We Are Not Allies

Decided to move this post from my old blog to here. Been wanting to include it for a while…

I was 21 when I first realized I was an atheist, and the same age when I told my mom and brother. I told my dad only a few months later, but after I turned 22.

During this period, it was all I was. I was just an atheist. I wasn’t anything else. I lived and breathed atheism, searched for atheists and atheist stuff online, and my antitheism came screaming out like never before. Because I was an antitheist first. Bill Hicks indulged my antitheism long before I realized I didn’t even believe in a higher power or powers. I realized I was an antitheist when I was 16 and started hating authority. It was only natural that I’d abhor religion, while still believing in a living god who’d talk directly to you, without the aid of some pathetic book or middle-man (clergy).

But then I read The God Delusion, and then the Bible. And I was an atheist.

And for years, I was happy with anyone who was an atheist. I didn’t care if they were feminists or misogynists. I didn’t care if they tried to fight patriarchy and rape culture or denied their existence. But I would only fight alongside atheists and I would never fight alongside a theist, because theists were crazy/delusional and faith was a virus… and “The God Delusion” was my bible.

So it’s safe to say I did the whole “critical thinking” thing wrong.

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Korryn Gaines #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter

Just when I thought I could start posting lighter stuff…

Cops shoot, kill woman barricaded with little boy wounded in Baltimore standoff (I don’t know if the video in the link shows the shooting… I can’t get it to play. I’m sorry. Be wary just in case.)

In a fit of road rage, Anthony Vigilotti pointed a handgun directly at a police officer, but was arrested later that day without incident. From his mugshot, it doesn’t even look like he received a scratch in the process.

Jed Frazier pointed his handgun directly at police, but “officers and medics took shelter and continued to make contact with Frazier. Shortly before 3 a.m. Police say they broke the windows in the truck and extricated Frazier. Frazier was treated for minor injuries before being taken to the Lawrence County Jail.”

In a quick search, I found a dozen similar stories from July alone. White men, be they mass shooters like Dylann Roof (Charleston), James Holmes (Aurora), or Jared Lee Loughner (Tucson) — or men like William Bruce Ray, Anthony Vigilotti, or Jed Frazier — all live to face a jury of their peers.

Korryn Gaines doesn’t have a violent history. She was a cosmetologist and, according to her friends and family, a doting mother. She should’ve received the treatment that all of those armed white men received. Somehow, in each of those cases, police found in their hearts to overcome their fears without unloading their guns on those men.

That’s white privilege.

It should be noted that at least 682 people have been murdered by the police this year.

Korryn Gaines posing with her son over her back. Both look very happy.

Korryn Gaines posing with her son over her back. Both look very happy.

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How to Cake It: Chocolate Chip Cookie Mega Cake

I had to share this. I’m not even hungry and I was drooling a river… it is a YouTube video. I’ll include the links to the recipe and such below the fold, after the video. I don’t have a stand mixer (not much kitchen space, and they’re expensive!), but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to try and make this.

Like… holy crap…

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Tellin’ mother nature ‘bout you and me…

Moving more blogs over from my old space. Bringing this one here because I want to get back into blogging about music. See this as a segway to my Great Guitar Solos series, which I’m bringing back next Monday, and will (try) to do every Monday, starting with ones I already wrote. 

So I wanted to introduce everyone to my all-time favorite song. I don’t even know why it’s my all-time favorite song. What I do know is this:
a) It’s written by my all-time favorite band, Led Zeppelin.
b) It’s about a dog (Strider, the dog Robert Plant had at the time).
c) It’s my all-time favorite song.

I listen to it every morning when I wake up. It’s my ringtone. I know the lyrics by heart. I made myself a collection of every recorded instance of the song live. I have the studio outtakes and sessions on the electric instrumental version of the song. The studio outtakes/sessions, especially from Bron-Yr-Aur Cottage, of the acoustic version (which is the officially released version), are my Led Zeppelin collection holy grail.

Needless to say, I’m a bit obsessed with this song.

And I know you’re a Led Zeppelin fan if you already know what song I’m talking about.

And just which song am I talking about?

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“I Don’t Know.” #BlackLivesMatter

*sigh*

So in North Miami, FL, cops shot Charles Kinsey, a black man who was attempting to calm down an autistic patient who had wandered away from his assisted living facility.

Thankfully, Charles lived; he did not become a hashtag. And when he asked the cop why he shot, the cop responded “I don’t know”.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I. DON’T. KNOW.

I

.

DON’T

.

KNOW

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The Police Lied: #AltonSterling Never Pulled His Gun

Thank you to Keith over at Pharyngula for highlighting this.

(Warning: the following link contains another graphic video of Alton Sterling’s murder. So I’m putting the link below the fold. The video is not embedded in this post, however.)

I’m just going to quote Keith’s comment (though I’ll be making a couple edits… sorry, Keith… I’m obsessive about spelling, grammar, etc… it’s not you, it’s me):

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10 Cops Wounded and 3 Dead at BLM Dallas, TX Protest Sniper Attack

Two snipers have shot 10 cops, 3 of whom have died, at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, TX. I’m doing my best to keep up with updates, but I have work early and have to go to bed, although I am utterly terrified right now.

It was only a matter of time before people snapped, and we’ve been well passed the breaking point for a long time.

That is not to excuse what has happened. Even if the two snipers turn out to be white, right-wing militants, this will be blamed on Black Lives Matter. This has shifted the narrative in a horrible way.

This is not good. If you are a person of color, especially if you are black, for the love of everything please please please stay safe. Please stay safe. This is not good.

Also, please use this thread to curate updates to the story. Through comments at the TWiBNation and TBGWT Facebook groups (who are reporting through Twitter), it’s become obvious that the story the media is reporting is not accurate to what eyewitnesses are reporting. So please post all updates here.

Thank you.

And again… please… stay safe.

(Oh… and note that I’m turning off first-time moderation for the sake of this post. It will be off until I put up my next post, unless that post is also time-sensitive. Be aware that any posts that are racist, that blame BLM, that blame black people, that critique this move [unless it’s framed within a critique of the police who started this], etc, will be deleted and the commenter banned. But also be aware that I need to go to bed [it’s 12:48am for me and I have work in the morning], so I won’t be back to this post for a while).

Oh You Poor Baby!

So I saw this over on the TWiBNation Facebook group. This is a photo and facebook post from cop Ted Lane. While he did post it back on May 18… just…

Warning… this will piss you off to no end… so go ahead and pull out your microscopic violins… if you can find them…

White cop showing off a bite on his arm.

White cop showing off a bite on his arm.

So I seriously hesitated posting this picture. I am not looking for sympathy. I finally decided to post it so people can understand what police officers have to deal with. I was bit in the arm by an 18 year old female who is an admitted IV drug user. So not only do I have to worry about infection from a human bite, but all the possible diseases she could have.

I’m tired of hearing all the negative things people say about cops. So the next time an officer is not overly nice or doesn’t act like your issue is the worst thing in the world, just think about the stuff we deal with.

I know my friends on Facebook support me and my profession, other wise I probably would have deleted you. But my friends, please pass this along to your friends the next time you hear someone say or post negative things about cops. We are all just people doing our job and hope to go home to our families at the end of the shift.

My response?

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