Pleading for Intolerance in a Liberal City

Fear
"Thia? It's Peggy."
"Oh, hey. How are you?"
"Well, not so good..."
"What's wrong?"
"... it's your father..."

I received this phonecall Sunday morning at 10am. My father was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

In a college town...
Even in neighborhood-friendly Lawrence, Ks there are murders committed, hundreds of aggrivated assaults, and dozens of forceable rapes each year in addition to thousands of petty thefts. Is this surprising to you? It was to me.
[More Stats]

What can we do?
I am becoming more and more an advocate of harsher sentencing. Maybe this won't solve all crime, but at the very least, I think we can stand together as a community as a voice of intolerance against crimes committed with the intent of inflicting bodily harm.

It's humbling to me that I could be fatherless today and the world robbed of such an amazing individual with the flick of a wrist because someone was mad at him.

I think that we have the power to impose some change on this: Last year, one of our local judges, Paula Martin, received an intense ammount of heat for light sentencing (9 months probation) passed on three men who raped at 13 year old girl. Just last month, she passed a 21-year sentence for a local man sleeping with his 13-year-old his babysitter. Quite a positive turnaround.
[Judge Martin's Turnaround]

Sobering Conclusion
My father is so, so very lucky. The bullet intended for his face missed and struck his ear. I am so grateful for the opportunity to hug him again. I think I have a responsibility to do what I can to make this world a safer place for all of us and hopefully help spare someone else this phone call.
[My Father's Story]

What do you think?

-T.

Web-Explosion

Facebook


I hopped on the bandwagon and joined Facebook. I was surprised to find a whole new cyber-network of friends I hadn't seen since high school or even grade school bustling under my nose. If you are nostalgic at all and attend a major university, Facebook might be just the thing for you. If you already know about it... facebook me, I guess :)

Take a Break from Superbowl Festivities to Meet Some Awesome Folks
I've been amiss in sending my friends a cool shout out for all the work they've been doing dabbling in the digital realm lately. (You guys are so cool!) So, everybody should check them out:

Mark


This is a pic of my boyfriend's best friend, Mark, from Florida. Mark, shown demonstrating his masterpiece culinary skills, has completely shown me up in the photo gallery department. We miss you... Move to Kansas.


Paul


Above is Paul, another digi-buddy of mine, from Ireland. He's taken up blogging again after a two year break or so (wohoo!). This super-techie makes for some interesting conversations at insane hours of the day and night over the likes of Machiavelli, radical feminists and all things computer-related in general. He's also posted some very nice pics from his homeland, so click the pic to visit him.

Zachary

OK, so this guy is Zack. I'm not sure what to say about him except that I work with him and he's listed in facebook that this blog (my blog!) is his homepage.... ummm it's not. So, if you're confused about the lack of Zack-rantings, the joke's on you. Don't get mad at me... Kill him ;)

Later Peoples! Thanks for visiting. Catch you later,
-T.