issues

Beware the Fox: an old movie with an ageless warning.

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It is amazing how somethings never change. Tales of cunning, greed and even politics somehow seem as ageless of tales of heroism.

This is one I’ve found, which has the virtue of being miraculously well done in spite of it’s age. Before CGI or modern film techniques, The Tale of the Fox look many years to create. It’s been uploaded in 6 parts onto Youtube, complete with subtitles as it’s originally in French. Most of it, you can figure out without any words at all.

The fox is a con artist and all suffer under his tricks. What’s more, they suffer because he knows their weaknesses and plays off them. The lion is King (of course) and must figure out what to do about this trickster who is causing such a ruckus. His solution left me slack jawed with shock.

So watch the videos and see if you can figure out what will become of the fox. What will the king do? Who will best him?
In the end, I felt blindsided by a commentary of how politics work, whether in a company or a government.

Beware your weakness…for the fox will prey on it, even if you are a Lion or a King.

The Tale of the Fox – Wladyslaw Starewicz (1930) was uploaded by MissBillieDove

More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021309/

White Collar only has 6 Episodes to Wrap up…Unless Fans Convince Them.

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The news that White Collar was to have a Season 6 was not the joyous relief fans hoped for.

Instead it was met with outrage as USA networks idea of a wrap up was only 6 episodes. The fact is Fox network, who owns it, wanted a full season. But USA only wanted a mini series, even though all their other shows had received proper full seasons to tie up the series.

The claim is that it’s expensive to shoot. But Fox was willing to cover some of that cost, and others of its series had also filmed in expensive locales. It’s also hinted that USA wanted to fill up with shows from NBC, their parent company.

Now the question is: are we, the fans, going to take it?

We have nothing to lose by asking for more. What will they do, ignore us, scream at us like Oliver Twist asking for more? White Collar has been a feast. Now they expect us to settle for scraps. Other shows have returned from the dead. Ironically, it is NBC, USAs own parent network, that have suffered serious losses over killing the shows.

Here are some famous return from the dead shows and all of them involve NBC, parent company of USA.

  1. STAR TREK –  It was yours, NBC. Fans got it renewed for one season after they wanted to cancel it. Years later all rights go to Paramount and CBS. Movies, Spin off TV shows….all those lost because they let it go. I’m betting someone in NBC cringes at the thought.
  2. JAG – If you’ve already forgotten, was about the Navy’s Judge Advocate General office adventures and investigations of courtroom lawyer Harmon Rabb (David James Elliot) and his colleagues. You are probably familiar with NCIS, that show is the spin off. Now there is NCIS: LA and another yet to come. Guess who cancelled it? NBC. Again. CBS picked it up and turned it into a long running champion.
  3. CHUCK – Another one on NBC, a funny, adventurous spy drama, was nearly cancelled at season 2. Fans rallied and got it back for another season.

I’m sure NBC has cancelled TV and it was never a big deal. But they have been known to make mistakes that at the time probably seemed like good business decisions. I believe chopping White Collar short is another – USA is, after all, one of their networks.

White Collar is a diamond in the rough, and even if Fox owns it and gets the profits, USA gets the glory. They cut and polished it. Now they seem ready to just drop it in the rubbish and replace that diamond with costume kid’s jewelery.

So I say, no way, no how, do we give up. Write letters, Post on Facebook, Twitter, and alert your friends to do the same if they like the show at all. It doesn’t take long. Join us on Whitecollarclosure.tv and https://www.facebook.com/wcclosuretv for more info.

Don’t forget a picture is worth a thousand words. You can use screencaps and add captions to post to twitter, tumblr or facebook.

Here are a few places to find screencaps:
http://mattbomerfan.com/
http://screencapped.net/tv/whitecollar/

Post on: https://www.facebook.com/USANetwork
https://www.facebook.com/whitecollar

Address your Tweets to:
@WhiteCollarUSA
@FOXTV
 @USA_Network
 @NBCUniversal
 @foxnetworks
@USA_PR

EMail:
http://www.usanetwork.com/feedback
or feedback@usanetwork.com

More ideas can be found at White Collar Closure. Just say Yes to More Neal & Peter

Vid by ravensmoon2 feb 16 2010

References:

On Wikipedia:

Star Trek

JAG

Chuck

On IMBD

Star Trek (Classic)

JAG

Chuck

The School VS the Bullied Victim…Again

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Here we go again, this time with schools not only ignoring bullying but worse, punishing the bullied. Once again, the target is a BRONY.
Fortunately, this My Little Pony fanboy spoke up rather than ending up seriously injured. But the schools response was appalling. “Leave the My Little Pony backpack at home” was the gist of the response.

Excuse me? All the other kids can choose their own backpack character but Grayson Bruce can’t? If you pick a ‘girly’ them you are asking to be bullied? More than one commenter on the numerous articles and posts says this is like telling a girl she was asking to be raped. I agree. In the same way, girls are bullied for liking boy stuff, and toy companies and retailers show they are complicit by marketing only to one or the other. Contrary to popular belief, their are girl heroes in Star Wars (Ahsoka, Padme, Leia) and Marvel Avengers related movies (Black Widow, Pepper Potts, Peggy Carter) and My Little Pony has boy ponies and other boy heroes (Spike the dragon, Big McIntosh – Applejack’s brother, Shining Armor – Twilight Sparkle’s brother, Flash Sentry, Dr Hooves – now become a sort of My Little Pony ‘Dr. Who’ mix) That’s not a solution. That’s a cowardly dodge!

If boys have any advantage at all it’s that the Brony community is highly supportive. I don’t recall that from all the other fandoms, where sometimes boys act like girls are an intrusion. I’ve not seen girls getting defensive about the girls liking My Little Pony. Then again, with the invention of the internet, it’s easier to get in touch with and find other fans.

But what we really need is for the other fans in that specific area to stand up for each other, no matter what the fandom. Because together, they will outnumber the bullies. And different fandoms should put aside their rivalries to defend each other’s choices. For instance, Star Trek and Star Wars fans may be rivals, but they have something in common: a passion for something, and the moral of many of these fandoms include respect for others. Courage to stand up to bullies is part of that respect. Whether you love My Little Pony or Transformers or Sophia the First or Voltron, it should’t matter whether you are a boy or girl. What matters is you are a fan. And you are special, no matter who you are!

Support For Grayson! by CARTOONFANATIC3 on deviantART

References and Links:

Updates on Michael Morones

Sheriff Office Still Investigating Michael Morones Suicide Attempt

Boy bullied at School for carrying My Little Pony bag and Bag gets banned instead of Bullies.

Change Petition against the school demanding a crackdown on bullying and allowing Grayson Bruce to bring his backpack::thumb440142106:

Pros and Cons of using your Real Name online

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The direction Google Plus and other social  media sites are headed definitely makes real or false names online an important question. Some of them have using ‘real’ names as terms of service.  It’s unlikely they have a way to track down a lier, and it also overlooks the real reasons why one might need to avoid using a real name.

The pros are obvious and apply mainly to real world relationships. It is rather helpful when people who aren’t familiar with the internet but are close to you can just look you up online by your real name. Maybe they forgot to get your e-mail address or phone number. It  might be someone socially. It’s especially helpful for business who are more likely to know your real name and want to hire you.

The bad guys might use fake names in order to trick, con or bully others online. Likely trolls due, posting online and intentionally stirring up trouble. They like to post on forums and fan pages, in comment sections. They don’t mean to stir a good conversation, they just stir trouble by bashing others and diminishing their chances of enjoyment on the internet. And they might not stay on the internet if they can track their victims down in their real world with their real names.

The problem is this is not a safe world. User names aren’t just set up for fun, or even mischief, they are self protection.

Therefore the rest of us use usernames in order to  protect ourselves from online predators. If we get to know someone under a username, we can decide to risk a real name on our terms. In addition, others may have reason to hide their real name from their real life. Maybe they don’t want their employer to know what they post. It could be they are a whistle blower or maybe they just don’t share political views. They may not want certain others to know either. What if they have a jealous ex stalking them? What if they are a police officer and don’t want the criminals with a grudge  to discover their location via the internet? What if they are just that kid that gets bullied at school and doesn’t need to come home to be bullied on the internet? True, it could happen anyway. But the very least one can do to protect oneself is use a ‘user name’ that your enemies (be they child or adult) don’t know.

This is the danger of Google Plus and even Facebook with their sudden changes and determination to make connecting easy. They do so at the cost of our privacy, without asking us or warning us. Suddenly, you find people you don’t mind gaming with and chatting with in Google Plus circles, know your email address. It was changed without any warning. If you’ve been using Youtube for years and log into your Gmail, suddenly you  may find yourself accidentally commenting on videos with your real name, even though you logged in with your user name and have always commented using it.

It was aggravating when Facebook switched our ‘real’ email to ‘their’ ones without an announcement. That should’ve been our choice, even if our choice was to drop Facebook. And Twitter has become a developers nightmare. Suddenly to create an app to stream to you website, you need a mobile number. Never mind if you don’t want to give it to them, or even don’t have one. (Yes, there are those who still don’t have them. Not many, but they do exist.)

But all of these social media sites seemed to have failed to realize the danger of using real names without an opt out and demanding so much information. You have, essentially, piled all your eggs in one basket. No matter how good their security, all it takes is one hacker and now all your data is compromised because they combined it all (in some cases without any warning.)

My opinion:

For all of the disturbance one hears about the government intrusions, I for one find it just as alarming that these sites make it ridiculously easy for literally anyone to find us. I may find the government reasons suspect, I may think they go to far. But I tend to think they at least have the goal of keeping the peace. I may think their methods are wrong and they are violating our rights. But that is at least ‘a reason’. Whereas when the whole world can get access to that information, well, you may end up stalked by a deranged lunatic who has no reason outside their own twisted brain.

So I for one will keep using my user name. I may use my real name in places, but I’d prefer all those places not automatically have all my information and I’d prefer to decide how much information goes to those who comment on the same topics I have, or have the same interests (supposedly.)

So, what’s your take, which is more important? Ease of use at the risk of the wrong people knowing where and who you are, or a bit more privacy at the expense of being harder to use?

You really may have to choose….unless you want the social media sites to choose for you.

Google – The Playmate that Became a Bully

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Google and Youtube: Playmates

Google began as a friend of the user and an excellent playmate. It could help you search and find nearly anything. It helped keep in touch with anyone almost instantly for free. It was easy to use. Easier than not, in fact, since it’s already installed in every web browser.

Youtube was also a friend and playmate, enabling not only education but fun music videos and discovery of new songs and artists. It was also easy.

Google Eats Youtube

But then, Google swallowed Youtube. And it turned it’s hungry sight on Facebook and Twitter, unable to eat them, it decided to surpass them. Had it merely made it’s own social media site, it might’ve stayed a fun playmate.

Google: The Would Be God of the Internet

But then it revealed it’s full intentions, only hinted at previously. It’s Google Plus would connect it all, whether you wanted it to or  not. It would log you into all of it’s toys through Google plus. And now our nightmare begins. Our playmate is no longer a friend, it is a bully. We entrusted it with our creations, our videos, our personal correspondence and it has betrayed that trust.

Because now, it no longer gives you a choice. If you wanted to use Facebook or Twitter, it was your choice. You weren’t forced too.If you wanted to use just google mail, it would be fine.  But Google Plus is being forced upon us.

My Recent Youtube User Experience

As a longtime user, I suddenly find instead of logging by default into the account I created with my user name, it logs me into an account with  my real name and wants me to comment and like with that. It obviously is not the same account, as the playlists and uploads are missing.

After  much floundering I found that my user account now had a separate ‘google plus’ page. I had to change accounts every time I went to the site as by default it made me go to the other one. Quite obviously these changes are recent and ongoing.
But there was no warning and it’s massive merging was beyond any nightmare change Facebook every made. Because so far as I can see, there is no way to set the default. I even went so far as to delete my original ‘google plus’ page, which I’d only dabbled with. I didn’t even know for sure it wouldn’t screw up my gmail account but I risked it anyway.

Google: The Monster

Google has become a monster, apparently the concept of privacy had escaped them. They may disguise it as ease of use, but all they are really doing is destroying our ability to remain private online. I’ve never before had the overwhelming urge to bail on google mail or youtube or it’s other toys before. It was only annoying that it tried to sell me ads on gmail online. This is not annoying. This is a monster that wants to swallow my free choice.

I shall be looking at other email options. And video options. And, for that matter, anything whatsoever that does not relate to google. I’m now afraid the monster wishes to take over the world.

Death of the Playmate

I mourn the fun, playful Google we used to know. I loved visiting their playground. But if I have to check in with my real name and have everyone know it every time I visit, then I will start looking for other alternatives. Because it’s not a safe word out there. And my real name is my business when I’m on the boards.

Why not use my real name? That’s up for another blog post…and it’s already have written so it really will be posted soon.

Here is a petition to change it back:  https://www.change.org/petitions/google-change-the-youtube-comment-section-back-to-its-original-form

New York Carriage Horses: What is Compassion?

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This is one of those cases where I have to ask: “What would Black Beauty say?”

I believe he would say that what makes a job good or bad is largely up to the human and whether they are cruel, kind or indifferent. Horse and human are in this together, sharing the environment, the reward and the punishment.
Rearing Black Horse Coaster

“It is good people who make good places”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

From the horses view, (allowing for modernization)  no doubt the streets are even harder. The temperatures may be more extreme, due to the tall buildings affect on the weather. And then the cars add in a new element, complete with greater speeds, reckless drivers and car horns.

From the drivers point of view, the driver has to worry about steering, traffic and weather too. The driver may also have family to think about.

What they have in common is that this is their livelihood: the food, shelter and all rely on this job.

Here are the laws as of now:

  • Horses can’t work in 18 degrees or below weather.
  • In winter, they must wear blankets
  • They can’t be driven faster than a trot,
  • For every 2 hours working they must rest at least 15 minutes.
  • During rest, they  must have fresh water available.
  • They must have enough food and water at reasonable intervals.
  • Horses can’t work when lame, ill, injured or in poor condition.
  • No working in adverse slippery weather.
  • Must obey traffic laws
  • not allowed in tunnels
  • may not be abused and driver may not fail to provide food/water as required.

What is lacking:

  • Factoring in wind and humidity in weather and temperature conditions.
  • Enforcement.

Recently, the NYPD was put in charge of this and seem to feel it a burden. I fail to see how checking if the horses are blanketed (should be obvious) or lame (again, should be obvious) is difficult. And a big enough stall, clean, with sufficient food and water are again, easy to check. Of course, the issue might be they don’t have enough man power (which is hardly a carriage horse only issue.)

How many of those demanding the carriages be made illegal actually know anything about horses? Have those protesting met the horses and drivers, ridden in carriages or been to the stables? Or is it just a wave of well meaning but false information? Or for that matter, does someone profit? Like, for instance, whoever would provide the electric antique cars they suggest should replace them? Or the politicians who may or may not care about animals, but probably would not hesitate to use them to earn votes and points for their political agendas.

In the midst of this apparent compassion, where is the consideration for what comes after? Yes, they claim the retired horses would go to rescues. But even if you believe that, doesn’t that just bump aside horses that would otherwise be rescued from a worst fate? And what about the humans? No one is volunteering to ‘give’ them the electric cars. They apparently are not offering to replace their livelihood.

I love horses. I love riding them and would love to try a carriage. I do believe a city is not the ideal place to live, at least for a horse. A horse should have room to relax and stroll during their time off.  But then again, horses are not the only ones who should have it. How many kids have nowhere to play but asphalt? In the city, those horses may be the closest thing the country some kids will ever see.

I would never wish harm or a cruel handler on any horse. But few people live in ideal circumstances either. People end up homeless and their pets do too. And not all of them are given a choice either: ask anyone with a physical or mental disability. Will these horses handlers also be consigned to the unemployed or homeless? Is that fair, if they were good and kind handlers who cared for their horses as they cared for themselves?

Banning the carriages seems like taking the easy way out at the expense of the innocent. It’s like swatting a fly with hammer. Not all of the drivers can be breaking the rules, or they wouldn’t have their licenses to be renewed. We are a people who have a million gadgets to measure how far we run or walk, how fast our heart beats. We can measure our health on the go. There is even a teddy bear designed to monitor a child’s health. And we are supposed to believe there is no way they could find a way to measure a horses health on the go while pulling a carriage? No way to measure if it’s getting enough rest, water or food? Because I can’t for a moment believe that. What I can think, is that horse, human and family will be without work and tourists, too, will miss out on a piece of history, just because the mayor want to take the easy way out.

Helpful Links and References:

 NY City Tourists Rush Horse Carriage Rides

Eight Lies Advocates Told About Carriage Horses

Just Let Carriage Horses Do Their Job

Save Horse Drawn Carriages

Ban Horse Drawn Carriages

My Little Pony Power VS Bullies and Prejudice

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I came into the story of Michael Morone late, since I was late checking my email. But it quickly got my attention.
I have a few random, thoughts swirling in my head after I read about his suicide attempt after being bullied over being a Brony (Male My Little Pony fan)

I’m female. When I was a kid, I played with both My Little Pony and Star Wars. I was bullied, but not particularly over them. I disliked boys, because several were bullying me. Now that I see reports of what goes on at some of the comic conventions and the ‘white boys club’ mentality, I wonder if some small minded ones were jealous. Maybe they thought I was intruding on their turf. Girls didn’t see why I disliked them, nor why I stayed with My Little Pony and Star Wars (and horses in general) while they were growing into makeup and fashions. I don’t know, perhaps I just saw, and still see, that there are more important things than how you look. More to the point, I notice there is still a big gap in mentality. Some people just can’t see past the ‘kid’ label they have on things. Why do adults watch a  kid show or collect teddy bears or dolls? Well guess what naysaying adults. Some of us do. There is a whole industry supporting it. You don’t have too, but you have no right to deny the rest of us either.

That poor kid must have felt very alone. Did he really have no friends, no support? For in this age of the internet, it seems to me it should be easier to connect to other ‘Bronies’. Did no one know how bad it was? Did no one, even someone unrelated to the ponies say, ‘let me help you find the others?’ It would not surprise me if they didn’t, for no one helped me. Finding so many like minded souls on the internet wouldn’t come for many years.

Another thought is more disturbing. This kid is already being used to chase agendas. Seriously. just from the search terms that cropped up on the internet I can tell. Saying things like a gay boy attempted suicide and homophobic bullying caused it. Nowhere does it actually say the boy is gay in any of the stories I’ve read. It just says he loves My Little Ponies! So there you go. Not even conscious to answer questions and already labeled. Whether he is or not is his own business, in my opinion. But I find the automatic label disturbing because it does imply just because he loves My Little Pony he must be gay, in spite of the broad male fan base. God forbid someone go against the marketing only to female strategy (just as Star Wars is marketed to males.)

On the flip side, as much as I dislike bullies, I have to note that no one writing these articles is a mind reader. The slurs and taunts the bullies used appear nowhere in the articles. Maybe it had nothing to do with homophobia and was just jealously. Perhaps they had nothing they were so passionate about and envied his having that joy over something. They don’t have it, therefore they will tarnish it. It isn’t just fear that causes bullying. The worst of it is, apparently it hasn’t stopped. At least, I haven’t been able to find the web site supposedly set up for him and his Facebook page has vanished. I’m assuming negative comments from people who have too little heart and too much time on their hands caused it to be taken down.

I hope and pray this boy wakes up, healthy and well, no matter what the odds. If an outpouring of love can help, I’m sure he’s covered. For every bully there is a My Little Pony lover to counter, whether a ‘pegasister’ (female eqivalent of brony) or the brony. My Little Pony fans are a generous lot of all ages and the outpouring of MLP art, funds and tattoos in his name should tell him he’s not alone. Wherever there is a My Little Pony lover, he’s got a friend.


For Michael Morones by Astringe on deviantART

For some inspiration on how others are trying to reach this comatose boy, check out this page full of art, just for him. ‘Art for Michael‘.

Here is an interesting vid on the My Little Pony and Brony issue, dispelling some common misconceptions and even explaining how they came about.

Video by : Pinkie3point14

Sad over Politics Teddy Bear

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All the heartbreak and anguish of people suffering made me do it. All over the failure of political leaders. I do not blame either party. I, for one, blame parties in general. Both groups in deadlock, refusing to yield until the little people cry in pain. Party labels stick people in a box. The agenda must be this or that because of the label.

People don’t fit in a box. they live and breathe with their own hopes and dreams. Sometimes the dream is greed. Sometimes its misguided. Even people who want the best don’t agree.

I hate politics. To me, every political campaign is like listening to the worst behaved children yelling ‘he hit me’, ‘he broke my doll’, ‘he broke Mrs so and sos window, don’t trust him!’
This is our choice for leadership? It’s mind boggling. Its horrifying. And I don’t believe any of them at this point, even when they claim to have the same beliefs I do.

Speaking of same beliefs, I’ll admit freely I have doubts that the government even belongs in some areas. Where do they get off closing ‘public’ parks? Don’t those belong to ‘the public’? And for politicians not to take their messages is pure cowardice. They know people are upset. They just don’t want to hear it.

In reality things like health care and other issues should never have needed to go so far. The fact that something needs federal regulation means its broken on a lower level.

For instance on a somewhat less ‘hot’ note: The tennessee walker shows were so rife with corruption the feds stepped in.
Tennessee walking horses and the protection against ‘soring’ – a practice of putting painful chemicals on their legs to make them step higher in shows were so prevalent, it required federal intervention. How pathetic, that as many horse lovers as are out there, the horse industry couldn’t regulate itself. No, in spite of many chances, greed won out and the horses kept suffering.

Which means greed won on a lower level. But what happens when the greed has infiltrated so high up the feds themselves are involved? Then everyone suffers. Who is left to regulate?

So, I express my own discontent in my usual fashion: with my art. Not a new bear, but newly used with different background and text.

The Horse’s Revelation of Societies Weakness

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Well, here it is. The summation of much of the world’s woes, as once again, revealed through the horse world. The fox guarding the chickens. The corrupt judge sitting over his son’s trial. The blind man driving the automobile (no offense to the blind intended, the way technology is headed, it’s only a matter of time).

The first is that the BLM went back on it’s word and went ahead with a mustang roundup they’d promised and sworn was cancelled. Color me shocked. A branch of the government, lie to it’s citizens? Of course they would. What bothers me is that no other branch of the government seems interested in holding them accountable. You have perjury and animal cruelty in one fell swoop, yet no one ever arrests them. What does it say about our government, that it is no longer being held accountable to it’s citizens for such misuse of funds and power?

The second is this bit of news of the confusion over slaughterhouses. Now the Native nations – and for the moment, I won’t try and sort out which ones – are apparently divided, with some in favor of it.  Some still believe the horse is sacred and are firmly opposed. But the others claim ‘overpopulation’ and ‘overgrazing’ and  insist that slaughter would solve their problems.
I can’t help note that if so, they should be trying to get the slaughter plant, with its associated environmental hazards on their own reservation land. Apparently they don’t mind foisting it off on someone else. They don’t seem to be vying for the jobs associated, they just want the horses gone.
I don’t claim to know what the ratio of horses to other livestock is on the Native reservations is, or whether they have a problem. I do know slaughter isn’t the answer. But it’s a sad thing to think that people some of whom have been called ‘people of the horse’, and for some of them, still think it sacred, would consider this an acceptable solution. What is it about today’s society that people are so ignorant and determined to remain so in the name of greed and convenience?

Third, is the trial of the Tennessee Walking Horse trainer. Now what makes me shake my head at this is on the Ethics committee of the Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer’s Association. Ethics. Oh, really, ethics. The man thought nothing of soring and intentionally injuring these animals for a ribbon, prize money, or trophy. I can’t imagine why anyone would reward anyone for cruelty. But the idea of the man being on an ethics committee!! It’s incomprehensible. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

 

References:

Highly Recommended:

I'd rather be riding a Tennessee Walker Bumper Sticker
I’d rather be riding a Tennessee Walker Bumper Sticker, Available at Zazzle
Mustangs Stand Up for Their Freedom T-Shirt
Mustangs Stand Up for Their Freedom T-Shirt Available at Zazzle

To Protect and Serve – When to thank and When to say no.

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To Protect and Serve

It can be kind of discouraging to see so  many bad reports in the news about police officers. To be fair, if all of the police were bad, then it would no longer be ‘news’. Therefore, it must not be the rule (I hope) but rather the exception. We have fifty states with heaven knows how many cities, towns and counties. Some are better than others. We need to say thanks more often for the good and heroic service as well as objecting to the abuses.

Nonetheless, when I see the reaction of their fellow officers, their chiefs, and the rumored ‘thin blue line’, I get concerned. An unchallenged poor code of conduct is unlikely to change. This should not be ‘us against them’. We are the citizens that pay the salaries of these people. Unchecked, the attitude may spread and grow. It may even get worse, as people go from military (fighting ‘America’s enemies) to police (fighting civilian bad guys) they may label the wrong people and apparently, forget they are still in the US and subject to our Constitution.

Here are the areas these bad apple cops are falling short (in no particular order):

  • Ignorance of Dogs
    First off, I keep seeing dogs shot or attacked for just being dogs. This suggests an ignorance of both dog behavior and the law. Clearly they need some training in telling ‘attacking’ dog from ‘scared dog defending it’s turf’ and better ways to deal. Dogs are everywhere, one of our favorite two pets and it’s too easy to correct for this. Surely, a volunteer from an animal welfare group could come in and give a few tips?
  • Ignorance of Mental or Physical Illness
    This is understandable, but not acceptable. Yes, there are lots of bad guys. But if  in a crisis, the guy or gal who refuses orders might be mentally ill and literally be incapable of answering. Good grief, what if they are not on drugs or alcohol, but are diabetic, having a stroke, or having a bad reaction to honestly prescribed medicine? When they are full of bullets, tasered, or even dead, ‘oops’ is not an acceptable answer! Even if the 99 people before fit the ‘addict’ label, number 100 could leave a dead or injured victim for all the wrong reasons.
    That kid apparently staring at the police may be thinking anything, but that is not illegal. But they may also be autistic or something. Going tough guy on them will only aggravate the situation.
  • Ignorance of the Law.
    This is kind of ironic, given that police are supposed to be law enforcers. How can they do that if they break it themselves? Sadly, dogs are considered property, not family members. Still, killing an animals is at least, ‘stealing’ it from the owner. You cannot replace it if you find you made a mistake. Therefore, you are now no better than the guy you were pursuing to that family.
    Worse, things like attacking someone who you ‘suspect’ or demanding to use someone’s house as a base of operations and attacking him/her on refusal, mistreatment of prisoners and/or similar behavior is illegal. Period. No exceptions. As in, not ‘local’ illegal but ‘nationwide unconstitutional’.
  • Extreme Short Sightedness.
    People call the police now for things previous generations would’ve just sent kids to the principle’s office or called their parents.  A kid looks at the police a certain way and gets hassled for how they look at police. Then there is the officer that just opened fire and killed a bunch of kittens in front of little kids.
    These all have one thing in common. They fail to take into account how the kids or people involved will feel about the police and react to them in the future. The police are supposed to deal with criminals, not discipline a kid, who hasn’t yet matured enough to outgrow some stuff. The guy that shot the cats could easily have insisted the little  kids be taken elsewhere, or called for help moving them to a new location. (No, I don’t like that they were killed at all. But that’s really not the point.) The fact that he wasn’t even seen to try and find another solution has left an indelible memory on those little kids. Cop = animal murder. I don’t see them calling the cops when older, do you?

The question: why do we need petitions for this stuff, why don’t their fellow officers take a stand? I can hope they do without doing it publicly, but sometimes it needs to be public. After all, doesn’t the entire department suffer if a lawsuit is filed over it? Doesn’t the job of the other officers become harder, because those kids grow up fearing or hating cops?

It takes courage, and a lot of it, to stand up to peers.  Someone, preferably one of their own, needs to remind them they are not gods, not always right and always have something to learn. Everyone does. Pinning on the badge is supposed to show you are going to be strong for those who need you. It’s not a sign that you are not an ‘official bully in power’. It’s a hard job, and if it’s thankless, sometimes it’s because the few make the rest look bad. And it certainly can’t be easy on families. Switching between ‘strong and in charge’ to ‘compassionate’ and avoiding falling into the gaping hole of being a bully can’t be easy. And I’m sure the best way to do it is for the police to check  each other, rather than wait for public opinion to bash them over the head.

Cameras are even in phones and freedom of internet and press are part of our country.  Those colleagues and in charge should remember this. Instead of throwing up a wall, they should encourage education. Got someone who doesn’t deal with dogs, who shot the pet? Enforce a leave  involving some ‘dog’ education in animal behavior for alternatives to shooting. Got someone who has a furious parent because their autistic child was misconstrued as disobedient and got hurt? How about some education about that kind of illness. That way, we would see progress. I’m sure there are volunteers who would be happy to help. We’d only be calling for the heads of those who don’t care, who keep insisting on ignorant, bullying behavior, rather than the ones who made an honest but tragic mistake.

And for those who do stand up and do the right thing, for those who resist letting another officer get away with something that a regular citizen would be arrested for, Thank You! Thanks for saying no. We aren’t asking you to be a rat or a snitch. We are asking you to step in and stop that infection before it starts: give it an education and consider it another way to polish the badge.

Congratulations Police Academy Graduate Card
Congratulations Police Academy Graduate Card
Angel in Disguise Thank You Card
Angel in Disguise Thank You Card

 

 

 

 

 

References:

The Bad Ones: (I won’t even try and list them all!)

The Good: