A forum for posts that are of a musical, artistic, political, or personal nature. Some may be rants, some may be reviews, some may be ramblings of my disjointed mind. And I have two (formerly five) cockatiels, and a conure, hence the name "birdhaus". R.I.P. Boomer, Sunny Lou and Woody Jean.
The decision not to indict the Officer who shot down a 12-year-old in Ohio is a horrible way to wrap up 2015. Charles Pierce (via Esquire)says what needs saying:
Is there any real point in being angry any more? Is thre any real point even to be surprised? There certainly is no point in emphasizing the damn irony that Ohio is an "open carry" state so, even if the cops assumed Rice was 18, and they also assumed his gun was real, they had no cause even to stop him, let alone open fire. Listen to the spiel that Wayne LaPierre unspools every time he's in a room with more than four people listening: arm yourselves, because the world is a hellscape of violent Others who are coming for you and your children. At its heart, open carry is about open season on the people who scare you. It's certainly not about an absolute Second Amendment right that applies to black people as well as white. Open carry is about You and the Others, and so is the training of our modern, militarized police forces. If only Tamir Rice had not been born with that congenital ability to become huge and threatening the way he did in the mind of Timothy Loehmann. If only…
These guys are okay to carry anything, but a child who is darker can't have a toy gun without being shot down like a dog.
The story (via ABC News) is disturbingly familiar:
An inmate's execution with lethal drugs in Arizona today took almost two hours as the man gasped and snorted, prompting his lawyers to request an emergency halt to the procedure.
"The execution of Joseph Wood commenced at 1:57 p.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC)-Florence and he was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m.," Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said in a statement.
Wood's attorneys filed a motion for emergency stay of the execution after Wood was reported “gasping and snorting for more than an hour,” according to court documents they filed. Justice Anthony Kennedy denied the appeal about a half hour after Wood's death, the Associated Press reported. An AP reporter who witnessed the execution saw Wood gasp more than 600 times before he died.
But Stephanie Grisham, the press secretary for state's AG, said the claims being made by the media witnesses and defense attorneys are not accurate. "He went to sleep, and looked to be snoring. This was my first execution and I was surprised by how peaceful it was. There was absolutely no snorting or gasping for air."
"The experiment using midazolam combined with hydromorphone to carry out an execution failed today in Arizona. It took Joseph Wood two hours to die, and he gasped and struggled to breath for about an hour and forty minutes," said Dale Baich, one of Joseph Wood’s attorneys.
Is this what we have become? Regardless of the nature of the man's crime, which was brutal, does anyone deserve to die like this? More importantly, are we willing to torture a person to death under the guise of "justice"?
This is part of the insanity that seems to infect our country---that there are those who may be treated as shabbily as we can manage, while we claim a moral high ground. This is horrible, and no amount of rationalization can change that.
Capital punishment must stop!
Low has been around for almost twenty years, and they've got a new CD out called The Invisible Way.
This song, about drug abuse, piss tests, and our drug laws' meaningless self-importance, is a good snapshot of the CD's atmosphere. It's a dark, melodic journey, and well worth your time.
Pepsi Co., facing a lawsuit from a man who claims to have found a mouse in his Mountain Dew can, has an especially creative, if disgusting, defense: their soda would have dissolved a dead mouse before the man could have found it. An Illinois man sued Pepsi in 2009 after he claims he "spat out the soda to reveal a dead mouse," the Madison County Record reports. He claims he sent the mouse to Pepsi, which then "destroyed" the remains after he allowed them to test it, according to his complaint. Most shudder-worthy, however, is that Pepsi's lawyers also found experts to testify, based on the state of the remains sent to them, that "the mouse would have dissolved in the soda had it been in the can from the time of its bottling until the day the plaintiff drank it," according to the Record. (It would have become a "jelly-like substance," according to Pepsi, addsLegalNewsline.)
It's not about any of the guys on death row; it's about me trying to keep me from going to Hell. If this is a democracy, then if the government kills somebody, I'm killing somebody. And I object to the damage that does to my spirit. - Steve Earle
Why is it that when people are acquitted by trial, such as O. J. Simpson or Casey Anthony, certain people refuse to believe it and see it as a "failure of the system," but when a possibly innocent person is put to death like Troy Davis, the same folks think that is just great? Our country can't fix infrastructure or get people back to work, but we can still kill people real good.
I didn't follow the Casey Anthony trial, as I find such media frenzies too gruelingly disgusting over the length of time they cover. But what Chris Hayes says here rises above that storm to cut through to the truth:
Our media will focus on this type of trial, which has so little to do with most people except for their purient interest, and ignore cases that are much more relevant and pertinent to what is important in this country. It says more about what is wrong with our country that we focus so closely on this kind of sensationalism than what the verdict was.
And then there's this: In jury trials like this, the jury is presented with weeks of evidence, and is given the task of gleaning through that to make a decision. Why is it then that so many people who are not privy to any more than what they digest through the media filter think they are better qualified to say what should happen here? I feel sorry for Ms. Anthony when she is released, in that not only must she deal with the loss of her her child, but the judgements of the self righteous folks who would condemn her mostly to feel better about themselves.
EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, faces two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a July 3 incident when he allegedly hit bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind then sped away, according to court documents.
(SNIP)
Milo, 34, is a physician living in New York City with his wife and two children, where he is still recovering from his injuries, court records show.
Milo suffered spinal cord injuries, bleeding from his brain and damage to his knee and scapula, according to court documents. Over the past six weeks he has suffered “disabling” spinal headaches and faces multiple surgeries for a herniated disc and plastic surgery to fix the scars he suffered in the accident.
“He will have lifetime pain,” Haddon wrote. “His ability to deal with the physical challenges of his profession — liver transplant surgery — has been seriously jeopardized.”
(SNIP)
Erzinger, an Arrowhead homeowner, is a director in private wealth management at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Denver. His biography on Worth.com states that Erzinger is “dedicated to ultra high net worth individuals, their families and foundations.”
Erzinger manages more than $1 billion in assets. He would have to publicly disclose any felony charge within 30 days, according to North American Securities Dealers regulations.
Milo wrote in a letter to District Attorney Mark Hurlbert that the case “has always been about responsibility, not money.”
“Mr. Erzinger struck me, fled and left me for dead on the highway,” Milo wrote. “Neither his financial prominence nor my financial situation should be factors in your prosecution of this case.”
Hurlbert said Thursday that, in part, this case is about the money.
“The money has never been a priority for them. It is for us,” Hurlbert said. “Justice in this case includes restitution and the ability to pay it.”
Hurlbert said Erzinger is willing to take responsibility and pay restitution.
“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it,” Hurlbert said. “When you're talking about restitution, you don't want to take away his ability to pay.”
“We have talked with Mr. Haddon and we had their objections, but ultimately it's our call,” Hurlbert said.
This is where our society is heading, or maybe where it already is. Justice will be enforced according to your assets. Those who are rich get the consideration of their status. What if this guy had been a poor fast food worker coming home after a double shift? Would the DA have been so understanding? After all, he might lose his job too!
This story stinks! Welcome to the plutocracy, with the best justice money can buy.
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