Stop Snitchin'

"Say nothing, no matter what happens. You understand? You don't ever talk to the cops." Henry Rollins' Neo-Nazi implores his son before being shot to death in Sons of Anarchy.

Last year I was assigned to a report of youths stealing political signs from front yards. After walking the neighborhood, I discovered the signs stacked into a nearby backyard. I knocked on the door and informed the residents of the crime and the clear evidence in their backyard. The parents of the two high school aged brats who lived in the quite posh home told me their sons would make no statements and they would have their lawyer contact the police. Fortunately, for me the problem didn't become a big pissing match, because the community members merely wanted their signs back and (of course) couldn't be hassled to sign complaints against the two hoodlums.

That relatively minor incident highlighted two important things to me: 1) People no matter what their income don't want to help solve and deter crime and 2) Parents instill an obstructionist mind set into their children by hampering police officers rather than let their loved one face any consequence for their actions. Incidentally this is also why Police Officers don't cross the Thin Blue Line and rat out one another because they know the officer will receive no sympathy or clemency from the public. (Us and Them...)

However, as a recent Chicago Tribune article highlighted an unfortunate number of people still hold to the street's code of silence.

Teens say they won't talk to law enforcement for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they fear reprisal. They may know the person suspected of a crime, or they may have a criminal history of their own. Sometimes they're just mistrustful of police. "Being labeled a snitch carries a price," Julie Whitman, author of the study "Snitches Get Stitches said. "Not just of potential violence, but ostracism by neighbors and peers."

Despite Whitman's list of the commonly accepted factors why the public are tight-lipped it appears to me that the overarching reason the public don't inform more often, even after a horrible crime has been committed, is that Snitchin' is somehow wrong. The recent abduction and murder of 12 year old Jahmeshia Conner, prompted Chicago Mayer in perpetuity Richard Daley to state, "It drives home that silence is unacceptable. We're asking the community, the police are, but there's no response in the community on that child."

However, the clear problem is for me is the people who want you to never talk to the police are criminals. The drug pushers, thieves, burglars, rapists, spousal abusers and murderers. And while they may convince you that your interests align in a specific instance, p.o.s. criminals are the only ones who benefit when people don't tell the cops who did the drive-by shooting, who's pulling residential and car burglaries and who's pushing the fentanyl laced heroin...

Addendum:
It strikes me that the creation of large impersonal metropolitan cities and the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese are related to the stop snitchin' ideal as humans have the essentially tribal a priori mindset of our recent ancestors still hardwired into our limbic system.

The Tyrant at Home, The Weakling Abroad

Oh, you were a vampire
and now I am nothing at all~ Bloodletting (The Vampire Song), Concrete Blonde

How is it that Obama the next Islamo-Hitler ready to cosign Super Patriots Racist Limbaugh, She Who Shall Not Be Named 1 and 2, Sean Hannity, every Fox News contributer, all hand gun owners and the rest of the Real Americans to the gulag while governing with the Iron Fist of ACORN Tyranny in the States while at the same time is the weakest bowingest wimpiest Terrorist Emoldeningest Weakling when dealing with every foreign nation?

Obama has to be the wimpiest Tyrant in history! Simultaneously able to subvert and steal The 2008 Presidential Election via ACORN, yet embracing weakness and also caving into the Terrorists by not immediately ramping up the War in Afghanistan.

The Pro Human Palin and Suffering Republican Party of Chicken Hawk Cowards and their Conservative Teabaging Birtherite Base are ridiculously Brilliant being able to mesh these two diametrically opposed positons into their mushy brains.

But, by continuing the out and out zealous fanatical rhetoric they are forcing moderates and true conservatives to make a choice and while Democrats may lose seats in Congress in 2010, the ghoulish amalgamation of evil anti-human notions which comprise the Anti-Obama Movement are ensuring his re-election in 2012 and hopefully will further push the modern Republican Party towards it's grave, where it shall languish never again to plague the American landscape...

Update:
Unfortunately, the Republican Party is comprised of Zombies, Ghouls and Vampires and like the undead they won't stay buried but will rise again to infect and kill Americans (literally threatening murder and revolution) with their perverted profit over people ideology.

The Loss

“Bill Mazeroski, I hate him,” says Calogero. “He made Mickey Mantle cry. The papers said the Mick cried.”

“Mickey Mantle,” says Sonny. “That’s what you’re upset about? Mantle makes $100,000 a year. How much does your father make? . . . If your dad needs money, go ask Mickey Mantle. See what happens. Mickey Mantle don’t care about you. Why care about him”

“From that day on, I never felt the same about the Yankees.” Calogero ~ from A Bronx Tale

Spurred on by a conversation I had en route to a Kane County Cougars game a discussion came about concerning sports fandom. I informed the interested parties I (am/was) a Cubs fan. However, as the years have passed my emotional investment into Chicago sports teams has all but vanished. I never had A Bronx Tale epiphany it's merely been the acquired loss of interest over the slow years of reaching adulthood and the desire to not board the emotional roller coaster of sports teams fortunes and failures.

A large amount of this has to do with being a lamentable Cubs fan. For me the most crushing defeats were 1989 and 2003. 1984 was my initiation into Cubs woedom but I was still to young to be cognizant of the pitiful Cubs history and wary of the despairing Cubs future. By High School and the 1989 Cubbies I had full on Cubs Fever and was stoked to watch the World Series with Ryno, The Hawk, Mad Dog (1), The Shawn-o-meter, Gracie, Red Beard, ROY Walton and the rest! Sadly, the Cubs encountered the Will Clark playoff ban saw and then the 90's would be wasteland of steroid abusing cheaters, bad teams and mostly forgetable players.

My un-journey became complete in 2003 as I left the US for Afghanistan with the Cubs leading the Marlins 3-2 and arrived at my assignment having learned the Cubs lost after being 5 outs away.

Last year when the 2008 Cubs were winning 97 games I didn't even make it out to beautiful Wrigley Field. And predictably the 2008 Cubs lost 3 straight and Cubs fans said oh well wait until next year, just like they said in 2007, when they choked in the playoffs as well. However, Post-Playoff failure there was a fan backlash as Cubs fans decided to auction off their loyalty and 670 The Score received a number of calls in which the callers declared they were done watching the Cubs. Most of the Score hosts decried these statements as hyperbole and chastised the callers telling them they would be back watching the Cubs in 2009.

So now the 2009 Cubs are a miserable team having made several questionable player moves to deflect criticism over the 2 playoff collapses. Yet I have the cold comfort of having divested myself of the emotional trauma of worrying about millionaires I shall never be friends with, let alone even speak to...

Guns Amok

Run Amok - 'a murderous frenzy or rage'

Three more murderous rampages recently occurred in March in which firearms were used, one in Alabama, another in Germany and the killing of a pastor during a religious sermon in Illinois.

Yet there can be no debate on the gun issue as the common man is brow beaten into submission by slogans, "Guns don't kill people, people do!", "If owning a gun is made a crime, Only Criminals will have Guns!"

When someone in Java or Malaysia went Amuco centuries past, there was only so much murder they could accomplish with a war club and keris before being overpowered.

Is the threat of death by Amuco just another weight, another burden we must accept? The Dread of Damocles, of being gunned down, whether it be at a High School, a University, a Metal Concert, Church services, out shopping or while merely sitting on our front porch?

This past year Chicago experienced a sad spike in murders due to gun violence. The University of Chicago produced a study Gun Violence among School-Age youth in Chicago:

A total of 510 people were murdered in chicago during 2008. eighty percent of these victims were killed by gunfire. nearly half were between the ages of 10 and 25, and the vast majority were male. The dramatic overrepresentation of both young males and firearms in homicide is not unique to chicago, nor are these patterns new. Yet over the past 50 years, our society has made far less progress in understanding how to protect our citizens from gun violence (and violence more broadly) than we have learned about how to protect citizens from other serious threats to life and health.

I could list dates and numbers of persons killed in the recent murderous shootings rampages but I'm not going to use the sorrows of others to ply my argument. I don't have the answer. I don't know the magic fix to this problem. But, isn't it worth discussing? Isn't it worth attempting to disrupt the cycle? Couldn't the Laissez-faire market take a break from giving billions for Banker Bonuses and Bailouts and the never ending Black Hole of the Military Industrial Complex? Or is that just more government socialism?

Site Note

Like me this blog is a collection of some kick ass completed ideas and partially started, never got around to finishing half ass ideas. I'm going to make an effort to finish some of them in the final couple of weeks before the new year.

When I get around to it...

The Thanatos is strong with this one

2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the Tragedy at Jonestown. MSNBC has a three part series, Witness to Jonestown. I won't equate the Jonestown tragedy with all religions but if one places no or little value on This Life while praying for the Final Judgement which will reward(?) them in the next one, you're worshiping at the altar of death.

"Life!" I turned on him fiercely, "You have chosen death, all of you..."
"No, not death. We have chosen life eternal, the resurrection of the..."
"That is a story to tell children. The truth is for thousands of years we looked to what was living. Now you look to what is dead, you worship a dead man and tell one another that this world is not for us, while the next is all that matters. Only there is no next world..." - Julian, Gore Vidal

I think the stultification of religious thought in dominating mankind has lead to a violent reaction from those who hate. Right now powerful segments in islamic thinking are focused on killing and death. Fortunately, I think christianity has finally passed through it's last trials of death and pain in the 16th and 17th century and is no longer a death cult. But, some members clearly don't care about mankind. For instance if your believe the world isn't worth saving like god's chosen congresswoman Uber-American Michelle Bachmann who pointed out jesus saved it 2000 years ago. Or the mere fact you are born means you deserve death;

We have all rejected God (although some have repented of that and accepted Him), so we all deserve the death sentence. Even Noah and his family. But God chose to not give Noah and his family what they deserved (choosing them because Noah was, humanly speaking, "righteous"), and didn't impose the deserved death penalty on Noah and his family. He even had Noah preach to the people, in order to save them from their destruction, but to no avail. So instead of (implicitly) criticising God for giving the people what they deserved, we should be thanking Him for saving the ones willing to be saved. Philip J. Rayment 21:26, 24 April 2007 (EDT), an Administrator (sysop) over at Conservapedia.

Those who would hold to such a statement are indeed a worshipper of death. Why waste money on things like fruit fly research in Paris, France? When all you have to do to remove suffering from the world is believe? Research into the causes of disease becomes rather pointless if you think adam's sin is the cause of death.

This world and this life are all we get. I've tried in a small way to make it better for my fellow man, following my own moral compass. I've tried to be a good son, brother, friend colleague and professional and I think that's all you can ask of someone.

Center-Right Chrisitian Nation

The election of Barack Obama has caused the Folks at Fox News and elsewhere to declare America is a Center Right country. It is utter nonsense to apply such a vacuous generalization to individuals. No two individuals hold the exact same political beliefs. The pernicious genius of the current structure is it has shoe-horned individuals into one of two camps. Often causing people to swallow hard and vote "for the lesser of two evils".

Similarly since a very high percentage of Americans identify themselves as christian, America is often referred to as a "christian" nation. I suppose if one lumps the First Baptists, Catholics, Mormons, Methodists, Armenian Orthodoxy and all the other branches together it could be considered true. The problem is no two individuals hold the same religious beliefs but for the sake of civil society and friendships they often, but not always, overlook scripitura disagreements.

Well, The Founding Fathers were not christians. They were deists. (100%)

My own mind is my own church. ~ Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason.

Nor were they politically right.

They founded the United States as a Feudal Oligarchy controlled mainly by the landed interests. It did incorporate the Platonic ideas of meritocracy that occasionally in the merchant class and very rarely in the fields were the lower classes toiled would be found a man of talent who could rise into the quasi-aristocracy.

James Madison recognized America was founded where, "the rights of persons were subjected to those of property. The poor were sacrificed to the rich."

Madison and others since they were well versed in the classics, also understood Aristole's warning:

Aristocracy degenerates into oligarchy, when the few, who are rich, govern the state as best suits the interests of their avarice and ambition; and a republic degenerates into a democracy when the mass who are poor, make the gratification of their own passions the only rule of their administration.

James Madison fully expected class struggle between rich and poor. And the history of America is testament to this struggle. The last 8 years have been a phase of utter dominance by the plutocracy.

D&D=Satanism=Barack Obama

The recent revelation that charity funds raised in honor of Gary Gygax at GenCon were turned down by the Cristian Children's Fund merely because of an association with D&D got me thinking about one of the many smear attempts made against Barack Obama.

Michael Goldfarb wrote:

It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement.

My first supposition was only jobless losers who play Dungeons and Dragons would vote for Obama causing all virile American Men to puff out there chests and declare I ain't no gaming dweeb and vote for McCain.

But, my friend Ran theorized it was because to many D&D is synonymous with Satanism. Of course, Faux News actually got around to making the conjecture with James Pinkerton's Pulitzer Prize piece The Devil is in the Details: Another Obama Connection You Ought to Know About, asking the important question Could Lucifer play a role in this presidential election?

It's 2008, yet we still have appeals to non-existent characters from bronze age fairy tales. The god of the bible clearly does not exist. But if the bible were somehow the word of god the bravest character would be Lucifer who threw off his chains of bondage and declared, in the face of impossible odds, I Will Not Serve.

The Echo Effect

The best thing about the internet is it allows the user to read and re-read the same stories which conform to their already held beliefs without the hassle of being bothered by dissenting opinion.

This rabid election cycle has placed the Echo Effect front and center.

One of the latest revelations centers around ACORN.

I never heard of ACORN but after Michelle Malkin posted a story on her site, The Echo Effect began; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...

The First problem is an accusation is not a conviction. An investigation is not a conviction. Quite frankly, even arrests aren’t convictions. But, the accusation is enough. ACORN 2008 will join the Florida Voter Purges in 2000 and the I’ll Deliver Ohio in 2004 as another in the long line of stolen elections. The problem is each side (as though there are only ever two) treats the accusation as proof of the evil of the other side, while ignoring any impropriety on their side. It's part of the Noble Lie Theory. It's okay to lie if your guy (who is good and just) defeats their guy (who is evil and sinful).

Obama is going to win the presidency, but I don’t even know why Obama woud want to be president. You can be assured during his entire administration that side will engage in non-stop BBC (Blame Barack Campaign) closely aligned with ABC (Always Blame Clinton).

I think these breathless ACORN revelations will stand alongside the claims Obama is a secret muslim, doesn’t have US citizenship, is in cahoots with terrorists, is a raging black militant, wants to raise your taxes and will "surrender" in Iraq as a building block to support the 4 years of constant attacks which will be leveled against Obama. I'm willing to bet Sean Hannity will spend a segment of every show form 2009-2013 placing blame on Obama.

Obama is going to be set up as the reason anything and everything bad happens to the "country". Of course, the possibilty exists Obama’s Cabinet will sponsor ideas, laws and policies which do not help Americans. It's posssible but at this point the evidence doesn't exist he'll intentionally push a policy designed to harm the American people. There is a difference between policies which do not work out as planned and have bad consequences and policies which are intentionally set up and have bad consequences.

There is no doubt Bush’s policies were intentionally set up and that is a fundemental difference between any bad effects which follow. The Bush Administration had intent behind their schemes.

Iraq is far from won. Afghanistan has been allowed to fester. The economy isn’t going to get better for the lowly Plebians. Enter the Fall Guy.



Unhinged Anger

Baseball proves God exists and

HE. HATES. THE. CUBS.

Pour Your Misery Down
Pour Your Misery Down on Me
Pour Your Misery Down
Pour Your Misery Down on Me ~ Only Happy When It Rains, Garbage

The Cubs resoundingly lost both home games to the Dodgers (7-2 and 10-3) and find themselves down 2 games to none in a best of 5 series. Technically, it's not over but...

It's been tough being a Cubs fan for the last 25 years. If prayer were real then, I believe the Cubs should probably have won the World Series in 1969, 1984, and 2003. What is the explanation for those losses and the 100 years of Cubs misery?

The sinful nature of Chicago Cubs fans? (Quick somebody go and sacrifice that damn Billy Goat!)
Can't we find at least One Good Man in Chicago?
Predestination? Lack of Unconditional Election for Cubs supporters?

And what should believers take from the success of the Yankees in the past 85 years? Are their fans and players more righteous or praying harder? What explains the recent salvation of Red Sox Nation? New found piety? A return to the graces of god? War in Heaven?

Unlike many of the absolutely devastated Cubs fans over the 2 resounding defeats in Wrigley Field at the hands of the LA Dodgers, I will not decry and lambaste the Cubs players personally. With the exception of Aramis Ramierz alleged involvement in cockfighting over the previous winter I can't think of any criminal actions perpetrated by the players. Derek Lee had only an okay baseball season but it is my understanding he is a good and dutiful father who has set up a charity (to which he devotes a large amount of time and money) to curing macular degeneration.

No, sadly the Cubs as a team are not playing winning baseball during the Division Series. And with only 3 games needed to win, the Cubs 2 losses almost certainly doom their fans to lament and declare yet again "Wait till Next Year".

I think the Baseball playoff system is deeply flawed. But because this is tied into millions and millions of dollars it's not going to change except for the possible addition of more games. It makes little sense to play 162 (or 163 if you happen to be White Sox) and then find that 3 losses abrogate the entire last 6 months. It needs to change.

But, even if the playoff system does change, the probability of a Cubs World Series victory is just below that of the Mayan End of the World Prophecy in 2012.

Update:
After a discussion of the miserable Cubs with friends last night I offered up my suggestion for a changes to the Playoff System.
Idea 1: Reduce the Regular season to 150 or 154 games (play more double headers) and have a 9 game LDS and 9 game LCS and retain the 7 game WS.
Idea 2: Again reduce the Regular season to 150 or 154 games and have 3 Division winner and 3 Wildcards. Top 2 division winners get the first round 5 game series off, resting up for the winners of the wildcard worst division for Round 2.
Idea 3: The wildcard team and the worst division winner get ZERO or Only ONE home playoff game in the first round.

Update 2:
It's over. Dream crushingly over.

Sarah Palin God's Chosen One

No wonder The McCain Camp and The Extremist Christianist Base did not want Sarah Palin interviewed. She's a Warmongering Zealot who doesn't know what War she wants to Monger for, God's Holy War in Babylon, going to War with Iran on behalf of Israel, defending NATO "ally" Georgia against Russia, jaunting over into Pakistan...

Palin has benefited from the same initial bru-ha-ha which surrounded Barack Obama. Nationally no one knows her. So, what the McCain camp did was allow the American people to graft their own hopes, desires and ideals onto her. Even if she doesn't hold them. Because once people have made up their mind about a candidate it very rarely is shaken. Especially when uncomfortable facts appear. It's another System of Control.

So ignore her Religious Zealotry, ignore her dearth of knowledge about the History, Civics, International Relations, Principle of US Government, ignore her improper per diem reimbursements, in fact ignore her shady political career altogether.

Bush Doctrine? Why Charlie, what do you mean? Go to WAR with Russia? Absolutely, American interests must be served! The Iraq War is a Task from God? Oh no! I never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. Except when it comes to adding Judeo-Christian Biblical Creationism to Scientific curriculum because you need to "Teach both."

One a Day Ain't Bad

The callousness of the Warmongers is really striking. The constant pressure being exerted on the American populace to believe the Occupation of Iraq is going well is laughable. You see We Are Winning since the violence is down from outright street fighting and daily car bombs killing 50 Iraqis (with notable exceptions) and we are only losing an American a Day!

In the Battle of Iraq America and it's allies have prevailed... Again...

But then, the eviiil DemoRat Congress and Marxist Pinko Cowardly MSM aided by the jihadist loving antiwar traitors worked to subvert the Sunshine, and Lollipops and Rainbows (NO NOT Rainbows!) news from Iraq. Even the Marines AO, Anbar Province which was declared lost is going to be turned over to the Iraqis. Errr, scratch that last line.

It recalls the Twilight Zone episode were a couple is given an empty box with a button and told they'll become rich if the button is pushed. The only downside being a random person they don't know will die.

Who are these cowards who are willing to sacrifice another American's life simply because they don't know them and don't see their broken and destroyed bodies on TV? Because these keyboard commandos are quite willing to push that button and cause an American to die.

EOS

My alarm awoke me at Zero Dark and I realized the Corpse no longer has a hold on me. 8 long years over. Now if I can just figure out how to get my on-the-job training monies...

In better news we have a 2008 World Series Preview today as the Cubs and White Sox play.

John Edwards, maybe, but I doubt it

Well, Mr. Edwards says if he's elected all troops will be out of Iraq within 9-10 months, save a contingent at the Disneylandesque US Mega-Embassy.

I applaud Mr. Edwards for the courage, in the current American political world, of admitting he made an error with his 2002 vote for war. As I've have stated earlier, it is difficult to admit an error and with political opponents ready to pounce on any actual or apparent change as flip-flopping, changing one's position becomes nigh impossible.

But, before I get all weak in the knees over Johnny I need to more closely examine the way Mr. Edwards made his money on malpractice cases. I hope it wasn't in destroying individual doctors from the perch of perfect, years gone by, hindsight. I also need to peruse Mr. Edwards other campaign statements.

As for future foreign policy, with this kind of money being allocated will you be able to resist the demands of the Warmongering profiteers?

Free Republic Update:
It's also sober to read what the Freepers have to offer up on John Edwards plan. Of course these people claim to support the troops, by wanting them to stay in Iraq forever. In reality Freepers use the troops as a club to attack political enemies...