Tuesday, October 4, 2011
What I've Learned
1. Each Day is a clean slate....The fact that you survived one day doesn't mean you've got it in the bag this day.
2. A Good Friend is always there at the right time and yet not there at the right time too! (Think about that!)
3.I like to write....but more so, I like to have written.
4.Sex is a physical act, Love is a state of being.
5. Sex and Love are both enjoyable , but both can come in short supply sometimes.
6.Find an activity that engulfs you so much that you lose track of all time and you've found what you should be doing most of the time!
7.Half of the battle with being extremely confident is being able to exude it to other people, even when you're not feeling that confident yourself!
8.Your children aren't fooled by your pomposity!
9.Arrogant people lack self awareness.
10.As long as I'm right most of the time....I don't mind the rare time when I'm a complete idiot!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Don't Ask, Don't Tell....Don't Care....
You know usually when you retire from a job or you graduate from school or say , you just leave a job and move on....You always say to the people you knew (and likewise they say to you) ''We'll keep in touch". You know , you all promise each other you'll do that and you even take phone numbers and addresses..but then you start your new life , you make new friends, you get a new schedule and soon, you forget all about those folks you left behind.
How many of you really keep up with people you went to high school with? or college or your first job???Well, that used to be the way things went...But today thanks in part to Facebook,Twitter and even blogger..Social Networking sites...
We can keep up with everybody from every period of our lives....I retired from the U.S, Air Force on the eve of such a boon in technology. Thanks in a large part to it....The people I cared about the most when I was in the Air Force keep up with each other and every four or five months we actually meet up and have a meal together , just like in the old days when we had a meal in the "chow hall"
This past weekend, Me and about 13 of my old Air Force pals met up at Chickie and Petes to enjoy a meal and to watch the Phillies play the Cardinals in the first of the playoff games this season. We organized the entire thing on Facebook.
Most Philadelphians know that Chickie and Petes is the ultimate Philly sports fan's sportsbar....So it has been said...I could name a few that I like better...but since this is where we were on Saturday night , watching the game...I'll leave it at that!
What was special about this was this was the largest turnout we've had since we've been doing this...People came who hadn't previously come to these events....People I hadn't seen since I retired in 2006. One person in particular who came to the event was someone who we had all suspected was a homosexual. A few of us had whispered about it...but it had never gone any further than that. What also was apparent was that I am pretty sure that everyone on our base was aware of this person's sexual orientation and to their credit, did not make a big deal of it and did no more than whisper about it, if anything was said at all.
This person was as patriotic an American as any of us and performed their duties admirably in all of the 22 years I knew them in the United States Air Force...So contradictory to all of those nay sayers...This person's orientation did not disturb or destroy military discipline. Of course you could argue that this person was also in the closet.. You could argue that during the last ten years of my military career...We couldn't ask this person about their orientation even if we had wanted to and they were under no obligation to tell.
This person I am speaking of retired just six months shy of President Obama lifting the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
law from the military and allowing Gays to serve openly in the military...Last night ,perhaps it was the fact that this person was no longer in the military and therefore free of it's laws or perhaps that this person had way too much to drink.....or both....I over heard this person discussing for the first time the nature of their realtionship and their domestic partner....Several of my compadres expressed admiration and joy at how long our former associates relationship had managed to last....This relationship had lasted longer than some our heterosexual unions...
It must have been freeing for this person to finally be able to talk about their partner...When I would be talking about my wife and my daughter and my grandchildren or one of the women would be talking about their husbands or their children or their pregnancies...This person of whom I am talking about could only talk about their "room-mate" and their room-mate's child....
It was quite obvious that this person and the "room-mate" were raising the child (Now a twenty something adult) together...but there was no way in the Reagon 80's when we all entered the military anytime up until now that the true nature of their relationship could be discussed.
Saturday night, it was discussed and it was not an issue...I was proud of my former Air Force comrades for the decent, sensitive and human way we all comported ourselves...I don't know if our gay comrade will wake up Sunday morning and wonder what they said or not...(Sometimes I wonder what I say, even when I'm not drinking.) but one thing is for sure...It didn't matter to us when we were in the military and knew and it doesn't matter to us now that we are civilians and still know....
Most people are decent ...I believe this in my heart....and when they are thrown together in difficult circumstances and have to work together for the good of the whole...they tend to see what they have in common more than their differences....This group was made up of African-Americans, Latinos, Whites, Men, women, straight and gay....and what we all shared in common was service , protecting the nation from it's enemies...domestic and foreign....We all had to learn to work together and when one's life is dependent on another person doing their part and playing their role and performing their duties properly...no one has any time to worry about the color of someone's skin, someone's gender, someone's language or who someone chose to sleep with....We only see the human being....not their politics or sexual orientation.
One day a future generation will read our history and wonder how we got so many things wrong...as far as civil rights , gender equality and just plain humanity is concerned...I hope that we who are currently living will be the fathers and mothers of that generation...
To my former Air Force comrade , who is now out of the closet...congratulations on finally being free!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Another of Keith's Favorite Quotes
“Though the colored man is no longer subject to barter and sale, he is surrounded by an adverse settlement which fetters all his movements.
In his downward course he meets with no resistance, but his course upward is resented and resisted at every step of his progress.
If he comes in ignorance, rags and wretchedness he conforms to the popular belief of his character, and in that character he is welcome; but if he shall come as a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman, he is hailed as a contradiction to the national faith concerning his race, and his coming is resented as impudence.
In one case he may provoke contempt and derision, but in the other he is an affront to pride and provokes malice.”
Frederick Douglass
September 25, 1883
Kind of makes sense when you really think about it...doesn't it?
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Keith's Favorite Quotes
"So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart."
Former New York Gov. George Pataki read a verse by a former poet laureate at the Ground Zero memorial service.
"I meant to post this around September 11th"- Keith.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Weekend Humor
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Ghost of Michael Jackson
If you listened, you could hear him.....Not the horribly incoherent voice on the tape that was played in a California courtroom yesterday that was purportedly a high Michael Jackson, recorded one month before his tragic , June 2009 death...but the real Michael Jackson....with the beautiful high pitched tenor....belting out a nice song...
As I watched a little bit of Dr. Conrad Murray's trial on television yesterday...my mind drifted...as it often does now of days and I swear , I saw and heard Michael singing....and standing in the back of the courtroom, totally oblivious to the whole thing.
Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray called the singer's personal assistant rather than an ambulance when he realized the "Thriller" star had stopped breathing on June 25, 2009, a Los Angeles court heard yesterday.
And after the superstar was pronounced dead hours later in hospital, Dr. Conrad Murray wanted to return to Jackson's house and find some cream that the singer "wouldn't want the world to know about," personal assistant Michael Williams testified.
Michael Williams was testifying for the prosecution about the chaotic morning of Jackson's death on the second day of Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial.
Prosecutors claim that Dr. Conrad Murray not only caused Michael Jackson's death by giving him the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, but that he also failed to get timely medical assistance after finding Michael Jackson unresponsive at 11:56 a.m. on June 25, 2009.
Dr. Murray has admitted giving Michael propofol as a sleep aid. But his attorneys claim Michael Jackson gave himself an extra dose of the anesthetic, as well as other prescription drugs, and that that was what caused his sudden death. The good Doctor faces four years in prison if convicted.
II-
On June 25, the call for an ambulance was not made until 12:20 p.m., when a security guard at the mansion, where Michael Jackson lay lifeless in his bedroom, dialed emergency services.
Prosecutors said Dr.Murray's first attempt to get help was at 12:12 p.m. when he called Michael Williams and left a message saying, "Call me right away."
Mr.Williams, who was at home, testified that he called Dr. Murray back at 12:15 p.m., and was told Jackson had suffered "a bad reaction."
"When I hear a 'bad reaction,' I wouldn't think anything fatal, personally, and I wasn't asked to call 911," Williams said. He said that Dr. Murray told him to get to Michael Jackson's mansion immediately and also to send up a security guard.
Mr.Williams testified that when he arrived at the Michael Jackson mansion, the ambulance was already there.
"It was real frantic. I got there when the gurney (carrying Jackson) was coming down" from the bedroom, Williams said.
Williams said that in the months before the death, it was normal for oxygen canisters to be kept at the mansion, and that Murray would take them to Michael Jackson's bedroom.
The assistant said that at the hospital where Jackson was later pronounced dead, Dr.Murray made a request that seemed strange.
"He said, ''There's some cream in Michael's room that he wouldn't want the world to know about,'' and he requested that I or someone would give him a ride back to the house, so that he could get the cream," said Williams.
Prosecutors have suggested that Murray probably wanted to return there to remove evidence of the drugs that he had given Michael Jackson before he died.
Earlier on Wednesday, a lawyer who drafted Murray's contract to provide medical services for Jackson said the doctor had assured her multiple times in the days before his death that the singer's health was good.
"Dr. Murray told me repeatedly that Michael Jackson was perfectly healthy, in excellent condition," Los Angeles attorney Kathy Jorrie said on the witness stand.
And so the sideshow begins...The sideshow that had surrounded Michael Jackson ever since he was introduced to the world on the Ed Sullivan show in 1969, when he (and I) were both 11 years old. This is just the opening salvos of a trial that could grow to be as controversial as the O.J. Simpson trial...and yet, despite the beginning drama of it all....if you listened.....if you looked real hard, you could see him....Singing a beautiful song...Moonwalking.....At peace now....oblivious of it all!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
At it Again
While we were all focused on the Death Penalty case of Troy Lewis last week, the Republicans and the Tea Party attempted to shut the government down again and hold it hostage...Yes they did? Most of us, myself included..Weren't even aware...What is with these guys?
Senate leaders announced on Monday afternoon that they have reached an agreement to keep the government running.(Well Thank God for that!)
The new resolution funds the federal government through Nov. 18, including $2.65 billion for FEMA that the agency can start using on Saturday. The new amount reduces $1 billion from the House's proposed figure, instead of offsetting it with cuts to a Department on Energy lending program to support energy-efficient cars. Democrats agreed to the reduced amount in light of FEMA's announcement earlier in the day that it could stretch its current funding to last through Friday.
Although the deal still needs approval in the House, the Senate is hoping the measure will avert a government shutdown.
Don't get too comfortable, Threats of a government shutdown are still in play, as the House and Senate butt heads over the federal budget.
Government agency funding is set to expire on Friday, and last week the Republican-controlled House passed its bill to extend spending and provide additional money for disaster relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The agency has nearly depleted its resources after this year's string of hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms and wildfires. But the bill's $3.65 billion for FEMA has a catch -- the demand that it be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. They found $1.5 billion in savings, for example, through an Energy Department program that makes loans to car companies for manufacturing energy-efficient cars.
Dismayed Democrats say that requiring offsets for emergency aid has never been done in the past -- and it's not a precedent they want to set. The Senate is preparing to vote on a measure providing $3.65 billion to FEMA without the spending cuts stipulated in the House bill. The measure is a compromise from an earlier Senate bill that had requested $7 billion for emergency relief.
If the two sides don't reach an agreement, FEMA is close to running out of money this week. The rest of the government would shut down by October.
Represenative William Lacy Clay (Democrat, Mo.) said , and I agree- "It's outrageous that the Republican Tea Party has decided to hold disaster relief for thousands of Americans hostage while they threaten to shut down the government for no good reason,"
These guys will stop at nothing, just to make President Obama look bad and to get back the White House..They are willing to let the country go over the cliff, both literally and figurtively...I'm just shaking my head..
He went on to say -""We come to D.C. to do the people's business, not to engage in bad political theater."
The danger of putting emergency aid on the line is close to home for Represenative Clay, who saw tornadoes rip through his Missouri district last spring and cause extreme damage to other parts of his state.
"FEMA is essential to helping local communities get back on their feet," he said. "In Joplin, Missouri, we had a once-in-a-lifetime disaster -- 165 people dead, more than 1,000 injuries and 8,000 structures destroyed. No local or state government is prepared to handle something like that. That's why we have FEMA, and that's why we should never politicize disaster recovery funding."
And yet...this is what House and Senate Republicans and Tea Party folks are continually doing with this latest stunt.
Rep. Terri Sewell (Democrat-Ala.) likewise finds the House bill irresponsible. She represents an Alabama district that was also struck by tornadoes that killed more than 200 people in the state last spring. The Department of Energy, she further pointed out, says that the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program on the chopping block has created at least 38,000 permanent jobs and 4,000 constructing jobs over the past two years.
"We should not have to choose between protecting thousands of jobs and ensuring that families have the necessary resources to rebuild and recover when a major disaster strikes," said Sewell. "I think it's wrong to try and balance the budget on the backs of people who have had their lives destroyed by natural disasters."
Republicans Like Eric "Hedge Fund Baby" Cantor doesn't feel the same!
Although House Republicans argue that it makes good, deficit-trimming sense to offset funding for emergency aid,Represenative Clay isn't buying their stated concern over fiscal responsibility.
"What is fiscally irresponsible is funding two wars to the tune of $1.2 trillion, and a Medicare Prescription Drug Part D benefit, on a credit card," said Represenative Clay. "What is fiscally irresponsible is giving two tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires without paying for them. Now, all of a sudden, they have this premonition that they want to be fiscally responsible? Where were they for the last decade?" (Thank You..It's what I've been saying since I started this blog.)
Represenative Clay continued that Republicans have become too accustomed to using political brinkmanship in negotiations. "The more we compromise, the fewer jobs we create," he said. "We need to stop with the compromising, and stop with the false bars that they raise."
Both Clay and Sewell stopped short, however, of advocating for a government shutdown just to show Republicans the economic and political consequences. Both say they are prepared to work on figuring out a solution that keeps the country functioning. Good Luck with that!
"We shouldn't fall prey to the same type of obstructionist politics, holding the needs of the American people hostage for political gain," said Sewell. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to seek a resolution to this matter that will include not having to shut down the government."
If Americans can't see through this now (and chances are, most aren't even aware of it) then I don't know what it will take to make people see...
For those of you still struggling with whether to take the Republicans serious..I ask you..Where is the patriotism in this?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Memo To The South - The Civil War is Over!
If I'm not mistaken, The Civil War has been over for 146 years, though in some places, some folks still don't quite get it... I guess they missed the memo. Like in Summerville ,South Carolina for instance-
A year ago, dozens marched to protest the Confederate flag a white woman flew from her porch in a historically black Southern neighborhood. After someone threw a rock at her porch, she put up a wooden lattice. That was just the start of the building.
Earlier this year, Annie Chambers Caddell's neighbors built two solid 8-foot high wooden fences on either side of her modest brick house to shield the Southern banner from view.
Late this summer, Caddell raised a flagpole higher than the fences to display the flag. Then a similar pole with an American flag was placed across the fence in the yard of neighbor Patterson James, who is black.
One hundred and fifty years after the Civil War began about 20 miles away in Charleston Harbor, fights continue over the meaning of the Confederate flag.
Some see it as a symbol of slavery and racism;(I have a friend, who sees red everytime he sees the confederate symbol on somebody's truck or car.) others like Caddell say it's part of their southern heritage."I'm here to stay. I didn't back down and because I didn't cower the neighbors say I'm the lady who loves her flag and loves her heritage," said the 51-year old Caddell who moved into the historically black Brownsville neighborhood in the summer of 2010.
Her ancestors fought for the Confederacy...She says...
Last October, about 70 of her African American neighbors marched in the street and sang civil rights songs to protest the flag, while about 30 others(White Sympathizers) stood in Annie Caddell's yard waving the Confederate flag. How sad that such little things like flags can seperate us along racial lines...In the climate in this country now...It won't take much. People are uncertain about their economic future and history shows that when people are uncertain and afraid...They tend to blame each other for everything. Easier than admiting that they're afraid and not in control.
Annie Caddell says "I'm not a racist "
Opponents of the confederate flag earlier gathered 200 names on a protest petition and took their case to a town council meeting where Caddell tearfully testified that she's not a racist.
Local officials have said she has the right to fly the flag, while her neighbors have the right to protest. And build fences too!
If she says she is not a racist..I'll give her the benefit of the doubt...Only she and God knows if that is so...and she does have the right to fly whatever flag she so desires in her yard....but...and there is always a but...A little common sense and sensitivity would do well here....She's in a predominately Black neighborhood and her neigbors, who are most certainly the descendants of slaves....feel sensitive about a flag that is a reminder of their southern heritage....a heritage that tends to be painful... A heritage that includes the State of South Carolina's treason against the rest of the United States as well as slavery and Jim Crow for it's African-American population.
I'll point out that slavery has been over also, for close to 165 years...but Jim Crow and lynching and the racist terror that came with that , while that rebel flag was being flown by the Klan and The White Citizen's councils is still a part of some people of a certain age's memories... That hasn't been that long.
I wouldn't move into a Jewish neighborhood and fly a swastika flag...It may sound like apples and oranges..but it's really the same thing... Is it that important for her to fly this flag and have an all out war with her neighbors???
You know, Peace and Peace of mind is priceless...
Friday, September 23, 2011
Weekend Humor
(Excerpt of a policeman, being grilled by a defense attorney!)
Q: Did you see my client flee the scene?
A: No, sir, I didn’t. But subsequently I observed someone running several blocks away who matched the description of the offender.
Q: Who provided you with the description?
A: The officer who responded to the scene.
Q: A fellow officer of yours provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust this fellow officer?
A: Yes, sir, with my life.
Q: With your life? Let me then ask you this, officer. Do you have a room were you change your clothes in preparation for the day’s duties?
A: Yes, sir, we do.
Q: And do you have a locker in that room?
A: Yes, sir, I do.
Q: And do you have a lock on your locker?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: Why is it, officer, that if you trust your fellow officers with your life, that you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with those some officers?
A: You see, sir, we share the building with the court complex. And sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Death Cycle
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Considering the fact that I am an unashamed Far Left Liberal...Many of you would be surprised to know that I am in favor of the death penalty. I'm in favor of it as long as it is administered fairly and there is little to no doubt about the guilt of the person being put to death.
Last Night around 11:08 pm, est...They put a man to death who I'm not 100% certain was guilty of the murder he was convicted of...The fact that this man went to his death still proclaiming his innocence disturbs me even more...It means that if Troy Davis was in fact innocent of the killing of the police officer...Then the real killer is still out there somewhere, sighing with releif...He got away with it...At least for now....He'll pay in a higher court! That's all a moot point now...Troy Davis is dead!
In Texas....a man who I am 100 percent certain was guilty...was also put to death last night...
Lawrence Russell Brewer, the ring leader of a trio of whites who kidnapped ,beat and then tied a Black man named James Byrd to their pick up truck and dragged him along the road until he was dead...Then they dropped his decapitated and mutilated remains on the grounds of a Black church and left ...This was one of the most shocking hate crimes in a long while and it put the city of Jasper,Texas on the map in an unfair and unkind light.....
Well, Last night....around 7:05 pm...Lawrence Brewer got to meet his maker. I hope James Byrd is waiting on the other side for Brewer and beats the hell out of him...Just kidding of course...Then again...I'm not!
Just a day before all of this...A man ,I'm also certain is guilty as hell was given a stay of execution by the Supreme Court...
The US supreme court has granted a stay of execution for a Texas death row inmate, just over two hours before he was scheduled to die.
Cleve Foster, a 47-year-old former Army recruiter, was convicted of the rape and murder of a young woman in 2002.
He was due to be put to death by lethal injection around 6pm local time in Texas on Tuesday night. It is the third time his execution has been stayed shortly before he was due to die.
In their brief order, the judges gave no reason why they granted the stay and said Foster's execution will be delayed while it considers his appeal.
Foster was one of two men convicted and sent to death row for fatally shooting a 30-year-old African-American woman whose body was found in a ditch by pipeline workers in Fort Worth in February 2002.
The other defendent..also sentenced to die by lethal injection, died of cancer last year.
Since the Supreme Court was handing out repreives this week , they also halted another execution of a person I believe was 100 percent guilty...
Duane Buck, a Black Houston man who gunned down his girlfriend and a man he believed she was cheating on him with and his own sister....was convicted and all but ready for a needle when, in the penalty phase of his trial...A so called "Expert witness",
A Psychologist..Told the jury that because Mr. Buck is Black, he is "More than likely to commit another violent crime if he was ever released again."
This statement is so racist and so stupid that there is no defense for it... That some white people actually believe this , is still amazing to me....Anyway...Buck's defense attorneys used this statement to sway the Supreme Court into giving him a stay of execution....Had the jury not heard this, it might have made the difference between a life sentence and a death sentence they reasoned.
Maybe....Maybe not...He confessed and his own sister , who survived the shooting testified against him....I think he was gone, but that's just me...
So in conclusion....The Supreme Court gave stays of execution to two men who are more than likely guilty...A Guilty man went to his death last night...and possibly, an innocent man also went to his death last night....
Does it add up? I don't know....I'm still left with a big zero!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Last Call for Clemency!
By the time you read this, it may already be too late for the young man in the photo above...Troy Davis. Georgia's pardons board rejected a last-ditch clemency plea from death row inmate Troy Davis on Tuesday despite high-profile support from figures including the pope and a former FBI director for the claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.
Troy Davis is scheduled to die today by lethal injection for the killing of off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was slain while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked. It is the fourth time in four years that Troy Davis' execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.
Steve Hayes, spokesman for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, said the panel decided to rejected Davis'latest request for clemency after hearing hours of testimony from his supporters and prosecutors. The board did not elaborate on the decision in its written official response to the clemency application.
The decision appeared to leave Davis with little chance of avoiding the execution date. Defense attorney Jason Ewart has said that the pardons board was likely Davis' last option.
Troy Davis' lawyers have long argued Davis was a victim of mistaken identity. But prosecutors say they have no doubt that they charged the right person with the crime.
The case of Troy Davis has captured worldwide attention largely because of the doubt that has been raised over whether he indeed is the man who killed Officer MacPhail.
Several of the witnesses who helped convict Davis at his 1991 trial have backed off their testimony or recanted. Others who did not testify say another man at the scene admitted to the shooting.
The U.S. Supreme Court even granted Davis a hearing last year to prove his innocence, the first time it had done so for a death row inmate in at least 50 years. But in that June 2010 hearing, Davis couldn't convince a federal judge to grant him a new trial. The Supreme Court did not review his case. Federal appeals courts and the Georgia Supreme Court have upheld his conviction, leaving the parole board as his last chance.
Officer MacPhail's relatives said they were relieved by the decision. "That's what we wanted, and that's what we got," said Anneliese MacPhail, the victim's mother. "We wanted to get it over with, and for him to get his punishment."
I'm just saying....If you're going to take somebody's life, make damn sure you've got the right person...All of these people who have suddenly recanted is bothering me..It should be bothering anyone truly interested in fairness and justice..
II-
So just what happened on that summer night in 1989? Officer Mark MacPhail was working a late-night shift as a security guard on Aug. 19, 1989, when he saw a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped at a nearby Burger King parking lot. He rushed to help.
Moments after Mark MacPhail approached Troy Davis and two other men, he was shot in the face and the chest. He died before help arrived.
Witnesses identified Troy Davis as the shooter and shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting Troy Davis was convicted of. There was no other physical evidence. No blood or DNA tied Troy Davis to the crime, the weapon was never located and several witnesses who testified at his 1991 trial have disputed all or parts of their testimony.
One of them, Harriet Murray, told the jury she saw Davis pistol-whip her friend. She identified him as MacPhail's killer in a police photo lineup and later pointed to him as the shooter in court, saying he was smirking when he pulled the trigger.
But now, 11 years later, Murray gave defense attorneys a more vague account of the shooting and didn't name Davis as the killer. Others who did not testify at the trial have since said another man admitted shooting MacPhail.
Prosecutors say many of the concerns about the witness testimony were raised during the trial, and allegations that someone else later confessed are inconsistent and inadmissible in court.
Those questions compelled anti-death penalty groups to get involved. Amnesty International, a human rights organization, started its campaign in February 2007. It printed a report looking at the case and sent it to thousands of members across the globe.
"It took a lot of work for us to break through the noise, and to be serious about the questions of doubt and innocence," said Laura Moye of Amnesty International.
The group inspired Gautam Narula, a University of Georgia student, to fight for Davis' life. Narula plans to attend a rally on Davis' behalf in Atlanta on Friday.
"If it's true that Davis is innocent, this is something that could happen to anyone," said Narula, who has also visited Davis on death row. "Someone was sentenced to death for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And that means that anyone could be Troy Davis. It happened to be him and it could happen to any of us."
Something to keep in mind....The details are murky and I have to ask myself , what was he even doing ,being there and being involved in an altercation with a homeless man? Probably not important now...but as I said before...Be damn sure he's the right man!!
In Life and death...There are no do overs and nobody wants to hear- "Ooops" later on!
POST SCRIPT- Troy Davis was executed at 11:08 pm est- September 21, 2011.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Class Warfare? Not!
President Obama has proposed raising the taxes on Wealthy Americans to help trim the nation's deficit.....Republicans are yelling "Class Warfare"...Oh really? Haven't they been at war with the Middle and Working Class for close to twenty years??
It's good to know that according to an MSNBC poll , 69 percent of Americans don't believe that this is class warfare...or unfair..,.They feel as I do that wealthy Americans have weathered the storm okay and that they will not be hurt by higher taxes at all.
28 percent are delusional folks who believe that President Obama is "attacking well-off Americans in order to spare the rest of the country from budget cuts." I imagine the people saying that are probably wealthy Americans..but it could also be someone who is not wealthy at all, but is following that line of thinking because, well, If President Obama is doing this, it just has to be evil, un american and wrong right? I mean...That's what Rush Limbaugh said right?
Then of course you have the two percent who aren't sure...They are never sure of anything! These people and the 28 percent listed in the last paragraph live in a bubble..I'm convinced...The entire world of facts is floating around them ,but they just can't seem to grasp it!
The truth of the matter is ,He's ending the tax breaks these fat cats no longer deserve. No jobs, no tax breaks. Creating jobs was the deal, According to every Republican since the great communicator, Ronald Reagon.. They broke the contract.
So In the end...Is this class warfare as the Tea Party talking heads are yelling? I think not...It's more like tallying up!
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