May 31, 2005

I was doing a little drive by on the current events tip today. Which basically means on my way to an appointment, I saw a courier reading a newspaper box and shaking her head, and decided to take a peek myself. Thisis what I read;

Homolka 'unrepentant' 'Arrogant' killer dyes and cuts hair before release, say former inmates

I have subsequently read the rest of the article.

It's weird because Homolka wants to move to a neighbourhood about 20 minutes from mine, and my actual first impulse was fear. Which is ridiculous for so many reasons I don't even want to go into here. I mean frankly the woman is in more danger than she presents to others, based on the tenor of the news media surrounding her release.

This article wasn't the first time I have thought of the Homolka issue, its just the first time I have wanted to mention it in this forum.

We have this culture of punishment/justice(if thats what you want to call it) that doesn't create a framework for the act of forgiveness.

Many people would argue that what Ms. Homolka did is unforgiveable, and I am inclined to agree wth them. However, we have created a system in which people who do unforgiveable things can be released to take their place in society, which basically means we have no choice but to forgive them, because if we don't it creates a toxic atmosphere and makes their re-integration completely impossible. I mean, that's why so many felons re-enter the system, once you have it on your record you don't get a second chance.

Because the justice system f__ed up large on this one (Homolkas plea bargain), we have to let Karla out, and its not going to help anyone making her life impossible.

It's like the media is goading her into proving their fears true so we can lock her up again, proving all sorts of nasty brutish lessons such as;

- Change is impossible

- People should not be forgiven

- If you say someone is going to screw up enough times, they will eventually prove you right.

Worse yet, none of these lessons are true. However, the way justice is carried out on this continent and the way criminals are protaryed in the media perpetuates them.

Forgiveness isn't condoning someones choices for one thing. In part, I believesthat Homolkas lack of repentance could be tied up in the fact that no-one has truly forgiven her, so she feels justified in sticking her transgressiveness back in our faces. If someone were to truly offer her some kind of absolution, and try to forgive her. She would probably go mental and actually start to understand the true measure of her guilt.

I can't really explain the process because I am no theologian, but that's the basic notion of all sorts of forgiveness rituals. One cannot actually begin to repent in themselves until they have been forgiven by their comunity, and if we can't forgive Karla what does she owe us except more of the same?

What part of Cappolli did I just eat precisely?

Okay this is probably tacky, but I wanted to write something funny too...

So a couple of nights ago, I had this terrible indigestion from a cappoli chicken burger, which was like a shnitzel frisbee covered in Kimchee made from boston lettuce and which hurt me in more ways than I can stand to remember.

And I was lying on my sofa trying to get over it because it hurt too much to try to sleep, and I was mentally composing an elegy to the chicken frisbee which involved a long story about being on a kibbutz near beersheba in Israel, and going to the market and buying oily blocks of hash and hash pipes and on the way back to the kibbutz we passed the head cook carrying several large baskets full of live sqwuaking (how in gods name do you spell sqwuaking?) chickens.

Later that evening, having made a significant dent in our hash collections. My friends and I sat down for dinner in the mess hall of the kibbutz and were greeted by steaming plates of roughly prepared chicken schnitzels, many with feathers still poking from their breadcrumb wrappings..

I think one of the skolnik twins might have puked into her new naots.

aaah isreal land of milk, honey, and recently deceased feathered schnitzels.

Anyways, (look I digressed aren't I sneaky?)

While on the sofa, and clutching my stomach. I thought to myself. This thing has hit me harder than puberty.

So that's it; "hit me harder than puberty." I never have to search for another pithy simile ever again, and neither do you my dear readers.

We can all use it. "Dude those 18 tequila shots last night, hit me harder than puberty"

My third divorce hit me harder than puberty, but you shoulda seen what it did to the kids.

etc... don't thank me, just never make me eat a capolli burger again.

It's true great brilliance is tempered in the fire of even greater suffering..(or whatever)

hyuck.

Continued from main page..