Oakland CA...

So the last few days there has been reports and opinions like crazy on the verdict for BART officer Johannes Mehserle in the killing of 22 year-old Oscar Grant. So, I have watched the videos and read the reports...and it is just unbelievable and doesn't make sense. When I think about what was going on, for all involved my mind keeps going to the movie "CRASH" --there is so much that could have been going on, and I don't know. I do believe that the excuse used of "I thought it was my taser" instead of his service handgun is ridiculous. Maybe it is because I do have a deep respect and love of guns and a some experience in handling them--so when an officer who is trained in handling his weapon(s) says he thought it was something else I am shocked. Just the weight and feel of a fully loaded hand gun and the size of the grip is different.

My heart breaks for the family and friends of the victim Oscar Grant. What he was feeling on that platform -who knows..but in watching those videos I know I would have been terrified and in panic if a knee was on my chest or throat and I felt I couldn't breathe-I would have had a hard time being still. My heart also hurts for the family and friends of officer Johannes Meherle. I have no idea what he was doing or thinking...I hope to God he didn't intended to kill an unarmed subdued suspect; however, watching that video...he has a loaded gun in his hand-there is weight to that and then to stand, and aim-weighting the gun and pull the trigger not in a split second and not in a life-threatening situation...it is just hard to see how he couldn't see or feel or realize that it wasn't his taser...it just makes me sick.

I wonder about his co-workers...and really all Police Officers and how they are thinking & feeling.

I think that most police officers are great men and women, who love what they do and feel a privilege it taking on the duty to serve and protect who are well trained and try to serve to their best ability all the time knowing full well they are risking their life every time they suit up, pull someone over, or answer a call. I don't think that every incident that occurs and is portrayed as the cops fault is accurate. But in this incident, I do. Yes, it probably was a mistake; however mistakes have consequences and the officer will be serving time under the verdict of involuntary manslaughter. I don't agree with that verdict. I see it more as voluntary manslaughter as the officer did intend to cause serious bodily harm but not kill as he was going to use his taser gun. Involuntary manslaughter is defined as the defendant not having any malice aforethought and NO, NONE , ZERO, ZIP intention to cause or do HARM. When you stand, aim, and pull a trigger (either of a taser gun or a handgun) you are INTENDING to cause harm. Police use harm (i.e. taser gun) to subdue suspects who resist arrest, try to evade police, or assault police... the taser gun in my opinion was introduced and is used as to avoid using their guns or batons. They intend to cause harm to gain control quickly of the suspect and/or the situation. So, that is why I think the verdict should have been Voluntary Manslaughter  not Involuntary Manslaughter.

Ok, one more vent on the subject...the other day I wrote this on my Facebook page as my status
"watching news & political updates...wow i get so worked up over injustices...like the murder of a young man in CA-Oscar...so disturbing"

Then a "friend" posts this about my status:
"Personally I think there are far greater injustices than that. The more criminals who resist arrest, and reach or act like they are reaching for weapons, the more of them who are going to end up dead. Criminal behavior problem, not cop problem, IMHO"

1-I didn't ask what anyone thought.
2-I didn't say the greatest injustice of all time...it is ONE of the MANY.
3-In this case...HE wasn't reaching for a weapon!
4-Criminal problem? WTF? Ok, so a cop makes a mistake--but it is a criminal problem?
5-What ever happened to INOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY? We don't know if Oscar Grant was GUILTY of anything because he never had a chance to go through the process that is given as a right of everyone in this country.
6-Is saying IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) like saying Bless Your Heart? Is that the card you play when you say something ignorant and offensive but don't want to get called on it?
6-If you want to to respond to something on MY page, not directed at anyone and give your opinion, you can be sure as hell that I will respond directly to You.

so here is my response:
I can respect your opinion on the subject and in general I agree that when people resist arrest there are consequences; however there is a difference in resisting arrest and reaching for a weapon. If a suspect is non-compliant with police and then postures or reaches for a weapon, police have a right and a responsibility to respond even with lethal... See More force if necessary and I totally agree with that. However, in this isolated incident, as it was caught on video, it is clear to me that lethal force was totally uncalled for and that is the Cop's problem, not the Suspect's. I am not on a "cops are bad" rant, that is not what this is. In fact I feel police officers often times are excessively scrutinized on gratuitous assumptions. Police officers are truly heroes who work hard and face the possibility of death every day, it is not a job to be taken lightly and they do not get enough credit for what they do. I do not believe this isolated incident reflects police officers everywhere, and unfortunately this mistake cost a life of an unarmed young man. The officer's response to his action was he thought it was his tazer gun...he had to be pretty green, as there is a distinguishable difference between a fully loaded handgun and a tazer gun, from the weight to the feel. In my opinion it is an injustice; as there was a mistake made, and in all rights it would constitute murder, at least it looks that way from the video. When a suspect is being taken into custody, and resisting arrest but not to the extent of running or pulling a weapon, it does not constitute lethal force to be taken. You have to be presented with a potentially lethal threat to respond with lethal force....at least it is that way in this country.

the video of the incident: the last clip is the most clear, IMHO (can you sense my sarcasm here?)
http://youtu.be/Q2LDw5l_yMI

Here is a link for the Rachel Maddow show coverage of the story:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/08/4641826-hayes-no-justice-for-oscar-grant

Repeal DADT

Make your Voice Heard Now & let your reps know!
http://www.hrc.org/sites/repealdadt/index.asp

Testimony about repealing DADT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBT0OSfgHOU

This is a YouTube Channel --Great Videos and info there:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ServicemembersUnited

Fox News Military Analyst in Support of ENDING/Repealing DADT--I know FOX News in Support-Wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6he1mfR06Y

 

 

 

Wouldn't call these love letters

This is Senator Mike Crapo, representing Idaho constituents, I am on of the constituents he represents. I wrote him a letter urging him to vote in favor of ENDA, to add protection for current discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation for jobs, housing, and more. Note that currently, protections are granted based on sex, race and religion. Idaho is still an "at will" state, which means an employer can fire an employee without having to state why or prove employees negligence/incompetence. Because people Like Mike Simpson & Senator Crapo are employers and can exercise their discrimination & bias at any time without any fear of retribution or consequence as they are not breaking any laws. In addition there no protection or resources for an employee that is fired because of discrimination.That means if you live in Idaho and your employer thinks you are gay or finds out your gay and even though your work performance is top notch, your employer feels that it is a sin/wrong and therefore fires you.

I think it is pretty simple, everyone should be protected and not feel at risk to lose their job based upon anything BUT what is connected directly to their job (i.e. their job performance, work ethic). But it seems that the representatives disagree and their reasoning is absurd..as you will see. Here are the highlights of Sen. Crapo and Representative Simpson to me.

(This is a brief description of ENDA) S. 1584 was introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) on August 5, 2009. This bill would expand current prohibitions against workforce discrimination to include an individual's actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. This legislation has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where it awaits further action.

As you know, there is an effort being made to amend current civil rights legislation to expand coverage to include sexual orientation. (I am thinking -yes isn't this a good thing?) Furthermore, an effort is being made to garner support for hate crime legislation that would allow the federal government to become involved in cases that otherwise would be handled at the state level. (OK, so finally Idaho would have to recognize hate crimes for what they are-because they don't have to document them like that now) I have long opposed efforts to expand the federal government's powers to regulate matters currently and rightfully handled by the states. (so basically because their is a possibility that the fed. gov. could be involved with hate crimes...people should be able to be fired "At-will" even if their job performance is okay based on their gender identity or their sexual orientation...wow this reasoning is astounding.)

All Americans should be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. As a basic principle, any person convicted of injuring another individual should be punished as provided by law. This should be applied equally and without regard to race, religion, or sexual orientation. This is a guiding principle established in our Constitution. (ok, but here is the thing--being fired based on sexual orientation or gender identity is not protected by law--even though it is causing harm to an individual - it is not seen by the law in Idaho that way...so therefore it doesn't exist)

-OK here is the response from Congressmen Mike Simpson... "...H.R. 3017. This legislation would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. It provides an exception for religious organizations and the military.

While I believe that it is important for employers to judge employees on the basis of their performance, I am concerned this bill could set a dangerous precedent by defining discrimination distinctions. Our laws ought to protect everyone against discrimination for any reason rather than single out specific groups for protection-thereby risking overlooking other groups that also need protection against discrimination. Because of these concerns, I am unable to vote for ENDA." 

Are you still wondering why should Idaho not be an "at-will" state??



After all this I have warm fuzzies, how about you? And as Senator Crapo says "As a basic principle, any person convicted of injuring another individual should be punished as provided by law." But here is the thing about Idaho, it is an "at-will" state, which an employer can fire an employee "at-will" and does not have to have any justification in doing so. What if a person was encouraged to find another job and encouraged to move when their employer found out they were gay? What if they were afraid of the "heat & reaction" from a community if they employed someone who was openly gay? What if an employer wanted to be supportive but felt there was nothing available to support their employee? But since the above situations are not breaking any laws in Idaho, it is not considered an "injury to a person" ....although I would argue that the person or persons involved would feel injured if not assaulted.

FEAR...

Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I had the thought that so many of the so called "truths" we are taught are really myths rooted in fear. From myths as innocent and simple as "old wives tells" to some theology of religion to hurtful, hateful myths as gays are perverted sexual deviants who cannot believe in God and have no benefit in society or in the united states military. These kind of myths breed fear, discrimination, hate and violence. In a Christian perspective it is anything but what Jesus Christ taught. Jesus Christ was the quintessential essence of love and acceptance--not tolerance or hate, or self-righteousness. He hung out with the "sinners", rejects, poor, "unclean"-now I am not saying being gay is a sin because it is not, and Jesus Christ never spoke about homosexuality in general or in it being a sin. He spoke of having integrity, being true & honest with self, God and others, loving ALL people, taking care of the earth we live on, helping those who need help; in short, doing the best we can with what we have, giving and helping others along our journey no matter where they come from, who they love, or their background-but simply because we are all one -we are all human beings.

It seems simple, the golden rule, loving and not judging, be open and accepting-those seem to me like the higher law if you will or what would be Jesus Christ-like living. It teaching and standing up even fighting for what is right and good. Equal rights and integrity are good, right, and worth fighting for. For me, it is a no-brainier and I am often flabbergasted when I hear and see anger and fighting over allowing EVERYONE to be equal and not allowed to be discriminated against. But instead society, people, families, individuals, religions protest to be better than others based on things like socioeconomic status, race, education, gender, religion, marital status, kin, geographical location, age, if someone has been divorced or the number of time married, if a couple has children or not or even on how many children someone has, and sexual orientation. Throughout history these are evident and today they are evident... and people have stood up, fought, allied with those being degraded and discriminated against and there has been progress...from voting for blacks in 1870, to voting rights for woman in 1920. I found an awesome time-line of human rights-in the enclosures. Homosexuality is only seen once, that is during the WWII block (1939-1945) homosexuals where included in the extermination order and where also committed to concentration camps, starved, tortured, experimented upon, and murdered. Human rights encompasses all humans...and we are still fighting for them.

I think it is all about FEAR. There is so much FEAR....so many MYTHS! Why??!?? Well, in my opinion, people in power who are SCARED of losing power or being proven WRONG create Myths based on fears and ignorance and preach them as truths in attempts to hold on to their power, become more powerful and have people follow in a blind, thoughtless trance.
MYTHS that I can think of:

-Women are less intelligent then men
-Traditional Religion does not oppress women
-Women cannot do the same things (hold jobs, work, contribute to society) the way men do.
-Homosexuals are dirty, anti-family, anti-religion, anti-law & order, unpatriotic, sexual deviants, pedophiles who want to destroy America and families
-There is only ONE right way to be spiritual
-Religion and Spirituality are the same
-Scientists hate God
-Natural Disaters are God's way of "cleasing" the earth from "bad sinning people"
-If someone can't speak English they are criminals, illegal, and unintelligent
-The Holy Bible should be the dictator of the Constitution of The United States of America
-Atheists are bad miserable people
-The world is flat
-The Holocaust never happened
-We can't pass laws to protect groups of people, because then we might be missing other groups and that would be discrimination. (this was the response I received from my reps in the US Senate & Congress...I will post their letters)
-If gays are allowed to serve OPENLY it will cause distraction, and everyone will have to fight of the gay from having sex with them, which will cause low morale and un-unified troops, and we will lose the war.
-If you watch the news, you will be brainwashed.
-If you question things then you dont have faith and therefore are less of an individual
-If you are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender, or questions, then you believe and agree with everything ANY GLBTQ persons says or does
-To stand up for what you believe is Patriotic unless it disagrees with the majority of Christians in America.

...Obviously I could go on & on...there are so many, it is comical in some ways to think that people beLIEve these myths. The reality that people believe and teach these and many more myths that contribute to discrimination, hate, violence is dispiriting.

Here is a vido-worth watching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1qf84hCtjs

Here is the time-line of Human rights:
http://www.udhr.org/history/timeline.htm

Here is the Women's Rights movement 1900's:
http://www.now.org/issues/economic/cea/history.html

So, here is what I can do:
-Research "truths" to find out if they are "TRUTH" or myths
-Use my voice and keep e-mailing, writintg letters and calling my reps local and national
-Share the inofrmation I find
-Join with indiviudals, groups, and  communiites to advocate and take a public stand for Equal Human Rights for ALL human beings

I am a Gay Woman & I am Proud

I am Gay and I love it! I Love who I am and who I am allowing myself to be-Finally. I feel very strongly about social justice and Equal Rights-FOR EVERYONE! Today, a judge in Massachusetts found that DOMA -with the 10th Amendment was unconstitutional! WOW-that is awesome, I believe that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and now a judge does, it feels like it is time to take a stand-firmly that there should be equal rights for everyone, regardless of gender-yes gender as that is what is being discriminated against- it is about the gender of the person you marry.  I could marry a dude, but that would be in my mind breaking every moral I hod dear, honesty, marrying for love and raising children in that loving healthy environment, and I believe everyone should be with someone that loves them and desires them. Relationships are hard, lying about who you to the one person you are supposed to be closest to and intimate with - would just be death. I love my partner Carrie-Anne, and I would love to marry her and have the same protections as any other married couple. If I could have married her before now, I would have...and someday I plan on it.