Is "Guilty" Justified?
There are many who feel that the guilty verdict for Kim Potter is just, while many others disagree. This is a tough one but it raises a larger point. Take it up to the 10,000 foot level and view the forest rather than the trees.
I think most would agree that Kim was horrified at what she did. The act itself was a mistake - an accident. Let's ignore other factors like fellow officers not detaining Daunte away from the open car door. The focus here is on Kim.
She had years of training. We know about carrying tasers on the opposite side from a firearm, the different color and weight of a taser etc. We also know that the Wright family will be without Daunte forever. None of that can be changed.
It would be more clear cut if, for example, Kim did not carry her Taser on the opposite side. Another remote example would be if any officer intended to draw their firearm but accidently fired it killing a bystander because they triggered their finger too soon before taking aim. In that case they clearly would have neglected an established procedure. Here it seems to have been an accident. Society is weighing a life against an accident, preventable or not.
So I am going to invent a different scenario to make my point. Let us say that an Air Traffic Controller with many years of experience makes an innocent mistake and hundreds of people die. Perhaps there was a situation like 9/11 and under extreme pressure with immense air traffic and they mistook one plane for another or misunderstood a pilot's words. Should they spend decades in prison because they were supposed to be able to handle it?
There is a big difference between "should have known" or "should have been able to" and negligence. People seem to have an overwhelming need for blame or retribution when someone else has suffered. It is worse in America where filing huge lawsuits is almost a distinct career path. That has yet to come in this case.
From what I heard and saw Kim followed procedure, especially if she thought Daunte might be going for a weapon. There is no question she should have been immediately dismissed because she caved under pressure. But how much of this was to satisfy a thirst for revenge or to satisfy a whole group who would have seen an acquittal as another injustice for a black man?
I hope no-one ever trips and falls on my property resulting in an injury. I am too old to go to prison.
Real Life Doctors of Death
According to the following website, the men (no women) outlined are leaders and tyrants responsible for over 160 million deaths. The total time span covers many decades. Read the article to see just how little these butchers cared about their fellow humans.
8 World Leaders With The Highest Death Tolls (whatculture.com)
On the other hand the following website outlines the horror of 10 known pandemics and their death tolls since 165 AD. The total was over 310 million - about twice the above number. The time span is many centuries.
Outbreak: 10 of the Worst Pandemics in History - MPH Online
HIV/AIDS (2005 - 2012) killed 36 million. The 1918 flu death total was estimated to be 20 - 50 million; the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) 1348-1353 killed 75 - 200 million and is the largest in the article.
COVID-19 is estimated to have killed just over 5 million people in less than two years. This number already surpasses four of those pandemics listed in the above article. We don't know how bad it will get.
We have every right to be worried about these pandemics but there is little we can do to prevent them. We are spending billions to minimize their effects, including the rapid development of vaccination technology.
But the biggest take away is that for the limited timeframe involved, man is his own worst virus. The atrocities committed by some of the men mentioned above are just as horrible to the victims as the worst of any pandemic. I am assuming a virus really does not know what it is doing. Men on the other hand, do. We are worried about a tiny group of molecules and meantime, mankind is destroying the planet on which we live and will probably initiate wars which will kill millions more. In a few decades - mere seconds in the continuum of time - man will probably destroy this planet - and all men and microscopic bugs on it.
According to some, COVID-19 was created by men and many other of the bugs that have killed millions. This makes the case against us even worse.
Let me say it again - man is his own worst virus. That greedy, selfish, look out for number one now and who cares after I am dead man, should be worried about himself.
I am not a great believer in Holy books. The problem is that they were written by - you guessed it - men. But one quote is worth all of the books combined: The actual quote from the Bible is from Luke 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” The Golden Rule.
So God Created Man...
So God created man they say,
Those men who wrote the books.
Doubters are subjected,
To some pious frowns and looks.
If you believe the holy books
You can't just pick and choose.
Accepting lessons that you like,
While others you refuse.
True believers must commit
For their entire life.
Never to betray yourself,
Your children, or your wife.
Can you find such saintly ones
In politics or church?
Very few my friends and mine
Has been a lifelong search.
To Atheists there is no God,
A stance both stark and bland.
Agnostics say mere human beings
Could never understand.
Myself I am an Atheist-
Agnostic to be sure,
But there are many faiths to choose
And all of them endure.
It makes me wonder though
When I hear COVID news each day.
Why the God who formed the things
Won't make them go away.
You need electron microscopes
To see them move about.
Did God make them as well back then?
I must confess some doubt.
If mystic powers created Earth
And the whole universe,
Then we had best clean up our act
Before their final curse.
********************
Just think about it. Man has still not mastered the atom. Sure we can blow apart the entire globe but that is hardly mastery. Yet here this miniscule thing consisting of a few molecules and without our superior brain or any brain at all can bring us to our knees by controlling a few vital molecules we need to live.
Merry ChristmasHave a Great New Year
Get vaccinated.
#thebrewsterblock
This Season Remember Those Who Just Lost Everything They Own
Some people pray and some people not.
Some have a little and some have a lot.
If you believe that your troubles are many,
Remember some soles just lost every penny.
Maybe it's time to forego that vacation.
Maybe instead make a welcomed donation.
Nature just ravaged the lives of so many.
Remember with gifts to those without any.
Thank those on high for being alive.
Thank everyone who helps you survive.
If you still have a roof o'er your head,
Remember the ones who lost even their bed.
A person of faith to some is a fool.
A God who loves would not be so cruel.
If you're depressed and don't know what to do,
Remember your fate is determined by you.
When you celebrate with laughter and joy,
When you watch your kids unwrap a new toy,
While some are wondering why did I survive,
Remember to hope there are some still alive.
Because you still can, have a great Holiday Season.
#thebrewsterblock
Peoples' Bad Habits Continued
The last post was about lazy people. This is about selfish ones. Many of the examples overlap and involve both characteristics. You could do a list of selfish ones from driving habits or cell phone use alone so I include just a few here.
What do you think of people who (no particular order):
- Don't give a damn about other drivers. They won't let you in. They don't thank you if you let them in. They take 2 parking spots to protect their special baby. We need "Bone Head Onboard" stickers for their back windows. The previous post cited people who are too lazy to correct their bad parking. This one is about those who take 2 spots deliberately.
- Queue jumpers in any situation. I call them out whenever I can. If you don't queue it's like watching seagulls or pigeons being fed in a parking lot!
- People who pee or defecate on a toilet seat then walk away. Others plug the toilet with paper towels they used to avoid any skin contact. Covering the seat is OK but please put paper towels in the trash. To protect their ass hole they are acting like one.
- With COVID-19 there is an entire class on its own - the unvaccinated. No need to expand on this one except for one point: in this case selfishness kills!
- Golfers who take 6 practice swings/putts holding up every other golfer on the course. Sometimes it is a foursome and they all do it. Then they miss the fairway or cup entirely.
- Those who stop dead in the middle of an aisle or at the bottom of an escalator with no thought that there might be others around them. Try this while driving. OOPS. Many already do.
- This one will get a reaction for sure. How about people who can't leave their phone alone the moment it makes a sound in the middle of a conversation. Also those who use it while talking in a very loud voice in public. Which came first - diagnoses of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Cell Phones?
- Once again phone users who still persist in using their phone while driving. This can and does have fatal consequences. Nothing less than hands free is acceptable, even at a red light. You might as well drive with a blindfold on, ear protectors, and your hands tied.
- People who filled their carts with toilet paper, hand sanitizer, masks etc. when COVID-19 hit. This has passed but it will return for sure. Thankfully some retailers took action to quell this trend. Do these folks keep their seat on a bus/subway when a 95 year old senior with 2 crutches gets tossed around in front of them? Probably (maybe they are too busy on their cell phone.)
- Guests at a dinner for Christmas etc. who, after their plates are full, start to eat before everyone is served, especially the hosts. Good hosts will probably say to go ahead but it is polite to wait just the same.
As usual, please comment with your own.
It is great to be so perfect!!
