Today is July 15 2016. The trending news is disturbing. We can choose between the mass carnage in niece France, the death of a mother and daughter at the hands of the mother’s former partner or the shaming of an innocent woman by a narcissistic self and edge and indulgent self-righteous classless publicity seeker.
In order of priority, there’s no doubt that the senseless death of the people in Nice France has to be addressed. It is an example of how the person with a rage fueled set of distorted values and a complete disregard for human life can take a useful tool and turn it into a killing machine. The presence of possible explosives and firearms further enhances the heinousness of this individual’s determination to cause damage to innocent people.
The incident in Nice, France is virtually unpreventable. A lone individual, with tools that can cause massive death and destruction, would only be thwarted by luck. The fact that we have a name for the character of his objectives, “soft targets”, is indicative of the fact that we are all too aware of the vulnerability of a free thinking society to the acts of terror. It places the burden on us to be diligent, understand our surroundings and to prepare for an adverse event that could occur wherever we are. The act does not have to be deliberate nor does it have to be calculated. We just have to be able to react.
We send our thoughts to the families of the victims, to the first responders, and to those traumatized by the carnage.
Our family was saddened by the news of the Los of Taliyah Marsmen. Her death arising from a relationship between her mother and a former partner is repugnant. While the attacks on soft targets in Nice was no less than a terrorist act of the greatest magnitude, the unnecessary death of this five-year old who represented no threat is significantly troubling. Children are another form of soft target. They are so vuolnerable. Those of us who enter into social interactions have to think of our loved ones at the time that we get involved with others. It forces us to take stock of all or significant encounters socially, in business in friendships and in day-to-day life. We cannot ignore or be oblivious to the consequences of any relationship in any circumstance that we entertain. The presence of obvious signs of threat or a potential threat to what we hold dear has to be addressed.
In comparing the terrorist attack in Nice to the action of publicity seeker Deni Mathers, you have to wonder whether a comparison can be drawn between the terrorist in Nice and the conduct of Deni Mathers.
Both actions were designed for publicity, either to create publicity for a person or cause. In the case of the Nice terrorist, the cause will be determined. It will probably be linked to the proliferation of an ideology or an extreme religious belief that does not hold life sacred. In the case of Deni Mathers, the only thing that could have been intended by her social media publication is that she believes that she is better than anyone else.
Both behaviors have a significant, clinical, affected behavior taken to the extreme. Mathers went after a soft target. The person is not identified and is unlikely to be a body shape glamour seeker. Mathers represents a mindset that beauty is of greater value than the quality of the person. She does this publicly through testing the boarders of acceptable behavior, including parading nude, making controversial statements and breaking society-acceptable behavior.
The act of photographing a naked person in an area where there is an expectation of privacy has to be taken seriously. A photo-capable device used in areas where privacy is expected has to be a criminal offence. If the tables have been turned, you can bet that Mathers would’ve played up the situation to enhance her public image. There’s only one place where people like Mather’s matters can be sanctioned effectively, and that is in their pocketbook. It is up to corporate America, social networks, other publicity enterprises and the general public to make it not profitable ( and in fact a costly venture) for an individual to use publicly inappropriate methods to advance themselves financially. A criminal charge will result in an apology and a minimum sentence. The public simply has to avoid supporting any enterprises that would contract for Mather’s services so that she no longer becomes an asset to that enterprise.