I've been watching this latest "Weinergate" unfold and I alternate between tearing my hair out the people involved or weeping for the women who are involved in this situation.
Let's take a look at some of them shall we?
Huma Abedin, the long suffering wife of Mr. Weiner. It's not bad enough that she was humiliated the first time back in 2011 when his original scandal broke, but here we are...again...with her husband caught with his pants down around his ankles. And his advisers decide that it would be in his best political interests to parade her out to stand next to him at yesterdays news conference. My thoughts to his advisers are "have you no shame?". If I had Ms. Abedin sitting at a table with me, I would reach over and hold her hand and ask her, "Is this what you signed up for?". I would hope she would say no and take steps to rectify the situation. But if what I suspect is true, she has fallen victim to her husbands narcissistic tendencies and put her needs on the back burner. If that is the case then I would gently tell her that her husband is NOT Bill Clinton and she is not the wife of the President of the United States. But she is the wife of a former senator who resigned over sexting allegations and is trying to make a comeback by saying he is a changed man...he's not and we all know that. I have the greatest compassion for her because I feel like she is a pawn in the political aspirations of her husband.
Syndey Leathers, oh you cheeky little minx! But I would say that in all this "exposure" you've gotten that you have probably learned a few things about politics. First is that the wife always trumps the sexting partner. Always. Second is that you should be careful of who your friends are. See what your friend Colagiovanni said about you here? He's not your friend but a guy looking for a scoop he can sell. Lastly...be honest about your ambitions and how you plan on getting there. Did you see a politically related job in your future? Sex appeal is a woman's greatest weapon and should never be used to advance a career. It never turns out well and people will never, EVER take you seriously. In my opinion, you disrespected the Sisterhood. Shame on YOU!
You stated that you felt "manipulated" but you weren't manipulated were you? Sending Mr. Weiner over 30 pics is not someone who is being "manipulated" but is proof that you were a willing accomplice to his sexual predilections. We have this word that has been around for a very long time...perhaps you have heard of it? NO. A simple two letter word that carries a lot of weight. NO. Go ahead...try it. Used in conjunction with non-action ("No, I'm not sending anymore pics" and then not sending more pics) is empowering to a young lady such as yourself. In today's society, especially where nothing is secret anymore, you can't do stuff like that and then say you were misled or manipulated. Ms. Leathers, you are wearing more clothes than credibility at this point.
And lastly...Mr. Weiner. Oh you naughty, naughty man you!! Most relationship therapists would say that you were actively engaged in extramarital affairs. Honestly, I really don't care that you sent naked pics of your genitals to anyone. Let your freak flag fly! But let's be honest here, someone who has political aspirations should be slightly paranoid that at some point someone is going to out him for this behavior. And they did. I would have thought you would have learned your lesson the first time but it doesn't appear that way at all. If you can't learn a lesson from this, then how can the voters expect you to learn anything from them? I think the biggest shame of all is that you are dragging your wife through this all over again. It's not enough that you publicly humiliated her the first go round, but you do it again. I think your spouse should sit down and have a chat with Jenny Sanford.
Honestly, no one cares what Mr. Weiner does in the privacy of his own home or within the confines of his marriage. Thousands of people do this exact same thing everyday and no one gives a flying whoopee cushion that they do.
It's no ones business and I suspect that our fascination with this whole issue is the hypocrisy of Mr. Weiner in stating that he's not sexting anyone anymore but then admits to anywhere from 6-10 since he resigned from Congress. If he will not be completely honest with his own spouse, then how honest can we the voters expect him to be?
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
5 Things I learned from watching Mission:Impossible re-runs
I love old TV. The stuff that is on TV today isn't really funny anymore unless it appears to be denigrating someone and don't even get me started on the trash that is "reality" TV.
Currently I am unemployed. After a couple of hours of daily job hunting, running through the job boards, chasing down leads friends and former co-workers have sent along, I sit down in my recliner and turn on Netflix.
I've always enjoyed the Mission:Impossible series but I've only seen it in re-runs as I was about 8 years old when it went off the air after seven seasons. And honestly...what is not to like? What great characters! The grand leader of the group who was highly regarded and well respected by his fellow group members (Steven Hill played Dan Biggs in season 1 but was later replaced with Peter Graves (Jim Phelps) for seasons 2-7). The original crew of Martin Landau (Rollin Hand), Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) Barney Collier (Greg Morris) and my personal fave, Willy Armitage (Pete Lupus). I honestly wished they had given him a bigger role in the beginning. With his Greek ancestry, he was gorgeous when he smiled but it's something that we never got a chance to see until the final two seasons where his role was expanded and he was interacting more within the scenarios that had to be completed for the tasks.
So it became a goal that I set for myself to watch the entire run of Mission:Impossible on Netflix. Yesterday I completed that goal and honestly, I was a bit sad! But I did learn a few things while watching the show and here are my top 5 things I learned while watching Mission:Impossible;
1. People react the same no matter where they live. Almost every task given to the MI team was planned using peoples carefully planned reactions to certain stimuli. For example, if the team knew that you were a highly paranoid dictator in some fake European country, they would set up your second in command to look like he was betraying you. Your paranoia kicks in and viola! dead dictator and country headed towards free elections!
2. You can be sexy without being slutty. Let's take Cinnamon Carter for example here. Cinnamon exuded sex appeal, indeed her cover for spying was the fact that she was a high fashion model and VERY well known due to her looks. Most of the series was shot in the 60's with Cinnamon appearing in the first 4 years. She could really carry off sensual and sexy in her 60's attire as well as her hair and makeup. But you never ever saw her go beyond kissing a guy. She could hook a guy but she still made kicking him to the curb look sexy.
3. Never judge a book by its cover. Rollin Hand was a master of disguise and could imitate anyone's voice. Invariably he took over someone's identity to further the master plan along. Of course everyone was fooled, much to their later dismay and had they but checked a little deeper, they may have just seen their doom coming towards them.
4. Being a nerd is very cool. Barney was the electronics guru of the day. He always had the latest gadgets for the team to use and whatever else they needed to have done, he did it. I think most of the MI missions would have been complete and total disasters had it not been for his interest in electronics and all things mechanical.
5. There are some things in life where failing isn't an option. I think I enjoyed the first 4 years of this series the best. They were always saving some country from an evil dictator or some evil external influence. Of course most of these shows were filmed at the height of the Cold War so it's not surprising that we saw so many of these types of scenarios. But failing was never an option because so much was at stake. The same goes for me too...giving up or quitting my job hunt isn't an option.
I will miss all my MI friends...thank you for letting me hang around for a bit.
And for those of you who enjoyed the theme for the show done by Lalo Schifrin, here ya go...enjoy!!
http://youtu.be/mWGeRgFa-hI
Currently I am unemployed. After a couple of hours of daily job hunting, running through the job boards, chasing down leads friends and former co-workers have sent along, I sit down in my recliner and turn on Netflix.
I've always enjoyed the Mission:Impossible series but I've only seen it in re-runs as I was about 8 years old when it went off the air after seven seasons. And honestly...what is not to like? What great characters! The grand leader of the group who was highly regarded and well respected by his fellow group members (Steven Hill played Dan Biggs in season 1 but was later replaced with Peter Graves (Jim Phelps) for seasons 2-7). The original crew of Martin Landau (Rollin Hand), Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) Barney Collier (Greg Morris) and my personal fave, Willy Armitage (Pete Lupus). I honestly wished they had given him a bigger role in the beginning. With his Greek ancestry, he was gorgeous when he smiled but it's something that we never got a chance to see until the final two seasons where his role was expanded and he was interacting more within the scenarios that had to be completed for the tasks.
So it became a goal that I set for myself to watch the entire run of Mission:Impossible on Netflix. Yesterday I completed that goal and honestly, I was a bit sad! But I did learn a few things while watching the show and here are my top 5 things I learned while watching Mission:Impossible;
1. People react the same no matter where they live. Almost every task given to the MI team was planned using peoples carefully planned reactions to certain stimuli. For example, if the team knew that you were a highly paranoid dictator in some fake European country, they would set up your second in command to look like he was betraying you. Your paranoia kicks in and viola! dead dictator and country headed towards free elections!
2. You can be sexy without being slutty. Let's take Cinnamon Carter for example here. Cinnamon exuded sex appeal, indeed her cover for spying was the fact that she was a high fashion model and VERY well known due to her looks. Most of the series was shot in the 60's with Cinnamon appearing in the first 4 years. She could really carry off sensual and sexy in her 60's attire as well as her hair and makeup. But you never ever saw her go beyond kissing a guy. She could hook a guy but she still made kicking him to the curb look sexy.
3. Never judge a book by its cover. Rollin Hand was a master of disguise and could imitate anyone's voice. Invariably he took over someone's identity to further the master plan along. Of course everyone was fooled, much to their later dismay and had they but checked a little deeper, they may have just seen their doom coming towards them.
4. Being a nerd is very cool. Barney was the electronics guru of the day. He always had the latest gadgets for the team to use and whatever else they needed to have done, he did it. I think most of the MI missions would have been complete and total disasters had it not been for his interest in electronics and all things mechanical.
5. There are some things in life where failing isn't an option. I think I enjoyed the first 4 years of this series the best. They were always saving some country from an evil dictator or some evil external influence. Of course most of these shows were filmed at the height of the Cold War so it's not surprising that we saw so many of these types of scenarios. But failing was never an option because so much was at stake. The same goes for me too...giving up or quitting my job hunt isn't an option.
I will miss all my MI friends...thank you for letting me hang around for a bit.
And for those of you who enjoyed the theme for the show done by Lalo Schifrin, here ya go...enjoy!!
http://youtu.be/mWGeRgFa-hI
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Tell me again socialized medicine is evil
Let me get a few things clear before I start on this particular rant today. First off, for the most part, I think that the government should stay out of the private lives of people. When people are putting themselves or others at risk, then they have an obligation to step in and care for that person until they can either care for themselves or someone steps forward to care for them. Secondly, it is very clear that we as a society have failed big time on taking care of our neighbors. 100 years ago, no one would have thought twice about bringing an injured person in to their home and either treating them as best they knew how, or giving them shelter until medical help could arrive. I still saw a lot of that when I lived out west. Of course, when your nearest neighbor is 50 miles down the road and medical care even farther, one did what one had to do because, no matter your religious affiliations, it was just the decent, human thing to do.
Rant starts in 3...2...1
I am depressed. Not in the "oh, I'm feeling a bit blue today"...I'm talking the chronic, I need mild drugs to alleviate the worst symptoms type depression. Some of you who have been following this blog will remember my permanent layoff notice. You know, the one that I got on a Saturday telling me all my medical benefits would be ending on Sunday. Yeah...that one. This gave me zero time to call my doctor and get any of my medication renewed. Not that it really mattered, there wasn't any money to buy the prescription anyways but it would have been nice to have had that option.
Enter the evil socialized medicine. I would have been able to still go to a doctor and not only get another checkup but to obtain needed prescriptions too. So would all of my former co-workers, many of whom didn't have health insurance anyways due to the cost of it through our company. Let's not kid ourselves here...people who get paid 1.5X minimum wage still can't afford health coverage for themselves, let alone their family members.
For those of you who don't know my history, I spent 4 years living in Germany and have traveled to countries all over Europe that have some form of socialized medicine. Here is something you hardly EVER saw in the streets of those countries and that would be people who are mentally ill and homeless, families who have been forced out of their homes due to exorbitantly high medical expenses from diseases like cancer. How can we as a society say that THAT is not our problem? since when did we stop caring for our fellow man in every way shape and form? Since when did we start turning a blind eye to the suffering of people around us? Granted, many of us are not in extreme circumstances but more and more of us aren't doing that well either.
Socialized medicine allows people that need healthcare to get it. Period. We are concerned about corporations being "healthy" and bail them out time after time but we don't care about the humans that WORK in those corporations. If you believe that all life is sacred, then why not help sick people get the medical care they need to stay alive or even healthy so that they can go to work and support their families and get employer provided healthcare? Here's the scam for you too folks...people will exaggerate or even fake illnesses so that they can get Medicaid. Would they need to do that if we treated them so that they could go back to work even if their job was low paying?
Our country is crippled in so many ways and while some of its financial, much of it is spiritual, emotional and mental. We've lost our heart for our fellow human beings, we no longer care about doing the right thing for our fellow man and even worse, we actively fight against those that want to help others.
I've seen how offering medical care for everyone regardless of their means to pay can lift up a country and give its citizens opportunities to get healthy, stay healthy and better still, create a country that understands that its citizens are special, they matter and that they will do the right thing to help them.
Rant starts in 3...2...1
I am depressed. Not in the "oh, I'm feeling a bit blue today"...I'm talking the chronic, I need mild drugs to alleviate the worst symptoms type depression. Some of you who have been following this blog will remember my permanent layoff notice. You know, the one that I got on a Saturday telling me all my medical benefits would be ending on Sunday. Yeah...that one. This gave me zero time to call my doctor and get any of my medication renewed. Not that it really mattered, there wasn't any money to buy the prescription anyways but it would have been nice to have had that option.
Enter the evil socialized medicine. I would have been able to still go to a doctor and not only get another checkup but to obtain needed prescriptions too. So would all of my former co-workers, many of whom didn't have health insurance anyways due to the cost of it through our company. Let's not kid ourselves here...people who get paid 1.5X minimum wage still can't afford health coverage for themselves, let alone their family members.
For those of you who don't know my history, I spent 4 years living in Germany and have traveled to countries all over Europe that have some form of socialized medicine. Here is something you hardly EVER saw in the streets of those countries and that would be people who are mentally ill and homeless, families who have been forced out of their homes due to exorbitantly high medical expenses from diseases like cancer. How can we as a society say that THAT is not our problem? since when did we stop caring for our fellow man in every way shape and form? Since when did we start turning a blind eye to the suffering of people around us? Granted, many of us are not in extreme circumstances but more and more of us aren't doing that well either.
Socialized medicine allows people that need healthcare to get it. Period. We are concerned about corporations being "healthy" and bail them out time after time but we don't care about the humans that WORK in those corporations. If you believe that all life is sacred, then why not help sick people get the medical care they need to stay alive or even healthy so that they can go to work and support their families and get employer provided healthcare? Here's the scam for you too folks...people will exaggerate or even fake illnesses so that they can get Medicaid. Would they need to do that if we treated them so that they could go back to work even if their job was low paying?
Our country is crippled in so many ways and while some of its financial, much of it is spiritual, emotional and mental. We've lost our heart for our fellow human beings, we no longer care about doing the right thing for our fellow man and even worse, we actively fight against those that want to help others.
I've seen how offering medical care for everyone regardless of their means to pay can lift up a country and give its citizens opportunities to get healthy, stay healthy and better still, create a country that understands that its citizens are special, they matter and that they will do the right thing to help them.
Friday, July 19, 2013
The drama goes on...
Sometimes, getting terminated from a job, (I hate to use the word "fired" since the company went under and being fired implies wrongdoing on my part) is like a bad relationship breakup.
The usual litany of questions run through your head. Could I have done something different? why didn't they want me to stay longer? Is there something that I could have done to make the company better or more financially solvent? And of course, just the general obsession that had you stayed somehow, it would have all worked out for the best. Of course the answer to all these questions is no...you did your best and that MUST count for something.
Despite what I keep telling myself (it wasn't my fault, I'm still a good person and really smart too) the sting of this still lingers almost 3 weeks later. I've given this a bit of thought too and I've decided that it is because I have such a low tolerance of stupid people and an even lower tolerance of stupid people that, because of their stupidity, inflict pain upon innocent people. It makes me very angry that stupid people don't have a clue how their actions (or in-actions) impact the lives of others. It's like they partially thought out an action and its consequences but only in a very limited way...how does this affect me? or how can I minimize the impact of this on me? It's like it never occurred to them to think about how their actions would impact everyone else.
I get angry when people, especially employees are treated poorly. When will business owners understand that they have nothing if they don't have people to make their goods or provides their services. It's sad in this day and age, with the amount of literature out there on how important it is to treat your employees in a professional and ethical manner, that there are some companies that just don't get that part of the program. Businesses that treat their employees in a professional and ethical manner are wildly successful. Why not take advantage of mega companies like Google and Zappos and see what they are doing right to treat their employees and customers well.
My heart breaks for my former co-workers who have been let down again. With so many of the struggling already, the poor job market, to be so let down...again...is to invite a whole lot of bad karma in to your life.
For my former co-workers, love and hugs to you all. May the gods of prosperity smile down upon you and rain buckets of cash for you.
The usual litany of questions run through your head. Could I have done something different? why didn't they want me to stay longer? Is there something that I could have done to make the company better or more financially solvent? And of course, just the general obsession that had you stayed somehow, it would have all worked out for the best. Of course the answer to all these questions is no...you did your best and that MUST count for something.
Despite what I keep telling myself (it wasn't my fault, I'm still a good person and really smart too) the sting of this still lingers almost 3 weeks later. I've given this a bit of thought too and I've decided that it is because I have such a low tolerance of stupid people and an even lower tolerance of stupid people that, because of their stupidity, inflict pain upon innocent people. It makes me very angry that stupid people don't have a clue how their actions (or in-actions) impact the lives of others. It's like they partially thought out an action and its consequences but only in a very limited way...how does this affect me? or how can I minimize the impact of this on me? It's like it never occurred to them to think about how their actions would impact everyone else.
I get angry when people, especially employees are treated poorly. When will business owners understand that they have nothing if they don't have people to make their goods or provides their services. It's sad in this day and age, with the amount of literature out there on how important it is to treat your employees in a professional and ethical manner, that there are some companies that just don't get that part of the program. Businesses that treat their employees in a professional and ethical manner are wildly successful. Why not take advantage of mega companies like Google and Zappos and see what they are doing right to treat their employees and customers well.
My heart breaks for my former co-workers who have been let down again. With so many of the struggling already, the poor job market, to be so let down...again...is to invite a whole lot of bad karma in to your life.
For my former co-workers, love and hugs to you all. May the gods of prosperity smile down upon you and rain buckets of cash for you.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
I knew it would end this way...thoughts on the Zimmerman verdict
Somehow I knew it would end this way. When I heard the jury was going to be all women, I said to myself, "Self, he's probably going to get acquitted". Turns out Self and I were right. Here's why: women have the uncanny ability to excuse bad behavior and poor judgement. It's true, we really do! It's quite a skill actually and it is one that is honed from years of crappy relationships. Doesn't matter who the relationship is with, parents, siblings, boyfriends/girlfriends, spouses, we are able to take whatever is bad in the relationship and excuse it so that we can continue on in our little worlds, clueless of evil and tolerant of people doing really dumb things.
One question has been running through my brain throughout this whole trial and that was "why didn't he just stay in the car like the dispatcher directed him to?" I totally support Neighborhood Watch type organizations. According to their website "In essence, Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that stresses education and common sense (Stegenga 2000). It teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods." (http://www.usaonwatch.org/about/neighborhoodwatch.aspx?) I think that anytime you get people watching their environment and reporting suspicious activities to law enforcement authorities, it improves the neighborhood and keeps the riff raff at bay. By the same token it encourages people to use common sense.
Mr. Zimmerman got the first part right, he called in someone he thought was suspicious. He's told by the dispatcher to stay in the car, that law enforcement would soon be on the way. (According to American Police Beat, the average response time for an emergency call is 10 minutes. Atlanta has the worst response time with 11 to 12 minutes and Nashville comes in at a lightning speed of 9 minutes.) But does he....no and things go badly for everyone from that decision on.
So let's get to the all female jury. Smart move on that one Mr. Defense lawyer! Women have a history of excusing bad behavior. I can imagine the conversation in the jury room going like this:
Foreman; Now let's take a vote on the first count
Juror #2: I'm sure he didn't mean to shoot that poor kid
Juror #4: Yes...it was dark and there was a little rain, he must have seen something that scared him to get out of his car and confront that kid don't ya think?
Juror #3: Well he appears to me to be a presentable, nice man, look how well he cleans up in court!
Juror #5: I agree...there is no way I will ever believe that Mr. Zimmerman would do such a dastardly deed. Sure he was scared and all, but he did what he thought was best.
If anyone on that jury was in a relationship that was abusive or had ever been in one, they would have readily found his actions to be justified or found reasons to believe that Trayvon Martin did something to encourage Mr. Zimmerman getting out of his car and confronting him. That's how we roll. Women have a hard time seeing the dastardlyness in the world. It's not hardwired in to our brains that people can and do evil, stupid things. It never occurs to us to ask the hard questions like "why didn't he stay in the car like the dispatcher told him?" it would never occur to us to look deeper in to the mind of a wanna be police officer carrying a weapon and wanting to confront an alleged "suspicious person". It would never occur to us to ask those probing questions to try and make logical sense out of his actions. For women, we just need for it to make sense to our brains, we don't need logic or reasonableness....we just need a reason and if we can make it up to make it fit, then that's what we do.
I'm a big fan of Murder She Wrote. In one episode Jessica, who is on a jury, does women proud. Everyone in the jury room wants to convict but she holds out because the scenarios doesn't make sense to her. Jessica was unable to make logical conclusions about people's actions. Truth be told, people rarely do things without a legitimate reason (at least to them). In the end, her deductive reasoning, along with the evidence presented at trial allowed her to persuade the rest of the jury that the guy was not guilty...of course she even found the guilty person but that's just tv drama.
For the jurors...I feel sorry for you. You were given a civic duty and you truly blew it on this one. You didn't ask the hard questions and you didn't put on your critical thinking caps.
Mr. Zimmerman, I feel sorry for you too. You have to live the rest of your life under a cloud from which there is no escape...just ask OJ Simpson. You have to live with the fact that had you stayed in the car like you were told, you wouldn't have to look at the face of someone who took a life.
For women everywhere, stop making excuses for anyone (male or female) who exhibits bad behavior or makes poor choices. We can't protect people from their own foolishness, nor should we. I get that it is in our nature to do so, but it's not helping anyone when we do it. It just encourages more of the same.
This was never going to be justice as long as 6 women sat on that jury. It's not in our nature.
UPDATE: July 16, 2013
Monday night is wrestling night on TV, but when I heard that a juror was going to be on Anderson Cooper 360, I monitored my CNN app and my Twitter feed. Sadly, the juror that "appeared" (she was in the dark to prevent her identity from being disclosed) confirmed everything that I write above. The first vote was 3 for not guilty, 2 for manslaughter and 1 for second degree murder. My favorite quote from the juror went like this...Exclusive: Zimmerman's heart was in the right place. It just went terribly wrong. He's guilty of not using good judgment, juror tells AC360
(BTW, she's writing a book about her experiences on the jury...with her lawyer husband)
Yes...I'm sure that his heart was in the right place which is why he joined the neighborhood watch group. I applaud his wanting to get involved. But he didn't follow their rules either...like not carrying weapons.
I like to watch Judge Judy and so many times she gets these road rage cases where a person is suing another person for damage to their car. Judge Judy always asks "why did you get out of the car to confront them? if you were in fear for your life, why didn't you call the police? or drive away and notify law enforcement if you didn't have a phone?" The reason she asks this is because she wants to determine if the plaintiff did something to escalate the situation (and thereby retain some responsibility for the damage someone did to their car or body) or if they did everything possible to remove themselves from the situation and de-escalate it. Invariably, Judge Judy may award the cost of repairs but will not award medical bills if it was determined that the plaintiff escalated the situation. And it's true...had they stayed in their car, called law enforcement rather than getting out and confronting the person, (who promptly gave them a beat down) they wouldn't have gotten hurt. "You don't get rewarded for being stupid sir!" I can hear her saying that.
I can see her saying that to Mr. Zimmerman too. Except he did get rewarded. A jury full of women rationalized away his stupidity. It all comes back to...why did you get out of the car after the dispatcher told you not to? But the jurors felt that his heart was in the right place, he was frustrated by all the crime in his neighborhood and he really wanted the villains caught. The all women jury allowed this travesty to continue by talking themselves out of ANY type of guilty verdict (I honestly think most people would have been satisfied with a manslaughter verdict) Because well his heart was in the right place, he just had poor execution...(see what I did there? execution...get it?)
It's sad really that this happened. While there are many obvious things that others will talk about, no one will talk about the psychological make up of the same sex jury. If you are a man and want some insight in to how women think...there ya go. We will forgive you most anything, even the killing of another human being, as long as your hearts in the right place.
In the south they have a saying that you can say anything bad about anyone as long as you follow it with "Bless their heart". So, women of the jury...you are all fucked in the head...bless your heart!
One question has been running through my brain throughout this whole trial and that was "why didn't he just stay in the car like the dispatcher directed him to?" I totally support Neighborhood Watch type organizations. According to their website "In essence, Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that stresses education and common sense (Stegenga 2000). It teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods." (http://www.usaonwatch.org/about/neighborhoodwatch.aspx?) I think that anytime you get people watching their environment and reporting suspicious activities to law enforcement authorities, it improves the neighborhood and keeps the riff raff at bay. By the same token it encourages people to use common sense.
Mr. Zimmerman got the first part right, he called in someone he thought was suspicious. He's told by the dispatcher to stay in the car, that law enforcement would soon be on the way. (According to American Police Beat, the average response time for an emergency call is 10 minutes. Atlanta has the worst response time with 11 to 12 minutes and Nashville comes in at a lightning speed of 9 minutes.) But does he....no and things go badly for everyone from that decision on.
So let's get to the all female jury. Smart move on that one Mr. Defense lawyer! Women have a history of excusing bad behavior. I can imagine the conversation in the jury room going like this:
Foreman; Now let's take a vote on the first count
Juror #2: I'm sure he didn't mean to shoot that poor kid
Juror #4: Yes...it was dark and there was a little rain, he must have seen something that scared him to get out of his car and confront that kid don't ya think?
Juror #3: Well he appears to me to be a presentable, nice man, look how well he cleans up in court!
Juror #5: I agree...there is no way I will ever believe that Mr. Zimmerman would do such a dastardly deed. Sure he was scared and all, but he did what he thought was best.
If anyone on that jury was in a relationship that was abusive or had ever been in one, they would have readily found his actions to be justified or found reasons to believe that Trayvon Martin did something to encourage Mr. Zimmerman getting out of his car and confronting him. That's how we roll. Women have a hard time seeing the dastardlyness in the world. It's not hardwired in to our brains that people can and do evil, stupid things. It never occurs to us to ask the hard questions like "why didn't he stay in the car like the dispatcher told him?" it would never occur to us to look deeper in to the mind of a wanna be police officer carrying a weapon and wanting to confront an alleged "suspicious person". It would never occur to us to ask those probing questions to try and make logical sense out of his actions. For women, we just need for it to make sense to our brains, we don't need logic or reasonableness....we just need a reason and if we can make it up to make it fit, then that's what we do.
I'm a big fan of Murder She Wrote. In one episode Jessica, who is on a jury, does women proud. Everyone in the jury room wants to convict but she holds out because the scenarios doesn't make sense to her. Jessica was unable to make logical conclusions about people's actions. Truth be told, people rarely do things without a legitimate reason (at least to them). In the end, her deductive reasoning, along with the evidence presented at trial allowed her to persuade the rest of the jury that the guy was not guilty...of course she even found the guilty person but that's just tv drama.
For the jurors...I feel sorry for you. You were given a civic duty and you truly blew it on this one. You didn't ask the hard questions and you didn't put on your critical thinking caps.
Mr. Zimmerman, I feel sorry for you too. You have to live the rest of your life under a cloud from which there is no escape...just ask OJ Simpson. You have to live with the fact that had you stayed in the car like you were told, you wouldn't have to look at the face of someone who took a life.
For women everywhere, stop making excuses for anyone (male or female) who exhibits bad behavior or makes poor choices. We can't protect people from their own foolishness, nor should we. I get that it is in our nature to do so, but it's not helping anyone when we do it. It just encourages more of the same.
This was never going to be justice as long as 6 women sat on that jury. It's not in our nature.
UPDATE: July 16, 2013
Monday night is wrestling night on TV, but when I heard that a juror was going to be on Anderson Cooper 360, I monitored my CNN app and my Twitter feed. Sadly, the juror that "appeared" (she was in the dark to prevent her identity from being disclosed) confirmed everything that I write above. The first vote was 3 for not guilty, 2 for manslaughter and 1 for second degree murder. My favorite quote from the juror went like this...Exclusive: Zimmerman's heart was in the right place. It just went terribly wrong. He's guilty of not using good judgment, juror tells AC360
(BTW, she's writing a book about her experiences on the jury...with her lawyer husband)
Yes...I'm sure that his heart was in the right place which is why he joined the neighborhood watch group. I applaud his wanting to get involved. But he didn't follow their rules either...like not carrying weapons.
I like to watch Judge Judy and so many times she gets these road rage cases where a person is suing another person for damage to their car. Judge Judy always asks "why did you get out of the car to confront them? if you were in fear for your life, why didn't you call the police? or drive away and notify law enforcement if you didn't have a phone?" The reason she asks this is because she wants to determine if the plaintiff did something to escalate the situation (and thereby retain some responsibility for the damage someone did to their car or body) or if they did everything possible to remove themselves from the situation and de-escalate it. Invariably, Judge Judy may award the cost of repairs but will not award medical bills if it was determined that the plaintiff escalated the situation. And it's true...had they stayed in their car, called law enforcement rather than getting out and confronting the person, (who promptly gave them a beat down) they wouldn't have gotten hurt. "You don't get rewarded for being stupid sir!" I can hear her saying that.
I can see her saying that to Mr. Zimmerman too. Except he did get rewarded. A jury full of women rationalized away his stupidity. It all comes back to...why did you get out of the car after the dispatcher told you not to? But the jurors felt that his heart was in the right place, he was frustrated by all the crime in his neighborhood and he really wanted the villains caught. The all women jury allowed this travesty to continue by talking themselves out of ANY type of guilty verdict (I honestly think most people would have been satisfied with a manslaughter verdict) Because well his heart was in the right place, he just had poor execution...(see what I did there? execution...get it?)
It's sad really that this happened. While there are many obvious things that others will talk about, no one will talk about the psychological make up of the same sex jury. If you are a man and want some insight in to how women think...there ya go. We will forgive you most anything, even the killing of another human being, as long as your hearts in the right place.
In the south they have a saying that you can say anything bad about anyone as long as you follow it with "Bless their heart". So, women of the jury...you are all fucked in the head...bless your heart!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Dear Canada....
Please take Justin Beiber back, we don't want him anymore. His continued presence here in the US has moved beyond "slightly irritating" to "enough already". We've had enough of his boorish behavior, like this, or this, or this. And all of this was just in the past 3 days!! We've had enough of his juvenile friends who continue to exhibit life threatening behavior as well. Take this for example, or this.
Don't get me wrong, for the most part American's love Canada and Canadians. After all you gave us Celine Dion, Ryan Reynolds, James Doohan, Men Without Hats, and Lorne Greene. And let's not forget some of my personal favorites...WWE Wrestlers, Chris Jericho, Roddy Piper, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and the entire Hart wrestling family and trainees of Hart's Dungeon. Last but certainly not least...The Great One Wayne Gretzky.
We love their ruggedness, their zest for life but most importantly, the fact that they are decent, respectful human beings. Who wouldn't? I was born and raised in upstate NY, less than 30 miles from the Canadian border, within the Thousand Island Regions. We took boat tours all the time and summer vacations were always spent somewhere in Canada, even if for only a day visit. Hell...most of my family emigrated to the US through Canada.
But I can say that we are not grooving on your latest export, "The Beebs". His unmitigated douchebaggery and appalling lack of manners does not do you proud. Please take him back and teach him some solid Canadian manners.
And as a side note to Selena Gomez...honey, you can't fix him. You can't "love" him out of his self destructive behavior. Being with him will not make him a better "man" but will only make you a miserable young woman.
We are waiting Canada.....
Don't get me wrong, for the most part American's love Canada and Canadians. After all you gave us Celine Dion, Ryan Reynolds, James Doohan, Men Without Hats, and Lorne Greene. And let's not forget some of my personal favorites...WWE Wrestlers, Chris Jericho, Roddy Piper, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and the entire Hart wrestling family and trainees of Hart's Dungeon. Last but certainly not least...The Great One Wayne Gretzky.
We love their ruggedness, their zest for life but most importantly, the fact that they are decent, respectful human beings. Who wouldn't? I was born and raised in upstate NY, less than 30 miles from the Canadian border, within the Thousand Island Regions. We took boat tours all the time and summer vacations were always spent somewhere in Canada, even if for only a day visit. Hell...most of my family emigrated to the US through Canada.
But I can say that we are not grooving on your latest export, "The Beebs". His unmitigated douchebaggery and appalling lack of manners does not do you proud. Please take him back and teach him some solid Canadian manners.
And as a side note to Selena Gomez...honey, you can't fix him. You can't "love" him out of his self destructive behavior. Being with him will not make him a better "man" but will only make you a miserable young woman.
We are waiting Canada.....
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Job hunting is not a fun thing
Alas, it is something that must be done though if one wants to remain in a home or eat...or drive or any other life activity.
Mondays are usually the days that I spent several hours online scouring the job boards and postings. I hit them all...Monster, Yahoo, Craigslist and some EHS Specialty sites as well. I easily spend three hours trolling through the jobs, seeing which ones fit my current skills and which ones would allow me to stretch career wise.
So it always helps if you can get another pair of eyes in the game. After posting my resume on my LinkedIn site I received a phone call from a recruiter. Here is a bit of job advice for you...recruiters and temp agencies can be invaluable to an unemployed person. Many companies, rather than spending time on recruiting for jobs, will hand this task off to other agencies. When this happens, it becomes a closed loop and potential candidates are not aware that jobs at certain companies are even open. Working with a recruiter or temp agency can give you access to a whole slew of jobs that will never be posted anywhere.
So he tells me that he may have an opportunity for me in the training arena. That's fine...I'm cool with that after all a job is a job right! We shall see how all this pans out but it's nice to know that I have another set of eyes looking for me as well.
Mondays are usually the days that I spent several hours online scouring the job boards and postings. I hit them all...Monster, Yahoo, Craigslist and some EHS Specialty sites as well. I easily spend three hours trolling through the jobs, seeing which ones fit my current skills and which ones would allow me to stretch career wise.
So it always helps if you can get another pair of eyes in the game. After posting my resume on my LinkedIn site I received a phone call from a recruiter. Here is a bit of job advice for you...recruiters and temp agencies can be invaluable to an unemployed person. Many companies, rather than spending time on recruiting for jobs, will hand this task off to other agencies. When this happens, it becomes a closed loop and potential candidates are not aware that jobs at certain companies are even open. Working with a recruiter or temp agency can give you access to a whole slew of jobs that will never be posted anywhere.
So he tells me that he may have an opportunity for me in the training arena. That's fine...I'm cool with that after all a job is a job right! We shall see how all this pans out but it's nice to know that I have another set of eyes looking for me as well.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Post Holiday letdown
Well here it is Monday after the July 4th weekend. Tim and I went to visit the parental units in Watertown. The humidity there was awful, worse then here in PA. We did spend one day down at the cottage...of course it rained but fortunately it wasn't a long or particularly nasty rain like one can get on the shores of Lake Ontario.
Sunday we drove back from Watertown and of course all the fun stuff that goes with returning from a trip, even a short one. Laundry being the worst part of it. Tim was happy that his paycheck was sitting in the mailbox waiting for him.
As for me...well Mondays are usually spent with a couple of hours searching through the job boards. In addition to the safety jobs, I've started applying for HR generalist jobs. While most of these are entry level and would mean a serious drop in income, a job is a job and a job with benefits is even better even at a lower rate of pay. Although these companies that are looking for people with PHR or SPHR certifications and only paying $15 an hour are out of their ever loving minds. Especially since a criteria for getting one of those certifications is being at the management level. And it's not a cheap certification to get or maintain. Perhaps they need an HR professional to tell them that.
I can certainly see why Monday's are the Debbie Downers of the week though. You have a pleasant weekend filled with fun and frivolity and then its back to work...or for me, looking for a job. The good thing about Mondays is that most companies will post their new jobs on Fridays to allow for a good chunk of applications over the weekend. Today I applied for 7 different jobs...some safety related, some HR related. Let's hope some of that great job mojo rubs off soon!
Sunday we drove back from Watertown and of course all the fun stuff that goes with returning from a trip, even a short one. Laundry being the worst part of it. Tim was happy that his paycheck was sitting in the mailbox waiting for him.
As for me...well Mondays are usually spent with a couple of hours searching through the job boards. In addition to the safety jobs, I've started applying for HR generalist jobs. While most of these are entry level and would mean a serious drop in income, a job is a job and a job with benefits is even better even at a lower rate of pay. Although these companies that are looking for people with PHR or SPHR certifications and only paying $15 an hour are out of their ever loving minds. Especially since a criteria for getting one of those certifications is being at the management level. And it's not a cheap certification to get or maintain. Perhaps they need an HR professional to tell them that.
I can certainly see why Monday's are the Debbie Downers of the week though. You have a pleasant weekend filled with fun and frivolity and then its back to work...or for me, looking for a job. The good thing about Mondays is that most companies will post their new jobs on Fridays to allow for a good chunk of applications over the weekend. Today I applied for 7 different jobs...some safety related, some HR related. Let's hope some of that great job mojo rubs off soon!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Moving on...cleaning out the office
Today I went in and cleaned out the rest of my personal items from my office. It was sad. Really sad. I'm grateful that I cleared out some of the more high end electronic stuff earlier and so I didn't have much to do this time.
But it was still hard. I loved working at this company. I had a lot of responsibility, a lot of freedom to design the program that was best for the company and our employees. And I was very good at it too.
My key card had been deactivated so I couldn't even enter the building like I normally would. I had to be escorted back to my office because I knew that my key card would not open my office door. I entered my office and it looked like my office mate had just stepped out of the office for a moment. There was work spread all over the round table that was in my office. I moved those items out of the way and started pulling things from drawers and off the walls and piled them on the table.
I emptied drawers next and piled those items on the table too. I started placing all those items into the bags that I brought. My poor Christmas tree, with the ornaments that employees placed on the tree, was put into a plastic trash bag so that I wouldn't loose the bulbs.
Everything that I took home were items that I either purchased for use at work or were mine to begin with. I remember the reason behind why I brought those particular items in, how I used them and who even used them.
It's sad when one is forced to move on like that. I could have finished out my career there; it was that good of a place to work. I will miss most of the people there. It's sad really because it didn't have to end this way. It didn't have to end at all.
But it did.
But it was still hard. I loved working at this company. I had a lot of responsibility, a lot of freedom to design the program that was best for the company and our employees. And I was very good at it too.
My key card had been deactivated so I couldn't even enter the building like I normally would. I had to be escorted back to my office because I knew that my key card would not open my office door. I entered my office and it looked like my office mate had just stepped out of the office for a moment. There was work spread all over the round table that was in my office. I moved those items out of the way and started pulling things from drawers and off the walls and piled them on the table.
I emptied drawers next and piled those items on the table too. I started placing all those items into the bags that I brought. My poor Christmas tree, with the ornaments that employees placed on the tree, was put into a plastic trash bag so that I wouldn't loose the bulbs.
Everything that I took home were items that I either purchased for use at work or were mine to begin with. I remember the reason behind why I brought those particular items in, how I used them and who even used them.
It's sad when one is forced to move on like that. I could have finished out my career there; it was that good of a place to work. I will miss most of the people there. It's sad really because it didn't have to end this way. It didn't have to end at all.
But it did.
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