Sunday, September 09, 2007

A culture of violence

A 12-year-old boy was rushed to Eden Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries after he was shot in front of a Hayward taqueria early Friday evening, police said Saturday. At around 5:45 p.m., officers responded to reports of gunshots in front of Costa Azul Taqueria at 194 Harder Road, according to Hayward police Lt. Mark Mosier. Mosier said officers found the boy suffering from at least one gunshot wound. The victim was rushed to Eden Medical Center where he is in serious but stable condition, according to Mosier. With the aid of witnesses, who described the suspect's car as a red Cadillac, police were able to track down and arrest the suspect. The 19-year-old Hayward man was located in his automobile at Soto Road and Jackson Street and was taken into custody on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
-- San Jose Mercury

After nightfall on Jan. 13, 2006, an unmanned Predator aircraft guided by the CIA fired missiles at two houses in the northwestern Pakistani village of Damadola, a few miles from the Afghan border. The target was a dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. CIA officials had received intelligence that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's deputy leader, had been invited to attend. The missiles destroyed the houses and killed more than a dozen people. Zawahiri was not among them, but Pakistani officials soon said the fatalities included several other high-ranking al-Qaida leaders. U.S. and Pakistani officials now say that none of those al-Qaida leaders perished in the strike and that only local villagers were killed.
-- Washington Post

There are criminals who have no respect for human life, who will gladly kill innocent bystanders if it allows them to "take out" their rival. Sadly, the only difference between the 19 year old criminal in Hayward and the 60 year old criminal in Washington D.C. is that the 60 year old criminal has missiles rather than a pistol and thus kills far more innocent bystanders while trying to take out his rivals. Well, that and the fact that the 19 year old criminal is now in jail, while the 60 year old criminal is going to die a free man having never seen the insides of a jail cell because of the 29% of Americans who have no problem at all with gangsta thug violence as long as it's directed against brown people.

-- Badtux the Criminal-observing Penguin

5 comments:

  1. taqueria .... A taco shop?

    It seems that the people have no voice anymore. This whole system of government has to be changed in order to correct that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A taqueria is a Mexican fast food restaurant. As in, Mexico mexican. There's taquerias all over the place around here, and the food is delicious in pretty much all of them (but oh so bad for you!). I suppose you could get a taco in one of them if you so desire, but generally they sell tapas, burritos, and plate lunches for fast-food prices. I usually get a burrito at a taqueria once a week, it costs under $5 and is enough food for a day (ought to be called a BURRO!). The local hot sauce is called Tapatio and is bottled by a Mexican family that moved to the U.S. some 40 years ago, and should be slathered liberally upon the output of the taqueria. Yum!

    Oh - Taco Bell is not a taqueria. If you wonder why, ask them for a burrito with chile verde and cilantro. They will look at you as if you are a space alien. Taquerias always have various stews ("chile") burbling behind the counter. My favorite is chile verde, which is a green chile with very tender pork cooked in it. If I get, say, an enchilada plate, it comes with one of these chiles over it and I just love the chile verde.

    - Badtux the Mexican-eatin' Penguin (no no, not the Mexicans themselves, their FOOD!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, I don't suppose it'd be cannibalism, since penguins and humans/monkeys are different species.

    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  4. that's where i haffta believe in karma...they will get what they are due...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ariz goddess, I sure hope you're right!

    ReplyDelete

Ground rules: Comments that consist solely of insults, fact-free talking points, are off-topic, or simply spam the same argument over and over will be deleted. The penguin is the only one allowed to be an ass here. All viewpoints, however, are welcomed, even if I disagree vehemently with you.

WARNING: You are entitled to create your own arguments, but you are NOT entitled to create your own facts. If you spew scientific denialism, or insist that the sky is purple, or otherwise insist that your made-up universe of pink unicorns and cotton candy trees is "real", well -- expect the banhammer.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.