Kaepernick: a true American

So I was going to write a blog giving reasons why I support Kaepernick  and what I think *blah blah blah*. But then I figured....Why?

Why waste my time giving the historical and present day reasons as to why many Americans (black and white) feel as though they are justified in protesting the national anthem? I can give you oppression story after oppression story, I can call a psychologist to give you all the slavery and post slavery psychological damage that has been done and how it is all visibly manifested today. I can tell you about the active measures taken by our government against its own citizens. I could tell you that in the present day the African American experience is a little different than the European American (That's my new term for white Americans lol)

But why? You've heard and dismissed them already before. So I decided I'd rather give my analysis on the other side and point out the hypocrisy in their position.

So let's start with the public disgust towards Kaepernick.

If you are upset with Kaepernick's stance I will have to accuse you of being UN-AMERICAN. The public and media reprisal that Kaepernick has received for speaking out runs counter to our core values we should have as Americans. Any healthy democracy needs open discourse without fear of condemnation (thus our freedom of speech.) So the fact that by taking this stance he may lose endorsement and certainly public favor, reflects very poorly on us as Americans. So now I, Evandro Monteiro, will have teach you what it is to be a true American.

Since when is it un-American to protest your government? Let's turn the pages of the constitution and fin....Oh Wait we don't have to turn the page because it's the FIRST FUCKING AMENDMENT. In the first amendment the founding fathers for some reason saw it necessary for this (at the time) new Republic to have the right to petition and protest its own government! If you think that's radical, The Declaration of Independence says we have the right to alter or abolish a government no longer serving the people.

Now, what would make them put such a thing in the DOI and the first amendment of the constitution? Could it be... *read this sentence very fast* that they were seeking refuge from a tyrannical government abroad that believed its King ruled by divine right and anyone who spoke out against him would fear retribution without fair trial? *stop reading fast* Maybe.Who really knows?

So it boils down to this.

Is Kaepernick an American Citizen?

Yes.

Are African Americans in this country American citizens?

Yes.

Have they and are they given full access to Freedom, Equality, and the Pursuit of Happiness?

Most African Americans say no. 

Most European Americans say yes. 

(Oh the irony in one half's ability to speak for the other.)

As American Citizens do they, by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution have a right to petition ad ask government for alteration?

Yes.

THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THE PROBLEM?!

I'll tell you what it is.

1) The American government and a majority of European Americans (lol) have bought the narrative that:*stern white man voice* Whatever was done has been done. It happened in the past and everything's good and equal now so be quiet, brush your teeth, eat your breakfast, and go to work.*exit stern white man voice* (we've all heard this sentiment expressed in some form or another)

2) Too many Americans identify their (Americaness) through its military. And military's are necessary for any country to sustain its self but it should not be the institution of which we tie our nationalism to. Are we Athenians or Spartans? Why not ideals like *drum-roll* the concept of Individual rights, a self government by the people, or the separation of church and state? Do you see how many beautiful things you could take pride in being American for rather than beer, guns, and terrible foreign policy.  

3) Most European Americans (lol) cannot bare the sight of someone other than another European American (lol) having any fundamental criticism of their government. Saying their government or founding fathers were wrong or immoral in any way just eats their soul. (This speaks on the fact that many Americans still hold the view that America is a white nation. That idea is another blog for another day.)

*list over*

So put those three things I just listed in a cauldron and throw in some Chemical X and you have 50+ year old, 250+ lbs, numb minded American eating a bacon cheeseburger with a side of buffalo wings sitting in front of his TV on Football Sunday, repulsed and disgusted that Kaepernick dare stand in defiance of his precious "Murica"

What I want you take away from this is not that I hate America(though those stereotypes would make you believe so) ideally I love it. It's that we have to stop seeing that guy described above as the epitome of what a true American is and call out those who use its name in vain. Because it is in the name of America that they rebuke Kaepernick, as though they are its gate keeper. It is hypocrisy at its finest. It is more American to hold your government accountable than to blindly trust it and always come to its defense when criticism is evoked. Point blank.

If the Founding Father had one pick, would they choose an American citizen that developed a negative emotional response towards criticism of their government or an American citizen willing to hold them accountable when necessary? It was with their foresight and understanding of human nature that they established a form of government founded on an informed public (kept informed by a free and open press.) This public then, in turn, elected officials and the officials were then, in turn, kept in line by checks and balances. All this because they knew where there is power, corruption would seek residence and so we should never turn a blind eye to government and always be willing to hold them accountable. Thus, skepticism and accountability, rather than faith and nationalism are what keep a Republic healthy. The Founding Fathers said all this nigga not me,

I say all that to say this. If your criticizing Kaepernick for criticizing America how he saw fit and calling him Un-American for it 

Then well...I'm sorry to say but your...Un-American
It's American to criticize America. We were very unique in the world for this right at a time.
It is built into the fabric of the nation that citizens should be able point out wrongs and ask that action be taken. Don't let someone make you feel Un-American for that.

America>Murica

If you turn that into a hashtag and it blows up I want my credit.

*post blog* Now if you think he has a right to criticize America but think his argument has no substance then anytime you want me and Baudelaire can sit you down and share some facts with you. And I don't take the word fact lightly.

   

Great Quotes

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" - Alan Watts

Sympathy From an Old Foe

;)

Toady I was about to post an anti-religious post to humor myself. Normally when I do so behind the scenes (what you can't see) is a handsome Cape Verdean man giggling with excitement because he is about to discredit a few of his followers beliefs that they literally live their lives and form their opinions by. But today that malicious excitement wasn't there and I thought about it and got to an answer why.

Dear Religion,
                          You lost

Sincerely,
                 Science, Secularism, Reason, Family Guy, and Public Opinion

I was going to post this meme and I couldn't because part of me felt like a bully. Now WHY on earth would I feel pity for an ideology that's got more followers than anything on earth? Simple, the tide has turned, in all progressive nations at least. The religious are on the fringes. When you bump into a devoutly pious person the average person becomes uncomfortable, they are edging closer and closer to conspiracy theorists in terms of our willingness to engage in conversation when we discover their convictions. Soon they'll be on par with the people in pyramid schemes tryna sell you Herbal Tea's.

I can't even engage in debate anymore because I feel like an asshole. People often bring up the subject around me (purposely indirect) and are waiting for me to take the bait and two years ago I would jump at the opportunity but now I can't. I've heard all the arguments from the religious side and can honestly say I can refute them ALL (I have a podcast and any willing debaters feel free to step up and defend your Lord and Savior.) I know the ending before it starts. It ends with the other person retreating into their shell of faith because none of their points stick but in that shell I sneak in a free radical of doubt. I can see that doubt bouncing around in their head and causing pain. I no longer enjoy seeing that pain.

I once got joy from that pain because I knew for some reason *under breath* child indoctrination *where we left off* I was the underdog. Nothings worse than being right and being in the minority so that thirst for vindication overruled my sympathy for igniting doubt in the mind of a believer and watching them scramble for anything to hold to that I haven't de-rooted.

So yes, pity is what I feel for you now that your minority and it's ironic because the pious feel pity for me for being "lost" (mad crying emoji's.) I hope this pity infuriates you as your pity infuriates me (no I didn't write this to entice you guys I genuinely feel pity in my debates now.)

NOW that I feel in the grand scheme of time (and not that much) Reason will win out I no longer feel the need to fight that battle. My sons not going to grow up in that world, at least not here.

Now, I still take issue with religion because I don't agree with the premise of accepting things on faith and there are still parts of the globe and parts of our nation where religion reins supreme. Though I may be here in Massachusetts where we aint for the bullshit, we may still be affected (effected?) by a federal law in the name of Christianity. A good example is Planned Parentedhood being defunded.

So basically I take issue with religion now where I see it ruling by majority and being taken SERIOUSLY. BUT in the case of where I live and my followers that's not the case so you will not see many posts from me if any at all (unless extremely funny.) Every now and then I may engage in a debate just for all the secular niggas burned at the stake throughout history one time.

But

as far as my silence

just know

it's because

We won and I feel bad for yall (mad smiley emoji's) 

Love,
          Evandro Monteiro

Wormhole

This is a little story about getting older.

The process of growing up is weird because we have definitive words for a child and an adult but the transition between the two is about as blurred as it gets. But every now and then a moment of the past occurs again and this time your on the other side of the story. It creates a kind of wormhole between of the past and you know and acts as a foil for your change.

Mine came when my rear view mirror was taken off by an Enterprise truck. I got the information and had to go through the whole process of getting a new one which I must admit was less painless than thought but still a hassle.

I couldn't help but flash back to when I used to live in Dorchester and me and my friends would go on what we called "frenzies" in which we would run down a street and break car rear view mirrors (we were mischievous little ones)(there is video footage that exists of this.)

Consequence was and an after thought and empathy was nonexistent. I can honestly say it never occured to me the time/money/inconvenience we were causing to these people two streets down from where we hung out.

When my rear view mirror was taken out, albeit not by mischievous teenagers, the situation was close enough to open the wormhole. And got to thinknig "damn I would never do some shit like that again" "what if they were in a tough place in their life." even the blind willingness to do something bad just because it's bad doesn't excite me anymore (wellllllll on occasion.)

I have a some of these every now and then but for some reason this one was more vivid. they're interesting reflections to make so keep a lookout for them.  

Monopoly

When you read this you will be dying to play Monopoly.

Bottom line: if you do not enjoy Monopoly the board game you are one of  two things.

1) Stupid
2)Not well versed in Monopoly

There is a third scenario in which maybe you are neither of these two and you find yourself playing stupid people or those not well versed in the game.

There is so much more to the game than rolling the dice and buying property. Never in the history of games (board games, video games, hide and seek etc.) is there a game more mentally demanding and a window into human nature. This may sound like I'm being dramatic but if your a serious Monopoly player you know this is no stretch of the truth.

Let's begin.

First of all when a bunch of idiots play Monopoly the luckiest will win ALWAYS WINS. This is no fun. This is why most people don't like the game. This game is about as interesting as a game of dice itself. If you find yourself in one of these games STOP PLAYING.

Secondly every player participating must absolutely ABHOR losing. It must be the last option at all times.

Now in a real game of Monopoly against formidable and intelligent opponents luck still plays it "role" (pun) and there is no avoiding chance. Bottom line is there are better places to land than others and the roller has no control over that. But I can tell you from someone who has been playing for 15+ years "luck" plays about a 15-20% chance of winning. If you really want to win in Monopoly you need to master this other 80-85%.

This other 80-85% is comprised of so many many things let me take a crack at it

Deception - My friends seem to believe that all my deals are rooted in deception. Some are some aren't. But if you think you can get the steal take it. Quickest route to victory. I do not enjoy deceiving new players. But if I can get a rival it is SWEEEEEET.

Reason- Sometimes you are offering another player a necessary deal for both you and him and he wont always see it and you must convince him it is absolutely necessary. (If playing with intelligent players: all the while refuting the points of an outsider that will loose positioning if the deal happens)

Assessment- You have to keep mental tabs through out the whole game of "who's in the lead" "who's my biggest threat" "who can help me" "who needs me" "who do I need"

Awareness- YOU MUST ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION. One bad deal goes on while your not intervening and BOOM you lost.

Foresight- You have to see will I win with the greens? do I have enough money to put houses on them? will I have enough money to land on someone else property? Is this property alone capable of winning? Can I bankrupt someone or make them take off houses by the time I come around?

Carpetbagging/Venture capitalism-  You have to take advantage of weaker opponents. And think long ball. Sometimes people land on your property and the best decision for you isn't just taking the money. Sometimes the opposite is the case. " hey how about you keep your houses on your property and keep some chance in this game instead gimmie those light blues and I'll pardon your debt AND give you 200 dollars" youve now given him a fighting chace but secured yourself as head honcho.

Friendship/enemies- Every game your friends and enemies should change. It's about their position in the game not their character

Opponent knowledge- Playing with the same people over and over again only adds dynamic to the game. You know what property he likes what deals he's more likely to accept. how far he's willing to go. His pride and customs can be used against him.

Innovation- Deals and stipulations aren't always obvious. You really need to get creative. " I'll give you this railroad but if you land on this property you have to buy it and give it to me" Renato and Balacov came up with a genius one yesterday that I wanted to say was illegal so bad because I didnt think of it. They each had two railroads so instead of when someone lands on it they pay them fifty dollars, they combined them and split the profit 100 each. Increasing each others surface area and profit. I'm tight (actually ended up bankrupting me because of it)

Timing- Sometimes you can have all the property or money you want, when it's too late, it's too late. Your fate is sealed.

Honestly could keep going on and on because there is just so much nuance in the game that call for tailored actions but I'll stop here. Monopoly is truly one of the greatest games of all time. If you dont know how to play i recommend you watch a few times and your still gunna suck for the first few times but trust me it's worth learning (I dont wanna play with you while your learning though.)

If you walk away with anything please let it be this,. Monopoly is much more than a game of luck. If you know how to play it should end in about an hour give or take. Like all crafts learning sucks but mastering it is rewarding. And I am the greatest player of all time.


(Idk how I am so careless with money in real life and not uberly competative either, but when I play Monopoly I adopt the mindset of some billionare white man who has no care for mankinds well being.)

The Instagram Hierarchy of Likes

So I noticed this weird thing about Instagram. Before every picture I post my brain does an automatic evaluation of how many "likes" the picture will get. For the most part it's always right within the give or take of ten likes. So I'm gunna put my brains evaluation of IG "likes" in writing.

Now I have to give it scale because the amount of followers obviously plays a role. So I'm going to use a scale of 100 likes and divide what type of picture falls in whatever bracket of likes"

And so it goes:

100 likes: 

-Photo of "bad bitch" in which clothes are scarce

66-99 likes:

-Selfie of "bad bitch" 

-Pre club/bar picture

-Any sort of major landmark (childbirth, graduation, job so on)

-The girl who isnt really that beautiful but very reachable (mad likes)

-Professionally taken picture uploaded to IG

-Birthday pic

-For male---->picture with girlfriend

-New parents first years with children

33-65 likes:

-Everyday average Joe picture of self

-Picture of kids

-Dumbass goodmorning post

-Gym pic

-Religious post (I cringe every time I see that dumbass post of Jesus with that teddy bear)

-For female----> picture with boyfriend (unless she has a majority female followers)

-Your average meme

0-32 likes:

-Anything of substance (educational, controversial, something specific to yourself or field)

-Any sort of promotion

-Wack memes

-Anything out of the norm

This is a very rough first draft but you get the point. Certain types of pictures will warrant a specific amount of likes. I think if IG categorized these pictures and see the ratio of likes in relation to followers per category, it would be useful data. The nature of a "like" is *drumrolllllll* what we like so it could really tell us what were gravitating towards as a generation. 

They probably are already be doing it but not in the intent of adding to social science but I was listening to NPR (go fucking set your godamn car radio to 90.9 right now) and they were talking about how companies actually buy this data and use it to better market things to the people they feel will be most likely to buy.

IG has started sponsered ads. You think you get the same ads as a 45 year old professional photographer? Heavens no.

Anyway I would like to see an actual graph of the distribution of likes. My intuition is pretty good and I think for the most part people will agree with my Hierarchy but-I dont know-I'm just basing it off my personal likes and faint impressions I have of the amount of likes I see on someone else page in comparison to what they would normally average on another category of picture. All a faint notion.

I'm more curious to know if im the only one to have this spidey sense of how much likes a picture will get before you even post it and being fairly accurate.

Btw I gladly post pics I know will be low on the like scale. I think secretly mad bitches have a crush on me but that's just the little Kanye speaking in my head.

*Humbly bows out*

Mike Brown

Watch these video's first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhej1A7igtM Wilson's Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ga8xM8W4M Store Robbery

I'm just going to say it straight up: I am on the side of the officer in the shooting of Mike Brown.

Now here's why.

Okay first thing first Mike Brown was seen on video footage STRONG ARM robbing a convenience store moments before his death. This is obviously not a valid reason to shoot someone to death but I am using this to speak on his character and to show that he is a person capable of doing what the officer later says he did. 

If you watch the video he walks right up to the front reaches right past this short Indian clerk grabs his cigarillos and proceeds to leave. The little Indian guy pathetically tries to stop this large 6'4" heavy set guy by standing in his way and Mike Brown shoves him in a brute manner with no remorse. He's in this "King-Kong" mode (no racial implication intended strictly allegorical) 

Okay with that being said, still no reason for him to die.

Now let's get to the altercation. First off lets completely ignore whether or not the officer knew if he stole from the store or not. No cop would last a week if he walked around shooting people for petty thefts.

Brown is walking in the middle of the street (now keep in mind he has just STRONG ARM robbed a convenience store, obviously has no consideration of being discreet FURTHER making me believe he's in this "fuck you goin do about it" or "King-Kong" mode as I described earlier.)

Okay now the officer tells him to get out of the street. After an exchange of words Brown approaches the cop car where the is another short exchange (Both Officer Wilsons testimony and witness testimony support this AND more importantly DNA evidence of Mike Brown on the inside door of cruiser) AND THEN HE PUNCHES THE COP. I would like to say at this point I STILL don't believe Brown deserves to be shot.

*Officer Wilsons Story* he says at this point he pulls out his gun and tells Brown to stop. Brown GRABS HIS GUN. He says he tries to to fire twice and it doesn't because Browns hand is on top of the gun. Finally the third time he shoots Brown (evidence confirmed that two shots were fired in the car). Story goes Brown, after being shot charges back at the Officer and he shoots him again how ever many times.

Now honestly ask yourself does officer Wilsons story sound implausible? Especially considering the physical evidence backing it up and the character of Mike Brown? (please dont misinterpret that as though charter is a meaning to be shot honestly guy coulda been just having a bad day or on a power trip)

But I am Officer Wilsons' height and If a 6'4" heavy set man with no respect for authority (at least in this instance) approaches me and punches me (pretend I'm/you're a cop) in my cop car and I pull out my gun and tell him to stop and he GRABS MY GUN! all bets are off. At this point my life was unnecessarily put in danger by this guys actions and I have no clue what his intentions are BUT i do know that he's bigger and stronger than me. I, in this instance would have shot Mike Brown too AS MANY TIMES AS NECESSARY. Now is when people ignore the human element and say "but did he have to kill him or shoot him that many times" Okay, lets ignore the fact that he says he shot him once and he charged back (I dont mean that sarcastically let's honestly ignore that, it cant be proven though some witnesses say it is so)

Cops are not infallible. They are humans and subject to human instincts that no amount of training can nullify. And the law has taken these into consideration thus why we even have "Self-Defense" in the first place. I have to excuse Officer Wilson in the shooting of Mike Brown the minute he laid hands on Officer Wilsons gun. (Why did he punch a cop in his car and reach in his window in the first place????)

To me at the very best this case isn't controversial enough for this national stage it's getting.

Btw Officer Wilson gives a very candid interview.