Posts tagged ‘gun laws ‘
MUHAMMAD ALI… GONE AND I DOUBT THAT ‘THE GREATEST’S’ FLAME WILL EVER BE FORGOTTEN… OR GO OUT… and ORLANDO GAY CLUB KILLINGS…
Well, even his illness Muhammad Ali managed to avoid having passed long ago. For sure
LOUISVILLE, KY – JUNE 09: Muhammad Ali’s second wife Khalilah Camacho-Ali (L), his fourth wife Lonnie Ali (C), and daughter Laila Ali (R), holding a grandchild, attend an Islamic prayer service at the Kentucky Exposition Center on June 9, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Jenazah service was held for the four-time world heavyweight boxing champion, who died on June 3 at age 74. A procession and memorial service are scheduled for Friday. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
some will say he fought a great fight… and perhaps his greatest was out side the ring fighting Parkinson.
I really do not know many people who have had the staying power of 
Muhammad Ali when it comes to battling the disease of Parkinson. And I guess 1 can say Ali fought and won because he managed, regardless of all the shaking… to keep his humor and be able to see the world in a light that most of us have no idea of… and the blessings we all have who do not have to battle to live or do for ourselves.
FILE – In this Oct. 1, 1975, file photo, spray flies from the head of challenger Joe Frazier as heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali connects with a right in the ninth round of their title fight in Manila, Philippines. Ali, the magnificent heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world, has died according to a statement released by his family Friday, June 3, 2016. He was 74. (AP Photo/Mitsunori Chigita, File)(AP6_4_2016_000105A)
I will never forget when Ali stood before the cameras and said because he did not believe in killing people based upon his religious belief… he, 
therefore, refused to be drafted and go to war, and fight in the Vietnam war. That action caused many who hated this young black kid, who was so skillful in the boxing ring to get the ammunition to really go after him. But though that action did color his earlier boxing achievements… and ended up with his title being taken from him, 
Muhammad Ali never let that stop him from being the regal sportsmen he continued to be until the day he died.
Another time I will never forget is when Ali during his time from being not allowed to box 
by the U. S. government… came to visit our college campus. He was in our Black House… the black student organization building… and he came to talk to us. I cannot remember what Ali talked about… as all I can remember about that day was that there were a number of us black students in the our Black House that day… and Ali took a hundred dollar bill and bought McDonald’s for all 
of us. This may not sound like much to you but to a whole bunch of mid-afternoon starving college students it was something truly great. We were ecstatic that this great boxer was on our campus and we had a chance to meet him 1 on 1. Could not get home quick enough to tell my daddy… who was a major Muhammad Ali fan.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to witness Ali from the
Mohammed Ali
beginning until his end can truly say that he was indeed ‘the greatest of all times.’ No other box has bought to the prize ring the kind of interest and excitement of an Muhammad Ali fight… which was always colorful and full of rhythms such as, ‘Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’ Or give us a thrill like the ‘Thriller in Ma’nilla.’
Not many have lived to see the greatest basketball player of all times..
. Michael Jordan. Or the greatest female sister 
tennis players of all times… Venus and Serena Williams. Or the greatest base ball players of all times… Hank Aaron. The greatest golfer of all times… Tiger Woods. Or the greatest female vocalist of all times… Whitney Houston… and the greatest entertainer of all times… Michael Jackson. 
And Muhammad Ali the greatest heavy weight boxer of all times… from the Olympics into the professional boxing ring. And what a gift for trash talking
The winners of the 1960 Olympic medals for light heavyweight boxing on the winners’ podium at Rome: Cassius Clay (now Muhammad Ali) (C), gold; Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland (R), silver; and Giulio Saraudi (Italy) and Anthony Madigan (Australia), joint bronze. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
…until 1 day God shut all that down… but did not take his life until now.
Yes, he was pretty. No boxer prettier… or sharper or more on point 
than Ali. And an Ali fight was guaranteed to be exciting and filled with the unexpected.
Watching the funeral on the television and seeing all the religious leaders seated on the 
stage at Ali’s funeral, and being fully aware of Ali’s own religious beliefs… I could not help 
but think, ‘If you serve anything other than the 1 and only living God, and his son Jesus… than you can belong to as many religion groups as you want, and be the very best person in the world and never make it to heaven.’
It is my hope that Muhammad Ali’s last and fight battle was 1 he also won… and came to professed that Jesus is Lord, and not a lower prophet under Allah.
Odd how that massive and very powerful man was never stopped by any of his opponents, who were also big strong massive heavy weight men with plenty of strength. But having
U.S. boxing great Muhammad Ali poses during the Crystal Award ceremony at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 28, 2006. REUTERS/Andreas Meier/File Photo
suffered so many head injuries brought about a disease that ‘the greatest’ wrestled with for a very long time… and now probably never was overcome by it… but by age instead. And he went out of here smiling at the ripe old age of 74…smiling because he defeated Parkinson too… but could not overcome age though many have tried.
One thing is for sure …Foreman… Frazier… and all the rest would never be nothing if there had not been an Ali, who allowed them the privilege 
to claim into his ring…
Well, God bless… and hope you have a beautiful weekend this weekend. But as I close I cannot help but think about the terrible chain of events that took place in Orlando just this week.
After over a hundred people were shot and more than 50 killed it is insane to me to hear any pastor or supposed religious 
man laughing and stating from his pulpit that the cold blooded murder who shot and killed those people should have killed everybody who was in that 
gay club?
I have wonder what Bible are people studying from?
What manner of doctrine are they reading where it says, ‘God hated homosexuals enough to want them all dead.” If that were the case I am more 
than sure that God even back in Biblical times surely would not have stopped with merely 
Sodom and Gomorrah… especially since it is widely known as recognized as almost customary for such things as that among 
men in Greece during that time.
There is no way that this Orlando gay night club shooting should not be classified as a ‘hate crime’ irregardless of the ethnic background of the shooter and his religion… because this crime was perpetrated solely against the gay men in that club for reasons of hate… due to their sexuality … perhaps because he found them to be attractive… and of interest to his sick perverted sexual 
desires, which to the shooters ethnic group were both against his religion and ethnicity. Whom himself frequent that club trying to date many of those men… and met up with Hispanic gay men over the internet. And there can be denying that this all came about just as we entered into June, which is gay pride month.
Our God has not given unto us the spirit of hate… or hate mongering. But of love. Biblical scripture tells us that we are to love one another as we lover ourselves… this comes without conditions or any special exemptions.
http://www.advocate.com/religion/2016/6/14/baptist-pastor-who-cheered-orlando-murders-isnt-alone
I’m off my band wagon for now. But I pray that God sincerely touch every heart and change ever deprived mind that seeks to do evil.
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” http://www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2016
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Add a comment June 18, 2016
ZIMMERMAN TRIAL ONE BIG FARCE…
If it had been a Saturday Night Live skit from beginning to end then maybe it might have been funny. Except for the fact that someone’s life was grievously taken this whole thing was 
anything but a joke.
I really do believe that the prosecution… the DA office… should first of all be investigated. Because this trial was one of the biggest disasters since Ojay Simpson. From the picking of the jurors to that supposed medical autopsy doctor something was seriously wrong.
Why in the first place were 6 women chosen for the jury, 
and primarily, if not all of them, white?
One could hardly call that a group of George Zimmerman’s peers. None of them appeared to me to look in anyway like George Zimmerman’s true peers… whom I would believe to be men about his age, of similar backgrounds etc.. etc.. And on what merits were those women chosen?
Based upon things said by Juror #37 once it was all over… if she can be believed… they all went into the jury pool already with their minds made up before they were even chosen to be 
jurors. And some like Juror #37 … I have no doubt also had hidden agendas like coming out with their own book deals and television interviews.
So, just how did such people make the cut and end up in that jury box?
Why would anybody question supposed jurors saying… ‘Knock knock, whose there?’
What kind of jury selection did that of retarded examination of possible jurors bring about?
Maybe the prosecution was just trying to determine who was brain dead from who wasn’t. And he chose the brain dead.
When you truly look at this case you have to ask yourself was the prosecution for Trayvon Martin’s family… or was the DA office working against them?
When doctor KooKoo… don’t know his name and I am not going to try to find out. But when
that man took the stand… now the whole thing really went into the Twight Light Zone.
Was this man really a doctor?
Had he not ever been prepared by the prosecution office for this hearing before hand?
Did he really know anything about doing or handling an autopsy?
To all these questions the answers appears to be a resounding ‘NO.’
From the moment that autopsy doctor opened his mouth the lawyers supposedly representing Trayvon Martin, the victim in this case, should have entered ‘OBJECTION’ after objection. Through this whole trial Perry Mason and Matlock were probably rolling over in their graves… and they weren’t even real lawyers. But I sure could hear some ‘objections‘ needed to be stated.
For 1 thing, the autopsy doctor referred to having conferred with another doctor regarding marijuana. Objection!
Since the other doctor was not there to substantiate that conversation… testimony of such should have been objected to.
Two, that autopsy doctor came to court with some notes which he stated he had prepared the night before. Objection!
Here was a guy who clearly stated that he could not remember the facts of his autopsy. Then why should notes written by him some… what 12 or so months later be allowed in as part of his testimony?
If he could not remember any facts on that autopsy, then clearly any notes written mostly recently would be moot and should have been of no apparent good in this case. Because they would be based upon his present memory or recollections as opposed to when he actually performed the autopsy.
Thirdly, the autopsy doctor was confrontational… and I don’t know how long he had been in this country… but he kept 
acting like he didn’t understand English. So, then how good was a testimony of anyone like that… who might not be really sure about what he was saying?
One has to wonder whether or not the autopsy doctor was paid off?
And if he worked in my department… after that performance on the witness stand… whether he was either performing to be highly incompetent or really is highly incompetent… I would have sent him packing. FIRED!
That guy was definitely highly unprofessional. And I cannot help but wonder if it was not just an act on his part.
Nextly, one really has to wonder….
‘WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE PROSECUTION CALL this woman to testify?
Did they not go over her testimony with her?
Did they not know what questions to avoid… like ‘what did he say about the man watching him?’ Her response…. ‘He called him a creepy ass cracker.’
WHAT????
Could that testimony not be any more damaging to this case?
She had to have say that to the prosecution before they even put her on the stand. So, they knew it would be damaging to Trayvon, for the jurors to hear that.
It appears that the prosecutors in this case purposely set about to sabotage it. Not once… not twice …but time and time again.
There are various other parts of this case which just do not add up. Such as why the 
prosecution did not push further with all those witnesses on Zimmerman’s side which claimed it was ‘Georggie’s voice‘ that they recognized as the person screaming.
We live in a time of vast technological equipment. Equipment that is able to do voice recognition… voice separation… voice isolation… voice tracking… voice this and voice that… Including removal of any additional sounds outside of what you are focusing on. They have equipment that can do just about anything you want it to do… including voice distortion and correction.
So, then why was no technical equipment used in this case to determine who the possible screamer really was?
Equipment could have been rolled into that court and that recording played over and over for those witnesses… recordings mixed with fake voices screaming to see if they could determine the real recording or the fake. Experts in sound and voice could have been called in to testify… but they were not. Nor was any equipment used to decipher whose voice it really was that had been screaming.
I listened to the 911 calls with the screams in the background… and coming from years in radio I have a very good ear. And those screams did not come from a 27 or 28 year old man. Nor was the voice non-African American. And on top of all of that… just ask yourself who screams for help when they have a gun in their 
hand?
Remember, now… that there was no evidence that Trayvon’s hand was ever on Zimmerman’s gun. There was no 
evidence in fact that Trayvon ever even touched Zimmerman. The forensic people found no traces of Zimmerman’s DNA under Trayvon’s nails… nor any bruises on his hands or knuckles.
The other issue in this case was the fact that there was so much 911 evidence in this case was against George Zimmerman. On 1 recording of a 911 operator, she clearly asked Zimmerman ‘are you following him?‘
To which Zimmerman answered ‘yes.’
That operator told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon and to get back into his car. Which George Zimmerman certainly from the outcome in the death of Trayvon… totally ignored.
Also, based upon the merits of that 911 recording alone Zimmerman was clearly stalking Trayvon. Therefore, Zimmerman was the predator… a man with a gun who approached an unarmed young person, who later was found shot to death by him. One bullet straight into his heart.
I have no doubt that George Zimmerman perpetrated a hate crime against Trayvon Martin. And that his call to 911 was a systematic attempt on George Zimmerman’s part to build a scenario for that 911 operator, for circumstances that he would later claim provoked him into the killing of Trayvon Martin. An act which I believe came across Zimmerman’s sick mind probably from the moment his eyes fell upon the young black teenage, Trayvon Martin, walking in the darkness of night… in the rain on his way home from the corner store.
The statements that Zimmerman made in his 911 call clearly show a concise and calculated mind working, at setting up a painted picture of the young black teenage male, whom he was following claiming that he ‘looked like’ a criminal and ‘was out to do’ something illegal. While on the contrary, Trayvon Martin was just a kid who happened to be on his way home from a local corner store. And it was Zimmerman who was the 1 working with a criminal mind… and a blind intent to kill a young innocent boy.
There are many people who believe that George Zimmerman was protecting 
himself… standing his ground, if you will. As Florida has a law called ‘Stand Your Ground.’ Meaning you have a right to protect yourself if you feel that your life is threatened.
Zimmerman had taken self-defense classes, was carrying an armed weapon, and he had aspiration of being a cop and/or lawyer like his dad, who just so happened to be a judge. Trayvon Martin had not taken any martial arts classes, and was only carrying a small bag of candy and a can of ice tea. Based upon that… who do you really think was more lethal?
I sincerely hope the Federal Government steps into 
this case, because the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law is a very dangerous piece of law. It reminds me of the ol’ south when white men would purposely go out seeking to start trouble with a black man or woman. So, they would step in front of them or do something to elicit some type of response from the victim, via their coercion of them. Whereby many black men and women were either killed, endangered, terrorized, houses burnt down, lost their businesses, and/or chased out of town etc…
Such laws as Stand Your Ground were and are not meant to protect all people… just certain people. And this case 
involving the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin is a clear indication of that.
What right more or is necessary …or does this law of ‘Stand Your Ground’ give to anyone, that has or is not given already by the Declaration of Independence in this country?
The Declaration of Independence states ‘all men’… not some have more rights than others. It states that all men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights. And it begins by saying… We hold these truths to be self-evident. It then goes on to say…. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Unalienable rights… what are those?
They are God given rights.
The right to defend ourselves is a right given to each and everyone of us. Whereas, such laws as ‘Stand Your Ground’ are intended and are only applied for certain people… and not for others.
Back in the days… lets go to the days after slavery when supposedly the slaves had been freed. Yet, they were not allowed to look white people directly in the eyes. And often were taunted into some type of reaction for which they may have been killed… whipped… spat upon… mocked etc…
One could hardly say that they… those black folk then did not have a right to respond to such actions to provoke them. 
But based upon certain imposed or otherwise implied or ‘understood’ laws, mostly in the old south… laws not written but understood based upon you… meaning black folk… knowing ‘our so-called place.’
Did not Trayvon Martin have a right to go to the store, and a reasonable right then be able to return home safely without some mad man shooting him down killing him for no apparent reason… other than his skin color?
Where were the rights of Trayvon Martin ever addressed in this case of the City of Sanford vs. 
George Zimmerman?
If indeed, Trayvon had been straddling Zimmerman in a fist fight.
Did not Trayvon Martin have the God given right given to him by nature, if no other law could protect him… than the law of self-preservation?
Why should Travyon Martin then have been demonized for trying to protect himself against someone whom he perceived to be a perpetrator who was out to kill him… when Zimmerman walked upon him and shoved that gun up in his face?
There was not 1 point or place where you can truly say that the prosecution truly tried to win this case. They did a lousy job of picking jurists. They failed to object to various infractions and irregularities as they appeared in this case. And they never seemed committed to win at all.
71-year-old black man found guilty of manslaughter, jury rejects 'Stand Your Ground' claim
If the truth be told this case never should have been held in Sanford, FL… but in some other 
county if not state. The authority and connections of Zimmerman’s judge father made this case an impossible case to get a fair trial in such a small little town… with so much at stake, and so many hands easily washed.
This is 1 of those rare times that I must say I disagree with Bill… That is Bill Crosby. Bill says you can’t prove that Zimmerman is a racist. Yes, that might well be somewhat true. But you can’t prove that he isn’t a racist either. Ooooh, wait a minute…
Wasn’t it Zimmerman who did all that racial profiling of Trayvon Martin in his 911 call, before he actually shot him to death?
That alone gave you a keen insight as to what or how George Zimmerman felt about young black males. And his actions 
spoke the rest.
Anyone who would have racially profile someone as in-dept as George Zimmerman painted that picture in his 911 call, of what Trayvon Martin looked like, his demeanor… his supposed behavior… etc. cannot be considered anything less than a racist. And there is no way of 
getting around that.
Zimmerman said that the person he was ‘following’ was someone who looked like he was up to no good… that it appeared as though he’s on drugs or something… he’s black or Hispanic… he has his hands on his waistband (meaning like he was packing a gun). And then Zimmerman said… ‘these @#!# they always get away.’
THAT’S NOT RACIAL PROFILING?
http://misterbillohno.newsvine.com/_news/2013/07/10/19392176-transcript-of-george-zimmerman-911-call
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-verdict-2013-7
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/north_america/jan-june13/zimmerman_06-24.html
In the CNN story below the person being interviewed states that the Trayvon Martin case was
not a case of racial profiling, because racial profiling can only take place when someone is involved in law enforcement. I am a dissenting voice to this theory and statement with regard 
to this case. Because that definition can be extended to include anyone ‘believing’ he is a law enforcement officer. There is no secret about George Zimmerman and history of fantasying becoming a cop.
A psychologist should have been brought into this case who could have clearly said that George Zimmerman portrayed certain traits, habits, and forms of behavior and language that indicated he felt he was operating as a cop. When taken into perspective even George’s scio-background, family history, and his history of prepping himself and taking up martial arts etc. all unquestionably show Zimmerman 
to be a man possessed with a deep rooted desire to be cop, or someone involved in some matter in law enforcement. Hence, his position as ‘CAPTAIN’ of the neighborhood watch.
It is quite clear that George Zimmerman wanted to be a police officer. When that avenue did not open up to him… he then tried to study law. And that failed too.
So, the next step was to join the neighborhood watch. It is not hard to draw a correlation between that and George actually being a cop on the beat. George 
Zimmerman was clearly and unequivocally a wanna-be-cop, and all his actions and language on the night, in which he confronted Trayvon Martin, attest to it. And this is not a large leap or even a very short hop to get to.
The other thing about Zimmerman… he obviously suffers from a feeling of wanting to be a hero. He appears to be the kind of person you read about who goes to work in a hospital…and awaits an opportunity to unplug somebody’s life support machine… then quickly plug it back in just in the brink of time, then claim that he saved that person’s life. When in reality he was the person who had thrown the person’s life into jeopardy in the first place.
It is not hard to see that Zimmerman was… or is… a loser. Perhaps even a black sheep in a family, of 
what seems to be full of people who are professionally involved in law enforcement in varying capacities. But everything and time that George tried to do in order to get in… it would appear that he just could not make the cut.
I had a dispute with a friend over George’s 
weight. Because at 1 point there arose this question of Zimmerman’s weight as opposed to the weight of Trayvon Martin. Which of course should have also been a key point in this case.
When Zimmerman finally turned himself in… some 45 days after the killing of 
Trayvon… it was apparent to me that Zimmerman had gone on some type of crash diet during those days. The issue was whether or not Zimmerman weighted considerably more than Trayvon Martin? Even in the picture of above of Zimmerman being lead into court … you can see that the suit he is wearing is a lot larger than he is. However, during the hearing walla… a much fuller fatter Zimmerman, and his clothes seem to fit him just fine. Meaning Zimmerman’s body mass between the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon and the time Zimmerman finally went to trial… shows Zimmerman at his true weight and mass, when the young teenager was shot to death. But, of course, 
Zimmerman’s side had good reason to want to dispel the fact that Zimmerman was much heavier in body weight to Trayvon. Hence, Zimmerman’s miraculous weight lose before turning himself into the police department in Sanford. Otherwise, that story made up by the Defense Attorneys of a helpless and fearful George Zimmerman at the hands of a Trayvon Martin just would not have played out. 
Nobody would have believed that.
So, George had to lose that weight. Which, of course, as you see in his court pictures that he totally gained back.
Then there is the camera footage of Zimmerman that night following the supposed fight that lead to the untimely demise of a young Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman’s head had no cuts or lacerations.
If the truth be told there were a lot of ‘so-called’ myths that the Zimmerman team wanted to 
dispel… and some they wanted to seriously promote.
Some myths about Zimmerman…
- 1. He always told the truth
- 2. His family was full of truth loving people
- 3. Zimmerman didn’t stalk Trayvon
- 4. Zimmerman was really in fear of his life
- 5. Zimmerman feared Trayvon was going to kill him
- 6. Zimmerman was a good law abiding citizen
- 7. Zimmerman had great reasons to believe his life was in danger
Some myths the Zimmerman team wanted to promote about Trayvon…
- 1. Trayvon was a wayward kid
- 2. Trayvon was a trouble maker
- 3. Trayvon was an addict
- 4. Trayvon was out looking for trouble
- 5. Trayvon was out to kill Zimmerman
- 6. Trayvon beat Zimmerman
- 7. Trayvon had a right to be killed
Let me stop right here. Who has ever seen anybody who fell to the ground hitting their head?
When did they get up with a cut or cuts?
I have hit the ground and have seen people bang their heads and they always ended up with a knot in their head. Big bump. The harder they fell the bigger the bump on their head. But never did I see a straight cut appear in anybody’s head, from someone falling to the ground and hitting their head.
Here again is a big problem that I had with the forensic evidence in this case. These are the kinds of things that real professions are called into Court to testify about. But this case had no real forensic people. No big wig specialist… like in the Ojay Simpson case.
Those cuts on the back of George 
Zimmerman’s head could have clearly been blown up and recognized as having not been done by some type of fall to the ground. And lugging all the concrete sidewalks in the world into court could not prove otherwise.
This case had so many missed opportunities on the part of the DA office… you really have to wonder if they ever intended to try this case to win it?
And that answer here again would have to be a resounding ‘NO.’
Clearly, Trayvon Martin’s case biggest opposition or problem were the very people who were supposed to be seeking justice for his murder.
I really do hope that Mr. President, Barack Obama, sends in the Feds to take on this case. Because Trayvon Martin truly deserves justice. He had done nothing for which his young life should have been stolen from him. And by his cries for help… he dearly did not wish to die… or deserved to.
Bill Cosby, Charles Barkley, Shari… whatever her name on 
the View, President Jimmy Carter… and many others who felt that this case and its verdict was just… definitely missed something. This was no ‘new thing.’ It is something that we as black folk in America have long had to deal with. Trials like this one are not new. And 
we have come to recognize them when we see them… and know them when we hear their verdicts.
All of this… the trial and the circumstances which brought about the trial are all historic. Even to the having of some black folk who want to say ‘Oh, it wasn’t racist.’ When it clearly was nothing but racist. Race had everything to do with Trayvon Martin being killed… and there is just no getting around it.
I was really hoping… as we always do… that the jury would do the right thing based upon the shear 
merits of this case… and also having full knowledge that Zimmerman was a liar. Also, being fully aware that it was Zimmerman not Trayvon who had been the provoker. But in looking back over the court pictures… where Zimmerman does an awful lot of smiling for a man, who should believe he might be found guilty, and have to spend the rest of his life in
prison. Too much smiling in fact…
So, now looking over these pictures and seeing this smiling Zimmerman, it appears to me now that Zimmerman knew how this case was going to go to end up right from the very start. That is really very unfortunate… 
money and power play a big factor in the outcome of a lot court outcomes. But I guess having a father with connections… goes a long way to assuring a favorable outcome.
I just finished watching a video of Geraldo Rivera talking about the Trayvon Martin case. It is funny how much people change over time. I thought Geraldo used to be a lot smarter. Based upon Geraldo’s take on this case, any one of us could have been shot dead and would have been alright. Based upon Geraldo’s assumption, if we look just like some black guys who were supposedly vandalizing that neighborhood then it is okay to kill you.
Now, how stupid is that… and ignorant?
I don’t know how long the myth that all black folks look alike has been going around in 
America… but it has. We know we don’t look alike… but to some people we all look like criminals …murders… crack fiends… and welfare fraud people etc…
Shame on Geraldo. He must be trying to get a new tv show or renew his contract. Some people will do and say anything… for a little money. He must need it real bad… And he sure looks old.
Guilty by looking like a criminal. Trayvon was dressed just like most teens dress, black or white… Hispanic or Asian etc… You see them all day long with hoodies everywhere… going to school… coming from school… riding 
skateboards… on bikes. When did wearing a hoodie mean you were a criminal?
And though I do not like the style… it is a style for the kids… shagging pants. A hoodie and shagging pants does not make anyone a criminal. Much less worthy of dying. And because somebody’s house or neighborhood is having problems does not mean you go out shooting anybody you think looks like the type who did it.
Where is the justice in that?
I pray justice and peace for the Martin family… and America.
I have to admit that on this topic Mike Tyson spoke saying something that I very much can agree upon… or with him on. When asked what he thought about this case… Mike said, “I don’t know any more than what I have seen on television. But I do know that kid should not have ended up dead.”
In happening to catch a segment of The View, they were discussing the trial and I have to say 
that I truly admire Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s stance on this, and her outrage is truly worthy of my mentioning. As a mother ever woman should be highly upset regarding the circumstances of this case, and the cruel, brutal and cold blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.
I did… but I have mostly done so on Facebook.
The other reason is I sprang my right foot. It has been a few weeks now. I had pain in it before… but not realizing it after I stepped into a hole and twisted my foot that I had done damage to it. Which while at a convention in Baltimore I had plenty of time in between limping around, and trying to stay off of it… I spent a lot my down time watching the case on TV. Because there wasn’t much else I could really as my foot was killing me.
My foot is still bothering me. I understand it takes about 16 weeks for a sprang foot to heal. 
So, I am trying to stay off of it as much as possible still.
And the other reason it took me so long to write this blog was, of course, the weather… ALL THIS HEAT.
It has been soooooooo hot and humid here. The humidity was almost unbearable. Every time I got up to do the slightest thing… sweat would be pouring down my face… my nose… my brows etc… I was showering up to 6 times per day. Because I cannot stand to be sweaty… even with an aching 
foot. Yeah, pain or no pain into the shower I went. But the weather has broken now. And I hope it stays this way.
I certainly hope you fared well… better than me in all this heat… and got done all you needed to do. Have a good rest of this week… and I will catch you again soon. I’ve got to go put my foot back up.
And again I thank those of you very much who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself. And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2013
Add a comment July 25, 2013
A PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE…Sandy Nook Elementary School
Wrote this on my Facebook page….
“Can’t imagine getting up early in the morning and rushing to work…and seeing my children off to school…only to hear my child’s teacher’s son came to school with a gun shooting to death his own mother…and stealing away the life and breath of my baby as well…and 17 other poor little children unfortunate enough to be that boy’s mother classroom.
And he takes his own life without enough courage to face me…
My, Lord…when will this come to an end?
Had that young merely taken his own life first…
This current situation is more than sad….
Christmas for those parents will never be the same…nor their lives…
I pray a peace that surpasses all understanding come to them all right now…in Jesus name…”
enlisted in the arm services dread getting that call… or knock on their front door telling them that their son or daughter had been killed in battle.
deranged intruder steps in wheeling guns and begins picking off your child and all his classmates. Bang… bang… bang… bang… bang… And the teacher of the class… the school principal and other members of the staff and school?
thought was safe?
too much today… and you hoped that they didn’t get sick from anything they may have eaten last night?
enough to despise your child and every child in his mother’s classroom enough to kill them too?
whole story sounds like one motivated by selfishness. Because if it wasn’t then what was the purpose of also killing every child in that classroom?
off every little child in his mother’s classroom?
No… I think not. It cannot bring back all… or even 1 of those innocent lives which it so ruthlessly took. Twenty-six people… 16 or 18 little children… between the ages of 5 to 10… whose parents will never forget yesterday… when they woke up their child was alive. And less than 3 or 4 hours later they were not.
the strong lobbyist that are so adamant against laws being put in place against guns… it is these very people who are not locking up their guns which become so readily accessible to their wacked out children… who think it fun to go to school and kill a bunch of people.
all should be saying enough is enough.
they own should be taken. They can, of course, never repay for the lives that may have been taken by their child. But the parents should suffer financially as well… because evidently they were not paying attention …or the guns were too accessible to their wayward child.
It is insane.
Add a comment December 16, 2012
Condoleezza Rice…the clock is ticking…
Well, she has decided that she is ready to go back to life in the regular 
lane…forget the fast lane…or the jet lane. No, she doesn’t want that any more. She is tired of all the lights…TV cameras and microphones being thrown into her face….and everybody holding their breath for her every word. She is giving up getting up early on Sunday mornings to go Meet the Press. She has finished shaking the hands of State leader after State leader. No, she is giving it all up to now go to greeting college students.
Yeah, it is back to teaching. And I can only believe she will be looking forward to it.
But after a while will she still enjoy it?
That is the question. It is hard to believe that going back to teaching will be something that will able to hold her for long. After having the life that she has lead for the past 8 years…can you really go back to teaching and ever be satisfied again?
One thing you can really respect about Condoleezza Rice besides her poise, brains and quiet professionalism…is the way she has managed to keep her private life out of the media. Having such a high profile life…it could not have been easy at all. Because I am sure that they have all been looking…to spot Condi and somebody.
But she mastered it…somehow. Because I am sure that she has not spent the last 8 years alone. When you are in the eyes of the world….somebody in going to try to catch your attention. So, I am sure that there have been many suitors vying for her attention. Yet, somehow she managed not to get tangled in one media story after another over her love life and who she was or is dating now. 
And on top of it all…no one will ever be 
able to say…that she did not do her job well.
“Bravo to you, Madam Secretary of State.”
And good luck at Sanford….I am sure your classes are all going to be quite full with long waiting list of students waiting on stand-by to get in.
I really admire another thing about Condoleezza Rice…and this whole new breed of black folk who are in positions of power and prestige. They are no longer afraid or ashamed of their blackness. They love who they are…and celebrate their lives and history as black folk in America. And we do have much to be very proud of…years and years of it…and all kinds of black folk who lit our way.
Besides walking the halls and grounds of Sanford University…I am sure that there are plenty of book deals waiting on Condoleezza Rice. And I am sure that she has many rich stories to relay…without the lost of her dignity or integrity. You can just tell that about her…can’t you?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/26/AR2008112603232.html
http://www.wkrg.com/local/article/future_plans/12602/
Everybody should not be allowed to have a gun permit and I don’t care who they are.
Saturday I was in the beauty salon getting my hair done when this peddler came in. He was towing a suitcase loaded with incense, oils
and various special soaps. I had seen this guy for many years and never said more to him than ‘hi’….or him to me.
But on this particular day he took a seat beside me and began talking to me as if we went way back as friends. He began to tell me how he and his wife had broken up a couple of years ago and how foolish she had been. To my surprise I had known his wife…and he knew that. I didn’t really know that this guy knew me. But he not only knew me, but one of my brothers and my father.
Needless to say, I was quite surprised by all of this. But what surprised me even more was when he lifted up his jacket and showed me a pistol he was packing on his side.
I don’t like guns…and I don’t trust people who carry them.
After having seen this guy for years standing out on the streets peddling his wares I never once thought he had a gun…or anything 
close to a weapon on him. I never really ever thought the guy was… Well, was all there…if you know what I mean. There was just something about him. He never smiled…and certainly never seemed to have much of a personality.
The person whom he had been married to… Well, I was surprised when he told me that she had been his wife. I wouldn’t have thought that she would have married someone like this guy. Not that I knew him…but he just didn’t seem to have much going on. And she was nice and smart…and not someone who I thought would have fallen 
for a guy such as this guy.
But the guy went on talking to me about his gun. How he could pull it apart and how quickly he could put it back together again. How he had taken it apart when he boarded the train to come back to our town…and how he had wrapped it in a special plastic so that it would not be detected.
This guy was dangerous.
Then he started pulling out his gun permits. Yes, I did say gun permits.
All of this this guy did…and he had never in his life every spoken to me before. And he did this while he continued to talk to me about his wife. Needless to say…when he finally got up and I thought about it over a few hours…I have come to the conclusion that that guy was a walking time bomb. And that the clock was ticking…
Because I could hear and see that he was depressed over the divorce of his wife…and he was walking around carrying a very dangerous weapon.
We never know from one moment to the next…who we are standing beside or what they are going through. In the world we live in today with all the problems of people being out of work, laid off, job closing, forclosures, evictions, divorce, separations etc…etc… there are a lot of time bombs walking around.
I really don’t want to come across the guy again…because I recognized that he was unstable as well as being dangerous.
Well, it is beautiful today. Still plenty of snow and ice though. And all I can think about is how nice it is not have to get up for any more 8 o’clock classes…in fact classess at all. I am so happy…I just keep smiling….‘free at last…free at last…thank God, I am free at last.’
God bless…and thank you for reading this blog…and please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
Add a comment January 12, 2009
O.J… can’t seem to get it right
Poor ol’ O.J…you really got to feel sorry for the guy.
Trouble just seems to follow him. For a man who once had everything that, I guess, most people would have liked…somehow it all just got away from him…it slipped through his fingers. It happened one night following a long trail of events which really if you examined them were on the road to doom. And doom it was…it ended in murder.
Had it been written by some great British suspense writer the scenes and scenarios 
could not have been better written. It had all the clues and every bit of the suspense of a top rated thriller.
But this latest farce really amounted to nothing more than a shakedown Mob style. And for having done it…O.J. Simpson is facing the possibility of life in prison.
It really doesn’t seem fair.
Considering the world of memorabilia and the problems of thief, fraud and the like…O.J. going after those guys in a way that they could understand…well, the means clearly does not justify the way…but the memorabilia business is big
multi-billion dollar business laced with underhanded and crooked dealings. O.J. was merely seeking to protect and retrieve his own items…in what to him seemed to be the most effective and expedient way of doing so. Perhaps it was also meant to be a message to others, as well…but at the end of the day the trial amounted to nothing more than getting O.J. up on charges with the hopes of finding him guilty to correct mistakes made in 1995. And to me seems wrong.
I will agree that O.J. has lead a life that most of us would not have agreed with. He has been charged with things in which most of us find apprehensible…but dragging throug a trial for the sole purpose of finally being able to say-
“Got cha’ now.”
Is just is not right.
People flash guns and rob people everyday…and frankly many of them really should see some real jail time…but I see judge after judge releasing them…or just giving a few months of probation and these are real criminals. Though some may argue that O.J. Simpson is a real criminal…and perhaps he is…the court saw otherwise. And some may say the same about those whom I mentioned I see time and time again being released by judges everyday in courtrooms for doing the same thing as O.J. just did…flashed a gun and sought to rob someone.
O.J.’s real crime these days seem to be…that since 1995 he has been a real danger to no one more than himself.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2319
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur47569.cfm
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20231198,00.html
http://www.macon.com/nation/story/481651.html
Well, hope you have a beautiful day.
SELF PUBLISHING WOES…that Xulon Press…
Started having problems with my publisher again. This time I just plain told them to forget it and give me my money back. Part of the problem with them is that Xulon believes I am just dying to get publish. Perhaps, I was…until I realized I had made a mistake choosing in them to handle the job for me. Now, since 6 or 8 months later and it has been one headache after another with them. I am just too fed up for it to really matter…if they print my book or not.
You can always pay another company to print it for you. But I have never seen a company like Xulon more bent on robbing somebody.
Currently, my project went back into the ‘hold’ mode because I refused to sign off on some things. These things would prohibit me from later going back and filing for damages against them for not providing the services that they promised. If you go back to my first or second blog…it lays out the problems…one of which they submitted to me a cover for my book which had been the cover of one of their privious authors. Secondly, I told them in my contract…where it asked for suggestions regarding the cover…I told no people…and what do you thing I got?
People!
But if the truth be told it is the way that most companies have gone. It is about money…not about what you paid for…not about service…but money Once they get your money they feel they have you…then it is down hill from there. That is when they start to want to make the demands and give the orders. Not on my money…they don’t.
So, I am no longer responding to anything that my publishing company is forwarding to me…as I 
have demanded my money back. This I already realize…will mean that I will have to sue them. But I rather sue them than let them get away with murdering me.
But you have got to look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE”…once I get it published…and it will be published. I know you will enjoy it. It is my second piece of fictional work…about woman in the mid-fifties who can’t put out of her mind a pass love though she marries a Bishop who is not what or who she expected him to be.
The second Presidential Debat is tonight…should be interesting. I’ll meet you in front of the television or over the internet…but we will meet to see how this round of the debates go. I think McCain is going to make it a point to look at Obama once or twice this time. What do you think?
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/watch-to-watch-for-during-round-2/?hp
God bless… ‘pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
Add a comment October 7, 2008
Have Gun Will Travel, The Right To Bare Arms
The Suprem Court today agreed that individual Americans have the right to keep, have and to bear arms in a vote of 5 to 4 striking down the D.C .ban on hand guns. A constitutional decision guaranteed to surely come to mean we all loose.
The Washington, D.C. ban was a 32 year old ban which the Supreme Court said was illegal and violated the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution. That amendment was written in during the Constitution Convention of 1787 stating that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Now living in the 21st Century some questions can be asked about the validity of that amendment today considering today’s violent culture. Where guns are not used primarily to protect but to commit…crimes. Every city and town in this country is faced with serious issues concerning increases in violent crimes of which guns are often times involved in.
For the judges who voted to lift the ban on hand guns in D.C., which has a very high rate of violence…but for those judges the violence in the streets, school yards, businesses and homes in D.C…that violence may not have any affect upon them when they go home to exclusive or gated neighborhoods. But for the everyday people who live, work and go to school in DC there was a reason why such a ban was put into place in the first place.
The issue of guns and violence in this country is a very big issue and a sincere problem in this country…and the out look does not look better…particularly not in light of this recent Supreme Court decision. During the 1700’s perhaps there was a need for the militia, bands of men who carried guns, walking around to protect people, their land and other property and were used as their armies.
But does the same hold true today?
No, it does not. We have Police Departments, paid civil servants who earn their pay filling that capacity. So, there is no need for every citizen to bear arms in order to ensure their or anybody else’s security, safety or rights. Furthermore, additional societal development and organization over time since 1787 has removed the need for it.
In fact, today just the opposite is necessary. We need more effective laws to get all these illegal guns off the streets and criminals locked away…not allowed to go into courts for a hearing then given another date to return back to court where they are then given another date to come back…as they are allowed free to rome the streets and neighborhoods at will. The ineffectiveness of the court system is a joke to most criminals. Which is why they continue to perpetrate more and more crimes.
I am not a big freak on capital punisment. I certainly don’t want to see more and more men or any one in jails and prisons in this country. But I do believe that the laws are for the lawless…and therefore if you perpetrate you need to be regulated and dealt with appropriately.
I most recently myself got arrested. It is a shame to wait until you get up in age and start finding yourself in jail.
At any rate I had gone to court to take care of some family business when suddenly I was ordered to put my hands behind my back. I was shocked. I had no idea what was going on. And suddenly the judge began talking to me about having a warrant for my arrest for not doing jury duty.
I was livid and I could barely gather my thoughts. I ended up spending my whole day in jail over an error. This kind of thing should never happen. Not to mention that I was handcuffed and would have been shackled, but by the grace of God. I am still sieving.
What an embarrassment to be marched through the halls of the courthouse like a common criminal.
How could such an error like that happen?
Because of problems in our legal and court systems errors do happen…and many times those who should be locked up never do…or end up spending very little time for whatever it was that they had done.
However, in no way should we be regulating more laws that aid and assist criminals to be criminals. So they can walk into court after they shoot somebody for no reason…and say, “Well, I had a right to protect myself.”
This is not the wild wild west.
The criminals aready have guns. Most decent people don’t want a gun anywhere around them. So, why should we have to contend with the possibility of getting caught up in the crossfire of some lunatics suffering from road rage or gas pump frustration?
And it is a known fact that if you own a gun…in the heat of a moment you are subject to use it. We have all gotten angry and wanted to kill somebody. And if at the time we could have…we would have. But I thank God now for temperance…but there was a time I didn’t have any.
It is clear that this country is in need of gun controls that work not laxed restrictions which now allow every man, woman and child of…I don’t know what age…in Washington, D.C. to legally start packing a hand gun.
The question is…how long will it take the other states to follow?
Talk about opening up the flood gates.
This month is flying by so fast that I will soon wonder where did my summer go?
Haven’t done much. Need to clean the house but just can’t seem to get into the mood. But I will soon get tired of looking at it and get busy then sit back and marvel at what I did. And think, “wow…”. Then commence to get it right back into the state I just finished taking it from.
Can’t stand the clutter. But I’ve got all summer to think about cleaning it up. Except the bathroom and kitchen…those things I must do. And do regularly…couldn’t stand it any other way. And I always make my bed.
Maybe, I’m not so bad after all. Enjoy your summer and don’t let yourself get bogged down. God bless… ©2008
Add a comment June 27, 2008
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