Whose Lives Matter?

So whose lives matter? Is it only black lives? Does it include the many black lives that are killed in black on black violence? Perhaps it is only about the relatively few who end up killed while in confrontation with police. Do the lives of police matter? Does it matter that a black man is accused of shooting and killing a Houston Texas deputy Friday night? Does it matter that a black man gunned down two journalists on live TV last week? Don't all lives matter?

And I've said it before, but where is the protest for the 3-year-old boy who was beaten to death a week ago by his mother's boyfriend? Did his life matter? That is quite an interesting set of priorities that is being preached lately. When will we say "enough?"

Protest Seems to Lack Maturity

When I heard Black Lives Matter was planning to disrupt the MN State Fair, I could only wonder how that was going to gain public sympathy. In fact, I imagined that such a plan could have been hatched by a preschool child in order to gain attention—without considering the consequences. Apparently the "largely peaceful" protest included marchers chanting, "Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon." That may have police upset, but this also sounds like a very immature person created it—so maybe we can chalk the whole thing up to a group that is run by people who have not yet matured emotionally.

Svedka: Voted #1 Vodka of 2033

Svedka vodka has an advertisement that is strange. "They" are boasting about being voted the #1 vodka of the year 2033. Currently, barring time travel, we are in the year 2015. I know this ad is different and that may be the point—but it is based on a false premise. Therefore, why should I believe anything related to this ad; such as that this product is a good one?

The Power of Discrimination!

I'm not a racist and I'm not prejudice; but I can and do discriminate between various things. In fact, I can tell the difference between hot and cold, up and down, blue and red and a whole list of other things! This is what makes humans so versatile and why we are capable of learning.
Part of this learning, for me, has taught me that some people are more likely to be friendly than others and some are more likely to start trouble than others. Often this is distinguishable by how they talk or how they dress. I've found it isn't necessarily anything to do with race or sex or skin color. There are good and bad people of all colors. But there are people who all of us will eye suspiciously—based primarily on our past experience. This is not a bad trait. It is part of learning and part of gaining experience. Unfortunately, if the people within our experiences, tend to be a certain race, have a certain look or a certain set of characteristics, we will (and probably should) be wary of this based on these experiences and what we have learned from them. If you blindly disregard all experiences to prove how open-minded you are, you will probably end up being taken advantage of by someone who does not share your ideals or ideas. This may be your choice, but it is not mine. Finally, since I can and do discriminate, I believe I will choose something to eat for lunch today that I think will be good; based on my experience and ability to discriminate. If this means I prefer the chili instead of the hummus, that does not mean that I am a bad person.

We Can Solve All Problems with More Guns!

We can stop violence, if we just have more guns!!!
We can solve discrimination, if we just have more guns!!!
We can fix the stock market, if we just have more guns!!!
We can solve the energy crisis, if we just have more guns!!!
We can have more guns, if we just have more guns!!!
We can prevent murders, if we just have more guns!!!
We can solve the national debt, if we just have more guns!!!
Nothing is more important than, if we just have more guns!!!
It doesn't matter how many people die, if we just have more guns!!!
Think of all the good things that will happen, if we just have more guns!!!
We can end all war, if we just have more guns!!!
We can cure cancer, if we just have more guns!!!
We can make a difference, if we just have more guns!!!
We can all be safer, if we just have more guns!!!

Weekend Foodie

Locally grown in my garden.

I managed to beat the rain (mostly) to grill Saturday and made a stir fry with fresh vegetables (mostly) from our garden Sunday.

Stir Fry Ingredients

The Stir Fry!

Don't remove the husk until I grill it!

Grilled Chicken Thighs

child killed at home by stray bullet

Put this in a Google (or whatever search engine you like) search.

child killed at home by stray bullet

I was horrified by the amount of results that came back. I know it has happened (here) in Minneapolis more than once.

Any responsible adult of any color should be horrified by these stories. If you aren't, then you ought to be.

There are too many killers and too many guns and too many people pointing fingers at the police and not accepting the TRUTH. Any child killed by a "stray" bullet is too much. Yet this goes on and on and no one protests this senseless and tragic loss of life.

Let's Be Honest About Race & Violence

I'll hire this guy.

On the news this morning a guy from Black Lives Matter was talking about a protest scheduled for the Minnesota State Fair. The MN Fair administrator said they don't allow such things but the BLM guy said they couldn't stop it. Later on the radio, an African-American journalist was talking about racism and police and such things. Even one of my old friends who typically can think for himself is under the impression that African-Americans are shot down in great numbers BY POLICE here in the USA. Meanwhile, a little girl in Ferguson was shot dead while doing homework on her mom's bed. No one is protesting this because it wasn't a white cop who did the shooting. In fact, when a black person is killed in Ferguson, it is nearly always another black person who did the killing. Yet none of these stories cause protests and few make the national news.

Not hiring this guy.

It seems that the agenda is more geared toward removing the responsibilities from the people who get caught by police and resist arrest, and placing them elsewhere—like on the police who are now looking for the person who murdered a young child. What kind of hypocrisy and lack of ownership of the real issues should we be tolerant of? Are we supposed to allow criminals free rein of society because they possess a skin color that creates a separate standard for them? What about the young African-American girl who is now dead? She's had no one protest her murder. Why does her life matter less than a black man with a criminal record who is stopped by police? What kind of idiots believe in this crap anyway? Get the criminals off the street. Whatever color they are, they need to be captured and removed from society before more kids get killed. If they resist arrest, they risk dying.

It is not really about race. If I see a normal looking African-American man, I will feel more comfortable around him than I would with a white guy who is dressed like a "gangsta'." End of story! It's really that simple! I would hire the same black guy over the fore mentioned white guy as well—any day of the week. I know what this is about. I saw it first-hand when I worked for the county. This is not about truth. This is not about reality. This is not even about a murdered innocent girl. This country is being influenced by hypocrites with an agenda. The sooner we stop pretending that everything is always about race, the sooner we can clean up the mess and find the people who killed this child! It makes me sick! This was a child! She was not shot by police. And apparently, she was not worth a protest. I am sad that another child was murdered in this screwed up society and nobody will do anything about it...

This Life Mattered!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ferguson-9-year-old-girl-shot-dead-doing-homework-on-bed/ar-BBlUyfL?ocid=mailsignout

This is so sad and it wasn't the police who did this! Where are the protesters now?

How To Win An Election

First you will need many buckets of money...

One of these people will be President???

Regarding the presidential candidates for 2016...
Seriously America, is this the best we've got?

Trump Thinks He's Batman

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/16/politics/donald-trump-iowa-state-fair/

The Crash

The chopper flew above, surveying the wreckage leftover from the crash. The aftermath told the story. Likely it was excessive speed and carelessness that caused the wagon to overturn. Debris lay strewn across the scene. fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.

GangsAreBad.org

Reminder! Gangs Are Bad will be protesting against crime, gang activity and disrespecting and not cooperating with police.
Please show your support!
Gangs Are Bad will not be stopping traffic and will peacefully obey all laws during this weekend's demonstrations across the nation.
Thank you for your support!

Dumb and Dumber

That's What I'm TAKIN About!

Related to sheep, Takin are a goat-antelope found in the eastern Himalayas. There are four different subspecies: the Sichuan or Tibetan Takin, the Mishmi Takin, the Shaanxi or Golden Takin, and the Bhutan Takin. The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

VORTEX

VORTEX

By Kevin J. Curtis

           

Reginald Vortex was the furthest thing from a superhero. He was smallish and slightly overweight. He wore glasses and had a rather prominent nose. Beneath this protuberance, was a thin line of a moustache that adorned his upper lip.

Next-door to Reginald and his wife Twitchy, lived the Butt-Pollens; with whom Reginald did not get along well with. The family was crass and insisted on making everything their business—and shouting advice to Reginald at any given moment.

“You ought to trim that bush,” barked Oscar Butt-Pollen; patriarch of the Butt-Pollen family.

Reginald looked at the small, scraggly spirea and replied, “Yeah, maybe.”

Oscar’s wife Ginger Butt-Pollen was hanging dingy underwear from an equally dingy clothesline. She added, “I’d paint that fence if I was you.”

Reginald looked at the weathered wooden fence and replied, “Yeah, maybe.”

The Butt-Pollen’s son Max came whooshing past down the sidewalk on his skateboard. He scared the bejeezus out of Reginald’s cat Morris, who he’d named after the cat in the TV commercials from the 70’s.

“You should get rid of that cat!” yelled Max Butt-Pollen as he flew past.

“Definitely not!” shouted Reginald Vortex—as he began to grow annoyed.

“See here!” yelled back Oscar Butt-Pollen. “No need to take it out on the boy! We all know that cat is a menace!”

“How so?” challenged Reginald.

“Why it…” began Oscar. But before he could continue, the Butt-Pollen’s dog, Major Butt-Pollen, was at the weathered wooden fence barking his challenge to the Vortex cat.

Knowing exactly where the fence was and that he could circumvent the structure while the barking dog could not, Morris Vortex hissed loudly at Major Butt-Pollen before hopping on the top of the fence and trotting down its length with the dog in fast pursuit.

“There!” shouted Oscar Butt-Pollen. “Do you see now what a menace that feline is?”

“All I can see or hear is your dog barking,” replied Reginald.

“Reginald!” called out Twitchy from the window of their bungalow. “What has that dog so upset?”

“He’s a menace!” Reginald shouted back at his wife.

“See here!” shouted Oscar Butt-Pollen.

“Put a sock in it!” Reginald shouted back; as he stepped through the side door of his garage and pulled it closed behind him.

Once inside, Reginald reached down and grabbed the bumper of his Dodge pickup truck. Slowly he lifted the front end off of the garage floor. When the truck was a foot off the ground, he slowly set it back down. Just then, Twitchy opened the door.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked.

“I just lifted my truck a foot off the ground,” replied Reginald.

Twitchy looked pensive, and then she began to laugh. “Sure you did Reggie,” she said as she laughed her way back into the house.

Off in the distance, a loud explosion blasted through the peaceful neighborhood! Reginald Vortex looked up from his daydreaming and pulled down the stairway that led up into the attic at the top of the garage. He climbed up the steps and quickly came back down wearing a cape, tights and a red tunic. Exiting the garage via a secret back entrance, he emerged in the alley between the Vortex garage and the Butt-Pollen garage. Suddenly and without warning, Reginald had become “The Vortex!”

Reaching upward, The Vortex began to rise above the houses. He flew across the neighborhood at a blinding speed and landed seven blocks away at the site of a building collapse! Quickly, the superhero pushed the brickwork back into place as he righted the building and flew back toward home—satisfied that he had once again, saved the day!

Back at the site of the building collapse, the demolition crew looked confused as they stared at the building they had painstakingly set explosives inside of before setting off the charges to implode the outdated structure.

After landing in the alley and entering his garage through the secret entrance, Reginald quickly changed in the garage attic before coming back down the stairs and lifting the ladder back up to close the attic entrance. He walked back out into his yard and was immediately noticed by the Butt-Pollens.

“Did you hear that explosion?” asked Oscar Butt-Pollen.

“It sounded like the entire city was being bombed!” said Ginger Butt-Pollen.

“Yeah, maybe,” said Reginald Vortex; as he escaped into his bungalow.

KJC20150812 

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Political Front-Runner

Cheap Oil

Gun Safety

Religious Freedom

Black Lives Matter

Water Quality

こんにちは日本！

Ferguson - is it still the police at fault?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/us/ferguson-protests/

Perhaps the people doing all the shooting are partly to blame???

Can I Wear a Sword to the Polygamist's Wedding?

I'm thinking about trying to get a permit to carry a sword. If people can carry guns in public places, I think I should be allowed to carry a sword.

I might want to carry the sword when I attend the wedding of a polygamist. Some men on the Hmong side of my family, have more than one wife. Of course, they can only marry one of them legally, but they can marry more than one in the cultural ceremony. Now that same-sex marriage is legal, why isn't polygamy legal too? How do we know where to draw the line?

We should also remember that since we must respect everyone's culture, that we should respect their cultural ideas regarding marriage as well.

Perhaps all of these things will be figured out soon. It is all pretty easy to understand if you think about it. Take the Boy Scouts for instance. That organization has been pressured for years to be politically correct—and so they have allowed gays into the membership. That wasn't good enough though, and finally they have consented to allow gay adult leaders as well! This was a huge step forward—and came right about the same time the Boy Scouts of America is defending itself in lawsuits levied by former scouts who were sexually abused by adult leaders!

It's not like society wants things both ways. This is all pretty easy to figure out. There are two sides to every issue (three if you count the center) and everyone picks where they reside pertaining to each individual idea. Then politics and special interest groups pressure everyone into being accepting of everyone else! At least until they cross the line. I mean if we know where the line is...

Therefore, I think I have a pretty good chance at being able to wear a sword at the next polygamist wedding.

—KJC

Stop Touching My Chicken!

I needed to stop by ALDI to get some 89¢ per lb. chicken legs. So I'm waiting to checkout and the woman behind me is leaning over looking at my food. Then she touches my chicken legs (near the price tag) and says,

"Three dolla?"

I reply, "yeah, three sixty,"

and I'm thinking STOP TOUCHING MY CHICKEN!

She says, "On sale?"

I say, "yeah," and I'm thinking STOP TOUCHING MY GROCERIES YOU DUMBASS.

CuTRis Finds Large Bug on His Back

Just before CuTRis discovered the bug.

CuTRis Finds Large Bug on His Back
UnAssociated Press
August 6, 2015













Reports surfaced today along with a photo; that suggests CuTRis found a large bug on his back! The insect was more than half a meter long and weighed roughly six kilograms. CuTRis said he first noticed the hitchhiker while changing his shirt.

"I had gotten some spaghetti sauce on my shirt," said CuTRis, "So I went to change it. That's when I first noticed the huge insect on my back!

CuTRis said he was unharmed by the big bug, but that it was "unnerving" to find such a large specimen riding on his back!

"It must have fallen from a tree or climbed onto my leg while I was in the garden," CuTRis added.

When asked what he did with the bug, CuTRis said he let it go in hs backyard—and that his wife thought he should have killed it because it will probably come right back into the house now.

Minnesota Zoo

We went to the Minnesota Zoo yesterday. It was fun and interesting—though I believe the prices are a bit high ($18 Adult, $12 Child, $7 Parking just to get in the door).

Why so Many Homicidal People?

Over the weekend I attended a funeral for a relative on the Hmong side of my family. He was 26 and (one story says he) was shot in the back of the head while out for a jog on the morning of July 5th. Today, a despicable piece of shit is expected to plead guilty to the murder of his own son—allegedly to collect insurance money. There is also the Minnesota dentist that uses his wealth to kill animals to satisfy his blood-lust. If you read my blog regularly, you might recall I had a guy in the midst of his road rage pull a gun while we were driving. Just this past Friday, I had another guy almost hit my car when he carelessly merged into my lane without looking. Again, this guy ended up ahead of me (after I had to slam on my brakes) and he started driving slowly and I got the eerie feeling that he was another nut-job with a gun. So when we began to move through an intersection, I slowed until he got through and turned to take a different route. So why are there so many homicidal people just looking for someone to murder? Perhaps humanity has always been this way, but when I was young such things were far less apt to occur. It seems to me that there are a lot of people (mostly males) who have a desire to appear dangerous and want to confront and kill another person to achieve this sick goal. Most of them, in my opinion, are not looking for a "fair fight;" as much as an opportunity to end another person's life to fulfill a warped failure within their own personality. I blame this on several things. First and foremost, I believe there are too many guns in too many hands. Some are legal and still unquestioningly a danger and others probably started out legal and then were stolen or changed hands multiple times. Second, the population has grown and more people are living in close proximity to each other. Third, there is a more diverse population and some seem more prone to violence, gangs and crime. Finally, there is an unfortunate trend for young people to emulate the worst people in our society. Just look at the "popular" trend to wear pants that don't fit or cover the things that pants were designed to cover in order to achieve the "stylish" look of "prison pants." So where is the conscience (and the intellect) of these people and how do you go on living after you have executed someone because you are just an asshole?