the sunshine state?

More like the clouded-over state.

Don't mean to be a negative & stuff, but I've mentioned before how FL gets more days of thunderstorms every year than not.

And we know the ppl there aren't exactly the brightest in the country. They're the only state w/ that whole hanging chad problem. Plus, they decided as state that a guy called Jeb would be their best bet as Gov. Yes, folks, they elected this guy fair & square.

And y'all prob don't know too much about their education system, but lemme tell you, it SU-CKS. First, school starts the 1st week of August. This messes up everyone's vaca plans, b/c that's when most of the fam across the nation is able to get together.

Anyway, so this past Monday morn, I was getting ready for work in the morn, & I was thinking of what a pain this whole having FL around is. And I came up w/ the GREATEST IDEA EVER! Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it's def up there as one of my best ideas.

You know how ppl are always talking about how CA's gonna fall off into the Pacific? Well, ppl have mentioned it before.

So, I was thinking about how CA gets a bad rap sometimes b/c of the air-heads/ditzes in LA. But it's really not bad. I enjoy San Fran, the food, the shopping, the strolling, the weather, the food. And LA's fun too, you get to go there & act all pretentious & uppity. So FUN! And the Roosevelt Hotel's fun to stay at, & the the Getty museum's fun to visit. So, I was thinking how I like CA & about the San Andreas Fault & everything. And that's when I came up w/ the GREAT IDEA!

What if there was some way to get FL to fall off into the ocean instead?

No, wait... hear me out on this one.

FL sucks, remember? We just discussed a couple of the ways in which it sucks; & I didn't even mention jellyfish once. Oh, & the ppl there are old, so it's just a matter of time before they'll be gone anyway.

So, anyway, I've decided to come up w/ my own fake scientific proof on a major benefit to back my "let's saw off FL" cause. Here's a pic that NASA had put out during Hurricane Katrina (8/29/2005):NOW- by my own theories (w/ no scientific training whatsoever)*, I've come up w/ a modified version of this same pic:Do you see how w/out FL to contain the storm, it could very easily branch out into the Atlantic & dissipate? Ah HA! We wouldn't have had all the destruction, we would still be living w/ a false sense of security that FEMA had our backs, & we wouldn't have to live w/ the knowledge that "George Bush doesn't care about Black ppl".

The only possible dilemma I see, if we saw off FL, is the bug infestation. See, I've thought this out completely. Now, this is just a possibility, ppl. No need to get your panties in a bunch until we know for sure what'll happen w/ all the Floridian bugs. We all know that there's nothing but bugs, insects, locusts, blech all over FL. If we saw the state off, then there's a few possibilities:
- they may just go off into the ocean.
- they may relocate to Cuba. We're still at odds w/ the Castro regime, right?**
- OR- they may just die off since they used to live off of the FL environment, & it no longer exists.


*dude, I know what you're thinking... If I can come up w/ these great plans w/ no scientific knowledge/training whatsoever, imagine if I actually knew anything about science at all! I'd totally be more genius-er than I am now!!

**seriously, I'm going to do a post tomorrow (I think) going into this a little. Bush can just be so ridiculous sometimes.

where is the line?

Ok, so the police are there to protect us, I understand that. But who decides what's considered an abuse of power. How far can they go to "protect" our society?

Like, is it cool for them to fire 41 shots at an unarmed dude who's just walking home? Apparently, cause those 4 cops were acquitted of wrongdoing. [related article: transcript of CNN interview w/ Amadou Diallo's mother].

Have you guys seen this story? A kid at UCLA (who, mind you, was likely a punk, but in my experienced opinion most 15-24 year old guys are punks) was tasered repeatedly by the cops while practicing civil disobedience. He shoulda been arrested; I mean, rules are rules. He was at the library, & he knew that anyone there after 11 pm could at any point be told to show their id, & was required to do so or leave. He wouldn't, so it was totally right for them to try to haul his punk-ass away. However, it wasn't ok for them to repeatedly taser him, even after he said he would leave, & that he wasn't fighting them. Especially not after they already had handcuffs on him.

It also wasn't ok for them to offer to also shoot their taser guns at others in the crowd who were disturbed by the level of violence inflicted upon him though. According to Peter Eliasberg, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern Cali, "it's illegal to threaten anyone who asks for a badge ... that's assault". But that's exactly what they did. There were bystanders all around who asked for the officers' names & badge numbers, but the officers threated to taser them too.

Related Videos (via youtube, of course):
UCLA's Daily Bruin tv newscast (2:17)
camera phone footage of incident (6:53)

That 2nd video is longer, but totally worth watching. The only word I can use to describe it is harrowing. It's hard to watch, but I'd highly recommend watching it. I don't mean to put down a "race-card" or whatev on this, but I'd especially recommend sending that 2nd video to anyone you know w/ a lil color to their skin. If ya know what I mean. It's scary.

Kudos to that guy in the white t-shirt at the end of that footage. I know the cops were this close to arresting him too. Too many times, ppl see wrong happening, but don't say anything. I applaud him for getting in there, & acknowledging that what was happening wasn't right. Also, the fact remains that the cops kept telling him to "STAND UP!", but it's not that easy to stand up after having been tasered that many times.

I know these cops won't have anything happen to them. Maybe a slap on the wrist. I know how these things work. It's nice to dream though. Maybe one day, a police officer will actually be made responsible for something that involves police brutality, & isn't money-related.

just checking in

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't been posting. Have been really busy, plus there's just stuff going on in my life that I can't talk about. I know, why even mention it, right?

Here's what I can tell you. I just got back from the Getty Center/Museum, & it is A-MAZE-ZING!!! I can't even tell you. Well, ok, maybe I can (& I will), but not now. I just got back to my room, & I'm just across the street from the Grauman's Chinese Theatre & the Kodak Theatre (yes, where the Academy Awards are).

But I have to go. I'll have more to write later. Just wanted to check in, & let you guys know I'm still alive. I didn't die in the 5 hour plane ride on the way here. Wait, should I not have said that until I complete the 5 hour plane ride back home? Well, whatev happens, happens.

I'll send out a post on Tues just to let y'all know I didn't just jinx myself. (I hope).

the military, the gays, San Fran, & Milk

You know how when ppl think of San Fran, they think of the gays? The city’s got the highest concentration of homosexuals in the country (maybe the world, mu-hahahaha). Sorry, that just came out. It’s also got the highest concentration of Chinese folks outside the mother-land (being China, duh!); but that’s a story for another day. Or not, we’ll see.

So, San Fran holds the whatever-title in terms of number of gay ppls. Mama must be so proud. Well, ever wonder why? I did & I found out! So whether you wanted to know or not, I’m gonna tell you. If you didn’t want to know, you don’t have to keep reading the rest of this. But I’ll leave you w/ one thought – the military.

Intrigued? Ah, then you’re my kinda person. So, here’s how it all went down. The time was World War II. The US gov’t was discoverin all the gays in the military. The military decided they would seek out & dishonorably discharge all the gays. The San Francisco base is where most of the dismissed men were processed. So, most of them just ended up staying there & settlin; instead of returning to their homes.

I mean, have you eva been to San Fran!?! Well, have you?! It’s amazing, I’d highly recommend it. If you haven’t seen my pics from there, go into my Nov 2005 archive. I’ll put up a link to it later. Maybe. I’m pretty lazy though, remember? So, we’ll see what happens.

Wanna see more? This site has a timeline of the history of the movement in San Fran. If you want to explore gay San Fran, you’ll wanna hit up the Castro. And go here to go on a photo-tour of the Castro Neighborhood. It's just amazing how much we share online, isn't it? I've learned so much about a neighborhood so far away from me just online!

The one thing I really think you should all read about is Harvey Milk. I don’t know if you know who he is or not, but he most certainly led an interesting life. They made a documentary about him. I haven’t seen it yet so I can't say if it's good or not, but it’s on my "to see" list. Anyway, he settled in the Fran after being (honorably) discharged from the military, & became a city supervisor. Another city supervisor, Dan White, who was against Milk’s gay rights bill, stepped down, & returned to City Hall w/ a gun & 10 extra rounds of ammo. He went to see Mayor Moscone, & went to town on him. He reloaded, walked clear to the other side of the building to where Milk was, shot him in the chest, then point-blank in the head for good measure. White got less than 8 years in prison for these two murders.

Anyway, Harvey Milk is on Time Magazine’s top 100 ppl of the century list & they have a great write-up on him. You can also find more info on him at wikipedia, of course.

I hated history when I was in school, but now I find myself fascinated w/ the ppl & events & places of times past. So, I have decided that every time I stumble across something like this, I’ll post it here. To share w/ y’all, & so I have a ref point where I can come back to. It’ll be just like the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler!

Aside: Photo of Goldengate Bridge was taken by bmdoty. I decided that I think it's amazing how many absolutely incredible shots that we as an internet community take & are willing to share. I'm thinking of joining too; cause I do love to take pics & I like the idea of sharing them as long as you give the pic-taker the credit. I also 'hotlinked' the pic itself so that if you click on it above, you can see his/her stuff & even leave comments for him/her if you want. Just sharin the love!