Episode 030: Ground Your Stand

Cheri kicks off the program yodeling, much to Heit’s surprise. Heit does an impression of Louis Farrakhan, as an introduction to a discussion on whether bodily functions are voluntary or involuntary. This week’s episode of The Axiom Amnesia Theory is dedicated to a call to “ground your stand.” That’s right, we’re suggesting that you figure out where you stand on the important issues of the day, and ground that stance.

Topics discussed include whether bodily functions are voluntary or not, Zachary McKee electrocuting himself by urinating on the train’s third rail, treating symptoms instead of the disease itself, repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut and California, billions of dollars in food stamp cutbacks, voter ID laws, cars that drive themselves, “stand your ground” and “castle” laws, Marissa Alexander, gun control, and the misapplication of justice.

Call us at 202-446-1886 and let us know what you think!

Segment 1

• Are bodily functions voluntary or involuntary? A discussion on sucking back snot, walking, and other functions of the body.
• Zachary McKee, 27, died from electrocution after urinating on the third rail of Chicago’s elevated train (the ‘L’). It was all caught on station cameras.
• McKee was with a couple of friends who tried to get help when it happened, but to no avail. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
• Myth Busters did an experiment about this urban legend, and they said that it wasn’t feasible that someone could die from getting electrocuted by peeing on the third rail.
• If there’s a live electrical wire touching your vehicle, don’t touch the car and the ground at the same time, because you could be electrocuted.
• Cheri tells the story of when a live wire was touching her vehicle.
• Heit tells the story of when a car full of people hit a telephone outside of his house. The people were hurt, but limped away from the scene of the accident. Another vehicle came and picked up the people, and they sped away, leaving their vehicle behind.
• In 2011, on her Facebook page, Cheri made a very profound statement about booger eaters.
• Some people eat their boogers.
• Why do people always want to treat the body’s defense mechanisms, when this is what’s helping the body fight ailment?
• Don’t treat all of the symptoms, treat the disease. We also see this same approach when it comes to the “ills” of our society.
• One example is how people fight drugs by arresting low-level drug dealers, rather than bringing down the suppliers.
• New world record was set with an 80-foot plate of nachos.

Segment 2

• Connecticut is very close to outlawing the death penalty. It awaits the governor’s signature before it will be removed as a punishment. Why is it taking so long?
• Gary Gilmore was the first person executed after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States.
• Gary Gilmore’s last words were, “Let’s do it.” This is what actually inspired the Nike slogan “Just do it.”
• Heit explains how the U.S. military would allow people to purchase a flag and request that it be flown in Iraq. The government will also provide a certificate showing the dates that it was flown.
• The people in Connecticut who are currently on death row won’t necessarily be saved if the law passes. There are currently 11 people on the state’s death row. There is a chance that they will be
• California will have a death penalty ballot measure on repealing the punishment. They cite saving money as the reason for wanting to repeal the death penalty in the state.
• Why is it that most of the world doesn’t kill their citizens, but the U.S. does?
• If California wants to save more money, they should take a look at all the people they have in jail unnecessarily. That would save plenty of money.
• If money is the obstacle, then at some point you need to look at the system as the root cause and examine what needs to happen to change this.
• We should be asking what is it that prompts people to commit the “crimes” that land them in jail? If the people don’t have what they need, they will find a way to get it. People are not just the stereotypical dug addicts, dealers, and welfare queens that folks prefer to label them as.
• People should take a more offensive approach to things like voter ID laws. It makes sense to check a person’s ID in order to vote, but people put the laws out there to disenfranchise marginalized groups. Rather than trying to outlaw the ID rule, perhaps they should make the IDs free so that everyone will have access. This would actually solve the problem and address the issue of voter disenfranchisement.
• Should we spend our lives fighting against (being in the defensive mode) the things other people/entities push, rather than pushing our own ideas on things we want to see happen (being in an offensive mode)?
• People will use certain language for the psychological effect. For instance, naming a law “stand your ground,” makes a person think about not backing down and defend themselves. If you happen to be against that law, then psychologically you have people interpreting it as saying that one should not defend themselves.
• If you allow people to keep you in the defensive stance, they never have to worry about you doing anything other than what they guide you to do. This is how they control you. This is how they keep you from making progress–keeping you mired in a bunch of nonsense they put out there just to distract you.
• If you’re an activist, think about mobilizing on some things you WANT to see happen, not just things that you DON’T want to see happen.
• Why do driver’s licenses and state IDs cost so much?
• 14 billion dollars of SNAP funds are being cut–food stamps. How will this affect children who need these subsidies. How do you cut these funds with a clear conscious?
• Back in the day, you actually had to know how to drive in order to drive. Now you have all of this technology that makes the driving experience so much easier–things like power steering, anti-lock breaks, automatic transmissions.
• Discussion on cars that drive themselves.
• Marissa Alexander is in jail, despite claiming “stand your ground” as a defense for an altercation with her husband. She claims to have fired a warning shot into the ceiling, but the charges say that she actually fired at her husband and his two sons.
• Alexander wrote a letter to explain her side, and she says that during the altercation she tried to leave, but the garage door malfunctioned at exactly that moment.
• Alexander is a Black woman, and those who are asking for justice for Marissa claim that she is being held because she is Black. The NAACP an others are saying that the “stand your ground” law should apply in this case.
• Why did she fire a warning shot if she was truly in fear for her life?
• This case is not as much like the Trayvon Martin case as people would have you believe.
• Alexander was allegedly abused, and this may have been why she got the gun. There was apparently a pattern of violence.
• We are skeptical about the accuracy of the story Marissa explains in her letter. If you were really in fear for your life, it doesn’t make sense that she fired a warning shot. This shot could have cost her her life. Did she really fear for her life? It seems doubtful that “stand your ground” should apply in this case.
• The real injustice in all of this is that she is facing 20 years and she didn’t even shoot or kill anyone.
• What are the ages and story coming from the husband’s two sons? Did she really shoot at them?
• The incident happened in 2010, and her sentencing has now been delayed. She has three children who have been separated from their mother.
• The parallel between the Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander cases is that they are both part of what society views as “protected” groups–women and children. He was a child and she is a battered woman.

Segment 3

• Stand your ground law scrutiny started with the Trayvon Martin case.
• Many companies left ALEC, the organization that helped to draft “stand your ground.”
• Lots of people feel stand your ground should be repealed on the basis of the events of the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case.
• It makes sense that the aggressor shouldn’t be able to claim “stand your ground,” when they pursued the other person.
• People should be able to protect themselves without fear of prosecution.
• People are using the Martin case as a reason to pass gun control legislation.
• Would Trayvon Martin be dead if Zimmerman didn’t have a legal conceal and carry?
• The “stand your ground” law is not what killed Trayvon Martin. What killed Trayvon is the mindset that someone who fit his description–a young Black male–is automatically considered suspicious.
• Even if you outlaw guns, there will be those who actually still have guns.
• Why do you have people who feel entitled to determine that someone doesn’t belong in their neighborhood, and therefore they have the right to investigate them as suspicious. It doesn’t matter how many laws we make–if I still fear you, I will act out of that fear.
• Let’s not forget that this culture is programmed to believe that Blacks and “terrorists” (people who look and dress as those in the Middle East) should be feared because they are dangerous.
• The culture teaches that guns give a person the power to have the upper hand to shoot people.
• In states where conceal and carry is legal, it makes you wonder who’s strapped at any time while you’re in public places.
• The Second Amendment talks about the right to bear arms. The language doesn’t specify what type of arms, so it includes all arms. The point of this amendment is so that you can arm yourself against the government who might want to take what you have. Being armed gives the citizen the chance to fight back against an out-of-control government, rogue police, or anyone else who threatens them.
• Stand your ground does some good, and people need to reexamine their call for repeal of these laws.
• Ask yourself how you’d respond to the Marissa Alexander case if she wasn’t a woman, or if she wasn’t Black.
• There are instances of the law being applied differently, depending on the person. It’s not the actual set of laws that’s the problem. You can have a perfect set of laws, and can still have injustice, imbalance. Challenge the enforcement of the laws, and this goes along with the ideas of the people and the people in charge and the structures of the systems under which the law is applied.

For Further Reading/Viewing:

Gary Gilmore was the first man executed after the death penalty was reinstated in the United States.
2012 Presidential Debate Of Alternative Parties

Audio Credits:

“Oak Tree (Stand Your Ground)” – Josh Kumra
“Boogers in My Nose (Music Video)” – Comaniddy via YouTube

Sources:

Man electrocuted by third rail while trying to urinate on subway tracks
Connecticut Senate votes to repeal state’s death penalty
Mobile : Death penalty repeal carries risk for Malloy
California Death Penalty Ban: Residents To Vote On Controversial Ban In November
Marissa Alexander’s Sentencing Delayed
Abused Wife ‘Stands Her Ground,’ Faces 20 Year Prison Sentence
ALEC stops pushing ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws

Tweet