George Zimmerman's Spin

     George Zimmerman just won't stop talking.  He's fervently trying to wrap himself in the protection of Florida's  'Stand Your Ground' law.  The second component of the law is where Zimmerman is trying to hide. It says:

In any other place where a person “has a right to be,” that person has “no duty to retreat” if attacked and may “meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

 While GZ is trying to align his version to meet these parameters, it seems that this fits Trayvon Martin even more.  Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store; he had a right to be there.  He was followed by an armed male who thought he was 'getting away' and decided to follow him.  GZ was told to remain in his vehicle and not follow the teenager.  He thought Trayvon Martin was suspicious and took it upon himself to follow him on foot.  Trayvon Martin had 'no duty to retreat' and upon being stalked by an unknown armed male, may have felt trapped and endangered.

But all of that is beside the point.  The important factor of this is 'forcible felony'.    

The term "forcible felony" is important in Florida because the only time you can use a gun or other deadly weapon in self-defense is when you use it to stop or prevent a "forcible felony".
Florida forcible felonies are:
- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Sexual Battery (Rape)
- Arson
- Treason
- Robbery
- Burglary
- Carjacking
- Home Invasion
- Aggravated Battery
- Aggravated Assault
- Aggravated Stalking
-Any other felony that involves the use or threat of violence against any person

 Ok, so there is nothing that says you can shoot a guy for wearing a hoodie, or concealing snacks. Seeing someone who you 'think' is suspicious, or even if you think he is on drugs is not reason enough to take a life.  He had the nerve to say he wished that there was something, anything that he could have done that wouldn't have put him in a position where he had to take his life.

Um, staying in your car and waiting for the police as he had been advised by the police dispatcher.  This man is a liar.  He is a murderer.  The truth will come out.

A memorial service for Sudanese Lost Boy, Majok Thiik Madut

This is such a sad story. Majok Thiik Madut was shot and killed while waiting for a bus on a street corner in Cleveland. Madut was one of The Lost Boys.

In 1987, a civil war drove an estimated twenty thousand young boys from their families and villages in Southern Sudan. Most no more than six or seven years old, they fled to Ethiopia to escape death or induction into slavery and the northern army. They walked a thousand miles through lion and crocodile country, eating mud to stave off thirst and starvation. Wandering for years, half of them died before reaching the Kenyan refugee camp, Kakuma. The survivors of this tragic exodus became known to the world as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.”

Yes, He survived war, wild animals, thirst, and has come thousands of miles from what he knew of home, just to be shot down on a street corner. Some random, senseless horror visited upon someone just trying to find their way in the world.

He made it out of Darfur.

I worry about the people of the Darfur Region.

I wonder what is it that I can do.

I was proud to know that there were young men here in Cleveland making a way for themselves. Having a 'good life', a 'better life'.

Bitter pill knowing that he was less safe in our city than he was in Darfur.

NYPD Shoots Again

Please read this posting, by Angry Black Bitch about the groom shot and killed by New York Police just hours before his wedding.

The sinking sadness in my heart as I listened to the news, and these thoughts are so perfectly expressed.

Suspect...

(Yes, I am an unabashed fan of ABB!)

Peace.

'If I Did It'...

"If I Did It" by OJ Simpson...

WOW, give me a minute............

I recall my shock and horror at the verdict. I could not believe that twelve reasonable people could see all of that evidence and find him not guilty.

Now, OJ has written a book where he speculates on how he would have committed the murders if he were the murderer.

OJ has written a book where he speculates on how he would have committed the murders if he were the murderer.

This is proof that all that matters is money. There is no way that anyone with a shred of decency could think this is a good idea.

This man murdered the mother of his children and a man who just happened to be with her.

OJ stood to receive $3.5 Million for the book, which has been pulled due to public outrage.

It is supposed to make everyone feel better to know that OJ's proceeds are going to his children.

To Nicole's children.

I started this post wanting to call Simpson a sociopath: Diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality include a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others and inability or unwillingness to conform to what are considered to be the norms of society.

But, I cannot, in good conscience call him names like that, especially without knowing if he was cruel to animals as a child or had bad grades in school.

I can call him a narcissist. Clearly, he is that.

Besides, there is enough blame to go around.

It's one thing for OJ to pitch a book where he talks about how he 'could have' killed Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson 'if' he were the murderer.

Never mind that the female victim of this crime is the mother of his children.

Never mind that it takes a sick mind to try to profit on the murder of two people.

Consider this, even if OJ is crazy, he took his book proposal and shopped it around.

Not only was he confident enough to shop it around, some one bought it.

Promised him $3.5 Million for the deal.

Not only did Harper Collins think this was a good idea, their sister station, Fox News, planned to air a two hour interview with Simpson during which he would discuss his tale of historical fiction.

But, the person I really do not understand is the publisher, Judith Regan.

Don't get me wrong. I understand surviving abuse. I have done that.

I understand wanting justice for all victims of abuse.

I also understand her point about Hitler's "Mein Kampf" having been available to this day.

I understand it being personal.

I cannot, however, stretch myself to understand profiting from the murder of two people.

I cannot understand how profiting from Simpson will help her heal wounds from her own past.

OJ's confession is not the same as the confession of Regan's abuser.

Surely she did not sign any future profits over to organizations that aid victims of abuse.

I would say to Judith Regan, put your money where your mouth is, or are your profits going to your children too?