Tag: Baltimore

The Baltimore 6

I shall bend to social pressure and post on the news du jour…..the announcement of the indictments against those 6 Baltimore police officers…….

All six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray have been indicted by a grand jury and will be arraigned on July 2. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby made the announcement today. The charges returned by the grand jury weren’t substantially different than the charges Mosby announced about three weeks ago. Mosby has said Gray’s neck was broken because he was injured while being handcuffed, shackled, and placed head-first into a police van. She says his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored. (The development comes after new video emerged of Gray and the officers.)

I would like to remind everyone that these are indictments and NOT convictions and that the likelihood that all 6 will be convicted is slim.

Now that I have done due diligence I will approach this from the direction that I choose…….the chatter that is to follow the announcement.

It is inevitable that there will be those that will come to the support of the police officers……saying that we should not condemn all cops for the bad actions of a few…..and I will agree with them, on that because there are some absolutely marvelous people wearing the uniform.

But have you ever noticed that those that warn against a quick judgement of cops because of their bad actions are the very same people that spend their time condemning ALL Muslims for the actions of a few?

No this does not surprise me for after many years of analyzing politics and society in the US I have learned one thing that is certain……Americans are nothing if not hypocritical.

Turn The Page!

What To Do About Baltimore?

After all the deaths of unarmed civilians at the hands of cops and after Baltimore erupted into a night of violence the big question in the media is….what can we do about Baltimore?  They are all looking for answer on how to fix the problem and not one of them actually knows what the problem is to begin with….so how does one fix a problem without knowledge of it?

The media is leading the charge to find answers……every political pundit that has ever voiced an opinion on this subject now has what he/she has always wanted…..15 minutes of fame.

We are bombarded daily with the proper “fixes” to the problems…….more this or more that with a little less this….we are talking…..and that is the problem!  Talk is cheap and NO where will any of the ideas be used no matter how good they sound.

Why would I crap on this parade?

Profits!

No plan will be put into action that does not guarantee a return on money spent!

Does anyone remember LBJ?  How about his program the “War On Poverty”?

The effort centered around four pieces of legislation:

• The Social Security Amendments of 1965, which created Medicare and Medicaid and also expanded Social Security benefits for retirees, widows, the disabled  and college-aged students, financed by an increase in the payroll tax cap and rates.

• The Food Stamp Act of 1964, which made the food stamps program, then only a pilot, permanent.

• The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which established the Job Corps, the VISTA program, the federal work-study program and a number of other initiatives. It also established the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the arm of the White House responsible for implementing the war on poverty and which created the Head Start program in the process.

• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, signed into law in 1965, which established the Title I program subsidizing school districts with a large share of impoverished students, among other provisions. ESEA has since been reauthorized, most recently in the No Child Left Behind Act.

Many of the programs started by the War on Poverty are still in place but are a mere shadow of what was intended.  For every president since LBJ has attacked and made worthless the intentions from 1964…..and that includes Dem presidents also.

So the question I posed was….what to do about Baltimore?  First place blame where it belongs…on Washington and the Congress.  Make all politicians explain why they cut programs that had the most effect on the control of poverty.  Do not let them get off topic. which they will because NO one in DC wants to accept the responsibility for the problems in inner cities.

Second, an attempt to get ALL Americans to care about poverty…..as it is now…it is someone else problem.  Poverty is a national problem and must be addressed on that level.

I wish I could say that there was a quick fix…….there is NOT and talking about the problem has done nothing in 40 years why would it help today?

The money spent on our interventionism would every helpful in solving social problems……….but we know that the American people will never let that happen.

Baltimore is just the beginning……….there will be NO peace until the country makes ending poverty a priority……and we know from past experiences that talk is cheap and not a solution.

Baltimore: The Blame Game

After a rough start the last couple of days have been relatively quiet in Baltimore……and as usual someone has got to be blamed for the violence and the destruction…….the sad part is that the people and events that take the heat are seldom the cause……but they continue to play politics with a social problem…….

And as you would expect the GOP has its bad guys…….

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has officially thrown his hat into the 2016 ring, told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham on Monday that “I came through the train on Baltimore last night, I’m glad the train didn’t stop.” He also said the “lack of fathers” and a “lack of moral code in our society” should eventually be examined for the “thievery and thuggery” that has taken place in Maryland’s largest city. The GOPer added “this isn’t just a racial thing. It goes across racial boundaries.”

Paul’s excuse sounds more like a political campaign than an honest evaluation…….but he isd not alone with moronic overtones……..there will ALWAYS be Donald Trump……..

What would a crisis be without the mind numbing lip flapping of The Donald?

“Our great African American president hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday, resulting in a backlash on Twitter with many accusing the billionaire businessman of being racist.

Trump called on Obama to “go to Baltimore and bring both sides together. With proper leadership, it can be done! Do it.” Trump also criticized the Baltimore police for allowing “the city to be destroyed,” and asked if U.S. taxpayers were expected to pay for the damage.

It’s Obama’s fault…….that tired old accusation……..

The media has gone so far as to make the story about the victim not about the circumstances of his death…..plus the media keeps counting down the hours and minutes to curfew with the hope that something set the crowds off……

Sad part is that NO one wants to talk about the real reasons for all this violence……..and because of this there will be more…..and more……

 

United States of Amnesia: What White America Doesn’t Understand About the Baltimore Protests | Alternet

In case you have had enough of Jenner’s sex or that damn silly Royal Baby Watch and would like to learn something about Baltimore…..if so….then this is an excellent article’

BTW, does anyone have an idea why the media has a curfew countdown for last couple of nights?

 

United States of Amnesia: What White America Doesn’t Understand About the Baltimore Protests | Alternet.

Smells Like CYA!

Baltimore is a tinder box and could re-erupt at any moment…….calm for now but all the facts are still not available……the media has had to dig hard to find something anything to keep this story going  and now they have been given the red meat they have been searching for………what purpose is a countdown to curfew the media is doing?

First, the promise of the findings of Gray’s death would be released on Friday 01 May and now not so much…..we are told that the findings will be turned over to the investigation before it is released……does this threaten the tenuous calm?

Second, there seems to be a witness to Gray’s condition as he was arrested…….

A weird twist in the Freddie Gray case: A prisoner being transported in the police van where the Baltimore man suffered a fatal spinal injury says he could hear Gray banging on the walls and thought he “was intentionally trying to injure himself,” according to a statement on a search warrant obtained by the Washington Post. But the prisoner couldn’t actually see Gray, and a lawyer for the family says they have not been told about the unidentified prisoner’s statement. “We disagree with any implication that Freddie Gray severed his own spinal cord,” the lawyer tells the Post. “We question the accuracy of the police reports we’ve seen thus far, including the police report that says Mr. Gray was arrested without force or incident.”

According to the Post‘s timeline of events, the prisoner who says he heard Gray banging on the walls was in the van for the last six blocks of the ride to the police station—after Gray, who was handcuffed and wasn’t wearing a seat belt, had already asked for medical help. Six Baltimore police officers have been suspended over the death and police plan to turn the results of their investigation over to prosecutors on Friday, NBC reports. It’s not clear how much of the report will be made public, but the mayor’s office says it hopes police will “share any additional facts and details to the public that could shine some light on this,” reports the Baltimore Sun.

Now ask…if this report is true why was it not released in the beginning for it could have help avoid the violence?  Why now?  This unnamed witness that was arrested and in the same van….does he now get some sort of deal to tell his tale?

The media will fixate on these two stories and pick it to part……will their reports help trigger more violence this weekend?  These two stories are a god send to a story that was dying a slow death……

As for the city of Baltimore……all this smells like CYA! (would make a good protest song)

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!

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!