What the fuck, President Banda?

Chansa Kabwela did her civic duty and her job as a newspaper editor: she reported the facts. She repoted the facts not only to the public, but to the people "in-charge" - those that could actually do something to alleviate a perceived problem.

But now, Chansa Kabwela can do that no more. Chansa is in prison for distribution of pornography.

Chansa was once the editor of The Post, a Zambian newspaper. As it turns out, apparently, Zambia has had a healthcare workers strike recently. The Post, doing its job has reported on this. Chansa, apparently attempting to be a responsible human, took it upon herself and went one step further by sending pictures of the health-care horrors to Zambia's Minister of Health and its Vice President (among others).

So far, so good - we have a woman doing her job and trying to help her country out. And none of this would be a problem in this country, I imagine. However, in Zambia, it's a huge problem.

And what exactly is the problem with any of this? Apparently, some of the photos depicted women giving birth in parking lots and other non-hospital-type places. President Rupiah Banda found these photos to be obscene, branded them as "pornography", and demanded that Ms. Kabwela be arrested.

And so, she was.

Well, fuck! I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but I can never resist looking at a picture of a woman giving birth, pulling my pants down and furiously rubbing my erect penis!

Oh, wait, that's not right... What I meant to say is: I can't even think of a time that I have ever had an erect penis while seeing anything involving child birth. And I don't think most other guys get-off to such things either.

So, where does this leave us? Well, either President Banda has some really odd kinks, or the overall sexual mores of his country are far too repressive as they are attempting to censor valid medical photographs.

But let's not leave the buck at President Banda (though, to be fair, the buck WOULD stop there, as he is The President), because there is also Kenneth Ngosa, of which the article said the following:

One of the first witnesses, Kenneth Ngosa, a senior private secretary to the vice president, told the court he was immediately disturbed by the pictures he found inside the letter, according to the paper.

He was disturbed? Well, I sure as fuck hope so! I'd be distrubed, too, if the healthcare in my country ended up in such a bad state that women were having to, on a regular basis, give birth on an asphalt slab where I sometimes park my automobile.

Unfortunately, however, that's not why Mr. Ngosa was disturbed, or why anybody involved was disturbed! In fact, if that were the reason that these people had been disturbed, I wouldn't be writing this, because Ms. Kwabela would never have been arrested.

In closing, Zambia has not only failed healthcare, but they've failed at understanding that the real obscenity here is what's going on, not what is pictured in the photographs.

President Banda: President's a hard job and all dude, and your country's got quite a few problems. But you know what? Instead of arresting a lady trying to bring attention to them, it might be more helpful to actually solve those problems.

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What the fuck, Key Bank?

Jim Nicholson: Hero, criminal-catcher, unemployed...

Why? Because Key Bank has a policy - one they refuse to budge on, even if a guy is a fucking daytime superhero vigilante.

SEATTLE (Aug. 22) -- A Seattle bank teller has lost his job because he ran down a would-be bank robber and held him until police arrived. Jim Nicholson, 30, who had worked for more than two years at a Key Bank branch near the Seattle Center, says he understands the bank's strict policy that employees comply with robbery demands and avoid confrontations.^[1]

But he told The Seattle Times that instinct took over when a thin man in a beanie cap, dark clothing and sunglasses pushed a black backpack across the bank counter on Tuesday and demanded money.

Nicholson threw the bag to the floor, lunged toward the man and demanded to see a weapon. The man bolted for the door with Nicholson in pursuit.

He chased him several blocks before knocking him to the ground with the help of a passer-by. Nicholson then held the man until police arrived.

On Thursday, Nicholson was fired. Key Bank spokeswoman Anne Foster declined to comment on Nicholson and his actions.

...

"They tell us that we're just supposed to comply, but my instincts kicked in and I did what's best to stop the guy," he said. "I thought if I let him go he would rob more banks and cause more problems."

So what? That works for most people, but for some people, that's not the right thing to do. And, when adrenaline kicks in, rationality and "what my boss said" go right out the door. This guy is a hero, not somebody that should be unemployed.

Police and the FBI discourage such heroics. Bank tellers are trained to get robbers out the door quickly and are advised against possibly escalating a situation over money that's federally insured.

...

Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said the best course for citizens is to be good witnesses to crimes.

"When confronted by a violent criminal, it is best to comply unless they feel their personal safety is in jeopardy. It is possible that taking action and confronting the criminal may lead to the injury of the victim or other bystanders."

"You want tellers to be proactive, but you want them to do it safely," said FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt.

For years, citizens have been "proactive" and good witnesses to violent crime. Look at where that's gotten us. Now, one guy stands up and does the right thing and he loses his job over it.

Furthermore, this guy wasn't a "violent criminal". He was simply a guy who walked into a place and demanded money. He didn't even show a weapon. Why shouldn't you beat the crap out of him for that stupid robbery attempt?

Nicholson said he has run after shoplifters while working at other retail jobs.

"It's something I almost look forward to. It's a thrill and I'm an adrenaline-junkie person. It's the pursuit," he said.

This guy is, apparently, a chronic hero. He obviously has some sort-of adrenaline issue. I am thinking that they are discriminating against him and his handicap. They should not have fired him, and if they should've done anything at all, they should've commended him because he clearly has an awesome "handicap" that makes him have to run after bad guys and beat the crap out of them. Any employer that cash should be happy to have this guy working for them.

Jim Nicholson: He's the goddamned Batman of the retail world.

1. Source