I was thinking about writing about a myriad of things tonight. Obama's former pastor, Reverend if loving Obama is wrong I don't want to be Wright. The Supremes making it alright to require picture ID's to vote (da fuck?). Miley Cyrus thinking she is 18. A world food shortage which is creating a serious crisis in some Third World countries, and here in A-merry-ca. And gas costing more per gallon than the cost of a good cheesesteak.
But then I picked up my hometown newspaper, and I realized that I was lucky to be alive.
I realized that the five murders that took place in my city last night makes all the other shit going on around me pale in comparison. I realized that my personal survival is more important than silly ass teen stars, and the first black man with a legitimate shot at occupying the White House, especially given the fact that he probably won't govern any different than those who came before him, and those who will come long after he is gone.
So let's see now, we are at 101 and counting ( I have to remember to update my Killadelphia murder count on my sidebar), and our new Mayor is starting to realize that talking and good PR is nice. But he might want to spend a little less time running around with Hillary and more time focusing on what is going on in his damn city.
So here is a quick overview: A 15 year old boy was shot and an 18 year old critically injured in a drive by that took place in the cities' Frankford section. A 50 year old man was found shot to death in the middle of the day in the hallway of an apartment complex in West Philadelphia. Then there is this story: A 26 year old lady was found at 4:02 a.m. beating a man in his mid sixties at a Sunoco gas station right on Broad Street. But it gets better, or worse, depending on how you look at it. According to my hometown paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the police stumbled on the beating as they were swarming the same neighborhood while investigating a double shooting which took place about a 100 yards away.
Then at about 1:45 in the morning a gunman opened fire in a jazz club on Broad Street. Marcus Davis, 37, was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the spot. Another man was shot in the neck and was seriously wounded. And in yet another killing, police found the body of Tyrone Miller, 44, at around 2:48 a.m.. Poor Tyrone was shot three times in the face and chest. As is usually the case in my fair city there were no witnesses. Or none that was willing to come forward.
These were the actual killings I am telling you about. The number could rise. At least eight other people were shot throughout the city last night, including a 16 year old boy who accidentally shot himself, and was later arrested and charged with various firearms violations. I am sure it was his hammer he shot himself with. The poor guy was probably just on his way to the shooting range when he forgot his NRA instruction pamphlet...yeah that's the ticket.
But surprise, I am not even going to rip the NRA this time. Although they bear some responsibility for this carnage as well. Nope, I am blaming some of the animals who live around me, and who don't understand the value of a human life. Everyday I step out the door I have to be worried about some knuckle head who can't shoot straight, or some motherfucker who has some issues with the field who shoots just straight enough.
So we are at 101 and counting. I know it could be worse, because last year this time we were at 130. But hey, there is still time to catch up. It's not even summer yet.
