Friday Follies...
We're not starting this weekend off on a good note, that's for sure, so you're all going to have to seek out the good in the world for yourselves.
** By now, all of you have been riveted to your media sources concerning the shooting at Ft. Hood. (home of the U.S. Armored Commands)
And I'm sure there are a lot of troopers that are wondering HOW this could have happened, as well as thinking THIS isn't (quite) what they signed up for. I hear you people.
For the most recent updates to the story, here's a link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572305,00.html
What surprises me about the whole situation is HOW this "shrink" could have gotten under the radar as well as he did for as LONG as he did.
If he exhibited behavior that not only required a "dress down" (as was reported when he served at Walter Reed Medical Center), but also had Internet postings (as far back as 6 months) that alluded to some anti-American sentiments, then he should have watched a bit more carefully.
It's a case of "who watches the watcher?". Another army shrink should have conducting interviews and evals of Major Hasan, right?
And since you have an "all-volunteer" military, with a LOT fewer service personnel (as compared to the conscription days of 'Nam), it should be even EASIER to monitor and "flag" any and all personnel for suspect behavior.
This did not seem like a simple "conscientious objection" issue, but seemingly had far deeper roots.
I recall people being "interviewed" not only for the military, but for the FEDS, and (for the lack of a better term) this "vetting" was done to separate the "wheat from the chaff", as it were.
Like I stated earlier this week, the government, in ANY capacity - civilian OR military LOVES PROCEDURE.
They will go as far as to conduct interviews to see WHAT interview they WILL be conducting.
Think of it as the "Department of Redundancy Department" gig.
Now, you can also play conspiracy theorist all you want on this, saying he was a "sleeper", or that having a biochemistry degree led him to "experiment" with substances (on himself) that produced a homicidal "side-effect".
I mean any of those could be speculated into something news-worthy, and there might even be a smattering of truth to a minuscule portion of it. But I would say what needs to be done is to get the shooter (Major Hasan) a LOT of help (and rest assured, he will) to find out the cause of such a heinous act that he inflicted on our OWN service men (and his fellow soldiers).
** This story, which happened in Fort Wayne, is disturbing in a similar manner...
-A man was pulled from his motorized wheelchair, beaten and robbed near downtown early Wednesday.
He told police he met the man who attacked him at the BP gas station at 437 W. Jefferson Blvd. shortly before 2:40 a.m. The assailant said he could give the man and his wheelchair a ride home in his pickup truck, according to a police report. The victim followed him to an alley nearby in the 400 block of West Brackenridge Street, where the robber pulled him from his wheelchair, punched him twice in the face and stole his coat, which contained cash, credit cards, medication and identification, police said.
** And here's two more...
Robbers grab cash from 2 stores - The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne police responded to two business robberies within about four hours of each other Wednesday on the city’s north side.
-The first occurred at Boudoir Noir, (our very own local sex store) 1002 Coliseum Blvd. N., about 3:30 p.m. The robber looked around the store before pulling a silver handgun and demanding cash, police said.
After getting the money, he fled on foot. Police tried to track him, but the trail ended at a nearby gas station, police said.
He was described as 6 foot to 6-foot-1, black, with a medium build. He was clean shaven, had a trimmed haircut and wore a dark winter jacket.
-The second robbery occurred about 7:45 p.m. at Biscuit Pottery, 7605 Coldwater Road.
The robber told the clerk he had a gun and knife and demanded money. She gave him cash from the safe and he fled without displaying any weapons, according to a police report.
The robber was described as 6 foot, white, about 225 pounds with scruffy facial hair.
He was wearing dark jeans and a brown Carhartt coat.
** How about one for the road?
-Pizza delivery driver robbed on St. Joe - The Journal Gazette
Two men robbed a Pizza Hut delivery driver after calling him to a northeast-side home with an order late Tuesday.
The driver arrived in the 6200 block of St. Joe Road about 11 p.m. and was confronted by the men, one of whom was armed with a pistol. The other wielded a length of 2-by-4 board, police said.
They ordered the man to lie on the ground and took his two pizzas as well as his cash and cigarettes before they fled. They left a 2-liter bottle of Cherry Coke and his pizza bag.
Complete descriptions of the robbers were not available.
(busy day all around, eh?)
Granted none of these other stories are AS severe as the Ft. Hood shootings, but unlike these robberies, the incident at Ft. Hood IS a very isolated situation, and does not reflect the overall atmosphere of that community.
We simply do NOT see shootings of personnel at military bases on a scale similar to city crime. That simple WILL never happen.
I mean who in their right mind wants to commit crime on an installation where most EVERYONE there knows how to use a gun (and many already CARRY ONE), hmm?
Better to prey on the innocent, the infirm, the helpless and the hopeless, instead. Isn't that the way it usually works?
Our military is STILL...the BEST on the planet, and this isolated occurrence should not dissuade us from believing that.
My heart goes out to the families of those killed at Ft. Hood, and my prayers go to those wounded, that they will recover fully.
This is not the time nor the place to point fingers at specific people for blame, although inquiries will determine WHO should have caught this fastball that was tossed on the base at our troopers.
We live in perilous times...times when we NEED to be on our guard.
Doesn't matter if we're on a military installation, on our city streets, or even in our homes.
We've developed into such a "complex" society that we need checks and balances to maintain our way of life, as well as our individual and collective sanity.
We need to stand fast in that regard.
Our society has cleaned up larger messes in the past, and I feel we can be up to that challenge again, when called upon to do so.
THAT is what makes THIS nation..OUR nation so damn great.
Remember our fallen, no matter what uniform they may wear.
Remember our loved ones to keep them in our hearts and minds.
Have yourselves a great weekend, and always remember to...
Stay safe out there, America.