Down Time

Brief Introduction, in case you scroll right passed it

Due to the end of the semester and potential health issues, I have been forced to take a hiatus from this blog. Since I do have time now, I'll give my quick thoughts on some recent stories.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown

The autopsies point to his guilt. If his rap was anything to go by, he was a thug, not because he was black, but because of his personal culture. I don't think he deserved to die, but the officer did what he was trained to do. I do not celebrate Brown's death, but neither do I hold it against the cop. 

Eric Garner

Garner, right tells police he's tired
of being hassled

Mr. Garner may have been a thug, but I think that's a needlessly negative connotation. I mean, technically he was a criminal. His arrest was for the 32nd violation of selling single cigarettes, and he could have complied and still be alive. As far as I understand, he was on either bond or probation which is why he was arrested, not cited. This is where I ignore the chokehold. The officer doing it seems a bit unsavory from what I've seen, but the blame is at least not his alone. The two cops on Mr. Garner's back were probably just as damaging, but on the other hand it was standard protocol. In his health, I doubt any other method would have ended in a positive manner. I also don't think he deserved to die. He deserved a citation and, if correct on the probation or bond, the time for his crime. That's all he would have gotten if he cooperated. Is the law stupid? Yeah. Micromanaging is for The Sims and single player Dungeons and Dragons video games. Unfortunately, Al Sharpton has to interject and mess things up, even against the will of the family, to add fuel to the fire of this situation.

Akai Gurley

Mr. Gurley was in a dark stairwell a floor below when he was shot by a police officer. The officer, hearing a sound in the dark housing development stairwell, drew his gun. Opening a door, the gun went off, ricocheting and hitting Mr. Gurley. Peter Liang, the officer, spent the next 6.5 minutes texting his union representative. Liang and his partner were unreachable during this time. Reportedly, their Deputy Inspector told them not to perform such patrols. Liang is a rookie cop. During the 6.5 minute period, Mr. Gurley's girlfriend, with him when he was shot, called 911 and performed CPR. EMTs arrived in five minutes, before Liang had even called the incident in. His death was ruled a homicide.

Gamergate

I leave you with the wit and wisdom of Andrew Klavan on this topic.

UVA Rape Case

A UVA student claimed she was gang raped. Friends of the alleged victim gave a different story and even said she was doing fine, as if nothing had happened. I have to side with the men's rights groups on this one. While rare, false rape accusations, which are probably what we're discussing here, are slander of the worst sort. The dark cloud that follows a man falsely accused never goes away. There must be a penalty for these intentional cases. Something clear cut that doesn't disenfranchise actual rape victims. With today's forensics, this is at least less difficult. (This story was originally printed in Rolling Stone magazine. They have since apologized once the claims were found to be false.) The Washington Post summarizes the situation nicely for those in need of details.

Christmas

Something I always discuss this year is the appropriate greeting to use. I always say Merry Christmas. Always. When I'm told Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, or anything else, I still respond with Merry Christmas. I think of it this way: we all speak our own language, maybe even a dialect. If I say hi and my French friend says Salut, we aren't disrespecting each other, we're using the greeting we associate with ourselves. In the same way, I exchange Wintertime salutations. By not dancing around each other like spring loaded traps, I find strangers more receptive and at ease. Of course, if someone is clearly agitated, be respectful and refrain. Protip: This is how we coexist, like the bumper sticker says.

The CIA

What we have is each side saying what we'd expect. The CIA says it's advance techniques procured useful information. The Democrat funded Senate report says the opposite. Then there's the humanity and morality of it all. Since captured terrorists are not soldiers, they can be tortured since they do not fall under the Geneva Convention. If I'm wrong, no one seems to know enough otherwise to make it clear to me. The example that comes to mind is one we're all familiar with: would you kill one to save two? One for five? Or a historical example, the atomic bomb and Japan. In a perfect world, neither decision would have to be made. Utilitarians will agree with trading the lower number of lives, arguably the case in the WWII example what with the imminent invasion and Japan's delving into militia to fill out numbers. Pacifists will say neither. And so it goes. I'm leaving this to each individuals gut. Something tells me that the techniques have a use, but as Sen. McCain said, a prisoner will say whatever is needed to make the torture stop. My gut says it's not worth it. Of course, I'm leery of the CIA but I don't trust the people who ordered the report either. I want to know the other ~6000 pages that were left out. I'm sure it would be illuminating.

Conclusion

I'll update as I can. Break will interesting, for certain.