Shoot Me First

Why Should a Person Obey a Command that Conflicts with Personal Conscience?
This question creates more questions then answers. Thou shall not kill. The laws of the land prosecute and imprison murderers. How many types of deaths conflict with thou shall not kill? There are first, second and third degree homicide. “Some states break down the degrees a little further. Most states also make a distinction between homicide, which is more intentional, and manslaughter, in which there is less proof of malicious intention.” There is also the death penalty, assisted suicide and family members and/ or doctors unplugging life sustaining machines. When it comes to death there is also partial birth abortion, suction, D&C, Saline Amniocentesis, Prostaglandin, Inter-cardiac Injection and morning after pills. At what point do we consider a justified homicide for our police officers and the defense of our country by our soldiers. These types of deaths conflict with personal conscience. There is a time to kill. There are so many gray lines when it comes to obeying a command like thou shall not kill. I do not know what my threshold is when it comes to disobeying this command. Could it be the rape and murder of my wife or my Goddaughter? I do not have trust in the current legal system. The judiciary system should include all evidence, legally or illegally found, in a trial to ensure the person is found innocent or guilty amongst a group of his or hers own peers. There are to many guilty persons walking free. One innocent person put to death from an unjust trial is too much for me. Lawyers’ fight for the highest paid criminals and completely slant innocence to the highest bidder. We swear to tell the whole truth and lawyers half-truth witnesses and victims according to their agendas. At what point do we want to be protected by law enforcement? At what point does race and gender lines get blurred between victim and perpetrator? At what point are we considered guilty until proven innocent? At what point can a police officer use deadly force to protect him/ her and others? What about capital punishment? Should have Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh and Stanley “Tookie” Williams been put to death? There are so many questions this question asks. What about our soldiers Rules of Engagement? “The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively.” At what point can the President make an executive decision to ensure our way of life? “The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, with roughly half of those deaths occurring on the days of the bombings. Amongst these, 15–20% died from injuries or the combined effects of flash burns, trauma, and radiation burns, compounded by illness, malnutrition and radiation sickness.” The majority of the dead were civilians in both cities. Would I be willing to kill thousands to ensure the lives of hundreds of thousands are saved? What about just one life? Would I be willing to accept an abortion by a young family member? I can usually take a stand when it comes to many subjects. This question just leads to many other questions. There is also a point when religion is introduced as the command. Man’s law and God’s law can influence many people to do the wrong thing. "Jim Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of nine other people at a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown.” I will end with one more example of how there is no answer to this question, only more questions. “The Amish school shooting refers to an attack that occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the date of October 2, 2006. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and eventually shot and killed five girls (aged 6–13) before committing suicide in the schoolhouse.” “On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man." Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God."” My Mother has a saying, “It’s Ok to love the sinner and still hate the sin.” The oldest girl in the schoolhouse that day stood up and said, “Shoot me first.”

Works Cited
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060825165307AAIOHBG
wiki.answers.com/Q/What_types_of_abortion_is_there
wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_school_shooting
wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones

This was just too cute. Had to post.

street poetry poster 1

touch everything
hold nothing
I smell the rain coming
hear the train coming
coil springs springing
piston rings ringing
clinging, singing
I see the sun king
just above the train
I taste spring in the sprinkles of the rain
hold me nothing
touch me gently everything
the sun king kisses the rain into fire
hot raindrops become firing squads
thunder sounds lightning rods
under the kingdom of god
burning my skin
smoldering like heroin
melting into nothing
touch me everything in the morning
hold nothing
touch everything

1st poster in the street poetry series, rain

street poetry poster 2

Street Poetry

Poetry to me is like graffiti
A word filled spray can crime spree
Poetry frees me
The rhythm of graffiti allows me to be who I need to be
I close my eyes and I see poetic thoughts on my color TV
A graffiti colored remote control
The lines designs are confined to the walls of my soul
And sometimes poetry looses control
And riddles bullet holes on my now graffiti soaked soul
And I lay in pieces, peacefully
And I lay bleeding graffiti
Poetry then tries to disguise my voice
To decide a choice to live or die in each sentence
To smile know at a death sentence or to cry later in a lifetime of repentance
Poetic words become my very best friend and then that same word
My worst enemy
Each sentence holding me
Each word freeing me
Killing me softly, I stammer to my feet
Drunk with words
I stomp me feet to the beat playing in my head
Playing with my head
I head to the door dragging the rhythm on my shoes
I stop and choose to lose my place in this time and in this place
I place my hand on this smoke filled sugar shack wall
And I fall back into memories
And as reality leaves me
Poetry frees me
I lay peacefully
I bleed graffiti

2nd poster in street poetry series brining poetry to the street, also in my book, Stranger's Pilgrimage

5 months

My hair has grown a lot. I'm very happy. It is becoming more difficult to manage but I will over come this minor obstacle.

Tomorrow is the midterm elections. I will be doing my civic duty and vote. I will tell you later the outcome of the election and my hair growth.

He sat across from me. He wore a blue shirt, brown pants and a wrinkled suit jacket. Pants seemed a little short and his black horn rimmed glasses seemed awkward. His whole demeanor seemed disheveled. I wondered if he was a serial killer. I wondered if it was children or old people; wondered if he liked Dunkin Donuts. Young innocence or antique silver wear sets. He wore long skinny brown leather shoes with his big toes pointing towards each other, pigeon toed. Wondered how many children he lured into his creepy looking van, or how many old people he ducked taped to their own chairs in their own homes. He noticed me staring; he smiled like a joker, like a killer. I looked away, does he laugh like tickle me Elmo or Charles Manson. I think he is still looking at me. I look over to check, he looks down at his watch. He looks casually at time like he casually kills dreams and instills his dreams in his victims. I can feel the watches wristband around my neck, tightening. Does he use neck ties and zip ties to gag and blindfold, does he use a gun or a knife to hold us still? His fingers on his left hand remind me of kitchen knives, his right hand poised like a butcher’s cleaver. I feel him looking at me again, looking at me like he was zip tying me to my seat as I sit. Will I be able to find a pair of scissors and be able to fend him off in these zip ties? I am at the airport flying from Boston to Pittsburgh. A police officer walks by. Would she believe me if I told her I was sitting across from serial killer. My chest feels tight; I don’t want to wiggle too much. I sit still in this web, trying to act casual as I spy on the spider. Did the spider offer candy to his victims? Did he need help finding a puppy; did he offer old people financial success? Does he go door to door or school to school? Does he wear panty hose on his head or a really cool mask of President Reagan? I wonder how many victims, how many Columbian neck ties, how many bodies buried in the back yard? Boarding call, United Airlines flight 6850 from Boston to Pittsburgh.

Dance

Dance

I heard someone once say
“You hurt the ones you love the most”
I think the saying is untrue
I heard he came close to hurting you
I heard you asked him
“Why do you say the things you do”
I heard someone say you don’t like music no more
Don’t sing anymore
Don’t dance no more
Before you decide that music and dance has died
Guide your fingers around your hairbrush microphone
Get into the zone
Glide your feet to the beat
Don’t break bread in other’s mistakes
Treat each of your mistakes
Like handshakes
Like milkshakes
Every step you take
Earthquake
Devil’s food cake
Or Angel’s food cake
Escape with every breath you take
Every step you take
Shake your body like a heart transplant
Dance like a heart attack
Dance from your finger finger tips
To the smile on your lips
To your tippy tippy toes
Dance from the tip of your nose
To your gangsta clothes
Gangsta pose
Gangsta soul
Dance till your gangsta heart goes
Boom, boom, boom
Don’t stop till the silver spoon jumps the sugar
Moon, moon, moon
Don’t stop till the body rock
Till the body atomic drop
Till the body hip hop
Belly flop
Flip flop
Tank top
Stop
Dance

my first blog

Well, this is going to be my first attempt to blog. I am kind of excited and have many short stories and poems to publish.

Stranger

Boston is a great city. The people are nice and the city is beautiful. The food is very good. I never thought that I would feel so at home in Boston. Thank you Bostonians for such a wonderful experience. I have also downloaded some pics.

Even Money

I recently watched the film Even Money. It was boring and sad. I fell asleep twice. You would think a movie with a great ensemble cast would be good. Dialogue was stale. The ending felt hollow. The movie was about gamblers and their families. The movie gives us a view of the shady underworld of gambling and the consequences of living your life depending on the next big win. I really don't know what could have made this movie better. In the end, someone had to die so other lives can get better. That sucks!!!!!

Alicia

Johnstown

We are moving to Johnstown. My husband and I we be moving to there this summer. Ed has a new job and it is located in Johnstown. So, we went to visit the area. I was taken aback. The town is larger than I thought but it was another depressed community in western Pennsylvania. I thought that it would be a thriving community because John Murtha really tried to bring business to the area. However, I see that Allegheny County was not the only community that was devastated by the loss of steel mills.

Oh yeah, What is up with the many pizzerias? They were everywhere!!!!!!!!!! All they eat is pizza ;)

Starting anew

I recently watched a movie called "Strictly Sexual." It was nice. I liked the movie. The movie tells the story of people that let their sexual desires set the mood of their romantic relationships. We are watching two couples create relationships in two totally different ways. Friendship is the key component in this story. Two best girlfriends hook up with two best buddies. In the end we see how some relationships endure as other relationships evolve. The story is interesting and entertaining. I won't say you must see this movie but if you happen to see it or stumble on it do not ignore.

Alicia