BLOG POSTS

Two weeks ago, a seventeen year old black youth, Shawn Tyson, was sent to prison for life, with no possibility of parole, for the brutal, cold-blooded, murder of two young men from the UK, James Cooper and James Kouzaris. Both men were in their mid-twenties.^[1]

^{The killer, Tyson, is on the left in this image}

The two men were on vacation in Florida and strayed into the rundown Newtown area of Sarasota late one night while looking for an all-night cafe. Tyson, released from prison only that day after a conviction for shooting at cars, gunned them down as they stood in the road, defenseless, pleading with him to spare their lives.

Just about the time Shawn Tyson was learning he’d spend the rest of his life behind bars, Florida neighborhood watch man, George Zimmerman, gunned down black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in an incident that sent the US media into a frenzy and provoked marches and protests throughout the state.^[2]

^{The killer, Zimmerman, is on the left in this image}

On March 6th this year, not long after the Trayvon Martin killing, a disgruntled ex-teacher at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, in Florida, walked back into the school carrying an AK47 assault rifle and shot the head teacher, Dale Regan. Ms Regan had been at the school thirty-four years. The man, Shane Schumerth, a Spanish teacher at the school had been fired earlier that day. After shooting the principle, he killed himself.^[3]

James Cooper, James Kouzaris, Trayvon Martin and Dale Regan, were all in front of the bullet. They are dead. Shane Schumerth killed himself with his own gun. Shawn Tyson, George Zimmerman, may as well be dead. Their lives are over, destroyed by the same weapons used to inflict their deadly violence.

It may seem that Florida is especially gun-violent. It isn’t. Similar stories abound all over the United States. In every state similar incidents occur on an almost daily basis.

I received this document recently in the mail, together with an unsolicited membership form.

^{Click to enlarge}

It came from the National Rifle Association, based in Florida. I sent it back, unsigned.

^{Click to enlarge}

Guns kill – that’s all they do.

^{[1] “Shawn Tyson gets life sentence for murdering British tourists in Florida” Guardian, March 12th 2012}

^{[2] George Zimmerman Innocent Of Racist Hate Crime” Sparrow Chat, March 20th 2012}

^{[3] “Two dead in shooting at Florida high school” March 6th 2012}

The latest revelation to spew forth from the Supreme Court of the United States is further evidence of how much this once august and independent establishment has become affiliated to corporate influence.

The question under debate is whether the federal government has the power to make medical insurance mandatory on every individual. Is it ‘unconstitutional’; does it attack those sacred principles: the rights and freedoms of the individual?

What the Supreme Court is totally ignoring is the very essence of government. Governments are appointed by the people specifically to regulate their affairs within the confines of the society in which they live. In a democracy, that means governing for the greater good of all – not just those at the higher echelons of society.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, disaffectionately labeled ‘Obamacare’ by its opponents, was an attempt by the US government to provide a framework of support for those people presently unable to afford medical insurance. ‘Healthcare for all’ was one of the platforms Barack Obama campaigned on, and the fact it helped him win the White House in 2008 is proof that a majority of Americans supported it.

Despite huge resistance from House Republicans, who forced substantial amendments to the bill and seriously weakened it, it managed to become law. There is little doubt, if Obama is elected to a second term, he will make every effort to strengthen those weaknesses imposed by his adversaries.

Unless, of course, the Republicans and their corporate masters bend sufficient Supreme Court judges to their will and force a legal ruling against the Act.

What began, only a few days ago, solely as a discussion on the legality of mandatory insurance, has now resulted in a proposition, by certain of the more ‘conservative’ (read: right-wing) judges to throw out the Act in its entirety.

If the US government is acting on behalf of the majority of the people in this matter, it seems that the Supreme Court most certainly is not. Which begs the question: on whose behalf are they acting?

The argument against mandatory insurance appears to hinge on a lack of precedent. Apparently, only once before has any US government tried to impose such a mandatory imposition. It was nearly two hundred years ago and only lasted a few months before being overturned.

Yet, it’s perfectly fine for any of the fifty states to do it, though they can be a little tardy. Take motor insurance, for example. Despite the advent of the Model T in 1908, Massachusetts was the only state requiring compulsory auto insurance until 1956. Most of the others followed suit in the 1960s and 70s, though Illinois allowed its citizens to drive around without insurance until 1990. God alone knows how many people died, or were maimed, from road accidents between 1908 and 1990!

Was Illinois merely protecting the ‘rights and freedoms’ of its citizens? Surely, not those who were mowed down by uninsured drivers?

The only US state still so irresponsible as to not demand mandatory auto insurance is New Hampshire. There, a penniless bum can swan around in any old pick-up truck and kill or maim whoever he chooses. If he has no money, they’ll likely get no recompense whatsoever.

Which begs a somewhat ironic scenario. Imagine for a moment, you lose your job, and with it, your family’s medical coverage. Bereft, you spend your last few hundred dollars on a vacation in New Hampshire. Whilst there, a drunken hobo from a tumbledown shack in the backwoods smashes his pick-up into you and your family. You spend weeks in hospital, only to discover on your discharge that the hospital’s taken your house and all your possessions as part payment for those huge medical bills.

You have no money, nowhere to live, and your only recourse is to move you and your family into the tumbledown shack with the drunken hobo who almost killed you all.

Maybe ‘Obamacare’ might seem a little more attractive from your new perspective.

What price your rights and freedoms, then?

The killing of teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida last month has been hyped by many in the media as a racial hate crime. It’s hard to understand how the gunman, George Zimmerman, could commit such a crime given that he’s of Cuban origin and brought up in a mixed race household, if news reports are to be believed.

This was no racial hate crime, despite the hysteria of minor celebrities like Al Sharpton. It was cold-blooded murder.

If there was any element of racism connected to this case it was on the part of the Florida police department. They knew Zimmerman as a serial 911 caller, though were apparently unaware he was a self-appointed vigilante with no affiliation to any official Neighborhood Watch group. When Trayvon Martin was killed they made no effort to apprehend Zimmerman, which would undoubtedly not have been the case had Martin been Caucasian.

According to Chris Tutko, the director of the National Neighborhood Watch Program, there are about 22,000 registered watch groups nationwide, and Zimmerman was not part of a registered group — another fact the police were not aware of at the time of the incident.”^[1]

Despite this fact, he is still given the title ‘captain’ of a Neighborhood Watch group in many news reports. If he were in an official group then he should have followed the rules as laid down by the National Neighborhood Watch Program manual:

“It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers, and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles. They should also be cautioned to alert police or deputies when encountering strange activity. Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous.”^[1]

Instead, Zimmerman went out that night armed with a 9mm hand gun. He was, according to some, angry at a number of recent burglaries within the gated community. He pursued Trayvon Martin, despite being explicitly told by the police not to do so. He then confronted Martin and shot him.

Whether Trayvon Martin tried to fight off Zimmerman is irrelevant. Even if, unlikely though it is, he got the better of Zimmerman in a fight, Martin was unarmed and therefore not in a position to put Zimmerman’s life at such risk as to condone his use of the firearm.

George Zimmerman dreamed of being a cop. No doubt he acted out that fantasy while he ‘patrolled’ his neighborhood each night, dreaming of how he would react if faced with one of the burglars he longed to apprehend.

Meanwhile, the gun on his hip just itched, and itched, and itched, to be fired.

Trayvon Martin was no burglar. He was just a teenage lad returning home from the local store after nipping out for refreshments during a break in the TV ballgame.

To Zimmerman he neatly fitted a description long carried in his head. Martin was a criminal out to burgle: young, hoodied, black. Zimmerman would apprehend him. Perhaps then he’d get the glory he always sought, maybe even be offered a job on the force.

He went after Martin, cornered him, and made to apprehend him. When Martin resisted, Zimmerman was finally able to scratch that itch.

NOTE: It’s not the policy at Sparrow Chat to convict someone before they’ve been tried in a court of law. Americans love to do it and the media are awash with unofficial ‘hanging judges’ like the evil Nancy Grace. This case is somewhat different. For some strangely unfathomable reason, the killer was never arrested.

If evidence is ever allowed to be revealed in a court of law it may well be that a jury will find George Zimmerman innocent of any crime. There may be factors in this case we are presently not aware of. Until then, we find George Zimmerman innocent of any racist crime, but undoubtedly guilty of deliberately shooting an unarmed boy to death.

If that isn’t murder, we don’t know what is.

^{[1] “FBI, Justice Department to Investigate Killing of Trayvon Martin by Neighborhood Watchman” ABC News, March 19th 2012}