It's Random

I'm linking up with Stacy for some Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Have you ever changed banks?  Like opened a new account at a different bank and closed the older account completely?  What a hassle!  My husband has been trying to get me to switch banks so that our joint account and my individual account are at the same bank.  I get that, but did he realize how much of a pain it was going to be?

Direct deposit.  Changing any automatic debits.  This requires a lot of time on the phone because you can't change some places online even if you pay them online.  Makes no sense.  Changing every website you use to pay a bill.  AND, to top it off, even though I have had a joint account with my husband at this bank for years, they HELD my first payroll check.  And not for 2 or 3 days, but 7 to 10.  Ridiculous!  If I had gone in to the bank to cash the check, they would have given me cash, but because I deposited it, I can't get access to it.  How stupid is that?  Who can wait ten days to have access to their own money?

Done complaining now!

How is the weather where you are?  Here in Houston, I think Mother Nature is trying to get all four seasons into one week!  It's chilly right now, but yesterday was cold.  Two days prior to that, it felt like summer, and toward the end of this week, it will be spring-like for a few days.  Crazy weather!

And talk about crazy... Have you seen this picture of the  11 foot alligator that was dragged out of a Florida swimming pool on March 30?  This occurred in Sarasota, Florida.  There have been two more since then, but apparently there are 1.3 MILLION alligators that are becoming active due to warmer weather.  If I were near them, I'd say it was time to move!  Haha!

And have you visited my giveaway?  I've had 2,000 published posts, and I'm giving away a $20 gift card to Amazon.  Help me celebrate!  And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter.

And before I go...

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A Little Random

I'm linking up with Stacy today.

I know I'm not the only one who is sick of all the debate, divisiveness, and back-and-forth political bickering we've got going on in the US right now.  I think maybe we could solve it like our parents did long ago when we fought with our brothers and sisters.  If you shared a room with a sibling, and you couldn't get along, your parents would just put a line down the middle of the room, and you both had to stay on your own side.  You could do whatever you wanted as long as you stayed on your side of the room and didn't argue.

"Their solution was to lay a jump rope on the floor to divide their bedroom in half." (This Room is Mine, by Betty Ren Wright.)

 How about we just divide the country in half and let each of the two sides take half the country and do things their way?  Each side could make their own rules.  Perhaps it could solve it.  Nah, just kidding... sort of.

I finally watched the women's gymnastics Olympic trials from July 8 and 10.  It's by far my favorite Olympic event, and I can't wait for competition to start August 5.  I think the chosen team is going to be phenomenal!


Aly Raisman's first tumbling pass earned her gold last time and will hopefully do the same this year.

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I've also been watching Scandal and loving it, until the fifth season.  Now it just seems like a mirror of real life.  Planned Parenthood as the focus of a bill, a President's wife running for President, gun violence issues, entitlement, free college, gay marriage, and education bills.  I liked the first four seasons so much because it was an escape!  Now it's just... preachy, regardless of your position on any issue.

Before I go, I want to share a video I saw on Facebook that made me smile.  There was an abandoned puppy, soooo cute, that was nursed to health by a momma cat.  Watch!  Betcha smile!



And that's a wrap!

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The World

One of my Facebook friends asked, "Has the world gone bat-shit crazy?"  Well, yes, I think it has.

My heart is sick, and I am scared, not just for myself, but for all of us.

First - To address officer's use of excessive force:  We rarely see anything but the aftermath, yet we judge these officers who I believe, in 99.9% of cases, are truly trying to do the right thing.  Case in point:  A video taken by a bystander went viral. He thought the police were being too violent with a suspect,  Turns out, the activity prior to the recording that wasn't on the video gave more than justifiable cause for the way the officers acted, and guess what?  The proof is on their dashcam and bodycams, but are the news outlets showing those videos?  One did.  The media is feeding the frenzy.



Second - Worldwide we've seen bombings and shootings, and even a man using a truck as a weapon as well as an attempted military coup.  There has been so much bloodshed across the world.

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Third - We have police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge being shot for no other reason than that they are police officers.  It's crazy!  Why would you want to harm the people who are there to Serve and Protect us?  Even if a handful are bad, why take things out on the rest?  I think this man, the Dallas Police Chief, should be our next President!

Last - There is so much controversy surrounding both major party candidates for President, I think we should just scratch it all and start over.  No, that can't happen, but I don't feel confident about either candidate.

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So I'm heartsick and scared, and the only thing I can really do at this point is pray.  Would you please pray with me?

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It's Just My Opinion

This is probably not going to be a very popular post. And it’s really not my opinion, because I am going to try to take the emotion out of it and describe why I am astounded by people proclaiming that the justice system in our great United States has failed.

I’m referring, of course, to the Casey Anthony trial. I did not follow all of the trial, just the highlights, so I’m aware that she was guilty of something, but the prosecution did not provide enough evidence for the jury to convict her beyond a reasonable doubt of First Degree Murder.

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That doesn’t mean she is innocent; not by any means. She was found not guilty based on the evidence in the crime for which she was charged. Unfortunately, the public had already convicted her. So, now, the public is disappointed.  This case should never have been discussed in the media in the first place, but that's another soapbox altogether.

We are lucky to live in a place where we are presumed innocent (at least in a court of law, but obviously not in the court of public opinion). The burden of proof is on the prosecution. They did not have enough evidence to show that Casey murdered her daughter. Is it possible she did? Yes. Probable? Again, yes. But they didn’t PROVE beyond a reasonable doubt that she did it. The evidence was just not there.

In an AP report on July 2, it states,"Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have provided concrete evidence showing whether the girl was killed by her mother." It also states, "If you separate facts from fiction and inferences stacked on top of inferences ... there is no proof."  And in yet another AP report on July 5, it is stated that, "Prosecutors didn't have any evidence that put Casey at the scene where the remains were found."

Casey Anthony is obviously a very sick individual. Her lifestyle, past, and all of her dirty, little secrets have been scrutinized. I would hate to have my life inspected in such a way, which is why I try to live a clean life, although far from perfect. But public opinion had her convicted because she is not the type of mother we think she should have been. Who doesn’t report their daughter missing right away? Not a “good” mother! She is very likely suffering a serious mental illness, and she may not be in prison for very much longer, if at all, but she is living in a different kind of prison.

And who am I to judge since I didn’t sit in the courtroom listening to all of the evidence? I’m sure that much of what we heard in the media wasn’t even admitted as evidence because it didn’t prove to be exculpatory evidence.  There are things the public knows that the jury never heard, I'm sure.  Besides, God will be her judge when the time comes.

Only God knows the whole, complete story.  So, this is not about whether I think she was guilty or not, but about how the justice system did not fail.  Our court system did exactly what it was supposed to do.  The prosecution failed to present evidence to convict her, but the system itself, is valid.

Our justice system is not perfect, but it’s the best there is. I would much rather presume someone innocent or find someone not guilty than convict the wrong person when proof has not been provided. If I am ever accused of a crime, I am glad the prosecution has the burden of proof. And I’m glad I don’t live in a country where we are thrown in jail without a trial, without a defense. Our system is not perfect, but it is better than many. I am proud of the USA, flaws and all.

In the News (for Sunday Scribblings)

News

Biased,

Rehearsed,

What is news?

It’s the 10:00 BAD news!

Late breaking news,

Reliable?

Public interest?

Once I was an avid news-watcher…

I want to be aware of my world…

There is no such thing as news without a slant…

Entertainment news? An oxymoron, and moronic at that!

Since when are entertainers qualified to make world-changing judgments and decisions?

Just the facts, ma’am.

I long for a simpler world,

When news was reported not sold.

TV news… it’s about the ratings.

News – what happened?

There are no more details at this time.

What happened in your city or town today?

Anything good?

Check out the weather and traffic.

Tunnel-vision news,

Take a story and run with it,

Run it in the ground!

Politics,

Noteworthy or newsworthy?

Information,

Opinion,

Current events,

Who lives, who dies?

Who tries?

Who’s being tried?

I am tired.

Notable

Events

Without

Sensationalism

(photo courtesy of www.gilliancook.co.uk/image/news.gif )