The Dead Lights

Tyler, watching the lights from the emergency service vehicles

April 17th, 2026

This post has been updated. See the article below.

"One gun has more power to take a life, than a hundred surgeons have to preserve it."

~Abhijit Naskar 

The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

Friday night in Stockton, California.

Yes, that beautiful glow that my cat, Tyler, is looking at, is indeed a whole neighborhood of police, fire and who knows what else, dealing with yet another shooting, at the same corner that it happened two times previously. Basically, those lights are right under my window. The first time was on September 9th, 2025, when a young man was shot dead, by police, while fleeing from them. He had several illegal weapons in the car with him, and he ran, and two officers opened fire on him. He was 19. Here is the bodycam footage, released by the Stockton Police Department, in October of 2025.   

WARNING: IT'S DISTURBING TO WATCH!

The next incident happened Thanksgiving weekend, when, several persons were killed, 2 under 21, and 2 under 10 years old, plus it left 13 others injured. It was a child's birthday party. All the children there, are now victims of gun violence. They were either injured, or they witnessed a murder. It was more than a tragedy. It was vile, and monstrous and deeply sad. It left me depressed for weeks. Later that evening, five suspects were arrested in the same place, as tonight's drama, and the night Rocco Robinson was shot, and, like I said, basically under my bedroom window. Recently, on April 2nd, there was an update about the birthday party murders, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

And then there was last night. I don't know anything about tonight's events. I will update when I can. Or maybe I won't. Honestly, I am a little depressed. We hear all kinds of sirens in this neighborhood, but just about a week ago, one night in the middle of the night we heard several shots, and it seemed they were nearby. The next night we heard loud machine gun fire, and it was definitely nearby. I was scared to death. I had just got my nerves under control, and now there are nine police cars, crime scene tape, and I expect the coroner will be here soon. 

Honestly, I am so tired. The most comforting feeling in the world is my cats sleeping on the bed with us. Morning kisses are the best. But not if doing so might put them in harms way! One day, someone is going to shoot a gun, and the bullet is going to hit something unintended. I hope it won't be us!

Read The CBS Article Here.

  

My prayers are with the family and friends of this young man.

It Happened Again, This Time In Autumn

 

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, more violent, it takes a touch of genius... and a lot of courage... to move in the opposite direction."

~E. F. Shumacher

Yes, it did indeed happen again. But its not really all about me, it's about the young ones who were viciously murdered on Saturday night in Stockton, near the Dairy Queen on Thornton. It was a child's birthday party, a celebration on Thanksgiving weekend. 4 people lost their lives, aged, 8, 9, 14, and one adult just 21 years old. 11 others suffered non fatal injuries. Considering the spray of bullets, it's amazing that more didn't lose their lives. The children and adults who survive, will know doubt be psychologically scarred for the rest of their lives. My heart breaks for everyone in this, including the shooter or shooters, because it's apparent they were let down in all kinds of ways. It's the neglect of society, religious community, our government, that contribute every single act of violence in one way or another. I will say it again, address the needs of your community, and there is no need for violence. The big societal question right now is, how do we talk to young men right now? Start with young men in prison and jail, talk to them about how they lost their way, then start talking the young men from different demographics across the board. Young me in the military would be good too. And then don't forget to listen. Really listen.

So what does all this have to do with me?

This.

A few hours after the shooting in north Stockton, the sirens came down the street. The Fire department, Stockton police, San Joaquin county Sherriff, hell, I have no idea how many agencies were responding on Pixie, and I don't really know if what caused the drama was even connected to what happened in north Stockton or not, but it's a probably good bet that it was. And some of it was happening again, pretty much right under my bedroom window... again! This is a good example of why I want to get the HELL out of Stockton as soon as we can! We hear shootings all the time, and I just know that one of these days, a stray bullet is going to land in our house. I can almost feel it. For now, I am counting my blessings, that a few more guns and gang members are off the street, and that they are contained while the authorities have a chance to find out if they were the ones that killed those children. I hope we have some answers soon. I will post an new post when any new information is released. My goodness, I never thought I would see another scene like this, so soon after the event's back in September occurred.

KCRA 

January 5th And January 6th Part One

 

"A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends

 upon the character of the user."

 

~Theodore Roosevelt

 

Things aren't exactly written in stone yet, but it seems that we pulled out a real win tonight. Georgia's runoff election has turned Georgia a solid purple, and put two more democrats in the United States senate, unseating Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader and making it possible for President-elect Joe Biden to get things done, like senate confirmations of his cabinet picks! So, you'd think I would be over the moon happy... right? Well, I am, but as I sit here typing this post, I am all too aware that Trump's army, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and some assorted domestic terrorists who call themselves, "Proud Boys" are in Washington D.C. tonight, with the specific intention of starting America's second civil war later today, after Vice President presides over the Electoral College vote certification.

 

I don't know how things will play out later, and my anxiety level is off the charts. I don't think I will be doing much sleeping tonight, and I probably won't sleep much tomorrow either. Pence has already told Trump that he cannot throw the election out, and name him president, but Trump thinks of it as Pence being disloyal to him, and in a way he is right. Pence took an oath to the Constitution, not Trump, and that is something Trump doesn't, or refuses to, understand. So, will today end in violence caused by domestic terrorism? If that isn't enough to worry about, apparently there was a threat by someone, possibly Iran, to fly a plane into the Capitol later today. This one of those times when I literally have NO IDEA about how bad things could go. 

 

For right now, yesterday, January 5th, was a very good day. I am just going to concentrate on that. 2021 has gotten off to a pretty great start. January 6th might not be the best day on earth, but America won a very important battle yesterday, so despite everything, we will always have that. History will remember who, why, and how our victories have happened. So, if today, January 6th, ends badly, if Trump's coup actually happens because of the acts of sedition of those who know better, history will remember that too. Life as an American will change forever, but I just can't believe that it will happen. America has been through a lot, and we are still standing... right? Hopefully by our next Independence Day, this will all be nothing but a bad dream, and Trump will be in prison. 

 

~Carly