Today, indeed, the last few days, I've felt a great deal of anger. The anger has sprung from several different things.
How's this for starters? This story has received a great deal of coverage since it emerged on Monday. It's a terribly tragic, horrific story about yet another child in our "civilization" who was failed by everyone who should have been able to love and care for him, and who paid for that failure with his life. I'm angry at the system that allows this to happen on a regular basis; why does this continue to happen with such alarming regularity? The actions of the social workers involved toward the grandmother, who it seems was the only person who genuinely loved and cared for this boy, further convince me that our child-protection system is broken beyond repair and needs a good house-cleaning...and not just in Colorado. I'm angry at the couple who perpetrated this; let's face it, they're guilty, whether it be of first-degree murder or child abuse resulting in death or whatever the charge, they had the responsibility for that child and they wantonly, callously ignored that responsibility. The fact that they worked so hard at convincing the system to grant them custody, only so that they could cause the death of this boy, infuriates me all the more. The boy was 30 pounds when he was found locked in a closet and in cardiac arrest. to provide some perspective, Connor is going to turn 8 in three weeks, and he's 50 pounds...and considered somewhat small for his age. Donovan just turned seven the end of March, and he's also around 50 pounds.
That makes it worse for me...this boy was 7, the same age as my sons. I see the pictures of him in the paper and on the news, and I see my own boys. I worry enough for Connor and Donovan, both of whom are still dealing with the emotional fallout from the divorces of their parents. Donovan's dad moved away last September to Illinois and has only seen Donovan twice since then. Connor still struggles at times with loyalty issues and with the transitions between my house and Lisa's. But at least they know their family loves them...they know that there are adults who care for them and would do anything to protect them. I can't imagine what this boy's life was like, bouncing around from person to person, without much love from his own biological parents, only his grandmother to give him sincere affection, placed by the system with people who had no stake in whether he lived or died, and who ended up showing that lack of investment on Sunday. It is people of this sort (and this sort, as well, since we're on the subject) that make me believe that there are many who, while perhaps it would be too harsh to revoke their license to live, we should at least work as hard and as diligently as possible to prevent them from breeding.
I am angry at a society that continues to permit this sort of thing, particularly when there are so many who continue to tell us that all we have to do for safety and security is depend on the government, on the system. Many Democrats like to tell us that they know better than we do, they know what we should think, how we should speak, how we should spend our money, what we should teach our children. Colorado is primarily a Democrat state and has been so for many, many years. And yet, those same Democrats who want me to depend on their intelligence don't look so smart now, do they? Yet the poor sheep who live in this state continue to hand power over to them, and even voted for a steep tax increase referred to as "Referendum C", thanks to the continuing scare-mongering and FUD spread by local Democrats and their deep-pockets out-of-state allies. Their ineptitude enables a system that mucks up divorce cases when a woman whispers "abuse", charging in with guns blazing to destroy an honest man's chances of seeing his children. However, when the child is ACTUALLY in danger and when multiple reports of abuse and neglect arrive at the same agency, oh, well, that's a different story..."there's nothing we can do about that." This system is hopelessly broken and needs a complete and total housecleaning. We need people who own up to the problems and sincerely work to fix them. We need people who refuse to use the "that isn't my job" or the like when faced with a broken process. We need legislators who back up their words and seriously care about those who need their help the most. Sadly, most of those state legislators, especially here in Colorado, would much rather cry for the impeachment of President Bush, reward their political backers, or push political hot buttons instead of working to solve serious problems.
I'm sure you can see how angry I am now. I won't take this further. It's time to take a deep breath and talk of other things. Despite my anger, anger itself is almost never constructive.
Deep breath...in through the nose...out the mouth...
If you're serious about the financial industry, you must have an office in Manhattan. If you're in the oil industry, you need a Houston presence. Entertainment? It's LA for you, baby.
And if you're in trucking, having a Germanic-sounding name really helps.
Knaack...Knapheide...Fruehauf...Groendyke...
Hmmm. Mallow...German I may be, but now I know why I never was interested in trucking.
So at The Players Championship opening round yesterday at TPC Sawgrass, there were 50 balls put in the water at the infamous 17th Hole. FIFTY!!! That's a record. It's comforting to know that sometimes even the pros can play as badly as I do. That's one of the great things about golf...what an equalizer it can be. On any one day, an average Joe can play like he's on Tour, and on any average day, a Tour pro can play like...well, like he's an average Joe.
There are many on the Left who claim that radical Christianity is as dangerous as radical Islam. To a point, I agree. However, when will we hear them mention radical environmentalism? Hmmm...how is this guy's "progressive" ideals any different from the ideals of the Islamic terrorists we fight so hard against? To protect their faith, they would make the rest of us extinct. To protect the Earth, this guy would make 4/5s of us extinct and shove the rest of us back into the Stone Age. Some day I'll take some time and dissect this guy's nonsense point by point. It should be fun.
I'm still loving the new job. I have so much to do, and yet I'm busy in a good way. I really like the folks I work with, I'm doing what I love, and the pace of work is not the ultra-high pressure cooker I'm used to living in. Who knows...I may hate this place in a few months, or it might just keep getting better and better (I'm betting on the latter). Right now, it's really good. I wish you all the ability to find and enjoy the same.
Is the continuing trend of giant banks swallowing smaller banks as disturbing to you as it is to me? After much frustration with the customer service at my bank, Bank of the West (I refuse to link to them because their service is so poor), Heidi and I are in the process of looking for another bank. We'd prefer a credit union, but the CUs around here are typically very small, with few locations that are convenient for us. In lieu of a CU, we would prefer a smaller bank that would actually demonstrate some quality customer service, something dramatically missing at the larger banks. Most of them these days seem to believe that my money is their money, as soon as I deposit it. Fees are outrageous, service is generally poor, and they show no signs of repentance for their continuing abuse of their depositors. I wish I could find another bank that has branches both here and back home, but I doubt I'll find that...well, at least not without going to another giant bank.
Thanks for reading along.
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