Day: April 29, 2015

Baltimore: Same Problem With No Solution

Op-Ed from the Desk of chuq

I have not commented on the situation in Baltimore until now because I wanted to see what would shake out…..and so far it is the same song and dance (from the media that is)…….the same speculation, the same hysteria and the same call to dialog…….

Then I watched the blogs…….and many points are being made…….many good points but is anyone listening?  As well as a case for the game of choosing sides.  Of course the usual line of conversation around those “outside agitators” and “thugs”

The incident is all too familiar and there has got to be something done…..but we as a people are going about it all wrong……this should not not be a game of choosing sides…..and that is exactly what we are doing…..choosing sides.

There are some great reports about this subject and then there are a bunch of speculation and hype….none of which is a solution to the problem….all it accomplishes is to force us to choose sides….one over the other.

As usual the solution to the incident that caused the situation boils down to camera cams for the cops……But is it really?

Ask yourself…..if every cop had a body cam and recorded everything the person did…..would we ever see the tape?  Who would control the distribution….the cops?  Knowing the silence of the “Blue Line” would you seriously believe we would get the whole story?

Yes, a solution MUST be found and yes, a dialog is much needed…….but I do not see any of it coming to fruition in today’s society.  Experts are not the answers…..experts know nothing of the community that they say they are speaking about…….an opinion stated by someone who lives in a Manhattan penthouse is a worthless utterance…..for a picture can be painted and may not necessarily be accurate or helpful..  How silly is it for the “Haves” to be explaining the “Have Nots”?  The view from the penthouse gives them NO special insight.

The dialog about the dialog is not helping either.  The media sensationalism is not going to help.  Name calling is not going to help.  The media needs this to continue and they will do what they must to see that there is no quick resolution.

Think I am wrong?  Then think about what it offers the people……fake drama sold as reality…….it is what the viewer wants….and they get it.  How soon before someone tries to push this as a “race riot”?

The situation that gave us the horrible events in Ferguson, Staten Island and Baltimore and countless others is far from over……NO real dialog will be possible without honesty and commitment and now all we have is talk (not a dialog) and finger pointing….none of which is helping.

For now all eyes are on Baltimore and most of the chatter is NOT helping!  The eyes are looking at the protesters and the real problem goes to the back burner….that problem is the death of Mr. Gray and the tactics of violence used against the African-American community.

Promises are being made…….promises and more talk……and while we are talking this will happen again……and again.

A cycle that we know exists but NO one is willing to find a cure!

And we talk!

The “Obvious” Lessons of the Vietnam War | The American Conservative

40 years ago this year the capital city of the Republic of South Vietnam, Saigon,  fell to the advancing communist forces from the North……

Most American could care less…..but there are still a few of us grunts left to remember……and we want the US to learn a lesson from the misadventures of interventionism…..but did we really learn anything from that war?

We did not learn the proper respect for veterans.  We did not learn the dangers of intervention.  Really….we learned exactly….NOTHING!

 

The “Obvious” Lessons of the Vietnam War | The American Conservative.

Nigeria: Speaking Of Moms

I realize that all eyes are on Baltimore and the violence there……but how about I ask a question?  Does anyone remember #BringBackOurGirls?

We  probably but it is not that a big a deal right now, right?

A story that has not been widely publicized in our dynamite media……….

Nigeria’s army says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Boko Haram, reports CNN. In a sign of just how widespread this kind of kidnapping is, however, those rescued do not include the approximately 200 girls taken from a school last year—the ones who drew worldwide attention in the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. “They are not the Chibok girls,” a military spokesman tells AP. The military is interviewing the rescuees now to determine where they’re from. The original news came via a tweet from the Nigerian military announcing that troops rescued the girls and women from the Sambisi Forest.

A feel good story if ever there was one……if it is an accurate report.

So far I have not been able to confirm this…..lots of whispers and rumors…..but not much officially…..I will confirm when I have it in my hands…….

Watch This Page!

Mom Knows Best

By now everyone has seen the vid of the mom in Baltimore that goes to protests and gets her son….her tactic was a bit extreme but so was the situation…..

The woman labeled “Mom of the Year” for dragging her son away from rioting in Baltimore says she didn’t want her only son to end up like Freddie Gray. Toya Graham, who was filmed smacking and berating her 16-year-old son, tells CBS that she “lost it” after she saw him among a crowd throwing objects at police. The single mother of six says she doesn’t believe attacking police is any way to get justice for Gray, and she wanted to protect her son. “There’s some days that I’ll shield him in the house just so he won’t go outside and I know that I can’t do that for the rest of my life,” she says. “I’m a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me, know I don’t play that.”

One of Graham’s five daughters tells CNN her mom “has always been tough”—and didn’t have any trouble spotting the boy in the crowd, even with a hoodie and mask on. She says her brother is grateful and understands that their mom was just trying to keep him alive. Graham says she thinks the situation on Monday would not have been as bad if more mothers had acted like her, but she understands that many may have been busy providing for their families—and there is only so much a mother can do. “You can talk blue in your face to your children, but at the end of the day they gonna make their own decisions,” she tells CBS. “As parents we just have to follow through to make sure that’s where they supposed to be at.”

I have heard all the opinions on her action….both pro and con…..from she is Mom of the Year to child abuse……

My thought is….she deserves a medal for her actions….she may have saved her son from a trip to jail or worse…..the morgue…….she did what the cops could not do.

I know someone has an opinion on this…..let it fly!

Thomas Jefferson vs. the Bible: – Salon.com

For decades the Religious Right has been trying to re-write history as it pertains to the founding of our republic……they attempt to teach that religion was a founding principle and that the Bible was the document that help write the Constitution…….

History teaches us that all that is so much wishful thinking on their part….Even Jefferson had a Bible that he edited out all references of miracles to leave the pure philosophy of the book…….

This is a good piece that touches on the Bible, Jefferson and the founding of the republic…….please read and comment…..

 

Thomas Jefferson vs. the Bible: What America’s founding father really thought about religion – Salon.com.