Archive for category tragedy
You Are What You Eat — So Eat Something
Posted by zoboxrox in health, malfunction, not news, tragedy on February 18th, 2010
My brilliant, charming, lady-killer of a friend has begun his own blogging adventure, Lunch Poems, and, while my bitter cynicism is in stark contrast to his levity, he has inspired me in terms of the direction of my new post.
I’m having a hard time with women lately — as a group. I should specify that statement — I am finding it difficult to sympathize with first world women who have chosen the desire to be thin as a main goal in life. And I’m not talking about the estimated 7 million American women who actually have an eating disorder. I’m not talking about the 4%of these women who will die every year. I’m not even talking about the 50% of 10 year olds who “want to lose weight.” I’m simply referring to your average women who battles everyday with her food intake and exercise routine, and the unnecessary stress it causes on her already overworked frame.
Yesterday, standing in line for lunch, the thin woman behind me asked to taste one of the soup options, I believe it was a delicious looking cream of corn and chicken option. “I can tell this is fattening,” she told the server, before walking off to the salad bar. And while I should learn to mind my own business, a little part of me cried for her, and for every other woman out there counting calories every day of their lives. First of all lady, do you really think the soup guy gives a shit? Secondly, LIVE YOU LIFE. If the soup is delicious, EAT IT.
My adorable friend Sumer has a category of issues she refers to as “First World Problems.” Examples of these are as such: “I ordered a dress online last week and it still hasn’t gotten here — ugh!” or “I love driving my (shiny, new) car to work, but parking is such a pain in the ass, I’ve had to start taking the subway.” And if I’m being preachy its only because its in my nature, I have my fair share of FWPs (the fan on my computer is malfunctioning, I am finding full-time steady employment to be less fulfilling than I expected, I haven’t been on a nice date in months). None, however, seem as callous as denying myself food, when there are millions of people who dont know when they’re next meal will be. Additionally, it strikes me as a huge blow to the advancement of women — are we really going to let something as petty as weight dictate our self-worth.
I’m all for looking good and feeling good. I think excersise and nutrition are both extremely important and I could certainly afford to lose a few pounds myself. I will never, however, let food and weight consume my life. I think that anyone who plans on being happy should consider that advice, because, and I know there are those out there who make a lot of money disagreeing with me, but a lot of things actually taste better than being thin feels! Besides, she may look great, but is this really someone you want to take advice from:
Dear Prudence
Posted by zoboxrox in charity, economy, health, human rights, international, science, tragedy on January 18th, 2010
Haiti, 2008
While the images coming out of Haiti since the January 12th earthquake are heartbreaking, images of Haiti before the massive devastation are nearly as appalling. For many, just one week ago, it was simply easier not to look.
Haiti has long been the pariah of the Western Hemisphere, deemed the poorest country, many Americans don’t even realize it shares an island, Hispaniola, with popular hot spot the Dominican Republic. With HIV rates unheard of on this side of the world, not to mention Malaria and a killer strain of drug resistant Tuberculosis, and levels of poverty we have only seen in Hollywood films, Americans have found it surprisingly easy to overlook Haiti’s hellish existence in the past, despite its close proximity and dire need for aide. And while there are those who have dedicated their lives to moving mountains in this forgotten place (Paul Farmer and his Partners in Health comes to mind most immediately, but there are certainly others as well, many with little to no recognition at all), there is no question that Haiti has been more or less abandoned by the rest of the world.
While the media provides us with day to day body counts and relays gruesome details of injuries and loss, forcing us to see what we’ve ignored for so long, racking up donations from the college student text messager to the saintly celebrity givers, I can only wonder, if this Disaster Relief had poured in years ago, would we be facing the situation we are facing today?
Jian Lin, a WHOI senior scientist in geology and geophysics, said that there were three factors that made the quake particularly devastating: First, it was centered just 10 miles southwest of the capital city, Port au Prince; second, the quake was shallow—only about 10-15 kilometers below the land’s surface; third, and more importantly, many homes and buildings in the economically poor country were not built to withstand such a force and collapsed or crumbled.
When there are no roads, no hospitals, no doctors, no reliable government, no one to really trust, how far can the money go? Perhaps the lesson here is of prudent giving — spending money earlier, before its too late.
Happy Veterans Day
Obama’s speech at Fort Hood on Tuesday was one of the best he’s given so far as President. While its not his Veteran’s Day speech, I find it appropriate for today as well.
Every single soldier in our volunteer military, is a veteran, whether thay have fought on foreign soils, protected those at home, or died tragically while preparing for deployment. It is not about the struggles they will face, it is about the sacrifice they have already made before they ever learn to shoot a gun or run a drill. This is a sacrifice that too often goes unnoticed – forgotten — even as we are engaged in two militarized conflicts.
Here is a list of the names of the fallen. Please take a moment to read at least one name. Remember that this is someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, etc. And whether or not you believe in the wars we are fighting, honor the sacrifice that so many have made. As Obama said:
Your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life’s work is our security, and the freedom that we all too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — that is their legacy.
If you are feeling very humbled, consider donating to this charitable operation: Clearwater Initiative.
Founded in 2007 by Army Capt. Ben Sklaver while stationed in Uganda, Clearwater provides clean water ”to populations effected by natural or man-made humanitarian emergencies.”
Ben was killed on October 2 of this year in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. This post is dedicated to him, and to the thousands of others like him, who sacrifice so much so that we may be free.
Its been a while. I apologize.
Posted by zoboxrox in crime, human rights, justice, tragedy on August 31st, 2009
In the meantime, I’ve achieved the dream aka employment aka data entry (hazzah!), Ted Kennedy died (RIP old Lion), 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt died (sad), John Hughes died (sad), Les Paul died (um, sad?), Dominic Dunne died (he was still alive?), DJ AM died (…) and Jaycee Dugard, a 29 year old woman who has been missing for 18 years, was found and “rescued” from her “alleged” abductor, who also happens to be the father of her two daughters, aged 15 and 11 (unbelievable). Now I know I should be writing about Kennedy, as this is a political blog, but I just can’t stop reading about this young woman’s unimaginable life.
There are a lot of bizarre details. For instance, the kidnapper and rapist, Phillip Garrido, had a record and was on parole for a previous abduction and rape charge from the late 1970s. Despite being convicted of heinous crimes, his 50 year sentence was reduced:
Katie Callaway Hall thought about him every day since November 22, 1976 when he asked her for a ride at a supermarket in California, before handcuffing her, binding her and taking her to a mini-warehouse in Reno, Nevada, where he raped her.
Garrido was convicted for kidnapping and raping Hall, but was released after serving just over 10 years of a 50-year sentence. He was labeled a sex offender and put on lifetime parole.
So, not only did they let this guy go, they also neglected to check up on him, despite his “lifetime” parole status. If they had been more attentive, perhaps they would have noticed the three young women, living in shacks in the Garrido’s back yard. In fact, in 2006 neighbors called to report that young girls appeared to be living in tents on the property, and an officer visited the house, but never made it into the back:
…a California sheriff admitted today that his officers booted a chance to rescue Jaycee nearly three years ago.
“We missed an opportunity to bring earlier closure to this situation,” Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren E. Rupf said in a news conference today, “I am first in line …. to offer my apologies to the victims and accept responsibility for missing an opportunity to rescue Jaycee.”
Rupf said that a woman called 911 on Nov. 30, 2006 complained that people, including children, appeared to be living in tents in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido’s house in the town of Antioch, Calif. “The caller also said Garrido was psychotic and had a sexual addiction,” he said.
How awful. Can you believe there was a wife the whole time?!
But you know what no one’s really talking about, which I think is maybe the worst part of this whole situation: this man is these two girls father, both genetically and, more importantly, paternally. While I can’t even try to imagine what this must be like for Jaycee Dugard, there is a whole other level of grief involved for the children because being discovered, which to the outside seems like a miracle, is in reality destroying the only family they’ve ever had. This is way beyond Stockholm Syndrome.
Its the kind of situation where there’s no right answer, the ultimate Kobayashi Maru.
Not to make light or anything. I just don’t know how to handle such heavy shit.
Why why why why why?
Posted by zoboxrox in corporate america, economy, health, human rights, international, malfunction, politics, religion, tragedy on August 17th, 2009
So, the major problem with American Democracy is that it is representative: we elect people who we feel will represent our views within the legislative body upon which they sit – we do not participate in our democracy directly — we are not always privy to the actual truth. Majority rules, and so depending on where you are and who won your local elections, this means you may not be represented at all. If your guy lost, then basically, you’re voice remains silent as your elected representative fulfills the needs of most of the people, which could be as little as one percentage point over half, in your district/county/state.
The reason this is a major problem, it seems pretty clear to me now, is that the majority of Americans are at worst stupid, and at best simply irresponsible, ignorant, gullible, stubborn, and set in their ways. What always amazes me is the fact that people actually vote against what’s in their own best interest: fiscally, the Republican Party only benefits around 5% of the population.
With Universal Health Care we meet a similar problem. Many of the people who’s lives would be improved by it, are being lied to and misinformed. Take this guy, for instance, who if you can believe it, is actually a Senator, Chuck Grassley of Iowa. He doesn’t even come close to answering the question he’s been asked, and then he lies, repeatedly, to those who he is supposed to be representing:
Come on Chuck. LETS BE TRUTHFUL!!
So here are the Top 5 lies about some of our health care options, and the one truth standing in its way:
LIES:
1. Single Payer Health Care is the same thing Socialized Medicine: NOT TRUE
Socialized Medicine doesn’t actually exist, but if it did, it would still be different than Single Payer System. Under “socialized medicine” the doctors work for the government directly. Single Payer simply means there is a single fund or insurance company which is making payments aka “centralized payment”:
Single-payer health insurance is a term used in the United States to describe the legislated insurance of individuals by way of centralized payment of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers and facilities…. The administrator of the fund could be the government but it could also be a publicly owned agency regulated by law
2. Socialized Medicine leads to Socialism: NOT TRUE
We currently have socialized the following industries, and I’m pretty sure most every American, red-blooded or blue, would like to keep it this way: The Police Department, The Fire Department, The United States Postal Service, The Public Education System, The Public Library, and Neighborhood Parks and Recreational Services.
Imagine the outrage if we decided to privatize fire services, and unless you had insurance, your local department, no matter how close or how able, would simply let your house burn down. And we don’t talk about a government run Fire Department - it has not communalized our way of life, nor taken control of our personal liberties. It is simply something no American could imagine living without, which is exactly how they feel about health care in the countries where it is free.
3. Universal Health Care would be more expensive than our current system: NOT TRUE
Turns out, we spend more right now, both individually and as a nation, than we would in a government funded option.
A 2003 study examined costs and outputs in the U.S and other industrialized countries and broadly concluded that the U.S spends so much because its health care system is more costly. It noted that “…the United States spent considerably more on health care than any other country…[yet] most measures of aggregate utilization such as physician visits per capita and hospital days per capita were below the OECD median. Since spending is a product of both the goods and services used and their prices, this implies that much higher prices are paid in the United States than in other countries.
Perhaps it has something to do with the $71 Billion that Pfizer raked in last year, or the $61 Billion Johnson & Johnson made on pharmaceutical products alone.
4. Health Care in countries with a Universal System suffers in quality as a result: NOT TRUE
Not only is health care in the United States more expensive than it is in any other “first world” country, it turns out, its also not as good. I have this argument all the time: “Oh but we have by far the best health care in the world…” or “I’d rather be in a hospital in America than anywhere else….” Funny. The World Health Organization disagrees with you. As do over half of the citizens of Western Europe.
See here. Or here. Or here. Or here.
5. The government wants to create “Death Panels” in order to kill your elderly grandmother or your disabled child: JUST SO NOT TRUE
While a “death panel” more or less already exists, its called an insurance company, this particular piece of nonsense actually stems from a bill, written by a Republican member of Congress mind you, which requested that, part of health care reform would include end of life counseling for those approaching death. The horrors!
A couple months ago I had the opportunity to see New York Times contributor Jane Brody speak on her newest book, Jane Brody’s Guide to the Great Beyond: A Practical Primer to Help You and Your Loved Ones Prepare Medically, Legally, and Emotionally for the End of Life. As someone who, throughout her entire career has focused on living well and prolonging a healthy life, I can truly say Jane Brody is not the kind of person who would kill your grandma. She is, however, knowledgeable enough on the subject of death, that I trust her when she says the following: receive End of Life counseling, have a living will and a health care proxy, if you are in a situation where death is a possibility, acknowledge that!
So if your little old grandma is sitting at home alone, listening to conservative talk radio, clutching her shotgun and trembling in fear for her life, please just bring her a newspaper. If she can’t see the tiny print, read it out loud to her! Because right now, the people she’s supposed to be able to trust, well they’re lying and it ain’t helping granny out one little bit.
A Futile War: Part I
Posted by zoboxrox in War on Drugs, crime, human rights, justice, tragedy on July 28th, 2009
In honor of the late great Walter Cronkite, the Most Trusted Man in America, Part I of my look at the War on Drugs focuses on the following snippets from an article he wrote for The Huffington Post in March 2006 (my comments are in orange).
When I wanted to understand the truth about the war on drugs, I took the same approach I did to the war in Vietnam: I hit the streets and reported the story myself. I sought out the people whose lives this war has affected. Allow me to introduce you to some of them… [there is an entire website dedicated to the innocent victims of the drug war, their ages range from 8 months to 88 years].
…Jan Warren, a single mother who lived in New Jersey with her teenage daughter. Pregnant, poor and desperate, Jan agreed to transport eight ounces of cocaine to a cousin in upstate New York. Police officers were waiting at the drop-off point, and Jan - five months pregnant and feeling ill - was cuffed and taken in.
Did she commit a crime? Sure. But what awaited Jan Warren defies common sense and compassion alike. Under New York’s infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws [recently dismantled by Albany legislature and Governor David Patterson, who is quoted as saying “I can’t think of a criminal justice strategy that has been more unsuccessful than the Rockefeller drug laws”], Jan - who miscarried soon after the arrest - was sentenced to 15 years to life…
In Tulia, Texas, an investigator fabricated evidence that sent more than one out of every ten of the town’s African American residents to jail on trumped-up drug charges in one of the most despicable travesties of justice this reporter has ever seen [here is a link to this story, even more info here]….
…[The Drug War] surely hasn’t made our streets safer [see graph below*]. Instead, we have locked up literally millions of people…disproportionately people of color…who have caused little or no harm to others - wasting resources that could be used for counter-terrorism, reducing violent crime, or catching white-collar criminals.
Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on this effort - with no one held accountable for its failure.
Amid the clichés of the drug war, our country has lost sight of the scientific facts. Amid the frantic rhetoric of our leaders, we’ve become blind to reality: The war on drugs, as it is currently fought, is too expensive, and too inhumane
While You Were Mourning…
Posted by zoboxrox in environment, health, international, malfunction, miracle, not news, politics, religion, science, tragedy on July 2nd, 2009
So my favorite eatery has captioned CNN on their television at all times (hence, my favorite) and while the 24/7 media channel has a tendency to be a little hokey, perhaps overblown, and often downright dramatic (but no news is good news right?), I respect them simply for the fact that they are huge enough to sink their perfectly manicured, yet often clumsy, claws into most every major news item au current. I can’t help myself, then, from feeling majorly disappointed that this generally satisfactory and overly accessible outlet for information is, at this very moment, reporting “BREAKING NEWS: VIDEO OF MICHAEL JACKSON’S FINAL REHEARSAL RELEASED.” (Here it is if you’re curious… entertaining, but not news)
I have to ask myself, is this really breaking news? And don’t get me wrong, I love MJ. I was a die hard Jackson fan even when it was embarrassing to admit. My list of favorite songs include some of the lesser known, deeper felt (”She’s Out of My Life” now has a whole new meaning), and I’m proud to say that while its not a consistent ability, I have successfully moonwalked on occasion. BUT — before I am a Michael Jackson fan, I am a citizen of the world, and my deeper concern lies in what has happened in the week since his untimely passing. So here is the list of Top 5 News Events that occurred while you were mourning:
1. Lets start with the ridiculously important act by the House last Friday, June 26, which, after years of ignoring the inconvenient truth, passed H.R. 2454, or The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. While the act itself is far (far far far far) from perfect, and in truth it dragged itself across the finish line at the last second, winning by only seven votes, it is hugely significant because it is the first time Congress has formally recognized what every other thinking American knows as Global Warming, Climate Change, the Greenhouse Effect (remember that one?), the End of the World, etc:
The vote was the first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change. The legislation, which passed despite deep divisions among Democrats, could lead to profound changes in many sectors of the economy, including electric power generation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction.
President Obama hailed the House passage of the bill as “a bold and necessary step.” He said in a statement that he looked forward to Senate action that would send a bill to his desk “so that we can say, at long last, that this was the moment when we decided to confront America’s energy challenge and reclaim America’s future.”
But I bet a lot of people didn’t hear about this. After all, we’d only had a day since Michael’s passing. Who cares about… you know, the world…?
2. Two days later, on Sunday June 28th, a little place called Honduras, you may have heard of it, its part of our continent, went ahead and had themselves a coup. 
Back story is as follows: Left-leaning President Manuel Zelaya (think Chavez, with a mustache) was pushing for legislative reform which would allow him to lift the term restrictions for presidents, enabling him to run again (think Mayor Bloomberg, without the cash). Apparently the military found this completely unacceptable, and in the middle of the night, took over the government and exiled Zelaya to Costa Rica (actually, that sounds pretty nice).
In the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war, soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, early in the morning, disarming the presidential guard, waking Mr. Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica.
Mr. Zelaya, a leftist aligned with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, angrily denounced the coup as illegal. “I am the president of Honduras,” he insisted at the airport in San José, Costa Rica, still wearing his pajamas….
Church services were canceled and most people stayed home. Several thousand protesters supporting the president faced off against soldiers outside the presidential palace, burning tires.
The government television station and a television station that supports the president were taken off the air. Television and radio stations broadcast no news. Only wealthy Hondurans with access to the Internet and cable television were able to follow the day’s events.
Normally a coup would be pretty big news — HUGE. Remember in Pretty Woman when she goes back into the store to tell them what a mistake they’ve made by not letting her shop — HUGE MISTAKE — well this is huge the way that was.
3. Another two days later, in the early morning of Tuesday June 30, a passenger plane, an Airbus 310 to be exact, carrying 153 people, crashed on its way from Yemen to the Comoros Islands. 
While normally this would be an instant global tragedy for the world to rubberneck, the story becomes even more unbelievable, as a sole survivor, a 14 year old girl who can barely swim, is rescued, found floating in the Indian Ocean. The young woman, Bahia Bakari, was traveling with her mother and three siblings, all of whom are believed to be dead, and cannot explain how it is she managed to stay alive.
A severely bruised young girl believed to be the only survivor of an Indian Ocean p
lane crash flew back Thursday to Paris, where she was embraced gently by her father, who tried to lift her spirits with a joke.
Bahia Bakari, 12, returned to France from the Comoros Islands on a French government plane. The Falcon-900 jet with medical facilities left the archipelago nation, a former French colony, and arrived at Le Bourget airport just north of Paris…
Bahia, described by her father as a fragile girl who could barely swim, spent over 13 hours in the water clinging to wreckage before she was rescued. She was found suffering from hypothermia, a fractured collarbone and widespread bruises to her face, elbow and foot….
“In the midst of the mourning, there is Bahia. It is a miracle, it is an absolutely extraordinary battle for survival,” France’s cooperation minister, Alain Joyandet, who flew back with her, said at the airport. “It’s an enormous message that she sends to the world … almost nothing is impossible.”
And yet, there are people who don’t even know this story, haven’t even heard of Bahia, because Michael Jackson died last week, and there’s only so much room for misery in one’s life.
4. Later that very same day, Al Franken defeated Norm Coleman in the final battle of the war for the Minnesota Senate Seat.
Apparently Coleman had to dip into his dental fund to continue the lawsuit, and when pressed with the idea that he may be required to shell out even more cash, decided to call it quits, like a true conservative. Obama now has 60 friends in the Senate. He can basically do anything he wants. Even Bush never had it this good. And while I’m sure people know this happened, no one really seems to care. All of the passion Americans have put into politics over the past year, seems to have died with MJ.
5. Finally, the people of Iran continued to struggle for basic human rights, like freedom, and fairness, and safety. They continued to protest, continued to recieve beatings, continued to be kidnapped, murdered, or worst of all, disappeared. They continued to document their troubles as well, but couldn’t post the images online, their main resource at this time, because the inernet had basically crashed with Michael Jackson frenzy.
So here’s a little video someone put up on YouTube to remind us all, its not over, its only just begun.
(Amanda — don’t watch this)
Why You Wanna Break My Heart?
Posted by zoboxrox in church and state, human rights, justice, malfunction, politics, tragedy on June 16th, 2009
I realize I haven’t been completely objective (not that I ever claimed to be), and for a while there, I was a member of the Obama cheer-leading squad, but I’ve got to say, for me at least, the honeymoon is now officially over. Its not that I expected the new administration to do everything right, especially considering the seemingly insurmountable trouble they are faced with; its just, I never thought they would do something so clearly wrong.
To be fair, lets give a little context.
The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA as it is known, was a bill signed into law by President Clinton – NOT President Bush — on September 21, 1996. It basically says that no state can be forced to recognize other state’s same-sex marriages and that the federal government is required not to. So yeah, its pretty bad.
No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.
In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ’spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife
Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, a gay couple who were married in California before Proposition 8 and had taken the two bans on marriage to Federal Court, were fought by the Obama Administration’s Justice Department. While it is rare for an administration not to defend the current laws (though not unheard of), whether or not they agree with them, it makes matters worse that Justice Department has written a brief which makes arguments comparing gay marriage to incestuous relationships.
The brief insists it is reasonable for states to favor heterosexual marriages because they are the “traditional and universally recognized form of marriage.” In arguing that other states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages under the Constitution’s “full faith and credit” clause, the Justice Department cites decades-old cases ruling that states do not have to recognize marriages between cousins or an uncle and a niece.
This is not a direction I expected this president to go in. For someone who travels the globe, preaching tolerance and understanding, he should make more of an effort to practice it at home.
Guns Don’t Kill People - Bombs are much more effective
If anyone is wondering why liberals press for stronger gun control, I think the events of the past two weeks paint a pretty clear picture.
Perhaps it is related to the penchant for ultra-right wing conservatives to turn to violence as means of expression. At least lefty lunatics are mostly non-violent, even if they are smelly… or happy… or whatever it is that makes them so frightening to conservatives. While there are certainly some exceptions to this rule (The Revolutionary War, The Civil War, and World War II were all fought for progressive causes or against fascist ones. In addition, members of certain civil rights groups, such as the SDS or the Black Panter Party, occasionally resorted to violence in the 1960s) it is overwhelmingly evident that “there is a dangerous and virulent streak of violence and fascism in American conservatism, now and throughout our country’s history,” (Lux). For Christ’s sake, Dick Cheney shoots his own friends!
The murder of Dr. George Tiller reminded those of us who forgot to live in fear, that the fringe cannot be reasoned with. The more recent shooting at the Holocaust Museum, which killed security guard Steven Johns, reinstated the fact that the deadliest terror occurring on our soil today is home-grown and right-wing. Its all just so ironic and hypocritical, in the end, it fits perfectly into the disintegration of the Republican Party — most conservatives I know don’t want to be associated with violence and murder. It doesn’t look good in alumni magazines.
Here are some other examples:
- The Oklahoma City Bombing - April 19, 1995; Right-wing American terrorist Timothy McVeigh, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, claiming the lives of 168 victims and injuring more than 680. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings in a sixteen-block radius.
- The Centennial Olympic Park Bombing - July 27, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia; 1996 Summer Olympics, committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, former explosives expert for the United States Army and active member of the Army of God. Two people died, and 111 were injured.
- The Ku Klux Klan, The Army of God, The National Alliance,
- The assassinations of President Abraham Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King
Weekend Update
Posted by zoboxrox in corporate america, crime, human rights, international, justice, religion, tragedy on June 8th, 2009
A lot of people responded to the article I wrote a few months ago, Authority to Kill a Minority. Well I noticed this article recently and I wanted to update you all on the situation of the murder of Oscar Grant, by BART officer, Johannes Mehserle.
An Alameda County Superior Court judge has ruled there is enough evidence to have former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle stand trial on a murder charge for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III.
Cell phone video shows Mehserle, 27, shot 22-year-old Grant once in the back as he lay face down on the platform of the Fruitvale BART station early on New Year’s Day. Police had been called to the station to respond to reports of a fight on a train.
The judge said in his ruling, “Grant and the others may have been loud, uncooperative and argumentative, but these young men did nothing to warrant the use of deadly force.”
Another update comes to us from Laos, where Samantha Orobator was awaiting trial for smuggling drugs into the country. After pleading guilty, Samantha was spared the death penalty, and instead convicted to life in prison. The United Kingdom and Laos, aided by Sweden, are in talks for a prisoner exchange, so that Samantha may be permitted to carry out her sentence in her home.
Samantha Orobator, 20, from South London, admitted attempting to carry 680g (24oz) of heroin on to a flight from Laos to Thailand last August. Campaigners are pressing for her to be returned to serve her sentence in a British jail before the birth of her child, expected in September. But the one-day trial, in Vientiane, the Laotian capital, has not clarified the most puzzling question about the case: how did the Nigerian-born Orobator become pregnant in the notorious Phanthong prison?
The conception may have saved her life. Like other South-East Asian countries, Laos takes an unforgiving attitude to the drug trade and in most cases heroin smugglers face death by firing squad for amounts of more than 500g. Under Laotian law, however, a pregnant woman cannot be executed.
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