Please! No body cameras for police.

Following the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, there is a loud hue and cry for the police to wear body cameras. "If the policeman had been wearing a body camera, we would have known exactly what happened", they insist.

Wishful thinking.

The Staten Island event which preceeded the death of Eric Garner, is hard evidence that body cameras would never tell us "exactly what happened".

In this case, the media and many individuals are insisting that officer Daniel Pantaleo used a choke-hold on Garner resulting in his death. Pantaleo says he did not use a choke hold, the Grand Jury did not think he used a choke-hold, nor did Staten Island D.A. Dan Donovan.

I have watched that video several times and I find it impossible to determine exactly what Officer Pantaleo did... from the video.

Most often, "hidden cameras", dash cameras - even body cameras deliver a picture that is out-of-frame, out-of-focus, or, more commonly, simply at the wrong angle to show the details we seek.

I am reminded of the oft-used challenge to an official's call in an NFL game. In the chaos of a play, an official near the play announces what happened. From the far edge of the field, coaches believe they saw something else, so the call is challenged.

Then, the video of the play is reviewed, usually as shot by more than one camera, from more than one location, and probably always in slow motion. And remember, that video was shot by a professional cameraman using very expensive professional equipment.

More often than not, the call made by the official on the field is sustained.

In the Staten island case, that cell phone video might well lead to additional, unwarranted charges against Officer Pantaleo.

Could there be an inept official calling NFL plays? Yes, but rarely. Could there be a police officer using prohibited tactics and lying about it? Yes, but rarely.

The odds are with the NFL official - and the police officer. Not what we might see with a small, relatively inexpensive body camera.     

Reality IS color blind!

Looking beyond all the talk of discrimination, racism, white privilege and lists of other talking points by race baiters, and victim wannabes, we see concrete proof that it's all BS. Yet, these groups fail to see, or at least fail to acknowledge this proof.

A Black American can never get ahead in America they scream, but we just keep seeing Black Americans get ahead... way ahead!

It is tough for any American not born to privilege to win fame, and/or fortune. But there is a formula for doing it, and it works regardless of skin color, ethnicity, or any characteristic from birth.

That formula is open to all: Get an education; obey the rules; be dependable in your work place.

Consider Bobby Jindal, Nicki Haley, Suzana Martinez, minorities who are members of the most exclusive club in the world: State Governors... only 50 members among some 315 million Americans.

How about Dr. Ben Carson, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and dozens more highly respected, highly accomplished, successful black Americans.

Or, look to the world of sports, or of music, where ability means everything. No one is born with the ability to play an instrument, hit a baseball or shoot a basket. It takes lots of hard work, endless practice and a determination. But those efforts will not be denied because of minority status.

Both Dr. Thomas Sowell and Dr. Walter Williams were born dirt poor, were raised in those abominable housing projects. Success came to these black economists in spite of their race or their humble beginnings.

As a child, New Mexico Lt. Governor John Sanchez was so poor that when he wore holes in the soles of his shoes, his mother could not afford to have them repaired. She cut liners from cereal boxes 

Sadly, many young Americans are being taught there is no opportunity for them in America. They are urged not to be successful, as that would not be black enough. In other words, don't strive for good grades in school; don't dress and groom yourself for success: that would be "acting white". 

But, a white youth can fail just as quickly as a black one. Witness the young men who wear their trousers low on their hips. In many American jails and prisons, inmates are not permitted to have a belt, so their trousers hang low on their hips. Emulating a prison inmate is a good first step toward becoming one.

Success or failure come to those who seek it. Reality proves it.  

It takes love

to fight a war.

Many are wondering what happened to the Iraqi Army. The U.S. spent millions - perhaps billions - to train and arm them. But when they confronted a serious enemy, they abandoned their arms and fled. Should have been no surprise.

Engaging in battle with an "army" proven to give no quarter, one which honors no rules of war, or humanity, is not easy to do. In fact, it cannot be done unless - as Ayn Rand once wrote of selfishness - you would rather die than give up what your enemy seeks to capture.

Personally, I grew up on a farm in Missouri. We had ponds for swimming, patches of woods for endless fun climbing trees, meadows for hunting rabbits. I have looked in awe at the Grand Canyon; have skied in the majestic mountains of western America; have scuba dived off the coast of Florida. I love this land, my personal America.

I love our Constitution which guarantees freedom and rights to all. Those rights may occasionally be infringed by some politicians, but our system of free and fair elections usually corrects those errors.

I have a marvelous relationship with an extended family. I would not want to live at the price of having any one of them captured, raped, tortured, executed. I would go to war with anyone posing a grave threat to my family, or my America. Millions of Americans feel the same way. It is hard for us to understand anyone who would not fight for family, for their country.

But consider the Iraqi soldier. He grew up under Saddam Hussein, he witnessed countless atrocities by his government. That government was overthrown by the Americans. A democracy was established, which also proved to be corrupt. Now that government has been replaced.

It is very difficult to be loyal when you don't know what's coming next. Better to quit the fight and go home, hoping you can protect your family from whatever comes.

Going into battle is a very scary thing. Training and arms is not enough. You have to love what you are fighting for.

Stupid is as Obama does

In the past few days, I have read different opinions of Barack Obama's intelligence, submitted by competent observers: He is said to be very smart. He is said to be stupid. I believe the latter.

Why would Obama keep his academic achievements a secret? Because he did not achieve.

Why would Obama ignore the advice of experts? Because he is so bound by his ideology (whatever it is!) he cannot accept advice that does not conform.

Why does Obama (apparently) ignore the advice of his political advisers? They got this dummy elected to the world's most prestigious office - twice! Does anyone believe these top-drawer political minds told him (with approval ratings in the 30% range) to stand up three weeks before an election and say his policies will be on the ballot? That assertion will doom the candidacy of some Democrats

Who does have his ear? Those billionaire donors? Valerie Jarret? Michelle? Can't be Biden. That old fool insults our allies, then has to go on an apology tour.

Our own military experts, active duty and retired; our friends and allies in the region; all tell him the urgency of  the ISIS threat, and what must be done. He does nothing.

Our founders visualized the coming of a really bad president. They provided by giving us impeachment as a tool. But they didn't visualize a timid Congress.

They made it possible for a president to resign, as did Richard Nixon when his own party leaders urged him to do so. But Democrat party leaders seem willing to see the nation destroyed before they will risk destroying their brand.

In my lifetime, America has taken some severe blows, but always recovered. Can we recover from Obama's presidency?

Our first test comes on November 4.

Unredeemable people

The world is now aware that fighters for The Islamic State in Syria and Iraq are murdering people in frighteningly brutal ways. Beheadings, crucifixions, firing squads. Often after a spell of rape and torture of their victims.

Now there is an ugly, new twist: westerners - Americans, Brits and other Europeans, are rushing to join them.

Why? It can't be for the money. IS isn't paying their fighters that much. And, there is a significant chance they will die at some point during their adventure.

It would appear there is a single reason - they want the freedom to murder people. If they commit a murder in their home countries, they are sure to be caught and punished. Commit a murder fighting with IS, and there is no immediate price to pay.

I graduated from the U.S. Army's Infantry Basic Training School and was taught all the Army could teach (short of actual combat) about killing. Still I abhor the sight of a wounded, bleeding person.

Military combat is terrible, but it isn't always personal, savage. I asked one combat Veteran of the Korean War how many Chinese he thought he had killed. He said he had no idea... there were many kinds of weapons in play, everyone was shooting, many Chinese were falling.

With IS, however, you grab a fellow by the hair and whack at his neck with a dull knife until his head is severed. Or, you nail a child to some kind of cross. You make your captives kneel before you and shoot them in the back of the head, one by one.

The person who would leave the United States and travel to the middle East to participate in that activity is not a human. They are not redeemable. Like a rabid animal, they must be destroyed.

Thoughts

It was a thousand years ago when western Europeans, mostly Christians, got their fill of Islamic conquest and decided to push back. They took the fight all the way to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, they quit before the goal of ridding the world of Islam was complete.

Perhaps they were distracted by Columbus' discovery of the New World. In 1519, Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortez led an expedition to present day Mexico in search of riches for Spain. (Gold often trumps religious fervor.)

But Cortez encountered the Aztecs whose priests ripped the hearts out of living captives and even from their own children, as a sacrifice to their "gods". Cortez realized that no good could come from such beliefs and set about to destroy the Aztec "religion". This time the job was successfully completed.

Had it not been, Aztec priests would still be murdering innocents and, most surely, Western politicians would be calling it a Religion of Peace.

Once again, Europe is in a position where Muslims are "invading" their countries as immigrants. Like the founder of Islam, the pedophile Muhammad, these immigrants relentlessly push for the acceptance of Islam.

In Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, Muslims are exhibiting savagery as brutal as were the Aztecs. Convert or they will behead you. But, today there is no Hernan Cortez. Western politicians insist that the brutality comes only from "radicalized" or "extreme" practitioners of Islam. Islam, they tell us, is a religion of peace.

Scriptures from Muhammad's Quran, however, tell us differently.

An evening with an ancestor

Think of one of your long gone ancestors. Imagine they could come back to spend one evening with you. What would you most like to show them?

My paternal grandfather died in 1937. I remember him when I was a child. If a small airplane flew overhead, he would look up at the sky and mutter, "I'd just as soon he flew over someone else's house!". I think it would be great fun to take him aboard a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. How may he react?

My father died in 1968. Dad had a very curious mind. And he had an unyielding urge to solve problems quickly. If he heard a new squeak or rattle when he drove his car, he would want to pull over onto the shoulder and try to find the source.

He had the same sense of urgency for learning the correct meaning of new words, and kept one of those huge unabridged dictionaries at hand. How I would like to demonstrate the internet for him. Not only could we find the meaning of a word lightning fast, we could hear a speaker correctly pronounce the word... something his great dictionary could not do.