Wednesday stuff, sniper reminiscences, and general good times...?

Man severs penis to prove faithfulness
(Well, at least he's got the stupidity factor covered.)

Jolie-Pitt baby delivered by C-Section
(Much as I love Brangelina, I really wonder why we have to know this? Do THEY want the general public to know this?)

It’s the LAST day of MAY, folks.

My nieces and nephew have their first day of “freedom” today. Not sure what they’ll do with it, but it’s not my problem these days. Har, har, har.

So anyway, as usual, I’ve perused the headlines. Not that much caught my eye as far as smarty-pants comments were concerned (see above), but here are two other items that are worth mentioning.

In the "Stake them in the ground, pour honey and red fire ants on them" department, a group of pedophiles in the Netherlands want to have their own political party. To quote directly the first sentence of the story: AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

One word: EEEEEWWWWWW. I really don’t understand this world, you know? Kids are exposed to enough stuff as it is. I’m not one to tell other countries what to do, but this is something that’s beyond the pale. I mean, if this is actually successful (which I pray to God it’s not), who’s to say what other countries will want to do? Who’s to say what pedophiles in the U.S. will want to do?

All I know is that I have a niece and nephew in that age group, and if they lived in the Netherlands, they’d be a target and this group is trying to make that legal. NO. NO. NO. Sorry if I’ve offended any readers with this, but this isn’t something that has gray matter in between the black and the white. Not happenin’.

Next, in the "Our judicial system is doing SOMETHING right" department”, John Allen Muhammed (one of the DC area snipers that wreaked havoc in 2002) was convicted in a Maryland courtroom. Again, direct quote from the article: ROCKVILLE, Md. - John Allen Muhammad's conviction for six more murders in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper spree gives prosecutors the insurance they sought — that there is little chance he will leave prison alive.

I remember this all too well. I was still working at GEICO when the snipers were wreaking havoc in this fair metro area. It was really scary – you never knew where they were going to strike next. They were going all over the place…into Virginia, up to Bowie, in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area (where I worked), into Silver Spring, etc. Doug wasn’t living here yet, so I was doubly scared.

I think the scariest part of all was the day they shut down the Beltway. I was writing in a GEICO vanpool that day, and we were going along at a good clip. All of a sudden, everything slowed down to a really, REALLY slow crawl. The DJ on our radio station announced that the Beltway was closed by the state patrol because they were looking for the sniper (s).

So not only were we sitting ducks, we were going to be late to work. The cell phones were passed around to those who didn’t bring their own, and we sat and waited.

We did find things to laugh about amidst the tension – for example, we had one passenger who was very…FLAMBOYANT in her clothing choices. Not obscene, just brightly colored. She was also six feet tall, a peroxide blonde, and large in body type. Well, out of all of us, she was the first one to announce that she had to use the restroom.

Obviously, on the Washington Beltway at this time of morning, there wasn’t a restroom to be had.

In addition to this closing of the beltway to find the sniper(s), there was some road construction going on, with nice men in hardhats. I made the suggestion to her that maybe she could ask one of the nice men to loan her a hardhat to use, and then she could bring it back tomorrow after she washed it in her dishwasher.

She didn’t like that idea, but everyone else seemed to think it was pretty logical. At any rate, we got a good giggle out of it.

We sang along with the radio, we peeked in on a guy in the next lane to the left that was using his sport bottle as a makeshift urinal but forgot to cover himself up, and tried to be as calm as we could. But I know that I was freaked out (at least).

I later declared to my folks and some friends back home that the sniper incidents were scarier to me than 9/11.
Why?

Because this was so random. I mean, with 9/11, the buildings that were attacked were ones that were fairly likely to be attacked anyway. They’re high profile. They’re each a pulse point of our country. Those facts alone should prepare someone who works there for some kind of alert status.

The sniper and his faithful assistant were attacking people at GAS STATIONS.

They were attacking people in PARKING LOTS.

They were attacking people in their OWN NEIGHBORHOODS.

Schools all over the area were in lockdown mode for over a month, so now kids had two things to be scared about instead of one.

Nice, huh?

Anyway, I’m not one that normally rejoices about someone going to prison for life, and I do feel badly about the situation in some ways. The news reports say he was messed up after the Gulf War. I know (from first-hand experience with Husband #1) that kind of trauma can mark you for life.

But the fact remains that Muhammad did it. Whether he blames it on the CIA, the FBI, IHOP, or whoever is convenient, he still did it. He brought someone else along that wound up testifying against him, and he brought fear to other cities and towns besides the metro area I live in. Muhammad quoted Groucho Marx while on trial for his own freedom. Apparently the judge and I have something in common – I don’t like Groucho Marx and I doubt the judge appreciated him either.

I guess I’ll never understand this man or his motives. Maybe I’m better off for not understanding either of them? Who knows?

Sorry this post was gloomy, but you know…sometimes these things just have to come out.

Sudiegirl
(Who will have a funnier post coming right up.)