I Must Rant About This

I've been following a story in the Washington Post about a Charles County (MD) Sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a man over this past weekend.

Apparently the deputy, along with two other Sheriff's deputies, found this guy passed out in a car which was parked (still running) over a curb right next to a building that it had almost struck. They managed to wake the driver and had reason to believe that he was under the influence of alcohol. Not an unrealistic scenario at all, if you ask me.

What happened next is the source of some controversy. According to the Sheriff's Office, the suspect, after having failed field sobriety testing, was being placed under arrest and began to resist. At some point, the suspect draws and fires a handgun, which fortunately doesn't strike anyone. A deputy draws his service weapon, fires one round, striking the suspect in the chest. The suspect is flown to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

In my opinion, that sounds like a completely justified police shooting. In the same situation, I would've done the exact same thing.

Now, the victim's family and friends are all clamoring that he was a "good young man, trying to get his life on the right track." They even went so far as to imply that the Sheriff's deputies killed him simply "because he was a young black man." Let me be perfectly clear on this. That is all a huge load of horse shit!

From the Washington Post:

"Since 1999, (the suspect) had been found guilty of assault, possessing marijuana and cocaine, carrying a handgun, driving on a revoked license and attempting to elude police, court documents show. During a 2000 arrest for marijuana possession, he ran from a car into the woods in Waldorf, the records show, and police used a K-9 team to find him behind a tree."

So, the suspect, who was only 22 years old, had managed to rack up a slew of charges (and convictions) that include having a handgun. So him having a gun this past Saturday morning is so far fetched? I don't think so. In an article in yesterday's paper regarding the shooting, a family member actually implied that it was the deputies' fault the shooting took place because he had apparently not been searched for a gun. I got news for you folks, we aren't permitted, by the Constitution of the United States, to search people unless there is probable cause to do so. Being suspected of DUI isn't probable cause. However, once someone is placed under arrest, which the deputies were attempting to do, police are permitted to perform what's referred to as a "search incident to arrest," at which time I'm sure the handgun would've been found on him. But all of that is irrelevant. He had a gun, he knew he had a gun. He had a history of run-ins with the police in that area. Another theory advanced by his family was that the local police were tired of always dealing with him and were looking for a reason to kill him. How amazingly absurd is that???

The bottom line is this. The man had a gun, fired it when deputies tried to arrest him. The deputy, doing what any one of us in our line of work would do, shot him. The friends and family can try to shift the blame all they want. The fact of the matter is, if this guy didn't have a gun on him, much less fired a round from it when he was being arrested, he'd still be alive. It had nothing to do with the color of his skin (trust me, I'll shoot whitey in a heartbeat under the same circumstances), or the fact that he hadn't been properly searched by the deputies at that point. The notion that if they'd searched him better they would've found the gun and none of this would have happened is a ridiculous argument.

"He was trying to turn his life around." Bullshit. Trying to turn one's life around usually doesn't involve wrecking your car while pissed up drunk and firing your gat at the police. But what the hell do I know?

Waiting....

..... is something I've never been particularly good at. I can readily admit that I'm not always the most patient person in the world. I'm not always proud of that little character flaw, but at least I can admit it.

That being said, it's now 11:15 AM and I'm sitting here waiting for the repair guy to show up and (hopefully) fix my washing machine that decided to stop working over a week ago. If I have to go to my parents' house again to do laundry, I think I'll scream. I love you Mom, but hanging around your house for four and a half hours on a Saturday afternoon waiting for my clothes to get clean while you watch the Home Shopping Network (or whatever the hell that channel is) isn't exactly my idea of a good time. Coin laundry? Oh, I don't think so. Around these parts, it's a half a billion screaming kids and all-Telemundo-all-the-time. I'd rather keep buying new clothes than hit the coin laundry around here.

So, I've been doing my best to occupy my time during the 8AM to Noon, "Window of opportunity" when Mr. Fix-It is supposed to show up. I've vacuumed, cleaned the coffee maker, and other assorted cleaning tasks around the hacienda. Of course I've managed to screw around some, too. Spent about an hour browsing stuff on iTunes. And I decided that I'm going to buy a new amplifier for my bass guitar. Been meaning to upgrade for awhile and I think I finally found one that's worth the $. So I'll probably be heading out to the guitar store this weekend to part with some more of my hard earned cash. Worth every penny, though.

OK, time to go find something else to waste time with. He's got another half hour to get here. Tick, tock.

Better....And Worse

OK, so my back finally got with the program and isn't keeping me awake and night and walking like friggin' Frankenstein during the day. That's all well and good. But I found myself slipping into a bit of a funk earlier in the week (actually, it was one hell of a funk) and although I feel fine physically, my head is a mess.

I don't really talk much about it anymore (since I'm not really sure what the point would be if I did), but I still find myself thinking about how my life took a drastic and unplesant change at the begining of this year. And that change will necessitate more change in the near future. (I don't expect that to make sense to anyone that doesn't know me or my situation). There are several things about that whole episode that I've dealt with and have become okay with. There are some things that I'm still not okay with. Sometimes it gets hard to deal.

But I wake up everyday and go through my routine as best as I can. I'd like to sit here and think it will get better, but I think that if I don't expect too much, I can't be let down. So I just subscribe to the philosophy that "it is what it is," and maybe, just maybe, I'll get stuff worked out.

Then I stop myself and think about a particular friend of mine who has been extremely supportive of me with all that's gone on. My friend recently lost someone very near and dear to her. Although I feel like I can relate to that, it's a different kind of loss entirely. And her loss is easily a million times bigger than mine. I need to get my head out of my ass and be a better friend to her. She was there for me. I need to be there for her. Last time I checked, that's what friends do for each other, right?

People say "it gets worse before it gets better." I think I've had my fair share of the worse part, and my friend certainly has, too. Time for things to get better.

It Figures

The first really nice day we've had in a while and I'm stuck inside.

I managed to somehow pinch a nerve in my back yesterday and aggravated the hell out of it during a foot chase with a fuckin' drug dealer. Sadly, he got away, but I managed to get all his dope and his cell phone that he managed to drop along the way. I'll be seeing you soon, "Six Deuce." (I'm not kidding, that's what his cell phone said his name was - yeah, I work in the ghetto).

So I made good friends with Mr. Heating Pad last night and again today. I did manage to sleep pretty well last night, having warded off the pain with a cocktail of muscle relaxers, super-duper pain relievers and a couple Sam Adams'. OK, I know you're not supposed to consume alcohol with prescription medication, but I was in pain, damnit!

I've managed to do very little today, which I guess I'm okay with. I don't have much pain when I'm sitting down, it's the whole walking around thing that messes me up. It's feeling better today though, and hopefully will be fine by tomorrow. I'd hate to go through the whole weekend on the injured reserve.

I figure I'll wander downstairs and play around on the guitar a bit. Haven't done that in awhile since I've been so busy with work. Now would be a good chance to capitalize on my down time.

Gotta go play rock star now.

Surreal? Or Just Plain Stupid?

I was up entirely too late last night talking with a good friend from Ohio. Marissa is one of my oldest and dearest friends in the world. You know, one of those friends that's moved halfway across the country and back, someone you haven't physically seen in years, but can still pick up the phone and talk to like you ran into them yesterday. Now that we've established who I was talking to, let's get on to what we were talking about - it's pretty damn funny (at least it was to us).

I can't for the life of me remember how the hell we even got on the subject (especially since I'm hardly a fan of the show), but we started talking about that ridiculous show on VH1, "The Surreal Life." We quickly decided that it would be in our best interest to form our own "Surreal World" casts - the "C" and "D" List celebrities that we'd like to have on our own version of the show. After much thought (I haven't had this much trouble picking teams since I played volleyball in school), a few beers and too many laughs, we came up with our own Ultimate Surreal World casts. If anyone from VH1 is listening, pay attention, these will get you an assload of ratings.

My List:

1. Gedde Watanabe - "Long Duk Dong" from 'Sixteen Candles' (How cool would he be on the show, right?)
2. Demond Wilson - "Lamont" from TV's 'Sanford & Son' ("You big dummy!")
3. Jan-Michael Vincent - from TV's "Airwolf" (I figured he could use a paycheck)
4. "Macho Man" Randy Savage - my way of trying to save a washed up pro wrestler from having to do Slim Jim commercials for the rest of his life
5. Katherine Helmond - "Mona" from 'Who's the Boss?' (at first I thought she was dead and I'd have to pick someone else, but fortunately she's still alive and I would imagine her calendar is free enough to participate in the show)
6. Juice Newton - we decided that we needed a musician in our casts and she was the first obscure musician I could think of (I actually couldn't stop laughing for 5 solid minutes after selecting good old Juice)
7. Mayim Bialik - TV's "Blossom" (it was a toss up between her and k.d. lang)

I'm pretty proud of my list of 7 strangers picked to live in a house......blah, blah, whatever the hell else they say about the show. Moving right along.....

Marissa's List:

1. Ben Stein - OK, so Ben isn't a "C" or "D" list celebrity, but we both agreed that he'd be completely cool to have as a cast member
2. "Dog" the Bounty Hunter - this was 100% Marissa's pick and I still think it was hilarious
3. Tina Yothers - from TV's "Family Ties" (just like my #3, I'm sure she needs the work)
4. Darva Conger - Marissa wanted a completely stupid and annoying woman in her cast. I suggested Fran Drescher, but was vetoed in favor of this knucklehead
5. Kip Winger - Marissa's choice for the "musician." We all remember "Winger" from the 80's, don't we?
6. William Hung - boil on the ass of American Idol. I don't know why she chose this guy. Maybe because it would be fun to watch "Dog" kick his ass, I dunno.
7. David Soul - good call picking "Hutch," but I guess Starsky has to find his own work

Looking back on last night's conversation, we probably did spend entirely too much time talking about this incredibly stupid concept of a show, but it was damn funny. Although I'm sure it was a lot funnier when we were talking about it that it is to be reading about it now. Maybe it was the beer - who knows? I just thought I'd share. Any Exec's with VH1 can feel free to e-mail me and we can discuss my production fees, 'cause I think we all know I'm on to something here.