Tag Archives: violence

Dec1

Have You Heard The News? What Did It Say?

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Have You Heard The News? What Did It Say?

Yes I’m on Facebook. And I am quite aware that a great deal of false information is easily spread. I disregard most of it until I have a chance to check out reliable sources. I’m amazed at just how much is exaggerated or enhanced by those who love to gossip. And I have no patience for this.

Here in Mexico the farmers continue their blockades on the highways. They are protesting the new water law. They are protesting the price of corn. They are frustrated and angry. And so is anyone attempting to travel on the highways.

However that seems minor compared with what’s going on in the news in East Wenatchee, Washington. I’ve called this city home for the past three summers. And it has changed drastically in three years, and not for the better.

Spacious single family homes are now being subdivided into duplexes. In conversations with my neighbors during this past summer, I learned that many homes are being rented out as the market is down. Even plummeting prices have not encouraged people to buy. It is common for four or five college students to share a house. My neighbor even told me of one house down the street which three married couples are sharing.

The other night there was an armed home invasion down the street from where I’ve stayed. A couple of weeks ago a teenager in the neighborhood was arrested for possession of illegal guns and threatening neighbors and police. Last winter I read about meth labs that were busted close to where I was staying. And the high speed car chases aren’t limited to Wenatchee. There are also incidences of gangs fighting, especially near the mall. And there was more than one murder in the area last summer.

People in East Wenatchee are quick to blame the gangs for spilling over the George Sellar Bridge and into East Wenatchee from Wenatchee. And of course they take it further and blame the immigrants, particularly the illegal ones. However I believe there’s a lot more to it than that. I don’t think the kids in East Wenatchee are all the innocent darlings their parents believe them to be either.

And I wonder what I’ll read in the news about East Wenatchee in the coming months before my time in Mexico comes to an end this winter.

May30

So How Was Your Childhood?

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So How Was Your Childhood?

As I lazily sipped coffee and checked my emails in bed this morning, the TV was on in the background. But instead of a movie in Spanish, the channel was INSP and the show was an old western. My favorites to watch include The Rifleman, High Chapparal and Gunsmoke. And they bring back memories of my childhood; the days when we only had three channels and no cable.

As an adult, it’s a mystery to me why my parents allowed me to watch these violent shows where people were always being shot, killed or scalped yet viewing a newscast was forbidden. After all, the daily news might somehow cause me to have nightmares. At least that’s what they told me.

I had a cap gun. I can still feel it in my hand and I can still smell it after it went off. As kids, we always played Cowboys and Indians. One of my friends actually had a toy bow and arrow, so being an Indian wasn’t all that bad. But the good guys were always the Cowboys and the bad guys were always the Indians. And my skills with that cap gun were far superior to those with a bow and arrow.

I also had water pistols. I mean, you could still always yell “Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!” using those instead of cap guns.

Flash ahead to when my kids came along. Their water pistols looked like animals, not guns. And I never allowed them to have any kind of toy gun. But I did let them watch the newscasts on TV. And I’m certain I let them watch more than a few TV shows and movies that were probably quite inappropriate for their age. And they seemed to have turned out okay. They aren’t serial killers or criminals.

But growing up in the 50s was a lot more “wholesome” than being a child in the 80s. It was safe to play outside until the streetlights came on. Everyone knew their neighbors. We had front porches not decks in the backyard. We didn’t have attached garages so we actually interacted with our neighbors. We never locked our doors in the 50s. My kids learned how to arm and disarm an alarm system.

We’re in the 2020s now. Kids have drills informing them what to do if there is a shooter in the school. And I thought fire drills were scary enough!

I wonder if someday my kids might look back and ponder about their childhood compared with their kids’ childhood.

So how was your childhood?

Feb11

Tanks?

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Tanks?

Every morning as I scroll through my news feeds it’s the same thing. Politics. Plane crashes. School shootings. I remember when I was a child in the fifties and my parents wouldn’t let me watch the newscasts back then. They were worried that those might give me bad dreams. I can only imagine the nightmares children have today if they watch the news on TV. There are some awfully graphic images about what’s happening around the world.

So I’ve decided to focus this post on tanks. Why tanks? I’m currently helping a thirteen-year-old Mexican boy with English. That’s a tricky age where he’d rather be doing any number of things than spending a couple of hours with me learning English. I’m trying to get him talking more. The vocabulary and some basic grammar are there. Occasionally we watch short videos and talk about them. I let him choose the topics. We’ve covered cars, airplanes, helicopters and tanks. Tanks? His choice. The military interests him.

I must admit that I learned a lot about tanks from that last video. It focused on comparing the Bulldog with the Spartan. Before I watched this video, to me a tank was a tank used by the military to fight wars. And war is a topic I’m not particularly fond of.

The Bulldog is an armored personnel carrier. It’s made of steel and weighs as much as three elephants. It can carry up to 12 people and reaches a maximum speed of 38 mph, that of a galloping horse. The engine is 240 hp. It has a hatch on top so that a person can look out over the terrain. It has tracks that enable it to travel through difficult places. And it is painted with the idea of camouflage in mind.

The Spartan is also an armored personnel carrier and holds up to 14 people. Although it is larger than a Bulldog, it is much lighter in weight as it is made of aluminum. It can travel at a higher speed of 60 mph and can navigate terrain more easily. It can climb steep hills. The Spartan has periscopes that enable a 360 degree view from inside.

When it came time to drawing a tank and labelling the parts, Emiliano added something that wasn’t in the video. Rocket launchers. And I wonder why those weren’t mentioned in the video. After all, tanks are synonymous with the military.

I thought I had visited all the museums in Aguascalientes but apparently I haven’t. Emiliano told me that there is a museum where I can see a tank up close. I have now put the Interactive Museum of Science and Technology on my list.

Emiliano is also a big fan of video games. They are his passion. His homework this week? Play Candy Crush in English instead of Spanish. Learn the names of the characters and their helpers in English. This should prove to be interesting……….

Sep6

Hello September

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Hello September

September. The first of the “ber” ‘months. The month kids go back to school. And what a first week it’s been.

Two students and two teachers were killed in a school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Nine others were injured. The suspected shooter is only 14-years-old. The gun used was a Christmas present from his father. At Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan a 15-year-old girl was lit on fire. She is in serious condition in hospital. Staff members who attempted to help her were also taken to hospital. A 14-year-old girl was taken into custody immediately.

When I was in high school in the 60s incidents like these were unimaginable. Fighting was generally among boys. By the time my kids were in high school in the 90s the weapons of choice were usually fists and the occasional knife. And it wasn’t always just boys. I shudder to think what is yet to come by the time my six-year-old granddaughter enters high school.

While the advent of the internet facilitates news reporting around the world, I’m sure there are many more accounts of violence in schools that we are not even made aware of. However, not only are students instilled with fear by these incidents, but many are also now given the wrong kind of ideas that they may normally have never even considered.

Parents and educators play a vital role in molding the youth of today. Bullying has been taken to the extreme when it becomes synonymous with school shootings and other forms of violence.

Let’s prevent our world from becoming even more crazy than it already is.

Jul17

Where Were You?

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Where Were You?

Where were you on Saturday when all hell broke loose at a rally in Butler?

We were out at Lake Chelan, sitting by the water. It was peaceful and the shade was a welcome respite from the stifling heat. We watched boaters out on the water. We saw swimmers on the beach. It was a very relaxing time before joining the steady stream of traffic headed back to Wenatchee.

At home the TV news was shocking. Wild speculations about this moment in history were voiced on social media. Whether this was a legitimate assassination attempt or a well orchestrated publicity stunt gone wrong on the part of Trump’s team, the fact remains that one spectator is dead and two others were injured and hospitalized.

Such a traumatic event has no place in our society. It is despicable. When innocent bystanders become victims, doubts about our own safety haunt us. Whether we viewed this horrific event in person, live on screen or on the numerous replays, our lives have been impacted in some way.

Growing up in Canada, I always marveled at how much more colorful American history was compared with Canadian history. But it’s getting far too colorful for me.

Jan8

An Interesting Week

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An Interesting Week

Coffee revives me in the morning when I get up. It prepares me for the day that lies ahead, whatever that may happen to be. I don’t have regular structured activities when I’m in Mexico. My life is very different from when I’m back in East Wenatchee. There are lots of white spaces on my calendar that hangs on the wall. And that leaves me more time for writing.

Then Thursday morning happened. I admit I don’t always check the newscasts first thing in the morning. So it wasn’t until later on that I found out about the violence in Culiacan. My initial reaction was an emotional one. My Mexican family live there. Culiacan is a pretty wild city at the best of times and I must admit that I’m always concerned about their safety. But on Thursday the concern became fear as I saw the video footage of the the city under siege.

Shelter in place. I lived in Culiacan the first year I came to Mexico so that phrase is familiar. But when I heard that the entire state of Sinaloa was shutting down, that really bothered me. Highways and airports were closed. The military were firing at the cartel from the air. I had lived in Mazatlan for four years and had never experienced anything like this. Hurricanes suddenly don’t seem like such a threat anymore. I can only imagine the terror tourists felt trapped in their hotel rooms.

Thankfully I was able to reach Juan by phone and found out that my family was safe at home. The entire city was shut down. The only ones roaming the streets were Cartel members seeking revenge because one of their leaders had been captured. Culiacan was littered with burning vehicles and the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the city. An Aeromexico jet sitting on the tarmac was riddled with bullet holes. A cloud of black smoke filled the air.

I was supposed to go to Culiacan on Friday. My family had invited me to come celebrate King’s Day with them. I’m not sure just why, but I had decided to postpone my trip and come the following week. I believe someone up there was looking out for me and it wasn’t just a go with your gut feeling.

The airport is back open, public transit is moving, kids are going back to school tomorrow……………………typical normal daily life in Culiacan. I have my tickets and I do plan to go to Culiacan this Friday. Unless something astronomically crazy happens again.

May29

Another Tragedy

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Another Tragedy

A week ago at this time, millions of us in the world had never even heard of Uvalde, Texas. Now we can’t get it out of our heads. The sad part is that the focus should be on the senseless killing of innocent children and teachers, of the injured including the shooter’s own grandmother. Instead it has become a political gong show about who is to blame. This makes the tragedy even worse.

Accounts detailing the shooter’s biography are chilling. A victim of bullying. A history of violence. A son of a drug addict. And most disturbing that he legally purchased two rifles prior to the shooting and posted photos on his Instagram account.

My kids attended a private elementary school back in the 80s in Canada. The school had a security system and the doors were always locked. Here we are decades later and Robb Elementary had a door left propped open. With the track record here in the USA regarding school shootings, a door propped open during school hours? Absolutely reprehensible!

The mother instinct is a strong one. How dare they handcuff a woman who in desperation was trying to protect her children! Other angry parents begged for the Kevlar vests that the police had because law enforcement merely sat back and didn’t do anything. Perhaps more mothers are needed on the police forces.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. I can only imagine how helpless they felt while the shooting was going on and how horrific the grieving is now that it’s over. We need to pray not only for these families, but for all of America, a country in crisis.

People First NOT Politics First.

May11

Guns and Pot

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Guns and Pot

In Mexico when I watch TV the programs are all in Spanish. When I’m up here in Washington, not only do I watch TV in English, I enjoy watching old westerns. I’ve been watching episodes of The High Chapparal lately. Lots of guns and violence. The same is true of The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. We all grew up watching those shows back in the 60s. I even had a cap gun when I was a child and we all played Cowboys and Indians.

Back then school shootings were unheard of. We didn’t have guns or rifles in our homes. It was a safer time.

Living in the state of Washington it’s very different. Many people I know here have at least one gun or rifle in their homes. They’re not always secured in gun cabinets. They’re often loaded and kept in nightstands or other drawers. I have female friends who carry them in purses or in glove compartments of their vehicles. They marvel at the fact that I don’t have one of my own yet.

Apple Blossom Festival was held last weekend here in Wenatchee. Just before the Grand Parade, a somewhat enraged man opened fire resulting in an officer being shot before he himself was shot and killed. Shootings are becoming all too common.

Then there’s pot, something we used back in the 60s to enhance our enjoyment of everything from rock concerts to sex. But we’ve all aged and now use it more for pain control. My philosophy remains the same now as it was in the 60s—– everything in moderation.

I recall flying in to Kelowna, Canada from Seattle a couple of years ago. Going through Customs, I was asked if I was carrying guns or had any pot. When I replied in the negative, the officer’s comment was “Are you sure you’re coming from Washington?”

I spend six months of the year in Mexico. When my friends ask me why I want to live in such a dangerous country, I shake my head and tell them to look around at their own neighborhoods.

It was great being a teenager in the 60s. It was a unique decade of flower power and hippies promoting peace and love. What a contrast to the decade we are currently in!

Times have changed.

Mar27

La Vida

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La Vida

It happened again on Wednesday. Another bomb scare in Leavenworth. There was one last year too. The downtown area was closed off. Highway 2 through town was closed off. Thankfully no bomb was found on either occasion.

I live in Mexico six months of the year. My friends up north tell me I’m crazy to live there because it’s dangerous. Well, I’m up north and it’s just as peligroso up here.

One of my Canadian friends suggested it was time I move back to Canada. Not on the radar. I read the headlines in The Winnipeg Free Press, my hometown newspaper. Lots of crime there too.

Our world was going crazy long before Covid and the situation in Ukraine. Technology makes it far too easy to build bombs or create other weapons. Technology is also to blame for the increase in school shootings. Canada, you’re not far behind the USA when it comes to those either. Technology is also responsible for providing accessibility to all types of criminal activity and even providing inspiration to criminals.

Face it, people. Nowhere is safe. So we may as well get out there and enjoy life wherever we happen to live. Maybe I take it to the extreme because I travel a lot. At least I’m living life to the fullest.

Have an amazing week out there! You only live once!