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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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I have said here several times that I am an “eye for an eye” kind of girl. If someone does something horrible to you that affects your health and livelihood, that person should be punished by having to endure the same horrible act. It’s so easy for some to dish it out, but they are left begging for their life and forgiveness when they are faced with same horrific act administered upon themselves by others.
I think of the Arab women who are thrown in sacks and tossed into a pool of piranha, or dipped head first in a vat of boiling oil, and left to die a slow painful death. While the men stand by and laugh and threaten other women with the same, should they disrespect their family, etc. My first thought is, “These kind of men deserve this exact treatment and more so.”
People have agreed with me and people have said that I am barbaric. The ones that have called me barbaric are men. No surprise that it is the men in this world that are the majority of the perpetrators, murderers, serial killers, etc., and yet they are the ones calling mebarbaric, for saying that it is okay to perform a brutal act in retribution for the same brutal act that was initially administered to innocent victims.
The story today is about a man who threw a bucket of acid over a girl’s head because she rejected his marriage proposal. If you ask me I say, “Do the same thing to him.” Evidently, it is allowed under Sharia law if the victim requests it. The victim did. However there are those that oppose and his punishment was postponed.
Here’s the write:
Fury at Iran’s ‘eye-for-an-eye’ acid punishment as sentence is branded ‘cruel and inhumane’
A punishment in which an Iranian man was to be blinded by having acid dropped into his eyes has been postponed after international condemnation.
Majid Movahedi was convicted and sentenced for pouring a bucket of acid over Ameneh Bahrami after she rejected his marriage proposals.
The attack left her blind and severely disfigured.
Revenge: Ameneh Bahrami was left with horrific scars after Majid Movahedi threw sulphuric acid in her eyes after he had begged her in vain to marry him. She is seen here holding a photo of how she used to look.
The court-ordered retribution was due to have been carried out yesterday in Tehran.
But it is understood the authorities in the Iranian capital decided to postpone the punishment, which is allowed under Sharia law if the victim requests it, because of national and international disquiet including concerns raised by the British Government.
Yesterday Ms Bahrami told Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news service: ‘I was very happy that this was going to end today.
‘And yes, I was going to carry out the punishment myself, but I was afraid that I would get acid on my hands, so a doctor was going to do it. It’s been six years that I’ve been waiting. The verdict is completely legal.’
On November 3, 2004, Movahedi poured a bucket of acid on Ms Bahrami’s head as she was leaving work, after she had rejected his marriage proposal several times.
Two weeks after the attack Movahedi surrendered himself to the police.
He admitted attacking Ms Bahrami and his punishment was ordered by a court in 2008.
Among those unhappy about the prospect of Ms Bahrami exacting such a brutal revenge on her attacker was Amnesty International.
The organisation called for a stay of the sentence, which it described as ‘cruel and inhuman . . . amounting to torture’.
‘The Iranian authorities have a responsibility under international law to ensure it does not go ahead,’ it added.
Ms Bahrami, who was 24 when she met Movahedi in 2002, now lives in Spain where she has been undergoing medical treatment. She is blind in both eyes and still has serious injuries to her face and body.
Painful evidence: Ameneh Bahrami’s clothing and shoes destroyed by acid are kept by her family in their Tehran apartment
Readers: With respct to Amnesty International, I disagree with their actions. I know my “eye for an eye” attitude might sound harsh. But really…I don’t care. Men are harsh to say the least. And perhaps if the consequences were dire to their own health and liveliness, maybe men would think twice before performing their heinous acts upon women. So fuck e’m. – men are the barbarians. I am just giving them back what they so easily dish out.
As it stands, in my opinion, Amnesty International is supporting and perpetuating this kind of behavior by postponing something that gives victims retribution, payback, and basically letting men get away with it. This abuse has been going too long and it’s time that men feel the consequences of their actions in a big way. Really, it’s all we can HOPE for right now, because I don’t expect the men to go from brutally wreaking their women to worshipping them. Baby steps…and the first step is hitting them hard with a dose of their own abuse.
Comments? Thoughts? Agree with me or not – It’s Friday, you know what to do – blog me.
Christine: Welcome – Happy to have you as a newbie! This is an informational blog. If you like the information I post, please tell all of your friends. The only way to get the word out is to spread it. I count on all of my readers to do just that. I look forward to reading more from you.Amy LSE: I like your attitude.
Irene: That’s an excellent question to ask. I think the majority of this planet would be happy for aliens to take over even if that meant a percentage of humans would go to feeding the aliens. Hey, they’re dining on us anyway. The ones screaming would be the men because they would no longer be in control of their toys, and they would have a predator themselves to fear for once. The women would be happy to be free from the abuse, and hey perhaps the chance of some alien dick might put a smile on their faces too. :)
I’d love to say more but I’m already posting late. Done. Your turn.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
CAIRO (AP) — Activists and bloggers are pressing Egypt’s military rulers to investigate accusations of serious abuses against protesters, including claims that soldiers subjected female detainees to so-called “virginity tests.” (Scroll down for video)
Bloggers say they will hold a day of online protest Wednesday to voice their outrage, adding to criticism of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country from ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The accusations of virginity tests first surfaced after a March 9 rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that turned violent when men in plain clothes attacked protesters and the army intervened forcefully to clear the square.
One woman who was arrested spoke out about her treatment, and Amnesty International further documented the abuse allegations in a report that found 18 female detainees were threatened with prostitution charges and forced to undergo virginity tests. They were also beaten up and given electric shocks, the report said.
Egypt’s military rulers have come under heavy criticism from the youth protest movement, which is upset at the pace of reforms that they hope will lead Egypt to democracy.
Since Mubarak’s fall on Feb. 11, the military has led crackdowns on peaceful protests, and critics accuse it of failing to restore security in the streets or launch serious national dialogue on a clear path forward for Egypt.
The military council denied soldiers attacked protesters at the March 9 rally. But one general used a press conference to make negative remarks about women who mingle with men during the sit-ins and suggested lewd acts were taking place in protest camps.
There were girls with young men in one tent. Is this rational? There were drugs; pay attention!” Gen. Ismail Etman, spokesman of the council, said at the end of March.
He confirmed then that the military police arrested 17 female protesters among 170 others at the March 9 rally. He said the women were among a group of protesters given one-year suspended prison sentences.
“We secure the people. We don’t use the violence,” he said.
One of the women arrested, Salwa al-Husseini, gave a detailed account at a press conference in March of her treatment and said she was made to undergo a virginity test.
She said she was slapped in the face and electrocuted in her legs in Tahrir Square before being taken to a military prison.
“When we went to the military prison, me and the girls, we were placed in a room with two doors and a window. The two doors were wide open,” she said in March. “The girl takes off all her clothes to be searched while there were cameras outside filming to fabricate prostitution charges against us later on,” she added.
“The girl who says she is single, she undergoes a test by someone; we don’t know if he is a soldier or some kid on their behalf,” she said.
Amnesty said in its report that one of the women told her jailers she was a virgin but was beaten and given electric shocks when the test supposedly proved otherwise.
“Forcing women to have ‘virginity tests’ is utterly unacceptable,” the Amnesty report said. “Its purpose is to degrade women because they are women.”
The military council has promised to return the country to civilian rule after elections later this year, but some Egyptians fear the council is adopting the same autocratic ways that characterized Mubarak’s rule. They point to what they say are attempts by the council to make any criticism of the military an untouchable taboo.
On Tuesday, the military prosecutor questioned a prominent blogger along with four other media people over their criticism of the performance of the council and military police.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, in a statement issued Tuesday, accused the council of trying to silence critics and create “an atmosphere of fear.”
It warned, “The military council is committing a grave mistake if it continues to shut the mouths of those criticizing it. The council is not made up of angels.”
The group also referred to virginity tests, saying that the military council is aware that “those belonging to it have practiced torture against the youth of the revolution and has subjected women to virginity tests.”
Maleda: You’re welcome. I wish that I could offer more assistance. May you and yours be safe.
PrP: Thank you for apologizing. Your apology is accepted.
Zen Lill: Yes, I did receive your VM. Thanks for the call. I was busier than I thought I would be this past weekend. This week is pretty much the same. We’ll try again.
Kiania: Your news is sad and frustrating. Sad because the world is this way and frustrating because people such as Obama who are trying to do good and make changes for the betterment of all, is so challenged by those who oppose.
The answers to your questions are simply complicated. In my opinion the hypocrisy is known, and has been verbalized here many times, but not nearly enough. They are words that need to be spoken…need to be written continually…in our face, until people do something. I wish you and yours well.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Every year Memorial Day comes around and I want to say something, but I feel such a loss of words. I peruse the net and read, and all I read about is loss, and the honoring of those that we have lost in the job of protecting our country, and others.
What is there to say? On the one hand, I want to say, “Thank you for putting your life on the line to ensure my safety. Thank you for risking your safety…your life so that others can live theirs.” And I mean it. I don’t like war…I wish that we didn’t engage in it. I wish we didn’t have to. But I also know there are cruel forces out there, everywhere, that need to be stopped and put down.
And on the other hand I ask the question, “Why is it that we as a world perpetuate this evil in the actions and decisions that we make?” When we decide that money is most important, and human life is expendable, war is inevitable. And until we value all human life no matter what race, or sex, more than we value power, control, and these coveted pieces of paper, we will continue to kill and be killed.
I look forward to the day when Memorial day will be a day of true celebration. A day where we will honor the brave men and women who died in past wars and celebrate that we no longer need war… a day where we celebrate that we have finally evolved into beings that honor, love, and respect each other equally no matter what race or sex.
A day when Memorial Day will be an international holiday, celebrated throughout the world, to remind us how many lives were sacrificed for a future that has finally come. We are joined together as citizens of the world, who accept our differences by showing love, honor and appreciation.
Am I a dreamer? Maybe. But I can’t give up HOPEthat this vision I have is attainable.
Until then here’s a few ideas that you can do today to honor brave women and men:
Memorial Day 2011: How To Honor Soldiers
As many of us excitedly look forward to gathering with friends and family and enjoying the long weekend, it’s easy to lose sight of the significance of Memorial Day.
But for military families across the U.S., especially those of the estimated 5,885 American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 10 years of war, it’s a day to remember and honor those who have given their lives for our country.
For anyone in need of a refresher, Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery to honor their sacrifices. In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all who had died in American wars.
Today, many cities celebrate Memorial Day with parades, speeches and the decoration of graves. At Arlington National Cemetery, an American flag is placed on each grave, and it’s tradition for the president or vice president to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
As you make preparations for your weekend barbecues or camping trips, consider how you can do something for the soldiers who have done so much for our country — whether by honoring a fallen soldier, supporting a military family or brightening the day of one currently serving.
Honor fallen soldiers on Memorial Day by observing the National Moment of Remembrance. The National Moment of Remembrance, endorsed by President Clinton in 2000, takes place every Memorial Day at 3:00 p.m. local time. At that time, all Americans are urged to observe a moment of silence or to listen to “Taps,” in tribute to those who died for our country.
Prompted by a group of school children who didn’t understand that the holiday had significance beyond being a day off from school, the moment of remembrance is intended to remind Americans of the true meaning of the holiday and “unite the nation in acknowledging the contributions made by the men and women who gave their lives for our country’s freedom.”
Founded in 2004 by Robbie and Brittany Bergquist, then 12 and 13 years old, Cell Phones for Soldiers, Inc. is a nonprofit that collects donated cell phones, recycles them and uses the proceeds to purchase prepaid phone cards for troops overseas. They’ve collected more than 7.5 million cell phones and provided troops with over 90 million minutes of free talk time to keep in touch with their families. Donate a cell phone, locate a drop-off point or consider becoming an official phone collector.
Soldier Ride is a Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) initiative that helps wounded warriors restore their physical and emotional well-being through cycling. Originally a program to provide comfort items to wounded service members, WWP has grown into a rehabilitative effort that has assisted thousands of warriors and their caregivers in the transition back to civilian life. The Soldier Ride raises funds for WWP programs, and provides free equipment and assistance to participating injured service members.Non-service members can also participate by riding alongside the warriors; anyone wanting to get involved can find a ride, become a Community Outreach Leader orvolunteer.
Lowe’s Companies, Inc., which has teamed up with PepsiCo to donate $1 million to help support troops as part of their Summer Salute program, encourages customers to send in their military salutes, thank yous and photos to be posted on their site. Military friends and families, the public and Nascar stars like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt have posted memories and tributes to soldiers overseas — like Nathan, 14, who writes, “My brother just signed up for the Marines and I am very proud of him. I will miss him and think about him every time I hear the national anthem at Panther’s games”
Operation Homefront is a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance to service members and their families — in the form of “checks paid directly to mortgage lenders, auto mechanics, contractors, hospitals, doctors, dentists and other providers.” In 2010, Operation Homefront met 167,348 needs for military families, and it has provided more than $92 million dollars of funding to programs to benefit military families since its inception.The organization’s current needs page lists requests from military families in need of assistance, such as the spouse of an Army National Guard service member who needs help paying for dental care for their children, and a soldier and his family in need of a donated refrigerator and clothes dryer after they lost theirs in a break-in.
Readers: Want to know what else you can do to honor soldiers, click here. Enjoy your day whatever you do.
George: Yes women do need men but not how you think. Women need men to care and to be there for them. Men create wars, and they fight their wars for themselves, and their needs. They certainly aren’t fighting their wars for women. Don’t you know that if it weren’t for men, we most likely would have no wars? I needn’t say anymore on this. I think Doug said it best. Read his comment.
Anonz: Good luck in accomplishing your mission in Darfur. May the Gods watch over and protect you and your men.
Peace & Love: “Live it, Give it”
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Here’a another example of thugs with badges at it again. This time they killed an innocent man with 60 plus rounds to his body, and then allowed him to bleed to death in his own home, in front of his family.
Jose Guerena Killed: Arizona Cops Shoot Former Marine In Botched Pot Raid
On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an armored personnel carrier raided at least four homes as part of what at the time was described as an investigation into alleged marijuana trafficking. One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple’s 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school.
As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record, and the police found nothing illegal in his home. After ushering out his wife and son, the police refused to allow paramedics to access Guerena for more than hour, leaving the young father to bleed to death, alone, in his own home.
I can now report a number of new details that further call into question the police account of what happened that morning. But first some context:
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office has now changed its story several times over the last few weeks. They have issued a press release (PDF) scolding the media and critics for questioning the legality of the raid, the department’s account of what happened, and the department’s ability to fairly investigate its own officers. They have obtained a court order sealing the search warrants and police affidavits that led to the raids, and they’re now refusing any further comment on the case at all. When I contacted Public Information Officer Jason Ogan with some questions, he replied via email that the department won’t be releasing any more information. On Saturday, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik told Arizona Daily Star columnist Josh Brodesky that he may never release the search warrants and police affidavits. Dupnik rose to national prominence earlier this year after claiming combative political rhetoric contributed to Jared Loughner killing six people and wounding 19 others, including Rep. Gabielle Giffords, last January.
The department’s excuses for keeping all of this information under wraps make little sense. In his May 18 press release (PDF), for example, Ogan wrote, “The investigation that lead to the service of the search warrants on May 5 is a complicated one involving multiple people suspected of very serious crimes. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies must choose between the desire of the public to quickly know details, and the very real threat to innocent lives if those details are released prematurely.” Dupnik used the same line of reasoning with Brodesky. “Those are the real sensitive parts of why we are having difficulty with trying to put information out publicly–because we don’t want somebody getting killed,” Dupnik said.
The problem with that explanation is that the search warrants and affidavits weren’t sealed until four days after the raids were executed, right at about the time the troubling questions about Jose Guerena’s death began to make national headlines. If revealing the details of this investigation — which remember, was initially described by the Sheriff’s Department as a marijuana investigation — could endanger lives, why weren’t the warrants and affidavits sealed from the start? It isn’t difficult to understand why some would suspect a cover-up, or at least an attempt to suppress details until the department can come up with a narrative that mitigates the damage. In any case, it’s awfully audacious for a police agency to scold the media for not trusting them and for “spreading misinformation” just days after revealing they themselves released bad information.
There are other reasons to doubt the excuse that releasing the search warrants would jeopardize public safety. The raids on the other homes carried out that same morning, all part of the same operation, resulted in no arrests and turned up little if any actual contraband. (When police find illegal substances after these raids — especially raids that end badly — they usually quickly release that information.)
Moreover, if this was all about breaking up a dangerous home invasion ring, where are the suspects, and where is the evidence? According to an advocate for the Guerena family I spoke with this week, the police also mistakenly raided another home near Guerena’s the same morning, and have since replaced that home’s front door. Again, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is refusing comment, so I can’t verify this allegation with them. But police officials have admitted that even the Guerena warrant was only for his residence, not for Jose Guerena personally; his name doesn’t appear anywhere on the warrants. The police also concede they weren’t aware that there was a child in the home at the time of the raid. Given all of this, it seems reasonable to question just how thorough this investigation really was.
I’ve been reporting on the overuse of SWAT teams and military police tactics for about six years now. You begin to see patterns in how police agencies respond to high-profile incidents like this one. One near-universal tactic is to lock down information once the media begins to grow skeptical. Another, often undertaken simultaneously, is to unofficially leak information that’s beneficial to the police department. They’re doing both in Tucson.
Michael Storie, the attorney for the Arizona police union, is apparently handling the smear campaign portion of the strategy. Storie points out on the union’s website that under his watch, no union police officer “has ever been convicted on charges relating to on-duty conduct.” That may be a boastworthy claim when it comes to Storie’s lawyering prowess. But it isn’t exactly a testament to his trustworthiness. (Police critic William Grigg also points out that the boast isn’t entirely true –Storie represented a cop convicted of a sexual assault and kidnapping committed in 2005, despite Storie’s best efforts to blame the victims.)
On Friday, Storie told the Arizona Daily Star that Guerena was “linked” to a “home-invasion crew,” and that police found rifles, handguns, body armor, and a “portion of a law-enforcement uniform” in Guerena’s house. “Everything they think they’re going to find in there, they find,” Storie said. “Put it together, and when you have drug rip-offs that occasionally happen where people disguise themselves as law enforcement officers, it all adds up.”
I asked Chris Scileppi, the attorney representing Guerena’s family, about the “portion of a law enforcement uniform” allegation. “They’re trying to imply that he was dressing up as a police officer to force his way into private homes,” Scileppi says. But when police serve a search warrant they leave behind a receipt what they’ve taken from the residence. According to Scileppi, the only item taken from Gurena’s home that remotely fits that description was a U.S. Border Control cap — which you can buy from any number of retail outlets, including Amazon.com.
About the guns and body armor Scileppi says, “Is it really that difficult to believe that a former Marine living in Arizona would have guns and body armor in his home? Nothing they found in the house is illegal to own in Arizona.” In fact, Storie himself acknowledged in the Daily Star that had the SWAT team entered Guerena’s home peacefully, they wouldn’t have made an arrest.
And when you “put it together,” to borrow his own terminology, Storie’s comments thus far lead to a pretty astonishing conclusion: After violently breaking into Guerena’s home, the police found exactly the evidence they were looking for — yet none of that evidence merited an arrest. Storie is either shamelessly posturing, or he actually believes that the police are justified in violently forcing their way into a private home with their guns drawn, even if they have no expectation that they’ll find any evidence of a crime.
At his press conference last week, Storie also defended the SWAT team’s refusal to allow paramedics to access Guerena for more than hour. “They still don’t know how many shooters are inside, how many guns are inside and they still have to assume that they will be ambushed if they walk in this house,” Storie said.
This is absurd. The entire purpose of using SWAT teams, dynamic entry, and like paramilitary-style police tactics is to subdue dangerous suspects and secure the building within seconds. If it took it took more than hour to secure the Guerenas’ small home, this particular SWAT team was incompetent. By contrast, paramedics were tending to the wounded after the Jared Loughner shootings within 12 minutes, and that was a far more volatile crime scene.
Storie has offered up a number of other questionable allegations and explanations in recent days.
Last week, for example, Storie told the Daily Star that the investigation leading up to the raids was from the start about home invasions and “drug rip-offs” — not just marijuana distribution, as the Sheriff’s Department initially indicated. Storie also says the police vehicles ran their lights and sirens until they were parked in the Guerenas’ driveway, and that a police officer knocked on the door and announced himself for a full 45 seconds before the SWAT team forced its way inside. He emphasized that the raid was “in no way” a “no-knock” operation.
Storie is laying groundwork for the argument that Guerena should have known that the men breaking into his home were police. That he still met them with his rifle meant he was intent on killing them, which of course would justify their rash of gunfire. For good measure, Storie added that just before they opened fire, several officers reported hearing Guerena say, “I’ve got something for you; I’ve gotten something for you guys.”
There are a number of problems here, beginning with the lights, the sirens, and the knocking. If these warrants were, as Storie claims, for suspected dangerous, well-armed members of a home invasion ring, why would they give a violent suspect such ample warning that they’re coming? Whywouldn’t the police have sought and obtained a no-knock warrant? This is precisely the scenario for which no-knock entry is warranted — to apprehend suspected dangerous people who may present an immediate threat to police and the public.
This week I also spoke with Ray Epps, a retired Marine sergeant from Mesa, Arizona and president of the Arizona chapter of Oath Keepers, the controversial organization of police and military personnel who have vowed not to enforce laws they believe are unconstitutional. After hearing about Guerena’s death, Epps drove to Tucson to investigate.
“We spoke with several of the neighbors,” Epps says. “And none of them — none of them — heard any sirens that morning. Every one of them told us they didn’t hear anything, no knocking, no shouting, until the shooting started. They didn’t hear anything until the shooting started.” Scileppi, who is conducting his own investigation, wouldn’t say if he had spoken to neighbors, but did say of the lights and sirens, “What we’ve found contradicts what they’re saying.” Epps added, “What I found disturbing is that none of the neighbors would give us their names. These people are terrified of the police, now. Another thing I found strange, they said the police didn’t evacuate them untilafter the shooting.”
If next-door neighbors didn’t hear the sirens or police announcement at the door, it’s plausible that Guerena, who was sleeping off the graveyard shift he’d worked the night before, didn’t hear them either. Of course, the other possibility here is that the police are lying about the sirens and the announcement.
To buy what Storie is pitching, you would have to believe that Guerena — the father of two young boys, who was working a night job to save money for a new home, who had no criminal record, who served two tours of duty in Iraq and was honorably discharged — knowingly took on a team of armored, well-armed police officers, himself armed only with his rifle, and with his wife and young child still in the home. You’d also have to believe that the battle-tested former Marine forgot to turn off his weapon’s safety before the shooting began.
The alternate explanation — and I think the more plausible one — is that Guerena thought the men breaking into his home were criminals, but held his fire until he was sure. (That’s also the mark of someone well-trained in gun safety, and a stark contrast to the SWAT team, which despite never receiving hostile fire, unleashed a barrage of bullets that penetrated not only Jose Guerena but, according to sources I spoke with, also the walls of neighboring homes.)
If you’re not actually a criminal and you wake up to the sound of armed men breaking into your home, your first thought isn’t likely to be that you’re being visited by the police. There may also have been something else on Guerena’s mind: Last year, two of Vanessa Guerena’s relatives were murdered by armed intruders. The intruders also shot the couple’s children. What Guerena is alleged to have said — “I’ve got something for you; I’ve gotten something for you guys” — sounds damning if you assume he knew the men in his home were police, but there’s nothing in that sentence indicating Guerena knew he was confronting cops. It also sounds like something a former soldier might shout out to intimidate armed intruders. And let’s not forget, the same team of SWAT officers who reported hearing Guerena say those words also reported seeing a muzzle flash from Guerena’s gun, which we now know couldn’t have happened.
Storie also says police found a photo of Jesus Malverde in Guerena’s home. Malverde is an iconic, probably mythical figure often described as the “narco saint”. But as my former Reason magazine colleague Tim Cavanaugh points out, while it’s true that Malverde has been embraced by drug traffickers, he is also revered by the poor, by immigrants, and by people who feel they’ve been wronged. “That Guerena had a picture of Jesus Malverde tells us two things,” Cavanaugh writes. “He had a family to worry about and he shared the belief of most Americans that a supernatural being or beings can influence earthly circumstances.”
When Daily Star columnist Josh Brodesky asked Sheriff Dupnik if Storie’s chats with the press about the details of the Guerena raid were hindering the investigation, Dupnik said, simply, “No.” So while Dupnik’s department is refusing to officially release any information about the raid or surrounding investigation due to “the real threat to innocent lives,” he has no problem with the police union lawyer disclosing details that smear Guerena to the benefit of Dupnik and his department.
Perhaps we will at some point see convincing evidence that Dupnik and Storie are right — that Jose Guerena was in fact a drug dealer and violent criminal who dressed up like a cop to rob rival drug dealers and innocent citizens of Pima County. But at this point, all we have is a dead father and veteran, a violent series of raids that make little sense, and a police agency that over the last three weeks has put out incorrect information, insisted that it would be dangerous to release any further information, and, at the same time, allowed a police representative to release information favorable to the department.
The government of Pima County has killed one of its own citizens. This is the most serious, solemn, and severe action a local government can undertake. It demands complete transparency. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies involved in the raid ought to be doing anything and everything to make themselves accountable. Instead, they’ve shown arrogance, defiance, and obstinacy — all wrapped in an appeal to public safety.
**********
Readers: I can not imagine, what his wife must’ve gone through. If the above write doesn’t upset you enough, watch this video. The fact that this man is bleeding to death and these dispatchers are asking her name and other ridiculous questions is just criminal. I am sickened by the treatment that this woman is receiving when she is begging for her husband to be saved, and they are speaking to her like she is dirt.
Be aware, this video is very tough to listen too.
And did you hear this woman say that she had to hold up her baby in front of her to prevent them from shooting her.(!) There is so much wrong, so much discriminations when it comes to this story, I don’t even know where to begin.
Thoughts? Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Did John McCain just threaten to beat up Glenn Beck for what he said about his daughter?
Well, not really. But sort of, in an oblique way.
Let us explain. Beck’s instantly infamous reaction to Meghan McCain’s PSA for skin cancer (the sight of her bare skin caused him to mime vomiting for about five minutes straight) drew a swift and fierce response from both McCain and her mother, Cindy. On Thursday’s “John King USA,” CNN’s John King asked John McCain what he thought of the whole fracas.
“I now think I can relate more closely to Harry Truman who took some umbrage at a critic that criticized his daughter’s singing,” McCain said. “…I don’t think I should dignify that kind of behavior with a comment.”
A seemingly dispassionate reaction. But as John King put it, if “you’re a student of history and you got the Truman reference,” McCain’s comments can be seen in a rather angrier light. The senator was referring to the 1950 letter that Truman wrote to Washington Post critic
Paul Hume after the latter wrote a famously acerbic review of his daughter Margaret’s singing.
“Some day, I hope to meet you,” Truman wrote. “When that happens, you will need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes and perhaps a supporter below.” So…watch out, Glenn Beck! John McCain wants to give you a new nose!
Readers: Not a very newsworthy story above but hey, it got media time – it’s another article on the Huff Po. And here I am for the 3rd day blogging about Meghan McCain. Why? A white woman, Meghan McCain, gets insulted by Glenn Beck and it is all over the media for days, including here. But I’m blogging about it not to give her air timebecause of what happened to her, (she deserves a day, and she got way more) but to make a few points.
And this is my last point to make with respect to McCain. Almost a week ago, I blogged about the young OTW cheerleader, H.S., who was kicked out of school because she wouldn’t cheer, and chant the name of her rapist, a player on her high school basketball team.
Now…what kind of media coverage did she receive? Nothing compared to McCain. Correct me if I’m wrong but I didn’t hear her story on any news channels. And I didn’t read about it on the Huff Po. Imagine what the cheerleader and her family are feeling when they and their daughter received much worse treatment and the media hardly gave them a peep of coverage.
But…that is the norm for OTWs, and if you throw in the fact that she is a woman, well…then expect even less media coverage for the atrocity that was committed. Why any woman would support Beck, is beyond me when it is clear that Beck is disrespectful to all women. The difference is, when disrespect is shown to an OTW woman by a white man, we hear silence. But when it happens to a white woman, one of their own, alert the media! They’re looking for everyone to side with them…to support them.
Where was the support for the OTW cheerleader when the Supreme Court denied her justice? Well…we know all about “just us” don’t we?
Now what about Beck? Let’s chat for a few on his continued bad behavior. Here’s his recent response:
Glenn Beck addressed the controversy surrounding his comments about Meghan McCain during his weekly appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Friday–but did not apologize for making them.
Beck landed in hot water with the McCains after he pretended to vomit for several minutes on his radio show while watching Meghan McCain’s skin cancer awareness ad, where she appears to be naked. His routine prompted a volley of angry responses fromMeghan, Cindy and John McCain, but Beck had not responded to the attacks until Friday.
Bill O’Reilly sided with Beck’s detractors in this case. “If I was Cindy McCain I’d slap the hell out of you,” he told Beck.
Beck said that she was sticking up for her daughter, and that she was “right” to do so. “I would do the same thing,” he said. He then joked that he was “helping bring attention” to skin cancer awareness by telling Meghan McCain to “cover up.”
O’Reilly said he was baffled that Beck had done such a “dopey” thing, because “you’re genuinely a nice guy.”
Beck admitted that the routine was a “juvenile bit,” but he refused to go any further. “You know what, Meghan McCain? Please,” he said. “I’ve had enough of Meghan McCain as much as she’s had enough of me.”
Can you believe the gall of this man? This guy insults a woman on the radio. Fox gives him cover on Bill O’Reilly’s show ( more media coverage!) and he says to his victim, “I’ve had enough of Meghan McCain as much as she’s had enough of me.
Let’s look at this beyond the obvious: The victim didn’t initiate the offensive contact so why does the assaulter get to say he has had enough of her. It’s like he saying, “I’ve had her, I’ve raped her already. I’m through with her. Who’s next?” The “who’s next” is the surest thing, when it comes to Beck.
Beck’s show on FOX news will be cancelled later on this year because of ColorofChange.org, Media Matters and other groups who were responsible for consumer boycotts which led to a loss of hundreds of advertisers for Beck’s show, but his radio show lives on. I think it’s time to do the same to his radio show, or who knows who his next victim will be.
So I ask again, why would any woman support this kind of man? You tell me. Blog me.
Rose Marie: I searched for any articles posted by Health Info on menopause and surprisingly didn’t find one. Perhaps they will post one for us.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
