Shocked, Shocked, Disbelief, Followed by Utter Amazement
Last week, as you know, I encountered a rare form of horoscope, one that actually makes sense. Well, you're not going to BELIEVE what I read today!
Quickie:
Technology isn't everything. But it has made long-distance calls affordable.
Overview:
You're mulling something over, and trying to decide what the most shocking thing in the world might be -- the most shocking thing you could possibly do. Don't set a torch to any bridges you might need in the future.
Daily Extended Forecast for September 24, 2004
Ask and ye shall receive. Others are unusually responsive to a need that you thought wasn't all that important. Be careful how many people you ask, though -- you could end up with too much. Timing is extremely important throughout the day. Check the delivery schedule before committing. If you're having trouble meeting a deadline, you may have to ask for assistance from your coworkers or boss.
I've encountered that rarest of elusive species, the horoscope that actually makes sense AND provides a useful answer (albeit not the one I wanted to hear). I'm serious!
I don't know if anybody knew this, but I'm constantly plotting to quit my job. Which does nothing to differentiate me from 90% of the population. But what is different is that up until I read the horoscope, I'd been mulling the idea of tossing caution to the wind, giving nary a thought to other ways of generating the currency I regularly exchange for things shiny, sweet-smelling, or colorful. Ideally all three. But now I know I must sit tight and wait for the stars to tell me when it's time to make a move.
Our story begins with a sweet five year-old girl who is about to be deprived of the father she loves. This is sad. There is no way it could not be sad. And our hearts do and should go out to this poor little tot. But that isn't the whole story.
This girl's father is a convicted murderer who has been on death row for 12 years. "LeBaroness", you might be saying to yourself, "how can a man who has been on death row for 12 years have a five year-old daughter?" Read on.
The genesis of this unusual family began in September 1998, when Tameika East was a correctional officer at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Ellis Unit in Huntsville, which then housed the state's more than 400 death row inmates.
Edward Green had been on death row for five years, appealing a capital murder conviction for his role in the 1992 deaths of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, who were shot as they sat in a car at a stop sign in Houston.
East-Green, 26, says she immediately was drawn to the articulate young man with a boyish face and engaging smile who had grown deeply religious, introspective and remorseful about his past.
"I just fell in love with him," she said in a recent interview. "He didn't hide his feelings like most men."
Their courtship
As their courtship progressed, she said, she often traded daily assignments with other correctional officers so she could work in the death row wing and visit with Green.
"We talked about everything. He has a very positive attitude. He never lets his situation get him down," she said. "He's not the same person that he was. I would not have fallen in love with that person."
When asked about the circumstances of her becoming pregnant in such a restrictive environment, she looked down and said, "That's personal."
...
Although having sex with a prison inmate was made a felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail in 1997, East-Green was not charged.
...
As the execution date nears, East-Green says, she frequently prays for a stay. She dreads looking at a calendar but says she worries most about her daughter.
"What am I supposed to tell her? One day her father's here, and the next ... ," she said, unable to finish the sentence. "I think Edward is going to tell her. He said he wants to be the one to tell her.
Since this article doesn't bother to elaborate on the lives of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, in typical liberal "forget the victims, pity the murders" fashion, I'm going to go ahead and assume that at least one of the two had children and even grandchildren, which is hardly inconceivable at their ages. If so, their children experienced the same thing this five year-old will, with the oh-so minor exception of their parents not being convicted murders. This five year-old and her piece of shit mother will get to say goodbye to the murderer they know and love. They've had years to prepare. The friends and family of the innocent victims probably weren't gathered around paying their respects when the elderly pair were gunned down at a stop sign, in all probability. But we shouldn't consider them at all. Let's all just feel really sorry for this little girl and her thoughtless whore mother.
The conventional wisdom says that everyone should vote, no matter what, so that their "voice will be heard." But what if they have a shrill, uninformed, deranged voice and not a damn thing to say? I submit that that person shouldn't vote. Yes, that is what I'm saying. Mind you, I'm not saying that harebrained idiots should actually be prevented from voting, merely that the harebrained should stop listening to the voices telling them that they need to vote despite being completely unaware of what they're even voting for and simply opt out. I think there is less shame in a vote never cast than in a randomly-marked ballot cast in utter ignorance. Also, if you are the type of person that cannot form an opinion on an issue until one of your puppet-masters hand-feeds it to you, then perhaps you should refrain from voting as you've refrained from thinking and let your puppet master vote on your behalf. In other words, don't be their bitch. Also, if your political opinions are formed by your "reading" of People magazine, or any of those fine publications that only exist in grocery store checkout lines, don't vote. It won't do you any good, anyway. You'll just get all confused because you were SOOO gonna vote for Jennifer Aniston over Courtney Cox, but for some strange reasons their names aren't listed on the ballot. Not that you'll know it, for sadly, there are no pictures on the ballots, only words, and since you prefer to "peruse" supermarket tabloids, there's a fair chance that you can't read. So stay home. Or go somewhere. But don't vote.
7:30 AM
