My blog

I've had a little disclaimer on the sidebar of this blog since I started it. You're welcome to comment, to disagree, whatever. I have never invited anyone to my blog directly, nor have I requested or demanded (yes, you, anne elizabeth, I know you still visit. Anonymous isn't very anonymous when you're stupid.) to be linked to. I think it's cool if you visit, even more cool if you return to read, and pretty damn flattering if you link to me.

If you don't like something I write, please feel free to disagree. In fact, I pretty much expect it. I don't write things like "Today the sky was blue." I know what I'm writing about is often controversial and I am fully aware of the fact that I believe things differently than your average, white bread, Republican policeman. (And I can say that because my husband is a shining example of "The Man".) But that little disclaimer on my sidebar has said, from the beginning, "I like comments. But I like real comments, not people being assholes. If you have something constructive to add, by all means please speak up. If you just like to lurk, please lurk. I don't take flaming lightly. I will erase those comments."

I love a good debate. Bring it on. But do it logically. Use reason, research, fact, even your own opinion. But don't attack me. I do not attack people that I disagree with, and that's my one request of you; respect that and return it. Calling me hormonal just because you're having a shitty day (and happen to know I'm pregnant) is being an asshole. Or showing up anonymously and berating me cause you can't use intelligence to argue your point, well, that just gets your comment deleted. You'll notice, if you go through past posts, I never deleted any comments where people disagree with me. Nor have I been nasty in response. However, if you're nasty to me, yep, I reserve the right to be a bitch back. Today was the first time I deleted a comment. The person didn't have anything constructive to add, and basically felt like blaming me for something that happened to her at some point in the past (that coincidentally wasn't me, although I'd like to have taken credit for it).

I realize I have different viewpoints. Sometimes they may not make sense to some people, especially cops. It's funny that I know enough cops and since I'm married to one (and have them in the family as well) that I'm expected to bow down and have the exact same opinion as cops? Nope. Not gonna happen. Sure there's a lot of things I do agree with, but I'm not a sheep.

Anyway, by all means, disagree with me. Tell me so. But expect a good debate, if I want to debate about it. (If I don't want to debate about it, I'll just let it go) And don't read into my tone. It's the damn internet, there is no tone except the one you're making up in your head. If you can't handle a debate, well...you know what they say about the heat.

Ex-cop teaches you how to hide drugs

An ex-Narcotics Officer is creating a video to teach people how to "Never Get Busted Again." His former employers remember him as being one of the best narcotics officers they've ever seen. In the article it mentions that he is in favor of marijuana legalization, believing the War on Drugs to be a waste of resources, filling the jails with harmless criminals.
I actually happen to agree with him about pot. I've never heard a cop story involving a violent stoner. I've never met anyone who did anything more than just sit and be stupid while smoking marijuana. The worst I've heard personally was the local kid, Alex Manocchio, getting stoned and driving his car into an 8-months-pregnant woman, killing her and her unborn baby. If it was legal, there could be laws passed preventing 'stoning and driving', just like alcohol. But that's a long battle and debate that frankly I don't want to get into. To me, I don't see the difference between pot and booze.
The problem is that his video, if I'm understanding the story correctly, is how to hide your narcotics. Is pot a narcotic? I was under the impression there were far more serious drugs out there than pot. I also believe resources would be better used pursuing the drug trade for those drugs that cause violent behavior, serious bodily harm, and addiction. I mean let's be honest...someone gets stiffed over a joint, do they go on a violent spree? Do kids become hookers for pot money?

That said, I think it's pretty sad that he used to spend his life upholding the law, and is now making a trade teaching people to evade the law. Unfortunately being a cop doesn't give you any room to disagree with the law. You uphold it, regardless of your personal beliefs, or you lose your job. Obviously this officer wasn't OK with that.

But he only had a knife!!

UPDATE: PLEASE SEE COMMENTS FOR THIS POST. The description of the photos is inaccurate per Snopes.com and another officer who also received the email.

This email has been circulating in the cop community, and I thought it important enough to post. Please note: I am uploading the pictures but you must click on them to see them. THEY ARE GRAPHIC IMAGES. That's your warning. If you click and are sickened, not my fault.

I'm reposting the email as it arrived in our inbox. I don't think that I'd have worded it the same, but here it is:

The photos are of an officer trained in hand-to-hand combat.
The officer thought, due to his size and fighting skills, he could disarm a knife wielding aggressor.

Here is why I am forwarding these on.

To all the idiots out there who always say, "Why did the cops have to shoot him?
He only had a (insert your choice of weapons here, i.e. knife, bat, club. whatever).?
He didn't have to be shot.

To that, I respond, "tough crap ... shoot'em".

If an officer tells you to drop your weapon, just drop it.
If you're a retard, stupid, on crack, mental or just "scared" ... too bad.?

No one deserves what this cop got for just doing his job.?
If you've got a knife, then you should die ... period.

This is vivid proof of how deadly people who are "only" armed with a knife can be.

Some of the public think that officers should try to disarm someone armed with a knife but anyone who has had training in knife fighting will tell you - even if you win you are going to get cut. Keep this in the back of your mind when confronting someone armed with an edged weapon.
Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

A better driver?

Wellll...in my post about the kid who smoked pot and caused a major accident, I mentioned that I had a lot of practice before actually getting my license. I said I thought it made me a better driver.

This morning a freak snowstorm hit Cincinnati. The high today was somewhere in the mid 20s, with wind chill around zero. While going a max of 25-30 mph over a bridge, I hit a huge patch of ice, and started to fishtail. I was able to regain control of my Jeep for all of .25 seconds, and spun out in a wide arc. Miraculously I was able to avoid being hit by the monster salt truck in the next lane, but I hit the cement guard rail. Scraped up the front left corner enough to make it rub on the tire when I hard turn, and knocked off the back left quarter panel. Scared the CRAP out of me. I got out to assess damage, and another car had stopped to check on me. It was two young guys, and one of them even picked up the pieces of the quarter panel. I thought that was a very endearing gesture, although I can't imagine he actually thought they would put it back on, LOL! My car was fully driveable and I was less than a mile from work so I thanked them and got back in the car. Once I started driving, I got the adrenaline dump that I'm sure some of you are all too familiar with. Was shaking so bad I wouldn't have been able to dial a phone.

Someone asked if I called the cops. No, I didn't. I was the only car involved, the car was driveable and I wasn't injured. Plus due to the snow, there were accidents piling up all across the city, involving injuries and multiple cars. I let them deal with the more important issues.

That was my first accident ever. The worst part was the awful realization that it was inevitable. All I could do was wait, at that point, to hit the wall. And be thankful that there were no other cars near me. But it was a humbling experience. Yes, it was my fault. I was accelerating with disregard to the weather. Mother nature demands more respect than I offered this morning.

Yes, the baby is fine. I'm fine. We went to the doc anyway, and listened to the heartbeat, and laughed as the doc chased the baby around my belly. She/he is very active in the late afternoons!

How do Tasers work?

Found an article on Slate about how Tasers work. It's from a few weeks ago but it's a concise explanation. Also mentions that Taser International is suing some Ohio & Indiana coroners for implicating Taser in the cause of death. Yay Taser! The article ends by comparing the difference between a Taser shock and being hit by lightning. I wish I knew where to find independent studies on the effects of Tasers and stun guns, but today I'm a little too lazy to look them up.

Boredom Meme

Stole this from Katey and wanted to do it. You're supposed to bold the ones you've done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I Love You" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Built your own PC from parts
11. Hit a home run
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Visited Paris
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gotten married
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gone scuba diving
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" (an expert at being a cop's wife, LOL)
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror (ok at, not in)
96. Raised child(ren)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking (um, every day)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Had a snake as a pet
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Broken a bone
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (had a whole article just about me)
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one 'important' author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Bungee jumped
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Never a shortage of them...

For my more frequent readers, you might be intrigued to hear there is a bit of a debate going on in the comments section of a thread from a MONTH ago. I had posted right after elections about one unhappy local businessman's reaction to the public smoking ban here in Ohio. Some anonymous visitor has taken on himself (herself?) to use it as an opportunity to let me know what, in his opinion, is wrong with the voting system today. At first it started out that since 20% of Ohioans smoke (not entirely sure where they got that figure but I've heard similar estimates) that therefore, 20% of public places should allow smoking. As you can see, there isn't a lot of logic to this person's arguments, but for some silly reason I let myself get sucked in. After I got another comment today, I realized this person isn't mad at me, they're mad at the world, and mad at the way democracy works. Check it out, you might get a kick out of it. I closed the commenting because A.) if you're going to go on a rant, at least have the balls to put your name on it, and B.) my blog isn't about the failures and successes of the system.

On another note about the smoking ban, it starts to take effect on Dec. 7. That's a mere three days away, and to be perfectly honest, I'm tickled pink. I've had my own little countdown going til the day when I don't have to ask to be seated in non-smoking! And to be perfectly honest, I don't know how the law works as far as bars go, but since I won't be going in any bars til at least next May, it won't affect me anyway. My hunch is, though, due to the rather stringent language of the bill, bars probably won't be allowing smokers either.

On a *third* note about smoking, we recently discovered that Scott's, a major lawn-care company located in Marysville, Ohio actually successfully enforced a company policy requiring their employees to quit smoking completely. If your brain is working today, you'll realize when I say enforced, that means they fired an employee who they caught smoking off-hours. Now, I'm all for people taking charge of their own health, and not doing things that are proven detrimental to your health, like smoking, binge drinking, overeating, drugs, etc. But there's got to be a line somewhere in how involved a company can get in the employee's personal life. I could understand if Scott's decided to not pay for the health insurance of smoking employees. Let them pay for their own health insurance, if they're going to willingly partake in a known health hazard. But firing them? I can't say as I agree with that! What's next? I have heard some other arguments, like "if they can fire you for doing drugs, why not smoking?" Well, smoking cigarettes isn't illegal, yet. I don't know exactly where the line should be drawn, but I certainly don't think someone should be fired for doing something entirely legal on their own personal time, no matter how stupid. The fired employee, Scott Rodriguez, is apparently suing the company for violating a state privacy law. Given that the company enacted the policy a while ago, I find it curious that their lawyers found nothing wrong with the policy at the time. So I wonder how successful Mr. Rodriguez will be in suing?

Flirt much?

So last week J was escorting a female prisoner to court, and apparently she was trying to strike up a conversation or something. She looks at him and says "Why do you look so mean? Are you having a bad day?" Which doesn't surprise him or me, because he's always got that look on his face. If you don't know him, you'd think he was pissed off if he's not smiling. So he replies "No, not a bad day." Usually he looks the most mad if he's lost in thought and possibly doing something he isn't 100% fond of (like court services). So this prisoner, apparently either thinking she'd done something wrong OR trying to get on his good side, replies "Oh. Well you have really pretty eyes." He and I both laugh at this because he's already described this prisoner as having seen better days, most likely due to meth. She's missing half her front teeth. Lovely!