"From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me."
Walt Whitman (1819-92)
"When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break."
Akhenaton (d. c.1354 BC)
And now, the current weather, from some random person we pulled off the street:
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Creepy at the Hardware Store
bond-age Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from bonde customary tenant, from Middle English 1 : sadomasochistic sexual practices involving the physical restraint of one partner 2 : not for families or young impressionable children
I was standing over by the fan pulls in our local hardware store when it started.
I was overhearing a conversation between a young man, maybe 15, 16 or so, his younger sister of about 12, and his real young sister of about 5 or 6.
"You remember playing 'Hostage?'" he said.
"Whats hostage?' the five year old said.
"That's when I tied up (12 year old's name here) in a chair and then we see if she can get out. It was fun, right?"
"Yeah," the 12 year old replied.
"I wanna play hostage! When we go home you can tie me up too!" the five year old excitedly joined in.
"Yeah, that'll be fun! But this time I want to try duct tape!" Both girls seemed excited.
Shortly after this, they left the store with their father, who was maybe ten feet from them during the entire conversation, well within earshot. He never said anything, and looked like a man who would rather ignore things and let them pass, and had developed the skill of selective listening.
Me, I was sick to my stomach. I'm still getting mental images of that very dangerous kid doing unspeakable things to his siblings, and eventually to others.
And what happens to his sisters? I will venture a guess that they don't even know they are wounded, and may never know why they act as they do. They will think they just have a penchant for choosing bad men.
They might not remember the duct tape. But broken is broken, and innocence broken is the worst of all.
It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes in The Copper Beeches British mystery author & physician (1859 - 1930)
Bureaucratic Thinking III During a prison uprising in California, inmate Daniel Provencio, 28, was shot in the head by a guard. Despite being hit with a foam bullet designed for riot control, Provencio was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced brain dead. But because he was still an inmate he still had to be guarded — and shackled to his hospital bed. “A guard will remain,” said a prison spokesman, since “potentially, someone could come in and wheel him out.” And handcuffing him to his bed? “If we were to go unshackle him, we’d have to consult with the union” representing the prison guards. The 24-hour guard cost the state more than $1,000 per day. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, fighting to erase a multi-billion-dollar deficit, called the situation “ludicrous,” the prison system credited Provencio with time served “and cut him loose,” the spokesman says. He died 18 days later, leaving more than $100,000 in hospital bills. (San Jose Mercury News) ...To save money in the future, Schwarzenegger has ordered a return to lead bullets. Available in This is True: Book Collection Vol. 11
