Why my head hurts

"I am not a monster," said the man. "I could have killed them and no one would ever have known."

Oh, man, did we overreact! Wow. I'm so embarrassed.

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HATE CRIME

"At 9:45 p.m. on May 1, 2008, two male suspects posted fliers at a McDonalds in the 7900 block of Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys. The flyers were made to look authentic correspondence from McDonalds, and stated that due to a string of robberies, African American customers are now required to pay an additional fee of $1.50 per transaction. Police were trying to get fingerprints off the fliers to see if they could identify the suspects."
Thanks to The Subliterate Cinephile!

Theeeriously?! A Hate Crime?

See, my first thought is that it was a stupid ('n' tasteless) prank, or perhaps some performance art. Some wealthy white college kids were "Showing the Up the Inherent Racism Prevalent Even In Our Fast Food Culture" (for independent study credit).

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And this made my head unhurt:

This year is a good year to spot whale migration along the Central Coast. I didn't know that when I went down to the water's edge, so when I saw the gray whale breach and the many spouts, less than a mile offshore, it was even more magical than if I had expected it (and even when you do expect it, seeing a whale is pretty damned magical).

I was standing there on the bluff, leaning against the railing, when a hideous clattering made me turn around. Walking up to join me was a girl, maybe five years old, in striped leggings and a crazy pattered dress - she was prints and plaids in pinks and oranges, with messy hair and some smudged face painting on one cheek. She dragged behind her a red, six-foot dog leash, and tied to the very end of that leash was a Breyer horse, a Bay Quarter Horse, to be exact, which lay on one side, getting the crap utterly slammed out of it as it was dragged along the asphalt walkway.

"Do you see whales?" she asked.

"I did earlier, " I said. "I'm looking for more."

She nodded. We stood quietly together.

"Hey!" She pointed to the cliffs nearby, where a dog waited for his surfing owner to come back to him.

"There's a Golden Retriever!"