Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
New Years Resolutions
Never again will I try to defuse an explosive device with a known practical joker.
Monday, December 28, 2015
The Hard Truth From Orlando
THE LOUISIANA COREY FRAME-UP
It's sad. It's bad. But it's Louisiana (or Texas -- and sometimes Florida) -- or Ferguson, Missouri. The corruption and politically driven need for convictions to further careers in law enforcement and the criminal justice system are pretty obvious. It's embarrassing for those of us who work the system when this kind of obscenity is uncovered, and more of an embarrassment when there doesn't seem to be a quick and resolute correction of the malefaction.
But it's not merely a one-sided, race-driven institution that condemned Corey. It's that gaping Grand Canyon of the cultural divide. Where were Corey's parents in all this? Where was the adult supervision on the night of the pizza robbery? If the boy is that disabled, the crime occurred at night, where were his parents and the parental supervision for he and his underage brother and why were they hanging out with adult men who were probably well-known in the neighborhood for criminal activities? Why didn't the parents or the Defense take the non-compliance of the prosecutor and discovery violations to the media, if not to the Louisiana Bar Association? Because it's easier to blame the "white" system than to make it work for you.
I see this kind of potentially disastrous scenario every single day in Orlando. It happens in West Cocoa, Titusville -- anywhere you have the black population, and a fairly significant portion of our Hispanic population. It's the cultural norm to float around at all hours, unsupervised. It's the NORM to have a criminal record, and therefore you don't restrict your children from running with other people with criminal records or hanging in neighborhoods with a bad reputation. You condone criminal records because "it's the white people's fault" and most of your neighbors and family members have a record, so what's the big deal?
I don't doubt for a red-hot instant that blacks are stopped more often, arrested more often, charged more often, imprisoned more often. But isn't it equally true that so much of the crime is occurring or originating in predominantly black neighborhoods? Yes. I know that's how it is. But what has the black community done about changing this? They don't make their kids be HOME when it's dark. Hell, the parents aren't home after dark. They don't curtail who they hang with, family or not -- bad guys are bad guys. They don't enforce school and good behavior in school and studying (which you can't do anyway if you're not home until late and hanging around in the 'hood).
This morning at 5:10 a.m., walking the dog around the park, a younger black man on a bicycle came across the parkway, saw me, veered off and cut through the park on an expensive racing bicycle without headlights or tail-lights (which WILL get you stopped by the police in Orlando as it's a traffic infraction). He was wearing all dark clothes, had an expensive black backpack and, weirdly, black saddlebags on the bike. I turned the corner of the park and it wasn't three minutes when there was a loud metallic clang down Robinson and a business's alarm system went off. Three guesses which direction and where he'd have been time-wise when that alarm went off? Yep.
The burglaries in my neighborhood are almost nightly. The shootings in Orlando/Orange County are pretty much nightly, too. And the demographics? Nearly all black, with Hispanics running a not-too-close second. And yet, if that young man this morning had been stopped for a bike without lights while pedaling rapidly away from the alarm, he'd have argued "profiling." If he'd been white, he wouldn't have had any excuse. That's the real double-standard.
Change the culture and you'll change the frequency of Corey-type horror stories.
Florida Cracker
((The original story: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/12/louisiana_police_and_the_likely_killers_may_have_framed_corey_williams_for.html))
It's sad. It's bad. But it's Louisiana (or Texas -- and sometimes Florida) -- or Ferguson, Missouri. The corruption and politically driven need for convictions to further careers in law enforcement and the criminal justice system are pretty obvious. It's embarrassing for those of us who work the system when this kind of obscenity is uncovered, and more of an embarrassment when there doesn't seem to be a quick and resolute correction of the malefaction.
But it's not merely a one-sided, race-driven institution that condemned Corey. It's that gaping Grand Canyon of the cultural divide. Where were Corey's parents in all this? Where was the adult supervision on the night of the pizza robbery? If the boy is that disabled, the crime occurred at night, where were his parents and the parental supervision for he and his underage brother and why were they hanging out with adult men who were probably well-known in the neighborhood for criminal activities? Why didn't the parents or the Defense take the non-compliance of the prosecutor and discovery violations to the media, if not to the Louisiana Bar Association? Because it's easier to blame the "white" system than to make it work for you.
I see this kind of potentially disastrous scenario every single day in Orlando. It happens in West Cocoa, Titusville -- anywhere you have the black population, and a fairly significant portion of our Hispanic population. It's the cultural norm to float around at all hours, unsupervised. It's the NORM to have a criminal record, and therefore you don't restrict your children from running with other people with criminal records or hanging in neighborhoods with a bad reputation. You condone criminal records because "it's the white people's fault" and most of your neighbors and family members have a record, so what's the big deal?
I don't doubt for a red-hot instant that blacks are stopped more often, arrested more often, charged more often, imprisoned more often. But isn't it equally true that so much of the crime is occurring or originating in predominantly black neighborhoods? Yes. I know that's how it is. But what has the black community done about changing this? They don't make their kids be HOME when it's dark. Hell, the parents aren't home after dark. They don't curtail who they hang with, family or not -- bad guys are bad guys. They don't enforce school and good behavior in school and studying (which you can't do anyway if you're not home until late and hanging around in the 'hood).
This morning at 5:10 a.m., walking the dog around the park, a younger black man on a bicycle came across the parkway, saw me, veered off and cut through the park on an expensive racing bicycle without headlights or tail-lights (which WILL get you stopped by the police in Orlando as it's a traffic infraction). He was wearing all dark clothes, had an expensive black backpack and, weirdly, black saddlebags on the bike. I turned the corner of the park and it wasn't three minutes when there was a loud metallic clang down Robinson and a business's alarm system went off. Three guesses which direction and where he'd have been time-wise when that alarm went off? Yep.
The burglaries in my neighborhood are almost nightly. The shootings in Orlando/Orange County are pretty much nightly, too. And the demographics? Nearly all black, with Hispanics running a not-too-close second. And yet, if that young man this morning had been stopped for a bike without lights while pedaling rapidly away from the alarm, he'd have argued "profiling." If he'd been white, he wouldn't have had any excuse. That's the real double-standard.
Change the culture and you'll change the frequency of Corey-type horror stories.
Florida Cracker
((The original story: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/12/louisiana_police_and_the_likely_killers_may_have_framed_corey_williams_for.html))
Friday, December 25, 2015
The Thought For Today
"Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas." - Ronald Reagan
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Christmas
http://feelslikechristmas.com/christmas-music-mp3s.html
Free Xmas MP3 music downloads. Some old and some new. Anything would be better than the muzak that they play this time of year. So download to your computer/MP3 player and enjoy.
Free Xmas MP3 music downloads. Some old and some new. Anything would be better than the muzak that they play this time of year. So download to your computer/MP3 player and enjoy.
Monday, December 21, 2015
The Thought For Today
"Let me see if I've got this Santa business straight. You say he wears a beard, has no discernible source of income and flies to cities all over the world under cover of darkness? You sure this guy isn't laundering illegal drug money?" - Tom Armstrong
Write & Email Santa Claus a Christmas Letter
Friday, December 18, 2015
The Thought For Today
"Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog: you may understand it better afterwards, but the frog dies in the process." - Mark Twain
ToyVault - Cthulhu
ToyVault - Cthulhu
It's Weird Friday again. If you or someone/something that you know loves the writings of H.P.Lovecraft, THIS is the place to visit. It's all beautiful, in a disgusting way. Perfect presents for the little ones. And maybe even some big ones too.
It's Weird Friday again. If you or someone/something that you know loves the writings of H.P.Lovecraft, THIS is the place to visit. It's all beautiful, in a disgusting way. Perfect presents for the little ones. And maybe even some big ones too.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Peanuts Charlie Brown with Pathetic Tree Action Figure
Reflecting the TRUE spirit of Xmas. With a little work, you could turn these into ornaments for YOUR tree.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Holiday Gift Guide: Gift Ideas for Movie Lovers - Moviefone
Holiday Gift Guide: Gift Ideas for Movie Lovers - Moviefone
Where to find Xmas presents for the movie fans in your life. There's some pretty cool stuff here.
Where to find Xmas presents for the movie fans in your life. There's some pretty cool stuff here.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
pepper spray ring, self defense ring, pepper ring defense, stunning pepper spray ring, oc pepper spray ring
Just in time for Xmas. To give as a gift or to use on obnoxious relatives.
Friday, December 04, 2015
Jetpacks for the jetset
That's right you've discovered it here first, on Weird Friday. Check this one out - if your bank account is flush, then you flush yourself, right into the sky on your very own jet pack. This takes water skiing to a whole new level. If they add little parasails, then perhaps snow skiers can reach new heights as well!
Thursday, December 03, 2015
The Thought For Today
"They aren't making mirrors the way they used to. The ones I buy now are full of wrinkles." - Phillis Diller
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