Shocked and appalled by the tragic bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Too many innocent people died and were wounded physically and emotionally (one is too many). I began to sob when I heard the news. Only a poltroon, or curs if more than one person was involved, would place an explosive device at a public event. What lily-livered, faint-hearted, sniveling bastard(s)!
It takes real courage to be non-violent. You have to be strong to not bully, intimidate or harm others when you are hurt or angry. Pain is horrible but inflicting pain upon others only exacerbates the problem. How are we to evolve as a species if we keep resorting to violence? As I have stated before, any type of negative behavior only proves that the perpetrator has a weak personality. They aren’t able to resolve their dispute in with a dialogue but chose to assault their victim(s) with words, fists, bombs, bullets or other types of harm (physical, emotional, etc). Fools. They only prove how dim-witted they are when they damage others.
I will reiterate that everyone is capable of violence. I choose not to be mean and nasty. I stay away from negative people because they make me more prone to cynicism. It is difficult to remain sanguine or at least neutral. Some days it requires all my strength not to slide into the pit of disparagement. I refuse to let other humans or life’s situation to pull me into the dark. I choose to walk in the light. I’m no Pollyanna, I don’t ignore that the negative is there and that life can stink at times. I just make the choice every single day to be positive and help others.
Volunteer, donate to nonprofits, teach the children in your life to care about others, and befriend your neighbors. Overcome your fear and get to know people who you may be wary of as you become more inclusive to diversity. We are all human; we are all kin. Build a positive world; it’s our only hope.
Peace To All.
© Copyright 2013 Ima B. Musing: all rights reserved.
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Sunday, December 23, 2012
GET YOUR GUN
Okay folks, time to get armed. Let’s all get a Permit To Carry, buy a gun for your holster/purse, another one for your car, one for desk at work, and several for your home. Don’t forget the ammunition. Buy the kind that pierces flack jackets. Kill, kill, kill. It’s the ol’west once again. Be careful how you look at a person, let alone what you say or do, they just might shoot you down.
Of course, I am being glib. How utterly ridiculous for the NRA (National Rifle Association) to publicly announce that the only way to “stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” That wouldn't of helped in Sandy Hook Elementary school. Oh yeah, let’s all strap on a holster and shoot at will. No prosecution since all shootings will be determined to be self-defense. We’ll be popular with the morticians and those involved in the death industry. What absolute bullshit!
I am a small town kid. I was taught to use firearms at a young age and attended gun safety class. Guns serve a purpose. A very limited purpose. They should only be used for hunting for food, to kill a domesticated animal that is suffering (such as a horse with a broken leg), or self-defense. Self-defense is a gray zone. Most people will run away after a warning shot. I was taught to wound a person instead of killing them. Rarely, and I mean extremely rarely, does the aggressor have the intention to kill you and then and only then do you have the right to defend yourself.
It is wiser to run away or hide because by the time you realize that you are a target your adrenaline is pumping and your aim would be horrible. That is why only trained personnel should be allowed to have weapons. I’ve assisted with Live Shooter Training of law enforcement. Even with years of experience, they need training to maintain skills. I volunteered as a pretend victim, screamed a lot, and got pelted with plastic bullets, which do sting and leave bruises. It was a rather jarring day but I know that it will help to keep the officer safe as they deal with the worst-case-scenario. I hope that they never have to use that instruction in reality.
I was at my grandmother’s farm when she fired warning shots out the window at people who drove into her driveway a couple days before Christmas. The visitors didn’t have a phone so they weren’t able to call and tell her that they were coming over to sing Christmas carols. After she found out that it was the Mennonite neighbors, they were invited in for cookies and coffee. It was all very surreal for me to switch from handing my Grandma bullets for her shotgun to serving up refreshments.
Violent people are cowards. As I stated before, any type of negative behavior only proves that the perpetrator has a weak personality. They aren’t able to resolve their dispute in with a dialogue but want to pummel their victim(s) with words, fists, bullets or other types of harm. Fools. They only prove how stupid they are when they hurt others.
Everyone is capable of violence. I choose not to be mean and nasty like some members of my family. I stay away from negative people because they make me more prone to pessimism. It is difficult to remain optimistic or at least neutral. Some days it requires all my strength not to slide into the pit of cynicism. I refuse to let other humans or life’s situation to pull me into the dark. I choose to walk in the light. I’m no Pollyanna, I don’t ignore that the negative is there and that life can stink at times. I just make the choice every single day to be positive and help others.
Volunteer, donate to nonprofits, teach your kids to care about others, and get to know your neighbors. Build a positive world; it’s our only hope.
Ho-Ho-Ho!
© 2012 Ima B. Musing
Of course, I am being glib. How utterly ridiculous for the NRA (National Rifle Association) to publicly announce that the only way to “stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” That wouldn't of helped in Sandy Hook Elementary school. Oh yeah, let’s all strap on a holster and shoot at will. No prosecution since all shootings will be determined to be self-defense. We’ll be popular with the morticians and those involved in the death industry. What absolute bullshit!
I am a small town kid. I was taught to use firearms at a young age and attended gun safety class. Guns serve a purpose. A very limited purpose. They should only be used for hunting for food, to kill a domesticated animal that is suffering (such as a horse with a broken leg), or self-defense. Self-defense is a gray zone. Most people will run away after a warning shot. I was taught to wound a person instead of killing them. Rarely, and I mean extremely rarely, does the aggressor have the intention to kill you and then and only then do you have the right to defend yourself.
It is wiser to run away or hide because by the time you realize that you are a target your adrenaline is pumping and your aim would be horrible. That is why only trained personnel should be allowed to have weapons. I’ve assisted with Live Shooter Training of law enforcement. Even with years of experience, they need training to maintain skills. I volunteered as a pretend victim, screamed a lot, and got pelted with plastic bullets, which do sting and leave bruises. It was a rather jarring day but I know that it will help to keep the officer safe as they deal with the worst-case-scenario. I hope that they never have to use that instruction in reality.
I was at my grandmother’s farm when she fired warning shots out the window at people who drove into her driveway a couple days before Christmas. The visitors didn’t have a phone so they weren’t able to call and tell her that they were coming over to sing Christmas carols. After she found out that it was the Mennonite neighbors, they were invited in for cookies and coffee. It was all very surreal for me to switch from handing my Grandma bullets for her shotgun to serving up refreshments.
Violent people are cowards. As I stated before, any type of negative behavior only proves that the perpetrator has a weak personality. They aren’t able to resolve their dispute in with a dialogue but want to pummel their victim(s) with words, fists, bullets or other types of harm. Fools. They only prove how stupid they are when they hurt others.
Everyone is capable of violence. I choose not to be mean and nasty like some members of my family. I stay away from negative people because they make me more prone to pessimism. It is difficult to remain optimistic or at least neutral. Some days it requires all my strength not to slide into the pit of cynicism. I refuse to let other humans or life’s situation to pull me into the dark. I choose to walk in the light. I’m no Pollyanna, I don’t ignore that the negative is there and that life can stink at times. I just make the choice every single day to be positive and help others.
Volunteer, donate to nonprofits, teach your kids to care about others, and get to know your neighbors. Build a positive world; it’s our only hope.
Ho-Ho-Ho!
© 2012 Ima B. Musing
Thursday, December 20, 2012
CULTURE OF VIOLENCE
It’s bad enough when adults harm each other but utterly despicable when an adult targets the vulnerable, which may be a child, at-risk adult, or animal. Absolute coward. They don’t have the chutzpah enough to settle their dispute verbally. They hide behind a gun or other means of destruction. Do we really want mass murder to become the norm?
I am so sick of hearing about men*, many of whom are young, that use guns to shoot other humans. Do they think that they will die in a blaze of glory? Sorry, but that is reserved for heroines-heroes who willingly sacrifice themselves to help others. All the perpetrator will be remembered for is their complete and profound spinelessness. Their dispute is buried by the chaos. (Note: *women are also violent, but do not harm or kill others as often as men.)
I was busy all day Friday, December 7th and didn’t hear about the Sandy Hook School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut until the evening news. I was stunned and hurt. As a teacher, I was always protective of my students. I have a responsibility to help them. We never had safety instruction when I was teaching. The Minnesota communities of Red Lake and Rocori are still recovering from their school shootings. A mass casualty catastrophe occurred this summer at Accent Signage in Minneapolis, another heartbreaking statistic in our sadistic society. Why does it happen more in America than elsewhere?
Congress must permanently reinstate the assault weapons ban, conduct a buy and melt program for guns, legally require gun owners to lock their weapons and ammunition, and States should enact laws to strip the Second Amendment to the minimum. Culturally, we must demand that violence is never acceptable. Don’t glamorize the Culture of Violence. Bullying, harassment, assault, abuse, neglect, et cetera are all forms of violence. I never purchased any toys or books that celebrated brutality as gifts for the children in my life. I repeatedly told my nieces and nephews that if they used aggression, the courts would be the least of their worries.
Parents must take the responsibility to teach their children appropriate methods to work out stress, anxiety, fear and anger. All adults serve as role models. Be careful what you say and do, the young ones are watching and learning from you. Enroll in stress reduction classes, practice meditation, yoga or use regular exercise to reduce tension. Parents also need to connect the child to the community by volunteering on a regular basis. One-time events are nice but kids need to form relationships and care about others outside their family and friends circle. Youth need to know that every person in a community is connected in a web of inner-dependency.
There is a direct correlation between exposure to violence in entertainment and media and the rise in aggression. I have complained before how the news media has been twisted into reading the police reports instead of providing real journalism. I miss hearing/reading local stories. I don’t want a law enforcement blotter. Don’t they realize that they are feeding the Culture of Violence?
Mental illness makes a person more VULNERABLE to be a victim or to harm themselves. Even if a person has a SPMI (serious and persistent mental illness) diagnosis, it doesn’t mean that the mental illness caused them to be violent. Does a person with diabetes get blamed when their insulin level drops and they become angry before passing out? No! Why should a person with mental illness be blamed when their emotions surge? Stigma is a vicious circle, it causes people to deny their problems and not seek help. When they do need help, it must be available. There must be adequate funding to pay for mental health services instead of waiting for a crisis. An ounce of prevention is worth thousands of pounds of cure.
Visit www.nami.org for the facts.
Stay safe.
© 2012 Ima B. Musing
I am so sick of hearing about men*, many of whom are young, that use guns to shoot other humans. Do they think that they will die in a blaze of glory? Sorry, but that is reserved for heroines-heroes who willingly sacrifice themselves to help others. All the perpetrator will be remembered for is their complete and profound spinelessness. Their dispute is buried by the chaos. (Note: *women are also violent, but do not harm or kill others as often as men.)
I was busy all day Friday, December 7th and didn’t hear about the Sandy Hook School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut until the evening news. I was stunned and hurt. As a teacher, I was always protective of my students. I have a responsibility to help them. We never had safety instruction when I was teaching. The Minnesota communities of Red Lake and Rocori are still recovering from their school shootings. A mass casualty catastrophe occurred this summer at Accent Signage in Minneapolis, another heartbreaking statistic in our sadistic society. Why does it happen more in America than elsewhere?
Congress must permanently reinstate the assault weapons ban, conduct a buy and melt program for guns, legally require gun owners to lock their weapons and ammunition, and States should enact laws to strip the Second Amendment to the minimum. Culturally, we must demand that violence is never acceptable. Don’t glamorize the Culture of Violence. Bullying, harassment, assault, abuse, neglect, et cetera are all forms of violence. I never purchased any toys or books that celebrated brutality as gifts for the children in my life. I repeatedly told my nieces and nephews that if they used aggression, the courts would be the least of their worries.
Parents must take the responsibility to teach their children appropriate methods to work out stress, anxiety, fear and anger. All adults serve as role models. Be careful what you say and do, the young ones are watching and learning from you. Enroll in stress reduction classes, practice meditation, yoga or use regular exercise to reduce tension. Parents also need to connect the child to the community by volunteering on a regular basis. One-time events are nice but kids need to form relationships and care about others outside their family and friends circle. Youth need to know that every person in a community is connected in a web of inner-dependency.
There is a direct correlation between exposure to violence in entertainment and media and the rise in aggression. I have complained before how the news media has been twisted into reading the police reports instead of providing real journalism. I miss hearing/reading local stories. I don’t want a law enforcement blotter. Don’t they realize that they are feeding the Culture of Violence?
Mental illness makes a person more VULNERABLE to be a victim or to harm themselves. Even if a person has a SPMI (serious and persistent mental illness) diagnosis, it doesn’t mean that the mental illness caused them to be violent. Does a person with diabetes get blamed when their insulin level drops and they become angry before passing out? No! Why should a person with mental illness be blamed when their emotions surge? Stigma is a vicious circle, it causes people to deny their problems and not seek help. When they do need help, it must be available. There must be adequate funding to pay for mental health services instead of waiting for a crisis. An ounce of prevention is worth thousands of pounds of cure.
Visit www.nami.org for the facts.
Stay safe.
© 2012 Ima B. Musing
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