I was gonna

But Mike did it first.

I would say though that cock-fighting is pure family fun per se....

Here are the related articles though that he did not post:

South Bend Tribune: Accounts Differ over South Bend Parade cockfighting

• In which different people tell different stories


• The most common being that they think it was on purpose

Posted by a South Bend Tribune Reader:

"The West Sude Memorial Day Parade was terrific as usual, at least up until the end.As a Scout Master I like to use this solemn occasion to help illustrate Duty to Country with my young Scouts.This lesson on morals and obedience was cut short with a terrible display of two roosters being placed face to face and let go to fight in front of me, my Scouts a at least a dozen small children standing in the crowd.The group that called themselves Rancho Los 3 Luceros has disgraced this special occasion to honor those who gave their all for our country and what it stands for.I was very dissapointed that I had to whatch such an appauling and disrepectful display and disregard for those that were there to honor the men and women of our armed forces.Duty to Country requires that you obey and respect the laws of the country you chose to live in.In my opinion this group should be banned from any additional such activities and reprimanded for their total lack of consideration of those standing in the crowd especially the young ones.It is and was a shame to finish the parade on such a sour note. For me the day was tarnished by this event as there were no lack of questions as to why the roosters were put together to fight.We are a nation of laws, laws that we all must live and work by.For one group to violate any of our laws for their own pride is shameful and should not be tollerated.I am sorry to be so negative on such an occasion butI felt this needed to be stated.God Bless AmericaGod Bless those who gave their all."

Jeff Nicholas, South Bend West Side

West Side Parade incident not a cockfight, Officials say

• Oh come on. Are you serious?

City Investigates Reports of Cockfighting parade entry

And the rest of the comments from South Bend-ites: (BTW, I did not edit these for mistakes, it's just how smart some of our residents are)

"So, is anyone else going to be bold enough to realize that these accusations were leveled against a Hispanic group? Is that why people would just assume that it was cockfighting? This is ridiculous! If two dogs had gotten into a squabble, would similar assumptions have been made? What if it were two roosters from a predominantly white 4-H group instead?Think about it, people. Our veterans gave their lives and service to the US so that all Americans of all heritages could live in freedom. Don't let the specter of racism tarnish that, especially at a Memorial Day parade." -- Harriet Engle

"With all due respect to those involved I was directly in front of these two clowns when the incident happened.There is nothing racial about this.The two birds were both put face to face with each other by their handlers before being let go to squable on the ground.For what other reason would the handlers push the faces of these two birds directly into each other before releasing them.This was not an unitended incindent. I was close enough to see the grins on the faces of these handlers when they did this.In my opinion the only reson they were snatched back up as quickly as they were was that the roosters were headed into the crowd which included children.It is and was totatly disrespectful on behalf of this group to show such disregard to such a solemn occasion.A 4-her would not push two animals together face to face and then let them go on the ground to fight.They have more respect for their animals than that.It is a shame that one group can cast such a shadow over the entire event.All said up to that point the parade was total success." --Jeffrey Nicholas

"I also saw the **** fight and it has nothing to do with race. It was an inappropriate, illegal action that had nothing to do with giving honor to our veterans. At Ford and Dundee, the roosters were put down into the intersection facing each other, only a few inches apart. It was an intentional action. **** fighting is a class "D" felony in Indiana and should not have been allowed, even if only for a few seconds. People around us were shocked and it took a few seconds for it to sink in, what they had just witnessed. Despite the fact that there were many children watching the parade at this intersection. It has nothing to do with race or nationality. It is teaching something illegal to our children and animal cruelty is just wrong!" -- Pamm Garber

"I love animals. This is a trite argument. Hey residents! Find something else to clean up in this town; there are plenty of eye-sores on the list. This cockfighting that never actually made the cut may have been tasteless, surely, but get a real problem, please." -- The Fox

"wow Pam, if you were there when and where it happened then you also saw the older black female officer that had to step back from the two handlers scooping the birds up. Now i know she didn't say anything to the guys, because unlike many people in this town, I was there, and neither my wife nor I heard her say one word , but maybe you know what the law governs an accident or intentional" -- Yancy Bullard

Please feel free to openly comment about cock-fighting and the like. Perhaps next year the parade can have a caged pit-bull fight.

Idle thoughts...

While waiting for Winkflash to upload my backlog of pictures.

Pictures.
We take a lot of pictures. There are still currently 235 waiting to upload, and that's been going on since 8:30 this evening. Winkflash offers these great hardcover books every once in a while for a flat rate for up to 100 pages. We currently have two of Ché pictures, and since they are offering it again, I thought it was about time. I looked in the last book and the last time we uploaded anything was June, so we're a bit behind. The sad part is that the 235 pictures are the ones weeded out and don't yet involve Christmas time, or other peoples' pictures. I'd be broke if I had to develop all these, and put them in albums.

Child Violence.
Maybe it's the current field I work in, but I've noticed a lot of child centered violence lately. Not children being violent, but adults being violent towards children. A few examples are such:

The children in Washington D.C. that no-one stood up for, The 4 children thrown off of a bridge, the boy shot while taking his piano lesson by a stray bullet, and the boy who says his mom burned him in the oven.
Sadly, these are the saddest things I've seen in the 7 months that I've worked in my current field. I could go on for days about the things I've seen parents do to their kids and the things I've seen children do in desperation.
It saddens me that the world has come to this, and I know children have been getting hurt for centuries, but it truly seems as though we've hit a low. We're wasting our future, and we're damaging any chance we have of making the world a better place and if we don't cut it out and help the people who are affected by violence, and the people that cause violence we are headed down an awful road.

And in all honesty, the parents and caregivers of the people that hurt these children, while they are the responsible parties, need just as much if not more help than the victims themselves. In our county, the incidence of generational abuse is sky high. If we look back in records, chances are the parents that are hurting their kids now, were hurt as children. Sexual abuse is on the rise and the history there is frightening. Children who are abused are more likely to abuse other children while they are still children, or to go on to do abuse as an adult. When are we going to grow up as a nation, and say enough is enough and start putting our money in places where it really matters?
For some interesting but eye-opening reading visit here:

Child Help
or
Child Welfare Information Gateway

Feel compelled to help?
Try here:

CASA
or
Kidspeace

And now, I'll step down from my soapbox for my last idle thought:

Potty.
Recently Ché has begun really fighting diaper changes. We've been doing the potty thing, which involved getting it out, explaining what it is and why we have it, etc. Ché will even use the potty, and has had success from both "ends" on many different occasions, but lately he is revolting on both. Of course the favorite answer is "no" to everything, but honestly the whole bathroom bit he is really adamant about.

Ché will generally use the potty before a nap, and before bed, but trying to get him to go during the day is like pulling teeth. He is just to busy to bother going. We even tried the thick cotton pants and regular underwear so that he knew when he was wet, but he didn't care. Pull-ups were just too much like diapers so that didn't work either.

Do you all have suggestions?