There are a few cases in the news lately that I have to give my two cents' worth about, so up on the soapbox I go!
First, singer Chris Brown beats up his girlfriend, singer Rihanna. Threatens to kill her. Puts her in a chokehold. And what does she do? She goes back to him. I'm sure, like all batterers, he convinced her he was sorry, he wouldn't do it again, yadda yadda yadda. They do that so they can get their victim close enough for a repeat performance. The only answer to being battered is "get your stuff and get out of my house, and if you come back me and my friend, Mr. Smith & Wesson, will be waiting." Rihanna is a single, successful woman who is perfectly capable of surviving on her own. There are no children involved. Why she went back to this despicable piece of garbage is beyond my imagination, but if I were her, I'd wise up and leave. My guess is this will not be the last time this will happen.
Speaking of despicable pieces of trash... Michael Vick, the NFL quarterback convicted of dogfighting crimes, is getting out of jail. Here's hoping there isn't a team in the country willing to put him on their roster.
There is another missing little girl, Haleigh Cummings, who has been getting a lot of airplay. But we shouldn't forget that there are a lot of missing children across the U.S.A. I would like to see shows that feature these kinds of stories spend a few seconds showing pictures of some other missing children. Let's hope Haleigh is found alive and well.
Not so blind item: there is a certain high-profile case where the accused is guilty, guilty, guilty. The evidence in this case is massive and unambiguous. But the defense attorney is not going to have his client plead this out, not because it's not in his client's best interests, but because he wants the P.R. of a big splashy trial. He should have his license to practice law revoked. He might want to think about a little thing called justice. I'm not saying that defendants aren't entitled to a fair trial, but when the evidence is this overwhelming the most responsible thing to do for your client is to try to work out some kind of plea deal.
All states should immediately outlaw having primates, including chimpanzees, as pets. They should also outlaw having animals such as tigers, jaguars, alligators, and any other animals whose only home should be the wild. The horrible case of the woman who was tragically mauled by a 200-lb. chimpanzee is a huge red flag. And by the way, the injuries this woman suffered are so awful that I can't even list them all here or I will have nightmares. Let me just say that I would not want to live in that condition. I hope her family can make the appropriate decisions for her, and they might be hard to make, but to consign this poor woman to a life with no quality of life would double this tragedy, in my opinion.
I was listening to NPR the other day when a woman who owned several species of monkeys as well as a jaguar was on defending owning these animals. She had them in enclosures (separately) and said the monkeys were "living like monkeys." THEY'RE IN CAGES, LADY!!! BY THEMSELVES!! HELLO!!!!! Monkeys (and jaguars) live in social units with other monkeys and jaguars. This is NOT appropriate, and these creatures are NOT "living like monkeys." Sheesh. Take it from somebody who found a Ball python in her backyard because some doofus who had it as a pet couldn't keep it contained. Some animals are NOT meant to be pets, and accidents with these guys can and will happen. (Not two weeks later a Ball python bit a toddler in a local park, by the way.)
Go adopt a dog or a cat from a local shelter instead. Fish are also nice.
