Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Our Yule/Christmas
Our Christmas was OK. Glenn and I were broke this year so things weren't as good as they had been in past years, but my kids had a great time thanks to a lot of wonderful people. My friend Andrew and his parents gave us their old Christmas tree, so we could have a tree for the Holidays. They are amazing and I'm glad that they helped us, because they didn't have to. Glenn's step-grandparents sent us some money for presents so we were able to buy the kids some clothes and movies. Also, Glenn's god mother and god sister sent the kids a lot of clothes and a few toys. Glenn's dad and his dad's girlfriend bought the kids some clothes too. We couldn't buy the kids anything this year so we signed the kids up for Toys for Tots and the school counselor put their names on an Angel tree so they received a couple gifts from those programs as well. My mother has told me she has a gift for each of them and Glenn's mother is sending money soon for the kids. So, thanks to our lovely friends and family and a few generous strangers, my kids had a great Christmas even though we were unable to buy them anything. We also made homemade ornaments for our tree this year instead of buying them. The following are pictures that I took.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Beating of David Ivins
Note: I do not own rights to these photos. All rights belong to the photographers who took them.
I'm one of those types of people that is always checking the news to see what is going on in Lincoln, Ne, across America, and around the world. I love to find out what's going on in the world outside my home. I see disturbing news stories all the time, but there was a story released this week that made me cry more than once and shocked me so much I was speechless. After going through so many emotions from shock, to sadness, to now anger, I knew that I had to do a blog post about this story. I can't stop thinking about it, because it is so disturbing. I'm talking about the story that broke on National news about the beating of David Ivins, a 50 year old homeless man from Belmar, New Jersey.
Here is a video of the incident. I must warn you it is quite graphic. The original was taken off of youtube, but this news report shows portions of the original video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekuhMFS0bKo&feature=related
The Attack
David Ivins, a 50 year old homeless man from New Jersey was viciously beaten and humiliated on 2 separate occasions on December 11th & 12th, 2011. The video shows that he was attacked in a wooded area by 20 year old Taylor Giresi while his 17 year old accomplice records the attack. Giresi can be seen kicking, punching, kneeing, and pushing David Ivins to the ground and David not fighting back. They also stole the man's bike (some news reports said that in the end the bike was left in the woods) while David pleaded with them saying he needed his bike. The last clips of the video shows David Ivins walking away without his belongings, while Giresi takes off with David's bike. The video also shows what belongings that David Ivin's did have, scattered across the ground. A horrific and humiliating experience for a man who is struggling and who just wanted to be left alone. The 2 attackers recorded the attack so they could upload the video to youtube, because in their minds they thought people would find it funny like they did. The police received several tips about the video so police decided to watch it. Shortly after police watched the video and identified who the attackers were, the 17 and 20 year old were arrested. 20 year old Taylor Giresi is being held in Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township on between $60,000 and $100,000 bail (exact dollar amount is hard to say with news outlets reporting different amounts) without the option of paying 10% for his release. He's being charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit assault, second degree robbery, and theft. The un-named 17 year old was charged with conspiracy to commit assault and theft and was released into the custody of his parents pending a future court date. The original video the guys posted to youtube was taken down, but not before going viral and the news has been showing some of the clips from the original video. The story hit the National news on December 20th, 2011 and caused an uproar of disgust across the nation. Most Americans making comments saying they couldn't watch the news videos because it was so disturbing. And most others who did watch saying they were heart broken and cried at the sight of a defenseless homeless man being attacked for a few laughs.
Some of the videos and news stories from the media. They contain graphic images and content.
The Young Turks
http://youtu.be/WjjNNFaj1IM
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/12/21/hln-homeless-beating-news-12-nj.hln#/video/bestoftv/2011/12/21/hln-homeless-beating-news-12-nj.hln
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/video-of-homeless-man-bea_n_1160466.html
The Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/20/homeless-new-jersey-man-beaten-then-wished-merry-christmas-on-video/
Most news outlets (except ABC News that I can find) made this one of their main stories in this week's headlines. I'm not quite sure why ABC News did not make this story a priority. The only story I found on ABC News was a story re posted that the Associated Press had originally released. It doesn't look good on their end. I find it appalling that they did big news stories about a Jesus toaster and a cat surviving a ride under a car hood for 3 hours, but didn't take the time to report on this story about a defenseless homeless man being assaulted by 2 young bullies. Glad I don't rely on them for serious news stories. I greatly dislike Fox News, but even they made a point to cover this story.
David Ivins is doing OK. He has no serious injuries, but did have to be rushed to the hospital Wednesday night. He had gone to the Belmar Police Department to pick up a bicycle that someone had donated to him. While in the police department he suffered a seizure and was rushed by ambulance to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. He was later released.
A Nation of Giving
This was a disturbing incident, but what happened next made me proud of our country and the people in it. The was a huge outpouring of love and charity from the American people who all wanted to help David Ivins. Donations have been set up at several different places for him. People are donating food and clothing, gift cards to different stores and restaurants, and most importantly cash for food, clothing, shelter, and anything else that he may need. Also other donations including a new bicycle have been dropped off at BelmarBelmar Inn has put him in a room for free until January 3rd. Johnny Kash has set up a facebook page to honor and help David. The page is called Support David Ivins of Belmar, NJ. The page gives information on how to help David with donations and gives people from all over a place to leave comments of support. Here is a link.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Support-for-David-Ivins-of-Belmar-NJ/248717178529532
Belmar, NJ Mayor Matt Doherty took the time to meet and talk with David to make sure he was OK and taken care of. Others are trying to help him with his alcohol addiction. A man named Michael Behning has set up a website called DavidIvins.org. Michael's site was inspired by David's story, but he says on the site that he wants to help others like David in the future through the site. The site also gives information on how to donate to David. Here is the link to the site.
http://davidivins.org/
Also, I would like to include the information and name of the detective assigned to this assault case. Detective Bono is the officer assigned to the case. Address and phone number are the following.
Wall Township Police Department
c/o Detective Bono
2700 Alldaire Rd.
Wall Township, NJ 07719
(732) 449-4800
New Jersey Legislation
Among some of the news reports there was information on legislation New Jersey lawmakers are trying to pass for situation like this one. Legislators in New Jersey have put forward a bill that would increase penalties and mandate jail time for video taping and distributing the recording of an assault. Under the proposed legislation, videotaping and distributing the recording of an assault will result in an automatic second-degree aggravated assault charge. A person convicted of second-degree aggravated assault can face 5-10 years in prison and face a fine up to $150,000.
Future Plans for David Ivins
David Ivins family and friends have rushed to reconnect with him after seeing the attack on the news and locating him. In a interview with reporters, David says he plans to spend Christmas with his mother and his sister. He says that he wants to stay sober and work on his alcohol addiction. He says he wants to start attending AA meetings and plans to go to a rehab center in Pennsylvania after the New Year. David says that he needs to change his life around and find a job. With help from his friends, family, donations, and rehab I have high hopes for him and hope he gets over his addiction and recovers physically and mentally from this senseless assault. After 8 years of being homeless of and on and being unemployed while being addicted to alcohol, it's sad that it took a savage assault for people to sit up and notice that this man needed help. I hope his story makes a difference for all homeless people in our country. As for his attackers, I hope they get maximum sentences on the charges they are facing. It takes a sick and twisted person to attack a defenseless homeless person not once, but twice just for laughs and than post a video of it on youtube. I also find it disgusting that the 20 year old Taylor's mother, Joanne Jost tried to defend her son's action in a CNN interview. I wish David the best in his life and hope this is a wake up call to the nation that we the people need to step up and help our fellow citizens. This is one of the richest and greatest countries in the world and our fellow Americans should not be sleeping in the streets and woods because no one cares enough to help them.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-23/homeless-nj-beaten-youtube/52191164/1
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/outpour_of_support_for_nj_home.html
I'm one of those types of people that is always checking the news to see what is going on in Lincoln, Ne, across America, and around the world. I love to find out what's going on in the world outside my home. I see disturbing news stories all the time, but there was a story released this week that made me cry more than once and shocked me so much I was speechless. After going through so many emotions from shock, to sadness, to now anger, I knew that I had to do a blog post about this story. I can't stop thinking about it, because it is so disturbing. I'm talking about the story that broke on National news about the beating of David Ivins, a 50 year old homeless man from Belmar, New Jersey.
Here is a video of the incident. I must warn you it is quite graphic. The original was taken off of youtube, but this news report shows portions of the original video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekuhMFS0bKo&feature=related
The Attack
David Ivins, a 50 year old homeless man from New Jersey was viciously beaten and humiliated on 2 separate occasions on December 11th & 12th, 2011. The video shows that he was attacked in a wooded area by 20 year old Taylor Giresi while his 17 year old accomplice records the attack. Giresi can be seen kicking, punching, kneeing, and pushing David Ivins to the ground and David not fighting back. They also stole the man's bike (some news reports said that in the end the bike was left in the woods) while David pleaded with them saying he needed his bike. The last clips of the video shows David Ivins walking away without his belongings, while Giresi takes off with David's bike. The video also shows what belongings that David Ivin's did have, scattered across the ground. A horrific and humiliating experience for a man who is struggling and who just wanted to be left alone. The 2 attackers recorded the attack so they could upload the video to youtube, because in their minds they thought people would find it funny like they did. The police received several tips about the video so police decided to watch it. Shortly after police watched the video and identified who the attackers were, the 17 and 20 year old were arrested. 20 year old Taylor Giresi is being held in Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township on between $60,000 and $100,000 bail (exact dollar amount is hard to say with news outlets reporting different amounts) without the option of paying 10% for his release. He's being charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit assault, second degree robbery, and theft. The un-named 17 year old was charged with conspiracy to commit assault and theft and was released into the custody of his parents pending a future court date. The original video the guys posted to youtube was taken down, but not before going viral and the news has been showing some of the clips from the original video. The story hit the National news on December 20th, 2011 and caused an uproar of disgust across the nation. Most Americans making comments saying they couldn't watch the news videos because it was so disturbing. And most others who did watch saying they were heart broken and cried at the sight of a defenseless homeless man being attacked for a few laughs.
Some of the videos and news stories from the media. They contain graphic images and content.
The Young Turks
http://youtu.be/WjjNNFaj1IM
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/12/21/hln-homeless-beating-news-12-nj.hln#/video/bestoftv/2011/12/21/hln-homeless-beating-news-12-nj.hln
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/video-of-homeless-man-bea_n_1160466.html
The Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/20/homeless-new-jersey-man-beaten-then-wished-merry-christmas-on-video/
Most news outlets (except ABC News that I can find) made this one of their main stories in this week's headlines. I'm not quite sure why ABC News did not make this story a priority. The only story I found on ABC News was a story re posted that the Associated Press had originally released. It doesn't look good on their end. I find it appalling that they did big news stories about a Jesus toaster and a cat surviving a ride under a car hood for 3 hours, but didn't take the time to report on this story about a defenseless homeless man being assaulted by 2 young bullies. Glad I don't rely on them for serious news stories. I greatly dislike Fox News, but even they made a point to cover this story.
David Ivins is doing OK. He has no serious injuries, but did have to be rushed to the hospital Wednesday night. He had gone to the Belmar Police Department to pick up a bicycle that someone had donated to him. While in the police department he suffered a seizure and was rushed by ambulance to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. He was later released.
A Nation of Giving
This was a disturbing incident, but what happened next made me proud of our country and the people in it. The was a huge outpouring of love and charity from the American people who all wanted to help David Ivins. Donations have been set up at several different places for him. People are donating food and clothing, gift cards to different stores and restaurants, and most importantly cash for food, clothing, shelter, and anything else that he may need. Also other donations including a new bicycle have been dropped off at BelmarBelmar Inn has put him in a room for free until January 3rd. Johnny Kash has set up a facebook page to honor and help David. The page is called Support David Ivins of Belmar, NJ. The page gives information on how to help David with donations and gives people from all over a place to leave comments of support. Here is a link.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Support-for-David-Ivins-of-Belmar-NJ/248717178529532
Belmar, NJ Mayor Matt Doherty took the time to meet and talk with David to make sure he was OK and taken care of. Others are trying to help him with his alcohol addiction. A man named Michael Behning has set up a website called DavidIvins.org. Michael's site was inspired by David's story, but he says on the site that he wants to help others like David in the future through the site. The site also gives information on how to donate to David. Here is the link to the site.
http://davidivins.org/
Also, I would like to include the information and name of the detective assigned to this assault case. Detective Bono is the officer assigned to the case. Address and phone number are the following.
Wall Township Police Department
c/o Detective Bono
2700 Alldaire Rd.
Wall Township, NJ 07719
(732) 449-4800
New Jersey Legislation
Among some of the news reports there was information on legislation New Jersey lawmakers are trying to pass for situation like this one. Legislators in New Jersey have put forward a bill that would increase penalties and mandate jail time for video taping and distributing the recording of an assault. Under the proposed legislation, videotaping and distributing the recording of an assault will result in an automatic second-degree aggravated assault charge. A person convicted of second-degree aggravated assault can face 5-10 years in prison and face a fine up to $150,000.
Future Plans for David Ivins
David Ivins family and friends have rushed to reconnect with him after seeing the attack on the news and locating him. In a interview with reporters, David says he plans to spend Christmas with his mother and his sister. He says that he wants to stay sober and work on his alcohol addiction. He says he wants to start attending AA meetings and plans to go to a rehab center in Pennsylvania after the New Year. David says that he needs to change his life around and find a job. With help from his friends, family, donations, and rehab I have high hopes for him and hope he gets over his addiction and recovers physically and mentally from this senseless assault. After 8 years of being homeless of and on and being unemployed while being addicted to alcohol, it's sad that it took a savage assault for people to sit up and notice that this man needed help. I hope his story makes a difference for all homeless people in our country. As for his attackers, I hope they get maximum sentences on the charges they are facing. It takes a sick and twisted person to attack a defenseless homeless person not once, but twice just for laughs and than post a video of it on youtube. I also find it disgusting that the 20 year old Taylor's mother, Joanne Jost tried to defend her son's action in a CNN interview. I wish David the best in his life and hope this is a wake up call to the nation that we the people need to step up and help our fellow citizens. This is one of the richest and greatest countries in the world and our fellow Americans should not be sleeping in the streets and woods because no one cares enough to help them.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-23/homeless-nj-beaten-youtube/52191164/1
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/outpour_of_support_for_nj_home.html
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Smallwood Household Update
I've been busy lately making ornaments for our tree. We are low on funds this year so my children and I are making Yule decorations for the tree. We already made salt dough tree ornaments. I plan on buying paints in the next few days, so I can get them painted. We are getting some thin ribbon to hang the ornaments from also. My children and I are planning on making puzzle piece wreaths, stringing popcorn, peppermint discs garland, ball ornaments made from those round coca cola pop bottles they sell at Christmas time, and etc. I'll have to do another post with pics when they are all finished.
My kids are super excited about the holiday season. They can't wait for presents and good food. As I said, we are low on funds, but we plan on getting a few things for my kids that they need and some of my family and Glenn's family is stepping up and buying for my kids this year. We plan on making the most of what we can do. I love watching my kids' faces light up when they see all of their presents. They are still little and don't mind what they get as long as they get something. Stocking stuffers are easy for them. They usually are OK with some holiday candy and toy cars for the boys while the girls like hair ties and lip gloss.
Lincoln, Nebraska got it's first snow storm a few days ago. The kids kept running to the window to watch the snow fall and yelling "Mommy look! It's snowing!" Yep, I heard that no less then 20 times in a few hours. I can't wait until we have a heavier snow fall, so the kids can go sledding. Our first snow wasn't so amazing for everyone. One family traveling on I-80 got rear ended by a semi truck that couldn't stop. The mother, father, and 1 year old child survived, but the couples 2 year old child was killed. I can't imagine the pain they are feeling. There have been many other accidents as well. The snow wasn't bad, it was the rain and ice that caused all the chaos. I know how dangerous winter in the Midwest can be. My husband's little sister, Charity, was killed on December 22nd, 2004. The person she was with over corrected the car after it slid on some ice sending the car spinning out of control while the semi truck behind them could not stop and struck the car several times while it spun. My best friend and a girl who was like my own little sister was the only one killed in the accident. I'll have to tell the whole story about that later on. I know what it's like to lose a loved one in a car accident caused by bad weather (and bad driving). Our winter storms can be deadly, so I hope folks buckle up and drive safe during the holidays.
My son, Landon, has missed a few more days of school while he was sick. I now have to have a meeting with the teachers and principal to discuss why my son missed school thank to Nebraska's horrible new truancy law. The school my kids usually go to is being renovated, so the kids are bussed to the far south end of Lincoln to a temp school. So, I have to waste a 1/4 of a tank of gas to drive there and back to tell them my son was sick on the days he missed (which they already know). If he misses 7 more days for any reason, I have to go to court and could face a fine or lose custody of my son because he was sick. Nebraska's truancy law does not excuse days missed due to an illness or any other reason either. Parents of kids with chronic illnesses, military families, and etc. are being treated like criminals for keeping their children home for any reason. Also. because of this horrible law that doesn't excuse ANY missed days, parents are sending their children to school sick to avoid trouble and their kids are making others sick. My son has been sick more then usual this year as well as other kids who normally are not sick. I keep my kids home when they are sick, even with this stupid law in effect. I'll probably wind up in court, but it's a fight I'm willing to step up and face. I'm Landon's mother and Nebraska law makers are telling me that my parental rights don't matter and they know what's best for MY child. When did the Nebraska become a police state? Our governor is one of the many persons responsible for pushing this law through, and even with Nebraska families showing more and more outrage over the law, he still defends the law and sees nothing wrong with it. He's a Republican, so it's no surprise he is so dis-connected from Nebraskans and what they want.
That's a few things that are going on in my household as of lately. A post with pics of Holiday crafts will be coming soon. Also, I will probably do a post about Occupy Wall Street. I'm putting together info. for that post right now and it will also be posted soon.
My kids are super excited about the holiday season. They can't wait for presents and good food. As I said, we are low on funds, but we plan on getting a few things for my kids that they need and some of my family and Glenn's family is stepping up and buying for my kids this year. We plan on making the most of what we can do. I love watching my kids' faces light up when they see all of their presents. They are still little and don't mind what they get as long as they get something. Stocking stuffers are easy for them. They usually are OK with some holiday candy and toy cars for the boys while the girls like hair ties and lip gloss.
Lincoln, Nebraska got it's first snow storm a few days ago. The kids kept running to the window to watch the snow fall and yelling "Mommy look! It's snowing!" Yep, I heard that no less then 20 times in a few hours. I can't wait until we have a heavier snow fall, so the kids can go sledding. Our first snow wasn't so amazing for everyone. One family traveling on I-80 got rear ended by a semi truck that couldn't stop. The mother, father, and 1 year old child survived, but the couples 2 year old child was killed. I can't imagine the pain they are feeling. There have been many other accidents as well. The snow wasn't bad, it was the rain and ice that caused all the chaos. I know how dangerous winter in the Midwest can be. My husband's little sister, Charity, was killed on December 22nd, 2004. The person she was with over corrected the car after it slid on some ice sending the car spinning out of control while the semi truck behind them could not stop and struck the car several times while it spun. My best friend and a girl who was like my own little sister was the only one killed in the accident. I'll have to tell the whole story about that later on. I know what it's like to lose a loved one in a car accident caused by bad weather (and bad driving). Our winter storms can be deadly, so I hope folks buckle up and drive safe during the holidays.
My son, Landon, has missed a few more days of school while he was sick. I now have to have a meeting with the teachers and principal to discuss why my son missed school thank to Nebraska's horrible new truancy law. The school my kids usually go to is being renovated, so the kids are bussed to the far south end of Lincoln to a temp school. So, I have to waste a 1/4 of a tank of gas to drive there and back to tell them my son was sick on the days he missed (which they already know). If he misses 7 more days for any reason, I have to go to court and could face a fine or lose custody of my son because he was sick. Nebraska's truancy law does not excuse days missed due to an illness or any other reason either. Parents of kids with chronic illnesses, military families, and etc. are being treated like criminals for keeping their children home for any reason. Also. because of this horrible law that doesn't excuse ANY missed days, parents are sending their children to school sick to avoid trouble and their kids are making others sick. My son has been sick more then usual this year as well as other kids who normally are not sick. I keep my kids home when they are sick, even with this stupid law in effect. I'll probably wind up in court, but it's a fight I'm willing to step up and face. I'm Landon's mother and Nebraska law makers are telling me that my parental rights don't matter and they know what's best for MY child. When did the Nebraska become a police state? Our governor is one of the many persons responsible for pushing this law through, and even with Nebraska families showing more and more outrage over the law, he still defends the law and sees nothing wrong with it. He's a Republican, so it's no surprise he is so dis-connected from Nebraskans and what they want.
That's a few things that are going on in my household as of lately. A post with pics of Holiday crafts will be coming soon. Also, I will probably do a post about Occupy Wall Street. I'm putting together info. for that post right now and it will also be posted soon.
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