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Cosby, Martin, and Zimmerman

So when Bill Cosby was recently asked about the Martin/Zimmerman incident, his reply was this:

“We’ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,” said Mr. Cosby, whose remarks were the first he has made publicly about the case.
“Without a gun, I don’t see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself,” Mr. Cosby explained. “The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations.
“When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody,” he said.

There is so much fail in this statement, I will have to tackle it a piece at a time. I have so far tried to remain mostly silent on this case, because we all know that the press lies to sell more advertising, and we don’t have all of the evidence, but I simply must weigh in here.

1 Zimmerman was not on “neighborhood watch” at the time of the shooting. According to his statements, he was on his way to Target when he spotted someone walking in the rain behind a row of houses. This made him suspicious, so he called police.

2 Also according to Zimmerman’s statements, it was Travon Martin who approached George Zimmerman and initiated the contact. Before Martin’s approach, Zimmerman was simply following him. Martin approached Zimmerman, initiated contact and then punched Zimmerman in the head, knocking him to the ground. Once Zimmerman was on the ground, Martin sat on top of Zimmerman’s chest and began pounding Zimmerman’s head into the pavement.

Even though the only witnesses to the incident only saw things from the point in time where Zimmerman was on the ground with Martin on top of him and didn’t see what started the altercation, the ones who have come forward have not contradicted Zimmerman’s account. Zimmerman’s account of this event is also supported by the physical evidence: There were cuts on Zimmerman’s head, and grass on his shirt. Witnesses heard someone yelling for help, and this can also be heard on the 911 tape. According to the funeral director (who is admittedly not a forensic examiner), there were no signs of a struggle on Martin’s body, aside from the gunshot wound. However, we know from witness statements and from the screams on the 911 tape that Martin was involved in a physical altercation with Zimmerman.

If you are in a struggle where someone can be heard screaming for help, but you are not uninjured in that struggle, that indicates that you are the aggressor. For, again according to witnesses, one man was sitting on the other, and the one on top was seen striking the one on the bottom. It is unlikely that the one on the top is the one screaming for help. This all seems to support Zimmerman’s account of events.

The only question here is in who initiated the altercation. Did it go down like Zimmerman claimed? Or did Zimmerman initiate the fight? The police questioned Zimmerman immediately following the shooting, and have done so on multiple occasions since. Even though he had no knowledge of what the other witnesses had to say, and very little time to work on a story, no glaring inconsistencies have emerged. Lies are seldom this airtight. I lean towards believing that Zimmerman’s story is the truth. Until and unless something else is revealed to contradict this chain of events, I think this was a lawful use of lethal force in self defense.

3 I carry a gun. I do not carry a gun so I can kill people. I carry a gun to protect myself from the unlawful initiation of force by others. You do not have to worry about my gun unless you intend on attacking me. I suppose Mr. Cosby would be happier if Martin had simply pounded Zimmerman’s head into the concrete and given him a brain injury, like what happened to this guy.

Many have tried to say that “Stand your Ground” is at fault here. That is incorrect. Stand your ground simply says that I do not have to run away before defending myself. Even if that law did not exist, there are only two possibilities here:
Either Zimmerman initiated the fight, which would not entitle him to the claim of self defense at all; or

Martin initiated the fight, which with Martin sitting on his chest, made it impossible for Zimmerman to attempt to flee.

By Divemedic, ago

The Hunger Games

I must admit that I have read the book, and seen the movie. For those who have not, I will try to not give any spoilers, but I have to say a few things. Many people complain that the movie and book were too bloody, and depict senseless death of children. The basis of the story is that a central government of a country called Panem (contraction of Pan-American) that is all that is left of what was once North America, is using a barbaric fight to the death between children to control the people of the 12 subordinate districts. The government, located in a region called the Capitol, resorts to police state tactics like murder and  the Hunger Games to demoralize and control the citizens of the twelve districts, which of which is required to send 2 children, one male and one female, to be slaughtered in the games.

This novel was a very effective story of resistance and tyranny, and I recommend that you read it with an eye towards a realization that police states seldom control their citizens with kind words and cotton candy. It is a good read, however. The novel is the first of a trilogy, and I am currently halfway through with the second.

By Divemedic, ago

We are military

This douchebag says that he and the New Black Panther Party are “military” and that they are going to “apprehend” Zimmerman.He claims an ability to perform a “citizen’s arrest” under the constitution, and claims that according to “the street people’s law” Zimmerman is guilty of murder, and states that he is not subject to “the white man’s law,” which is “America’s law.”

He then says that Zimmerman will be tried by the “people” and once found, he will “not be alive.” He calls blacks who oppose his ideas “Uncle Tom Negroes.”

It appears as though this New Black Panther party and the rest of the race baiters want a race war. Racist dickheads.

By Divemedic, ago

Difference of viewpoints

I have a female friend that I recently went to a show with. There were ushers who were assisting people on the stairs. She noticed that the (male) ushers were holding out their hands for the women, and simply standing there for the men. She turned to me and said that this made her angry when men did that, because it was a sign that men felt like the women were weak and could not do anything without the big, strong man to protect them.

I see it differently. I see it as a man cherishing women and womanhood by being helpful and kind. I open and hold doors for women, I offer a helping hand when they are on slippery ground. In general, I do this not because I think she is weak, but rather because I want to do what I can to be kind.

I have never before looked at it from her point of view, but I concede that she has a point. After all, why do we not do the same for men? Perhaps it is because we see the men as equals. This brings another question to mind: How do we show affection for a woman, if we are  not to be allowed to help her from time to time? How do we show kindness and affection, while still showing that you respect her as an equal?

By Divemedic, ago

Think about this

I am reading my textbook, and the current chapter is on hypertension (high blood pressure), and on controlling it. Read the following quote:

The benefits of a low risk status are enormous: A 72% to 85% reduction in Cardiovascular Disease mortality and a 40% to 58% reduction in mortality from all causes, leading to a gain of 5.8 to 9.5 years in life expectancy.

I would submit that the chance of mortality in all people, regardless of their risk factors remains unchanged and immutable at exactly 100%. You would think that there would be a better way to phrase this.

On a side note, it is currently spring break. However, studying in a program as intense as this never really starts or stops, it just is. In fact, it is a relief to get caught up on my studying without the complications of additional reading that would be placed upon me if class were in session this week.

By Divemedic, ago

School terms

When we return to class on Monday, there will be a week and a half of class, followed by the four calendar day Easter Break, and then there will only be six weeks until the end of the term. The first, and from what I have been told by previous students, hardest semester will be behind me.
We have a three week break before the summer session begins, and then it is back to the grind.

By Divemedic, ago

More education

Being in graduate school full time, and unemployed while I do it, is exposing me to the full force of what passes for college education in America. I have a professor who can best be described as a leftover hippie reject from the 60s. She was living in Berkley in the 1960s, and teaches several of my courses. You will remember her from this post. In some of those courses, she has told us how white men are conspiring to keep woman and minorities down by passing laws that discriminate, and by putting chemicals and hormones in food. She also believes that certain procedures, like vaccinations. should be mandatory, even over the objections of the patient, because the needs of the herd outweigh the desires of the individual. 

Anyway, now that you have some background, let me tell you about our lecture from the other day. We were in class when she began talking about the causes of premature death. The leading causes of death in the United States are:
1 Heart Disease
2 Cancer
3 COPD (Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis)
4 Stroke
5 Accidents
6 Alzheimer’s
7 Diabetes
8 Flu and Pneumonia
9 Kidney failure
10 Suicide
11 Septicemia (Blood infections)
12  Liver Disease (Hepatitis and Cirrhosis)
13 High Blood Pressure and its complications
14 Parkinson’s
15 Homicide

Fair enough. So then she moved on to the next slide:  Behaviors that cause premature death. It listed:
1 Tobacco Use
2 Poor health maintenance
3 Lack of physical activity
4 Alcohol Abuse
5 Firearms
6 Unsafe sex
7 Car accidents
Then said that the leading causes of death were preventable.

I asked her why ‘firearms’ was the only thing on the list that was an object and not a behavior, and why it was on the list. She told me that I was ‘splitting hairs’ and that firearms were too dangerous for people to own. I then asked her if they were so dangerous, why did death by firearms not make the top ten? Actually, if you take other causes of death out of the blanket ‘suicide’ and ‘homicide’ categories, firearm related deaths don’t even make the top 20.
She replied by telling me that I have a problem with authority. (Actually, my problem is twofold: I have a problem with bullshit, and I don’t think that someone that I have hired to teach me a class has ‘authority’ over me. You, as a professor, are my employee, not my boss.) The fact is that more people died from prescription drug overdose in Florida in 2009 than died in the entire US from firearm related homicide. Perhaps we should be spending time in class trying to avoid THAT instead of railing against guns.
Abraham Lincoln only had a single year of formal education in elementary school. The requirement that you have to have a 4 year degree to enter medical school or even PA school is ridiculous. They don’t even care what the degree is in, just that you have one. They want you indoctrinated in this college socialist bullshit, and it has nothing at all to do with being a good practitioner.

I cannot wait to get out of this environment. I have eight and a half more months of this, and I have to be careful what I say, as the professor has the ultimate power of the gradebook, which could potentially rob me of my $50,000 in tuition, and the hopes of my future career.

By Divemedic, ago

Medical tyrants

When it comes to health care, the patient is the one who ultimately has the final say over what is done to them. At least, that is what I have always believed. Apparently, that is not the case with many in the health care field, including many pediatricians who refuse to care for children if their parents refuse to get them a recommended vaccine.
Too many people believe that they should have the power to make others bend to their will. To me this is like a grocery store refusing to allow you to be a customer unless you buy healthy food. It never ceases to amaze me that people so often want to be able to tell others what to do. Maybe that is why we keep electing tyrants. People keep hoping it will soon be their turn to be boss.
Many of my instructors feel the same way. I actually had a class on vaccines where we were told “Maybe some of the kids who get vaccinated do have things like autism as a side effect, but the overwhelming majority do not. This is about herd immunity, and the needs of the rest of society outweigh the illness of the very few.”
There is the division: there are some of us who think that individual liberty is most important, and others who value the herd. I don’t think that there is much common ground to be had there.

Edited to add: Of course there are no studies that show that vaccines cause autism or any other ailment. Who would fund such a study? Certainly not the drug companies. After all, there is no financial incentive to NOT giving a vaccine.

By Divemedic, ago

Child support?

When I got divorced in 1997, I was making $1000 every two weeks. I lost $280 in taxes, leaving me $720 every two weeks. Following the state law formula, the court ordered that I pay $348 to my ex wife, nominally for child support, leaving me with $720 per month to live on. The support was taken from my check before I even saw it, so I wouldn’t be a ‘deadbeat dad.’ The rent on my apartment was $600 for a small one bedroom. I was soon homeless and without a car, moving from couch to couch at the homes of friends. I got a second job, picking up garbage after the Shamu show at Sea World. I got an apartment with three roommates. I bought a car at a “buy here, pay here.” Somehow, I made it.

How was my wife making it? She didn’t have a job. She had $696 per month in child support, $400 worth of food stamps, $300 in earned income credit, $200 per month in WIC, and $300 worth of welfare, plus she was getting $750 a month babysitting two children while their parents were at work. She netted a total of $2646 a month.

I always knew that my ‘child support’ was going to support their mother, not the kids. That is why things like this always make me angry, when I think about how women use their children to ride the gravy train, while their fathers get accused of being ‘deadbeat dads’ because they can’t afford to pay.

To prove that the children were just a gravy train for her, when they were 16, she threw them out of the house and had them live with me. First my son, and a year later, my daughter. As soon as it was no longer profitable, they were unceremoniously thrown out. She still plays the game to get your tax dollars. Right after the first kid was thrown out, she got  a job at WalMart as a cashier, and ‘injured’ her back soon thereafter. She now collects Social Security Disability, along with WIC, welfare, and food stamps with the child that she had with her new husband.

By Divemedic, ago