When I first saw the image, I was hoping he was the bad guy, but unfortunately he is the victim who was murdered. He was identified as 66-year-old Gary Dederichs, a Colorado man who was beaten and found dead in an alley around 6 p.m. Tuesday night.

His attack was followed by two similar ones in the Petworth area over the next 27 hours, the victims struck by blunt objects. Hopefully the murderer is found and put to death.

Gary Oldman would want it that way…

Did a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer really just see a black kid one night who was doing nothing but minding his own business, call 911 for no good reason, pick a fight with him and then shoot him dead? Just because the kid was black?

Is there any evidence to support this theory being flung about in so many places? There better be mountains of evidence to support such an ugly life destroying claim. Which led me to investigate further.

Just the facts, ma’am… here they are…

WHAT WE KNOW HAPPENED:

On February 26th, 2012, George Zimmerman, a 28 year old neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community called 911 to report a suspicious person. That person was 17 year old Trayvon Martin who was returning to his fathers fiance’s home at the time. ”Something’s wrong with him,” Zimmerman, told a 911 dispatcher, according to the contents of a call released last week. “Yep. He’s coming to check me out. He’s got something in his hands.” – later identified to be a bag of Skittles and a can of soda. Something happened… and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin.

The police report says that Zimmermans back “appeared to be wet and covered with grass (and he) was also bleeding, from the nose and back of his head,” – confirming there was a scuffle. Zimmerman suffered a broken nose and had injury to the back of his head.

An ABC News clipping of police footage shows no blood on Zimmerman, leading declarations by many that his account of a fight was false. Other reports note that Zimmerman was treated by paramedics at the scene of the crime and obviously cleaned up before being transported, though the gash to the back of his head may be present, but is unclear (UPDATE: an abrasion to the back of Zimmermans head has been confirmed).

When police arrived, Zimmerman said the fatal shot was fired in self defense and was not charged with a crime, outraging Martins family and race activists across the country.

WHAT EACH SIDE SAYS HAPPENED:

George Zimmerman says that he was approached by Martin, the two exchanged words and Martin punched him in the nose and repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk. 911 calls were made by others at that time reporting that they heard screams (emanating from whom, we dont know).

Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for Martins family calls the self-defense claim “absurd”, citing Martins girlfriend who was on the phone with him prior to the shooting. Crump also noted that Zimmerman defied the advice of the 911 operator who said “we don’t need you to do that” when Zimmerman told them he was folling Martin, telling NBC’s Matt Lauer “You can’t chase someone and call it self-defense”.

George Zimmermans father told Orlando TV station WOF that while Treyvon Martin was beating Zimmerman, he said something to the effect of, ‘You’re going to die now’ or ‘You’re going to die tonight.’

MARTIN, ZIMMERMAN & PLAYING BY THE RULES:

George Zimmerman’s criminal record, according to WFTV, includes a 2005 arrest for resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer. The case was ultimately dismissed.

Trayvon Martin was frequently in trouble with the authorities in the months leading up to his death. He was suspended three times for repeatedly skipping school, being late for class and getting caught with a marijuana pipe and empty bag with traces of marijuana in it.

Martins Twitter contains a tweet five days before he was killed from his cousin reading ‘Yu ain’t tell me yu swung on a bus driver,’ implying that Trayvon assaulted a bus driver.

Objecting to these reports, Treyvons mother said ’They killed my son and now they’re trying to kill his reputation.’

HOW THE MEDIA HAS PORTRAYED MARTIN & ZIMMERMAN:

A carousel of old photos depicting a younger Trayvon Martin are matched up against the same frowning booking photo of George Zimmerman.

HOW TRAYVON MARTIN PORTRAYED HIMSELF:

An archive of his Twitter, which Martin tweeted under the handle “NO_LIMIT_NIGGA” can be found here. It contains multiple references to drugs including one that says: “Finna (I’m fixing to) smoke 1 wit my dawg wayne.” Another says: “2 glock 40′s… bitch you got 80 problems.”

Though most of his tweets are benign commentary such as “PLZZ EXERCISE YO RIGHT 2 REMAIN SILENT.. DAM”

The photo he chose to represent himself on Twitter and Facebook (below) shows a different style than the childhood photos the media has chosen like the one above.

RACE BAITING:

Martins mother, Sabrina Fulton, alleges that Zimmerman killed her son “because of the color of his skin“. She has provided no evidence or reasoning for the claim, but that line has become that of an increasing group publicly protesting their outrage and calling for Zimmermans arrest.

The New Black Panther Party has offered a $10,000 bounty for George Zimmerman.

White on black racism was blamed for the shooting. T-shirts with a picture of George Zimmerman under the label “Pussy Ass Cracker”  have appeared.

I mean, I guess white high school girls have adopted the hoodie to a point where its conceivable that some people wouldnt immediately make the connection to gangsta thuggery as quick as they might with Geraldo’s other example of baggy pants – but the other part of his caution is unfortunately legit, too. Baggy pants and a drawn hood on a little white girl is not threatening. The same attire on an any-sized dark skinned male – different story. Sorry that you people are just learning about gangsta thug culture and its prevalence in urban communities and those communities being predominantly dark skinned – but ignoring reality isnt helpful to solving problems. Stop being racist by pretending its racist to acknowledge reality. Baggy pants and a raised hood are outfits utilized by thugs to make them hard to identify and to easily conceal weapons and other contraband. You know, like how the video “All black in my hoodie” features Malcolmn X (lets start a riot!). Stuff like that, people…

No one is suggesting that raising the hood on a sweatshirt to keep your head warm or buying a pair of Levi’s that are 2 sizes too big automatically makes you a criminal – what was said by Geraldo was that it makes you look more suspicious, and needlessly so. You’re lying by denying that that is correct. and liars go to hell. so… there’s that to consider.

Still, however: Celebrities, athletes and politicians have been wearing hoodies to show solidarity to Treyvon Martin, the 17 year old black guy who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer after the latter called 911 to report the “suspicious looking” Martin in his gated community (he was returning to his dads fiance’s house). This of course makes no point while trying to make a point, since Geraldo’s point was about looking like a criminal and people *who don’t know you* thinking you are more likely to be up to no good based on your choice of dress. If you see a celebrity or politician dress up as Hitler, you usually know that they’re probably not a Nazi. If you see a white guy with a shaved head dawn swastika branded clothing, however, you have no frigging clue.

Above: Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, wears a hoodie from Google’s Current TV station in protest and in solidarity with Treyvon Martin. Because if the white female former governor of Michigan isn’t a criminal despite wearing a hoodie from a television network, it is obviously ridiculous to think that someone might have any such suspicion about a dark skinned male wandering the streets at night in one. makes perfect sense.

But enough about other people and back to something that actually matters: Me.

I was about to make my Facebook default a picture of me in a hoodie just to mock the people mocking Geraldo for making a perfectly reasonable point but why stop there? Always go 2nd or 3rd layers deep on a gag if possible. and this seems possible. but whats the best angle to go from?

Since not everyone is up to speed on the details of the hoodiegate aspect of what is, at the time of this writing, a news item that is widely being talked about, the adjoining text to whatever I post may need some explanache in it too.

I don’t want to go overboard though. Just something simple and then a caption. haven’t crafted it quite yet.

So far I think I’m gonna go with “Wearin a hood. dont mean you aint Good”, although I also like my Twitter promotion tie in where I reference the fact that Treyvons shooter told the 911 operator he called that he was following Treyvon to investigate what was up since there was a series of robberies in the area and the 911 operator said he didnt need to do that. So my caption/twitter promo would be:

911 says not to follow.
But you can’t resist…
@AwesomestguyEvr

I might use that one with a different pic though since it doesnt mention the hood. Will stew on it for a day or two and see if something more brilliant comes to me and will update later…

I’m not sure if there’s a language difference but here in the states, the phrase “Real Men [Action]” is a challenge to manhood and lack thereof. Grammatically it just states a fact: that this action happens. but colloquially, it sounds like “you’re not a real man unless you get fkkn RAPED. pussy.”

I love the symbolism, too. A ground shot of an ominous stormy sky with a rugby ball – the symbol of British manliness – being punctured by a nail. Real men get raped just like this rugby ball, gentleman. “and talking about it takes real strength”.

It’s being posted on 140 escalator panels in central London Tube stations (again: subways) by a group called Survivors UK, cuz the world decided that “rape victim” is no longer an okay phrase. Victims of rape are “survivors” now.

As for the stats in America: The National Center For Victims Of Crime claims that about three percent of men in the U.S. (that’s about three million dudes) have been raped at some point in their lives.

Checkout the placement of this guys nose, post-punch… It’s like someone moved it in Photoshop. or in this case: photo-BOP. cuz like… he got bopped in the nose… n stuff. Go Team GoodGuy!

Funny, but they should leave H&R alone too and get a fkking job and work for nice things that they want.

The only positive thing that’s come out of the Occupy protests has been the silly Amazon product reviews of the pepper spray used in the Davis-spraying. Aside from that it’s just more cause for whining and outrage. Did you know that forcing people to move who refuse to move from property they don’t own is a “military threat”? Oh ya dude. Totally:

“How Could This Happen in America?” Why Police Are Treating Americans Like Military Threats
Why is the armed might of the state, (necessary in waging war against foreign enemies) being applied to domestic policing of local communities and peaceful protests?

Who is gullible enough to fall for this victim-porn propaganda? These protests are often not peaceful – what with the attacking the police, vandalism, vandalism with feces, vandalism with 200 pounds of feces, other mass filth, corpse-filth, disease, open drug use, overdoses, rapes and death and all – but even during the peaceful ones, it’s painfully obvious that the whining reaction to them are just whining. Oh no.. you broke laws and got arrested or forcibly moved from a place you weren’t allowed to be. and I’m supposed to feel sympathy for that just because you wanted to be there? This is stupid. That article ends with this paragraph:

“Is this still my country?” That’s been a question from day one, asked by Americans of widely diverging views in response to government crackdowns on protest. Objecting to military violence against protesting citizens may be inherently American. The urge to crack down can look inherently American too.

Don’t people usually die in “military violence”? And yet no one has died in the law enforcement tactics used against these fleabaggers while 7 have died within the Occupy dumps. Lets see.. which is worse? Getting sprayed with something that hurts your eyes in response to your refusal to leave a blockade that has no purpose or meaning? Or dying for participating in a protest that has no purpose or meaning?

Update: woman pepper sprays black friday shoppers so she can get her Tickle-me Elmo or whatever.

I double-dog Dare you to think of something more stupid than this caption^

Police haven’t been shitting on any of the protestors. But the protestors have been shitting on the police.
Police haven’t killed any of the protestors. But the protestors have been killing themselves.
Police haven’t been breaking any of the protestors things to express their political opinions. But the protestors have been costing thousands of dollars in damage to public and private property.
Police haven’t stabbed any of the protestors. But the protestors have been knife attacking themselves.
Police haven’t jerked off in front of any 16 year old girls in the protests but… okay – i’ll give them a pass on this one.

UPDATE: Occupy sympathizer threatens to murder South Carolinas Governor. To date, police have not made any such murder threats in their “military action”.

I don’t understand what the argument against it is. When you tell someone to move and you have the legal authority to do so, wtf are you supposed to do? “Hey, those people are not legally allowed to be occupying that space. it’s not theres, we don’t want them there and they need to leave” – “but… they said no” – “Oh, okay. end of story then. I guess we tried!”. wtf? I don’t think so. They’re lucky all they got was a shot of pepper. Morons.

Although, I’ve also never made a secret of the fact that I don’t understand the Occupy protest as a movement either, and it’s not for lack of investigation. It’s an unorganized collection of whining about nothing specific and has no plan of action other than being annoying as a way to get what they want.

When it first started the most common line I saw was that it was against “Corporate Greed” but no specifics were given on what anyone wanted to do about it. Who exactly is breaking the law or doing something immoral? If the former – why are you not revealing their name to any of the thousands of trial attorneys whose mouths are watering this very second at the thought of taking a Wall Street corrupto-crat down and if it’s the latter then why are you not revealing their names either so people know what it is you’re protesting against and can maybe have some sympathy for your smelly disease riddled public park destroying illegal bongo sessions.

Following a pledge to “stick it to taxpayers“, the cost of this feel-good/accomplish-nothing masturbatory movement to the taxpayers is $10,000 a day or $13 million so far.

Thanks a lot, assholes.

UPDATE: this was posted before the following video surfaced that – SURPRISE – tells you more of what you should have already realized if you weren’t a hippie anti-authority romanticizing fruitcake:

nice ad placement

BRETT:Drugs are the reason most are behind bars. Addiction isn’t weakness. They are either in there for possession of drugs, things they did on drugs, or things they did to get drugs. The fact someone is bound to chemicals doesn’t make them worthless, but our “correctional” institutes don’t correct anything so you end up with people that never get to the root of their problems, and they are bound by a cycle of addiction. If our country aimed at breaking addictions and treating the mentally ill, there would be far less people behind bars. I don’t think either chemical imbalances nor chemical addiction runs hand and hand with stupidity, hence the reason there are intelligent and capable people behind bars. And yes, some who could have been a political leader end up doing little more than hustling people either on the street or behind bars…wasted capabilities that could have been used constructively if the dice had fallen different along the way.

RICHARD:
Drugs are absolutely not the reason most are behind bars and the actions one takes to get themselves addicted to something is absolutely a weakness. it is entirely possible to use recreational drugs and not steal, assault, murder or jaywalk so the excusal of prisoners as being victims of their own behavior (itself a silly circular reasoning) is nonsense. idk why you equate being in jail with being worthless. if that was the case then we’d have a singapore or chinese system of justice instead of the cushy one we have now. the root of these peoples problems is not chemical – its moral. you can be an absolute fiend and it doesnt require you to harm your fellow citizens. there is no dice in this equation. it is peoples choices who put them where they are. not cosmic roulette.