Isn't Life Strange?

After almost a year of public scrutiny, Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on three separately charged counts for the murder of George Floyd.

Everyone knows about the case, which from the outset seemed like a foregone conclusion but fortunately continued through the American legal system, which though imperfect nonetheless again proved to be the best in the world and throughout history.  Chauvin was found guilty by a jury of his peers.

Along the way, we endured a summer of rioting and looting by a violent few under the cover of mulititudes of peaceful, well-intentioned portesters, most of whom headed home at nightfall.  As of last night, long after the guilty findings had been well-publicized, Antifa anarchists were back in Portland doing what they do best: destruction.

I would like to think that we will move beyond this tragic case, but yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, a teen-aged girl was shot by a policeman, ostensibly to stop her from stabbing another teen-aged girl with a knife.  The Biden Administration has already chimed in with condemnation for the police officer before any trial, so the ordeal will apparently starting again.

Never let a crisis go to waste.

Maybe that cop is just as guilty, or maybe not.  I know little beyond the headlines, which made me think the cop should have not gotten involved in that situation.

A knife may be a deadly weapon but I would guess based on "West Side Story" --- knife fights have never been a part of my life at any time anywhere --- I assume the girls would have stopped short of killing each other, at least while a policeman watched.

Anyway, I thought I should write a final note on the George Floyd topic, because it had a major influence on this past year and may have Big Kahuna ripples for the next few years.

Based on comments made by protesters and politicians after the George Floyd trial ended, it seems we can expect similar riots and looting any time there is a police shooting of a minority.

Minneapolis, of course, already went back into the penalty box before the Chauvin trial ended with the deadly negligent shooting in a nearby community by a an experienced (former president of the local police union) who inexplicably yelled "Taser" as she shot someone who should have simply been taken into custody where a judge probably would have released him again without bail.

For today anyway, the media spotlight will glare on Ohio instead of Minnesota.

Interestingly, Vox (not Fox) posted an article about "The Effects of Black Lives Matter Protests" which said that cities where BLM had protested between 2014 (Ferguson) and 2019 showed 14% fewer "police homicides."  That saved an estimated 300 lives, althoug keep in mind there were other factors, including requirements for police body cams which may have also been responsible for that impact.

Unfortunately for those communities, the price of that was a 10% increase in homicides among the general public. As I assume you know, far more people are killed by people other than cops than are killed by cops.  In fact, I think in a week in Chicago it would not be uncommon for there to be more murders than the annual nationwide "police homicides," so we're talking thousands of additional murders.

Tying this into travel (which in this year where travel has been taboo), I would say that when you travel to any big city, be especially careful about where you go.  I would guess police will be less dilligent about stopping an attack, as no one wants to risk not only their lives but their livelihoods, reputation and freedom.

I think most of us would be inclined to spend less time looking to intervene in a no-win situation that could result in our own deaths or incarceration.  It's much safer to stop someone rushing to work without wearing a facemask.