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Jacob Blake ‘s Past Crimes Do Not Warrant 7 bullets

Jacob Blake has had some serious misdeeds. He had a criminal record. By all accounts he was a guy who we would label “a bad guy”. 

But even “bad guys” have the right to their day in court, which is not what happened this week. 

Instead, we had BAD POLICING. 

Really BAD POLICING. 

Police Officers are keepers of the peace. They come to the scene to de-escalate events or actions. In this case though, in a mere three minutes not only did the police not maintain peace, but they escalated an incident where a man, a black man, was shot seven times in the back. 

In this time and this place in America the sheer optics of this are terrible. At a time when the police are being scrutinized over their handling of black people this only proves the point of African-Americans that they are treated(mistreated) differently than their white neighbors. 

Yes, you can talk about the resisting arrest, the rap sheet, the knife in the car, but the elephant in the room is a black man was shot 7 TIMES!. 

Saying the word excessive does not even do it justice. 

For any of us that have ever shot a gun or heard a gun go off, you can say it is one of the most thunderous and sickening noises you will hear. The force of which a bullet comes out of a gun is powerful.  Like shock and awe powerful. 

And for a police officer to shoot someone in the back from point blank range is sickening. It is a human rights violation of the highest grounds. 

(If you have never shot a gun before, I actually do not recommend it, but I also think you should try it once at a secure gun range to know what it actually feels like. The understanding of the power it has is something that cannot be fully explained)

I have, unfortunately, had domestic fights with my brother where the cops have been called. I am a white male and I can honestly say that when the cops showed up they never once drew their firearms . Never even reached for them. They came out, separated the parties, talked to us and made peace or at least de-escalated the situation. 

I have, again regretfully, been in some drunken brawls, in the middle of the street, where again, cops were called and, again, a group of white males never had the police draw their weapons or use force against combative suspects. They broke up the fight, told everyone to go home or they could go to jail. Everyone went home. Nobody was shot. 

Jacob Blake did not deserve to be shot seven times in the back. He deserved proper policing that should have de-escalated the situation. Part of the problem is that black people do not feel safe with the police because of past and present history of violent encounters that cause a gut reaction to flee. And seeing guns drawn within two minutes of the police arriving tells me these police officers were not interested or trained correctly in handling escalated incidents, which only confounds the problem even more. 

So to say Jacob Blake was a bad dude who resisted arrest and got what was coming to him is not correct. At worst, Jacob Blake should have been arrested. Then let the legal system take over from there where his rights for Due Process and a Trial is what every American is entitled to regardless of past crimes, race, or creed. 

Police Officers are not judge, jury, and executioners. They are officials of the community to protect, to serve, keep the peace, and de-escalate confrontations of said community. 

Jacob Blake is guilty of crimes. 

But so are the police. 

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NBA Players are making a BIG MISTAKE

    The NBA Players got it right yesterday when they walked away from their games in support of social justice and change. 

    NBA players have got it wrong today if they continue with the playoffs. 

    The message yesterday was great--We want change. We will not stand for this. We are going to continue and fulfill our Mission. 

    Today the message reads--We made a statement for a day, but the money and league take precedent. 

    Maybe the players have a plan to use their platform in the bubble; to use their voice and their star to get their message out. However, I think the bigger message and the one that would resonate greatly is this--Money be damned, the league be damned, we want change and we are leaving all of this behind to continue this fight with our fellow brothers and sisters who are out here day in and day out protesting

    The players have such a huge social media presence and following that using that tool to gain traction for a huge peaceful protest at say, outside the White House, in the ultimate show of support to the cause of social injustice. LeBron James and Steph Curry have nearly 100 million instagram followers between the two of them. If you can get a fraction of their followers combined with fellow NBA stars you don’t have a protest, you have a movement. 

     And that is what we need--MOVEMENT! Normalization of life and going back to the status quo(whatever that may be in todays world) will cause stagnation; it will lead to more malaise, it will lead to an infinite loop that will never be broken. What breaks that loop is moving away from normal and that is with no sports. That is with all eyes on NBA stars and like minded people getting together to make our elected officials work for us. To make government officials accountable for their areas, for their districts, for the people they are elected to speak for and do right by. 

    I have already heard form many that the NBA players continuing the season just shows they don’t care and that money and the league is what comes first to them and if they have time they will help out, but the business of making money comes first. 

Bad Optics. Bad Message. Stagnation. Malaise. Infinite Loop. 

    The NBA Players will only get one shot at this and if they do not seize it then a huge opportunity to bring a monumental shift to social injustices that black Americans have faced and continue to face will be lost. 

    Basketball will always be there. This moment to gather, to make change, to be the difference in the world that is and the world that could be will not. 

    The ball is in your court, NBA Players. Hopefully, you put the ball away and, instead, walk towards social change and this very crucial time in history when your influence can have the greatest impact any of us will ever know. 

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when we middle fingered 2019 because we were so pumped for the Gatsby type party of 2020 and now we wish we lived in the simpler times of 2019. 

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It took a few years but Trump finally building that wall.

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The next time Donald Trump calls a Foreign Leader-

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Let’s check out their response:

I don’t care if you are a snake expert or not this is the only reaction!

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Well, let’s check in with Mike Pence and get his reaction to this scandal...

You little Machiavellian fuck, Mike Pence. I see you, Mike Pence. I like it. I don’t like you, of course, but the situation.

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And now a PSA from Ryan Gosling

To which every teenager responded

If Ryan Gosling can’t reach the kids to have them start rolling joints then all hope is lost!

The struggle

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I mean, even if they were out of jam, Damn!

Somewhere Quentin Tarantino went six to midnight

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When your schedule becomes totally freed up

I heard the circus is hiring 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

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When you hit lunchtime on a Friday cause you know you aren’t doing any work when you get back

Shout out to all of you who put in more work during lunch then you do at work. Respect

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Pansexual...Sapiosexual...and all the new sexuals that come out can be classified and put under the larger classification umbrella of—

Yep, AllAboutItSexual which is not to be confused with DownWitItSexual

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Let’s check in with Mr. Rogers to get his reaction to the costumes he inspired—

Won’t you be my neighbor, indeed!!!!!

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This looks pretty bad. Let’s take a closer look and see how Jerry is progressing—

Jerry is not quite loose just yet but give him 3 white claws and Zima and we are talking Category 5 Khaki Crease. You don’t want to see a Category 5 Khaki Crease.

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When life comes at you a little too fast

Cheech is my spirit animal.

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The three guarantees of life— Death...taxes...not wanting to adult ever again.

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When asked where the US Government could send the appropriate paperwork the response came back

I actually know that corner....well.