Hells Assholes

Once again, it's been awhile. As usual, work is the culprit.

Recently part of that work was spending a week and a half in Sturgis, SD. working the Black Hills Rally. A pretty cool detail. Every year in August the city of Sturgis swells from just 6000+ to around 500,000. Not all at once, but considering that they are primarily concentrated walking around a 6 block stretch of Main Street, it makes the place pretty crowded. It also makes it a very interesting place to work as a cop.

The Sturgis PD brings in police officers from surrounding area to work the event to bolster their man-power. I've tried the past two years but something always got in the way. This year it worked out and now I'm on a list that will get recalled as long as I want the work. Sweet. The pay isn't great but it isn't shitty either, overtime piles up pretty qquick in the second week.

For the most part this years rally was peaceful with very few bumps in the carpet. Most of those bumps were caused by  the gaggle of dipshits that call themsleves Hell's Angels.

Whatever side of the "outlaw biker" community you stand on is your business. Idolize who you want. But, if you choose to idolize a bunch of cocksuckers who choose to make a business out of bullying people and being involved in organized criminal activity then I would like to make a suggestion, go drink a gallon of bleach.

I grew up in an area of Texas where another OMG called the Bandidos had a strong community presence. As a kid about the only thing i knew about them was that they every now and then had a toy-run or some kind of menial community service stunt. later, I learned that they also made a habit of informing on rival OMGs to the local law enforcement agencies in order to keep their area clear of competition.

Nobel they ain't.

I've read quite a few periodicals about OMGs and have really been too interested. like any other organized crime group they participate in smuggling, extortion, racketering, drugs, stolen property, theft, whatever makes them a dishonest buck to pay for their beer, meth and smokes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not underestimating their resourcefullnes. The Hell's Angels specifically are very good at what they do, they've made a big business out of their organization and have very influential people from their group in a lot of different areas. It would surprise some of you to know exactly how wide spread they are. They aren't a bunch of stupid grease monkeys either. They have degreed professionals among their ranks. Attorneys, Doctors, Corporate Executives, Bankers, all kinds of highly educated people whose main focus is to secure and maintain their business. They have the intellect to make a legitimate business out of their organization which makes what they are even more distressing. They CHOOSE to be douchebags who make a living off of victimization and exploitation.

Hell, they even give Congress a run for their money in that regard.

While working the rally I got a little more exposure and insight into them and I am very dissapointed. I was kind of hoping that they would be more than a bunch of assholes that were only capable of using group tactics to intimidate and brutalize people. Unfortunately, that's about all they were. They made a habit out of cruizing into one of the bars in a little mass and pushing people around. To further advertise their intent every one of them carries a knife prominently displayed on their waste (It's legal in South Dakota). Every so often they would pick a fight or just ambush some poor hapless bastard and pound the shit out of him.

The first guy was just walking by their hangout. If you walk towards the parking lots in the outlying areas and you have to go up 3rd Street you can't really help it. This guy was walking by and one of the HA said something to the effect of, "Weren't you that guy hitting on my date?". the guy replied with something to the tune of, "Dude, I don't even fuckin' know you". He was grabbed, dragged into their parking area and beat on by three or four of the HA. This guy was on the small side too probably 5'7" or so, maybe weighed 160 or 170. We know this because a video tape was turned in by tourists who filmed the attack from a nearby vender. After beating him, one of the HA stomped on his head, bouncing it off of the concrete while he lay their unconsious. They then dragged him up the sidewalk and left him there.

They have a slogan that's on some of their t-shirts, "Strength, Honor and Loyalty". I'm surprised they can spell the words much less say them with a straight face. What they did during the rally had nothing to do with honor. More like cowardice and cruelty.

One of their victims was a barmaid at one of the other bars who had retorted to them when they were being crude towards her. Yep, that's honorable all right. They didn't just hit her either, they beat the shit out of her.

For the most part the HA were nothing more than a pack of dogs wondering around looking for an excuse to bite somebody for whatever trumped up reason they could come up with. Probably the only time they beat somebody who may have earned it was some drunk was pissing on one of their trucks. that guy would have gotten the same response from just about anybody.

Well, the air got let out of their ballon on early saturday morning on August 10th. At about 1am they wondered into the Loud American Roadhouse and were doing their usual bit of pushing people around and trying to intimidate everybody. While they were pushing around a group of women who were trying to make their way to the bathroom the HA got a bit of their own medicine. Another group called the Iron Pigs (a social motorcycle club comprised mostly of cops and firemen) apparently walked over and basically told them they could go fuck themselves. The HA outnumbered them so naturally they jumped the group. One of the Iron Pigs was getting worked over pretty good when one of the two pounding on him pulled the knife he carried. The off-duty cop pulled a handgun and shot the HA.

Their are different versions of exactly how the shooting went down depending on where the witnesses were standing. I didn't see it, I was about two blocks away on foot patrol when it happened and ran there when the shots fired call went out. Most of what I do know is information that was being freely spoken of by the people who were in the bar. The investigators with Sturgis PD are being professional about it and keeping the exact details and whatever evidence they have collected confidential for now until they are done investigating.

Initial reports are that the cop was most likely justified in drawing a weapon and firing considering the percieved threat. You pull a knife on me, I'm going to shoot you. It's that simple.

However it went down, I can't say I'm crying over it.

The HA didn't die, I'm glad he didn't. even if he is a dick head he's still a person and he most likely has family and friends who care about him. I know that the other HA that were there looked honestly concerned for him and didn't cause any more issues that night. But, you poke enough things with a stick and sooner or later something will poke back. This case it was somebody carrying a firearm who didn't feel like being cut on or stabbed. Surprise, surprise.

For the last day of the rally they were fairly quiet. The HA no longer went in groups displaying colors unless they were going to a friendlier bar. When they did go they behaved themselves. Aside from the dumbass that pissed on a truck, nobody else got screwed with.

At least we know some of them can learn.

Posted by cmoth @ 6:34 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

A Savage Douche-Bag!

It's been a while. I've been working and trying to take care of some things around the house. I've barely had time to check my e-mail much less anything else.

But, it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about blogging. I've caught myself from time to time thinking, "I should write something about this" or that. I've had a ton of topics fly through my head but my wife told me about something that pissed me off so badly that I have to vent somehow.

I'm sure some of you have heard of Michael Savage, the "compassionate conservative" radio talk show host. I've listened to him every now and then and shook my head in bewilderment. He's kind of like a cross between Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern. I can at least have some respect for the last two, at least they aren't pretending to be anything other than they portend. Rush is a conservative. His radio show is for entertainment and he he has been known to exagerate for the sake of humor. He at least is capable of apologyzing for any of his offensive remarks. Howad Stern is all about entertainment for males whose maturity level never quite made it past 13-year-old potty humor with bare breasts thrown in occasionally for seasoning.

Michael Savage on the other hand is a "shock-jock" trying to pretend to be a serious commentator. He's made a lot of comments that have warranted his removal from the air. I read while doing a little online research for this entry that he has been fired by MSNBC for some slurs he has made towards the homosexual community. While I'm not a fan of homosexuality and my religious beliefs consider it a sin against God, I'm not going to place myself on the judgement seat to condemn something I don't understand and others have freely chosen to have as a life-style. It is God's right to judge not mine. I do my faith a disservice by making statements intended to harm those that I am commanded to love as my brothers and sisters. You may not share my beliefs and that's cool. It does nothing to me. It is between you and our Creator. If I'm wrong, so be it. If your wrong, good luck.

Michael Savage makes a living selecting a hot button topic and making inflammatory comments on it while trying to make himself sound like a conservative. He definitely succeeds in making an ass of himself while absoring the praise he gathers from him listening audience like a narcotic.

In his death throws he is apparent;y choosing to offend as many people as possible. Most recently he chose to, in one broadcast, slander minorities with asthma and parents of children with autism. Wow, what a glutten. He must really need the attention.

At first, I was pissed. The comments he made calling autism a "fraud" and nothing more than a condition exagerated by "wimpy dads" made me want to throw up. The thought that I would somehow want this is ludicrous. I didn't make the label or ask for it. What I am about to tell you is not to garner any sympathy. I don't want it and could care less for it. Our experience with this condition is as unique to us as it is for every parent who has a child afflicted with it. The level it affects those diagnosed with it swing wildly from hardly noticeable to extremely debillitating.

The only thing I know is that one of the most important people in my life was a perfectly normal baby, who had just started talking, counting numbers and other perfectly normal baby behaviors right up until he was 18 months old. Then we started losing him. He first stopped waving bye-bye at bed-time, stopped talking and started babbling. He would sit and stare at a ceiling fan until we would move him. He stopped interacting with us and seeking our attention and approval. He got quiet and withdrawn.

He had suffered no injuries or serious illnesses prior to this. It was like somebody was in his head and one at a time turning things off.

My wife and I went to doctor after doctor, all who had very few answers. At first, my son got labeled as PDD/NOS, Pervasive Developmental Disorder / Not Otherwise Specified. Then the word autism was thrown around. My initial reaction was much like everyone elses, "You mean, like Rainman?" I had no idea what it was and what it meant for my son.

We went to Mayo-Clinic in Rochester, MN. when my son was around 3. He was poked and prodded over several days by an army of nurses and doctors of a huge variety of disciplines from allergists to geneticists. The only thing I learned was that not even the army of doctors at Mayo Clinic know jack-shit about autism, what causes it, what it leads to, what can help it, NOTHING.

One of the doctors had tried to test my sons potential intelligence. His lack of cooperation garnered him the label of mental retardation. During our closing meeting the same doctor had told us with a long face that he wouldn't be surprised if our son never potty trained. While my wife and I stared at each other he noticed my son and said, "Is he wearing underwear?" My son had been potty trained for several months. It was slow going but he did it. The same doctor then withdrew his initial diagnosis and labeled the results as erred due to a lack of patient cooperation. Duh. Something we had told him at the beginning.

It's not that the doctors aren't intelligent and talented people. They all cared about my boy very much and I could even see in some of them bitter disappointment that they couldn't be more helpfull. We were finally told that the best thing for now was to treat the manifestations that could be treated and try to adjust life around the ones that couldn't. They had no idea how much he would learn or even if he would regress further. My wife and I have been left to worry ourselves every day that my son may never leave us or need our care in some way. And in that is the cruelest reality of all of it. After we are gone, who will take care of our son and understand his needs and the communication he can manage? I have seen managed care homes for the mentally handicapped and as much as some may try, they can't give the love that those people need to fully live a life that isn't more than being provided for until death.

That thought kills a little bit more of me every day.

We have adjusted our lives accordingly. We have limited the travel on the windows in our house to prevent him from climbing out of them. We have two doors on our front entry. One on the outside that cab be locked to keep someone out and one on the inside that keeps our son in. We didn't do these thinsg pre-emptively. We did them as a result of episodes f our son leaving the house and taking off after finding something we hadn't thought of. There have been  lot of other things we have changed to adapt to his needs and continue to chamge as he does. We are trying to keep him safe and ourselves sane while negotiating this thing that has stolen my son's future from him.

Until about a year or two ago, it was like everybody else was standing by oblivious to what was gong on. In the years prior to my sons diagnsis, autistic spectrum disorders afflicted 1 in 10,000. Then there was a huge jump in the 90's, 1 in 150. Depending on who you talk to it is now 1 in 100 to 1 in 50.

Part of that is that they continually add new disorders to the autistic spectrum. Some of which don't really make a lot of sense but there's a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense about it. The one thing that I know is that before all of the other things were added, 1 in every couple hundred kids were being born with it and the numbers are increasing. Of course as with everything, nobody really gives a shit until a fuckin celebrity is effected so when an NFL quarter-back announced one of his children had it, suddenly it mattered.

At last autism has started to garner the importance of the obligatory fund-raisers and telethons. The research needs it and hopefully they discover what causes it or what could make it better.

And now, out of the woodwok crawls Michael Savage. Now that autism matters to people he has decided to walk out and spew some half-assed opinion. Apparently according to Savages ratings hungry little mind, this whole thing is a hoax. Something cooked up by people to get money out of the government or due to some parents inability to control their child's behavior.

As I said, at first I was pissed off to a plateau that could have lead me to an extreme level of violent creativity. However, after I simmered down a bit  I realized that my previous fears of some kind of harm to the efforts of  people to raise funds for research was an overreaction. After reading around on the internet  I came to know that aside fom a galleon load of interstate truck drivers really gives a shit. So on that note, keep spewing Michael Savage. The only thing being accomplished is a shrinking audience, shrinking sponsorship and an equally shrinking pocketbook.

Sweet.

Posted by cmoth @ 3:16 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

What a way to go....

.. No really, this is bullshit.

I usually believe that what goes around comes around. Things happen to you because somehow, even if only YOU know in your heart of hearts how, you earned them. If that's true then this guy must have seriously BAD karma.

One of my patrolman and I went to an unattended death / homicide. The guy was found by friends after they hadn't heard from him in a few days. We go into his modest townhouse and find him wedged behind his dryer in the utility room... UPSIDE DOWN!

Now, some would maybe find this humorous in a morbid way, the only thing you could see of him was from the mid-calf up to his socked feet sticking up in the air behind his dryer. Once you find out all of the circumstances you no longer find it even remotely humorous because it's one of those moments which prove that life is fuckin' short and you have NO clue when or where you might cash it in.

This guy was from all points of view a decent guy. His friends knew him to be a nice guy. He was very modest, nothing extravegant in his home. He worked hard and invested wisely and was able to retire prior to hitting 50. Not living large but not dead broke either. He was apparently comfortable and enjoyed life as a bachelor.

Now, I'm a cynical guy. I usually find some skeleton while searching their property trying to find evidence or cause. Not this guy. He didn't even have a computer. He had some normal SD televisions, no porn (unless you think Maxim is porn), no fetish bullshit. Everything was as it appeared. A nice guy living alone with his pets spending quality time on a regular basis with friends. He also stayed healthy with sports hobbies.

Poor guy was trying to fix his dryer vent when somehow he got jammed behind it and expired. We can't confirm what the cause of death was but we have our suspicions. Doesn't appear to be foul play, just an accident. No Darwin stuff here either. He wasn't doing anything stupid or bizarre, just a normal activity that any one of us at one time or another may have to do.

Every day, carry the truth of how fragile life is. Tell everybody you care about how much you care about them. Don't leave a grudge unremedied and don't allow foul feelings to stay between you and someone you care for.

Appreciate every day you have because the next one may be your last.

God bless all of you, I wish you peace.

Posted by cmoth @ 5:00 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Kudos to Game Stop.

Maybe it was just the store I happened to be at but I was pleasently surprised by the employees at Game Stop today.

I was visiting one of the Game Stop stores in Minot, ND today to purchase my copy of GTA-IV. When I asked for the game the store clerk looked at me (I'm 37 btw) and asked me if I was aware of the extremely mature content of the game and asked me to look at the back panel prior to purchase. I then responded, "I've been playing the GTA series from day one, I'm well aware of how graphic the game can be".

He replied, "Are any children going to be playing or have access to this game?"

Note: he had already given the game to me and was ringing up the purchase. He wasn't going to deny my pruchase once I asked for it.

I said, "No, only I play these games and I don't play them when my kids are in the room."

The employee smiled and told me that he felt a lot more comfortable selling the game to older gamers. He said that he hated it when a parent came in and just blindly purchased a game for their kid without fully comprehending what the material was that they were purhasing.

This guy was in his early 20's.

I have to say that I was pleasently surprised. I'm glad that at least the clerks at this store were being responsible enough to at least attempt to educate and possibly prevent the purchase of a game for other than it's intended audience.

I don't like censorship but I don't see an industry's attempt at self-regulation as censorship. The rating systems exists as it does to protect the industry from needless regulation and meddling by a government wh would pass stringent requirements on arbitrary grounds without regards to art.

It's not the rating system that is fucking up the gaming industry. What's fucking it up are ignorant parents who are buying mature rated games for their kids who have no business playing some of them. These same parents are the same ones who get pissed once they realize what the games content is. Instead of slamming their own heads against some hardened object they rave against the industry for making something other than fucking pong.

I don't mind mature games. I find it disturbing that there is defacto censorship from distributors who don't want to produce adult rated games just because they know Walmart or Best Buy won't carry them.

Anyway, kudos to Game Stop. I will continue to frequent their stores with renewed confidence.

Posted by cmoth @ 11:43 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

Return to Old School.

I would certainly love to return to the old school ways of dealing with certain social issues. That of course would mean taking responsibility for the sanctity of your environment. What I mean is that we are all responsible for keeping ourselves under control in order maintain a certain dignity out of respect for our fellow citizens.

I've mentioned that the Constitution gives us the right to express ourselves. I've also mentioned that it doesn't protect us from all of the consequences of our chosen form of expression. We can go out into public and make a speech. If the content of that speech is anti-government in nature or speeking out against an elected or otherwise public official or figure, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights grant us certain protections to give us not only the ability but also the security of saying it without possible reprisal from the government or official.

Where the confusion sets in is when the speech is leveled against another citizen that hasn't put themselves out as a representative of government. An example: Someone yells at George W. Bush in his official capacity as the President, "You fucking suck!!" This is protected speech, that person is expressing his displeasure with a public official that is a representative of the government. But, let's say that some private citizen is mowing his lawn. Same guy walks up and yells, "You fucking suck!!" He should be charged with disorderly conduct. What is accepted as an outcry against government in the first incident becomes an attempt at disturbing the peace in the next.

If you say something of slandor against another, you should be prepared to substantiate your claims in court. The law allows a private citizen to sue another for libel if an utterence or writings by the defending party has or could somehow harm the plaintiffs community standing.

As a private citizen we have a right to privacy and security in our possessions, private spaces and in our reputations. We have the right to protect ourselves from attack and harm. Any attack made on our bodies is an obvious case of self defense. An attack on our private spaces, burglary and trespass for example, are also self-explanatory. The right to defend ourselves against an attack on our emotional well-being and reputation starts to get a little fuzzy for some.

Some will say that we shoud be tolerant and accept some social fau paux from time to time. I agree. A slipped profanity in public should be overlooked. Profanity or vulgarity uttered in an environment where such conduct should be expected should also be tolerated. If you go into a bar or go to a hockey game you should expect that there will be harsh language and rude behavior.

But, where it shoudn't be tolerated is when someone is recklessly using vulgarity or intentionally using it to offend or cause alarm or dischord. I have a perfect example as it was relayed to me by my wife.

My wife was in a Barnes and Noble this weekend. While there she said that there were two young men walking around and talking loudly and using an abundnace of reckless and vulgar profanities. Fuckin' this, Fuckin' that. You know the drill. They were doing it in a public environment in which such behavior is not acceptable by the public standard. They were also using it with a callous disregard for the effect it may have on others or the proximity of minor children. In the State of North Dakota and other jurisdictions this is disorderly conduct or lewd / lacivious behavior. It's conduct intended or recklesly predisposed to cause public alarm and a disturbance of the peace. in some ways it can also be determined to be pornographic.

Somebody should say something.

Somebody did.

According to my wife an older gentelman saw that there were ladies and children around and made the comment, "they'll keep doing it if somebody doesn't say something". He gets up and approaches the young men and tells them they should be considerate of others and watch their language. My wife and everybody else hears one of the young douchebags say to a friend on his cell phone, "some old guy who's too fucking dumb to read a book without being distracted by talking". The guy purposefully said this loud enough for the older man to hear while he was walking away and for everybody else to hear it as well.

Two things. One, obviously they have no consideration for others. Two, the comment was intended to relay the information that they were going to continue this behavior in spite of the feelings of others.

They were free to do this because in todays society you are  prohibited from a physical response to verbal provocation alone. You can't punch a person for being an insulting borish ass. You are expected to go by the old "sticks and stones" nursery lesson. While this basically has merit and helps keep the peace during a heated discussion it does nothing but embolden some to intentionally try to emotionally harm others secure in the notion that their victim can't and won't do anything.

Back in the 19th Century, the older man would not have hesitated to draw a knife and cut the young man for his insult. He would not only have been within his acceptable boundaries but would have also been within his legal right to do so. It was considered the only proper response to answer an insult with an injury. You were once allowed to defend your honor in much the same way you are now allowed to defend your body.

Instead, this gentelman, the ONLY person who had the frickin balls to actually say something while everybody else sat back on their loathsome sheepish backsides, had to try and do something with these two assholes.

By the way, I'm a bit old-fashioned (probably a little chauvanistic). I don't see it as a woman's responsibility to become onvolved in these situations. While I absolutely believe that a woman has an independent voice and is perfectly jusitifed in having an opinion in these matters, it shouldn't be a woman who tries to deal with this kind of event. Not because they wouldn't be able to intellectually hold their own, quite the contrary, I think a woman could probably have done a superior job intellectually. But, on average if the asshole decides they want to become aggresive, the woman is going to be on the short end of the stick.

I don't want to hear about somebodies corn-fed cousin or step-sister who can "hold her own against all comers", genetic mutations aside, your average female will get their ass kicked by your average male. Not because they aren't physically capable, a woman could be just as lethal with the right training and mindset, it's just that most women don't possess either the training OR the mindset needed. Sorry girls, Lionel Richey was an anomoly, not the standard. Oh, Isreal is probably one of the few places on earth where this last paragraph doesn't apply. Wifebeaters of the world, leave the nice Jewish girl in the fatigues alone, Krav Maga is a fuckin horrible first date experience.

Nope, I'm talking about the other males. I'd use the word men but this doesn't apply to someone who allows this kind of crap to happen without at least saying something.

As it was this older guy had to put up with these assholes. He could have walked off and nobody would have blaimed him. After all, most would consider that his initial verbal warning was all he was responible for. Well, he didn't.

According to my wife this guy was an older gentelman who apparently suffered from a rural education. Probably a genious on a farm or oilrig but not suited for verbal sparring. My wife could see that this man was frustrated that he couldn't just throttle these dipshits and be done with it. As it was, he did the best he could while these two guys (wife thinks late teens early twenties in age) berated the older guy and continued their tirade. My wife went and found a store representative and reported it.

My wife didn't see what happened after that but she ran into the store clerk later, a young female probably around the same age as the two douchebags. Apparently, the store clerk believed that the older man was the issue and he should have just let it go.

What a fucking weak minded liberalized social whore. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!!

That ladies and gentleman is what our present society is gestating in our halls of secondary education and schools of  "higher learning".

Sheep, each and every one of them. Sponge headed morons whose only capability is some menial intellectual exercises and meaningless displays of self-expression. These same imbeciles are the future leaders boys and girls. Yup, the minds barely able to negotiate the National Enquirer are going to be making decisions for us all some day.

I can't fuckin wait.

Back to our story. While I wish I had been there I realize that it would have screwed up the social dynamic. Why you might ask? Easy.

I've dealt with kids like this all the time and each and every one of them do the same thing when a cop walks up out of nowhere and identifies themselves. They immediately clam up and do as their told,... er, I mean TRAINED.

I assume that we are all familar with the consequences of walking up to a cop and continuing on with your bullshit vulgar rant. You get hammered. Justfiably so.

But, I have a problem with a society that accepts this.

While I agree that certain lawful powers of confrontation should be reserved to law enforcement I don't think that a private citizen should have to shrug off this kind of behavior. As far as i'm concerned in a perfect world when the above described confrontation had occured two things would have happened. One, every able bodied male within ear-shot should have marched over to the two little assholes stood right next to the old man in an act of solidarity. The second, that same group should have snatched up these two assholes and physically hurled them from the public place and out into the street with the rest of the garbage. If the assholes had called the cops (something that they do EVERY FUCKING DAY), the cops should have arrived, beat the two kids asses and sternly told them that the next time won't go so easily.

When my wife told me this story I got to a level of pissed that I don't get to very often. I got violently pissed. Not because of what the kids had originally done, my wife hears profanity all the time, she lives with me after all. Nope, I got pissed to the point of wanting to lynch these guys out of respect for the old man who had the initial courage to say something. He was apparently a Vietnam War veteran who had tried to explain to these guys that they were abusing their rights that he had fought for.

They said, "You didn't fight for shit!"

That alone shoud have lead to their immediate and very public execution.

 

Posted by cmoth @ 11:14 pm EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments