harder to buy or own guns, or at least to track gun and ammunition buyers better. It's odd because they go entirely the other way if it is Muslims with any kind of weapons. If it's terrorism, than by golly, we'll give up all kinds of freedom and gut the Constitution to "keep us safe." Well, how are shooting sprees not terrorism? Why to we just shrug these things off a day or so after they happen?

[Excerpt]

Police: 20 children among 26 victims of Connecticut school shooting

Dressed in black fatigues and a military vest, a heavily armed man walked into a Connecticut elementary school Friday and interrupted the start of a typical school day, opening fire on two classrooms. . .

Read more at: CNN

Would More Guns Have Helped in Aurora?

I knew people would go there. My friend (and rival blogger from the other side of the aisle) Dan at LasVegasBadger knew people would go there. And so they have. Gun rights advocates (or gun fetishists, as I like to say) are all over the interwebs, talk radio, and doubtless FOX "News," loundly proclaiming that if they had been there, they'd have stopped it, by cracky! They'd have pulled out their concealed weapon, and popped that wacko before he did so much damage.

I for one am horrified by the thought. It would be bad enough finding myself in a situation like what happened Thursday night in Aurora, Colorado. The terror of an event like that probably can't really be imagined if you haven't been there. But you know what? The Dirty Harry or Die Hard imaginings of these vocal gun nuts is primarily imagination. It's quite simply delusional. And the following writeup from Wonkette--a snarky, largely humorous site--has one of the best takes I've seen on the subject. From a person who was in a shooting incident. Read it, please, particularly if you disagree with me.

Image from Wonkette.

[Excerpt]

Notes From The Periphery Of A Shooting: A Wonkette Moment Of Tenderness

You don’t have to have witnessed a random shooting in a public place to question whether an armed bystander could have stopped the shooter, but it helps. On the morning of May 21, 1998, on the way to a movie matinee, I stopped by a Tucson post office to send a package of comic books (“The Maxx”) to be autographed by the artist/writer Sam Kieth. I take my nerding seriously. . .

Read more at: Wonkette

Indiana State Fair Tragedy

Image from source, HuffPo

Yesterday, I took in a movie with friend and contributor, Stupid Monkey Planet. We chose Final Destination 5, the latest in a franchise of horror movies with grisly death scenes. The movie was very entertaining, for what it was. But on our separate ways home, both of us kept seeing potential death traps. It took a while to shake it. And then, we were both amazed to see the collapse of the stage at the Indiana State Fair, something that could have been straight out of one of the Final Destination films.

Having a background in the amusement industry, I'm always pulled back into it when a tragedy like this happens. Wondering if the tragedy could have been prevented, if anyone is to blame, or if it truly was just an act of nature that couldn't be predicted. In any event, I'm sad for the injured and killed people and their families. It's always jarring when something like this happens in an entertainment venue.


[Excerpt]


Indiana State Fair stage collapse: 5 dead; singer relates horror

The death toll has risen to five in the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair in which 45 people were also injured.
The main stage collapsed on a crowd waiting for a Sugarland performance Saturday night at the Indianapolis fair after being blasted by winds as strong as 60 to 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service. . .

Read more at: LA Times

Jon Stewart Blasts. . .Rachel Maddow?

I was a little surprised while watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, to hear the affable comedian--after blasting Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson for their politicization of the Haiti tragedy--do the same to MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow. Was what Maddow said about the situation political? Perhaps tinged with politics, yes, but it had the virtue of being true. Was it equivelant to what Limbaugh or Robertson said? In no way. Maybe this was Stewart's way of showing that he takes on all comers, but c'mon Jon.

I don't think I'm being too touchy here. Rachel has not only devoted much of her show to the Haitian disaster ever since it happened, she's also put in extra hours after her show is over to report on it. To isolate one instance of her using a political perspective does not accurately put into context the many hours she was not being political. OK, maybe I am too touchy. I don't like it when two of my favorite personalities are not on the same page. Oh well.

[Excerpt]

A Foxified Jon Stewart Blasts Rachel Maddow For Haiti Coverage

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Haiti Earthquake Reactions
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The clip about which Stewart was so offended was a lead-in to an interview from Wednesday night, in which Maddow discusses USAID--an agency with which many Americans are unfamiliar--and the political and international diplomatic ramifications that a swift and effective response to the disaster in Haiti can have in this country. . .

Read more at: Air America Radio

Image from source, MSNBC

As noted previously, I'm entertaining friends and family from out of town, and have been unable to blog up until now. And right now, I may only have a moment. I'll just give a few quick news items I've been missing, with a brief editorial and some links.

Not much to say here, except. . .yikes.

[Excerpt]

Coach Killed in Beijing

Relative of U.S. coach killed in Beijing attack

A Chinese man stabbed the in-laws of the U.S. Olympic men's volleyball coach, killing one and injuring the other while they visited a Beijing tourist site near the main venue where Olympic competitions began Saturday, officials said.

The victims were Todd and Barbara Bachman, parents of former Olympian Elisabeth Bachman, who is married to men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. Bachman's father was killed. . .

Read more (with video) at: MSNBC

Drunk Driver Plows into Bicycle Race

Photo from source, MSNBC

This is just one amazing photo. And how tragic that so many were injured or killed. Just wow.

[Excerpt]

1 dead as car plows into Mexican bike race

A car plowed into a bike race along a highway near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one and injuring 10 others. The 28-year-old driver was apparently drunk and fell asleep when he crashed into the race Sunday, police investigator Jose Alfredo Rodriguez said Monday. . .

Read more at: MSNBC