Ain't No Rest for the Wicked?

This afternoon, while listening to the news on the radio, I heard something that makes my head want to explode... There was another report of a new born being thrown into a dumpster like yesterday's news. Now, what makes my head spin to the point of near explosion, is trying to understand and grasp the reasoning behind such an act......

Unfortunately, this isn't the first report of a trash baby and this makes me sad. (I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard of the story of the girl giving birth in the bathroom, at her prom, then calmly walking out after placing her baby in the garbage.) Thankfully, I have never been in the situation where I had a baby then figured the only option was to place them in a trash receptacle.... So it is far out of my realm of reality to even imagine what exactly is going through these girls'/women's minds as they do so. Maybe they were in such utter shock they didn't know what else to do? Maybe they figure that their family would shun and cast them out. Perhaps they were street people that knew they couldn't handle having another mouth to feed. Whatever their reasoning is, I don't understand.

As I say, I've never been in such a position, so I don't understand. Sure there may be extenuating circumstances, but in my mind, it's murder. Anyone that can't understand after holding a newborn, and hearing them cry, that throwing them in a dumpster to die alone is wrong needs some form of help... I'm not saying lock them up and throw away the key by any means, maybe a life spent in a Mental Institution is where they belong. I've heard far too many stories of trash babies being found, so maybe it is a Mental Health Issue.

I'm not a doctor, nor am I a lawyer, psychologist or anyone who's opinion would be held up in a court of law... So these are just my random thoughts on the headlines... What I getting at though, is that the reports severely bother me. In a day and age where certain couples are still not able to conceive a child of their own.... There has to be other options, for the mothers of said garbage babies, to do something other than abandon their babies in a trash heap? Why wouldn't they think of dropping off a baby somewhere they could be found and given a chance to survive? Maybe the idea of a bundled up baby left in a basket on a church step is over romanticized... But the idea is better than a garbage can, I guarantee. How bout leaving a baby in a crowded hospital emergency room instead? It's warm, safer than the streets, and guaranteed some one's going to find them...

Some mothers may have a break with reality, I'm not denying that fact... Others though, a child is "just" an inconvenience and the dumpster is their cold hearted remedy. We hear of parents doing unspeakable things to their child for selfish motives. (Susan Smith springs to mind.) Either way, in this society, stories of dumpster babies shouldn't be so common place and accepted.

Yesterday, another child abuse issue caught my attention. The Graham James Saga has a new chapter on my mind. I posted an entry a little while ago about this twisted DIRT BAG.  I was watching Fifth Estate or a similar show about Graham James and his sick story... I was completely heartbroken that he had such a negative affect on so many young boys... I was down right DISGUSTED to learn that he was not only released from prison but was also granted a pardon by the Canadian Parole Board. (Trust me, not a proud moment as a Canadian.)

Due to a publication ban, I don't know the full story... What I do know is enough though... Against Crown Prosecutor's opposition, Graham James has been released on bail with several release conditions. (Such as giving up his passport and not being alone in the company of anyone under the age of 18.)  Someone like that, who has negatively affected more than one person, in my opinion should not be walking the streets anywhere... This guy is free to roam the streets of Montreal, however. This makes me sick to the very core of my being. I don't believe in vigilante justice, but I would cross the street to spit repeatedly in the face of this parasite. Mind you, that's easy for me to say... He didn't do anything to me other than make me violently ill at the very thought of him.

What I, genuinely, do not understand is how a judge can let a man like him free to roam the streets... Wouldn't it be safer for the general public to have James securely detained behind bars? Not that I give a bloody crap about him, but wouldn't it also be safer for him as well? It sickens me to know that he was released and pardoned the first time... Only for him to be able to roam the streets while out on bail for a second time.... It bothers me to know that he was allowed to live in Mexico as a free man... I pray, and I don't pray, that he didn't defile any child while down in Mexico....

It's a twisted world in which we live and I suppose it takes all kinds to make that world go round. I just can't wrap my head around anyone who can justify harming another person, other than in a case self defence. Ya, some days I'm sure we'd all love to flip our lid and just go ballistic... Point of the matter is, most of us don't.

It's not always about me; I just imagine crazy shit in my head... I don't actually DO it!

(http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2889560)

More Frightening Than Halloween

I was originally going to write about why we celebrate Halloween, it's traditions and history..... But I've decided against it... I figure I won't bore you with it, because chances are... If you wanted to know about all that, you'd've already googled it and found out by yourself... Instead, I'm going to write about something that outraged and scared me more than any Halloween prank I've witnessed... Graham James....

Graham James was a coach in the Junior A Hockey league and for the WHL, he was also a scout for the Winnipeg Warriors. In his hockey coaching/scouting career, he sexually assaulted some of the players he was responsible for coaching, including former NHLers Theo Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy. What deeply concerns me is, in 2007, James was granted a pardon from the Canadian National Parole Board... This was after his conviction and incarceration on reportedly 350 charges of sexual assaults. After his pardon, he relocated to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he used his middle name of Michael and was allowed to live a "normal life" working for a Montreal based Internet company.

I had already read Sheldon Kennedy's book, Why I Didn't Say Anything: The Sheldon Kennedy Story, so I had an idea of the deep affect and destruction that James' actions had on his former players and abuse victims. (I had become aware of the book after Kennedy's appearance on Oprah to spread awareness of sexual abuse. The book was later made into a TV movie.) Then, last night, I saw the Fifth Estate that featured Theoren Fleury and his story, obviously including Graham James and the affects it had on his life after. I have yet to read Fleury's book, Playing With Fire, but judging by the Fifth Estate and Kennedy's book, both men had similar stories. Both battled drug and alcohol addictions to numb the pain of the abuse they withstood. Both also battled sexual addiction - a side effect they linked to proving they weren't gay, a stigma of the sexual abuse at the hands of their coach.

My blood ran cold when the story shifted from the focus on Theoren Fleury to James. I'm still trying to wrap my head around Graham James receiving a pardon.... What the hell is wrong with that picture? Is it just me, or does everyone else see the fact that there is something seriously, seriously wrong with Canada's National Parole Board? How can a man so sick and twisted be allowed out of prison in the first place???? If he had abused my son/child and I heard he was being released from prison... I don't know how I'd react to be quite honest... Vigilante justice comes to mind... But I don't think that would have solved anything enough to have taken place... But I still don't think it would have ended well for James... I'm sickened and outraged that he was able to breath one breathe as a free man after that though... There is a special place in hell (and prison for that matter) for people like Graham James.

I haven't heard much about Sheldon Kennedy recently, but last I heard he was well down the road to recovery. He had given up boozing and drugs and has a family life. I'm not sure if he's been able to forgive James', but it really isn't my business. If last night's Fifth Estate was accurate, Theo Fleury is also well down recovery's road as well. He, too, has given up drugs and booze, and is in the family way. Fleury was asked if he had forgiven, or could forgive, James. I wasn't surprised when he responded "No".

Just recently, as in October 25th, James was taken into custody in Toronto's Pearson Airport. Nine more charges of sexual assault are waiting for him in Winnipeg. I hope this man never sees the light of day again as a free man. I hope he doesn't "accidentally" get let out into general population.... Just sayin'...

It's not always about me; but in this case I saw red... and it honestly had nothing to do with me...