GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Friday, July 24, 2009

GATES ARREST, WAS CAMBRIDGE POLICE STUPID?

May be a more politically correct word would have been used instead? But, hey, this is American society where a nigger is always seen as a nigger and it does not matter if that nigger is the brightest bulb in the chandelier or is a Harvard University Professor or his home address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
So, when once in a while a blackman speaks out passionately and candidly, expressing how he truly feels about race relations in America, some people interpret that as being too strongly worded? But these are the same people, who, having not been on the receiving end of racism in America, and do not know what it is, to be a minority in America questions such opinion as was expressed?
Pictured above right is the man whose wrongful arrest is provoking this perfect storm, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research; and a tenured professor of Harvard University. Gates also makes regular Television appearances on issues of race in America and has produced a documentary which aired on CNN.

So President Barack Obama spoke as a blackman, who knows how it means to be a 'nigger' in America society. That is the real America the world does not know about, but which is the undercurrent of the society, where a man is primarily judged by the color of his skin and not necessarily the content of his character or his true abilities? There is simmering tension in the land and hopefully it will not ever boil over; with each passing day, a man's heart somewhere in America is boiling with vengeful thoughts on how to get at someone or render a pay-back?
But what is the solution, Icheoku asks? A good staring point is for us all to start talking about our differences and as often as the opportunity calls; and in an open honest manner. That way the walls of prejudices will begin to crumble in earnest as we understand one another better; but to continue to pretend that all is well or that prejudices of race does not exist or that things are honky-dory is a fallacy of the moment which incubates in American society and that is what fuels each person's suspicion of one another. Icheoku proclaims that racism exists and cuts across everyone in America, whether whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native-Americans etc. It is all about protecting what each thinks is his rightful entitlement and the preservation of their race? Let us acknowledge that fact, and then we can take the next step towards exploring ways of improving and making it better?

And so it was that a neighbor could no longer recognise her neighbor in a sunny afternoon daylight in Cambridge Massachusetts; that she called 911 and reported her neighbor as a break-in suspect? But that 'break-in suspect' neighbor was merely trying to push his way into his own house, having misplaced his keys earlier in the day? The police came and the neighbor who was already lounging in his house, was marched off in handcuffs and the rest is now history. Not being on video, we can only rely on "he said, he said" account of what transpired that fateful July 16, 2009 day in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Whether the Cambridge police department was "deeply pained" by
President Barack Obama's statement or not, Icheoku does not really care to know; but suffice it to say that Mr. President's comment was borne out of frustration that some sections of the American society are still treating disrespectfully, fellow Americans as if they are second-class citizens? Our position is that two wrongs does not make a right and the Cambridge police chief should have avoided joining issues with the president. We all should rather find a way of bridging the racial divide in America instead of protesting the obvious or being in denial as to what really exists.
Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr was arrested inside his house for breaking into his own house? If really it was a neighbor that called the police, Icheoku asks, why did that neighbor not recognise his neighbor, Professor Gates? OJ Simpson is languishing in prison today for similarly "stealing his own stuff"? But unlike OJ, Professor Gates does not have the notoriety of past accusation of murder and so people rallied around his cause and his charge of disorderly conduct was dropped. If in doubt, how many Network Televisions parade a blackman or any minority in their prime-time slot or any other full fledged anchor-person; yet some deny there is no racism in America?
Icheoku says, whether or not Gates 'flew into a verbal rage' was no reasonable ground to arrest an owner for breaking into his own house; once proper identification has been made to determine his identity? Since when has verbiage become a crime in the land or was he a madman to just fly off the handle without any provocation or prodding? Normal practice dictates that Sgt Crowley, upon ascertaining Gates identity, would have greeted and left, after explaining to Gates that they had received a report of a possible break-in into his house? Therefore, the real question here should be, why did Sgt. Crowley and co overtly prolong their look-in call and not leave immediately after ascertaining Professor Gates identity; and that an owner was the alleged break-in suspect? Peradventure, is it possible that they were surprised that a 'nigger' could own and live in a house in that neck of the woods, in Cambridge Massachusetts and decided to probe further, provoking the "verbal rage"?

Sgt. James Crowley, as a professional police office, would have after confirming the identity of the accused, conduct a cursory visual sweep of the home to further confirm through pictures and artifacts that Professor Gates is, who he said he is? This way, the whole world would have been saved all these pains of re-starting conversation on race. The matter would have died off quietly, but instead subsequent events prolonged an otherwise police check into the spat which is percolating through our society today. Also, it is very surprising that Officer Crowley does not know or recognise Professor Gates whose eminence is world-wide and a network television persona. Also, being one of the few academia in Harvard makes him a 'sticking sore-thumb', standing out conspicuously in Cambridge and requiring no further introduction? But no, may be through over-zealousness or the rush to be a police officer before this university professor, Sgt Crowley over-reached and today, the world is focusing at Cambridge as another American city with a profiling police department? Icheoku says, if this could happen to a person of Professor Gates stature, imagine what the average Joe blackman is going through in America and this is 2009 and not 1950?
Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts chimed in to say he was troubled and upset over the incident; while Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, said had she spoke with Gates and apologized on behalf of the city, and issued a statement which called the July 16 incident "regrettable and unfortunate."
Icheoku calls on all altercation parties to now sheath their sword; as many Americans have deduced what possibly transpired. As a society, we must learn how to treat each other with respect, understanding that we are all in it together as fellow Americans and this is what will help bring down the walls of racial tension in our society. Icheoku says, irrespective of the rage in the tone of a provoked Professor Gates, Sgt. Crowley would have shown a cooler head and carried out his duty more professionally? But bee that as it may, we beg to move on now from this matter!

1 comment:

  1. Obama Was Right About the Gates Arrest
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    Read More: Disorderly Conduct, Henry Louis Gates, Henry Louis Gates Arrested, James Crowley, President Obama, Race, Racial Profiling, Politics News



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    Share Print CommentsOn Thursday, President Obama weighed in on the arrest of African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, saying a Cambridge police officer "acted stupidly" when he arrested Gates for disorderly conduct. The next day, Obama backed down from his harsh comment.

    Obama was right the first time.

    I don't know if the police officer arrested Gates because of the Harvard professor's race. A lot of white people would say that if they mouthed off to a cop, they too would be arrested.

    But one thing is clear: Gates did not violate any law. Under Massachusetts law, which the police officer was supposedly enforcing, yelling at a police officer is not illegal.

    There are clear decisions of the Massachusetts courts holding that a person who berates an officer, even during an arrest, is not guilty of disorderly conduct. And yet that is exactly what Gates was arrested for.

    The Massachusetts statute defining "disorderly conduct" used to have a provision that made it illegal to make "unreasonable noise or offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display," or to address "abusive language to any person present." Yet the courts have interpreted that provision to violate the Massachusetts Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech. So police cannot lawfully arrest a person for hurling abusive language at an officer.

    In several cases, the courts in Massachusetts have considered whether a person is guilty of disorderly conduct for verbally abusing a police officer. In Commonwealth v. Lopiano, a 2004 decision, an appeals court held it was not disorderly conduct for a person who angrily yelled at an officer that his civil rights were being violated. In Commonwealth v. Mallahan, a decision rendered last year, an appeals court held that a person who launched into an angry, profanity-laced tirade against a police officer in front of spectators could not be convicted of disorderly conduct.

    So Massachusetts law clearly provides that Gates did not commit disorderly conduct.

    The Cambridge Police should be training their officers to know the difference between legal and illegal conduct. What Gates did was probably not so smart -- in general, be nice to people carrying guns -- but it wasn't disorderly conduct. At least not in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    That explains why the charges against Gates were dropped. It wasn't because the police were trying to defuse the situation. It was because Gates had done nothing illegal.

    Arresting someone for doing something that isn't illegal is pretty stupid.

    Then again, perhaps Obama was wrong. Maybe the police officer wasn't acting stupidly. He was just acting abusively. That is even worse.

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