I live in Central IL. If I head northeast for 3 hours I wind up in Chicago. If I go southwest for 3 hours I wind up in St. Louis. Princess Bear (PB) has Dr's in both places so I'm very used to hitting that highway 74 in either direction. Both are big cities that have typical big city problems. Gangs are rampant in both. It just seems like St. Louis is a dirtier, more depressed area that always feels like it's on the cusp of the $hit hitting the fan. If you've been watching the news this week I'm sure you've heard about the rioting and looting in Ferguson MO that is a reaction to the shooting of a black teenager by a white cop. It's a complete travesty that any of this is happening on so many different levels. I'm warning you know that my view points my piss you off so if you don't want to risk that stop reading NOW and check my next post in a day or so.
-First problem with any of this is the basic premise of the riots and looting. There are lots of conflicting stories surrounding this shooting. Bottom line an 18 year old is dead. That is a tragedy. A horrible, horrible tragedy. The fact that many of the people of Ferguson are now participating in rioting and looting does nothing but detract from the fact that Michael Brown was shot. The theory that nothing was happening and there was no attention being paid to the situation until the rioting just doesn't hold. The only focus now is on the rioting. Not cool.
-The fact that it is based on race is truly taking back the civil rights movement by 50 plus years. Don't make it about the fact that it was a black kid shot by a white cop. Just make it about a loss of life. Nothing more nothing less.
-Also don't make out the victim to be a Boy Scout when he wasn't. I'm not saying that Michael Brown was a gang banger (although these pictures certainly seem to shed light on the fact that he quite possibly was. See pics
HERE). Now some people are saying that those pictures are being taken out of context. That might very well be the case. It might very well be the case that they are spot on in what they portray. I don't know. What I do know is that we live in a world that has been made very small by the advent of the world wide web and that if you don't want something out there then you shouldn't put yourself in that position in the first place. Growing up my mom made me crazy with one of her pieces of sage advice. She always told us to never ever ever put anything in writing unless we were willing to back it up 100% of the time. She also said that I should never let a picture being taken of me unless I was willing for my grandmother to see it. Ya know what? That was actually a pretty good litmus test for me growing up!
-I'm not going to begin to speculate as to whether the police have handled this correctly or not. What I will say is that when a cop tells me to do something guess what? I'm going to do it and I'm going to do it quickly. It's just a matter of respect for the badge. You don't have to like it but you do have to respect it. That hasn't happened on several occasions. The first time being when Michael Brown and his friend were told by the police officer to get out of the street and on to the sidewalk. Being the oh so cool guys they were they didn't listen. Things escalated and now Michael Brown is dead. Frankly whether the cop used too much force or not Michael Brown and his attitude and lack of respect for authority had a part to play in his own death. If you are a member of the press and cops tell you to leave you should probably listen and leave. I'm all for freedom of speech and the fact that reporters have a duty to report things as they go on. I get why reporters have descended about Ferguson. I also understand that once again if a cop tells me to move I'm going to move. If I'm a reporter I might still film while I'm moving but I'd freaking move!
-Just a preppers side note here. The $hit is hitting the proverbial fan. One of the first responses was for Walmart to stop selling ammunition. While I certainly respect their right to make that decision and in some ways can even understand how they were trying to help the rioting and violence to not escalate it's still something that preppers should look at and make note off. If you lived near Ferguson and had a gun and you want defend your home or business you need a cache of ammo. Don't let yourself get screwed by not having this. It is also very interesting that 2 of the 3 stores in the main strip where the rioting and looting were taking place that were not damaged in any way were those who were protected by armed citizens. Guns do have a place in our society and this is just one positive example of that. You can read that store
HERE and
HERE.
-President Obama really needs to shut is pie hole if he's going to a) negate the authority of the police, b) be a total hypocrite and talk about transparency when he truly has no idea what that concept is, c) stop playing the race card when it just inflames things. He did it with the "If I had a son he could look like Trayvon Martin" and he's doing it again here. You can read and see a video
HERE.
-Blacks inciting further violence are truly just hurting their own and need to be b#*ch slapped. When you throw gas on a fire you risk burning yourself. Be smarter than that.
-How sad is it that this all boils down to race and black peoples reaction to an event? If the cop that shot Michael Brown was black or Latino you would have never heard of Michael Brown. Blacks can complain about racial inequality but it is a cycle that they perpetuate themselves. Below are a few very interesting commentaries for black people about this mess in Ferguson. The first one features a woman that uses a lot of swearing. If that bothers you don't watch this.
HERE and
HERE. I think it is incredibly refreshing and brave for these to people to stand up and call a spade a spade. I'm sure it couldn't have been easy for them.
