Ed the Tuba Man

If you ever walk around Seattle you're likely to encounter at least one street performer.  I've heard a sax player, a percussionist and even a bagpiper.  There's a guitar player that I've seen on occasion downtown who also sells CDs.

One of the local favorites was Ed the Tub Man.  Notice I said 'was.'  Last October, Ed was attacked while he was walking to catch a bus in downtown Seattle.  5 teenage boys attacked and beat him to rob him of a few dollars.  A few days after the attack, Ed died from his injuries.

Three of the teens were captured and entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors.  Two remain at large.  The three that were arrested struck a plea agreement and were sentenced yesterday.  The longest sentence was just 72 weeks in juvenile detention.  They will receive credit for the 24 weeks they have already served.  Two of the boys had been in court earlier in the day to enter their pleas in an unrelated armed robbery case.  

Is this justice?  

The Tuba Man loved life and loved Seattle.  He shared his joy through music.  

The Tuba Man's brother was on the news saying he agreed with the sentencing.  He's a better, more forgiving man than I am.  

Diversity?

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a fan of beauty pageants. I don't watch them and couldn't name any pageant winners. Well, there's Vanessa Williams, but that's just because of thewhole Playboy thing back in the 80's.
The Miss USA contestant from California did the unthinkable. She gave an honest answer to a question. Why is that a problem? Because she gave an answer people didn't want to hear. You seen this story right? Perez Hilton asked Miss California her opinion of gay marriage. She didn't say anything mean, nor did she anything hateful at all. She just said that marriage is between a man and a woman. That answer cost her the crown.
Perez Hilton has gone on to skewer this lady on his blog calling her a b***h. Who is the hateful one?
It has been said that she should have given a safer answer and stayed on the fence rather than take an actual stand on the issue. Is that what we're about now? Staying safe? I mean, how dare this person have an opinion and share it. Who does she think she is?
Ironically, President Obama gave the nearly the same answer to the question when he was campaigning last year. It didn't cause any problems for him.
Haven't we been hearing about how we should embrace diversity? Apparently diversity just means that no matter the color of your skin, gender or ethnic background you are free to believe what is considered to be acceptable. God help you if you stray from the party line.
Good for Miss California! She was asked a question and she spoke we mind in a very diplomatic way. If Perez Hilton can't accept the answer to a question, he shouldn't ask it. In my opinion, he has shown himself to be a hateful little man who lacks integrity.
I don't know who won the pageant, and don't actually care. Like I said, it's not my thing. However, my hat is off to Miss California. She has my respect for speaking her mind and not playing it safe.
Let's try to remember, honesty is a good thing.