Florida rules that stalking and killing a black child is legal

If people don't believe racism is alive and well, I tell them to go to Twitter. They have these handy things called hashtags: #. And you can follow it yourself. It's on full display there every single day and night.

Today, racists are crowing and happy with themselves. So don't tell me this hasn't strengthened and emboldened them. I can read for myself. Last night, after the announcement of the verdict in George Zimmerman's trial, they were gloating and joking that nationwide, "blacks and white liberals are furious"--and they were enjoying the HELL out of it. So before you say my headline is over the top, go over there and read, and then get back to me.

Trayvon Martin's murder has been ruled justified. And he was an innocent boy doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG.

Let's review.

A grown man (with an ongoing wannabe-cop fixation) followed an unarmed kid talking to a girl on the phone; jumped out of his car and stalked him (directly against 911 advice, even though he blatantly lied and told the 911 operator he was abiding by their advice) and then pointedly picked a fight with him, at night. The boy thinks he's a freak or pervert and says something like that to his friend on the phone. The white man's first words to him are "What are you doing?" instead of "Hey, I'm 'Neighborhood Watch,' what's up?" and there is a fight, in which the kid feels he is being attacked by a pervert, and fights back. Zimmerman, who deliberately broke 'Neighborhood Watch' rules by being armed and stalking a suspect, shot him in cold blood.

If the races were reversed? It is impossible to imagine, isn't it? Would a black man stalk and shoot a white kid without being arrested immediately and pleading out right away?

There wouldn't even have been any trial.

As Tavis Smiley commented this morning on TV: Under existing "Stand Your Ground" laws, it is understood that George Zimmerman could legally "stand his ground"--but Trayvon was not permitted to stand HIS ground and fight back. His act of fighting back against a strange attacker, was seen as proof that he was dangerous and deserved to die.

And so, there has now been a trial. A bad one. A trial with no African-Americans on the jury. Let me ask you, if the above reverse-race scenario occurred, would the jury trying the black man (if he didn't plead out, which he would have) be all black?

Again, it's a laughable reversal, isn't it?

It would never be permitted to happen.

Travesty does not cover it. This is a seriously racist country, and some places (like here and Florida) are obviously far worse than others. And plenty of racists defend Zimmerman's stalking-behavior and murder. (Right-wing commentator-queen Ann Coulter promptly tweeted "Halleluyah!" after the verdict was announced. )

It is open season on black males in the South. Well, let me amend that... the recent award-winning film FRUITVALE STATION, about the murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland, reminds us that it isn't just the South. Certainly, I saw comments on Twitter from as far away as the UK, saying rah-rah George Zimmerman.

I remember asking one frenetic Twitterer why they thought Trayvon seemed so "suspicious"; he looks like any one of the random regular kids in my neighborhood. I walk at night around here and I pass them all the time. They have their late-night candy in their hands, just as Trayvon did. They are polite and say hi to me, nodding amiably; I have never been afraid. One of the Twitterers said WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!? HE LOOKED SUSPICIOUS, HE LOOKED DANGEROUS!

No, he didn't. Only if you believe all black kids are intrinsically scary, could you claim such an outrageous thing.

It was due to the torrent of racist tweets that I knew what the trial's outcome would be, and said so, repeatedly, on our radio show. Local activist Traci Fant went to Sanford, Florida during the trial and called our show, making the same prediction. We knew that Zimmerman would be set free. He speaks for too many people; he is their hero.

The sacrifice of Trayvon Martin appears necessary to sustain the heart of racist America, since we now have a black president. The racists couldn't get rid of Obama, so this is their consolation prize. That's the only thing I can figure out.

I am deeply ashamed of our country and court system today.

~*~

Comments welcome, as always, but PRO-ZIMMERMAN COMMENTS WILL BE DEALT WITH VERY HARSHLY. As far as I am concerned, if you are pro-Zimmerman, you are a racist and I will be addressing you that way.

If you are pro-Zimmerman and somehow believe (i.e. lying to yourself) you are "not racist", you will hereby convince me that the race-reversal I offered above, could actually happen and the outcome would be exactly the same. There will be no other pro-Zimmerman discussion allowed here. NONE.

Take it to Twitter. They wallow in it over there.

Iraq war veteran's skull cracked at Oakland Occupy

Scott Olsen, Oakland Occupier and member of the advocacy group for veterans Iraq Veterans Against the War, is now in critical condition.


I hope Fox News and other conservatives who encouraged the violence, are happy about that. They kept banging the drum for police intervention and bloodshed, and now the blood is flowing, just what they enjoy most.

Relating a message from OccupyMARINES:

We at OccupyMARINES are asking ALL Occupy Wall Street members AND supporters to flood the Corporate media with pictures, videos, and personal stories of how troubling, disturbing, and WRONG the actions of the Oakland Police Department under the orders of the City of Oakland California Mayor Jean Quan, were in the violent attempts to disperse peaceful protesters at Occupy Oakland on October 25th, 2011. We ask that you ESPECIALLY mention how horrifying it is that an Iraq Marine Veteran was seriously injured and taken to the hospital with a skull fracture from a police projectile. This is your revolution, this is your fight, this is your mission, WE ARE THE 99% - TAKE UP YOUR ARMS - KEEP PUSHING FORWARD! - NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND!

OccupyMARINES

~*~

I think this shows us that patriotism will not help us, when the authorities decide to clear the area. For all the blather that they care about the veterans, they certainly don't care about injuring one.

This is what the words of the government are worth, people. PAY ATTENTION.

This is how they will repay you for fighting in their filthy wars. PAY ATTENTION.

This is what they really think of veterans: you are cannon fodder. They will get rid of you as quickly as any of us.

This is what freedom of speech has come to in the USA: A sham.

I remember Karl Marx called the American system, "The Democratic Sham"... yes, we have come to the point where we are quoting Marx.

Apparently, as in so much else, he was right about that.

~*~

Links regarding the brutal attack on Occupy Oakland and Occupiers nationwide:

Cities crack down on Occupiers (New York Times)

Occupy Oakland livestream (hope you have better luck with it than I have)

Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes (Guardian UK)

New York City Live Stream-- apparently this showed some action earlier, but now just shows traffic. I guess when hoopla starts, they switch to lower Manhattan. (beware annoying, periodic feedback)

Chemical Bomb tossed into Occupy Portland (Maine) encampment (Portland Press Herald)

Occupy Oakland: Did police use flashbangs and rubber bullets on protesters? (Washington Post blog)

Occupy Oakland: Veteran Scott Olsen’s injuries prompt internal police review (Washington Post blog)



This is a petition, which is more of the Democratic sham, but I figured I would link it on the outside chance that fascists pay attention to petitions. (Since they are Jean Quan's henchmen in the first place, why would she investigate?)

Tell Oakland Mayor Jean Quan: Condemn and investigate police brutality!

EDIT: I started writing this last night and finished it this morning (Oct 27th) so it is backdated by about 13 hours. Just noticed that, and sorry about the delay in publising.--DD

If you're like me, you may have wondered...

Population density map of South Carolina, from Wikipedia


...if your impressions of any given place are accurate. Wow, you think, lots of ____(fill in the blank)___ here, compared to where I am from. Or you think, wow, didn't used to be so many _____ (fill in the blank)____ here, as there are now, or as there once was. And it's very difficult to find demographic information that is neighborhood-focused, rather than municipality-focused.

From Bean and Zuzu, over at Feministe, comes the fascinating "Zip Skinny" webtool, which provides demographic information for zip codes. Although I am certain there are the usual census-related flaws, it's still fun to play with, and learn from.

For instance, when I put my own zip code in, I discover that no, I am not imagining things when I think there are a lot more affluent people here now, than there used to be. But you have to read between the lines; I know that there are pockets of poverty, since I know exactly where those pockets are. So, when I read Median Household Income: $58,279--I know that means there are a lot of millionaires (and I know where they are, too) since that number is still pretty high, IMO. (When they tell us 4.2% of people have an income over $200,000, they don't tell us how much over--but I'd love to see a further breakdown of that.) 42.6% of people have a Bachelors and our unemployment rate is 2.3%, below the national average. Below Poverty Line: 6.9%.

However, it also claims our Asian population is slightly higher than our Hispanic population, and no way that is accurate. Obviously, certain groups of people are under-reported.

Looking at some zip codes I used to live in, I see the very definition of slacker, as I look up 43202, the Ohio State University neighborhood I lived in for many years:

Bachelors degree: 32.1%
Graduate/Professional: 20.4%
High school or higher: 92.6%
Bachelors or higher: 52.5%

And then you get to:

Below Poverty Line 20.7%
Median Household Income: $33,002

Everybody is educated, but people aren't wild about working! But nobody wants to be POOR, so unemployment is below the national average. And this is summed up very well in another statistic: Median Age: 28.6 yrs.

And then there is the matter of population density. My zip code:

Population: 23803
Density: 1311.33
(people per square land mile)
Housing Units: 9676
Land Area: 18.15 sq. mi

My daughter's zip code, which is out in the middle of nowhere (Texas):

Population: 18151
Density: 24.53
(people per square land mile)
Housing Units: 8484
Land Area: 740.02 sq. mi.

And then, we go to, say, New York City; I chose zip code 10011 at random:

Population: 46669
Density: 72847.35
(people per square land mile)
Housing Units: 30277
Land Area: 0.64 sq. mi.

And we wonder why people's politics are so different?

It's fun to play with this zip-code thing, but depressing too, as I took a moment to check out all the zip codes of my past... I came across a neighborhood we all had to vacate, because the gentrification-droids wanted it. Who can afford to live in zip code 94611 now? This was the Oakland of the Black Panthers, and now, well--take a look:

Bachelors degree: 35%
Graduate/Professional: 31.8%
High school or higher: 95.6%
Bachelors or higher: 66.8%

Household Income
$100,000-$149,999 15.1%
$150,000-$199,999 7.9%
$200,000+ 12.5%
Median Household Income: $68,853
Unemployed 2%
Below Poverty Line 6.8%

Hispanic/Latino: 5.1%
White: 69%
Black: 9.8%
Native American: 0%
Asian: 11.5%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander*: 0.1%
Other: 0.5%
Multiracial*: 3.8%

I guess they succeeded, huh? Gentrification complete!

Do you notice anything similar, in playing with this? I'd love to hear about it.

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Listening to: Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot
via FoxyTunes