Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A Plea for Help for Friends

A great post from a friend.

Please visit and do what you can to get this out into the world!

Thank you all!!!

http://handoverfist.blogspot.com/2013/08/plea-for-help-for-my-friends.html?spref=tw

What WOULDN'T you do?

Suz

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Guns

I read an article last night which was terrifying in its content and because I've seen that kind of thing too many times to have it be surprising anymore. The article was about a man who had taken his rifle and handgun to his wife's workplace. He then proceeded to shoot her between 3 and 5 times and then shot himself, taking his life as well.

What frightens me about this kind of thing is one of the hallmarks of why so many American's want real gun control. It's that part of guns which makes killing so easy to do. I understand that guns are in the Constitution and they have a place in our history. The problem is that now days we can't go even a day without seeing a story that chronicles a child shooting a sibling because of a parent or guardian who doesn't understand common sense or gun responsibility.

There is a need in this country for a serious discussion on limits. As well as mental health. This is not either of those discussions. It is however my thoughts on guns. Here goes....

Guns are a simple and easy way to kill. That's all they are. You can say that they are for hunting (which is stalking an animal to kill in a society where most of the people who do it don't need the meat so it's just sport really) or for "home protection" but the reason you have a gun instead of a bat is because you feel the need to either do maximum damage (i.e., kill) or show that you can. They have lost the reason for which the 2nd Amendment was actually written. We have no fear of our government as they did during the Revolutionary War and the writing of the Constitution. But people feel the need to arm themselves against imaginary foes and thus these weapons end up killing innocent people one way or another.

The story which prompted this posting is a perfect example of what happens all too often. Someone has a bad day and decides that someone has to pay for the circumstances that led up to the day in question. Pick a person or place, grab your guns and head out. Their lives mean nothing, obviously. And so people die. All because someone has a bad day. How is that civilized?

The NRA has popped up to say to its members "If THOSE other people had guns they could stop the person having the bad day" and their members parrot the concept. For them EVERYONE should have a gun.And what would we be then? The NRA also sponsors the "Stand Your Ground" laws which say you get to shoot someone who you think is going to harm you negating any thought of their humanity or life. Over a TV if need be or even a drink. It really doesn't matter. Because the bottom line for the NRA is money. Money and power and they don't care who dies as long as money gets into the hands of gun manufacturers.

I respect human life. I also like my possessions but I won't take a human life over my television. Or even my car. Things can be replaced. Human beings can't. That's pretty simple.

Friendship (5/12/11)

I wrote this back in 2011 in May. I never posted it for some reason. Here it is now though.

There are all different types of friends.  Acquaintances, who blow in and out of our lives like a breeze or the seasons.  Friends, who take places in our lives but will move in and out as life moves along.  And then there are the best friends.  What I see as a pair of friends who care truly and deeply for each other,without looking for "what's in it for them".  There is love there, but not a romantic love.  I believe it's stronger to be honest.  As true love can be.  Not to say that romantic love isn't important, but it grows into something different.  This is why the best and longest lasting marriages are between "best friends" as I have seen through my own life.  These types of friends are rare.  I would guess that they are usually of the same sex, but not always.  I have found that it's the men who I have had the pleasure of being on this level of friendship with the most challenging.  For some reason, it is just very different than a best friend relationship with a woman.  In the past few weeks I lost someone  who I thought was a best friend due to choices she made that effected me deeply. This isn't the venue for the particulars of the situation (although not many read my blog, I'm trying to be as discreet as I can, because you never know).  The interesting thing is that were it a man who was the "best friend", things would be different. The choices that I made and my reactions.  I find this interesting when I set myself outside the situation and look at it as objectively as I can.  The truth of the matter is that as acquaintances come and go, friends stay on and "best friends" linger in our hearts and to lose one is heart-breaking.  But if they are lost, then were they ever a best friend to begin with? Or just a friend who stayed on a little longer or someone who didn't share whatever it was that made you believe they were who you thought they were to have made them a best friend.