Gotta Risk it For the Biscuit!" "Wake the fuck up! People need help in here! There's still a lot of people to be helped before we can afford to give up yet another piece of the pie! We do not want to be part of another Waco! We don't want to watch them burn alive either!"-Anon Coward "When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."-Anon Coward Let the one among you who is wicked.........Be wicked. He must be cunning, to betray his brothers. To practice his wickedness with cool and innocent eyes. This is deceit. And this is evil. Let him alone, and do what he will. ****** And this is what I get for trying to be more than just another nigger.......Bitter...and jaded... And I can't even have a drink or two.....or three...or four....or.....Five.... The 'good' news is my wife and I are heading out of town for about 10 days of vacation. I won't be posting any lengthy entries for about three weeks as a result. Don't worry. I'm not going to run for the door when all hell breaks loose with a hurricane, flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, or what have you. There will be ample opportunity to vent to myself for the next week and a half while we all are forced to take a step back and regroup. I sincerely appreciate all the help everyone has given me in the past couple of days. Whether it be by phone, E-mail, messenger, or at the office. If there is anything I can do for you in return, please don't hesitate to ask. I will check in before and after the vacation with an 'after action report'. There will be a few days of backlogged 'posting' between now and then as well. I appreciate all the support...I'm not quite sure what will be said, but I will try to keep it to a PG-13 rating. This is the best time of year to be away from home with my wife and our daughters. I don't mean to be overly sentimental, but we have enjoyed a 'fortunate' life so far. My family and I have done what we thought was right, and have not been held back by the fears of others. We have made a great deal of good friends in this life, and have had so much respect for most everyone that we know. My wife and I are blessed, and we have both learned to lean on one another for support. I know that the best part of life are the friends and family that we have chosen to have in this life, and will continue to make new friends and family every time we take a few steps forward instead of taking a few steps back. I have great things ahead for us. Thank God for the gifts and blessings that he has given us, and the support that we have given one another. I will not let you leave me here. I will go back with you, Father. But let me say goodbye to my brothers first. Anon 11/25 - When you take care of the good guys, the bad guys have a tendency to take a powder. I'd like nothing better than to find out that I was a target and had to make a run for it, but I don't think I will be that lucky. - Aesop As I watch my neighbors and family start to evacuate, I reflect that if I'm going to see them again, I'd better not put myself in harm's way. You know, the only reason that I stayed in town is because my kids got to start their new school. When the first few fire engines passed by and took out any vehicle they could see, I had to realize that when my family got home, the front of the house would be gone, and nothing would be salvageable. That gave me no choice but to leave as well. As I walk up to my house to make sure that all the furniture and other stuff that I can't afford to replace is being put into a truck for a safe ride, I see one of the 'neighborhood watch' members giving me the 'evil eye'. I can't help but wonder if he's mad because we moved next door to him, or because my little boys are Black. When the cops start patrolling through town, I don't stay to see what happens when they finally run out of names and start looking into those 'suspicious looking' faces. I start moving further into the country with my entire family. When I finally reach the road leading out of town, it's pitch black. It's been dark when I finally pulled away from the house, so dark that I didn't notice that my vehicle was pulling off the road when I took my left turn. The only reason I could see the front of my car was because the headlights cut through a thick cloud of smoke. I drive at a reasonable speed because I don't want to hit the cars in front of me, and all of the other motorists seem to be driving pretty slow as well. As I reach the area where my son lives, I notice that I have more neighbors sitting in their homes in various states of evacuation. When I pull up to my son's place, I find that everyone else has left. I call him, and leave a message on his phone for him to get in touch with me when he gets home. As I turn off of the road that leads to his house, I turn my lights off to save gas, and drive on what seems like one of the few roads left in the area. Since I know it is dark out, I don't pay much attention to what I see, and I continue to drive. I should have noticed the first of many roadblocks, but since I was using all the streets I knew were open to take me home, I must have missed the turn that turned me around and back towards the interstate. I only hit one of the many roads blocks, and I manage to pass most of them. Even if I had passed them, the police would have been waiting at the edge of town for anyone who tried to make a run for it, and they would have had no problem pulling me over. I can't imagine what will happen when people start fleeing to the north. As I try to stay alert, I turn on the radio in my car and hear the announcer reporting that they are saying that this wasn't a single plane that had struck the ground, but rather, an entire flight from a very large airplane. This really scares me because I know that the only plane that can fly to this height and speed is a jet. As I try to remain calm, I turn my car off of the road that I found and pull over to a place where I feel that I can turn the radio off and be able to hear what is happening. My heart is pounding with every heartbeat, and every minute that passes is an eternity. A long time passes before anyone comes by to turn me around. As the cars pull up and back away, they find me standing in the road, the tears streaming down my face. I feel a sense of loss that I have never felt before. One of the officers calls into the radio as if he can hear me through it. 'Well, we'll see how much you really care about your family now! We've got you surrounded! Let me see your hands!' I know that it's only a matter of time before they try to get into my vehicle. My son receives my message before they do. He finds me wandering aimlessly in a place that has no 'out' for me. He takes my arm, and we begin to make our way out of town. As we walk away from the fire, I look back at my hometown, and there is nothing left. A couple of miles behind me, I hear the gunfire begin. As we reach the other side of the area, I can see many signs for the 'exit' we are trying to reach. At this point, I begin to feel a sense of safety, although that feeling is quickly becoming a false sense of security. As we approach the entrance, a couple of us pull guns on two of the vehicles that have been waiting at the exit. When the gunfire begins, there is nothing that we can do but run for cover. As we move to where a group of my family is waiting, I see one of them reach into a bag and pull out a couple of 9mm handguns, and several shotguns. With these, I feel a sense of 'well, at least someone is being prepared'. In the midst of the chaos, I see one of my children drop to the ground. When I try to go to her, I find that I can't move. When the officer who was driving sees me fall down, he yells, 'Take off now! We can't leave them behind!' I see his intent, but I am paralyzed by fear. As I try to yell for them to leave me and go, I am physically unable to speak. When he finally realizes that I can't move, he tells me that he is going to fire one shot at my arm to get me moving. When I look up at him as he tries to get up off of the ground, I finally manage to yell. 'Shoot me!...Shoot me!' I scream. He looks at me as if he is unsure of what I mean, and then he raises the gun to my head. 'God damn it!' he screams, and