Sheeeeet, not sure what Starbucks did but my SBUX stock is up 39% this quarter, bought at $41, sitting at $61 per share… sell? Doug? :P
Instagram has nailed the new Web Money Model: Make site with no revenue model, get a shitload of users, sell to Facebook or Zynga.
hahah working on a throwaway game using jME and Carmina Burana by Edvin Marton just kicked on the headphones. EPIIIICCCC TYPING COMMENCE
Man, its like Armageddon in the south wing, a water pipe burst on the 3rd floor and now there is 2-3” of standing water running down the stairwells, the elevators are full of water and shut down, our kitchen (along with 2 Keurig’s and a couple of extremely expensive printers) has about 2-3” of standing water in it. Luckily our section is far enough towards the north wing to be out of the water. Still, thinking this will be a good work from home day.
Cutting through the media bullshit
This Trayvon Martin slaying shit is just over the top. I am fucking sick of seeing circlejerk posts on Facebook (and elsewhere) from armchair activists donning hoodies and demanding that Zimmerman be arrested. Ever heard of the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”? It is a foundation that this country was built on.
The media, surprise surprise, are largely to blame for this faux outrage. On every major news outlet we are looking at pictures of George Zimmerman wearing what looks to be “jailhouse orange” and school pictures of Trayvon Martin showing an upbeat, happy young man. Both pictures in this case are years old, and do not represent the individuals at all. Futhermore the media has been diligent in reporting that Zimmerman is white, and that Trayvon is black, in order to frame the entire incident in a racial light. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, as usual, have immediately jumped into the spotlight, just like they did during the Duke Lacrosse allegations which ultimately were dismissed. As an aside, neither Sharpton nor Jackson have apologized to the Duke Lacrosse players for the witchhunt. If race is that important to your framing of the case, then it should be noted that Zimmerman is 50% white, 50% Hispanic. And it matters not one fucking bit in this case.
Here are the absolute facts as they stand:
On February 26th, 2012 a 28 year old male shot and killed a 17 year old male. The 17 year old male was unarmed and died of a close range GSW (gun shot wound) to the chest. The 28 year old male had a valid Florida issued conceal weapon permit, and was part of the Neighborhood Watch program. Immediate eyewitness reports were not available, “aged” reports are being collected and investigated by police. One report, which has been confirmed by multiple eyewitnesses, reports that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman after Zimmerman had followed Trayvon. Zimmerman sustained injuries to the back of his head and face, which confirm allegations in the eyewitness reports that Trayvon hit Zimmerman, took him to the ground and began hitting Zimmerman’s head off the pavement. This would justify Zimmerman’s use of deadly force to defend his own life. It does NOT mean that he should have engaged with Trayvon, followed him, or otherwise. It means that he was in fear for his life and responded with force.
Zimmerman’s own account alleges that he then fired from close range, at an upward angle into Trayvon’s chest, which killed Trayvon.
That’s it. That is all there is to the case at this point. This fucking bullshit witchhunt, million hoodie march, and other such asshattery is doing absolutely nothing other than shed light on how many ignorant, emotionally charged individuals there are that feel they have some special insight into this case.
Zimmerman should not have followed Trayvon, he should have reported what he felt was suspicious behavior to the police (which he did) and left it at that. Law enforcement officers are more than able to handle a suspicious person report, and do so with a hell of a lot more training and tact than civilians. If there is no immediate danger to others (which there wasn’t), there is absolutely no reason to get involved personally. This is one of the first things you learn about concealed carry: assess the situation, if it does not require deadly force then you must retreat and call for help. Even with a conceal carry, you are not law enforcement, and you have no obligation (or right) to engage anyone other than immediate, direct dangers to your life.
Thomas Sowell said it best: “The man who shot the black teenager in Florida may be as guilty as sin, for all I know — or he may be innocent, for all I know. We pay taxes so that there can be judges and jurors who sort out the facts. We do not need Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or the President of the United States spouting off before the trial has even begun. Have we forgotten the media’s rush to judgment in the Duke University “rape” case that blew up completely when the facts came out?”
At the end of the day, a young man is dead for reasons we may never know, and another has had his life ruined by racially charged grandstanding and speculation. Let the system run it’s course and THEN decide if you are offended by the situation or not.
