Saturday, November 28, 2015

Robert Lewis Dear and the American Way

The AP reports, Robert Lewis Dear lived in a cabin for a while, near Black Mountain, North Carolina. It didn't have running water, or electricity, but it did have a cross fashioned out of twigs hanging on the front door. A neighbor, James Russell, was quoted as saying, "The way he looked at you, the way he talked, he just seemed off."

Yeah, that might be one way to put it.

Yesterday, Robert Dear opened fire outside of a Colorado Springs, CO Planned Parenthood clinic, then he charged inside. By the time he surrendered to police--a refreshing change of pace from the usual run of the mill lunatic--he had killed three people, one of them a police officer who had responded to the frantic 911 calls. Nine others, including five additional cops, were wounded.

NBC News noted Colorado Springs authorities said, "The suspect appeared mentally unstable." That's another way of putting it.

Too bad the guy who sold Brother Dear the weapon, or weapons used in the attack didn't pick up on either assessment, or if he did, couldn't have cared less.

One report says Dear used, "...an AK-47 type rifle." A witness said he was shooting a shotgun. You can count on that discrepancy to be exploited immediately by the vile fucks who post conspiracy theory videos on YouTube. They'll also jump on the fact the same witness said he was wearing a hunting type jacket while news footage showed him being led away wearing a white tee shirt. As these words are being typed any number of savage clowns, who may be just as nuts as Robert Dear, are posting on line their, "proof," that the shooting in Colorado Springs was entirely faked by Barack, by God, Obama and his bosses in the Jewish controlled Illuminati.

Next year they'll all vote for Donnie Trump, because, let's face it, he's one of them, but that's a discussion best left for another day.

Right now we know both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton responded immediately to the tragedy by posting on Twitter that they, "...stand with Planned Parenthood." Ted Cruz tweeted he was, "Praying for the loved ones of those killed, those injured, and first responders who bravely got the situation under control..."

Rand Paul addressed the shooting on the same social media with a post which read, "Visit the Rand Paul Store for best black Friday deals..."

Jeb Bush, on the other hand, promised to undo the damage done by the Obama foreign policy and urged followers to, "...read my new op-ed in New Hampshire's @Con Monitor News.

At the same time, Trump was still blasting away at the New York Times reporter he said he didn't know, remember, or cruelly mock and Marco Rubio was urging everyone to stay warm. However, The Huffington Post did note that earlier this year, Senator Rubio wondered publicly why Americans don't get "fired up" over Planned Parenthood's dead babies.

Every official in Colorado Springs and the management of Planned Parenthood are currently saying the motives of Robert Dear are, at this time, unclear. But let's face it, we don't need Dr. Spencer Reid to explain the man's twisted journey from a North Carolina shack adorned with a cross of twigs to a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic.

And we certainly don't need him to explain how the bat shit crazy fucker got a gun.

We all know how that happened. He just walked right into some store and bought it with no questions asked.

It is, after all, The American Way.



sic vita est

11-28-15

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Donald Trump is Utterly Insane

He was first considered a joke. Then he upgraded to the status of a crude and many times cruel buffoon, not to mention misogynist and borderline racist. Now, over the last week, or two, he has taken such an appalling trip into delusional mania it has become crystal clear, Donald Trump is utterly insane.

And that isn't a joke.

On Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama Mr. Trump railed against American Muslims. He told the crowd, "Hey, I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands and thousands of people were cheering."

Fact Checker reports he doubled down on his claim during a Sunday interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week."

When Stephanopoulos told him, "You know the police say that didn't happen and all those rumors have been on the internet for sometime. So, did you misspeak yesterday?"

Trump's response? "It did happen. I saw it."

Stephanopoulos was incredulous. "You saw that?" he asked.

Trump replied, "It was on television. I saw it." He went on to say, among other things, "It was well covered at the time, George."

Fact Checker quotes a Newark Star-Ledger report on September 18th, a week after the attacks which said, "...rumors of rooftop celebrations of the attack here proved unfounded."

Fact Checker also cited Jersey City's mayor, Steven Fulop who said, "No one in Jersey City cheered on September 11." Fulop tweeted, "Either Donald Trump has memory issues, or willfully distorts the truth, either of which should be concerning for the republican party."

Some of the conspiracy theorist loons have said for ages that the wild parties were actually held in Paterson, NJ. When contacted, Paterson police commissioner, Jerry Speziale was blunt with his response. "There were no flag burnings, no one was dancing. That is bullshit."

There are only three possible reasons for Trump's recollection of American Muslims partying on the day of the attack. One is that he was under the influence of extreme pharmaceuticals. Two, he's nuts. The third is he saw a Fox News report which aired footage of Palestinians celebrating in the occupied West Bank and confused the middle east with New Jersey. This despite the Fox talking heads clearly saying the demonstrations were about a quarter of the globe away from anywhere in Jersey.

This crazed nonsense follows on the heels of Trump's weird and manic performance on an Iowa stage, his declaration that a Black Lives Matter protester at his Birmingham rally deserved to get roughed up by the crowd, and his promise to close mosques and create a system which would keep track of Muslims.

Yesterday he was in Columbus, Ohio where he told the audience he would not only re-institute the practice of waterboarding prisoners, but he'd, "...approve more than that." According to the Washington Post he repeatedly told the wildly cheering throng that, "It works, it works, it works."

Then he added, "And you know what? If it doesn't work they deserve it anyway for what they're doing!"

Ah yes, torture for torture's sake. Welcome to The Don's vision of making America great again.

Obviously these are the actions and ravings of a lunatic.That an unhinged man such as Donald Trump leads the republican race for the presidential nomination speaks volumes about the type of people the GOP currently appeals to--an aging and shrinking population of white folks who see their absolute control of this nation quickly slipping away.

Herr Hitler would be proud. The rest of us should be scared shitless.




11-24-15

Friday, November 20, 2015

Donald Trump Wants to Keep Track of Muslims Because, Well, They're Muslims

There is evil afoot and we are teetering on the edge of something horribly dark in this country.

No one will deny this nation, western civilization, and the rest of the world, who seeks nothing more than peace, is under siege by a horde of barbarians who barely deserve the title, human beings. They are savage beyond all comprehension and claim to adhere to a ghastly version of a religion most Americans not only don't know, but a huge number of us absolutely refuse to even try to understand. That the overwhelming majority of the people who belong to that religion, Islam, are equally appalled by these beasts escapes us. As does the obvious truth that most of the victims of ISIS are themselves Muslim.

Into this conflict comes marching two, or three candidates for the republican presidential nomination who are overtly pandering to the worst in us. There isn't a single shred of statesmanship, or common decency to be found in their words when they harangue the crowds who wildly applaud them, or during press interviews which they so eagerly seek out.

On Thursday, Donald Trump was asked by a NBC reporter if he would support a national data base which would help track of Muslims in this country. Without even pausing to think he quickly promised, that if elected, he would implement a registry of all Muslims. In other words, despite what that pesky constitution says about freedom of religion, he would single out the members of a particular belief system so that the feds could keep an eye on them.

According to NBC the responses to his statement were swift and varied among his GOP rivals.

Ben Carson said that singling out a particular race, or religion for surveillance would set a dangerous precedent. Sounds reasonable, right ? Sort of. Prior to Trump's comment, Dr. Carson had used a metaphor involving rabid dogs when speaking about Syrian refugees. Then, proving he has a rather peculiar understanding of the endless republican mantra which condemns an over reaching federal government, he told the media he was in favor of keeping a data base on every single person in the entire country. That idea should garner him wide spread support among tea party and NRA types.

Ted Cruz maintained that while he liked Donald Trump he, "...wasn't a fan of government registries of American citizens." Ah, the nuances of lawyers. Notice the Senator didn't say he was against a registry which would keep an eye on people who aren't American citizens.

John Kasich, while saying Trump's proposed policy would, "divide people," seemed to not care about the morality, or unconstitutional nature of it, but rather the election night results it could cause. He warned it could cost the republican party his home state of Ohio.

George Pataki said such a measure was, "...as revolting as it is un-American, but no republican is going to vote for him anyway, so it really doesn't matter what he thinks.

At this moment, Jeb Bush is the only major republican candidate who portrayed the idea as, "...abhorrent. It haunts back to a time that no one wants to go back to."

Indeed, it does. In fact the last time the world has seen anything like it in a western nation was after Herr Hitler and his pals grabbed the reins in Germany. The Nazis made Jews sew yellow stars of David on their clothes while members of the gay community had to wear pink triangles. That way everyone would know who and where they were  Make no mistake about it, yesterday, Donald Trump endorsed nothing less than a twenty-first century version of that grotesque policy.

Meanwhile the republican controlled house wants a, "pause," on accepting Syrian refugees and then demanded that the justice department sign off on each and every one of them coming into the country after a thorough investigation. Basically, Paul Ryan and his crowd wants to make it so difficult for Muslim refugees to get here that they'll give up trying.

In 1939 the German ocean liner, M.S. St. Louis set sail from Germany carrying a little over 900 Jews who were trying to escape from Hitler and the other monsters wearing red, black, and white arm bands. They had bought visas for Cuba, but the Cubans changed their laws and wouldn't take them in.

The St. Louis then attempted to reach port in Florida, but rumors swirled in the United States that the passengers were, not only Jews, but communists and anarchists. We turned them away. So did those always friendly Canadians.

The ship returned to Europe and those on board were accepted in varying numbers by the U.K. Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. For those of you who failed 20th century history, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands quickly fell to the German onslaught. It is estimated 25% of the passengers, who the United States of America refused asylum to, were killed in Nazi death camps.

President Obama wants to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country over a year. If we kick them all back to the middle east what will the book be on the over/under of how many of them will be killed either by Assad, or ISIS?

So much for the ideal engraved on the Statue of Liberty.

And if we stoop to what Trump wants, so much for the ideal known as America.



sic vita est


11-20-15

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The War Against ISIS: Gazing into the Abyss as it Gazes Back at Us

Beware that when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster. For when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzche



Yes, we've been here before. Periodically some large portion of humankind exists in a marginalized life as they're ruled by a corrupt and, or cruel regime, or regimes. Then they begin listening to people on the fringe  who seem nearly messianic in nature, who appear to be talking directly to them, addressing their grievances perfectly. After a while they collectively become convinced that the world, which they feel has wronged them so terribly, should not only be punished, but conquered. Then, with frightening swiftness, they go all ape shit crazy and descend upon their neighbors and everybody else on this blue ball with a terrible ferocity.

There is no vaccine to cure this disease--no therapy, or rehab. It has to be surgically removed by a process so appalling that many will utterly ignore Nietzche's warning and end up exactly what they are fighting against.

They'll deny it of course. Patriots will thump their chests and say they are defending freedom and decency and to a degree they'll be right. However, around the edges there will be a darkness in which we'll ignore the very principles we say we are fighting for. We've done it before--plenty of times--and the ugly truth is in most of those instances race is a huge part of it.

As of right now the governors of  27 states are saying they won't allow Syrian refugees within their borders. The Speaker of the House of Representatives wants to put a hold on accepting any and all refugees because they can't be adequately, "vetted." In Paul Ryan's words, "It is better to be safe than sorry."

A leading candidate for the republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump not only says he'd consider forcibly closing mosques in the United States, but he'd send every Syrian refugee trying to get into the country back to the place he, she and their children are so desperate to escape from.

In the meantime other republican candidates are howling because Barack Obama won't use the terms, "radical Islamists and radical Islam," rather than terrorists and jihadists when he talks about the nightmare  which happened last Friday in Paris. It shouldn't come as a surprise that within 24 hours of the barbarity a Fox News panel concluded Obama directly contributed to the entire bloody affair.

Nuances, such as translation and perception, escape these bozos. Besides killing innocent people, ISIS is quite accomplished at the foul art of propaganda. It won't take the brightest of bulbs in their media cadre to turn a war on "radical Islam," into  a war on all of Islam, which is exactly what they want every Muslim in the world to believe.

There can be no negotiating with these beasts. That is understood by just about everyone on the planet with a functioning brain. At the same time we've had troops fighting in middle east since 2001. Most reasonable people understand there won't ever be a clean finish to the violence. There will never be a formal surrender on the deck of this century's version of the U.S.S. Missouri which ends the fighting completely.

Let's face it, we're never going to be completely rid of these evil fucks. To them religion isn't a reason, it's an excuse to make the world pay for their miserable circumstances.

Knowing plenty of tea party types I have no doubt that nuking the bastards has probably crossed large numbers of impaired minds.  It is, after all, the easiest solution in the short term. And it will enable an untold number of male Anglo-Americans to experience erections for the first time in years. However it won't eliminate jihadi wannabes in places like Indonesia, or Minnesota, but it will give them yet another excuse.

In the end, the real questions we must ask ourselves in this moment are first, will we, as a nation, destroy the ideal of America while we're waging an endless war against a bunch of de facto fascists who want to destroy us? Second, are we willing to turn away refugees because of their race and religion? Then, finally, in the worst case scenario--which given the attitude of some current politicians doesn't seem that far fetched--will we sink to the depths of establishing internment camps, quarantining American Muslims? If the answer is yes to any of them, ISIS will have won.

Tragically, there are plenty of people like Trump and Ryan, who are ready to dive head long into that fetid pool.

I was driving a cab 20 plus years ago while trying to sell a couple of novels. A day after Timmy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City federal building and killed 160 some odd people, including a bunch of babies, I picked up an aged African-American woman. During the ride we talked about the bombing. As she sat there, completely serene in the back seat of the hack, she told me, "You know, all they're trying to do is make you just like them."

That's a true story. I've never heard a priest, or minister say anything more profound and I've certainly never heard any politician approach her level of understanding, or humanity. I dropped her off at a run down apartment complex near the intersection of Portland Ave. and NW 23rd St. and never saw her again.

I've haven't forgotten her lesson though. Listen, there are evil people in this world, but during this fight, we just can't afford to become like them.

As a man in France, who lost his wife in the horror at a Parisian concert hall said to ISIS on Facebook today, "You will not have my hatred."

Well said, Sir and well believed.





11-17-15

Friday, November 13, 2015

The Old Man's Assessment, Terrible Strangeness in Ft. Dodge, and Was the Trump Performance in Iowa Due to Amphetamines, or Simply an Unhinged Mind?

The old man is 91 years old and despite being a registered democrat has in the past--far too often for my tastes--voted for republican candidates running for president. His assessment of the Donald Trump candidacy is, "What bothers me most is that so many people think he's actually fit to be president."

Given what went down in Iowa last night there might be a few others beginning to question Big Don's suitability for the oval office.

According to a report by the Washington Post the express freight train known as the Donald Trump campaign ran completely off the rails in front of a crowd in Ft. Dodge yesterday. So much so the estimated audience of 1,500 not only grew silent at times, but downright edgy.

People tend to do that when a candidate for president shows up 40 minutes late, hair dis-shelved, then launches into a 95 minute, overly loud, harangue of bombastic personal attacks on opponents. Not to mention displaying flashes of behavior on stage which are so bizarre words like alcohol and drugs come to mind.

That's right--to question the veracity of Ben Carson's tale of stabbing a friend with a knife, who was saved from injury by his belt buckle is one thing. However, to step away from the podium, undo your jacket, then say to those assembled, "Anybody have a knife? You want to try it on me?" enters an area usually reserved for a person who has either knocked back a few too many martinis, or is in the throes of amphetamine induced dementia. After his demonstration Trump added, "How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap."

This after he told the crowd, Carson has, "a pathological disease." Adding, "A child molester, there's no cure for that. If you're a child molester, there's no cure. They can't stop you. Pathological? No cure."

Ah yes, quite presidential.

Brother Trump opened the night with a tribute to the border policies of North Korea and Afghanistan. He used them both, along with Canada, as examples of how other countries take care of illegal immigrants by telling everyone, North Korea sentences them to 12 years of hard labor, Afghanistan shoots them outright, and Canada levies fines of $5,000. It isn't clear how many people are clamoring to get into Canada, but one can cite several reasons, other than draconian punishments, why North Korea and Afghanistan don't have illegal immigration problems.

In another moment of audacious strangeness Mr. Trump claimed, "I know more about ISIS than the generals. Trust me." He also, quite predictably, labeled members of the press as, "...scum and garbage."

It wasn't tough to sell his supporters that line. They already believe it. In fact The Post reported that as members of the mainstream media began to tweet all the crazed madness, a number of Trumpites immediately took to various social internet outlets claiming a conspiracy--that mainstream journalists had gotten together and tweeted fabrications about the speech all at the same time. They backed away from that nonsense only after videos of the address surfaced.

The Post noted Trump's hectic schedule which began last weekend when he hosted Saturday Night Live and his lack of sleep during this week's edition of his campaign. And, there was no mention of slurred words, or other evidence of alcohol abuse. To be honest though, a sleep deprived old guy doesn't usually go on an increasingly loud and verbose 95 minute rant after an exhausting few days unless he is propped up by questionable pharmaceuticals.

Whatever the case, Don Trump's performance in Ft. Dodge can only be described as manic in nature.

Indeed, the only question now is whether Donald Trump's mental state is becoming completely unhinged, or the guy ate a couple of  black mollies before he went on stage last night.

Both options aren't particularly comforting.

Neither is the observation of a 91 year old WWII veteran sitting at home in Oklahoma City who has never voted for a presidential candidate who he deems too far to the left.


sic vita est




11-13-15

Monday, November 9, 2015

Tis The Season to be Crazy: The Apostates at Starbucks and the People Who Hate Them

It just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Yeah--it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but apparently the season to be crazy has arrived early.

A Washington Post article on the internet today reports that Mr. Joshua Feuerstein has declared war on Starbucks, which is the over priced, over rated and over expanded, coffee house chain.

Brother Feuerstein, who is a self proclaimed Arizona evangelist and "social media personality," jumped on Facebook raging not about the prices, or quality of product, but the latest seasonal design of Starbucks' disposable coffee cups. In a video on Facebook he claims, "Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus."

He added, "Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off their brand new cups? That's why they're just plain red."

It didn't take long for a right wing hack at Breitbart to jump on this bizarre bandwagon. Raheem Kassam wrote, what the Post called, a detailed history of Starbucks Christmas season cups in order to prove their fealty to political correctness and, what Feuerstein calls, "a symbol of the larger war against Christianity."

Kassam's piece isn't a lengthy treatise. It begins with the 2009 cup. He describes it as bearing artwork which, "resembles," the fronds of a Christmas tree, stars, and baubles. Then he traces a sinister history of, in his words, "things going south, or east maybe." Yes, the designs degenerated into snowflakes, snowmen, fewer stars and baubles, and finally a happy dog playing in the snow.

That's right, according to these two goofs, this years plain red cup with the green Starbucks' logo is the evil conclusion of a campaign to degrade Christmas. This despite the fact, according to the appalled Kassam's exhaustive research of throwaway cups, they've always been generic in nature and have never once mentioned, Jesus Christ, or displayed any sort of specific Christmas greeting.

Kassam wrote, "Frankly, the only thing that can redeem them from this white washing of Christmas is to print bible verses on their cups next year."

Things spun so out of control, even Fox News, God bless 'em, kicked in a report mourning the de-Christifcation of Christmas, blaming not only Starbucks, but some mall in upstate New York.

Meanwhile, Joshua Feuerstein marched into a Starbucks wearing a Jesus tee-shirt, in order to, "just offend." He also wore a gun because Starbucks has asked patrons not to pack weapons while in their stores, although they haven't banned them. Arizona, being an open carry state, allows such crazed nonsense.  He did it, because according to, Reverend Feuerstein the chain not only hates Jesus, but  the second amendment. That's right dude, go all in: God and Guns in the name of the Prince of Peace and patriotism.

After he placed an order, he told the person at the counter his name was Merry Christmas, which he, or she promptly wrote on the cup. After he was served his latte, with the words Merry Christmas written across it, he bragged, "Guess what Starbucks. I  just tricked you into putting Merry Christmas on your cup."

Guess what you stupid son of a bitch. You also contributed to that Starbucks' bottom line by paying for their product. In short, you just helped them buy more solid red cups.

The constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion, just as it prohibits the establishment of a state sponsored religion. There isn't a single phrase in the document which says a corporation must recognize a religious entity, or holiday at either it's outlets, or on its packaging.

If evangelical Christians have stooped to this level of banality--are so enraged when our Lord and Savior's words, imagined visage, or birthdate aren't recognized on some re-enforced paper cup which will be thrown into the nearest trash can as soon as its contents have been drained--they should probably re-think their priorities.

They won't though. A false paranoia has augmented their faith. They revel in it. And in the end, each and every one of them have gleefully become self styled martyrs and they're determined to tell the rest of us over and over again how persecuted they are.

It's all bullshit. It also might be the end of the religion I have known and loved since my early childhood.

Can I get an amen?


sic vita est

11-9-15


Friday, November 6, 2015

Jerrod Murray Will Have to Wait on Objective B

It appears Jerrod Murray will have to wait on Objective B a while longer. On December 6th, 2012, Murray, a freshman at East Central University in Ada, OK, paid fellow student, Generro Sanchez $20 for a ride to a local Wal-Mart. On the way there he pulled a gun and forced Sanchez to drive him out into the middle of no where, then shot him twice in the head. One of his reasons was, "To see what it felt like." After he committed the murder, Murray called his roommate and told him he had reached, "Objective A."

Because justice is anything, but swift in Oklahoma, young Mr. Murray didn't face trial until July of this year. It didn't last long. In fact both sides decided a jury needn't be bothered with the proceedings. You really don't need one when even the prosecution's shrink says the defendant is as crazy as they come.

District Judge John Canavan quickly declared Jerrod Murray innocent by reason of insanity. In August the judge ordered him committed to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita where it was expected, by everyone, he'd be woofing down some heavy duty drugs for a long, long time.

Unfortunately no one counted on psychologist Peter Rausch. In September, a little over a month after Murray landed in Vinita, he issued a report to Canavan which said Jerrod Murray is no longer a threat to himself, or society and should be released. Staff psychiatrist Joseph Errico disagreed and filed a second report saying Murray is still utterly bats.

Faced with the conflicting assessments, Judge Canavan ordered further tests and scheduled another hearing which was held yesterday.

In today's, The Oklahoman, Nolan Clay reports the latest psychologist, Shawn Roberson wrote in his October evaluation that he asked Murray, "How do you know if this won't happen again if you're released?" The response was, "I don't."

According to Clay, Roberson also wrote, "He believed the victim's death pre-determined fate and he expressed no remorse for having killed him." Then, Roberson quoted Murray as saying, "There's no point in feeling bad for the dead, because they're dead."

Roberson summed up by writing, "...he (Murray) is quite satisfied with the way he is and has little motivation for treatment, or change at this time."

After hearing all that it didn't take long for Canavan to provide Murray with second free ride up to Vinita. He scheduled another hearing for next year after more tests and evaluations, presumably conducted by just about anyone other than Peter Rausch.

The entire affair has driven the Pottawatomie County D.A, among others, into a rage. He is busy trying to get legislation passed which would change the Oklahoma law from, "Innocent by reason of insanity," to "Guilty, but insane." In short someone found guilty, but insane would be sentenced to a term like everyone else, then after being found cured at a place such as Vinita they'd be sent straight to a prison in order to finish out their time. Or--in theory one supposes--to the white room where he, or she would get the hot shot if so ordered. Indeed, if we're going to kill them, we want the fuckers fully aware of what is happening when we do.

Clay quoted, D.A. Richard Smothermon as saying, "(Murray) can be released a year from now, two years from now and all he's got to do is fool one doctor."

That might be stretching it a little. While Murray did fool Rausch he certainly didn't pull one over on either Errico, or Roberson and no one but Canavan, or his successor can actually free him.

Not that it matters to Murray. Even if the law is passed, which it probably will, it won't apply to him.

However it might mean a great deal to Adacia Chambers. She is the woman who plowed her car into a crowd of people in Stillwater who were watching the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade on October 24th. She is looking at four counts of second degree murder and her attorney is already working his way toward an insanity plea. If her trial date is delayed as long as Jerrod Murray's, the new law could well be in effect and no matter how nuts she was last month, she'll still be looking at serious jail time.

The week is mercifully coming to a close and the insane, at least for the moment, are still insane. We'll simply have to wait and see if that remains true next year.

And now, since it is 5pm in places like, Bridgewater, MA, as you can well guess, the bar is open.


11-6-15










Monday, November 2, 2015

A Four Year Ride Back to Carina Saunders, Kelsey Bransby, Alina Fitzpatrick, and Jaymie Adams

It has now been a four year ride for this blog. On Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 the first post of Ghost Shirt Papers appeared on BlogSpot. It focused on the murders of Carina Saunders and Kelsey Bransby. Both were nineteen years old and both had attended Mustang High School in the far southwest corner of the Oklahoma City metro area.

Saunders, who was living a life on the dark edges of society had gone missing in late September of that year. Her body was found on October 13th behind a Bethany, Oklahoma grocery store. She had been dismembered and her body parts were stuffed into a duffel bag.

The Bethany police force, manned by a little over 30 officers, took the lead in the investigation and assigned five of its members to the case. They were in over their heads from day one. Of course, it didn't help that they appeared more than willing to share every lead and rumor of a lead, plus the names of any potential suspects, persons of interest, and even possible witnesses with the media. The local press went into a feeding frenzy which lasted months.

Names came and went while talk of the existence of a phone video showing the brutal killing both horrified and mesmerized not just the media, but the entire town. Finally two men, Jimmy Lee Massey and Luis Ruiz were arrested for the crime.

Unfortunately for the local D.A, who eagerly jumped at the chance to become Ringmaster of the circus, the evidence given to him by the Bethany PD wasn't worth shit. In fact the Bethany cops had screwed the pooch so completely they were forced to hand the entire show over to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Shortly after that, District Attorney David Prater, knowing he had no real case against either man, dropped the charges against them.

As of this date the OSBI isn't talking to anyone about what they've found, or haven't found and the people who killed Carina Saunders are still out there, somewhere. So is the video, if it does actually exist, although that seems as far fetched right now as Bobby Jindal becoming president.

Kelsey Bransby was discovered shot in her apartment two weeks after Saunders' body was found. She died a short time later at a local hospital. It turns out two of her friends, Cole Hopper and Danielle Cooley were involved in her murder. According to Hopper the whole thing was just an accident which took place while the three of them were copping a needle full of fun and paradise.

After the shot was fired, Cooley and Hopper did what any real friends would do. They fled the scene, leaving Ms. Bransby dying on the floor, got rid of the gun, and concocted an alibi for each other. By May of 2012, Cooley turned state's evidence. She was sentenced to probation, which she quickly violated by testing positive for drugs, then flew the coop, only to be caught within a few weeks. Hopper was sent away for nine years.

The November 17th, 2011 post of this blog reported the nude body of a young woman found in far northeast Oklahoma City had been identified as Alina Fitzpatrick. She was last seen on the 4th of that month near an apartment complex at NW 23rd St. and Western Avenue. A short time afterward her cell phone began to go directly to voice mail.

The 17 year old's body had a number of bruises and abrasions, and some, "cotton, or paper like," material stuffed in her mouth.

By January 20th, 2012 the state medical examiner declared Ms. Fitzpatrick had enough meth in her system that she may, or may not have overdosed. He ended his report by saying the circumstances of her death were suspicious, but he refused to say it was a homicide.

Shortly after the ME's report everyone got a hint of exactly how serious the OKCPD was taking the death of Alina Fitzpatrick. Department spokesperson, Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow issued a statement saying that while there was an open file on the case, detectives were, "not currently investigating the death as a homicide."

Ten days later, another spokesperson, Capt. Dexter Nelson tried to calm the outrage by assuring everyone homicide, "is just a legal term." He told the local print media the investigation was still ongoing and that while the injuries suffered by Fitzpatrick weren't, in themselves, serious enough to be fatal, she, "obviously didn't OD naked on the side of the road."

As far as I can tell that is the last time the OKCPD has ever addressed the mystery of Alina Fitzpatrick's disappearance and demise. In the words of one member of the local media, "The police have little confidence the case will be solved." Well why should they? They wrote her death off as soon as the ME said drugs were in her system. You could hear that file drawer slam shut all the way out to Guymon in the panhandle.

Finally there was the end of Jaymie Adams. She went missing in December of 2011. Her body was found near Lake Stanley Draper in the southeast part of the metro the next month. She was in her 20's and pregnant. To help make ends meet her husband Justin had advertised on Craig's List that she was sexually available in exchange for cash, which, in most minds, is pretty much the definition of prostitution.

According to reports at the time Justin Adams' story about his whereabouts and what his wife was doing had changed enough that our man, David Prater charged him with her murder.

And just like in the Saunders' case he couldn't make the murder rap stick, although he did end up hitting Justin Adams with two counts of manslaughter for facilitating his wife's death by putting her in the position to be killed. Justin Adams pled out and is currently on probation.

A guy named Joe Cyr was finally charged with Jaymie Adams' murder and his oft delayed trial is now set December 7th of this year.

And there we have it. If you count this one it has now been 680 posts over four years. That initial entry seems like a long time ago and there has been lot of agua under the bridge since then. Probably not so much for the family and friends of Carina Saunders, Kelsey Bransby, Alina Fitzpatrick, and Jaymie Adams. There are some things you simply can't distance yourself from. It's what makes some of us human.


sic vita est

11-2-15