End of Watch: Saturday, April 20, 2013 Deputy Chad Key, Grayson County TX Sheriff's Office

On April 20, 2013 Deputy Key was killed about 10:30 PM when he was struck by a drunk driver.  The deputy was directing traffic at an intersection when the accident happened.  Instead of stopping, the driver fled the scene as the officer died in the street.  The offender, when arrested, was found to be out of jail on bond for a previous DWI charge.

Deputy Key had been with the Grayson County Sheriff's Office for just over three years, but had served as a patrol officer for only two months at the time of his death.  Although persons charged with crimes are innocent until proven guilty, and have the right to post bail, the senselessness of this tragedy has been repeated so many times.  "Professional" or habitual drunk drivers are released on bond, go to their favorite pub to get drunk again, and drive home while they are intoxicated.  I wonder how many times this offender had made it home drunk without killing anyone or wrecking his vehicle.

May God be with the family of Deputy Key and with his fellow officers during this tragic time.  I am honored to have the privilege to honor him in some small way on this blog.

I may be wrong, but I believe that Officer Key is the first Texas peace officer to die in the line of duty in 2013.  If anyone knows of others, please correct me.  A peace officer nearly lost his life in the disaster in West, Texas last week, but was found after a short search and treated for injuries sustained in the explosion.  I pray for all police officers in Texas, that they may continue in what may be the safest year (relatively speaking) for police in decades.

Vacation Day Two

After a refreshing night's sleep, and waking up to no alarm clock, I left my spouse sleeping and I headed to the beach, Surfside Village.  I was hoping to find some interesting seashells then do some treasure hunting with my trusty Tesoro.  Unfortunately, I did not get up until 7:30 AM.  If you are familiar with the seashell hunting along the beaches of Surfside, you know that not hitting the beach until 7:30 AM is like getting to the doughnut shop at 11:05.  You see, at around 6:00 AM a squadron of little old ladies hits the beach, and there go all the "choice" shells.  So while I enjoyed a full eight hours of sleep, I am afraid I let the blue-haired league get all the shells.  Disappointing, but there was still some metal detecting to do.  So I fired up the Tesoro and hit the beach once again.

Metal detecting on the beach can be tricky because the salty sand can confuse some metal detectors, and some metal detectorists as well.  Soon I was hitting targets all over the place.  Within ten minutes I had found over one hundred Dos Equis and Natural Light bottle caps and pull tabs.  Oh yeah, and twenty seven cents.  Nearly two hours later I had increased my collection of bottle caps by a couple of pounds, and my cash haul by...umm...two cents.  I came to the conclusion that the salt may have confused the metal detector, or the sun may have confused the metal detectorists.  By the time I had spent five minutes trying to locate the last penny of my treasure trove, I was pretty sure it was time to put away the detector.  It was so disappointing not to find Lafitte's treasure.  So much so that I spent the next hour talking to a couple friendly seagulls about my metal detecting techniques.  Finding that the gulls could offer no constructive tips, I left the beach to its inhabitants and returned to Angleton.

Next stop, a quick visit to some other relatives in Angleton, then lunch at Fillips in the metropolis of Danbury (again, a GPS locate challenge!).  I decided to eat healthy today, so instead of ordering the chicken fried steak "dinner," I ordered a chicken fried steak "sandwich."  I believe I saved well over 20 calories by this change in my eating habit, and probably curved a lot of cholesterol consumption as well.  I hope my nurse practitioner back in Midland is very encouraged with my healthy dietary decisions.  I think one should make mature, healthy decisions with his diet even when he is on vacation. 

After lunch, we made a trip to Froberg's Farm in Alvin.  This is a large strawberry and other stuff farm wherein persons are allowed to pick strawberries and, the owners hope, to buy other offerings in the fresh veggie store.  I always enjoy the picking because the entire field smells like a giant strawberry sundae.  I love to pick a strawberry here and there and place it directly from the plant to my mouth.  While, for sanitary reasons, I cannot recommend this practice, I have to say that eating a fresh strawberry that has been heated to a temperature of 75 degrees by the sun is one of those rare pleasures.  Also, it is not really ethical to eat very many strawberries since Froberg's sells them by weight.  But just one, so tasty I could not resist.

By the time I had picked a couple of pounds of strawberries, it was (fortunately for my back) time to leave for another errand.  An hour later we arrived to my brother-in-law's residence and began the process of watching while my lovely bride began the process of MAKING the strawberry jam and also preparing fresh strawberries for use as a prime ingredient for strawberry shortcake.  Again, my health provider will appreciate the fact that I stopped at only two helpings of strawberry shortcake.  Like I said, those healthy eating choices are so very important.

I realize that my vacation is not a trip to the French Riviera, but the mental rest provided by generally doing nothing is worth its weight in gold.  And it is so good to see the relatives that are separated by half the state of Texas.  Just a little while ago I was able to reconnect with one of my cousins I have not seen in probably two decades or more.  We will be meeting for dinner on Wednesday, and I am eagerly awaiting the date.  Unfortunately for my wallet, there is a nice outdoor mall close to the appointed meeting place, and my lovely bride is very familiar with it.  Goodbye $$$$$$$$$.

Tomorrow, a trip to the beach again, this time to let the little grandnephewson frolic in the surf.  And visits with more relatives.  While vacationing is a time for fun and friends, we are all still in remembrance of our neighbors in Boston, Mass., and in West, TX.  May God continue to help and comfort those in need, those hurting, and those who are missing their loved ones tonight.

 

Vacation Day One

This vacation may be one of those that leaves the traveller wishing for a return to work so he can recover.  I left work at midnight Sunday morning, helped my wife pack the vehicle, and we were off at 1:30 am.  I was more than happy to let my lovely bride take the first driving shift while I snoozed off an on for a couple of hours.  All too soon; however, we reached the Flying J at Tye, TX where it suddenly became MY turn to drive.

I took over the driving task with a little trepidation because I had been awake since 7:00 AM the previous morning.  I am happy to say that there is very little EASTBOUND traffic on I-20 at 3:00 AM.  I drove through the night, admiring the scenery that I could not see, and not admiring the scenery I COULD see (read fresh and putrefying roadkill) as I travelled south on Hwy 6 from Eastland toward Waco.  Finally I could no longer keep the toothpicks propped in my eyelids, so I had to make use of a picnic area just north of Clifton.  Users of the road during this time period owe me a good deal of thanks for getting off the road when I did.  I would like to thank the denizens of the roadside park for waking me up every ten minutes or so as they foraged through the area immediately around the pickup.  I KNOW that there had to have been happier hunting in the grass and woods further away from the parking area, but...well, you know animals.

Upon awakening around 8:00 AM, I discovered that it was STILL "my turn" to drive.  I am not sure how that worked, by the way.  So, we drove on to Robinson where we stopped for no more than an hour, picking up our grandnephewson, who is "vacationing" with us.  I am sure a certain kindergarten teacher owes us a great deal of thanks for improving the conduct of her class by at least one hundred percent for the next four days.  The bad news (for said teacher) is that HE WILL be back in school on Friday.  Anyway, by 1:30 PM the three happy travellers had arrived in Needville (yes, that IS the real name of the town) to meet my spouse's brother and his wife for lunch at the Jay Restaurant.  I will leave it up to the more adventurous among you to locate this place on your computer, GPS, or IPhone. 

I can only say that it was quite a pleasant experience to finally arrive at our temporary abode for the Angleton/Pearland/Surfside/Alvin portion of the trip.  At the moment of this writing, I am being the polite visitor while using all my will power to restrain myself from racing to the beach right now!  But I will hit the beach first thing in the morning.  Not necessarily swimming weather just now, but it will be pleasant on the beach, and who knows...I may find Long John Silver's treasure there as well.

To all who are travelling, I wish you safety, and to those hosting us (and our little boy) I wish YOU ALL sanity.  As for me, I will be wearing earplugs tonight, so handling Cole will be someone else's pleasant task.  LOL

End Of Watch: Officer Sean Collier, MIT Police Department, Massachusetts April 18, 2013

Congratulations to the officers of the Boston Police, the Suffolk County police, the Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, and any others participating in the capture of the last remaining (known) Boston Marathon bombing suspect.  I am also thankful that no more officers lost their lives chasing these criminals. 

The officer that lost his life last night was a young man, no older than my own son, and had been a sworn officer less than two years.  He was shot while seated in his car, and probably while talking to the shooter, or possibly the shooter shot from some unknown location as Officer Sean Collier drove through the streets and parking lots of MIT.  Perhaps Officer Collier tried to talk to the shooter rather than drawing his gun, trying to lean more about the person before confronting him with lethal force.  In any case, my heart goes out to this young man's family and to his fellow officers.  The senseless killing of this officer was even more so because the suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, knew that he had zero chance of escaping Boston/Suffolk County unseen. 

I am thankful to Officer Sean Collier for his service to his fellow men.  Officer Collier made the ultimate sacrifice, but in so doing, the suspect's position was exposed, police converged, and eventually the suspect was apprehended with no more bloodshed.  I normally do not recognize out-of-state officers in my blog as this is done by others in those other states; however, I am honored to name Sean Collier in this simple post.  You see, he continued doing his job even though he knew that he faced more than just the danger of being shot.  He and the other officers also knew that the Tsarnaev brothers had explosives with them during their run from police, and that the two brothers also could have had suicide bombs wired to their bodies so that they could kill many more officers when they were finally captured.  Fortunately, that did not happen.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/21777-police-officer-sean-collier

Officer Collier, I honor you for your sacrifice, and I know that you are now with that Thin Blue Line that stands forever in the Light and Comfort of the Good Shepherd.

Thoughts Of The People Of West, Texas In Their Tragedy

It is so hard to believe how quickly things can change.  As if Monday's bombings were not enough tragedy for one week, now we hear that a fertilizer plant in the tiny town of West, Texas, just north of Waco, exploded multiple times with resulting loss of life and severe injuries.  Well over one hundred people were effected in the initial explosions.  Possibly some firefighters and other first responders were lost in the secondary explosion.  In any case, some of the firefighters are unaccounted for at this time.

The loss of life and the severe injuries are terrible in themselves, but also many homes and other structures were damaged so severely that the area looked as if a major hurricane had blasted through.  Many pets and some livestock were killed in the explosions as well.  I am sure that some of my former workmates are responding to this tragedy, and I send them, as well as all effected, my prayers for their safety, and my hope that the missing are found alive, that help reaches them as soon as possible.

Tragedy can strike anywhere, anytime, and with unbelievable fury.  May God be with all the people in West tonight, with all the responders, and may He cover them with His protection while they are in harm's way.  As for those who lost their lives, I know they are in His care now...and it is their loved ones who need God's love and comfort in their loss.

God bless West, Texas...

On Terrorism And Banning Pressure Cookers

With the attacks on the Boston Marathon participants and spectators just hours past, I have already seen the facetious calls for bans on pressure cookers and backpacks.  And in one of my past blogs, I called for a ban on bows and arrows, and on hunting knives, after a young man killed his mother and her boyfriend with his bow and arrow set, then finished the job with his trusty hunting knife.  Many common and harmless objects can be used for weapons as well, just ask any correctional officer.  And should we ban cell phones?  I mean, after all, investigators think it quite likely that someone detonated the two Boston bombs via cell phone. If "banning" of objects is based on the number of deaths caused by those objects, then it strains the brain to believe that someone has not yet called for a ban of all automobiles.  The common denominator between all of these "deadly" objects and the people killed is that some person used an object in a way the object was not to be used.  Elementary I know, yet true nonetheless. So, how do you ban that common denominator?  The answer is...you can't.  At least not in a free society.  And we have seen how the totalitarian societies kept their citizens "safe," that by throwing them in jail, putting them to work in concentration camps and farms, or just killing them outright.  I prefer my liberty even at the risk of being killed by some idiot or fanatic with an exploding pressure cooker.  Patrick Henry (if you don't know who this is check your American history book) told the people, "Give me liberty or give me death!"  Someone else said that the price of liberty is death, and as we saw Monday, that is indeed the case.

You see, we have always been "at risk" as social workers and educators like to say, in the sense that ever since the founding of this nation, there have been those who have used our very freedom and liberty against us.  From criminals shielded by the Miranda Warning to terrorists flying airplanes into skyscrapers, there have always been those who have threatened both our personal and our national liberty.  From the very day the Constitution was ratified, men like Alexander Hamilton plotted to somehow bring dictatorship to the new republic.  Now over two hundred years later, men are still trying to deprive us of our freedom.  I believe, however, that the threat from within is worse than the threat from outsiders.  For instance, prior to 9/11 there was no way that a measure like USA PATRIOT would have ever been introduced in Congress.  So many of the measures within this law are patently and obviously unconstitutional, but the fear of more terrorist attacks made sheep of our leaders, and of many citizens as well.  So, in truth it was not the terrorists who took our freedom, but our very government, lead by George W. Bush, the President so many people "miss" now that an even worse President is in office.  And that worse President has done his level best to not only keep the Bush legacy intact, but has even voted to extend and expand its provisions.  Bush initiated the Drone War, now Obama has expanded it and even hinted that military drones might soon be patrolling American air space.  His attorney general has even said that it would be justifiable to attack Americans on American soil with said drones.  I don't know about you, but I am starting to have trouble distinguishing exactly who the terrorists really are. 

I would like also to point out the obvious, but here it is anyway.  USA PATRIOT, the National Defense Authorization Act, and other similar measures, have brought to bear the full weight of national and military resources in the War On Terror (WOT).  Many of us have seen the great and awesome powers these laws grant to the federal government, with the corresponding lack of legislative or judicial checks and balances, and we have cringed as we saw our freedom slipping away. Yet, with all this new power, all these new agencies, the government is no more able to defend us from acts of terrorism that it was on 9/12.  But, you and I are much less free than we were a decade ago.  You or I, by displeasing someone in power by what we say or do, are subject to being arrested and placed in a jail that is out of sight and off the grid.  No judge, state or federal, has the power to stop such arrests and detention.  Indeed, the regular justice system would have no knowledge of our whereabouts, so it could not help us.  And, we could be detained in that system until the WOT is over.  Tell me, when will "Terror" ever be defeated?  But until then, you could be held in a special detention center with no access to anyone on the outside.  Please don't take my word for this, or just call me paranoid and go on.  Instead, read the full text of USA PATRIOT and the National Defense Authorization Act.  You will see that I have only scratched the surface in today's post.

I hope the terrorists that committed Monday's atrocities are caught and prosecuted, but as yet authorities are not even sure who the suspects are.  On the other hand, the terrorists in the White House and in Washington DC are known to everyone, but nothing is done about it.  It would be deeply satisfying and calming to me to know that the Boston terrorists were safely in jail, and it would be just as satisfying, even more so, if the terrorists in Washington were safely housed in the next cell over. 


 

Boston Marathon Explosions: It Was Terrorism No Matter Who Set The Bombs

The news started pouring in early yesterday afternoon.  Two explosions near the finish line at the Boston Marathon.  The first reports said at least three were dead, over a hundred people were injured.  By the time I went to work later Monday afternoon, police had already arrested, I mean, "detained" a "person of interest."  And the speculation was at full blast...

First, it is most important that we focus our thoughts and prayers on those injured, and our sympathies with the families of those who were killed.  Current reports, by the way, have upped the total of dead person to twelve.  I cannot know how terrified and traumatized those people, the runners and the spectators, must have been (and still are) but I know, at least for those present at the explosions, the feeling must be something akin to that felt by New Yorkers in 2001.  Yes, I know the perpetrator(s) must be caught, but first let us join together in sympathy and remembrance of our neighbors who are hurting or who lost their loved ones to this act of terror.

Second, I would like to step out on what may be an unpopular limb and point out that the person of interest...no, let's call him what he is...the suspect, who happens to be a Saudi national, is just that - a suspect.  He was "arrested" by a citizen who believed he was acting suspiciously.  The action? The Saudi national, having been burned, was running away from the scene of the explosions.  I am pretty sure (and the video supports this) that several hundred other people were running away from the blast.  So actually the suspect was exhibiting normal behavior at the time of the citizen's arrest.  But the arresting citizen told officers that "I saw this guy once before."  So this man is in custody.  I just want to point out that he may have had nothing to do with the bombing.  But he was a Middle Eastern person! Yes, but so were many other present yesterday.  So the FBI and other acronyms raided his home and found "bags of evidence." I want to take the unpopular, but legal, stance that the person of interest is innocent until proven guilty.  It would not be a surprise that the man looks at Arab websites.  That alone would be enough to seal his fate, given that we are currently engaged in the War On Terror and constitutional rights are out the window.  But I think about all of the militia, conservative, and Texas nationalist websites that I have viewed at least once.  Some agency with a three letter acronym could probably make me a "suspect" if they tried.

Third, I am so totally infuriated by our government representatives, including BO, who would not utter the "T-word" for nearly twenty-four hours after the attacks.  Of course this was an act of terrorism.  Just pick up a dictionary and look up...er, I mean GOOGLE the word.  You will find that that "terrorism" is "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes."  As soon as it was clear that bombs had been detonated, then it was equally clear that an act of terrorism had been perpetrated. Whether by Arab "militants" or "White separatists," or flat out "nut jobs," an act of terror is still an act of terror.  

I join millions of Americans in the outpouring of sympathy for our neighbors in Boston.  I also join the millions in hopes that the responsible person is caught, or the responsible group is caught.  But I feel like I am taking a step away from the crowd because I hope that the man arrested is investigated, along with what ever evidence is found, and that he is given a fair chance at due process.  I also hope that so much focus is not placed on this man that others responsible are allowed to escape prosecution.  If the man did it, whether alone or in conspiracy, I hope that he faces the full force of the law.  But if he did not, then I hope the full force of the law frees him then turns to those responsible. I sincerely hope that investigators do not simply do the easy thing and make a scapegoat of this man, leaving the real perpetrator out there to deal out more terrorism another day.