Troy Davis; A Legal Murder

The basic facts:

Troy Davis was accused of shooting and killing a Savannah police officer in 1989.

There was never any murder weapon found.

There was zero physical evidence of any kind which liked Troy Davis to the crime.

There was only "witness" testimony, most of which was recanted, and some claimed coercion by police.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia declared that there was nothing unconstitutional about the state killing an innocent man and that guilt or innocence in such a case is irrelevant. Only the process is sacred...he was tried, convicted, and sentenced, end of story. The rest of SCOTUS has now agreed.

Many people get upset with me on what they sometimes call my "negative" outlook. I consider that, while my outlook might well be negative, it is nonetheless realistic.

Troy Davis had the support of perhaps millions of people around the world; in an unscientific poll on Huffington Post asking whether he should be executed, the response were 89% no and 10% yes; the support of a former US President (Jimmy Carter); the support of the Pope; the support of Amnesty International; there were protests staged all over the planet. It meant nothing. Nothing at all. Troy Davis was legally murdered by the State of Georgia and died at 11:08pm local time.

Tell me again, how we should 'protest' things we don't like or think are unfair or unjust. If something of that nature should ever happen to you are a loved one...especially if black... remember Troy Davis, his global support even from high places...and kiss yer ass goodbye.

Will the 'debate' and 'the fight for justice' continue? Of course...it always does. And the state goes right on killing...it always does.

Enjoy yer protests...and don't forget yer Thermos.

TRB

Potpourri

My state still plans to kill Troy Davis in two days now....'reasonable doubt' be damned!

Here's a good movie to watch if yer in the mood for getting really pissed off... if that Troy Davis thing doesn't do it for ya. Rosewood

Netflix has split, so now I can cancel the DVD part and my bill will go down to only about $8.50 a month. Handy, since we no longer have TV at all.

Three hours (this is the first) of cool geek stuff.

Bob Hope's wife Delores has died at 102. Remember him?

They call it "French" Vanilla cuz when you lick it, it licks back.

I love my friends here. Hope y'all are all well and happy.

So why did Plato only have five regular solids? What did he have against spheres? Nothing is more 'regular' than a sphere is it?

I have a lot of trouble trying to get my head around the idea that most people don't seem to want to live even a thousand years, even if it's in the peak of health and with complete financial and social freedom. It appears my species is a death cult. (See Troy Davis).

TRB

Prohibition!!

Did you ever wonder what it might have been like to live in the days of Prohibition ? Then look around you...chances are, if you were born after 1937, you have been living during Prohibition your whole life. It may not look so strange to you because it's all you have ever known...it's just the norm. But this is different from that OTHER Prohibition. For one, it's not actually called Prohibition but a WAR! Curious...why would whole nations make war against a plant!? Or is it only against the citizens who would grow, use, and sell the plant? Perhaps you would ask yourself why that is. Maybe you don't think that your well-known government officials would stand there on the TV machine and deliberately tell you lie after lie, with a straight face. But they do so all too often. It's easy enough to understand how some folk conclude that "every word that uttereth from their mouth is a lie".

The specific thing I speak of here is the hemp plant. More specifically, why it has been, for 74 years, "Illegal". How it is that one can be sent to prison for many years merely for the growing or possession of the plant. Yet this same plant has been used by humans for all kinds of things for at least 7000 years. It is absolutely THE single most useful plant on this world. Just FYI, I am not a "pothead". I have seldom smoked it and did not like it myself, when I did. But we should take note that there are two specific threads that relate to this plant...the fact that some people like to ingest it in various ways medicinally and recreationally, and the fact of the plant's overall usefulness. One might think that, aside from the government's 'war on drugs', they would at least acknowledge the other benefits of it. They lie about all that too. Why?

I highly recommend you watch the video Hemp War Conspiracy. Never mind that it has the word "conspiracy" in the title...if you watch it, surely the "conspiracy" will be abundantly obvious, although the reasons it persists may not be clear. You may note that the highlighted person in the video is Jack Herer. He is the man who wrote the book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes". The video mentions that he has a $50,000 offer to anyone who can prove the claims and statements made in the book are not true. That offer is now $100,000. From Chapter 1 of the book:

"Benjamin Franklin started one of America's first paper mills with cannabis. This allowed America to have a free colonial press without having to beg or justify the need for paper and books from England."

"From more than 1,000 years before the time of Christ until 1883 A.D., cannabis hemp, indeed, marijuana was our planet's largest agricultural crop and most important industry, involving thousands of products and enterprises; producing the overall majority of Earth's fiber, fabric, lighting oil, paper, incense and medicines. In addition, it was a primary source of essential food oil and protein for humans and animals."

And suddenly...in the 1930's, it is illegal, complete with national newspaper 'coverage' of how the 'demon weed' drives people crazy with lust, laughter and other 'undesirable' behaviors; propaganda films that would make Her Goebbels proud.... why? Do you know who William Randolph Hearst was? He was both a publishing magnate and a politician. How about his friend Harry Anslinger? He was the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) in 1930. Again, why?

For most regular folk, it might seem a really stupid thing that such an incredibly versatile and useful plant would be declared illegal, especially in a country in which, at one time, the nation's Founding Fathers grew it on plantations, one could pay his taxes with it. But remember, politicians and businessmen are seldom truthful and honest. They are not stupid. They know very well the wonderful possibilities this plant offers in virtually every major aspect of life, from transportation to medicine to the building and textile industries. Dupont, Monsanto, and other chemical industry giants would surely oppose legalizing the industrial growing of hemp. So would the oil industry. So would the timber/paper industry.

Although there are small pockets here and there where one might ostensibly not be arrested for marijuana growth, possession, use or sales, you certainly should never count on that because all these remain Federal crimes and Federal law always trumps all other laws. In June of this year, Barney Frank and Ron Paul sponsored a bill that "...would limit the federal government's role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal..." Nonetheless, even though "[m]ore than a dozen states allow the sale of medical marijuana, ... the practice is not legal under federal law, leading to confusion and clashes between local and federal authorities."> Source.

So, what can you do about it, assuming you would like to? First...education. Teach yourself factually correct information about the plant, its uses, its history, the reasons for its current illegality, etc. Second, pass the word on to everyone you think might care about such a thing as truth and honesty. Third, if you are the sort of person who thinks voting and writing to your Congressman is helpful, by all means do so. Fourth, join as many public web sites, demonstrations, etc. as possible. What would REALLY have an impact is if every person everywhere who had access to a piece of ground planted as many marijuana plants as possible, not hidden in the woods some where but on front lawns and in pots on porches and in window boxes all across America. Even now, they do not have jail space for 100,000,000 people.

Ask yourself why "they" want to keep marijuana illegal, when the supporters of legalization include not merely "potheads", but former Presidents (Jimmy Carter), members of Congress (Ron Paul, Barney Frank), and even a former Surgeon General (Joycelyn Elders).

I recommend:

Hemp War Conspiracy (video)

The Emperor Wears No Clothes (book) You can read the entire book, free, online at Jack Herer's site.

Jack Herer's web site

Marijuana Propaganda Movies Three interesting ones called, 'Devil's Harvest', 'Assassin of Youth', and 'Reefer Madness'.

NORML

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do (book) by Peter McWilliams. You can get it through Amazon for a few cents plus shipping. Beside marijuana use, talks about other victimless crimes such as prostitution.

Legally speaking, if you are an adult you are free to engage in sex with any other consenting adult...unless there is money exchanged. What does that tell you?

Carry on...

TRB

A Parable

If you are a slave (employee), your function in life is not merely to obey and fulfill your master's (insert your company's name here) wishes, but to eagerly make him as much more rich and powerful as possible. That should be your joy. From this notion comes much of the "Protestant work ethic". This is the message in the "parable of the talents" found in Matthew 25:15-30. Consider this from a Bible study site:

"The master's dealings with the third servant is a very different matter. This servant came to his master with only the talent his master had originally entrusted to him. He did not increase his master's money at all. In fact, if this were to take place today, that money would likely be worth less, due to inflation. This servant offered a feeble excuse for his conduct. He told his master that he was a harsh and cruel man, a man who was demanding, and who expected gain where he had not labored. He contended that this is why he was afraid to take a risk with any kind of investment. And so he simply hid the money, and now he returned it, without any gain. The master rebuked this slave for being evil and lazy. He took his talent from him, gave it to the one who earned ten, and cast this fellow into outer darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth." [emphasis mine] Source.

Do you suppose this is what Karl Marx had in mind with the famous slogan, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"?

Money is neither good nor bad, it is simply a tool which is supposed to make it much easier and convenient to trade goods and services. Two of the most vile inventions of humans have been usury and the so-called "profit motive". The innate unfairness of demanding to be repaid $110 when the loan was for $100 is first noted (as far as I can tell) in the ancient biblical texts. The Jews of the time decided that it was not good to do this to a fellow Jew but it was fine to screw over anyone else. At various times in social and religious history, the practice of usury was encouraged or outlawed. The fact that nations and the citizens of them are suffering so much is due in great measure to this practice. As a nation, the US was doomed economically when it allowed the establishment of the Federal Reserve, which puts complete control of all money in the hands of private individuals, rather than in Congress which is, at least in principle, answerable to the people. One of the powers of Congress, according to Article 1, Section 8 is, "To coin Money, to regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures".

The Profit Motive is based on the premise that all, or at least most, people are motivated purely or primarily by self-interest, as espoused in the Ayn Randian Libertarian ideology. There is a degree of truth in this, in evolutionary terms, but it is grossly overly simplistic..."self-interest" can mean many different things, not simply direct personal gain at the expense of or to the exclusion of others. There is much 'self-interest' encompassed within the broader notion of the good of the whole. No one man could ever possibly have built the pyramids...or the US highway system.

In order to fix the world one must first make it a death penalty offense - probably the ONLY such offense - to engage in the practice of usury. Next, some method must be found to make it forever impossible for one person or group of persons to ever have more than another. The only way I know of to do this is to base the pay for work, not on the the kind of work, but on the amount of time devoted to it. Every human, without exception, has 24 hours in a given day. There is absolutely no way for anyone to ever have more than that. It is a fundamental law of nature, at least on this planet. Society should agree upon a certain amount of money that is to be paid to every person who spends a certain amount of their time per day (or week or month, etc.) doing work that is beneficial to the society. This would even follow the notion of "he who does not work shall not eat", not literally, but to a point. Given that the only persons who can truly do absolutely nothing for society are the dead, comatose and unconscious, there would be an abundance of workers. The most menial, repetitive, dangerous and nasty kinds of jobs would be mostly automated...so much so, that the needed amount of time spent "working" in this sense, by any individual, would be quite small. The rest of their time could be spent simply living their lives, doing those things which gave them personal satisfaction and pleasure.

Everyone could spend their money on whatever "personal items" they wished. No one would be allowed to hoard any items - why would anyone want to. Aside from purely personal items such as toothbrushes, no one would be allowed to "hold property"; rather, there would be an abundance of all things for all people to use whenever and wherever they were needed. There would never be any charge at all to anyone for basics such as food, clothing, housing, medical care, transportation, etc. No "Utopia" is ever possible. There would always be some percentage of persons unable or unwilling to live in such a way. Technology must be advanced to the point that such individuals can be reprogrammed to within acceptable societal parameters. Perhaps such persons could be given a choice of this or death or genuine and total exile from society.

Update from the Tin Can:

At least we got all the major bills paid this time, including the rent. The landlady decided to lower our rent for a while, so that will help. Remember, Melinda put in an application to be a cook in the restaurant at the truck stop? We never heard back...now we learn the whole place went out of bidness...hahahahaha I told her she should apply fer a gubmint job, ba da boom.

Now we return you to the regular program already in progress... join the smooth groove with the mellow stylings of Slick Jism and the Fleshtones, with "Sweet Honey Pie".

TRB

Deborah 13:

I found it one of the hardest videos I ever watched. Because of the child abuse. Let me explain.

It's about "13-year-old Deborah Drapper, who, unlike other British teens has never heard of Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham. She has been brought up in a deeply Christian family and her parents have tried to make sure she and her ten brothers and sisters have grown up protected from the sins of the outside world" from the blurb at documentary heaven.

I know nothing at all about any of these people except what I saw in the video. Their home is modest but clean and nice; on a farm, no one is being deprived of any physical necessities; there is food, your own bed, plenty of family time, etc. They don't have TV but they do have computers. I personally agree with some of the values espoused. Though it had nothing to do with religion, I always thought parties were goofy and I certainly wanted no part of being in bars and clubs, flailing about like a dysfunctional octopus. The parents, from what I see are very normal and very loving and caring parents, and I have no doubt they, including the kids and especially dad, would react very badly to anyone suggesting there is child abuse in this home. Looks to me like her dad is a good guy, a great dad. The abuse that is going on is not at all recognized by anyone in the family or household.

The kids have no idea who Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham is, which seems a little odd since they do have a computer. I certainly wouldn't suggest to anyone that it is of any major importance to know about Victoria or Britney except that these people and many like them are very large parts of the popular culture. Without any judgment on the relative value, it does seem rather sad to me that that they seem almost totally culturally illiterate. Do you really have to a "politico" kind of person to at least know who your major elected leaders are? If you don't know zip about mechanics, shouldn't you be able to change a tire if you really need to?

All the kids are home schooled up to the time they can go to university. That's not a bad thing in itself, but how can any person properly educate a child if they don't have the mental wherewithall to do so? In this house, it's Bible study first. But even that is weird. Dad says not a single word of the Bible is "open to interpretation". How strange that he cannot see that this is precisely what he himself is doing, never mind the various "councils" like Nicea.

Deborah knows something about science but she feels so sorry for those misguided people who have ridiculous "theories" like evolution, etc. Deborah definitely has a preoccupation, some might say bordering on obsession, with Hell and trying to get people to not go there. She goes with her older brother, who's in university, and talks to his friends about the Bible and Hell. Dad places little value on things of the world, since this life is short and its primary purpose is to prepare for the life to come. How could dad and the rest of the family be made to understand that there is no such thing as "the life to come"? How indeed. Most of the population at least claims to believe there will be one.

But, despite what most believers and non-believers alike think, this is not a matter of education or intelligence. It is rather a brain disorder of some kind. I remind of my favorite example, Francis Collins. The man was the head of the Human Genome Project and currently runs the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is genuinely a world class scientist. Who would honestly call him uneducated or not very bright? Yet he believes in the Christian God. How? Why? People with Capgras Syndrome believe that a family member is missing and that the person in front of them claiming to be their (father, mother, sibling, spouse, etc.) is actually an imposter. Who thinks it at least plausible that some similar brain dysfunction is causing or enabling bright, intelligent, educated people to believe in God and Satan and demons and angels, etc.?

Deborah 13: Servant of God full documentary

The video on Richard Dawkins site

Deborah even has (or had) her own blog, though nothing has been posted in nearly a year.
Deborah's Blog

So, do parents have a right to teach their children as they see fit? If you had the social and political power to intervene in such a situation, would you do so? How so, would you remove the children from the home, would you mandate real education....what?

TRB

Doc Visit

Went to my heart doc Thursday. Seeing the doc was very quick and easy, he was in and out in 5 minutes or so, changed nothing, will see me in 3 months. Before that, endured a lecture from a nurse about smoking and how the tar gets in your bloodstream and then stuff like cholesterol sticks to it and sugar sticks, so you have to stop smoking, watch your diet, lose some weight, and be very careful with controlling the diabetes. I nod and smile as probably expected. The woman said with her own mouth, "I eat like a bird, I have a shake in the morning and then a very small dinner and I'm still fat." She looked like a stick to me. So much for her medical advice. I'll live as I please until I fall over, thank you.

Then there was the question of Medicaid. Woman had called me yesterday to remind of appointment and wanted to know if I had Medicaid. I wasn't sure, I pay little attention to such stuff. I checked online and found that I have had Medicaid for at least a year, have the plastic card in my wallet (did you know you can find out what's in yer wallet online?), and now that I thought of it, I was sure I had presented that to the office at least once before. So, first thing when I go in I ask the lady if this is or is not a Medicaid card. She says it is, so I say, "How come that other lady keeps asking me if I have Medicaid?" Then I noticed at the very bottom of the paper in her hand...there is my Medicaid number! It's right there on their own paperwork and has been for probably a year.

We finally get that straight and understood, after my visit is over, and she assures me there is no problem, that all current charges are covered but about those older ones, from before I had Medicare and Medicaid...can I pay on those? Um...with what? I try really hard to not be rude to people and, as with the nurse, I smile and nod as she suggests if I can just drop by sometimes with as little as $5 it will keep it from GOING TO COLLECTIONS! As though I give a rat's ass if it goes to collections, they won't have any more luck getting money from me that I don't have than she will. But I smile and nod. Hell no, I ain't giving rich people $5. The plan was to throw a big birthday bash for Melinda...this month (7th) she turns the Big Five Oh! Checkers has $.79 hotdogs on Sunday, so we were gonna blow about $6 on hotdogs, drink and even a couple small milk shakes. I decided we were going to Chinese today instead. Still fed two people from all you can eat buffet and drinks for less than $13.

And speaking of 13...someone is ALWAYS doing that yanno. This particular reference is to a documentary video called Deborah 13: Servant of God. It was made in late 2008, aired on BBC in '09 and is still available online. Stay tuned for more in next note/blog.

TRB