Aug. 08, 2003 - 20:33 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Regroup

Mortality happens. Usually by aging, ailments or unexpected accidents. That's life.

Drive by shootings have abated a bit, but recently in our area murders happen frequently. A scattershot thing, places here and there a murder is committed. No rhyme or reason it seems. There is much conjecture and occasionally the reason is discovered.

Recently there have been two killed by police. People who were "special needs" cases I think the media called them. Popular opinion seems to indicate that when police are called they should be able to defuse a deadly situation without violence. One had a knife he refused to drop, his folks called police. One, a woman who had apparently gone around the bend hit one of the cops with a big heavy candlestick, wounding him. Seems to me that special needs people should be taken care of by whoever is responsible for them, not allowing something to escalate to such a dangerous degree.

I read somethimes that a person has quit taking their medications. I was in a facility when a bipolar man was brought in and for a few days until his medication was adjusted he was in the rubber room. Afterward he was a sensible sensitive man. Seems he thought he didn't need to take his meds. Meds are a slippery slope, I know. I am a depressive and have been on medication since February 1987. I have tried to wean myself very carefully and gradually -- but in the end I go back on them at the recommended dosage. I did not even try that until about 1995. In the last few years it has become obvious to me that this dosage will be for me for life. But special needs folks usually have relatives who take care of them and should have means to control them or sense enough to call for help before the thing gets into a fatal encounter. Those instances are isolated pretty well, not as frequent as other killings.

About two blocks from where my wife was raised, the other day there were four people murdered, no suspects as yet. On the same day five or so blocks from where I was raised a man ran over a woman in an alley and while her little child stood over her mother, crying, the man had circled around and ran over the child killing her too. But I don't think that murders can be shown to happen just in certain neighborhoods because they happen all over the area and seem to happen more frequently everyhere now.

I wonder have we all gone berserk or are we all on the edge of murderous craziness ? When they get down and dirty and find the cause it usually isn't drugs or money at the root of it either.

Could it be the permissive society in which the people grew up as members, the uninformed, untaught, unled, impulsive, feel good types are becoming more prevalent and become violent quickly when frustrated ?

Law doesn't seem to have helped much. How long will it be before there are a majority of respectable, responsible parents who will take the time to love, teach and raise their children as children should be raised and how many years will it be before they grow up and take a responsible place among us ?

Although murder can be committed using guns; ball bats, knives, ice picks, screwdrivers and many other things can and have been used as well as poison and such stuff.

Maybe to reach a sensible plan to correct what we have become as a nation we should fall back and Regroup . . . . . . . . . . .

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