So far the New Year hasn't been kind. Early New Year's morning, BART police shot and killed a young black man in what videos seem to show was an uwarranted homicide. The police have yet to release any details about exactly what happened. Last night, what started as a peaceful protest aagainst the act and racial injustice led to an angry mob that smashed cars and storefronts throughout downtown Oakland. Even the Mayor's personal address could not appease them.
[Update: and another questionable shooting of a young non-white man by police.]
In other bad news, someone drew swastikas and angry messages about the Catholic church's support of Prop 8 on the pro-gay Catholic Church in the Castro where I went to Christmas Mass with my mom. Yes, the Catholic Church in general stuck their nose places they should not have in the Prop 8 campaign, but it is still the right of gay people who otherwise believe in the faith to practice their religion, especially at such a liberal church. The Christmas Eve celebration was fantastic. The pews were packed by a large majority of men -many with their arms around each other, some women, and a very few kids. Everybody sang together, and everybody seemed to know each other. Trust me, this is not typical in the Catholic church. It seemed to be a wonderful community, and they did not deserve that graffiti. Yes, Prop 8 sucks, but let's not spread blame to places it doesn't belong.
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