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Welcome to BobKat's Lair ®™

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A lair is a home; A castle; A burrow; A haven; a place where one should feel safe. To ensure our safety especially in one's lair, we have laws. And some laws cause more harm than good!

This is a good place. There's lots to see and do. It's apolitical while providing non-partisan news about politics, which we can't escape.

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My goal is here... to present topics which highlight the plight of people. Why, 2000 years after Caesar Augustus, are we still a people being hurt? With all our advancements in technology, medicine, communications, why are we a people still being hurt? Human nature hasn't changed much, but that doesn't mean it isn't time now for that to happen, and it is undoubtedly happening - hard to see however. This blog is part of that change and a witness to it.

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August 10, 2013

MARIJUANA - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - THE MANY WAYS WE VIEW A PLANT - WWM - WEEK OF AUGUST 5 - 9, 2013

2012 MASSCANN RALLY POSTER

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Updated Aug. 13, 2013

Believe it or not, my Blog is not exclusively related to cannabis reform, or news, information, updates on the War on Drugs. It is however dedicated to "Stopping the Hurt", and the "drug war" is hurting people; by design, targeting marijuana users and where it comes from. Two of the four of my "Most Popular" posts  include marijuana and a story behind that marijuana.
I'd just like to make note of the fact that this week, of Aug 5 - 9, 2013, may just be one of the most pivotal points in the War on Marijuana. The War on Drugs itself is, for most practical purposes, is based upon marijuana - the centerpiece of the battle.

This quote for example originally appeared via the  L.A. Review of Books; Source: Alternet.com.

    "I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-bomb blast." — Ronald Reagan

In 1970, The Controlled Substances Act was being written and enacted. Yes, President Nixon had a lot of enthusiasm for pushing this through Congress. For 30 years the original Reefer Madness act called the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 had buoyed a nation opposed to use of marijuana. Had enforced laws based on the frenzy incited by Yellow Journalism, that marijuana was the Destroyer of Youth, the Assassin, the Drug responsible for murderous rage and destruction...

An Act found Unconstitutional in the 1960's, throwing all laws against marijuana to the winds... along with the fact that Nixon inherited the most unpopular war in history - the Vietnam war, along with free love and the whole Hippie movement... Conservatives in America were scared shitless with what was happening around them.

Sorry!

But seriously... I can understand a concern for the dangers of drugs and drug abuse... which is why Nixon created the Drug Control Act, where he placed marijuana temporarily while studies were concluded, most notably by his own special assembled Shafer Committee. I have mentioned he was personally convinced the committee would return with a overwhelming condemnation of marijuana, and he even is alleged to have twisted some ears to see that that was the case, but to no avail... the Shafer Committee actually recommended decriminalization of marijuana, finding very little evidence of harm to society or an individual. 

But too late. On August 14, 1970, the Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg wrote a letter recommending the plant, marijuana, be classified as a schedule 1 substance. Nixon jumped on the opportunity. He didn't wait to find out what the Shafer Committee's finding were. Use of marijuana was so popular and widespread he felt he had to act, and quickly. With the creation of the new DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and his conviction that marijuana was the gateway drug to all other dangerous drugs, Nixon acted and had the DEA place marijuana permanently into Schedule One. This meant no federal, tax-payer funds could be used to finance research into benefits or medicinal use of marijuana. It meant he could use marijuana as the centerpiece of his War on Drugs, and place emphasis on marijuana as the number one most dangerous drug in America.

In 1974 I turned 20, and I began to use marijuana. It turned my life around. Prior to that day, I barely made it through HS. I left HS scarred by being bullied. I enrolled in college only to appease my parents and their grand scheme. I had no real motivations, was a loner, and struggled to be social with my peers. When I started to use marijuana all that changed. 

But before I share with you all that changed for me in my life, I'd like to share with you all that has made this week so special to me.

We'll begin with...
THE UGLY:

Howard C. Samuels (Special correspondent to CNN):
>updated 11:00 AM EDT, Fri August 9, 2013
Howard C. Samuels is the founder and president of "The Hills Treatment Center in Los Angeles". I don't see a DR. in front of his name yet, apparently as a treatment specialist in whatever capacity he finds himself, he is considered an expert of sorts in the world of drug abuse. Enough so that he is a special correspondent to CNN. And his article that appears on CNN is especially ugly when it comes to his views on marijuana.

It's what I consider the death throes of the dinosaur... an age gone past with a new world in the making. Still, we should listen to what he has to say, as his message is the message that many Americans fear and agree with, though they only have past education on the subject to draw from, so many really don't understand the issues anymore than Mr. Samuels does.

He begins his article for CNN with the American staple (yeah, a sharp pointed M), at home with his wife and child, a boy of 11, they are watching the news when bursting through the airwaves is a shocking news-report regarding legalization of marijuana!
His boy asks, "If pot is so bad, why are they trying to legalize it?"
Good question. One Mr. Samuels mulls around in his head and as he explains:

"Neither my wife nor I anticipated that our son would be stopped on the street by unscrupulous potheads petitioning outside of the local grocery store and being fed a line of rhetoric that went against what we were trying to teach him."

Of course, Mr. Samuels is obviously using creative licensing here when he says that, as the question was in response to something on the TV News station they were watching, not a street-corner.
The rest of the article is equally littered with literary license...  statements such as this one:

Why are some of the people who petition for legalizing marijuana so passionate about it? Because when you smoke pot, you get loaded. You fry your brain. That's why the patients I see in my treatment center call it "getting baked." Pot is all about getting really high.

Have a glass of whiskey my friend, as those who petition for legalization of marijuana are not interested in fried brains... zombies might be, but that's the point. 

Oh, he bemoans the fact that pot users shouldn't exactly be thrown in jail, but goes on to pose they shouldn't be allowed to fornicate in public either.

He even has advice regarding "treating marijuana like alcohol", but once again misses the mark:

Marijuana supporters like to argue that marijuana is similar to alcohol. While alcohol is legal, it also accounts for tens of thousands of deaths every year in car accidents or other drinking-related misfortunes. But we can't turn the clock back on that one because it's too embedded in our society.

He begins his argument with "treating marijuana like alcohol" only to loose focus, and instead highlights the dangers of alcohol. With all the dangers of alcohol use, and how embedded it is as a recreational drug in America, of course we can't turn back the clock, nor could we reset it - we know that as a consequence of alcohol prohibition... 
He attempts to explain:

Supporters of marijuana say that marijuana should be legalized because old people and women and children who have ailments like glaucoma or cancer or intractable seizures need it.

And proceds to explain how he doesn't want to see people suffer... any American should be able to go to the pharmacy and get the medicine they need. But he continues:

...you don't need a Ph.D. to see that the spirit of that argument (to legalize marijuana) is being exploited by people who aren't using the marijuana for medical reasons at all; they are using it to get high.

Introducing legalized marijuana into our culture would be like using gasoline to put out a fire, because it stunts growth.

Stunts growth... ???


It's pretty ugly. Unfortunately, it highlights the mindset of many of our elected politicians, or at least the voter base they are trying to patronize.

I was saying originally that I was around age 20 when I first used marijuana. How it changed my life. Why it did, I don't know, but what I do know is it didn't demotivate me. It had the opposite effect in that it motivated me to find a job, get a self-chosen college education, and embrace my future. 

There is really no comparison to using pot and getting high and using alcohol and getting drunk. Getting high isn't especially about getting wasted... the term wasted analogous to getting drunk, as getting high often isn't about getting wasted. There are days when being high on life means hiking, working in the garden or playing a sport - that is what getting high is all about. And there are days when you want to be left alone in your library... to write a book, and that is what getting wasted is all about. One never gets drunk on marijuana, wasted to the point they are dysfunctional... it's possible, but the dynamics are completely different. 

Alcohol is an intoxicant that is in reality a poison that with increased dosage results in inebriation. Marijuana is a plant that contains a drug called THC that can be used to isolate a person from what's troubling them... provide a cocoon of sorts. Depending upon the strength of the marijuana, the user can relax to the point of being unmotivated. More often however, use of marijuana is not used to isolate a person, but rather as for motivational purposes... achieving an ideal high (not to be confused with intoxication) to accomplish a goal, using marijuana to emulate an effect similar to coffee or a natural high as experienced while hiking. The high may be associated with medicinal goals - pain management, alleviation of symptoms of PTSD, or with purely a desire to feeling good. Marijuana is actually self regulating, unlike alcohol, in that more does not imply a state of increasing intoxication or more being high, because more does not provide an increase beyond a certain level of high. In that respect, there is very little comparison between alcohol and marijuana.

THE GOOD:

Dr. Sanjay Gupta... another CNN Correspondent this week reversed previous beliefs that marijuana was bad with his own personal, one year inquisition into the truth about marijuana. And his opinion may surprise you!

Long before I began this project, I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive. Reading these papers five years ago, it was hard to make a case for medicinal marijuana. I even wrote about this in a TIME magazine article, back in 2009, titled "Why I would Vote No on Pot."
"Well, I am here to apologize." says Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

I apologize because I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.

Required reading!:  Why I Changed My Mind On Weed (CNN), by Dr. Sanjay Gupta

THE BAD:

Discussion SAFEACCESS - Comments - Legal THC... is most notable not only for the article but more for the comments. It should come as no surprise that the US government owns a patent on THC and chemical components of cannabis, but what should be a surprise is despite this patent for cannabis components as medicine, marijuana/cannabis remains a Schedule One drug. The irony is simple; how can a plant listed as having no medicinal value have so much medicinal value? The comment section of the aforementioned link describes all sorts of pharmaceuticals based on cannabis, even those drugs designed to destroy endocannibinoid receptors in the human brain, without which we would be zombies. Amazing how many drugs/parmaceuticals already exist based upon cannabis - a useless plant as described by the federal government with a severity of abuse much higher than alcohol, tobacco or cocaine. 

And finally, Mr. Samuels would appreciate, or not, the following research: Effects of Marijuana Smoking on the Lung

Appears, the effects of smoking marijuana aren't anywhere near the same as smoking tobacco. Like the, "one marijuana cigarette = 20 tobacco cigarettes". But then why would we expect they would be the same? Two different plants. Sure, smoke is considered smoke. But then the whole problem with science is the desire to simplify everything into one neat bundle.

Whether it's 1) Brianna Maitland and her disappearance alleged to be related to drugs or 2) Patricia Spottedcrow in prison for over ten years for selling a couple marijuana cigarettes, the truth is the same. Misunderstanding and prejudice determine a person's fate. In spite of a US President that promised laws and a reality based on science, that is not how America survives. It is not what we base our reality upon. 

Attorney General Eric Holder recently held a conference at the Kennedy Center, and although much speculation resides around a change to US Drug Policy and discrimination based upon race, the following link did little to ally my concerns. A full 40 minutes was devoted to voter rights and certainly, that is a concern, however a brief 2 minutes was in reference to federal drug policy reform and non-violent crimes based upon marijuana use and other drugs.

Most notable was the federal government's concern for it's privacy but a notable lack of concern for the privacy of American Citizens.

The YouTube video of Attorney General Eric Holder at the Kennedy center is here:



Marijuana Plants - Patent owned by God

Isn't it time we treated marijuana as a plant, as a medicinal herb like ginseng or camomile, and not a weapon? Isn't it time to treat alcohol more like a drug and not a fruit juice? Isn't it time to respect the privacy of individuals that the US Constitution provides to US citizens?

So President Ronald Reagan thought marijuana was as bad as a nuclear blast? I have to ask, was he even ever at Bikini Island during a nuclear blast? If so, could that have affected his mind? I mean, who in their right mind can seriously make a comparison like that and expect people will take him seriously?  Ludicrous idea. But that's what drives the War on Drugs. Fallacies and propaganda.

Time America gets real, and time to Stop the Hurt!


July 21, 2013

THE DARK FOREST - LIFE BEYOND THE WEB OF THE BLACK WIDOW



Little did I know there was so much imagery and media surrounding the dark forest.


What is the Dark Forest?

Reference to Jean Stimmel and Psychoscapes... where he references Joseph Campbell, from the 1960's. Campbell posed the following:

“The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth. If your private myth, your dream, happens to coincide with that of the society, you are in good accord with your group. If it isn't, you've got an adventure in the dark forest ahead of you.”

As Jean Stimmel states on his blog: "We are strangers in a strange land and when that happens, like it or not, we have no choice but to do the hard work to find our way to an authentic life.  It’s not easy. As he tells us, you have to blaze your own trail: “You enter the forest 
at the darkest point,
 where there is no path.

 Where there is…path, 
It is someone else's path.

 If you follow someone else's way,
you are not going to realize
 your potential.”

We people, we have a familiar saying: Life sucks, people suck.

Wow what a miracle it really is when our life works out and we can truly say we're happy! 

In my life, starting in 1974, I can truly say I discovered happiness. By 1979 that was gone, but for those four years I lived truly happy.

Also during those four years my life was Hell...

I've told the story so many times before, how age 8 I received a book from my aunt at Christmas. R IS FOR ROCKET by Ray Bradbury. It was a book of short stories, of which one in particular became a part of me, Frost and Fire

My childhood was great... I had a good home with loving parents, was free to explore, and wasn't micromanaged like children are today. 

I was bullied in school, starting in the 5th grade, only to get much worse in middle school. My parents were there for me, to help, but in hindsight it was the school district that should have been responsible for my well-being while learning. Today, schools still struggle with bullying... and really, there's no reason that should be a problem. A school system is a microcosm... everything that goes on within a school is managed throughout the day. So why should any student be subject to being bullied, or any student be allowed to be a bully?

Just saying... school systems are not helpless... and busting a kid for making a hand into the image of a pistol is insane. Pink Floyd had a song that captures the moment... THE WALL.




The You-Tube video is unfortunately censored:




So we'll go with John Lennon's WORKING CLASS HERO:


So they hit me at school and called me a fool. I moved away on my own when I became 18 year's old. And that's when the real shit hit the fan.

There's so much in our society that lays claim to rules that blood is thicker than water, and that we don't abandon family. But what about when that family doesn't respect you nor accept you? When that family is like a black widow spider who has you snared in a web, injecting poison to make you conform to the people on the hill?

There are serious issues in the world with people being subject to parental or militaristic control.

There are girls married off to old men. Girls being subjected to genital mutilation in the name of just cause. Boys that have it hammered into their heads that violence is sweet, that peace is for sissies. 

At age 21 I saw my dreams come true... and that story I read at age 8, I found my place. That job was custodian at a local college... with excellent pay, and benefits, and a chance to find my own way in life. I became a disgrace to my family! 

How many people in this world become a disgrace to their family? 

I've been seeing a therapist of late... to help me and guide me through the Dark Forest. I got the good news my mental health evaluation includes PTSD, Depression and Anxiety... the recommended treatment: cannabis/marijuana, which is illegal in my state. Fuck me!!! With all the pills available for people, why would a plant be a better solution? NOT, that that is the sum total of my solution. A plant can't provide the total solution, but it can sure help, maybe much more than a pill.

As my mother believes there is only one road in life. ONE! There is nothing to question, no decisions to be made. Grow up, go to college, get married, buy a house, have 2.5 children, grow old, and die. That is life. Oh, and have fun... she does have her fun.

Me, I sought the mystical in life. I sought freedom and my own path through the dark forest... I've met more than one siren...


But I remain... a lone wolf.


My message to you out there... it is not acceptable that 80% of abused persons should be happy with their abusive environment. No abuse is acceptable. If you have a black widow on your back weaving a web around you - escape... escape to the dark forest and find your own way. 

We live but once, even if reincarnated, this life is important. Suicide is not an option. Living is the only option, and if that means cutting ties with the family, the past, the script, so be it.

Live free. Prosper. Break from the web... and find your own way through the dark forest... find the light!


July 20, 2013

HOMELAND SECURITY, BOB DYLAN (ARRESTED) AND MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA

EVERYDAY is a sorry day in America.

On September 11, 2001 terrorist flew planes into both the World Trade Center buildings in NYC, as well as the Pentagon. Another plane hijacked by terrorists crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers overwhelmed the terrorists, only to die trying.

Americans died, and most of America felt pain so acute as to make them stop what they were doing, and their lives were changed forever.

The consequences of that day that will forever resound in America was a crackdown by our federal government on the rights and freedoms of all. Yes, my opinion, but it appears obvious that rather than bring about healing, or accept the sympathies of other nations around the world, our government decided to seek revenge, to retaliate and to suck the American people into a Rage War unlike anything we'd experienced before.

We attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan, we attacked Iraq and brought down a dictator we'd accused of having WMD. We were wrong, but we didn't stop. Congress proceeded to approve the Patriot Act that in effect struck down 30% or more of our rights under the US Constitution. They blamed Mexico, though the terrorists came in through the US and Canada, and we now have our own Berlin Wall dividing US and Mexico. The DOJ infiltrates journalists and charges them with espionage, the IRS targets critics of US policy, and the Dept. of Homeland Security urges all Americans to be suspicious of others... anyone wearing a hoodie, who acts suspicious, who's walking after dark.

“If You See Something, Say Something™” (White House Link).

The NSA monitors our phone calls, our e-mail and our web-sites and blogs! Especially of interest are those exercising their First Amendment rights and those opposed to the status quo. Many states have legalized marijuana, and although technically a drug controlled under DEA Schedule One, these states have enough data, research and smarts to know that prohibition of cannabis is not the answer. The federal government promised to address the nation months ago as to it's stance on cannabis legalization and federal law. Still we wait while federal authorities harass and cause to shut down many state legal clinics that provide legal cannabis.

Incarceration and murder rates of Black Americans is so disproportionate to White Americans as to cause extraordinary concern for all Americans. And yet, we do nothing.

President Obama recently spoke out after a teenager in Florida was killed in a case of a "neighborhood watch volunteers" assertion that said Black teenager was a immediate, dangerous threat to the community, and this volunteer was forced to kill this person in self-defense. President Obama asks that the findings of the trial be honored, yet the President also admits that could have been himself 35 years ago. He talks about the overall national attitude towards Black Americans... the fear and paranoia Black people can cause.

Remarks by the President on Trayvon Martin - July 19, 2013

Bob Dylan: 

On May 29, 2012 the President awarded Bob Dylan, iconic musician, the National Medal of Freedom



It's so ironic as Bob Dylan seems to stand against everything our federal government stands for... and yet he is awarded the Medal of Freedom! The fact is, Americans respect individuality, as much as they fight the individual. It's something of a contradiction. One can be an individual targeted and tracked as a left wing radical who has hurt no one, and yet be awarded medals.

In principal, yes, our government stands for providing Americans their full rights as human beings and protections provided under the US Constitution. However in practice, not only do we now have our own Russian gulags in the form of Guantanamo Bay, but again our government has failed to adapt to the voice majority of Americans who want an end to the War on Drugs and those who simply want to play a game of online poker.

The true irony isn't so much how the federal government turned a critical injury to Americans into a War onto Itself, but how in essence the federal government turned us against ourselves. A kid in school that makes the caricature of a gun with his hand and fingers gets arrested these days. When a madman shoots up a movie theater or school licensed gun owners names are suddenly reported in the news, our Vice President urges us "to buy a shotgun" and our Second Amendment rights are viciously attacked.

Why is it that injury to Americans results in our being treated like children, en masse? New laws, more regulations? It's gotten to the point where we can walk the streets at night.

A couple years ago Bob Dylan was in New Jersey for a concert. He likes to walk the streets and he often wears a hoodie. He was arrested when concerned NJ citizens called 911 describing a "crazy man" walking the street. The arresting officer arrived on the scene and asked Bob Dylan for his license, called it in not knowing who he was. And does it matter? Is walking the streets a crime now too?

You can read the story here:

NJ Homeowner Calls the Police on Bob Dylan - ABC News

We can't smoke pot, we can't walk the streets, we can't fart in the wind!

Or blow in the wind...








Watch your neighbor, your co-worker, your friends! That's a public service message courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Homeland Security representative.  Everyone is watching you... and monitoring every activity you pursue!

Welcome to the 21ST Century in America.

Oh, and if you seek mental health therapy, the status quo is, to consider you, sick in the head!

Isn't it time we embrace Mental Health therapy in America? Isn't it time we stop the shame and condemnation for those who wish to heal their minds? Isn't it time to stop believing that only mentally ill people seek therapy? Fact is, you don't have to feel stigmatized to seek therapy... it doesn't mean you're sick. It means you're being good to yourself. That you care.

It was President Ronald Reagan that stood in Germany, fist raised as they were tearing down the Berlin Wall, as he shouted out - "Tear It Down!"

There are many walls that need tearing down before America can be free.  And many walls being built that shouldn't be. Walls don't protect us. The truth - that will set you free!

America... be free..."The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind..." and I suggest you listen, to the wind, as it is much more honest than our leaders... money has always bought power, and corrupts; in America we are free to vote, and although we may not think our vote counts for much, it does.

By now President Obama should have addressed the  issue of legalized cannabis, yet he hasn't. He should have addressed walls between US and Mexico, and he hasn't. It's not so much that I question pres. Obama's dedication to pledges he made or doing what is right, hell, I voted for him at his first run for President. No, it's more what he doesn't do that concerns me... and I'll leave it at that.



July 14, 2013

TRAYVON MARTIN/GEORGE ZIMMERMAN ON TRIAL - NOT GUILTY, BUT NOT INNOCENT EITHER - REFERENCE TO THE CASE AGAINST DR. SAMUEL SHEPPARD (1954) - AKA "THE FUGITIVE"

The verdict is in in what was called the George Zimmerman trial in Florida. "Not Guilty". Perhaps they ought to charge Trayvon Martin now with "Attempted Murder", "Felonious Assault", except that Trayvon Martin is dead.

The "crime" took place in Florida. If you want the details, read the news. My goal is to show how dysfuntional our current legal system is. Which means this is as brief a summary as I can possibly manage, to highlight the issues at hand and form what I hope will be a relevant essay on crime in America and the criminal justice system.

I did not follow the criminal justice/court proceedings intently. I did pay attention to the highlights of the case. In as brief of terms as possible here is my summary, for what it's worth.

Florida is a state with a law called "Stand Your Ground". The law states that if your life is threatened you can stand your ground and not, as is the case in many other states, be obligated to try to flee your attacker or the person threatening you. I am all for "Stand Your Ground", as trying to flee will rarely save your life. People who try to flee often end up exhausted running, end up in worse circumstances or in attempting to flee get run over by a car or bus.

In addition, in states without "Stand Your Ground" you may find yourself in a position to save the life of another person who is being threatened with imminent death. Under the law you must yell "RUN" to the intended victim and run yourself. If the person that you witnessed that was in imminent danger of death dies, well too bad. You called 911 of course, but they, the police got there too late.

Stand Your Ground makes sense. Unfortunately, "the George Zimmerman" case makes that logic rather suspect. Why?

George Zimmerman was part of a neighborhood "Watch Group" in a gated Florida community that had experienced recent break-ins and assaults. Zimmerman's training with firearms, Florida law and personal rights was indeed noteworthy and exemplary. There seems little to argue that George Zimmerman was the man for the job in a neighborhood watch group.

However, what happened the night he killed Trayvon Martin puts Stand Your Ground on trial, not Zimmerman. And it puts Trayvon Martin on trial, only he's dead.

The story begins at night. It's raining. George Zimmerman is on duty with the neighborhood watch detail. Trayvon Martin is staying with relatives and decides to go to the store for some candy. Trayvon is a teen, around age 16, and Zimmerman is an adult. As Trayvon is returning home wearing his hoody, Zimmerman sees him. He is suspicious and calls 911.

What follows is essentially speculation and the word of one man who survived, a key witness and friend of Trayvon's, and 911 transcripts.

George Zimmerman tells 911 that he has spotted a suspicious person. The 911 dispatcher tells him they'll sent officers, that he shouldn't follow the suspect who it turns out, is Trayvon. At what point if any when Zimmerman determines Trayvon is Black is unclear and disputed. Zimmerman himself is White Latino. The allegation is brought up in court between the defense and prosecution who has charged Zimmerman with 2nd degree murder, however my understanding is the judge rules race is a prohibited topic for either side.

The prosecution contends that Zimmerman proceded to follow Trayvon. The defense contends Trayvon jumped Zimmerman, allegedly while near his car. Seems that would be simple to ascertain, considering where Trayvon's dead body was found, which I have not heard how far from his car he was when he claims he was forced to shoot Trayvon dead in self-defense.

Assuming that Zimmerman shot Trayvon a significant distance from his car would lead one to believe he did not heed advice from the 911 dispatcher and instead followed Trayvon. Another way to look at this is he stalked Trayvon and became a vigilante, as the job of a neighborhood watch member is to report suspicious activity, not to play policeman and pursue.

The key witness for the prosecution was on the phone with Trayvon that night. His friend had this to say: ... testified that Martin told her he was being chased by a "creepy-a** cracker." The link is here: CNN - "Why This Verdict..."

When challenged by her statement, she had this to say (same CNN link): When defense attorney Don West challenged her story, suggesting Martin attacked Zimmerman, she responded: "That's retarded."

If we were to put Trayvon Martin on trial, and if we assume what the key witness for the prosecution said was true, would not Trayvon Martin also have the right to Stand His Ground?

And excellent opinion piece by CNN's Miller Francis is here: "What About Martin's Right To Stand Your Ground"

Where I live it would take police 15 - 20 minutes to arrive. If I saw a suspicious person lurking here, I would be obligated by law to retreat to my home and call 911. I could Stand My Ground in my home, but not pursue the suspicious person. I'm not judging Zimmerman for his concerns, and not suggesting I should pursue a suspicious person in my neighborhood. What I am questioning is whether what George Zimmerman did was justified? Whether prejudice played a role or a sense of playing law enforcement, ie, being a vigilante played a role.

What happened we'll likely never know. What we do know is Trayvon Martin had used marijuana, admissible as evidence in court. Do we know if George Zimmerman also had THC in his system, or alcohol? No we don't. What we know is George Zimmerman was found Not Guilty; he was not found Innocent.

Why is this important? In 1954 a Dr. Samuel Sheppard was found Guilty of murdering his wife. The story allegedly spawned the popular 1960's TV series called "the Fugitive". In the late 1960's Sam Sheppard was found Not Guilty of the murder. Dispite another 40 years investigating the murder of his mother, the child of Sam Sheppard knows who killed his mother. Yet, the legal proceedings are so dysfunctional that despite this knowledge, and although Dr. Sam sheppard is dead, the courts have still not found Sam Sheppard to be Innocent of the crime for which he was found Not Guilty.

You can read the fascinating story here, on Crime Library: "The Case of Dr. Samuel Sheppard"