Justice for Victoria Stafford R.I.P

So I have been following this story since it happened, not for obvious reasons, but because a very dear friend of mine is from Woodstock, Ontario.  I cannot imagine what Tori's parents have and are going though, but the rest of the community as a whole must be devestated.

I have read everything I could to have an educated perspective on this, so here goes:

Terry-Lynne McClintic was found guilty of first degree murder and serving a life sentence, lets hope she never gets out.  What about child endangerment? or sexual abuse?  If Rafferty did sexually assult and rape Tori, Terry could have stopped it.  She could have done the right thing.  By taking the child back to Rafferty to be continually raped, she had a part in it.  She basically lured the child under false pretenses, basically kidnapped her, drugged her, let her boyfriend repeatedly rape a little girl, and then she killed Tori, buried her broken body and went home.  She definetly is where she should be-away from children.

But what if Rafferty did not rape and kill Tori?  That is what the defense wants people to thinik happened.  What if Terry was the mastermind of the whole abduction?  It is possible he might not have known what was going to happen.  She could have told him anything.  What if it was Terry who raped and killed Tori on her own and Rafferty was just a bystander?  If that was true, Rafferty should still be charged, as an accessory to kidnapping and abduction, sexual assault, rape and murder.  If indeed he was a bystander caught in an awful situation, he could have overpowered McClintic and saved Tori.  It is riduculous to think that Rafferty could not control the situation.

My end thoughts;  McClintic and Rafferty are no different than Paul Bernardo and Karla Holmolka, sick individuals and dangerous together.  Rafferty needs to be found guilty and be institutionalized for the rest of his life.  I am only glad that Rafferty did not get the plea deal Holmolka did, and that McClintic and Rafferty were caught before another young life was ended at their hands.

My heart goes out to Tori's family and friends.  It would be aggonizing to have to go though a trial of someone who took the life of a child and in such a brutal and violent way.  I hope Tori finds justice, I hope he is found guilty, and I hope that Tori's family can go on, Rest in Peace Victoria Stafford.

Wolf Killed at Bird's Hill Park

Well, another week has gone by, and I think I may make this a weekly blog.  This time something local has sparked agner and frustration.  On April 3rd of 2012, a couple in rural Manitoba let out there chihuahua.  They only live 2km away from Bird's Hill Park. Moments later, they heard screaming noises and found that a wolf had grabbed the small dog, shaken him and dragged the dog into the woods.  The husband followed and found the small dog mauled to death.

Since then there has been several news stories about the incident and now the wolf was captured in a steel leg trap and shot. 

What is my problem with this? 

First of all, this is Manitoba and there is wildlife here in abundance, especially near Provincial and Federal Parks.  Both humans and wildlife have to co-exsist together.  Besides the wildlife was here first and humans have been pushing wildlife into smaller spaces as our communities grow.
I do feel very sorry for the family losing their family pet, but you let a 4lb chihuahua out near woods with wild animals.  We have to live with nature.  Why did they not take precautions, like building a dog run or going outside with the dog?  I can see a wild animal like a wolf seeing a 4lb dog as a nice snack, and one that would not need much effort to take down. As harsh as that sounds, it is true.  Many house cats that do not return on the farm usually lose their lives to larger carnivores like wolves, coyotes, and kittens to birds of prey.  It is just a fact of life and nature.

The sad thing here, they do not know if it is the same wolf that was trapped and now with leaving the traps out in the area, there is a threat to humans.  Many avid hikers use the trails near and in Bird's Hill Park.  Now there are steel leg traps set for wolves.  What happens if a child stumbles upon these traps?  Or perhaps another family pet?  I just wonder if we are doing the right thing for nature.  Why could we have not trapped the wolf with a humane cage and relocated the wolf into a more wooded area.  I mean really, the wolf did what nature and thousands of years of evolution developed for the wolves' survival, it stalked it's prey, killed it and carried it off.

The other thing that many people do not understand is that the reason the wolves and other predators are encroaching into more populated areas is because that is where the prey lives.  Many people in rural areas and even within city limits will see deer (especially in our Province) walking through yards and down streets. Then they will leave food out for them to return.  Well if the deer come around so will the preditors like wolves, coyotes and even cougars.  We are creating the problem for wild animals. 

I am a pet owner too, but I take precautions.  I live in a rural area and the sound of coyotes at night is nothing new; so my cat does not go outside.  He is strickly a housecat, and he is 19 years young.  Our dog is a small breed, but never goes out without being on a leash, and that leash is only 12 feet to our door.  I may live in a small town, but wild animals have been spotted on the outskirts.  Last spring cougars were spotted near the town.  So it is best to take precautions.

I just feel that a beautiful wild animal was killed for no reason.

Just Jenni

Good Luck with your life

Well I have not blogged for a long time.  Not that events in this world around us do not warrant my attention, but because I am happywith my life and the world can continue on without my comments for a while.  As it would happen, the green little monster came to a head this weekend.

I am so incredibly tired of being portrayed as the bad guy, and up until this time I chose not to engage these people, but it now seems that I must.

If you are part of my little world and the odd people I let in, you will know who I am refering to, if not just read as if you were constanly harrassed and goaded into a fight.

I would just like to set the record straight.

First of all,

The people that destroyed the house we are working on for the owner, did not leave cos it was a peice of shit house.  They destroyed the house, from the hot water tank, the fridge and stove, the holes in the drywall, the alcohol sprayed on the ceilings, the writing on the walls with marker, the cat and ferret feces in the kitchen, the removal of the ceiling tiles.  Do not think that anyone believes you when you all tell them it was that way when you moved it.  You knowingly damaged someone else's investment and in that any trust anyone had in any of you.  I had a hard time believing girls could live in that filth, but for some of you it is not the first time you have done this to someone else's home.  You should be ashamed of yourselves, but I realize that in order to do that, you have to have some self esteem, you obviously do not have any-how sad and pathetic.

Second,

If you think that the parents and people in our town do not know what you do you are dead wrong.  You buy alcohol for underage children and let them party with you.  Some of these children are half your age.  If it were me, I would charge you not only with supplying minors but with child endangerment.  What would happen if one of them gets alcohol poisioning, or has a seizure?  You should know what can happen, you are supposed to be a responsible adult. 

Third,

 Maybe someday your little friends will realize that you are using them.  Two years ago you used a pregnant girl to shuttle you and your drunk friends around.  Although at least you were not drinking and driving, one of you could have stayed sober instead of getting a 8 month pregnant girl to pick your sorry ass up at 2am.  And you lost your vehicle, I know because one of your passengers that night called us to come get you guys, we refused.  I am sure your current followers must know by now that they are getting used.  You have to get them to drive you everywhere, and you stay with friends, cos after what you have done to two houses in just this town, there is no way that anyone would rent to you. 

In the last three years that I have had the unfortunate pleasure of even knowing you, you have lost your spouse, your first house, your second house, your vehicle, your job, your children, your third house,  and now it seems that by harassing me, you have lost your self-respect.   I can go thru my life never saying anything to you, cos it is just a waste of my time, there is no sense arguing with a liar.  I would prefer to never have to even see you or your friends.  But living in a small town makes that impossible.  So I would like to tell you to leave me alone, but you won't.  So you have been warned;  I have already made inquiries to the proper authorities. Do not come near me, and do not even speak to me. 

I have to hope that what you have done comes back to you ten fold.  I have seen what you have done to others.  From using other people, to just being ignorant and miserable, you obviously need some help.  I suggest you get help before you lose everything and hope of anything.  Good Luck in you life Crystal.

Bullying is a HATE CRIME

In recent months the main stream media has been picking up more stories involving gay teens committing suicide over bullying.  From seventh graders to college students, the epidemic does not seem to be going away.  

                Over the last decade, there has been an increase in tolerance and acceptance for gay teens.  Mostly through positive role models, in particular the entertainment industry.  Stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Lynch, Adam Lambert, Sean Hayes, and Ricky Martin all live openly gay lives and it seems that their peers and their fans accept them without question.   Why with positive role models, greater acceptance and tolerance, are gay teens committing suicide?

                Bullying of these teens caused them to commit suicide?  I would like to call this bullying what it really is; A HATE CRIME, pure and simple.  Bullying to me is teasing someone because they are not good in sports, taking a child’s lunch money (it happened to me), or just not being part of the “in” crowd in school.  Singling someone out because of their sexual orientation is a hate crime; motivated by fear and hatred towards that person or group of people.

                Tyler Clementi, Justin Aaberg, Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, and Seth Walsh all committed suicide because of hate crimes.  Tyler was secretly broadcast over the internet with his partner by his college roommate.  Justin Aaberg and Billy Lucas hung themselves after being tormented by their peers.  Asher Brown shot himself after a year and a half of torment that progressed even after his parent informed the school board when it first started and nothing was done.  Seth Walsh attempted to hang himself in his backyard after years of emotional and mental abuse from peers, he later died in hospital.

                Jamey Rodemeyer from Buffalo committed suicide due to bullying and torment from peers in his school.  After his death the bullying has not stopped, and presently there is a police investigation into the harassment of his sister and family.  Please join the campaign for Jamey’s Law to protect people from this type of bullying. www.facebook.com/Jameyslaw?sk=info

I have to wonder what the parents think of their children’s behavior.    Do they worry that someday their child will be a victim of a hate crime, or do they just blindly think that they will grow out of it.  I have news for you; fear and hatred are learned behaviors.   There are days I am ashamed to be part of the human race, today is one of those days.

Palestine for United Nations Membership? USA to veto? WTF?

    What infuriates me so much about this situation, is that the United States is so against it.  The United states claims that only continued peace negotiations between the two parties in the long bloody battle would achieve statehood.  In doing some research today, there are other states that are just as questionable, but remember Israel is a state, since 1947, Palestine is not.  Maybe the playing field needs to be levelled.

Since the late 1970s Afganistan has been in a constant state of war, involving militants, extreamists,drug cartels, trafficers, and the taliban.  Over the last decade with the war in Afganistan the United States and Canada have spent billions trying to keep the peace.  I think the only thing the Americans keep is close watch on is the pipeline through the country.  This country is a member state eventhough recently extreamists and possible governments hid the world's most wanted terrorist for years. 
     Kuwait was invaded and annexed by Iraq in the early 1990s.  The seven month occupation ceased due to USA troop intervention.  The Americans helped out for one reason--protect the oil and petroleum reserves.  Kuwait is the 11th richest country in the world with 95% of its exports being oil.  I think it is safe to say that the USA needed an ally in the gulf.
     Iran and Iraq are both member states of the United Nations eventhough each country has invaded, and occupied other states by force. Libya has been ruled by Gaddafi since a military style coup in 1969.  In 1977 Libya ordered strikes against Egypt for a proposed pease treaty with Israel, and Libya supplied arms to rebels in Chad that turned into an invasion the same year.  In 1986, with terrorism on the rise, Libya bombed a commercial jet killing hundreds of innocent people.  The United Nations still has Libya as a member even with the autrocities going on currently.
     Although Pakistan has the largest number of it's military in United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, it has a recent history of hiding out and supporting the taliban and its' followers.  Currently Pakistan is embattled with extream Islamic militants in its own country.
     Back in 1991, the USA went to the gulf war and many US troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia--protecting oil...The Saudi-US relations have strained since then due to 9/11.  Osama Bin Laden and more than 3/4 of the suicide highjckers were from Saudi Arabia.  Since the terror attacks on New York, many speculate that the country supports terrorism and extream Jihadism.
     Then there is Israel(this will be a loaded paragraph---I AM NOT ANTI-SEMETIC) This area of the middle east has been under states of war, sieges, and armed conflicts for more than 2000 years, so I will try to keep things to the later part of the twentieth century.  After the creation of Israel in 1947 various mid-east countries attcked, and this back and forth attacking between Israel and its' neighbors continues even to today.

When Palestine comes to the United Nations and askes for consideration for membership, why would the United States veto the request?  There are other member countries that have behaved badly, but it seems that economic and United Nation sactions are enough to put a bandaid on the situations for the short term anyway.  So this would be a great step for the Palestine people, solidifing their homeland as an offical United Nations member?  Would this not promote peace, or at the very least negotiations between Israel and Palestine, and ease tensions throughout the mid-east?
     So why would the United States not want this?  Perhaps the mid-east area is better economically for the United States if their is conflict.  It is much easier to have thousands of American troops in the mid-east (just in case) as democratic saviors. (they are really protecting the oil folks).  Due to confict, the price of oil remains high, the rich get richer.  So back in 1947, when the United Nations partitioned off Palestine and made Israel a state, what happened to the other half?  Why would you not make Palestine a state then too?

YOU NEED HELP---SERIOUSLY

Well, I really did not want to have to post this kind of thing, but as I have a blog and people can choose to read or not to read it, I have decided in the interest of free speech and my sanity that I will use this forum for my benefit.

I have to say that I hope the person this is intended for reads this or at least her friends tell her. Both myself and my boyfriend have blocked her from facebook and MSN, so she may not see this.  I have not mentioned names, but I am sure everyone in my world knows who I am talking about.

You need to stop trying to get him to go and party with you and his old friends.  He has a chance to have a real family, with someone who loves him and his daughter. He sees his daughter more now that he is better--meaning not partying and drinking all the time.  Do you actually think that he would give up time with his daughter to drink with you?  Or risk losing what he has now for you?  She is the most important person in his life.  She is more important than his family, than me, than his friends and especially his drunk exgirlfriend. 

I would like to hope you get help, I think you have some serious control and self-esteem issues,  You need to know that what you have done to us in the past and the present is considered stalking and harassment.  Your text messages, your phone calls, driving by our house, pretending you are someone else on facebook just to chat with him, and showing up at his work.  So instead of freaking out, I am wanting to help you, so here it is

---Alcoholics Anonymous--1-877-942-0126 for Western Manitoba

----Addictions Foundation of Manitoba--1-866-767-3838

-----Domestic Violence Unit----204-945-6851

I seriously want you to get help, because then you might be a happier person and learn to live with the decisions you made 3 years ago.  I would hope that if you do get treatment that the harassment stops, we have decided that if it does not stop we will be taking all the text messages(about 125) over the last two years, and the emails to the RCMP and will be getting a restraining order against you.  It is that simple.  I will not sit by and let you damage him any further, and I will protect him and his daughter from your self-destructive, adolesent behavior.

You need to move on with your life and I really hope you do.  I am sure your family would want that for you.
I hope that you call one of the numbers because they could help you sort out your life for the better.

Remembering 9/11

Well it is the tenth Anniversary of 9/11, when 9/11 happened, it was surreal, I know I could not believe it, and yet I was watching it live.  This weekend people will mourn all the innocent victims.  It has been a decade now and the general masses do not know why and how this could happen to a country like the USA. I guess I should state that many people have many different conspiracy theories that could have happened.  Here are my thoughts:

Why would terrorists attack the USA?

     Well even before Vietnam, The United States has wanted to "stomp out" communism, dictatorship, and totalitarianism around the globe, especially in countries that the USA has an interest in.  This type of vindication of attacking other countries for their own good and saving them from nasty corruption and manipulation from their current governments, and introducing (forcing) democracy to them; has left many citizens of these countries, especially Muslim countries, less than impressed with the western world and our values.  And if that was not enough, the USA continues to interfere with Iraqi and Afganistan oil production.  Oil and companies that own oil rights are a traded commodity; it is global now.  The United States is one of the highest fossil fuel burning countries, so they will need more oil.  If the USA does not secure its' future oil needs, what will happen in fifty years? 
     Then there are the Saudis.  During the administration of George Bush Sr, the USA had a mixed relationship with Saudi Arabia as a country, but when George Bush Sr visited Saudi Arabia, it was like a brother was coming home for a visit.  Perhaps backdoor deals between Haliburton and the Saudis, maybe something more, but most of the terrorists that overtook the planes in the 9/11 crashes were Saudi born.  Apparently maybe some Saudi extreamists did not like the close relationship the Bush family, Haliburton, and the USA had with the Saudi officals.  Many Muslim people see the USA as an extream western power, not only taking away their resources and economic future, they see the USA taking away their way of life, their religion.
     Or having an open mind, maybe twenty or so Muslim extreamists
got together one night and decided they would stab the western world in the heart and go to their deaths defending their way of life and their religion.  What city is the idealic view of the western world? New York; and that is just a small part of the story.  Why terrorists attack innocent people is beyond me.  It could be for the shock value, or it could be the message that "no one is safe", or maybe terrorists don't even think about that part of their plans.  The message is what they want to spread, the reason for their violence, the fact that thousands died maybe just collateral damage in their minds.

How did this Happen? Conspiracy anyone?

  This is a touchy subject but here goes.....There are several hundred websites out there, that want people to believe that not only was this a conspiracy, the twin towers in New York were destroyed not only by the airliners crashing into them, but by controlled demolition explosives.  Is it possible, it could be, but the amount of people needed to set the explosives, access to the buildings lower levels, planning the planes being hijacked and the timing to set things off perfectly would require months of planning, access to secured areas, and involvement of government agencies.  Certain government agencies would have to have known about the attacks for this plan to work.  If this is what happened, it does not surprise me that government agencies would turn a blind eye to a mass murder.  I know it is harsh, but think about the stories that are reported every day, does the government care about the individual?  The reason (if this theory is true) that people could turn a blind eye to this, sacrifice a few for the many reasoning, for the greater good,( would start conflict and give the USA reason to invade in the middle east--secure oil and petroleum resources), or maybe the agencies involved employed the largest number of sociopaths and they would let it happen and see where thing went after the destruction was over.

   It could be that the towers fell the way they did because it is what it is.  The amount of force of the planes, the intense heat softening the steel, and the close proximity of the two buildings were maybe the reasons why it happened that way.  Recreating this in a lab is just not possible, so applying the laws of physics should prevail here.
Buildings are not designed, especially ones from 1970s, to have jetliners full of fuel travelling 400 miles per hour explode on impact, and still be standing.  There is still a conspriacy here too.  There were 20 terrorists living in the United States, some taking flying lessons, all travelling the same day, and all passing security at the airport without any problems.  Seems way to perfect for me to believe it was just a fluke for those 20 or so terrorists. 

So what changed?
   Well maybe American freedoms changed.  The creation of Homeland Security made it possible for the United States Government to now restrict certian people from travelling(no fly list), protect the American public from terrorism by patting down 6 year olds at airports, and access to personal information.  Sounds like freedom right?  Maybe the terrorists hated what they did not have.  Maybe the message was that if you want to take what is ours, we will make your government take your freedoms?  Too far fetched but you have to wonder.  I think that as a North American, my ideas changed after 9/11.....and my views of Muslim people and their religion did not make me hate but made me ask more questions and educate myself. 

One thing that will always bother me....In university I was taking a class about history of warfare and the Prof quoted someone famous and said "the main reason for a country to build a military and protect its' citizens is because of war, it is good for the economy, " and that the only reason to go to war with another country would be to secure resources for the masses.  That is just too scary for me.  I always think maybe it might be better to sell everything and live in a cottage off the grid, much safer and alot less stressful. 

At any rate I think having an open mind about 9/11 would make things easier to understand, if we ever can.  I am still waiting for the government to tell us what really happened to John F Kennedy, and even Princess Diana.  I don't think the conspiritors on American soil will ever let the public know what happened on September 11, 2001, but my heart goes out to all of the people who lost loved ones, spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, children, friends, and coworkers. 

Edward Abbey wrote " a patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government". 

Just Jenni