Imagine A World WITHOUT Cops

Posted by ~ Sheldon Redditt on 12/24/2014

Dedicated to Officer Rafael Ramos, Officer Wenjian Liu, their families and the NYPD Officers that lost their brothers.

"NYPD can't breathe."  "Two cops just got shot in Brooklyn.... Salute the shooter."  "Mike Brown mother cryed to an every other mama an wife cryed when they was killed by the police.  So shut up."  "Those pigs got what they deserved."  These are direct quotes pulled from social media.

So, let us imagine that someone is breaking into your home, you pick up the phone and call 911.  Wait a minute!  You CAN'T call 911 because there are no cops.  What do you do?? Imagine that you are out at a supermarket and someone kidnaps your child and you pick up the phone... to call WHO?  Imagine that a man is beating a woman and you're witnessing the beating.  WHO do you pick up the phone and call?  Imagine if two rivaling gangs are shooting at each other and innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire.  You dash for your phone and call WHO?  Imagine your elderly relative lives alone, all other family members are in the same town as you and no one has heard from this family member in days!  They aren't answering your repeated phone calls; you are terrified that something has happened to them, so you frantically decide to pick up the phone but it dawns on you, WHO are you calling?  I could go on and on for days with different scenarios that could happen.  But what would YOU do, if there were no cops?

There are over 780,000 cops in America and a majority of them are great cops.  They put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.  Do we have bad cops?  Of course, we do!  Just like any company in America there are bad employees, but that doesn't make the entire company bad because they have a few bad employees.  The same way an entire company isn't blamed for a few bad employees, that same courtesy should extend to our Police Officers.  Just like in those companies, the answer is to terminate the bad employees when it's recognized.  While I realize that what some officers do may, and often does require more than a simple termination, vigilant justice is NOT the answer.

Two innocent cops lost their lives for no reason at all. These men were someone's son, husband and father.  One of them, only married two months.  Imagine the devastating loss that would suffocate you.  Imagine if someone killed your husband, son or father; just because of the job he works.  Think about that.  Your loved one gunned down, simply because of the job that they work.  Not just any job, but a job that requires you to put your life on the line every day.  A job that is the most stressful job in America.  A job where you feel you are never appreciated.  A job where you find yourself, answering, "just fine", "great" or "good",  at the end of the day when your loved one asks, how your day went.  You don't tell them the horrible truth, you say fine, every time.  Most days the things you witness are anything but fine. But alas, you get up the next morning to do it all over again.  That's what a cop goes through on a daily basis.  We are the first ones you call when you need help.  But, we are also inherently the first ones to receive blame when you don't like the way we handle giving the help, that you called for in the first place.

So many are saying, this is no different from people being gunned down for the color of their skin, but it is different.  I am in no way negating the travesty that is, being black in America, but this is different.  These men and women choose to take on a profession that is mostly thankless, but they strive to make our world better and safer.  It's unfair to the ones, which ARE many, to fear going to work because a vigilante may put a bullet in their head, while they're answering a call or worse yet, sitting at a stop light.

Imagine if one of your coworkers killed someone and in return some random person just pulls out a gun and starts killing people at your company.  They kill random people just because they work at the same company, as your coworker that killed another person.  How sick would that be, just to kill some one simply because they work at the same company?  Is that not the same thing that happened to these police officers?  They were murdered just because they worked for the NYPD.  They had absolutely nothing to do with the Eric Garner murder.  Their beliefs, thoughts and feelings about the case weren't questioned before the trigger was pulled.  I doubt that they even knew the cop that choked and killed Eric Garner.  They were killed for what?  This idiot wrote on his social media page that two pigs are gonna get their wings today.  You kill one of us, we kill two of you.  What us, was he speaking of because I am not in the us when it comes to killing innocent people.  He was a very sick individual.  I am equally sickened by many of the comments glorifying the taking of these two officers lives by this idiot.  These senseless murders fixed NOTHING.  What they did do, is widen an already massive divide and create a new one, between citizens and law enforcement.  Don't think that law enforcement officers aren't going to be quicker to pull their guns now because they fear for their lives now.  And THEY have the guns.  There has to be a better way for people to speak out and seek justice for what they feel and what they believe.  Peacefully protest, talk to your friends and to people that are different from you, outside your circle and color lines, petition for the officer that killed Eric Garner to lose his position with NYPD, but don't murder innocent people for going to work.  And don't spew hate, as that solves nothing.  Social media has been wonderful in maintaining connections and reconnecting long lost friends, but the amount of hatred that it is bringing to the forefront is frightening and disheartening.  The only thing I can suggest is to not give the negativity your energy or do speak back, but in a positive fashion.  There is a racial divide in America.  That is undeniable.  I hope in my lifetime I can see it begin to, if not close completely.  In the meantime, let's strive to uplift those that protect us and honor their position and choice to do what most won't ever do; lay their lives on the line for strangers every day.  Justice has to be for all, period.  Remember, in demanding justice, we have to give and seek justice, even for the ones that we feel are giving us no justice.  You can't want justice for one group of people and not want it for another.  THAT ISN'T JUSTICE.  This is my truth. What's yours?

  

A Little Positive Light In An Often Dark World

Posted by ~ Sheldon Redditt on 12/17/2014

I dedicate this post to my wife, Amy and my daughter, Hayden.  I will continue to do everything in my power to help you both continue to LIVE in this world and NEVER just exist!

I wanted to do something a little different today in light of all of the negative events happening in the world as of late.  They say you put out that which you wish to get back.  So, this is my positivity, my light and inspiration for the day.  Just over a year ago my wife was interviewed for an article for a website, called Everest, that is intended to encourage and inspire people to move toward their dreams and goals.  I was in awe that of all their subscribers, they were interested enough in her dream of broadening our daughters horizons to interview her.  I am very proud of her and what we are accomplishing with Hayden.  I hope you'll enjoy the article.

Everest Interview ~ by Cassie Peretore

Amy Redditt knows that her Everest is worth all the effort when she sees the smile and excitement in her two-year-old daughter Hayden’s eyes. Amy dreams of giving Hayden a life full of truly enriching experiences that will help to shape her into an adventurous, compassionate, and open-minded human being. An enriched life doesn’t require a passport full of exotic destination stamps or a Rolodex full of big names; to Amy, a meaningful life is being open to other cultures and ways of life, learning about other people’s journeys, and finding happiness through experiences. She wants Hayden to see all fifty states before she turns eighteen (she’s already been to fourteen!), figure out what she is passionate about, take up Spanish, and appreciate art and music. These are the kinds of enriching experiences that shape a person into a dreamer and an achiever, and this is what Amy wants for Hayden.

Amy has met a lot of amazing people in her life, but many of these people were from other parts of the country and world; Amy is cognizant of the wonders that diverse people and cultures can offer. Amy grew up in Memphis, Tennessee where “many people didn’t dream much bigger than their own backyard.” She wants Hayden to always dream bigger than the backyard; she is showing her daughter how to appreciate what’s beyond that fence. She and her husband take every chance they get to expose Hayden to her world. Each month they make sure they travel, whether it is just to a hotel a few towns over or to Puerto Rico. Regardless of where they’re going, they go somewhere, they meet someone, and they learn something.

Amy dreams that Hayden will be willing to listen to and understand different people as a result of these enriching experiences. She hopes that when Hayden finds people who have not been fortunate enough to have the experiences that she has, she will reach out to them and teach them what she has learned. Amy is giving Hayden a life of inspirational experiences in the hopes that she will give back and pass on the lessons of these experiences to others. And one day, when Hayden is old enough to think that her parents are cool again, she’ll thank them for teaching her to live this way.

The Affordable Care Act: Not So Damn Affordable

Posted by ~ Sheldon Redditt on 12/10/2014

I dedicate this post to my mother-in-law, Corliss Finlay, and the countless other Americans that are feeling the same frustrations.  Just like everything else, we will get through this.

President Barack Obama ~ "I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."

If there was ever a time to band together, it is NOW!  Today, not tomorrow, is the time that we must all stand up and be heard that, We The People, will not stand for our families to be torn down, dollar by dollar, until there is nothing left for us to thrive.  We must appeal, The Affordable Care Act, NOW. 

Insurance Promising 1000 Minutes & Free Roaming for $75 A Month

Let me back up and start from the beginning.  When President Obama first started championing for health care for all Americans, I was the first one on board.  I mean, we ARE the richest and most powerful country in the world.  So, why shouldn't all Americans have health care that they could afford?  The President even got on TV and told us to LISTEN.  He said, that if you have health care with your current employer nothing will change.  You will continue to pay the same as usual.  Your insurance won't go up.  And to quote President Obama directly, "Knowing you can offer your family the security of health care -- that’s priceless.  Now you can do it for the cost of your cable bill.  Probably less than your cellphone bill.  Think about that.  Good health insurance for the price of your cellphone bill, or less."  Can someone help me find these people that have this cell phone plan priced equivalent to this new Health Care Plan?  And if you do find them, maybe we need to issue a consumer alert that there are cheaper cell phone plans out there?  I don't know any three year olds' toting around cell phones that end up costing them an extra $2200 a year after already paying a premium for them.  But, I'll get to that in a bit.  So, with him making that speech, I thought, yes, this is the greatest thing EVER.  If you have any pre-existing medical problems, you can't be denied coverage!  Do you know how significant that is for so many people?  Gone are the days that insurance companies could just charge whatever they wanted because all of them would be competing to get your business, thus driving the cost down.  So this would be a win win for the American People, RIGHT?  WRONG!!  Boy, we were SO WRONG!  Instead of it being a win win, it has been a big LOSE LOSE!  

Last year, my health insurance went up 25%. Now, yes, I was a little upset because I thought that it would not go up.  But, I was not so naive as to not understand that premiums do go up a little from year to year.  Still, 25% seemed to be a lot for an annual increase.  I have discussed this with multiple friends and just like my family, they all saw a sufficient increase in their health insurance.  

Medicaid: Free Insurance That Costs You A Fortune In Gas

I work with kids that are wards of the state and I started noticing that less and less, were doctor's taking their Medicaid insurance.  In fact, the books that were sent out at the beginning of the year, that were filled with doctors willing to accept their specific form of Medicaid, should really be sent to my family and friends in Arkansas and Tennessee, to help them start their fireplaces this year.  Burning them seems to be the only effective use because either no doctor in the book accepts their insurance anymore OR if you do win the lottery and find one willing, you better be prepared to fuel up because you'll be driving 30 minutes to an hour south to a neighboring city.  Maybe someone should coin a way to turn paper into fuel.  Hmmmmm, I may be on to something here!  I had a conversation with a doctor that the children use on a regular basis and I asked him what is going on with their insurance.  He stated to me that while most people thought that Obamacare would be a great thing, in reality, it was a terrible thing.  His reasoning was that the insurance and pharmaceutical companies are going to make a huge profit regardless of how the laws are tweaked.  When these mandates went into affect, such as not denying anyone with any pre-existing health condition, the insurance companies tweaked themselves as well, by doing things like doubling the costs of anything related to that particular medical condition.   He said that likewise, the pharmaceutical companies made adjustments by inflating the costs of medicine used to treat those illnesses.  It seems that if a medicine had cost $20, now it will cost you $100.  Who is paying for this?  We, the tax payers and consumers are.  But, back to the kids with Medicaid, we are not only having an issue finding doctors that will see them, now we have issues with their prescriptions being approved and filled as well.  Some of these kids are on psychotropic meds and have been for years and suddenly it is a problem for them to get them.  You can't just STOP taking a psychotropic medicine cold turkey.  So, we have to jump through a million hoops to make it happen for these kids.  And on the frivolous end, who wants to spend 10 hours in a month trying to get an approval for a kids' acne face wash?  Two months later that acne face wash still isn't approved, so what do you do?  You pay out of pocket and hope that at some point in time, it will be approved and you can be reimbursed.

My Three Year Old Needs to Get A Job

And then, it gets personal.  I found out a couple of days ago that my daughter's insurance was going up over $2200 a year starting in January, With No Warning!  To say that my wife and I were beyond pissed, is putting it lightly.  The next day, I found out that our insurance was going up another 40 %.  YES, I said 40%!  So, not only did it go up 25% last year, it went up another 40% this year.  That is a 65% increase in two years.  Now, you tell me how that is fair!  Everyone I have talked to is saying the same thing.  Everyone is seeing a huge increase in their insurance.  One of my wife's friends' told her that her birth control pills that she has been getting for free for years, will now cost her $68 a month. Thats $816 a year.  And while some may say that's an expendable prescription, no one knows from case to case if it's medically necessary or a choice.  Birth control pills are known to help prevent certain types of cancer, among other things.  To quote President Obama again,  "And starting on January 1st, they won’t be able to charge women more for their insurance just because they're women.  That's a good thing."  I guess he wasn't talking about women's prescriptions.  Ladies and gentleman, there is no other way to say this other than, we were lied to about this affordable health care crap!   It hasn't been affordable to me or anyone I know.  

Have The Golden Years Turned Into The Bronze Years?

I was on the phone with my mother-in law for over an hour last night and she was venting about how terrible Obama Care has been for both her and her Aunt.  Her Aunt worked all her life, is now retired and has Medicare.  She has an aggressive form of cancer and now on top of all that worry, she has been awarded many hoops to jump through to get approval for medicine. She will turn 80 years old, just before Christmas.  How is it fair for our elderly citizens who have worked all their lives and should be enjoying retirement to have to worry about health insurance?  Medicare should cover all the costs without making them spend hours on the phone or in person fighting to just get the care they deserve every month.  They earned it. There will be over 700 billion in cuts to Medicare from 2013 to 2022.  That is billion, not million!  Now, do you really think you can cut over 700 billion from a program and it have a positive affect?  I think not.  From 2000 to 2010, doctors were reimbursed for Medicare at about 80% of private insurance rates—not great, but sustainable for most practices.  In 2013 that number dropped to 55% and will continue to drop every year. It's no wonder doctors don't want to take Medicare patients.  At that rate, it will end up costing them money to do so.  I was researching the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan and do you know there is a cutoff point for prescription drugs?  For example, if you have Medicare Prescription Plan D, once you reach the coverage limit of $2970, you are responsible for ALL costs of your prescription drugs at that point.  So, what are our senior citizens supposed to do at that point?  If they have cancer or any other serious medical condition; what are they supposed to do about their prescriptions?  The cost of those drugs are very expensive.  This has turned into the biggest disaster ever!  My mother-in-law said, that the general sentiment of those she knows with impending retirement looming ahead is now, that when they hit age 66, just take them in a field and shoot them.  They don't want to be a burden to their family and they see what is coming.  While, she knows very well, that is a blanket sarcastic statement meant to drive a point home; unfortunately it is an all too real expression of the fear that many aging Americans are feeling.  The American Dream is not to work hard just to reach your Golden Years and feel that you have become a burden on your loved ones.  You want your children to thrive, not to be overcome with worry struggling to make ends meet because they now have not only their own family but also their parents to take care of and look after.  But, this is the reality of what is coming if we don't take steps to change it.  We are looking at a soon to be, disappearing middle class.

There Has To Be A Solution

Let me be clear, it would be great for everyone to have health care, but the taxpayers should not have to pay for it.  And it is unfair for those that are barely scraping by to pay a penalty for not having health care.  What does that solve?  Now they are trying even harder to make ends meet.  It's getting to the point where most people will not be able to afford, the so called affordable health insurance because it is definitely not the price of a cell phone plan, as it was so eloquently dangled in front of us.  This Act simply has to be appealed.  I think the government should stay out of this.  I mean, who are they to tell us what is best for us, when their health care is totally free?  And it's health care today, what will it be tomorrow?  We, as Americans, must have a discussion on what WE can do to make this change.  Let me hear your thoughts and suggestions.  This is not meant to simply be a rant.  I want to do whatever I can to help make an effective change for everyone.  The untruth so eloquently spoken by President Obama, that if you have medical insurance with your employer, your insurance would not be affected, was just that, an untruth.  My insurance went up 65% and my daughters' even more.  This is my truth!  What's yours?

Do Black Lives Really Matter To Anyone?

Posted by~ Sheldon Redditt on 12/05/2014

Do black lives really matter to anyone?  This is the question being asked all over the world.  I, like most Americans, am outraged by the decision of a grand jury, not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the choking death of Eric Garner.  I am equally angry about the death of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old child, whom was shot by Officer Timothy A Loehmann.  

Eric Garner Was Murdered

First, I will start with the facts in the Eric Garner case.  Eric Garner was approached by officers for allegedly selling loose cigarettes.  Stop and think about this for a second, a father of 6 and husband, lost his life over some cigarettes.  Anyone that has visited New York City knows that they sell everything, from watches to wallets, on the street.  For him to be harassed and ultimately lose his life over some cigarettes, is an absolute tragedy.  I understand that the store owner called the police because he felt that he was losing business, due to the fact that he also sold cigarettes in his store.  However, the police could and should have handled this complaint much differently.  I have read a lot of people's comments on social media suggesting, that if Mr. Garner would have simply complied with the police officer, he would still be alive.  In cases like these, we must stop trying to turn the victim into the villain.  As a former law enforcement officer, I know that we are TRAINED for situations, in which people resist arrest.  We expect that people will resist on occasion but that doesn't mean we kill them.  The choke hold that the officer used was banned by the New York Police Department.  Based on the ban alone, this officer should have been indicted, not to mention that the medical examiner ruled Mr. Garner's death a homicide.  Again, the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.  Officer Pantaleo used a choke hold that was banned and it was caught on tape.  See, you don't have to speculate what happened here because there are several videos documenting the incident.  Officer Pantaleo also had two prior lawsuits filed against him, one of which was settled by the city of New York.  The second lawsuit is on going.  Now, for the city to settle a lawsuit, you better believe there was some wrong doing on that officer's part.  And then for him to find himself in a similar situation again, less than a month later?  Officer Pantaleo should have been fired.  If the NYPD would have simply done their job in the first or even second case, Eric Garner would be alive today.  Then, there are seven other police officers that just stood by and let this happen. They are equally responsible.  Not one even attempted to stop this officer.  All of the officers had to know that it was an illegal hold.  You see, as police officers, we are trained to step in if you see a fellow officer doing something against the rules.  You step in and say, "Hey listen!  You can't do that!" or "Cool off, let me take over.".  But none of that happened.  I haven't forgotten the code that we live by as officers, but when one is doing wrong, at least one officer should have stepped in.  Officer Pantaleo should have been charged with murder.  Period!  The grand jury got it wrong! 

Tamir Rice Was Murdered

Then, there is Tamir Rice, the 12 year old child, that was shot and killed by Officer Loehmann, in Cleveland, Ohio, for waving a toy gun.  Again, I saw countless comments on social media that this cop had the right to shoot this kid because he didn't know if the gun was real or not.  It was of no consequence, that the gentleman that called in said the gun was probably a fake.  Again, police officers are trained to know what to do in EVERY situation so there was no excuse.  Do you have any idea how many times police officers are called to the scene of a suspect waving or carrying a gun and the perp lives?  You know why?  Because, they use their training properly!  This baby was shot within 2 seconds of these officers arriving on the scene.  2 seconds!  The officer claims that he told the child to put the gun down three times.  How is that possible, when he was shot within 2 seconds? The video doesn't lie.  Again, let's look at Officer Loehmann's background.  Officer Loehmann resigned from the Independence Ohio Police Department.  BEFORE they fired him, they gave him the option to resign, which he chose to do.  A direct quote from the police deputy Chief Jim Polak, described Loehmann, "as having EMOTIONAL MATURITY ISSUES and an inability to manage stress.  Officer Loehmann couldn't follow simple instructions during a firearm qualification and became weepy and distracted."  He also wrote and this is very important, "that he didn't feel that either time, nor training would be able to correct or change these deficiencies."  That came from the deputy chief.  So, tell me, why in the hell, was he ever hired by the Cleveland Police Department?  What kind of background check was done on this guy?  All they had to do was look at his personnel file.  He should have never been hired in the first place!  Now a child is dead because of an incompetent officer whom should have never been hired in the first place.  

The 10% That Stands To Shame A Whole Profession

Now, most police officers are great officers, but it's that 10% that makes every officer look bad.  Police brutality is a serious problem, especially when dealing with Black Men. The police departments around the country have to do a better job hiring officers.  And it is a must that the Cultural Diversity Training gets better.  I think and I have said this before, it should be the law, that all law enforcement officers are required to wear body cameras.  Now, of course I realize that many have the sentiment that there is no point because Eric Garner's murder was caught on tape and it did not make a difference.  But one must understand that a police officers' mentality would automatically change when he knows that everything he does is being recorded.  That hot headed police officer will hopefully think twice before he even steps the wrong way.  Officer Pantaleo did not know that he was being recorded.  Had he known, he might have thought twice before acting in the manner in which he did.  Body cameras would most definitely cut down on a lot of deaths.  We have to start making these bad cops accountable for their wrong-doings, give them a reason to think before acting and for those that still choose not to, send their asses to prison.  Thankfully President Obama is already on board with the cameras and hopefully officers will get them sooner rather than later.  People are angry and they have the right to be!  Black Lives Do MATTER.  And they should matter, not only to their families, but they should matter to everyone.  What can we do?  Let me address Black Men for a minute.  Men, we have to do better.  We have to start mentoring and talking to our young men.  We have to teach them that in order for them to be respected by anyone, we have to first respect ourselves.  We have to stop killing each other.  Pull your pants up and stop getting a million tattoos all over your body.  We have to teach them that they need to respect women and to follow the proper protocol when dealing with the police.  We have to stop this silliness, that we won't snitch when a crime is being committed within our neighborhoods. We need to be just as outraged when we kill each other.  Black life shouldn't just matter when a white person takes it, but matter equally when another Black person takes a life as well. 

Change The Future

Now let me address some of the comments about the statistics on black on black crime.  Yes, 90% of the of the homicides committed on black men are committed by other black men.  Listen that is the case with every race.  Most white homicides are committed by white people as are homicides with every other race.  People commit violent acts on this closest to them.  So, stop with that, when we are talking about police brutality.  We are getting better. The statistics show that there were 7,361 black men killed by another black man in 1991. That number dropped to 2,447 in 2011, a 67% drop.  So yes, we are doing a lot better but until that number is at 0, we still have work to do.  I had a talk with several young men yesterday about the recent events and what part they feel they can play in changing the future of this country.  I must say, I am encouraged by our youth demonstrating by peacefully protesting to make themselves heard.  This is the greatest country in the world, in that we are allowed to have freedom of speech.  We all are in this together.  Be encouraged, make yourself heard, but do it peacefully.  We can all make a difference, if we come together.  When a black man is killed unjustly, we all; Black, White, Asian and Hispanic, should be outraged.  A black life does and should matter to ALL.  This is my truth!  What's yours?