Volume Five, Chapter Seven: At Long Last, the 2015 Inspirations List

It only took two months, but here’s the 2015 recap of Inspirations.

Youthful indiscretions often bleed into adulthood, and can have far-reaching consequences. To the hometown cousin who just graduated college and started an excellent auto restoration business and family, in spite of incredible odds, all I can do is congratulate.

The whole same-sex marriage thing could have been handled infinitely better than it was. If more like the lady in Salt Lake City I know were as tactful, respectful, and empathetic to all those involved as she was, the world would only be better for it.

The July 17 Chattanooga terrorist attacks could have turned this town into a cesspool of rage, theatrics, and suspicion. Instead, everybody here, from Mayor Andy Burke on, remained NoogaStrong. There have been no other major confrontations.

As bad as the co-worker fiasco was on me, the staff at Calvin Donaldson Elementary, and dare I say most school staffs, have it far worse. Yet they get up, brush themselves off, and face it another day. You have to love them; not everybody can do that.

To pretty much anybody in my life I’m grateful, even if we’ve never met. You didn’t necessarily have to be here, but you are, and thank you.

So there you have it, folks. The inspiration list that was supposed to end the last year is the second of the new year. Since I FINALLY have a week off, I’ll get around to one more inspiration, and how his style could prevent a tragedy like next time’s subject.

Yeah, it took me three months to type 275 words. I’m working on it…

Volume Five, Chapter Two: The No Wonder Twins

On June 17, 2015, Dylan Storm Roof walked in a mostly Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, sat through a Bible study, and shot nine people, including a U.S. Senator.

On July 16, 2015, right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, one Muhammad Youssef Abdulahzeez shot up two military recruitment centers, killing five soldiers. He was killed in a gunfight with responding police.

I’ve seen all the “experts and analysts” that cite things they don’t like as the causes of these monsters. It’s apparently the sight and love of the Confederate flag in Roof’s case, and Islamic martyrdom complex in Abdulahzeez’s case.

Nobody and nothing anywhere made them do anything. Either savage could have declined, but didn’t. Dylan Storm Roof and Muhammad Youssef Abdulahzeez became murderers because they wanted to.

If the Confederate flag drove Roof to murder, then how did I survive cabbing in places like Rossville, Georgia, whose state flag includes the Stars and Bars? If Islam drove Abdulazeez to murder, then some critic needs to tell all the people in the mosques that they’re behind schedule.

Those two killers were merely products of the era: emotionally challenged punks who refused to grow up, replacing their coping skills deficiency with drugs, determined to punish people for not affirming their fantasy world. White Nationalism and Islamic martyrdom eased their conscience just enough to act.

Thus, Dylan Storm Roof and Muhammad Youssef Abdulahzeez, encouraged by manipulative supporters who risk nothing, and justified in their own drug-addled minds- the only place that matters to such animals- have left their footprints in the sands of time, and blood on the ground.

If desire, weapons, a “depression” diagnosis, and self-justification are all one needs to throw a lethal hissy fit, it won’t be long before a murder’s significance, and the value of the life taken, will be determined primarily on the social stances and identity of the people involved.

Oh, wait…

Next up, it’s time to deal with the alleged motivation for Dylann’s rampage… and the “S” word.