Victims ... Aren't We All?

I did some shopping last night. Forgot one damn thing, so I have to go out again today after work. Stayed up late reading, which is a rarity these days. If you read one of the other blogs I do (The Written Word is a Lie) you know the book I'm reading is a bit of unpleasantness. It got me thinking (between coughing fits that have torn my back to shreds) about the nature of victims, justice and revenge.

There are people in this world (and I know some of them) who wear victim status like a crown. It absolves them of all responsibility. They think the world is out to get them, to drive them into the ground, and they make it so easy. They think their "victim" status should give them some kind of special foothold in the world. But there are victims and there are survivors, and its the survivors who deserve our respect. The sad thing about victims is that we are all victims of one thing or another, and we can all claim that title, but when you make a lifestyle out of it you don't even deserve pity. Survive and destroy. It's a better ending to your story.

Justice is a concept that fascinates me. As a society we have given up the notion of doling out justice ourselves and have left it in the hands of the government. Why we did this I have no idea. Laziness, perhaps. Lack of self-confidence. Fear of history being repeated (lynch mobs come to mind). We can be just people on our own without the help of the government. I see nothing wrong with taking the law into our own hands when the situation is warranted, and that leads to revenge.

Revenge is not a bad thing. In theory, it's something restricted to humans as far as I know. It puts things right. I sends a message, and let's be honest -- it feels good. If someone has done you wrong, you get them back. You can't rely on the courts and a jury of someone's "peers" (a joke if you've ever been to jury duty) to do the job for you. You need to sometimes step up and say, "So it goes." Victims of crime (different than lifestyle victims) need to sometimes take the law in their own hands to make sure they don't find themselves a victim again.

There are always problems with revenge and justice, and maybe that is why we have marketed them out to third parties, which, it needs to be noted, also make mistakes. I'd much rather be responsible for my mistakes, though. I don't want to wash my hands of what needs to be done (and can't ever see myself wearing the mantle of victim like I'm an Oscar winner). I want to wash the blood away, both literally and symbolically. I believe when someone does you wrong, you visit Hell onto them. Anything less just isn't civil.

People do bad things to others because they are either compelled (and no sense of right or wrong will stop that) or they think they can get away with it. Under our current justice system, they are more right than wrong. They do often get away with it. And they do it again. They put someone else in the role of victim. They act out again and again until they are caught, do their time and many decide to do it all over again.

How the hell is that justice?

And justice just doesn't go for street crime. All those Wall Street goons who have put our economy in the shitter need some real justice brought to their doorstep. All those people affected by the lost jobs and homes need to seek out revenge. That sends a message ... a chilling effect. Hell, our country has carpet bombed to do the exact same thing. Take a cue from the folks you help keep in place and wipe them out ... wipe them all out. It's fair. It's just. Those who have harmed you deserve likewise, unless it is against your beliefs. If that's the case, I respect that. If you'd rather leave it up to others to keep your hands clean, that's your choice, too, but there's no respect there. You're just setting yourself up for a fall.

People who do bad deserve the same. Far too often that doesn't happen. They go on to repeat their patterns and the world turns a blind eye. We need to stop that. We need to send the monsters back to Hell, and we shouldn't feel bad about it. Bad things happen when good people do nothing, and sometimes the bad comes from the very people we think are there to protect us. Family members, cops, investment bankers, politicians. The criminals don't always wear a ski mask and carry a gun. Sometimes they have a badge and uniform. Sometimes they are elected. But bad is bad, and garbage must be thrown out. Otherwise it just rots everything around it.

Gotta love books.

Richmond Rapist Update 2: They Shoot Rapists, Don't They?

I promised an update, and here it is. On Friday, Associated Press named three of the arraigned in the Richmond gang rape case. Presented for your reading pleasure are Cody Ray Smith (15), Ari Abdallah Morales (16), Marcelles James Peter (17). Peter's aunt, Monica Peter, commented before the hearing that her nephew told her he was only a bystander and did not participate in the attack. Of course, that begs the question: Why the fuck didn't he do something?

The aunt has an answer for that. She said he was afraid "he would get his ass kicked."

Peter should be concerned about his ass. Not about getting it kicked, however. You see, I doubt that 17-year-old has ever taken anything bigger than his finger up there while doing some masturbation experimentation while looking at Internet porn. If the tarot cards say prison is in his future, he'll soon be schooled in the art of prison sodomy. Getting his ass kicked will be a pleasure compared to what could be in store for him.

As I was formulating this blog posting, Celebrity Watchdog George Anthony Watson sent me a link a piece on SF Gate. The piece says that the rape was seen as "nearly inevitable." That's just the beginning of the questionable insights, however.

The victim is painted as a church-going girl (sympathy) who worried counselors (a bit of concern) because she tried "too hard" to please her school's "bad boys" (blame the victim). The place where the attack occurred is described as the "most infamous spot on campus," which also seems to lack security of any sort despite its notoriety. (The article says security was to be stepped up in the future. Ahh, hindsight.)

As you read what is supposed to be a sympathetic, revealing piece, you realize just how well the stereotypes are in place. Poverty (the politically correct code word for minorities) combined with a culture that glorifies thuggery (more code words) and "applauds" the degradation of women (suspicious at best). But wait, there's more!

These young men were "desensitized" by the usual suspects: violent video games, music and "language." Violent video games are the comic books of yesteryear. Back in the 1940s and '50s comic books were blamed for all kinds of juvenile delinquency problems because juvies read them. Today violent video games are blamed because "street culture thugs" play them. But like the "horrific" comic books of decades ago a large portion of today's youth, criminal and non-criminal, play violent video games. They don't all go out and gang rape.

(On a related note, Madoff, who is doing time in prison, committed a horrendous crime that saw people lose their retirements and utterly destroy them financially. Madoff isn't the only white collar criminal to have done this. When you read about these crimes, however, no newspaper or media outlet ever ties those crimes to the criminals' reading of the Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times, though I'm sure all of them read one or both of those publications. Blaming video games for crime is lazy at best. It also paints people who play them who aren't criminals in a bad light, but that is of no concern to a reporter looking to paint an easy-to-understand picture of something that may have no rational explanation. These same video games were blamed for Columbine, though the FBI's own report, which I read, paints a very different picture.)

In the article, Charles Johnson, a Richmond High security specialist, is quoted. (Let's not even ask how bad a school can be if it has to have a "security specialist.") He says, "We know that courtyard [where the rape occurred], and we've been waiting for something to happen there." If this guy is a security specialist who is aware of the problem and has been "waiting" for something to happen, why the fuck didn't he do anything before it could happen? What kind of "specialist" is that? He does say, "I'm sorry it had to be this terrible."

Wow, how touching, Mr. Security Specialist. Imagine if you went to your doctor, whom I presume is legitimate, and you tell him you're feeling bad. What if he said, "Well, I've known you had cancer for some time. I've been waiting for you to get sick. I could have told you about it, even helped treat it, but it's too far gone now. Sorry."

I can't be the only one who sees the problem here.

Johnson and other school officials blame the attack partially on the area's lack of lighting, security cameras and good fences. These are all things that are far beyond the control of mere men to actually control and fix; they obviously need the intervention of gods to help them with this. Perhaps Zeus will now come out of the sky to install lights, cameras and a better fence because he's also sorry a "terrible" crime happened.

I'm starting to think all of Richmond is filled with dumb, uncaring motherfuckers. Surely I must be wrong.

The article states that on Saturday district officials confirmed plans to install higher fences around the school before next summer and step up security, but also state that "the challenges will still be steep." Is that what kept them from doing anything when they realized they had a problem? Steep challenges? Perhaps they were just waiting for a gang rape to occur. I don't know. I don't think they do, either.

The article continues by telling readers how Cody Ray Smith's Myspace page has comments demanding he be set "freee." If that were to happen, however, Smith would have to hide from 24-year-old Chuckie Pelayo, the only one in the entire article who seems to have a fucking clue.

Pelayo is described as a "leader of a pack" (you can't help but hear the song in your head, too) that hangs out a block away from the crime scene. He claims that if he and his pack (maybe dressed in leather jackets and on their motorcycles) had been there before the crime was over, the "motherfuckers" (censored for sensitive 'net readers by the SF Gate) would have been shot. He goes on to give this dire warning, "Some of us know a few guys who were there, and we're out looking for them." As if that isn't scary enough. "They better hope the cops find them first, because when we find them the same thing that happened to that girl is gonna happen to them."

First, I applaud that. Second, are these "pack members" (my term) cut from a different street culture than the one that apparently plays bad video games and says bad words while applauding the degradation of women? The wording of the article would make it seem that way. What is odd, however, is that the kids who committed the crime are thugs while these guys are ex-cons who hang out on the corner ... one block away from the attack. Part of the problem, according to the mentally deficient security specialist and his peers, is that a "rough neighborhood" (again, read "there ain't a lot of white faces there") is right next to the campus.

Pelayo and his "pack" hang out at the back end of campus, too. How are they immune to the "street culture"? How are these men who are set to enact street justice not of the same cloth? Are they white? No real code words are used, so it is hard to tell. What is known is that the "pack" is ex-cons and that they have all be to prison and know "the code," which they admit the younger guys have no clue about. Ageism can't be in play here, as there is only a nine year age difference between the youngest one arraigned so far and Pelayo. So what is it? Pelayo gave the answer: morals.

With the exception of the Mafia, white culture thinks that criminals have no morals or values. That is far from correct ... mostly. Many criminals have a value system that is often deeper than your average church-goer (who try so hard to please the bad boys). They have to have a deep, powerful value system because they operate outside the law. There are mores you have to follow lest you upset the delicate balance of the criminal culture, and if you do that there is hell to pay. These gang rapists are not career criminals ... yet. They are wannabe criminals, apathetic teens and wayward youth that are part of a system that, as the article points out in a roundabout way, knows there is problems but does little to change them. Instead, it sits back and waits for something truly horrible to happen so that it can offer the usual scapegoats (video games and music these days), half-hearted apologies, and pleas for the violence to stop. What those who make up the system don't do is take any responsibility for it. That much is obvious from the article.

Here is a school with a known problem area. Here is a school that employs "security specialists." Here is a school that realizes it is in a "bad" neighborhood. Here is a school that knew something was going to happen. Here is a school that did nothing to change any of that. Not a damn thing, and now these rapists are in a justice system that will play all kinds of games with all the usual responses (victims of their culture, children of poverty, super predators), and will go back and forth on what should be done. Specialists and experts will want to do everything from execute them to offer group therapy. What is to be sure, however, is that no good is going to come to them no matter what happens to them in the system, which right now is the only place they are even semi-safe.

The irony here is that these young criminals are eventually going to be taken care of by a better, more moralistic criminal class that does not like the types of transgressions these young boys have engaged in. While the demands to "freee" them will most likely fall on deaf ears, these rapists are going to live to regret that if they are freed. Pelayo and his kind will make sure of it. (Hell, I'll call him a hero if he takes one of them out.) This "pack" of ex-cons, who are presumably part of the same street culture that is being blamed for the gang rape, are the only ones who will really deal with it the way it needs to be done.

The more bleeding hearts among you may shout for compassion, but let's face it, these rapists are beyond that. Anything other than swift retribution will teach them that they got away with something, and show those cowardly witnesses that maybe this wasn't as bad as the rest of the world says. Yes, the death penalty is flawed and doesn't deter crime, but street justice does. When civilians start to take the law into their own hands, criminals -- the ones without values or morals -- start to get scared. In fact, they thrive when they know people will only deal with the problem by calling police because they know the police don't get there in time and rarely do anything of note anyway. But people, on the other hand, aren't bound by the same laws. They are vicious and often act without thinking things through. No, they aren't much different than lynch mobs (and anyone who knows anything about American history [recent, at that] knows how bad that can get), but sometimes a lynch mob is necessary to deal with the likes of Smith, Peter and company.

Led into the courthouse in bullet proof vests, these assholes must understand how the "street culture" feels about them. Not even "ex-cons" who hang out in "packs" on street corners want to be associated with them. In fact, the only people who are even being slightly sympathetic in this whole mess seem to be officials from Richmond High, who are perhaps trying to deflect questions about its own role in the attack due to inaction. Either way, these rapists will hopefully get the street justice they deserve whether it be on the streets or in a cell somewhere. Pelayo is the only one who got it right in that article. He was the only one who was backing up his values and morals with action. He was the only one who didn't try to blame outside influences or even ignore his role in things (he had no real role in the rape, but seemed upset that he couldn't have been there sooner to end it -- unlike Richmond High officials who knowingly let the problem get out of control through lack of securing an area known to be dangerous).

Kudos to you, Pelayo. Time to show the fuckers what real street culture is like.

For those interested in donating money: Richmond High Jane Doe, account No. 041-30-1188, Mechanics Bank, 3170 Hilltop Mall Road, Richmond, CA 94806.

Richmond Rapist Update

According to KTVU News last night, there was a sixth arrest in the case (Richmond gang rape of a teenage girl). I did not get the prick's name, but will include it later. The minors in the case are to be tried as adults, so that is pleasing to the ear's. (If I were a 15-year-old boy heading to jail or prison I'd be working on my gag reflex. Wouldn't want to piss off anyone.) When the suspects were led into the courthouse (no cameras, please) they had to wear bulletproof vests.

Headshots are more effective anyway.

Nothing But Hate

Richmond, California. Richmond High School. A 15-year-old girl gang raped after her homecoming dance. Beat. Perhaps up to two dozen people witnessed them. Not a single one had the courage to stop it or even try. It may have been recorded by cell phone and put on the Internet. (If you checked it out perhaps you'll be snagged for viewing child pornography. One can hope.)

The girl was with a group of people. Drinking. Not the smartest move. A grounding would have been a fine punishment. Perhaps taking the cell phone. A gang rape and beating? No. Never.

Associated Press today reported that four have been charged ... so far. They are 15, 16, 17 and 19. The 19-year-old is Manuel Ortega. I hope that, if guilty, his cellmates remember his name and his crime. My guess, knowing what I know of rapists and child molesters in prison, is that his life will be filled with wonderful days of forced oral and anal sex. Maybe, once his ass has been reconstructed for the fifth time he will finally understand what his victim went through.

And maybe he's just a dumb fuck who will never get it.

Again, he may not be guilty, but my guess is that the police are going to do their best not to fuck this one up. After all, this crime is disgusting for reasons I don't need to point out, and there are plenty of people up in arms over it.

It makes me wish more people believed in vigilante justice. You know -- arson, terror, beatings, murder (if necessary). I don't feel bad saying that. People act like these cowardly rapists do for several reasons, and one of those reasons is that they don't fear the consequences. Why else would people film their crimes? Yeah, for the infamy, but they also just don't get it or care. And why should they? Far too many people aren't forced to suffer for their transgressions. Far too many.

When I think of a 15-year-old engaging in a gang rape and beating of another 15-year-old, I think that teen is long gone. I don't believe he can be rehabilitated and shown the "error of his ways." In time, sure. But I think karma has got to grab him by the nuts and put the fear of God into his moist little mouth. I want him to feel as violated as the girl, and I want his family looked at. If they contributed to the creation of this monster, they should pay, too. As a town, Richmond should be looking at all these people and their families and deciding exactly what they want to do with them.

Rapists and child molesters fill me with rage. I want them to hurt, to burn, to suffer. If given the chance, I'd do it to them myself. I can think of many unique and splendid tortures to visit upon some needing soul. I'd feel no remorse, either. In fact, I'd enjoy it. I feel no shame in saying that. Part of self-awareness is admitting what you are, and I can be a monster in the right circumstances.

But I'd never rape someone, or engage in a gang rape, or be witness to it.

No.

Ladies, I wish you carried guns. I wish you fucked up people who did you wrong. Do it enough and the message starts to get out.

Richmond, California, what bred your monsters? What created this situation? What destroyed a teen girl, who probably wishes she were dead at this point? What made these teen pieces of human shit think they could do this and not suffer?

God, could you imagine what would happen if one of these little shits had a disease like AIDS or Hep C and inadvertently gave it to the others? (I somehow doubt they thought to wear condoms.) Geez, that would really suck.

Every one of those fuckers who engaged in the crime deserves to die. Every one of those cowardly pigs who witnessed it and did nothing deserve a beating of such a scope that it leaves them crippled for life. Anyone who sought it out on the web deserves jail time.

I don't expect the justice system to dole out the proper punishment, but I expect General Population to do the job. And if by some miracle these walking wastes of flesh don't do time, I expect the citizens of Richmond to show them what street justice really looks like.

Monsters. Each and every one of them.

You're Gonna Get Yours

On September 16 in Eureka, California an alleged (at the time -- don't know the status now) robber got a little taste of what happens when people take the "law" into their own hands. The alleged robber, whom I shall call Dumb Ass simply because I don't want to use his real name without knowing his current criminal status, is 29. After pissing, shitting or doing God knows what in the bathroom of the Shell station on Fifth Strreet, Dumb Ass decided it would be a good idea to get some Camels. Who knows? Maybe it's the brand his old lady likes or something.

Now, most Camel smokers, probably the most honest of all cigarette smokers despite the brand's blatant phallic worship, pay for their smokes with hard-earned cash or government hand-outs. Not Dumb Ass. He decided to grab them from behind the counter and make a run for it.

Sean Grimes of Eureka was at the counter at the time. He was purchasing his drink of choice for that moment: Rockstar. Go figure. He heard the Shell cashier yell and looked up to see Dumb Ass coming straight at him.

Grimes, acting more like a lineback instead of a rockstar, "kind of slammed into him." With the aid of other customers they kept the capitalism safe and the alleged robber on the ground until the po-po came.

The police searched Dumb Ass, which I'm sure is their favorite part of any takedown. On him they found a homemade black jack, which he did not apparently use in the robbery. Dumb Ass was cuffed and put in the back of the car, but not before hurdling an accusation that one of the guys that held him until the police arrived hit him in the head a couple of times (probably not the first head injury he has endured) and that others threatened him.

Dumb Ass' quote that appeared in the Times-Standard was, "They told me they wanted to do street justice. They told me they wanted to put me in a six foot hole. I want that [surveillance] video as evidence."

I guess he thought if he had the video the police would not be able to view it. Regardless, the police weren't giving him the video at that point. They needed it for their own case. (Ironically, the picture that ran in the paper shows Dumb Ass in a Homeland Security t-shirt. You know the one -- it has Native Americans on it. Beautiful.)

Besides burglary, Dumb Ass was also booked on possession of a deadly weapon, possession of a hypodermic needle (I'm sure it's for insulin) and violating probation (shock). To add further insult to the indignities of near-street justice, he was also booked on 37 outstanding warrants (surely a personal best). These warrants including probation violations, failures to appear and possession of controlled substances.

This is a typical case, but what struck me as interesting was his quote about "street justice." Where I'm from, street justice wasn't holding someone down until the cops got there. Street justice was leaving them injured or dead. I know one "vigilante" supposedly said he wanted to put him in a six foot hole (and I'm sure that's not the first time Dumb Ass has heard that), but so what? The newspaper didn't report injuries. The guy was obviously still alive. There was no "street justice," and it's doubtful there would've been ... no matter how deserved it may have been.

The other thing that struck me strange was the fact that these customers were willing to step in and catch this guy. They had nothing to gain. (And could've actually been poked by a needle for their efforts. Would Shell have paid for those medical tests?) All they ended up doing was protecting a store that overcharges for food and gas. Dumb Ass didn't pull his weapon out. He didn't hurt anyone. He grabbed smokes and ran. He wanted to be gone. He didn't want to pay $45 for a carton of Camels. These "heroes," to my knowledge, don't own the store and have no personal stake in it other than being happy that Rockstar drinks can be bought there. Why the need to act? Has the protection of a corporate entity become so ingrained that you will risk life and limb in order to stop a petty theft? What happens if Dumb Ass gets out and wants to get a few friends together to do some "street justice" of their own? Was it worth it then?

I'm not saying people shouldn't act out when they see crimes being committed. In fact, I wish more people would do it, but I also wish they would be smart about it, too. Protecting capital is far different than protecting lives. Shell, a company with a spotty corporate record to say the least, is a far bigger criminal than Dumb Ass. Just ask the people of Nigeria. Shell likes purchasing weapons for the police and military there. Those weapons are then used on people who live in villages impacted by Shell. It's a good way to keep people quiet, and Shell's problems extend far beyond stealing cigarettes. If anything, these would-be heroes should be turning their alleged talk of "street justice" onto Shell. After all, $45 of lost profit is nothing compared to 200 dead bodies connected to the security forces that do work for Shell.

Really now, which is more important? Yeah, Dumb Ass deserved to finally be caught for one of his many crimes against humanity, but what about Shell and its crimes. Those police weren't doing squat about that. Doubtful they even know of it. What happens in Ogoniland stays in Ogoniland, right?

What's criminal?