Maurice Clemmons Is Now Dead

He was shot dead by Seattle police officers this morning.

Clemmons, the man suspected of gunning down four police officers at a coffee shop on Sunday, had been charged with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told the News-Tribune that Clemmons indicated the night before Sunday's shooting rampage "that he was going to shoot police and watch the news."

Clemmons has received help since the shooting from a network of friends and family who gave him places to stay, medical aid, rides and money, police said. Officers detained a sister of Clemmons who they think treated the 37-year-old suspect's gunshot wound.

"We believe she drove him up to Seattle and bandaged him up," Troyer said.

Police believe people close to Clemmons have misled officers, and Troyer said anyone helping him could face charges. Clemmons' sister wasn't in custody late Monday, and her name wasn't released.

Authorities said the gunman singled out the Lakewood officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He then fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of the dying officers.

More news coming.

The Names Of The Slain Officers Were Relased

They were identified as:

• Sergeant Mark Renninger, 39, with thirteen years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife, two daughters and a son.

• Officer Ronald Owens, age 37 with twelve years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a former wife and a daughter.

• Officer Tina Griswold, age 40 with fourteen years of law enforcement experience. She is survived by her husband and two children.

• Officer Greg Richards, age 42 with eight years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Across the country, thousands of people have joined a Facebook page dedicated to the four slain officers. By 9 p.m. Sunday, the page had nearly 20,000 followers.

Those interested in supporting the families of the slain officers are welcome to make a donation through the Lakewood Police Independent Guild (LPIG) Benevolent Fund at PO Box 99579, Lakewood, WA 98499. Please visit the Web site for more information.

Thank You Aaron Tipton

I received an email from my youngest son who is currently stationed over in Iraq. He told me that he and his soldiers had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, macaroni and even egg nog for lunch. Then for dinner the Mason lodge there invited all his Soldiers over for a cookout and they grilled a turkey and some steaks it was really nice of them.

After dinner he got to meet Aaron Tipton who took time from his own friends and family this holiday season to give to our troops. He sang his big songs like "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagles Fly" and "Kiss This" but he told everyone he used to be a truck driver and he wanted to sing some good truck driver music. This was youngest son's favorite part of the show because youngest son and his brother have always loved the movie Smokey and the Bandit and they LOVED the song "East Bound and Down". Well I can't tell you how much it meant to my son to hear his favorite song.

Thank you Mr. Tipton from the bottom of my heart for making this holiday for our men and women who are serving our country in Iraq a little brighter.

Stepping On The Wrong Feet In The Mommy-verse Of Blogging

Picture me two years ago, blissfully unaware of bloggers except those of the political stripe. I seldom visited them but I when I did I would glance on posts from both sides of the political aisle. You are just as likely to find me on the Democratic Underground as you are to find me on the Free Republic. I am not a troll on either site and truly believe that both sides make valid points for their sides and are passionate about their beliefs. Somewhere in between the great divide lay the truth.

Then about a year ago I noticed all kinds of blog giveaways popping up on Online-Sweepstakes. I was curious and noticed that the odds of winning were better for me than a larger sweepstakes. I decided to give them a try. Many of them asked me for my blog's name and I had no blog. Well none unless you want to say my myspace diary was my blog.

So I dived into the world of blogging and decided to give it a try. I actually began winning some blog giveaways and for some reason, don't ask me why, I actually began to care if people showed up on my blog. At the time I was juggling work, sweeping, and three blogs. Craziness. If I wanted my blog to be successful I had to figure out where it was going, what it was going to be about, and how I would market it.

For one of my blogs, I have been surprised at its success. Well success in my opinion anyway. I have over 1,500 registered readers and over 9,000 page views per month. This still amazes me and began trying to figure out what other bloggers do to get their blogs in the major leagues.

It was not until I won my trip to BlogHer that I realized that there was a whole Mommy-verse out there. It seems that women write blogs that cover their baby's teething, first steps, diaper rash, and more.

What surprised me most of all was that there was a contingent of Mommy Bloggers who are superstars. They hold themselves out as Quasi-Rock Star, Reality-Show Moms who sometimes wonder just how much they should reveal about their lives and they are certain no matter where that line is drawn they are still leaving their followers begging for more.

Perhaps that is so. Maybe because I don't have any small children anymore, maybe I just don't "get it". While many of the women I met at BlogHer were very nice there were a few women who felt that not only was the pen mightier than the sword but that their Mommy blog controlled the universe.

For example, I stopped at one break-out where one Mommy blogger was complaining that she had been told that she would be test driving a new dishwasher but after waiting for almost a month the sponsor asked if she would please accept a new washer and dryer instead. She sighed that sigh of those who feel they have been incredibly inconvenienced and said, "I agreed but I think they should give me the dishwasher too for the inconvenience I have suffered." WHAT?

I realized very quickly that I was in the wrong kind of blogging business and I had missed the right one some 30 years ago. I slunk back to Georgia with my tail between my legs and decided to cut back a little on my work on this blog and focus more on my other blog. It seemed a better choice to work more on a successful blog than to plug away even more on one that seemed to have a small albeit, loyal following.

I think the thing I felt worse about was that I missed many of my old and dear friends at Online-Sweepstakes. There are so many of them whom I love and care for and it seemed like I had pulled back away from them. I felt so lonely.

This weekend I signed on to enter some sweeps and saw a post about a Mommy Blogger who is part of the "In Crowd" So Powerful that she called for a PR Blackout and there were lots of people jumping on the bandwagon.

Color me stupid but it just seems that if someone felt that doing reviews was overwhelming to them then perhaps, just perhaps, they should take a break from it for awhile. To me, the whole call for a Blackout seemed hypocritical and on the surface a blatant publicity effort for Momdot.com. Oh wait, did you know that her PR Blackout was the same week she announced she was going to be blogging for Sam's Club???

So what you say? Am I immune from hypocrisy? Am I free to judge? Well I'm certain an extremely thorough examination of my life would discover instances of me not being the kind of person I would hope I would become. Fair enough.

Why then am I daring to step on the Toes of one of the Big Movers and Shakers in the Mommy-verse of Blogging?

This all goes back to OLS. This weekend I've been moving, unpacking, and other unpleasant chores. I decided to take a break to see what was going on in my home away from home OLS.

It turns out that the big controversy online involves none other than the owner of Momdot.com. I almost didn't read the post. That was because I felt it would be another post talking about how some of the people on OLS don't like blog giveaways. I understand that. I really do. Something made me take a look though and I was shocked at what I learned.

Trisha, from Momdot.com decided to take some photos of people at an airport, post them on her site and mock them. Trisha is not a 15 year old girl, but one of the young women she chose to mock obviously is. We have young women in our country who have terrible body image. Some girls commit suicide or go to far to the other extreme by becoming anorexic.




This kind of behavior is grounds for writing a student up in most schools. Bullying is not acceptable. It reminds me of something Jr. High girls might do in the mall because they are so insecure about themselves.

It is very sad for me, a child of the sixties that a woman is still judged more by her outward beauty than any other aspect. My mother would say, "How do you know that this little girl might not grow up to discover the cure to breast cancer?" Even if she doesn't perhaps she will one day become a loving wife and parent and that is definitely saying something as far as I am concerned.

I couldn't imagine walking into my classroom and saying to a student "Oh Gosh you're fat." I've had a young lady in my class who was a "little Person". She was very sweet, very bright, and is now in college studying business (the class I taught her). What if instead of encouraging her I laughed and said "Oh my gosh you're way to small for those chairs in college?" I'd want to rip my own tongue out for such a thing.

By now, surely Trisha knows that there is a petition out there asking sponsors not to support her site. Someone has already informed her that people on OLS are contacting her sponsors. She claims she must now hide her personal posts because there has been a death threat. Really, a death threat? Well if that's true then that's wrong.

There are lots of people, like myself, that felt if we gathered in one place we could find sponsors for our sites. Like me they hear stories of women who are able to quit their day jobs and stay home with their family. They look at Trisha and say "Can you help me?" Some women reach out for the community of her site, but I suppose but I was never really part of that clique.

I've noticed that there are apologists for this particular post. One person said she was just trying to point out obesity is rampant in our country. True enough. Wouldn't it be better if you presented this information in a different way? Recently I posted a story about a 900 pound man who died on his anniversary. I didn't call him names. I didn't mock him. I pointed out that his wife felt that he needed medical attention that was out of his reach financially. I pointed out that people are wrong for mocking someone who is over weight while touching on the health crisis that the excess weight we carry as Americans has taxed our medical system.

So I stand now in solidarity with others from OLS who feel that poking fun of people you don't know is not acceptable. This is not the right thing to do and she should post that on her front page. Perhaps say, I'm wrong.

I had to do that myself. I published a story that I found very interesting about a man who posted his suicide note on MySpace before he killed himself. In this letter he was very specific in telling his friends and family that it was his seventeen year old girlfriends fault that he killed himself and then published her name, address, and cell phone number. Two days later one of the relatives of the man contacted me and told me that my post, which featured his suicide letter, was painful to them. Even though I knew the same information was available on several other sites I chose to take down the information. I also wrote a letter to his family apologizing for causing them such pain.

Obviously she doesn't know the name of her victim but she can rectify it rather than run away from it.

Please do not take this to be a post that is anti anyone who is a member of Momdot.com or Mommy bloggers in general. As I'm sure you know there are really great women out there and some of them blog. This post is aimed at the one post I read on Momdot.com. I found it to be of the kind of quality one would expect of someone who is considered to be such a success.

Four Police Officers Shot To Death Near McChord Air Force Base

Four police officers were shot dead in a targeted ambush at a Lakewood, Wash., state coffee house, a sheriff's official said Sunday.

The attack occurred at Forza Coffee Co., a popular local chain, which is located on a side stree near McChord Air Force Base abot 35 miles south ofTacoma, Washington, about 35 miles south of Seattle.

Officers are searching for one male suspect who opened fire in the shop before he fleed on foot.

Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the four officers killed — three men and a woman from the Lakewood Police Department — were in uniform and catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked at 8:15 a.m.

This was more of an execution and it is believed that the shooter walked in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers.

Streets around the coffee shop were blocked off late Sunday morning, and a police helicopter hovered over a large crowd of investigators. TV video showed police taking possession of a pickup truck parked in a grocery store in Parkland.

Local authorities are urging anyone with tips related to the suspects to call the Crime Tipline at (253) 591-5959. They are also offering a $10,000 reward for any information on the suspect(s).

My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of these officers, as well as the entire law enforcement community.

I will update this story as I know more.

Tiger Woods Victim of Domestic Violence?

I've NEVER heard anything bad about Tiger Woods. If anything he seems be the consummate gentleman.

What I am saying is who didn't see that this "accident" involved one very angry wife and not some golfer "accidentally" hitting a fire hydrant.

My husband and I were very busy with moving, Black Friday Shopping, etc. so amazingly enough we did not have time to listen to the news. We did catch a brief headline blurb something about Tiger Woods hitting a fire hydrant with his Escalade and his wife having to "break the window of his vehicle to get him out."

I looked at Darryl and said, "There's got to be more to that story." Obviously a statement like this doesn't take a rocket scientist. The question was the why did this happen? What charges did the police say were forthcoming? Why had Tiger been hospitalized?

Later we heard a little more about the incident that occurred at 2:25 a.m. Friday. Police classified the injuries as serious. About 13 hours later Wood's spokesman said that it was a "minor accident," and Woods was in good condition after being treated and released.

Saylor said his two officers found the 33-year-old Woods lying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.

Saylor said Woods' wife told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and "broke the back window with a golf club." He said the front-door windows were not broken and that "the door was probably locked."

She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground," he said. "He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there."

This information only made me more certain that this was the work of a very angry wife.

Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol but these are the alleged details about what happened before the accident.

According to the news Tiger said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.

That does sound far more plausible than his wife Elin Nordegren trying desperately to FREE him from his vehicle with a golf club.

Guess we will have to wait for the 911 tapes to be released.

While I'm on my soap box I would like to remind my readers that domestic violence is perpetrated by females and males but the majority of domestic violence is perpetrated upon women by men. Men are often the victims of domestic violence in an emotional or verbal sense, although more men are reporting physical abuse. Domestic violence affects the entire family. Domestic violence is usually hidden from outsiders, not talked about and a secret kept within the family unit. Male victims are embarrassed to file domestic violence injunctions if they are battered by their spouses or significant others.

Some people scoff at the idea that men could be the victim of domestic violence. The idea that men could be victims of domestic abuse and violence is so unthinkable that many men will not even attempt to report the situation.

If this is a situation of Domestic Violence then my concern is for their two children. As a child I witnessed my father's abuse of my mother. One would think this would steer me away from a violent relationship. The fact is we are comfortable in what we know and tend to be more likely to accept the abuse dished out upon us. I married a violent man the first time around and put up with that abuse for years.

Stop the cycle! End the violence.

I'd love to hear from you. Do you feel that this was a domestic violence incident? Do you think it's really none of our business? Should Tiger keep the facts secret in order to "protect" his family and his privacy?

Come On Birthers Get Real

Last summer my husband and I read Dreams From My Father by Barrack Obama. Actually we also read his book the Audacity of Hope last summer also. We felt it only fair that we hear what Obama had to say about himself in his own words. Both political parties had a vested interest in portraying him in a particular light but we wanted to know what he proclaimed to have influenced his life, his views, and his values. We learned much.

One of the first things you learn is really kind of inconsequential at first glance. He was born in Hawaii. Now while I might think it would have been ironic had he come from Alabama or Mississippi his birthplace was but a side note in what I wanted to know about Obama.

It appears that my husband and I missed one of the big controversies of the whole book, and that it "Is Barrack Obama an American"? Well DUH.

Now I'm no expert but I do happen to know that Hawaii became a state in 1959. How do I always remember this? Well that's because I was born in 1959 and that's when Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the union. Last I check I am older than the President. Again, I'm no genius but his mother was American, he was born here in America, and spent most of his life in America, move on, get to the real issues and those issues are far bigger than is Obama an American.

More interesting is that there was a group who said that Obama's step-father actually adopted him when he married Barrack's Mom. If this were true then it does change things somewhat. How exactly? Well Barrack's Step-father, his sister's father, was not American and he took the family back to his native land. If the adoption took place when it is alleged, when they were living in Jakarta Indonesia then Barrack would no longer be American. Just like when a child is adopted from China here in America they become American and not dual citizens the same is true in Indonesia.

This adoption rumor was hot and heavy for a little while but was dropped in favor of the Obama wasn't born in America. My guess is because it's an easier story to remember. Supporters of the birth certificate theory, known as 'Birthers,' believe the Certification of Live Birth produced by the state of Hawaii is a forgery. I do NOT believe that it is. I absolutely believe he was born in Hawaii.

The "birther" movement is akin to people who proclaim that they were taken up by flying saucers and people who believe the earth is flat by those on the left. While my view on this is not as extreme I think that it is definitely wrong headed. I believe that the people who buy into the "birther" movement are disaffected voters who feel frustrated that the government has been ignoring their concerns for a number of years. First by Bush and his failure to address the immigration policies and the devastating financial problems caused by real estate speculation. Now they feel that Barrack Obama is no better.

Now we have people who are throwing up billboards with a birther theme. The billboard, located at 4855 Miller Road, shows two cartoonish images of Obama wearing a Muslim turban and reads "PRESIDENT or JIHAD?"

It also says "BIRTH CERTIFICATE - PROVE IT!" alluding to the conspiracy theory which claims Barack Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii, which would disqualify him for the office of President.

While I believe you can be for or against Obama on a myriad of issues I think that saying he is not American is counterproductive.