On so many levels, this incident seems incredibly unbelievable but let's unpack this. On the night of July 31, 2019, Saluda County, SC police arrested Georgia Southern University (GSU) quarterback, Shai Werts, for speeding and cocaine possession. As Werts's arrest was picked up and publicized by mainstream media, he was suspended from the GSU football team.

Now, the incident should be an open and shut case, but no. Werts did not deny speeding. He did insist that the white substance police saw on the hood of his car, was not cocaine as the police said it was. Werts said it was bird poop. The police said the substance tested twice for cocaine. Werts explained that he tried to clean the poop from his car. For some strange reason, the unidentified police officers saw nothing odd about a significant amount of possible cocaine residue on the hood of a car. Really? The hood of a car. Let that sink in. Who does that?

Initially, Werts did not pull over when police turned on their siren. It's a sad sign of the times. Werts was reluctant to pull over for police in a dark, isolated area. He had the where-with-all to call 911 to alert them to what was happening. Werts asked the dispatcher to notify the cops following him that he was not trying to escape, he would pull over at a lighted area. That was a smart move on his part.

While enduring the humiliation of arrest and suspension from the GSU football team, it was later determined that the substance removed from the hood of Werts's vehicle was, in fact, not cocaine. There was not confirmation that it was bird poop but it was not cocaine. 

The Saluda County Sheriff's Department should be highly embarrassed by this incident. The manufacturer of their drug field test kit should also investigate the false-positive results generated. As ridiculous as this situation appears, it is a blessing that Shai Werts was not injured or killed.

This really happened at a McDonald’s in St. Petersburg, Florida on Monday, 12/31/18. 

The customer who recorded the incident indicated it was over a straw. However, if you watch the video, there is clearly a straw on the customer’s tray as it is knocked over during the skirmish.

Amazingly, the customer assumes the victim role. He demands a refund and that employee be fired. The manager and other employees treat him as if he is the victim. They ignore the fact that the customer initiated the physical contact. He reached over the counter and violently snatched the employee toward him. That was a huge mistake on his part because she unleashed a McAssWhoopin’ on him. Hold the fries. 

The customer then blatantly lies and says he was just asking her a question. Really? Just asking the employee a question entitles you to physically assault her in the process? That would be a NO! The employee handled him and called him a few choice names after they were separated. The manager checked the customer’s receipt rather than call the police. What a way to show support for a female employee who has been assaulted on the job. Allegedly, the customer left the restaurant and returned to fight the manager. 

The customer, Daniel Willis Taylor, has been arrested. He was also charged for kicking another female McDonald's employee in the stomach. He's identified as transient and he couldn't make bail. 

Inarguably Taylor is guilty of assault. Prayerfully, the employee has not been fired or punished in any manner. Her manager and fellow employees, especially the males, should be ashamed for not helping her. Anyhoo, this case needs to be monitored. 

This is the location and telephone number of the McDonald’s where this assault occurred. 

4595 34th St S
St. Petersburg, FL 33711
(727) 866-2370

Instead of writing about Christmas, Jordan Peele has me writing about the creepy trailer for his upcoming film, “Us”. This is his follow-up to his smash hit “Get Out”. If the movie is half as good as the trailer, he has another hit on his hand. The visuals are stunning. The music is haunting.

Us is more of a traditional horror film than Get Out. It's not exactly the type of trailer one would expect to debut on Christmas Day. Thanks, Jordan. I will definitely be sleeping with the lights on for a while and I can never hear the song “I Got 5 On It” without thinking of this horror movie.

Let me start off by saying I am so stoked that Lupita N’yongo (Black Panther, Twelve Years a Slave), Winston Duke (M’Baku from Black Panther) and Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) star in this movie. I love their work. N’yongo and Duke play Adelaide and Gabe Wilson. Young actors Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex and Madison Curry seem to hold their own on screen also.

So, from what I can gather from the 2:29 trailer, the protagonists, the doppelganger family had been incarcerated based on their prison jumpsuit attire. I can imagine it has something to do with the carnage scene on the beach at about 1:51 of the video. For sure most of what Jordan Peele includes in a movie is purposeful. The symbolism of the white rabbits, mask the son Jason wears that makes him look like the namesake character from Friday the 13th, the huge gold scissors, and the little black girl who has a doppelganger but is not included in the family of four in the jail jumpsuits. Oh yeah, what’s up with Lupita’s character telling her son to get in rhythm when she is so off beat herself? I have questions.

“Us” doesn’t open officially until March 15, 2019. Tickets are already on sale online at a few theaters. I plan to be at a theater on its opening weekend and more than likely I will watch more than once.

This movie is not about race but I do want to give a shout out to Jordan Peele for the Howard University sweatshirt Winston Duke’s character wears and for the ethnic hairstyles and dark-skinned Black female characters. It might not seem like a big deal but it is. Representation matters.

It’s still very disturbing and shameful that it is reported that election polls predict the presidential race is too close to call and in some battleground states, including my home state Florida, Donald Trump is winning. Jesus, take the wheel.

Donald Trump is dangerous for America. He lies way more than what he has accused Hillary Clinton of doing and, if elected, he will continue the Republican Party’s practice of obstructionism and anarchy.

Regardless the presidential election result on the evening of Tuesday, November 8, 2016, the racism, sexism and class warfare will not go away. Jesus, take the wheel. 

Even after such a disdainful, hyperbolically nasty election season, I want to think America is better than the actions we have witnessed but is it? Jesus, take the wheel.

Keith Lamont Scott with wife and son.

Source: GoFundMe

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department finally released video of the CMPD confrontation with Keith Lamont Scott. The gut-wrenching video of a portion of the incident filmed by Scott’s wife, Rakeyia, was released by the family two days ago. Rakeyia Scott warned police her husband had a TBI (traumatic brain injury). 

In the police dash cam video, Keith Lamont Scott can be seen exiting his vehicle and walking backwards following police commands. A few seconds later, as Scott is walking backwards, he is shot multiple times. Why? He was not threatening anyone. He was not reaching for anything. Keith Lamont Scott was compliant. That was cold-blooded murder by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. 

The officer(s) who fired shots at Scott need to be fired and arrested. Whoever fires them needs to fire the Police Chief Kerr Putney also. There needs to be an investigation of how a weapon Scott was supposed to have, was introduced into this situation. It’s now crystal clear why Chief Putney didn’t want to release that damning video earlier. 

May peaceful protests continue in Charlotte-Mecklenburg and grow throughout the United States until the family of Keith Lamont Sott gets justice for his death.

The Ryan Lochte Rio Olympics scandal continues to be prominently featured in the media with the latest news of two of his major sponsors, Speedo and Ralph Lauren, severing ties with the athlete because of his shenanigans in Rio.

US swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger leave Rio.

For sure Lochte, his teammates - Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and the local people involved know what really happened during the athletes' night out in Rio even if the rest of the world can only speculate. What we do know for sure is that Ryan Lochte’s recounting of what happened changed a few times. We also know that the guys out on the town with Lochte disputed key elements of Lochte’s story. Yet there was also agreement that guns were drawn on them during the encounter with men who may or may not have been security guards who were also robbers. 

So, it is entirely possible that Lochte and Rio locals both embellished…over-exaggerated…lied about what actually happened. That $11,000 donation to charity that Feigen had to make before he was allowed to leave Brazil, seems an awful lot like a shakedown. I’m just saying. 

US swimmer Jimmy Feigen leaves court after his passport was returned. He had to pay a fine of almost $11,000.

Even if it is proven that Ryan Lochte is not the only person that lied regarding this incident, he will be remembered for not owning up to his lies and other mistakes. He will be remembered for his apology that was actually a non-apology. He will be remembered for leaving his teammates in Rio while he hurriedly returned to the United States. He is already the brunt of jokes and subject of social media memes. 

US swimmer Ryan Lochte's non-apology apology.

Many in the mainstream media will be remembered for providing cover for Lochte by trying to convince the world that the incident was just a juvenile act. I see you Billy Bush. Many in the mainstream media seem to have forgotten that Ryan Lochte is 32-years-old. Far too old for the foolishness and lies about what happened in Rio.

As far as the end of his endorsement deals with Speedo and Ralph Lauren, it is not likely the deals would have been renewed anyway. Lochte performed admirably during the games but his individual performance was not spectacular.  The endorsement deals would likely go to other athletes a la Michael Phelps….Simone Biles…Katie Ledecky…etcetera. 

I don’t know Ryan Lochte personally but I'm willing to bet that the worse part of this horrible situation is the fact that he lied to his mother. Sure, he was the center of an international incident but disappointing and embarrassing his mom is a probably a much bigger deal. 

While the incident in Rio overshadowed the magnificent athletic accomplishments of Team USA at this year's Summer Olympics, as time passes and Ryan Lochte completes his punishment and attempts to redeem himself with gold medal winning individual performances in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, America will salute his story of perseverance and redemption. 

Related Links:

Sports investigation raises questions about Rio cops, Lochte incident

U.S. swimmer Gunnar Bentz apologizes for gas station incident, says video footage missing

Lochte’s Teammates Say This Is What Actually Happened That Night In Rio

#LochteGate: Best Ryan Lochte Robbery in Rio Memes & Tweets

Here is video of President Barack Obama's speech from last night's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The President is inarguably an awesome speaker/communicator but this speech made me sad. Has it hit you yet? The thought that this man will no longer be President of the United States in a few months really saddens me. Now don't get it twisted, I'm not one of those people who agrees with every decision he's made. I do know that he is absolutely the best president during my lifetime and I want him to stay in office. Let's just change the constitution, why don't we? 

At least three Democratic voters were told there were only ballots available for the Republican race at Precinct 321 in Winter Haven, Florida. The voters, including Teresa Wibert, showed up to participate in Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary Election on March 15, 2016. Wibert was initially given a Republican ballot. When she questioned that, she was told there were only Republican ballots. Wibert persisted and knew her rights as a voter. A call was made to the Polk County Elections Department. The clerk at Precinct 321 was told the ballots for the Democratic race were located in a closet. Wibert, her husband, and the other Democrat voted using the correct ballot.

The Polk County elections supervisor, Lori Edwards, and other elections officials in Polk County are trying to minimize this serious incident but it should be reported to the Department of Justice. How many other voters were given the wrong ballot? How many other voters were turned away? Has this happened during previous elections at this precinct? Did this happen at other precincts in Florida?

This incident highlights why it is important to know your voting rights in this country and that you exercise those rights. When you hear citizens say voting is not important, or their vote doesn't matter, they need to understand that voting is so critical that some folks will try to stop you from doing it.

It’s apparent that Donald Trump will say, and likely, do anything in his quest to become president of the United States. He led the failed birther movement in questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama, who is an American. He has referred to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as a communist when Sanders is not. He said he’s going to make Mexico pay to build a wall along the southern border of the United States to keep illegal immigrants out. Mexico's president balked at the statement. Trump has encouraged his supporters to attack protesters at his campaign rallies and offered to pay the attackers' legal fees. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump's campaign isn't staging some of the protests at his rallies just to distract his supporters (and the media) so he won't have to expose his ignorance of domestic and international policy issues.

Trump's dog whistle politics deliberately lacks the typical subtlety GOP candidates, and their surrogates are known for. He has tapped into the anger and fear of "poorly-educated" white Americans. He used that term, and the number of his supporters seems to continue to increase. Go figure. 

Let me translate Trump's slogan Let's Make America Great Again. The message...Let's make America White Again. Let's make America segregated again and put those minorities (and women) in their place. Please see MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's segment as she beautifully and skillfully exposes Donald Trump's Race War. 

In spite of this madness, Donald Trump's Republican opponents have indicated they will support him if he is their party’s nominee. What does that say about them? There is an epic leadership fail in the Republican Party. They choose to destroy the United States of America. They choose politics over people even if the people are the "poorly educated" Republican voters or other men, women and children in the United States. Including you.

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt