Odds and Sods III

Apparently this will be my last update on the suspicious death of Richard Javis 'Jabo' Johnson, in which 25-year-old Johnson was found hanging in his Fountain Inn jail cell under rather specious circumstance. Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail ruled last month that no criminal charges will be filed, and I've read several accounts since that reinforce the message: case closed.

Reverend Curtis Johnson, pastor of Valley Brook Baptist Church and leader of the group that raised significant logistical questions about the so-called suicide, says they accept and understand the solicitor's decision but still believe it is possible Johnson did not die from his own hand. And for the record, I don't believe it either.

As it is, it looks as if we will never know the truth.

~*~

Meanwhile, at our local fundamentalist crackpots, Bob Jones University, there is an outbreak of whooping cough SO SEVERE that they have closed the fall semester a week early:

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Bob Jones University has decided to end its fall semester a week early after nearly 30 confirmed or suspected cases of whooping cough were reported on the school's Greenville campus.

BJU said Friday that it will end the semester on Friday, Dec. 7, rather than Dec. 13 as originally scheduled.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control said that it is working with the school to make sure all necessary precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of the disease, also known as pertussis.

Wait, you are thinking, didn't they develop a vaccine for that, like a century ago, or something? Yes, indeed, and that is the elephant in the room that no one will touch, except to simply state that it is preventable:

Whooping cough, which is the common name for the disease pertussis, is a highly communicable, vaccine-preventable illness that lasts for many weeks and most often affects children, causing severe coughing spasms and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What no one will come out and say is: THESE DAMN IGNORANT FUNDIES HAVE PUT US ALL AT RISK AGAIN WITH THEIR VACCINO-PHOBIA AND FEAR OF MODERN MEDICINE!

The next time some herbalist (and I am one, so I'm allowed to write this), alternative medicine-maven or fundamentalist nutcake preaches at you that autism, ADD, fibromyalgia, depression, bipolar disorder, cancer and who-knows-what-all are caused by vaccines, show them this blog entry and slap them upside the head for me, willya? And ask how they would feel if they lived near the offending school?

PRETEND you live near an outbreak, as I do, now, you gonna go get your kid vaccinated or NOT?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

~*~
And finally, more Christmas shopping ideas. Last year, I was depressed I couldn't see my daughter and granddaughter at Christmas, and I was therefore happy to meet the incredibly-adorable FLAMEGAL (aka Rachael), almost exactly my grandbaby's age. Rachael's mom, Penny, brought me a lovely Christmas gift (click to see her beautiful dichroic-glass creations!), and wished me well for the holidays, as one mother to another.

Even more than that, like so many people cursed with retail servitude at Christmastime, I was feeling down; as if the holidays had gone 100% mercenary and could never be redeemed. Penny restored my belief in Christmas as a time of love, friendship and good will.

This is my way of saying thank you! and Merry Christmas!

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Listening to: Jimi Hendrix Experience - Third Stone from the Sun
via FoxyTunes