Facie’s Ramblings

Last night I watched, on live TV, some jagoffs smash the windows of several businesses in Ferguson. I saw even more people steal bottles of liquor. My suspicion is that most of those thugs don't care about Michael Brown or his family. Some of those same criminals would have probably at least vandalized businesses even if the grand jury reached a different conclusion. So thanks to those idiots (and I really want to use a stronger noun), people are painting the entire town and/or supporters of Brown with the same brush. And perhaps as unfortunate, their actions may discourage peaceful protesters. And most unfortunate, there will be those who say (and have already done so on social media) that the actions of those criminals somehow prove that Michael Brown was a thug and that his killing was justified and/or the officer who killed him did so with reason.  All of this because some goons committed multiple crimes. And I bet if you asked them if they felt bad for what they did and how it...

This post is going to be about George Zimmerman being found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. But not completely. Let me start off by saying I did not follow the trial closely. I did, however, read a few AP articles over the past week or so. About the only thing I can say with certainty is that I was neither in the courtroom nor on the jury. So I do not have the benefit of all that testimony and evidence. And neither did you (unless you were there). But the comments I have read on Facebook? They are all over the place. Based on various comments, George Zimmerman could have been a racist (a Hispanic man can be racist against a black man), a vigilante, someone trying to protect his neighborhood, or someone trying to defend his life. He could have started the fight, or he could have been the one fighting back. He may have been following neighborhood watch guidelines, or he could have been overstepping. I think he had some sort of a record, but not sure. Trayvon Martin could have...

In Thursday's edition of the P-G, there was this article about a former borough manager who had stolen money from Braddock, a financially strapped community just outside the city limits. This woman has been repaying her debt very little by little (in about 1.5 years' time, she has paid $30 out of the $170k) because she has had trouble finding suitable employment, thanks to her felony conviction. That dilemma was quite timely for me as just over a week ago I posted a blog about giving people (criminals) second chances. In that post, I wondered if someone had redeemed himself, should he get another chance? And I had questioned, mostly seriously, if someone could not go on to get a job after prison, then what was the point of getting out of prison. But this woman's owing so much and paying so little was not what really struck a cord with me. Rather it was this sentence: "If she can't pay Braddock back in dollars, she should pay it in community service," Mr. Fett...

So there was a hostage situation in the Burgh today. You can read the details here (I have not read the entire article yet). As it dragged on and before it thankfully ended peacefully, I started to think, as I have many times in crime-related situations, can you ever really "come back" from a serious crime? I know someone who is a drug addict (once an addict, always an addict, and know that I say this without malice or condescension). This person has been in and out of jail more times than I know, starting if not before he was 18, then not many years after. Most charges were drug-related. At least one was for assault or something of that nature. And one or more were related to theft. After a particularly long stint in jail (one to two years; I forget as it has been about four or five years since), this person came out a better man. A changed man. I believed in him and that he finally had overcome this soul-crushing addiction, something he either did not want to or could not...

I spent almost three hours last evening reading the Freeh report. Hubby asked why I would waste my time doing so, and I said that as a Penn Stater and someone who has given Paterno the benefit of the doubt, I needed to read it. Too many people were commenting in various places without having read more than the press release or parroting what others have said, and I didn't want to be one of those people. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who are having trouble putting all my thoughts and opinions into coherent statements. In fact, I have edited and pretty much changed this post three times. What follows is rambling and disjointed, which is due in no small part to my difficulty in wrapping my head around so much information and trying to reconcile that with my wanting to think the best about people. :-( Do I feel differently since yesterday, when based on the press release and some of what I had read, it appeared that JoePa knew more than he let on? Not a lot. In fact, he and...

I have been absent from the blogging world for a little while. Last Tuesday I received a phone call asking if I was interested in coming in for an editing test for a temp-to-perm job (I had missed the email about this from the day before). The next day (Wednesday), I took the test, had a brief interview, and then found out that evening I did well enough to warrant a second interview the following week. The morning after (Thursday), I received another email asking if I could instead come in on Tuesday to start a project. Just a day later (Friday), I was asked if I could come in on Monday instead. So I did, and I spent several days this week working on the project, mostly in the office and some at home. I don't know what will come of this; it is fast-paced, and I have been away from the business world and a daily commute for three (!) years. And there is a lot to absorb. But whatever shall be, shall be. But back to my post title. On the news last night was a report of a man who u...

In the past few days, I have read in the paper/saw on the news two heinous acts against children. A boyfriend of some woman beat her 11-year-old son over the course of a nine-hour period, and the boy eventually died. I won't go into any more details, other than to add that the mother waited over an hour after she got home before calling 911, because what I just wrote is so disturbing as it is. Then last night, I saw on the news (and read this morning) that another boyfriend of another woman sexually assaulted a three-month old. I am so incredibly sickened and angered by this. What normal person would not be? And that is the thing: these people cannot be normal.There are lacking something, but what I do not know. In the first horrendous crime, some neighbors who were interviewed cried, saying they should have done something. This made me wonder, how many people hear screams or crying down the street or down the hall and actually call the police. Would you? I am one of thos...

That may have been the longest blog title I ever wrote. But it sums up my feelings pretty well. You could read just that and skip the post, and you probably would not miss too much, other than a bunch of disjointed thoughts. But I have a few things I want to say, so here goes. I love Joe Paterno. Well, loved . I realize many, many people don't understand this and never will, and that is okay. I won't bother to try to explain it, because, as I said in a Facebook post this morning, I can't. But there are people out there who do get it. All of whom know what the expected response is to, "We are." And I guess those of us can take comfort in this shared experience. As someone else said on Facebook this morning, “I would hope that my life would be judged as a whole and not just by some bad choices.” That is the thing that too many people have overlooked. Joe Paterno did not molest any boys. Joe Paterno did not shower with any boys. He is not a monster. Yes, he sho...

Before I launch into my thoughts about the scandal at Penn State involving former assistant (until 1999) football coach Jerry Sandusky and the apparent cover up (at least ignoring) of Sandusky's sexual abuse of youth, let me say that unlike many alumni, I cannot personally be embarrassed by something involving my alma mater when I had nothing to do with what happened. I am still Penn State proud, though a little less for sure. Now on to the story... The 23-page attorney general report on Sandusky in graphic detail recounts how a respected man sexually abused eight youth over the years and next to nothing was done to either stop it or keep it from happening again. It is pretty sickening. Throw in a dozen other news stories, blogs, and comments from various people and you find your head spinning as you try to figure out what really happened. Here are some of my thoughts: I understand it was a report and not a trial, but the stories of eight youth as well as the eye witness...

So another Steeler is in trouble. Sheesh. Unfortunately, this time the offender happens to be my favorite player, Hines Ward. He whom I voted for on "Dancing with the Stars" many, many times. He of the only Steelers jersey I have ever owned. He whom I waited in line for an hour or so back in 2002 to have him sign said jersey. [Note: I generally disdain the whole autograph thing, but I made an exception because I owned his jersey, he was making an appearance 10 minutes from my house, and PSU was losing the football game I was watching at the time.] But back to issue at hand. A few nights (well, early mornings) ago, Hines was pulled over for driving erratically. When the story first came out, his agent/manager said Hines was not impaired while driving. But according to the police report, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, he failed some field sobriety tests (alphabet, walking and turning, standing on one leg), and he registered a .128 on a portable breathing test (he refused...

A few days ago, I saw a disturbing story on the news. A dead baby was found in suitcase on an Erie street. Apparently, a woman starved her 14-month old, left her to die, stuffed her in suitcase, and then put that suitcase in her neighbor's trash can. You can read the story in the PG . Other than this woman murdering her child, the thing that really gets me riled up is this: In addition to the baby she birthed and killed, this 20-year-old woman also has a two- and a three-year old as well as one on the way. So for the past four years, this woman has gotten pregnant, had a baby, gotten pregnant a few months after giving birth, had a second baby, gotten pregnant a few months after giving birth, had a third baby, and gotten pregnant for the fourth time. Isn't that lovely? This woman should be sterilized, plain and simple. If that seems too strong (and I don't think it is), then she should be forced to receive monthly birth control shots or be inserted with that device that ...

I spent over an hour today trying to resolve an online banking issue. For some reason, when I paid my sewage bill last week, I chose the old bill payee, the one that has not been the payee for over three years (our water company took over for the sewage company, FYI). I won't bore you with the details of the various phone calls and time spent online. And, yes, the error was all mine (why I did not delete the previous/old payee, I don't know). But it does make me wonder how accounting works in companies. When my check was electronically deposited into the old sewage company's account, didn't they check to see why they were getting money from us, when they had not in years? Can anyone explain that? It does not help that I am tired today. Tired because there was a domestic dispute three houses away last night after 11, when I was sound asleep. Unfortunately, when four or five people are shouting in the streets nearby, as a light sleeper, I will hear them. The upside is t...

So Osama bin Laden (or Usama, if you are Fox News) was apparently taken out by the Navy Seals. I was quite surprised to wake up to that news when I turned on the TV yesterday morning. After I let it sink in for a minute and listened to the news people talk, my eyes welled up with tears. But the thing is I was not sure why I was crying. When I think of the thousands of tears I cried on 9/11 and off and on (mostly on) for weeks after, the few tears that rolled down my cheek seemed to pale in comparison. I am pro life. In pretty much every imaginable way. I know plenty of people who are pro-life when it comes to abortion, but they support capital punishment. I don't fault people for that view. In fact, it seems less contradictory than the views of people who support women's right to choose yet are against capital punishment. But this post is not to argue or even quibble about that. And if you know me at all, then you should realize I really, truly try to respect and even under...

Today I took Jordan to the wave pool at Boyce Park. Despite living in the eastern suburbs for over 11 years, I had never been there before. Since I have been a grown-up, I have not been much into public swimming; just not a fan of seeing myself in a bathing suit, plus I am a wimp when it comes to cold water. But because I took J there for swim lessons this morning and it was so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk, I figured we might as well stay to swim. And by stay, I really mean leave to find an ATM (since I had only six bucks in my wallet) and then come back. The pool is quite huge, and starts out with a large, shallow end that gradually gets deeper. The waves kick in about every 15 minutes, heralded by a carnival-like ringing and followed by excited screams. Many swimmers rent these boat-like rafts, presumably to make deep-water wave skimming more enjoyable. And much like the ocean, these swells tend to be more powerful in the shallow end, enough to knock many a child down, ...

Some would argue that it is not up to others to decide who should have kids. Some of those same people would probably also say that it is not up to anyone to tell others that they must prevent a pregnancy, particularly using artificial means. But every time I read a story like the one I read today in the PG, I always jump to the other side of the fence. A couple with three kids, ages two months, 15 months, and just over two years old, was charged with homicide in the death of their youngest. You can read about it here . This same couple has also been charged with endangering the welfare of children for failing to feed their 15-month-old son. One could presume their two-year old is fine since that kid was not mentioned, but I can't be that presumptuous. An excuse the mother used is that she never received prenatal care. Apparently for that reason, she thought feeding the kid two ounces of formula a day was enough (It has been awhile since I had a baby, but aren't there som...

Last night I attended a local crime watch meeting. There was what I considered a decent turnout, probably about 75 people, though less than one of the first meetings, which had close to 200. Crime, for the most part, has gone down in my neck of the woods. Fortunately, the police caught a daytime burglar last year, which resulted in burglaries dropping from an average of about 31 per month to about 11 per month. What is interesting to me is how the burglar was caught. A woman came home to see a guy getting into a car in her driveway. She was fortunately able to provide a good description of the perp and the car to the 911 operator (more fortunately, the perp just wanted to get away and not hurt her). This information enabled the police to locate the car/perp, although the officer in pursuit at first did lose him. Fortunately again, another resident noticed this car speeding away, so he pulled over on the side of the road and flagged down the officer to let him know in which d...

Well, I waited a day to pen my latest rant, so without further delay, here it is: Some people kind of suck. Let me start off by saying that I am not perfect; I have many faults, most of which are readily apparent to those who know me. But I really make an effort to treat those around me--family, friends, and strangers--just as I want to be treated. With kindness and compassion. I try to give a little. And I truly believe if people treated one another better, if they focused more on others and less on themselves, we could solve a lot of the world's ills. But lately it seems as if every time I open up the paper, read a magazine, or go online, I am bombarded by the transgressions of some celebrity (music, TV, movie, sports or otherwise) or politician. I sometimes wonder if it is not so much that people have gone downhill, but more that thanks to technology, we just get to find out about every bad deed five minutes after it happened. Or have we as a society become so self-centered,...

April is normally a month of hope. The first full month of spring. Typically Easter falls within it. We usually end up with at least a week or two of nice weather (one year we had a week in the 80s). People spend time outside. Baseball season starts (remember, no one starts with a losing record!). This April, however, and particularly over the next two weeks, I will be thinking about the one-year anniversary of some sad things that occurred within a seven-day period last year. The tragic death of Amy's (from Callapitter) children. I will be sending her good thoughts and vibes over the next few weeks. As difficult as this last year has been for her, I am surmising the anniversary will be trying in a different way. I am, however, glad to see that plans for the playground memorializing her children are coming together. If you are interested in donating, please go here. The slaying of three Pittsburgh police officers. Sadly, someone is killed almost every week in and around the ci...

Last evening, I had a scary experience, though not so much for me. While playing with Jordan, I heard yelling down the street. I looked outside, but saw nothing. A few minutes later I heard it again, and this time Brian had opened the window and said he could actually hear people hitting/punching each other. As a member of the local crime watch, I did what I should do: I called 911. I could hear the call being recording, which kind of freaked me out. But what made me stop cold was when the 911 operator asked me if there were any weapons. I was several houses away and it was dark, so there was no way I could tell that. But I immediately thought back to last April when the three Pittsburgh police officers were killed responding to a domestic disturbance, thinking there were no weapons. And just last month a Penn Hills police officer was shot to death while sitting in his car, again responding to a disturbance. As the 911 call was wrapping up, a car with the "fighters" drove...

I don't completely get the G20 protest thing. As I said in response to a friend's Facebook post, do the idiots who are breaking windows and overturning dumpsters think that any world leaders are going to take them seriously? Would you rather listen to someone who is calmly making intelligent arguments or someone else who is damaging property? And some of the protesters aren't doing themselves or anyone else, for that matter, any favors by protesting for no real reason. I read in the PG that some woman help up a sign that said, "I protest everything!" C'mon. Have a purpose. Get a life. And how about Greenpeace's stunt on the West End Bridge a few days ago? It was kind of cool looking and all, but their sign-hanging and people-dangling tied up traffic, which resulted in pollution. Not so smart, if you ask me. Kind of like half of Hollywood who cry about pollution, energy, and the depletion of the ozone layer and yet fly and drive all over the place and live ...