Can Peace & Racism Co-exist?( Who Ghandi Really Was)

History has a habit of shaping, shifting, and or omitting reality. Although some may think that leaving out parts of a narrative is the same as lying, I have often wondered what the purpose was in doing so, and if there is ever a reason good enough. I have come to the conclusion that the answer is no!

Mahatma Ghandi was the leader of India's Independence Movement and a pioneer in non-violent protest. He is famous for civil disobedience, including hunger strikes, and his advocacy for peace and change in the face of violence is legendary. Ghandi was often quoted by Dr. King. But unlike Dr. King Ghandis idea of freedom and equality did not extend to Africans.

All quotes are direct quotations from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. They are taken from his writings and statements during the years he spent working as an attorney in South Africa, before he went back to India in 1915 to fight for independence. Note: “Kaffir” is an offensive term in South Africa considered on par with “n*gger” in the U.S.

 “A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir.”

“There is a bye-law in Durban which requires registration of coloured servants. This rule may be, and perhaps is, necessary for the Kaffirs who would not work, but absolutely useless with regard to the Indians. But the policy is to class the Indian with the Kaffir whenever possible.”

These racist quotes are just a few of many. Apparently Ghandi's humanitarianism did not apply to Black people or at least, they weren't supposed to.

The question is. Do we overlook the fact that he was a blatant racist and allow ourselves to be inspired by his philosophy? Or do we refuse to separate the man from his principles, and see him for what he really is?

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Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (5-28-2016)

As mugshots go, this one is pretty arresting......& the fact everybody seems to be preoccupied with the mugshot of a pretty fool is pretty foolish! 

An Arkansas woman who has been charged with a variety of crimes in the past may now be guilty of stealing the hearts of people on social media.

On April 28, Sarah Seawright was arrested for failure to appear in court for a 2014 arrest for careless driving and driving without insurance.

The 24-year-old suspect was taken to the Pulaski County Jail and booked where she posed for a mug shot.

Seawright has since bonded out, but that booking photo has since gone viral since it was posted May 5 on "Ugly Plastic" a stupid Tumblr page devoted to the mug shots of attractive women.

Burritos can be filled with all sorts of things: beef, chicken, rice, avocado, veggies, and even methamphetamine. Yes, I said meth!

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in Nogales, Arizona, arrested a woman on Friday for allegedly trying to smuggle a pound of meth into the U.S. inside a burrito.

Susy Laborin, 23, was trying to re-enter the U.S. via a pedestrian gate carrying what looked like a bag of burritos.

After a drug dog sniffed out the presence of drugs in the bag, officials took a peak.

One of the burritos had no guacamole, carne asada or pico de gallo, but it did have a whole pound of meth, estimated to be worth around $3,000, CPB spokesman Rob Daniels said.

After persevering through trying times, one college student wore her cap and gown with pride. 

Bianca Jeannot, a 22-year-old who attended the College of New Rochelle in New York, has been through a lot. She has experienced homelessness and also had to work multiple jobs to support and care for her brothers while attending college.

Recently, the student saw her hard work come to fruition as she graduated from the school with honors. 

“It is an accomplishment I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life,” Jeannot said. 

 “I wouldn’t change anything for the world, because it’s my life, and it’s made me who I am today.”

The 22-year-old, who maintained a 3.8 GPA in school, graduated with a degree in English as well as a forensic science certificate, the outlet reported. She was the first person in her family to graduate from college.

While these accomplishments are already impressive, Jeannot had to power through many obstacles to get there. 

The recent grad and her family spent about seven years living in homeless shelters. Following her mother’s death, Jeannot became the head of her household at just 18, and had to support her older brothers Michael Jeannot, who has Down syndrome, and Paul Santons, who has stage 4 kidney disease.

So while she attended school, Jeannot worked. And she worked hard. 

“I worked up to four jobs at a time, three on campus and one outside of campus,” she said. “I worked for marketing, I worked for the admissions house on campus, I worked for payroll, the IT department.”

In addition to caring for her brothers, she still managed to be active on campus, even founding an anime club and serving as editor-in-chief of the school’s literary magazine Phoenix.

“She’s the head of her household. She commutes back and forth, and she does it with a spirit of optimism and gratitude that’s rare in people even decades older,” Professor Daniel Smith said.

Now, fresh out of college, Jeannot is looking to pursue a career in animal welfare. She says that she’s excited for the future. 

“There’s only one way to look, and that’s forward.” 

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Getting Away With Murder.... Again?!

Police getting away with murder is as much a part of American culture as denying that police get away with murder. It is a disgusting, disturbing fact of life here in America that is detrimental to each and every one of us. Especially those of us who are African-American. 

On Monday, Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams rejected the state's case against Officer Edward Nero, acquitting him on all counts for his role in the arrest of Freddie Gray.

The verdict, which followed a five-day bench trial, is the first in what is perhaps the most closely watched case in America. Nero, 30, had faced misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office. The 25-year-old Gray died last year of injuries sustained while riding in the back of a police transport van.

Prosecutors argued that Nero committed an assault by detaining Gray without justification, while the reckless endangerment charge related to Nero's role in putting Gray into the arrest wagon without buckling a seat belt. In closing arguments Thursday, Williams had skeptically questioned prosecutors about their theory of assault, a theory legal experts said was unprecedented.

In his ruling Monday, Williams said there were "no credible facts" to show that Nero was directly involved in Gray's arrest, and said testimony showed Nero's role in putting Gray in the van was minimized by the actions of others and not unreasonable given his training.

"Based on the evidence presented, this court finds that the state has not met its burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all required elements of the crimes charged. Therefore, the verdict for each count is not guilty," Williams said.

Nero leaned forward after the verdict was read and wiped his eyes. He hugged his attorneys.

Marc Zayon and Allison Levine, the attorneys, said Nero and his family "are elated that this nightmare is finally over."

Unfortunately for Freddie Grays family, the nightmare never seems to end.

"The State's Attorney for Baltimore City rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, completely disregarding the facts of the case and the applicable law," the defense lawyers said in a statement. "His hope is that the state's attorney will re-evaluate the remaining five officers' cases and dismiss their charges. Like Officer Nero, these officers have done nothing wrong."

Four officers are charged in Gray's death, while charges against Nero and one other stemmed from his arrest and the failure to place him in a seat belt.

What I am about to right may sound like I am simplifying to some. But it seems elementary to me. If a man dies in police custody, shouldn't that make the police involved in placing the suspect under arrest responsible? 

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Just When You Thought You Heard It All News 5-21-2016

Noland’s husband of 46 years, Jim Noland, told local news station WWBT that one of the couple’s sons wrote the opening line, and it was a tribute to his wife sense of humor.

He added that his wife worked as a wound care nurse and even after retiring, never stopped caring for others. She died after battling with lung cancer, he told the station.

You  almost can't blame her. Your choices are a candidate who is cold, cranky, aloof, and detached or a candidate who is crazy, psycho, and detached!

Some people have absolutely no problem doing something strange for some change!

 Case in point: this man, who got breast implants after making a 6-figure bet with his friend.

Say hello to Brian Zembic and his $100,000-boobs. Zembic is Canadian a magician and professional high-stakes gambler specializing in blackjack and backgammon. He’s also a sick man who, apparently, is unable to walk away from a bet.

This particular bet was made back in 1997 during a vacation in Europe. “I was with two friends and his girlfriend at the time was flaunting her boobs,” Zembia explains. “And I said to my friend, ‘If I had boobs like hers I could get just as much attention as she would.’”

Instead of accepting it as an observation, Zembic’s friend asked how much money he’d have to me offered in order to prove it. Once they agreed on the $100,000 price, Zembic went back to the States and visited a plastic surgeon, who was also a gambler, in New York. After winning a few games of backgammon, Zembic got himself a free pair of implants—38C to be precise.

According to Zembic, “The first time I showed my friend, he laughed for 10 minutes and said, ‘That is the best $100,000 I’ve ever lost.’”

Almost 20 years later, Zembic still has them — mostly because, as a part of the original terms of the wager, he gets an additional $10,000 for every year he keeps them. Still, he admits that they’ve grown on him.

“It’s a normal part of my life,” he said in an interview...........

Wow!!!

An idiot baby sitter in Colorado has been arrested on suspicion of robbing a drive-through bank by falsely claiming that a man in her car threatened to harm the two children in her care unless given money, police said..

Rachel Einspahr, 28, is suspected of robbery and two counts of child abuse in connection with last Friday’s incident in the town of Severance, about 55 miles north of Denver, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Police said Einspahr went to the Colorado East Bank & Trust drive-through and sent a note to the teller through the vacuum tube saying the man would harm her children unless she gave him money.

“The bank teller, under the assumption that lives were in danger, gave her $500,” the police statement said.

Einspahr was arrested in minutes in a nearby neighborhood after police got a vehicle description and blocked off the area, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Matthew Turner said in a phone interview Monday.

Investigators determined that no man was involved and that Einspahr was not the children’s mother but their baby-sitter, Turner said. The two children were not harmed, he said.

Einspahr was held on a $40,000 cash-only bond and is set to be formally charged on Wednesday, jail records showed.

Einspahr could not be immediately reached for comment.

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Here! Stab Her With This!!!

There are bad parents, and then there's this sorry excuse for a mother.

A 13-year-old Chicago girl is facing first-degree murder charges, thanks to her mother. She allegedly stabbed another teen to death with a knife provided by her mother during a fight on the Southside of Chicago.

The girl’s mother, 35-year-old Tamika Gayden, has also been charged with first-degree murder in the Saturday-night stabbing death of DeKayla Dansberry, 15, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

According to the report, the girl was charged as a juvenile Tuesday morning after one witness identified her in a video of the fight and another witness claimed to have seen the girl wiping blood from the knife after the heinous attack, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Christine Hake said. 

“The evidence is overwhelming,” Hake told Circuit Judge Cynthia Ramirez in juvenile court. The 13-year-old will be held in custody until a hearing June 7.

DeKayla’s parents attended Tuesday’s hearing.

“A 13-year-old girl. I don’t know what to say,” Sheila Dansberry, DeKayla’s mother, told reporters outside the courthouse. “It’s just devastating. A baby, too. But the parent was supposed to have handed her the knife, so she’s locked up, too, and that’s good.”

The incident unfolded during a fight involving a large group around 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood. After the fight, two witnesses were with the 13-year-old in her apartment. One witness reportedly saw her wash blood off the knife, while the other saw her with the knife in her hand. Yet another witness reportedly heard her say in panic, “I killed her. I killed her.”

According to reports DeKayla’s parents had no idea what the fight was about. 

“I’m not sure. I’m sure it’s all just kids’ stuff ... escalated to where someone was stabbed,” her father, Julian Glanton, said. 

DeKayla was remembered Sunday as a bright student with a 3.7 GPA who was a well-liked track athlete at Johnson College Prep. Her mother recalls that she was planning on running at the state meet. 

“The last thing she said to me was, ‘Mom, you need to get everything ready, get my clothes ready, because I’m going downstate,” Dansberry said.

Parents who raise foolish, irresponsible children, are most likely foolish and irresponsible themselves. 

PR

Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (5-14-2016)

A deranged tow truck driver refused to a help a customer stranded on Interstate 26 in Asheville on Monday.

"Something came over me, I think the Lord came to me, and he just said get in the truck and leave," said Ken Shupe of Shupee Max Towing in Traveler's Rest, S.C. "And when I got in my truck, you know, I was so proud, because I felt like I finally drew a line in the sand and stood up for what I believed."

Motorist Cassy McWade says she was in a car accident, and the family called their regular mechanic to drive about 45 minutes north in order to tow her home to Traveler's Rest from the side of the Interstate. He wasn't able to make the trip, so McWade says he called Shupe.

He arrived after about an hour and began the process of towing the vehicle.

"He goes around back and comes back and says 'I can't tow you.' My first instinct was there must be something wrong with the car," McWade said. "And he says, 'No, you're a Bernie supporter.' And I was like wait, really? And he says, 'Yes ma'am,' and just walks away."

McWade has a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker on her rear fender and a yard sign in her rear window for Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Shupe, who supports presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, OF COURSE, said his decision on the side of the interstate this week was more about business than politics.

He believes Bernie Sanders supporters are socialists, and says he's had problems with two customers over the last six months who supported Bernie Sanders. He said they caused him problems over paying their bills.

"I've had some horrible experiences in the last six months with towing cars for this mindset individuals, in that I don't get paid. They want to argue about a $50 tow bill, and it turns into just a drama and a fuss. And I said, you know, I'm not going to associate with them, and I'm not going to do any business with them," Shupe said.

"I'm really not interested in doing business with that clientele," he said of Sanders' supporters.

"I personally don't believe that you don't have to agree on anything just to be kind to one another," McWade said. "I was like, what did I do to you? You know, I do believe I try to do right by people. So I was offended, and I don't know what exactly he thinks I would have done to him directly by being a believer in Bernie."

What Shupe didn't know at the time was that McWade, 25, has psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and early-stage Crohns, which she said made sitting on the side of the road without a restroom nearby was "terrifying." She is legally disabled and says the handicapped placard was hanging on her mirror when Shupe arrived.

She also says the family mechanic informed Shupe that she was disabled.

After waiting more than an hour and a half, McWade was towed by another company.

In Memphis, Tennessee, Dwight Moore, A Christian Brothers High School sophomore got a perfect score on his ACT. Young Mr. Moore was so shocked, that at first that he thought it was a mistake.

“I sat there in shock for a second. There is no way this is right. It didn’t have the writing score, so I thought this was just a placeholder for later. So I am not getting my hopes up when the writing score came out too, I actually got a 36,” Moore explained to Local Memphis News.

According to the 2015 ACT results statistics, less than one percent of 1.9 million candidates got 36 out of 36.

Moore said that getting a perfect score depends on hard work.

 CBHS principal Chris Fay congratulated Moore for making a name for himself and the school. “Please join me in congratulating sophomore Dwight Moore for his perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT,” he said. “Dwight is an incredibly polite and humble young man, who is respected by both his peers and teachers. He is a model student at CBHS.” 

Like most high school teenagers, Dwight has not decided on a college or career. He still has two more years of high school ahead, so there’s time to figure that out. The possibilities seem endless.

Mom told you not to run with scissors. But that doesn't mean that you should do any other stupid, dangerous thing either! You know, something like eating corn off a power drill? 

A YouTube video showing a woman in China attempting to eat corn with the help of a spinning drill is proving to be a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

For the first few seconds, all seems to be going well for the unnamed woman. She’s holding her mouth open, the drill is spinning and the corn is coming off the cob.

Then, things go horribly wrong!! See for yourself.

https://youtu.be/dPKWe0Gmem8

The corn-drill catastrophe is actually part of a series of videos.

In the second installment, the woman is treated by a doctor who told her that the hair would grow back.....eventially. But she might always be a complete moron.

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Suspended For Smelling Like Weed!

This story hits close to home because my son attends this school. At least for a few more weeks. Then he graduates. I could say that this story surprises me. But the fact is, it doesn't. To say that the staff at this school has been less than helpful in our interactions with them would be a severe understatement. The past four years has been a constant battle at every turn because of the negativity and indifference of the staff. But we pressed an persevered, and now we're counting down the days. I imagine the school stall is also. Anticipating the fact that they will never see Mr. or Mrs. Brown again.

Officials in Wake County, North Carolina have a lot of people scratching their heads.

They suspended 15-year-old Jakayla Johnson for possession of marijuana based solely on their opinion that her hands smelled like weed.

Jakayla says that a school resource officer smelled marijuana smoke coming from a classroom at Garner Magnet High School, and singled her out as the suspect from among a group of about 30 other students. A search of Jakayla, a sophomore, yielded no evidence of the drug. Nevertheless, school officials decided to give her a five-day suspension because her fingers supposedly smelled of cannabis.........

A Wake County School document that explained the reason for the suspension: “… for her hands to smell so pungently of marijuana she would have to have possessed it in her hands at some recent point in time.” 

This is supposition. Suspicion based on fact with absolutely no concrete evidence.

Jakayla’s mother, Tameka Johnson, couldn’t believe it. “I said not my child. You have the wrong child, because I know my child."

Johnson took Jakayla for lab work to prove her innocence. And indeed, the teenager tested negative. But school officials disregarded the test results and upheld Jakayla’s suspension. The mother is now concerned that this stain on Jakayla’s record will continue to follow her.

Of course, Wake County schools would not respond to questions about the case because of student privacy.

Johnson must now appeal to the school board to clear her daughter’s name, and insure that this erroneous suspension will not ruin her future.

PR

Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (5-7-2016)

A man in Israel apparently doesn’t want God to answer his prayers, so he's filed a restraining order against God almighty. As if that will actually work!

The plaintiff/idiot, identified as David Shoshan, appeared in a courtroom in Haifa on Tuesday demanding that God stop interfering in his life, according to NRG, an Israeli news website.

Shoshan told the court that over the last three years, God has been very negative towards him, though court documents didn’t detail any specifics, the Times of Israel noted. Yet he's still alive to complain complain about it!

Shoshan said he has tried numerous times to obtain the restraining order through the police department, but in response, only received 10 police visits over a 36-month period. That’s why this time, he tried to go through the court instead.

Court documents noted that God did not present himself at the hearing.

The presiding judge, Ahsan Canaan, threw out Shoshan’s request and called it absurd.

Canaan suggested Shoshan should get help from someone besides local law enforcement, according to NRG.

It was not immediately clear if God has an attorney.

A California mother is asking for the public's help after thieves broke into her car and stole a special tablet her son with cerebral palsy uses to communicate.

"Just return it. You don't have to be that kind of person that takes away from a special-needs child," Kristy Bernal said.

Her 10-year-old son, Zackary, was born with cerebral palsy and can't speak. Since October, he's been able to communicate with his family through a special device which allows him to use his eyes to speak.

"He gets to be like his brothers," Bernal said while fighting back tears.

The special tablet has software programmed specifically for Zackary's needs, bringing its total cost to about $7,000.

"He was having tantrums, frustration when he couldn't let us know what he was trying to say. Now, he's adding, he's subtracting, he's reading, he's doing sight words. He's even texting us through Skype now," Bernal said.

On Monday morning, Bernal was about to take the kids to school when they noticed all of the doors on her suburban were open.

Her car had been ransacked and the life-changing tablet had been stolen.

"I could not breathe. I could not believe it. I felt guilt. I felt so angry at myself. I take it out of the car all the time, and that one day I didn't take it out of the car. It killed me inside," Bernal said.

Since the burglary, the Bernal family has had to resort to frustrating guessing games.

"We have to guess a hundred things to figure out what he wants to tell us. With the device, he says three things and we know right away," Bernal said.

Now all they want is to continue Zackary's progress with the tablet and want it returned -- no questions asked.

The Bernal family has set up a GoFundMe account to try and raise money to replace the tablet. You can donate here: www.gofundme.com/22b76hg. If it's returned, the Bernal family says they'll return the money.

Prosecutors in Phoenix, Arizona will not press criminal charges against a high school moron arrested for exposing his penis in a football team photograph published in the school’s yearbook, police said.

The case against Hunter Osborn, 19, will be dropped after the Maricopa County attorney declined to prosecute the Red Mountain High School student, the Mesa Police Department said in a statement.

“At this time all parties involved no longer desire prosecution and the case will be closed,” said Steve Berry, a Mesa police spokesman.

Osborn, who was 18 years old at the time, exposed his penis through the top of the waistband of his football uniform pants during a photo shoot for the high school football team on the school’s bleachers, according to court records.

He told police he was acting on a dare from another football player and said he was “disgusted by what he had done.”

Yeah RIGHT!!

Fifty-nine students, ranging in age from 15 to 19, and 10 faculty members were present, police said.

Osborn, who could not immediately be reached for comment, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of 69 counts of indecent exposure and one felony count of furnishing harmful items to minors after police learned of the offending picture from the school’s principal.

He was released on Sunday on his own recognizance.

The photo made it into all the yearbooks at the 3,400-student school, but a school district spokeswoman said only 250 had been distributed.

The incident sparked a firestorm of criticism throughout the community against police over the seriousness of the charges sought for what many labeled a prank.

The case began to unravel on Wednesday, when county attorney Bill Montgomery said the evidence was lacking to charge Osborn with a felony count and referred a request that the youth be charged with multiple counts of indecent exposure back to police for additional review.

It was not immediately clear if the student would still face any disciplinary action from the school.

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Suspended For Self Defense

A North Carolina mother is demanding a closer look at "zero tolerance" policies, especially with self-defense on the line, after her 12-year-old was suspended from school for, get this......pushing away a bully who was hitting him repeatedly in the head.

Jaden Malone said no teachers were around when he was attacked in the incident that led him to be suspended from Invest Collegiate Charter School in Charlotte, N.C., for three days. Jaden says a friend was pushed to the ground by another student, and when he went to help his friend up, he ended up being attacked by the student who had allegedly thrown his friend down also.

"Then he pushes me on the ground, so I get up and try to tell the teacher, and he starts punching me, punching me," Jaden explained. 

Jaden pushed away the bully, and it was that push in self defense that caused his suspension.

"He couldn't walk away, he couldn't get out of it because the boy had hit him so many times," Jaden's mother, Kandis Malone said.

Doctor's have said that Jaden is not allowed to play baseball, one of his favorite sports, for several weeks because he has a concussion as a result of the fight.

Furious at the school's stance, Kandis Malone says that Jaden will not be going back to the school. After a review of this ridiculous school policy, it was confirmed that there is an option for in-school suspension for fighting, even though Jaden was given three days out of school. Jaden's alleged attacker received five days of suspension. 

 Malone says she thinks that the zero tolerance policy should be considered more closely when self-defense is in play. Which seems obvious to me.

"It sounds real good on paper, but I think it should be per child, per situation, per basis," Jaden's mother said. 

PR