A recent video has gone viral of an unarmed black man attacked by a police officer's dog. The attack happened as the police officer unleashed his dog even as the black man surrendered to authorities with his hands up this despite an Ohio State Trooper repeatedly urging officers not to release the dog.

Black lives matter: Incident comes amid police brutality & racism resounds

US: Black man mauled by police canine in Ohio

She: &ldquo;Please stop by at the store and pick us up some apples and oranges.&rdquo;

He: &ldquo;Hmm, why?? Do you have a problem with bananas and grapes? Aren&rsquo;t all fruits good for you? Why are you favouring only apples and oranges?&rdquo;

Pardon the pun, but that&rsquo;s a darn fruity response, wouldn&rsquo;t you say?

It&rsquo;s no different when your knee-jerk response to &ldquo;Black Lives Matter&rdquo; (BLM) is &ldquo;All Lives Matter&rdquo; (ALM). And, unlike buying fruits, throwing out an ALM in response to BLM is more than just nonsensical&mdash;it&rsquo;s downright pejorative. It&rsquo;s like flipping the middle finger at the problem&mdash;an alarmingly disproportionate number of Black men being killed in police encounters, often in questionable circumstances: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, and now, back-to-back killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille. And for each such high - profile case, there are hundreds of others that remain under the radar.

Some of us&mdash;Asians, Hispanics, Whites or other&mdash;become part of the problem when we fail to recognise these feelings of anguish, and in our callous cluelessness shove an &ldquo;All Lives Matter&rdquo; in the face of &ldquo;Black Lives Matter.&rdquo; The attitude that comes with ALM (versus the empathy that BLM evokes) prevents non-Blacks from understanding the pain, helplessness, fear, and anger that Blacks are feeling. It&rsquo;s an epidemic!

Under the current circumstances, BLM is not only a valid movement but a direly needed one.

Corruption of the Black Lives Matter movement 
But as with every activist movement that involves the masses, there is the possibility of corruption of original values, objectives, and methods. In the case of BLM, its fringe has engaged in inflammatory rhetoric and hyperbole&mdash;making the entire police fraternity its enemy. That&rsquo;s a recipe for escalating&mdash;not solving&mdash;the problem.

The overall Blacks-police dynamic can be reversed only if BLM shifts some of its energy from laying the entire blame on cops in general, to also introspecting to see the role and responsibility they have to improve the situation. (The reverse is also equally needed: introspection and correction of police procedures and culture).

Introspection on the side of Black Lives Matter 
This brings us to a critical element at play in the dynamics between law enforcement and Blacks that is largely ignored in BLM activism: the conduct of civilians in a police encounter. In far too many high profile incidents of Black men being killed by police, there has been at least one or more of the following on the part of the victim: disobedience, defiance, arguing, resisting arrest, aggression, absconding, brandishing a weapon, etc. Let me be very clear on two points (a) I realise such is not the case in all encounters where the victim ended up dead. (b) Such bad behaviour by itself cannot be reason enough for the police to use lethal force, in most cases.

Yet, I am surprised that time and again videos are circulated on social media as evidence of police brutality&mdash;with not a single word about the fact that the encounter would not have escalated if the civilian would have simply avoided the above-mentioned set of behaviour. I am not sure if it&rsquo;s an ingrained reaction to the history of slavery and the abuses suffered at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) during the segregation eras, but there seems to be widespread defiance and distrust of the police among African Americans. It&rsquo;s sad to think that many of the dead victims in these cases would have been alive if they had simply complied with an officer of the law.

Yes, it&rsquo;s quite possible that you may be unfairly pulled over, or that the officer abused his authority. But what civilians forget is that a police encounter is not a court of law. This is not the time and place to argue your case. The one and only thing to do when pulled over by the police is to obey their orders. That&rsquo;s the only way law enforcement can be effective. Will there be officers who will abuse this privilege? Of course. But if you have the misfortune of facing one of them, your chances of not being killed are much better if you are completely compliant.

The civilian has far more control and responsibility in a police encounter than what BLM activism suggests. If the movement is serious about preventing such police abuse, it needs to put at least some emphasis on encouraging Black youngsters to cooperate with, instead of defying law enforcement.

Introspection on the side of the police 
On the side of the police, it&rsquo;s disturbing to see, in some of these high profile encounters, trigger-happy officers apparently on a murderous rampage&mdash;as opposed to trained professionals who should know how to defuse a hostile fellow with a single strategic shot or two. Yes, yes, I understand the adrenaline rush, and how fear impairs judgment; but I am sorry if I hold professionally trained police officers to higher standards than civilians. Time and again we have seen officers gunning down a civilian who was clear no threat to anyone.

While obedience to the police is the best advice for civilians, a civilian&rsquo;s insubordination alone should not be reason enough for a police officer to escalate an encounter to having to shoot him. Only the threat of bodily harm to the officer or others justifies pulling out Tasers or guns. Almost everything else, such as insubordination, could perhaps be better addressed through summons, fines, and even jail time&mdash;after the fact when the heightened tension of a roadside encounter has faded. But there seems to be a police culture in some circles that thinks otherwise.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;m no expert, but what I see is Tasers and guns coming out way too soon and often in disproportion to the offense at hand.

From better background checks to better training, there&rsquo;s much that police departments could do to improve the situation. Meditation, for example, has been found very effective by police departments in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Advanced practitioners claim that sustained practice brings a slow-motion-like trance in high adrenaline situations, giving one a better access to the gap between stimulus and response&mdash;the crucial factor for so many policing situations.

Regardless of the specific solutions, the polarisation, and consequently the collateral damage to Black lives and Blue lives, will only get worse&mdash;unless both sides shift from blame-game to introspection.

Damage to Black lives and Blue lives, will only get worse?unless both sides shift from blame-game to introspection.

She: “Please stop by at the store and pick us up some apples and oranges.” He: “Hmm, why?? Do you have a problem with bananas and grapes? Aren’t all fruits good for you? Why are you favouring only apples and oranges?” Pardon the pun, but that’s a darn fruity response, wouldn’t you say? It’s no different when your knee-jerk response to “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) is “All Lives Matter” (ALM). And, unlike buying fruits, throwing out an ALM in response to BLM is more than just nonsensical—it’s downright pejorative. It’s like flipping the middle finger at the problem—an alarmingly disproportionate number of Black men being killed in police encounters, often in questionable circumstances: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, and now, back-to-back killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille. And for each such high - profile case, there are hundreds of others that remain under the radar. Some of us—Asians, Hispanics, Whites or other—become part of the problem when we fail to recognise these feelings of anguish, and in our callous cluelessness shove an “All Lives Matter” in the face of “Black Lives Matter.” The attitude that comes with ALM (versus the empathy that BLM evokes) prevents non-Blacks from understanding the pain, helplessness, fear, and anger that Blacks are feeling. It’s an epidemic! Under the current circumstances, BLM is not only a valid movement but a direly needed one. Corruption of the Black Lives Matter movement But as with every activist movement that involves the masses, there is the possibility of corruption of original values, objectives, and methods. In the case of BLM, its fringe has engaged in inflammatory rhetoric and hyperbole—making the entire police fraternity its enemy. That’s a recipe for escalating—not solving—the problem. The overall Blacks-police dynamic can be reversed only if BLM shifts some of its energy from laying the entire blame on cops in general, to also introspecting to see the role and responsibility they have to improve the situation. (The reverse is also equally needed: introspection and correction of police procedures and culture). Introspection on the side of Black Lives Matter This brings us to a critical element at play in the dynamics between law enforcement and Blacks that is largely ignored in BLM activism: the conduct of civilians in a police encounter. In far too many high profile incidents of Black men being killed by police, there has been at least one or more of the following on the part of the victim: disobedience, defiance, arguing, resisting arrest, aggression, absconding, brandishing a weapon, etc. Let me be very clear on two points (a) I realise such is not the case in all encounters where the victim ended up dead. (b) Such bad behaviour by itself cannot be reason enough for the police to use lethal force, in most cases. Yet, I am surprised that time and again videos are circulated on social media as evidence of police brutality—with not a single word about the fact that the encounter would not have escalated if the civilian would have simply avoided the above-mentioned set of behaviour. I am not sure if it’s an ingrained reaction to the history of slavery and the abuses suffered at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) during the segregation eras, but there seems to be widespread defiance and distrust of the police among African Americans. It’s sad to think that many of the dead victims in these cases would have been alive if they had simply complied with an officer of the law. Yes, it’s quite possible that you may be unfairly pulled over, or that the officer abused his authority. But what civilians forget is that a police encounter is not a court of law. This is not the time and place to argue your case. The one and only thing to do when pulled over by the police is to obey their orders. That’s the only way law enforcement can be effective. Will there be officers who will abuse this privilege? Of course. But if you have the misfortune of facing one of them, your chances of not being killed are much better if you are completely compliant. The civilian has far more control and responsibility in a police encounter than what BLM activism suggests. If the movement is serious about preventing such police abuse, it needs to put at least some emphasis on encouraging Black youngsters to cooperate with, instead of defying law enforcement. Introspection on the side of the police On the side of the police, it’s disturbing to see, in some of these high profile encounters, trigger-happy officers apparently on a murderous rampage—as opposed to trained professionals who should know how to defuse a hostile fellow with a single strategic shot or two. Yes, yes, I understand the adrenaline rush, and how fear impairs judgment; but I am sorry if I hold professionally trained police officers to higher standards than civilians. Time and again we have seen officers gunning down a civilian who was clear no threat to anyone. While obedience to the police is the best advice for civilians, a civilian’s insubordination alone should not be reason enough for a police officer to escalate an encounter to having to shoot him. Only the threat of bodily harm to the officer or others justifies pulling out Tasers or guns. Almost everything else, such as insubordination, could perhaps be better addressed through summons, fines, and even jail time—after the fact when the heightened tension of a roadside encounter has faded. But there seems to be a police culture in some circles that thinks otherwise. I’m no expert, but what I see is Tasers and guns coming out way too soon and often in disproportion to the offense at hand. From better background checks to better training, there’s much that police departments could do to improve the situation. Meditation, for example, has been found very effective by police departments in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Advanced practitioners claim that sustained practice brings a slow-motion-like trance in high adrenaline situations, giving one a better access to the gap between stimulus and response—the crucial factor for so many policing situations. Regardless of the specific solutions, the polarisation, and consequently the collateral damage to Black lives and Blue lives, will only get worse—unless both sides shift from blame-game to introspection.

Here?s what?s missing from ?Black Lives Matter? movement

Canadians rained social media scorn on a performer on Wednesday for inserting the politically-charged phrase &quot;all lives matter&quot; into the lyrics of the Canadian national anthem and holding up the words on a sign during the rendition.&nbsp; 
 
Singer Remigio Pereira, a member of the Canadian quartet The Tenors, seemed to take his group by surprise with the change during the live performance at major league baseball&#39;s All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday night. 
 
&quot;Why would you make a political statement with our anthem?&quot; said Twitter user @I_AM_MurrMan. &quot;I hope you get kicked out of your band.&quot; 
 
&quot;All lives matter&quot; is a phrase used by critics of the Black Lives Matter anti-police brutality movement, who say the activists promote bias against other groups including white Americans and law enforcement. 
 
Pereira inserted the line &quot;we&#39;re all brothers and sisters; all lives matter to the great&quot; while holding up a small sign that read &quot;all lives matter&quot; on one side and &quot;united we stand&quot; on the other. 
 
&quot;Memo to MLB: if you&#39;re looking to attract black fans and players, All Lives Mattering the anthem -- even O Canada -- ain&#39;t the way to do it,&quot; tweeted @MorganPCampbell. 
 
The Tenors apologised late on Tuesday, calling Pereira a &quot;lone wolf&quot; who acted without consulting the group and said he would no longer perform with them &quot;until further notice&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Pereira showed no contrition, saying on Twitter: &quot;I&#39;ve been so moved lately by the tragic loss of life and I hoped for a positive statement that would bring us ALL together. ONE LOVE.&quot; 
 
Tensions are high in the United States after protests over police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and a sniper attack on Dallas police by a black former U.S. soldier who said he wanted to &quot;kill white people&quot;. 
 
The attack injected a new note of fear into two years of largely peaceful protests across the United States over police killings of black people in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, Chicago and Los Angeles. 
 
Pereira did not immediately respond when Reuters reached out to him on Twitter. A publicist for The Tenors said on Wednesday no members are doing interviews and referred to the statement . 
 
(Reuters)

Singer Remigio Pereira, a member of the Canadian quartet The Tenors, sang the line before the start of Major League Baseball's All-Star game

Canadians rained social media scorn on a performer on Wednesday for inserting the politically-charged phrase "all lives matter" into the lyrics of the Canadian national anthem and holding up the words on a sign during the rendition. Singer Remigio Pereira, a member of the Canadian quartet The Tenors, seemed to take his group by surprise with the change during the live performance at major league baseball's All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday night. "Why would you make a political statement with our anthem?" said Twitter user @I_AM_MurrMan. "I hope you get kicked out of your band." "All lives matter" is a phrase used by critics of the Black Lives Matter anti-police brutality movement, who say the activists promote bias against other groups including white Americans and law enforcement. Pereira inserted the line "we're all brothers and sisters; all lives matter to the great" while holding up a small sign that read "all lives matter" on one side and "united we stand" on the other. "Memo to MLB: if you're looking to attract black fans and players, All Lives Mattering the anthem -- even O Canada -- ain't the way to do it," tweeted @MorganPCampbell. The Tenors apologised late on Tuesday, calling Pereira a "lone wolf" who acted without consulting the group and said he would no longer perform with them "until further notice". Pereira showed no contrition, saying on Twitter: "I've been so moved lately by the tragic loss of life and I hoped for a positive statement that would bring us ALL together. ONE LOVE." Tensions are high in the United States after protests over police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and a sniper attack on Dallas police by a black former U.S. soldier who said he wanted to "kill white people". The attack injected a new note of fear into two years of largely peaceful protests across the United States over police killings of black people in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, Chicago and Los Angeles. Pereira did not immediately respond when Reuters reached out to him on Twitter. A publicist for The Tenors said on Wednesday no members are doing interviews and referred to the statement . (Reuters)

Outrage after singer inserts 'all lives matter' into Canadian anthem

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Black lives matter: Incident comes amid police brutality & racism resounds

US: Black man mauled by police canine in Ohio

Here?s what?s missing from ?Black Lives Matter? movement

Outrage after singer inserts 'all lives matter' into Canadian anthem