tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78152875320943857572024-02-19T08:52:59.705-07:00Eddie G. Griffin (BASG)This is the blog of Eddie G. Griffin, former Black Panther and Child's Rights advocate, Christian, and author of <a href="http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP4_2/Griffin.pdf">"Breaking Men's Minds</a>"Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.comBlogger538125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-21699239940385896502019-07-01T08:13:00.000-07:002019-07-01T08:18:41.678-07:00Kenneth Foster Dragged to Texas Death Chamber<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<o:p><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ52gOhTN3s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ52gOhTN3s</a></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Kenneth Foster Lives</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><strong>On August 30, 2007</strong></span><span style="background: white; color: #0d0d0d;">, Texas Governor Rick Perry commuted the
death sentence of Kenneth Foster, Jr. following </span><span style="background: white; color: red;"><em>a sustained grassroots
campaign</em></span><span style="background: white; color: red;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #0d0d0d;">led by Kenneth's family and anti-death
penalty activists from Texas and across the country.</span></span> </div>
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<o:p>Write to:</o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk12687450"><span class="5yl5"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Kenneth Foster #1451768</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span class="5yl5"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Stiles Unit</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span class="5yl5"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">3060 FM 3514</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span class="5yl5"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Beaumont, TX 77705</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"></span><a href="http://www.freekenneth.com/"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.freekenneth.com/</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/redemptionnow?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAyZBIHNA3L60EfMTJ_m3l9-gBS9U2J8bgoE4WqGaWCEwcb_0yfZr1cPWzDBrA9Z83w1mxkusSgWwIEBAsywheoB2VH-gBc5mIUOh0Q1DcFfuTURkBWWrDArGDOTto09JqYqw6YQXLVLNRlBTABn0Q3xIuMwXLigY3_bXXryOXrhhz-UxbnpY3mKD48lA07iJtaybw-YsTmOHLc8a7chcOLZEnGrlUgKaq722G_b8AL2CQ5zxS7RWpz6w1eKxXWOVv9gt8VU2Hal6G4E425xzI7LQFdiBJPoe5E90AZewVWt4Negt2Arqyp4gxB3IupTf5FkCPZkRwxsNPvbpgdJLmcq1YVo15uaRgpAkOHamY3n44YeZ6zRPVVI5Ks89p5OPnhj8DaUk7Jt9Qg85Utgi8Evteu1k0rnHMVua4tDdSu2g&__tn__=%2ANKH-R"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span aria-label="hashtag"><span class="58cl"><span style="background: white; color: #365899; text-decoration: none;">#</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><span class="58cm"><span style="background: white; color: #385898; text-decoration: none;">redemptionNOW</span></span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk12687450;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-77849637545210548862019-05-17T08:31:00.001-07:002019-05-17T08:31:43.144-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Thomas Silverstein </span><span class="st1"><span lang="EN" style="color: #545454; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(February 4,
1952 – May 11, 2019)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Buried Alive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Thomas Silverstein entered
the federal prison system in 1975 after he was convicted of three bank
robberies that he pulled with his father and his uncle. <b>He was 19 years old.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">(source: <a href="http://www.peteearley.com/thomas-silverstein/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.peteearley.com/thomas-silverstein/</span></a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">By age 23, Silverstein came
to the dim realization that his life was over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">“I was 23 when I was sentenced to 15 years for that robbery,” Silverstein
wrote in his declaration. “My share of the proceeds was a few hundred dollars. My
life on the outside was over forever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein was sent to the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., where
he said life was divided along racial lines, and “newcomers had to be careful
not to show any weakness.” (source: “Hot House” by Pete Earley)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Racial lines? Silverstein
imaged his white skin made him particularly vulnerable in a prison
overwhelmingly black and brown. Did this white youngster think that he could
come through the doors without being tested? Nobody was given a cakewalk
through prison, white, black, or brown. Every man was required to stand on his
own two feet, and no man can defend another man’s honor. To a fearful man that
meant kill or be killed, Silverstein took the offensive side of his paranoia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">He killed Robert Chappelle,
Nov. 22, 1981, and Raymond 'Cadillac' Smith, Sep. 27, 1982.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Excerpts from Pete Earley’s, book “Hot House”:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“I tried to tell Cadillac that I didn’t kill Chappelle, but he didn’t
believe me and bragged that he was going to kill me,” Silverstein recalled.
“Everyone knew what was going on and no one did anything to keep us apart. The
guards wanted one of us to kill the other.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">NOTE: If everyone knew what
was going on, why would anyone get between them? Every beef was personal, one
on one. And sometimes the guards didn’t care who won or who lost. One warden
declared if he had his way, he would arm us all, and let us kill each other
off. And more times than not, white prison guards would side with white
inmates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein claimed that “the guards wanted one of us to kill the other.”
This was the rules of the game. There is no concept of fairness. It’s only
about who comes out alive. Maybe this was the guards’ way of killing two birds
with one stone.</span><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Why did </span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein lie to Cadillac? It
would have been more honorable to confess killing Chappelle for raping a weak white
inmate. But there was an unwritten rule: Whites do not kill Blacks in prison,
otherwise it would set off a race riot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">It is still a mystery how </span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein and Clay
Fountain broke out of the locked recreation cage on H-Block, with shanks, at
exactly the same time, Cadillac was being escorted to the showers in handcuffs.
When the attack unfolded, the guards fled. Silverstein and Fountain stabbed him
67 times and proceeded to drag his body from cell to cell, stopping in front of
every black inmate’s cell, according to Ned Bailey who witnessed the
assassination.</span><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(From “Hot House”) Silverstein wrote “After I killed Smith, I lived in
constant fear of reprisals. It was in this frame of mind, and believing I was
in a life-threatening situation, that on October 22, 1983, I killed Officer
Clutts.”</span><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Silverstein’s fate was
sealed. He dug for himself a hole that he could not get out of and would spend
the next <span class="ilfuvd">37 years of his life in the hole, with no human
contact, until he died on Saturday, </span>May 11, 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">COMMENTARY: I teach young men
to avoid the hellholes of prison at all cost. There is a hole so deep that they
call it “the end of the line”. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein started with only a 15-year sentence and
buried himself with multiple life sentences</span><span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Did he have any final
regrets? After all the BBC dubbed him “the most dangerous man in America”. One
would imagine he would play the role of a tough guy to the end. Not so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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In an article he wrote a few years
ago, Silverstein called solitary confinement "a slow constant peeling of
the skin, stripping of the flesh, the nerve-wracking sound of water dripping
from a leaky faucet in the still of the night while you're trying to sleep.
Drip, drip, drip, the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, constantly
drip away with no end or relief in sight."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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When a man rots in an isolate
dungeon, his skin begins to peel off the bone, like Hiller “Red” Hayes, whom I
describe in “Breaking Men’s Minds”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein wrote an apology, published in Earley’s “Hot House”: Even
writing this declaration, I feel my words of regret are inadequate to explain
the remorse I feel… There is no justification for my actions.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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COMMENTARY: I believe every man can
change. <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein confesses,
before his death, that there was “no justification” for his action. But regrets
remorse sometimes come too late. Nothing could change his fate. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Although the U.S. Supreme
Court, the United Nations, and the Red Cross all declared that endless years of
solitary confinement was “cruel and unusual punishment”, there nothing anyone
could do to get </span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Silverstein</span><span style="color: windowtext;"> out. And no amount of
remorse could redeem him. His inevitable demise would be a slow and torturously
long agonizing death, like a man buried alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-84245386210491063652017-10-13T16:44:00.000-07:002017-10-13T17:12:15.133-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjU5z9MHU0r4mJcNrSlGrb9A8kaTmF-cu_3QtT-KfItY3VIvp9Iq1zLIwxb6btlXybOec4_NyxvzLwXPD_KbwVkCpFgAEVMZ5Y5nabV1mSa_xob9XoJaXmZOzmrAsiJ1CrtDMu5VWReg/s1600/Village2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong>Utuado</strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjU5z9MHU0r4mJcNrSlGrb9A8kaTmF-cu_3QtT-KfItY3VIvp9Iq1zLIwxb6btlXybOec4_NyxvzLwXPD_KbwVkCpFgAEVMZ5Y5nabV1mSa_xob9XoJaXmZOzmrAsiJ1CrtDMu5VWReg/s1600/Village2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjU5z9MHU0r4mJcNrSlGrb9A8kaTmF-cu_3QtT-KfItY3VIvp9Iq1zLIwxb6btlXybOec4_NyxvzLwXPD_KbwVkCpFgAEVMZ5Y5nabV1mSa_xob9XoJaXmZOzmrAsiJ1CrtDMu5VWReg/s320/Village2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>This is Utuado, Puerto Rico after the storm</strong></span></div>
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="es"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Este es Utuado, Puerto Rico después de la tormenta</strong></span></span></div>
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<span class="short_text" lang="es"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong></span> </div>
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<span class="short_text" lang="es"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong></span><span aria-hidden="true" class="trans-verified-button goog-toolbar-button" id="t-served-community-button" role="button" style="display: none;" unselectable="on"><span class="jfk-button-img" unselectable="on"></span></span> </div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D46VZeGgzXg" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">This is Utuado during the storm</span></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D46VZeGgzXg" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Esto es Utuado durante la tormenta</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D46VZeGgzXg" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"></span></a><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Utuado at</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Highway 10 & PR-111</span></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br /></div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-15786830020731074932017-05-25T06:49:00.001-07:002017-05-25T06:49:45.331-07:00My Fight is Over with Roger Ailes by Eddie Griffin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">You
may know I was very upset with Roger Ailes, if I might put it so kindly, before
he died last week. Not only had he created this huge right-wing propaganda
machine at FOX News, against which we had to tangle, and the fact that he used
his influence and power to lord over the political arena, more egregiously he
enticed pretty women into his employment to secretly exploit sexually behind
closed doors and to gag and enslave them by a non-disclosure, confidentiality
agreement--- meaning they were legally bound to keep silent about what happened
to them in private at FOX.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
remember my FB postings about Roger Ailes and the cult of rich dirty old men,
which included his friend Donald Trump. But some people chalked it off as locker
room “boy” talk. Well now, the crown prince of rich dirty old men is dead, and
I cannot just blasé over it without a word. But my upbringing taught me that “if
you can’t say anything good about the dead, then don’t say anything at all.” I
am not God and I cannot pass final judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But
there is something to be said, for sure, about this man who boasted to a
potential prey “if you want to play with the big boys, you have to lay with the
big boys.” Big Boy is now sleeping in his grave and nobody is laying with him.
But the cult of dirty rich old men lives on, unabated by his death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">How
did he die? That’s what I wanted to know. Did Old Roger do all these dirty
things, get $45 million from FOX for going away quietly, and then make a sudden
exit from this life scot free, without retribution or punishment? Then I noticed
the Cause of Death was “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Subdural Hematoma”.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(A subdural hematoma is most often
the result of a severe head injury, in fact “among the deadliest of all head
injuries”. It reminds me of how close I came to death when I feel and broke my
neck in May 2016)</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">At first report
of Roger’s death, it sounded like Fake News. They say he fell on May 10, 2017.
It did not make the news, until after he was pronounced dead a week ago, on May
18. What was happening during those eight days that the news did not report?
And why couldn’t they save his life during that time?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then I read the
rest of my research on Subdural Hematoma--- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Bleeding fills the brain area very rapidly,
compressing brain tissue. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So I
see, Roger fell and bashed his head and started bleeding on the brain. For
eight days, his brain bled and his head swelled. Then I thought about his epitaph,
written by his own hand in his 2013 book “Roger Ailes: Off Camera”. He wrote: “I’ve
been prepared to face death all of my life. When it comes, I'll be fine, calm.
I'll miss life, though. Especially my family.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">We
miss Roger, too. My fight with Roger is over and I am calm, and even relieved
that he is not lurking in the background waiting to launch another propaganda
machine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-39865717745929658132017-05-23T12:25:00.001-07:002017-05-23T14:54:28.687-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">RE:
</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Demoted officer: Fort Worth chief’s
allegations ‘grossly inaccurate’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article151976007.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: large;">http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article151976007.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">From the Perception of a Marion Brother:<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">There
is a reason the Marion Brothers marched to the beat of a different drummer in
the 1970s. We realized that inferior leadership make tactical errors, such as
the one that led to the demotion of two African-American officer who were
members of the command staff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">First:
Who would have foreseen when FWPD Chief Joel Fitzgerald sent Deputy Chief </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Abdul Pridgen and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Deputy
Chief </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Vance Keyes to dig
into the situation of Ms. Craig and her daughters’ arrest that these two
trusted officers would wound up being put into the hot seat? Personally, I would
have trusted no one else more than these two high-ranking African-American members
of the FWPD Command Staff, due to the racist allegations against Officer William
Martin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">But who could have </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">foreseen
their demotion? And who would have even asked them to jeopardize their jobs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">One
thing I learned, as a Marion Brother, was to study a situation before reacting
to it--- hence the difference between reactionaries and revolutionaries. There
are always more interacting opposing forces in a contradiction. And if we do
not correctly assess those forces, we will make mistakes in practice on how
best to deal with those forces. (For example, while we were studying theoretical physics,
we come to understand a postulate in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory" target="_blank">Theory of Chaos</a>, that there is Order
in Disorder. In understanding that, we could find order in the midst of natural chaotic forces inside a riot to make it where we could gain control over the
situation. That was the key: Gaining Control and Mastery over Competing Forces).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">On the other hand, lack
of foresight is the hallmark of "Inferior Leadership". Most people have no idea about
gaining control of a any situation, let alone a volatile situation. At best and at most, they do the same thing, the same
way, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did half a century ago--- march and pray--- and expect a different
result. Moreover, those who scream the loudest and protest the hardest have
never been to jail. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Ms.
Craig and her daughters have. The rest of you need to show me your scars.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">This
is the reason Eddie Griffin told the protest organizers that “We got this”, and why I asked them
to “Stand Down”. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">I felt
that nobody understood Fort Worth better than I, and how to resolve problems
with the police department.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;">Inferior Leadership can only shake
their fist at city hall and chant, “Burn it down.” And then they criticize me
for not being militant enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
have heard it before, from Sandra Bland’s sorority sister: “Burn it down”. My
advice to the youth in Ferguson, MO after the death of Mike Brown: “You are not
militant enough.” And those who were too militant got entrapped in a
police-crafted terrorist sing operation, and some arrested for their angry inflammatory
rhetoric. This is why I don’t listen to Inferior Leadership. They are too inexperienced not to inflict wounds upon themselves and their followers. (Look at the Willie Lynch effect in the African-American community over this controversy, as destructive as playing Russian Roulette)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">When
people sent their problems to us, the Marion Brothers, we took ownership. We
took control of the problem. The buck stopped with us. In taking control of the
problem, we took responsibility for its solution. When you take control of the problem and responsibility for its solution, there is no scapegoating. Like the time when activists
on the streets wrote to The Brothers in prison about the problem of elderly people buying and
eating dog food during the 1970s, because it was cheaper. We did not complain to the government.
We drafted a Community Survival Plan, with the concept of Block Gardens, to feed the elderly.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">We
never cried about one problem. While others cried about Police Brutality, the
Marion Brothers declared it nothing more than a fair fight. And getting killed in the process was part of the risk that comes with the price of admission. Otherwise, we refused to be labeled a
victim, and always found a way to win the fight. We understood the Law of Forces and the
Theory of Chaos and found Order within Disorder, to shift the Balance of Power
to our favor. (<em>And some of them don't even know what I'm talking about</em>)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">To
my friends who protest the loudest, but have never been to jail, there is no
such thing as Unfair and Police Brutality. You either survive it or you don’t.
If you survive it, then it was a Fair Fight. I can only empathize with the more
delicate and fragile species, and those who have been publicly humiliated like
Ms. Craig and her daughters. But don’t try to tell Eddie Griffin about pain.
Whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt me anymore.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was the man they tried to freeze
to death, and nothing hurt like cold. I can tell you when I heard the crunch of
frost forming on my eyeballs, one blink from freezing to death with my eyes wide
open in a strip cell. They pushed my threshold for pain
to the point where nothing hurt me again, not even a wounded pride. I can take a punch and turn the other cheek, because I became immune to pain. NO, I will not sob for myself, nor
confess my pain to anyone but God in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So,
give me a break. Disagree with your peers. Don’t disagree with a season
warrior who earned the stripes of a 5-star general.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-42008701023378358322015-10-27T10:53:00.002-07:002015-10-27T11:23:37.602-07:00What to do about the Release of 6,000 Prisoners<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Coming Soon: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/early-prison-release-test-drug-felons-entry-groups-153046004.html"><span style="color: blue;">Release
of 6,000 Prisoners</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">WASHINGTON — The Justice
Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prisons
starting at the end of this month as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and
roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and
’90s, according to federal law enforcement officials… The release will be one
of the largest discharges of inmates from federal prisons in American history.
It coincides with an intensifying bipartisan effort to ease the mass
incarcerations that followed decades of tough sentencing for drug offenses —
like dealing crack cocaine — which have taken a particularly harsh toll on
minority communities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">COMMENTARY
BY Eddie Griffin:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Although
this is </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">the largest discharges of inmates from federal prisons in
American history</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, it has been a long time in coming. Since
2005, we have decried mass incarceration, because it robs our community of men
and women who cannot rear a family or raise their children, leaving the burden
upon grandparents, state and welfare agencies, and charities. Politicians now
realize the cause of mass incarceration date back to the implementation of draconian
sentencing guidelines, zero tolerance policies, and unfair criminal justice
practices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore,
this release will be an answer to our prayers to bring our children home, up out
of captivity. While there is still remnant of the tough-on-crime regime, we
realize that this move by the Obama administration will go a long ways in
helping us rebuild our broken families. We want to make our family unit viable
again in the decimated minority community. But, in order to do so, we must be
prepared to receive them back into our community and assist them in
reintegrating into society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is unfortunate that so many cities and states are unprepared to help these previously
incarcerated persons (PIPs) make the transition back into society. We, in
Texas, should be better prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We
began with a simple theory, which ran counter to popular notions. We believed
that if PIPs were successfully reintegrated into society that we would reduce
the rate of recidivism and began rebuilding our community, especially the black
communities where one-in-three young black males are incarcerated, at some
point in their lives. We only asked that society give our children a fair
chance. Therefore, we began advocating for new legislation and fair sentencing
guidelines. This resulted in the passage of the <a href="https://www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=90"><span style="color: blue;">Second Chance Act</span></a>
and <a href="http://www.ussc.gov/research-and-publications/federal-sentencing-statistics/fair-sentencing-act-amendment"><span style="color: blue;">Fair
Sentencing Act</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
2006, Tarrant County created the <a href="http://www.directionshome.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Appendix-E_Ex-Offender-Re-Entry-to-Tarrant-County.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Ex-Offender
Re-entry Initiative</span></a>, whose mission was: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">To facilitate the collaboration of Tarrant County community
groups, public health officials, treatment providers, educational institutions,
legislators, human services groups, housing officials, workforce development
groups, faith-based organizations, families, former inmates, victims’
advocates, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts and correctional
agencies to develop a planning strategy for the effective reintegration of
ex-offenders, thereby reducing recidivism, supporting victims and promoting
public safety in Tarrant County.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
program proved so successful that other cities, <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20140827-tarrant-county-unveils-resource-directory-for-ex-offenders.ece"><span style="color: blue;">like
Dallas</span></a>, began to emulate it. The <a href="http://tdcj.state.tx.us/divisions/rid/index.html"><span style="color: blue;">Texas Department of
Criminal Justice Reentry and Integration Division</span></a> program is based upon our
prototype. Now, after much hesitation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has
created its own <a href="https://www.bop.gov/about/facilities/residential_reentry_management_centers.jsp"><span style="color: blue;">Reentry
Program</span></a>, utilizing the same model but disconnected from the state’s reentry
network.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There
was a major shift in the purpose of incarceration, based upon the fact that
most prisoners would eventually be release. And, if a support network is not
provided for them, then they would be faced with the arduous task of finding a
place back into society by themselves. The only beneficiary would be the prison system. Thus,
it would be the only governmental agency paid to fail. This was the paradox that
caused us to look upon a successful reentry model as a viable means of reducing
crime, as well as the growing prison population, and for giving us an alternative to
increased levels of incarceration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We
set up priorities, based upon the basic needs of PIPs reentering society. First
and foremost, an ex-offender would need a copy of their birth certificate in
order to get a social security card, without which they are unemployable. These
documents are also necessary in order to get a driver’s license or a state-issued
identification card in Texas. This priority does not change, regardless of city or state
in which a man or a woman would be released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Other
individual needs include assistance in housing, employment, food, clothing, and
a variety of mental health issues. Because Texas was in the forefront of
recruiting a network of support services in these areas, we were able to
simplify our means of accessing these services. Most services can be accessed
by simply dialing <a href="http://www.211texas.org/about-2-1-1/"><span style="color: blue;">211 in Texas</span></a>.
The 211 system serves as a clearinghouse for all support services in the state
of Texas, including those coming through the <a href="http://www.211texas.org/guided-search/"><span style="color: blue;">Criminal Justice</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
only problem with the 211 infrastructure is the fact that not all service
organizations are listed. This is due to a lack of collaboration and coordination, because many
social service organizations still work in silos, with each trying to reinvent the
wheel. Nevertheless, a newly released inmate need only dial 211 in Texas to find assistance
for accessing these services, although some ex-drug offenders will be hindered in getting
food stamps and housing assistance because of existing laws, not to mention the problem of
restoring their voting rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We
also had to address the lack of education issue as an obstacle to successful
reentry. Therefore, we helped create GED programs and vocational training programs inside the prison and
provided entrepreneurial guidance upon release. We had to remove licensure
restrictions in order that some could become licensed plumbers, electricians, and
barbers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To
date, this is as simple as we could make it, except for the fact that many
support agencies and non-profits are not incorporated in the network.
For example, in Fort Worth, Texas, the Federal Bureau of Prisons utilizes <a href="https://www.bop.gov/locations/rrc/?contract=DJB200992a"><span style="color: blue;">Volunteers of
America</span></a>, as a Residential Reentry Center, which does not appear in the
state’s master 211 system under the category of Criminal Justice along with other
state-registered organizations. That is because the federal government does its own thing, and the state its own thing. But the solution to this lack of connectivity is to continue
building the network and trying connect all resources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Nevertheless,
there is still one major area in Mental Health that experts have not been able
to adequately address, and that is former inmate suffering from the “Arrested Development Syndrome”--- which
is like the Rip Van Winkle effort or Alvin Toffler’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Future Shock</i> syndrome. It is akin to taking a quantum leap from the
past into the future, which usually results in a crash with the realities of the new world. <strong>As
one writer noted, some prisoners due to be released by November 1, 2015 have
never used a cell phone</strong>. Some will be using computers for the first time to
seek employment. And even if they used these devices in the past, they will still
be confronted with many new things that they will find challenging. (Here I speak of “challenge” as a degree of cognitive
retardation and a lack of social skills). This is why we look upon computer literacy as one of the basic skill in navigating through the new world. Therefore, the reentry model must also
take into account re-orientation and re-socialization, as legitimate mental
health issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Mass
incarceration is also proving to be untenable. In 2007, when we demonstrated that
the majority of juvenile offenders should not even be incarcerated, the state began
releasing massive number of juveniles and depopulating these detention facilities, which led to an eventual reduction in adult prison
facilities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Prevention strategies in the school-to-prison pipeline reduced the juvenile
prison population by more than 2,000 in 2007, and resulted in the closure of 7 or 8 facilities
because the cost of incarceration per capita had risen to nearly $90,000 per year.
Likewise, Restorative Justice and Restoration strategies reduced the
adult prison population in Texas. Now the Federal Bureau of Prisons is
reporting a reduction of 8,426 inmates for the fiscal year of 2015. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It is an economic fact that for each
redeemed prisoner, the per capita cost of incarceration goes up for the others. This
trend has caused states to cut back on their prison budget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
a memorandum issued by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prison, issued May 12, 2015,
in anticipation of the immediate release of the 6,600 prisoners, to be followed by
more (altogether about 30,000 inmates), the Justice Department called upon all Residential
Reentry Directors to instruct their managers to work closely with community-based RRC
contractors to accommodate these releases and “facilitates these offenders
successful return to the community”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com"><span style="color: blue;">eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-48957024692708890542015-09-23T13:59:00.000-07:002015-09-23T14:04:05.650-07:00Reducing Mass Incarceration- From Theory to Practice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mass
Incarceration was a term we created as a descriptive of a process. Too many
young black men were going to jail and prison, leaving behind a void in the
family structure. The biggest problem was father leaving their children behind.
The burden of child support falls on others, namely mothers without their men,
grandparents, charities, and state agencies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">As
a child’s rights advocate, it is my job to look after the survival of these
children, and all other children who are neglected and abused. From a
sociological point of view this means the well-being of a child, from
conception to viability, until the child is able to survive in society on their
own. They call these “at-risk” kids because of environmental risks and
challenges that these children must overcome before they can take their place
in society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Old
School Revolutionaries, who have studied the risk factors in current society,
build the necessary support systems as bridges over which these children can
overcome their obstacles. The ultimate objective is to provide a strong
foundation for the family, which entails the survivability of the mother, her
child or children, and the reclamation of the absentee father. A strong family
is the building block of our society and a participant in the governing and
control of that society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">With
this perspective, we focus upon the Child, Mother, and Father, as the basic
unit of our society. As an Old School activist, I am member of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;">Strong Family
and Community Services</span></i><span style="color: #333333;"> team of the </span><strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.mcpfw.org/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Morningside
Children's Partnership</span></span></a>. We are into the second year of
implementation of our Cradle-to-Career Initiative.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In homes where the fathers are MIA, the family unit is Mother and Child.
Their basic needs include food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and financial
assistance (in lieu of the missing potential income of the absentee father).
For this purpose, we began building a support network of social services to
assist and guide mothers and children in accessing these resources. This system
has since grown into a statewide network, now centralized and coordinated by
the Texas Health and Human Services Commission through the </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=77&v=Hh5oWFKwGto"><span style="color: blue;">211 System</span></a></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. The Texas 211 hotline is free and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, and provides contact information to the following <a href="http://www.211texas.org/guided-search/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">catalog of services</span></span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Housing/Shelter<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Crisis/Emergency<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Aging/Disability<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Employment<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Income/Expenses<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Health/Medical<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Food/Nutrition<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Legal Aid/Victims<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mental Health<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Veterans<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Criminal Justice<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="uk-text-middle1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Child Care/Education</span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In order to address the specific problems facing young black men, from youth
through fatherhood, we addressed the School-to-Prison Pipeline, the Criminal
Justice System, Incarceration, and Post-Incarceration.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The starting point and the ending point are one and the same: How to help
young men become good fathers. For this purpose, we created a local chapter of
the </span><a href="http://www.tarrantfatherhood.org/resources.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fatherhood Initiative</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">, with a
wealth of information and contacts in the “</span><a href="http://workforcesolutions.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Dads-book-2015.pdf"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dad’s Pocket Resource Guide</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">”. A
lot of the listed resources may also be accessed through the Texas 211 System.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The head of the School-to-Prison Pipeline begins inside the public school
system. By tracking students going through the AEDP (disciplinary process), we
can estimate the rate of Juvenile Delinquency in the FWISD. The Texas Education
Agency provides </span><a href="http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/adhocrpt/Disciplinary_Data_Products/Download_District_Summaries.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">an annual report</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> on the number
of disciplinary actions taken within the school system, but daily reports can
be generated whenever necessary. This helps us to identify which schools or
which students need an intervention strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We have also worked with the Fort Worth Police Department and the
Juvenile Courts to save as many young people as possible from incarceration. As
of late, we have worked diligently to prevent our young black men from being
killed by the police during confrontations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
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</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We have worked collaborative with faith-based organizations and the Texas
Parole Division to successfully reintegrate ex-offenders back into society. We
developed a reentry strategy that has proven so successful that the state
modeled its program after it. (See </span><a href="http://tdcj.state.tx.us/divisions/rid/index.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Texas Department of Criminal Justice Reentry and Integration Division</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">).<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-59491902065672594202015-07-29T18:15:00.001-07:002015-07-29T20:03:01.955-07:00Forgive the Confederacy for the Sins of Slavery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By
Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">ONE
HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AFTER the great War between the States, we do not need
to blow up <a href="http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/stone-mountain/2015/07/25/group-protests-stone-mountain-confederate-flag/30686521/"><span style="color: blue;">Stone
Mountain</span></a> to find consolation for the sins of slavery. When the bereaved daughter
of Ethel Lance told the gunman in the South Carolina church shooting, “I
forgive you”, it was finished. It was out of her hands, and into the hands of
God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Even
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He forgave,
and he is the Son of God. Are we greater than he? Could we have done better
ourselves? By virtue of a divine pardon, written in <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ezekiel 18:20: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">T</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he son shall not bear the guilt of the
father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
order not to hold the descendants guilty for the sin of their forefathers, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie G. Griffin</b> let it go, a long time
ago. I truly believe they knew not what they were doing. To them, slavery was
about property rights and the law of property, governed, and protected by the
state.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> It never occurred to them that
slavery was a sin before the eyes of heaven</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">They
never recognized the humanity of those they held in bondage, until the
Confederacy was collapsing. Humbled by proximity of defeat… Appomattox less
than a month away… <a href="http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm"><span style="color: blue;">They
asked the slaves to help fight the Yankees</span></a>, with permission of the owners,
of course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/csenlist.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Robert E. Lee's General Orders
#14 issued on March 23, 1865</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Ethelbert
Barksdale of Mississippi, in the Confederate Congress, introduced a bill
granting Davis the power to accept black men as soldiers, but only with their
masters' permission. Masters were also permitted, but not required, to
emancipate slaves who completed terms of service in the Confederate army. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">After strenuous debate</b>, and with the
endorsement of General Robert E. Lee, the House of Representatives narrowly
passed</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
contentious debates centered on the humanity of the Negro, whether he was more
than a primitive savage, with intelligence barely above a baboon, and only
capable of menial labor. In other words, was he not an inherently and genetically
retard? Therefore, if they allowed the Negro to fight in the Confederate army, wearing
the proud uniform of Dixie, then they must admit that they were wrong… wrong
about the Negro… and everything else… including their whole system of slavery. But
some senators were so hell-bent on this hierarchical ideology that it required two
senators to change their votes for passage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus,
after passage of General Order #14 on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">March
23, 1865</b>, it was left up to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maj,
James W. Pegram</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maj. Thomas P.
Turner</b> to hastily put together the “<a href="http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Black_Confederates#start_entry"><span style="color: blue;">Negro
Brigade</span></a>” of Confederate States Colored Troops, and throw them up in defense
Richmond, while everybody else was evacuating. But it was too little, too late,
because <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gen. Robert E. Lee</b> faced two
titanic battle-hardened armies<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">,</b>
converging on the capital city … One Black: <a href="http://lestweforget.hamptonu.edu/page.cfm?uuid=9FEC3D3F-95B9-A1DB-DC2DBD070118BA6D"><span style="color: blue;">XXV
Corps</span></a>, U.S. Colored Troops… One White: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXIV_Corps_(Union_Army)"><span style="color: blue;">XXIV Corps.</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 3, 1865</b>, Lee was forced to
evacuate Richmond. For the next six days, the Union army closed in the Army of
Northern Virginia, and tracked them until Lee was finally cornered at Appomattox.
By fate or by fortune, <a href="http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Col. Ulysses Doubleday, 2<sup>nd</sup>
Brig, 2<sup>nd</sup> Div., XXV Corps USCT</span></b></a> and <a href="http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Col. William W. Woodward, 3<sup>rd</sup> Brig., 2<sup>nd</sup> Div. XXV
Corp. USCT</span></b></a>, were sent into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Appomattox
on April 9, 1865</b>, as part of Union forces sent to mop up the rest of Lee’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Army of Northern Virginia</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">ONE
HUNDRED YEARS AFTER the Great War between the States, in 1965, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie G. Griffin</b> was a student at
Arlington State College. We engaged in protest demonstration to bring down the Old
Dixie flag that flew over campus. We were supported by one college professor, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dr. Alan Saxe</b>. And, it was the height
of the Civil Rights Movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia was raised in the prominent and
sovereign place of Old Glory. And every year when they celebrated Old South
Week on campus, white students would pull out their great-grandfather’s old
Confederate Civil War uniform, with their swords, and flags and hoopla over
Dixie and the theme “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The South Shall Rise Again</i></b>.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After
a three-year fight, led by the Student Non-Violent Committee (SNCC), the flag
came down, the college underwent a name change and reorganization (now
University of Texas at Arlington), and the school’s mascot was changed from
Rebels to Mavericks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
retrospect, knowing now what I could not have known then, I should have pitied
them. They celebrate what never was, and reenact what never happened. But a lie
repeated often enough it becomes the truth in the mind of those who want to
believe it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">IT IS EASIER TO FORGIVE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
when you know the truth. As Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth
shall set you free.” For with truth, comes the consolation of peace of mind. But
to the liar, and “those who love a lie”, the biggest lie is the one that you
tell to yourself. And, the saddest lie is the one you convince yourself is the
truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
truth behind the Civil War is that the Dixie died, crushed by a humiliating
defeat. And our forefathers, the U.S. Colored Troops, played a more prominent role
in it than history gives them credit for. This is why, whenever they reenact
the Confederate side of the War, knowing the truth themselves, they intentionally
skip these key battles, simply because our Colored forefathers were the heroes…
at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Battle of Appomattox</span></a></b>,
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/overview.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Battle of New
Market Heights</span></a></b>, and select battles in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Petersburg-Richmond Campaign</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">BUT
IF, as they say, you can’t miss what you can’t measure, then how were we to
know the truth if it were not in the history books, or how would we know what
for to search, if there were no reference? This was ignorance and vexation of
the spirit, when you are growing up in the Deep South, with the truth being
hidden in the 1950s. It was not until the 1960s, when the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Consciousness_Movement"><span style="color: blue;">Black
Consciousness Movement</span></a></b> ushered in a second Afro-Black Renaissance. We rediscovered
the first Colored-Black Renaissance (c. 1900) and the writings of W.E.B. DuBois
who, so happened to preserved the memory of the U.S. Colored Troops of the
Civil War, and a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar entitled, “<strong><a href="http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/192/lyrics-of-love-and-laughter/4026/when-dey-listed-colored-soldiers/"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">When Dey Listed Colored Soldiers</span></span></a>”</strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Up
until then, we had nothing concrete, only old wives stories and folklore about
black soldiers fighting in the Civil War. Otherwise, our forefathers in the
Union Army were completely whitewashed… not only from the charades, parades,
and reenactments of Civil War battles… but bleached from the books of history,
and purposely ignored or distorted by Hollywood (in movies like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Birth of a Nation</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gone with the Wind</i>, and most recently <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glory</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">NEVERTHELESS, IT IS
EASIER TO FORGIVE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> when you have the consolation of
knowing that we won and they lost… to God goes the Glory… It was called, by
some contemporary account, a “<a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/history/articles/2009/02/12/abraham-lincolns-religious-uncertainty"><span style="color: blue;">divine
retribution</span></a>”. President Abraham Lincoln was of the persuasion that it was
Providence. I believe the same also, that it was the Will of God to “set the
captives free”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">YET: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What
they said at the beginning is not what they said at the end about the
beginning. So once again, they are changing <a href="http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/State-textbook-standards-on-Civil-War-concern-6373928.php"><span style="color: blue;">the
new history textbooks</span></a> in our schools to suit their fantasies of what never
was. And, as if it were not bad enough to whitewash the U.S. Colored Troops out
of history to begin with, the revisionists are once again fabricating a new reason
as to why the war was fought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">NOWADAYS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">,
they are quick to point out that Lincoln did not start out to free the slaves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">March 4, 1861</b>, he stated that he had no
purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery
in the states where it exists. “I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and
I have no inclination to do so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Not
that Lincoln was racist, as some distorters would have us believe, but that, at
the time (1861) he would have said anything to keep the Union from falling
apart, and slaveholding states following the secession steps taken by South
Carolina, who had already seceded from the Union as early as <a href="http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~ras2777/amgov/secession.html#Texas"><span style="color: blue;">April 26,
1852</span></a>, some eight years before his election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">NOWADAYS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">,
they would say that the War was fought over states’ rights and not over slavery.
But <a href="http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~ras2777/amgov/secession.html#Texas"><span style="color: blue;">Texas
Articles of Secession</span></a> accused the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa of “deliberately, directly or indirectly” violating
the 3rd clause of the 2nd section of the 4th article of the Constitution by not
enforcing the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fugitive Slave Law</b>
within their borders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was a war waiting to happen. Not that the Emancipation Proclamation could free
the slaves in Rebel states where it could not be enforced, but that the
Proclamation only gave our forefathers a fighting chance to win it for
themselves. Shortly after going into effect, by March 1863, the Union
officially began recruiting Colored Troops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">AFTER
concessions to truth, they now admit that there were more that the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">54<sup>th</sup> Massachusetts U.S.C.T.</b>,
that there were about 180,000 black troops who served in the Union during the
Civil War. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">WRONG! </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">XXV Corps of U.S. Colored Troops</b>
that counted 178,895 black soldiers, but only after its reformation on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">December 3, 1864</b>. These were the
survivors of many prior battles brought together for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Petersburg-Richmond Campaign</b>, which ended with the surrender of
Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, whose Army of Northern Virginia had dwindled to
about 50,000 troops during the siege. This is what precipitated the
Call-to-Arms for slaves by General Order #14. The Confederates had hoped to
raise a force of 200,000 Colored Troops, by volunteerism or conscription. But
the few that did take up arms made a miserable showing at Richmond before its
evacuation on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April 3, 1865</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After
the Battle of Appomattox Court House, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">April
9, 1865</b>, <a href="http://www.nps.gov/apco/black-soldiers.htm"><span style="color: blue;">thirty-nine
black Confederate soldiers</span></a> were among those who were paroled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">MAYBE,
the War was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">free-for-all</i>, with everybody
fighting for a different reason. One thing for sure U.S. Colored Troops were
fighting to free their brothers and sisters from bondage. The regimental blue
battle flag of the 6<sup>th</sup> U.S.C.T. bore the slogan: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/04/0407001r.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">Freedom for
All</span></a></i></b>… an angel with her wings hovering over a Colored soldier. The
battle flags of other Colored units were of like motivation. The Call of
Freedom,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To
the victor goes the honor, whereas the vanquished put lipstick on pigs. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Except that whitewashing history does not
beautify the pig</i>. Therefore, I say, “Let the dead bury the dead, and let
the Confederacy have its heroes, and let Dixie mourn for its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost Cause</i> till Resurrection Day.” I should
not begrudge them of their icons. Because I am reminded that if you pull on a
thread, you unravel the whole suit, Dixie is in our DNA. With </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">so many thousands of streets, schools, cities, parks,
buildings, monuments, and counties named after Confederate heroes, even if it
were possible to erase and rename them all, as some would suggest, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">we
would no longer recognize where we live or where we are going.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
have Pavlovian conniption, foam at the mouth, chase our tail, and bark at the
moon, when we see Old Dixie waved in our face or come across the statue of a Confederate
hero… like the bust of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gen.</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Gregg</b> sitting at the entrance of
the courthouse in Longview, Texas, the seat of Gregg County, which was named in
his honor in 1873… Didn’t he die at the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Battle
of New Market Heights</b> on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">October 7,
1864</b>, facing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gen. Charles Paine’s</b>
division of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">U.S. Colored Troops</b>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Here
was a man, with no pre-war military experience, who was defeated in one battle
after another, dethroned from his horse twice by a bullet to the neck, only to
be resurrected and promoted time and again and finally being put in command of
the famed </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Hood’s Texas
Brigade called “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fho49"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: blue;">the finest brigade of Robert E. Lee’s Army of
Northern Virginia</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. He,
along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gen.</b> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Martin
Gary's </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">dismounted
cavalry brigade<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">, </b>was entrusted with <a href="http://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/overview.htm"><span style="color: blue;">the heavy
fortified defenses at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Market Heights</b></span></a>,
which guarded the back door to the capitol city of Richmond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here he faced Paine's three brigades
- commanded by Colonels John Holman, Alonzo Draper and Samuel Duncan, with the
6<sup>th</sup> USCT Regiment and its blue battle flag being part of the Duncan
Brigade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CALL IT DESTINY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: Maj. Gen. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Benjamin Butler recommended that
Paine’s division lead the Union attacks… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">he
believed blacks would fight as well as whites, and New Market Heights offered a
perfect opportunity for the USCTs to prove their ability</b> (Source: <a href="http://www.nps.gov/rich/learn/historyculture/overview.htm"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">National Park Service</span></span></a>)…
The Battle of New Market Heights (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sept.
29-30, 1864</b>) was another, in a string of suicide missions Colored Troops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">CALL IT LUCK:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
a dense morning fog, the advancing troops came upon tangled, swampy ground, and
the advance became very confused… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">only
one division - Paine's USCTs - was able to get through the swamps, and of that
division, only one brigade, Col Duncan's, advanced toward the Rebel works.</b></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">CALL IT TRAGIC</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Upon
clearing the swamps and leaving the other regiments tangled up in the rear,
Paine's division came upon a double line of abatis - felled trees that
defenders used to slow an advance. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Soon,
axe-wielding pioneers were cutting their way through when the Confederates
opened fire. </b>Duncan’s men had to lay their muskets aside in order to chop
through heavy logs of obstruction. In doing so,</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> John McMurray, Capt. of Co. D, 6th
USCT</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, lost over 85% of his men before clearing
a way for the next brigade to come through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CALL IT BRAVERY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sgt.
Maj. Thomas R. Hawkins</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> rescued the blue battle flag with
one hand, while carrying Old Glory in the other. He survived the Battle of New
Market Heights, only to die of his wounds in 1870, and posthumously awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">CALL IT PROVIDENCE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">:
After losing over 50% of their men against Gen. John Gregg’s Texas Brigade, one
by one they come through an open field, waded through a swamp, and charged up the
hill of the enemy’s earthworks, and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat, until
they were routed. The smaller army of U.S. Colored Troops overran the larger
terrified Confederate forces, and opened the door to Petersburg and Richmond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After
Lee received the bad news on September 30, 1864, he immediately ordered Gregg
to counterattack, thus sending him to his death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On October 7, 1864, one week
after losing the Battle of New Market Heights, General John Gregg was killed along
the Charles City Road, near Richmond, Virginia, trying to lead a counterattack
at the Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Responding to the loss of Fort
Harrison and the increasing Federal threat against Richmond, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/va077.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Gen. Robert E. Lee directed an
offensive against the Union far right flank on October 7</span></a></span></b><span style="color: red;">. </span>After routing the Federal cavalry from their
position covering Darbytown Road, Field’s and Hoke’s divisions assaulted the
main Union defensive line along New Market Road and were repulsed. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Confederate Gen. John Gregg of the Texas
brigade was killed.</u></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">THE END OF WHAT MAKES A
HERO</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">For the gallantry and
valor, above and beyond the call of the duty</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, FOURTEEN of
the U.S. COLORED SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF MARKET HEIGHTS received
Congressional Medals of Honors from </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj. Gen. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Benjamin Butler, most on April 6,
1865… with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sgt. Maj. Thomas R. Hawkins</b>
receiving his posthumously in 1870.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">FACT IS:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
They were never forgotten for the selfless sacrifice of over 50% of their men. Today,
they are buried with double honors in our National Cemeteries, and their
histories preserved by the National Park Service. And if that were not honor
enough, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gen. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Benjamin Butler created
a special <a href="http://www.civilwar.si.edu/soldiering_butler_medal.html"><span style="color: blue;">Butler
Medal</span></a> for the entire division that survived the crossing and turned the
tide of battle, and hence the war, at New Market Height, opening the way to Richmond
and Petersburg.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Butler Medal, officially known as the Army of the James Medal, was named for
General Benjamin F. Butler, who commissioned a medal to honor African American
troops in his command for gallantry during the Battle of Newmarket Heights on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">September 29, 1864</b>. The medal is
silver, inscribed on the obverse with “Ferro Ilis Libertas Perveniet” and on
the reverse with “Distinguished Courage Campaign Before Richmond 1864.”… The
Butler Medal holds the distinction of being the only medal ever struck for
black troops.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">AFTER
A HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS--- Eddie G. Griffin can forgive the Confederacy of
slavery, because I find more consolation the of my forefathers, especially those
from the XXV Corps who finished the job of freeing the last slaves in Texas…
the 38<sup>th</sup> U.S.C.T. who came through the Battle of New Market Heights to
Petersburg on to Texas to free the last slaves in held in chattel bondage … </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">deployed to Texas, May 24 and June 6, 1865… engaged at
various points along the Rio Grande in the southern portion of the state,
including Brownsville and Brazos Santiago, Galveston on the gulf coast, as well
as at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Indianola</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, Texas</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">,
now a ghost town at the bottom of the Gulf, like the lost city of Atlantis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Listed
below are 9 out of the 14 Medal of Honor winners and Butler Medal recipients:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Col. Alonzo Draper</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">'s
brigade (5th, 36th, and 38th USCT)… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pvt.</b>
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">William Henry Barnes</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">, Co. C, 38<sup>th</sup>
USCT, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1<sup>st</sup> </b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Sgt. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Powhatan Beaty, </span></span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Co. G, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">5th USCT, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pvt. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">James H. Bronson</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, Co. D, 5<sup>th</sup> USCT, <b>Sgt. Maj. Milton
Murray Holland</b>, Co. C, 5<sup>th</sup> USCT, <b>1<sup>st</sup> Sgt. Robert
A. Pinn</b>, Co. I, 5<sup>th</sup> USCT, <b>Pvt. James Daniel Gardner</b>, Co.
I, 36<sup>th</sup> USCT, <b>Cpl. Miles James</b>, Co. B, 36<sup>th</sup> USCT, <b>Pvt.
James H. Harris</b>, Co. B, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">38<sup>th</sup> USCT, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1<sup>s</sup></b><sup>t</sup> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sgt.</b></span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Edward Ratcliff</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, Co. C, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">38<sup>th</sup>
USCT. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">IN
MEMORY OF WILLIAM HENRY BARNES, who survived to reach Texas... the first among
the three over top at New Market Heights… engaging the enemy in hand-to-hand
combat, while bleeding from a shoulder wound, yet defying every bullet… walking
over and through Gregg’s Texas Brigade… marching right into Petersburg… boldly
coming into Texas to finish capturing the state, and freeing the last slaves on
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">June 19, 1865</b>, Juneteenth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After
all this, he dies, less than two years later, of tuberculosis in an Army
hospital in Indianola on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Christmas Eve,
December 24, 1866</b>. A marker in his memory was placed in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_National_Cemetery" title="San Antonio National Cemetery"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">San Antonio National Cemetery</span></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio,_Texas" title="San Antonio, Texas"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">San Antonio, Texas</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And
so I forgive the Confederacy for the sin of slavery, in memory of my forefathers
who fought their way to victory over slavery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-50559800528241996722015-06-10T08:46:00.003-07:002015-06-10T09:36:45.642-07:00An Answer to a Prayer in McKinney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On
June 5, 2015</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> at approximately
7:15 p.m., officers from the McKinney Police Department responded to a
disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool. The initial call came in
as a disturbance involving <em>multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live
in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave</em>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8eefyhN3Jwe-ffS1bmKXx5pywtJGArT2M_lZEPSsbVorIQ2uaJv-9J32EByKvDIPybu2BiZZZ6PT5b0QfBzwYfyWeKT-4kECAOUFwNBtG8b2GG485YAz52pAecDK9KVgH8bFRB7bPq8/s1600/Eric_Casebolt_215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8eefyhN3Jwe-ffS1bmKXx5pywtJGArT2M_lZEPSsbVorIQ2uaJv-9J32EByKvDIPybu2BiZZZ6PT5b0QfBzwYfyWeKT-4kECAOUFwNBtG8b2GG485YAz52pAecDK9KVgH8bFRB7bPq8/s1600/Eric_Casebolt_215.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[endif]--></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">10
MILLION viewers have seen the McKinney, Texas video. Everybody saw the incident
the sparked national outrage, but fewer people saw the parents and community
come together to pray for their city, and that the right thing is done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAeIgsSZt96uCOfQNsmc4kARs45kukk2HjFLn9ISjjqdxwHv96SKnLscPmlrbAzE_WO9-09J4mQDB3WYb_q_l6vF-G7XWmD-HINqVMYy5H2sG4zgShfiP7va8SF94d8s2UXbJ4JfDY0Q/s1600/mckinney+prayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAeIgsSZt96uCOfQNsmc4kARs45kukk2HjFLn9ISjjqdxwHv96SKnLscPmlrbAzE_WO9-09J4mQDB3WYb_q_l6vF-G7XWmD-HINqVMYy5H2sG4zgShfiP7va8SF94d8s2UXbJ4JfDY0Q/s320/mckinney+prayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">On
June 9, 2015</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">while
everybody was waiting for the McKinney Police Department to make a statement, supposedly
by </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Police Chief Greg Conley at 5:30
p.m., I listened for the news report and heard that a powerful microburst thunderstorm
suddenly appeared on the horizon, north of Love Field, about 40 miles from McKinney. <em>My first fear
was protesters getting caught in the rain.</em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">The weatherman had sworn that we
would see no more rain in a week. But this one caught them totally by surprise,
because it popped up out of nowhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpxqH3-5CK39fFNg6dhRbXOCKHGyFmbCucQT6WCE5ep4SGF_kczfc4BjhZIZiOqoQti8_HrAyG66ybpbIggaEdUJApeasyDz5-hQCDvY6QL_DEPHIPikW7fQIA13Ezr_3BODzqzsakBE/s1600/Skies+over+McKinney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpxqH3-5CK39fFNg6dhRbXOCKHGyFmbCucQT6WCE5ep4SGF_kczfc4BjhZIZiOqoQti8_HrAyG66ybpbIggaEdUJApeasyDz5-hQCDvY6QL_DEPHIPikW7fQIA13Ezr_3BODzqzsakBE/s320/Skies+over+McKinney.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At 4:22pm</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
this afternoon, automated reporting sensors at Dallas Love Field reported a
wind gust of 59 knots (~67mph) from the northeast. A strong thunderstorm
had developed over Dallas at around 4pm, and while it was not strong enough to
warrant a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, a Special Weather Statement had been
issued by the NWS office in Ft. Worth at 4:06pm advising that winds in excess
of 40mph and dime size hail were possible with this storm…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Flash
Flood Warning for Downtown Dallas, Highland Park, University Park, northwest to
Love Field. A small but potent thunderstorm has dumped two inches of rain in a
short period of time. In addition winds up to 70 MPH were reported earlier at
Love Field. Several roads are underwater and impassable.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwrp84Hy8U2u1Ct_4_YNygf4RPK3rUfLEDGR-DaadtR6LnTYaP_JqDvkZM6RogHEVv1D4AGOsdg6Zzw4k8VYURzblWdHcCHg0IwwBBqGvS0aVf8V8pFJYUhptTKgyuyoJMhljXDQSKSc/s1600/Monday+protest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwrp84Hy8U2u1Ct_4_YNygf4RPK3rUfLEDGR-DaadtR6LnTYaP_JqDvkZM6RogHEVv1D4AGOsdg6Zzw4k8VYURzblWdHcCHg0IwwBBqGvS0aVf8V8pFJYUhptTKgyuyoJMhljXDQSKSc/s320/Monday+protest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN8bfSo7NWjPiVk5JOi6Qm8ic7-cs_mDLORaUzBe6zIqgwP_0DwwtdyZGT5H_LafRI5Kcdz-G5K2tJvaMC5A_Gd_Ght5R5m8tsCBRp1S_MyS6LQ2dJTUPdC8SqL6NQ9mrOA5slHB70UU/s1600/NEXT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN8bfSo7NWjPiVk5JOi6Qm8ic7-cs_mDLORaUzBe6zIqgwP_0DwwtdyZGT5H_LafRI5Kcdz-G5K2tJvaMC5A_Gd_Ght5R5m8tsCBRp1S_MyS6LQ2dJTUPdC8SqL6NQ9mrOA5slHB70UU/s320/NEXT.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="file:///C:/Users/Eddie/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image009.png" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_7" width="473" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><em>How long will the storm last? Would it impact McKinney 40 miles away?
Would it cause </em></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em>Chief
Greg Conley to delay his press conference?</em> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But by the time Conley stepped to
the podium, the sky was clear. It was a beautiful day, and a good day for good
news. Officer David Eric Casebolt had resigned from the force.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GMRI2w3C9nwgtUn9G904ExZ8NUIYLN8XKYxewMcexQjgc_y905JfDcVsu5Jkvhx3_k38YTHl3uumuq9yIi18PWVqGtybWc5Fl5VuVRcseFfm6QvQ0NME58MoFXig2cP9bnUy2WS1BUE/s1600/Adrian-Martin-150x150.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GMRI2w3C9nwgtUn9G904ExZ8NUIYLN8XKYxewMcexQjgc_y905JfDcVsu5Jkvhx3_k38YTHl3uumuq9yIi18PWVqGtybWc5Fl5VuVRcseFfm6QvQ0NME58MoFXig2cP9bnUy2WS1BUE/s1600/Adrian-Martin-150x150.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDtYOOxfa4k" target="_blank">Adrian Martin</a>, age 18, </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Charged with evading arrest and interfering with police:
</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">CHARGES DROPPED--- A prayer answered</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnaJwCcvX0JXYP0IzFx8D5WZ1u7LdomYncZRFjHVKIQMXzjzVBo3xCLLkjaagbup6fuE3sdHe5pv6ZMKRv1NAPdq0yfAMH0ChfncKp5QETsKbEKta4VwKlmTPli4nj9u63W-G0l2tWko/s1600/rsizebrandon-665x385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnaJwCcvX0JXYP0IzFx8D5WZ1u7LdomYncZRFjHVKIQMXzjzVBo3xCLLkjaagbup6fuE3sdHe5pv6ZMKRv1NAPdq0yfAMH0ChfncKp5QETsKbEKta4VwKlmTPli4nj9u63W-G0l2tWko/s320/rsizebrandon-665x385.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Brandon
Brooks, the 15-year old who video taped the pool party</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrrdSjqn9g" target="_blank">Interviewed<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="file:///C:/Users/Eddie/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image007.png" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_6" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Testimony of Brandon
Brooks’ Friend<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrrdSjqn9g"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrrdSjqn9g</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-32985965624781042142015-06-09T09:32:00.002-07:002015-06-09T10:05:36.336-07:00The McKinney Pool Party Incident<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">TO:
McKinney Police Department, Internal Affairs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:ia@mckinneytexas.org"><span style="color: blue;">ia@mckinneytexas.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">RE:
McKinney Pool Party Incident<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear
Internal Affairs Officer:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My
name is Eddie Griffin, former political prisoner and peacemaking negotiator
between community and police. I was invited to look into the pool party
incident and find the racism in the police department’s actions against the
black youth attending the party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
agree that, superficially, you will not find racism upon the McKinney Police Department,
based solely upon this incident. The pool party organizer was the one having
the problem with uninvited guests. And yes, there was a need to call the police
to sort out the uninvited teens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What
is missing in cultural awareness is that whenever young people have their
summer break parties, there will always be uninvited teens trying to crash the
party, more so for the free food rather than mischief. However, we know from
our experience that these are the very times when most of our summer violence
occurs, when teens crash other teens’ parties. This is why African-American
parents are especially watchful at such events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
racism displayed at the Craig Ranch Community Pool came in when a white resident
attempted to rid the uninvited guest by telling them to “Go back to Section 8
housing.” But saying such a thing to a teen that actually lived there in the neighborhood
was offensive. And, the 14-year old dragged down by Officer Casebolt also lived
in that community. Clearly, there was a misidentification of suspects. And the
innocent wound up being manhandled as if they were the guilty parties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Is
it just to round up the innocent with the guilty, by prejudging all to be
guilty?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Brandon
Brooks, the young white teen who shot the video which we have now all seen,
told KDFW News that “<a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article23559184.html"><span style="color: blue;">tensions
rose after a white woman and a black teenager had an altercation</span></a>”, after
the woman said “to go back to section 8 housing.” And another white teen who appeared
this morning on the news with her father confirmed the remark. For this young
white teen trying to intervene, she was handcuffed and sat on the curb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
remark, “Go back to section 8 housing”, is not a harmless statement. It blatantly
says “go back to where you belong.” It suggests that you do not belong here. Go
back to your place. Go back to Africa. We do not want you in our neighborhood.
This is a trend wherever racial intolerance is found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Whatever
ran through the mind of the young African-American teen with the white resident,
he would have had many reasons to be offended. Who is responsible, the adult
who should know better, or the child who cannot resist such an emotional provocation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Now
everyone would agree with the need to call the police to restore order, and
sort out who belongs at the party and who were the party crashers. But Officer
Casebolt had no way of knowing who was who. Instead of seeking out the parents
in charge of the party, he chose skin color over innocence and guilt. Thus, he
wound up assailing the very kids for whom this celebration was given. And worse,
Casebolt drew his service weapon and threatened their lives, and those who
tried to intervene. What was not obvious to the officer, as he was demanding
the kids to go home was the fact that they were already home. This was where
they lived, and they had a right to be there. On the other hand, most of the
intruders had probably already scattered by the time the police arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Everything
else is moot. The issue is whether Officer Casebolt used professional judgment
in drawing his service weapon on these kids whose only crime was protesting the
suppression of their rights? Didn’t they have the right to have a summer party?
Didn’t they have the right to expect protection from the local police department
against unwanted intruders? So how then did they wound up being the ones handcuffed
and slammed to the ground?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">No
wonder there were no arrests among the juveniles. Officer Casebolt’s judgment
was faulty, insofar as he did not consult the parents who were in charge. These
parents could have positively identified those uninvited guests and worked with
the police to have them discretely escorted off the property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Secondly,
I believe Officer Casebolt works from his own faulty training program. Inasmuch
as he claims to be a training instructor, his tactic of going in, cursing, demanding
everybody to get on the ground like in an Afghan war zone, is not conducive to community
policing. This is not what we want to see in our local police officers. We do
not need a battlefield mentality and heavy-handed policing over our kids. It is
unacceptable, disgraceful, and hostile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
judgment is upon you and the McKinney Police Department. I would only advise: Judge
righteous judgment, and not according to politics or race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Eddie
Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-18092246470696064222015-05-27T08:15:00.000-07:002015-05-27T08:15:26.314-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">RE:
Grants Available from Morningside Children’s Partnership<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">From:
Eddie Griffin, publicist, MCP Council<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Dear Morningside Community, Friends, and
Partners: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We have an exciting opportunity to
announce! Morningside Children’s Partnership will be offering awards of up to
$3,000 to area organizations, churches, and educators. These grant awards will
be given to applicants whose innovative projects positively impact the children
and families of the Morningside Community. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For full details and eligibility
requirements, please see the full application. It is available on the MCP
website <a href="http://www.mcpfw.org/"><span style="color: blue;">www.mcpfw.org</span></a> and also at some local
businesses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We will be providing two information
sessions for any interested applicants who may have additional questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Session
I:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 7:00 PM <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Shamblee Library<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shamblee+Branch+Library/@32.73311,-97.318666,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x1b6ffd2f9c82fe98"><span style="color: blue;">1062
Evans Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76104</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Session
II:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 10:00 AM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Shamblee Library<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shamblee+Branch+Library/@32.73311,-97.318666,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x1b6ffd2f9c82fe98"><span style="color: blue;">1062
Evans Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76104</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First Round Application Deadline: July 1,
2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Award Date: August 14, 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Second Round Application Deadline: September
15, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Award Date: November 4, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We encourage all community partners,
organizations, and educators to apply! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sincerely, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The MCP Grants Council<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Eddie
Griffin, publicist </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:evansavenue76104@yahoo.com"><span style="color: blue;">evansavenue76104@yahoo.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Eddie
G. Griffin (BASG) blog: <a href="http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://eddiegriffinbasg.blogspot.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Email:
<a href="mailto:eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com"><span style="color: blue;">eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-70342424804164796972015-03-27T09:31:00.001-07:002015-03-27T09:31:18.469-07:00Jermaine Darden Taser Death Lawsuit to Court<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">RE: Darden
Family Lawsuit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear
Councilwoman Gyna Bivens,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
read in the <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article16207607.html"><span style="color: blue;">newspaper</span></a>
where the Darden family is suing the City and the Fort Worth Police Department
over the death of Jermaine. I also saw the horrific <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIQSIChYrjA"><span style="color: blue;">footage</span></a> of the police
raid that led to his death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
you know, I spoke on behalf of the Darden family before the city council, and
you were gracious enough to meet with me and Angela Tyson, the sister of
Jermaine. She expressed to you her family’s grievance and hardships of his
death. And, you also know that she and I met with Chief Jeff Halstead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Frankly
speaking, I do not know if there was anything that could have been done to
prevent this lawsuit. But I do wish to remind you also, as a matter of record,
of my extensive correspondence with the former chief about the use of force and
excessive tasering. My correspondence led to the Chief going to TASER
International, and convincing the company to modify its taser design, because
we found in the tasering death of Michael Jacobs Jr that the continuous
discharge of 50,000 volts of electricity to the body will indeed kill a person,
contrary to the company’s previous non-lethal claim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
City should have learned from the $2 million settlement with the Jacobs family
that tasers can become excessive force, if it exceeds the 5-second safety
shutoff that was built in. And, there are only rare exceptions where an officer
is allowed to redeploy beyond that limit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After
reading the police report and seeing the body camera videos, it is evident that
the officer fired his taser into Darden body on two occasions, which meant that
he overrode the shutoff. Coupled with that fact, this just so happened to be
the very same officer who had turned his body camera off before the raid, while
the other four officers kept recording their involvement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
shutoff and body cameras were created, designed and intended to be safeguards
against excessive force, whether intentional or accidental. To exceed those
constraints is the very definition of “excessive”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
also noted that the cause of death in Jermaine Darden’s case was attributed to
cardiac arrest and “application of restraint” by the Tarrant County Medical
Examiner, instead of electrocution from tasing. Historically, medical examiners
avoid attributing the cause of death to tasers, because TASER International has
sued every ME who has, and the company has won every case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
when I look at the video again, I cannot determine if death was caused by taser
of chokehold, the same technique that killed Eric Garner in New York. We see that
Darden was obese and asthmatic, and we hear people in the house screaming that
the man could not breathe. Again, like Eric Garner’s I CAN’T BREATHE plead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
the most unnerving thing about the body cam tapes was that this was not a drug
house, but the home of a poor family, with no lavish amount of money, no drugs,
and no alcohol strewn about in front of small children. The man that the
officers sought, Jermaine Darden, was sickly and disabled, and on a ventilator,
when the officers battered through the door in SWAT gear. It was physically
impossible for Darden to comply to roll over on his stomach. That would be like
asking a man to suffocate himself. The human body would not allow it, but the
officer’s knee in the back forced him into this fatal position.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Of
course, it is too late to fix the unfixable and rectify mistakes. And I am sure
Jeff Halstead will attest to those mistakes, especially the negligence of
having a comprehensive policy to govern the use of policy body cameras.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
let me remind you that the Obama administration chose <a href="http://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-veasey-s-statement-on-naming-of-city-of-fort-worth-as-pilot-site-for"><span style="color: blue;">Fort
Worth as a test site for community policing</span></a>, based upon the Fort Worth
Police Officers Association endorsement of the use of body cameras. At issue is
how much disclosure constitutes sufficient transparency. The FWPOA wants less,
the public wants more. This federal grant may provide a forum whereby we can
reach an agreeable medium. But, in the meantime, we have what we have, and the
tapes do not lie. Therefore, it is incumbent upon you and other council members
to redress this terrible grievance done upon the Darden family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Eddie
Griffin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">P. S. The response from the Fort Worth city councilwoman came as expected.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427473744974_2025">
Thank you Eddie. As you are aware, with litigation underway, I have no remarks to offer, but do acknowledge receipt of your email... Gyna M. Bivens, City Council Member, District 5</div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-32240871560451981002015-03-10T15:53:00.000-07:002015-03-10T15:53:29.611-07:00What black man holds a steady job for four years?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This
rhetorical question was raised by a Ferguson official, insinuating that the
presidency of Barack Obama would be short-lived. Though the 2012 election would
prove otherwise, that a black man can hold down the job of President for more
than four years, it makes me wonder why anyone would say such a thing to begin with.
The answer might be found in a stereotypical forgone conclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Black
men are incapable of holding down a steady job. Everybody should know that, right?
Maybe this hypothetical situation can explain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">HYPOTHESIS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">:
If the boss were an alumnus of Oklahoma University’s <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/09/oklahoma-fraternity-racist-video/24634005/"><span style="color: blue;">Sigma
Alpha Epsilon fraternity</span></a>, and he had the discretionary power to hire, fire,
and promote, because the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Right to Work</i>
laws allows him to do business without being unimpeded by the federal overreach
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, a black man would have no guarantee of
a job. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At-Will</i> doctrine means
that he can be terminated at any time, for any reason or no reason at all. And
everybody knows, from recent news reports, that the above fraternity on OU’s
campus disfavors blacks, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Now
if a black man were tardy for work because he was targeted by the Ferguson police,
stopped repeatedly, removed from his car, searched, and cited, wouldn’t his work
record suffer? Of course, even the detaining officer would know that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And
suppose every time he gets a paycheck, he has to pay blood money to the municipal
courts in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/ferguson-report-obama-email-black-man-steady-job"><span style="color: blue;">Ferguson,
Missouri</span></a> for traffic fines and fees. If the citations pile up unpaid, he would
be arrested and probably lose his job, another fact not lost on court
officials. Now suppose again that the judge is also an alumnus of Oklahoma
University’s <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/09/oklahoma-fraternity-racist-video/24634005/"><span style="color: blue;">Sigma
Alpha Epsilon fraternity</span></a>, with the same racial sentiments shared on
videotape. What chance does a black man have in holding down a steady job for
more than four years?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">ANALSYS:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
Although we may not find this exact scenario in any given situation, the
general features of its elements can be found in today’s headlines. Putting
forth this hypothesis makes it sound like an overt conspiracy against black
people. And everybody knows that is not true, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
that is how subtle racism works, and also why someone could snidely remark with
confidence: “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What black man
holds a steady job for four years?” Overall, it does not look like racism, just
a simple case of racial bigotry, smattered here and there, but nothing
conspiratorial. The </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity students just
look like the average Joe college kid saying and doing some stupid things, like
college kids do. But the frightening reality is that Old Joe will grow up to
become tomorrow’s captain of industry, a judge sitting on the bench, or a
police officer patrolling the streets. And, according to this fraternity’s current
attributes, these kids will become like those already in power, insofar as “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the apple does not fall too far from the
tree</i>”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why are the parents of these
college kids not outraged? </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why aren’t they condemning their
children as hoodlums and thugs? And who is going to say these wayward kids are
the product of poor parenting and a troubled childhood? It’s not their fault, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like father, like son</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">No,
it is not simply a matter of double standard. College kids don’t make this
stuff up out of the sky blue. It is a tradition handed down, from generation to
generation, and taken as a given. They are taught this way, that </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">black men are lazy and cannot hold down a steady job. The
empirical proof of their inferiority is their high unemployment numbers. They
are taught that the employment rate is an unbiased operation of the job market,
rather than a factor of who does the hiring, firing, and promoting. No, to see
it this way would be to recognize their privileged status, as opposed to their
merits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">They do not see justice meted out in partial ways. The
same <a href="http://mic.com/articles/105198/9-photos-of-white-people-rioting-put-the-ferguson-demonstrations-in-perspective"><span style="color: blue;">drunken
revelling</span></a> that they and their peers engage in, as part of their rite of
passage, for which they receive only a slap on the wrist, is turned upside down
when the same behaviour is observed by African-American youth of the same age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Racism is more than simply racial bigotry using the
N-word. It is about power and privilege. The singing and chanting of the videotaped
OU students is merely an outward expression of jubilation celebrating the reign
of white supremacy, as evidence by the use of the racist slur. This is nothing
new, and neither am I overly appalled at it, because I have seen it before, and
every day of my life since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">EXPRERIENCE: In 1966, some </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Zeta
Tau Alpha sorority</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> <span lang="EN-GB">pledgees </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">on the campus of Arlington State
College painted themselves up in blackface and celebrated the tradition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kX7lBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=old+south+week+at+arlington+state+college&source=bl&ots=wGAgHCMrbZ&sig=xPWEFLO5suV0agt7iOxT4uioRaw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ru7-VL-pHI2BgwSjtYGYDA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=old%20south%20week%20at%20arlington%20state%20college&f=false"><span style="color: blue;">Old
South Week</span></a></i>. The men dressed up in their gray Confederate regalia, hung
nooses around the necks of their blackface school pals, and paraded them around
campus on leashes. It was an innocuous mockery of the Emancipation and an affront
to black students on campus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the fourth year of desegregation, we took on Johnny Reb and his Confederate
tradition, in a battle to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ksYL26lZE"><span style="color: blue;">Drive
Old Dixie Down</span></a>. The first referendum to abolish the Rebel theme failed in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">May 1965</b> by an overwhelming majority vote
of the student body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Only
two months earlier, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmie Lee Jackson</b>
was killed in Selma, Alabama for leading a voter registration drive. Other than
the </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">University of Alabama where
Governor George Wallace had vowed “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and
segregation forever”, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Arlington State was the only other
campus where the Confederate flag flew at the top of the staff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
first march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, spurred by the martyrdom of
Jimmie Lee, culminated on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bloody Sunday</i>, March 7, 1965</b>. The
second march, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began on March 9, but was
prevented from completion by a federal injunction. The third march reached the
Alabama State Capitol on March 25. But the victory was short lived because the same
day, civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo was murdered on the back roads of Alabama.
And later, on August 20, 1965, Jonathan Daniel was martyred in Hayneville,
Alabama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On
August 11, 1965, the Watts riot broke out in Los Angeles, California, after a
racially profiled traffic stop. The Watts riot was dubbed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alabama on Avalon</i>, probably because Police Chief William Parker described
the protesters as being like “monkeys in a zoo.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">October 1965</b>, a group of 8 or 9
black students staged a demonstration around the flagpole on ASC campus,
supported by 15-20 white students and one college professor. Political Science
professor <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dr. Alan Sax</b>e boldly
removed the Confederate battle flag from its pole. In so doing, white students
became infuriated and want to turn to violence. There were
counter-demonstrations in the small town of Arlington, Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After a series of student referendums, on September 1,
1965, Arlington State College became a part of the University of Texas System and
by 1967 the school’s name changed to the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1968,
almost three years after the first protest, alas, the Student Congress decided
to remove the Confederate flag from the student center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">CONCLUSION: The 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the Selma
march and the recent events of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University
of Oklahoma bring us full circle back to where we began, without so much as even
touching the underlying issue of racism. Yet, we see it alive in brief glimpses
of clean-cut college kids singing and chanting racial slurs on a bus. We see it
in recent emails of Ferguson officials and discriminatory law enforcement against
minorities in cities across the country, and disparities in employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Then someone has the gall to say “race has nothing to do
with it”, while someone else has the audacity to ask “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What black man holds a steady job for four years?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But anger waxes old. And even if it were possible to get
incensed again after 50 years non-stop, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">the same people in denial would accuse a black man like me of being a racist,
although I am in control of nothing but my being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-92062555395110676102014-09-17T13:33:00.004-07:002014-09-17T14:14:39.329-07:00In Defense of Adrian Peterson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
by Eddie Griffin<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<o:p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
admit that I am confused as to what is child abuse, and at what point does
disciplining a child becomes abusive. This is the public debate now surrounding
the case of Minnesota NFL running back Adrian Peterson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When
did corporal punishment become a crime? Is this an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ex-post facto law</i> applied to Peterson? It used to be that a parent
could “warm them buns”, “tan that hide”, or even “take the hide off” a
disobedient child, without fear of going to jail. So, who changed the rules of
engagement about chastening a child for misbehaving?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If
we are going to rewrite the laws, according to contemporary ideals, I guess an
old school mother could be charged with “making a terroristic threat” for
simply saying “I brought you into the world and I will take you out.” As horrible
as it may sound, there was usually no love lost between mother and child.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is only be a matter of what the state choses to make of it. In the case of
Adrian Peterson, they have chosen to move the goal post. What was once lawful
and scriptural seems to have now become a crime. Sorry, I didn’t get the memo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I
grew up in the bible belt of Texas, where black parents tried to raise their
children according to the scriptures (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/proverbs/22-6.html"><span style="color: blue;">Proverbs 22:6</span></a>).
It was not uncommon for a parent to discipline a child with a switch for acting
up in church. <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/proverbs/23-13.html"><span style="color: blue;">Proverbs
23:13</span></a> says: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beat him with the
rod, he shall not die</i></b>. Another translation says: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don't withhold discipline from a
child -if you beat him with a stick, he won't die!<span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Clearly,
this relates to the use of the switch when chastising a child. As someone said,
“To not do so is a disservice to the child.” The bible talks about letting a child
go undisciplined and uncorrected in <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/hebrews/12-8.html"><span style="color: blue;">Hebrews 12:8</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
seems that child abuse is arbitrarily based upon a perception or misperception
of a parent injuring or killing a child. From a child’s vantage point, of
course a whipping seems like mama or daddy is going to kill us. Yet the
scriptures insist that “he won’t die”? The abuse comes in whenever a parent
whips a child out of angry emotions and without compassion. But as my mother
used to say before a whipping, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts
you.” I never understood how that could be so until I become a parent myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Our
parents believed that a whipping would instill the fear of God in us. But more
dreaded than the fear of the Almighty was fear of papa and to hear mother say, “just
wait till your daddy gets home”. That was sure terror, because it meant the
punishment would be certain. And we children had the awful chore of finding a
suitable switch to furnish papa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But
fathers have limits also, according to the scriptures. He is commanded by God
not to provoke their children to wrath (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/ephesians/6-4.html"><span style="color: blue;">Ephesians 6:4</span></a>).
This means that though he can use corporal punishment for discipline, he is not
to go overboard such as to instill within the child hate, anger, and rage.
Sadly, many parents do not know where to draw that line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Self-discipline
begins with discipline at home. However, though our desire as parents may be
the same in bringing up our children the right way, our methods of discipline
are not the same. There is no textbook solution to child rearing. As my mother pointed
out to her Child Psychology professor, she was more an expert on the subject
than the author of the book, having given birth to six children herself. Each
child was different, she insisted. Therefore, each child was treated
differently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">One
of the things she learned was to “never try to discipline a child while you are
angry.” And one more, I might note from my own observation: “A drunken father
should never handle the switch.” These things lead to child abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
needs of a child in one family may differ from the needs of a child from
another background. One parent may not have to worry about disciplining a
3-year old for picking up beer cans and draining the content, because empty
beer cans may not be so prevalent in their neighborhood. But for inner city
children, there are a multitude of additional risks, such as teen drinking,
drug experimentation, early teen pregnancy, and juvenile crimes. Teaching our
children in the inner city neighborhoods to avoid these risks require a much sterner
and steady hand, and should not be weakened by shifting mores.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Knowing
the greater risks our children must face, we opt not to pamper our children as
some do. The bible says that children who go without discipline are not true
children of God (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/hebrews/12-8.html"><span style="color: blue;">Hebrews
12:8</span></a>). Like 14-year old Ethan Couch who got drunk, got behind the wheel of
his parents’ car, and went out and killed 4 innocent people in a car wreck, he could
plead not guilty because he suffered from “Affluenza”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">While
children with undiagnosed ADHD and autism may be arbitrarily judged competent
and punished in school, this little rich kid was pampered all his life. Having
never been punished, he did not understand and appreciate the serious
consequences for his actions. So, psychology creates this figment disorder
called “affluenza” and the courts gave him a slap on the risk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On
the other hand, I was equally appalled and dismayed at a video of a 7-year old
black kid who stole his grandmother’s car and went joyriding with another
7-year old. Barely being able to see over the steering wheel, he wound up
crashing several cars and destroying property. Afterwards, the child boasted that
doing “bad things” was “fun”. His grandmother agonized over what she could do.
She would whip his butt, she declared, but “she was afraid of going to jail.”
Isn’t this what is happening to all our black parents and grandparents? Because
they use whipping as a means of correction, they are portrayed as violent and
unloving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sadly,
one of the commentators recommended the solution to the 7-year old boy’s
problem was to put him in juvenile detention. Instead of allowing the parents
their traditional means of correcting bad behavior, they would take the power
out of the hands of the parents, and use the power of the state to criminalize him,
and mar him for the rest of the his life. So the grandmother is left helpless
for fear of the law. If and when a black child goes wild, these will be the very
same people who ask, “Where are the parents?” Don’t they realize that they have
rendered the parents useless and ineffective by their pious judgments and
condemnations?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Like
Adrian Peterson, I use a switch on my grandchildren, as I used on my son and
daughter some 25 years ago. In fact, I carried one in the car at all time and also
at church. A gentle tap on the legs reminds them to turn around in church and behave
themselves. It is not going to kill them, though they may cry like their little
worlds are coming to an end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Of
course, no child likes to be chastened (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/hebrews/12-11.html"><span style="color: blue;">Hebrews 12:11</span></a>).
Who does? But a child must know that a whipping stings like a bee. The gentle
tap on the leg is only a reminder that it could be worse. The end of the
teaching is to instill good behavior and right decision making. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Some
parents of privileged means seem to think such teachings comes by osmosis. Some
might think that taking a little flesh taken off the hide of a four-year old is
too harsh. Instead, they would second guess the judgment of the parent (as if they
were wiser), and advocate non-corporal means of punishment, such as losing
their privileges for a week. This is what happened to the 7-year old who stole
his grandmother’s car: No video games for a week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
have seen this difference in punitive treatment growing up in the 1950s, when a
black child could get hide tanned at home, by a neighbor, or at school for
wrongdoing. The coach at school used a paddle, and the principal used a strap. Therewith,
we learned respect for adults and authority. It was instilled in us like a nail
hammered in wood, because we knew the consequence would be painful corporal
punishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
worked in segregated black schools. But corporal punishment was taken away, and
eventually the coach’s paddled was outlawed. In its place came in-house
suspensions, expulsions, and criminalization for behavioral offenses. But secretly,
we still use the old school method of punishment in the African-American
community, because pampering a child only spoils them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
learned something from my aunt, when she was a housekeeper for a very wealthy
family and nanny for their children. She cleaned house, cooked, cared for the
kids, and took them to the segregated movie houses or downtown. She was
permitted to carry a gun for their protection, but she was never allowed to
spank either child.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
saw the same pattern when integration of the schools came along in the 1970s.
As long as the teachers, principals, and coaches routinely whipped black children
as a means of punishment, it was okay. But after integration there was a
clamoring among privileged families to not hit their children. Not only did
this take away school officials’ and teachers’ authority and their most effective
means of control, it undermined their better judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore,
people now ask why there is so much chaos in the classrooms. Why is there so
much bullying? Why don’t parents do more to control their children?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
truth is the system has taken the controls out of the parents’ hand. And, those
controls are being even more eroded by taking the power of discipline out of
the hands of fathers like Adrian Peterson. From the whelps I have seen on the
legs of his four-year old son, there are only whelps and broken skin, but no broken
bones, black eyes, or fractured skull.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
a loving grandfather, I have left worse marks on the back of a two-year old
granddaughter, who decided to run away from home with her three-year old
brother, each wearing their backpacks. The two of them made it a mile down a
busy highway before a kind motorist spotted them and brought them home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Grandpa
was called in to do the unpleasant task of disciplining them. At first, I went
lighter on the 2-year old than the 3-year old. But my granddaughter defiantly
went back into street, not once, but twice, showing her intention to disobey.
She had no sense of danger, which most kids don’t. Cars were swerving around
her to keep from hitting her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Scolding,
timeout, taking her dolls for punishment, and all that was out of the question.
I had to insure that this incident was not repeated. So, I whipped her with a
switch on her naked back and it made her mama cry. Nevertheless, there is a
line a child must not cross, at all cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
a grandparent, I can better understand why, during slavery time, black fathers
would sometimes intervene on behalf of a disobedient slave son who were about
to be lashed by the slave master. The father would plead to whip some sense
into the boy himself, rather than let the slave master whip him. Though black people
derided this practice which was carried on for centuries, we now realize the
father was looking out for the life and wellbeing of the child. His whipping
would not kill the child. There was no such empathy on the part of the slave
master.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And
so it is today. A black father would rather chastise his child, his way,
himself, rather than allow a wayward child to fall into the hands of the
police, so that the state can punish him for the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></o:p> </span> </div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-58283979440586173362014-09-04T18:33:00.002-07:002014-09-05T08:49:16.962-07:00Ferguson, Missouri Protest Sparks National Movement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">From
Eddie Griffin- <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferguson, Missouri Protest Sparks
National Movement<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">I
got an SOS text message from Ferguson from a Facebook friend, who was one of
the principals in organizing the protests surrounding the killing of teenager Michael
Brown Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/K8Lsn8xVc5U?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">At
the time of contact, teargas was raining down on the community. His wife had almost
been arrested. They barely made it home safely out of the chaos, home to their
four children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Describing
what he saw, it sounded like SyFy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">“</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have seen that. They were prepared with riot gear assault rifles
and wooden bullets and teargas from the very beginning tanks on rail cars moved
into St Louis days ago also there have been several military vehicles as well
as helicopters and drones there are parts of the city that we can't go to at
night… They almost have arrested my wife on Sunday for helping a teenager who
was being descended upon by circle of pigs</span></i><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We decided not to go to Ferguson tonight. But we live 15 min away.
Yes sir, curfew. Martial law… My wife told the sisters to leave the children at
home. Ferguson is entirely locked down now… they start shooting massive amounts
of teargas at night… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>We need to work
on getting international exposure and support so that we will not be isolated</u></b>…
Something strange is going on they are trying to provoke us… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>this feels like some sort of weird
government project</u></b>.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">As
I was texting, they went into the fourth straight night of rebellion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The
first thing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>the paramilitary police</u></b>
did, when they went into Ferguson, MO, was exercise <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>martial law</u></b>. They started grabbing any and everybody,
grabbing their phones and laptops. The local cable TV went on 2-day blackout.
It was hard to get their story out, and they were getting no feedback from the
outside world. News journalists were attacked by tear gas, threatened, and
arrested, in violation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Freedom of the
Press</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">[The
journalists can Petition for Suppression of First Amendment Right, Freedom of
Speech]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">They
asked my personal advice and these were my recommendations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">1)
Continue the fight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">2)
Engage and Draw out the forces against you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">3)
Stay out of firing range<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">4)
Keep the children off the streets of the war zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">While
the protest raged, the residents of Ferguson were blacked out from the outside
world, like Jena, LA. The continuation of the fight would ensure the story of
Mike Brown’s shooting would come to light. Through non-violent peaceful
protest, hands up, don’t shoot demonstrations, they were fired upon by tear
gas, which is a chemical weapon banned by the United Nation. Therefore, the
City of Ferguson is guilty of using unlawful chemical warfare like the apartheid
regime in South Africa (circa 1960s), against the African-American citizens,
for the purpose of suppressing descent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The
shooting of the teenager Mike Brown call to mind all the other young black men
who have been killed across the United States since Barack Obama became
President. Thank God, the Justice Department is now looking into the pattern of
police shootings and arrests, and the disparities in the use of force. We, as
an African-American community, have historical standing with the United Nations.
[Read WE CHARGE GENOCIDE] This is the charge against the City of Ferguson in
the eyes of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">GENOCIDE
involves more than the shooting of Mike Brown, but the shooting down of young
black men, at discretion, or tasing them to death. The systematic elimination
of black men weakens the family structure and the entire African-American
community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-56440097116584899802014-04-04T15:32:00.000-07:002014-04-04T15:32:01.889-07:00Using Public Education as a Political Football<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To:
FWISD Walter Dansby & School Board Members<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">From:
Eddie Griffin, Child Rights Advocate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">RE: Education as a Political
Football<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear
Mr. Dansby,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
a former PTA President, school system volunteer, and often critic of our
schools, I have spent the past 20 years working to improve our children’s
education. But, as I observed from the beginning, there have always been too
many cooks in the kitchen giving advice on the subject. As a consequence, we
were slow to embrace technology in the classroom; and once technological
advances helped us bridge the digital divide, we were slow to embrace online
education and using internet tools to help close the achievement gap. Also, we
have been hindered by low graduation rates due, in part, to a lack of classroom
management which led to the ill-fated creation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zero Tolerance</b> policies that has since evolved into the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">School-to-Prison Pipeline</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Now
one of the principal architects behind the failed zero tolerance policies, a
former covert CIA agent who uses early nineteenth century <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">eugenic pseudoscience</b>, is being cited for his ideas on how to
improve the education system in Texas. The most dangerous part about his ideas
is scapegoating the parents of students for their lack of involvement in the
school system and scapegoating the students for the breakdown in classroom
discipline. Blaming the parents and the students is a popular idea among the
more conservative members of our society, and even among some of us. This is
why author and consultant <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charles A.
Murray</b> is being cited in gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pre-K Education</b> plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If
Abbott’s plan looks and sounds good, it is only because it borrows from a smorgasbord
of ideas we have already thoroughly explored, particularly in our Malcolm
Baldridge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Continuous Improvement</i>
model. And, I have always been a believer in starting where we are, and not throwing
the baby out with the bathwater, lock, stock, and barrel, and starting over to reinvent
the wheel by siphoning off valuable resources for public education and putting them
into experimental charter school programs which, to date, have had dubious
mixed results. This new <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pre-K Education</b>
plan proposes to use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Best Practices</i>
in the classroom, which we have already been investigating, and it undermines
the structure of the public education system in favor of privatizing the system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The
premise of these ideas, and the starting point of Charles Murray’s ideologies, begins
with this quote: </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Family background has the most decisive
effect on student achievement, contributing to a large performance gap between
children from economically disadvantaged families and those from middle class
homes</b>,” which is cited by Abbott from Murray's book <i>Real Education</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Such a statement seems so simple and self-evident enough
that Mr. Abbott needed no Murray citation. But taking a closer look, we see
more of Mr. Murray’s eugenics idea than Mr. Abbott’s education plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Notice</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, it dichotomizes the “</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">economically
disadvantaged families</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” from “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">middle class homes</b>” and it<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">
alludes to the popular stigma about the “family background” of the lesser being
the cause of the academic performance gap. Many people believe this. Therefore,
in order to address the ineffectiveness of the public school system, they
suggest that we should look at the dynamics within the dysfunctional poor
families and their background.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is also interesting that Murray contrast the
term “</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">economically
disadvantaged families</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” with “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">middle class homes</b>”, with the latter being the ideal “home”, and
the other not really constituting what might be called a home. We, on the other
hand, never automatized family as an isolated unit in society, but always promoted
the concept “It takes a village to raise a child”. However, it is apparent that
not all people concur with the village concept. Murray’s ideas, from his
previously published works, promote the notion that genetics is the cause of
low academic achievement. And that is what separates us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Therefore,
this makes us very suspicious of what Murray means by “family background”, and
what aspects of family background does he infers leads to low achievement in
academics, and why he states in <i>Real Education</i> argues that “</span><a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/21/carey" target="_hplink"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2ba6cb; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">students with lower IQ's are not as
educable</span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
as smarter children and should be siphoned off to vocational programs instead
of sent to college”, and that “only 10 to 20 percent of young adults are
capable of doing college-level work.” Is he ignoring the empirical fact that a
good education can turn low-performing students into high achievers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
Murray, low-IQ is immutable because it is based on genetic factors, such as
brain size. However, these ideas of eugenic factors being attributable to the
cause of poverty and low-IQ and immoral parental lifestyles are not new. Thomas
Malthus, in his book </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Principle of
Population</span></i></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (1798), uses the same
pseudoscience in his argument against the Poor Laws of England, predicated upon
the Social Darwinian concept of “survival of the fittest”. He argued that the
poor people of England were genetically inferior to the rich. In later
revisions, he expanded this argument to include the darker races being inferior
to the lighter races, based upon a genetic hierarchy. Moreover, Malthus argued
that helping the poor through welfare would move valuable resources out the
economy, which would reduce money available to pay wages, and given to the
unworthy and unfit, which in turn, would </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_English_Poor_Laws"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: blue;">provide incentives for laziness, immorality, increase in
the birth of illegitimate children, and discourage people from saving for old
age or illness</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Needless to say, these are popular notions in our society
today, especially in the stigmatization of poor minority families.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Notice the similarities between the Social Darwinians and
the Malthusian theories of the early nineteenth century, and the central thesis
of Charles Murray’s 1984 book </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_Ground_(book)" title="Losing Ground (book)"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: blue;">Losing Ground:
American Social Policy, 1950–1980</span></span></i></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">. In it, he
proposes </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">all government welfare programs
should be abolished, supposedly because <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">welfare
hurts the very people it was intended to help by “rewarding bad behavior” such
as “illegitimate babies.”</b> He also called for </span><a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/fdc38062-737b-40f0-b626-5692ca9dfbc6/3c64681b83e0db15a08ddf798e0c60df"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ending
food stamp programs</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Murray's most famous and
controversial book, “<i>The Bell Curve</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">”<i> (1994), </i></span>co-authored with Richard Herrnstein, promoted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">racial eugenics theories</b> claiming that
whites and Asians are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">genetically
superior</b> in intelligence to blacks and Latinos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/greg-abbott-charles-murray_n_5071689.html?utm_hp_ref=politics"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">Southern
Poverty Law center writes</span></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In Murray’s world, wealth and social power naturally
accrue towards a ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>cognitive elite</u></b>’
made up of high-IQ individuals (who are overwhelmingly white, male, and from
well-to-do families), while those on the lower end of the eponymous <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>bell curve</u></b> form an ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>underclass</u></b>’ whose misfortunes
stem from their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>low intelligence</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Recently
</span><a href="http://www.bible-researcher.com/murray1.html"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">Murray wrote</span></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><u><span style="color: blue;">:</span></u></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
“</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No woman has
been a significant original thinker in any of the world's great philosophical
traditions… Women have produced a smaller number of important visual artists,
and none that is clearly in the first rank. No female composer is even close to
the first rank. Social restrictions undoubtedly damped down women’s
contributions in all of the arts, but the pattern of accomplishment that did
break through is strikingly consistent with what we know about the respective
strengths of male and female cognitive repertoires.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The term <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cognitive repertoires</i> signify another
way of saying the genetic God-given brain size and capacity to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to some
research of Charles Murray’s own background, his career peaked in the Vietnam
War years (1965-71) in Thailand, first as a Peace Corps worker, and then, from
1968 onward, in a Pentagon-contracted counterinsurgency program run by the
American Institutes for Research (AIR), which operated under the cover of academic
anthro</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">pology research. In 1970, the <i>New
York Review of Books</i></span><a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1970/nov/19/a-special-supplement-anthropology-on-the-warpath-i/?pagination=false&printpage=true"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> exposed</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the AIR program in Thailand </span><a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/59eeb443-435f-4320-88d6-5d2622e1822d/14d2ee16134c320dcf672c31ea04b5ad"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">where
Murray worked</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in covert military
counter-insurgency program ran by the Department of Defense's research and
development agency </span><a href="http://www.darpa.mil/About/History/ARPA-DARPA__The_Name_Chronicles.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ARPA</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, in cooperation with the CIA.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A 1970 <i>Ramparts</i> magazine </span><a href="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/d08dd528-5243-43a9-9b54-070b3ba2f959/75c6f8ce409fca5993aaac15a9fcc8ee"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">investigation</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> into counter-insurgency operations described it as a “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">behavior control</b>” program through crop
destruction against a rebellious minority hill tribe, the Meo, during the
period that Murray participated in the counter-insurgency program in rural
Thailand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And now, this man, Charles Murray,
with these ideas and pattern of practices, is being touted as an expert is
education. We should be offended and kicking ourselves for not doing better and
allowing these misguided notions to take parlance in our discussion on
Education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It seems as though we have lost sight
on what is first and foremost: Education should teach our children HOW TO
THINK, to become problem-solvers, as oppose to those who believe education is about
teaching children WHAT TO THINK. With the ability to think, children of today
are empowered with the capabilities of solving tomorrow’s real world problems.
Knowing only what to think leads them down blind channels over which they have
no control or input, to a destination unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Charles Murray model
of Education is not about educating, but rather about controlling the system of
Education. Some people buy into the idea that regaining control of the
classroom is our most important objective. We think otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eddie Griffin</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-26069429732477435862014-03-13T13:05:00.002-07:002014-03-13T13:05:52.029-07:00Abortion Barbie?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To:
Rush Limbaugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From:
Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why
do you call my state senator Wendy Davis “Abortion Barbie”? Is it the color of
her hair, or because she filibustered an amendment to the Texas Abortion Law?
Or, is it both? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JJPJP6Q9pBi1Mj6MOYpWmi_YSFu2gGxySK7az09PwbcLNPKvsKwa0WkR9-wK2LkSfDr_UPdpGuG9QkpfXrKiBY5YDV4aS5oZgV_OB9eHdc_LVCUsCxHMlklLIpupY_4LNG8eujs5DNM/s1600/Wendy+in+Vogue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JJPJP6Q9pBi1Mj6MOYpWmi_YSFu2gGxySK7az09PwbcLNPKvsKwa0WkR9-wK2LkSfDr_UPdpGuG9QkpfXrKiBY5YDV4aS5oZgV_OB9eHdc_LVCUsCxHMlklLIpupY_4LNG8eujs5DNM/s1600/Wendy+in+Vogue.jpg" height="320" width="270" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
consider your usage of term “Abortion Barbie” a slur, not against Wendy Davis
but the Barbie doll, and against the little girls that grew up adoring her. It
is reminiscent of the days of Goldie Hawn on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laugh In</i> when she was typecast as the “dumb blond”. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beauty without a brain</b> was a typical locker
room joke among boys about blonds back in the day. Not only was this blond stereotype
perceived being not very smart, but she was also portrayed on the movie screen
as the poor helpless maiden who always fainted at the first hint of danger, or the
girl tied to the railroad track screaming for help from some chauvinist hero. Do
you remember?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So
what are you saying? Are you insinuating that Wendy Davis is a dumb blond,
fearful and weak and a helpless maiden in a man’s world, just because she does
not wave around her Texas six-shooter as a macho posture in the gun rights
debate? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Really,
I beg your pardon, sir. Wendy Davis did not get into her position as a leader
of our community for any of the above reasons. She is proven. She has defied
the odds and been victorious in battle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
a constituent of Texas Senate District 10 and a friend of Wendy Davis, let me
not lose sight of the fact that a slur against her is a slight against all her
constituents, who voted for her, and love and adore her for her courage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">SECONDLY:
As for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Abortion Issue</b>, it seems to
me that FOX News and other you other outside media come into our state in the 9<sup>th</sup>
inning and want to coach the rest of the ball game. It only goes to show your
ignorance of the fight in Texas over abortion, which has been going on for a
long time before you Johnny-come-lately got here. Start with the fact that Texas
already has an abortion law. Are you surprise? It is authorized under the state’s
Health and Safety Code, which was enacted in 2003, and amended in 2011 and 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sec.
171.003 reads: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">An abortion may be
performed only by a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Like
it or not, the first five words say it all: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">An abortion may be performed</b>. The law dictates the terms and
conditions under which a doctor can administer an abortion in Texas. For
example, in a situation where the life and health of a pregnant mother hangs in
the balance and a decision has to made whether to save the unborn child or the
mother, who should make the call as to which one lives and which one dies? I do
not believe politicians are equipped to make that decision. It is a decision to
be made only by a woman, her husband, and her doctor. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spiritual counseling helps.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If
there is a starting point in this abortion debate, it would begin with the Texas
78<sup>th</sup> Legislature and a bill signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry. All
of this Pro-Life versus Pro-Abortion juxtaposing is nothing but a false
dichotomy created by the media for political entertainment. The real problem
arises, not between pro and con factions, but the wording of the law as it is
written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">For example:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
In the 2013 amendment SB 5, Sec. 171.061(9), the law defines an “Unborn child”
to mean “an offspring of human beings <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">from
conception until birth</b>.” Under the 2003 law, Sec. 171.061(4) defines the “Gestational
age” to mean “the amount of time that has elapsed since the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">first day of a woman’s last menstrual
period</b>.” Sec. 171.016(a) speaks of “gestational increments” measured “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">from the time when a woman can be known to
be pregnant to full term.</b>” Moreover, Sec. 171.041, which is cited as
“Preborn Pain Act”, in subsection (1), Post-fertilization age means “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the age of the unborn child as calculated
from the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.</b>” In other words,
for the purpose of the law, pregnancy begins when the sperm fertilizes the
ovary egg.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Most
women do not know that they are pregnant after missing one menstrual cycle. Some
delay until after the second missed cycle. But by then she is legally pregnant,
which means that provisions and restrictions of the law kick in. The so-called morning-after
pill RU-486 then falls under the strict regulations of state law, though it is
approved for distribution by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Those
who believe that the life of an unborn child begins at the fertilization of an
egg are counting their chickens before they hatch. And, for those who believe
in the bible, they should know that life begins before biological conception. As
God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you.” (Jeremiah
1:5). In other words, God knows each of us before we are born. However, we do
not become a “living soul” until God breaths into us the breath of life
(Genesis 2:7). If life is meant to be, God will make it happen. Otherwise, man
is in error if he thinks that he can will life into existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There
was just such case in Wendy Davis’ district which proved the fallacy of man’s
thinking that God’s will is for every conception to come to life. The case centered
on Erick Muñoz and his late wife Marlise, who died during the earliest stage of
her pregnancy. The man fought for the right to lay his wife to rest and have some
closure for his grief. But the Texas abortion law prevented it. Therefore, the
woman’s corpse was kept on life support for two agonizing months, while political
opportunists championed a misguided cause for a right-to-life for an embryo that
was still at the developmental stage of a tadpole. Why? Because the law defined
an unborn child at the point of conception, doctors were forbidden from
terminating the pregnancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As
Marlise Muñoz’s corpse decayed, the more deformed the fetus. Eventually, God
prevailed. But it would seem that under Sec. 171.002(3) and Sec. 171.0124(c) of
the law that the doctors could have terminated the pregnancy on the basis of
“medical emergency” provisions. But the punitive sanctions in the law would put
the doctors at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor under Sec. 171.018 and
fined $10,000 and possibly losing their license to practice medicine, insofar
as the Texas Medical Board was given the police power to enforce this law (Sec.
171.062).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Nevertheless,
we have found that once a law is on the books, it is rarely abolished. Rather,
it is eroded over time by new amendments. Likewise, the Abortion of Law of
Texas has been changed quite a bit since its 2003 origin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
example: The law alludes to the victims of rape and incest, but makes no
exceptions to its strictures except under Sec. 171.046 (a) where the life and
health of the mother is jeopardized, and Sec. 171.046 (c) where an abortion can
be performed “on an unborn child who has a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">severe
fetal abnormality</b>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
law does not forbid any woman from getting an abortion, as long as it complies
with the aforementioned constrictions upon doctors. But the only specific
provision for victims of rape or incest is Sec. 171.012(2) (C), which says: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">… (2) the physician who
performs the abortion or the physician’s agent informs the pregnant woman that:
(C) public and private agencies provide pregnancy prevention counseling and
medical referrals for obtaining pregnancy prevention medications or devices,
including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">emergency contraception for
victims of rape and incest</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What
need does a victim of rape and incest have for “emergency contraception”? To
insure that she does not get pregnant the next time she is violated?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
big deal with the outside media has been focused on Wendy Davis’ filibuster
against the 20-weeks Post-Fertilization prohibition in Subchapter C. If people
had ears to hear, instead of their preconceived ideas, they would have heard Wendy
herself say that the 20-week restriction was the least of the problems with the
law. In fact, in an interview with the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fort
Worth Star-Telegram</i>, “</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02/14/5570421/wendy-davis-texans-should-get.html?rh=1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #003399;">She has said she would have
backed a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy if parts of the law had
been different</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This
list above is only a few of the flaws. Again: The severability clause in Sec.
171.048 provides that if any part of the law is found to be unconstitutional by
the federal court, all other portions of the law remains in effect. And if the
court “declines to impose the saving construction described by this subsection,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Supreme Court of Texas shall provide
an authoritative construction of the objectionable statutory provisions that
avoids the constitutional problems</b> while enforcing the statute's
restrictions to the maximum possible extent.” In other words, if any part of
the law is deemed unconstitutional by some lawsuit, the state of Texas will fix
the discrepancy itself, no thanks to any outside interference from the courts
and the federal government. Nothing changes in the intent of the law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
2003 law originally provided for the publication and distribution of
information “designed to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">inform the
pregnant woman of public and private agencies and services that “are available
to assist a woman through pregnancy, childbirth, and the child’s dependency</b>”,
according to Sec. 171.015(1) (A). This indexed list would have included
agencies like Planned Parenthood which provided a full range of healthcare services
for poor women, including cancer screening, mammograms, and counseling, besides
making medical referrals for abortions. But the 2010 amendment narrowed the
list to only adoption agencies and excluded all agencies that made referrals
for abortion, no matter how medically necessary- See <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sec. 171.015(1) (B-C)</i>. Moreover, in anticipation of future mass
closings of Planned Parenthood facilities, the law provided certain waivers for
expectant mothers who had to travel more than 100 miles to receive the same
medical services that they previously had been receiving at their neighborhood
clinics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">No,
Texas does not prohibit abortions as many outsiders think. Instead, it
concentrates abortion-related services into the hands of fewer medical
practices, in certain geographical areas of the state, and only for those who
can afford to travel back and forth over a great distances to receive it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">~
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #003399;">eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-5581648161001205772014-01-25T12:26:00.001-07:002014-01-25T12:56:08.271-07:00A Prayer for Erick Muñoz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Our
prayers go out Erick Muñoz for the healing of his family, now that he can
finally lay his wife to rest. Of course, it may be of little consequence the court ruling gave him no comfort, only
relief.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It
is tragedy enough to lose a wife and an unborn child. But this tragedy is
compounded by people like the </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Texas Alliance for Life in Austin</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> who issued <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/24/5511776/fetus-in-munoz-case-is-not-viable.html?rh=1"><span style="color: windowtext;">a statement</span></a> saying it was saddened by the
judge’s order to take </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Marlise Muñoz off life support:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The decision <u>fails to recognize <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the interests of the unborn child</b></u>,
who is a separate patient,” the statement said. “We believe the intent of the
legislature, as expressed numerous places in Texas law, is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>to protect the lives of unborn children to the greatest extent
possible</u></b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1390675997471_17977" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There is something missing here between the ears called common sense. </span>What
did they expect? Did they imagine that a female corpse, after 2 months into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rigor mortis</i>, to carry a 22-week old fetus
to term, while it is already in the process of mutating? Mr. Muñoz only
mentioned his heart sickness having to endure the stench of his wife’s rotting
flesh, while on hospital visits. As she mortifies, the fetus deteriorates. But
had the </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Texas Alliance for Life</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> had its way, this could have gone on for seven more months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span class="strongs"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We
forget that </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">God made us, and not we ourselves (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/psalms/100-3.html"><span style="color: #003399;">Psalms 100:3</span></a>).
Who would overrule God to create life where there is no life? No matter our
fortunate journey from sperm to worm, until God breathes into us the breath of
life, we cannot become a living soul (<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/genesis/2-7.html"><span style="color: #003399;">Genesis 2:7</span></a>). The
body is not the spirit, and without the spirit the body is dead. And the dead cannot
raise the living. And a dead womb cannot bring forth life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1390675997471_17967" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Marlise Muñoz is decaying. In a short while, her remains will turn to </span><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1390675997471_17969" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">dust and skeleton, and only her memory remains. Who, then, can raise the dust to life? Or bring life up out of the dust? Can a dead Egyptian mommy give birth simply because their embalmed bodies are preserved?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is disturbing is those who
would preserve life do very little to support it. Otherwise, we would pave the
way for the next generation of healthy babies, and reduce the infant mortality
rate. Would these same people fight for life, with the same zeal as they fight
for the right to life? Would they fight for adequate health care and food, as
hard as they fight for a dead woman to give birth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Job cried out, “</span><span class="versetext4"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Or
why was I not as a hidden <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="1" name="1"></a>stillborn child, as infants who
never see the light? </span></i></b></span><span class="versetext4"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(<a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/esv/job/3-16.html"><span style="color: #003399;">Job 3:16</span></a>)”, he makes
us realize that if it is the will of God, then a child is born. If not, the
unborn remains as an infant “who never saw the light”.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-45205650406105780402014-01-23T13:07:00.000-07:002014-01-23T15:52:57.293-07:00A Letter of Thanks to Wendy Davis from Eddie Griffin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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From: Briana Russell, born January 14, 2014</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSpIOxhb6gKooHu0BoXvy-IHzOF8XNLCTEnotaH_E8PT7S0c1CHzDdyyabKqKH5vyixACYwRT6ZEexWr4g_MFGy9aKNLlS67T6guAI7LiLl_ypNxzxTeIeUyiCUeUg6nQ88G1flxAmFc/s1600/Eddie+Griffin+and+Briana+Russell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSpIOxhb6gKooHu0BoXvy-IHzOF8XNLCTEnotaH_E8PT7S0c1CHzDdyyabKqKH5vyixACYwRT6ZEexWr4g_MFGy9aKNLlS67T6guAI7LiLl_ypNxzxTeIeUyiCUeUg6nQ88G1flxAmFc/s1600/Eddie+Griffin+and+Briana+Russell.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear
Wendy,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank
you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit me at my home on this
past Christmas Eve and bringing presents for my grandchildren. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">You were there for us
when the hope of Christmas was the most dismal, and the life of my unborn
grandchild hung in perils. You were the answer to our prayers. May the Lord
bless you, your family, and your team for answering the desperate cry for help from me and my family, and
moreover for your sweet and kind words of consolations to the destitute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
last of your gift cards went to buy my newborn granddaughter some baby formula.
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Briana Russell</b> was born on Tuesday,
January 14, 2014, a healthy child and blessed, thanks, in part, to a fairy godmother that
lifted a burden off an old man’s shoulders and saved
Christmas for her family, before she was born.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-T5l9fpAZhD_csKpdWlJCIXLvouWCugmnywB4y4Ws-XAnqOtZuYIRRnTt8-sYotikeDfvwPoiZQFS1xxm84PRvjHQcaEiwxt-61FURnHC1wA-kzgzu7ZUFmnFtT5fVEzUPvVJvxdrkvc/s1600/Carla+and+my+grandchildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-T5l9fpAZhD_csKpdWlJCIXLvouWCugmnywB4y4Ws-XAnqOtZuYIRRnTt8-sYotikeDfvwPoiZQFS1xxm84PRvjHQcaEiwxt-61FURnHC1wA-kzgzu7ZUFmnFtT5fVEzUPvVJvxdrkvc/s1600/Carla+and+my+grandchildren.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Praise to the Lord, for He is
good and His mercy endures forever</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I give thanks also to
the Everman Church of Christ family who also heard our cry and came to our rescue. It is hard on the eyes of an old man to see his grandchildren homeless, with another on the
way... stranded on the streets in the middle of an ice storm.
And, I shuttered at the thought of my daughter-in-law, eight months expectant,
trying to navigate on 4-inch thick ice, in soaked wet cold tennis shoes, trying to move their stuff from a rented motel room, after money ran out, in search of somewhere else to go. Had the mother slipped and fallen on the ice, we would have no doubt lost the baby.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Z4EBei3koVSQ458d-rMTgS-wD65fgrW68iTAyeaaT1TUV9qR90WEP8ABs0NcK5ciVjhje6a_CaMi_xRnP9y_W7oMa5GsxgWfIHCn9eWS14kbfTluPyxDRUz8W4Lih94Toa__DwdbE94/s1600/VBS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Z4EBei3koVSQ458d-rMTgS-wD65fgrW68iTAyeaaT1TUV9qR90WEP8ABs0NcK5ciVjhje6a_CaMi_xRnP9y_W7oMa5GsxgWfIHCn9eWS14kbfTluPyxDRUz8W4Lih94Toa__DwdbE94/s1600/VBS.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Tears
are hard to come by, for a prideful old man. But when I see Baby Briana’s sweet and
innocent face, realizing she knows nothing of how she got here, I break down.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On the first Sunday of her life, the baby was in the church nursery, watched
over by her angel and a loving and caring saint, a Sunday teacher who
knew the weary young mother needed a surrogate for just a little
while to rest.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I remembered looking into the eyes of a worried 5-year sister-to-be, when times were bleakest, and grandpa promised her that everything was going to be alright, when there seemed to be no
way, no how. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong>blessed be the name of the Lord,
for he is wonderful and does marvelous things</strong></i>. Now grandpa has some peace and relief from his anxieties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As a footnote: When
the picture above was taken of grandpa and the baby, I was talking to her, telling her about a fairy godmother named Wendy who saved her family’s Christmas just before she was
born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-82297453024939305192013-09-04T12:32:00.000-07:002013-09-04T12:32:11.081-07:00Taser Death ruled Natural Causes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
by Eddie Griffin<br />
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
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-Excerpts from Star-Telegram “<span style="color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/09/03/5130439/heart-disease-not-taser-killed.html#my-headlines-default"><span style="color: blue;">Heart
disease, not Taser, killed Fort Worth man, autopsy finds</span></a>”, September 4, 2013</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">A Fort Worth man
who died in May after police shocked him with a Taser during a drug raid died
of natural causes, the Tarrant County medical examiner has ruled. The shock from
the Taser did not contribute to the death of 34-year-old Jermaine Darden, said
Linda Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">The medical
examiner’s office ruled Darden’s cause of death as “sudden cardiac death” due
to heart disease and “application of restraint”…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Anderson said
“application of restraint” refers to Darden’s hands being handcuffed behind
him. She said, however, that forensic pathologists believe that being
handcuffed had no impact on Darden’s death and that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>he could have died of heart disease even if he’d not been
restrained.</u></b></span><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">According to the
autopsy report, officers used the Taser on Darden twice — for five seconds each
time — after he failed to comply with instructions during the execution of the
search warrant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">A team of forensic
pathologists reviewed the case, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>video
that showed Darden being stunned with the Taser and continuing to struggle</u></b>.</span><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">COMMENTARY by Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
So they say: It was not the
taser that killed Jermaine Darden, and neither did the handcuff restraints
contribute to his death. He could have died of a heart attack on his own.
Therefore, the Fort Worth police officers were only incidental in his death. <span style="font-size: 16pt;">After a four months investigation, this is what they come up with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">If anyone believes this, they
are “hoodwinked”, as Malcolm X would say.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">NO! We will not believe it. We need to see the
video tape, because there are discrepancies between the official reports and
the eyewitnesses accounts. Isn’t this the reason why Police Chief Jeff Halstead
purchased the taser video cameras, so there would be more transparency? </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Pictures don't lie. But
medical examiners have been known to concoct a fabricated cause of death. How
can the ME conclude that “maybe” Darden would have died on his own? "Maybe" is not a
medical conclusion for cause of death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Maybe and maybe not, there is plenty of room between "maybes" for skepticism and cynicism. Another scenario could be this: Maybe </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Mr. Darden started
dying the minute he was tased. How long does it take for a person's heart to stop beating after
being electrocuted with 50,000 volts of electricity? Simply because it did not occur instantly like zip, even being struck by lightning, it takes time to expire. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Sure, while he was complaining about not being
able to breathe, he was in fact in the process of dying. So goes maybes and their
theories.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">They can say what they will,
however. But this we know from past experience. <strong>TASER International</strong>, the maker of the stun gun, has a history of suing
every medical examiner who attributes cause of death to their taser. And what is more intimidating is that they have
never lost a suit. Therefore, ME's are terrified to rule against the company,
and the company, in turn, rewards them with perks like lavish vacations disguised as medical conferences,
all expenses paid for by the <strong>TASER International</strong>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">To obscure the true cause of
death, ME’s created a lexicon of psychobabble, with terms like "death by excited delirium" and "in
custody death syndrome", and now "cardiac arrest by natural causes". We note that this ruling
comes only after learning that Darden was asthmatic with a heart
problem. Thus, they claim, in so many words, he would have died anyway. For all intent and purpose, they could have very well said it was Mr. Darden's time to die, and God simply called him on home.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Psychobabble may sound
medical to the ignorant. But it is an insult to our intelligence. We have been through this before. We discovered many years ago
medical examiners covering up the cause of death of inmates
in the state penitentiary, after prisoners who had been beaten to death by prison
guards. They used to rule death by natural causes after the victim's body was laid to rest. (Credit some local funeral directors for exposing these facts).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p>Eddie Griffin <a href="mailto:-eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com">-eddiegriffin_basg@yahoo.com</a> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">CORRESPONDENCE to the Chief of Police Jeff Halstead
from Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">April 22, 2009<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Dear Chief Jeffrey
Halstead:</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41654">Thank you for coming out to the Minority
Leaders and Citizens Council Meeting. The pleasure of meeting you was mine. I
have attached the statement that I delivered to you, with regards to the tragic
tasering death of <strong>Michael Jacobs</strong>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41651">When all is said and done, the question
is: Did the officer do her job, according to law and according to policy?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41353">Secondly, <span style="color: red;">we must
not try to ascribe the cause of death to the victim. Michael Jacobs did not
cause his own death. Even if he were on his death bed, he still had a right to
life, and no one should take it away from him, without due process of law. To
say he died because of "excited delirium" would add insult to injury.</span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41644">Thirdly, we must recognize that he died as
an innocent man, guilty of no crime, and that he died at the hands of the Fort
Worth Police Department. We cannot leave a vacuum in the assumption of responsibility.
<span style="color: red;">To say that no one is responsible would be playing the
ignorance card.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41589">Fourthly, <strong>Taser International,
Inc.</strong>, the maker of the device, issued specific product warnings
against Taser usage in cases where there might be a <span style="color: red;">"Sudden
In-Custody Death Syndrome". </span>These cases call for heightened
discretionary judgment in deployment, because the risk of death to the subject
is much higher.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41640">Therefore, the death of Michael Jacobs
calls into focus the FWPD policy's alignment with the manufacturer's product
safety warning.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41642">Are officers trained to recognize a "Sudden
In-Custody Death Syndrome" and how to avoid it?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41646">As one of your officers admits, it's not
the use of tasers, but the abuse of tasers that kill people.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">But who is accountable? Civil
damages, in whatever amount, can never compensate for the loss of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Let me point out again:
Tasers are deadly. If officers are trained to think that these devices are
non-lethal, this may be why so many officers deploy the instrument, without
fully weighing the consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41663">A <strong>Day of Blogging for Justice</strong>
has already been called by the <strong id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41664">AfroSpear</strong>
against the use and abuse of taser. Bloggers from around the world will be protesting
taser deaths of people like Michael Jacobs. Amnesty International will add
another number to the total death count, and <span style="color: red;">we continue
to call for a moratorium</span>. This movement is beyond anyone's control and
has a life of its own. Nevertheless, I am a co-signer and supporter.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_41665">At the very least, we should recognize
that tasers have caused too many deaths (351), that the Taser is a deadly weapon,
and should be <span style="color: red;">reclassified as lethal force</span>, and
used with the same appropriate caution and discretion, if used at all.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Postscript: Taser death toll
now 806.<a href="http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-follows-are-names-where-known.html"><span style="color: blue;">
#529 is Michael Jacobs, Jr. and #782 is Jermaine Darden.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Excerpt from Eddie Griffin
(BASG)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><i><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Blogging For
Justice Day</span></i></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">, April 19, 2009,
<strong id="yui_3_7_2_1_1378313547468_30531"><i>AfroSpear</i></strong><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The Taser, produced by Taser
International, Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR), is the latest toy put into the hands of law
enforcement to subdue resistive subjects during apprehension and arrest. But
the product manual for the device warns of its misusage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><i><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Product Warnings
for Law Enforcement from the Manufacturer<o:p></o:p></span></i></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><i><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Obey
Applicable Laws.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> Carry
and use the TASER device in accordance with applicable federal, state, and
local laws as well as your law enforcement agency’s guidance—policies,
procedures, training, etc. Each TASER device discharge must be legally
justified.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Avoid Weapons
Confusion.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Handguns have been
confused with TASER devices. Learn about the differences in physical feel and
holstering characteristics between the TASER device and your handgun. This will
allow you to confirm device identity under stressful situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Select Preferred
Target Areas.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> The preferred
target areas are the subject’s torso (center mass) or legs. Avoid intentionally
aiming a TASER device at the head or face without justification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Avoid Sensitive
Areas.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Significant injury can
occur from TASER device deployment into sensitive areas of the body such as the
eyes, throat, or genitals—avoid intentionally targeting these areas without
justification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Avoid Known
Pre-Existing Injury Areas.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> When
practical, avoid deploying a TASER device at a known location of pre-existing
injury (e.g., avoid targeting the back for persons with known pre-existing back
injuries, <span style="color: red;">avoid targeting the chest area on persons
with a known history of previous heart attacks</span>, etc.). These injuries
may be provoked by such deployment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Beware—TASER Device
Can Ignite Explosive Materials, Liquids, or Vapors.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> These include gasoline, other flammables, explosive
materials, liquids, or vapors (e.g., gases found in sewer lines,
methamphetamine labs, and butane-type lighters). Some self-defense sprays use
flammable carriers such as alcohol and could be dangerous to use in immediate
conjunction with TASER devices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Control and
Restrain Immediately. </span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Begin
control and restraint procedures as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so in
order to minimize the total duration of exertion and stress experienced by the
subject</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Sudden
In-Custody Death Syndrome Awareness.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> If a subject is exhibiting signs or behaviors that are
associated with Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome, consider combining use of a
TASER device with immediate physical restraint techniques and medical
assistance. Signs of Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome include: extreme
agitation, bizarre behavior, inappropriate nudity, imperviousness to pain,
paranoia, exhaustive exertion, “superhuman” strength, hallucinations, sweating
profusely, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Continuous
Exposure Risks.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> When
practical, avoid prolonged or continuous exposure(s) to the TASER device's
electrical discharge. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">In some
circumstances, in susceptible people, it is conceivable that the stress and
exertion of extensive repeated, prolonged, or continuous application(s) of the
TASER device may contribute to cumulative exhaustion, stress, and associated
medical risk(s).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Other
Conditions.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> Unrelated
to TASER exposure, conditions such as excited delirium, severe exhaustion, drug
intoxication or chronic drug abuse, and/or over-exertion from physical struggle
may result in serious injury or death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Breathing
Impairment.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> Extended
or repeated TASER device exposures should be avoided where practical. Although
existing studies on conscious human volunteers indicate subjects continue to
breathe during extended TASER device applications, it is conceivable that the
muscle contractions may impair a subject's ability to breathe. Accordingly, it
is advisable to use expedient physical restraint in conjunction with the TASER
device to minimize the overall duration of stress, exertion, and potential
breathing impairment particularly on individuals exhibiting symptoms of excited
delirium and/or exhaustion</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">. However, it
should be noted that certain subjects in a state of excited delirium may
exhibit superhuman strength and despite efforts for expedient restraint, these
subjects sometimes cannot be restrained without a significant and profound
struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Permanent Vision
Loss.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> If a TASER probe becomes
embedded in an eye, it could result in permanent loss of vision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Seizure Risks.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Repetitive stimuli such as flashing lights or
electrical stimuli can induce seizures in some individuals. This risk is
heightened if electrical stimuli or current passes through the head region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Muscle
Contraction-Related Risks.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;"> The TASER device can cause strong muscle contractions that may
result in physical exertion or athletic-type injuries. In certain instances
this may be serious for some people, such as those with pre-existing conditions
and/or special susceptibilities.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> This may
also occur in instances Sudden in-custody death results from a complex set of
physiological and psychological conditions characterized by irrational
behavior, extreme exertion, and potentially <span style="color: red;">fatal
changes in blood chemistry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">Secondary
Injury Risks.</span></strong><span style="color: red; font-size: 16pt;">
TASER-induced strong muscle contractions usually render a subject temporarily
unable to control his or her psychomotor movements. This may result in
secondary injuries such as those due to falls. This loss of control, or
inability to catch oneself, can in special circumstances increase the risk(s)
of serious injury or death.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Persons who
are physically infirm or pregnant are among those who may be at higher risk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Strain Injury Risks.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> It is possible that the injury types may include, but
are not limited to, strain-type injuries such as hernias, ruptures,
dislocations, tears, or other injuries to soft tissue, organs, muscles,
tendons, ligaments, nerves, and joints. Fractures to bones, including
vertebrae, may occur. <span style="color: red;">These injuries may be more likely
to occur in people with pre-existing injuries or conditions </span>such as
pregnancy, osteoporosis, osteopenia, spinal injuries, diverticulitis, or in
persons having previous muscle, disc, ligament, joint, or tendon damage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Laser Beam Eye
Damage.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> The TASER device
incorporates a laser aiming aid. Laser beams can cause eye damage. Avoid
intentionally aiming at the eye(s) of a person or animal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-12822394176964336422013-05-18T12:18:00.001-07:002013-05-18T12:56:20.093-07:00Disabled African-American man was tasered to death by the Fort Worth Police Department<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Saturday, May 18, 2013<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">RE: <b><span style="color: #111111;"><a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/05/17/4865112/fort-worth-man-dies-after-being.html#my-headlines-default"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Fort Worth man dies after being shocked by police
Taser</span></span></a></span></b><span style="color: #111111;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Commentary by Eddie G. Griffin<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A disabled African-American
man was tasered to death by the Fort Worth Police Department. Jermaine Darden, age
34, a 300-pound asthmatic on a breathing machine, was wrestled to the floor and
tased, after police kicked in his unlocked front door on a “no-knock” warrant. Officers
claimed he was resisting arrest when he would not comply with their order to roll
over on his stomach. But family members claimed the man was having breathing problems,
which were especially aggravated when he tries to lie on his stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Darden’s mother, Donna Randle
describes what happen: “<span style="color: #111111;">When they came in, they had
their weapons drawn like we were members of a drug cartel. There were six
people who told the police the man had health problems, yet they continued to
do what they did.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">She is now
asking why the police had to “use such excessive force.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">The incident
took place in the same neighborhood where Michael Jacobs, Jr., a 24-year old mentally
challenged African-American, was tasered to death by police in April, 2009. The
City of Fort Worth eventually had to pay a $2 million settlement to the family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">Darden would be
the seventh taser related death in the city’s history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">There have been
several attempts by the community to reconcile with the FWPD over racially
charged excessive force issues. The problem with taser related deaths should
have been settled when Chief of Police Jeff Halstead negotiated with TASER
International, the maker of the stun guns, to modify the design of their taser
product, which would allow an automatic shut off after a 5-second burst. But
change the weapon’s shut-off system does not change police abusive practices in
its deployment. Tasers still kill, with or without a 5-second shutoff. And Darden
is the second taser related death since Michael Jacobs, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">It should be
evident here of a violation of police policy. According the WFAA 8 Jim Douglas
report, the weapon was deployed multiple times. What is not clear is whether one
officer used the override on the 5-second cutoff or whether several tasers were
deployed at once. The incident is still under investigation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">Besides FWPD
policy, whether officers complied with it or not, there are serious human
rights and constitutional questions about the right of the accused, and the
nature of the heavy-handed gang buster tactics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights
advocates have always contended tasers to be torture in violation of the Eight
Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. A victim being stunned
by 50,000 volts of electricity is equivalent to being electrocuted by high
voltage utility wires, or comparable to the electric chair. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">More
importantly, however, is that a person has the right to life. No one should be
summarily executed by electrocution at the whims of a law enforcement officer.
This violates the First Amendment Right to life, and the Sixth Amendment Right to
Due Process.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;">It would be fruitless, however,
to argue constitutional rights issues with the same agency guilty of the violations. If
the agency cannot enforce its own policy and the City unable to protect the
public, then monetary retribution should be exacted as heavily as possible. Corrections
can and will be made, if liabilities for abuses of authority began to cost more
than the City can willingly afford.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #111111;">Of course, little
defense can be offer for </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Derrick Anthony Birdow who was tasered to death while in the
act of killing a preacher. Some might rationalize his death as justifiable
in the heat of the moment. But the point still stands: Tasers kill. And
multiple jolts of 50,000 volts of electricity will kill with surety, something every
FWPD officer should know. Thus, the killing of Darden should not have come as a complete
surprise to the deploying officer or officers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Someone needs to be held
accountable. First, there is the officer or officers who deployed the weapon or
weapons. Was he or she or they criminally negligent? If they had full knowledge
of the Michael Jacobs tragedy, then they cannot claim ignorance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then there is the FWPD itself. Do loopholes
in its policy allow for and exonerate such on-the-spot street summary execution of
suspects, contrary to the constitutional rights of the suspect? The officer who
tased Michael Jacobs to death claimed she did not know that holding the taser
trigger down continued to shoot electricity into his body. Nobody ever told her,
and TASER International never educated officers about the risks. What excuse can
they offer now to exonerate them of their legal and criminal culpability?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The third party is the City of
Fort Worth, who are obligated to back the police action and cover their liabilities in
cases where excessive force is employed. Shouldn’t they have learned something
from the Jacobs’s case? Didn’t they assure the community that this would never
happen again where an innocent person would be tasered to death?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fourth, there is TASER
International who falsely advertises tasers are non-lethal weapons. They are
the guiltiest insofar as they leave cities, like Fort Worth, to pick up the
pieces, pay off the wrongful death suits, while they continue marketing their product
as if it does no harm.<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is a memorial south of Fort Worth filled with
crosses for those killed by tasers, named the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Michael C. Jacobs, Jr. Memorial</i></b>.
</span><a href="http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The official death count now
stands at 779</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, with a cross for </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jermaine Darden</b>
to be added. Here is a list of those who died by tasers in Fort Worth:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>November 2, 2004: <strong>Robert Guerrero</strong>,
21, Fort Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>April 3, 2005: <strong>Eric Hammock</strong>, 43, Fort
Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>June 24, 2005: <strong>Carolyn Daniels</strong>, 25,
Fort Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>August 23, 2006: <strong>Noah Lopez</strong>, 25, Fort
Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>April 18, 2009: <strong>Michael Jacobs Jr.</strong>,
24, Fort Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></strong>October
29, 2012: <strong>Derrick Birdow</strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, 33, Fort Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><strong>·</strong><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">May 17, 2013:<strong> </strong></span><strong>Jermaine
Darden</strong>, 34, <strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Fort Worth, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As for the investigation by the
FWPD’s major-case unit and the Department’s heavy-handed “no knock” tactic that
allowed the police to kick open a family’s “unlocked door”, under the pretext
of a big drug raid that eventually cost this disabled man his life, let’s see what
they were after and what they netted for their effort:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Five people who were
arrested:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>[<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 1</b>], age 25, suspected of
possessing 1 to 4 grams of a controlled substance and 2 to 4 ounces of
marijuana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>[<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 2</b>], age 22, suspected of
possessing less than 2 ounces of marijuana. Police also found that [<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 2</b>] was wanted on two
warrants from other jurisdictions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>[<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 4</b>], age 27, accused of
evading arrest and detention. [<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect
No. 4</b>] also had a warrant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span>[<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 5</b>], age 29, and [<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No. 6</b>], age 29, both with class
C warrants from Fort Worth. [<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suspect No.
6</b>], who identified herself as Darden’s cousin, said she has an unpaid
ticket for talking on a cellphone while driving in a school zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a police report, Officer
N.B. Danford was the one who drafted the probable-cause warrant to search for
cocaine at the house. The “no-knock” warrant was signed by Tarrant County
Magistrate Cheyenne Minick at 3:35 p.m. Thursday, according to the report.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">The investigation should not
begin with the suspects, because there was never any really “big fish” in this
expedition, only a few misdemeanor guppies at worst. So they kick down an
unlocked door and kill a man for the above probable-causes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">No, the
investigation should begin at the determination level of probable cause and a
criminal justice system that allows a magistrate who signed off on a “no-knock”
(kick-the-door-down) raid to bag a few petty misdemeanor offenders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-53207641123596771112012-11-21T12:24:00.003-07:002012-11-21T12:24:59.607-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The White House <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Washington, DC 20500<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">202-456-1111<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Attn: President Barack Obama<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="mailto:president@whitehouse.gov"><span style="color: blue;">president@whitehouse.gov</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="mailto:vice_president@whitehouse.gov"><span style="color: blue;">vice_president@whitehouse.gov</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="mailto:comments@whitehouse.gov"><span style="color: blue;">comments@whitehouse.gov</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Wednesday, November 21, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">RE: Texans Petition to Secede<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">United We Stand: Divided We Fall<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Dear Mr. President:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">There have been recent
published reports about some Texans desiring to secede from the Union. The most
recent includes today’s <a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/11/20/4429851/a-peaceful-texas-secession-would.html"><span style="color: blue;">Fort
Worth Star-Telegram’s editorial</span></a>. At last count per this writing, there are
now 116,070 signatures on <a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/peacefully-grant-state-texas-withdraw-united-states-america-and-create-its-own-new-government/BmdWCP8B"><span style="color: blue;">a
petition</span></a> for such purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Though this number hardly
represents the majority of Texans, we recognize that all citizens are entitled
by the First Amendment of the Constitution the Right to Petition the Government
for Redress of Grievances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Seeing that you have
obligated yourself to a response on a petition with more than 25,000
signatures, I would like to weigh in on your deliberation on this issue, and
advise you not to make the same mistake made by President Abraham Lincoln.
Instead, you should learn from history, because this secessionist movement in
Texas is not unprecedented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When Texas seceded from the
Union in 1861, only one-in-four Texans owned slaves. This minority usurped the
authority of Governor Sam Houston, the revered father of Texas, who opposed the
secessionist movement. Lincoln even offered Houston military help to suppress
this uprising. But, for the sake of peace within the state, the governor acquiesced
to the rebellious minority who subsequently evicted him from office by force on
March 16, 1861. He was replaced by Lieutenant Governor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Clark_(governor)"><span style="color: blue;">Edward Clark</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is no wonder that this
portion of Texas history hardly appears in the history books. Otherwise, it
would reveal the illegitimacy of the Confederate government in Texas. The <a href="http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/secesson.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Ordinance of Secession</span></a> was
never put before the majority of the citizens of the state, lest they would
have opposed it like the governor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A little known fact is that Texas
held large pockets of abolitionists, prior to and during the Civil War. And
though that state was separated from the Union, it was divided against itself
within. There were pro-Union Texans actively fighting against the Confederacy
throughout the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">In the end, African-Americans
survived, with the help of their abolitionist allies, and not necessarily by
the grace of Abraham Lincoln. Likewise, we believe Texans of abolitionist
heritage will survive this secession movement also, despite economic cuts and
scale backs by the state to our community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We wish no part in these
hostilities, nor do we concur with this petition for secession. When we pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and ourselves to be One
Nation, under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All, we express
our true patriotic colors. Those who pledge allegiance and wave their flags at every
public event, and then turn against the United States, are hypocrites, because
you cannot cling to two masters: Old Glory and the Confederate southern tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I do not believe most Texans hold
the same sentiments of </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Peter Morrison, treasurer of the Hardin County, who says,
“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/10/texas-gop-official-state-should-secede-from-maggots-who-reelected-obama/"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: blue;">Why should Vermont and Texas live under
the same government? Let each go her own way</span></span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><u><span style="color: blue;">.</span></u></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">” What is at issue is this: If the rest of the United
States cannot concur with Texas, then the rest of the states can go their merry
out. Texas is big enough to take care of itself. So says the petition:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Given that the state of Texas
maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is
practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Please note also that the petition requests “peaceful” separation. Otherwise,
suggesting the violent overthrow of the U.S. would be as seditious and criminal
as an Al Qaeda plot. Therefore, so far, the petitioners are within their
rights. But the minority does not have right over majority rule as the usurpation
of power in 1861. Whereas the </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/secesson.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Texas Ordinance of Secession</span></a>
was never put before the citizens of the state, no such petition to secede
should ever be enacted with the concurrence of the will of the majority living in
the state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, Mr. President, my
advisement would be to let Texas vote its way out of the Union. If there are
counties that still cleave to the Union, they should be allowed to. <a href="http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/12848/20121117/texas-secession-petition-el-paso-houston-austin.htm"><span style="color: blue;">El
Paso and Houston</span></a> are already drafting petitions to secede from the state of
Texas. So also is <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/400157/austin-wants-to-secede-from-texas-not-united-states/"><span style="color: blue;">Austin</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The mistake made by President
Lincoln was trying to forcefully hold the Union together. Texas is already
separated from the Union by continued resistance to federal authority and policies.
The basis of the petitioners’ grievance is this: </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The US
continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal
government's neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">But when a Texan, George W.
Bush, was in the White House, turning a surplus economy into a deficit, there
was not a peep in Texas about secession. The petitioners’ desires to separate
themselves from continuing economic “difficulties” ignores the true origin of our
economic woes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">How can these petitioners
gripe about economic conditions, on the one hand, and boast about the state’s economic
solvency, on the other. If Texas is doing so good economically as they boast in
their petition, then on whose behalf are they complaining? Do they assume
guardianship of the rest of the United States to speak on their behalf? And how
can 116,070 petitioners speak for the entire state of Texas and the entire
American people?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If Texas truly wants to
secede, then let it be by democratic referendum. If passed, the state of Texas should
then be regarded as a foreign government. Abolitionists should not be forced to
pledge allegiance thereto, nor have their freedoms by armed forces or treats of
lynching, as in the past. Instead, pro-Unionists living in the state should be treated
as patriots abroad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We would support the federal
government closing its facilities and moving to other states. Federal contracts
to the defense industries should be cancelled. Federal construction should
cease. And, federal grants and aid should be cut off or doled out on an
as-needs basis, as to a foreign government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is not necessary to be
overly concerned about pro-Union citizens in the state, as Abe Lincoln did in
1861. We will survive, though divided we fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times;">Respectfully Submitted,</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-33883827337570169572012-11-13T13:25:00.003-07:002012-11-13T13:28:55.986-07:00Obama Wins: Texas Talk Secession<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
By Eddie Griffin<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Tuesday, November 13, 2012<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We can understand some angry temperament after the election
of President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney. But all this ranting about Texas seceding
from the union is nonsensical. It is akin to a spoiled child who, when he cannot
get his way, pitches a temper tantrum. Such a child, we recognize, needs a time-out
to cool off and come to their senses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Texas needs some time for self-reflection and soul-searching,
lest we make ourselves a bigger laughing stock than our governor has made us. We,
Texans, are more than just a crop of 25,000 signatures on a petition to secede
from the union. This minority of dissenters cannot usurp the voice of the
majority unless we let it. This is what happened with the writing of Ordinance
of Secession in 1861 and the annulment of the Texas allegiance to the Union.
The change in the state’s constitution was never being put before the populous for
approval.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">At the time secession, only one-fourth of the property
holders in Texas owed slaves. This minority of pro-slavery advocates usurped state
power and forcefully evicted Governor Sam Houston from office for his refusal
to take an oath to the Confederacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thus, Texas became a Confederate state through secession, not
by popular consent, but by minority usurpation. Lest history repeats itself,
someone must speak for the majority and set the records straight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
United States of America came to the rescue of Texas during the Republic’s War for
independence against Mexico. The nation absorbed the state’s $10 million debt
and made it a part of the Union in 1845. And, even after Texas broke away to join
the ill-fated Confederacy, the state was allowed to return to the Union fold on
March 30, 1870, on nothing more than a promise to preserve the Union and write
a new constitution that recognized the rights of African-American freedmen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">When we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States
of America, we proclaim that we are One Nation, under God, Indivisible, with
Liberty and Justice for All. But there are some who would send a mixed message to
our children after losing an election for the presidency in 2012:<span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">“</span><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/10/texas-gop-official-state-should-secede-from-maggots-who-reelected-obama/"><span style="color: #0088c3; font-size: large;">Why
should Vermont and Texas live under the same government? Let each go her own
way</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">,” says Peter Morrison, treasurer of the Hardin County Republican Party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even
more, a judge from Lubbock predicted over the summer that the president's
reelection could even lead to a civil war. </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/peter-morrison-texas-divorce_n_2100165.html"><span style="color: #0088c3; font-size: large;">The
Cincinnati Tea Party proclaimed the nation dead</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> after the election.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">Were
these not the same sentiments of the slave states when Abraham Lincoln won the
election of 1860?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">The irony in all this is the fact that
Governor Sam Houston opposed secession, wherein Governor Rick Perry talks out
of both sides of his mouth. He was the first to raise the specter of secession.
Now he is opposed to it… maybe. Nobody knows what Perry will do. If he opts for
peace and reconciliation, then he has must realize that he has already kindled a
fire in </span><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/citizens-from-20-states-have-filed-to-secede-from-the-united-states"><span style="color: #0088c3; font-size: large;">20
states</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> which will be hard to quench by only a few peacemakers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;">What will become of all the defense
industry contractors in the state of Texas? What will become of all the federal
employees in the state? What will become of the federal highways passing through
the state? What will become of all the federal dollars to colleges and
universities in the state for research? What will become of federal Title 1
funds to public schools? If Texas expulsed everything associated with the
United State of America, it will become another Mexico, begging for trade and
commerce from the other 49 states.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-70493469445311340372012-10-05T10:35:00.001-07:002012-10-05T10:43:07.566-07:00Unemployment Dips to 7.8%: Sour Grapes for GOP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What to say when the
doomsday scenario doesn’t pan out: </i>UPDATE<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-jobless-rate-falls-7-123110106.html"><span style="color: blue;">This
is not what a real recovery looks like</span></a>," Romney said.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Like a flip-flopping, fast
talking used car salesman, Mitt Romney may have outscored Barack Obama in verbiage in the recent debate.
But his doomsday scenario about the economy is becoming unraveled. For the
longest, his campaign tagline has been: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unemployment has been above 8% since
President Obama took office</i></b>. The economy is getting worse, not better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">However, today’s report shows
that the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, sending the unemployment rate
down to 7.8%. What will Mitt Romney say now? Will he continue to say the
economy is failing, when “<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/05/unemployment-report-finally-some-good-numbers.html"><span style="color: blue;">the
economy has now added jobs for 24 straight months</span></a>”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">What will the prophets of
doom, like Rush Limbaugh, say? As we all recall, from the time Limbaugh
professed that he “hopes Obama fails”, there has been of chorus of audio
suggestions of the president’s failing. Like sorcery and witchcraft that
repeatedly suggest to a healthy man that he is sick, some people were convinced
that our economy is dying. What now? A new false prophecy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The usual recourse to the
evident improvement has been this “sour grapes” assertion: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But fewer people are looking for
jobs because millions are dropping out of the job market. So the employment
numbers do not tell the whole story. People are hurting</i>.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This is what we can expect to
hear from the partisan naysayers who prefer to paint a dismal economic picture,
in order to recapture the White House. Bad news is good news to them, because
it enhances their cry for change. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But if it ain’t broke, why fix it?<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">That the economy is
improving, despite every attempt by Republicans to make Obama a one-term
president, they conveniently forget from whence we come, though Romney himself
acknowledges the bad situation the president inherited. But, according to him, “things
have gotten no better”. Proof: Above 8% unemployment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">By now, we all know that a
falling economy does not reverse course just because of a new presidency.
Economic laws dictate that an economy must bottom out first. And, by the time
Obama took office, the economy was still in free fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Maybe with a little more
cooperation from the Republicans in Congress, the bleeding might have been
abated before unemployment soared above 10%. Enough said: This administration
helped break the fall by implementing a stimulus program that included a
government bailout of the auto industry and Wall Street. Workers went back to
work. The world financial markets were stabilized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">For the sake of peace between
parties, the administration forewent taking punitive criminal action against
those who caused the crisis. And, Wall Street took a reprieve to resume doing
business as usual, using government money to pay high salaries and bonuses.
This, no doubt, will cease, if Obama is given a second term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">On the other hand, the GOP
wants to go back to business as usual, back to old policies and strategies that
caused the previous collapse, mainly by giving tax breaks to the rich, in the
hopes to induce more investment in the private sector and create new jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This prescription was once
called “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics"><span style="color: blue;">Trickle
Down Economics</span></a>”. The misdiagnosis comes in when Finance Capital seeks
profit wherever it may be found in the global market. It does not necessarily
go out create jobs for a patriotic reason. The slogan <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Made in America</b> was created to boost domestic productivity, and
hence induce Capital to stay inside the United States.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The Obama administration
removed the financial incentives for shipping jobs overseas by raising taxes on
those who export jobs. This goes contrary to Mitt Romney’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bain_Capital"><span style="color: blue;">Bain Capital</span></a> approach. If
Bain were patriotic to the U.S. in job creation motive, it would not have
offices in </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">London,
Luxembourg, Munich, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Keeping jobs at home has been
a priority of the Obama administration. And, through federal support for education,
the administration is trying to enhance the domestic jobs market with more
skilled workers, in higher payer fields, rather than having to recruit from
overseas. And, through innovations, it has opened up new markets and new
employment opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Now that the unemployment
rate has dipped below Romney’s baseline benchmark, the only thing the prophets
of doom can say is: “Sour grapes”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Eddie G. Griffin</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815287532094385757.post-88483666125773509522012-09-22T21:05:00.000-07:002012-09-22T21:09:44.273-07:00Addressing Rape Kit Backlog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">“A good idea is
a good idea”, says the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/09/21/4278895/republican-follows-democrats-crusade.html"><span style="color: #3b5998;">Star-Telegram</span></a></i>.
Especially when it comes to the health and well-being of women, some good ideas
are better. To this end, almost everybody agrees, almost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Creating a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sexual Assault
Forensic Evidence Registry</b> that will help eliminate the horrible backlog of
400,000 untested rape kits is a good idea, because it would expedite bringing sexual
predators to justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Justice delayed is justice denied</span></i><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"> for victims of sex crimes. The delay
means having to live with a nightmare every day of their lives, fearing their
assailant is still on the prowl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Texas State Senator Wendy
Davis</span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"> came to the
rescue of these victims when she championed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SB 1636</b>, which imposes a time limit on processing these rape kits,
some of which date back 20 years or more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Women want Justice. Victims need closure.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">U.S. Senator John Cornyn</span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"> agreed and drafted a similar bill in the
Congress. And amid great fanfare over the bill’s passage out the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Thursday, Davis joined hands with Cornyn in celebration. A
Democrat one hand and a Republican on the other, some issues are greater than
both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">The vast backlog of unprocessed rape kits in Texas is currently
being slowly aided along by federal grants, because most localities cannot
afford the $1000 processing cost. This means, however, that as the backlog grows,
sexual predators will be walking the streets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Davis drafted SB1636 in order to force law enforcement agencies
to give account of these unsolved rape cases and the backlog of DNA evidence.
But some critics complained that it created an “unfunded mandate” upon local
governments. Therefore, instead of forcing these agencies to bear a cost beyond
their means, Davis softened the bill with the insertion “as funding became
available”. As a result, SB1636 passed unanimously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 14pt;">Where Davis’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SB 1636</b>
leaves off, John Cornyn’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SAFER Act
(S.3250)</b> in the U.S. Congress picks up. It </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black;">amends the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DNA Analysis Backlog
Elimination Act of 2000</i> and goes beyond the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Debbie Smith grants</i> to expedite auditing sexual assault evidence
backlogs and to establish a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">NOTE:
Society should spare no expense when it comes to Public Safety. And, though the
wheels of Justice grind slowly, this state and federal legislation would help
bring some closure to an old wound of unresolved cold cases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Everybody
believes this is good idea, right? Wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">State
Representative <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dr. Mark Shelton, </b>R-Fort
Worth, voted against SB 1636. Considering all opposition removed, why would he,
of all people, vote against it? Doesn’t he care about the health and well-being
of women? After all, he is a pediatrician. Surely, he must have treated child
rape victims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Or,
was it personal politics, a vindictive vote against Sen. Wendy Davis, who has
become a champion of women’s causes in the state legislature, and whose senate
seat he covets? If so, it appears that women’s health and well-being have taken
a back seat to Shelton’s political aspiration. And, it would be a fair
speculation to assume that he never laid eyes on the bill, nor seriously
considered its discussion. So, how much more could he care for rape victims?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Eddie G. Griffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13283895629656619113noreply@blogger.com0