Weblog 105
February 10, 2008~ 12:15am
There was a rash of unsettling shootings in this country in the past week in places like the family home- in an unspeakable act of familicide, three in a college shooting in Louisiana, five females gunned down in a store in Chicago, and at a City Hall in Missouri in what looks to be a 'Norman Rockwell' sort of town-- what is happening? What aren't we seeing? Are we fools who concentrate only on the bright side of things, programmed to ignore what may be hidden in the darkness all around us?
For two days this past week I've been mesmerized by the story of the Browning family, and the 15 year old Nicholas who shot his 'scout master/model citizen' father, his mother- and his 13 year old and 11 year old brothers. Study this picture...
Does that look like potencial homicide to you? Me either. So what signs do we miss in affluent, solid 'middle America'? My guess is that in our desire to accumulate and to gather about us the ideal picture of American comfort and success through our over-achievements, perhaps we're not really alive at all. Perhaps we're living the idea, and not real lives; perhaps in the great need 'to have made it, and to keep it', many are living lives that prohibit looking for the possibility there's something wrong beneath the surface.
I do not for a minute believe that someone just picks up a gun out of the blue one day and begins shooting, so what are we stifling in our way of life? What needs to breathe instead of being suppressed, and why so many guns? Oh I know the old argument- "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"------yes, they do--- most easily and most often with guns, and that's frightening considering we're really not far from a national Deadwood mentality in which conflict is resolved by shooting that which thwarts us.
I believe that in each case from this past week a murder would not have occurred without easy access to firearms. I cannot imagine young Nicholas had the butchery in his heart to slit the throats of family members while they slept, if he'd had to get up close and personal in the bloodletting. Guns are a quick, distanced way to take a life and they match up well with impulse killing. We need to stop thinking with our guns- or letting our guns do the thinking for us.
I studied the pictures of Kirkwood Missouri. I saw the smiling face of Charles 'Cookie' Thornton- and I read about his long history of strife with City Council. In the massacre at City Hall on Thursday evening, what was the man resolving that could not be settled in any other way? What drives people to such madness? I read as well, about an undertow of bottled racial tension in that community-- and then I began to wonder about Mr. Thornton's construction company.
What is the actual story of his not 'having permits'? Who does get permits, and who does not? How much do they cost? Is there a sliding scale for payment taking into consideration those in more depressed areas may not have the means to obtain them with the same ease, and keeping in mind that the granting of permits is by permission of local authorities, so the granting or not-granting may come about through personal bias and/or favoritism. I'm not saying that this is the case, but I am throwing ideas out there in wondering about Cookie Thornton's perception of the situation. Most chilling of all, I thought about the kind of volcanic anger that can build in a human being when he is silenced for ten years and his protests chalked up as "nuisance lunacy", or what he may have considered in the end to be the result of prejudice.
What if nobody listens when we see our life going down the tubes? What if we're simply labeled -'a nut'?
In this country, saying the word 'prejudice' is often more heinous than the act itself- so concerned are we about political correctness, so things tend to get swept under the rug. People too. I wonder about undercurrents in Kirkwood, or in any other model American small town.
These are the questions that need to be brought to light in the event of tragedy: these are opportunities for change, not the casting of blame. These are clues we have to work with.
I must say, I was struck by this photo of the nighttime prayer vigil for the victims found on a St. Louis online newspaper-
Look at the white women here. Look at the blacks. Look particularly at the HUGE sadness on the face of the black woman in front. It's as though she's thinking how Mr. Thornton's actions will accentuate the long-suppressed racial divide.
Does that look like common grief, or the healing of a town to you? Oh Kirkwood-- what wounds may now open--- and whatever will you do about it?
To take lives as a resolution for conflict is never right- is never understood-- but looking at the "why's" can prevent future tragedies and only the brave can do this. In our homes, in our towns, in all of our institutions, it's time to look at things, to listen to one another-- it's time to be honest-- time to put down the guns and start talking. The truth doesn't only set us free, it may actually keep us alive.
February 10, 2008~ 6:00pm
In this blog, I always try to follow a heavy piece with something warmer or brighter. Yesterday I found a lovely photo site subtitled, "The 100 Year Old Photo Blog"- in which beautiful, high definition antique photos are archived. Can you guess what these two are smiling up at?
Well, here's the rest of the picture-
Yes, not only "under the spreading chestnut tree"- but perhaps at the end of a dirt lane in 1911 the tall and powerful image of a living THOR with his hammer may have captivated local children. (Sort of like a visit to see Superman!)
And then there's the poignant look of a shack town from 1940's Iowa-
It tears at the heart, doesn't it? The vulnerable waif standing at the door, the dog forelornly roaming the dusty trash-littered yard-
Those pictures of mutts always harken back to Wallace Beery films for me, featuring skinny dogs and little boys with smudges on their faces and hearts big as Montana. If these pictures have whetted your appetite for a trip down memory lane, please visit the incomparably lovely home of Shorpy. You'll enjoy yourself....I promise.
February 10, 2008~ 9:00pm
I can't seem to let the Missouri shootings drift from my thoughts. I am haunted by the face of the shooter, Cookie Thornton- and that wide and open smile. I mentioned above that the obtaining of permits might merit some looking into, but there are broader, deeper issues at work here.
Friends say Cookie started acting "strange" 10 years ago. Cookie was a black man who resided in Meachum Park which I just learned through online research, was not always part of the City of Kirkwood. In 1998 (ten years ago....how coincidental) Kirkwood voted to annex Meachum, which then became the target of a huge HUD loan project, wtih moneys changing hands, granted to the DESCO Group to rebuild and revitalize. This article from 2002 does not state that Meachum Park was not already a part of Kirkwood, but a piece written in another St. Louis newspaper about the shooting does make that statement, and that it had always been the practice in Meachum to park vehicles where one needed to- but not so once it was part of the city of Kirkwood when enforcement of those statutes began.
I am also intrigued by the fact that a huge Walmart and a T.J. Max (mentioned in the HUD article linked to above) claimed their own piece of the pie, and it's not surprising at all.
How many of you know that when Walmart decides to move into an area, they 'negotiate' with the powers-that-be so that local tax does not apply to them. (The powers-that-be can only think of the influx of commerce into a neighborhood, but they are very shortsighted.) Oh, the tax is still tacked on--- to each and every receipt and marked as 'sales tax', but that money is permitted to be pocketed by the Walmart Corporation itself, therefore money that normally would go to local upkeep and maintance has been siphoned off, and becomes part of their profits.
The roads see more traffic, but will get no additional upkeep revenue from sales tax. And more people require more law enforcement, more services of every kind, but the money to pay for it has already been spoken for...........by Walmart.
Looking through the Kirkwood City website and the minutes of their council meetings tonight which are available on the net, there is mention in those minutes in more than a few meetings about the refusal of Imo's Pizza to make deliveries to Meachum Park. The city council has ruled time and again that they violate no law in refusing to do so. This may very well be the case, but does a pizza chain's refusal to go into a neighborhood speak positively about the 'revitalization' mentioned glowingly in the HUD article of 2002?
Think about all this. Think about root causes. Think about piracy of profits and big guys pushing out little guys. Think about the anger and the danger that creates....oh God.....please think for heaven sake.
February 12, 2008~ 6:00am
A nasty old winter storm has blown into the area. I have about 2 inches outside now, but more is on the way, and with it- freeeeeeeezing rain. Needless to say, this chicken-hearted gal is staying put. No way I want to be on the roads in that, so this is a 'snow day' for me. Letting the office know in just a while, and I plan on a quiet day of reading and snoozing. Here's the report from the National Weather Service:
**A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 7 PM EST this evening.
Snow will continue this morning with accumulation of 2 to 5 inches. The highest snow accumulations will be across northern portions of the advisory area. There will also be periods of freezing rain this afternoon and evening. This freezing rain will provide a glaze of ice on top of the snow.
A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow... sleet... or freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for slippery roads and limited visibilities... and use caution while driving.**
(Winter can be magical......and soft as dove wings. But it can also be a mean old cuss
I think that's the bipolar side we're lookin' at today, and I intend to keep my distance when he's in a mood like that.)
February 14, 2008~ 12:15am
One of my favorite holidays simply because it is so simple. A few cards, a few hugs- some chocolate and flowers- a smile for people while greeting them with- "Happy Valentine's Day!"- that's all it takes. When done simply like that, it's a joy during this rough patch of the year. And it was a lovely day in Pittsburgh with blue, blue skies against the white of snow (but none on the roads)- I even saw a cardinal pair courting in the spidery limbs of the large oaks that stand behind our workplace- and I fed our squirrels some Trail Mix. I spread it on top of the picnic tables and watched my 'little buddies' creep on up to the table and dig right in. (Even the dried papaya!) I said "Happy Valentine's Day, Buddies.."... and they twitched their tails at me, and sat up like prairie dogs and feasted.
It's been a wonderful little holiday....I received the most gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite card from my sweetie that's propped up on the dining room table and makes me smile everytime I glance at it. This day felt like comforting arms wrapped around me. Hope yours did too.
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
There was a rash of unsettling shootings in this country in the past week in places like the family home- in an unspeakable act of familicide, three in a college shooting in Louisiana, five females gunned down in a store in Chicago, and at a City Hall in Missouri in what looks to be a 'Norman Rockwell' sort of town-- what is happening? What aren't we seeing? Are we fools who concentrate only on the bright side of things, programmed to ignore what may be hidden in the darkness all around us?
For two days this past week I've been mesmerized by the story of the Browning family, and the 15 year old Nicholas who shot his 'scout master/model citizen' father, his mother- and his 13 year old and 11 year old brothers. Study this picture...
Does that look like potencial homicide to you? Me either. So what signs do we miss in affluent, solid 'middle America'? My guess is that in our desire to accumulate and to gather about us the ideal picture of American comfort and success through our over-achievements, perhaps we're not really alive at all. Perhaps we're living the idea, and not real lives; perhaps in the great need 'to have made it, and to keep it', many are living lives that prohibit looking for the possibility there's something wrong beneath the surface.
I do not for a minute believe that someone just picks up a gun out of the blue one day and begins shooting, so what are we stifling in our way of life? What needs to breathe instead of being suppressed, and why so many guns? Oh I know the old argument- "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"------yes, they do--- most easily and most often with guns, and that's frightening considering we're really not far from a national Deadwood mentality in which conflict is resolved by shooting that which thwarts us.
I believe that in each case from this past week a murder would not have occurred without easy access to firearms. I cannot imagine young Nicholas had the butchery in his heart to slit the throats of family members while they slept, if he'd had to get up close and personal in the bloodletting. Guns are a quick, distanced way to take a life and they match up well with impulse killing. We need to stop thinking with our guns- or letting our guns do the thinking for us.
I studied the pictures of Kirkwood Missouri. I saw the smiling face of Charles 'Cookie' Thornton- and I read about his long history of strife with City Council. In the massacre at City Hall on Thursday evening, what was the man resolving that could not be settled in any other way? What drives people to such madness? I read as well, about an undertow of bottled racial tension in that community-- and then I began to wonder about Mr. Thornton's construction company.
What is the actual story of his not 'having permits'? Who does get permits, and who does not? How much do they cost? Is there a sliding scale for payment taking into consideration those in more depressed areas may not have the means to obtain them with the same ease, and keeping in mind that the granting of permits is by permission of local authorities, so the granting or not-granting may come about through personal bias and/or favoritism. I'm not saying that this is the case, but I am throwing ideas out there in wondering about Cookie Thornton's perception of the situation. Most chilling of all, I thought about the kind of volcanic anger that can build in a human being when he is silenced for ten years and his protests chalked up as "nuisance lunacy", or what he may have considered in the end to be the result of prejudice.
What if nobody listens when we see our life going down the tubes? What if we're simply labeled -'a nut'?
In this country, saying the word 'prejudice' is often more heinous than the act itself- so concerned are we about political correctness, so things tend to get swept under the rug. People too. I wonder about undercurrents in Kirkwood, or in any other model American small town.
These are the questions that need to be brought to light in the event of tragedy: these are opportunities for change, not the casting of blame. These are clues we have to work with.
I must say, I was struck by this photo of the nighttime prayer vigil for the victims found on a St. Louis online newspaper-
Look at the white women here. Look at the blacks. Look particularly at the HUGE sadness on the face of the black woman in front. It's as though she's thinking how Mr. Thornton's actions will accentuate the long-suppressed racial divide.
Does that look like common grief, or the healing of a town to you? Oh Kirkwood-- what wounds may now open--- and whatever will you do about it?
To take lives as a resolution for conflict is never right- is never understood-- but looking at the "why's" can prevent future tragedies and only the brave can do this. In our homes, in our towns, in all of our institutions, it's time to look at things, to listen to one another-- it's time to be honest-- time to put down the guns and start talking. The truth doesn't only set us free, it may actually keep us alive.
February 10, 2008~ 6:00pm
In this blog, I always try to follow a heavy piece with something warmer or brighter. Yesterday I found a lovely photo site subtitled, "The 100 Year Old Photo Blog"- in which beautiful, high definition antique photos are archived. Can you guess what these two are smiling up at?
Well, here's the rest of the picture-
Yes, not only "under the spreading chestnut tree"- but perhaps at the end of a dirt lane in 1911 the tall and powerful image of a living THOR with his hammer may have captivated local children. (Sort of like a visit to see Superman!)
And then there's the poignant look of a shack town from 1940's Iowa-
It tears at the heart, doesn't it? The vulnerable waif standing at the door, the dog forelornly roaming the dusty trash-littered yard-
Those pictures of mutts always harken back to Wallace Beery films for me, featuring skinny dogs and little boys with smudges on their faces and hearts big as Montana. If these pictures have whetted your appetite for a trip down memory lane, please visit the incomparably lovely home of Shorpy. You'll enjoy yourself....I promise.
February 10, 2008~ 9:00pm
I can't seem to let the Missouri shootings drift from my thoughts. I am haunted by the face of the shooter, Cookie Thornton- and that wide and open smile. I mentioned above that the obtaining of permits might merit some looking into, but there are broader, deeper issues at work here.
Friends say Cookie started acting "strange" 10 years ago. Cookie was a black man who resided in Meachum Park which I just learned through online research, was not always part of the City of Kirkwood. In 1998 (ten years ago....how coincidental) Kirkwood voted to annex Meachum, which then became the target of a huge HUD loan project, wtih moneys changing hands, granted to the DESCO Group to rebuild and revitalize. This article from 2002 does not state that Meachum Park was not already a part of Kirkwood, but a piece written in another St. Louis newspaper about the shooting does make that statement, and that it had always been the practice in Meachum to park vehicles where one needed to- but not so once it was part of the city of Kirkwood when enforcement of those statutes began.
I am also intrigued by the fact that a huge Walmart and a T.J. Max (mentioned in the HUD article linked to above) claimed their own piece of the pie, and it's not surprising at all.
How many of you know that when Walmart decides to move into an area, they 'negotiate' with the powers-that-be so that local tax does not apply to them. (The powers-that-be can only think of the influx of commerce into a neighborhood, but they are very shortsighted.) Oh, the tax is still tacked on--- to each and every receipt and marked as 'sales tax', but that money is permitted to be pocketed by the Walmart Corporation itself, therefore money that normally would go to local upkeep and maintance has been siphoned off, and becomes part of their profits.
The roads see more traffic, but will get no additional upkeep revenue from sales tax. And more people require more law enforcement, more services of every kind, but the money to pay for it has already been spoken for...........by Walmart.
Looking through the Kirkwood City website and the minutes of their council meetings tonight which are available on the net, there is mention in those minutes in more than a few meetings about the refusal of Imo's Pizza to make deliveries to Meachum Park. The city council has ruled time and again that they violate no law in refusing to do so. This may very well be the case, but does a pizza chain's refusal to go into a neighborhood speak positively about the 'revitalization' mentioned glowingly in the HUD article of 2002?
Think about all this. Think about root causes. Think about piracy of profits and big guys pushing out little guys. Think about the anger and the danger that creates....oh God.....please think for heaven sake.
February 12, 2008~ 6:00am
A nasty old winter storm has blown into the area. I have about 2 inches outside now, but more is on the way, and with it- freeeeeeeezing rain. Needless to say, this chicken-hearted gal is staying put. No way I want to be on the roads in that, so this is a 'snow day' for me. Letting the office know in just a while, and I plan on a quiet day of reading and snoozing. Here's the report from the National Weather Service:
**A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 7 PM EST this evening.
Snow will continue this morning with accumulation of 2 to 5 inches. The highest snow accumulations will be across northern portions of the advisory area. There will also be periods of freezing rain this afternoon and evening. This freezing rain will provide a glaze of ice on top of the snow.
A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow... sleet... or freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for slippery roads and limited visibilities... and use caution while driving.**
(Winter can be magical......and soft as dove wings. But it can also be a mean old cuss
I think that's the bipolar side we're lookin' at today, and I intend to keep my distance when he's in a mood like that.)
February 14, 2008~ 12:15am
One of my favorite holidays simply because it is so simple. A few cards, a few hugs- some chocolate and flowers- a smile for people while greeting them with- "Happy Valentine's Day!"- that's all it takes. When done simply like that, it's a joy during this rough patch of the year. And it was a lovely day in Pittsburgh with blue, blue skies against the white of snow (but none on the roads)- I even saw a cardinal pair courting in the spidery limbs of the large oaks that stand behind our workplace- and I fed our squirrels some Trail Mix. I spread it on top of the picnic tables and watched my 'little buddies' creep on up to the table and dig right in. (Even the dried papaya!) I said "Happy Valentine's Day, Buddies.."... and they twitched their tails at me, and sat up like prairie dogs and feasted.
It's been a wonderful little holiday....I received the most gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite card from my sweetie that's propped up on the dining room table and makes me smile everytime I glance at it. This day felt like comforting arms wrapped around me. Hope yours did too.
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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