An Eye For An Eye

These are the mugshots of abusive parents. Here's the story:

A 13 year-old boy who was tied to a tree two nights this week by his father and stepmother has died.

The boy's father told deputies he had tied the teen to a tree outside the home Tuesday night because he was being disobedient and other disciplinary actions had failed.

The father said he untied the boy Wednesday morning and allowed him back into the house, but he was tied to the tree a second time that night when he started acting up again. The boy remained tied up until his stepmother found him unconscious at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. (Source: WRAL.com)

You read that right. Parents tied their kid to a tree. Overnight. Twice.

At first, I thought that the parents should be shot, drawn and quartered and then shot again. But the more I thought about it, the more disgusted and appalled I became at how any parent could do that to their child, the more I came up with a better solution.

An eye for an eye.

I propose a new law. It's called the "Eye for an Eye" law, and, while I don't believe it is appropriate in all cases, I do believe it applies to cases of child abuse.

Let's tie the parents to a tree. In the summer. During 95 degree days that don't cool off much at night. And just because of the heinous nature of their actions, let's cover them in honey and release fire ants onto them. That should even things out, don't you think?

Jail is too easy for these, dare I say, "people." Give 'em what they've given out. Maybe it would prevent other parents from abusing their children. Unlikely, I know.

But I can hope.

WTF, part 2

Are you kidding me?

On the June 6 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse, host E.D. Hill teased an upcoming discussion on a gesture Sen. Barack Obama shared with his wife, Michelle, saying, "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently." (source: the Huffington Post)

"A terrorist fist jab." A terrorist fist jab. Are they serious? Did I actually write those words? Who comes up with this crap? Even Joseph McCarthy is laughing at this. Where does Fox come up with these people? Who actually believes this bullshit?

Why am I even blogging about this?

(Because I have to share the stupidity and warn all of you to be careful out there.)

Ms. Hill even brought in a body-language expert to analyze the so-called "terrorist fist jab."

She did apologize, saying

I mentioned various ways the Obamas' fist pump in St. Paul had been characterized in the media. I apologize because unfortunately, some thought I personally had characterized it inappropriately. I regret that. It was not my intention. And I certainly didn't mean to associate the word "terrorist" in any way to Senator Obama and his wife. Now, today, the senator is talking about the economy. (source: The Huffington Post)

The fact that Fox actually let her apologize should be duly noted as an act of God. That was, however, not enough, as Ms. Hill's show was cancelled the day after her apology.

Should you feel the need to make your voice here regarding this, ahem, "issue," you can do so here. You can also witness this assinine joke via the same link.

Unfortunately, she is being replaced with Bill O'Reilly female doppelganger, Laura Ingraham. Yeah, she's a peach.

Close your eyes and bow your heads, I need a little sympathy

Hello, my name is Scott and I am trying to relive past glory that never happened by playing softball despite being in great pain.

I'm an idiot for playing. Here's why:

I'm out of shape.
I have a bone spur that has grown into my Achilles' tendon which causes the tendon to have limited flexibility.
I have a herniated disc in my lower back which causes ME to have limited flexibility.
I'm out of shape.

During the game, I am fine. My body has generally loosened up enough to move without piercing pain.

The next morning, however, is a different story.

It's hard to get out of bed. It's hard to walk once I do get out of bed. It generally hurts to move for the rest of the day.

I'm an idiot to do this to myself.

But play on I do. I can't help it. I love baseball/softball. I'm the coach of the company team, and we're pretty good. The competition is good. The comraderie is great. The idea of it all is wonderful.

The after-effects are wretched.

My wife supports my softball habit, though I suspect she wonders why I do this to myself. But she supports me nonetheless, and I love her for that. When she and my daughters come to the games, they cheer me on and that does wonders for the psyche. At that moment, it makes it seem so worthwhile.

I suppose that every addiction has that moment. The heroin slipping into the bloodstream. The buzz of being numb after that bottle of Jack. The buzz is the catch. It's the reason why.

I don't think there's a support program for my addiction, however. And anyways, I don't think I could walk up those 12 steps.

Recollections from the weekend

We went to Asheville, NC this weekend to visit my family. For the first time that I can recall, it wasn't really a stressful trip. Which is good.

Some thoughts from the weekend:

* It brings great joy to me to watch my daughter and my mom interact. The happiness on both of their faces delights me to no end.

* Government help for senior citizens sucks, for lack of a better term. I'd go further into this, but the rage I'll develop won't let me get to sleep tonight.

* There are a lot of great people in the mountains.

* There are a plethora of odd, rough-looking scary people in the mountains that remind me of why I moved away.

* Someone thinks Debit Cards are called "Debid" Cards...and they displayed that knowledge to the world.

* I love that my wife and I "get" each other and don't have to say a word to acknowledge it.

* I miss my niece and nephew tremendously and feel somewhat guilty that I don't live closer by so that I can be there for them. Sometimes, no one is there for them. Not intentionally. Just circumstance.

I'm sure there's more, but it's late and I'm tired. It was good to see family again.