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Thursday, February 24, 2011
RUSSIA 1915
These are photos done in Tsarist Russia in 1915. The photographer's name escapes me, for which I apologize. One of the reasons I am publishing this is to point out that our current political divison in the United States really has no effect on the average John or Jane Q Public, just as you see in these pics which were taken in a truly opperssive climate. This situation, however, holds no weight when one considers the fate of the state employees in places such as Wisconsin, where working peoples daily lives are in jeapordy by despots like the current Governor (who is deep into the pockets of special interests and is using his position much the same as powerful families did in the Middle Ages as they shipped their sons off to the church), who it appears is intent on eliminating the livelihood of his citzenry by eliminating the privilidges they have earned over the decades. I find it funny, comically almost, that someone who has never really done anything for the public good is so quick and intent on destroying the livelihood to those who have dedicating their lives to service
Allie Joy Kerr
She was an honor student and a member of the International Baccalaureate society at a nearby highschool. She volunteered at an animal shelter where she was able to play with cats and kittens, which she loved. Alana was a good girl, quiet and she loved and had a curiosity towards learning. She is 15 years old and had blonde hair, blue eyes and a nonstop smile. Allie was still very girlish, she loved Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. She was the type of girl that you would be happy that your son would fall in love with. I had never met her until Feburary 8, 2011.
She rode the city busline home from school that afternoon as her campus was 20 minutes away and her grades afforded her the opportunity to attend the IB program at a distance campus. I saw the bus dropping her off at the bus stop and saw her crossing the street, as my light turned green and I proceeded to turn left on my Triumph Bonneville. Because I was on the bike, I motored to the front of the line and let the bike idle, as I was now running straight pipes and have yet to rejet the bike, I rode up to the arm and stopped . I saw Allie walking up next to me and standing while a freight train noisily passed before us. I looked to the left and saw two other 15 year old kids standing on the leftside sidewalk, they attended the same school as my son and had walked the three miles which is why they were on the opposite side of the street. The freight had passed and I saw Allie advancing (this has played numerous times on a loop in my brain) and I looked at the arm before anticipating its rise. Nothing. I looked to my left and to my sheer horror saw a metrolink sliently approaching at full speed (silent when you consider that the freight train was still audible), I quickly looked up and saw Allie as she was hit at full force no more than 15 feet from me.
The sound will never escape me, it was a loud crash, louder than the actual sound of the train itself. Her broken body flew several yards down the track where it lay in a heap on the tracks. She looked to me, then and now, like a marionette. I rolled the bike backwards and rode up onto the sidewalk removed my helmet, gloves and hopped off the bike. I ran to where she lay, my thought was that if she were still here then I could be with her, and try to assure that she was with a friend and that help was on its way. I got no closer than 10 feet away when I looked at her and knew that my efforts were to no avail. She was obviously very dead, with severe trauma to her head and face. I turned and walked back to the bike when I saw one of the other kids approaching, "Don't go any further," I instructed, she's gone. He made the sign of the cross and when I told him to call 911, he said that it wasn't necessary as others surely would have done so. I saw a Riverside P.D. car and waved him over, at which point we were suddenly surrounded by all kinds of cruisers and helicopters. I gave my reports to 2 cops and a Metrolink officer and left before the parents got there.
The time that has passed has been painful, as I have stated earlier, the incident still plays across my brain and the image of her lying there is tattooed in my crainium as well. It would be so much easier to point accussing fingers at a villian, to have someone to blame or a reason for such a thing to happen, but there's not. Sometimes things just happen, there is no real rhyme or reason. I feel as though I have gotten to know you girl since the time this has happened, I wish with all my heart that I could have said or done something to reverse time. Spring resides in a handful of weeks and with it, the promise of new beginings. I hope so, for the parents, friends, family, classmatesand teachers of Allie, for the conductor, the boys who wittnessed this horrible tragedy, and for myself too.
She rode the city busline home from school that afternoon as her campus was 20 minutes away and her grades afforded her the opportunity to attend the IB program at a distance campus. I saw the bus dropping her off at the bus stop and saw her crossing the street, as my light turned green and I proceeded to turn left on my Triumph Bonneville. Because I was on the bike, I motored to the front of the line and let the bike idle, as I was now running straight pipes and have yet to rejet the bike, I rode up to the arm and stopped . I saw Allie walking up next to me and standing while a freight train noisily passed before us. I looked to the left and saw two other 15 year old kids standing on the leftside sidewalk, they attended the same school as my son and had walked the three miles which is why they were on the opposite side of the street. The freight had passed and I saw Allie advancing (this has played numerous times on a loop in my brain) and I looked at the arm before anticipating its rise. Nothing. I looked to my left and to my sheer horror saw a metrolink sliently approaching at full speed (silent when you consider that the freight train was still audible), I quickly looked up and saw Allie as she was hit at full force no more than 15 feet from me.
The sound will never escape me, it was a loud crash, louder than the actual sound of the train itself. Her broken body flew several yards down the track where it lay in a heap on the tracks. She looked to me, then and now, like a marionette. I rolled the bike backwards and rode up onto the sidewalk removed my helmet, gloves and hopped off the bike. I ran to where she lay, my thought was that if she were still here then I could be with her, and try to assure that she was with a friend and that help was on its way. I got no closer than 10 feet away when I looked at her and knew that my efforts were to no avail. She was obviously very dead, with severe trauma to her head and face. I turned and walked back to the bike when I saw one of the other kids approaching, "Don't go any further," I instructed, she's gone. He made the sign of the cross and when I told him to call 911, he said that it wasn't necessary as others surely would have done so. I saw a Riverside P.D. car and waved him over, at which point we were suddenly surrounded by all kinds of cruisers and helicopters. I gave my reports to 2 cops and a Metrolink officer and left before the parents got there.
The time that has passed has been painful, as I have stated earlier, the incident still plays across my brain and the image of her lying there is tattooed in my crainium as well. It would be so much easier to point accussing fingers at a villian, to have someone to blame or a reason for such a thing to happen, but there's not. Sometimes things just happen, there is no real rhyme or reason. I feel as though I have gotten to know you girl since the time this has happened, I wish with all my heart that I could have said or done something to reverse time. Spring resides in a handful of weeks and with it, the promise of new beginings. I hope so, for the parents, friends, family, classmatesand teachers of Allie, for the conductor, the boys who wittnessed this horrible tragedy, and for myself too.
Friday, February 18, 2011
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