Know Your Rights, But Pick And Choose Your Battles

"You cant do that! I know my rights!" A line that people who usually do not know their rights like to spew out because they hate authority. Moreover, they hate cops. 

Saying all that. Everyone should know their rights, especially when interacting with Law Enforcement. Know your rights, pick and choose your battles and for the love of Homer Simpson, do not be an asshole. You will not win the legal fight in the streets if the cop really wants to push it. 

If you believe your rights have been violated, be professional at all times. Be compliant, yet in professional manner state your objections to the Law Enforcement Officer. After the interaction has taken place, fight it in court [if cited], make and official complaint either over the phone or at the Police Station or seek legal counsel. Fight it in the court, not the streets.

So many times people have talked themselves into handcuffs being assholes. These people usually think they know their rights, when in actuality they do not. 

Here in Indiana, there is a failure to identify law. Some people interpret that a Police Officer can ID you at anytime if you are just "suspicious", even if you did not do anything legally wrong. However, that is not the case. You have to had to break a law, ordinance or committed an infraction for the Police Officer to legally compel you to identify yourself.  

Now, just because you know your rights, try not to be an asshole. The vast majority of Police Officers throughout the country are great men and woman doing a job. A dangerous and a lot of times thankless job. A job, where they are ridiculed all the time just for the uniform they wear. Deal with the interaction and move on how you see fit. Either by dropping it or complaining/seeking legal actions like talked about above. 

Why I never say goodbye

Usually when you leave a friends house, your job, your house or other places you always say goodbye to the person you were with. Its a courteous way of saying I`m leaving now and hope you do well. Well, I have another take on goodbye. When I say goodbye to someone, it usually means for one reason or another I will not see or talk to them again.

 I usually say, "talk to you later, see you later", or just "later".

In my job, though I am not in law enforcement, there was small, albeit minuscule chance, I might not come home. And I always told the person I was with that the time, I will see you when I get home. 

Goodbye to me is a final farewell. Its saying that I will probably never or likely never see or even talk to you again. It means this is the end of our relationship and I hope all goes well for you.

So, if you are reading this and you are family, friends or co-workers. I`ll see you later. 

If I have wronged you, I am sorry

I have been doing a lot of reflecting in my life the last few weeks. What could have I done better and what did I do wrong to lead me into the position I am in today. Though I believe I have done the best I can do, I sometimes feel, that even unknowingly, I have wrong people sometimes in some ways. For that, I am truly sorry.

If I have shunned you, I am sorry.

If I have ignored you, I am sorry.

If I wasn't there for you when you needed me, I am sorry.

If I could have done something better but my pride or stubbornness stopped me, I am sorry.

If I have hurt you, I am sorry.

If I have turned my back on you without good cause, I am sorry

If I have done anything to upset you unjustly, I am sorry.

If you feel I have used you, I am sorry.

Though, I do not believe I have really done those things, well, not intentionally anyways. I know that sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see what you have been doing.

To all the people out there who believe I have done these things, I am truly sorry. All I ask is for your forgiveness and possibly help if you see me doing these things to tell me when it happens. Sometimes you have to be told what you do not want to hear to better yourself. I myself do that to others. I am usually telling people what I believe they need to hear, but not necessarily what they want to hear. Sometimes I have probably have not done it in the best way. I probably could have worded things things differently. It was never my intention to bring people down or hurt them. I always want to help people in the best way I can. Sometimes, I might have done that in the wrong way.

But you cannot change the past. You can only try to learn from it not make those mistakes again.

From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry to all those who believe I have done any of these things.

Rising from the ashes

As I sit here, I should be ecstatic that I have been promoted in my job. I should be celebrating that when I went back into the profession I am good at and enjoy doing, I have been promoted to a high level. It took a lot of hard work and proving myself to get into this position. I should be out celebrating with the people closet to me that my dedication and hard work paid off. But, I no longer have anyone to celebrate with. I have no one to come home to to congratulate me. I have nothing.

Now, do not get me wrong, I worked my ass off for this promotion and I am happy that I got it. Its always nice to see the fruits of your labor. I am thankful for my co workers and my superiors that have chosen me for this position. And its my greatest hopes, professionally wise, I do not let them down.

But, with all that said, that doesn't really matter in my personal life. All I have to come home to is an empty house now. Well, not exactly empty, I have my dog and cat to come home to.

Its still hard to deal with what life has handed to me. Its still gets to me that his been over a month that my life change happened. Even now there are still sleepless nights and crying. Crying on what I could have done differently, crying on grieving over the loss I am dealing with. At lease, with this loss, I take some comfort in the fact they will move on, even if its without me.

 However, I know and acknowledge I am better off then many other people in this country. I know that I have a roof over my head and food [most of the time] in the fridge. I have a car and I have a job. I have the means and training to protect myself if need be [hopefully never happens]. I also have a great emotional support network I can rely on if need be, even if they are two to three time zones away.

This post is not to lay blame on myself or anyone else. This is more of a reflections of what I have learned and how I will lead my life from here on out.

First off, I have returned to the fact that no matter what I only really have myself to rely on. I only have myself to make sure I am OK and though one day I might share myself life with someone else, I can never forget the fact that its potentially all on me to make sure I am OK.

Second, I cannot put myself in a situation to completely take care of someone anymore. Of course there are exception to this, like injury and other things that would incapacitate someone on in some way. All you have to rely on is yourself. No matter the situation, unless mentioned above, make sure you are taken care and your family is taken care of. That is not to say dont ever try to help anyone else. But know that you do it out of goodwill and should never expect it in return. That will later lead to resentment if it is not reciprocated in the same way or amount you have given.

Third, I need to learn how to let go easier. This is something I am learning and maybe one day I will master. I have to learn not to hold onto the past, especially when all its going to do is either sadden or anger me. Its tough for me, since there are so many memories with different people who have or possibly I have decided to end what ever relationship we are with. Its hard sometimes to keep the good and bad memories separate.

And lastly, I am learning I need to get out more and live life. Unfortunately, due to my previous situation, money was extremely tight, and it wasn't possible to do the things we all wanted to do. One of things I regret was not able to providing as much as I should have. But, you cannot change the past, but learn from it.

Like the Phoenix, I am rising from the ashes. One day I will rise completely again. One day I will have my life back that I have lost. Well, I will not have that life anymore. That life is over. I will have a new life and new experiences to look forward to.

To anyone who is going through a trying time where they have to restart their life from scratch, know you are not alone. You are not the first one to go through this and you will not be the last. Just know that with hard work you will get back on your feet. I want to say it will get better, but that is not really true. It will be different. Comparing what was better or worse will not help. Something I am also learning is I cant compare things as better or worse in certain situations.

Stop, Show me your papers and I am going to search you!

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized"

The quoted text above is the 4th Amendment of the United States of America. A constitutional right that New York City has apparently forgot, ignored and do not care about.

Recently, a judge ordered the stop of the controversial law "stop and frisk". Where Police Officer can stop, identify and search anyone they deemed "suspicious". No probable cause needed, nor a particular crime suspected. All in the name of preventing crime. 

Now, the main problem people have with this is that it allegedly targets minority groups more then "whites". More specifically Hispanic and Black people.

If that is really true, that is wrong and should not be happening, but that should not be the main reason why people should be against this unconstitutional law. I am getting a little sick and tired of people ramping up the race angle on laws such as these, and do not focus too much on what the true reason why these laws are wrong. Other then it being completely against the 4th Amendment, its yet another over reach by the Government and a form of oppression. Not to mention the fact, that this kind of activity was clarified in 1979.

In 1979, there was a landmark case of Brown verses Texas, where the Police cannot just stop someone without reasonable suspicion they committed or are about to commit a crime. The case clarified that just because you may not look "right" in the area, or just happen to be in a area where a crime was committed, unless there is reasonable suspicion, the Police cannot force you to identify or search you. I know this was done in Texas, but it shows case law on this subject.

So, I end this by asking a question to the people of New York City. Can any of your defend in a legal way why your city is trying to keep you guys under their control? From telling people how much soda you can drink, to being able to "stop and frisk" you just because they feel like it; New York City has changed from the beacon of freedom with people coming into Elis Island, to a Police State where you will do what they say, when they say it, how they say it, or you will be punished. I know this is not just for NYC, but it seems they are trying to be at the for front.

Oh, quick favor to ask people of New York. As a Colorado resident, can you tell your Politicians [cough: Bloomberg!] to stay the hell out of our state business?

President Obama To The Rescue When It Comes To Military Death Benefits

Editorial/Commentary:

When it comes to the partial shutdown of the United States Government, the powers that be are trying to make it hurt as much as possible. With a recent tactic, this has become very clear.


Recently, the DoD [Department of Defense] were refusing to pay the death benefit payments to the families of fallen soldiers. They are saying that due to the shutdown, they can not appropriate the funds right now to make the payments.

President Obama then quickly was able to make a deal with Fisher House, a non profit organization, to pay the death benifits and the Government will pay them back when it becomes fully funded.

Here is why I think this is only a ploy  by President Obama to look like a "hero" in this and show he really cares about the people effected by this.

Just hours before the "shutdown", the House passed the "Pay our Military Act", which was approved by the Senate and then signed into law by President Obama. This was signed into law, military hours before the "shutdown" took place.

In that bill, all pays and allowances will be paid. One of such parts of pays and allowances is the death gratuity.

Now, the White House has come out and said that it is in deed on the list, but the Pentagon is refusing to pay it, saying they do not have the authority due to the shutdown.

Now, there this is where I call bullshit. The Pentagon is part of the Department of the Defense. The Department of Defense reports to the Executive Branch. The President is in charge of the Executive Branch.

With all that being said, everyone knows or should know the President of the United States is in charge of the Executive Branch of Government. The Obama administration has said that the death gratuity is part of the pays and allowances, which is covered under the Pay Our Military Act. But, the Pentagon is refusing to make the payments.

But don't you fear, the Obama administration has come to the rescue by reaching a deal with Fisher House for them to make the payments until the United States government is fully funded.

And this is where the arguments falls a little short.

If the President is the head of the Executive Branch and the DoD reports to the Executive Branch, does that mean they are defying you? Are you saying they are refusing to follow an order from the Commander and Chief by refusing to make the payments?

This is where their argument falls flat. Even the Republicans have come out and said they made the bill broad enough to cover all pays and allowances.

And now, President Obama can show he is the hero and those evil republicans are the bad people making people not get the death benefits. Even though it was Republicans who wrote the Pay our Military Act bill.

To the Democrats credit, Rep. Ron Barber, D of Arizona introduced H.R. 3274: Fallen Heroes and Families Assistance Act, which make is obviously clear that death benefits are included.

But the Obama administration had come out and said their work is not necessary since they already made a deal with Fisher House [click here for the that article]. In other words, he is telling everyone that he already saved the day and their work is not needed.

Conspiracy Theory: Government would rather have criminals with weapons then law abiding citizens.

Editorial:
 
Putting my conspiracy theorist hat on, I do not think the Government really cares if criminals have firearms. I think they are concerned or maybe afraid of good law abiding citizens having firearms. I also do not think government cares about small arms such as handguns.


Using the past tragedies of Columbine to the DC Navy Yard shootings, the Government has been really pushing for more gun control. Even though Columbine High school. Fort Hood, Virginia Tech, the Aurora Theater, Sandy Hook Elementary and not the DC Navy Yard were all "gun free" zones, the Government is trying to push for more gun control. Even though in all cases, except for the Aurora Theater, these were done with handguns and shotguns. But, the Government has had a huge push on "assault" weapons. Making out right lies saying that all these were done with AR-15's and the media for some reason has followed the Government script like a lost puppy. Even after it was proven that a "assault" weapons was not used, they keep stating that they were.


Now, going back to my main point. I do not think the Government cares if criminals has handguns. If you look at areas like Chicago and DC, they have some of the highest gun crime rates, while having some of if not the strictest gun laws in the country. Even those most of these crimes the guns were acquired illegally and they for the most part are not any type of long gun or "assault" weapon, they still bang the horn louder then ever on taking away "assault" weapons". They have almost no interest in hanguns, to which the vast majority of gun crimes are used with. Leaving out the fact that less then one percent of the those crimes were done with legally acquired handguns.

Now, here is where my conspiracy hat comes into play on why I do not think the Government cares about criminals with weapons or hand guns in that matter. Actually, I do not even think they care about shot guns. I think that even though I do not think there are any plans in the works for this, the Government is asking themselves this question: "If we have to take control of the population, what would we rather go against? A small contingent of criminals who are really only looking out for themselves and are going to carry and use firearms without any regard to the law? Or the vast majority of gun owners, over 200 million in fact, who have weapons that rival the Military"?

I believe if the United States Government ever decided to take control of the populace, they would really like the population who is relatively unarmed then a population that is armed and able to fight against them.  If you recall, there are other notorious Governments who disarmed their populations in the name of "safety".



Its like the old saying goes, "The worst enemy to tyranny is a well armed populace"