What We Did Forget

 

"Never Forget" has long been a battle cry in the United States and after September 11, 2001 it became cemented in our minds. After the 9/11 attacks Americans and even our politicians set differences aside. We all came together in support of first responders, New Yorkers, the people lost at The Pentagon, the families of those lost on Flight 93. We ( us non-New Yorkers) didn't hate the Yankees that year. Most of the country could cheer for the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl. The U.S. flag was flying everywhere you turned. We cared a little more about our neighbors. 

We were willing to let the government take away a little bit of our freedom in the name of fighting terrorism. We sent care packages to troops who were sent off to fight "the war on terror." We gave donations for any fundraiser in the name of first responders. Through the horrible events of 9/11, as the dust cleared we learned of amazing stories of bravery, sacrifice, compassion. Strangers helping strangers. Strangers rallying together on hijacked plane, to not let what happened three times already, happen a fourth time. Evil arrived and it brought out the best in us.

But it didn't last. Yes, every year on 9/11 we post pics and write "Never Forget," but our every day actions show the rest of the year show differently. 

As time went on we all drifted back to a regular day to day. We and our politicians dug back into our political trenches. First in ways like withholding military funding and money for the First Responders Survivors Fund, as a way of grandstanding and playing politics with people's lives. Then, as we were struck with another test of our resiliency and humanity, a large portion of our country, who have pumped full of lies from Trump, Republican politicians, Fox News, Alex Jones and and other right wing media outlets, refused to come together to fight off COVID. They were willing to give up freedoms with "The Patriot Act" but wearing a mask is a bridge too far. They want Trump's name on the COVID Vaccine, but they refuse to get the vaccine.

"Never forget! Never forget! NEVER FORGET!"

Yet 650,000 Americans have died in the last couple years since COVID hit, with more every day and most people forgot them seconds after they passed. The number of COVID deaths is equal to 9/11 happening 217 times. Why is it so easy to forget the lives lost from COVID?

Americans yelled "Never Forget" after the Sandy Hook school shooting, but nothing legitimate was done by our leaders to prevent it from happening again. School shootings and mass shooting continue and many forgot all about the young children from Sandy Hook who would have been starting high school this year.

Americans seem to have no problem forgetting. Forgetting loss, forgetting facts, forgetting science, forgetting history. What we forgot most was our decency, compassion, humanity, our togetherness.

So when you post your yearly "Never Forget" bullshit, think about how much you really have forgotten.

Israel, Don't Throw Away Your Humanity

Hmmm...That should stir some emotions...It's a pretty sad picture isn't? So is this next one...

In case you don't quite get it...That's his child...These picture don't get a lot of play from the U.S. media...Why?  because these people are Palestinian....And for my entire life, the crooked politicians, and the media, run mostly by dolts have told us that Israel is our solemn ally, and we must support them no matter what...Sometimes allies are wrong...You know, like the top 3 spies caught spying on the U.S. were from Israel...

Before we go any further, this is not an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic post...This is just my honest opinion...And you will never hear, read, or see me supporting Islamic Extremists and a terrorist group such as Hamas...This is simply me trying to make people aware that for ten days, while everyone was fixated on LeBron James, innocent Palestinian children have been getting ripped to shreds by Israeli bombs...And I'm not joking about the LeBron shit...Luke Russert  lost any once or credibility and tarnished his father's great reputation when interviewing a congressman, he cut him off, stooped everything, and announced that James had decided to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers...

And yes, plenty of innocent children in Israel have been killed over the years of constant, insane warring in that region...But I'm talking about right now...We can't do anything about the past, other then making the future better...

We always hear about how Israel is mistreated in that region...But it wasn't until I had a friend who's family was Palestinian that I found out just how awful Israelis treated them...No, it's not as bad as how Jews were treated by the Germans...But it's still bad...Yes, Hamas has done awful things, but that doesn't mean throw away humanity...That doesn't mean lobbing bombs on a beach where innocent children had been playing soccer...

Anthony Bourdain Tweeted about this picture...Maybe it’s the fact that I walked on that beach—and have a small child that makes this photo so devastating. #Gaza

No matter who you are, and where you've been, this should be devastating to you...

Shortly before this happened, NBC reporter, Ayman Mohyeldin had been kicking the ball with them...Four children were killed and three more were wounded in the Israeli airstrike...Mohyeldin tweeted this picture, along with a picture of a crying mother...He tweeted the facts of the children being bombed...Shortly after simply reporting what had happened, NBC removed him from his post...This bothers me greatly, because everytime  some one calls Israel out for the horrible shit they do, it's swept under the rug...They are shut up...Just because some one is considered an ally doesn't mean we should bite our tongues when they are being fuck-ups...

Israel is being a fuck-up...





After all this, I would have hoped to see Israel try to de-escalate the situation, but instead, they started rolling ground forces into Gaza today...I'm sorry Israel, I can't support you right now...You have indiscriminately killed innocent men, women and children, and instead of trying slow things down, trying to get some civilized talks going, you are pushing for all out war...You actually seem hell bent on wiping out the Palestinian people...You're throwing away ever once of your humanity you have, and I would have expected more from an "ally."


The Beeze.

Monday Moaning (Questioning Our Humanity)

Happy Easter all! I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you and yours! When I got home from work Saturday night, I had to do my job of playing Easter Bunny...The wife had all the stuff stashed...But I had no idea just how much...Some things are getting lost in the communication, because we text more lately, since we work opposite schedules...Well, she went a bit overboard...There are still a few bags of candy stashed, that will be taken to our respective work places to get rid of it all...Damn these kids are spoiled...But seeing just how excited Molly was, and even Little Beeze who lead the scoring in the egg hunt, made it worth it...Even if it was too early to wake up....

So, I'm still very much out of the loop when it comes to news and sports...When I get home from work, I may catch a bit of a late NHL Playoff game, or a west coast baseball game...But I mostly nod off in the chair with that...Although Chicago and St. Louis' 3 OT playoff game kept me up...Way too late!

So I thought I'd get into a topic that has been on my mind for awhile now...I pretty much have always been willing to share anything in my blogs, but I've held back a bit lately...I had an incident a couple months ago that slightly rattled me...And since, has had me questioning where we are as a society, and where I am as a human...

It was a Saturday night...My daughter had a couple friends sleeping over...We had eaten a mess of Chinese food...Then, around 8:00PM my wife remembered our son was suppose to go to a birthday party the next day, and we hadn't gotten a gift for his friend...So I ran up to the Wal-Mart that's less then 5 minutes away...When I was walking back to my car, A guy popped out, and demanded my phone, and wallet...I had my keys in my hand, so I was already plotting what to do...I didn't see a weapon, and told him I didn't have a phone, and had no cash...He demanded again...I told him my cards were all maxed out, it's not worth it...(Give me credit for trying to at least defuse the situation)...He got agitated, and demanded again, and stepped closer, I reached toward my pocket, with the hand that had my keys, and then I swung and unlocked his face with a key...He bounced off the car and ran...

Some one saw a bit of  it, ran over and called the police...They were there in seconds...I gave them a description, even saying he has a keyhole in his face...I went home, put an ice pack on my hand, and sat alone in the kitchen, trying to calm down...I'm pretty sure I broke something in my hand, but I never got it checked...My wife came in and kept asking what was wrong...I kept trying not to tell her, because I didn't want her worried, plus I didn't want the kids to hear...Eventually, I told her, which lead to her worrying, and saying, "What if he had a gun?" My first response was, "Then I would have kept punching him."  Now, if I actually saw a gun, I would have reacted differently...I assume...But calming myself down, turned into calming her down...So the tension lasted for a longer then I would have liked...

Now, I've never been a very trusting person...And I would classify myself as cynical...But I feel like I've become worse since this event...A couple weeks ago, I was driving to the store, and a older woman, older then my mother, was walking across the street, holding up a finger, asking me to wait...I rolled down the window, and she asked where I was going, which lead me to abruptly respond, "What do you want?"  She said her "mother fell in her apartment and needs help, could you give me a ride there?"  I very rudely said no and drove off...

As I was driving, this was my thought process...'what was this little old lady going to do to me'...'what kind of scam is she really pulling off? What an asshole I am!'....'wait, how the hell old is her mother?...fuck that, something shady is going on.'

Later in the evening, I thought about it more, and really wondered, 'what the fuck is wrong with me?' Then, a week later, coming the opposite way down the same street...There she was, doing the same thing, stopping cars, and asking for a ride...I felt validated...'Old bitch is running some fucking scam!'

As I drove by, and noticed multiple car ignore her, I had two thoughts...'Does everyone in this town know about this lady?'  followed by, 'What is wrong with all of us, that we are so unwilling, or afraid to take an old lady at her word, and help her out?'

Is this really what we are, or are becoming? I won't deny being a negative fucker most my life, but it's gotten worse since some piece of shit tried to rob me...The thing that really bothers me, is I know, there is so much to be happy and positive about...My kids show me that every day...But the evil shit seems to be doing it's best to stuff the good shit down...And I know, I'm not alone...I saw other people blow that lady off...

There was a time, including in my lifetime, that I or some one else wouldn't have had a second thought about helping that lady out...Now we say fuck her...What happened?

The Beeze.