When did it become ok to have a gun near the Prez?

The nutters are out nearly on a rampage. They're frothing at the mouth over imaginary threats to their right to carry military-grade weapons. So just to "show" that they are supporters of American freedom they've been showing up in droves to rallies on the healthcare reform held by President Obama, with their "freedom guns" strapped to the hip. Let me just cut to the chase and say just how fucked up this all sounds. I've never dreamed that it was appropriate to carry a weapon around the President of the United States unless you were part of the Secret Service detail or at a military function. If this was happening during Bush's time and the perpetrators had been lefties, I bet these same freedom-loving uptight assholes would have their panties up in a bunch and screaming for the lot to be hung by their toes. I don't care if I agree or don't agree with the Commander-in-chief or the Vice President, it is never cool to be "carrying" around them, that is unless you're hunting with Dick Cheney and well let's face it that's just for your own protection.

T-shirt love for President Obama

Hey Laaaaaaadies!
Originally uploaded by Telstar Logistics

I feel a little guilty passing this on, as the traditional acronym makes me cringe, but when I spotted a guy wearing this shirt, I did a double-take. So a t-shirt designer wanted to show the new Prez some love, so a "PILF" shirt was born. Anyway I thought it was kinda cute and seemed so appropriate to see that here in San Francisco.

Racists want apology for being called racist

So the racial profilers want an apology? Screw 'em. They deserve the same respect that they show Black and Brown people. Gates was not arrested for being unruly; anyway, he was in his own damn house. He was arrested for being a Black man being unruly in his own house. The cop has all the training to properly handle a situation where someone becomes irate, especially when it is over a mistaken identity type of situation. Instead, the cop got uppity and decided he was going to teach this Black man a lesson by arresting him. If the cop doesn't like being called a racist, I'm going to suggest a novel idea, don't act racist. These wolves in cops' uniforms deserve no apology.

Follow more details at NYTimes.

One more thing about the cops...

The Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association are a bunch of dumb, moronic assholes who deserve the sharp end of a racial profiling lawsuit. I am so hoping Henry Louis Gates Jr slaps them with a lawsuit that all their descendants will continue to feel into the far future.

NY Times

President Obama has his say on racial profiling

I was afraid that nothing would come out of the White House, specifically President Barack Obama on the racial profiling of Professor Henry Louis Gates resulting in his arrest. I almost was about to question his intellect and sincerity. He did stop short of calling it what it was: racism. But at least he did voice what damn near every Black and brown person in this country has experienced, harassment at the hands of "law" enforcement. I've got to put some quotes in there, because the law is definitely not what is being enforced, it's more like the old status quo of Jim Crow days. When a Black person speaks up for their rights, questions a police officer, cops get really indignant because they think themselves to be above the law. And that's when they become dangerous, lethal sometimes. And they have the nerve to wonder why there's such distrust of the police. Don't tow the Blue Line and speak out against police brutality and things will change.

Anyway, something had to be said and I am glad that President Obama finally said it. Now if he can only put some action to it. When cops are found guilty of harassment and they've got all kinds of lies to deflect the accusation, but when they are, the penalty needs to be good and harsh. A heinous act like that deserves a similar punishment. You want to trample over someone else's liberties, well wave goodbye to yours. We'll send billions of dollars to help someone else experience freedom, all the while we ignore those here at home who are having theirs stripped away simply because they're ancestry comes from Africa or Central America.

Screw that mess. Enough is enough.

Epidemic of Blacks being arrested just for being home

WTF, is all I can think. Sheesh here's the latest on a Black person, sadly it was the esteemed Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr, just trying to go about his daily business and ending up in handcuffs by racist-assed trigger-happy cops. Thank God they didn't shoot a Black man in the back this time. It all started with a nervous white neighbor who obviously never bothered to get to know her neighbor. She spied Black men entering a home in her neighborhood and assumed criminal activity must be taking place. One phone call to the cops later, Dr Gates is being ordered out of his home by "law" enforcement and ends up with his mugshot being taken because he stood up for his right against unlawful search and seizure. And no reasonable cause was not warranted in my opinion as there was absolutely no evidence of wrong-doing, just a twitchy white woman who saw some Black men near her home. Read more at the NY Times.

More stories on recent similar stories:

• Robbie Tolan killed by cops in own driveway (ESPN)


• The Daily Racism Run-down (Current.com)


• ACLU's report on Racial Profiling

Deep Thoughts by Dubya

What was Bush's self-examination and summarization of his administration's legacy? In a nutshell:

"Yup, I instigated a war. I messed up relations with old allies. I ignored the imploding economy. I screwed up the nation. Now stop yer bitchin' and deal with it."

Read and hear all about at NPR.

Cop hysteria before Obama takes the White House?

I have just one question: What the hell is going on? We're not even half way through the month of January and cops seem to just be extra trigger-happy. Is it the economy? The war in Iraq? A Black man taking over the White House? What is it? There have been several stories of racially-motivated conflicts against Blacks by in the past couple of weeks.

Here is the one that is getting the most press:

Dumbass cop shoots unarmed and subdued Black man lying on ground.

In this case, in the early morning hours following the opening of the new year, a fist-fight between two groups of people had broken out on a line of the BART subway system in a San Francisco east-bay community (NOTE: this was a "fist" fight --- no weapons were drawn). According to accounts, the cops were called and just one group of the participants were pulled off and subdued. The shooting victim was drawn on and shot after several cops already had pushed him to the ground and put him under control. There are videos of the event floating around the internet (which I'm not including due to a big distaste for publicizing actual murder footage). But it shows that he is not struggling or fighting the cops. His hands are not reaching for anything, there's at least one cop still kneeling on him. Then one idiot (cop) decides that he needs to escalate the control they have over him. He draws a weapon and fires. Half a second later, he has a stunned expression and is looking at the closest cop partner for a reaction or who knows. It's speculated that he meant to only shoot the guy with a taser and not a pistol, but pulled his gun by mistake. Even if this is the case, many want him to answer for what they see as a crime. And I would have to agree with them in this case. There are two reasons for this. The first is, the guy was already under control and not fighting the cops, so why do more harm to him? What was the point of using the taser? Was it just a show of force? Maybe teach him a good lesson for ruining someone's New Year's Eve? Why? He took it to the next level for absolutely no reason. There was no cause for it. No good valid excuse can be given for this that should be accepted.

The second reason the cop should answer for this and go to jail is that you have to be a real idiot to not be able to tell the difference between a taser and a real gun. When you plan on shooting someone with something and you've got two weapons on you, one of which is supposed to be used only for deadly purposes, you would think the person would look down and make sure the correct weapon is in hand. It doesn't appear this guy even thought about it. He's supposed to be a professionally trained law enforcement officer. It doesn't appear that is the case either. Hell maybe his partner should be included as well in this case, he got up and stepped away from the victim so that the other officer could make the shot. He would've seen what was drawn and been in a very good position to warn his partner. But as is the case when it comes to White cops and Black people, the cops shoot first and sort things out second. Black people never get any consideration before a situation gets out of hand, the cops just assume that Blacks are automatically guilty and deserve deadly force immediately.

Hopefully this case will make this point clear to the American public, but most of all to the judicial system which will finally make cops pay for their excessive and brutal treatment of blacks.

Happy New Year

It's never too late to wish Happy New Year. Happy 2009! We've got quite a few things to get through in the next 12 months: a recession, high unemployment, a shrinking pool of employers due to many going out of business, conflicts overseas costing us billions and billions of dollars, the same for bailout payments to a bunch of overpaid CEO con men who have yet to really pay for their expensive shell game with the stock market. The list goes on.

And all of our hopes and dreams are resting on the shoulders of one guy: Barack Obama. I'm glad that an intelligent thinker like him has made it to the White House to replace the current buffoon and real evildoer who are currently there. He'll bring optimism that we do not have which is well-reflected by the state of our economy. No one is certain about the future leaving one afraid to do anything. We're all holding our collective breath. But Obama alone will not solve our problems.

It's time to stop thinking that the government and big business has got our best interest at heart. Neither one does. Luckily times like these are when special things happen, innovation, invention, self-reliance, independence. And I plan to try to make my mark and do what I can to keep myself and anyone else I can from continuing to be affected by the current market conditions. I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion, which is heartening; I'd hate to think that I'm the only logical thinker in this world. Here's an article about some similar-thinking and creative folk dealing with the same issues.

So what do you plan to do?