Up in Pennsylvania's Centre County Court the testimony against former Penn St. assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is tumbling out in lurid and awful detail. MSNBC is reporting that a witness today is saying that in 1998 Sandusky forced him to perform oral sex and at other times insisted on returning the favor. He claims Sandusky intimidated him by saying that if he told anyone he'd never see his family again.
The witness, who MSNBC will not name publicly, said Sandusky later apologized for the threat and told him he loved him. He also funneled Penn State football tickets to the boy for years to keep him on the string. The witness, now 25 years old told the court he kept his silence until last year because, "I was scared, ashamed, and embarrassed."
Earlier in the trial former assistant coach Mike McQueary testified that he was "certain" Sandusky was having anal intercourse with a boy in the Penn St. locker room showers when he wandered in there one night. His only reaction to the grotesque tableau was to slam a locker door loudly, hoping Sandusky would hear it and know someone else was around. McQueary, who was then a graduate assistant and not an actual staff member, says he was in such shock he didn't know what to do.
He called his father that night, which the father verified. The older McQueary told his son to tell head coach Joe Paterno about what he saw. McQueary says he did that the following day. Unfortunately we know where that went. Straight into the dead letter file. That is why Paterno was fired and others are facing criminal charges for perjury, obstruction and generally being assholes.
Sandusky's attorney, Joe Amendola continues to maintain that all this is a crude shake down and has pointed out several of the witnesses are suing the university and a couple are suing Sandusky himself. He has made some bizarre statements about the normality of Sandusky horsing around in the showers with the boys and giving "raspberries" on the bellies of children among other things. He has said this sort of behavior is common in the athletic world.
I can't speak for Penn State's "athletic world" but I was involved in organized sports from the ages of eight through eighteen. In those ten years not one coach showered in the same area as the team and certainly none of them ever gave any of us raspberries on the belly, or anywhere else. Amendola's assessment of the situation in that regard ranks right up there with Michael Jackson saying he saw nothing wrong with children sleeping with adult men.
Big Joe also put into evidence that part of the Bob Costas interview where Sandusky denied he was sexually attracted to boys. Analysts are speculating he did that in order to get Sandusky's denial on the record while actually avoiding calling his client to the stand.
Yes, after this deluge of pedophilia and sodomy it would probably be best for Coach Jerry to keep as far away from the witness stand as possible. Lord only knows what the jury would make of that affable smile after hearing what they have lately.
Meanwhile in Florida the wife of George Zimmerman has been jailed on charges of perjury. Her bond has been set at $1000. At issue is her failure to mention a Paypal account associated with a Zimmerman web site during his bail hearing . The web site, which has been taken down, was an appeal for donations to a defense fund. When first reported the amount of money taken in was put at over $200,000. That figure has been revised down to around $135,000. That would still be about $135,000 more than Shellie Zimmerman told the court under oath that her family had at their disposal to get her husband out of jail.
Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin, had his own bond revoked earlier. In doing so Judge Kenneth Lester said, "There are several factors that weigh against his release. Most importantly though is the fact he has now demonstrated that he does not properly respect the law, or the integrity of the judicial process."
Ouch. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara's job just got a little tougher. The jury might look at that self defense plea with a jaundiced eye now that the accused has "demonstrated that he does not properly respect the law, or the integrity of the judicial process."
It hasn't been a good week for either Jerry Sandusky, or the Zimmermans. Of course it could be said things haven't been so great for their alleged victims either. They are either dead, or on course to spend the rest of their lives in therapy.
There aren't going to be happy endings in either of these affairs no matter what their dispositions. You can't bring back the dead and you can't forget what happened to you. As is far too common the only winners will be lawyers and psychiatrists. It looks like everyone else will have to go the Paypal route.
6-13-12
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Jerry Sandusky in the Dock: New Lows and a Lingering Stench
So here we go. The Jerry Sandusky trial has begun in Pennsylvania and before it is over many a stomach will turn and the cringing will be wide spread and unceasing. Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coach, is charged with 52 counts of sexually abusing up to 10 boys over a 15 year period. Two separate grand juries have accused him of using his connections with the once proud and pristine Penn State football program to lure them into his Second Mile Foundation where he slowly groomed them to be his sexual victims.
Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan, a deputy attorney general said in his opening remarks that the state will show, "systematic behavior by a predator." Those are ugly words, but then the whole sordid affair is ugly beyond all description. It is so bad that it brought down venerable Penn State coach Joe Paterno and at least three different PSU administrators, some of whom might be facing criminal charges themselves. Covering up a recruiting scandal or some alum's cash gift to a player is one thing. At many U.S. college football programs those sorts of things are considered simply the price of doing business. However turning your head the other way while your facilities are being used as a lurid Roman spa by some run amok pedophile is another animal all together. Not even the nearly beatified Paterno could survive the outrage.
First day testimony included one victim saying he endured up to 40 "uncomfortable incidents" when he was 12 and 13 years old. Things began with mutual showers, then moved on to hugging, caressing, rolling around on the floor and finally to having his hand placed on Sandusky's genitalia and of course attempted sexual penetration. The witness said Sandusky treated him as his girl friend, often placing his hand on his knee. He was also awarded with numerous gifts from Sandusky and was worried that those gifts would cease if he said anything about the behavior.
What does one say in the face of this? Well defense attorney, Joe Amendola says the reason for all these claims and charges is brutally simple. The accusers in his words are, "troubled youths out for a big pay day." He points out that six of the eight prosecution witnesses who claim abuse at Sandusky's hands have all ready filed civil suits. He says, "the testimony is going to be awful, but that doesn't make it true."
Ah, there you have it. This is all one huge shake down, although it is unclear where the big pay day would come from. The only possible source would be the university itself, because The Second Mile Foundation has shut down. It is uncertain where any unspent money it once had might be found. And quite honestly you wouldn't expect Sandusky himself to be that fabulously well to do. However, if you're Amendola you have to say something right? Especially when your client is looking at 460 years in the joint and a life expectancy of about thirty minutes if turned loose in the yard with the general population of just about any prison in America.
Amendola even surprised those in attendance by listing Sandusky as a possible witness. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You are talking about a high risk maneuver that most lawyers would never even consider.
The prosecution, however doesn't have clear sailing either. It plans on calling former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary to the stand. McQuery is the guy who told Paterno about a lewd scene in the Penn State locker room between Sandusky and an unnamed youth. Paterno told his boss who told someone else who didn't tell the cops and that is why the entire university looks complicit in this deal. The problem is McQueary has changed the details of his testimony and the time line is problematic. McQueary insists the incident happened in March of 2002 while prosecutors are saying it occurred in February of 2001.
Yes, it is a tale of degeneracy and in the end institutional cowardice. It isn't going away anytime soon either. If convicted you can expect a long freight train of appeals from the Sandusky legal team. If there is a hung jury bets are the prosecution won't give up after one trial. If Mr. Sandusky is acquitted he will personally survive, but just about everything else in his life will have gone to hell. His only hope will be a decent pension plan because the man is at this moment permanently unemployable. He will have to disappear into the depths of the South American rain forest to escape the hounding he is going to receive from the media and others.
No matter what the outcome we're all going to want to scrub our hands and we're going to want to scrub them often. This grotesque stench is going to linger. Especially on the campus of Penn State University. Happy Valley no more.
6-11-12
Prosecutor Joseph McGettigan, a deputy attorney general said in his opening remarks that the state will show, "systematic behavior by a predator." Those are ugly words, but then the whole sordid affair is ugly beyond all description. It is so bad that it brought down venerable Penn State coach Joe Paterno and at least three different PSU administrators, some of whom might be facing criminal charges themselves. Covering up a recruiting scandal or some alum's cash gift to a player is one thing. At many U.S. college football programs those sorts of things are considered simply the price of doing business. However turning your head the other way while your facilities are being used as a lurid Roman spa by some run amok pedophile is another animal all together. Not even the nearly beatified Paterno could survive the outrage.
First day testimony included one victim saying he endured up to 40 "uncomfortable incidents" when he was 12 and 13 years old. Things began with mutual showers, then moved on to hugging, caressing, rolling around on the floor and finally to having his hand placed on Sandusky's genitalia and of course attempted sexual penetration. The witness said Sandusky treated him as his girl friend, often placing his hand on his knee. He was also awarded with numerous gifts from Sandusky and was worried that those gifts would cease if he said anything about the behavior.
What does one say in the face of this? Well defense attorney, Joe Amendola says the reason for all these claims and charges is brutally simple. The accusers in his words are, "troubled youths out for a big pay day." He points out that six of the eight prosecution witnesses who claim abuse at Sandusky's hands have all ready filed civil suits. He says, "the testimony is going to be awful, but that doesn't make it true."
Ah, there you have it. This is all one huge shake down, although it is unclear where the big pay day would come from. The only possible source would be the university itself, because The Second Mile Foundation has shut down. It is uncertain where any unspent money it once had might be found. And quite honestly you wouldn't expect Sandusky himself to be that fabulously well to do. However, if you're Amendola you have to say something right? Especially when your client is looking at 460 years in the joint and a life expectancy of about thirty minutes if turned loose in the yard with the general population of just about any prison in America.
Amendola even surprised those in attendance by listing Sandusky as a possible witness. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You are talking about a high risk maneuver that most lawyers would never even consider.
The prosecution, however doesn't have clear sailing either. It plans on calling former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary to the stand. McQuery is the guy who told Paterno about a lewd scene in the Penn State locker room between Sandusky and an unnamed youth. Paterno told his boss who told someone else who didn't tell the cops and that is why the entire university looks complicit in this deal. The problem is McQueary has changed the details of his testimony and the time line is problematic. McQueary insists the incident happened in March of 2002 while prosecutors are saying it occurred in February of 2001.
Yes, it is a tale of degeneracy and in the end institutional cowardice. It isn't going away anytime soon either. If convicted you can expect a long freight train of appeals from the Sandusky legal team. If there is a hung jury bets are the prosecution won't give up after one trial. If Mr. Sandusky is acquitted he will personally survive, but just about everything else in his life will have gone to hell. His only hope will be a decent pension plan because the man is at this moment permanently unemployable. He will have to disappear into the depths of the South American rain forest to escape the hounding he is going to receive from the media and others.
No matter what the outcome we're all going to want to scrub our hands and we're going to want to scrub them often. This grotesque stench is going to linger. Especially on the campus of Penn State University. Happy Valley no more.
6-11-12
Friday, June 8, 2012
Friday Dispatches: Robert Bacharach's Nomination and Hopper and Cooley's Charges
The Honorable Robert Bacharach is on the cusp of getting screwed because republican senators want to play hard ball politics during an election year. Bacharach, a Federal Magistrate, was nominated to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He has been fully vetted by the Justice Department, was awarded impeccable ratings by the American Bar Association, and was finally endorsed by both Oklahoma senators. He also had the terrible misfortune of being named by Barack Obama.
In a story in today's Oklahoman written by Chris Casteel, Senator Tom Coburn reportedly has told Judge Bacharach that "he might not get through the senate confirmation process this year." Well of course not. It is an election year and if their man Mitt wins in November he can nominate some fire breathing conservative who will attempt some right wing social engineering on the party's behalf.
Coburn was quoted as saying, "I think it is stupid." What he didn't mention was that he was part of the problem up until a few weeks ago. Coburn sat on the nomination for months until The Oklahoma Publishing Company through The Oklahoman called into question his reluctance to give the go ahead. Within forty-eight hours of that subtle jab Brother Coburn found religion and gave the nod. Shortly after that he became a gushing fan of Robert Bacharach praising him to no end.
Now Coburn can let his cohorts in the party do what his Oklahoma keepers told him not to while maintaining he is innocent of political thuggery. Trying to spread the blame, Dr. Tom immediately claimed democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has used the same tactic in the past. However Casteel reports that on Wednesday Leahy pointed to a report by the Congressional Research Service. The report finds that the senate confirmed 28 district and circuit judges at the end of G.W. Bush's first term and another 22 in the last few months of his second. That would be when Leahy and the rest of the democrats in the senate knew Barack Obama was preparing his inaugural address.
Meanwhile, back in Oklahoma City, an article by Tiffany Gibson details the charges being brought against Cole Dean Hopper and Danielle Marie Cooley. Hopper and Cooley are in the Cleveland County jail awaiting trial for the murder of Kelsey Bransby. According to Gibson, Hopper is facing second degree murder and Cooley is being charged with an accessory count.
Apparently Cooley was being looked at early on in the investigation, but denied being in the apartment when Ms. Bransby was shot. According to an affidavit, after she was arrested she initially continued to maintain she wasn't there, but finally caved in and admitted she was.
According to Gibson's story Cooley told police she thinks the shooting was accidental. She also says she doesn't know what happened to the gun or the shell casing.
Hopper is still denying he was there when the killing took place.
Bail is set at $2 million apiece.
Look for this pair to hire separate lawyers. It is going to be an acrimonious breakup between the reported boyfriend and girlfriend.
And there you have it. Dirty politics and a brute stupid felony. Sometimes The Big Parade becomes ugly and tragic, but as we know it never ends.
6-8-12
In a story in today's Oklahoman written by Chris Casteel, Senator Tom Coburn reportedly has told Judge Bacharach that "he might not get through the senate confirmation process this year." Well of course not. It is an election year and if their man Mitt wins in November he can nominate some fire breathing conservative who will attempt some right wing social engineering on the party's behalf.
Coburn was quoted as saying, "I think it is stupid." What he didn't mention was that he was part of the problem up until a few weeks ago. Coburn sat on the nomination for months until The Oklahoma Publishing Company through The Oklahoman called into question his reluctance to give the go ahead. Within forty-eight hours of that subtle jab Brother Coburn found religion and gave the nod. Shortly after that he became a gushing fan of Robert Bacharach praising him to no end.
Now Coburn can let his cohorts in the party do what his Oklahoma keepers told him not to while maintaining he is innocent of political thuggery. Trying to spread the blame, Dr. Tom immediately claimed democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee has used the same tactic in the past. However Casteel reports that on Wednesday Leahy pointed to a report by the Congressional Research Service. The report finds that the senate confirmed 28 district and circuit judges at the end of G.W. Bush's first term and another 22 in the last few months of his second. That would be when Leahy and the rest of the democrats in the senate knew Barack Obama was preparing his inaugural address.
Meanwhile, back in Oklahoma City, an article by Tiffany Gibson details the charges being brought against Cole Dean Hopper and Danielle Marie Cooley. Hopper and Cooley are in the Cleveland County jail awaiting trial for the murder of Kelsey Bransby. According to Gibson, Hopper is facing second degree murder and Cooley is being charged with an accessory count.
Apparently Cooley was being looked at early on in the investigation, but denied being in the apartment when Ms. Bransby was shot. According to an affidavit, after she was arrested she initially continued to maintain she wasn't there, but finally caved in and admitted she was.
According to Gibson's story Cooley told police she thinks the shooting was accidental. She also says she doesn't know what happened to the gun or the shell casing.
Hopper is still denying he was there when the killing took place.
Bail is set at $2 million apiece.
Look for this pair to hire separate lawyers. It is going to be an acrimonious breakup between the reported boyfriend and girlfriend.
And there you have it. Dirty politics and a brute stupid felony. Sometimes The Big Parade becomes ugly and tragic, but as we know it never ends.
6-8-12
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Oklahoma City Thunder and The Close Thing
Here is how close a thing it is when you talk about turning a sagging pro basketball franchise into a winning proposition. In the 2007 NBA draft the first over all pick went to the Portland Trail Blazers. The then Seattle Super Sonics were picking second. There were two players that everyone, I mean everyone, agreed would be the first two selections. One was the hulking big man Greg Oden out of Ohio State and the other was a skinny kid who had played one year at Texas named Kevin Durant.
Durant was a pure shooter, but there were questions about his strength and therefore his durability in a league that plays over twice the number of regular season games that colleges do. Portland went for the big man and understandably so. Big men are at a premium no matter what the level of play. Seattle immediately took Durant.
In the mean time up in the Pacific Northwest, Sonic's owner Howard Schultz, the coffee shop magnate, was struggling with a shrinking fan base, a rotting arena, and a populace who refused time and time again to finance a new arena. And really, who could blame them? They had just shelled out for a new football stadium and a new baseball stadium. Of the three major league franchises in town the Sonics were the least popular and hadn't won a NBA championship for something like thirty years.
Enter Clay Bennett of Oklahoma City along with a group of bankers, oilies and other assorted high stakes corporate gamblers. Bennett made all the right promises at first with the caveat that the team had to have a new arena. NBA fans in Seattle began to feel the sand shift beneath their feet.
Oklahoma City was hungry for a team. We had successfully supported the temporarily relocated New Orleans Hornets after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Big Easy. During that two year run we felt we had proven we could be a viable home for a franchise.
The powers that be in Seattle, abetted by a majority of the city's population wouldn't budge on the arena deal and perhaps thought Bennett was bluffing about shipping the team to the southern plains.
Unfortunately for them, he wasn't. In a year the Sonics became the Thunder and began playing their home games in downtown Oklahoma City. That first year on the court was abysmal. At one point the Thunder were on pace to set a NBA record for losses in a single season. The original coach was fired not even halfway through the season.
Last night, a scant four seasons later, the Thunder chopped the legs out from beneath the San Antonio Spurs and qualified for the NBA finals. Until next Tuesday, when those finals begin the win ranks as the single greatest moment of sports in OKC history. The city which had been built in a day, but had been fractured from its inception because of divided collegiate loyalties had come together as one. The arena, the town and large parts of the state were thrown into absolute delirium by the win.
Normally stoic and sane people immediately started babbling about dynasties. They pointed to the line up and the ages of the stars that had led the team to the promised land. Indeed, a couple of years ago one of them, James Harden had been busted for trying to buy a beer in a local bar not because he was drunk, but because he was under the legal age of 21. It is all, for the instant, magnificent madness.
The wunderkind who is the driving force behind much of this is Kevin Durant. He has led the league in scoring three years running. He was second in voting for MVP during the regular season this year. He has been known, on more than a few occasions, to drain an impossible shot with only a couple breaths left in a game that drives a dagger into the heart of the opposition.
Last night with fourteen seconds left to go he could be seen hugging and kissing his mother at her court side seat.
There is still work to do. The Thunder will face either the star studded Miami Heat, or the wily and grizzled Boston Celtics. Neither of those two outfits will go quietly into that good night. It could all, still, come to a crashing halt.
Be assured that right now no one in this burg, other than perhaps coach Scott Brooks and the team itself, is thinking that far ahead. Right now the city is still rocking and rolling. Ecstasy is far too mild of a term to describe the local mentality.
It is a real life Horatio Alger saga that no one can fully, or properly explain.
It makes one wonder what would have happened if Schultz had tightened his belt and hung onto the team, or found local ownership that would have kept the Sonics in Seattle. He did neither and the organization fell into Bennett and Co's lap.
It also makes you wonder what would have happened if Portland had gone with the skinny shooter from Texas rather than Oden. I mean Durant was there for the taking and to paraphrase the song, his future is so bright we all need shades. They didn't however and as the Oklahoma City Thunder was closing in on this perfect of all moments in March, the oft injured Oden was waived by the Trail Blazers. His physical ailments were such that he never even completed a full year of competition.
It is good to be good and sometimes it is really good to be lucky. The planets lined up just right for Oklahoma City this time around. Somewhere down the road that won't be the case.
When it happens it will be another story at another time. Right now everyone is loud, proud and more than just a little giddy.
Thunder up, baby. The finals are coming to town. Who would have ever dreamed it?
6-7-12
Durant was a pure shooter, but there were questions about his strength and therefore his durability in a league that plays over twice the number of regular season games that colleges do. Portland went for the big man and understandably so. Big men are at a premium no matter what the level of play. Seattle immediately took Durant.
In the mean time up in the Pacific Northwest, Sonic's owner Howard Schultz, the coffee shop magnate, was struggling with a shrinking fan base, a rotting arena, and a populace who refused time and time again to finance a new arena. And really, who could blame them? They had just shelled out for a new football stadium and a new baseball stadium. Of the three major league franchises in town the Sonics were the least popular and hadn't won a NBA championship for something like thirty years.
Enter Clay Bennett of Oklahoma City along with a group of bankers, oilies and other assorted high stakes corporate gamblers. Bennett made all the right promises at first with the caveat that the team had to have a new arena. NBA fans in Seattle began to feel the sand shift beneath their feet.
Oklahoma City was hungry for a team. We had successfully supported the temporarily relocated New Orleans Hornets after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Big Easy. During that two year run we felt we had proven we could be a viable home for a franchise.
The powers that be in Seattle, abetted by a majority of the city's population wouldn't budge on the arena deal and perhaps thought Bennett was bluffing about shipping the team to the southern plains.
Unfortunately for them, he wasn't. In a year the Sonics became the Thunder and began playing their home games in downtown Oklahoma City. That first year on the court was abysmal. At one point the Thunder were on pace to set a NBA record for losses in a single season. The original coach was fired not even halfway through the season.
Last night, a scant four seasons later, the Thunder chopped the legs out from beneath the San Antonio Spurs and qualified for the NBA finals. Until next Tuesday, when those finals begin the win ranks as the single greatest moment of sports in OKC history. The city which had been built in a day, but had been fractured from its inception because of divided collegiate loyalties had come together as one. The arena, the town and large parts of the state were thrown into absolute delirium by the win.
Normally stoic and sane people immediately started babbling about dynasties. They pointed to the line up and the ages of the stars that had led the team to the promised land. Indeed, a couple of years ago one of them, James Harden had been busted for trying to buy a beer in a local bar not because he was drunk, but because he was under the legal age of 21. It is all, for the instant, magnificent madness.
The wunderkind who is the driving force behind much of this is Kevin Durant. He has led the league in scoring three years running. He was second in voting for MVP during the regular season this year. He has been known, on more than a few occasions, to drain an impossible shot with only a couple breaths left in a game that drives a dagger into the heart of the opposition.
Last night with fourteen seconds left to go he could be seen hugging and kissing his mother at her court side seat.
There is still work to do. The Thunder will face either the star studded Miami Heat, or the wily and grizzled Boston Celtics. Neither of those two outfits will go quietly into that good night. It could all, still, come to a crashing halt.
Be assured that right now no one in this burg, other than perhaps coach Scott Brooks and the team itself, is thinking that far ahead. Right now the city is still rocking and rolling. Ecstasy is far too mild of a term to describe the local mentality.
It is a real life Horatio Alger saga that no one can fully, or properly explain.
It makes one wonder what would have happened if Schultz had tightened his belt and hung onto the team, or found local ownership that would have kept the Sonics in Seattle. He did neither and the organization fell into Bennett and Co's lap.
It also makes you wonder what would have happened if Portland had gone with the skinny shooter from Texas rather than Oden. I mean Durant was there for the taking and to paraphrase the song, his future is so bright we all need shades. They didn't however and as the Oklahoma City Thunder was closing in on this perfect of all moments in March, the oft injured Oden was waived by the Trail Blazers. His physical ailments were such that he never even completed a full year of competition.
It is good to be good and sometimes it is really good to be lucky. The planets lined up just right for Oklahoma City this time around. Somewhere down the road that won't be the case.
When it happens it will be another story at another time. Right now everyone is loud, proud and more than just a little giddy.
Thunder up, baby. The finals are coming to town. Who would have ever dreamed it?
6-7-12
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Humans, We're Whats For Dinner: The End is Always Near
Every now and then we Americans go a little funny in our collective head. I'm suspecting that because most of us grew up with a Christian background we have this morbid fascination with all things apocalyptic. We keep looking for signs of it and we see them everywhere and in everything. If you are a raging born again evangelical you even want it to happen. You know that in your perfect, doubt free, faith you will escape it. You will be miraculously transported directly to paradise while the rest of us have to suffer the messy consequences.
Twelve years ago it was the Y2K unraveling that had people stocking up on canned food, bottled water and, because we are Americans, guns and ammunition. Since then there have been minor brushes with hysteria, most due to some evangelical radio hacks who needed a quick influx of cash for personal reasons.
This year the big thing is the end of the Mayan calender. That comes in December. Of course the Mayans themselves think all this end of the world stuff is some sort of weird North American fad, rather like chia pets and reality TV. But, who needs their input? They fled their cities for no apparent reason even before the Spanish could get to the continent and burn them at the stake for heresy and fun. Obviously they can't be trusted to interpret their own civilization's legends, traditions and myths. They are quaintly mistaken when they say the end of this calender simply means the start of a new one. After all, name even one of them who has watched the History Channel.
Unfortunately for us, December is a long way off and to the average American that is rather like a decade. So, to tide us over until then we have come up with the "Zombie Apocalypse."
Apparently this all started last week when a guy named Rudy Eugene went out of his mind, either all on his own, or because of the weird chemicals found in bath salts and chowed down on the face of a homeless man. It was on a Miami street and Eugene was quite naked. Police had to shoot him numerous times when he refused to cease dining.
Later in the week a Maryland student named Alexander Kinya admitted to killing his roommate, eating his heart and part of his brain. There was no mention of whether he had a poster of Anthony Hopkins in the room, or not.
Then there was the case of Canadian porn star, Luka Rocco Magnotta. Magnotta who has been in videos featuring him performing sex acts with men, women, transsexuals and possibly other species of mammals, was busted in Berlin yesterday. Reportedly he had moved up from killing kittens on line, to taking out a young student in Montreal. He is alleged to have stabbed the bound man multiple times for the benefit of a Canadian "gore site". After eating some of his flesh, Magnotta dismembered him and sent various body parts to political offices in Ottawa.
All these things have caused a stir in the apocalypse soon community. Currently "Zombie Apocalypse" is number two on the Google list of trending searches.
It has gotten so bizarre the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a statement saying it doesn't know of any virus anywhere in the entire universe that would re-animate the dead. Spokesperson for the CDC, David Daigle says there isn't even one that would cause live people to act like zombies. Left unsaid is that until George Romero put together that gruesome little black and white feature movie 40 plus years ago, no one had ever associated zombies with cannibalism.
Yes, unfortunately it only happens in the movies and on cable's AMC channel. What a downer.
Luckily there will be more than a few who believe that hand in hand with the end of life as we know it there is a government conspiracy to hide it from us. It wouldn't do to have panic in the streets and, quite honestly, there just isn't enough room in the secret mine shafts for everyone.
It must be a real comfort to the rest of the world knowing people like us control the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons on the planet.
Indeed, praise the Lord and pass the salt. The end, as so many of us know, is always near. Eat hearty while you can.
6-5-12
Twelve years ago it was the Y2K unraveling that had people stocking up on canned food, bottled water and, because we are Americans, guns and ammunition. Since then there have been minor brushes with hysteria, most due to some evangelical radio hacks who needed a quick influx of cash for personal reasons.
This year the big thing is the end of the Mayan calender. That comes in December. Of course the Mayans themselves think all this end of the world stuff is some sort of weird North American fad, rather like chia pets and reality TV. But, who needs their input? They fled their cities for no apparent reason even before the Spanish could get to the continent and burn them at the stake for heresy and fun. Obviously they can't be trusted to interpret their own civilization's legends, traditions and myths. They are quaintly mistaken when they say the end of this calender simply means the start of a new one. After all, name even one of them who has watched the History Channel.
Unfortunately for us, December is a long way off and to the average American that is rather like a decade. So, to tide us over until then we have come up with the "Zombie Apocalypse."
Apparently this all started last week when a guy named Rudy Eugene went out of his mind, either all on his own, or because of the weird chemicals found in bath salts and chowed down on the face of a homeless man. It was on a Miami street and Eugene was quite naked. Police had to shoot him numerous times when he refused to cease dining.
Later in the week a Maryland student named Alexander Kinya admitted to killing his roommate, eating his heart and part of his brain. There was no mention of whether he had a poster of Anthony Hopkins in the room, or not.
Then there was the case of Canadian porn star, Luka Rocco Magnotta. Magnotta who has been in videos featuring him performing sex acts with men, women, transsexuals and possibly other species of mammals, was busted in Berlin yesterday. Reportedly he had moved up from killing kittens on line, to taking out a young student in Montreal. He is alleged to have stabbed the bound man multiple times for the benefit of a Canadian "gore site". After eating some of his flesh, Magnotta dismembered him and sent various body parts to political offices in Ottawa.
All these things have caused a stir in the apocalypse soon community. Currently "Zombie Apocalypse" is number two on the Google list of trending searches.
It has gotten so bizarre the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a statement saying it doesn't know of any virus anywhere in the entire universe that would re-animate the dead. Spokesperson for the CDC, David Daigle says there isn't even one that would cause live people to act like zombies. Left unsaid is that until George Romero put together that gruesome little black and white feature movie 40 plus years ago, no one had ever associated zombies with cannibalism.
Yes, unfortunately it only happens in the movies and on cable's AMC channel. What a downer.
Luckily there will be more than a few who believe that hand in hand with the end of life as we know it there is a government conspiracy to hide it from us. It wouldn't do to have panic in the streets and, quite honestly, there just isn't enough room in the secret mine shafts for everyone.
It must be a real comfort to the rest of the world knowing people like us control the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons on the planet.
Indeed, praise the Lord and pass the salt. The end, as so many of us know, is always near. Eat hearty while you can.
6-5-12
Monday, June 4, 2012
The Ten Year Tweet: Justice In Kuwait
Well things could be worse I suppose. Take the case of 26 year old Hamad al-Naqi. Reuter's is reporting that a Kuwaiti judge found him guilty of, "insulting the prophet, the prophet's wife, the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and of misusing a mobile phone to spread his offensive remarks." In other words, watch what you tweet in Kuwait, there is no telling who will see it and what they will do about it.
Al-Naqi denied the charges and maintains that his twitter account was hacked by a person, or persons unknown. The judge, Hirsham Abdullah was having none of his excuses and hit him with the maximum of ten years. The sentence was protested by some Kuwaiti officials who are clamoring for al-Naqi to be executed. Indeed last month, the Parliament of Kuwait endorsed an amendment that would make insulting God and the prophet by any Muslim a crime punishable by death. Now that is political correctness.
Al-Naqi's attorney maintains that even if he did actually tweet the remarks he is guilty of a "crime of opinion," rather than a crime against national security. Unfortunately in some places one's opinion is a crime against national security if it differs from those in charge. It is a lesson Mr. al-Naqi just learned the hard way. After all Kuwait isn't Norway, where Anders Breivik's maximum sentence will be barely more than twice that of al-Naqi's and he killed 77 people.
The reality is, as it always is in that part of the world, a bit more complicated. Al-Naqi is a Shi'ite and the people running the shows in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are all Sunnis. Tensions between the gulf states and Saudi Arabia and Iran are growing almost daily. It comes as no surprise then that al-Naqi has been accused of having links to Iran, which he also denies.
There is a move by the Saudis to unite their armed forces with those of the gulf states and to present a solid front in the region when it comes to foreign policy and defense. Many Shi'ites and the ruling clergy in Iran see this as a power grab by Saudi Arabia. Iran desperately wants to be viewed as the single super power in the region. They would love to be able to undermine the gulf state rulers and get rid of the Saudi royal family. During the ensuing chaos they would emerge as the next great thing in world power politics. Their proxies installed in places like Kuwait and Bahrain would toe the Iranian line. It would be a sort of Shi'ite version of the Warsaw Pact with the Ayatollahs in charge. Not only would they have a couple of nukes, but more importantly control most of the world's oil reserves.
So with the stakes set so high in a place where no one has a sense of humor to begin with, irreverent tweets are not going to be tolerated. Loose lips won't sink ships, but they will get you chucked into the slammer, if not killed.
Al-Naqi has twenty days to appeal. Apparently some appeals in similar cases have resulted in reduced sentences. That maybe what happens here. The judge played to the crowd with the ten year term, then after everyone cools down a bit he lets al-Naqi walk after a mere five, or so.
Of course to the average American this is all barbaric and incomprehensible horse shit. It is why vast numbers of us would love for someone to come up with a viable energy source to replace oil. That way we can tell all these goofs to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Let China and India deal with the bastards for a few decades while we run loose and fancy free.
It won't happen though. Too many guys in places like Houston are making too much money with the status quo. Swelling bank accounts are a tit that can't be turned away from. There is no incentive for the boards of the big oil companies to change anything when it comes to energy consumption in this country.
So unfortunately for the rest of us it looks like we're stuck with them for a while. Just watch what you write. They are really, really touchy about stuff. I mean think about it. If they are willing to throw away the key on Hamad al-Naqi for a decade, imagine what they would like to do to you and me.
6-4-12
Al-Naqi denied the charges and maintains that his twitter account was hacked by a person, or persons unknown. The judge, Hirsham Abdullah was having none of his excuses and hit him with the maximum of ten years. The sentence was protested by some Kuwaiti officials who are clamoring for al-Naqi to be executed. Indeed last month, the Parliament of Kuwait endorsed an amendment that would make insulting God and the prophet by any Muslim a crime punishable by death. Now that is political correctness.
Al-Naqi's attorney maintains that even if he did actually tweet the remarks he is guilty of a "crime of opinion," rather than a crime against national security. Unfortunately in some places one's opinion is a crime against national security if it differs from those in charge. It is a lesson Mr. al-Naqi just learned the hard way. After all Kuwait isn't Norway, where Anders Breivik's maximum sentence will be barely more than twice that of al-Naqi's and he killed 77 people.
The reality is, as it always is in that part of the world, a bit more complicated. Al-Naqi is a Shi'ite and the people running the shows in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are all Sunnis. Tensions between the gulf states and Saudi Arabia and Iran are growing almost daily. It comes as no surprise then that al-Naqi has been accused of having links to Iran, which he also denies.
There is a move by the Saudis to unite their armed forces with those of the gulf states and to present a solid front in the region when it comes to foreign policy and defense. Many Shi'ites and the ruling clergy in Iran see this as a power grab by Saudi Arabia. Iran desperately wants to be viewed as the single super power in the region. They would love to be able to undermine the gulf state rulers and get rid of the Saudi royal family. During the ensuing chaos they would emerge as the next great thing in world power politics. Their proxies installed in places like Kuwait and Bahrain would toe the Iranian line. It would be a sort of Shi'ite version of the Warsaw Pact with the Ayatollahs in charge. Not only would they have a couple of nukes, but more importantly control most of the world's oil reserves.
So with the stakes set so high in a place where no one has a sense of humor to begin with, irreverent tweets are not going to be tolerated. Loose lips won't sink ships, but they will get you chucked into the slammer, if not killed.
Al-Naqi has twenty days to appeal. Apparently some appeals in similar cases have resulted in reduced sentences. That maybe what happens here. The judge played to the crowd with the ten year term, then after everyone cools down a bit he lets al-Naqi walk after a mere five, or so.
Of course to the average American this is all barbaric and incomprehensible horse shit. It is why vast numbers of us would love for someone to come up with a viable energy source to replace oil. That way we can tell all these goofs to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Let China and India deal with the bastards for a few decades while we run loose and fancy free.
It won't happen though. Too many guys in places like Houston are making too much money with the status quo. Swelling bank accounts are a tit that can't be turned away from. There is no incentive for the boards of the big oil companies to change anything when it comes to energy consumption in this country.
So unfortunately for the rest of us it looks like we're stuck with them for a while. Just watch what you write. They are really, really touchy about stuff. I mean think about it. If they are willing to throw away the key on Hamad al-Naqi for a decade, imagine what they would like to do to you and me.
6-4-12
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Friends For Anders Breivik and George Zimmerman Back in Stir
Norway's Ila prison is expecting a new inmate in a month or so. Our pal Anders Breivik, the man who managed to kill 77 fellow human beings in a single day last summer, appears headed to that august facility. Anticipation is such that a new wing, being built just for him, is near completion. The construction may give us a hint as to the direction the Norwegian judicial system is leaning in this case. Apparently the prison officials don't believe that Breivik will be declared insane, which, of course, he is. Obviously the Norwegians understand that there is a huge difference between knowing a guy is a deadly psychopath and legally declaring him as such. The rules change when that happens. Psychiatrists get involved and they are not a trade to be trusted, especially when it comes to mental illness. Some therapist, full of him, or herself, is liable to spend a few months chatting with Anders and then because of their astute counseling declare him cured.
No, that wouldn't do at all. The Norwegians may have the most liberal sense of justice and punishment in the world, but they probably aren't prepared to let this maniac walk after a couple of doses of Valium and a few confessions about his relationship with his mother. In fact they consider him so dangerous they are not willing to let him mingle with the general population of the prison, for fear he will inflict further mayhem. It is an interesting school of thought. In the United States we would have isolated him because the reigning theory locally is that the goof wouldn't last a day in the exercise yard before someone shoved a shiv into his gut fifteen or twenty times.
Norwegians being Norwegian are now looking for professional friends to interact with their future guest. They believe twenty-one years of isolation is simply too cruel. These, "friends" would, I suppose, be trained in all manner of self defense and will be paid to chat, play chess, and participate in other activities with inmate Breivik.
The Norwegians have what maybe the lowest rate of repeat offenders in the world. It stands at only twenty percent. Maybe what they have and will be doing is right. The stats seem to validate their attitude toward and their treatment of the criminal element. However, one suspects in this instance they know they are dealing with a completely different breed of cat. Letting a convicted thief have the key to his own room and free run of the grounds is one thing. Dealing with a complete monster who looked into the faces of the vast majority of his victims right before he shot them is another.
Meanwhile, back in Florida someone else is headed to the lockup. George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin, had his bail revoked by Judge Kenneth Lester. He ruled Zimmerman and his family "engaged in material falsehood" during the bond hearing last month. Assistant State Attorney, Bernie de la Rionda put it more bluntly. He said when Zimmerman's wife led the court to believe the family was penniless it was a "blantant lie."
This all came about because the Zimmermans forgot to mention a web site that was soliciting donations for a defense fund. Before the site was taken down it raked in what was initially reported as $200,000 plus, although the latest figure being talked about is around $134,000.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the Martins, jumped all over it. He is saying this goes to prove that Zimmerman is not credible, which is far more polite than calling him a liar and that the entire defense depends on his credibility. He has a point. If Dead Eye George lied about a few hundred thousand dollars to get out on bail, you can only imagine the fabrications he'll spew when it comes to not doing hard time. Mr. Zimmerman will probably be held in isolated protective custody, however it is all but certain the state of Florida will not solicit the public for paid "friends" to keep him company.
It was a weird week. In Oklahoma City two people were charged in the murder of Kelsey Bransby. In Norway Anders Breivik is looking for friends. In Florida George Zimmerman will soon be wearing the orange jump suit once again. It seems birds are coming home to roost everywhere and they are all calling out, "forever more, forever more."
Infinitus est numerus stultorum.
6-2-12
No, that wouldn't do at all. The Norwegians may have the most liberal sense of justice and punishment in the world, but they probably aren't prepared to let this maniac walk after a couple of doses of Valium and a few confessions about his relationship with his mother. In fact they consider him so dangerous they are not willing to let him mingle with the general population of the prison, for fear he will inflict further mayhem. It is an interesting school of thought. In the United States we would have isolated him because the reigning theory locally is that the goof wouldn't last a day in the exercise yard before someone shoved a shiv into his gut fifteen or twenty times.
Norwegians being Norwegian are now looking for professional friends to interact with their future guest. They believe twenty-one years of isolation is simply too cruel. These, "friends" would, I suppose, be trained in all manner of self defense and will be paid to chat, play chess, and participate in other activities with inmate Breivik.
The Norwegians have what maybe the lowest rate of repeat offenders in the world. It stands at only twenty percent. Maybe what they have and will be doing is right. The stats seem to validate their attitude toward and their treatment of the criminal element. However, one suspects in this instance they know they are dealing with a completely different breed of cat. Letting a convicted thief have the key to his own room and free run of the grounds is one thing. Dealing with a complete monster who looked into the faces of the vast majority of his victims right before he shot them is another.
Meanwhile, back in Florida someone else is headed to the lockup. George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin, had his bail revoked by Judge Kenneth Lester. He ruled Zimmerman and his family "engaged in material falsehood" during the bond hearing last month. Assistant State Attorney, Bernie de la Rionda put it more bluntly. He said when Zimmerman's wife led the court to believe the family was penniless it was a "blantant lie."
This all came about because the Zimmermans forgot to mention a web site that was soliciting donations for a defense fund. Before the site was taken down it raked in what was initially reported as $200,000 plus, although the latest figure being talked about is around $134,000.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the Martins, jumped all over it. He is saying this goes to prove that Zimmerman is not credible, which is far more polite than calling him a liar and that the entire defense depends on his credibility. He has a point. If Dead Eye George lied about a few hundred thousand dollars to get out on bail, you can only imagine the fabrications he'll spew when it comes to not doing hard time. Mr. Zimmerman will probably be held in isolated protective custody, however it is all but certain the state of Florida will not solicit the public for paid "friends" to keep him company.
It was a weird week. In Oklahoma City two people were charged in the murder of Kelsey Bransby. In Norway Anders Breivik is looking for friends. In Florida George Zimmerman will soon be wearing the orange jump suit once again. It seems birds are coming home to roost everywhere and they are all calling out, "forever more, forever more."
Infinitus est numerus stultorum.
6-2-12
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