history, again and again and again...

Conventional wisdom suggests those unable to learn the lessons of history are forced to repeat them...

Somehow, this seems the case as we witness the brutality of police, bent on making points with the very corporations that will eventually eliminate their jobs and pensions because they, like the rest of us, are expendable. The recent protests at UC Davis seemingly gave police authorities carte blanche to utilize military grade pepper spray on students quietly sitting on the lawn... if interested in seeing the complete callous display (there are two videos to watch and they're very disturbing)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHQqvDsbxwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJmmnMkuEM

When was the last time we were privy to this type of crude and disgusting behavior from public officials?

During the Vietnam war when the likes of Kent State occurred (a very sad day for America), or the Democratic Convention in 1968 when Chicago mayor, Richard Daley unleashed the police hounds of hell on war protesters in "his" city.

This type of deviant behavior will continue to take place until we as a society decide otherwise. The "thugs" who decided to act in this grotesque and unlawful manner should not get "administrative leave," but rather, "prison time" and only then will the rule of order be acknowledged and respected.

judicial... inaction

Today is my first day of jury duty. (kinda reminds me of the old saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life...")

I arrived at the Burbank courthouse only to discover the courthouse was not open (even though we were required to be there at 8 am sharp...) Like many in the same situation, I stood around waiting for the magic to happen... then (along with new security requirements) had to pass through the same machines currently in use at airports across the states.

As I stood waiting for the line to thin, I began to wonder if all the enhanced security actually made us safer, or just led us to believe we were safer when in fact, it was merely a placebo...

Like everything in life, we will not know for sure if this is the case until the winds of time move beyond us...

But, back to jury duty... We were required to watch a short video where "former jurors" waxed nostalgic about their service and how it made them feel better about themselves and the (justice) system. Several times I found myself laughing because truth be known, we all know by now that justice belongs to the side with the deepest pockets. Don't believe me? Where are those individuals residing that crashed the largest economic system in the world? Comfortably in their multi-million dollar homes, counting their multi-million dollar bailouts, thanks in great part to the shills we placed in congress.

But hey, the system works for all of us... right? Not really. Attempt to destroy an economy at the same levels as recently occurred and see what happens... Wham, bam, behind bars quickly and permanently...

Yeah, the system works for us... or is that against us?

6:32 pm
And more on the system...  after sitting for a few hours at the Burbank courthouse, it was announced to the jury pool that our presence was required at the Glendale courthouse... we were given ample time to get over to Glendale, and then the waiting game began once more. We sat for over an hour, then were told to go downstairs where we again stood around for about 20 minutes, waiting for the bailiff to escort us into the courtroom after determining we were all present and accounted for... we then listened to the charges, were introduced to the major players and 18 potential jurors were seated. Then came the fun part... questions were asked, responses were given and it was gradually determined that seating a pool was going to be very hard, for many reasons. My turn in the question/answer game will either  come tomorrow or the next day, and quite frankly, I am not a happy camper. If I am excused or when the trial concludes, I will state my reasons for my unhappiness. Until then, stay tuned.

griffith (the park)

If you happen to live anywhere in the proximity of Griffith Park, consider yourself lucky. This is a magnificent ode to one man's dream...

Shall we start with the vistas? From every imaginable angle, there are views of the city, or the hills off in the distance, or even Glendale (our neighbor to the immediate east). Below is a view looking east of downtown LA...

Sometimes the best view is the park itself... like watching hikers crossing a bridge to get to the other side, or catching a glimpse of the sun setting off in the west...

And sometimes, even the destruction wrought by the last fire can create a beautiful monument to nature's enduring flexibility... and multitudes of trails crisscross throughout the over 4,000 acres of rugged parkland.

Even as the LA budget continues to shrink, Griffith Park continues to captivate. Next time you're in the area, check it out. Whichever way you decide to walk, you will not regret your choice! Trust me!

giving thanks

 This past Thanksgiving was bittersweet... we spent the day (actually days) in preparation of giving thanks for our friends and the health of friends near and far. It was also the last Thanksgiving we will be spending with our friend Barb who has decided to move back home in order to be closer to her aging parents.

What gave me pause was the reality that Barbara and I have weathered many jobs together and many experiences... not always good, but certainly interesting. She has seen me through my various relationships, and I, her. And now she will be back in Iowa, far from my life and far from the fair weather in Los Angeles.

Last Sunday, we went for our last birthday celebration together... and as we departed the restaurant, I realized just how deeply I will miss her (even though she is but a phone call removed). And as we move toward the holidays, she will perhaps be celebrating by digging out from the latest snowfall, while we on the west coast will be enjoying the sunshine... ah, LA weather.

Even tho this is goodbye for now, it is not forever.

occupy...

There is a movement beginning to take shape and while there are some who have no clear understanding of what this movement entails, our country will lose unless we all work to preserve it for the coming generations. To quote one of the signs... time to "wake up"... America!

If one picture is worth a thousand words, then my work here is done.

Photos: thanks to Getty and the Huffington Post.

celebrating birthdays...

Dora's birthday was last week and since she was out of town the evening of her birthday, we decided to celebrate this stupendous event tonight at one fab Japanese restaurant in Toluca Lake.

Happy birthday Dora, and may we all celebrate many more together!

Pictured: myself, Barb, Dora, Suzette and Jadja.

on this day... september 29

On September 29, 1780, the British spy John André was court-martialed, found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. An accomplice of Benedict Arnold, he had been captured six days earlier by American forces; arrested after the discovery of incriminating papers stashed in his boots. The exposure of these papers forced Benedict Arnold to flee to England aboard the British warship Vulture where he joined the British in their fight against the American revolutionaries.

After being sentenced to death, André requested that he be executed by firing squad because death by firing squad was considered a more "gentlemanly" death than by hanging. On October 2, 1780, General Washington wrote in his "general order" of the day, "That Major Andre General to the British Army ought to be considered as a spy from the Enemy and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations it is their opinion he ought to suffer death. "The Commander-in-Chief directs the execution of the above sentence in the usual way this afternoon at five o'clock precisely." John André was executed by hanging in Tappan, New York. He was 31 years old.

Fast forward to the year 2005

On September 29, 2005, NY Times reporter Judith Miller was released from federal detention in Alexandria, Virginia after agreeing to name sources in the "outing" of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.

A little background...

In 1982, federal legislation was passed which made it illegal to reveal information about a covert agent to anyone not authorized to receive such classified information.

Ultimately Miller's source turned out to be none other than Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Eventually Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements to federal investigators in the Plame investigation. Before he was incarcerated, President George W. Bush commuted Libby's prison term on July 2, 2007.

The bottom line... no one has ever gone to prison... no one (other than Libby) has been charged with a crime in this sorry episode quite possibly reaching in to the highest federal office. The criminal behavior remains intact.

Troy Davis is dead... long live the debate

Last night Troy Davis was executed... and the debate will go on as to whether or not an innocent man was put to death.

This meaningless death points out the absolute cruelty and enormous waste of money when the death penalty sentence is applied... yet in this country, we continue to view this barbaric exercise as "justice."

If we observe the issue from an alternate perspective, the death penalty serves no purpose... it's been proven time and again that it deters no one from taking another's life. The real victims are those who go to the death chamber declaring their innocence, as did Troy Davis. Even to the end, when asked whether he wanted to make a statement, Troy insisted the wrong individual was being executed, creating a cloud of lingering doubt over whether the state executed the wrong man. Even if the individual actually responsible for the slaying at last steps forward, no one in this state-sanctioned murder will be held responsible... and few will really care because in this country many still believe in the "old testament" form of justice... an eye for an eye.

After Davis was executed, his attorney Jason Ewart remarked "I had the unfortunate opportunity tonight to witness a tragedy, to witness Georgia execute an innocent man. The innocent have no enemy but time, and Troy's time slipped away tonight."

Today, those individuals who supported a commutation in Troy's sentence will mourn his death, and the deaths of others in similar circumstances who face the ultimate "sentence" with little recourse to alter the outcome.

Related to this... as I watched the recap, one thing struck me... the cavalier attitude of some reporters covering the event making statements like "the 'cop killer' was at last executed." I wondered how these remarks could have been made as there was no hard evidence presented at the trial to [without a doubt] convict Troy Davis... no weapon was found... the testimony presented was based solely on eyewitness accounts and jailhouse "snitches," potentially tainted by police intimidation.

The wife and parents of the slain officer remarked that the right man was executed for the crime. I wonder if they can really live with the fact that there is a tremendous amount of doubt surrounding this sad, shameful Georgia episode.

And I wonder if justice was truly served... If there is a God, may he have mercy on our collective "soul" as we continue to perpetuate this cruelty on our fellow humans.

the new debtor prison system in amerika

During a conversation with an acquaintance, I happened to mention the return of "Debtors' Prisons" to the American landscape, which a friend immediately dismissed as an idiotic notion.

According to Wikipedia, Debtors' Prisons were established for those unable to pay a debt and have been noted throughout history, but particularly in Great Britain and the United Kingdom during the 18th century.

Although some inmates were more fortunate than others [dependent on the amount of money they had], inmates were forced to pay for their keep [and if an individual incurred the wrath of their jailor, they could be forced into manacles, dungeons, unjust demands or worse...]

The explanation went on to state that in despair, many were driven to suicide.

Although the Debtor's Act of 1869 in Great Britain abolished imprisonment for debt, some debt-ridden individuals were still incarcerated for up to six weeks before being released.

In 1833, the United States also abolished this practice on a federal level, as did most states in America. Prior to the passing of this legislation, approximately 2,000 New Yorkers annually suffered imprisonment for debt. When the total NY population of the time was less than 100,000, this is a stunning figure.

That was then... this is now.

On April 5, 2009, an article ran in The New York Times concerning a woman in Michigan who had been ordered to reimburse the juvenile detention center for fees incurred for incarcerating her 16-year-old son. When she explained her inability to pay before the courts, she too was incarcerated. The article went on to report she spent 28 days behind bars before the ACLU was able to have her released.

28 days?  Yep!

What are we coming to as a country?

I also discovered that there are many For Profit prisons popping up all over the country. These privately-owned prisons operate under a different set of rules than state-run prisons, which is (in my opinion) a huge glaring problem which most Americans fail to realize.

If there is no real oversight, then prison authorities will never do the "right" thing, whatever that may be...

what do you want?

Jobs!

When do you want them?

Now!

If the House of Representatives was paying attention... jobs would (at long last) be in the pipeline...

However, the list of Republican nominees has given us nothing but platitudes... Mitt Romney suggested he would be releasing a plan soon to address the growing problem but so far, nothing forthcoming.

I can't wait to see what his plan will reveal for those sans income.

Still waiting...

Meanwhile, Obama is still being trashed by the very politicians and pundits responsible for this infernal mess!

Meanwhile, back to Romney's plan...

Still waiting...