Politics: May 2003 Archives

[ arrived via email, source unknown, but I'm sure many of our more "mature" readers will be able to identify with many of the statements here ]

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived......

Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.

We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.

We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.

We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to get over it.

We walked to friend's homes.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Feel free to pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before the government regulated our lives, for our own good.

Whitehouse Spokesman Resigns

So.
Farewell then
Ari Fleischer.

Beholder of
the truth.

Proof that the
PEN IS
mightier than
the sword.

The mouthpiece
of Bush. For
without you
he was just a
bumbling
inarticulate
texan
buffoon.

21 years in government
and politics, was
a long time.

But I'd rather die
than see another
18 years
of bush.

[ With apologies to EJ Thribb ]

Back when I was a teenger, I firmly believed that the death penalty was the right punishment for a variety of crimes. I also believed that assassinating Neil Kinnock was the the right thing for the country too, but I digress.

Throughout the 1990's, a succession of miscarriages of justice came to light. Fortunately for those concerned, this country (and indeed the entire EU) has outlawed the death penalty. What if they were in, say, the USA. How many innocent people must be murdered at the hand of the state in the name of justice?

Well, there I was, at lunchtime, with my cup of coffee perusing the Daily Telegraph, when I came across this article by Irvine Welsh. You'll need to register to read the entire article, but I shall quote snippets.

The nightmare of Edinburgh man Kenny Richey, who has been on death row in America since 1986, is drawing to a potentially tragic finale. In the early hours of June 30 of that year, a fire started in an upper flat in a Columbus Grove apartment building in Ohio's Putnam County. Firemen quickly extinguished the blaze, but carried out the body of a child named Cynthia Collins, who died in her room from smoke inhalation.

Hope Collins, Cynthia's mother, had left the flat and driven off with her boyfriend to spend the night at his house. Hope regularly left Cynthia unattended, sometimes feeding her sleeping pills before doing so. The welfare services had contacted her on two occasions regarding those practices.

Cynthia's body was taken to St Rita's Medical Centre, where Hope told a doctor that her daughter had previously started fires in the apartment. The local fire service verified this had happened on two separate occasions.

This mournful story of neglect is disturbing enough. How it led to a young Scotsman ending up on death row is the stuff of terror. Amnesty International called it "one of the most compelling cases of innocence human rights campaigners have ever seen".

When threatened with arrest for neglecting her child, Hope Collins claimed she had left Cynthia in the care of Kenny, a friend of hers. He was one of several people who attended a party that evening on the breezeway between Hope and her neighbour's flat. Hope claimed she asked Kenny to watch her child moments before she climbed into her boyfriend's truck.

Richey maintains he never agreed to anything of the sort: he was too drunk from the party to look after a child. Two witnesses were present: Hope's boyfriend and another man, who both denied hearing her make this request.

...

After the blaze, the local fire chief arrived to inspect the flat, followed by the state fire marshall. They saw no evidence of foul play, authorising the building owner to gut the apartment. Obviously, had arson been suspected, the flat would have been secured and preserved for further investigation and the gathering of evidence.

It was an election year in 1986 and the local prosecutor, Randall Basinger, was one of several candidates who hoped to be elected to fill the vacant county judge's office in Putnam. It was in Basinger's interest to build a headlining case to promote his name in the local newspaper, and he took personal charge of this one.

Incredibly, Kenny Richey became the number one suspect, and was charged with breaking and entering, child endangerment, aggravated murder and arson. At the outset he stated his innocence and demanded to be permitted to take a lie detector test, a request that was refused.

Basinger then demanded the death penalty, which instantly gained front-page attention; it was the first capital punishment case in Putnam County since the 1800s, when the theft of a pig resulted in a hanging. The case dominated the local news for months, generating publicity for Basinger as election day approached. It was no surprise when he was elected judge.

But the prosecution's case stretches credibility. Richey's condition that night was well observed, but it claimed that rather than going home to sleep, he broke into a greenhouse and stole cans of petrol and paint thinner. Then it was alleged that he climbed on to a utility shed, gained access to Hope's balcony and her living room, and doused it in petrol and set it alight before escaping back over the parapet with the empty cans.

...

However, the greenhouse owner said no cans of petrol were missing from his place and none was ever found near or around the apartments. As well as being hopelessly drunk, Kenny had a broken hand. Could he have silently climbed up an angled roof carrying a five-gallon petrol container and a tin of paint thinner, and leapt across a 5ft space?

Furthermore, the night was hot and humid, with Kenny's ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend's open bedroom window only 5ft from the shed. Both testified to being light sleepers, but said they heard nothing.

If Kenny wanted to harm his ex-girlfriend, he could have thrown a bottle of petrol with a burning wick through her window. Additionally, forensics found no trace of flammables on his clothes.

Basinger offered him a plea bargain of 11 years in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser charges. Kenny refused, maintaining his innocence. Unfortunately, his defence lawyer advised him to accept a three-judge rather than a jury trial. The prosecution's case included scientific testimony that was subsequently discredited, and several witnesses have since claimed they were coerced into making false statements.

A fair judicial system should not be condemning an innocent man to death. Nothing good is served by the tolerance of such a blatant miscarriage of justice. Clearly somebody should be on trial here, but it shouldn't be Kenny Richey.

Further Reading

The Official Kenny Richey Campaign
Death Row man's 'British' ploy to avoid execution.
Writing Campaign - Contact the Governor of Ohio about the case.
Fatal Flaws - Innocence and the Death Penalty

For all those Americans that are willingly boycotting French goods at the moment over France's refusal to vote for a UN resolution authorising war, I bring you this article from todays Daily Telegraph:

[yes I read the telegraph, I also voted Conservative in 2001, now I'm just confused, but that's a story for another day]

After listening to George W Bush denouncing France's opposition to the war in Iraq, millions of loyal Americans decided to boycott French wine, cheese and other goods.

Meanwhile, the President, by all accounts, was scoffing all the French fodder he could lay his lardy Texan mitts on. For the White House's pastry chef - before, during and since the conflict - is one Roland Mesnier, French-born, French-trained and, according to those in the know, "utterly French in outlook".

France's Ambassador to Washington, Jean-David Levitte, just about resists the temptation to gloat: "Roland works at the White House because he's the best, and we're very proud that the best pastry chef is a Frenchman," he chuckles.

ahahhahhahahaahahahahaaha
*deep breath*
ahahahahahahhahahhahhahah

[from the WH via snarkthebold

This Loyalty Day, as we express allegiance to our Nation and its founding ideals, we resolve to ensure that the blessings of liberty endure and extend for generations to come.

The Congress, by Public Law 85-529, as amended, has designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day," and I ask all Americans to join me in this day of celebration and in reaffirming our allegiance to our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2003, as Loyalty Day. I call upon all the people of the United States to join in support of this national observance. I also call upon government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on Loyalty Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.

GEORGE W. BUSH

HOW DARE HE TAKE MAY DAY and turn it into some willy waving patriotic bullshit day, the ideals of which he doesn't even seem to understand. (blessings of liberty my arse).

I am amazed that I have managed to get to the age of 30 without reading about this before. [Courtesy of doublethink]

On this day in 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students at Kent State University protesting about the Vietnam War. Four students were killed by the National Guard, and 9 were injured.

Not every student was a demonstration participant or an observer. Some students were walking to and from class.

More details about this tragedy can be found at the Kent State University Archive for the 4th May Shootings.

[ I originally typed this up several days ago, but managed to wipe out all my typing before submitting the entry, so went into several days of self imposed purdah, commenting only sparingly on others journals - grrr damn you movabletype! ]

This is a public service announcement on behalf of doublethink. A week or so ago, a republican senator, Senator Santorum, from Pennsylvania (land of the groundhog!) declared in an interview with the Associated Press:

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

Senator Santorum - Source Washington Post

I'll look aside the interesting legal logic that he seems to use in this phrase, but I will not overlook this kind of bigotry from someone in power, and someone who is so high up in the political chain. (Santorum is the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the party's number three post).

Now if you're outraged at his comments, then please, if you're American, sally forth to this URL when you can sign a petition for the removal of Senator Santorum from office.

Petition for the Removal of Senator Santorum

and what does George Bush have to say about the Senator's comments?

Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters, "The president believes that the senator is an inclusive man. ... The president has confidence in Sen. Santorum and thinks he's doing a good job as senator -- including in his leadership post."