The Jena Six

In a small Louisiana town, people from all over the country are gathering to protest the criminal charges placed against six young black males charged with the serious beating of one young white male. The Reverend Al Sharpton, as well as Martin Luther King III are in attendance at the rally, citing the injustice of the American Justice System. They claim that the Jena Six were charged with criminal charges after the beating of the white student because he is white and they are black. The beating is said to have come about because the Six believed he was one of three white students who hung three nooses in a tree on the high school campus. While the hanging of the nooses was disrespectful to say the least, the Six were not harmed by the nooses. They were not physically touched by them in any way. The Jena Six chose to commit the beating in retaliation. That beating was a crime. The nooses may have been a crime, as well, but certainly there was no harm done to the Jena Six by the hanging of the nooses. I have never heard of anyone dying simply because they looked upon a noose. But a six to one beating has been the cause of many deaths throughout the history of the world. All races share a group of individuals who wrongly believe that their race is the best race and above all others. Every last one of those individuals is wrong, no matter their race or color. The so-called Civil Rights Leaders of the Twety-First Century need to back up a bit and look at this situation realistically and legally and leave their emotions and their misplaced pride at home. Yes, a hate crime was committed. Six black males beat the living hell out of one white male. School property was defaced under Louisiana law by the hanging of the nooses. It was stupid. It was hateful, and it should never have happened; It did not warrant the beating. Martin Luther King III and the Reverend Al Sharpton have managed to take the stupidity of nine young males and blow it up into a media circus. Misguided protesters have now come to a town of about 3500, and caused the need for extra manpower from the Louisiana State Police, the Press, and even the bloggers, because they believe the Jena Six were mistreated in being charged with the beating, and that their being brought up on charges proves that there is a double-standard between blacks and whites in the Justice System of the United States. Louisiana is one of, if not the poorest state in the United States of America. The State cannot financially afford such bad publicity, much less the extra man hours they now must pay the State Police. Is the Reverend Al Sharpton betting that this will further his cause? Does he believe that this will get the Jena Six a free ticket out of jail? I certainly hope not. The Jena Six were arrested and charged because they committed a crime. The serious crime of the beating of one student by six others. If that student had been black, would he and his partner, Martin Luther King III be organising a rally in Jena, LA? Maybe we should ask him. A hate crime is a hate crime, no matter the race or creed of the perpetrator(s) of the crime. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III seem to have forgotten this. They seem to believe that they can just make a lot of noise, and the Jena Six will get out of jail, and they will walk away as free young men. I certainly hope this is not the case. The three who originally hung the nooses from the tree deserve to have their parents whip them soundly. The Jena Six deserve to spend time in jail. It is severe overreactions like this to ridiculous, petty sentiment and action that help to further racial discord in this country. While some folks should be worried about the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are worried about how they should feel about this or that person because of what color his skin is, and they are busy reminding their parents and grandparents of the bad old days, and spreading discontent and hate wherever they go. While they should be busy helping their neighbor who cannot do for himself, and caring for elderly or infirm family members in whatever way is appropriate for them, they are busy leaving elderly and infirm family members to the coyotes and hating their neighbor because he does not look like them. All nine of those students are wrong. All day long, wrong. Six of them committed a felony which was a hate crime. Three of them instigated the whole thing by defacing school property with three nooses. The Jena Six were angered by the white student's show of disrespect. If the Jena Six were proud young men, as they claimed to be, they would each of them been man enough to walk away from the idiocy of the nooses and ignore the obvious stupidity of their neighbors. Instead, they grabbed themselves a white boy and proved something to the entire world. They proved their own hate, stupidity, pettiness and childidshness by overreacting to something which was meant for them to become angry and react to. Now they sit in jail, looking at the world through iron bars, while the State of Louisiana spends money it can little afford , to reasonably try to contain the circus Al Sharpton and Martin LUther KIng III have begun. Perhaps Louisiana should allow them to foot the bill. It is their party, after all.

The World's Biggest Confidence Game

I know that our great nation was founded on the principles of religious freedom, and that our forefathers were devoutly religious. I live in the Bible Belt, where it seems EVERYBODY is devoutly religious. All around the world, it seems, wars are fought, nations founded, TV stations bombed, or fined or some other punishment, because they either believe in a God, or they don't, or they believe in the wrong god, or call it by the wrong name, or celebrate this god's birthday on the wrong day. I can't watch TV on Sunday anywhere without some rich , slicked-up dude or snotty lady telling me I'm going to go to hell because I don't live their way.

Oh, shut up! I am so sick of these con artists extorting money and time and work ( usually for free) and pitching fear to the masses of people who believe in their words and mannerisms. I mean, really- There's a little man up in the clouds. He sees you when you are asleep and awake and he knows about everything you've ever done, or ever will do. You better be good, because He's watching you. If you're not good, you'll go to Hell, and he'll refuse to acknowledge he knows you. What? There's BILLIONS of people on the earth, war, famine, disease, poverty, abuse, starvation and hate everywhere we turn, and the little man in the clouds is mad at ME?! I didn't cause any of this shit. I'm just trying to hold my head above water. Oh, yeah, and you can't think about doing anything that isn't good and holy, or you'll go to hell. What? I'm screwed, then. I might as well drink, smoke, wear short skirts, cuss, watch legal porn, and enjoy having sex with my husband, then. I don't need to go waste half my Sunday listening to this crap. I'm already going to hell.

Everybody wants to save me. Save me from what? A cheeseburger? I'm already going to hell for the stuff I thought about doing to my brother when he pissed me off when we were kids. ( He should be really glad I only thought about that stuff.) It's too late, Bertha- I refuse to get near the Amen Pew- it makes my butt hurt. Yall know what the Amen Pew is. It's where the snottiest, most Holier than thou people sit and gossip about everybody else, knowing they did stuff that would make a sailor blush with shame. Every time the preacher says something, they holler, "AMEN!" and fan themselves, because they are so overwrought with the spirit. Spirit of what? That hollering backup for the preacher is their only talent? I get calls from people who want me to go to church. I get people knocking on my door, trying to convert me. I get people pecking on my car window in traffic to give me literature, so they can try to convert me. All that makes me want to do is shut the door, roll up the window, and screen ALL my calls. Leave me alone. I don't come to your house to try to convince you that you've been brainwashed since you were born, and that God is a boogeyman used to frighten folks into behaving. So why do you come to my house or car, or wherever and bother me, trying to make me believe in things that aren't real? Man, if you believe that stuff, fine. If it makes you happy and you aren't BOTHERING anybody else, I don't care. But trying to convert me BOTHERS me, and there is the exact spot where your freedoms and your rights end. Leave me alone.

And then there's this concept of hell. They say you'll be burned forever. You'll be dead. Have you ever burned anything? It only lasts for so long. If you're dead, you won't care if you get burned, and if you're burned, you'll eventually be ashes, anyway, so you'll still be dead. Dead. Dead is dead. You only get one shot. Why the hell are you letting other people tell you you have to waste it, sitting on your ass on a hard bench once or twice a week, so some slick dude can tell you you can't do the same thing he JUST did ten minutes ago? To top it off, you have to beg the little man in the clouds and kiss his feet for every little thing. And turn the other cheek when you are hard done by. Sounds an awful lot like slavery to me. You aren't supposed to question, you are supposed to be thankful for everything. Yeah. I'm sure I'll try to be real thankful for that GIANT kidney stone. Please people.

Human beings sometimes remind me of two-legged sheep. If one jumps a fence, everybody jumps a fence. Somehow, mankind has managed to remain superstitious through all these centuries and millenia, and even though Science, Medicine and Education have become so far advanced, there are still enough Sheeple in the world to make a HUGE business out of the biggest confidence game the world has ever known. In a way it's kind of awesome. That so few people can hold such a sway over masses and masses of people, convincing them of the existence of a higher power.

I have another question for you readers out there to ponder: Why is God OK, but aliens are crazy? Aliens come from the sky, and they are far more advanced than humans. No one believes in Aliens, though, or if they do they get laughed at or locked up. But saying there's no such thing as God will get you shot. It makes no sense. I don't know about you, but I've noticed that when things people say don't make sense, they aren't true. Think about it. And keep your eyes open to con games.