After reading the following quote by Sarah Palin and watching the clip from a speech given in Pittsburgh last Friday...
Two words came to my mind:
(In the voice of a character called Gomer Pyle from an old B/W TV show.)
"Well, Gawwwwlllyy!"
Actually...
Ignorance isn't bliss...
Unless you are ignorant...
But, for the rest of us...
The (thankfully) well-read, educated, independently-thinking people...
To observe the ill-informed actions of and the impasssioned words of the ignorant is...
In two words:
Utterly Excruciating!
Here is Sarah Palin...
(In her choreographed "good 'ol girl" delivery)
attacking the funding of fruit fly research... this time done in the evil empire of Paris, France...
even though the very same sort of fruit fly research which she claims in her speech, with incredulity, makes no sense and doesn't serve 'the public good'...
has only greatly increased the medical community's understanding of the routes from gene to disease...
and which places the little critter on the same page as the more familiar mouse as one of the premier "model organisms for the field of genetics".
In the same speech, Palin - whose youngest son has special needs - says that "early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference".
Yes... But, even better than early identification or detection...
How about Prevention? or, dare we hope... Cure?
And... How might we accomplish this tremendously beneficial advance for the public good?
Enter the lowly, maligned, ridiculed fruit fly...
In one study - "... published just one day before Palin's speech— about the genetic cues that steer nerve fibres around during the growth of the fruit fly" — the results suggest that the paper will "have implications for the pathogenesis of Down's syndrome"."
"I kid you not."
Peace.
L.
(From: www.guardian.co.uk/)
Palin and the Fruit Fly:
How the Vice-Presidential Candidate Became a Laughing-Stock Among Scientists"
Adam Rutherford
Monday October 27 2008 21.00 GMT
"Although science hasn't featured prominently in the US election, Sarah Palin may have alienated herself from the entire basic research community. In her first policy speech last Friday, she called for the federal government to fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and focused on alerting people to the misspent money of Congress. Here's what she said:
"You've heard about some of these pet projects, they really don't make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not."
It's difficult to know where to start with this breathtakingly stupid comment. It is possible that she is referring to a specific research project about fruit flies that are a pestilence on olive trees, but bear in mind her folksy smug delivery, which says to me: "Look how ridiculous basic research is." Richard Wolffe, the senior White House correspondent for Newsweek, commented on this, with a generous prefix:
"I'm going to be as restrained and measured as I possibly can about this. But this is the most mindless, ignorant, uninformed comment that we have seen from Governor Palin so far, and there's been a lot of competition for that prize."
I concur. It is genuinely impossible to comprehend the importance of the humble black-bellied sugar lover to humankind. With only four chromosomes but having a version of something like 75% of disease-causing human genes, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is arguably on a par with the mouse as the founding model organism for the field of genetics.
Why do we study this particular irritating fly for humankind's benefit? Well, because we can. Many of the pathways from gene to disease in humans can be easily reproduced in flies, or are similar enough to be incredibly useful models for understanding how diseases evolve. That's how we learn to treat them. Practically, the fruit fly has a lifespan of around four weeks, meaning that we can examine and generate thousands of specimens in a research heartbeat. We can and do experiment on humans, but with great practical difficulty, even in the rare occasions when ethical concerns permit such experiments.
Here's a couple of examples. Palin said in the same speech that "early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference". Very true. Autism is an enormously complex spectrum of disorders that we are only just beginning to understand. A team of fruit fly researchers from the University of North Carolina last year showed that a protein called neurexin is a key component in making synapses — the connections between brain cells. They issued a response to Palin's idiotic statement, saying:
"The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies, may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism."
So, we don't know what neurexin does in people with autism, but we do know that they are connected genetically. And, thanks to the fly, we now know how neurexin works.
One might have thought that Sarah Palin would take a more active interest in one aspect of scientific research. Palin's youngest son has Down's syndrome, a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21. Although a geneticist by training, I am certainly no expert on the pathogenesis of this condition, nor the significance of Drosophila research into Down's syndrome. So, I typed "drosophila trisomy 21" into PubMed, the scholarly biomedical equivalent of Google. There were 109 results, the most recent published just the day before Palin's gaffe. The concluding sentence of that study — about the genetic cues that steer nerve fibres around during the growth of the fruit fly — suggests that the paper will "have implications for the pathogenesis of Down's syndrome".
These two are drops in the ocean of fruit fly research that have clinical relevance. Down's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, autism, diabetes, ageing research, cancers of all types: that's a minuscule range of diseases that have been and continue to be utterly dependent on the fruit fly. Eight seconds' worth of Googling would have revealed that to Palin. Maybe it's not obvious to the general public how basic research translates into clinically relevant knowledge. But so much of the information we have about the workings of genes and proteins and therefore diseases comes from studying these little critters.
Sarah Palin's comments display an attitude that is blatantly anti-science. Worse, it's lazy, ignorant and gleefully so. Somewhere along the line, the Republicans have endorsed a candidate who is so short-sighted and glib that she inadvertently mocks an indescribably important field of which she might have a personal knowledge. Whatever happens on November 4, the fruit fly's contribution to the public good will always far outweigh that of Sarah Palin, and she would do well to show some respect. I kid you not."
*******************************
And from Christopher Hitchens - A great piece on the subject of Sarah at Slate.com:
"This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity."
(From: www.slate.com/Sarah Palin's War on Science:
The GOP ticket's appalling contempt for knowledge and learning.
Posted Monday, Oct. 27, 2008)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Urgent Action Needed for Devastated Haiti In Aftermath of Four Stoms
I just caught a report on that aired on the Jim Lehrer News Hour (on PBS) about the conditions in Haiti - after it was ravaged three hurricanes.
Haiti is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, with a huge percent of the population living in absolute poverty. According to one source, 80% of the population are unemployed subsistence farmers and with no source of natural energy, most of the 8 million people living in Haiti resort to cutting down trees to make charcoal for cooking. This, along with the selling off of and harvesting of Haiti's trees for lumber exported to other countries, resulted in 95% of the country being deforested. (From: www.haitioutreach.org/)
Between September 1st and 7th of 2008, Haiti was devastated by several major storms: Just 14 days after Tropical Storm Gustav made landfall, Haiti was hit by Tropical Storm Hanna, followed by Hurricane Ike. Each of these storms brought heavy rainfall to the deforested and now unstable land. The floods unleashed by the torrential rains gushed, unimpeded, through the deforested hills. In the aftermath, rivers had overflowed their banks, lakes appeard where there previously were none, roads and bridges were washed away along with homes, crops, farm animals and people.
The struggle for survival was difficult and ongoing for many Haitians before these storms and now it is utterly desperate. Some towns and villages are, today, still flooded by hazardous and contaminated water or mud - that makes vehicle travel impossible and travel by foot dangerous. At least one village was discovered to have been been cut-off from aid for two weeks due to the road being washed away.
Do you remeber the devastation of Hurricane Katrina? Well imagine that kind of death and destruction times three. The storm-battered and struggling people of Haiti need the continued attention and assistance of the world.
Peace.
L.
(From: www.un.org/)
Despite the significant presence of international organizations - with plenty of experts and publications to show for it - the people of Gonaïves have yet to see much benefit. MSF urges international organizations and the Haitian government to immediately re-examine their emergency aid response, and to prioritize housing and nutritional support for the youngest of the flood victims.
view text
Photo Credit: Klavs Christensen (www.doctorswithoutborders.org/)
Appeal For Hurricane Relief in Haiti Badly Under-Funded, UN Aid Chief Says
27 October 2008
- Urgent action is required to respond to the "worst disaster in the last 100 years" to strike Haiti, the United Nations relief chief reported today, warning that aid agencies remain far short of the millions they need to help the country recover after four deadly hurricanes this year left 800 people dead and affected another 1 million.
Only 40 per cent of the $107 million flash appeal aimed at assisting the emergency relief effort has been pledged, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told reporters in New York as he urged donors to contribute more humanitarian aid.
"Even that 40 per cent is nowhere near enough of what we're going to need for the next six months or so for people in Gonaïves, and Gonaïves is not the only place affected by any stretch of the imagination," Mr. Holmes said on his return from a two-day visit to Haiti, which was hammered by four successive storms in as many weeks from mid-August to mid-September.
"We will be putting out a revised appeal in the next couple of weeks to include more early recovery elements and not just the immediate humanitarian elements."
The Under-Secretary-General stressed that further funds will be needed to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere even before these storms, transition from relief to reconstruction and development and prevent the tragedy from repeating itself in the future.
Gonaïves, the hardest-hit city, is still a "dramatic and grim site" even six weeks after the last hurricane hit, said Mr. Holmes. Some 30,000 people are still taking refuge in city shelters, which are very often ill-equipped schools, and some of those who have gone back to their homes are camping on roofs and in courtyards.
There is a large new lake just outside Gonaïves, which did not exist before and now covers the bridge and roads leading to the city, and living conditions have been made even more difficult by huge amounts of mud and stagnant water.
"If urgent action is not taken on the disaster risk reduction front, then we're simply going to see more tragedies in the future," warned Mr. Holmes.
He said that this disaster will happen again if immediate work is not done on improving the ability to channel water from the surrounding hills, such as repairing and reinforcing river banks, reforestation of the affected areas so that the water does not flash flood and mudslide, and relocating the residents of the vulnerable districts of Gonaïves.
Mr. Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that an additional allocation from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) would be released on top of the $4.3 million allocated over a month ago, bringing CERF funding to $10 million.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also announced an agreement today to provide Haiti with a $10 million package to help boost the country's agricultural sector, whose harvest was decimated by the recent hurricanes.
Haiti is facing the double challenge of recovering from the series of hurricanes, which left an estimated $500 million in losses, and feeding its people who were already facing food shortages before the latest natural disasters hit the country, according to an FAO press release issued today.
An average 18 per cent annual increase in food prices over each of the past four years – affecting staples such as rice, maize, beans and oil – has resulted in widespread hunger, economic crises, as well as social and political unrest.
FAO has agreed on a rescue package with the Government to boost farming output in the current and upcoming agricultural season by supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers – 80 per cent of the agricultural workforce – many of whom are severely under-nourished.
More than 240,000 farmers will receive an agricultural parcel consisting of vegetable seeds, cereal seeds, manioc, sweet potato and banana plants among other planting inputs.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries, is funding the $10.2 million agreement as part of FAO's recently established Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Navi Pillay will also make a four-day visit to Haiti next week, when she plans to meet with President René Préval and other representatives of Government and civil society to discuss judicial reforms, and the extent to which economic and social rights are subject to legal jurisdiction.
Haiti is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, with a huge percent of the population living in absolute poverty. According to one source, 80% of the population are unemployed subsistence farmers and with no source of natural energy, most of the 8 million people living in Haiti resort to cutting down trees to make charcoal for cooking. This, along with the selling off of and harvesting of Haiti's trees for lumber exported to other countries, resulted in 95% of the country being deforested. (From: www.haitioutreach.org/)
Between September 1st and 7th of 2008, Haiti was devastated by several major storms: Just 14 days after Tropical Storm Gustav made landfall, Haiti was hit by Tropical Storm Hanna, followed by Hurricane Ike. Each of these storms brought heavy rainfall to the deforested and now unstable land. The floods unleashed by the torrential rains gushed, unimpeded, through the deforested hills. In the aftermath, rivers had overflowed their banks, lakes appeard where there previously were none, roads and bridges were washed away along with homes, crops, farm animals and people.
The struggle for survival was difficult and ongoing for many Haitians before these storms and now it is utterly desperate. Some towns and villages are, today, still flooded by hazardous and contaminated water or mud - that makes vehicle travel impossible and travel by foot dangerous. At least one village was discovered to have been been cut-off from aid for two weeks due to the road being washed away.
Do you remeber the devastation of Hurricane Katrina? Well imagine that kind of death and destruction times three. The storm-battered and struggling people of Haiti need the continued attention and assistance of the world.
Peace.
L.
(From: www.un.org/)
Despite the significant presence of international organizations - with plenty of experts and publications to show for it - the people of Gonaïves have yet to see much benefit. MSF urges international organizations and the Haitian government to immediately re-examine their emergency aid response, and to prioritize housing and nutritional support for the youngest of the flood victims.
view text
Photo Credit: Klavs Christensen (www.doctorswithoutborders.org/)
Appeal For Hurricane Relief in Haiti Badly Under-Funded, UN Aid Chief Says
27 October 2008
- Urgent action is required to respond to the "worst disaster in the last 100 years" to strike Haiti, the United Nations relief chief reported today, warning that aid agencies remain far short of the millions they need to help the country recover after four deadly hurricanes this year left 800 people dead and affected another 1 million.
Only 40 per cent of the $107 million flash appeal aimed at assisting the emergency relief effort has been pledged, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told reporters in New York as he urged donors to contribute more humanitarian aid.
"Even that 40 per cent is nowhere near enough of what we're going to need for the next six months or so for people in Gonaïves, and Gonaïves is not the only place affected by any stretch of the imagination," Mr. Holmes said on his return from a two-day visit to Haiti, which was hammered by four successive storms in as many weeks from mid-August to mid-September.
"We will be putting out a revised appeal in the next couple of weeks to include more early recovery elements and not just the immediate humanitarian elements."
The Under-Secretary-General stressed that further funds will be needed to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere even before these storms, transition from relief to reconstruction and development and prevent the tragedy from repeating itself in the future.
Gonaïves, the hardest-hit city, is still a "dramatic and grim site" even six weeks after the last hurricane hit, said Mr. Holmes. Some 30,000 people are still taking refuge in city shelters, which are very often ill-equipped schools, and some of those who have gone back to their homes are camping on roofs and in courtyards.
There is a large new lake just outside Gonaïves, which did not exist before and now covers the bridge and roads leading to the city, and living conditions have been made even more difficult by huge amounts of mud and stagnant water.
"If urgent action is not taken on the disaster risk reduction front, then we're simply going to see more tragedies in the future," warned Mr. Holmes.
He said that this disaster will happen again if immediate work is not done on improving the ability to channel water from the surrounding hills, such as repairing and reinforcing river banks, reforestation of the affected areas so that the water does not flash flood and mudslide, and relocating the residents of the vulnerable districts of Gonaïves.
Mr. Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that an additional allocation from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) would be released on top of the $4.3 million allocated over a month ago, bringing CERF funding to $10 million.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also announced an agreement today to provide Haiti with a $10 million package to help boost the country's agricultural sector, whose harvest was decimated by the recent hurricanes.
Haiti is facing the double challenge of recovering from the series of hurricanes, which left an estimated $500 million in losses, and feeding its people who were already facing food shortages before the latest natural disasters hit the country, according to an FAO press release issued today.
An average 18 per cent annual increase in food prices over each of the past four years – affecting staples such as rice, maize, beans and oil – has resulted in widespread hunger, economic crises, as well as social and political unrest.
FAO has agreed on a rescue package with the Government to boost farming output in the current and upcoming agricultural season by supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers – 80 per cent of the agricultural workforce – many of whom are severely under-nourished.
More than 240,000 farmers will receive an agricultural parcel consisting of vegetable seeds, cereal seeds, manioc, sweet potato and banana plants among other planting inputs.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries, is funding the $10.2 million agreement as part of FAO's recently established Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Navi Pillay will also make a four-day visit to Haiti next week, when she plans to meet with President René Préval and other representatives of Government and civil society to discuss judicial reforms, and the extent to which economic and social rights are subject to legal jurisdiction.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Join the SFPD: Great Job Security. Get Paid to Assault Civilians.
How's Friday Treating You?
However it's been, it's surely been a Cake Walk compared to the Friday experienced by a young SF musician who goes by the name "Ashtray".
It was a beautiful day here in San Francisco, today.
A little on the Excessively Bright and Sunny-Side for myself... but, I know most people enjoy that sort of thing much more than I.
I worked on my eBay listings and then gathered Jessie the Dog and headed towards the Panhandle Park. When we were leaving, I found a handwritten note - in all caps - that said, "THE COPS BEAT UP MY BROTHER HERE". Curious, but not surprising. I didn't think too much of it at the time and we continued towards the Park. Thankfully, we found plenty of shade under the trees. There were people who were laying out in the sun, others playing with their dogs, joggers, cyclists, a few older and several young people who live outdoors... one of these young men was playing guitar and singing pleasantly.
One of the street kids who knows me approached... "Did you hear what happened?", he asked. "Oh, Gd.", I thought. After living in the Haight-Ashbury for several years and doing a lot of homeless youth outreach work from my own resources, I've come to hate that innocent question and every variation thereof. It has all too often been followed up with the announcement of the sudden, unexpected, tragic and sometimes violent death of a young homeless boy or girl whom I'd known and developed a friendship with. A familiar, yet unwelcome, feeling of dread started to well up inside my chest. "You know Ashtray, right?", the young man continued. I started to scan the faces of the kids I know in my mind. My expression must have told him I wasn't sure. He continued, "He's got dreads and plays the guitar. He usually has a Grateful Dead shirt on. He often sits in front of your house and plays the guitar." "Shit!", I thought. Now I was really feeling bad about not being able to place the name and a face. I don't have the best memory for such things... I blame that getting-thrown-off-a-horse-and-hitting-the-ground-head-first incident that I've mentioned before.
The sweet young man continued, "Well, Ashtray was sitting in the front of Golden Gate Park playing his guitar and this cop came up to him and told him to "Get out of the Park!"." "Ashtray stopped playing and said "No, sir. I don't have to go anywhere. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just playing my guitar."" Ashtray was probably frustrated at what was only the latest in a long and endless line of quality-of-life profiling and police harassment. "Suddenly the cop pulls out his night stick, swings and cracks Ashtray hard across the front of his face. Then, when Ashtray was down on the pavement, the cops began stomping him and kicking him really hard. (Apparently, a second cop was present and before long a lot of them showed up.) There's still a pool of Ashtray's blood on the sidewalk.". I was now concerned that Ashtray was dead. "Jeez! This happened in broad daylight?", I was incredulous. The young man nodded and said, "Yeah." "Is Ashtray OK?", I asked. "I don't know. They took him to the hospital. We're going to go see him right now.", and he motioned in the direction of St. Mary's Hospital on Stanyan Street - the closest. I then realized that several other homeless kids had gathered and were joining him. "I hope he's alright.", I said. "Give him my best.".
After this conversation, I no longer wanted to stay in the Park and play with the Dog. I dropped Jessie off at home and grabbed my digital camera. I had already decided to try to find out the name of the dkhead thug officer and to find the pool of Ashtray's blood and photograph it for this Blog.
I didn't find it on the first trip. There's a fair amount of ground to cover in the front of the Park and I hadn't gotten an exact location of where the incident took place.
As I ran a few errands in the neighborhood, I noticed something different. Carefully placed at various points along the sidewalks, taped to the sides of trucks parked along Haight Street and posted to blank sections of walls and storefronts were more and more of the handwritten signs on white paper - like I had found earlier. They said things like: "WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ASHTRAY?" and "WHEN ARE THE COPS GOING TO WAKE UP" with a Peace Sign on top. There was a huge sign on the sidewalk - propped up against the wall - in front of The Red Vic Movie Theater, written in black capital letters, on a piece of cardboard that was at least 3ft. long! It cried out for Justice and an end to Police Brutality. It mentioned starting a Revolution.
Wow... Something unusual is going on here. I mean, this certainly isn't the first case of SFPD brutality... and definitely not the first case of SFPD brutality against an unarmed homeless civilian who was doing nothing more than playing guitar in the Park when he was assaulted by a sociopathic cop.
What's different today is the response of the public. Lots of people are talking about it... Witnesses, residents, tourists... lots of them... and they are all horrified at what happened.
As awful as this assault must have been to Ashtray, at least the dickhead cop who beat him down and then kicked him repeatedly chose to commit this vicious crime in BROAD DAYLIGHT and IN FRONT OF MANY WITNESSES... several of whom VIDEOTAPED THE ATTACK.
Oh, as you can see above, I did go back and I found Ashtray's pool of blood. Several homeless kids were gathered around as if they were standing vigil. Someone had written "HEY YOU!" above the pool with an arrow pointing at it. Other writing encircled the bloodstain. Two SFPD officers - each on a bicycle - rode up to the scene, stopped and just stared for a minute. Someone asked about what happened and one of the kids standing there motioned towards the officers and said, "Why don't you go ask them." I began taking photographs with a flash. I would have taken the officers' photographs - I had a feeling they were trying to intimidate the people standing vigil - but, at this point they quickly left the scene.
I did find out the offensive and offending officer's name: It's OFFICER KELLY (sp?). He's out of Park Station. Caucasian. Average build. The Captain of Park Station is Teresa Bennett.
I can only hope that the witnesses come forward and file formal complaints.
If you witnessed this assault - or any assault by a Police Officer - Please File A Complaint!
I have done this a few times. At the very least, the incident/complaint will be noted in the officer's permanent file. We must document these assaults and identify these brutal rogue cops and press the Police Commission and the Mayor to FIRE THESE VIOLENT THUGS... and hopefully send them to PRISON... where violent thugs belong.
The SFPD should not tolerate cops who brutalize civilians nor allow them to remain in their ranks.
To do so only does damage to the reputation of the SFPD and damages its relationship with the public.
It also damages San Francisco and it's reputation around the world. Residents and tourists witnessed this assault and will undoubtedly return home and tell friends and family about it.
Oh...
What happened to the victim of this violent attack?
Ashtray is now in jail.
Is that fucked up or what?
Officer Kelly, consider yourself persona non gratia... We do.
As for me, I'm carrying my camera with me Everywhere... and I can't wait to catch you and/or your fellow gang members committing acts of brutality and then contact the local (and national) news with the story and photos, you pieces of shit.
Peace... to Everyone but them.
L.
San Francisco Irony: A Brutal Thug Promotes Red Cross Volunteering
Last night I was working my room...
It's an ongoing project of mine...
One that's been going on for several years...
I had my TV on, but I wasn't paying it any attention since unconvincing commercials were occupying the airwaves.
Suddenly, a male voice slithers through the speakers - identifying himself by a name that I instantly recognized and will not forget any time soon - completely shattering the peace and quiet of my environment and my mind.
I stopped what I was doing and sharply caught my breath as a flood of images of an unlawful and violent act I had witnessed flashed across my mind's eye. An act of extreme brutality that was committed by the very same crude creep who was now strolling through the streets of San Francisco in a commercial on my TV screen.
The less-than-human being's name: "Gabriel (Gabreal?) Gallreade".
To my complete surprise and growing disgust, 'Officer Gabriel' - as he was known in the neighborhood where he sadistically served - was appearing in and speaking through the commercial.
I was horrified.
I am horrified.
In the ad, as he's seen strolling around various sunny streets as his conversational voice-over describes his being a resident of The City. He describes the beauty of The City. He offers that, "... we need to work together" to keep our City this way. He then claims to be a long-time volunteer for The Red Cross. He then adds, "Who am I? I'm an officer with the SFPD in Ingleside.".
I fight the urge to hurl something heavy at the brute... I don't want to break my TV.
Obviously, the organization who sponsored the ad doesn't know.
Apparently, 'Officer Gabriel' didn't tell them... I'm not surprised.
It's unbelieveably ironic in fact that...
Here was Gabriel Gallreade, the same brutal, pea-brained and large-fisted p.o.s. whom I had witnessed (a few years ago) with my own eyes start cocking his arm back and punching - with a closed fist - the face of a disabled, intoxicated, homeless kid... whose hands were already 'cuffed behind his back and who was not resisting arrest in the slightest... a kid who had committed the unforgiveable terrorist act of burning a ticket that Officer Gabriel had given him a few minutes earlier.
I left my perch to search for my camera to document this vicious crime. By the time I returned, the police van had arrived and blocked my view... Keeping me from seeing the worst of this brutal beating. When I saw photos that were taken of the kid's face shortly after the event, I was speechless. Apparently, Ofc. Gabriel, making full use of the resources at hand, had beaten the corner (metal and concrete) garbage can to death with the kid's face.
If I can remove myself from the images and memories of the event which are seared into my brain... I can almost find some humor in the horror here...
A long-time SFPD Police Officer whom I had witnessed commit a vicious and brutal physical assault on a non-threatening and handcuffed young man (sadly, he's not the first nor the last to do so) is currently the 'poster boy' campaigning for volunteers for The Red Cross.
Yeah, I'm sure he's a long-time contributor to The Red Cross.
I'm also quite sure that he's sent a fair number of homeless people to the hospital over the years.
There was this other time that I observed him one night as he drove the SFPD Van up onto the sidewalk and - as he snarled out commands over the PA system to "Move on! Get out of there!" - he literally chased another homeless man - who was wheelchair-bound - from under the covered shelter of a closed Goodwill store doorway and out into a driving rainstorm.
... Not exactly the personality or quality of character that you'd think The Red Cross would want to be associated with.
Like I said... they must not know.
I think I'll do my civic duty and enlighten them.
From what I observed and was told over the years, Officer Gabriel seemed to get some perverse enjoyment from harassing and abusing the homeless... kids in particular. People who live outdoors are extremely vulnerable. No doors to lock. No family or good neighboors to look out for them. And in a courtroom... who do you really think a judge or jury is likely to side with... a tattooed homeless youth with profanity written on their hand-sewn clothing, who may be in need of a shower and who has a plethora of unpaid 'Unlawful Camping' Tickets? Or a veteran SFPD police officer who volunteers for The Red Cross? Officer Gabriel is a textbook school-yard bully... only now he's been given a nightstick, a handgun and carte blanche.
Shame on You, Officer Gabriel.
I don't know why you consistently treat homeless people like mud on your boots and I don't care.
I saw what you did.
I know what you are.
And I'll take a lie detector test to prove it.
Shame on the SFPD for not kicking you and other brutal nutjobs off of the force.
You're not a role model. Not for The Red Cross. Not for SFPD cadets.
I can see you as a guard at Gitmo though...
Peace.
L.
It's an ongoing project of mine...
One that's been going on for several years...
I had my TV on, but I wasn't paying it any attention since unconvincing commercials were occupying the airwaves.
Suddenly, a male voice slithers through the speakers - identifying himself by a name that I instantly recognized and will not forget any time soon - completely shattering the peace and quiet of my environment and my mind.
I stopped what I was doing and sharply caught my breath as a flood of images of an unlawful and violent act I had witnessed flashed across my mind's eye. An act of extreme brutality that was committed by the very same crude creep who was now strolling through the streets of San Francisco in a commercial on my TV screen.
The less-than-human being's name: "Gabriel (Gabreal?) Gallreade".
To my complete surprise and growing disgust, 'Officer Gabriel' - as he was known in the neighborhood where he sadistically served - was appearing in and speaking through the commercial.
I was horrified.
I am horrified.
In the ad, as he's seen strolling around various sunny streets as his conversational voice-over describes his being a resident of The City. He describes the beauty of The City. He offers that, "... we need to work together" to keep our City this way. He then claims to be a long-time volunteer for The Red Cross. He then adds, "Who am I? I'm an officer with the SFPD in Ingleside.".
I fight the urge to hurl something heavy at the brute... I don't want to break my TV.
Obviously, the organization who sponsored the ad doesn't know.
Apparently, 'Officer Gabriel' didn't tell them... I'm not surprised.
It's unbelieveably ironic in fact that...
Here was Gabriel Gallreade, the same brutal, pea-brained and large-fisted p.o.s. whom I had witnessed (a few years ago) with my own eyes start cocking his arm back and punching - with a closed fist - the face of a disabled, intoxicated, homeless kid... whose hands were already 'cuffed behind his back and who was not resisting arrest in the slightest... a kid who had committed the unforgiveable terrorist act of burning a ticket that Officer Gabriel had given him a few minutes earlier.
I left my perch to search for my camera to document this vicious crime. By the time I returned, the police van had arrived and blocked my view... Keeping me from seeing the worst of this brutal beating. When I saw photos that were taken of the kid's face shortly after the event, I was speechless. Apparently, Ofc. Gabriel, making full use of the resources at hand, had beaten the corner (metal and concrete) garbage can to death with the kid's face.
If I can remove myself from the images and memories of the event which are seared into my brain... I can almost find some humor in the horror here...
A long-time SFPD Police Officer whom I had witnessed commit a vicious and brutal physical assault on a non-threatening and handcuffed young man (sadly, he's not the first nor the last to do so) is currently the 'poster boy' campaigning for volunteers for The Red Cross.
Yeah, I'm sure he's a long-time contributor to The Red Cross.
I'm also quite sure that he's sent a fair number of homeless people to the hospital over the years.
There was this other time that I observed him one night as he drove the SFPD Van up onto the sidewalk and - as he snarled out commands over the PA system to "Move on! Get out of there!" - he literally chased another homeless man - who was wheelchair-bound - from under the covered shelter of a closed Goodwill store doorway and out into a driving rainstorm.
... Not exactly the personality or quality of character that you'd think The Red Cross would want to be associated with.
Like I said... they must not know.
I think I'll do my civic duty and enlighten them.
From what I observed and was told over the years, Officer Gabriel seemed to get some perverse enjoyment from harassing and abusing the homeless... kids in particular. People who live outdoors are extremely vulnerable. No doors to lock. No family or good neighboors to look out for them. And in a courtroom... who do you really think a judge or jury is likely to side with... a tattooed homeless youth with profanity written on their hand-sewn clothing, who may be in need of a shower and who has a plethora of unpaid 'Unlawful Camping' Tickets? Or a veteran SFPD police officer who volunteers for The Red Cross? Officer Gabriel is a textbook school-yard bully... only now he's been given a nightstick, a handgun and carte blanche.
Shame on You, Officer Gabriel.
I don't know why you consistently treat homeless people like mud on your boots and I don't care.
I saw what you did.
I know what you are.
And I'll take a lie detector test to prove it.
Shame on the SFPD for not kicking you and other brutal nutjobs off of the force.
You're not a role model. Not for The Red Cross. Not for SFPD cadets.
I can see you as a guard at Gitmo though...
Peace.
L.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Extreme Make-Over: Sarah Palin Edition
As news reports announce Senator Barack Obama opening a double-digit lead over Senator John McCain - two weeks before the November 4th Election - the 'Joe Six-Pack' public persona of Sarah Palin - expertly-crafted by the McCain image machine (formerly of the G.W. Bush machine) - has been caught with toilet paper trailing from her high-end heels.
Breaking News:
It's been discovered that the Republican Party has invested more than $150,000 on clothes, cosmetics, hair and accessories for Sarah Palin and family since she was named as the vice-presidential candidate in August. According to financial records obtained by Politico.com, the high-style spending spree started in September.
$150,000... In One Month?!
Hmmm... It kinda flies in the face of her claim of being an "... average hockey mom" who is the candidate of the "Joe six-packs."
Not only that, questions are arising over the legality of Palin's wardrobe being paid for with McCain campaign donations.
Campaign finance experts cite the Federal Election Commission's opposition to campaign money being used to buy items for personal use.
In response, a campaign spokesperson weakly offered that the clothes would eventually be donated to charity. (That's all well and good, but it still doesn't answer the legality question.)
And, if you haven't noticed the change from August until now (I didn't... but I try not to actively pay any attention to her.)... that's probably because her look hasn't changed as much as the names on the labels and their prices.
After initially refusing to comment on the expensive wardrobe make-over, the McCain/Palin campaign turned to its recurring red herring: the media.
The news of this startling shopping spree comes out even as the Republicans have the gall to attack Senator Obama as a tax-and-spend Democrat.
In Other Good News (the kind that restores my belief that human beings can and will avoid causing their own self-destruction)...
According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll (of 1,159 registered voters, conducted from Friday to Monday with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points), "... the popularity of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has fallen. Voters are less likely to see the Republican vice presidential nominee in a positive light, and much more likely to report negative feelings, the Wall Street Journal said.
Forty-seven percent view Palin negatively, compared with 38 percent who see her in a positive light.
Fifty-five percent of voters say Palin is not qualified to be president, up from 50 percent two weeks ago."
(From: www.reuters.com/)
Whew!
Why do I have such an aversion to Sarah Palin?
Well, it's nothing personal... it can't be... I've never met her.
For me (and, thankfully, more than enough voting people) the Glaring Issue here isn't wardrobe or any other superficial item.
It is that - for still unidentified and utterly unimagineable reasons - Senator John McCain chose a completely unqualified person for Republican VP nominee.
And, I figure that, once the choice of Palin was announced to the media and the public and the cat was out of the proverbial bag... No matter what - if any - serious concerns or relevant questions that might come up regarding Palin, her qualifications, her past... the Republicans were stuck with her. It would be virtually impossible for McCain to announce (even if he really wanted to) -say at the RN Convention, "Oops! Heh... heh. My bad! Scratch that. How 'bout this one instead?". Though, at that time, I wished he would.
What makes her unqualified?
Where do I begin?
First and Foremost:
The simple fact is that she has no idea of what is required of/the duties expected of the person holding the position of Vice President of these United States?
This wouldn't be a problem for me... if she weren't aiming to try to occupy that position.
In more than one interview, when asked what the Vice President does or what she would do if she were to become Vice President, her responses have consistently made this fact excruciatingly obvious.
Examples:
1.) In an interview on KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado:
Third grader Brandon Garcia wanted to know, "What does the Vice President do?"
Palin's response didn't just overflow with insincere rhetoric... it was patently false:
"[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom."
2.) In an appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews:
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: "A vice president has a really great job because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the teammate to that president, but also they're in charge of the United States Senate. So if they want to, they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better."
"As Colin Powell said on Sunday's "Meet the Press," the job of the vice president is to stand ready under the Constitution in the tragic circumstances to replace the president. Now, that's one role. The other role is to have only a tie-breaking role as presiding officer of the U.S. Senate. That's it. The Constitution specifically prescribes that. In fact, it says that's all that a person has the right to do."
"She believes somehow that the vice president of the United States has a commanding policy development role... and can lead the U.S. Senate. Where'd she get this from? You've got a candidate who doesn't know the job description."
(From:hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/)
As Matthews put it succintly in a follow-up interview with McCain campaign spokeswoman, Nancy Pfotenhauer:
Matthews: "Somehow, in all these trips to Washington — through Neiman's, and through Saks, and through everywhere else she stopped off, she never picked up a copy of the Constitution. It is a problem. It is a problem, Nancy, and you know it."
Hello? America? This is a Serious Problem.
Whenever I've been job-hunting, I've researched the duties of the position I was seeking. I would Never interview for a job without knowing what the requirements/duties were. Would you?
The person who is the Vice President is a hair's-breadth away from the Presidency.
And, in the 2008 Race, in John McCain, we have a respectable candidate for President who made a singularly poor choice for a VP running mate.
Sarah Palin not only is unqualified and unprepared to be our Vice President...
She is - without question - unqualified and unprepared to be our President.
It isn't at all Personal.
It is a Simple Fact.
Since the McCain campaign is run by those who ran the G.W. Bush campaign, I can see where the rigid refusal to admit mistakes comes from... they raised it to a satirical art form.
But, a mistake was made. They refused to admit it. They refused to correct it. They named Sarah Palin and - after the announcement - for perpetuity... they saw no other option but to 'stay the course'... relying heavily on damage control teams, red herrings, name-calling and media-bashing along the way.
It's unfortunate, but it is what is.
Maybe they'll learn things from this experience...
Things like Humility... and the value of being able to admit making a mistake and the pride that comes with being Honest and the empowerment felt when you correct a mistake...
... Yeah, I know... But, I can Dream can't I?
Peace.
L.
Breaking News:
It's been discovered that the Republican Party has invested more than $150,000 on clothes, cosmetics, hair and accessories for Sarah Palin and family since she was named as the vice-presidential candidate in August. According to financial records obtained by Politico.com, the high-style spending spree started in September.
$150,000... In One Month?!
Hmmm... It kinda flies in the face of her claim of being an "... average hockey mom" who is the candidate of the "Joe six-packs."
Not only that, questions are arising over the legality of Palin's wardrobe being paid for with McCain campaign donations.
Campaign finance experts cite the Federal Election Commission's opposition to campaign money being used to buy items for personal use.
In response, a campaign spokesperson weakly offered that the clothes would eventually be donated to charity. (That's all well and good, but it still doesn't answer the legality question.)
And, if you haven't noticed the change from August until now (I didn't... but I try not to actively pay any attention to her.)... that's probably because her look hasn't changed as much as the names on the labels and their prices.
After initially refusing to comment on the expensive wardrobe make-over, the McCain/Palin campaign turned to its recurring red herring: the media.
The news of this startling shopping spree comes out even as the Republicans have the gall to attack Senator Obama as a tax-and-spend Democrat.
In Other Good News (the kind that restores my belief that human beings can and will avoid causing their own self-destruction)...
According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll (of 1,159 registered voters, conducted from Friday to Monday with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points), "... the popularity of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has fallen. Voters are less likely to see the Republican vice presidential nominee in a positive light, and much more likely to report negative feelings, the Wall Street Journal said.
Forty-seven percent view Palin negatively, compared with 38 percent who see her in a positive light.
Fifty-five percent of voters say Palin is not qualified to be president, up from 50 percent two weeks ago."
(From: www.reuters.com/)
Whew!
Why do I have such an aversion to Sarah Palin?
Well, it's nothing personal... it can't be... I've never met her.
For me (and, thankfully, more than enough voting people) the Glaring Issue here isn't wardrobe or any other superficial item.
It is that - for still unidentified and utterly unimagineable reasons - Senator John McCain chose a completely unqualified person for Republican VP nominee.
And, I figure that, once the choice of Palin was announced to the media and the public and the cat was out of the proverbial bag... No matter what - if any - serious concerns or relevant questions that might come up regarding Palin, her qualifications, her past... the Republicans were stuck with her. It would be virtually impossible for McCain to announce (even if he really wanted to) -say at the RN Convention, "Oops! Heh... heh. My bad! Scratch that. How 'bout this one instead?". Though, at that time, I wished he would.
What makes her unqualified?
Where do I begin?
First and Foremost:
The simple fact is that she has no idea of what is required of/the duties expected of the person holding the position of Vice President of these United States?
This wouldn't be a problem for me... if she weren't aiming to try to occupy that position.
In more than one interview, when asked what the Vice President does or what she would do if she were to become Vice President, her responses have consistently made this fact excruciatingly obvious.
Examples:
1.) In an interview on KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado:
Third grader Brandon Garcia wanted to know, "What does the Vice President do?"
Palin's response didn't just overflow with insincere rhetoric... it was patently false:
"[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom."
2.) In an appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews:
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: "A vice president has a really great job because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're like the team member, the teammate to that president, but also they're in charge of the United States Senate. So if they want to, they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better."
"As Colin Powell said on Sunday's "Meet the Press," the job of the vice president is to stand ready under the Constitution in the tragic circumstances to replace the president. Now, that's one role. The other role is to have only a tie-breaking role as presiding officer of the U.S. Senate. That's it. The Constitution specifically prescribes that. In fact, it says that's all that a person has the right to do."
"She believes somehow that the vice president of the United States has a commanding policy development role... and can lead the U.S. Senate. Where'd she get this from? You've got a candidate who doesn't know the job description."
(From:hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/)
As Matthews put it succintly in a follow-up interview with McCain campaign spokeswoman, Nancy Pfotenhauer:
Matthews: "Somehow, in all these trips to Washington — through Neiman's, and through Saks, and through everywhere else she stopped off, she never picked up a copy of the Constitution. It is a problem. It is a problem, Nancy, and you know it."
Hello? America? This is a Serious Problem.
Whenever I've been job-hunting, I've researched the duties of the position I was seeking. I would Never interview for a job without knowing what the requirements/duties were. Would you?
The person who is the Vice President is a hair's-breadth away from the Presidency.
And, in the 2008 Race, in John McCain, we have a respectable candidate for President who made a singularly poor choice for a VP running mate.
Sarah Palin not only is unqualified and unprepared to be our Vice President...
She is - without question - unqualified and unprepared to be our President.
It isn't at all Personal.
It is a Simple Fact.
Since the McCain campaign is run by those who ran the G.W. Bush campaign, I can see where the rigid refusal to admit mistakes comes from... they raised it to a satirical art form.
But, a mistake was made. They refused to admit it. They refused to correct it. They named Sarah Palin and - after the announcement - for perpetuity... they saw no other option but to 'stay the course'... relying heavily on damage control teams, red herrings, name-calling and media-bashing along the way.
It's unfortunate, but it is what is.
Maybe they'll learn things from this experience...
Things like Humility... and the value of being able to admit making a mistake and the pride that comes with being Honest and the empowerment felt when you correct a mistake...
... Yeah, I know... But, I can Dream can't I?
Peace.
L.
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