#‘this poll is biased’ no it’s entirely objectively correct actually

[natrashafierce]

The author of that terrible Your Fave is Problematic Tumblr has grown up and written a great piece for The New York Times expressing regret about picking people apart and talking about how (surprise, surprise) it was really just that she was young and poorly adjusted and had gone through some stuff.

I hope more people can be honest with themselves that most of us are susceptible to weird, spurious extremist stuff online if we’re in a bad enough mood, and you can always just, like, stop and change course and be someone who tries to spread forgiveness and humility instead of accruing points for tiresome, punitive, identity-obsessed nitpicking. I completely forgive the author of the blog and applaud her for this extra step that will surely expose her to the same sort of poorly adjusted person she used to be.

I also hope more people come to understand that they shouldn’t signal boost people articulating extremist things, because all it does it create a contagion of poor mental health and social behaviors that are counterproductive to achieving anything positive. It’s normal for people to get angry, and everyone has every right to rant in their own online space, and you don’t have to invalidate anyone’s moment of anger. But you can comfort them without reblogging or retweeting them. You don’t have to enable their descent into binary thinking by rewarding them with a ton of attention and influence.

It may be “tone policing” to try to tell any one individual how to express themselves, but it is not “tone policing” to suggest that society should not take our cues and policy ideas from people who are hysterical. Almost no one is good at formulating solutions to social problems, and angry people least of all. Every marginalized group has at least SOME people who are capable of remaining fair, nuanced, and rational despite what they’ve gone through, and those are the people to signal boost if you take societal problems seriously. They tend to have a much more complete perspective on an issue than someone who has barely read or experienced anything outside themselves except for the dozens of aggro internet posts that end up in their bubble.

Chronically angry people see everything through the lens of their anger and their ego, do not seek perspectives or explanations that would defuse them, and their ideas for solutions will tend to be unfair and dehumanzing. Now the internet pays people for that, and people psychologically stagnate because their newfound career depends on it and their reputation seems locked in by the long memory of the internet. Grounded people have learned to control their egos, seek genuine understanding of those who disagree with them, and are capable of finding uplifting solutions, but those people are getting drowned out and harassed offline nowadays.

It used to be that people would have their big moments of anger and, lacking any audience except for a few people they knew, had to learn to introspect, calm themselves down, and approach problems effectively. They would often get gently challenged by the people around them and pulled back into a healthy mindset. They would confront interpersonal problems privately instead of trying to tear people down publicly, and extremism only arose in bad social circles or with especially recalcitrant people. But now that everyone gets their basest impulses rewarded by strangers as poorly adjusted as they are, there is little incentive for introspection or growth. This got worse for a lot of us during the Trump years, I think, because the shock of his incivility made it seem like civility had been a losing tactic. I know I felt like that for a few years until I realized how easily I could be manipulated into believing the worst about someone if it played to my biases. Unfettered mass venting just contributed to a bad cycle.

One of the worst things is how the crazed brigades accrue well-intentioned allies who enforce their insane, unpopular ideas and, together, tank public support for what were once important political objectives. SO MANY people were into the Your Fave is Problematic blog and would troll tags for the celebrities mentioned just to harass and intimidate people who were fans, and they were all indoctrinated into a disordered, shallow worldview were they derived their worth from tearing people down instead of cultivating their own talents. Your Fave is Problematic was by no means the first or only vector for leftist identitarian brain worms, but it was an influential one. There’s a whole lot of obnoxious Tumblr stuff that leaks out into the larger world now.

Back then I thought people would grow out of it, but either a ton of them didn’t, or else those who did just got replaced by new people. I thought right-wingers were catastrophizing and exaggerating when they fixated on it because a lot of the time they were, and too many of them couldn’t criticize it without being dehumanizing themselves. But sure enough, it got worse. I realize now that regardless of ideology, extremism always gets worse if there are incentives for it to grow, and the internet supplies those incentives in spades. This stuff didn’t stay on Tumblr; it didn’t stay on some stray college campuses. They said it wouldn’t, and they were right.

And now it has infected more mainstream, influential spheres of life with infantilizing and dehumanizing ideas that train people to perceive everyone as an aggressor or a pinata they can beat up for clout. It’s increasingly ruined more innocent lives, all while people who are ideologically captured keep insisting it’s no big deal because that’s the line in their social circle. The goalposts move every week to provide more targets, and even left-leaning media has quit thoroughly investigating a lot of things in its rush to cash in on whatever social media controvery has been ginned up by unwell people. The corrections, when they come out, are almost never widely circulated.

It’s been surreal and disheartening to watch. People I used to consider reasonable and compassionate just gradually morphed into aggrieved, insecure pod people who can’t handle the slightest challenges of evidence against their worldview. They can’t accept that their insecurities and peeves are frivolous distractions that actually do materially harm efforts to fix serious problems, whether by beclowning entire political parties or candidates, or diverting resources to organizations that aren’t changing anything significant or are making things worse. They all even say the same tired phrases. It’s such a shitshow, but public opinion polling on this stuff has remained mostly sane. A lot of people are snapping out of it like the author of YFIP, so I can only hope that more people feel comfortable to finally push back against it.

[edsbrak]

a thousand times (in your arms)

pairing: Steddie word count: 4k summary: “It’s been stressing him out a bit, and I know he feels bad about not being home as often,” Eddie continues, not sure why he’s even saying any of this. But he knows Richie wouldn’t offer any pity, just a willing ear to listen. “I just wish he wouldn't worry so much.”

“Show him that, then,” Richie says, and Eddie looks at him, not expecting to receive any kind of advice in return.

Or, Stan has been working longer shifts and Eddie just wants to be a supportive husband.

Read on Ao3

(hey everyone! I’ve finally finished this fic, thank god, so now I can share this adorably sweet pairing with y’all! sorry in advance for mistakes, I’ll be back to correct them (hopefully) so for now, enjoy!) xx

Eddie shifts around a bit until he’s comfortable against the frame of the door, peering down at the lecture taking place with a small smile.

The class itself was a rather large one, at least twice as big as his own. It was an impressive feat, keeping the attention of all of these students sitting straight in their uncomfortable wooden seats, pens scribbling and fingers typing away.

Even after years of working together and watching each other teach hundreds of times, it still manages to light a fire of pride in Eddie’s chest as he looks down at his husband – the professor of this particular course – as he runs through the principles of financial accounting. Never before had Eddie thought anyone could keep him focused and interested in a topic like this, but as he watches Stan move about at the bottom of the room, poised movements and calculated speech, Eddie is sure he wouldn’t mind listening to this for the rest of his life.

There was only 10 minutes left until this class would be dismissed, so Eddie had decided to wait for Stan by his classroom before heading out to lunch together, all the while enjoying the view for all it has to offer. And Stan, never wanting to drag things out, recited the studies to be completed by next lesson before ending the class at exactly 12 on the dot. 

Students begin piling out of the room so Eddie steps out of the frame of the door, checking his emails on his phone in the hallway until it was safe to try and step back inside. Two girls walk past him before he can, and it’s hard to ignore the tail end of their conversation.

“God, I know Professor Uris is married, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy staring at him for the entire hour,” one gushes as she turns to her friend.

“That’s a fucking mood,” the other one agrees and lets out a dramatic groan.

Eddie watches them go and can’t do anything else but laugh under his breath. He descends the steps of the classroom before finally reaching the bottom, watching as Stan begins to shut down the power-point presentation he had set up minutes before.

“Hey handsome,” Eddie greets, unable to help himself.

Stan’s head snaps up and then a gentle smile appears, but he doesn’t leave the laptop yet until he’s done. “Were you spying on me again?”

The tone is playfully teasing, Eddie can tell. So he turns around and takes a seat at the front, hands clasped in front of him as he stares ahead. “Can you blame me? I think you’d be voted the ‘Hottest Professor’ on this campus if a poll ever takes place.”

Stan gives him a funny look as he finally closes the laptop with a ‘click’. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Eddie says, dusting away some loose crumbs on the desk. “I just overheard some of your fans in the hallway.”

Stan raises an eyebrow that’s mostly obscured by the frame of his glasses. Eddie swears he’s never seen glasses look sexier on anyone. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well believe it, gorgeous,” Eddie smiles up at him and bats his eyelashes. “Now, dazzle me with your accounting charm. Woo me, oh great lecturer.”

“Didn’t you want to walk over to that Vietnamese place for lunch? The queue piles up quickly there. We should hurry.”

“You take the fun out of everything,” Eddie says with a pout.

Stan stares at him for a moment before walking over and leaning down so they’re now eye level. Eddie performs a kissing motion. Stan shakes his head slowly, gaze now hooded.

“You know what happens to students who don’t behave?” Stan asks, moving in until his lips are by Eddie’s ear. “They get punished.”

A pleasant shiver runs down his neck and along Eddie’s arms, and before he can retaliate, Stan is moving away and over to collect his messenger bag.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Eddie takes a few seconds to calm down the heat coursing through him before following after his husband, muttering “Tease,” under his breath.

*

“Man, if there was ever a ‘Hottest Professor’ vote taken on campus, I’d totally bag the crown,” Richie says the next day while he’s waiting for his coffee to brew. Eddie had only just mentioned in passing that he thinks Stan would win, so of course Richie had to share his opinion. “Plus, students love a professor who can joke around with them.”

“I guess graciousness wouldn’t make an appearance in your ruling, then,” Eddie says, making sure to get both chicken and lettuce when he stabs at the salad in front of him.

“I’d be more worried about the attention getting to his head,” Mike grins from over on the couches. “Students could probably just bat their eyelashes at him and he’d give them a passing grade.”

“Hey, no,” Richie objects, spilling some sugar on the counter as his hands flail about. “How dare you. I follow the proper guides to grading, just like everyone else.”

“Yeah, otherwise Beverly would probably have your ass fired,” Eddie says around a mouthful of food.

“Oh, she can fire my ass in more ways than one,” Richie winks, and Ben throws a stress ball at him from across the room.

“Gross,” Eddie mutters.

“Besides, you and Stan the Man blow each other’s chucks every other night, of course you’re biased,” Richie continues, sliding into the seat opposite Eddie as he mimes a blowjob.

Eddie narrows his eyes. “I didn’t need a visual, thanks.”

“I’ll have to object to that, Rich,” Mike says. “Stan is a very attractive gentleman.”

“I think Richard here is just jealous I’m actually getting some every week,” Eddie says through a smirk, and Ben makes an ‘ooo’ sound.

“Now, now children,” Mike scolds, but there’s a smile playing at his lips as he shakes his head. “We’re all adults here, remember?”

“What have I missed now?” comes Stan’s voice as he steps into the staff lounge.

“Well, I’m glad you asked Stanny—” Richie starts.

“No.”

“But—”

“No.” Stan repeats.

“Unfair,” Richie almost pouts. Sometimes Eddie really does wonder how he got a job as a professor. “Married couples should not work together. You guys get an advantage over the rest of us. Tag teamers.” He whispers the last part.

“You don’t have to be married to gang up on someone,” Ben interjects.

“Clearly,” Richie fakes offence.

Stan walks over to take the seat next to Eddie, pulling out an identical salad. He’d made it up for the both of them this morning – something about needing to use up the chicken before it went bad.

“Aw, look at that,” Richie nods and grins down at their food.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Richie wants to get married,” Stan muses, setting out his lunch until it’s neatly presented on the table. Eddie looks to Richie with a quirked brow.

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, I love love,” Richie says, and they hear Ben chuckle from behind them. “But as you said before, you don’t need to be married to share something with someone, including salad.”

“I’ll share a salad with you, buddy,” Mike says to Richie sympathetically.

Richie reaches out a hand to him dramatically. “Bless your heart, Mikey, you’re my only hoe.”

Mike gives him some finger guns before Ben’s cutting in with a question to distract them. Eddie never quite knows how the lunch hour they share at work continuously manages to stay this manic, but it’s always a nice break in between class after class and numbly grading more papers than he can count sometimes.

Early on in their relationship, Eddie found out Stan has this unique ability to calm him down, to some degree. During days where he gets too stressed about work, Stan was always there with some words of advice, or to give him a massage with his skilled hands. Even just having his husband sitting next to him was enough for Eddie to slump down in his chair and rest his head on Stan’s shoulder.

Stan’s left hand reaches down to squeeze Eddie’s thigh gently. “Hey,” he murmurs into the side of Eddie’s face. “I have to work late again tonight. Sorry I’ll have miss dinner.”

Eddie turns his head to meet his eyes, offering up a smile. “That’s alright. I can heat some up for you when you get home?”

“Sounds good,” Stan says and kisses his temple.

“Hey, if Stan’s not going to join you, I’ll happily eat whatever food you make, Eds,” Richie says, obviously having eavesdropped. “It makes me sad, thinking about you eating alone.”

“Richie, you eat alone almost every night,” Stan deadpans.

“By choice,” Richie says.

“I know,” Ben calls over to them. “We should sign Rich up for The Bachelor.”

“Ugh, that biphobic garbage? No thanks,” Richie laughs.

“Come on Ben, you should know better,” Mike says.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ben says and holds his hands up.

“Maybe I’ll make my own show,” Richie starts, standing up slowly as his eyes grow wide. “I’ll call it Dicked in Paradise. All of the contestants have to walk around in a banana costume – no fancy dress here. And instead of a ceremonial rose, you get a dildo.”

“That man has a PhD,” Stan whispers, as if a small part of him is dying. Eddie can’t help but laugh into his shoulder.

*

At the sound of rapping on the door, Eddie places the knife back down on the chopping board and curiously walks over to open it.

“Oh my God,” Eddie lets out a small laugh when he sees who it is. “You were serious when you said you were coming over to eat our food?”

“Serious as a heart attack, Spaghetti Man,” Richie says and sidesteps Eddie into his apartment, carrying a six-pack with him. Eddie is used to it at this point and closes the door after him. “So, what are we having?”

Together they spend the next hour drinking Richie’s beers as they slowly prepare all of the ingredients for a Thai green curry. Although, there was less preparation involved and more drinking, since any time Richie tried to help out with cutting up the vegetables Eddie would freak out, convinced Richie was going to hurt himself and get blood all over the counter.

“I’m not that incompetent with a knife you know,” Richie insists, though he lets Eddie take the knife away anyway and reaches for his drink again.

“And yet you’re over here stealing our dinner instead of making your own.”

“Touché,” Richie grins.

“How you and Bill manage survive by yourselves is beyond me,” Eddie says, sliding the vegetables into the large pan simmering away. “I’m glad you’re his neighbour or else I’m sure he wouldn’t remember to dress himself half the time.”

“Hey, don’t be knocking our swanky bachelor pads,” Richie says, and Eddie mouths ‘swanky’ with a shake of his head. “We’re totally competent people and perfectly happy the way things are. Oh—” Richie waves his hand at the food. “Can I take home a serve for Bill?”

“You’re both ridiculous.”

When the food is ready, Richie piles up a massive serve before moving out to the lounge room to eat. Typically, Eddie and Stan eat together at the table, so it’s always a bizarre feeling to change spots. But he settles down comfortably on the couch as Richie asks if they can have Seinfeld play on in the background.

“What’s Stan the Man doing anyway?” Richie asks around a mouthful of food.

Eddie plays with his rice as he answers, “Helping out Cindy with her overflow. I think they only have a week’s worth of paperwork left.”

“He’s a trooper, that one,” Richie says, attention briefly torn when the screen shows Kramer as he drops hundreds of nickels on the counter to pay for his food.

“It’s been stressing him out a bit, and I know he feels bad about not being home as often,” Eddie continues, not sure why he’s even saying any of this. But he knows Richie wouldn’t offer any pity, just a willing ear to listen. “I just wish he wouldn’t worry so much.”

“Show him that, then,” Richie says, and Eddie looks at him, not expecting to receive any kind of advice in return.

“How do you mean?”

“Just, like—” Richie starts, shifting around on the cushions and making a small noise. “Next time he’s home, do, like, fancy shit for him. Don’t tell him not to worry – prove that there’s no need for him too. Dress up nice or take him out for a night on the town or buy a new sex toy, whatever. The future is yours, my friend.”

“Thanks,” Eddie deadpans.

“Eds, I know he’s been missing you, too. Lord knows I hear it often enough,” Richie mumbles with a fond eye-roll.

Eddie feels his chest bloom with warmth, and decides to take Richie’s advice. He’ll treat Stan to a full day of delicacies and hopefully, if it all goes well, they can both forget about work for one night and spend it together instead.

*

 Eddie begins his plan by starting small.

For the remaining week where Stan will be working later most days, Eddie does things for his husband in ways that aren’t too extravagant, but enough to show he cares and that he supports him. Thanks to Eddie’s class being considerably smaller, and also having two sub teachers helping him with his students, he managed to wrap up the bulk of his work two weeks previous.

So Eddie uses his free time to continue cooking meals for them at home, testing out a few different recipes from a vegetarian cookbook Mike had gotten Stan for Christmas last year. Two of them had been great successes, and Stan promised to cook them again for them both one night.

Eddie goes out one evening to purchase some new bed sheets he’s had his eye on for a couple of months now. By the time he’s changed them over and Stan stumbles home, dead on his feet, Eddie drags him off to bed, tucking him underneath the covers and smiling at the surprised but pleased look Stan throws at him.

He even indulges Stan in the morning when Eddie feels his arousal press into his lower back, rutting against him ever so softly in the early light of the morning. During times like this at work, they tend to forget about pleasuring each other, simply being too busy. But Eddie can’t deny Stan this, missing it just as much, and goes down on him before they hop on over to share a quick shower.

In the six years they’ve been together, and married for two, Eddie has learned a lot about what it takes to make a commitment work. He knows being bitter towards Stan’s dedication to work would only end in them both being frustrated and upset, so he stays as understanding as he can. He’d been hesitant, in the beginning of their relationship, to go for what he really wanted. But Stan always proves to him, in his own way, how much he loves Eddie for who he is, patiently waiting for Eddie to come to terms with their developing coupling. They compliment each other in ways Eddie’s never experienced with another partner, and while they do have their arguments, Eddie’s never felt more confident in a relationship before.  

The journey was never stopping, and he knew he was ready to stick around until the end.

And finally, on the Saturday after Stan had officially completed his work, Eddie makes no move to wake them both up, instead taking the opportunity to doze, drifting in and out of sleep as he watches Stan softly lying next to him. It was as if a weight was lifted off both of them, and Eddie plans to utilise this freedom to its fullest.

Eventually, once he’s feeling more awake, he slips out of bed and over to the bathroom. He cleans himself up, sloshing around a decent amount of mouthwash before combing through his curls. When he walks back out, Stan has moved onto his back, hands clasped behind his head and eyes shut. Eddie sinks back onto the mattress and shimmies over to Stan, running a hand delicately over his chest.

“Morning,” Stan murmurs, curling an arm around Eddie to bring him in closer. He opens his eyes and smiles softly. “What’s that I hear? A whole day, uninterrupted, to spend with my husband? Surely not…”

Eddie smiles back, cupping both sides of Stan’s face and leaning down to kiss him, gentle and slow, before pulling back with a wet sound. “You better believe it.”

“We definitely don’t have any commitments today?” Stan checks. Eddie shakes his head, having previously made sure to keep this day open.

“To start, I thought we could make breakfast together,” Eddie suggests, now running his fingers through the curls behind Stan’s ears.

“Sure,” Stan says, caressing one of Eddie’s wrists. “I’m making my coffee Irish today. I think I need it.”

Eddie laughs quietly before leaning down to kiss him again.

*

“I think you might have a coffee addiction,” Stan muses, holding the door open as Eddie steps out of the bustling Starbucks.

“My love for coffee is perfectly average,” Eddie says, handing over one grande cup to Stan as they continue down the path. “Not my fault you asked for tea.”

Stan smiles before taking a light sip of his hot drink. Today is a beautiful spring day, and Eddie couldn’t be more glad for it. He’d spent last night preparing everything before Stan got home, checking the weather to make sure there wouldn’t be any light showers the next day.

He reaches out to twine their fingers together, and Stan squeezes back, swinging their hands between them slightly.

“So, where are you taking me?” Stan asks.

After their breakfast adventures that morning they had lazed about on the couch, doing the crossword together. Though Eddie spent most of his time kissing along Stan’s neck to distract him, and eventually it paid off when Stan got up to drag them both back to the bedroom. It had been hard to drag Stan into the shower and out of the apartment after that, but Eddie had promised it would be worth it.

“Well,” Eddie starts, side-eyeing him. “What do you think I have in my bag?”

Stan turns to look at it, as if just realising it’s there. “I have no idea. Tap shoes? Overdue library books? More whiskey so I can I make my tea Irish too?”

Eddie frowns at him funny. “I brought a picnic lunch for us.”

“Ah, so close,” Stan says, and Eddie bumps their hips together lightly.

They walk along through the city streets, basking in the feeling of not having the layer up anymore in the crisp winter air. The sun feels nice against Eddie’s skin, and as they’re waiting to cross at some lights he performs another checklist in his head to make sure he’s remembered everything. They make their way to the outer city limits where the botanical garden’s is located. There are couples and families everywhere, all enjoying the day for what it is, and Eddie pulls Stan around until they’re found a spot not yet overrun by people.

Eddie sets his backpack down and retrieves a blanket, laying it out messily until Stan ends up straightening it out. They settle down, partially shaded by the tree above, and Eddie carefully removes all of the foods he brought along with them.

“I won’t be needing dinner after this meal,” Stan laughs as he eyes the large spread before them.

“I wanted to be over prepared today,” Eddie says, somewhat bashfully. When he looks up, Stan is watching him closely, and without another word, leans over to kiss Eddie softly.

“Thank you.”

Eddie smiles. “You’re welcome, handsome.”

“Ah, I knew you just married me for my good looks,” Stan teases, resting on his elbow as he reaches out to grab one of the egg salad sandwiches Eddie made up.

“Yup,” Eddie says, taking the other sandwich half and biting into it. “You’re my trophy husband for sure.”

“For you baby, I’ll be anything,” Stan says and hums contently, and Eddie is still surprised when he feels his cheeks flush slightly.  

With his feet being exposed to the sun Eddie ends up slipping off his stuffy shoes after about 20 minutes, and Stan, cheekily acting as if it were botanical garden visiting protocol, does the same. The sky was mostly void of clouds, but there is a nice breeze blowing by that helped with some of the heat. At one point, a soccer ball landed near them and Eddie, never wanting to miss an opportunity, attempts to kick it back to the kids but ends up narrowly missing the pond featurette.

“If your aim was to get it as far away from the kids as possible then you did it, honey,” Stan teases when Eddie returns.

“Funny,” Eddie says and throws a single grape at him.

“Don’t waste grapes,” Stan whispers.

Eddie waggles his eyebrows and grabs an entire bunch, standing again and backing up a few steps, challenging. “I bet I can get ten in my mouth – in a row.”

“That’s childs play,” Stan says through squinted eyes, taking the bet. “The usual wager?”

“Bring it.”

When they were out of grapes and couldn’t possibly eat any more food, Eddie stops them both and suggests they catch up on their reading, eager to finish off a book he’s two thirds in.

“I didn’t bring my glasses, though,” Stan points out until Eddie grabs them from his bag along with Stan’s bookmarked George Shearing autobiography. “My, you sure do think of everything.”

Eddie smiles smugly before they both make themselves comfortable on the rug, with Stan’s head resting in Eddie’s lap so he can run his fingers through Stan’s hair. Eddie notices it’s getting to that almost-too-long stage, but figures another week or so won’t hurt him as he twirls a long curl around his finger.

It isn’t until later that Eddie finds he had fallen asleep, his own glasses askew on his face as he wakes up to Stan smiling behind his phone as he finishes snapping a picture of him.

“Ugh, I hate you,” Eddie grumbles.

“I think we should come here more often,” Stan says with a grin.

*

When they make it back to their apartment an hour later Eddie knows he should probably start putting all of the leftover food away and rinse out the containers, but it’s to no shock that his body is desperately crying out for a nice bubble bath and some red instead. But then, if he’s being even more honest, all he really wants is to head to the bedroom to clock in some much needed time to reacquaint himself with Stan’s hands and legs and chest and his everything.

“Thank you for that lovely Eddie-cation,” Stan murmurs into Eddie’s temple.

Eddie smiles, shifting one hand up and under Stan’s shirt as the other runs lightly over Stan’s collarbone. Stan’s hands have found their own way to Eddie’s hips as he draws their bodies together, foreheads bumping as Eddie whispers, “I won that bet, remember?”

“I remember,” Stan nods, now cupping Eddie’s face as he angles it, leaning down to seal their lips together.

Eddie makes a small noise, their tongues meeting languidly, indulging in letting Stan take the lead for one moment before he manages to tear himself away to suck in a deep breath. He backs up, fingers slipping into the gaps between Stan’s shirt buttons as they shuffle towards the bedroom.

“Today is about you, baby,” Eddie says, licking his lips. “I’m taking the lead, so you just sit back and enjoy the ride, okay?”

Stan grins, and the sound of clothes shedding begins.

*

Mind dizzy on endorphins and heartbeat loud in his ears, Eddie slips out of Stan before collapsing on the bed, loving the feeling of their new, cool sheets against his hot skin. Stan flops next to him, breathing in quick, little pants as they wait to calm down.

“So,” Eddie groans, rolling onto his side to face Stan properly. “Did you have a nice day?”

Stan laughs, a touch disbelieving. “It was amazing, yes. Thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Eddie breathes, eyes slipping shut.

“Not sure what I did to deserve it, but… thank you,” Stan says, quieter.

Eddie peaks at him through one open eye. “You’ve been working so hard these past few weeks, don’t think I haven’t noticed. I couldn’t be more proud of you.”

“With this kind of reward? Watch my motivation skyrocket,” Stan says.

Eddie throws him a well deserved eye-roll before his thoughts drift back to when they arrived home. “I think I want my dinner tonight to just be a bottle of red. What do you think?”

“I think you may be onto something there,” Stan says, and even though they really need to shower, Eddie makes time for one more long, lazy kiss shared between lovestruck smiles.

[ruminativerabbi]

Hope for the U.N., Possibly

Like most Americans—60% according to a recent Gallup poll—I think the United Nations is doing a poor job living up to its self-assigned task to serve as the one international forum in which all the nations of the world are welcome peacefully to work out their disputes. I suppose different Americans must come to this negative impression from different directions, but, at least for me, the determinative factor will always be the incredible bias the body has shown towards Israel for the last half century— a kind of almost visceral prejudice that has on many occasions crossed the line from “mere” hostility to the policies of this or that Israeli government to overt anti-Semitism.

Nor am I alone in my sentiments. In a remarkable show of non-partisan unity, the entire Senate—including all one hundred U.S. senators—signed a letter to U.N. Secretary General António Gutteres last week in which they asked him formally to address what they called the United Nations’ “entrenched bias” against Israel. Nor was the letter particularly subtle: by pausing to remind the Secretary General that the United States is, and by far, the largest single contributor to the U.N. budget—in 2016, the U.S. paid out an almost unbelievable $3.024 billion to keep the U.N. running, a sum that exceeds the contributions of 185 of its member states combined—the senators sent a clear message that that kind of almost unimaginable largesse cannot be expected to continue if the U.N. fails to treat all its member states, Israel most definitely included, fairly and equitably. They didn’t need to issue an actual threat either—just mentioning the budget was, I’m sure, more than enough.

The letter, written by Senators Marco Rubio and Christopher A. Coons (a Republican from Florida and a Democrat from Delaware, respectively), also mentioned with great enthusiasm and approval the work of Nikki Haley as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.  And she deserved her shout-out too: it’s hard to remember the last time Israel had a defender as unwilling to mince words as Ambassador Haley. The Trump administration has had trouble, and continues to have apparently serious trouble, filling any number of crucial diplomatic posts. But the President chose well when he selected Nikki Haley to represent us in Turtle Bay. Americans should all be proud to have a person of her eloquence and candor in place in what must be one of the world’s most trying diplomatic postings.

Ambassador Haley, for example, made it crystal clear just last Tuesday that the U.N. Human Rights Council—a council of buffoons whose sole interest in the world appears to lie in decrying Israel’s every perceived misstep while blithely looking the other way when other states trample on even their citizens’ most basic rights—when she, speaking with her usual forthright directness, specified that the U.S. might simply withdraw from the council unless it abolishes its infamous Agenda Item 7, which guarantees that there will never be a meeting of the council in which Israel is not singled out for censure. Such a move would hardly immunize Israel against legitimate criticism. But it would, at the very least, put Israel on the same footing as other member states—the basic definition of being treated impartially and objectively in any legitimate forum. And it would also mean that the Middle East’s one true democracy will no longer endlessly be condemned with knee-jerk resolutions full of fury but signifying nothing, while states like Iran, Syria, and North Korea—all states in which the basic human rights of the citizenry count for nothing or almost for nothing—are ignored. (Resolutions condemning Israel at the Human Rights Council outnumber similar resolutions regarding all other countries combined.) Such a disparity would be almost funny if it weren’t tragic, but it’s part and parcel of what the U.N. does and, by extension, is. Therefore, Ambassador Halley was in my opinion entirely correct to indicate that continued hostility toward Israel on that level could conceivably trigger a U.S. withdrawal. She was certainly speaking for me personally when she said clear that “[The Human Rights Council’s] relentless, pathological campaign against a country that actually has a strong human rights record makes a mockery not of Israel, but of the Council itself.”

Yet there may be subtle signs that things are changing. Last month, Secretary General Gutteres took the extraordinary step of personally rejecting a U.N. report that used the language of South African apartheid to describe the plight of the Palestinians on the West Bank by saying clearly that it had been published without his approval. Nor does the Secretary General appear to be afraid to speak out in public. Just last April, for example, he appeared personally at a plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress and addressed world-wide anti-Semitism and his own organization’s systemic anti-Israel bias in the same speech. (He was, for the record, the first U.N. Secretary General ever to visit an international forum of Jewish leaders.) Addressing the first issue, he pledged personally to be “on the front lines in the fight against anti-Semitism,” which specific kind of racist hatred he condemned unequivocally as “absolutely unacceptable.” And he also pledged that the U.N. would be in the forefront of a world-wide campaign to eradicate anti-Semitism from, in his own words, “the face of the earth.”

That much was impressive enough.  But then, almost unexpectedly, he went on to commit himself to working towards a reform of U.N. policies regarding Israel because, again to quote him precisely, “Israel needs to be treated as any other state.” And then he went even further, stating that he believes that Israel has an unequivocal right to exist, that Israel has an equally non-negotiable right to live in peace and security with its neighbors, and that “the modern form of anti-Semitism is the denial of the existence of the State of Israel.” (He presumably meant to reference the right of Israel to exist, not its actual existence—even its most implacable foes concede that there is such a place even if they wish things were otherwise.)

So there’s that. And then there was the almost unbelievable news last May that Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., was elected by 109 nations to became the first Israeli to chair a permanent U.N. committee, the General Assembly’s Sixth (Legal) Committee. And now, on the heels of that unprecedented achievement, Danon has been elected vice president of the U.N. General Assembly, his term to begin in September and to last for one year. It is true that he is not the first Israeli to serve as vice-president. (That honor goes to former Ambassador Ron Prosor in 2012.) But even so…given the level of vituperative animus against Israel that characterizes so much of what the United Nations does, it was remarkable to learn that an Israeli was elected to any position of authority at all. It isn’t much—there are, for the record, 21 vice presidents of the General Assembly—but it’s surely something to celebrate for those of us who, despite everything, continue to harbor some hope that the U.N. could yet live up to its founders’ vision and become a force for good in the world.

And that sense of faint hope inspired me to return to an essay by Ambassador Danon himself that was published on the Politico website earlier this year in which he argued that the time has come for Israel to be granted a seat on the Security Council. (To see the Politico article, click here.) It’s an important article, one I earmarked to return to and then somehow never quite did…but now that I have reread it, I would like to suggest it to you as something very worth your time and consideration.

The ambassador begins by pointing out how Prime Minister Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel was poised to compete for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council was overshadowed, even overwhelmed, by the vote by that same body last December to question the historicity of the Jewish claim to Jerusalem. Ignoring not centuries but millennia of history, and mocking the work of a world of disinterested historians and archeologists, the Security Council voted on December 23 to recognize the Western Wall not as a Jewish holy site inextricably bound up both with the history and the destiny of the Jewish people, but as a Muslim shrine illegally occupied by Zionist usurpers intent on imposing their fantasy-based worldview on a world that should know better. (To reread my response to a similar UNESCO-based resolution earlier last fall, one so one-sided and biased against Israel that UNESCO’s director general, Irina Bokova herself felt the need to distance herself from it, click here.)

Nonetheless, Danon argues, the time has clearly come for the U.N., if it truly wishes to shed some of its shameful reputation, to welcome Israel onto the Security Council.  To be so elected, Israel will need the support of two-thirds of the General Assembly. But if it surely won’t be easy, it also shouldn’t be considered an impossibility. Israel has paid more into the U.N. budget over the years than the other 65 countries invited to sit on the Security Council as non-permanent members combined. And Israel has a clear role to play in encouraging the Security Council to enforce its own resolution 1701, which forbids the entry into Lebanon of any foreign armies or arms but which has mostly been ignored as Iran has poured arms into Lebanon to arm Hezbollah, now considered to have upwards of 150,000 rockets aimed at Israeli civilian centers.  Most of all, inviting Israel onto the Security Council would signal in a meaningful way that the decades of discrimination against Israel during which the U.N. has squandered the considerable moral capital it once had and sullied its reputation among all fair-minded people would finally be over.

As all my readers know, I could hardly think less of the United Nations. But I didn’t always feel that way. When I was a child, the U.N. was often held up as an example of the way that the world had turned a corner away from violence and bloodshed as the primary means of settling disputes and embraced the cause of mutual respect among nations and the peaceful resolution of conflict. One of my mother’s prized possessions, which I still have somewhere, was a letter bearing the first United Nations stamp issued and postmarked in New York on October 24, 1951. She, and so many of her and my dad’s generation, felt that the U.N. was the best hope for a world in which the horrors of the Second World War would never be replicated.  That sounds almost laughable now…but, who knows, maybe the U.N. could somehow regain its moral stature and thus also its potential. Electing Israel to the Security Council would be an unmistakable signal that the organization has turned a corner.

[cameronwinkel2-blog]

Monitoring The Nation For Dirty Projectiles.

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[minister-akaiha]

The Real Deal No Bs Talk Show

The Real Deal No B S Talk Show with Queen Akaiha & King Darrell Topic of the Day

The "War on Drugs"

 Co Host By Darrell Duke

As early as 1914, there was strong support for eradicating marijuana and opium in the United States. By the late 1920s marijuana was popular among Black jazz musicians and Mexican Americans. The term “war on drugs” was first used nationally by Theodore Roosevelt the 26th President of the United States. His administration stirred up anti-African American and Latino sentiments around the country and the Commissioner of The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Harry Anslinger started a crusade against marijuana. A organized campaign against black and Mexican marijuana smokers. They did so by publicly stating that “Marijuana can arouse in Blacks and Hispanics a state of menacing fury or homicidal attack” propaganda used to convince white people that blacks and Latinos were dangerous.

In 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected to office as the 37th President of the United States. On July 14, 1969 while addressing Congress, President Nixon cited an increase in drug related juvenile arrest and crime from 1960 to 1967 to support his position that there was a need for a national drug policy (state/federal). Historical data and surveys show that drug abuse was rare, as well as accurate information about the effects of drugs (a 1969 Gallup Poll found that only 4% of Americans over the age of eighteen had tried marijuana, and 34% stated they did not know how marijuana effected people).

As Michelle Alexander pointed out in her book The New Jim Crow on page 41 in the second paragraph “Despite significant controversy over the accuracy of crime statistics during this period (the FBI’s method of tracking crime was changing), sociologist and criminologist agree that crime did rise but can be explained in large part by the rise of the “baby boom” generation---the spike in the number of young men in the fifteen-to-twenty-four age group, which historically has been responsible for most crimes.”

To paraphrase the end of the paragraph the surge in the population (of young men) occurred at the same time as unemployment was rapidly increasing for black men. These economic and demographic factors contributed to rising crime but were not expressed in the media. Instead, crime reports were sensationalized and offered as evidence of a breakdown in law and order, morality, and social stability in lieu of the Civil Rights Movement.

On pages 46 and 47 (the last paragraph of pg. 46 and first paragraph of pg. 47) of the book The New Jim Crow is Nixon’s popular television advertisement that began with frightening music and images of civil rights protestors, bloodied victims, and violence; Nixon said, “It is time for an honest look at the problem of order in the United States. Dissent is a necessary ingredient of change, but in a system of government that provides for peaceful change, there is no cause that justifies resorting to violence. Let us recognize that the first right of every American is to be free from domestic violence. So I pledge to you, we shall have order in the United States."

At the end of the ad, a caption declared: This time … vote like your whole world depended on it . . . Nixon. Viewing his own campaign ad, Nixon reportedly remarked with glee, "The ad ‘hits it on the nose. It’s all about those damn Negro—Puerto Rican groups out there’.”

Two years after calling for national drug policies (in 1971) President Nixon declared “war on drugs.” The “war on drugs” was a policy aimed at stopping the decriminalization and or legalization and use of marijuana. You see there was growing sentiment at that time for the legalization of marijuana. The “war on drugs” was a policy founded on Nixon’s hypocrisy, misinformation, and prejudices. According to the Library of Congress White House tapes of President Nixon made these comments while in the White House; • [President Nixon] “I see another thing in the news summary this morning about it. That’s a funny thing; every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them? I suppose it’s because most of them are psychiatrists…” • [President Nixon] “You see, homosexuality, dope, and immorality in general. These are the enemies of strong societies. That’s why the Communist and the left-wingers are pushing the stuff, they’re trying to destroy us.” • [President Nixon] “Marijuana consumers smoke to get high while a person drinks to have fun. At least with liquor I don’t lose motivation.” • [President Nixon] “Radical demonstrators that were here two weeks ago…there all on drugs, virtually all.” • [President Nixon] “Enforce the law, you’ve got to scare them.”

These are recorded statements from President Nixon’s own mouth and if those weren’t bad enough author of the book Smoke and Mirrors Dan Baum quoted President Nixon saying “You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to.”

The “war on drugs” targets blacks and Latinos without appearing to do so. The policies of the “war on drugs” still dictate legislative, correctional, and law enforcement procedures and protocols that do more harm than good. The drug war has essentially been a war on ethnic minorities and the poor. This segment gives the history of the “war on drugs,” its objectives, practices, laws and the lack of evidence to support a social policy designed to seek out and firmly punish black and Latino marijuana smokers.

The “war on drugs” is a failed policy built on personal prejudices, racial biases, classicism, and Nixon's self-aggrandizement. Many are suffering from both the intended and unintended consequences of this deliberately fabricated policy.

President Nixon commissioned the most extensive and comprehensive study of marijuana ever performed by the United States government. He established the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (NCMDA) and according to White House tapes from 1971, President Nixon made it perfectly clear to Governor Shafer (Commissioner of NCMDA) that the report was to support his war on drug policies,

Much to Nixon’s dismay, his National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended that marijuana no longer be considered as a criminal offense and their findings were, “Marijuana’s relative potential for harm to the vast majority of individual users and its actual impact on society does not justify a social policy designed to seek out and firmly punish those who use it.” The most extensive and comprehensive examination of marijuana to date called for decriminalization of marijuana. This certainly gives credence to the “war on drugs” being founded on Nixon’s own hypocrisy, misinformation, and prejudices.

Angered by the findings of the Commission, Nixon called for an all out war on marijuana smokers and drug users, and a movement was started by the U.S. to destroy marijuana crops in Mexico. Nixon established the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on July 1, 1973 as the lead federal agency to enforce domestic drug laws under the Controlled Substances Act. All other federal drug enforcement agencies like the Bureau of Narcotics came together under the umbrella of the DEA.

The official goal of the DEA was to eradicate drug crops in Mexico, stop the production of cocaine in Peru, coordinate the governments drug control activities, combat drug smugglers and drug use within America’s borders, enforce federal drug laws, and be responsible for pursuing and coordinating drug investigations abroad.

In 1971, President Nixon sold Americans on the idea that increasing drug use among young ethnic minorities was public enemy number #1 as he addressed the nation saying “In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all out offensive” as he publicly declared war on drugs. Noted scholar and author Daniel P. Mears wrote in his book “American Criminal Justice Policy: an Evaluation Approach to Increasing Accountability and Effectiveness” Chapter 1 “Too many criminal justice policies are ill founded, ineffective, or inefficient, or they lack sufficient evidence to support them. Put differently, we have too many unreasonable, illogical, and unjustifiable practices directed at sanctioning rather than solving the problems associated with crime.

Mears suggest that the politicization of crime and the belief in quick-fix solutions to crime have led to criminal justice policies that are counterproductive and ineffective. Noted scholar Samuel Walker wrote about the “prediction problem” in his book Sense And Nonsense About Crime, Drugs, And Communities.

The prediction problem refers to the bait and switch tactic of many policies that are unrelated to the most serious parts of a crime, but are pushed forward as solutions to the most serious crimes. This phenomenon is present throughout the entire criminal justice system. The “war on drugs” promised to attack drug smugglers and drug use but has mainly resulted in the imprisonment of black and Latino nonviolent offenders.

The bait and switch started during the Nixon administration and is still with us today. Nixon took the social issue of marijuana, an emotive and moral issue, and made it a highly contentious legal and political issue. Nixon’s presidency ended in scandal and unethical behavior that revealed Nixon had personally tried to cover up Watergate – a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters. Nixon’s administration had been filled with illegal activities.

Richard M. Nixon faced impeachment proceedings for multiple abuses of power, but did not want to stand trial, so he resigned on August 9, 1974 (the first President ever to resign from office). Richard M. Nixon was pardoned by his successor and Vice-President Gerald Ford, but 69 members of his administration were indicted, and 25 were convicted and sent to prison.

Nixon’s “war on drugs” resulted in many lives being destroyed in a fabricated war that cannot be won. By 1980 a new conservative narrative had been put forth that hard working white people were being made responsible for poor lazy black people that did not want to work. Ronald Reagan’s campaign for President of the United States of America was wrought with hidden messages of racism with descriptions like criminal predators and welfare queens but not explicitly pointing his finger at black folks.

This tactic also allowed Reagan the ability to deny any racist intentions. Reagan would go on to promise that he would return power to states to determine and solve issues in their prospective states as he campaigned across America. Clearly this was a signal to white conservatives in the South that he believed that they should have had the power to determine civil rights in their prospective states.

Meanwhile, America has become a nation of addicts, our elderly have medicine cabinets filled with prescribed drugs, our children are routinely given Prosaic, Xanax or Ritalin, and most of us are addicted to one substance or another (alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, prescription medications, heroin or cocaine).

The “war on drugs” has filled our prison and jails (primarily with poor blacks and Latinos) and spent several decades wasting over $500 billion dollars with countless numbers of lives lost. These things warrant the highest level of concern. Nixon’s first budget for his “war on drugs” was $100 million dollars. Since that time the United States has repeatedly funded and increased programs that do little to stop the trafficking of drugs into America.

Consequently, more racist and hypocritical policies, such as, mandatory sentencing laws for possession of crack cocaine, the Three Strike Laws, and the harsh on drug offenders mentality that have resulted in the lack of treatment and rehabilitation facilities. These things combined with the economic effects of the failed policies of the “war on drugs” have been astronomical.

The “war on drugs” is costing state and federal government upwards of $60 billion a year. This does not include the billions it cost to incapacitate drug offenders. America has more people locked up than any other country in the world. The prison population has grown by more than 400% in the last 30 to 40 years.

According to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) ���Police arrested an estimated 872,720 persons for marijuana violations in 2007, the highest annual total ever recorded in the United States, and of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89%, 775,137 were charged with possession only. An American is now arrested for violating marijuana laws every 38 seconds” (in 2007).

Also, according to the FBI’s UCR “Arrest for drug violations this year (2009) are expected to exceed the 1,841,182 arrest of 2007. Law enforcement made more arrest for drug abuse violations, an estimated 1.8 million arrest 13% of the total arrest than for any other offense in 2007. Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 17 seconds.” The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported that state and local government spent at least $30 billion in 2001 and The Office of National Drug Control Policy found that the federal government spent $19 billion on the “war on drugs” at a rate of $600 per second.

The budget has since been increased by over a billion dollars. Estimates on the money spent in 2010 on the “war on drugs” are as follows; • Federal: $17,446,332,446 • State: $26,780,120,304 • Total $44,226,452,750 The overpopulation of our prisons led to even more spending to build more prison, hire more correctional officers, policemen, training and equipment. This has led to the (profit driven) privatization of prisons. Growth in the correctional system has caused a large number of inmates to be released on parole costing millions to hire and train new parole and probation officers. The courts are backlogged with cases and we are forced to hire more judges, lawyers, bailiffs, clerks, and court coordinators. These are just a few of the unintended consequences of the “war on drugs.”

In addition, the “war on drugs” has had a detrimental effect on not only America as a whole, but the world. The policies of the “war on drugs” are built on prejudices and cultural biases that continue to disproportionately affect African Americans. Reporter Gary Web [Mercury News] wrote a story in 1996 that revealed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives deliberately brought crack cocaine into African American neighborhoods in California in the 1980s to finance a war to overthrow the Sandinistan government of Nicaragua.

Young black men are sent to prison at rates far greater than any other group for drug related crimes. Blacks make up 35% of jail inmates, and 37% of prison inmates of the 2.2 million male inmates as of 2014 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014). Tough on crime policies generated by the “war on drugs” incapacitate black men far more than any other ethnic group. America’s drug policies and laws have historically been determined largely by race and class.

In the 1800s immigrant Chinese laborers building the railroads in America were known to smoke opium to relax. The United States banned the smoking of opium during this period. By the 1900s American cigarettes were being laced with cocaine and their popularity led to advertisements in popular American Catalogues.

However, when The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article stating that African Americans in the South were using cocaine President Theodore Roosevelt started his “war on drugs.”

The “war on drugs” has been a war on human rights. Law enforcement agencies wage war on black and Latino communities committing human rights violations while financially benefiting from their attacks. The “war on drugs” and U.S. drug policies further their own interest abroad as well through maintaining strong military presence in certain regions of the world. In Latin America the “war on drugs” justifies military troops in the area, in Columbia, the United States military used toxic herbicides to poison drug crops while also poisoning the environment, poor farmers, and villagers as they terrorized the country-side. This is all done with congressional support.

Human Rights Watch linked American involvement and leadership in paramilitary groups in kidnappings, torture, and murder in Columbia in 2001. In New York the “war on drugs” is responsible for the incarceration of well over 11,000 people and most of them were convicted of minor offenses with no history of any violent behavior. More than 85% of those locked up in New York for violating drug laws are black or Latino, but research shows that those who use and sell drugs the most are white.

Now we watch misleading television ads and standby silently while doctors are bribed by pharmaceutical companies allowed to distribute drugs at will (all done with approval from the Food and Drug Administration). Human rights are at the bottom of the list of priorities. Corporate profits determine policy in Washington, DC.

In Summary, there was never any evidence to support a “war on drugs” especially, marijuana or for the harsh punishment of black and Latino marijuana smokers. In fact, the evidence was to the contrary as President Nixon’s National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (the most extensive study on marijuana to date) findings were “Marijuana’s relative potential for harm to the vast majority of individual users and its actual impact on society does not justify a social policy designed to seek out and firmly punish those who use it.”

The Library of Congress official White House tapes of President Nixon gives evidence to Nixon’s own racial biases and self-aggrandizement. The United States government should implement evaluation research starting with a needs assessment. Then, assess whether the theory underlying the “war on drugs” is logical.

The “war on drugs” and its policies have failed miserably with regards to stopping the production of cocaine in Peru, controlling drug activities, eradicating marijuana crops in Mexico, fighting drug use, and investigating and enforcing drug laws and arresting drug smugglers. What the “war on drugs” has been successful at is assaulting and arresting blacks, Latinos, and poor disenfranchised minorities (to include poor whites).

The drug war has led to prison overcrowding, large expenditures to employ and train more law enforcement agents, correctional officers, judges, court-room personnel, and the profit drive privatization of prisons. The war and its policies have only been effective at harming black and Latino families through their mass incarceration.

Last but not least, the “war on drugs” has not been cost effective, billions of American tax dollars have been spent, and the American people are still suffering from the intended and unintended consequences of this deliberately fabricated “war on drugs.” It has been alienated blacks and Latinos by stereotyping them as gang bangers, drug dealers, killers, thieves, predators, and illegal immigrants. Author Daniel P. Mears suggest that evidence based crime policy analysis should be the direction the criminal justice system should go. The National Criminal Justice Commission has found that the “war on drugs” is racially biased.

Wake up black people, for years now you’ve been able to determine the outcome of Presidential elections. The Black vote put President Obama in office, the black vote put Bill Clinton in office for eight years, you put John F. Kennedy in office, and despite the fact that your vote has been the deciding factor in their elections what have you gotten out of it.

Black people have been in the strategic position of deciding who goes to the White House. Your vote has put Democrats in office and they take care of all the legislative business they want never mentioning issues that affect Black people. After they’ve passed all the legislative bills that they believe are important, they come to the black community saying my hands are tied, and there’s nothing I can do. After, black folks have put them first (and gotten them elected) they put black folks last.

Well, black folks are waking up, and realize that even when the Democrats had the majority both in the House and the Senate they still refuse to keep promises made to black people. We’ve been bamboozled; you can’t continue to identify yourself with a party that cannot adhere to promises made to black folks. Black people are now able to see and think for themselves and the white supremacy agenda is no longer acceptable. Drastic times call for drastic measures and these are drastic times.

This is not an American problem, but a human and a world problem. Our right to humanity, our rights as human beings are being violated, the United States will never solve the problem of inhumanity within her borders. We must take it to the United Nations and demand our rights as human beings, and not civil rights. The human rights record of the United States is one of, police violence, war, privacy violations and racism.

There has been no truth and reconciliation. The U.S. has been spying on citizens, has put its citizens in internment camps, murdered hundreds of thousands of Indians (trail of tears,) murdered Chinese immigrants (Rocks Springs massacre) and has broken international law (drone warfare), American History regarding drone strikes, capital punishment, mass surveillance, torture, prison system, failure to close Guantanomo Bay, imprisonment of poor, homeless, juveniles, solitary confinement, nonviolent offenders to lanquish in prison for decades as a result of mandatory sentencing. Drone strikes/stop and frisk is atrocious.

We can not find comfort in killers or solace in being rocked in the bosom of those who kill us. We are people of culture, and strength. Not always have we given in to the threats and scare tactics of others.the powerless ones. What is the difference between two women in New Orleans shot point blank in the back of the head and two women bound in their car in Bagdad. Or government sanctioned killings in Kenya and a sister held hostage in a house in Virginia. Or poverty in Haiti or poverty in Jamaica, rape in Rwanda or or rape in Samolia, sweat shop in China or one in Guatamala. King made us aware that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. We must be strategic, victorious, and free. The beast has shown the same face for centuries. We must never let them forget the blood that is on their hands (millions of blacks murdered and abused). .

We have found comfort in a system that kills us, relief from our grief and discontent in a government that openly destroys us, we’ve traded our comprehensive knowledge of self for assimilation (looking and acting like white people), and accepted subjugation instead of the power to act, think, and speak without hindrance or restraint. We are God’s chosen people, made in his image, and we’ve been tricked and coerced by white supremacist. Now, we allow the blood of our sons and daughters to cover the streets as we are lulled to sleep.

Thousands march in protest to no avail. Marching has not stopped cops from killing black people, falsely accusing and arresting them, nor has the court system stopped its relentless pursuit of black and Latino families. We’ve been hood-winked, accepting the toxic ideology of our oppressor, and the crumbs that fall from his table (that our hands prepared).

We must never let them forget the blood that is on their hands (millions of blacks murdered and abused) as they smile in our face during the day, but secretly dawn their KKK robes by night. Black people are resilient and always able to recover from difficult conditions. America has committed every atrocity known to man on blacks and people of color. Poet, Sonny Patterson said it this way, “What is the difference between two women in New Orleans shot point blank in the back of the head and two women bound in their car in Bagdad or government sanctioned killings in Kenya and a sister held hostage in a house in Virginia. Or poverty in Haiti or poverty in Jamaica, rape in Rwanda or rape in Somalia, sweat shop in China or one in Guatemala. Martin Luther King made us aware that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”

Black people we are bold, magnificent, dignified, flexible, strong, and tough always able to recover from difficult conditions. Our feet and hands are no longer shackled!