Crazy Lawsuit Game

George Tiller, M.D., was shot at the start of the church service he attended on Sunday morning in Wichita, Kansas.

A provider of abortions for more than three decades, Dr. Tiller, 67, had become a focal point for those around the country who opposed it. In addition to protests outside his clinic, his house and his church, Dr. Tiller had once seen his clinic bombed; in 1993, an abortion opponent shot him in both arms. He was also the defendant in a series of legal challenges intended to shut down his operations, including two grand juries that were convened after citizen-led petition drives.

He is survived by his wife, 4 children and 10 grandchildren who issued a statement through Dr. Tiller’s lawyer, which read in part: “George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere.”
President Obama issued a statement, saying, “However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.”

Thank your for your work and dedication Dr. Tiller. America lost another hero.

-quotes excerpted from a NY Times article by JOE STUMPE and MONICA DAVEY

Labels: inhuman, injustice, obituary

Shane McConkey was one of the great big mountain skiers. He was instrumental in ski design and eventually decided to ski off a mountain with a parachute strapped to his back. He pushed the envelope of skiing and human achievement. He was skiing in the Dolomites in Italy, did a double back flip and his chute failed to open. He is survived by his wife Sherry and daughter Ayla.


For a brief glimpse into who Shane was, please check out the Outside Online tribute.

Photos courtesy of ShaneMcConkey.org
Vid from youtube

Labels: injustice, obituary

Please keep the families of all those involved in the recent shootings in your thoughts. Also the families of the modern day slaves.

I hope you find some hope today in this messed up world we live in.

Labels: inhuman, injustice, intruder, tragedy

I try and try to educate people. I've told you before that monkeys and apes are cute but are wild animals and need to live in a habitat or the outdoors. Yes chimps are my personal favorite but I also realize that one does not belong in my house. I'll spare you the pictures but please read here about the dangers, and this National Geographic article.

Also from CNN.com (like the first link up there) comes this list of 5 places to visit before they don't exist anymore. Global warming, changing weather patterns, over fishing are all blamed. But this sounds like lots of fun besides the fact that they won't exist anymore.

Writing is coming along. Bicycling to work was chilly. I love my wife, J.

Labels: bicycle, educating consumers, injustice, J, writing

I'm still boycotting Israeli products but did some reading to educate myself on the whole situation and maybe get closer to a solution. Here's a couple Op-Ed pieces by Thomas Friedman and Jeffrey Goldberg.

Basically Thomas suggests there are only two possible reasons for bombing Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. One, to complete wipe Hamas out and probably many Palestinians in the process, or two, to over-react to Hamas attacks and kill at least 10 "terrorists" for each Isreali killed, taking a few women and kids with them, to convince Hamas (and Iran and other Islamic Death to Zionists) that Israel isn't going anywhere and to hopefully convince the Palestinian community to convince Hamas to stop bombing Israel and help them fix what little country they have.

The reason I'm boycotting Israeli goods is to convince Israel that might does not make right. And yes I'm looking at you too Mr. President-for-only-4-more-days.

My bike ride into work in high teen-low 20s wasn't too bad. I upgraded (J and I can't use that word anymore without thinking about Mike Judge's Idiocracy and the pimp named Upgrayedd played by Scarface) my gloves to my ski gloves, long sleeve shirt underneath my jacket, and ski goggles. My usual 2 layers on my legs would've been upgraded (hehe) to 3 layers if my ride was longer or had more downhills.

Also my stupid crankarm came loose again because it hates me but my bike goes into the shop tomorrow for an overhaul/tuneup and will be replaced. Serves it right.

Enjoy your weekend and I hope that warm weather front hits you soon!

Labels: bicycle, inhuman, injustice

The seemingly never-ending Palestine Vs. Israel conflict seemingly keeps getting worse and worse. I don't have a good solution but I don't think bombing every building in sight is the answer.

Obviously America's party line is to support Israel in everything they do no matter what. They're the only "democracy" in the Middle East. I wonder how they enforce their first amendment?

In protest of Israel bombing Palestine and by the same accord Palestine bombing Israel, I will be boycotting all Israeli and Palestine goods. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Palestine, they don't produce many (if any) so my boycott will mainly focus on Manischewitz, motzah balls, and probably anything else in the Kosher section of the local grocer. Although I did just see that Manischewitz is headquartered in New Jersey, so they're probably okay. Here's an Israli goods website. And here is the boycott Israeli goods website with a list of American companies who invest in Israel (and it's quite a list, Ben & Jerry's!) Here's another nicer boycott site.

I left my ski mask in Focus last night, J took it to work, and my face was freezing on the ride to work. It's only going to get colder in the morning, so I'm gonna need that back.

Labels: bicycle, educating consumers, inhuman, injustice, intruder

It's finally here! Quadruple digit post count! Hooray!

Not many people like slavery. Some people even think slavery is dead. I have some bad news. According to a few groups, there are actually more slaves today than there have been in the past. Some people focus on sex slaves, but in Uttar Pradesh in India, there seems to be entire towns that are slaves via the old indentured servitude route.

One survivor, Somaly Mam, has started a foundation to help these modern day slaves by educating them and teaching them a trade, like craftwork or cosmetology. Nicholas D. Kristof wrote an Op-Ed column for the NY Times about sex tourism in Southeast Asia.

Here is a story by Dan Harris about how to buy a child slave in 10 hours. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the people trade is alive and well.

Legalized prostitution is a possible solution to this problem, but that's a bit too crazy for people to hear.

Labels: inhuman, injustice

I'm always amazed by people who think that there is good in everyone. Nope. That's wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Some people are just pure evil. If some people are pure good (they're out there) then it of course makes sense that some people are pure evil.

To prove my point, here is a video from CNN about a 6 week old kitten who was being kicked like a football by teenagers in Kingland, Georgia. Fortunately for the kitten, someone saw it, rescued the kitten and took him to Dr. Michael Payne of the Laurel Oaks Animal Hospital. He diagnosed a severely dislocated shoulder and extensive nerve damage and had to amputate the kitten's front right leg. Story from Jacksonville, FL News 4. Here is little Polly aka Tripod:


Personally I would love to adopt a tripod cat or dog. They're just so cute and really loveable, just like a dog from the pound they know that they were in trouble and you saved them. Friend for life.

This also brings to light why J should not be an animal cop. She is a strong believer in the "eye for an eye" policy when it comes to animal abuse. You kicked and threw a kitten like a football? We're going to kick and throw you like a football. You chained a dog outside and didn't give it water or food for 2 weeks? Now you get to experience that. Good luck.

She has no sympathy for bad pet owners and people who mistreat animals. As she repeatedly says, abusing animals is one strong precursor to abusing and killing people. Here's a couple links to studies with very strong evidence.

If you wouldn't do it to a human, don't do it to an animal. And if you would do it do an animal or human, please raise your hand so we can take you into custody.

Labels: cat, inhuman, injustice, kitten

After the DVR was finished with Cesar Milan: Dog Whisperer (which is an awesome show and if you own a dog or want to own a dog you should be watching it. He knows dogs and as he says he rehabilitates dogs and trains people. Exercise, discipline and affection will keep you and your dog happy. Thanks Cesar!) it left the TV on the National Geographic channel.

The next show coming on was KKK: Inside American Terror. As someone who fights injustice,will possibly be bringing a mixed race child into this world, and a Southerner, I found this show very interesting. It did some brief history, which you can read on the wiki page, and then got into what they're currently up to with its estimated 3,000-8,000 members scattered around the country. The strangest part (okay, one of the strange parts) was that even within the KKK there is arguing. Some associate with neo-Nazi groups and want a worldwide effort towards white supremacy, other groups want to get more political and shy away from violence. That last bit was the other strange part. David Duke started to get more political and now claims he is not a white supremacist but is a white nationalist. This sect of the KKK shies away from the violence, promotes community and Christian values and (I'm assuming) segregation, since that is the only way for them to not see non-whites without killing them or shipping them back to their home lands. The new area of focus is now on illegal immigrants and Hispanic community. Yes they still hate Jews and Blacks and Orientals and Race Mixers, but their main focus is Latinos now. Thomas Robb is the leader of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a Baptist preacher. His group claims that other cultures are threatening their white culture and they don't hate other cultures they just REALLY like their culture. It's the kinder gentler face of the KKK. Peace Love and Bigotry, if you will. Oh also when they say they hate immigrants, I of course assume that they don't hate white immigrants since white people can go wherever they want. So the fact that the Indians were here first doesn't matter because they weren't white. I also wonder how they address the fact that there was a time when there were no white people, that we evolved from darker skinned people by moving away from the equator and lost our melanin.

What really hurt the Klan was their own actions. On March 20, 1981 in Mobile, Alabama, the Klan had a rally and burnt a 3 foot cross on the lawn of the Mobile County Courthouse. That night, the son of the 2nd highest ranking official in the Klan in Alabama, Henry Hays (26) and James Knowles (17) drove around looking for a black person to lynch. Michael Donald was walking back from the store after buying his sister some cigarettes when Henry and James drove up next to him. They beat him with a tree branch, slit his throat and hung him from a tree across from his house. Michael was 19 years old. Photo of what the KKK did to Michael. The police chalked it up to a drug deal gone bad, but with some national pressure, the FBI started investigating and finally James Knowles confessed to the crime. Henry Hays was convicted and was executed by electric chair on June 6, 1997. James Knowles is serving a life sentence without parole.

This story does have a small happy ending though. Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, brought a wrongful death suit on behalf of Beulah Mae Donald, Michael's mother. They won their suit and were awarded $7 million, which forced the Klan to sell all its assets including their national headquarters in Tuscaloosa.

Also while watching this I realized that I myself am a bigot. I hate people who hate others based on something they can't control. You can't hate someone because of their skin color, or the language they speak, or any birth defects, because it isn't their fault. There was no choice in the matter. I didn't choose to be white, I am white. Trig Palin didn't choose to have Downs Syndrome, he just has it; no choice.

We must be ever vigilant.

Labels: injustice, racism

Recently I signed up for Dr. Housing Bubble's posts to be emailed to me. They're great and I feel like I'm learning about housing and economics in general. His post today was Part XVI in Lessons from the Great Depression: Items that Sold in the Credit Bubble. Before the Great Depression it was crossword puzzle books and before "whatever we're going to call what we're in the midst of right now", Crocs and Heelys were selling like hotcakes! Crocs publicly traded stock actually sold for $75/share! I hope to Mother Earth you sold at that price because today it's back down to $4.95 for CROX. Yikes. Also Heelys (those shoes with the wheels that the kids love) went from a high of almost $39 to $4.50 for a share of HLYS. I have really enjoyed his post, this one wasn't terrible but the one that gave me chills was this post on IndyMac's bank foreclosure. Gyah! I was shocked. That post is not for the faint of heart.

Okay, off to work so I can graduate and then wade out into this failing economy of ours. I wonder if Europe is hiring?

Labels: educating consumers, Europe, injustice

- Triumph the Insult Dog, from the Conan O'Brien show during his hilarious interviews of people waiting to see one of the Star Wars prequels. There you go, it's 10 min. long but very funny.

So with my vegetarianish diet, I haven't seen the weight come flying off but I do feel better and can feel the heart disease and diabetes draining away from me. Basically I need to get off my ass and do more cardio. If only I had an actor's schedule and was paid to be in shape. I love the first thing workout. I reveled in it during college. First class wasn't until 11 am so you could sleep in till 9-9:30, go workout, shower, catch a quick snack for breakfast and make your way to class, energized, focused and ready to take on the world! Now, it's struggle out of bed at 6:30, feed the cats, make lunch, make and eat breakfast, clothes then work around 8-8:30. I really miss that morning endorphin fest. Why don't you wake up earlier? I might have to when I get a real job but for now, I'm not willing to go earlier. A 5 am wake up routine would definitely allow a morning jog and (quick check of weather.com) shows sunrise at 6:30, so it might be light enough at 6. Maybe a 6 am jog isn't out of the question. Hmmmm, I might have to look into that. Also every Southerner will tell you that the only time to do outdoor activity is early morning or late evening. Only crazies jog in the early afternoon with peak humidity and peak temperature, that's a good recipe for heat stroke. Ok, enough of my "exercise regime".

Thanks to Cynical Chris, I found a link to the Funky Ghetto Hijabi and her confessions. She's a Nigerian Canadian who comprised a list of 50 mixed race actors, musicians, writers and models. Very interesting list and a couple surprises. Of course J knew already, but I didn't know that Rob Schneider was mixed (Filipino/European American) or Tera Patrick (Thai/European Jewish) was also (porn star link, so probably NSFW). As some of you know, I'm in an interracial marriage and at least one of our kids (others will be adopted) will be mixed (Euro American[white!]/Korean) so I have a vested interest in seeing how society views them. Thankfully they are more and more accepted everyday and aren't subject to as much ridicule as before. I even saw a "mixed" box under the race section last time I donated blood, hooray! In the future those boxes will dwindle to "mixed" or "inbred". Yeah, it's only a matter of time.

But Funky Ghetto Hijabi has a very interesting background and point of view when it comes to racism (which she says didn't affect her too much) but especially classism. Read her post White Trash Pride for her point of view.

Through her website, I wandered over to Saudi Stepford Wife:

American/Saudi with a dash of religiosity, a pinch of realistic feminism, and usually with humorous overtones.

She hasn't posted in a bit but her archives are pretty interesting.

Also, I've been reading through Rantings of an Arab Chick's archives. She is an Arab who married an American and is now a special education teacher. I like her blog for her common sense approach to teaching and discipline and her outsiderish views of our nation and education system and she's racing a mixed race daughter as well.

Okay, off to read a bit more then to work!

Labels: blogs, future, injustice, racism, vegetarian

I wonder if bakers use the term "wake and bake" also. As I cut through our neighboring apartment complex and trudged through the grass glistening with the morning dew, I rounded the corner and stopped in my tracks. Sniff, sniff. What is that pungent, intoxicating aroma? Of course! Our old dear enchantress, Mary Jane. I peer back over my shoulder to the basement balcony, nope no one there, then move my eyes to the first floor balcony where I spy half a body hidden behind a grill. I can only assume they were high because it was a terrible hiding job. I smile and make a remark about that smelling very good and continue on my way whilst they hide and probably freak out behind the grill. The warmth of my vegetarian breakfast sandwich feels good in my hands and the double fiber honey wheat english muffin still feels soft after coming out of the microwave just a few minutes prior. Walking towards the CATbus I replayed what just happened and what it all means. First, that person (wasn't able to ID a gender so maybe it wasn't the worst hiding job) is truly fighting some stereotypical stoner behavior by being up so early in the morning. 8 am is early for most and non-existent for others. 2nd, the DEA (who just celebrated their 35th birthday) clearly is not doing its job and has let this hoodlum slip through the cracks, I guess they need more money and time to win this "war on drugs". Please note extreme sarcasm. Thirdly, even though the federal government keeps telling us that marijuana is horrible and kills babies, that college students still think for themselves and experiment with that mostly harmless, definitely less harmful than alcohol, plant.

So the Drug Enforcement Agency turned 35. Nixon passed the bill and 35 years later, here we are. Let's check some stats shall we?

“At its outset, the DEA had 1,470 Special Agents, a budget of less than $75 million, and a presence in 31 countries. Today, the DEA has 5,235 Special Agents, a budget of more than $2.4 billion and 87 foreign offices in 63 countries.”

Truly a testament to government's ability to take an idea, good or bad, run with it and never look back. Why should they? They're the government for crying out loud! They're never wrong! The article quoted above is by Russ Belville who has a XM radio show and a local AM radio show in Portland. He also happens to run the NORML podcasts and is chair of Portland's NORML branch. You can read the whole article here, courtesy of Lew Rockwell.

So maybe it's time to reevaluate the war on drugs. Don't worry government, you won't have to admit you were wrong. "Times have changed, drugs have changed, drug users have changed so our tactic in the war on drugs must change also. And we're going to legalize marijuana, tax it and sell it in ABC stores all over the country to see how much money we can make and to see if the use of herb sky-rockets." That's just a suggestion, I'm sure your speech writers can really jazz it up with some statistics and figures and, ooooh, insert one of those "Faces of Meth" presentations, if that doesn't keep you off crank, nothing will.

We'll see what happens, but I did notice that the DEA's 35th anniversary wasn't really covered by The Media. I guess no news is better than bad news.

By the way, I'm not a hardcore vegetarian. For the benefit of mistreated animals, J and I are attempting to have as many meat free meals as possible. Humanely treated, free range, grass fed livestock meat is fine with us and delicious!

Labels: 420, Big Media, CATbus, injustice, medicinal marijuana, vegetarian

No Gatlinburg stories just yet, just a couple NY Times articles. You do have log in to the NYTimes so use Bugmenot if you don't want to but they send you daily news emails and other cool things, so I would recommend becoming a member.

The first is an Op-Ed piece from John R. Miller

a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, is the former State Department ambassador at large on modern slavery.

It details how G Dub Bush wants to leave a positive legacy by reducing the modern slave trade. I don't know how many other positive legacies he'll leave but modern slavery is a damn good start. Except for the fact that his Justice Department is trying to file down the teeth of a new anti-human trafficking bill. It's a quick 2 page read but very interesting. Basically Bush's own Justice Department is fighting against his supposed legacy like this excerpt:

Should the State Department’s annual report on trafficking, which grades governments on how well they are combating modern slavery, consider whether governments put traffickers in jail? The Justice Department says no. Should the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services Departments streamline their efforts to help foreign trafficking victims get visas and care? No. Should the Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, State and Justice Departments pool their data on human trafficking to help devise strategies to prevent it? Amazingly, no.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me and the notion that some of these people (mostly women if you can call an average age of 14 a "woman") choose to be traded is ludicrous. Yes there are whores who choose to be whores and work in brothels but I can't imagine a 12 year old making the same decision. And what about the sex slave tourists?

Should the department prosecute the American sex tourists who create demand for adult human-trafficking victims in foreign countries? No. Should Congress make clear that there should be increased penalties for Americans who sexually abuse children abroad? No way. Should we give our courts jurisdiction over Americans who traffic human beings abroad? Certainly not. Should the attorney general include information in his annual report on his department’s efforts to enforce anti-trafficking laws against federal contractors and employees? No. Too “burdensome,” says the Justice Department.

Yikes. This is horrible and if Dubya wants to actually leave a positive legacy, he better head over to the Justice Department and break out some Texas style justice, via Connecticut and Yale of course.

The second is about a certain sport that is particularly crazy. The locals call it jumping. The most accepted name for the sport is rock jumping. As in jumping from rock to rock. But not just any rocks. These are Czech rocks and are very far away and tall. Marketa Hulpachova writes an article about rock jumping and California climber Cedar Wright who ventures over to follow in the footsteps of Oxygen and Petr Kops, who jump quite far and gracefully. The article is good but the video is much more impressive. You get to see some of the jumps performed by these athletes. Some might call them lunatics. I call it pretty damn cool.

I should be around this weekend but no promises. Happy Friday!

Labels: climbing, inhuman, injustice

It's a good day for sexual identity equality, the California Supreme Court has decided that their "man + woman = marriage" law was unconstitutional because it clearly discriminated against people. So congrats to all you California gays, lesbians, transgendered and those who don't want to be labeled; you are now free to marry any man, woman or other human as you see fit.

For those keeping score, that's Massachusetts and California who recognize same sex marriages, 4 who are okay with civil unions: Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and the other 44 have no strong opinions about it or feel very strongly against it. We're 2 states closer to joining Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec who all allow same sex marriages. Here's a couple articles if you're interested.

Labels: injustice

- whatever character Sean Connery played in the film, Medicine Man. Pretty cool movie. They do some chemistry (gas chromatography) in the rain forest trying to find the cure for cancer. The British lady who was the mom in 3 Men and a Baby is in it too. Wow, I just completely mixed up Lorraine Bracco and Nancy Travis. Sorry ladies. Nancy was the mom from 3 Men but she was not in Medicine Man, that was Lorraine who of course was also in Goodfellas, Hackers and some other recent HBO show about the mafia with the weird ending.

I need to get back to the rainforest. I toured it once in Costa Rica on a trip with my dad and brother to Tortuguero National Park where we hiked through the rainforests, saw toucans, brightly colored frogs and had an incredible time. That was also the trip where I led newly hatched sea turtles to the ocean at night with my flashlight. First I need to get out of school, then pay off some debt, then travel and get back to the tropics.

Sorry about the new Google ad box to your left. I had only made about 28 cents since I put it up last year sometime, so I thought it might be time to put one a bit higher on the page.

Hopefully J and I will be going camping this weekend. Yes it will be cold but we'll be in the woods and as long as no skin is exposed, it'll be fine. There will also be a campfire.

Congrats to Waukesha County in Wisconsin for using common sense! They have decriminalized your first possession of marijuana arrest. For first time offenders who only have a small amount of medicine on them when caught, they can be issued a citation and made to pay a fine instead of clogging up the legal system. They don't really say what a "small" amount is but I assume it's less than an ounce but sounds like it's up to the individual officer. Of course, dealers and people caught with pounds will still be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. These are the baby steps that society is taking towards ending the outrageous and useless war against drugs. Okay, the war against drugs isn't completely useless, but the tactics of the past 30 years haven't worked so maybe we should try a new approach?

The FCC went crazy again. Now they think they can shut down websites. Popularity Dialer.com is a website that will call you at predetermined times if you need to get out of a date or lame dinner party or if you just need to hear your phone ring. It was started by Jenny Chowdhury and Cory Forsyth when they were college students and the site has no ads and is free of charge. But some jerk made their site call a FCC lawyer who didn't appreciate it and shut the website down. It doesn't seem like they should be able to do that, does it? Read David Pogue's post explaining the whole thing. Once again, fuck the FCC. Here is Penn and Teller explaining why the FCC should be disbanded.

Labels: camping, Costa Rica, injustice, medicinal marijuana, movie

- Jesus Quintana played by the incredible John Turturro in The Big Lebowski. Edit(12/3/07): I can't wait to see No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers current theatrical release. If you haven't seen any of their movies, I would highly recommend, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the previously mentioned The Big Lebowski.

I assume you've heard about the British teacher who went to teach in Sudan. If you haven't, here you go: she let her class of 7 year olds name a class teddy bear. They came up with Muhammed which is a very common name for men in Islamic cultures. But it turns out that's not OK and she's going back to prison for a few days. Oops.

I completely see their point though. Do you see it? She broke the law by allowing her young students to name a bear Muhammed. Bear is an animal and that's insulting to the Prophet. Her punishment is 15 days (although she had already served 5 leading up to the trial, efficient legal system no?) and deportation. Some jail time, banishment, media circus and hopefully a free first class ticket home, right chaps? Hopefully she'll be fine after this whole debacle, but it serves a valuable lesson.

Learn the customs of the foreign nations you visit.

Simple really, but so hard to actually do. For example, did you know that in Brazil, the okay sign,

means asshole? Spitting in public isn't considered bad manners in China? (Although they have a public campaign against it for health reasons and it being nasty.) It's bad manners to refuse food, um, somewhere. It's a huge sign of disrespect to show someone else the bottom of your foot in the Middle East? (Like when you sit cross-legged, so be careful) I'm sure someone has a book about things of this nature, and I'm sure it would be in the intro chapter of most good travel books, so read up!

The other lesson here is that the First Amendment is great, wonderful and just fucking awesome. For example, let's say the shoe was on the other foot and pretend that the Sudanese teacher named her class' teddy bear Jesus Christ. And say the government thought that would be horribly insulting to poor Jesus. So they tossed her in Leavenworth (or maybe Guantanamo) for a couple days then sent her ass back to Sudan. Does that sound a bit extreme? Or does that sound like a good idea?

Be careful, Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, Vishnu and Mother Nature are always watching.

Edit(12/3/07): She was pardoned! Congrats to Gillian Gibbons and I'm sure she'll want to thank these two gentlemen:

The pardon came following efforts by Nazir Ahmed and Sayeeda Warsi, Muslim members of the House of Lords, to persuade the Sudanese government that releasing Gibbons would create international goodwill toward their country.

She was released 6 days before the end of her sentence. I think she's still being deported but probably wants out anyway. There were some protests calling for her execution, so it might be best to hang out in the UK and let this whole thing blow over before returning to a foreign country to teach.

Labels: 1st amendment, freedom of speech, injustice, sex and religion, The Big Lebowski

That was a pretty good South Park episode. So by now everyone knows that "Dog" the bounty hunter used the n-word while discussing his son's girlfriend, who is black. Whatever channel his show was on already pulled the plug. I'm sure that was just an excuse. Whoever greenlit his show had already been fired and they just needed a good excuse to pull it off the air. All speculation of course.

His son was actually the one who sold the recorded conversation to news outlets. Nice.

My question is, who cares? Are we really mad at a BOUNTY HUNTER for using a racial slur? If my child's role model is a freakin' bounty hunter, I have failed as a parent. I suppose Dog and Boba Fett have their place in society but that place is nowhere near political correctness and role model.

Tough break Dog but sometimes the limelight feels like a microscope. Good luck on your future bounties.

Curb Your Enthusiasm did a n-word episode also. It was pretty funny. I love when the white guy is lambasted for using the word and the black person becomes outraged and uses the word repeatedly. Hilarious. In defense of the n-word and why I don't feel it should be outlawed, I give you the immortal (paraphrased) words of Paul Mooney: I've been called it enough that I can use it whenever I damn well please. Right on Paul.

Labels: injustice

Hooray! Another season down and I still don't care. Maybe if I owned a team I would care a bit more. Maybe.

Edit: Almost forgot. Foxy is getting spayed today so I hope everything goes alright during surgery.



I'm about to get to work but wanted to share this real quick. So you know how Britain is our buddy? Well, they went against our wishes and downgraded cannabis (marijuana) to a Class C drug. This was a few years ago so obviously the country has devolved into head shops on every corner and every school student smoking a doobie during recess and nap time right? Nope. In fact, less young people are using cannabis now in the UK.

I know. It's hard for us to believe. Drugs are the devil and should be down away with completely. This stance hasn't worked since, oh around, never. But the countries that actually admit that people like their drugs and will continue to use them no matter what have lower usage stats than our great country. So what does this mean? I think it means we need to reevaluate how we classify our drugs. You cannot sit there and tell me that heroin and cannabis are in the same class of drugs. But that is what we teach in this country. This is what our government and tax dollars are teaching America's youth. Smoking a joint and injecting heroin is the exact same thing in their eyes. A similar situation (in my amateur opinion) would be a kid popping a ziploc bag of air, and that same kid getting a chunk of cesium or rubidium and dropping it in a tub of water. Not the same thing. Not even the same league. Barely even the same sport.

Whatever. Just know that my kids will be informed about all drugs around them and their effects on the body. You better believe we'll be starting with caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. All the legal "healthy" drugs. Riiiiiight.

Labels: 420, injustice, medicinal marijuana

This one is for you Icedtrip.

This was brought to my attention by Cynical Chris.

Just a few lowlights and then the link.

• He once stopped a school bus on a busy interstate because he “needed a hug” from the kids inside.

• He’s been known to strap weapons to his chest and leg that he has no authority to carry or conceal, then wear them in public.

• He regularly suits up and leads SWAT-style “raids” on homes, businesses, and even roadblocks in busy traffic—without cause or a warrant.

• He has tried to close down the city’s strip clubs for moral reasons, despite no authority to do so.

• He once bulldozed an elderly woman’s house, promising to build her a better one. He then forgot to build it.

Take a read for yourself of Frank Melton, mayor of Jackson, Mississippi By Donna Ladd for reason.com

Labels: injustice

I've been listening to The Who's rock opera "Tommy" the past couple days. I had always heard a few of the better known songs but had never listened to the whole album all the way through. And if you've never heard The Who's "Pinball Wizard", turn on a classic rock radio station and don't move until you've heard it. Or check out Elton John singing it for the rock opera. I like Pete (Townsend) singing it a little better but Elton does a damn fine job.

We're planning a trip down to ATL to visit Ikea and get some affordable Swedish crap.

I fertilized the plants and watered them well yesterday. They were getting a little ragged so hopefully they'll come back a bit. My zucchini is not happy.

I'm white. Most of my friends are white. I'm married to someone "yellow". So my best friend isn't white. All my friends aren't white. I was a minority growing up in the DR. I know what a great advantage it is to be a white male in this day and age. I would love to believe that racism is dead but that just isn't true. I don't see it here in South Carolina everyday but it pops up every once in a while. I'm not really sure we can ever get rid of racism but I'm trying my best. No racial slurs, giving people the benefit of the doubt, trying to look past stereotypes (although some are spot on) are just a few things I've been trying for a few years now.

Then you read something in the news like this and it feels like the Civil Rights Movement never happened. Like I still live in Alabama during the 40s and 50s. And it's stories like these that make it so hard for me to identify myself as a "Southerner".

I first read about it thanks to Adrianne who runs the Black Women in Europe blog. It's a story of 6 black youths who are being royally screwed by the system. First I'll give you a brief synopsis and then I'll give you some links so you can go read for yourself. I wish I was making this up.

In the Deep South, in Jena, Lousiana, which is near the LA/Mississippi border, there was a tree in front of the high school.

Most of the students at the school are white and it was an unwritten rule that only white kids could sit under this shade tree and eat lunch. A black student named Kenneth Purvis thought this wasn't right so he asked school administrators about it. They said sit wherever you like. So presumably him and some friends did. Some other individuals didn't take kindly to them sitting under their white shade tree, so one morning before school they strung up 3 nooses, in school colors no less, from the shade tree. The principal wanted to expel the kids who did this but the superintendent labeled this act as a "harmless prank" and gave the kids who put them up 3 days of in-school suspension, hoping this would be the end.

Um, if I want to make a joke, I tend to stay away from imagery full of history and emotional feelings. I wouldn't make light of the Holocaust, nor would I make fun of 300 years of slavery. Nooses are never funny. Unless they're around a cute rabbit. But here in the Deep South, nooses were commonly used by hate mongers, like the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), to kill people they didn't like and didn't want in their town, mostly blacks but also immigrants. Thankfully we don't have too many lynchings anymore but it's still taught in our schools and our parents and grandparents lived through those times and remember them vividly. I'm actually going to go ahead and equate hanging nooses from a tree to scare some black kids to forcing Jews onto a train and telling them we're going to a concentration camp. Neither are what I would consider a "harmless prank".

School administrators hope this clears everything up. Nope. Not by a long shot. The Black community in Jena is outraged that this is being swept under the table. Fights start to break out at schools and around the area. Whites beating up blacks, pulling loaded shotguns on 3 black teenagers in a convenience store, so the school brought in the DA, District Attorney Blane Williams, to help ease the tension. He only made it worse. At the school assembly out of "tradition", white students it on one side of the auditorium and black students sit on the other side. In case anyone is wondering, that is the definition of segregation which was outlawed by the federal government over 40 years ago.

So DA Blane Williams gets up in front of the school but focuses his attention on the black side of the auditorium. The DA reportedly threatened the protesting black students and told them to stop making a fuss over this "innocent prank". He then went on to say "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take away your lives with the stroke of my pen." Nice Blane. Way to defuse tension. Did you learn that from David Duke? How to deal with those uppity n-words? So stoking the fire instead of putting it out, the violence escalated.

On the night of Thursday November 30, 2006, a still-unsolved fire burned down the main academic building of Jena High School.

On Friday night, December 1, a black student who showed up at a white party was beaten by whites. On Saturday, December 2, a young white man pulled out a shotgun in a confrontation with young black men at the Gotta Go convenience store outside Jena before the men wrestled it away from him. The black men who took the shotgun away were later arrested; no charges were filed against the white man.

On Monday, December 4, at Jena High, a white student - who allegedly had been making racial taunts, including calling African-American students "niggers" while supporting the students who hung the nooses and who beat up the black student at the off-campus party - was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. The white victim was taken to the hospital treated and released. He attended a social function that evening.

Six black Jena students were arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. All six were expelled from school.

I know. I still wish I was making this up. It gets better.

Most shocking of all, when the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared - every single one white.

The LaSalle Parish clerk defended the all white group to the Alexandria Louisiana Town Talk newspaper saying that the jury pool was selected by computer. "The venire [panel of prospective jurors] is color-blind. The idea is for the list to truly reflect the racial makeup of the community, but the system does not take race into factor." Officials said they had summoned 150 people, but these were the only people who showed up.

The all-white jury which was finally chosen included two people friendly with the district attorney, a relative of one of the witnesses and several others who were friends of prosecution witnesses.

Bell's parents, Melissa Bell and Marcus Jones, were not even allowed to attend the trial despite their objections, because they were listed as potential witnesses. The white victim, though a witness, was allowed to stay in the courtroom. The parents, who had been widely quoted in the media as critics of the process, were also told they could no longer speak to the media as long as the trial was in session. Marcus Jones had told the media, "It's all about those nooses" and declared the charges racially motivated.

Other supporters who planned a demonstration in support of Bell were ordered by the court not to do go near the courthouse or anywhere the judge would see them.

LaSalle Parish is only 12% black, so there probably should have been at least one non-white on the jury right? And then on top of that the public defender appointed to the first kid on trial, Mychal Bell, was a complete hack. Here's a quote from him: "I don't believe race is an issue in this trial. I think I have a fair and impartial jury"

Um, where did you get your law degree from again?

Mychal is due to be sentenced a week from next Tuesday on July 31st. If he gets the maximum sentence he will be in jail until he's almost 40. Hopefully this story can get enough attention to get them some fair and balanced justice instead of whatever you call what they're getting now.

Links:
All quotes taken from Bill Quigley's article from Truthout.org
Adrianne and Black Women in Europe's post
Abbey Brown's article from the Lousiana Gannett News
Alan Bean and the Friends of Justice blog
Daily Kos Story from June 28 and from July 3.

I don't know what action to take, so the least I can do is pass on the information and maybe one of you will be able to do something. Although Alan said that the "usual suspects" had been contacted which I think is at least the ACLU and Jesse Jackson. Maybe Al Sharpton too.

Labels: injustice, Louisiana, racism, The Who