On February 26, our son Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked to a family member’s home from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was only 17 years-old.
Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community’s self appointed “neighborhood watch leader,” called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Travyon, a young black man, walking from the store. But Zimmerman still hasn’t been charged for murdering our son.
Trayvon was our hero. At the age 9, Trayvon pulled his father from a burning kitchen, saving his life. He loved sports and horseback riding. At only 17 he had a bright future ahead of him with dreams of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. Now that’s all gone.
When Zimmerman reported Trayvon to the police, they told him not to confront him. But he did anyway. All we know about what happened next is that our 17 year-old son, who was completely unarmed, was shot and killed.
It’s been nearly two weeks and the Sanford Police have refused to arrest George Zimmerman. In their public statements, they even go so far as to stand up for the killer - saying he’s “a college grad” who took a class in criminal justice.
Please join us in calling on Norman Wolfinger, Florida’s 18th District State’s Attorney, to investigate my son’s murder and prosecute George Zimmerman for the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin.
From the Change.org petition by TRACY MARTIN and SYBRINA FULTON (via inothernews)
It is appalling to me that Zimmerman has not been arrested.
(via wilwheaton)
(via wilwheaton)
The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On (via Kottke)
(Source: youtube.com)
Everybody Needs A Hobby of the Day: This past Sunday, former Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob fulfilled a lifelong dream by setting a new world record for Longest Paper Airplane Throw.
The folded piece of A4 paper designed by KRON-TV producer John Collins soared across a hangar at McClellan Air Force Base for 226ft. and 10in., besting Stephen Kreiger record of 207ft., 4in. set in 2003.
“Some people might think, ‘What’s the big deal? It’s just a paper airplane,” Ayoob later told ESPN. “But it’s a world record. It took a lot of time for John, and it took a lot of time for me working with John to achieve this. … It’s very rewarding, and I’m very proud of this record.”
(Source: thedailywhat, via enemyswim)
Absolutely fantastic stuff.
I was in the homestretch and beginning to think forward to writing my Ph.D. dissertation. I rather dreaded that, since the obligatory style of disserations is turgid in the extreme, and I had by now spent nine years trying to write well and was afraid I simply might not be able to write badly enough to qualify for my degree.
“Sure, they’re cute now, but in a second they’re gonna get mean, and they’re gonna get ugly somehow, and there’s gonna be a million more of them.”
(via wilwheaton)
CTE, the concussion crisis, and an economic look at the end of football
Cross-sectional MRI scans of the legs of a 40 year old triathlete vs a 74 year old triathlete vs a 74 year old sedentary person
Holy crap.
