When The Police Overreact.

Tony Cleveland, Jr. (17) of Greensboro, North Carolina was arrested yesterday on charges of urging a riot, possession of a handgun and weapons of mass destruction. Why?

Because of this image he created and posted to his personal Facebook account.

That's right -- it's now completely illegal to create an image that the police might not agree with.

Based upon information gleaned from the suspect's father, Tony had no intentions of actually causing a riot at the "Gboro Mall". Mind you, such a mall doesn't even exist. There are two major shopping destinations in Greensboro -- the Four Seasons Town Centre and the Friendly Center. The image doesn't state if either of these locations was the intended "target". The time on the flyer also says "5-until". Is that 5 AM or 5 PM? The when says "this saturday". So which exact Saturday is that?

Obviously, this image was created by an immature teenager with little intention (or the necessary planning) to actually carry out a riot. Most likely, the teenager crafted the image because of the recent news involving the Baltimore Riots. Like any impressionable youth, he decided to become involved in some silly, misguided way. It doesn't make what he did right, but it also clearly doesn't pose a threat to anyone. Common sense is a hell of thing. Would you think this potential riot was serious if you saw that image? I wouldn't.

If you think the above image was serious, then you need to get a grip on reality.

I'm not going to defend Tony -- he's a juvenile delinquent with a long string of charges including breaking and entering. Clearly, he has little respect for the law and his parents probably did a terrible job raising him. Yet, there's cause for alarm when any police department would charge someone over a silly image -- much less with urging a riot, possession of a handgun, and weapons of mass destruction.

Does this image indicate that the creator has WMD's? If so, they must be as invisible as those supposedly owned by Saddam Hussein. Does the fact that he placed a cartoon image of a gun next to a cartoon image of a police officer's head mean he has a handgun? What about people that possess tattoos which have weapons in them? Does that mean the individual owns those exact weapons? If a kid has a poster of an F-16 fighter jet in their room, does that mean they own said plane?

No. Only idiots think such nonsense.

If the police are going to begin arresting people for images on social media that they don't agree with, then they better build more prisons. Nearly everyone has shared or liked an image on Facebook that law enforcement might not agree with. We'd all be guilty.

This is yet another example of the police over-reacting and over-stepping their boundaries. The People of this Nation have every right to produce images like the one above. The First Amendment protects individuals in cases like this, whether you happen to agree with the content or not. I don't agree with it, but what I think doesn't matter. Had Tony and a band of his friends actually carried out a riot, then sure -- charge them to the fullest extent of the law. Up until that point, though... it's all just childish foolishness. Riots are absolutely wrong and should not be encouraged -- they only cause reckless bodily harm and damage to property. Yet, let the sentence be appropriate for the crime.

I find myself asking... what crime took place here?

Sharing Memories From My Youth.

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this evening. Ever the sentimentalist, right? I'm just going to share some of my memories with you. Nothing is meant to be cohesive from one moment to the next -- I'm just recording some memories from my teenage years and early twenties while I have them on my mind (and before I forget).

I think back to Spring Weekend at Longwood University, April 16 of 2004. On that night, I saw Yellowcard and Something Corporate play. Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences of my early 20's -- I remember how powerful that show was. Something Corporate really left a mark on me that night. They closed Bandfest with Konstantine, which is still one of my most favorite songs. I met Stephanie and Beth that night -- two former friends whom are unfortunately no longer in my life. They were good people and hope they're doing well, wherever they are. It's funny how you lose touch with people over the years.

Unsurprisingly, I was almost late to my high school graduation in 2000. Literally, I arrived with moments to spare and barely got into line to walk out for the ceremony. My mom and dad, ever the ones to run behind schedule, held me up from arriving on time. When I got there, the procession was already formed and about to head out the door. I burst into the high school cafeteria without even my gown on. Everyone looked at me like an idiot. After graduation, the senior class got together that evening to hang out one last time. The funny part was that I'd never hung out with any of my classmates in a social capacity after school. Their final time together was my first time together. My memory is a little fuzzy as to the order of events that evening, but I know a large party took place at the Barnette homestead. I can remember being there for a short while, then at some point heading to someone else's house. I'm not sure which of my classmate's home it was, but it was in Kenbridge (on Broad Street if I remember correctly). I'm pretty certain the only reason I was invited was because I owned a copy of Friday on VHS. We sat in a basement and watched it -- Jeffrey W., Mary Catherine W., Thomas C., Tiffany S. and I. After the movie was over, I went home. It wasn't even that late, to be honest. I'm sure everyone else got into some hijinks after I left; but for me, high school was over.

One of the highlights of my high school years was the annual Library Club trip. Every year, our little group of nerds, brainiacs, outcasts and oddballs went somewhere cool to cap the year off. We'd always pitch in a little cash and rent a tour bus for the day. One year we went to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Another year, we went to Richmond and saw the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. It was always a cheerful time for me, wrought with eagerness and teenage angst. We'd huddle together on the bus, sharing CD's (remember those), drinking soda pop and play games. As I think back, it feels as if the time we spent just being teenagers on the tour bus was more important than wherever it was we were going. For just a little while, we were free to be ourselves and socialize. It was on one of these trips (I think my junior year) that I chickened out of my first kiss with a girl. B. (you know who you are, I won't rat you out) -- you intimated the hell out of me. I was just a shy, insecure guy. Can't believe I missed out on something most teenagers are dying to experience. I was a big wimp.

During my junior and senior years of high school, I had art class at the mid-day lunch break. Often times, Jeffrey W. and I would drive off campus and eat lunch. Mrs. Kunath, our art teacher, was a great woman who cut us both a lot of slack. She trusted us to leave and come back without causing any problems. Not once did we ever get into any trouble, partly because we were responsible. We looked out for her, she looked out for us. I've never forgotten those drives into town. Thinking about it now, Jeffrey probably just had me along because he felt sorry for me. I was a dork in high school and I'm certain he knew it. Yet, he took me along anyway. That was really cool of him and I won't forget it.

I cut my high school football field's grass for one year (my dad and the coach pushed me into it -- it's a whole other story). As payback for making me do it, I'd cut it absolutely terribly. I would change the elevation of the cutting deck up and down, do circles and go as slow as possible. Passive aggressive, much? Anyway, I had this Walkman that I'd listen to while cutting the grass. I was already miserable, so I tried to zone out and forget what I was doing to pass the time. I had a cassette tape that was filled with songs I'd recorded from the radio and off other tapes. It was my Football Field Mix Tape. Some of the songs on that tape were Desperately Wanting by Better Than Ezra, Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla, Foolish Games by Jewel, Hook by Blues Traveler, Crush by the Dave Matthews Band and Everlong by the Foo Fighters. All of those songs have stuck with me over the years -- I still listen to them on a regular basis. It's amazing the things we cling to in moments of unhappiness.

That's all for now. If you are one of the people mentioned and want to chime in, feel free. Or, if you went to high school with me and have something to add, I'd be eager to hear it.

The Rising Tide of E-Cigarette Use By Teenagers.

In a shocking bit of news today, the Centers for Disease Control revealed that the use of electronic cigarettes by middle and high school students tripled between 2013 and 2014. The statistics show that the percentage of students using e-cigarettes in the United States jumped from 4.5% in 2013 to a whopping 13.4% in 2014. While the number of underage tobacco users has largely remained unchanged in recent years (currently around an absurd 30%), the use of electronic cigarettes and vaporizers has moved along at warp speed. This is unheard of in other developed societies. Much less, the damage that nicotine can do to a developing mind is well documented. Nicotine has a degrading influence on the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which directly alters the decision making process. Teens who consume nicotine, in any capacity, lessen their ability to make wise decisions.

There's another downside to the consumption of electronic cigarettes, which function by vaporizing liquid nicotine. Often mixed in with the liquid nicotine are various flavors and additives. Unfortunately, we just can't be certain exactly what's in this nicotine cocktail because electronic cigarettes are completely unregulated. The various liquids, which typically originate from countries like India and China, usually do not indicate what ingredients are included. Yet, chemical analysis has shown that such harmful chemicals as DDT have been found present in the liquid nicotine that's currently available at retail. Personally, I find the use of electronic cigarettes to be just as foolish as smoking regular cigarettes -- you're trading one set of bad chemicals for another. Much less, no long term studies have been conducted on the use of electronic cigarettes or the vapor that's exhaled by users. It's a dangerous and all-around uninformed choice to be inhaling unknown chemicals from places that could give a damn about the safety of their products. This negatively affects teenage users worst of all. They'll have a lifetime to contend with any possible negative health impacts from the use of liquid nicotine. Never mind the assertions of pro-vaporizing lobby groups, which contend that the use of electronic cigarettes is completely healthy. Appallingly, medical doctors regularly prescribed the use of tobacco for their patients on into the middle part of the Twentieth Century. Advertisements for various cigarette brands even featured "expert claims" by doctors as to why their brands were completely safe. If Americans only knew then what we know now -- smoking will kill you. Should we not apply this same cautious logic to the use of electronic cigarettes?

An authentic, vintage Camel Cigarette ad from the mid twentieth century.

Talk about deceptive!

The ability of the federal government to regulate the sale and use of electronic cigarettes as soon as possible isn't just a matter of public safety -- it's about preserving the lives of youth. Modern student health programs should educate about the dangers of nicotine and tobacco use, including the consumption of liquid nicotine and e-cigarettes. Ultimately, I'd hope for the end of nicotine abuse globally, though that notion is surely far from being a reality. Yet, we have to start somewhere.