BlackSilentMaj's JumboTweets
- Police stops.
Know your rights, but don't be provocative.
Every week, it seems, video surfaces of a deadly police shooting. We know most police officers are professional. Yet there are trigger happy, rogue cops in the fold.
Therefore, if you’re stopped by the police, remember this. You can ask why you’re being stopped but that is no time to debate the matter. If the stop is improper, just hold your tongue. If you think the stop is unwarranted or if you’ve been mistreated, you can make a complaint later. But don’t be belligerent nor should you do anything to provoke the officer. Police officers, as authority figures, do have rights. That said, you have rights as well.
If you’re stopped by the police, here are some frequently asked questions:
Question: Do I have to comply if ordered to leave a public area by a police officer?
Answer: If you disobey a police officer's order to leave, you may be arrested. But is the order legal? It depends on why the officer is asking. If you are disrupting traffic, on private property without permission, or otherwise breaking the law, then the order is legal. But if the officer is requesting that you leave a public space because he or she disagrees with your message, the order is not legal.
Q: Can I record video of police?
A: It is legal to openly record on-duty police officers in public spaces. Some state laws may prohibit filming anyone in a public space without their consent, but there is doubt about whether those laws are constitutional. However, an officer may arrest you if you are obstructing an investigation.
Q: Can an officer search me on the street with no warrant when I am not under arrest?
A: There are limited circumstances under which an officer can search someone without a warrant who is not under arrest. They are:
• Voluntary consent. If an officer asks you for permission to search you or your possessions and you voluntarily say yes, the officer has the right to do so.
• Reasonable suspicion. If police have reasonable suspicion that you are engaged in criminal activity, they may stop you briefly. If they have reasonable suspicion that you may be carrying a weapon, they may pat you down for weapons. However, they may not conduct a full search unless they have probable cause to arrest you.
There are other exceptions for when police can search a home or a car and its passengers.
Q: How can a curfew trump my right to assemble and protest?
A: The government has the right to impose curfews in certain emergency situations to protect the lives, safety and property of citizens. However, it is unconstitutional if the curfew is imposed only to prevent a peaceable assembly.
Q: If I'm walking in public and an officer asks to speak to me, do I have to stop?
A: This is considered a voluntary encounter. The officer has the same right to request that you speak to him as any other person would, but you do not have to answer, nor do you have to stop. Ask the officer if you are free to go. If police have reasonable suspicion to believe you are engaged in a crime, they may detain you briefly to investigate.
- Political Correctness
Why it should be defended. (c) 2015
In the wake of what happened in Paris and in San Bernardino, Americans have been on edge about terrorism. They’re even more on edge after realizing the two San Bernardino terrorists had infiltrated the country’s vetting process, and were “sleeping terrorist cells.”
Throw in the angry, attack-dog rhetoric of Donald Trump. He has argued for banning all Muslims from entering the country. He even wants to put Muslim mosques under surveillance. The result is a modern-day witchhunt.
Since then, news mediums have reported numerous incidents of Muslims being taunted and threatened. Mosques have been firebombed, Muslim children have been mistreated. This truly is an ugly time in American history, and it’s the political demagogues who have been fanning the flames of this hostility.
Interestingly, more Americans are killed by mass shootings done by angry, or mentally disturbed, white, male Christians, than Muslim terrorists.
But neither they nor Christian churches are the targets of hatred. And when Catholic priests were involved in a massive sex scandal, no one talked about putting Catholic churches under surveillance or going after priests.
For its part, the United States can conduct the fight against terrorists without taking the lowest of roads to get there by vilifying an entire group for the actions of a few in that group. Moreover, the government does need to fix its vetting process and ensure that bad people are prevented from entering the country.
However, just when it seemed political correctness had outlived its usefulness, all it took were the rantings and ravings of demagogues to remind us just important political correctness really is. At its core, political correctness is about treating others the way you would like to be treated. That’s something many of us learned as children.
Unfortunately, Americans have a long history of intolerance and giving in to the rhetoric of bigots and demagogues. It was done against Blacks, and it continues until this day. When black students, as young as 6 years old, were first integrating schools, crowds of angry Whites shouted at these children. They would chant, “Two, four, six, eight, we don’t want to integrate” at them.
But demagogues will single out anyone they perceive to be not like them. They did it to the Irish, Italians, and Jews when they emigrated to this country. They do it to women, gays, Hispanics, Asians and others.
But Japanese Americans were not just targeted by the rhetoric and hostility of demagogues. They were rounded up, isolated and put into camps. They lost their property and valuables. However, German Americans were not interned. Note: The U.S. was at war with both Germany and Japan. But only Japanese Americans were interned. Was it because the Germans were white and the Japanese were not?
Political correctness doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our freedom of speech rights.
Under our Constitution, we all have freedom of speech rights. But that right isn’t absolute. You cannot say anything you want about anybody. If you do, the Constitution provides legal remedies as in slander or libel.
In addition, society, via political correctness, provides its own social and economic remedies. If your speech crosses a line, you could be socially ostracized, or you could lose your income.
One good thing about political correctness, it tends to keep demagogues, hate groups and haters in check. Not surprisingly, however, it is they who will fight political correctness the hardest.
They want the freedom to slur people, to promote hate and to incite violence. During this most recent political cycle, it is the demagogues, hate groups, bigots, and haters who are most critical of... <<<<<< N.B from Jumbotweet: auto-truncated at 4K characters on index page - Click here or on the "view" link to see entire jumbotweet! http://www.jumbotweet.com/ltweets/view/135353