MORE QUESTION... and MORE QUESTIONS...

I have more Questions... But no Answers...

They called them... "criminals and thugs who tore up..." Baltimore... and they called in 2000 National Guardsmen and more than 1000 police officers to Baltimore streets...

A term used by President Barack Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to characterize rioters has given new life to a debate over the word "thug."

They burned the city... and cars... But are they criminals...? Are they thugs...?

They’ve called in the National Guard. Maryland’s Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency last night as riots plagued Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. In response to the latest American symbol of law enforcement brutality, the city suffered rock-throwing protests, looting, arson and assaults on police officers. Hogan has promised President Obama he will not let Baltimore “be taken over by thugs,” and the city is instituting a week-long curfew to curb the violence.

They looted... Yes they did... But are they robbers...?

"If we really want to solve the problem, if our society really wanted to solve the problem, we could. It's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant. And that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns," the President said.
In this instance the President is correct...

Mothers should not be involved in youths education and upbringing only when  a "CVS burns..."

The parents should educate way before the matter comes down to street talk...

The parents should be part of the education system...

The tensions in Baltimore come after demonstrations across the country over the deaths of black men after encounters with police, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York; and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.

This latest eruption came after days of protests over Freddie Gray, who mysteriously died on April 19, a week after Baltimore Police arrested him. Anger over his plight may have spurred Monday's violence, but Baltimore City Council Member Brandon Scott said it was also fueled by "a long, long, longstanding issue with young African-Americans."

"We're talking about years and decades of mistrust, of misfortune, of despair that it's just coming out in anger," Scott said. "No, it is not right for them to burn down their own city. But that is what's coming out of these young people.

Indeed it is a systemic problem... 

After all,

• It is systemic violence when there is youth unemployment...
• It is systemic violence when students are loaded with exorbitant loans... that they have to repay for years to come...
• It is systemic violence when the poor neighbourhoods do not have a pharmacy where people can buy medicine...
• It is systemic violence when in the name of law enforcement minorities are brutalized...
• It is systemic violence when medical care is denied from a section of the community...
• It is systemic violence when quality education is not provided in the inner cities... and in poor neighbourhoods...
• It is systemic violence when people are called names... "thugs" and "criminals"...
• It is systemic violence when reporters justify the Big Brother Greed and condemn the kids on the streets as "thugs"...
• It is systemic violence when people are subjected to death penalty...
• It is systemic violence when Freddie Gray mysteriously dies while in custody...
• It is systemic violence when excessive force is used against youth on the street... 

This "democratic" system engenders violence... This system denies opportunities to the majority of "WE THE PEOPLE..." and concentrates power and riches in the hands of the 1% of society... The Big Brother system is inherently violent... and as long as social norms and mores are based on GREED... as long as the social values are anchored on the PROFIT MOTIVE... the system will engender violence and society will be in turmoil and will have convulsive outbursts like in Ferguson and Baltimore...

There is a wonderful book written by Frantz Fanon... The Wretched of the Earth... it discusses the Algerian struggle for freedom against European colonial rule... In it there is a brilliant statistics... it says the intercommunal violence dropped dramatically when the Algerians began the Liberation Struggle against the occupiers...  

To all those who blame inner city violence on "thugs"... Frantz Fanon has a powerful message... GIVE THE YOUTH THE OPPORTUNITIES... GIVE THE YOUTH MEANINGFUL JOBS... GIVE THE YOUTH DECENT EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE AND A VISION FOR A BETTER FUTURE... AND THE VIOLENCE IN THE INNER CITIES WILL SUBSIDE AND THE DRUG WARS WILL BE SOLVED...

But as long as there is systemic discrimination and violence... the youth will be restive and agitated...

... And one final question...

Why the youth in Baltimore... in Ferguson... are called "criminals and thugs"... while the Islamist-Jihadists in Iraq and Syria are called "militants"... ????????????????????????????

Even the language of Big Brothers and their supporters is discriminatory...

The ISIS militants... but the Baltimore "criminals and thugs..."!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shame on us...!!!

The kids in Baltimore are our kids... Give them a chance...!

Joseph Kent...Peaceful protest... and arrested for curfew violation...

Not even peaceful protests are allowed...

Protesters in Baltimore are calling for the release of Joseph Kent, a 21-year-old prominent protester and activist, who appeared to be “kidnapped” by the national guard on live TV. 

Peaceful protest and brutal arrest...

***

Violence Without Borders...The violence of the Big Brother GREED based system has no borders...  

1. Indonesia executes 8 drug traffickers...

Anger over Indonesia Executions...  These two are Australian... They were caught while trafficking drugs...

This is a self portrait from one of the inmates who was executed...

The penal system must be based on compassion and 

re-education...

And the self-portrait definitely attest to the re-education of the inmate...

2. North Korea has executed 15 people so far this year...for spying...!

North Korean dictator has no qualms about executing people who oppose him...

3. The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether states can use midazolam as a lethal injection drug. Lawyers for three Oklahoma death row inmates say the drug presents an unconstitutional risk of pain and suffering...

Oklahoma is among several US states that have sought alternate execution methods following firms refusing to supply the original drugs.

The executions have been put on hold amid the court review.

Abuse of power is everywhere... and Baltimore is just a symptom... 

***

Denial of the Armenian Genocide is killing the people over and over again...

The cartoon is from the U.S. press...

Dave Granlund cartoon about the 100th anniversary of the atrocities in Armenia...

East Peoria Times-Courier, IL... April 27, 2015

Indeed it is all of the above...