Forgiveness and understanding

Earlier this year a friend of my parent's, an 80 something lady that lives by herself in Paradise, went to her bank early in the morning, withdrew $1,000 in cash and drove home. As she was sitting in her car in her carport, preparing to exit the vehicle, somebody opened the car door, put their hand over her mouth, grabbed the money and took off running. She was physically unharmed but has been very frightened since this incident.

They caught the guy who did it. He was a young guy, 17 I think. He had been in the bank in line behind her and saw her withdraw all that cash, followed her and snatched it.

My parents told me this story as I was over at their house a while back. After finishing it my mother expressed her dismay that the kid would probably get put in some juvenile facility and only for a few years or so. My dad had a knee jerk "They should throw him in prison for good" type of reaction.

Personally, I think he shouldn't go to prison.


One of the biggest 'villains' of the past five years was the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh.
When he was 16 he converted to Islam. The next year he traveled to Yemen to learn Arabic so he could read his holy book, the Qur'an. After coming back to America for a few months he returned to the middle east to study at an Islamic school. When he was 20 he was captured by people on our side and was interrogated. After being tortured, he confessed to being part of Al Queda. He was enventually offered a plea bargain. He admitted to providing his services as a soldier to the Taliban and to carrying a weapon. 20 years without parole.

I think this is an abortion of justice.

A 16 year old kid, by all accounts a pretty intelligent and sensitive kid, trying to get through one of the roughest periods in a human's life, found something that worked for him, something that made sense, gave meaning to his life and provided him with inner peace. It happened to be Islam but it could have been Christianity, it could have been joining the military, it could have been listening to The Smiths. Most 16 year olds, when they get hold of something like that, they really get into it. They grab it with both hands, which is what Lindh did. When he started fighting with the Taliban, America wasn't even fighting in Afghanistan yet. And when we finally did get there, the side we joined was a side that had been against us not to much earlier. The 'whose side are you on' situation in Afghanistan is pretty jacked up. Lindh shouldn't be in prison for 20 years.

Everybody does stupid things when they are young. It's part of being young. If you are lucky, you survive and don't go to prison and can look back at what you did, maybe with some shame and maybe with a chuckle. I know I did things that were illegal and stupid and dangerous some 20 years ago. I got lucky. I never crashed my motorcycle (too bad) and I never got caught doing anything illegal.

I think too many adults forget what it was like to be young. I'm not saying that the kid who snatched that money from the old lady shouldn't get in trouble, but I think putting him in some sort of prison for 5 years is just going to make him worse.

I dunno what exactly my point is.

This post brought to you by insomnia

Forgiveness and understanding

Earlier this year a friend of my parent's, an 80 something lady that lives by herself in Paradise, went to her bank early in the morning, withdrew $1,000 in cash and drove home. As she was sitting in her car in her carport, preparing to exit the vehicle, somebody opened the car door, put their hand over her mouth, grabbed the money and took off running. She was physically unharmed but has been very frightened since this incident.

They caught the guy who did it. He was a young guy, 17 I think. He had been in the bank in line behind her and saw her withdraw all that cash, followed her and snatched it.

My parents told me this story as I was over at their house a while back. After finishing it my mother expressed her dismay that the kid would probably get put in some juvenile facility and only for a few years or so. My dad had a knee jerk "They should throw him in prison for good" type of reaction.

Personally, I think he shouldn't go to prison.


One of the biggest 'villains' of the past five years was the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh.
When he was 16 he converted to Islam. The next year he traveled to Yemen to learn Arabic so he could read his holy book, the Qur'an. After coming back to America for a few months he returned to the middle east to study at an Islamic school. When he was 20 he was captured by people on our side and was interrogated. After being tortured, he confessed to being part of Al Queda. He was enventually offered a plea bargain. He admitted to providing his services as a soldier to the Taliban and to carrying a weapon. 20 years without parole.

I think this is an abortion of justice.

A 16 year old kid, by all accounts a pretty intelligent and sensitive kid, trying to get through one of the roughest periods in a human's life, found something that worked for him, something that made sense, gave meaning to his life and provided him with inner peace. It happened to be Islam but it could have been Christianity, it could have been joining the military, it could have been listening to The Smiths. Most 16 year olds, when they get hold of something like that, they really get into it. They grab it with both hands, which is what Lindh did. When he started fighting with the Taliban, America wasn't even fighting in Afghanistan yet. And when we finally did get there, the side we joined was a side that had been against us not to much earlier. The 'whose side are you on' situation in Afghanistan is pretty jacked up. Lindh shouldn't be in prison for 20 years.

Everybody does stupid things when they are young. It's part of being young. If you are lucky, you survive and don't go to prison and can look back at what you did, maybe with some shame and maybe with a chuckle. I know I did things that were illegal and stupid and dangerous some 20 years ago. I got lucky. I never crashed my motorcycle (too bad) and I never got caught doing anything illegal.

I think too many adults forget what it was like to be young. I'm not saying that the kid who snatched that money from the old lady shouldn't get in trouble, but I think putting him in some sort of prison for 5 years is just going to make him worse.

I dunno what exactly my point is.

This post brought to you by insomnia

men make the best cooks

The girlfriend is currently being a vegan. I decided to cook her somthing today, for dinner. I'm not much of a cook, everything I make is an experiment. I hate following instructions, I usually am missing an ingredient or two that is on the recipe so I throw in something else. I usually don't actually measure anything, just sort of splash or dash a bit of whatever into the mix.

I made some stir fried tofu with veggies and some wierd noodles called Pancit Canton noodles. I added some Mongolian fire oil and some chili garlic sauce and some other spices, because she likes it spicy.

Initially she said she liked it, but she didn't have much and when I pressed her to tell me the truth she admitted that she thought it was 'wierd'. And she didn't like the noodles.

So fine. We'll mark that experiment as a failure. I've got the other half of the tofu cut into strips and soaking in some sauce overnight. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with that tomorrow.

men make the best cooks

The girlfriend is currently being a vegan. I decided to cook her somthing today, for dinner. I'm not much of a cook, everything I make is an experiment. I hate following instructions, I usually am missing an ingredient or two that is on the recipe so I throw in something else. I usually don't actually measure anything, just sort of splash or dash a bit of whatever into the mix.

I made some stir fried tofu with veggies and some wierd noodles called Pancit Canton noodles. I added some Mongolian fire oil and some chili garlic sauce and some other spices, because she likes it spicy.

Initially she said she liked it, but she didn't have much and when I pressed her to tell me the truth she admitted that she thought it was 'wierd'. And she didn't like the noodles.

So fine. We'll mark that experiment as a failure. I've got the other half of the tofu cut into strips and soaking in some sauce overnight. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with that tomorrow.

mountain men were pretty burly!

For whatever reason, I was reading some of the entries on this list of mountain men on wikipedia. Some of those guys were serious badasses.

Check out this story of Liver-Eating Johnson:
One story is that Johnson was ambushed by a group of Blackfoot warriors in the dead of winter on a foray to visit his Flathead kin, a trip that would have been over five hundred miles. The Blackfoot plan was to sell him to the Crow his mortal enemies for a handsome price. He was stripped to the waist, tied with leather thongs and put in a teepee with an inexperienced guard outside. Johnson managed to chew through the straps, then knocked out his young guard with one crippling jab between the eyes, took his knife and scalped him, then quickly cut off one of his legs at the hip. Allegedly using the leg as a blunt weapon, he made his escape into the woods, and survived on the Blackfoot's leg until he reached the cabin of Del Gue his trapping partner, more dead than alive, a journey of about two hundred miles.

Cut off the dude's leg at the hip, used it a blunt weapon and later ate it. What have you got?

And this doozy from Hugh Glass:
Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins County, while scouting alone for game to add to the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a she-grizzly with two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.

Glass managed to kill the bear, but was left badly mauled and unable to walk. Glass's companions, hearing his screams, arrived on the scene after the fight. When Glass lost consciousness, Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.

Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Bridger (then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by Arikaree Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.

Bridger and Fitzgerald reported to Henry -- wrongly it turned out -- that Glass had died.

Instead, despite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness. He did so only to find himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment, suffering from a broken leg, the cuts on his back exposing bare ribs, and all his wounds festering. Glass lay mutilated and lame more than 200 mi (320 km) from the nearest settlement at Fort Kiowa on the Missouri.

In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling. To prevent gangrene, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log and let the maggots eat the dead flesh.

Deciding that following the Grand would be too dangerous because of "hostiles" (aggressive natives), Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River. It took him months to reach it.

Glass survived mostly on wild berries and roots. On one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the meat. Reaching the Cheyenne, he fashioned a crude raft and floated down the river. Aided by "friendlies" (sympathetic natives), Glass eventually reached the safety of Fort Kiowa.

Hugh Glass was a BAD MOTHERFUCKER!

Just killing the mama grizzly with a knife puts him the bad mofo category, but then the rest of it, that puts him over the top. He might very well be the baddest motherfucker ever.

He later hunted down those two bastards that left him there, planning to kill them, but pity stayed his hand.

mountain men were pretty burly!

For whatever reason, I was reading some of the entries on this list of mountain men on wikipedia. Some of those guys were serious badasses.

Check out this story of Liver-Eating Johnson:
One story is that Johnson was ambushed by a group of Blackfoot warriors in the dead of winter on a foray to visit his Flathead kin, a trip that would have been over five hundred miles. The Blackfoot plan was to sell him to the Crow his mortal enemies for a handsome price. He was stripped to the waist, tied with leather thongs and put in a teepee with an inexperienced guard outside. Johnson managed to chew through the straps, then knocked out his young guard with one crippling jab between the eyes, took his knife and scalped him, then quickly cut off one of his legs at the hip. Allegedly using the leg as a blunt weapon, he made his escape into the woods, and survived on the Blackfoot's leg until he reached the cabin of Del Gue his trapping partner, more dead than alive, a journey of about two hundred miles.

Cut off the dude's leg at the hip, used it a blunt weapon and later ate it. What have you got?

And this doozy from Hugh Glass:
Near the forks of the Grand River in present-day Perkins County, while scouting alone for game to add to the expedition's larder, Glass surprised a she-grizzly with two cubs. Before he could fire his rifle, the bear charged, picked him up, and threw him to the ground. Glass got up, grappled for his knife, and fought back, stabbing the animal repeatedly as the grizzly raked him time and again with her claws.

Glass managed to kill the bear, but was left badly mauled and unable to walk. Glass's companions, hearing his screams, arrived on the scene after the fight. When Glass lost consciousness, Henry became convinced the man would not survive his injuries.

Henry asked for two volunteers to stay with Glass until he died, and then bury him. Bridger (then 17 years old) and Fitzgerald stepped forward, and as the rest of the party moved on, began digging his grave. Later claiming that they were interrupted in the task by an attack by Arikaree Indians, the pair grabbed Glass's rifle, knife, and other equipment, and took flight.

Bridger and Fitzgerald reported to Henry -- wrongly it turned out -- that Glass had died.

Instead, despite his injuries, Glass regained consciousness. He did so only to find himself abandoned, without weapons or equipment, suffering from a broken leg, the cuts on his back exposing bare ribs, and all his wounds festering. Glass lay mutilated and lame more than 200 mi (320 km) from the nearest settlement at Fort Kiowa on the Missouri.

In one of the more remarkable treks known to history, Glass set his own leg, wrapped himself in the bear hide his companions had placed over him as a shroud, and began crawling. To prevent gangrene, Glass laid his wounded back on a rotting log and let the maggots eat the dead flesh.

Deciding that following the Grand would be too dangerous because of "hostiles" (aggressive natives), Glass crawled overland south toward the Cheyenne River. It took him months to reach it.

Glass survived mostly on wild berries and roots. On one occasion he was able to drive two wolves from a downed bison calf, and feast on the meat. Reaching the Cheyenne, he fashioned a crude raft and floated down the river. Aided by "friendlies" (sympathetic natives), Glass eventually reached the safety of Fort Kiowa.

Hugh Glass was a BAD MOTHERFUCKER!

Just killing the mama grizzly with a knife puts him the bad mofo category, but then the rest of it, that puts him over the top. He might very well be the baddest motherfucker ever.

He later hunted down those two bastards that left him there, planning to kill them, but pity stayed his hand.