The FB experience
is a hotbed for political expression.
The funny thing about the social media phenomenon is that many of the
shared political and social memes are inaccurate. “Satirical” material is the king now,
designed to inflame and impassion people into action with outrageous
claims. The old adage about putting your
best foot forward is definitely good advice.
With all the crap flying through the web these days, nothing beats solid
facts. I have some experience in these matters so I’m sharing what I think is the best
argument that cuts through the hype.
Marijuana
Let’s start with an
informational toke to let the inspiration flow.
Let it be known that I have never been able to use marijuana. I got my student pilot license at 14 and have
been in jobs that require drug-tests throughout my civilian and military
career. Pot just wasn’t on my radar.
First of all,
marijuana is not a miracle cure. Sure,
some studies have shown it to be beneficial in cancer treatment but marijuana
doesn’t seem to stand out as a cancer fighter among other homeopathic
treatments. There’s no conspiracy
keeping weed down to help the chemo companies make money. Nothing works better than the current
treatments, and no single treatment cures everything. Believe me, if burning a doob dropped a
patient’s CEA (tumor marker), M.D. Anderson Cancer Center would open a hooka bar. I am a cancer patient and have discussed this
with doctors and other patients as well as having done plenty of web research. Money is made based on cure rates, not the
sale of medication. If a medication
doesn’t produce satisfactory results, it’s kicked to the curb. Weed is a hit-or-miss thing with cancer. It’s highly beneficial to some in helping
with chemo side effects, but not for others.
Any cop will tell
you that a stoner is typically non-violent and easier to deal with than a
drunk, junkie, speed freak or coke head.
I don’t know the numbers on driving incidents involving weed, but I have
extensive experience in arresting DWI’s and the number of marijuana related
stops were dwarfed by those of alcohol.
The best argument for weed is that the criminal and sociological impact
is far less than other drugs.
I don’t support
the “gateway drug” ideology. It’s not
the substance that leads a person down the path of destruction, it’s the
person. I was raised to believe that
only losers smoked dope, so I didn’t. Experience
has since shown me that many mainstream successful people use it, but it’s
still common among losers. I’ve heard
people say they stopped because it made them unmotivated. Others report a Ritalin-like effect that
helps them focus and endure monotonous tasks.
This seems pretty consistent with alcohol. Some people become lifelong drunks, others
like a couple of drinks to loosen up before going on stage (ok, I can vouch for
this one.) In day-to-day calls for
service, the average complaint about a pothead was that they wouldn’t get off
the couch. Drunks are a different story
with far more violence and family impact issues.
I don’t currently
support marijuana use. I do take my oath
to uphold the law seriously and ganja is still illegal, but more importantly in
our area, buying the stuff likely supports the brutal Mexican drug trade. I’m hopeful that legalization will help
topple the cartels, at least in the weed market. They still have the harder stuff to profit
from but weed remains a big moneymaker along the border.
The bottom line
is that people smoke weed to feel good. It’s
not a miracle cure but there are some medical benefits. It’s not for everyone. It won’t make someone a heroin addict and it
won’t turn everyone into Tommy Chong.
Heads are less likely to be violent and don’t seem to be the public risk
that drunks are. I’ve personally seen
booze and prescription drugs cause more damage to families than weed. I believe this ideology will help turn the
tides into a legalize-and-tax situation.
The Pit Bull
I’ve seen some
memes out there that tell us that people discriminate unreasonably against the
breed. The most frequent thing I hear is
that a Pit’s behavior depends upon how it’s raised. I know several owners of Pits, and there’s a
common thread. While they praise the
animal’s friendly disposition, in other conversation they are leery or even
proud of their potential for aggressiveness.
There’s a reason for this, and it’s not the fault of the dog or a
responsible owner.
I’m very lucky to
have attended a seminar led by Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman. He is a leader in the psychological effects
of killing in soldiers and police. He
teaches police and military leaders how to deal with PTSD and other problems
caused when a normal person is forced to kill another in deadly force
situations. In his teachings, he points
out that animals are normally resistant to killing their own kind outside of a
few circumstances like infanticide (i.e. a lion killing cubs of another male to
make room for his own). Most animals
will fight and injure each other over mating rights and territory, but even the
most dangerous animals don’t routinely kill each other. In the case of the pit bull, however, animals
are trained to kill their own kind. The ones
that kill are bred to similar dogs. The
less aggressive dogs are destroyed. The breeding is fast and plentiful, unlike
the breeding practices of responsible owners.
Over years of the fast-moving dog fighting market, this produced a
sociopath. Breed traits are very
difficult to train out, and the traits have triggers. Herders herd.
Pointers point. Retrievers
retrieve. Greyhounds chase. Terriers dig.
Fighting dogs kill dogs.
In my years on
the streets, Pits were common in crappy neighborhoods and were often
aggressive. I was never attacked by a
Golden Retriever, Great Dane or any other large breed. Pits were a different story. Especially in those crappy neighborhoods,
owners were proud of the breed’s aggressiveness, citing protection for the
owner. Any breed will show protective
behavior for their owner. Some will
alert and run, and some will hold at bay, some will attack. I’m married to a former animal control
officer who bears more scars than I do from Pit Bulls. There is definitely a tilt in the scales toward
aggressiveness in Pit Bulls, so it’s not discrimination that caused a cautious
eye to be cast on the breed.
Even the ASPCA is
very cautious in their attitude toward the breed. U.S. Studies typically show the Pit Bull at
the top of the list in attacks against humans.
The best any opposition has been able to spin the numbers is to show
that the population per capita of attacking Pits is lower than any other
dog. I don’t understand how they know
the numbers of all breeds, but even the more favorable studies show Pits as the
top attacker.
The absolute best
argument for the pit bull is that media popularity is causing more responsible
pet ownership. Dogs with strong pet
traits grow in number while those with sociopathic aggression diminish. This takes longer because pets are loved,
nurtured, live long lives in good care and are bred more slowly than fighters. The support in rehabilitating the breed is hurting
the fighting industry. Responsible pet
owners are slowly winning the battle of attrition against years of
intentionally malicious inbreeding.
Like plenty of
other problems in society, it’s a problem caused by stupid, greedy, criminal
people who victimized the innocent. It
can only be fixed by responsible, civil and caring people.
Guns
The most near and
dear argument to me is that of firearms.
The second amendment is very clear, and is the default in most
arguments. Add to it the statistics
showing that big cities with strong gun control have the highest murder
rates. The problem is media
sensationalism. It’s like a plane
crash. You’re safer in an airplane than
a car. I’ve never offered someone a car
ride and had them appear nervous about crashing. When I offered an airplane ride, some
completely refused because they were afraid of crashing. News media will report on a plane crash for
weeks even when more people died in car accidents on the same day. It’s the same for gun violence. So, there are some of the best
arguments. Now let’s talk about some BS
that hurts our case.
The “Assault
rifle” title has been around for a long time.
The concept of lighter, multi-purposed fighting rifles started with
Germany in WWII and continues to this day.
There is absolutely no denying that weapons like the AR-15 were designed
for shooting people. If I were going to
plan a mass shooting, it would be a semi-auto shorty and a wheelbarrow of magazines. (They’re NOT “clips,” dammit!) We’re better off countering with the second
amendment along with the fact that it was designed as a multi-purpose weapon
and there are plenty of “sporting” uses for it today. Many sports have descended from combat and
warfare and there’s no reason that the evil assault rifles can’t come
along. The overwhelming stats of
responsible ownership versus criminal use are very much ignored by the
anti-firearm community and are among the strongest arguments for keeping government away from black guns.
I can’t warm up to
the concept of open carry. For me, open
carry is a pain. To this very day I
prefer to carry concealed when I’m in public.
The mere presence of a weapon changes the dynamics of everything. It’s very popular for an idiot to cross a
plain clothes cop in an everyday conflict only to later complain that they were
intimidated by the holstered gun. It’s a
magnet for people I don’t know to talk to me.
There’s also the less-frequent occurrence of the personality change of
some people when they strap on a heater.
I’m also very concerned that people will open carry when they are not
able to retain their weapon from a criminal determined to take it. Disarming someone is pretty easy, and there’s
no shortage of prison training on the skill.
In some situations open carry may be a deterrent, but I’m not sure how
much more so it is than widespread concealed carry.
Opinions may vary, but I’ve found that society grinds along
much more quietly around me when my weapon isn’t visible.
It’s very comforting that I can ventilate an armed criminal if
necessary.
I’ve followed some local stories and had
conversations with other officers in bigger cities about the popularity of open
carry demonstrations. There’s a
trend among these groups to be a bit obstinate in arranging the proper permits
and following the restrictions for use of public property for
demonstrations. It results in a cop
telling them to disperse or be arrested for violation of a city code. This turns to spouting of second amendment
violation accusations and the show starts.
Liars like Alex Jones fuel the fire and we have a mess on our
hands. It is far more effective to
demonstrate that gun owners are very much law abiding citizens. I believe that gun rights demonstrators
should show the public that we gun owners are respectful of the law so much
that we’re willing to fill out the monotonous paperwork and pay the fees to
demonstrate. Neckbearded dimwits
marching in the streets and taunting local cops is not going to sway opinions.
In the recent memes about Eric Holder's bracelet idea, the concept of GPS tracking has been added by detractors. The bracelet isn't a new idea. Decades ago, Smith and Wesson introduced a revolver that required the shooter to wear a special ring before the weapon would fire. Years later there was an electronic fingerprint ID holster that was marketed to police that required the shooter's thumb to be scanned before the holster would release. These were well-meaning ideas but they both had fatal flaws. They were useless if the shooter had to use his non-dominant hand. I don't trust any system of this kind with my life. Sure, I suppose GPS tracking could be added to the bracelet, but it's not worth muddying the waters while trying to make a good argument. These systems are unsafe and there's more than enough government involvement in firearms ownership already.
There’s my
inflammatory $0.02 on some recent hot-button issues. I encourage everyone to Google anything
they’re considering passing along on social media and make sure it’s factual
before passing it on. Not only does it
keep egg off the user’s face, it
perpetuates a better argument for the cause.
After all, if you’re taking the time to share something, it’s most
likely very close and important to you.
Fight the good fight and fight it wisely!
