This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Society

  • How Good Must the Mirror Be?

    An unrelated discussion in the comment thread of another article got me to thinking (yeah, I hear ya – “Oh crap, here he goes again . . . . “).  But I do that sometimes, though it’s gotten me in trouble more times than I care to remember.  And I guess maybe Zero’s question earlier today also played a role.

    Anyway:  Jonn lets me post here, so until he comes to his senses and kills my account, well, here I go again.  (smile)

    And this time, I’ll ask for help too.  ‘Cause sometimes when I think I come up with a question or six for which I can’t find a good answer.

    For most of its history, America has had an arm’s-length relationship with its Army (and the military in general).  Before the Civil War – and indeed afterwards, up until World War I, basically – “out of sight, out of mind” was pretty much the norm when bullets weren’t flying.  And even then, except for the Civil War the military only tangentially impacted most of America.  The Army was mostly on the frontier, and the Navy was at sea or in a few ports.  America and it’s military were only passing acquaintances.

    World War I was scarcely different.  Yes, we ramped up hugely for World War I – but we ramped down just as quickly.  The military very nearly disappeared again until around 1940.

    World War II and the Cold War afterwards changed things.  Korea (the first real flare-up of the Cold War) rubbed our noses in the fact that we couldn’t assume we were safe and largely dismantle the military.  And since then, we’ve retained a sizeable military in both war and peace.

    However, society was somewhat – well – schizophrenic in what it wanted in its military.  For years after World War II, the US had a peacetime draft.  That led to a military that was relatively a mirror of the society from which  it came.  And the military experience was widely shared.  This was generally considered a “good thing” for a democracy.

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  • Alabama helps protect Funerals from WestBro.

    Alabama Governor has signed a laws that will restrict protests of funerals considering the past actions of Westbro group. The House Bill 238 will put a 1000 foot boundary that will protect those against those who wish to cause them emotional anguish.

    Governor Bentley today held a ceremonial signing of House Bill 238, sponsored by Rep. DuWayne Bridges (R-Valley), which sets a perimeter of 1000 feet, or two blocks, for any disruption of a funeral in Alabama. The bill passed by unanimous votes in both the House and Senate during the recently completed legislative session.

    I found the full bill online for review to see all the fine details. Here are the meat and potatoes of the bill.

    A person commits the crime of disrupting a funeral or memorial service if, during the 60 minutes immediately preceding a funeral or memorial service that has a scheduled starting time, during the funeral or memorial service, or immediately following the funeral or memorial service, the person does any of the following with the intention of disrupting the funeral or memorial service:

    Engages in a protest, including, but not 25 limited to, protest with or without using an electric sound amplification device, that involves singing, chanting, whistling, yelling, or honking a motor vehicle horn within 500-1,000 feet of the entrance to a facility being used for a 4 funeral or memorial service.

    Blocks access to a facility being used for the service.

    Impedes vehicles that he or she knows are part of the procession.

    For purposes of this section, the term “facility” includes a funeral home, church, or cemetery in
    which the funeral or memorial service takes place.

    A violation of subsection is a Class A 13 misdemeanor for the first conviction and a Class C felony for
    14 each subsequent conviction.”

    It may not stop them completely but another law like this passing is always a good thing.

  • Zimmerman’s doctor reports injuries after Martin shooting

    CNN is reporting that George Zimmerman, the man who shot dead Trayvon Martin, sustained several injuries, which the media has denied happened previously;

    The medical exam, which was taken a day after Zimmerman’s February 26 altercation with the unarmed 17-year-old, says Zimmerman suffered a “closed fracture” of his nose, according to two sources who have detailed knowledge of the investigation.

    The Associated Press reports that court records released yesterday describe more extensive injuries;

    Court records show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a nose fracture and two cuts to the back of his head after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

    Martin’s family, of course, say that Martin inflicted those injuries because he was “fighting for his life”. Yeah, I’m sure. So, all of that overblown speculation from the media is beginning to look sillier every moment.

  • Today’s feel good story

    Chief Tango sends us a link from the NY Daily News which recounts the tale of 84-year-old Korean War veteran, Fred Ricciutti, who took up the German Luger he says he carried in Korea to fend off some chap who happened to wander into his kitchen the other night;

    In a scene that appeared to be pulled from the pages of the Clint Eastwood film “Gran Torino,” grizzled war hero Fred Ricciutti grabbed his battlefield sidearm after he heard someone bust through a kitchen door of his Elizabeth Township house at around 4:30 a.m.

    “I said, ‘Halt, who’s there?’ ” Ricciutti told Pittsburgh station WPXI.

    “I’m thinking, friend or foe, he shouldn’t be there that time of day.”

    Ricciutti fired once, hitting suspect Raymond Hiles, 25, in the neck.

    Hills took off, but was arrested a few blocks away after Ricciutti called 911.

    Hills had a screwdriver and a stun gun and had lived across the street from Ricciutti, so he thought he knew whose house it was, but probably didn’t expect the firepower. The police say that they don’t expect Mr. Ricciutti to be charged. Which is even better news.

  • “Do it for Trayvon Martin”

    Kevin sends us a link to a Fox News article about two Norfolk, VA reporters for the Virginia-Pilot, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami who were leaving a concert one night in Norfolk. Near their car were about 100 people gathered on the sidewalk. When they got in the car, of course, they locked their doors. One of the people threw a rock at the car and Forster got out to confront the vandal (yeah, big mistake), so he got his ass beat. When Rostami tried to haul his macho ass back in the car, she got her ass beat, too.

    So they took a week off from work to recover from their injuries. Another reporter, Michelle Washington , wrote an article about the incident. She went so far as to find “Tweets” about the crime that she found on the internet;

    The day after the attack Forster searched Twitter and found a chilling tweet Washington wrote.

    “I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” one person wrote.

    “I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. ‘(do it for trayvon martin) (sic)”

    “Were Forster and Rostami beaten in some kind of warped, vigilante retribution for a killing 750 miles away, a person none of them knew?” Washington wrote. “Was it just bombast? Is a beating funny, ever?”

    A police spokesman tells Fox News that the incident is still under investigation and they are also looking at whoever wrote the tweet. But as of now – the case is still a simple assault – and does not rise to the level of a hate crime.

    Washington wrote that police seemed dismissive when they arrived at the crime scene, telling the injured Rostami to “shut up and get in the car.”

    “Both said the officer did not record any names of witnesses who stopped to help,” Washington wrote. Rostami said the officer told them the attackers were ‘probably juveniles anyway. What are we going to do? Find their parents and tell them?”

    So why weren’t the reporters armed? It’s Virginia, a “shall issue” state. I’ll admit the doofus never should have tried to impress his girlfriend by confronting 100 thugs…unarmed, no less…but he wasn’t “asking for it” any more than scantily clad women on a dark street is “asking for” rape.

  • It ain’t easy being sleazy

    The thug life got hard for Sergio Fernando Solorzano-Vasquez the other day when he thought that stealing a car from two 90+ years-old sisters would be an easy enough caper. But I guess the ladies liked their car more than Solorzano-Vasquez had hoped they would;

    Police say he jumped into their car and hid in the backseat when they went into a CVS store on Sunday morning.

    When they came out, and got back into the car, Solorzano-Vasquez allegedly made his move. Police say he started swinging his knife and threatening the women, but he might not have expected what happened next.

    Police say instead of simply giving in, the 94-year-old driver swung her arm back to hit and block the suspect while the 93-year-old sister got out and began to scream for help.

    Apparently realizing that it wasn’t going to be an easy score, the man took off.

    The attacker was seen running away from the scene on three different surveillance cameras at a gas station across the street. He was later located and taken into custody.

    I guess folks are tired of being scared and frightened into submission. Thanks to Old Trooper for the link.

  • It’s OK to bully if you’re PC

    Bullying is the topic of the moment, obviously– although,  when the media gets bored with it they’ll just move on to something else that matters to them. Kids get bullied at school because of the nature of the beast: huge institutions used to house barely supervised children. School is Lord of the Flies, all day. Period.

    That being said, I read this story on Fox about the founder of an anti-bullying campaign, It Gets Better, that is evidently hugely popular– even President Obama has made a video for the group.

    It seems this founder, Dan Savage, who’s sexuality would be irrelevant if HE didn’t make it the POINT,  feels that it is the fault of Christians and, of course, the Bible that  bullying exists (specifically toward homosexuals) and he told a bunch of high school journalists so at a conference.  Many students walked out of his “rant” and were taunted by him.  Students report that he called them “pansy asses” as they left the auditorium.

    Rick Tuttle, the journalism advisor for Sutter Union High School in California, was among several thousand people in the audience. He said they thought the speech was one thing – but it turned into something else.

    “I thought this would be about anti-bullying,” Tuttle told Fox news. “It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs.”

    “The first thing he told the audience was, ‘I hope you’re all using birth control,’” she told CitizenLink. “he said there are people using the Bible as an excuse for gay bullying, because it says in Leviticus and Romans that being gay is wrong. Right after that, he said we can ignore all the (expletive deleted) in the Bible.”

    As the teenagers were walking out, Tuttle said that Savage heckled them and called them “pansy asses.”

    I couldn’t care less if this guy is gay, and married to a man or anything he chooses.  It was publicly known he was gay before this incident.  Clearly he was not being bullied or in any way ostracized  for his beliefs and lifestyle choices– but he felt he had the right to bully and insult high school students for their beliefs and lifestyle choices.

    Hmmm. Students, some Christian,  were respectfully giving him a platform but he could not respect them in return.  Got it.

    CitizenLink sums it up, I think:

    So it’s significant—and extremely ironic— that Savage would feel the freedom to display such intolerance during a speech that was supposed to be about bullying prevention.

    Using profanity to deride the Bible—and then mocking the Christian students after they left the room—is obviously a form of bullying and name-calling. This illustrates perfectly what we’ve been saying all along:  Too many times in the name of “tolerance,” Christian students find their faith being openly mocked and belittled in educational environments.

     

    I’m a mother of high schoolers and a Christian (yes, I bleach my eyes after a day at TAH….  just kidding!)   I don’t  expect the government schools or the main stream to get it right. And I, especially,  don’t expect any government to legislate good behavior.

    But as individuals we can see right and wrong. We can see that painting ANY group of people with the same brush is bigotry, whether you’re insulting a gay man or a Christian high schooler.

    You don’t have to like me, Mr. Savage, just don’t BULLY ME.  Really.   And you damn straight better not bully my kids.

  • Justice for Trayvon

    Old Trooper sends us a link to a local TV station in Pensacola about a Mobile, AL man, named Matthew Owens who was beaten to a pulp by a gang of adults because he yelled at some kids who were playing basketball near his house at night. Owens is in critical condition in a local hospital. But this is the part that “gets” me;

    What [Owens’ sister, Ashley Parker] says happened next could make the fallout from the brutal beating even worse. As the attackers walked away, leaving Owen bleeding on the ground, Parker says one of them said “Now that’s justice for Trayvon.”

    Yeah, Owens wasn’t the guy who shot Martin, they weren’t even in the same State as the guy who shot Martin, so I guess folks can justify everything they do these days by calling it “justice for Trayvon”. And I suppose it’s not racist to call a random beating of a white guy “justice” for anything.
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