All I Want For Christmas...

Growing up, Christmas was a magical time around our home.  My mother worked diligently to ensure that, while we may not have had much, we had enough and every little gift had meaning - the whole day had meaning.  The whole season had meaning.  It was about fellowship, the exchange of our real gift of love to one another.  The dinner was always something to anticipate, the stories and of course, watching a few of the Christmas specials on television were part of the fun.  Of course, my brother and I had our traditional moments - like making Christmas lists.

I thought today I'd share some of the items on my big dream Christmas list.  It's changed over the years, but maybe yours is similar - and remember - the sky is the limit here.  Live on the edge and fantasize about Christmas wishes, make it your wildest dreams and who knows?  You may receive a Christmas miracle.  Okay...probably not.  But it's fun anyway.

1.  Make Peace.  Over the course of my 50 years on this planet, I have succeeded in pissing off probably hundreds of people and hurt the feelings of a bunch as well.  If possible, and I'm sure it isn't, it would be nice to have a few moments of peace with these people.  I know for a fact that some folks just aren't interested in peace and much prefer war, but the rest of them would be nice to have reconciliation with.

2.  Weekend With Kids.  I'd like to have a weekend with all of my kids.  Just one where they were all together and getting along and doing so without distraction or angst.  I love all my kids and I suck at showing it...which leads to the next wish...

3.  Love More.  I guess that "loving more" isn't a correct description, but rather I want to be able to show my loved ones that I really do love them and do so more frequently.  In contrast to most of my biological family, I'm pretty open about my feelings, but that isn't saying much, really.  My family is pretty stoic.

4.  Seattle Supersonics.  It was a total dick move (in my opinion) to pick up and move the basketball team from Seattle to Oklahoma City.  I'm happy for Oklahoma City to be sure, but I sure wish that Seattle would get a team back - the fans have learned their lessons.

5.  Stop Gridlock.   Politics is by design, adversarial.  The two-party system is hard-wired to be adversarial and will continue to be so.  Yet, for Christmas, wouldn't it be nice if the GOP and the Democratic Party would do something that really does improve the quality of life here in America?  Just get along for a little while and solve some problems.  Stop the posturing and just get things done.

6.  Veteran's Salvation.  The Veteran's Administration has problems and the biggest problem is that it is not funded appropriately.  Yeah, that's right - it's not funded as it should be.

7.  One Day Pain-Free.  For a few years now, I've rose out of bed with some degree of pain.  Coupled with the medication I have to take every day, life is just one big foggy moment of ouchiness followed by flashes of moderate pain.  Frankly, the trips to the ER only to be told that there's not a lot that can be done for pain management has just about gotten me to the end of my rope. There are a number of reasons why I'd love to return to my home state of Washington, but the legalization of medicinal marijuana does make it even more attractive - though I haven't used it myself. 

8.  Stayin' Alive.  I know it isn't something to discuss during the Christmas holiday, but the truth is that I'd love to have old Santa bring me a wall to build in my mind to shut off the thoughts of getting off of this ride.

9.  Family Reunion.  One big, massive, family get-together with the whole family from Virginia to Seattle.  Cook enough ribs to make Fred Flintstone jealous and put aside petty bullshit and just enjoy each other's company.

10. Bring Back Dexter.  It was a shame when Showtime cancelled that program, and the series finale was abrupt, emotional and really left it open for more shows.  Showtime needs to do us all a favor and bring it back.  It's my Christmas wish, after all.

Law Enforcement Deserves Better

Recent events have underscored just how depraved humanity can be.  The very men and women who get up every morning, put on a uniform, wear a badge and leave their homes knowing that it may be the last time they see their families, are being targeted for destruction by bottom feeding piles of human waste.  What depravity must a man experience in his mind to think of and render violence to men and women who represent the very core of our society - the aspect that we are a nation of laws.  Granted, some of the laws are bullshit, but that isn't the job of the law enforcement profession.  Problems with laws are to be directed at state legislators - not police officers.

Two New York City police officers were assassinated by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a 28 year old nutbag got his panties in a bunch after an altercation with his girlfriend, took a shot at her but she survived, but that wasn't enough.  He targeted and assassinated these two NYPD officers.  Clearly, this piece of shit just didn't get enough attention from his mommy and daddy growing up and he's acting out.  Probably playing too many video games and watching Al Jazeera television for tips.  Let's take a closer look at this piece of dung:

Brinsley has a history of run-ins with the law. He has 15 prior arrests in Georgia for assorted crimes: misdemeanor assault, larceny, shoplifting, and gun possession, dated from 2004 to 2013. He was arrested 4 times in Ohio from May 2009 to September 2009–robbery and misdemeanor theft. He served over 2 years in various prisons, mostly from a 2-year sentence for the Georgia case of criminal possession of a weapon.

Yeah.  He's a peach.  Georgia let this son of a bitch loose after 15 priors and he travels to and fro and ends up targeting two police officers for assassination.  He'll get the chair, but that's too good for this guy.  He needs to be locked up in a mental facility for the rest of his life, heavily medicated and his subconscious mind toyed with like a rubber band around a balloon. 

But that's not the end of it...

In Florida, another police officer was murdered by a little punk by the name of Marco Antonio Parilla, Jr.  A 23 year old kid with far too much time on his hands and not enough brain matter to deal with it.  Check this out:

Parilla shot Kondek because "he felt like a caged rat” and did not want to return to prison.
Parilla ran the wounded cop over as he whipped out of the apartment’s driveway in reverse. He then lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a power pole and pickup truck.

What a little jackass.  He did apologize to the family during his "perp walk," so that should make it all better, right?  Wrong.

What goes through the mind of man when targeting an icon of American justice and law?  To target a law enforcement officer is inexcusable and unforgivable.  Lawyers have been targeted in the past and though there is an intellectual or emotional ascent to understand that logic, it's still wrong.

I don't know if there are solutions to problems like this.  The disaster in Ferguson, MO has really highlighted the fact that the criminal element is actually proud of itself and shameless.  A man gets shot by law enforcement - a clean shoot, by the way - and now, the bottom feeders believe it gives them license to target and assassinate law enforcement.  Pure insanity.

Personally, I believe the douchebag talking heads on the extreme left who want nothing short of anarchy are partly to blame for this mess.  Anyone who wears one of those stupid "I Can't Breathe Shirts" (more info here) is part of the problem as well.  Even the President has talked about cracking down on law enforcement.  It's unreal.

Do yourself a favor and our community a favor - thank a cop.  They do shit every day that most of the sissies protesting them would never have the courage to do.


Gorilla