Jul 242014
 

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 94.  Yesterdays CoDA meeting in prison went very well.  I cleaned house this morning and an now waiting fore Store to Door to driver groceries.  Then I’m going to rest, because I have another volunteer day in prison tomorrow.  This is the general meeting with around 100 of my guys.  So this is tomorrow’s only article.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:29).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The BBC reports:

Iran has turned all of its enriched uranium closest to the level needed to make nuclear arms into more harmless forms, the UN nuclear agency says.

The conversion of its stock of 20%-enriched uranium was part of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.

The US said last week it would unblock $2.8bn in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran’s compliance.

A four-month extension to talks on Iran’s nuclear ambitions was agreed on Friday between Iran and world powers.

This is a big deal.  A major foreign policy success.  Iran is ending its nuclear program.  All without a shot being fired.

The author goes on to say that because we didn’t bomb anyone, the media didn’t considerate it worth reporting. Is that sick or what?

From The New Yorker: An aide to Rick Perry is confident that the Texas Governor proved he “has what it takes to be President” with his decision on Monday to send troops somewhere for no reason.

By deploying a thousand National Guardsmen to the U.S.-Mexico border, Perry has shown that as President he would be “ready and willing” to use troops without a defined objective, mission, or exit strategy, the aide confirmed.

“Sending troops someplace with no clear idea of why they are going or what they are supposed to be doing once they get there is a key part of the Presidential skill set,” said the aide, Harland Dorrinson. “Rick Perry has just shown that he’s got that nailed down.”

Did Andy hide some satire in there?

From Huffington Post: An Arizona inmate gasped and snorted in an execution that lasted nearly two hours on Tuesday.

Lawyers for Joseph Wood had filed an emergency motion to abort the execution because their client was still alive more than an hour after receiving a lethal injection that was intended to kill him quickly and peacefully.

Their motion, filed in federal district court, failed to save Wood. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced that the 55-year-old convicted killer was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m.

Court papers said the execution started 117 minutes earlier.

"He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour," Wood’s lawyers wrote in their hurried attempt to call off the execution and force Arizona to provide Wood with life-saving care. "He is still alive."

A journalist from the Arizona Republic who witnessed the execution said Wood gasped for air 660 times after the drugs were introduced through intravenous tubes.

If strapping down a human being and torturing him for two hours is not cruel and unusual punishment, what is?

No doubt the Arizona Death Angel, Jan Brewer, is partying tonight.

Cartoon:

0724Cartoon

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  22 Responses to “Open Thread–7/24/2014”

  1. 3:06 My hawk eyes weren't sharp enough.

  2. Huffington Post:
    Rachel Maddow 07/23/14
    Witnesses describe two hour ‘gasping’ execution
    Mauricio Marin, reporter for CBS’s Tucson affiliate KOLD TV, describes the execution of Joseph Wood by the state of Arizona, the latest in a series of botched executions using experimental drugs of undisclosed origin.  http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

  3. 4:30  My, what big eyes you have!

    Daily Kos – In all fairness and balance (snark), had the chicken hawks on Iraq not started rattling sabers and had the Malaysian flight not been downed before this transpired, we might have seen it on, say, page 43 of the New York Times.  But American attention spans …

    New Yorker – Once again, do click through so as not to miss the punch line.  Good grief.

    HuffPo – This is truly outrageous – even more so, in my opinion, than Oklahoma, which at least tried to halt the execution when it became evident that it was botched.  And isn't the victim's sister a charming human being.

    Cartoon – Actually Wood's execution appears to have been much like a Crucifixion in that the ultimate cause of death was anoxia.  One had to raise one's body to be able to gasp for breath, but couldn't keep it up for long so would sink back.  Which is why, if it was taking too long, the soldiers broke one's knees, after which it was over within minutes. 

    Have a great volunteer day!  You and your work give me hope.

  4. 5:04 – Puzzle 🙄

  5. It seems that these states, Airzona – Oaklahoma want to inflict suffering via the Death Penalty…?¿

  6. I want to share with you what is going on in Detroit and what some Canadians are doing to help move past band-aid solutions with real solutions.  Here is an e-mail I received today from the Council of Canadians.

     

    "Council's Blue Planet Project helps secure the right to water in Detroit

    Unable to cook, bathe, or brush their teeth, thousands of people in Detroit, Michigan are now entering their third month without running water.

    While Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department has provided a two-week reprieve on residential water shut-offs, there are still an estimated 17,000 families in the city living without water.

    Last month, the Council's Blue Planet Project joined with U.S.-based Food & Water Watch, the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Detroit People's Water Board to send a submission to the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation outlining the water crisis in Detroit and the fact that thousands of people were being denied access to water because they are unable to pay their water bills.

    "The human suffering is that of a major disaster, one that grows every day," said Maude Barlow, Blue Planet Project founder and National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "Water is a human right, and it is unacceptable in a country of plenty, surrounded by the Great Lakes, the largest source of fresh water in the world, that people should go without."

    Tomorrow [that is likely Thursday 24/07/14], the Windsor chapter of the Council of Canadians will help raise awareness about the issue by delivering 1,000 litres of water across the Canada-U.S. border. At a rally at the Spirit of Detroit statue, Barlow will speak, along with Maureen Taylor from the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and Paul Moist from the Canadian Union of Public Employees. 

    "We are doing this because as good neighbours we need to show our solidarity," said Doug Hayes from the Windsor chapter. "But while these jugs of water will help, it is not the solution. We need President Obama to get involved and ensure human rights are restored."

    Read more and sign the petition."

    I copied the above link from the e-mail so I hope it works.

    • It works.  You may want to right-click and open in a new tab or window.  I have signed other petitions on this issue, but not yet this one until today.  Thanks!

      • Thanks JD for the tip.  I didn't know that.  I've even clicked on TC's sources and found myself losing all my comments thus far.  Really good to know.  Thanks again!

        • Welcome.  Another tip, if losing comments is the issue, is to open up a notepad or wordpad and write your comments there.  Then, when ready, cut and paste into the websites.

    • Petition signed.

      Thank you, Jim.

      Your signature has been added.

      I grew up in Detroit, Michigan and have been appalled by what has happened in the past and is currently happening in Detroit as well as in the rest of the state. The gop takeover of the state has been mind-boggling, to say the least.

    • BTW, for those on Care2, please note http://www.care2.com/news/member/762287222/3790437 so that we can get this onto the front page and therefore more exposure.  Thanks

  7. I hope you have a good day with your guys.  I don't know how you manage all that you do.

    Daily Kos:  Yes it is sick that the media is not covering this.  We have too little real news, based on fact, and too much sensationalism to get ratings.  Real reporting and journalism is a lost art.

    The New Yorker:  I agree with your last statement. Instead of satire, this sounds like Republican based policy.

    Huffington Post:   Capital punishment must end.  Yes, this was cruel and unusual punishment.  It is sickening to me that this country is still so depraved to continue this.

    Cartoon:  I think they might if they thought they could.

  8.  Are we as country becoming as sick as the men and woman who commit these hanus crimes to except using experimental drugs as a way for someone to pay?  I mean when it was ok to gather around and watch a person  being hanged.  Was it ok?  Sorry I can not believe that I could have so much hate to see anyone laying there and grasping for air for over an hour and think they deserve it so it is ok?

  9. "Did Andy hide some satire in there?"

    No, I think for once he tells it exactly as it is. The unvarnished truth, in other words.

  10. Arrggghhhh!!!!!  I just lost my entire rewritten comment . . . that makes twice!  Third time a chanrm?

    Puzzle — 3:01  Not fast enough to catch that raptor puddy tat!

    Daily Kos — Why would anyone want to report a success that has not "blood, guts, and tears"?

    "A major foreign policy success.  Iran is ending its nuclear program.  All without a shot being fired.  . . . 

    Because if we aren't dropping bombs on someone it just isn't possible for a policy to succeed to the "smart" people in Washington."

    And the "smart" people in Washington?  Those would be the hawkish and neoconish Republicanus/Teabaggers!  Their blood lust is inexorably high!

    The New Yorker — There is one website that says it all!  Asshole of the Day http://assholeoftheday.us/tagged/asshole-of-the-day .  Take a look at 23 July 2014, 2nd one down.  You'll love it and I am sure will agree.

    Huffington Post — This is possibly the best time to say "It is time to do away with the barbaric capital punishment."  It is absolutely unacceptable that these "glitches" should happen.  In another article in the Huff Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/24/alex-kozinski-firing-squads_n_5618740.html

    "Kozinski [Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals] first wrote of his distaste for lethal injection in a decision Monday, even while arguing against delaying the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood III in Phoenix. "

    Now Kozinski argued that the guillotine or firing squad would be much better for capital punishment.  He doubted that there would be appeal for the guillotine, but there will never be a shortage of guns nor bullets in the US like there is currently of leathal injection drugs.  Oh how humane! 🙄

    It is time for capital punishment to go the way of the do-do bird and a more civil society to take hold!

    Cartoon — I can see the Republicanus/Teabaggers bringing crucifixion back . . . it would serve their blood lust . . . they'd probably try to sell tickets.

  11. Thanks all.  Meeting was great.  I'm exhausted.  Pit Stop Mode.

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