June 8, 2012

• Report # 888

  Well I don’t think this June could get any worse. Not only was it pouring rain almost as hard as possible yesterday, I don’t think it got any warmer than 11 C. (52 F) This was basically a normal rainy day for March or sometime in October. Even sitting in my room I was absolutely freezing. It will be significantly warmer over the next week, but nothing incredible. I had my umbrella yesterday walking home and I still got super soaked.

  I know every month has a few surprises, but this weather is just plain awful. The worst June that I can remember. Of course complaining about it does nothing, so I just have to shut up and wait for the nicer days to come. In the last week I’ve finished watching Verano de Amor, which was the Mexican telenovela I had been watching regularly.

  I started in October and I finished on May 31….. 120 episodes. It was super cool to finish watching my first telenovela ! I finished watching the second season of a show called Soy Tu Fan last night, and now I will start another telenovela called La Fuerza del Destino.

  Not only do I learn lots and improve my Spanish from these programs, they are usually very entertaining so it’s a win-win situation. What was not a win-win situation was the reaction to the death of Florida teenagerTrayvon Martin. The 17 year old was shot by a cop while walking in a neighbourhood and he died from his injuries.

  This story has outraged so many people (and rightfully so) and not only does it bring questions of racism forward, but questions of self defence. I wasn’t there obviously and I have no idea what exactly occurred and why the officer did what he did, however it seems like the police officer handled the situation very poorly and never should had shot that kid.

  Whether the cop’s actions were racially motivated or not probably will be tough to determine, but of course any people doing anything based on a racial discrimination against anyone need to be charged for that. In this particular case I think the more pressing question is the whole self defence line of defence when someone ends up seriously injured or even dead as in this case.

  If someone breaks into your house and they have a gun or a knife and they are seriously a threat to harm someone, than yes self defence would be a valid reason for shooting that person or stopping them in another way. However a cop with a gun who overreacts and clearly goes overboard on an unarmed 17 year old kid is obviously going ballistic.

  These are the kind of people who should be off our streets and in jail….. certainly not police officers. As for individuals who feel threatened, well they just need to know what a good use of force would be. Some young punk breaking in to steal a bunch of things out of your house should not be shot to death ! Vigilante justice is not the way to go in these cases. If that person has a gun or a knife and is actually threatening a person then yes, something must be done in self defence.

  Even in those cases it’s probably possible to shoot them or injure them in a way without killing the suspect. I mean at the end of the day I would like to think that most people in society are decent people and would never want to bring themselves to kill someone else, unless it’s an absolute necessity of safety.

  I’ve never been a fan of the gun loving club though and I will say that some people love their guns WAY too much. There is a such thing as self defence, and then there is a such a thing as pure craziness in a reaction. A person needs to know when it’s appropriate to use force, and how much…. if they don’t they should not be allowed to be in possession of such dangerous weapons.

  Now of course the courts need to do all they can to punish those criminals in these cases as harshly as possible, but I definitely believe anyone caught going overboard with “self defence” in any case, and trying to over-exaggerate the danger they faced, should join those criminals in jail as well.

  The criminals who commit violent crimes and threaten our safety are the biggest threat to a peaceful society, but it’s gun loving maniacs with a short fuse who are a bit too happy to pull the trigger at times who are a threat as well. I’s important the courts can strike the perfect balance of justice between prosecuting the true criminals, and making sure those people who have killed someone or seriously injured them in the name of self defence had reasonable concerns to do what they did.

  For the next question:

  What are your thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case and self defence laws in general ? Do you think any changes are needed ?

  I’ll leave you all with some pictures from El Valle de los Monjes in Chihuahua. I hope that everyone has an awesome weekend. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.

     
  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  
  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

  

   

  
  

  • 5:11 pm
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