Contempt of Cop and other Saturday Stuff
I've written before about what police officers refer to as "Contempt of Cop." Once when it was Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon who was involved in an incident with police and the other time after the death of Eric Garner for selling "loosies" on the street. Personally, I think it foolish to do anything other than cooperate with a police officer because you will accomplish nothing by being confrontational. Asking why you were stopped, as long as you aren't belligerent, is okay. Escalating is not.
That being said, I'm firmly on the side of 22 year old Shyam Patel of New Jersey. He spent 22 hours behind bars awaiting arraignment for the sole offense of recording himself flipping the "bird" to two NYPD officers in Times Square. The charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest were later dismissed. I do not believe he was disorderly or engaged in resisting in any way. He flipped them the bird and they found him guilty on the street of Contempt of Cop.
NYPD Sergeant Hameed Armani allegedly told Patel that he could not give cops the finger as he claimed it is a crime to curse a cop. It is not. The courts have held time and again that such expressions, verbal and with fingers, are protected free speech.
It is. Is it wise? Depends on what you want to accomplish. He accomplished getting arrested and spending nearly a full day in a jail cell.
* * *
Kino Martinez has been arrested. He is the man who stands accused of stealing a teen's MAGA hat and throwing a soft-drink at the teen at a Texas Whataburger. He was charged with theft and released on bond.
Whether or not he was provoked by the teens talking about hanging blacks for the 4th of July, his actions were wrong.
The comment commandos are out in force. Those who are saying the man was provoked by the things the teens were saying and those who support the teen are going at it.
I was once guilty of letting words provoke me to action. I was 18. Someone said something truly awful about someone in my family to me, in the basic training barracks. I punched him. I regretted it instantly. I've never let words provoke me to anything other than words since.
I suspect Mr. Martinez is going to have a rough time finding work going forward, even if he winds up having the charges against him dismissed.
* * *
A church is Indiana is looking for a new home after it was evicted from the building where it had been located. They were evicted after posting a sign that read:
"LGBTQ is a hate crime against God."
I'm waiting for people who don't understand how the First Amendment works to claim the church's rights have been violated.
* * *
Jahi McMath has died, more than four years after she was first declared brain-dead. Her family says she died as the result of complications from a simply tonsillectomy at Children's Hospital in Oakland. In actuality, she was underdoing two additional procedures in conjunction with the tonsillectomy, a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and a submucous resection of bilateral inferior turbinates. Those procedures are designed to provide improved airflow while sleeping. They are a bit more complicated than simply removing a person's tonsils.
The family managed to move Jahi to New Jersey where she required a ventilator and feeding tube to remain alive. There were reports that she showed some minimal brain activity and responded to commands, but this is disputed by the doctors who originally declared her brain-dead.
She died on June 22, 2018 when her heart stopped beating.
It is easy to understand a mother not wanting to give up on her child's possible recovery. It is also easy for a very cynical person to claim that this is all about the money. If Jahi is determined to have died in 2014, the damages from a medical malpractice lawsuit are capped at $250,000. If she is determined to have been alive all of this time, those damages are not capped.
I honestly don't know what to think.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I think Senator Elizabeth Warren should take a DNA test as Donald Trump suggests, as soon as Trump releases all of his tax returns.
I wonder what percentage of people who attend movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe know how much of what they're seeing can be attributed to Steve Ditko in addition to Stan Lee. Mr. Ditko passed recently at the age of 90. His artwork in the creation of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange was incredible. He was involved with a number of other Marvel characters. RIP.
Kudos to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck for taking the time to send an official NFL football with a personalized autograph to the man who found his wallet...and returned it with everything still inside.
A woman refused to leave a bookstore after she accosted Steve Bannon (who was browsing and minding his own business) and called him a "piece of trash." The owner asked her to leave and she refused. Then when the owner went to call police, the woman left. She should have just left as asked. But this is another example of how such engagement in conflict accomplishes nothing good.
Congressman Jim Jordan is the latest in a long line of Republicans defended by Donald Trump in spite of serious allegations against them. How can a man who has a young son not be outraged over the allegations that Jordan remained silent when college wrestlers were allegedly being sexually abused by the team's physician?
I don't care one iota that Will Smith has had "...all the sex I ever wanted." TMI.
If Scott Pruitt didn't want to resign, he should have forced Trump to fire him.
LiAngelo Ball saying he will be a Laker sooner or later is delusional considering there is no interest in him by any NBA team.
I leave you with a book cover that is a perfect description of the Trump Administration
That being said, I'm firmly on the side of 22 year old Shyam Patel of New Jersey. He spent 22 hours behind bars awaiting arraignment for the sole offense of recording himself flipping the "bird" to two NYPD officers in Times Square. The charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest were later dismissed. I do not believe he was disorderly or engaged in resisting in any way. He flipped them the bird and they found him guilty on the street of Contempt of Cop.
NYPD Sergeant Hameed Armani allegedly told Patel that he could not give cops the finger as he claimed it is a crime to curse a cop. It is not. The courts have held time and again that such expressions, verbal and with fingers, are protected free speech.
It is. Is it wise? Depends on what you want to accomplish. He accomplished getting arrested and spending nearly a full day in a jail cell.
* * *
Kino Martinez has been arrested. He is the man who stands accused of stealing a teen's MAGA hat and throwing a soft-drink at the teen at a Texas Whataburger. He was charged with theft and released on bond.
Whether or not he was provoked by the teens talking about hanging blacks for the 4th of July, his actions were wrong.
The comment commandos are out in force. Those who are saying the man was provoked by the things the teens were saying and those who support the teen are going at it.
I was once guilty of letting words provoke me to action. I was 18. Someone said something truly awful about someone in my family to me, in the basic training barracks. I punched him. I regretted it instantly. I've never let words provoke me to anything other than words since.
I suspect Mr. Martinez is going to have a rough time finding work going forward, even if he winds up having the charges against him dismissed.
* * *
A church is Indiana is looking for a new home after it was evicted from the building where it had been located. They were evicted after posting a sign that read:
"LGBTQ is a hate crime against God."
I'm waiting for people who don't understand how the First Amendment works to claim the church's rights have been violated.
* * *
Jahi McMath has died, more than four years after she was first declared brain-dead. Her family says she died as the result of complications from a simply tonsillectomy at Children's Hospital in Oakland. In actuality, she was underdoing two additional procedures in conjunction with the tonsillectomy, a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and a submucous resection of bilateral inferior turbinates. Those procedures are designed to provide improved airflow while sleeping. They are a bit more complicated than simply removing a person's tonsils.
The family managed to move Jahi to New Jersey where she required a ventilator and feeding tube to remain alive. There were reports that she showed some minimal brain activity and responded to commands, but this is disputed by the doctors who originally declared her brain-dead.
She died on June 22, 2018 when her heart stopped beating.
It is easy to understand a mother not wanting to give up on her child's possible recovery. It is also easy for a very cynical person to claim that this is all about the money. If Jahi is determined to have died in 2014, the damages from a medical malpractice lawsuit are capped at $250,000. If she is determined to have been alive all of this time, those damages are not capped.
I honestly don't know what to think.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
I think Senator Elizabeth Warren should take a DNA test as Donald Trump suggests, as soon as Trump releases all of his tax returns.
I wonder what percentage of people who attend movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe know how much of what they're seeing can be attributed to Steve Ditko in addition to Stan Lee. Mr. Ditko passed recently at the age of 90. His artwork in the creation of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange was incredible. He was involved with a number of other Marvel characters. RIP.
Kudos to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck for taking the time to send an official NFL football with a personalized autograph to the man who found his wallet...and returned it with everything still inside.
Congressman Jim Jordan is the latest in a long line of Republicans defended by Donald Trump in spite of serious allegations against them. How can a man who has a young son not be outraged over the allegations that Jordan remained silent when college wrestlers were allegedly being sexually abused by the team's physician?
I don't care one iota that Will Smith has had "...all the sex I ever wanted." TMI.
If Scott Pruitt didn't want to resign, he should have forced Trump to fire him.
LiAngelo Ball saying he will be a Laker sooner or later is delusional considering there is no interest in him by any NBA team.
I leave you with a book cover that is a perfect description of the Trump Administration
posted by me at 7:50 AM
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