I never realized what assimilation was or is. I never gave a thought about genocide or Manifest Destiny and I thought the holocaust only pertained to what Hitler did to the Jewish people. And it didn’t matter to me, because I never gave a thought about it. I was busy living life as I knew how, a Lakota woman. I was raised in our traditional ways but never taught all those things until I was older. I just thought life was about being traditional, with our ceremonies, songs, traditions, and ways. Sure, I went to a Christian church with my friends, went to Vacation Bible School for a popsicle, and I tested out other religions as if dipping my toes in cold lake water, but I never felt right about it. I didn’t feel wrong about it, I just felt as if it wasn’t my thing. And I made my way back to who I was and who I knew myself and my people to be. Lakota. That is where I belonged and where I feel centered.

The first time I realized that a child raised without their culture and forced into another way of life develops a huge hole in their soul was in college. I read an essay by a Vietnamese American student. She was adopted as a baby, from Vietnam, by white parents here in America. She was given a good life, she was raised with little blonde brothers and sisters and she had a suburban sounding name like Caitlyn or something. She did everything right and everything she was supposed to do in life, plus she won a scholarship to a college away from her family. It was her first time on her own and she discovered herself questioning who she was. She was drawn to other Asians and began hanging out with them. She learned of their likes, dislikes, cultures, foods, and she felt “at home and at peace.” Many of them were also adoptees, taken from their families and countries and grew up American. They were drawn to each other to fill a need in their souls. Yet she felt this with a great deal of guilt towards her American family. She loved her adopted family but felt at home, finally, with her friends, who in turn felt the same.

That is the first time I realized how taking the culture away from someone can be somewhat traumatic or really traumatic. How lost it makes that person feel. As I grew older and started seeing cases of this same thing happening with my own Native people and it was shocking. I remember the first time, was when I met a lady in her twenties. I saw her at the casino we both worked at and asked her what tribe she was from. She became angry and said “The lady that gave birth to me was from so and so reservation but I’m white. I grew up white. I was raised white, so don’t ever ask me that again.”

All I could say was “Whoa.” I stood there shocked. I never in my life met another Indian who hated being Indian, and she had to nerve to say she was white, when she was a few shades from midnight? That’s when someone told me she was raised in a foster home, who eventually adopted her.

I began then to understand what it meant to be assimilated and colonized. I began reading of our history and how children were taken by the US government from Native families once they were put on reservations. Children were forcefully taken out of their homes at the age of 5 and put in residential schools until the age of 18. They made handcuffs so small to detain these children. They were beaten for speaking their language, hair was cut, and all for the purpose of “Kill The Indian, Save The Man.”

This generation was our grandparents and great grandparents, who suffered physical, sexual,and emotional abuse in the residential schools. They were never given the chance to heal because these stories were never told. They were kept on the down low by the Catholic church and the government who ran the residential schools. Many of these boarding schools who are now in operation are now making monetary payments, now wanting to hear the stories of abuse and now trying to make amends. After a few were hit with class action lawsuits.

The next generations, also suffered and still suffer. By the foster care systems. Children were taken from their homes and given to white foster families to raise. The families receiving funding for every foster child, would often take on many foster children. The state holds the households they take the children from to the standards set by white society. Without ever listening to how we set family structures, how we take care of our own, or how we live with our traditions, they set everything up to fit a mold, that they live by.

Based on a 1976 study by the Association on American Indian Affairs found that 25 to 35% of all Indian children were being placed in out-of-home care. (Eighty-five percent of those children were being placed in non-Indian homes or institutions.) Congress then passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901) in 1978 in order to keep American Indian Children with American Indian families.

However, this is not being followed in South Dakota. Why? Because South Dakota has a dirty little secret. According to a wonderful and very thorough investigation by National Public Radio that inspired me to find my brother who was lost for 21 years due to failure of the fact that DSS didn’t follow ICWA regulations and place him with family. I was 19 years old when he was taken from his mother. I was employed and had my own place and he was 8 years old. When I asked them why they didn’t ask me, all they said was sorry and also ,sorry we can’t help you find him now. That is when I began to search for him and I also began to investigate why so many of our Indian children in South Dakota are taken from their homes and placed in Non-Native homes, this is when I found their dirty little secret.

South Dakota’s Department of Social Services receives money for Native children they take custody of. They receive more money than the non-Native children they take from their homes. Native children in South Dakota make up 15% of all the children of South Dakota, yet over half the children placed in foster care are Native. And only 13% of those children are placed in Native foster homes. While Native foster home sit empty for months. South Dakota removes children from their homes at a rate 3 time higher than any other state. But according to state figures, less than 12 percent of the children in foster care in South Dakota have been actually physically or sexually abused in their own homes. That’s less than the national average.

I still didn’t get to the dirty little secret yet. South Dakota, years ago, designated all Native children as “special needs.” Which means every Indian child in every school benefits that school with more funding and it also means that every Indian child taken from their home by DSS benefits South Dakota more than non-Native children. And although the state says they match all the money coming in from the feds dollar for dollar, the match is not exact. According

to records from 2010, the feds reimbursed the state three quarters for what it spent on the children they removed from their homes. There is also an adoption incentive program nobody hears about. The federal government gives the states $4,000 for each child who is placed into adoption from foster care. That amount is $12,000 for “special needs” children. And of course over half the children removed from homes in South Dakota are Indian children, who, you guessed it, are designated by the state as “special needs” just for being American Indian. The state has made almost a million dollars in the last ten years off of our most precious resource. Our children. They moved us to dry, barren lands that cannot be farmed, the took the gold and every resource from the lands they stole. And now they are after our children.

Why is this not making a splash? Why is it not news? Especially , in South Dakota? Because they will go to any length to cover up what they do to take our children away. Even as our children are being violated in the homes they are placed in. Here is one case that will blow anyone’s mind and still has yet to reach the media in South Dakota.

Former assistant state attorney Brandon Taliaferro and court appointed child advocate Shirley Schwab go to trial tomorrow, January 7, 2013 for crimes they didn’t commit. Mr. Taliaferro and Ms. Schwab have been indicted by SD Attorney General Martin Jackley with witness tampering and disclosure of confidential, Department of Social Services information. They are being accused of these crimes for encouraging two teenage Lakota foster girls to tell the truth about being molested by their non-Native foster parent, who is now serving a 15 year prison sentence for rape of a child under 10.

According to the Daily Kos: Mr. Taliaferro and Ms. Schwab now assert that South Dakota is engaged in a criminal conspiracy to discriminate against Lakota foster children and their mothers, fathers, grandparents and relatives. “It is financially beneficial for the DSS to remove American Indian children from their homes and place them in [white] foster homes,” said Attorney Taliaferro to the Aberdeen News on December 19, 2011. “[Had I followed] the orders of [my boss with respect to the Mette investigation, it] would have required [me] to violate the law, and ethical rules that govern attorney conduct.” Mr. Taliaferro asserts that in 2011 he refused to participate in “a cover-up of misconduct” by the DSS.

The charges are believed to be a direct response to Mr. Taliaferro and Ms. Scwab for criticizing the state’s payroll during the NPR investigation. According to reporter Stephanie Woodard in her article for 100 Reporters “Rough Justice In Indian Child Welfare” where two state Department of Criminal Investigation agents are seen on a Youtube video planning the cover-up by the state against Mr. Taliaferro and Ms. Schwab. They are unaware, that though they are off camera, they left their microphones on.

This is all dirty, low down, Gestapo like tactics used by the Department of Social Services . And it shows how far the state will bend, how low they will go, to keep the millions of dollars they have coming in by stealing yet again from the Indigenous people of this land. Instead they don’t take from the land, they take from the womb.

They won’t get away with this much longer. Something has to be done.

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So, are you having a Happy New Year thus far? Hopefully you are, because there are many who are not. Case in point, check out what happened to the Ramirez and Ortiz family of Phoenix, Arizona. Like many across America, their celebration of the new year involved guns. Now, I don’t know where you may live, but it’s very common to hear the occasional celebratory gunshot around here at midnight when the ball drops. Unfortunately for the Ramirez family, their moment of joy turned to tragedy, when the 19-year-old Savannah Ramirez accidentally shot her older brother while attempting to take photos for Facebook. Yep, yet another case that proves that alcohol and guns do not mix.

This from Gawker:

A 19-year-old woman in Phoenix who accidentally shot and killed her brother was posing with a gun for Facebook photos, according to local police.

Savannah Ramirez and her brother, 22-year-old Manuel Ortiz, were celebrating New Year’s Eve at Ortiz’s apartment along with three other people, when a Facebook photoshoot with a gun turned deadly.

Brother & Sister: Msnuel Ortiz & Savannah Ramirez

Police believe both Ramirez and Ortiz were drinking and the weapon was in Ramirez’s hand when it accidentally discharged. If blood tests confirm that alcohol was indeed involved, Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos said Ramirez would likely be charged with manslaughter.

“Every New Year’s Eve, this particular sister is going to be thinking about this for the rest of her life,” Martos said.

You know that silly argument that many refuse to accept that says guns don’t kill, but it is people with guns who do? I think in this case, at least, it can be said that this accidental shooting supports the aforementioned argument. But don’t tell that to the NRA president, Wayne La Pierre.

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Remember that iconic photo of Malcolm X peeking out the window while holding gun with what’s known on the streets as a banana clip? as I think of this week’s ongoing gun control debate, I’ve come to rest on that very picture probably being the biggest reason why I’m opposed o an assault weapon ban. I can provide numbers to support the argument that an assault weapon ban will do very little as a solution to America’s gun violence problem. But being a black man, that very photo says it all. Not that I’m paranoid or afraid of “the man” coming after me like they did Malcolm — nope, never that. You see, I’m reminded of the fact that at one point in this country’s history, it was against the law for anyone black to own a gun. And in so many ways, the existence of that law further enabled “certain people” when it came to terrorizing the lives of black folks in America.

Here’s a stupid conversation on gun control:

Any gun control we enact will have a limited effect. But this should not be cause for despair. Much of the recent hysteria over gun deaths is misplaced.

A lot of people have been citing a recent report, “American Gun Deaths to Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 2015.” The article shows that gun deaths in America are slowly rising, and now stand at 32,000 per year — a staggering toll. Now, 32,000 deaths per year is a lot of death, and I’d never minimize that. But what the article’s authors fail to mention is that gun murders comprise less than a third of that total — about 9,000 per year in recent years. With accidental gun deaths steady at around 500-600 per year, the bulk of those 32,000 “gun deaths” are suicides.

In fact, murder by gun has been falling steadily since the early 1990s. Some of that is due to improvements in emergency medicine, but most is a result of the overall decline in violent crime that America has enjoyed over the last two decades. The fact that overall gun deaths has risen since 2000, despite the fall in murders, suggests that increased gun suicide has accounted for more than 100% of the increase in gun deaths. Obviously, suicide is a tragedy, and I don’t want to minimize it. But people aren’t panicking over suicide, they’re panicking over murder, and gun-related murder is on the way down.

Of course, 9,000 gun deaths a year is still a lot. Still more than other rich countries, still a disgrace, still far too many! But people who have been watching the round-the-clock coverage of the Newtown massacre need to understand that “mass killings” of the Newtown type account for a very small percent of that 9,000. Most of those 9,000 gun murders are of the more mundane, but no less deadly variety — drive-by shootings, gang wars, personal quarrels, and other easily comprehensible crimes.

And if we really care about those 9,000 souls who are shot to death each year, there is an extremely effective policy that we could enact right now that would probably save many of them.

I’m talking about ending the drug war.

Now I can think of many reasons to end Americas 40-year-long failed War on Drugs; and, I’m sure we can have a debate on just that. However, since we’re all up in arms about guns since last month’s tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Given the many ill-formed opinions and positions posited by more than the NRA’s Wayne La Pierre. Again, in the interest of public safety, isn’t it time we treat drug use, abuse, as well as gun violence like a public health crisis much like we did with HIV/AIDS in America and abroad? No seriously, think about that for a second. Yes, think about how a necessary paradigm shift — that is, decriminalizing illicit drugs — as far as policy can produce the desired results for the greater good.

Reliable statistics on the number of drug-related murders in the United States are hard to come by. A 1994 Department of Justice report suggested that between a third and a half of U.S. homicides were drug-related, while a recent Center for Disease Control study found that the rate varied between 5% and 25% (a 2002 Bureau of Justice report splits the difference). Part of this variance is that “drug-related” murders are hard to define. There are murders committed by people on drugs, murders committed by addicts to get money for drugs, turf-war murders by drug suppliers, and murders committed by gangs whose principal source of income is drug sales.

But very few would argue that the illegal drug trade is a significant cause of murders. This is a straightforward result of America’s three-decade-long “drug war.” Legal bans on drug sales lead to a vacuum in legal regulation; instead of going to court, drug suppliers settle their disputes by shooting each other. Meanwhile, interdiction efforts raise the price of drugs by curbing supply, making local drug supply monopolies (i.e., gang turf) a rich prize to be fought over. And stuffing our overcrowded prisons full of harmless, hapless drug addicts forces us to give accelerated parole to hardened killers.

Ending the drug war would involve reducing all of these incentives to murder. Treating addicts in hospitals and rehab centers, instead of sticking them in prisons, would reduce demand for drugs, lowering the price and starving gangs of income while reducing their incentive to wage turf wars. Decriminalization would relieve pressure on our prison system, allowing us to focus on keeping violent people off the streets instead of pointlessly punishing drug users for destroying their own health. And full legalization of recreational marijuana — which is already proceeding quickly among the states, but is still foolishly opposed by the Obama administration — is an obvious first step.

In other words, yes, gun control is good. BUT don’t expect it to be a panacea for America’s gun violence problem. If we really want to save some of those 9,000 people, we need to end the self-destructive, failed drug policies that have turned us into a prison state and turned many of our cities into war zones. (source)

Now, does this sound crazy, or what? Of course to some of you it does; however, alcohol is considered a drug, yet I don’t see Mexican drug cartels murdering people by the thousands each year to be able to control the market for alcohol. Nope, you don’t hear about headless bodies being found in deserts along the southern border because of alcohol. Which is really funny because more people die annually because of alcohol than they do because of guns. So if we’re really serious about doing something about gun violence in America, why not start with drug legalization? After all, if that were to happen, what’s the worse that can happen other than a reduction in gun crimes in cities in Chicago? A city that had 506 homicides in 2012, with 80% of them being gun-related; with only 4% of the guns used being assault weapons. This makes sense in my head, but what about you?

After all, like “Nino Brown” said, “Ain’t no Uzis made up in Harlem,” which they might not be. But, it’s undeniable that more money is made by the presence of guns and drugs in our neighborhoods by the folks responsible for the task of keeping them out, than the ones engaged in the trade.

Although the overall U.S. prison population declined slightly in 2011, the federal prison population continued to rise, with rates of drug and immigration offenders that eclipse those held for violent crimes. While only 8 percent of federal prisoners were sentenced for violent crimes in 2011, almost half of federal inmates – 48 percent – were in prison for drug crimes, according to Department of Justice statistics. Another 11 percent were held for immigration offenses – one of the largest-growing segments of the prison population.

These numbers reflect the impact of the aggressive U.S. “War on Drugs,” a major contributor to the United States’ standing as the number one jailer in the world. Overall declines in U.S. prisons of 0.9 percent are attributable to state prisons, as some states have been moved by budget crises to adopt innovative reforms, and some jurisdictions have moved toward decriminalizing minor drug offenses.

But federal drug law remains draconian, with harsh mandatory minimum sentences for sometimes minor nonviolent roles in drug deals. What’s more, one of the major causes of the state prison population decrease was the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that California state prisons are cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment. A drastic decrease in California’s prison population has resulted from what is known as realignment, in which prisoners are moved from state prisons to county jails, where local sheriffs have greater discretion over how to deal with offenders – for better or for worse — and may send them to mental health treatment, home surveillance, or community service rather than hold them behind bars. The California shift accounts for more than half of the decrease in the U.S. prison population, and overall state spending on prisons continues to be the fastest-growing budgetary item after Medicaid. (source)

Now watch the following video and ask yourself: What would change if drugs were made legal in America?

The post Why Ending the Drug War is Good Gun Control Policy appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Way back in the day, well before we were known as Niggers, Negroes, and subsequently African-Americans, we were known as Spearchuckers. It was meant as a derogatory term as did most other terms used to describe Blacks of African descent in America. But you know what? I do not think Spearchucker is a bad term. Actually, I wish we were Spearchuckers today, or rightfully called that in a literal sorta way.

Ok, bear with me as I explain. You see, way back when, when Africans lived on that other planet called Africa, we carried spears as a weapon, right? I was not there, but I suspect, that back in the day in Africa, a Black man without a spear was as worthless as a Black man without a job and unable to pay his child support today. Yup, possessing a spear was important, without it, there was no food, or means of defending the homies in your crew from some other crew that claimed to either be a Crips or Bloods, or whatever. Plus, I seriously doubt the chicks took a Black man without a spear seriously. I mean, why would she if he cannot even bring home a rhino or elephant periodically, right?

Some where along the line, some White guy decided to show up in his space ship on planet Africa. Being from another world, and not knowing what he would run into, he carried with him what was known as a gun. And you know what happened? The White guy being forever the forward thinker, decided to trade his guns for a few Africans (who were sitting in the county jail) to give them their freedom to come help said White guys tend to his flower garden. Was not that so nice of the White guy who landed on planet Africa? Of course the ever so curious African do-gooders accepted the guns as bail money. Yup, and the rest is history as they say.

This is why I always say that the gun, is worst invention known to man. Yup, Africans got guns in exchange for other Africans. Then, they put down their spears, (which made it even easier to be kidnapped) and now White people are using spears in an Olympic sport called the Javelin. Ain’t that a bitch? And now here we are centuries later, Black people here in America are killing one another in record numbers every year by using a guns.

If we Black people of African descent here in America had spears, there would more than likely be less murders or Black on Black crime. I mean lets face it, the Bloods & Crips in Africa never really ran around doing throw bye’s, and killing innocent bystanders like they used to do out in L.A. back in the 90′s did they? Seewhumsayin? I mean, just keeping it real, a spear is kinda hard to hide and tuck into the small of your back under a jacket.

Seriously, I think it would be quite uncomfortable to carry a concealed spear. Yeah, you just cannot expect to sneak a spear up in the club, and shit just like that. Are you crazy? And what would that mean for the Black community? Less Black on Black crime, or in particular murders. Not just that, but less cops harassing Blacks like they do looking for guns. Yup, no more racial profiling and all of that racial shit, and we would all be able to live in peace and harmony. Yes, life in America would be different for us folks of African descent if they had just left their guns at home. Now all we have to do is figure out how all these guns get onto our streets everyday.

Can you take a guess how they do?

The post Gun Control: If Only We Could Be Spearchuckers Again appeared first on Madness & Reality.

After reading this, you may ask: How can a mother stand there and let a man do such a thing to her child? Well, the answer is easy: The Bible teaches women to “submit” to their husbands. Additionally, it also says, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” That said, isn’t it easy to understand why something like this actually happened in our much touted civilized society?

After all, isn’t it telling that when they found 7-year-old Roderick Arrington unresponsive after being beaten to near death a day earlier for not reading the Bible, instead of dialing 911, they called their pastor? My guess is that this was all God’s will as well, right? Yep, Jesus loves the little children of the world; yep, even the ones who are physically abused that are raised by parents who love him.

LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) — Markiece and Dina Palmer are accused in the murder of Dina Palmer’s 7-year-old son, who police say died from injuries consistent with child abuse.

It’s a heartbreaking story that’s left so many people asking the question. When the Palmers found second-grader Roderick Arringtonin the morning, the couple says he was unresponsive.

However, they told police they didn’t call 911 first. Instead they called a pastor.

Dina Palmer: Mother of Roderick Arrington

[...] Pastor Kenneth Hollingsworth says he’s as shocked as anyone that Markiece Palmer chose to call him before first-responders.

Metro police said they believe Roderick Arrington was abused at Markiece and Dina Palmer’s home near Decatur and Desert Inn.

Palmer admitted to hitting his stepson on multiple occasions in front of the boy’s mother.

He told police that’s how he would discipline the second-grader.

In the police report, detectives say they found a broken broom stick, belts, cords, spatulas and clothing — all with blood on them.

Roderick was taken to a hospital on Thursday and died a day later. (source)

Now, I’m not opposed to spanking my kids: and, I’ll be the first to admit that. No, you’ll get no argument from me when it comes to corporal punishment as a form of discipline. And I say that having been on the receiving end of more than a few as a child myself. However, whether deserved or not (yes mom, the jury is still out on a few of those). It’s very hard for me to rationalize inflicting the abuse to a child, for lying about reading the Bible. Having said that, I won’t be surprised if Roderick’s mother, Dina Palmer, is also a victim of religious-sanctioned physical and mentalabuse as well.

The arrest report details the child’s injuries, including open abrasions on his buttocks, severe bruising to his thighs, marks and bruises on his back and shoulders and evidence of previous beatings.

Markiece Palmer told police he and Dina Palmer spanked the child November 27th, because he lied about reading a Bible verse. Markiece Palmer said Roderick was spanked again the next day for not finishing his homework. In the arrest report, Markiece Palmer said the boy balled up his fists and “ran at him”. That resulted in Markiece shaking the child. He also told police Roderick slipped at the bottom of the stairs and hit his head on a table and the floor. (source)

Check out the following video:

The post 7-Year-Old Beaten to Death by Stepdad for not Reading Bible While Mom Watched appeared first on Madness & Reality.

I’m not sure if I totally agree with Bob Costas on last night’s now “controversial” halftime commentary on the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher’s murder-suicide. However, I would say that he has a point when speaking to the culture of violence fostered by gun ownership or gun possession. Unfortunately, there are many who disagree, and I see this as part of the problem. So much so that there’s no cry for gun control when the principal parties involved in any violent crime like Jovan Belcher and Kassandra Perkins are people of color.

Yes, guns don’t kill; and yes, it is people with guns who kill. However, the truth is, gun ownership or possession in some cases are in fact not used as a tool of last resort when it comes to conflict resolution. Like I said in a recent post: Gun violence is as American as hot dogs and apple pie.

The post Jason Belcher Murder-Suicide, Bob Costas, & Gun Control appeared first on Madness & Reality.

There is something sick and perverse about George Zimmerman selling autographs to raise money for the cost of his upcoming trial. What this says about Zimmerman or willing participants of such a sordid transaction, I’m not sure. But hopefully, it doesn’t reflect the insidiously pervasive direction of larger society. The last thing we need are twisted individuals receiving stars on Hollywood Boulevard for murders in spite of how justified they may be deemed in a court of law.

Speaking of which, by now, hopefully you’ve heard about yet another senseless murder of yet another 17-year-old black male at the hands of a “responsible” law-abiding white gun owner . I wrote about my initial feelings with regard to the lack of national outrage yesterday. But ironically, as I punch keystrokes, I can hear my man Rev. Al Sharpton speaking (very loudly as always on Politics Nation) about the incident itself. Ask any black person: When it goes down, you want Al on your side.

I take some comfort in knowing that if anybody is on the case to give it the national coverage it deserves — unlike the Daniel Adkins case — it is the good brother, Rev. Al Sharpton. Let’s just say that I can sleep a little better tonight knowing that the brother is watching this one very closely.

Having said that, check out what the shooter, 45-year-old Michael Dunn’s attorney is saying:

Now, for the first time, we’re hearing Dunn’s side of the story, from his attorney Robin Lemonidis. She said, “They were blasting some rap music. And he said he rolled down his window, pulled up on the passenger side, and rolled down his window and asked, would you mind turning that down? And said it very politely.”

The attorney says the teenager in the front seat turned down the radio. But then she says her client heard the teens cussing at him, making threats. She says Dunn rolled down his window and said, “He said excuse me, are you talking to me?”

At that point, she says one of the teenagers told Dunn he was dead. “And that’s when the guy in the back seat raised the barrel of a shotgun over the rim of the window,” said Lemonidis. “At that point, he just snapped into self protection mode.”

Dunn’s attorney claims that’s when her client reached for a gun he had in the glove compartment of his car, loaded it, and fired. “Firing at the car, because they’re showing him a gun, and he can’t see their hands,” she said. “And he doesn’t know. They’re about to blast him in the face with a shotgun, as far as he knows.”

Sounds reasonable, right? I mean, if someone gets a bit upset and refuses to acquiesce my request to turn down loud aggravating hippity hop music, and points a shotgun in my direction after exchanging pleasantries (remember this?). Yes, like me, you too would feel threatened and feel the need to protect your life by using the necessary deadly force it requires, right? Because of course, everybody knows how rap music if played loudly, gives black teens super human strength known to rival that of the Hulk. There’s only one problem, however, there was no guns recovered from the car.

How’s that for being a “responsible” legal gun owner?

So yeah, as Michael Dunn’s attorney says, this case is nothing like the Trayvon Martin case. You hear that? This guy isn’t the obvious racist many perceive George Zimmerman to be. Nope, according to his attorney, he is no “vigilante,” Unlike Zimmerman, he was fearful for his life, And listening to her in the video above, if I was a white man, I’d be afraid too. Again, forget the fact that there was no gun, the fact that there was more than one scary black teen in a car with tinted windows, clearly means there had to be a gun involved somewhere — after all, the music was loud.

As a matter of fact, supposedly Dunn’s attorney also stated that police didn’t find a gun because police didn’t look hard enough. Yep, no need to even plant a gun; nope, the kids were black and the windows were tinted;yep, there had to be a gun in that car. Hell, if the cops looked hard enough, I’m sure they’d also find empty KFC fried chicken boxes,empty malt liquor bottles, and a watermelon-chitlin juice mix on the upholstery. After all, the four occupants of the SUV were all black, no? Not that it should matter; but, I’m just sayin’.

“There are no comparisons to the Trayvon Martin situation,” said Robin Lemonidis, Dunn’s attorney. “He is devastated and horrified by the death of the teen.”

Yep, he was so devastated that he drove off, and slept knowing that a black kid was dead…

Listen, I could go on and on about how this is yet another example of how the negative stereotypes of black people in general, and black males in particular often lead to grave consequences. Yes, we’ve been down this road before on numerous occasions. Instead, I’ll close by saying that other than the obvious, what’s overlooked is how the culture of violence in America facilitates a mindset that’s foreign to the concept of proper conflict resolution. After all, America has taught us that if there’s a problem with someone or something the best way to deal with it, clearly, is to kill it.

Don’t blame the NRA, folks; nope, in American culture the bad guy always wears black.

The post Attorney: Jordan Davis Killer Michael Dunn is no George Zimmerman – But is He? appeared first on Madness & Reality.

It has almost been one year since the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. You remember that case, don’t you? You now, the black teen armed with Skittles and Ice Tea who was gunned down by an over-zealous neighborhood watch captain for wearing a hoodie and looking suspiciously black? Yeah, I’m only asking because the media hype surrounding the case has all but died down — at least to me it has. I mean, it’s not like anyone on is talking about it.

Well, no need for me to restart that debate; heck, I’m still a supporter of the now infamous “Stand Your Ground” laws across the country; and no, I’m not a card-carrying member of the NRA, nor am I one of these lunatic right-wing lunatics. Simply put, I do believe that if my life is threatened and I’m in imminent danger, I have the right to defend myself without having to retreat as the law allows. Having said that, it’s going to be hard to convince me that the law is designed to kill innocent black people. But just in case you might, check out the following story from Florida.

This via jacksonville.com:

17-Year-Old Jordan Russell Davis

Michael David Dunn will be brought from Brevard County to Jacksonville after entering a not-guilty plea to charges of murder and attempted murder in the Friday shooting death of a 17-year-old student at a Jacksonville gas station.

Dunn, 45, of Satellite Beach, waived extradition and should be en route back to Jacksonville before Thursday to face charges in the death of Jordan Russell Davis, according to Lt. Tod Goodyear, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

A gun collector in Jacksonville for his son’s wedding, Dunn told police he felt “threatened” after an argument with the Wolfson High student over loud music coming from a sports-utility vehicle parked next to him at the Gate station at 8251 Southside Blvd. Davis was in the back seat when “there were words exchanged,” followed by gunfire at 7:40 p.m., said Jacksonville homicide Lt. Rob Schoonover.

“Our suspect produced a weapon and started firing into the vehicle. Our victim was shot a couple of times,” Schoonover said. “ … They were listening to the music. It was loud; they [other teens] admitted that. But I mean that is not a reason for someone to open fire on them.”

[...] Davis family members couldn’t be reached for comment. They requested that the school district and Wolfson employees not speak to the news media, according to school system spokeswoman Jill Johnson.

Dunn lives in an oceanfront townhome in Satellite Beach. He is listed on his LinkedIn web page as vice president of software development since 2004 at Dunn and Dunn Data Systems in Fort Pierce.

Schoonover said Dunn and his girlfriend were next to the red SUV containing Davis and three of his friends. Dunn’s girlfriend was inside when Dunn and Davis exchanged words. Shots were fired, leaving Davis hit and eight or nine bullet holes in the SUV, Schoonover said.

The couple drove off after Dunn told her he had “fired at these kids,” Schoonover said. They went to their hotel, then returned to Brevard County when they learned what had happened from local news.

Witnesses gave police Dunn’s license plate number, which led police to his home. Schoonover said Dunn was planning to turn himself in when he was arrested.

Oh, so another black kid gets killed in Florida by a non-black man and not n’aan black person is protesting? Nope, nobody is holding press conferences? Nobody is asking President Obama questions about the case? Hell, nobody is even calling the shooter in this case racist? Shit, where is Sean Hannity and the New Black Panther Party on this one? I mean, unlike the Zimmerman case, this sounds like a serious disregard for black life. Hell, how else can unloading a clip into the backseat of an SUV with kids be characterized if the occupants happen to be black.

But hey, maybe we can do something like a million booming system procession instead of a million hoodie march in protest of the senseless murder of Jordan Russell Davis. Not that playing music too loud is worth dying over; but, maybe it’s the only way we can gain attention and maybe even some justice. Not that this homicide was racially motivated as far as the evidence shows — which is a good thing if you ask me — but let’s hope it stays that way. Really, there’s no need for more talk of race riots in small Florida towns, or any town in America for that matter.

But hey, that’s just me. According to Dunn, Davis had a gun so he shot him to protect himself. Kind of hard to believe his story when you consider that he drove off without as much as making a report to local police. But beyond that, no gun was recovered at the scene by local law enforcement.

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Republicans have waged a war against voter fraud since 2010′s mid-term elections. With sweeping changes in state legislations across the country that have favored the GOP, we have seen many laws implemented to stop in-person voter fraud. We’ve heard it all from dead people to “illegal aliens” casting ballots. And, to listen to the proponents for Voter ID and suppressive laws intended to stifle democracy, most of the people committing these crimes, tend to vote for Democrats.

Never mind the fact that there is an overwhelming lack of evidence to support the notion that in-person voter fraud is a legitimate problem that warrants concern in the interest of protecting the integrity of the democratic process. What’s important is preventing cheating, as has been the “alleged” practice of voters who tend to vote for Democrats — you know, the people responsible for putting Barack Obama in office. You know, racists like Colin Powell who refuse to vote for the white guy because Obama is black ? Yes, melanin afflicted voters genetically predisposed to crime.

Yes, those cheaters — of which, an overwhelming majority of them are people of color — are responsible for fraud, and are a threat to democracy. Having said that, let’s look at one such cheater arrested in Nevada this week, shall we? Yes, let us look at why there is a need for Voter ID laws across the country in spite of the claims of such laws being racially motivated. Yes ladies and gentlemen, meet Nevada resident and voter, Roxanne Rubin, the latest patsy for the Democrats.

This from the Las Vegas Sun:

Investigators today arrested a Southern Nevada woman suspected of trying to vote twice this week at two different polling locations.

Roxanne Rubin was taken into custody as she arrived for work at the Riviera hotel-casino, investigators said. Rubin, 56, is a registered Republican who lives in Henderson, according to the Clark County Registrar.

Rubin allegedly cast a vote Monday at the Anthem Community Center in Henderson. Later that day, she tried to vote a second time at an early voting location on Eastern Avenue, investigators said.

When Rubin arrived at the second location, a poll worker conducted a routine database check and found Rubin had already voted. When confronted by the poll worker, Rubin denied having voted and claimed the database used by the poll worker was wrong.

Poll workers at the Eastern Avenue location blocked Rubin from voting and notified the county registrar’s office, who forwarded the complaint to the Nevada secretary of state.

Wait a minute, this woman was a registered Republican? You mean like the other Republicans currently in trouble for voter fraud? My God, how is that even possible? I mean, everyone knows that Republicans are law-abiding citizens who love God and country. No way is it possible for a white woman to commit such a deed, right? That is, unless she was a Democrat. no? I don’t know about you, but this sounds like this is a set up by the CIA with direct orders from Barack Obama himself.

“There are two important points worth noting in this case,” Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller said. “First, is that as we’ve said and demonstrated in the past, we take all elections complaints very seriously and investigate them thoroughly. Second, this demonstrates the integrity of the system. Someone thought that by going to two different locations they’d be able to cast two ballots. The system immediately caught that, the Task Force responded, and an arrest was made.”

“It’s also worth noting that the Task Force has at least one other case of voting or attempting to vote twice in an election presently under investigation,” Miller said. “We will pursue all such cases and complaints aggressively.”

Rubin was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on one felony count of voting twice in the same election.

The Elections Integrity Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional task force made up of state and federal investigators.

While allegations of voter fraud or faulty voting machines are common during a busy election, Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said this is the first time in his 15 years on the job that a voter has been arrested for trying to cast two ballots.

During early voting, poll workers use a database to look up a voter’s registration when the voter checks in at the poll. A card used to activate the voting machine is then programmed with the voter’s information and the voter is logged as having cast a ballot. If the voter tries to check in a second time, an alert will flash on a poll worker’s screen, Lomax said.

“When we pull you up, if you already voted, it says so right on the screen,” Lomax said. “It says this person voted at this site, where and when they voted.”

Daily audits are done at each early voting site to make sure the number of activated cards match the number of ballots cast. In Rubin’s case, the card numbers matched the number of ballots submitted exactly, dispelling any concerns that Rubin may have received an activated card but never cast a ballot, Lomax said.

Sorry, but I’m convinced that this woman is being railroaded by those election-stealing Democrats. Lord knows they have a history of electoral improprieties and irregularities. Speaking of which, check out the video below to see what those cheaters are doing out in California with absentee ballots.

The post FBI Arrests Nevada Republican Attempting To Vote Twice appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Not to belabor a point, but let’s follow-up on what I wrote yesterday in response to Richard Mourdock’s ridiculous comment. Yes, let’s take another look at the idea that a woman becoming pregnant as a consequence of being raped needs to succumb to “God’s will,” and as such, should not be allowed to legally have an abortion. As I noted yesterday, there are many who support this Mourdock’s stated opinion; and, many are coming to his defense. That said, in an attempt to make the idea of a woman being raped all the more real, let’s meet 37-year-old, Tiana Stevens.

I came across Stevens’ story via News One. The article they did was heart wrenching, but it could not have come at a better time. I say that because as my wife and I discussed, it’s easy for people and politicians like Mourdock to discuss rape and incest without having been victimized themselves; or, without have any close and personal experience with anyone who has actually been through such a horrific experience. But, with women being sexually assaulted every 45 seconds here in the United States; and, with 1 in 15 sexual assaults resulting in pregnancy, rape is very real, folks.

So yes, let’s take a look at one woman’s story. That’s right, meet Tiara Stevens, a rape survivor and single mother to her son who also happens to be her brother. Yep, Tiara was sexually assaulted by her father repeatedly when she was 12-years-old, and gave birth to, well, her brother.

Would you really be willing to go through it?

Unfortunately for Tiara, she didn’t have that option. As she stated in the video above, she had no idea she was pregnant until the baby was born. But I have to wonder, what if she knew? What if she knew she was pregnant, would she want to willingly go through a pregnancy and deliver a child fathered by her father at 13-years-old? I think we can all agree that at that age, life is pretty much complicated as is. Why then would a young woman want to burden herself with the emotional scar of giving birth to her father’s child? Should she too in her not-yet-formed adult mind accept her circumstance as “God’s will,” and her child as a “gift” from God? As a parent, can you honestly say that it would be?

Do you really believe hat?

Tiara Stevens was raped by father when she was 12-years-old and became pregnant — yeah, God gave her the gift of a bouncing baby boy. What’s really awesome, is that she didn’t have an abortion and gave birth to her brother… eww… who quite naturally has a host of medical problems and is blind.

Having said that, I wonder how many of you “believers” are still of the opinion that a woman (or girl) conceiving a child when raped is still a “gift” from God.? I’m only asking because if this is a blessing, then maybe abortion should be illegal and not an option for women who through no fault of their own, are victimized…. oops, I meant blessed by God. I mean, am I wrong, or am I wrong? Oh well, you can watch Tiara’s full interview below. Yep, pay attention to the part where she said her father found out she was pregnant when the baby kicked while he was having sex with her.

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