“They all look alike” August 10, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America.add a comment
Is it old fashioned racism or new fangled science?
The American Bar Association, meeting in New York, is considering whether to recommend that judges use their discretion to make juries aware of the problems that can plague cross-racial identifications.
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Utah already employ such instructions in some cases.
“The majority race is not as good at identifying minorities as it is its own race. This is hard-wired in some way that we don’t completely understand. But the phenomenon should be presented to the jury,” said Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project.
Well it may be true, as Mr. Scheck suggests, that “the majority race is not as good at identifying minorities as it is its own race” but I’d bet that a Korean would have an equally difficult time picking one Swede out of a line-up of twelve.
But I digress:
Some criminal justice experts believe that mistakes are so pervasive that nothing short of wholesale reforms in identification procedures will fix the problem.
This year, North Carolina became the first state to standardize identification procedures. That includes preventing the police officer who is investigating the crime from conducting photo identifications with witnesses and requiring that lineup photographs be shown one after another rather than in groups of six.
New software that was on display at the ABA’s annual meeting allows witnesses to use police laptop computers to identify photos of suspects in programs that do not vary from investigator to investigator or witness to witness.
We’ll have a national DNA database within ten years…
Victim? August 9, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Politics.add a comment
Boy, the last thing I want to do is take a shot at a terminally ill woman who buried her eldest son in 1996 but…
Elizabeth Edwards ceased to be a victim the moment she conspired with her husband to deceive voters, loyal campaign staffers, and the Democratic Party.
In all honesty, I could care less about the Democratic Party and anyone foolish enough to vote for John Edwards but the I really do feel sorry for the campaign workers.
Campaign staff are (usually) poorly paid; they sleep on floors in faraway places; they spend months away from their friends and families – and they serve their candidate with incredible loyalty and devotion. They deserve much better.
Elizabeth Edwards — no less than her husband — used these people and exploited their loyalty in one of the most selfish and manipulative acts that we’ve seen in American politics since… well, the Clintons.
Spare us the wounded wife drama and start apologizing, ma’am.
Old story, different perspective July 25, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Religion.1 comment so far
So did you hear the one about the fifty-one year college professor who claims to have desecrated (an allegedly consecrated) Communion Host?
Paul Zachary “PZ” Myers, a professor of biology at the University of Minnesota, got his panties in a knot when a student at the University of Central Florida (UCF) faced disciplinary action for refusing to return a consecrated Host that he secreted away from a Catholic chapel. (He has it stored in a plastic bag in his dorm room).
So the call went out from Myers. He asked people to send him consecrated Hosts so that he could publicly desecrate them to protest the proceedings at UCF.
According to Myers’ blog, people sent them in and he made good on his threat. He drove a rusty nail through the Host (and several pages of the Koran) and then threw the remains in the garbage.
Reveling in his blasphemy, Myers wrote:
OK, time for the anticlimax. I know some of you have proposed intricate plans for how to do horrible things to these crackers, but I repeat…it’s just a cracker. I wasn’t going to make any major investment of time, money, or effort in treating these dabs of unpleasantness as they deserve, because all they deserve is casual disposal. However, inspired by an old woodcut of Jews stabbing the host, I thought of a simple, quick thing to do: I pierced it with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus’s tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash, followed by the classic, decorative items of trash cans everywhere, old coffeegrounds and a banana peel. My apologies to those who hoped for more, but the worst I can do is show my unconcerned contempt.
Let’s face it, if Myers had pissed on a talmud he would have been shown the door before the paper dried and he would have faced personal and professional ostracism for the rest of his life. But desecrating that which is most sacred to Catholics will probably earn him a book deal and a round of talk show appearances.
The University will fall back on “academic freedom” (which doesn’t apply) to justify keeping Myers on staff. But what about his emotional maturity? Is that taken into consideration? Does a well adjusted, middle aged man do these sorts of things? (The obvious answer is no but, then again, university faculties haven’t exactly distinguished themselves in the areas of stability and maturity.)
How would you respond if your doctor or lawyer…or plumber..were caught spray-painting a swastika on a local synagogue? You’d fire him, right? Not just because you were personally offended by his behavior but because you’d have to question his emotional maturity and, ultimately, his ability to function in his profession/trade based on that behavior.
I wouldn’t trust a grossly immature neighbor with a spare key to my house. I wouldn’t let him feed my cat and walk my dogs when I was on vacation. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let him teach my children.
___________________
Also worth a read:
- Pantyhose bandit causes sheer annoyance in Massachusetts: Ok, some unknown Bay Stater is leaving piles of black pantyhose in the streets of Milford, Mass and one local says “it’s scary for the kids”. SCARY?!! You’re kidding me, right? Vampires are scary. Sharks are scary. This is not “scary” My God, we’ve gone soft…
- Women’s brains are different from men’s – and here’s the scientific proof But we already knew this, right? Actually, this is a very interesting read. If you want to know why your wife or girlfriend can remember word-for-word dialogue of a heated conversation six months after it happened then don’t miss this article.
No better time to be alive July 22, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, The Whole Wide World.add a comment
Forget about medical advances. Dismiss the burgeoning achievements in science and technology. Put far from your mind the abundance, variety, and ready availability of (relatively) inexpensive food products. The single greatest blessing of being alive in the early part of the XXIst Century is that, unlike our poor, besotted ancestors, we , ladies and gentlemen, have SHARK WEEK!!
It is to television what the Resurrection is to Christianity. Crowning, enobling, enlightening, and awe inspiring.
For one glorious week in late July (for the past 21 years) the Discovery Channel — arguably the greatest channel in my satellite line up this side of NESN — has given us a week of wonder.
In addition to the weeklong series of shark related TV features and documentaries, the companion website allows you to play games, take quizzes, and track sharks! Hell, they even have a blog.
This New England boy has been fascinated by sharks all his life. They were contemporaries of the earliest life on this planet; they exist in every sea and ocean (at least one variety can survive for extended periods in fresh water); and they put mankind squarely in its place. Opposable thumbs be damned, a fish occupies a higher place on the food-chain than we do.
It all begins at 9:00 PM on Sunday, July 27th and it runs through the following week. And in tribute to man’s ultimate dominion over this planet, I may be sitting down to a plate of Mako shark on Sunday afternoon before the festivities get underway!
Liberty in our Lifetime May 30, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Politics.add a comment
I wrote about the Free State Project several years ago but, alas, the post was lost during one of my numerous blog migrations.
Here’s the concept in a nutshell: Sign up a bunch of cranky Libertarians, move them all to a small state (in this case, New Hampshire ), take over the government and… Well, I dunno, I guess just disband it. (These are Libertarians after all!)
I’m all for it but I don’t want to move to New Hampshire. Fellow New Englanders though they may be, Granite Staters regularly endure the coldest winters in America and their twelve feet of coastline just won’t cut it for this ocean loving blogger.
But I digress, here’s the Free State Project’s take on the Free State Project (redundancy is not always a bad thing…)
Are you frustrated at the loss of freedom and responsibility in America, while the growth of government and taxes continues unabated? Do you want to live in strong communities where your rights are respected, and people exercise responsibility for themselves and in their dealings with each other?
If you answered “yes” to those questions, then the Free State Project has a solution for you.
What the Free State Project is… The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire. We are looking for neighborly, productive, tolerant folks from all walks of life, of all ages, creeds, and colors who agree to the political philosophy expressed in our Statement of Intent, that government exists at most to protect people’s rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish them for activities that interfere with no one else.
I answered yes to the question but as I explained above, I just can’t move to New Hampshire. The scenery is breathtaking, all the men are strong and the women are, without exception, beautiful. (Except for the Massachusetts tax refugees holed up in the southeast portion of the state…) The air is clean, the water is pure, the children are well mannered, and everyone goes to church on Sunday. It’s Shangri-La, my friends.
All of you should move there without delay and I shall visit frequently and support them spiritually to the end of my days.
___________________
Also worth a read:
Is Bush Becoming Irrelevant? Pat Buchanan on the Boy Emperor’s numerous faults, numberless failings, and bottomless decline. (BTW the short answer to the question is YES! YES HE IS!)
The last gasps of a dying culture May 21, 2008
Posted by Brendan in Life in America.add a comment
I’m the first to defend free markets and a personal autonomy approaching the radical but when I read about the $175 (gold-topped) hamburger being served up in a Manhattan restaurant, I wanted to puke.
It’s not the idea of eating gold that makes me sick – it’s the very idea that any human being would engage in such a profoundly (and grotesquely) self-indulgent exercise. This is hyper-consumerism and limitless selfishness writ large. (Very, VERY large).
Here’s the deal:
Momentarily the city’s most expensive burger, the Richard Nouveau consists of 10 ounces of Kobe-raised beef crowned with a thick “lobe” of seared foie gras, 25 grams of shaved black truffles, and aged gruyere cheese. It comes enthroned on a brioche bun anointed with a homemade truffled mayonnaise and garnished with more shaved truffles. Oh, and gold leaf flakes from Japan, which has the yummiest gold.
Oil tops $130 a barrel; the dollar is in a free fall; the housing market is in the toilet; recession looms; and families are struggling with rising food prices – but the well heeled on Wall Street are literally eating gold for lunch.
Hey, it’s America, do whatever you want with your money. But maybe, just maybe, there’s a bit more merit in scarfing down a Big Mac for lunch and donating the other, oh I dunno, 170 bucks to a relief agency.
Here are your options, folks: You can shit gold or you can be a human being.
More sensitivity… September 5, 2006
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Religion.add a comment
…from the diversity crowd:
[click image to enlarge]
Standing firmly on the free speech ideals of its illustrious founder (Thomas Jefferson), the University of Virginia’s Cavalier Daily thinks portraying the Virgin Mary with a sexually transmitted disease is high comedy.
Alas, Mohammed with a bomb in his turban didn’t seem to pass the editors’ tickle test.
I guess, some sacred persons are just funnier than others…
__________________
Worth a read:
- Fascists Under the Bed Pat Buchanan in the American Conservative.
- Preaching, Pondering and Predicting Col. Karen Kwiatkowski on Rumsfeld’s American Legion speech.
- Another Connecticut Marine dies in Iraq… Lance Cpl. Philip A. Johnson († 9/2/06), 19 of Enfield, is the second native of this tiny state to die in Iraq during the past two weeks.
[The full list of Joe Lieberman's constituents who have been killed in Mr. Bush's war can be found here.]
Lawyers…. August 29, 2006
Posted by Brendan in Life in America.add a comment
Apparently aren’t the brightest bulbs on the tree. To wit:
Boulder, Colorado District Attorney Mary Lacy on her decision to fly a lunatic from Thailand to Boulder (via California) when exculpatory evidence could have been gathered in Bangkok — thus saving Colorado taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars:
DA defends decision to arrest Karr
“We felt we could not ignore this. We had to follow it,” she said. “There was a real public safety concern here directed at a particular child” in Thailand, and a forensic psychologist said Karr “was dangerous, this person was escalating.”
That’s great but, typical power trips of American elected officials notwithstanding, her authority does not extend to Thailand. She’s the Boulder, Colorado DA for pity’s sake! His behavior in Thailand is the responsibility of Thai authorities. Period.
By all means, share whatever info Boulder has with the Bangkok police, but… awwww, forget it. She should be removed from office, but she’ll probably win the compassion vote and remain DA until she grows old and dies.
_____
And then there’s the email I found waiting for me this morning… It was a collection of ethnic jokes (everyone was bashed: Blacks, Mexicans, Irish, Italians, Blonde women, all men, and, of course, Southerners). It had been forwarded (and forwarded again) at least half a dozen times. The thing is, it orginated at a very prominent local law firm. No one had enough brain cells to strip the original headers before forwarding it…
Should I send eight lawyers to the unemplyment line?
A terrible coincidence August 27, 2006
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Politics.add a comment
On the very day (August 25th) that I blogged that Cpl. Stephen Bixler was Connecticut’s most recent fatal casualty in Iraq († May 2006), Marine Cpl. Jordan C. Pierson of Milford was KIA in Anbar Province.
Cpl. Pierson (pictured at left, below)…
…was 21 year old.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Putting a face on it August 25, 2006
Posted by Brendan in Life in America, Politics.2 comments
“Stay the course” sounds appealing in the abstract because, let’s face it, nobody likes a quitter and most people desperately want their country to succeed. But when you get behind the political rhetoric and focus on the human toll of Bush’s Iraq policy, the slogans seem barren and not a little repulsive. I’m a big fan of critical analysis (at least in others) and I tend to eschew emotional arguments but I don’t think you can examine a war policy from a completely detached position.
This young man, who doesn’t even look old enough to shave, is Marine Cpl. Stephen Bixler. He is, sadly, Connecticut’s most recent casualty of the Iraq war. He was killed May 4, 2006 while on foot patrol in the province of Fallujah.
The Hartford Courant wrote: “Bixler leaves behind his parents, Richard and Linda; a twin sister, Sandra; and dozens of people who knew him as intelligent and athletic, and as a quiet but strong leader, whether it was in the Boy Scouts or on the high school cross-country team.”
The only reason I’m writing about this is because I saw a Chris Matthews interview with Van Taylor, an Iraq war veteran who is running for Congress in the district that includes Mr. Bush’s Crawford ranch. He’s a Republican and he favors “seeing Iraq through” to victory.
He supports the president, he supports the continuation of the war and, despite being a Congressional candidate, he cannot tell us why we invaded Iraq:
MATTHEWS: So why did we attack Iraq then? Why did we attack Iraq then?
TAYLOR: Regardless of why we may have started fighting, and I served as a marine …
MATTHEWS: I‘m asking the question, why did we attack Iraq? Why did we go into Iraq?
TAYLOR: That‘s not the question that we need answered.
MATTHEWS: It‘s mine.
TAYLOR: It‘s what do we do now?
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: What‘s wrong with me asking the question? We are in a war.
Pearl Harbor started World War II.
TAYLOR: That‘s a question you can ask …
MATTHEWS: What start it? Why did we go into Iraq?
TAYLOR: That is a question you can ask historians, but today we need to send people to Washington who understand the war on terror. There is not a single member of the United States Congress that has served in the war on terror, and there are only two dozen combat veterans. I will be the very first. We need to send people like me in Washington. [Full transcript here]
In three months we will have been in Iraq as long as we were in WWII and the supporters of this war still can’t tell us why we’re there. (During Vietnam — before this blogger’s living memory — they couldn’t tell us how we’d get out, but at least they told us why we were there!)
As Election Day approaches, Americans — foremost among them people like the Bixler family — have an absolute right to have that question answered.
