Funeral Parlor Visits Suck...

...especially when for family, loved ones and friends. Then again, the people who come make all the difference and today, even though a sad event being it was my mom's wake, tuned out to be a joy of sorts. While not as many people showed up as I kind of, sort of, would have expected a few to several years ago. In fact not one person right around her age from her friends or relatives was there. Mom was born on Christmas day 1924 and that was almost 90 years, or a long time, ago. That made me realize, she had outlived everyone of her friends or relatives that were about her age; that takes some getting used to. So you may be wondering how come I thought it was ad but also a joy; that was because of who did come.

As for the visitors, one of my cousins, from my father's side, showed up and that was much appreciated. Our families were not very close but I hooked up with him again several years ago - it's a small world. I like to think we have a good relationship now. Also got some other visitors, folks I used to work with, and that was much appreciated - all good friends. There were also some good friends of mine from Glendale (the old neighborhood) who showed up and that was excellent. Also met some more or less distant relatives, for the first time, but who had known my mom. Was nice to meet them and nice of them to come. In addition, a friend of my wife from her job also came by and that too was much appreciated.

Of course, my sister and her son were there and her now ex-hubby also showed up (which was very nice). Then there was me and my immediate family, and my in-laws on the wife's side. My sister-in-law, who is brother's widow, was there. So too were her sister and brother-in-law (again very nice of them). All in all though, the place at times seemed kind of empty. I still could not really get over that none of my moms old time friends or relatives were there - not my godmother or godfather, not my stepfather, not my great grandparents, not my grandparents, not my brother even not that POS father of mine. It is still hard to accept she was the last of her group and that she even outlived my brother. Then again, even though it looked  bit empty, I think maybe at least some of the old timers were there in spirit. As my mom used to say, the older we get the more friends and loved ones we lose. She had no more friends to lose - I guess it was her time to go and meet them in another place.

Anyway, as for the folks who came, if there is a God I hope that he (or she) blesses them all. They are all good folks, those who showed up today either in body or in spirit. If there is not a God, then let me just say that they have blessed themselves by being good folk.

Now I have to hit the hay, the funeral is tomorrow. Goodnight all.

All the best,
Glenn B

Law Enforcement Officers Many Of Them Truly Are The Good Guys

There has been a lot on the TV news, in the papers and on the Internet lately about police using too much force or doing other bad, sometimes even criminal, things. I sometimes agree that too much force was used and I definitely agree that police and federal agencies should not be allowed to militarize themselves as they have been doing. What you do not often hear about, probably because it happens every day and numerous times every day, are law enforcement officers who do their jobs as they should and who use only use force when necessary and then who use only the amount of force needed to legally get the job done.

One such officer has made the news lately, if only because she is connected to the man who allegedly beheaded the woman in OK days ago. That officer is a member of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. She reportedly encountered Alton Alexander Nolen in 2012 when she attempted to arrest him. As she tried to handcuff him, he violently pulled away from her ripping a piece of the flesh away from one of her hands and breaking at least one of her fingers. He ran, she pursued (source). According to Trooper Betsy Randolph:

"He kept looking over his shoulder because he knew I wanted to shoot him, but obviously I couldn't shoot him in the back,". "If there had been any way to know the things he is alleged to have done a few days ago I would have killed him when I had a chance." (source)

Actually she could have shot him in the back; the thing is though that she did not. She followed procedure, she followed regulations, she followed the law and she followed her conscious. She did not use excessive or even questionable force, she was a good trooper. The result, in a long drawn out remotely connected way, was that a lady lost her life and another was severely injured at the hands of an Islamist (let's call him what he apparently was and is) who in my mind is also a terrorist. That is not Betsy Randolph's fault, not in any way shape or form. For her to have made that statement though has me believing that she feels at least partly responsible although I hope that I am mistaken. She should feel no remorse for having done her job the right way even if it resulted in that scumbag being able to take even just one more breath because how could she have known - there was no way to know.

I can understand her though, the whole idea of wishing she could have known what he would have become and done and thus saying she would have killed him had she known. Does that make her in anyway a bad cop or a bad person, that wish that she could have known and then killed him? No it does not if only because of the way she said it with the condition "If there had been any way to know...". Of course she realizes there was no way to have known and thus she never would have gunned him down illegally. She is compensating for her feelings of having been powerless to stop a man who would become a seeming raving Islamic madman and with that I can empathize.

I am willing to bet that throughout the remainder of her career, she never abuses her authority to shoot or otherwise harm anyone, that she will keep with her whatever it was that made her exercise restraint that day back in 2012 when she could easily have shot him, that she will be remain one of the unsung good guys. I tip my hat to her.

All the best,
Glenn B

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Is Almost At Its End...

...have you made a donation to kilted to Kick Cancer yet? If not and if you are considering giving something, any little bit helps, then please consider giving through team Jay G at Kilted to Kick Cancer. Go there, then cick on the donate icon, enter your donation amount, then select "This donation is made as part of a Fundraising Team" and then pick out the team of your choosing from the drop-down list (or you can donate without having it go through one of the teams). I would hope you pick Team Jay G. Jay G explains it all here: http://www.ma-rooned.com/2014/09/kilted-pic-day-28.html. Please give something if you can even if not via one of the fund raising teams. These guys wearing kilts each and every day this month, to raise funds to fight prostate cancer, has got to be worth something.

All the best,
Glenn B