UC Davis Pepper Spray Noncharges

Remember the Occupy UC Davis incident where the police used industrial strength pepper spray (the same product that Megyn Kelly of Fox News described as "essentially a food product"). Judge for yourself, the original incident is below:



I saw this bizarre line in a Washington Post news article reporting the noncharges.

"In reaching their conclusion, prosecutors said they relied on facts included in the task force’s report. Among them was the finding that the officers perceived they were dealing with a hostile mob and needed to spray the protesters to clear a path to safety." (emphasis mine)

They're saying protestors peacefully sitting-in (resisting arrest but not fighting back) are considered a "hostile mob". This vocabulary would make George Orwell proud.

Having unindicted criminals in uniform degrades their colleagues who are on the level & it makes it 20x harder for those officers to simply do their job. Why would anyone cooperate w/ the "good" cops when they've experienced so many instances with the "bad" cops? You're seeing this already w/ the backlash over the NYPD's controversial "Stop & Frisk" policy.

Such impunity stiffles free speech in a different way. Being in a holding cell is like aversion therapy, it gives you PLENTY of time to think. You start going over all the events that lead you there, how stupid you were, & start blaming yourself (even if you did everything you could to avoid it). It sends the message that if you dare to stand up for your rights or even come close to anyone exercising theirs, this is the treatment you can expect.

This means the police have COMPLETE impunity to do what they want & when they want & those investigating after-the-fact will take everything they say at face value.

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum we should ALL be worried about this mentality.


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The shot below is of Sarah & Breanna, two buds simply being themselves.



Feel free to comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Thank You for Your Service

I often hear "thank you for your service" after someone discovers I'm a veteran. Though I appreciate the sentiment & have learned to smile & keep my trap shut, it makes me uncomfortable.

I'm not a dang hero "just because" I served. All I did was be stupid enough to sign up, meet the physical fitness requirements, survive basic, & just do my job day-in & day-out. I don't regret the path I CHOOSE because it was something that I needed at that point in my life.

But let's for argument's sake say that it does.

What about our medical professionals, law enforcement, the academia? To me, its a lot more heroic in knowing full well what the odds are, go through the thankless, daily slog of trying to build something than it is to destroy ones target. I guess its just not as sexy losing life & limb from ones own people than from a "weird" foreigner.

Its tragic.

When did the military become a proxy for everything that is to be admired & great about America? The amount of time we in America spend promoting & "loving" the military really speaks volumes about how far we've ALLOWED the rest of our civil & private institutions to decay.

Heroes are people who do their job, knowing the odds of whatever it is in succeeding are slim to none, & yet do it anyway. Heroes protect their brothers & sisters at the detriment to themselves. Heroes do what they do because its the "right" thing to do, regardless if its popular or not.

Its easy for people wanting to lay down their lives for their cause or buddie or whatever because they don't have to expend the blood, sweat, & tears in fixing what they think is wrong w/ this world.


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This is a family friend taken years ago. I'd like to think that it still holds up.



Feel free to comment on any part of this if you so desire.