Manns Medium

When you assume the rank of supervisor within any of the branches of the U. S. Armed Forces beginning at E-4, with it comes the responsibility of troop welfare.  Today, troop welfare has been down-graded on the list of paramount trait required to lead and it appears so far down that list now, many often forget it is even there.  This seems to be the condition that many military commanders and their staff are suffering from right now.  The mission is no longer making sure that their troops are properly prepared and ready to engage at all times, the mission is protecting those in command and the upper echelon from anything that could possibly make waves or result in being skipped over for promotion.  Today, commanders and their staff ignore troop welfare and even troop equipment by concentrating more on troop numbers and anything that will embarrass the command. Today’s troops cannot be compared to yesterday’s troops because of how much things have changed.  ...

There are misconceptions and then there are plain bonehead assumptions, when it comes to the recent rash of officer involved shootings and it appears that many are guilty of the later. A misconception is the assuming that someone is a bad person long before ever really getting to know or even taking the time to get somewhat acquainted with that person and defined as “.a view or opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking or understanding.”  This happens a lot in life especially when we generalize about a certain segment of society based squarely upon the actions or perceived actions of some within that segment of the population.  If you consistently see a certain group of people committing crime over and over again, then one tends to assume and build a misconception that all people of that same particular group must also commit crimes on a regular basis.  This misconception leads us to assuming the worst or the best of a section of society even thoug...

When you attend school, people wish to say that there you can gain book smarts but when you education comes from the streets, people say you are gaining streets smarts.  Depending on who you talk to or at the time you talk to them, one would push one over the other and there has even been behavioral test conducted to see which actually came first, the chicken or the egg.  For some reason we think that life is so complicated that we must have a pre-programmable gene within all of us that causes us to act a particular way at a particular time.  Though I can respect these experts’ thoughts and ideas, I have to vehemently disagree with their assessment. This pre-conceived notion to do evil is not a part of our make-up but a direct result of our environment and the choices that we make.  If you make a statement that you believe in a particular thing and you fail to live up to that statement is not a result of anything other than you making a statement you that you fa...

In a nation claiming to be so Christian, we surely ignore the most glaring thing of all.  If you are truly a child of God then you were made in his image.  His image is a spirit; a spirit has no skin color so why does this one fact escape us all?  It does so because that’s the way evil wants it and as long as we are willing to be led by the nose by evil, then that is the only way we will see it.  The differences in skin tone are due to pigmentation, pigmentation necessary to protect your body from external factors period.  What defines you is not the outside or anything else evil wishes you to believe.  What defines you is how you conduct yourself day by day as a child of God but before you make any attempt to feed the hungry and house the homeless, you need to perform one very important act first. The first thing you must do to become a much better you and pleasing to the God you claim to serve is remove that beam from your eye first.  In other w...

Yesterday, the wife and I were talking about the shootings in Dallas and she said something that got me to thinking and something that had never occurred to me.  She mentioned how our generation and the generation before us used to exercise the art of peacemaking.  She remarked that those of us who sought peace first would always be the first responders to any crisis and begin immediately to look for a peaceful solution to the issue.  We never waited until it was too far gone and we never stopped to pose for a picture or camera while doing it.  She mentioned how we would always try to find the common ground before racing toward the high ground.  She then said something that made me sit up in my chair; she asked if possibly our generation and those before who sought peace first was a dying breed. I got to thinking more and more about what she asked and this morning came to a conclusion.  Many of us who had and have children wanted to raise them to quest...

When Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa back in 1503-1504, he probably had no earthy idea that he would be viewed as one of the best of many eras or that his painting would result in becoming "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world". Had he known, he would have probably made other choices than the ones he made once his finished project was done and was exposed to the public. This is the same exact road we continue to travel today.  No one knows the results of an experiment or an action when it first begins.  They know what results that they would like or what results that they were after but no one can say exactly what the end result will be.  Because of this, we often look back at the place where it began and then attempt to correct any incorrect turns or wrong directions we took but to no avail.  We then become frustrated and later many just plainly give up and give ...

Greater minds than mine has called themselves studying this dilemma regarding the primary reason or reasons behind why crimes are committed and if you check on their progress you may find a few strange and mysterious reasoning’s to include but no limited to a defective brain, destined by DNA, criminal mothers or fathers or just plain bad people.  Today’s great minds have now concluded that it is more about the over-whelming desire to have the better things in life with money the only real avenue to that dream and some may settle on the over-whelming lead level in the local drinking water causing mental and physical impairments that so far, a pill cannot cure. All these may make sense to many and seem fine to accept by others but there is another truth behind all crimes which many fear to admit and hide to avoid personal responsibility.  It is said that the primary reason behind crimes is the opportunity to commit it but think about it.  We believed this at one time e...

You ask me why I say unbalanced justice system and I simply have to answer, pick up a local paper, magazine or turn on the news and look closely at those stories reported that are similar in circumstances.  If you are able to see the difference in reporting and the results then you may understand why I say unbalanced but if you cannot then maybe it’s just me who is unbalanced. Take this article titled “ Chicago man convicted of murder for giving teen niece gun used in fatal Facebook confrontation ” written by Jason Silverstien for the New York Daily News  In this article it talks about an uncle giving his niece a stolen gun and escorting her to the home of the girl she ended up shooting.  In a court of law, he was convicted of murder for his ignorant judgment of giving his niece a gun and going with her as if this was the adult way to handle any dispute.  How I see this as unbalanced is Tamir Rice is dead because someone gave that officer who was seen as unfit b...

For all those wanna-be bad asses in America that think the only way to solve a problem is behind the butt of a gun, let me ask you a few questions.  The true meaning of ownership is that which you can take with you wherever you go even in death and since none of the material things you covet, you are able to do that with, what is it that you truly own.  In death, all you will be able to take with you is your soul so why is it not the most important possession to protect?  Why do we pretend that what we purchase is worth the life of another person when it is not something we can take with us where ever we go and why is it so important to pretend to care about the plight of man on one hand while pulling that trigger on another man from the other?  How many of you would be willing to be responsible for the taking of 10 lives simply because you were so set on ridding the world of all those who don’t think or act like you. I asked this because I ran into this article...

Not much is known about how dispatchers are trained to handle 911 calls but one thing is perfectly clear.  If this article is an example of how some handles those calls a complete re-vamp of the manual is sorely needed.  There have been several articles about this type of dispensing of calls but this one may just be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The article is written by Russell Contereras and Terry Tang for the Associated Press titled “Panicked 911 caller: Dispatcher had no reason to hang up” and it reports that “a 911 caller said Wednesday she was panicked about a friend being shot but stayed as calm as possible before a New Mexico dispatcher told her to "deal with it yourself" and hung up as she sought aid.  Seventeen-year-old Esperanza Quintero told The Associated Press that she wished dispatcher Matthew Sanchez had done more to help after her friend Jaydon Chavez-Silver was shot in June while watching friends play cards inside a home. He later died....

We are all entitled to our day in court and have the right to present our case as to why we are not guilty of what we are charged with but to begin so early to attempt to discredit those who oppose you leaves me to wonder why.  Could it be because you know that they have the facts on their side and the results of a verdict from any kind of jury would lead to you being found guilty or is it because privileges have been extended to you that others can only dream about? The article is called “ Lawsuit alleges Waco biker grand jury conflict of interest ” written by Emily Schmall for the Associated Press and it reports that “ a biker arrested after a deadly shootout involving bikers and police in Waco, Texas, argued Friday that it's a conflict of interest for a policeman to preside over the grand jury that may hear his case.  Matthew Clendennen, who sued after he was one of 177 bikers arrested following the shootout, alleged in a court filing that James Head's presence as fore...

No one likes to see a young life snuffed out before it even has a chance to grow but many times bad things happens for a good reason and provides us with an opportunity to correct the direction in which we are headed if we would only heed that chance and get the hint. I speak about the recent unnecessary deaths that have occurred in the past few days like the ones I list below;  For our local news 23 WIFR | Rockford, Illinois the title of the article is “ Baby Struck by Vehicle, Driver Leaves the Scene ” and it reports that “Police are searching for the driver who they say hit a 22 month old baby with a car and took off, leaving the child in serious condition.  It happened just before 7:30 pm on Ashland Avenue, which is right next to Andrews Park on Rockford's west side. Investigators were on the scene with an accident reconstructionist and say they are still trying to figure out what happened. Officers say they are now searching for a black Chevy Avalanche with a grey ...

The media is all a buzzed by the Charleston shooter and his ramblings about why he committed murder of those unarmed victims in the church.  My first thought was where are the NRA members who claim that the best way to stop a bad man with a good is for good men to carry one?  They are examining his writings and using his words to define the stance he took but think back to the photos of how he was treated in his capture.  I do not recall military style weapons and equipment used to take him down and I do not recall anyone placing a bullet proof vest over the torso of anyone else that they captured. When you stop to dissect the differences between how one class of criminal is handled when compared to another class of criminal, you may began to see a disturbing pattern, or maybe it is just me.  We classify something like this, the Newtown Shooting, the Colorado mass killings and others as breaking news and today’s top story when it really is not.  We glorify ...

Was a little disturbed by this article written by Harriet McLeod for Reuters titled “Police hunt man who killed nine in historic South Carolina black church” not really because of the information found within but basically by the enormity of how often this is happening within our communities.  While trying to figure out what seemingly strong force is guiding these people to violate even God’s will, I had to look past the normal excuses given when something like this happen and look much deeper.  What I found was even more disturbing than my initial reaction to this story. In the story it is reported that “Police in Charleston, South Carolina, were searching on Thursday for a white gunman who killed nine people in a historic African-American church including the pastor, a black state senator, in an attack the U.S. Department of Justice called a hate crime.  The FBI identified the shooter as Dylan Roof of Columbia, South Carolina. An uncle of Roof's said he recognized ...

While it can be greatly understood why the protests and outrage was so clear and correct in the Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner killings, I still find myself at a loss to explain why we are not as upset, angered and pissed at this recent killing of another unarmed man at the hands of police.  I would truly hate to think it is because he is white that we are not all up in arms right now but based on current events, that appears to be the only viable answer and it is a shame that a country which claims to be about all people would elect to ignore the same travesties being inflicted upon any people. According to the article titled “ Police Killed an Unarmed White Man in Iowa and His Community Didn’t Seem to Notice ” written by Nick W for The Huffington Post.com, it is reported that “A few minutes before Des Moines police killed Ryan Keith Bolinger Tuesday night, the 28-year-old white man was dancing in the street, according to an officer. Police didn't f...

I make no excuse for the actions of anyone especially a mature and seasoned veteran but as with all things each of us need to take a step back and be more than willing to address any mistake we might have made or any part we may have played in a celebrated moment going so very wrong.  This is clearly the case involving an article by Nicholas K. Geranois for the Associated Press titled “ Iraq War veteran charged with murder in deaths of relatives ” In the article it is reported that “a decorated Iraq War veteran arrested in the deaths of his estranged wife's mother, stepfather and brother was charged Tuesday with three counts of premeditated first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances.  The charges mean Roy H. Murry, 30, might face the death penalty, Spokane County prosecutor Larry Haskell said. "At this point in time, every option is on the table," Haskell said after the hearing.  Amanda Murry has told law enforcement officers that her husband blamed her famil...

To many, racism is defined as black and white and because it has been accepted in that form for far too long we outwardly wonder why it has been so hard to eradicate.  Simple answer is because our definition of racism is poorly defined and is far from what actually tells the complete story. I was quite appreciative of a video I saw featuring Morgan Freeman who said the words that I have been trying to say for so long.  It will not do it justice to try and repeat those eloquent words here so I direct you to that video found on Essence Magazine’s site titled “ Morgan Freeman Explains the Deeper Issue Behind Racism ”.  You can find it here ( http://www.essence.com/video/morgan-freeman-explains-deeper-issue-behind-racism ).  You owe it to yourself to listen and please have an open mind when you do because so much can be explained by this revelation.  Racism comes in many different forms and not all of it has anything to do with race.  There are whites ...

There was a time, in America, when your best calling card was simply a business card and your reputation was built upon being firm yet fair and treating people as you wished to be treated.  That time seems to have passed us by and now it appears that how you build a reputation is to do and say the most outlandish things that you can.  I remember watching the old western and wondering who the good guy was because that’s what people always wished to be the good guy but today it seems like no one wishes to be the good guy anymore and wear the white hat.  They want to be the bad guy and the big dog on the block which pits immature males in a battle that no one will win.  This disease has now affected our police departments, with the recent unarmed shootings, and our justice system with these current and recent miscarriages of justices that is rampant as we speak.  Case and point is a local article from one of our local channels WREX which reports that “a trial begi...

I and so many others tried to warn millions that there were more to the recent rash of cops acting as judge, jury and executioner than met the eye.  We attempted to educate you that there was more than that thin blue line that gave some cops the arrogance to see themselves as above the law and beyond questioning.  Well for those who doubted us, take a look at this article titled “ Outraged and Indicted Officers Declare War on Patrick Lynch ” written by Will Bredderman for the New York Observer and now say that what you were not warned about has any truth to it. The article mentions “a slate of insurgent Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association trustees and delegates—three of them under indictment for their involvement in the 2011 Bronx ticket-fixing scandal—announced their intention to unseat incumbent President Patrick Lynch and his reigning ticket of union officers.  Led by hulking Brooklyn South trustee and Lynch rival Brian Fusco, who is not in any legal trouble, the “...

For all of you citizens who think that there are no “good” cops and for you cops that this that there are no “good” citizens, this story is for you and it is all the proof you may need to understand why I say evil will never win.  The article is titled “ Florida teen saves life of Fort Lauderdale police officer as he is being arrested ” written by David Edwards for The Raw Story.  It reports “A Florida teenager was honored on Tuesday for helping to save the life of a Fort Lauderdale police officer who was processing his arrest for a parole violation.  Video released by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department shows Officer Franklin Foulks processing Jamal Rutledge after he was arrested for criminal mischief and burglary probation violations, according to WTVJ.  When Foulks suddenly collapsed, Rutledge “immediately began to kick the security fence and yell to alert officers in the area,” a statement from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said.  Sgt. Todd Bunin ...