Aziz Ansari: ‘I’m Not a Religious Person’ April 8, 2012

Aziz Ansari: ‘I’m Not a Religious Person’

Aziz Ansari, one of the stars of Parks and Recreation, said in a recent interview he’s not religious.

So we can add one more celebrity to the roster 🙂

(And he’s brown, so we get bonus points for diversity!)

Daniel Kellison: Hm, OK, sure. All right — what do you think happens when you die?

Aziz Ansari: Nothing. I’m not a religious person.

Daniel: So you think you just go into the ground.

Aziz: Sadly. But I don’t know, man — you hear these stories about ghosts and stuff … sounds pretty convincing! [Laughs.] Don’t you hear some ghost stuff where you’re like, “Oh, shit. That seems a little too crazy that that happened. And maybe there are ghosts??”

Daniel: No. I don’t believe that at all.

(He’s joking about the ghost bit, in case you’re unfamiliar with his humor.) I just watched his new comedy special last night — loved it, especially the bit about his cousin’s college entrance essay. (And since Aziz probably picked up on this post via Google Alerts, everyone wave hello to him!)

(via Grantland)

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  • Anonymous

    I thought his response to Geraldo Rivera’s hoodie comment was hilarious. 

  • Anonymous

    Except Aziz in an interview on Conan admitted that his “fuck you” response made him sound like an idiot.

    Rivera’s comment was just plain silly.   No one ever judges anyone based on dress.  Never.   Hell, men are constantly driving up to nuns on the street assuming they are prostitutes.  Leftist statistics prove that out.   Nuns are solicited as often if not more so than streetwalkers dressed in skimpy outfits.   So obviously it could not have been that Trayvon’s dress hightened Zimmermans concern about what exactly he was doing out in the rain in the middle of the night checking out the neighborhood (from Zimmerman’s perspective).
     
    Actually, I thought the fact that 6’2″ 160 pound Trayvon sucker punched, mounted and slammed the head into the ground of a fat hispanic democrat who was armed with a gun was a more critical factor in his justified killing than the fact that he was wearing a hoodie. 

  • Newfiecb86

    I thought it was proven the guy that killed him wasnt even attacked? So he murdered a teenager cause he got scared due to his own fault of beging a idiot who did not listen to police

  • Newfiecb86

    Being*

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately Brainmacker, these days Poe’s Law also applies to Republicans. So if you’re attempting a parody of a right wing nut job it really is impossible to tell.

  • B. Andrew

    If the Christians and  the atheists ever have a talent show competition, we are going to kick their asses.

  • Anonymous

    Nope.  Your understanding is wrong on all counts.

    I assume that by “did not listen to police” you mean the rumor going around that he failed to follow some valid police instruction to not follow Trayvon Martin.
      
    Zimmerman wasn’t talking with the police on the phone.  911 operators are not police.    The 911 operator didn’t instruct him not to follow Travon.   The operator asked if he was following and when Zimmerman said “Yeah” he was told “OK. We don’t need you to do that”.     I don’t need you to send me $100 bucks but I sure would appreciate it.    What the operator said sounded like Zimmerman was doing them a favor but he didn’t need to endanger himself by following.

    It is also clear from the 911 call that Zimmerman stopped following him.     He clearly states “He Ran” and ” I don’t know where this kid is” .     In response to this the 911 operator asks him if he just wants to meet the police by the mailboxes then.   Zimmerman then asks the operator to tell the police where he’s at (meaning the mailboxes since the operator doesn’t know his exact location).     Note that earlier in the call Zimmerman established that his truck was near the mailboxes.    This is entirely consistent with his claim that Trayvon Martin approached him as he headed for the truck.
    There is loads of evidence that Zimmerman was attacked.

    That’s despite the obvious attempt by ABC to doctor the video to make the wounds hard to see.  Doctoring by showing the video in lower resolution than recorded, in black and white,  and putting their logo over the back of his head.    Even with those lame attempts the wound to the back of his head is visible.   The original video shows a clear red gash on the back of his head.  It also shows a quite clearly broken nose.   
    There is an eye witness who saw Zimmerman in a red jacket underneath Trayvon in a hoodie being beaten.  He claims Zimmerman was the one yelling for help.    Another witness saw one man on top of another beating him but could not make any sort of identification.

    The police report indicates that he had a head injury and was bleeding from the nose.   Zimmerman also has his medical records.

    The news agencies who were spreading these falsehoods (such as editing the 911 call tape to make it sound like Zimmerman volunteered “he looks black” when he was asked for race) are backing off.   NBC supposedly just fired the executive responsible for the liableous editing of the 911 call.   I imagine this is because they are afraid of rightfully being sued for slander by Zimmerman like they were in Atlanta bombing case.
    Much of the rest of what you might have read about this story is also fabricated nonsense.  For example, the claim that he had called 911 46 times in four months.   No he called in that many calls as a neighborhood watch volunteer over the period of nearly a decade.

    Zimmerman was civic minded.   When a black homeless man had been beaten by the Sherriffs son, and then arrested, it was Zimmerman who put up posters on telephone poles in the black man’s defense, and also visited local black churches in an attempt to organize a protest on his behalf.

    This is Tawana Brawley or Duke Lacrosse all over again.   It is a witch hunt and an attempted lynching of an innocent man.

    … and NO it was not murder.    Murder requires an intent that is obviously not present to any sane observer.  Murderers do not call 911 to arrange for police to be at the scene of their crimes.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not a Republican.   I’m an idependent and an atheist.   Poe’s don’t usually involve using the facts.    I hope you don’t actually believe that NBC or ABC is any better than Fox News.    NBC has already fired the idiot who falsely edited the 911 tapes in a way that would make Michael Moore proud.   ABC has backed off on it’s claims about Zimmerman’s wounds.   They’ve also backed of on the interpretation of Zimmerman’s saying “It’s fucking cold”, as being “Fucking coons”.   I suggest you bring yourself up to date on the facts of this case before assuming something is a poe.

    You really shouldn’t trust organizations that show you 4 year old pictures of a guy who is old enough to join the army.

  • ” No one ever judges anyone based on dress.  Never.”  Riiiight.  Try telling that to the Muslim women I work with who get called terrorists on a regular basis.  They are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met,  but unfortunately some people will never find that out because of their preconceptions. 

  • Anonymous

    You know another thing that just crossed my mind is how people seem to carry in their mind the idea that the police both instructed Zimmerman not to follow as some kind of command, and yet at the same time believe the police conspired to help Zimmerman cover up a murder.    Doesn’t that cause cognitive dissonance?   Shouldn’t the police have order Zimmerman to follow and gun down Martin if this was a conspiracy to kill black kids?  

    The idea that a hispanic democrat gunning down a black kid is evidence of a war on blacks by whites or republicans is beyond ridiculous and especially when you look at crime statistics.     Given the white (72.4 %) to black (12.6 %)  population ratio, and black on black (94%), vs white on black murder rates (<6%),  whites would need to multiply their murder rate of blacks by around 90 to catch up with blacks.    A black man if rational should fear being murdered by a black far more than a white.   Well unless that white man happens to be wearing a white pointy cap.      Note that the same is NOT true in the other direction. 

  • Flockofchickens

    I highly recommend Aziz’s new comedy video that you can download for $5 at his web site.

  • Anonymous

    Parse my comment again with sarcasm in mind.  Also take context into account.    I’m mocking Asari for assuming Riveria didn’t have a valid point about dressing in a hoodie not being a good idea.   Same goes for baggy pants and tatoos all over your face.     You dress like a “gangsta” with tatoos all over your body and people might get the message you are trying to send.   I, quite politically incorrectly, believe that dress does send a signal.   

  • Anonymous

    So chasing down and shooting unarmed kids in cold blood isn’t murder. I guess in right wing nutjob land anything is possible.

  • Anonymous

     I’ve been following this case very closely and it seems to me that you have a few of your key facts wrong, or have been misled as to their authenticity.

    The first problem with you statement is that the call you’re talking about was not actually a 911 call. Zimmerman didn’t call 911, he called the police non-emergency number and was speaking to the desk Sergeant, not just a 911 operator. If his being told by the Sergeant “We don’t need you to do that” could be considered an order, and it could easily be argued that it was, then yes he could be charged for disobeying an officer.

    Number two, the only person to have actually seen anything and come forward the day of the incident was a little boy under the age of 14 (I don’t remember the specific age right now). He was going out to walk their family dog when he saw somebody standing over somebody else. When he told that to the police, they asked him if it was Zimmerman standing, and the boy said yes. In most cases questions like that can be considered leading the witness and definitely bring the conclusions into question. All other witnesses so far are questionable because of how long it took them to come forward.

    The only thing we really know for sure is that Zimmerman was following Martin. At some point, there was a fight. During that fight, Zimmerman somehow managed to get an injury to the back of his head and a (still questionable) broken nose. The fight ended with Martin getting shot. After all the media circus those are still the only relevant facts that are known to the public. From those facts, it’s impossible to know who started the fight, and therefore we can’t say for sure whether or not Zimmerman is justified in killing Martin under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, since it’s still possible that Zimmerman may have instigated the whole thing.

    What Zimmerman and Martin may have possibly done beforehand is not directly applicable, but if this goes to court (which it should), then a jury will have to determine what their previous histories say about their character. Neither one of them are spotless: Zimmerman has a history of explosive outbursts and there’s a possibility that Martin may have been courting joining a local gang.

    Considering the actual publicly available facts, nobody can be able to honestly say what actually happened without revealing their own biases in this case. I find it very revealing to listen to what people think really happened.

  • Anonymous

     ABC and NBC weren’t the ones that started the “fucking coons” hypothesis. That was originally started by a Youtube viewer watching a “Young Turks” story, which they then mentioned the next day in another clip. It was then blown way out of proportion rather quickly and taken up by all the major news outlets.

    I listened to the clip in question myself, and I think that him saying “fucking cold” makes a lot more sense. I was also thinking he may have said “fucking cones,” as if maybe there was some road construction. I never thought that “coon” sounded right, cold is more fitting to the sound of it.

  • Dan

    brianmacker, Are you sure your name isn’t John Derbyshire? I was going to write a long post arguing with you, like pointing out how stupid it is to just 100% believe everything in Zimmerman’s story (despite Zimmerman’s violent past), or your bizarre sarcastic defense of Rivera’s excuse for discrimination based on clothing, or you just plain making stuff up. But on second thought I’m not going to get in a huge argument with you, obviously you have some racist leanings. I’m not sure why you don’t  like minorities (especially African-Americans), but I’m sorry for you.

  • Anonymous

    The “message’? You mean “I’m a teenager”? “Kill me”?

  • Anonymous

    Sorry Brainmacker don’t watch tv news. I have seen a few clips of Fox, and it seems to be just a lot of the ranty crazy bullshit that passes for right wing discourse these days. Fox I think is a big part of the reason republicanism is disappearing up its own asshole.

    It doesn’t surprise me that a Fox fan would be championing the right to murder black children.

  •  Why are you taking George Zimmerman’s word about what happened at face value? Especially when much of what he said contradicts outside evidence (such as the fact that he did not need medical attention despite supposedly being beaten within an inch of his life).

    Oh yeah, and there’s also the part where he FOLLOWED AN UNARMED KID WITH A GUN. If Martin did attack him, which we don’t know to be the case, it could easily be argued that he did so out of fully justified fear that some nutbag was following him around in an SUV. Or do black people not get to stand their ground?

  • Anonymous

    You don’t seem competent to interpret anything if you got out of my comment that I was a Fox fan.   Read it again, the sentence   “… any better than Fox News” doesn’t mean what you think it does.

  • Anonymous

    CNN ran with the “fucking coons” story.   I’m actually referring to all the news stories we are getting from the left on this.

  • Anonymous

    Okay you’re not a Fox fan it’s just a weird coincidence that you’re regurgitating the Foxism that shooting black teenagers wearing hooded sweatshirts on sight is an act of self defense.

    Do you find it difficult to reconcile you’re commitment to the extreme end of racism with atheism? Usually a racist ideology as extreme as yours is buttressed by or largely rationalized through religion.

  • Anonymous

    Actually Zimmerman did get medical attention. On site he was treated by a medic before being taken to the precinct/jail for questioning. After being questioned for a few hours he was then taken to a hospital to be examined. As far as I know, there’s no other publicly available information about what medical treatment he had.

    Zimmerman states that he had a broken nose and an injury to the back of his head. This is backed up by the police report and partially supported by the enhanced video at the precinct/jail showing the wound on the back of his head. It’s impossible to tell from the video if his nose is broken though, and I question the handling of this whole case by the police which means the report is questionable to me also, so I’m still skeptical of the broken nose.

  • Anonymous

    “… or have been misled as to their authenticity.”
    Mislead by ABC, NBC, and CNN if your claim is true about the recording not being a 911 call.  They are calling it a 911 call.  Thanks for trying to clear that up but Zimmerman actually made two calls that night.   The first call was to the non-emergency and a second to 911.     It was a 911 dispatcher that told him he didn’t NEED to follow.   It wasn’t a command.    Nor would he be compelled to listen to the police if it were an officer on the line, and he actually asked him not to follow.  Funny that people on the left are making this claim.

    Turns out he didn’t have intentionally stop his following of Martin because he was too out of shape to keep up with the 6’2″ Trayvon Martin.   We know because of the 911 tape.  He specificallly says that “he ran away” and that he doesn’t know where Martin went to.

    I wonder how many of those other calls that were characterized as 911 calls were also non-emergency calls. 
    “We don’t need you to do that” could be considered an order, and it could easily be argued that it was, then yes he could be charged for disobeying an officer.”
    Utter nonsense.   Laughable utter nonsense.   You don’t have to listen to such advice, command or otherwise.  If you were in the World Trade Center on the phone with police and they told you to “stay put” there would be no duty to listen, and no crime they could charge you with for no listening.   Where’d you get this silly idea?  Cops have very limited powers.
    “Number two, the only person to have actually seen anything and come forward the day of the incident was a little boy under the age of 14 (I don’t remember the specific age right now). He was going out to walk their family dog when he saw somebody standing over somebody else. ”
    He’s the witness who could not identify either party.     There is a second eye witness much closer, and identied Zimmerman as being on the bottom (guy with “red sweater”) and as the one calling for help.   That witness was a man and he dialed 911 himself.
    “When he told that to the police, they asked him if it was Zimmerman standing, and the boy said yes. In most cases questions like that can be considered leading the witness and definitely bring the conclusions into question.”
     
    Your version sounds like the Chinese whispers version in that it gets everything wrong.   Also why are you trying to undermine your version of what the boy supposedly says if he has Zimmerman standing?   In fact the kid made no such statements about Zimmerman standing during the confrontation.  Also it is silly to claim that asking a simple question is “leading the witness”.  

    The kid (he’s black) was on the news and asked the same question by reporters and repeated that he saw a guy in red on the ground. So initial reports were wrong, he also identified Zimmerman as being on the ground based on his clothes.  I just watched a video of the kid.  The kids mother, who wasn’t there, claims it was too dark to see colors but we have two witnesses who claim they saw red.  She makes a bunch of other claims that are also impossible for her to know.  Probably protecting the kid who is too innocent to realize the narrative he is supposed to take.

    “All other witnesses so far are questionable because of how long it took them to come forward.”
    Forward to whom?  The police or to the news media.   The police let Zimmerman go (in part) because of the other eyewitness who placed Martin on top of Zimmerman beating him with Zimmerman screaming for help.  You know, the one who dialed 911 as Martin was beating Zimmerman.   You think that is too long a wait to be credible, as the crime occurred?
    “The only thing we really know for sure is that Zimmerman was following Martin.”
    We only know he was following him for the few seconds before he said that he lost him and was going to meet the police at his car.   We are sure of many other things, not just your one mischaracterization (you lied by ommission in leaving out the fact we know he stopped following).   Based on the phone call we are just as sure that he lost Martin, and planned to meet the police at the mailboxes by his truck.we know that Zimmerman’s story is consistent with all other facts in the case.   There is lots of stuff we know.

    “… and a (still questionable) broken nose”
    The police report has him bleeding from the nose at the scene.  That large bump on the side of his nose in the police photos isn’t in any of the other pictures of him.    Looked like a broken nose to me.   Father has reported that he has a broken nose.  They also claim have medical records.  All a big coincidence, or maybe a raging pimple?
    “After all the media circus those are still the only relevant facts that are known to the public.”For someone who is following this closely you sure are misinformed.   There are lots of relevant facts you missed and got wrong.  Grass stains, blood on Zimmermans shirt, witnesses, tapes, etc.
    “… but if this goes to court (which it should), then a jury will have to determine what their previous histories say about their character.  Zimmerman has a history of explosive outbursts and there’s a possibility that Martin may have been courting joining a local gang.”
    Sorry, you don’t understand how the justice system works.  The prosecutor cannot bring up past history at trial to present to the jury.  This is something you should have learned in high school.  It cannot be part of the basis for bringing him to trial either.  The prosecutors have nothing at this point and it would be an injustice not to mention a waste of taxpayer money to charge him.
    “Considering the actual publicly available facts, nobody can be able to honestly say what actually happened without revealing their own biases in this case. I find it very revealing to listen to what people think really happened.”
    I like people who pretend to be neutral observers and claim unsubstantiated bias on the part of others.   So your various claims about what witnesses said (which they didn’t) and the fact you think there is only one witness, and that you think it wasn’t a 911 call, don’t show any bias?   All the know evidence adds up to Martin attacking Zimmerman.  There is zero evidence in the other direction other than speculation.  Of course we cannot know with absolute certainty what happened but there is no evidence that contradicts Zimmerman’s account, and plenty that confirms it, and therefore no reason for prosecutors to charge him.

    … and dude, I was at a party where based on initial reports I had a conversation with two other people where I was arguing that Zimmerman bore responsibility for following Trayvon, and that Trayvon may have thought he was a mugger, and that I thought I heard Zimmerman say “fucking coons” on the tape.  

     Of course, as now, I also indicated that we can’t know exactly what the conversation was that lead to the altercation.   I actually said, “Maybe Zimmerman said to Trayvon, ‘hey Nigger get out of my Neighborhood’ and that is what triggered the fight.”   Problem is that with more info that becomes less and less probable.  The guy is a social worker and activist who has sided with blacks against the police, and has many black friends who are saying that racism is not a believable motivation. 

     One of the two people I was talking with had just lost his son last year to a motorcycle accident and we were both sympathetic to some kid being killed needlessly by some large adult carrying a gun, and muttering “coons”.  Turns out that was all wrong.   Sorry if my opinion changes with the facts.   What does your deep and unbiased psychologizing say about that?

  • EMS showed up, looked him over, and determined that he didn’t need to go to the hospital. They waved off the ambulance that had originally been called to take him. Do you have a link to a source that says he later went to the hospital? In any event, there’s no outside evidence indicating that he was at all seriously injured, let alone beaten as brutally as his defenders say he was.

    I’m skeptical of the broken nose too, given that there was no blood visible on the tape at the precinct. Broken noses aren’t generally neat and tidy.

  • Anonymous

    Because contrary to your opinion Zimmerman’s story doesn’t contradict any other evidence at this point.  Of course, that could change.

    “such as the fact that he did not need medical attention despite supposedly being beaten within an inch of his life”

    This is factually incorrect.  The police report that he got treatment at the scene.    He sought additional medical attention later.      

    You are completely confused about what “standing your ground” means.    It doesn’t allow you to shoot or punch someone just because you think they might be a mugger, or you are scared.   They would actually have to mug you.    It is not credible to believe Zimmerman walked up to Martin and asked him for his money.

    This was a closed community and even if it is open there is no problem with following someone you think is acting suspicious and asking whatever you’d like.   I’ve done it, and I’ve had it done to me.     I’ve even been followed by someone with a gun and confronted (to tell me to vacate his property which I had strayed onto from a forest reserve). 

    I’ve also confronted a group of men with guns on one occasion, and a single man with a gun on the other.   It doesn’t automatically end up in a shooting.    In all the cases there was an exchange something like “What are you doing here”, “I am doing X”,  “Oh, please leave”, “Sorry my mistake, bye.”.

    In the case with the multiple armed men they were all to a man wearing masks.  I confronted them, asked them who they were and why they were there.   Informed them they were mistaken, and they left.

    Perfectly legal to carry a gun.  Would NOT have been legal for me to start swinging at them just because they were carrying guns, or at the other guy following me with one.

    Zimmerman’s gun was conceiled and I doubt Trayvon would have been so egar to start a fist fight had Zimmerman been brandishing it when questioning him.

    Oh, and I once had to confront a guy in a excavator with a machete.    That’s a long story, but the relevant part is he was more than cooperative in walking with me to his truck to show me identification.    Trayvon would have been much more cooperative had he known Zimmerman had a gun.

    Here’s the long story in that case:

    You see a guy I had contracted for the excavator work had left the excavator next to my house and I heard it start up at night and looked out the window to see it being driven over some of my trees and towards my house.  It was within twenty feet of my bedroom.  I thougth it was being stolen and grabbed the nearest weapon to confront whoever was about to bear down on me.   It happened to be the person my contractor had borrowed the excavator from but I didn’t know that.  The guy had not bothered to knock on my door before borrowing the excavator.   He was very apologetic and offered to pay me for the trees.   He didn’t know I planned to cut them down and plant more desireable trees so I let him sweat on that one.      … and no I didn’t call the police, nor did he.

    I forced him out of the cab of the excavator and asked him for identification.   He said it was in his truck 300 feet down by the road.  So I walked him down and when he showed his identification let him load his excavator on his truck and leave.

    I think he’ll knock the next time.

  • ^this.

    At least brianmacker demonstrates we atheists are a diverse lot….

  • Anonymous

    See there you go again with the reading comprehension problems.   The sentence containing the word “message” contained the message I was referring too, “I’m a gansta”.    Are you under the misapprehension that 17 year olds are incapable of crime?    I think you need to wise up to the fact that there are people who go out of their way to look and act menacing.   In fact there is an entire subculture that even has music that glorifies violence, cop killing, and likes to beat up innocent bystanders and post videos of their crimes on web sites.   You don’t see opera singers in tuxedos doing drive by shootings of each other.   Not true of rap singers in their baggy pants, and hoodies.

  • Anonymous

    Rivera wasn’t making an “excuse”.  He was pointing out that it’s not a good idea to run around prodding peoples fears.    You don’t want to get into an argument you would loose.   You don’t even know if I’m black or not moron.

  • Anonymous

    Never said that shooting black teenagers on sight is self defense.  I don’t follow Fox but I doubt very much they did either.    You are getting more and more bizzare and out of touch with reality in your claims.

    I have exhibited zero racism, so the racism must be in your head.   I think you are one of those people who emote more than actually listen and think.

  • Anonymous

    There is zero evidence he chased down and shot an unarmed kid in cold blood.   You are living in an alternate universe where actual facts don’t matter.   If you listen to the tape it is clear Zimmerman lost Martin, and was returning to his car.     All the evidence supports Zimmerman’s claim he shot Martin while he was on the ground being beaten up by the 6’2″ 16o pound “kid”.   You just don’t learning the facts of the case.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, some of us actually read and comprehend the news, understand the law, and know the difference between self defense, and cold blooded murder.

  • “The police report that he got treatment at the scene.”

    Like I said, EMS came and looked him over and determined he didn’t need to go to the hospital. Not what I’d expect medical professionals to do when their patient has been beaten as badly as Zimmerman and his defenders describe. I don’t know when or why he sought further medical attention, but unless EMS was criminally incompetent, it is not likely to have been for anything serious.

    “It is not credible to believe Zimmerman walked up to Martin and asked him for his money.”

    No, but it is entirely credible, given that we know Zimmerman pursued Martin, to believe that he walked up to him and initiated a confrontation. It is in fact pretty hard to believe Zimmerman’s story that Martin just up and jumped Zimmerman from behind when Zimmerman was walking back to his car after checking a street sign. It’s just not consistent with how either of them was acting during the time period that we do know about. (Also, WTF, Zimmerman patrolled that neighborhood all the time and he didn’t know what street he was on without getting out of his car to look?) It’s also not consistent with what Martin’s girlfriend, whose phone records confirm that she was on the phone with him at the time, says happened.

    The only reason you think Martin started the fight is because Zimmerman says so (and possibly because you have preconceived notions about Martin, as Zimmerman did). Surely you can see that Zimmerman has good reason to lie.

    And your tales of derring-do are meaningless here. A kid is dead for no good reason, his killer is free, and absolutely none of that is about you.

  • Anonymous

    How do you know that I am “regurgitating the Foxism” if you don’t watch Fox.   I don’t watch it so I  wouldn’t know what you mean by it in the first place.   I am mostly aware of Fox due to all the bitching people do about it. 

    You just are not making any sense whatsoever.   At this point you are merely on an emotional rant.

    What exact statement did I make that you mistakenly interpret as a entire “racist ideology” (holy cow)?    At this point your comments are getting laughable.    The only racists involved in this so far are the new black panthers (involved with their “bounty” on Zimmerman), or Al Sharpton (hates Koreans) or Hymie Town Jackson.    Even the stories about roving gangs of neo-nazis in Sanford are made up.

    Go watch a video of some of those New Black Panthers to get an idea of what a “racist ideology” is like, complete with justifications for killing white babies.

    My black friends would find your claims ludicrous.    Funnier still is that I have had a black doctor for fifteen or more years before I moved recently.   Sure sign of a racist, having a black doctor.   Plus the several black girls I’ve dated would be curious as to why I bought them dinners, when to the zoo and such without ever asking them for sexual favors, like you’d expect from a racist dating a black woman.   After all the only reason a racist would date a black woman would be for the sex, right?   It couldn’t be to impress his racist friends after all.

    All I’ve done is argue the fact here and since you’ve been shown to be wrong, and wish this to be about race, you now charge me indiscriminately with not merely being a bigot but having an entire racist ideology.   LOL.

  • Anonymous

    He didn’t need to go to the hospital, and I never said he did.  A broken nose isn’t something that requires a hospital.

    There is blood on his shirt in the taped video.   I got my teeth punched through my lower lip once and not a spot of blood on my white clothes.   He was wearing a red jacket that was probably closed in the rain.      There are all sorts of reasons why the blood stain on the front of his shirt was not all that big.  For example it might have gotten wet in the rain.

    The cops said in the report that his nose was bloodied.  They bother to call EMS.   That doesn’t tell you something?     So what if they treated him but decided he didn’t need hospitalization?

    “Do you have a link to a source that says he later went to the hospital?”

    I didn’t claim he went to the hospital.  Are you unfamiliar with how this works?   When my teeth were punched through my lower lip I didn’t go to the hospital either.   I went to a plastic surgeon, and it was the next day.   I’ve been punched where the black eye doesn’t show up till the next day.

    ” In any event, there’s no outside evidence indicating that he was at all seriously injured, let alone beaten as brutally as his defenders say he was.”

    His injuries were entirely consistent with his claims.  He claimed he was punched in the nose, fell to the ground, and had his head smashed on the ground with Martin on top of him, and that he called for help.   Witnesses statements are consistent with these claims.

    Not sure what level of brutality is required before you think one can defend yourself.    Sounded pretty brutal to me.  I was hit on the head with a rock by some kid who snuck up on me once and all I got was a bump,  I saw stars, and believe me getting your head thumped on a hard object in a way sever enough to cause that gash on the back of his head was enough to make him fear for his life.

  • Anonymous

    Support your claims.  You can start with, “you just plain making stuff up”.  I’ll link you to the information that you are obviously ignorant of.    Obviously you are an ill informed coward who posts anonomously and can’t defend his position.  You aren’t sure “why” your false assumption that I don’t like minorities is precisely because you have zero evidence that I don’t like minorities.    What I don’t like his falsehood, and race baitiing, which you obviously prefer.   Obviously defending a minority (a hispanic with a jewish father) who handed out flyers supporting a black homeless man who was being treated unjustly by the police is a sure sign of someone who hates “minorities”.

    What I don’t like are racist lynch mobs like the one that is out for Zimmerman.     How does it feel to be siding with the racist New Black Panters?  You in with their desire to kill all the whites down to the last white baby or maybe starting with it?    You under the mistaken belief that only white people are racist?  Go on you tube and search for “New Black Panter Racist” and you will see the kind of lynch mob you are supporting here, against a guy who’s past includes some quite un-racist behavior.

    Rivera is a side show.   There is no evidence Zimmerman even used the hoody as his criteria for thinking Martin was suspicious, which was that it was raining and he was outside looking about.     He only mentioned the hoodie because he was asked for a description.  

    Rivera apparently wasn’t aware of that and thought Zimmerman used it as a criteria for being concerned.      Hoodies, like ski masks are useful in hiding ones face when skulking about so Rivera isn’t so far off.   In case you are not aware baggie pants serve the purpose of conceiling both stolen goods and weapons.   Of course they are also a fashion statement for those who wish to appear like street wise tough gangstas.  So Rivera isn’t entirely wrong.  

    In fact, Rivera has no evidence but he might just be right.   Zimmerman might just have gotten the wrong impression from the hoodie too.   He certainly was mistaken about why Travon was looking at all the houses in the rain.  The guy was likely lost in the dark.

    I suggest you try putting on a white conical hat and white sheet and walk through harlem if you don’t think that people make judgements based on dress.

    I’ll continue to believe what I do on this case based on the facts unless you can actually support your claims with other facts.   Just be aware that I already know you jump to false conclusions because I know I don’t have “racist tendencies”.   Your opinions seem to be colored by your own bigotry.

  • “Are you unfamiliar with how this works? When my teeth were punched through my lower lip I didn’t go to the hospital either.”

    Did you shoot and kill somebody over that injury? No? Then who gives a damn, Internet Tough Guy? It’s irrelevant.

    “Not sure what level of brutality is required before you think one can defend yourself.”

    I don’t think a possible broken nose and an obviously not very serious bump to the head justify shooting and killing someone. Zimmerman’s defenders in the media have been saying that he was near death, and that he would *be* dead if he hadn’t killed Martin. I call bullshit based on EMS’s judgment.

    “and believe me getting your head thumped on a hard object in a way sever enough to cause that gash on the back of his head was enough to make him fear for his life.”

    Please. You don’t know jack shit about that “gash” on his head. You saw the same video the rest of us did.

    And if he started the confrontation, which is still the interpretation that is the most consistent with everything else that is known, then it’s not self-defense.

  • I’m a 39-year-old white woman and I would wear my hoodie if I went out to run an errand on a chilly night. Is that sending a message too? Do you know how many people wear hoodies? It’s a totally normal item of clothing, not suspicious in the slightest. Not unless you already have preconceived suspicions about the person wearing one.

  • Anonymous

    “The only reason you think Martin started the fight is because Zimmerman says so (and possibly because you have preconceived notions about Martin, as Zimmerman did). ”

    See this is one of your problems.  You have zero evidence for this claim.    There is physical evidence to indicate Martin started it physically.   There is also phone recordings that indicate Zimmerman had lost Martin and was heading to his truck.   So my thoughs are NOT merely based on Zimmerman’s claims, and the same is true of the cops that were on the scene.  They did a through investigation (including taping off the scene, finding witnesses, and the like) yet you think otherwise based on not knowledge but on speculation.

    “and possibly because you have preconceived notions about Martin, as Zimmerman did”

    Obviously, they are after the fact notions if they are notions at all.   After the fact of knowing his buddies twitted him for busting a bus driver in the nose, and for getting pot, for example.  Info Zimmerman didn’t have but show that Martin wasn’t shy about using his fists, or commiting crimes. 

    “And your tales of derring-do are meaningless here. ”

    My tales are to give you some perspective on your misunderstandings about guns.    Having a gun does not automatically mean a violent confrontation and in fact tends to pacify someone who knows you have one.   Martin obviously didn’t know Zimmerman was packing until it was too late for him.  So all this talk about a crazy man following him is nonsense.

    Also the injuries are quite consistent with having your head pounded on the ground after being punched in the nose.

    Even if the girlfriend isn’t lying then that is good evidence that Zimmerman did ask Martin what he was doing in the neighborhood (and didn’t merely gun him down).   Which again is not a big deal as my “tales of derring do” indicate.  One can ask people what they are doing without the expectation that you get attacked.  At that point it was obvious that Zimmerman was only wondering what Martin was up to even if you believe the girlfriend.   Of course it might be that Trayvon had evaded Zimmerman only to head back towards Zimmerman’s car himself.

    Funny that you don’t object to the preconceptions that both the girlfriend and Martin displayed.    The girlfriend urging him to run and ramping up his fears may have been part of what escalated things.   Martin may not have wanted to look bad in front of his girlfriend.

    Of course the line when dead and the girlfriend has no idea what happened after Zimmerman asked what Martin was doing.    Just as likely that Trayvon cold cocked him as Zimmerman shoving him.  She has no idea, and was already making the wrong assumption.  This was a guy who called the cops already and was merely finding out why some strange teenager (teenagers do commit burglaries you know) was in his gated community.

    So still even if Zimmerman is lying and the girlfriend isn’t there is still no evidence that Zimmerman started a fight.    The girlfriend has no way of knowing how the phone dropped.  

    Regardless, there is still a witness who places Trayvon on top of Zimmerman, pummeling him while Zimmerman is crying for help.    The shot came after that (we have another recording), and of course there was no need for Zimmerman to continue crying out at that point.

    I think Zimmerman and Trayvon both made some big mistakes but it is ludicrous at this point to think Zimmerman a racist that hunted him down to murder him.     Which is what the narrative is.    Way too much evidence contrary to that nonsense.  

    It’s also nonsense to believe he was shot because of the hoodie.  Again the fact that Martin had punched and was beating Zimmerman was the likely reason he got shot, not the hoodie.   Zimmerman did not mention the hoodie as the reason he thought Martin was suspicious in the first place.   His broken nose, the gash on his head, and the fact that he knew that police were about to arrive are all evidence that he had zero motive to shoot, or start a fight.   

     

  • “finding witnesses”

    …’correcting’ a witnesses’ statement when it didn’t match Zimmerman’s story…

    Fundamentally, you seem to think that a teenager, or at least a black male teenager, should not expect to have the right to walk around his father’s neighborhood without being followed and accosted by random self-appointed cop wannabes. If he is followed and accosted, and that scares him and he takes a swing at the person following him, then everything that happens, up to and including his death, is his fault. I hope you don’t also call yourself pro-freedom.

    Of course, I saw in another thread where you were speculating that maybe going out to the store was just Martin’s cover story for scoping out places to rob, because who would go to the store on a drizzly night for candy and a drink? (A damn teenager, that’s who, did a little rain really bother you when you were 17? It didn’t bother me.) So you clearly are committed to making this Martin’s fault, and there’s nothing I could say to persuade you.

  • Anonymous

    Oh, and your characterization of what the girlfriend had said didn’t jibe with what I had previously read in the NYT.   So I went back to read the article.    

    “Trayvon asked, “Why are you following me?” Mr. Crump said. The girl then heard a faraway voice ask, “What are you doing around here?” Mr. Crump added. Then Trayvon’s voice falls away. ” – NYT

    Which is also consistent with what I originally wrote, and contradicts the girls later claim that she heard Zimmerman shove Travon right after asking what he was doing there.     How can someone be shoved from “far away”.  

    There is still no evidence that contradicts what I originally wrote,  which is that Trayvon punched Zimmerman (nose proves that),  was on top of him (multiple witnesses to that), and had cracked Zimmermans head against the ground (again physical gash on head),  Zimmerman calls for help (witness), and then shoots Trayvon.

    Much more likely that those supported claims are the reason he got shot than that he was wearing a hoody.   Again as I originally claimed.    Despite all the nonsense you’ve read into it.

    “Why you following me” could be a reference to the prior behavior by Zimmerman, as Trayvon approached him.  We just don’t know.   Claims that Zimmerman followed and confronted Martin are just not fully supported by any evidence and Zimmerman’s claims are consistent with all physical evidence.

    The only contrary evidence is from witnesses who could not have known what transpired.   Like the girlfriend assuming Zimmerman had shoved Martin.   There are also witnesses who were in their houses who came out after the gun shot, but have given self inconsistent reports to police.

  • Anonymous

    When you were searching for my other comments to mischaracterise them here did you find this comment:  http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/03/24/dude-wheres-my-hate-crime/#comment-333256


    There are reports of a witness who saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman beating him as he yelled for help. The tapes of Trayvon sound like angry kid shouting, not “crying” as the news reports characterize it.
    I understand the outrage that goes with thinking the cops are not pursuing the crime, but it’s based on false reporting. At first I thought this was obviously not self defense, but now I want more information. I still think the force used by Zimmerman was disproportionate, and that Zimmerman was negligent in his behavior. How was Trayvon not to know he wasn’t being mugged himself? His actions may have been in self defense. Not sure how the law works down ther but the law may be what is tying up the police from charging him. The law may allow disproportion and pursuit, and it shouldn’t. Of course, Trevon also broke any such rules himself in attacking Zimmerman, if he did. I doubt Zimmerman said “Give me all your money”.
    Ironically It may have been Trevon’s girlfriend on the phone who urged him to run that put him in the frame of mind that Zimmerman was some kind of mugger. We specifically require law enforcement to wear uniforms for this reason. had Zimmerman been wearing a uniform this incident probably would not have happened.
    ” -Brian Macker

    Sort of fucks up your narrative about me.  Doesn’t it.   Look at the date.  About ten days ago.   Changed my mind since, haven’t I.  

    Oh and the following comment was mine too.  In which I wrote:”
    It wasn’t like Trayvon was caught breaking into a house or pulling his penis out of a rape victim. He was walking to his house from 7/11. He was being followed then chased by a guy with a gun at night. He was just as right to be suspicious of Zimmerman as vice versa, if not more so. If I’m out at night and some guy starts following me around with a gun I’m going to think he’s got bad intentions too. Zimmerman acts like an idiot on his 9/11 phone call (even mumbling “F’n coons” under his breath), so I wouldn’t be surprised if he confronted Trayvon it a way that came across as a mugging.
    If you are going to confront randoms strangers at night with a gun in some semi-official capacity I think it best you identify yourself in some way. A uniform is one such way.

    Yep, That’s me, until I figured out that much of this nonsense was fabricated and I was being played for a chump, like you.

    That was making fun of the other nonsense speculation about Zimmerman.    People want to spin stories about Zimmerman,  well Travon has been caught with burglar tools and stolen jewelery.   We can speculate on all sorts of things, can’t we?   

    You forgot to mention the fact that on “other threads” I originally thought it was Zimmermans fault, until I found out just how much fabrication there was in these stories.

    “…’correcting’ a witnesses’ statement when it didn’t match Zimmerman’s story…”

    Yeah, who’s story did they “correct”, since you are bring this new item in.   You mean the woman who had never met either Zimmerman nor Trayvon who claimed to recognize Trayvons voice as calling for help?    Do you wonder why he might correct her on that considering she was in her house, had never heard their voices, and another witness who saw Zimmerman actually screaming for help indicated otherwise. Even Trayvon’s father supposedly admitted that was not his son’s voice, and we are supposed to believe a witness who never heard either man talk let alone scream.

    “Fundamentally, you seem to think that a teenager, or at least a black male teenager, should not expect to have the right to walk around his father’s neighborhood without being followed and accosted by random self-appointed cop wannabes. If he is followed and accosted, and that scares him and he takes a swing at the person following him, then everything that happens, up to and including his death, is his fault. I hope you don’t also call yourself pro-freedom.”

    Fundmentally you like to speculate all sorts of nonsense.

    It was his father’s girlfriends house, and that is immaterial.  Who cares if his father lived there or whether he was in some random neighborhood.

    That’s a loaded word, accosted.   If you want to use the girlfriends testamony and the word accosted to mean “asked a question” then it was Trayvon who accosted Zimmerman first with “Why you following me?”     

    There is no fundamental right not to be asked questions on the street.   Nor is there some fundamental right not to be followed.   Zimmerman was not some ” random self-appointed cop wannabes”.   He was his neighborhood watch representative.    This was a private community and not open to random people walking through.   So he is perfectly within his rights to ask strangers what they are doing there.     He could have easily been brushed aside with a “I’m staying with my dad’s girlfriend and I’m lost”.   Apparently that didn’t happen.

    There were a string of burglaries in the area, and Zimmerman was perfectly reasonable in questioning some strange kid out at night in the rain looking like he was scoping out houses.  

    I don’t understand why you care whether he was or wasn’t scoping houses in the first place.    That’s not a reason you can gun someone down either.   I certainly wouldn’t use it as an excuse for killing someone.   As I’ve pointed out with my stories I’ve had far scarier confrontations and there was nothing done that justified shooting anyone, or punching someone.

    You are being clueless about this whole thing.    My original point stands.   No one was gunned down for wearing a hoodie.   Trayvon got shot because he was on top of a man with a gun that he had just got done punching to the ground (unless you think Zimmerman layed on his back to get a better shot).

    The fact that I don’t currently entertain, or express every thing I ever considered does not mean I didn’t do so in the past.   This thing has been going on for quite a while.   My position has changed on the entire thing.   Also, I’m only defending my one point, which is my original statement.

    Unless you have evidence that Zimmerman physically attacked Trayvon then the evidence we do have indicates he did fire in self defense.  Period.

      

  • Anonymous

    “you don’t k ow if I’m black or not moron”.

    Look Brainmacker we know you’re not black, for one thing you’re hate filled bigotted rant against a black murder victim is a bit of a giveaway. As far as you being “not moron”, racist xenophobic nutters arent usually terribly bright so I guess you’ve answered that question too.

  • Nhills

    Eh, Zimmerman was 240 pounds, nearly a hundred pound weight advantage.

    Anyway, it’s a shame that Zimmerman will most likely never face justice. Had the circumstances been slightly different, the case would have gone to trial swiftly. Ah well.

  • Anonymous

    So in your world, dressing like a teenager makes one a “gangsta”. Damn I’ll have to stop wearing jeans and my Budweiser hoodie, less I provoke some paranoid nutjob into murdering me. Oh wait I’m, I’m. not black.

  • Anonymous

    Shooting a black kid in a hoodie is always self defense, you made that pretty clear earlier, looking like a ” gangsta” ie a black teenager, is threatening behaviour, which in your argument is the main reason Zimmerman chased him down.

  • Anonymous

    What evidence? The cops didn’t investigate, of course why would they, like you they jumped to the conclusion that a black teenager in a hoodie is a “gangsta”. I guess they live in Foxworld too, where all black kids are crooks.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe you’re right, in my crazy world justifying the killing of black people because you find them scary would clearly constitute racism, but then I didn’t realize you once had a black doctor. Next time someone makes grotesque generalizations about people based on their race I’ll ask if theyve ever had a black doctor.

  • digitalatheist

    yes? so what about the lead investigator who wanted to arrest Zimmerman that night for manslaughter but was overruled by one of his daddy’s buddies? The truth is that a) i’ve had my lip busted on a few occasions (basic training being the worst) and bled like a stuck pig. I’ve had my scalp slit open… and bled like a public fountain, and been punched in the nose/seen others punched in the nose and bled like an artery was severed.

    The evidence does NOT show a man who was struggling to survive. As is, after being followed by some guy who might be a pervert, Trayvon had every right to confront his stalker. I even got that confession out of my brother (30+ years of law enforcement and a Zimm supporter).

    Zimmerman was SPECIFICALLY told “WE DON’T NEED YOU TO DO THAT” after being asked if he was following Trayvon. He did… he killed Trayvon. If Zimmerman had been black and Trayvon anything else but black he would have been arrested on the spot. You know it, I know it, and the whole fucking U.S. of A. knows it.

    p. fuckin’ s. His “injuries” were consistent with nothing but a guy thinking he could chase and kill a nigger and get away with it.

  • digitalatheist

    without any prompting “fucking coons” is what i heard from the get-go. I live in the south… SC in fact, and yes… that is what i heard it to be since it is almost as popular as “fucking niggers” around here… just won’t get you punched in the mouth as fast.

  • The murder location is evidence. Neighbor witnesses are evidence.

  • brianmacker

    In your crazy world I actually did that when I didn’t.   You aren’t allowed to just up and kill people you find menacing in my world,  nor are you allowed to punch them in the face.    In fact I never even mentioned “black people” you moron.

  • brianmacker

    False, the cops did investigate.    

    You are the only one assuming that someone talking about the fact that you can use hoodies to conceil ones identity must be talking only about blacks.

    Racist much? 

  • brianmacker

    That was many years ago when he was obese.   He’s only 5’9″ and at the time of his arrest was of comparable weight to Martin.   Had he the additional 100 pounds that would have been even more of a reason to expect him to lose a fight.

    You are just full of false assumptions.    A police investigation at the crime scene is part of the justice system.    Police can’t just go around charging people with crimes when they didn’t actually commit a crime.   They have standards they have to meet before they can charge someone.

  • brianmacker

    All consistent with Zimmerman’s story, given on the spot with no time to invent something, backed up by taking a stress test at the police station without calling a lawyer.    He had zero time because he was the guy who called police. In fact, he is so convinced of his innocence (an gullible about how he could be railroaded) that he continued to talk directly to police after he finally got two lawyers.  That was one of the two reasons they gave for dropping him as a client.

  • brianmacker

    “Did you shoot and kill somebody over that injury? No?”

    It was in a JiuJitsu sparing match so no.

    “Then who gives a damn, Internet Tough Guy? It’s irrelevant.”

    Not irrelavant.  You are the the one who assumes every injury requires a trip to the hospital.  It’s relevant in that your belief is false.   The purpose isn’t to show how tough I am, but how very wrong and ignorant you are.

    Also I didn’t get a drop of blood on my uniform (white gi).    Imagine that.  Why?  Because I bent over and let the blood drop on the mat.  A witness identified Zimmerman in such a position.

  • brianmacker

    “And if he started the confrontation, which is still the interpretation that is the most consistent with everything else that is known, then it’s not self-defense”

    Another falsehood.    You just have no idea what you are talking about.   One can initiate a confrontation, and still claim self defense if it escalates to the point where you think you are in danger for your life.  

    “Please. You don’t know jack shit about that “gash” on his head. You saw the same video the rest of us did.”

    There were several gashes.  YOu do understand that people post videos at all different resolutions, right?  Apparently not.    Of course, I’ve got an independent uninterestd third party source of information, the police report.   I’ve got the EMS report. I’ve got the next door neighbors who saw him the next day.   I’ve got the policeman looking at the back of his head in the very “same” video.   You think the policeman was examining the back of his bald head for lice? 

  • brianmacker

    What’s this “we” shit pale face?   Dan may just be your sock puppet.   I never made a hate filled bigoted rant.   I never mentioned “black people”.  You are just a typical troll liar. 

     

  • brianmacker

    Yeah because every injury acts exactly alike, and facts like being out in the soaking rain, or wearing a rain jacket, or bending over couldn’t alter how much blood you get on your shirt, or whether it stains.   No, the fact that the police at the scene saw blood and called EMS to treat him in your mind isn’t evidence that he was bleeding, but instead evidence that he has some relative on the police force or something.    Talk about crack pot notions.

    Any set of injuries on Zimmerman could be consistent with “a guy thinking he could chase down and kill a nigger”.   He could have a knife sticking out his chest, a broken leg, and a sucking chest wound, and that would still be consistent with Zimmerman being a total racist, a member of the KKK, and a guy who hunts blacks on a deserted island for sport on the weekends.

    That’s not being provided as evidence that he isn’t a racist.   It’s being provided as evidence that is consistent with his story that he was on his back having his head bashed into the sidewalk.

    Your problem is that you have zero credible evidence he is a racist.    Zimmerman has a long history of helping the black community and standing up for the little guy even when he is black.    He has no racist history whatsoever.

    ” If Zimmerman had been black and Trayvon anything else but black he would have been arrested on the spot. You know it, I know it, and the whole fucking U.S. of A. knows it. ”

    My life has been spent denying what everyone knows based on the actual facts.     You are in fact wrong.   You don’t live in the U.S.A. you think you do.   It’s doesn’t work the way you want to believe.

    This news story falsifies your belief.

    http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2012/04/daniel-adkins-killer-claims-self.html

    “Thus far, the shooter has not been arrested or charged with a crime. ”

    So much for your claims.  The guy was black, he shot a hispanic, he claimed self defense, he was not arrested.  

    You and the other commenters here keep injecting “black” and “white” into this inappropriately.  

    I am not going to be cowed by all the false claims. straw man arguments, ad hominem attacks against me,  emotionalism, and other nonsense you guys are using to try to lynch this hispanic democrat.

  • brianmacker

    Yeah, that’s what I thought too, at first.  I have posted actual comments I made several weeks ago where I was supporting the notion that Zimmerman was guilty here.  Unfortunately, the audio has been cleaned up of static and now it sounds like “It’s fucking col[d]”   The “It’s” is pretty distinct.    Meanwhile the indictment (actually it is an police affidavit) that is charging Zimmerman says it’s “fucking punks” which is consistent with a hatred for burgalars, which is what he said he was concerned with.

  • Given later when police arrived, with the help of police who helped “correct” other witnesses.

    The police were his first counsel. He didn’t talk to his first lawyer at all because he wasn’t arrested, the police supported him so much.

  • Stonecold

    Possibly, but only because the Atheist side would be heavily populated with Jews. Without that you’d just have lame goys

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