Ice Hits Close to Home

 

Linda Davis, beloved teacher.

As terrible as some things are, we fool ourselves into thinking that they are too distant from us to impact us. Minneapolis is many hours and states away from where I live. They are mainly targeting Democratic cities, and I live in one of the reddest counties on the planet. Nothing has happened to jar loose any of the 90% who voted for Trump and pals in elections here.

But a terrible tragedy has struck close to home. The madness that is ICE struck in Savannah.   Rather than me stumbling trying to describe what happened, I will let this news story written by Margaret Coker in The Current Ga outline it for you.

"A Chatham County elementary school teacher en route to work early Monday was killed after a man trying to flee federal immigration agents rammed her vehicle on Whitefield Avenue near the Truman Parkway, according to county police.

Linda Davis, a longtime teacher at Herman W. Hesse K-8 School was pulled from her crushed Lexus sedan by emergency personnel but later pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver who allegedly hit her, 38-year-old Oscar Vasquez-Lopez, was arrested by Chatham County Police and charged with homicide and reckless driving, police said.  

The fatal collision occurred around 7:20 a.m. less than a half mile from Hesse after agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried to pull over the vehicle driven by Vasquez-Lopez, according to police and eyewitnesses. 

Although Monday was a school holiday, Davis was due to attend teacher training that morning at the elementary school that serves a large number of Spanish-speaking children. Vasquez-Lopez appears to have driven through the red light on Whitefield on the east side of the Truman at such speed that the front and side of Davis' vehicle was crushed, witnesses told The Current GA. 

Around 7:30 a.m., before emergency workers arrived at the scene, two masked immigration agents dressed in tactical gear detained one person and ushered him to one of their two vehicles parked along Whitefield Avenue, according to two eyewitnesses. It is unclear if that person was Vasquez-Lopez or someone else. 

It is unclear whether federal agents offered any emergency assistance to the special needs teacher. Three eyewitnesses told The Current that they did not see anyone attending the mangled black Lexus before Chatham emergency services arrived at 7:45 a.m. and pried Davis from her vehicle.

Chatham County police said that they had not been aware of any planned immigration enforcement operations on Monday and were not involved in any when the collision occurred."

END Article inclusion

ICE, looking for suspects, apparently decided to harass around an elementary school, began a car chase in an area where they put others at risk. This led to a crash that took Linda Davis's life. The so-called criminal, Vasquez-Lopez, had NO criminal record.* The chase was dangerous and unwarranted.

But this hits even closer to home for us than even Savannah. Two of the witnesses were people we know. I haven't seen their names in print, so I won't name them. One is a lifelong friend of Alison's who grew up in Pierce County. The other is a close friend of one of our church family, and I believe grew up in Ware County. They are both good friends and good people, ones we still see several times a year. They escorted us around Savannah a few years ago and were great hosts, hitting up a lot of the foodie spots.

One of them worked at the school system with Linda Davis. Both of them adored her. Both of them were horrified by what ICE had done.

No one is safe. The horrors of the Trump administration will affect us all.

Even if you think the undocumented are a problem that needs to be dealt with, I think you have to agree that this is not the way to go about it. Too many innocents are being killed or wounded, many others are having their lives and families disrupted, and some are just disappearing to God knows where.

Remember, being undocumented is a civil offense, not a criminal one. THE UNDOCUMENTED ARE NOT CRIMINALS.

If you live in Southeast Georgia, you should be looking at The Current GA. Please search for it or link it to your social media. There are few truly independent, investigative news sources left. We should cherish those that we can find.

Until next time.

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

A Look Out the Window

 I let Scout have some screened-in porch time.

I drifted to other things and had forgotten I had let her out.

I came back to the kitchen to look out the window to see where she might be, and...oops, there he is!

Scout can climb up anywhere. And does. This morning he was on our fireplace mantel. There's not really much room for him there, what with all the knick-knacks. To make room, he knocked off a plastic cow figure.

We don't leave anything on the kitchen counter that he can get into anymore. Even food in a plastic bag - he will try to get at it, even if he doesn't like the food. The fun is in the destruction, not the food inside.

----------------------------------------

I was going to post a story about the OHC Book Festival I attended. I was hoping to find some pictures online to head up the post, but alas, I could not find any.

So, how did it go?

Pretty darn good! There was a good-sized crowd, with vendors, activities, seminars, and costume contests.

I sold a few books. I was surprised that Crowley Stories was a bestseller. I love that book, but I've had a hard time promoting it. Even though fictional, it is set in the Okefenokee Swamp region. And although it was written almost a decade ago, some of the plot lines have proven prophetic. Things have become os much worse down here since the emergence of Trump and MAGA. I'm sorry if that upsets some of you, but it's the truth.

The experience has reenergized me and made me want to return to writing. I have a completed book that I have not published, The Extra Credit Club. I found a new Beta reader for it and potentially a book editor to review it. In the long run, I will probably still self-publish, mostly because at my age I don't want to wait the one to three years it would take to get it accepted and published.

--------------------------------

My health is pretty good. Most of my blood pressure readings are good (at least in my world). I monitor my blood glucose with a Dexcom monitor; most of the time, I am within the normal range. I've found some things that spike my numbers and others that have less of an effect. Dark chocolate, nuts, even some whole wheat and homemade sourdough bread don't cause much of a rise. Potatoes? Whoa, Katy, bar the door!

This morning, my weight was the lowest it's been this century!

I still have periodic bouts with arthritis pains, particularly in my legs (foot, knee, lower leg).

----------------------------

I watched the Bad Bunny halftime show. It was fantastic! Did I understand what was being said? No, but I don't always catch what English-speaking singers say* (Dylan? Anyone? Anyone?). I did get the message loud and clear - a celebration of diversity and love. 

----------------------

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

* Maybe one of the reasons I like Johnny Cash so much is that I can understand what he says.

Your Presence Is Requested!

 

I am very excited to announce my participation in this groundbreaking event. I will have an aauthor'stable. I am trying to get back into promoting myself as a writer. I'm nervous, but I need to break through my introversion and get back into it.

As you can see from the flyer above, this is so much more than an author's presentation. There will be readings, contests, workshops, and so much more!

My good friend, Greg O'Driscoll, will be there, promoting his comic book. Both the Waycross/Ware County AND Pierce County Libraries will be there, with super information, giveaways, and contests!  

Fun for every reader of every age!

From Elizabeth Pond, Event Coordinator

We have a great chichildren'sea planned for the OHC We Love Literacy Book Festival on Saturday, February 7 from 10-4. Special thanks to the Waycross Ware County Library and the Pierce County Library!

Big Fun on the Big Front Porch

Join us on the porch for a full day of crafts, coloring, and free book giveaways!

DonDon'tss story time and visits with our favorite friends, Bluey and Pogo.

Story time: 10:15

Visit with Bluey: 10:30

Story time: 11:15

Book Character Costume Judging: 12:00

Visit with Pogo: 12:30

Story time: 1:15

Visit with Bluey: 1:30

Story time: 2:15

Visit with Pogo: 2:30

Story time: 3:15

Please come! You'll have a blast!

Sunny Bays: Flash Fiction

Look out your window.

What do you see?

I see sunny bays.  

I have a very comfortable lift chair.

One that faces my sliding glass door. Each morning, the nurses settle me there.

I wish they would do it in time for me to see the sun rise. That would be so beautiful. But they usually don't set me until after 8 AM.

Nevertheless, it is still beautiful. Much better than TV. I do have my tablet with me, with fifty ways to play solitaire. But most of the time, I just love to stare and let my mind float away.

The palm trees are gently swaying. The beach is pristine, the sand reflecting golden in the morning sunlight. When the tide is low, a strip of sand juts out and separates the bay into two.

There are a few beach umbrellas, striped red and white, with the logo for the Bay Resort splashed at the top. In the distance, I can see a lifeguard station. He is not yet on duty.  

The beach is empty, at least at first. A young family sets out camp, with beach towels and not much else. Mama has sunglasses and a paperback, the young children have shovels and pails, and the father has a Frisbee. I'm surprised they don't have a dog -but then, as if on cue, a teenager appears, a hyper cocker spaniel at his heels.

Others arrive, the beach filling out.  

The waves are modest. Still, I could hear the rhythmic motion of the ocean even through my closed glass door.

The tablet lay unopened on my lap. I don't need it. I'm somewhere else. I'm on the beach, Melinda holding my hand. Before we settle down, we race to the ocean. It is not as warm as I hoped, but it is bracing, and we quickly adjust. The water is up to our shoulders. I hold her close, and we kiss.

The current pulls at us, wanting to take us further out to sea.

This time, we do not resist.

The tablet drops from my lap.

The Appearance of Resistance

 

January started out rough.

The invasion of Venezuela. 

The ICE-engineered violence in Minneapolis.

The sabre-rattling over Greenland threatens to destabilize the entire world.

Not to mention the illegal noncompliance over releasing the Epstein files.

Our slow roll to fascism was picking up a tremendous head of steam.

But then, unexpected checks came into play.

In Venezuela, the gush of cheap oil became questionable.  The big oil companies proved reluctant to invest billions in something they were unsure would justify the results.  There is no surge of democracy or freedom, as the President seems satisfied to leave the country inthe hands of Maduro's subordinates - as long as the President gets to dip his beak into their riches.  He seems reluctant to take the next steps, so this great colonial exploitation remains frozen.

We were rescued from an invasion/takeover of Greenland, not because of a burst of conscience from Trump or MAGA, but by the reaction of Wall Street.  A slumping market reaction caused TACO to retreat. Good? Yes, I guess so.  But it is rather frightening to think the moral compass of the US is now the stock market.  The same group that rises in delirium when unemployment goes up? Boy, are we in trouble!

I don't know what's going on with the Epstein files.  But despite all the noise, people still want them to come out, even many MAGA supporters.

The hopes with the ICE invasion of Minneapolis was to rile up the citizens enough to justify a martial law takevoer of Minnesota.  It was a test to see how Trump's Gestapo could shut down a state and its elections.

They failed to achieve this.  Instead, the good people of Minneapolis took to their whistles and phones and recorded the insanity and violence that ICE was bringing. The resulting tragedies that occurred were recorded, and the lies the Trump administration tried to impose on them made it impossible for people to believe them.  All but the most MAGA-infused could see, undeniably, the federal government was lying to them.

They are not out of Minneapolis yet, but they are in retreat.  They are like a snake that has not yet realized that its head has been cut off.

The battle against fascism is far from over.  But we have gained a foothold against the avalanche of evil and suppression they have hurled at the American people and the world at large.

Resistance is not futile, but itain't easy.

God bless Renae Good. God bless Alex Pretti, and the minimum seven others who were killed by ICE so far this year. God bless the people of Minneapolis and the countless others across the world who are standing strong.

May the force of goodness, decency, and hope be with you all.

Mysterious Photograph #7: Chips Ahoy

I have not received official word on this story, but enough time has passed that I can only assume I am a loser.  Nevertheless, here it is!

Chips Ahoy

 I was beginning to regret my decision to kill Kevin so impulsively. Now I only have a photo on my phone. So many parts inside these old watches! Oy! Why don’t I think these things out?

          Living next to the Cambrinis, I knew that Grandfather Gino was a consummate watch repairman with a garage shop. He had dozens of old watches he tinkered with, still there after he died. Father Robert used his inherited talents for tiny parts, working on a revolutionary chip for the next generation of AI. Kevin thought the chip could be worth BILLIONS.

          When Kevin’s father was fired, he stole the chip and hid it in one of the old watches. Kevin made the mistake of telling me. Remember? Impulse problems? We tortured his father to get him to tell us exactly where the chip was. Unfortunately, I tortured him a little too hard.

          Kevin got angry and started beating me. Well, he did for a little while. Then I got the upper hand.

          Now I had to find the damn chip by myself, with only their cat to keep me company. I had a pile of watch gears, nothing that looked like a chip.

          I refused to give up. The cost had been way too high. Then Eureka! I found it. The cat swooped in and swallowed it whole.

          Should I gut the cat and get the chip, or should I wait for it to pass? 

          I decided to wait.

          I’m not a monster, you know.

Kaleidoscope Not Required: Saturday Political Soap Box 302

 

I admit it.

Alison and I watch and read a lot of True Crime. I'm not going to explain or justify it. That's for another post. Just accept it as a backdrop for this blog entry.

One of the bizarre cases we've read and watched is The Yogurt Shop Murders, where four teenage females were killed while closing down for the night at a TCBY (This Can't Be Yogurt) shop at a strip mall in Austin, Texas. This was in 1991.

No one has been caught. Every few years, the case is looked at again. Every time, they twist the kaleidoscope and come up with a different view. Every time we think we have it figured out, a twist of the kaleidoscope will turn up something else, and we're lost and confused as to what really happened.

This can apply to many true crime cases, including the 2005 Tifton area murder of Tara Grinstead, the assassination of JFK (many people have made a lot of money twisting the kaleidoscope on that one), just to name two examples.

But not all crime looks different in the kaleidoscope. Some answers remain the same no matter how you taste.

No matter how you twist the kaleidoscope, the answer always remains the same -

Ice Agent Jonathan Ross murdered a young mother in cold blood.

IN. ICE. COLD. BLOOD.