Simpson Screwed

Friday, September 12th, 2008

O.J. Simpson might be guilty of having committed a crime.  The prosecution in his case, however, has ensured that we’ll never really know.  Backed by the judge, the prosecutor in the case excluded all blacks from the jury, while simultaneously allowing white people who believed Simpson was unfairly found “not guilty” of murdering his wife.

I’m betting on a conviction.

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A Rainbow of Gangs

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

A storm has been brewing in San Diego for awhile now, whipping up waves of opinion concerning gang charges.

The facts are these: A group of five guys were out drinking one night at a bar. Another guy accidentally bumps one of them and spills beer on him. The lone guy decides maybe he should leave before something bad happens.

The five bandidos — they called themselves the Bird Rock Bandits — follow him out of the bar and, apparently, to the front door of his house, where they confront him. They challenge him to a fight and, when he starts to get the upper hand against one of their homies, he is sucker-punched by their leader. The sucker punch knocks him unconscious. He falls back, hits his head on the pavement and four days later he dies at the hospital.

After the guy dies and the five gang members are arrested, other people come forward to talk about how they, too, had been assaulted by the Bird Rock Bandits.1

As In Cold Blog reported,

Accusations include throwing punches that break facial bones, requiring surgery; intimidating people with violence and threatening to kill them; accosting beachgoers; crashing parties in a chartered bus, beating up guests and even hitting young women who get in their way.2

Sounds like their primary activities are assaults by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury,3 threats to commit crimes resulting in death or great bodily injury as defined in Section 422,4 — at the very least. As if that wasn’t enough,

A gang expert told a judge Tuesday that members of the so-called Bird Rock Bandits had the same gang colors as the Hell’s Angels and wanted to associate with the infamous motorcycle gang.5

Apparently, the gang was also known to throw signs.6

One expert witness, an investigator for the San Diego District Attorney’s office, said the Bird Rock Bandits showed all the characteristics of a gang including claiming a territory, displaying hand signals, the use of gang defining colors, and most importantly, ongoing criminal activity as a group. 7

So how come Judge Einhorn decided on May 22, 2008 that these five did not constitute a criminal street gang?8

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  1. Scott Bass, “Bird Rock Bandits Case: Preliminary Hearing Decision This Week” (Unknown Date) Surfer Magazine. []
  2. Caitlin Rother, “Bird Rock Bandits” (May 15, 2008) In Cold Blog. []
  3. See Cal. Penal Code § 186.22(e)(1). []
  4. See Cal. Penal Code § 186.22(e)(24). []
  5. “Gang Expert: Men Wanted Hell’s Angels Connection” (May 20, 2008) NBCSanDiego.com. []
  6. See Cal. Penal Code § 186.22(f). Looks like we’ve got a common name, sign or symbol going here. []
  7. Scott Bass, “Bird Rock Bandits Case: Preliminary Hearing Decision This Week” (Unknown Date) Surfer Magazine. []
  8. Did I say “five”? See Cal. Penal Code § 186.22(f): “…any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons…” []

White Men Can’t Jump Think

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Listen to this CNN report and you’ll understand the reason for the title of my post. The only real problem is that while the mentality expressed in the report is typical of what bigoted white people often express, I think the actual reporters were black themselves. Maybe I need to do a post on Stockholm Syndrome.

News reporters interviewing black students express surprise that the students believe there is racism in America. After stating that blacks have more rights than ever before — “they don’t have to sit in the back of the bus; they get to go to school” — the interviewer can’t believe what he’s being told. “You believe…today? 2008? The United States of America is a racist country?”

The report goes on to explain that blacks don’t base their beliefs on “personal experience,” but on news stories. In other words, the story implies, even though the black students who were interviewed haven’t experienced racism, they believe that America is a racist country. The report implies that this is just wrong; it implies the most black people do not experience racism. There’s even another interview with a black man stating that this is “just an excuse.” (I’m fairly sure the short clip is taken out of context.)

What these white (at least on the inside) interviewers need to do is some research.

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