Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

Okay, this didn't make me go hmmm....this made me yell out "what?!?", and left a deep sense of outrage building within me.  I've been trying my best to grasp how this could be considered justice in anyone's mind.

A little while ago, I read a story that breaks my heart.   Raquel Nelson, a single mother from Marietta, GA, has been living through a nightmare.  On April 10, 2010, she and her three children got off at a bus stop across from their apartment.  They then attempted to cross a four-lane highway, and were struck by a van.  Nelson's 4-year-old son, A.J., was killed.

This in itself would be a tragedy most would not be able to endure.  But the legal system decided to make it much worse.  Because Nelson did not use a crosswalk, the nearest of which was more than a quarter of a mile away, she was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, reckless conduct, and failure to use a crosswalk.  On July 12, she was convicted of these charges, and faced more prison time than the man driving the van.

Yes, that's right!  Jerry Guy, the driver of the van that killed Nelson's son, served 6 months in prison for hit-and-run and was released on Oct. 29, and serving 5 years probation.  But Guy has two prior convictions for hit-and-run, and served half of a two year sentence for those convictions.  Hearing that, I don't see how anyone could attempt to convict her of more time than a man who obviously doesn't belong behind the wheel of anything.

Nelson was eventually sentenced to 40 hours of community service and a year probation, but the fact that she was charged at all makes me angry.  I understand that using a crosswalk is the law, but the fact that it was so far away, and previously complained about by residents of the same apartment complex, should have brought extenuating circumstances into play.  Plus, Raquel Nelson already has to deal with the fact that her son is dead.  How is charging her for this accident, which occurred at the hands of a known reckless driver, considered justice?

And we wonder why faith in the system is so badly shaken.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

(The Personal Addition....lmao)

Earlier this afternoon, I was standing next to my sister's car, in the parking lot of a local store, smoking a cigarette and waiting for my sister to come outside.  As I'm standing there, this silver SUV pulls up and I see the driver looking at me.  I notice that he's motioning for me to come over.  I try to place the car in my mind, but I'm certain I've never seen it before.  So I continue to smoke my cigarette, assuming the man was trying to get someone else's attention.  He lowers his head a little and starts motioning even harder for me to come to the car. I try to see if I know him.  While he fits the profile of several people I might know, I can't get a clear look.  The windows are tinted just enough where you can't really see inside.  So I move a bit closer.

This fool is fanning me to him like I'm AAA and he's got three flat tires.  I reach the passenger side door and finally see the man.  He looks like a cross between Black Thought from the Roots and one of the janitors from when I was in high school.  Quickly, I realize that I don't know him.

But now, I'm curious.  I pull the door open, hoping that this is not about to be the beginning of one of those crazy episodes of Cops.  The man looks at me, earnestly, and says:

"Man....what the hell you doing out here, smoking in all this cold?  If you don't get your ass in here and give me one of them cigarettes....."

Direct fucking quote.  I couldn't keep from laughing.  I'm thinking in my mind "Is this crazy motherfucker serious?"  I laughed so hard I could feel my eyes watering.  I have to admit that if there was an award for the most original way to ask for a cigarette, then the man in the silver SUV would have won that, hands down.  But I only had one cigarette left.  So you know he didn't get it.  But he got a well earned round of applause inside my head.

Sometimes the things that come out of people's mouths....too damn funny.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

For those of you who've heard about what's been happening in Arkansas, you probably don't buy the explanations.  High altitude hail?!?  Lightning strikes?!?  Fireworks?!?  Disease?!? Have no clue what I'm talking about?




When roughly 5,000 birds fall out of the sky, AND 100 miles aways, nearly 100,000 fish wash up on the river banks,  it sounds to me like it's time to test life in a new state.  I don't immediately believe the hype of ominous warnings, but this isn't a crop circle.  It's living things dying in massive numbers all around you.  Maybe if 20,000 dogs & cats die next week, Arkansas natives will start to ask the government what's really going on.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

Okay, so I realize that I haven't posted much lately.  Sorry for that, but I'm trying to get some things together, before the holidays.  The blog will be back in full swing soon.  But after watching this video, I had to post it. Some things just defy all levels of what-the-fuck (and if what-the-fuck is not a standard English noun, this video shows moments where it is strongly needed as one).



Lmao....I wonder if this says less about the performer in the video, or the actual song?

the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

It's All About the Benjamins....Um, Maybe?

I was checking out some Internet news today when I stumbled across this head shaker, which is sure to make a few people irate in these economically challenged times.

Government can't print money properly

As I read this I couldn't help but be impressed by the utter ludicrousness of what has happened.  According to the article by Zachary Roth, the government has shut down productions of its new $100 bills, because the security measures were so high-tech that it caused the presses to print the bills improperly.  Among the problematic new staples of the $100 bill are a 3-D security strip and a color-shifting image of a bell.  While the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have both heralded these measures, additions that are 10 years in the making, it is these high-tech inclusions that have stifled the printing process.

Now, are you ready for the kicker?  One billion unusable bills have been printed, which adds up to $110 billion.  That's not only more than 10% of the entire US cash supply, but also more than the two richest people in the world combined  (although not much more, which is sad when you think about the disproportion of wealth in society....but that's another post, another time).  While there are some usable bills mixed in with the ruined ones, it'll take a mechanized system a year to sort through them.

This is where I shake my head.

As our economy sits on the heels of a ruin that the experts are now predicting might take another five years to recover from, it makes me angry to think that the one group who shouldn't be botching money is doing exactly that.  It took $120 million to print the bad bills. In a time where nearly 10% of the population is without a job.  In a time when politicians are two busy arguing over who's got the best plan to bother incorporating any.  In a time that feels about as financially promising as the early 1930s.  $120 million.  And the best part:  All the bad money gets burned.

It's stuff like this that makes me wonder if I'll ever have any real faith in the government.

the Rare Poet

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

Hey, Hey, Hey!!!  I'll Be the Judge of That!


Ever here the one about the federal judge, the coke-sniffing hooker, and the FBI?

While this sounds like the beginnings of a wickedly funny joke, it's actually the main ingredients of sad but true events.  While I was watching the news earlier this week (I try to catch it every morning, but sometimes my crazy sleep habits prevents this), I came across a story that made me think "damn, can people really be that reckless?"

A 67 year old federal judge, Jack Camp Jr., pled guilty to two counts of drug charges on Friday.

The Senior US District Court Judge also admitted to giving a woman money to by drugs, as well as one count of conversion of government property. 


Apparently, the naughty judge gave this lady friend a government-issued laptop.  The fact that the lady was Sherry Ann Ramos, a 26 year old prostitute is merely icing on corruption's cake. 

What type of society do we live in where those supposedly in the authority to interpret and uphold the laws are the ones breaking them?  FBI agents arrested Camp on October 1, after he attempted to purchase drugs from an undercover officer.  Prosecutors also say that the judge gave Ramos money to buy cocaine, marijuana, and roxicodone, which the two frequently used together.

Camp will be sentenced on March 4.

A statement issued by the former judges' attorneys, which seems a bit idiotic in my opinion, says that Camp has taken responsibility, and will spend the next several months trying to understand the "uncharacteristic nature of his actions." 

Let me just say that if it was sooo uncharacteristic, why did it happen multiple times?

Sadly, I'm not surprised.  I feel like if we do a clean sweep of the current justice system we'll find far too many figures like Camp in positions of power.  And the problem will persist, until someone attempts to change it.

the Rare Poet