Stink or Swim or Exactly why did a full grown man body slam a child?

    

     Full contact pool party! 

Well unless you are living under a rock, you know about the big TEXAS POOL PARTY MASSACRE!  (Okay it wasn't a massacre.  I mean no one even got seriously hurt, but it sounded kin of cool, didn't it?)  Details are sketchy about events leading up to the event in question (But dear Goddess, it hasn't stopped people from speculating and speculating and speculating), but we do know someone threw a pool party for some reason and some kids crashed the party.  We know that the police were called and that a general ruckus ensued.  Now, besides the part that I am about to talk about, that is all we know for sure.
     During the police intervention, which was going fairly quietly and seemed well organized, one teenage girl in a bikini attempted to walk off.  She wasn't running, she wasn't breaking things or even threatening anyone.  A cop decided that it would be a good idea to grab this child who was probably half his body weight by the hair, drag her to the ground and put a knee in her back.  Two of her friends approached the cop, the cop then drew his sidearm and threatened them.  Two more police show up, place restraining hands on the cop with the gun and then go after the two males.
     Now, spin doctors like Breitbart.com and the ACLU have all tried to put their own words onto what happened.  White Conservative Spin Doctors are going on and on and on and on (ad naseum) about how the girl resisted the police officer and how the two "thugs" (Yes I've seen the word used to describe the males) attacked the cop.  The usual "the police are innocent and it is all the kids fault" line dances across the Interwebz.  The ACLU and Black Apologists are trying to make this into a racial thing with the White Cop terrorizing innocent Black kids.  They are all about "Cops are bad!"
     Me I agree with one Black Commentator (Black esplains it all) who said that the event isn't about race.  Now keep in mind that he used that line to justify what the cop did and blame the kid.  Gotta love Conservatives.  However he is correct.  This isn't about race.  It doesn't matter if the kid was Black or the Cop was White (Brown and Off White?).  All that matters is that a fully grown, supposedly highly trained Cop thought it would be an excellent idea to physically assault a 13 (Some say 14) old girl in a bikini.  This man who is supposed to be trained to handle extremely dangerous criminals in very hazardous conditions couldn't handle a teenager at a pool party without violence?
    (As a side question, if you were a guy and you saw someone, anyone assaulting a teenage girl, would you just stand by and let them even if they were cops or would you try to step in and help?  If you answer that you would just stand by, you are indeed part of what is wrong with this country today.  Just saying.)
     If this had happened even a decade ago, people would be outraged by the cop's actions.  Black and White people would be demanding this violent man be fired (He has since resigned.  HOORAY!) and would be angry at anyone trying to defend him.  The ever increasing escalation of police violence and militarization has slowly eroded our sense of what is right.  As cops respond more and more violently to situations that would not have been met with violence 10 or 20 years ago, people just seem to shrug and accept it.  We are becoming desensitized  (Cannot believe I spelled that word correctly the first time) and more accepting.  "Cops have dangerous jobs so they have to respond that way,"  "Cops shouldn't have to put themselves in danger," and so many more lines justifying it appear every time something happened.
     A small child playing with a toy gun is shot to death within a second or so of the police arrival.  A man is shot to death in a store carrying a BB gun which he had got at the store.  A man is shot to death by a guy playing cop while he is prone on the ground.  Instead of uproar, we hear silence or even worse justification for these acts.  The attitude seems to be, "Well he is cop so he is telling the truth and the other people are lying" or "Any criticism of bad cops is being critical of all cops so it can't be done." 
     So lets make this perfectly clear.  No matter what happened before the event in question, all that matters is a heavy set cop tackled a teenage girl, hurled her to the ground and put his knee in her back.   Nothing she did justified that level of brutality.  I have said this before and I will say it here.  If the kid had been a teenaged White girl and a cop of any color had done this to her no matter what her actions were, people like Faux.News and Breitbart.com would have been up in arms. 

End of Rant

Right is right, but left is up.

     So some friends and I were talking (typing?) with one another on Vaguebook about the ongoing battle for equal rights and equal treatment under the laws of the land.  Amidst the usual banter about Gay Cakes and such, we managed to dance around to the subject of exactly what are Rights as opposed privileges.
     In reality it isn't necessarily an easy thing to judge.  Exactly what constitutes a Right and what is a Privilege that we have enjoyed for so long that we thing of it as a Right? 
     The very foundation of our nation describes some basics.  "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are words every school age child knows.   The Bill of Rights adds a bunch of others.  Many Ammendments to the Constitution added many others. 
     So, all being said and done, what is a Right and what is Privilege?  One person listed Driving as a Right.  Another mentioned owning a business.   They went on and on about these and other rights.
     The problem is that these aren't Rights.  No where in any of our government is it enshrined that these are rights.  They are simply privileges and that is where the disconnect occurs in most people's minds.
     Equal treatment under the law is a Right.  Running a business is a privilege and serving everyone regardless of Race or Creed is a requirement under the Rights given to all men.
     Until we finally agree where Rights end and Privileges begin there can never be true parity.   Until people realize the Rights they feel are being stolen from them are nothing more than privileges we can never have justice.

They fought more than one day a year.

     My Father served in WWII. My Grandfather served in WWI.  My Brother has proudly served for longer than I can remember and went to Afghanistan when other men were set to retire.  I support our troops and the people that support them 100%.  So you may be shocked to hear that I think Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are a stupid idea.  Why you ask?  For the same reason Mother's Day, Father's Day, Second Cousin twice removed Day are stupid ideas. 
     The men and women who serve and protect our country deserve to be saluted and respected every single day.  If you need a special day to remind you how much we owe them, then you need to rethink your priorities.  I see people saying, "Thank you for your service" on Veteran's Day and solemnly nodding at the scenes from the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day who probably never give a thought to them on any other day.  Never ponder how many 1000s of American Vets are homeless.  Never think about how many 1000s more live at a near poverty level and must depend on Welfare to help feed them.  I can promise you that these people hardly even think of the brave people who gave some or even all except when they are publicly reminded to by a mark on a calendar.
     It is patently obvious that the Government who sends them to fight and die don't care.  Sure they put on the dog and pony shows on special days, but then they turn around and do nothing to help them.  Our VA system is an archaic, badly managed pile of steaming poop that does little to actually help the people that need it.  The GOP says "God Bless Our Troops" then plans to send them back into yet another war we cannot win.  The Democrats say, "We will remember their sacrifices" but make no real efforts to fix the VA or even truly help those who desperately need help.
     We should respect and honor our troops every single day of the year.  We should kneel down and kiss their muddy boots to thank them for putting their lives and minds on the line.  We should never need a "special day" to memorialize them or thank them.  Every single right and freedom we have today is because some man or woman decided to put on a uniform and pick up a weapon to protect them.
    United States Army, United States Marine Corp, United Stated Air Force, United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, the National Guards and Nation Reserves should be on our minds every day.If you can't respect and honor them every day then cheering them on one special day is nothing but hypocrisy. 

End of Rant

Short but not so sweet.

     So this afternoon, a friend I knew from HS posted a very poorly done video that purported to PROVE that a kid had been given detention for saying God Bless You to a schoolmate. Now all the video was is a guy (Presumably the kid's Dad) asking the kid what happened and then prompting the kid to tell how he had said GBU to a student and an evil teacher gave him detention as part of religious persecution. No evidence was given to back up the claims just the guy and his kid.
      Now folks, I see this sort of crap all the time. People claiming this or stating that and offering no proof of any kind to support it. IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion in case you forgot) people who post this sort of Shift are actually hurting the causes they claim to support. Saying "OH NOSE WE IS BEING PERSECUTED!" at the top of your lungs is like crying wolf when its actually a Beagle. People might listen to you in the beginning but eventually they stop because you are being an Ass.
      So when I very politely (Yes me politely) pointed this out, my friend became quite irate and insulting. She accused me of not being a Christian and that I was attacking her. When I attempted to explain to her that I was not attacking her or even disputing the video's claim, she got even more angry. When I pointed out that the man actually lied twice in the video, she came back with "I do not care that his fact may or maynot be wrong." (Her spelling not mine.)
      I know it comes as a shock to most of my college friends, but I am a Christian. (Heck it shocks me some days still.) I support Christians right to worship as they please. All other religions too. Pointing out when someone is wrong doesn't make me not a Christian. It does occasionally make me an Ass, but that is another point entirely.
      If the only way you can depend your position is to ignore the truth and insult other people, then you are not only an idiot, but not very Christian either. (Okay I admit calling her an idiot isn't very Christian either, but darn it she annoyed me.) If you refuse to support your position with actual facts, people are going to, at best, ignore you and at worst think that you are a nut case,
      If you want people to take you seriously, then you have to do more than make unfounded claims. If yo don't do that, you are right up there with the 9/11 Truthers, the Obama Birthers and the Sandy Hook/Boston Marathon Conspiracy nutters. Prove it or STHU,

Hoist the double standard, Day 2: God only knows

     Whelp, here we are on day the second of my little serial rant about the lovely double standards that Americans seem to cling to.  Don't get me wrong, this practice is not unique to Americans.  Pretty sure some version of it is practiced pretty much anywhere there are people, but Americans often times seem like they went back for a second helping when God created everything.
     And speaking of God (Nice slide into the subject huh?), today's talk is about Religion.  (Before I go any further let me state plainly that I am a Christian so this isn't some Atheist Basher speaking here.  Also a healthy chunk of Christians do not fit into this rant.  As usual, my words are aimed at the bad eggs that taint any good thing.)  Okay, onward and downward in a never ending spiral.

      

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

     The US was founded on the very basic principle of Religious Freedom.  Not "Freedom of Christianity" or "Freedom of the Religions that we personally like."  It was also founded on the most basic idea of a separation of Church and State.  We had already seen the fiasco caused in Europe when the Government made one particular religion the official religion and pretty much banned he practice of all others.  (Church of England anyone?)  We wisely realized that we couldn't have true freedom when we limited.  We even spelled it out in big letters in so that people would not get the wrong idea.

    Funny how people can ignore those big bold letters or interpret them in a way that is kind the exact opposite of what the word actually mean.  Over and over again, I hear Christians saying, "We should ban (Insert Religion here, but lets face facts, usually its Islam)."  Several states have actually passed laws that prevent Atheists from holding public office (Which once again, is pretty much the exact opposite of what the 1st actually says.) and several states have laws in the works that would prevent any Non-Christian from holding office.  Matter of fact, one of the big arguments against Obama is that he cannot possibly hold the office of President because he is actually a Muslim.  (He isn't by the way.)

     Radical Right Wing Christians want this to be a nation governed by Christian Laws and only Christian Laws.  They want only Christians to hold public office (Preferably White Male Christians at that.) and all the various cultures and beliefs in the Country to bow down before these Christian Laws.  The RRW Politicians scream against Sharia Law and Sharia Courts here in the US, but want Christian Laws to hold sway in courts.  When raging against Sharia Courts, they also blithely ignore that both the Catholic and Judaic belief systems have had similar courts and such for a long time. 

    We have a incredible amount of rights and freedoms in the US.  It is one of the things that has made us unique and powerful.  However there are forces in the US that want to take those freedoms and rights away.  They want to turn America into what amounts to a Theocracy where Christian Laws and Christian beliefs are the only ones allowed.  This goes against everything that makes us great and directly contravenes what the Founding Fathers believed.  It also insults every single man and woman who gave their lives to defend ALL of our rights.

     In closing, maybe you don't agree with the guy down the street who believes in X Religion.  Maybe you think that Pastafarism is ridiculous.  Maybe you think that anyone who believes that Scientology is more than a little off.   That is cool.  You have the right to believe what you want.  However, you do not have the right, legal or moral, to force Your beliefs on people.  You cannot say "If you life in the US you must follow X religion's laws."  That is not how this country works.  You cannot ever have freedom when you oppress other people's freedoms.

End of Rant

Hoist the double standard! Day one: Amma I right about your "rights?"

     Yesterday's post was the opening salvo on a week long rant about the double standards that a lot of Americans seem to have about...well just about everything.  From Legal Rights to Religious Rights, the good US of A seems to think that THEIR beliefs and rights far outweigh those of everyone else, especially the rights of people they don't like.
     Now, of course, what started this little rant series was the events that occurred at VSU where protestors performed the "unthinkable" act of stomping on the American Flag.  People all over the country rose up in righteous fury claiming that they didn't have the right to do that and they applauded the Military type person turned Porn model when she took the flag away.  They also cried out in indignation  when she was detained by the cops.  People claimed that the protestors had broken the law by desecrating the flag and that the nude model had just been doing the right thing when she had taken it.
     The only problems with this argument is that the protestors actually did have a right to do what they did and the Nude Model had actually broken the law when she stole their property from them.  I could go on and on about this but it has already been rehashed over and over again so I won't.  My Brother, Ben Baker did an excellent blog on the subject which I reposted here the other day. 
     I have to wonder where these righteous individuals were when US Military personnel were urinating on the Holy Books of detainees in Gitmo and various other Black Sites around the world.  I have to wonder where they were when a Baptist Preacher in Florida (Ever notice it is always Florida, Arizona or Texas?  Well almost always.  There was the recent Indiana Flap too.)  An even better question is where were all of these flag loving people when somebody decided it was cool to put the US Flag on bathing suits and underwear?  How is stomping on a flag any more disrespectful than having the flag jammed up your butt crack?  I'd think the latter is much more disrespectful.  Heck on that note, I have even seen toilet paper and tissue paper with the flag on it, so getting upset because someone stepped on it seems a little bit dumb.
     Anyways, I digress.  This rant series isn't about that one incident.  Over the next week, I will cover how strong and illogical the American Double Standard is.  How "our" rights are always important than the right of everyone else.  Be it religion, education or simply having enough to eat, America has a massive double standard that is almost as old as the country itself.  So buckle up and clench em tight, because it is going to be a bumpy ridge.

End of Rant\

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