People are dumb.

So I just read an article about a 9 year old boy who has died after being stabbed by a 12 year old on a local playground. If I was still friends with the idiot I was arguing with a month or so ago, I'd rub it in his face. As someone who has studied criminal justice (both formally and informally) for a long time, I know what's up. I know how the world works, and it's just not as safe as one might think.

He'd shared this article about a woman who'd been arrested for leaving her child at a local park for hours on end, unattended. This guy and all his friends and some of his family all agreed it was outrageous, disparaging "helicopter parents" in the process. After placing a few facts in front of them about child abductions, they became belligerent; looking at my facebook and finding things to personally attack (to no avail). And here is a sliver of proof that, if I'd decided to go that route, honestly would've done nothing but make them mad (but it should make them change their minds). They just don't know what goes on. They don't know how easy and common it is for someone they trust even, to do something horrible.

Another thing I saw that angered me was a teaparty post that was liked by a friend or relative of mine (can't remember). It read: "Israel has a right to defend it's boarders. Like if you agree." *Facepalm*. I'd just gotten finished seeing all these photos of innocent citizens in Gaza, carrying their dead relatives (presumably to a mass grave). I saw that Israel had bombed a United Nations-run school, where people had fled for safety. Yes, from my understanding, Gaza began the attacks, killing 59 (probably-innocent) people. But Israel replied by killing 1,423 (probably innocent) Gazans. First of all, how is that fair? When does it turn from defending your boarders into attacking another country? And why kill innocent people? People in refuge at the school? What were they going to do? How is it defense if you're killing the defenseless?

I mean...do people just not think of things before they say/stand behind them? It just doesn't compute for me. This relative or friend of mine was, most likely, of my religious faith. We pride ourselves on our knowledge of our lineage. We "love one another", yet this is okay to them? That doesn't make sense to me. And the first guy is a relative of my husband, who I no longer have ties to. Maybe I'd be happier if I didn't have ties to anyone. I'm tired of everyone blaming everyone else for everything. We all need to start working on ourselves and not make judgments about people we know nothing about. No more racism. No more sexism. No more wars. I'm starting to sound like a hippy, but you get the point.