My feelings on the News Corp hacking scandal shouldn't really have to be guessed at. Nor should I waste time mincing words. Assuming News Corp is guilty as charged, I want them to go down and go down HARD. Hacking the phones of your subjects has no place in journalism or decent humanity. Add that to your subjects being murder victims and 9/11 victims, and your hacking actively impeding the investigations of same, and to say the least, you have no place in the journalism industry. Or polite society.
Bribing the cops to give you your scoops? Seriously, come on.
That established: one of my new favorite phrases has come out of this whole sorry affair. You know, one of those phrases you say you're going to start working into everyday conversation, and then you actually do that maybe twice before realizing you have no place for it in everyday conversation. That phrase is 'reverse ferret'.
As the story goes, Kelvin Mackenzie, former editor of The Sun, loved to go after people. When he had a target in his sights, he'd instruct his newsroom to "put a ferret up their trousers." At the same time, though, Mackenzie wasn't stupid. He knew that sometimes, taking this tack, he would have to back off lest The Sun get into trouble, legally, financially, politically or in the court of public opinion. When The Sun was at risk in this respect, he'd go into the newsroom and yell "Reverse ferret!" This was the signal for The Sun to play nice until they were out of danger.
You'll hear the phrase a fair bit over the course of the scandal. First, 'reverse ferret' is the most wonderful phrase in the world and every excuse should be taken to use it as much as possible. Reverse ferret. Reverse ferret. Reverse ferret. Second, the meaning of the phrase- back off the outrage and play nice- describes why Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp., is completely and utterly screwed. One of his holdings needs a specific, special emergency phrase just to tell them not to be jerks.
Translation: there's really no apology or measure of restitution Murdoch could possibly make to get himself out of this mess on his own terms. Any such measure will simply be called a reverse ferret and all investigations (oh, the glorious, glorious investigations) will simply continue on schedule.
Case in point, take Rebekah Brooks, editor of News of the World when the catalyst for this entire saga, the hacking of the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler, occurred. When Murdoch closed News of the World, the very first thing that crossed people's minds was that it was a move to protect Brooks. There was no celebration, no relief, no 'this is a positive step' editorials. No reaction whatsoever that would have signified a successful reverse ferret. The stink was not with News of the World, even though it was there too. The target was Brooks herself.
A few days ago, Brooks resigned from News Corp. Earlier in the scandal, that might- MIGHT, not a guarantee- have worked as a reverse ferret. Now, though, it's too late to be a successful fix. Enough time had passed to where the scandal had spread to every corner of Murdoch's empire. Brooks' departure was characterized by The Independent as "After 52 years, mogul's ally quits to protect jewel of US empire".
The phrase 'to protect'. Meaning, 'that's nice and all, but we have a bigger target in mind and we're not going away'. And the target is now Murdoch himself. Considering that News Corp. is centralized around Murdoch- structured to be so- to the degree that nothing really gets done without his say-so, that's a gigantic threat. Murdoch's been able to take a slow, steady stream of loyal opposition, but he hasn't dealt with something on the scale of the FBI and a united British Parliament going after him simultaneously.
So what happens to him, ultimately? On the American side of the Atlantic, the major criticism in my social circles is that while England may savage him, America won't care enough, his supporters are entrenched too deeply, for him to suffer in America or for Fox News, his most prominent American holding, to take any true damage.
My rebuttal is twofold. First: reverse ferret.
Sorry. Couldn't help it. First, the 9/11 victim-hacking aspect of this story hasn't fully unfolded yet. There is speculation, investigation, but so far nothing solid. So far, all the official, confirmed aspects of this scandal are UK-contained, and so given America's inclination to only care about America, more airtime has been given over here to Casey Anthony. (Which is downright shameful.) If the 9/11-victim link goes official, though, if the name of an affected victim comes out, well, all bets are off over here. There's no way that can't blow up... at least outside of Fox News, which is Murdoch-owned and thus has every incentive to try to save itself. Those who only watch Fox News still won't have a clue, but they're not the ones conducting the investigations. And the ones conducting the investigations are the ones Murdoch has to worry about.
Second, the kind of empire Murdoch has built isn't really structured so that he can just run to the other side of the Atlantic. If Murdoch goes down hard enough in Britain, it won't matter what he has going for him in America. Rupert Murdoch does not have clones running around. He is one man. If that one man, that one man that the entire empire is structured around, is taken down, the whole fortress is liable to crumble in his absence, like a video game boss whose lair collapses the second you beat him. News Corp., in Murdoch's absence, could do anything from undergoing a semi-orderly transition to shattering into a billion pieces.
And every new wrinkle, every new body found buried, only fuels the investigation further and digs the hooks in deeper, making Murdoch's ultimate departure more and more likely. For example, this newly-breaking news about the original News of the World whistleblower ever-so-magically turning up dead. The police do not, at least initially, consider it suspicious, but even official statements from the police have been rendered suspect, with multiple high-ranking officers of New Scotland Yard under investigation themselves for their roles in the scandal.
As deep as Murdoch's problems are in Britain, whether he suffers fallout in America is almost beside the point. He is liable to suffer a fall in America merely by proxy, rendered unable to operate in America to the degree he has been accustomed due to the damage suffered in Britain. It's all the same empire in the end.
So could he make an orderly transition to save News Corp from maximum damage (and there's almost no telling what 'maximum damage' might entail)? Given that he's 80 years old, he's certainly made plans. He would prefer to hand it down to his children. However, they've all got problems of their own, ranging from inexperience (42-year-old daughter Elisabeth) to past corporate failures (39-year-old son Lachlan) to being consumed by the scandal themselves (38-year-old son James). Elisabeth has been spotted verbally attacking James, saying that he "fucked the company". Shareholder pressure exists to hand control to someone from outside the family entirely, someone that doesn't have the tainted Murdoch name. Were that to happen, whoever took over almost certainly would not run things in so centralized a manner.
Which would probably be the biggest reverse ferret of all.
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime. Show all posts
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Your TV Is Not A Legal Advisor
I promise this is the only time we'll talk about Casey Anthony. Promise with sugar on top.
Now, full disclosure, I have barely followed a word of the trial. I quite honestly could not care less. I think it has something to do with someone dead, but that's it. However, my interest was piqued when I caught Erik Uliasz of Philly2Philly.com chalking Anthony's not-guilty verdict for whatever it is that he did- perhaps insider trading- to the CSI Effect.
That little phenomenon is something we can work with. The CSI Effect's been written about before, by a lot of people, but apparently, we need to go over it some more.
If you're ever on a jury, be advised that most evidence is circumstantial. That's evidence which you need to infer something in order to tie it to the case at hand. By itself, it's not too strong. But as circumstantial evidence builds, it becomes corroborating evidence: each piece of evidence helps the others build a case. It is very possible to make an ironclad case out of nothing but circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence, meanwhile, is something from which you have to infer nothing.
If a witness says "I saw Al shoot Bob", that's direct evidence. You saw Al shoot Bob. If a witness says "I saw Al grab a gun, go into Bob's house, then there was a bang and screaming", that's circumstantial. All signs point to Al shooting Bob, but you didn't actually see it. You have to infer it from all the signs.
Juries, though, tend to not be up on these things. A lot of them don't even want to be there. They just want to call a verdict and go home. All they know is what they see on TV. They're not in the legal world for a living. And what they know is that circumstantial evidence is a Bad Thing. They want direct evidence. In fact, if it's not direct evidence, sometimes they just plain won't convict.
The CSI Effect is an extension of this. Again, all the jurors often know is what they see on TV. And what they see on TV is CSI, where every case is solved with DNA evidence obtained in ways that, a good 40% of the time, are impossible. (The CSI effect has also been linked to other procedural of the era, such as NCIA, Bones and Cold Case.) What happens to the jury is that they demand DNA evidence, or else they won't convict. No matter how strong the rest of the case, if it's not DNA, they might as well replace the whole trial with episodes of the Muppet Show.
Not only that, but they demand absolute 100% slam-dunk conclusiveness. When a forensics expert mentions the 1-in-umpty-gazillion chance (and one does exist) that the DNA could give a false positive, that measurably harms the credibility of that DNA evidence in the minds of the jury, who has taken 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt' to mean 'they better have found the killer standing over the victim cackling maniacally'.
This is not the first time a TV show has caused juries to be overly critical of the prosecution. TV's black-and-white era brought us a similar phenomenon called Perry Mason Syndrome. This, arguably, was even worse, because in every episode of Perry Mason, they would arrest the wrong guy, but at the end of the episode, the real culprit- who was always in attendance, whether they were called as a witness or not- would just leap up out of their chair and confess.
Perry Mason ran from 1957-1966. No prizes for guessing what the juries of that era were looking for.
Perry Mason Syndrome hit the actual defendants as well. Perry Mason made such an oversimplified mess of the technicalities of the legal system that it caused some defendants to forgo lawyers, thinking that law was so easy they could do it themselves. This tended not to end well. (WARNING: It'll run you $12.50 to the LexisNexis people to read the full text of that linked piece.)
Let's just recap here: Perry Mason, CSI, and every other procedural and legal show out there are TV shows. They're not there to teach you about the legal system. They're there to entertain you. And if entertaining you means whooshy graphics and dramatic confessions and darkened crime labs that in no way resemble how the actual criminal justice system works, that's what you get.
If you would like to see actual TV coverage of how the legal system works, TruTV has it on from 9-3 Eastern on weekdays, called 'In Session'. It's a remnant of their earlier, less reality-intensive life as Court TV. How often do you watch it?
Yeah. Me neither.
Now let us never speak of Casey Anthony again or his acquittal of, I believe, public nudity.
Now, full disclosure, I have barely followed a word of the trial. I quite honestly could not care less. I think it has something to do with someone dead, but that's it. However, my interest was piqued when I caught Erik Uliasz of Philly2Philly.com chalking Anthony's not-guilty verdict for whatever it is that he did- perhaps insider trading- to the CSI Effect.
That little phenomenon is something we can work with. The CSI Effect's been written about before, by a lot of people, but apparently, we need to go over it some more.
If you're ever on a jury, be advised that most evidence is circumstantial. That's evidence which you need to infer something in order to tie it to the case at hand. By itself, it's not too strong. But as circumstantial evidence builds, it becomes corroborating evidence: each piece of evidence helps the others build a case. It is very possible to make an ironclad case out of nothing but circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence, meanwhile, is something from which you have to infer nothing.
If a witness says "I saw Al shoot Bob", that's direct evidence. You saw Al shoot Bob. If a witness says "I saw Al grab a gun, go into Bob's house, then there was a bang and screaming", that's circumstantial. All signs point to Al shooting Bob, but you didn't actually see it. You have to infer it from all the signs.
Juries, though, tend to not be up on these things. A lot of them don't even want to be there. They just want to call a verdict and go home. All they know is what they see on TV. They're not in the legal world for a living. And what they know is that circumstantial evidence is a Bad Thing. They want direct evidence. In fact, if it's not direct evidence, sometimes they just plain won't convict.
The CSI Effect is an extension of this. Again, all the jurors often know is what they see on TV. And what they see on TV is CSI, where every case is solved with DNA evidence obtained in ways that, a good 40% of the time, are impossible. (The CSI effect has also been linked to other procedural of the era, such as NCIA, Bones and Cold Case.) What happens to the jury is that they demand DNA evidence, or else they won't convict. No matter how strong the rest of the case, if it's not DNA, they might as well replace the whole trial with episodes of the Muppet Show.
Not only that, but they demand absolute 100% slam-dunk conclusiveness. When a forensics expert mentions the 1-in-umpty-gazillion chance (and one does exist) that the DNA could give a false positive, that measurably harms the credibility of that DNA evidence in the minds of the jury, who has taken 'guilty beyond a reasonable doubt' to mean 'they better have found the killer standing over the victim cackling maniacally'.
This is not the first time a TV show has caused juries to be overly critical of the prosecution. TV's black-and-white era brought us a similar phenomenon called Perry Mason Syndrome. This, arguably, was even worse, because in every episode of Perry Mason, they would arrest the wrong guy, but at the end of the episode, the real culprit- who was always in attendance, whether they were called as a witness or not- would just leap up out of their chair and confess.
Perry Mason ran from 1957-1966. No prizes for guessing what the juries of that era were looking for.
Perry Mason Syndrome hit the actual defendants as well. Perry Mason made such an oversimplified mess of the technicalities of the legal system that it caused some defendants to forgo lawyers, thinking that law was so easy they could do it themselves. This tended not to end well. (WARNING: It'll run you $12.50 to the LexisNexis people to read the full text of that linked piece.)
Let's just recap here: Perry Mason, CSI, and every other procedural and legal show out there are TV shows. They're not there to teach you about the legal system. They're there to entertain you. And if entertaining you means whooshy graphics and dramatic confessions and darkened crime labs that in no way resemble how the actual criminal justice system works, that's what you get.
If you would like to see actual TV coverage of how the legal system works, TruTV has it on from 9-3 Eastern on weekdays, called 'In Session'. It's a remnant of their earlier, less reality-intensive life as Court TV. How often do you watch it?
Yeah. Me neither.
Now let us never speak of Casey Anthony again or his acquittal of, I believe, public nudity.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Nothing Left To Lose
Have you ever watched one of those police-videos shows? Usually, whatever the person the police are chasing did to have the cops going after them, the smartest thing they can do, at any given moment of the chase, is to pull over and surrender. Their chances of getting away are minimal at best, especially if the chase happens to be one that gets picked up by the local news. The longer they run, the more cops chase them and the more opportunity they have to make things worse for themselves by racking up additional charges.
However, every so often, you'll see a video where the consequences facing the fugitive in question are so severe that it becomes a case where they feel they have nothing left to lose, or at least where the narrator interprets it as such. They have such a sentence facing them that, in a coldly pragmatic sense, for them pulling over would be pointless. These are the ones who tend to face either life or effective life without parole, the death penalty, or in a few rare cases, are destined to die where they stand facing off against the cops. These people tend to yield the most harrowing and spectacular chases of all. The last category- the fugitives destined to go down in a blaze of glory- is almost a first-ballot Hall of Fame of the police-video set: the North Hollywood shootout, the Killdozer, the San Diego tank rampage.
It's troubling, but at the same time, it is a natural human response. When someone feels as though they have nothing to lose, inhibitions, reservations, and anything else holding that person back all fall away. All that is possible becomes a potential course of action, and all thought to be impossible is considered anyway. After all, might as well. The feeling is responsible for some of humanity's most dramatic and heroic moments, but it can also lead to some of its worst.
Over the weekend, one of these moments happened in Columbia, South Carolina. Kenneth Myers was found dead on Saturday after having killed his wife, her twin sister and mother, and his ex-girlfriend before turning the gun on himself. His relationship with the ex-girlfriend slowly deteriorated over seven years, and his marriage was doing the same. The economy was also negatively affecting his business in auto glass repair.
Michael Rushton of the Wagoner Police Department noted of Myers, "At one point in time, whenever he tried to evade us, I saw his face for a brief second, and you could tell he was a different person," Rushton said. "He had gotten to the point where he thought he had nothing else to lose. He figured he was done for, I'm assuming, and I really hate that he had done what he had done."
Which leads us to a bit of a problem. Any effective punishment or treatment, or threat of same, depends on the target believing that things will be measurably better if they cease their undesirable behavior. If that does not exist, they won't stop. And if they reach a point where they are convinced that they're screwed no matter what they do, that allows them to let loose. Instead of one dead body, there are five. Instead of a surrender, there is a shootout.
At the same time, though, to a degree, properly calibrating a punishment so that this feeling is not triggered is outrageously difficult, and may not even be possible. Again, usually a punishment's effectiveness depends at least partly, and sometimes completely, on the offender's perception of it. If the offender doesn't think it's worth restraining themselves over, they won't. And if they think they have nothing to lose-
think being the keyword- well, we've just gone over that.
Whether or not there is even a minorly feasible way to prevent the nothing-to-lose sentiment from taking hold in the mind of a suspect, the failure of one to be identified results in tragedy that need not happen every time it does. The consequences of not having a preventative procedure are such that at least some brainstorming should be devoted towards trying to make one.
Maybe a fix is possible. Maybe it's just one of those things that happens. But whether or not there's an answer to the problem, it's at least worth asking the question.
However, every so often, you'll see a video where the consequences facing the fugitive in question are so severe that it becomes a case where they feel they have nothing left to lose, or at least where the narrator interprets it as such. They have such a sentence facing them that, in a coldly pragmatic sense, for them pulling over would be pointless. These are the ones who tend to face either life or effective life without parole, the death penalty, or in a few rare cases, are destined to die where they stand facing off against the cops. These people tend to yield the most harrowing and spectacular chases of all. The last category- the fugitives destined to go down in a blaze of glory- is almost a first-ballot Hall of Fame of the police-video set: the North Hollywood shootout, the Killdozer, the San Diego tank rampage.
It's troubling, but at the same time, it is a natural human response. When someone feels as though they have nothing to lose, inhibitions, reservations, and anything else holding that person back all fall away. All that is possible becomes a potential course of action, and all thought to be impossible is considered anyway. After all, might as well. The feeling is responsible for some of humanity's most dramatic and heroic moments, but it can also lead to some of its worst.
Over the weekend, one of these moments happened in Columbia, South Carolina. Kenneth Myers was found dead on Saturday after having killed his wife, her twin sister and mother, and his ex-girlfriend before turning the gun on himself. His relationship with the ex-girlfriend slowly deteriorated over seven years, and his marriage was doing the same. The economy was also negatively affecting his business in auto glass repair.
Michael Rushton of the Wagoner Police Department noted of Myers, "At one point in time, whenever he tried to evade us, I saw his face for a brief second, and you could tell he was a different person," Rushton said. "He had gotten to the point where he thought he had nothing else to lose. He figured he was done for, I'm assuming, and I really hate that he had done what he had done."
Which leads us to a bit of a problem. Any effective punishment or treatment, or threat of same, depends on the target believing that things will be measurably better if they cease their undesirable behavior. If that does not exist, they won't stop. And if they reach a point where they are convinced that they're screwed no matter what they do, that allows them to let loose. Instead of one dead body, there are five. Instead of a surrender, there is a shootout.
At the same time, though, to a degree, properly calibrating a punishment so that this feeling is not triggered is outrageously difficult, and may not even be possible. Again, usually a punishment's effectiveness depends at least partly, and sometimes completely, on the offender's perception of it. If the offender doesn't think it's worth restraining themselves over, they won't. And if they think they have nothing to lose-
think being the keyword- well, we've just gone over that.
Whether or not there is even a minorly feasible way to prevent the nothing-to-lose sentiment from taking hold in the mind of a suspect, the failure of one to be identified results in tragedy that need not happen every time it does. The consequences of not having a preventative procedure are such that at least some brainstorming should be devoted towards trying to make one.
Maybe a fix is possible. Maybe it's just one of those things that happens. But whether or not there's an answer to the problem, it's at least worth asking the question.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Random News Generator- Latvia
Have you ever gotten a pop-up ad that launches into a virus scan you didn't ask for? Yeah, me too. I'll bet it found all sorts of nasty viruses and stuff in your computer, too, right? And then of course they'd offer some sort of antivirus software to fix all these problems you just found out about. Sometimes the ad is particularly persistent and reappears when you try to close the window.
In case you didn't already know, that pop-up ad is lying about all the viruses it found. The antivirus software that's being pushed on you? THAT'S a virus. It's known as scareware. It's a 21st-century version of those quack doctors that tell you you've got cancer, venereal disease, consumption, typhoid, dysentery, snakebite and broken leg all at the same time, and then they sell you a cure-all pill named after Dr. Somebody-or-Other that turns out to have mercury in it.
Due to the RNG landing on Latvia today, it is my pleasure to tell you that two international scareware rings that specialize in that kind of stunt have been rounded up by the FBI and US Department of Justice in a hunt called Operation Trident Tribunal. Trident Tribunal, aside from Latvia and the United States, has also involved Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
One ring was a two-man operation consisting- allegedly- of 22-year-old Peteris Sahurovs and 23-year-old Marina Maslobojeva. If you regularly visit the site of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, you've run into them at some point. Sahurovs and Maslobojeva are accused of having created a fake ad agency and told the Star-Tribune they represented Best Western. Once accepted by the Star-Tribune, they swapped the original ads for Best Western out for ads that triggered scareware.
By doing this, Star-Tribune readers were allegedly bilked out of $2 million. If you have at some point purchased something called "Antivirus Soft" for $49.95 after visiting the Star-Tribune website, you've been conned.
The other ring, a much larger operation, raked in $72 million from some 960,000 victims who got taken for $129 each. Five different bank accounts were seized from this larger ring. Paradoxially, less info is available on this ring than on the two-man Latvian operation.
Granted, as long as the info is 'the scary antivirus ad people are going to go away now', you probably could care less how they go away.
In case you didn't already know, that pop-up ad is lying about all the viruses it found. The antivirus software that's being pushed on you? THAT'S a virus. It's known as scareware. It's a 21st-century version of those quack doctors that tell you you've got cancer, venereal disease, consumption, typhoid, dysentery, snakebite and broken leg all at the same time, and then they sell you a cure-all pill named after Dr. Somebody-or-Other that turns out to have mercury in it.
Due to the RNG landing on Latvia today, it is my pleasure to tell you that two international scareware rings that specialize in that kind of stunt have been rounded up by the FBI and US Department of Justice in a hunt called Operation Trident Tribunal. Trident Tribunal, aside from Latvia and the United States, has also involved Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
One ring was a two-man operation consisting- allegedly- of 22-year-old Peteris Sahurovs and 23-year-old Marina Maslobojeva. If you regularly visit the site of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, you've run into them at some point. Sahurovs and Maslobojeva are accused of having created a fake ad agency and told the Star-Tribune they represented Best Western. Once accepted by the Star-Tribune, they swapped the original ads for Best Western out for ads that triggered scareware.
By doing this, Star-Tribune readers were allegedly bilked out of $2 million. If you have at some point purchased something called "Antivirus Soft" for $49.95 after visiting the Star-Tribune website, you've been conned.
The other ring, a much larger operation, raked in $72 million from some 960,000 victims who got taken for $129 each. Five different bank accounts were seized from this larger ring. Paradoxially, less info is available on this ring than on the two-man Latvian operation.
Granted, as long as the info is 'the scary antivirus ad people are going to go away now', you probably could care less how they go away.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
RNG Week- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Today will mark the beginning of something we'll call RNG Week. It's pretty simple: the Random News Generator is run once a day for the next week. We're doing this mainly so I can do a little bit of assignment training for when and if I make it into the pros. The idea is, the Random News Generator gives me a country and I then have to work within that. But then, up to this point, I've picked the days I want to go to the RNG. The training I have in mind is to see how I do when I have a solid week of limited control over the choice of topic. Odds are, in the event I'm taken on by someone, that will end up being a regular thing.
In addition, normally, if I determine there truly is nothing going on in the place that's been selected, I can just spin again. Not here. I'm taking that privilege away from myself for the week, because we're going to make the schedule right now, in front of everyone, and stick with it. Be kind to me, RNG...
TODAY: St. Vincent and the Grenadines
MONDAY: Canada
TUESDAY: St. Helena
WEDNESDAY: Liberia
THURSDAY: Gibraltar
FRIDAY: Turkey
SATURDAY: Congo-Brazzaville
That was not being kind. I gave you life, I hope you know.
Fine then. Today, it's St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Back on Tuesday, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard picked up three nationals of Trinidad and Tobago in a boat five miles off the coast of Ottley Hall Marina & Shipyard in Kingstown. The three were carrying 11 bags filled with 472 pounds of marijuana. The street value is over $4 million, though that's given a piece written in Trinidad and Tobago, which uses the Trinidad and Tobago dollar. That works out to about $630,000 American. Authorities believe the three, traveling in a boat with two Yamaha outboard motors running 200 horsepower apiece, had acquired the marijuana in St. Vincent and were headed for Trinidad. The ages and hometowns of the three were released, but names are unavailable. They are at last report being held at St. Vincent.
St. Vincent is, according to the US State Department, St. Vincent is the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean, partially a result of the country trying to diversify away from bananas, which currently make up half the economy and employ 60% of the workforce. The rise of marijuana, and its subsequent distribution throughout the Caribbean, has in turn given rise to a conflict in the region. On one hand, the Rastafarian community is thrilled, seeing as they need marijuana for religious purposes. On the other, marijuana is not legal in the Caribbean, and on top of that, the Rastafarians have over the years felt discriminated against. That includes Jamaica. Junior Spirit Cottle of Agencia Prensa Rural tells of underestimating the marijuana community playing a factor in the 2001 defeat of the ruling New Democratic Party, though most other sources tell more of a party that had become complacent and corrupt. The NDP, however, has since returned to power.
They return in the wake of the opposition ULP instituting a two-week eradication program in the spring of 2009 called "Vincy Pac". Vincy Pac resulted in the destruction of 51 marijuana fields, 42,683 pounds of dried and compressed marijuana, and 8.5 million plants and seedlings. 12 firearms were seized, and 30 people were arrested.
Over the past decade, the marijuana community, until then largely a nonvoting group, has attempted to flex some political muscle, in St. Vincent and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
As it stands, they still have a long way to go.
In addition, normally, if I determine there truly is nothing going on in the place that's been selected, I can just spin again. Not here. I'm taking that privilege away from myself for the week, because we're going to make the schedule right now, in front of everyone, and stick with it. Be kind to me, RNG...
TODAY: St. Vincent and the Grenadines
MONDAY: Canada
TUESDAY: St. Helena
WEDNESDAY: Liberia
THURSDAY: Gibraltar
FRIDAY: Turkey
SATURDAY: Congo-Brazzaville
That was not being kind. I gave you life, I hope you know.
Fine then. Today, it's St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Back on Tuesday, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard picked up three nationals of Trinidad and Tobago in a boat five miles off the coast of Ottley Hall Marina & Shipyard in Kingstown. The three were carrying 11 bags filled with 472 pounds of marijuana. The street value is over $4 million, though that's given a piece written in Trinidad and Tobago, which uses the Trinidad and Tobago dollar. That works out to about $630,000 American. Authorities believe the three, traveling in a boat with two Yamaha outboard motors running 200 horsepower apiece, had acquired the marijuana in St. Vincent and were headed for Trinidad. The ages and hometowns of the three were released, but names are unavailable. They are at last report being held at St. Vincent.
St. Vincent is, according to the US State Department, St. Vincent is the largest producer of marijuana in the Eastern Caribbean, partially a result of the country trying to diversify away from bananas, which currently make up half the economy and employ 60% of the workforce. The rise of marijuana, and its subsequent distribution throughout the Caribbean, has in turn given rise to a conflict in the region. On one hand, the Rastafarian community is thrilled, seeing as they need marijuana for religious purposes. On the other, marijuana is not legal in the Caribbean, and on top of that, the Rastafarians have over the years felt discriminated against. That includes Jamaica. Junior Spirit Cottle of Agencia Prensa Rural tells of underestimating the marijuana community playing a factor in the 2001 defeat of the ruling New Democratic Party, though most other sources tell more of a party that had become complacent and corrupt. The NDP, however, has since returned to power.
They return in the wake of the opposition ULP instituting a two-week eradication program in the spring of 2009 called "Vincy Pac". Vincy Pac resulted in the destruction of 51 marijuana fields, 42,683 pounds of dried and compressed marijuana, and 8.5 million plants and seedlings. 12 firearms were seized, and 30 people were arrested.
Over the past decade, the marijuana community, until then largely a nonvoting group, has attempted to flex some political muscle, in St. Vincent and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
As it stands, they still have a long way to go.
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Clinton List
Last year, in the runup to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, we explored one of the many facets of how soccer and politics have been intertwined over the years. Despite all efforts from FIFA to prevent it, politics, both domestic and global, have more of an effect on soccer than in any other sport. There's simply too much civic and national pride at stake and too much of the world involved at every social level for politics not to pop up in multiple forms.
Take the case of Colombian club America de Cali.
For a long time, the Red Devils operated under that most malicious of sports tropes, the anti-title curse. (Us Chicago Cubs fans know a little about those.) Their curse came way back when the club decided to convert from amateur status to professionalism in 1948. Benjamin Urrea, a fan known as Garabato, was extremely disillusioned by this, to the point where he said that if America went pro, they would never be champion. That curse, it's widely believed, was broken in 1979, 31 years later, when America claimed its first league title.
Key phrase, widely believed. A funny thing about soccer is that 'being champion' has more than one meaning. Soccer doesn't work like most sports in North America. For teams in the NFL, NHL, NBA or MLB, victory really only means winning their respective league titles. In soccer, though, being champion can mean not only the league title, but also being champion of lower tiers of play, or champion of a knockout cup competition of some sort, or champion of a larger competition a club gains access to through quality performance in their league, or even champion of some random invitational tournament that pops up from time to time. It is this quirk of the sport that leads some America fans to believe the curse is still alive until such time as the club wins the South American continental competition, the Copa Libertadores.
Enter Bill Clinton.
On October 21, 1995, then-President Clinton signed Executive Order 12978. The order dealt with drug trafficking in Colombia, freezing the American assets of any entity connected with local drug cartels and preventing anyone that does business with American citizens from also doing business with those entities. This is otherwise known as the "Clinton List".
America de Cali was one of those entities. Two high-ranking members of the Cali drug cartel, Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, were America fans and used some of their drug money to support the club. Convicted in 1998 and placed into a Colombian prison that barely even slowed them down, their involvement landed the Red Devils on the Clinton List that same year along with any other business that involved the brothers.
In a way, the Curse of Garabato had manifested itself: if it couldn't prevent league titles, it could force the club to do without professionalism's benefits. Not only would no sponsor touch America, but they could no longer win prize money from any competition that involved American clubs. That came up in 1999, when the Red Devils won the Copa Merconorte, a competition involving American clubs, and missed out on $200,000.
With no way to make money other than gate receipts and merchandise sales, America's financial situation became dire. All they could afford to pay players was $3,000 a month, or $36,000 a year. There are not many quality soccer players that will take that kind of pay. In fact, you personally quite possibly make more than that yourself, even if you're not an athlete. The club's debt promptly ballooned, and as long as the Rodriguez brothers maintained control of the club, in fact as long as America de Cali remained a business in their current form, getting off the Clinton List was impossible.
Despite this, on the pitch, the Red Devils did surprisingly well. For one thing, they still exist as a soccer club. For another, they racked up five more league titles in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008 (the last two after Colombia converted to a split-season format known in Latin America as Apertura/Clausura). A more familiar way to illustrate different measures of success from team to team is the fact that America considers this a subpar showing.
In 2010, America finally escaped from the Clinton List by restructuring the club to be run by the city of Cali; the Rodriguez brothers had been extradited to the United States in 2004 and no longer had any control- Gilberto to Pennsylvania; Miguel to Kentucky. It just took several more years to wrestle control from the rest of the Rodriguez family. The Red Devils are free, but not without accruing $2 million in debt that they now have to try and pay off.
And while sports curses only hamper one club, the political world has no such restriction. For while America de Cali has freed itself of its drug-addled past, another Colombian club, Santa Fe, has found itself under suspicion of being financed by another trafficker, Bogota kingpin Daniel "El Loco" Barrera.
The Clinton List looms once more.
Take the case of Colombian club America de Cali.
For a long time, the Red Devils operated under that most malicious of sports tropes, the anti-title curse. (Us Chicago Cubs fans know a little about those.) Their curse came way back when the club decided to convert from amateur status to professionalism in 1948. Benjamin Urrea, a fan known as Garabato, was extremely disillusioned by this, to the point where he said that if America went pro, they would never be champion. That curse, it's widely believed, was broken in 1979, 31 years later, when America claimed its first league title.
Key phrase, widely believed. A funny thing about soccer is that 'being champion' has more than one meaning. Soccer doesn't work like most sports in North America. For teams in the NFL, NHL, NBA or MLB, victory really only means winning their respective league titles. In soccer, though, being champion can mean not only the league title, but also being champion of lower tiers of play, or champion of a knockout cup competition of some sort, or champion of a larger competition a club gains access to through quality performance in their league, or even champion of some random invitational tournament that pops up from time to time. It is this quirk of the sport that leads some America fans to believe the curse is still alive until such time as the club wins the South American continental competition, the Copa Libertadores.
Enter Bill Clinton.
On October 21, 1995, then-President Clinton signed Executive Order 12978. The order dealt with drug trafficking in Colombia, freezing the American assets of any entity connected with local drug cartels and preventing anyone that does business with American citizens from also doing business with those entities. This is otherwise known as the "Clinton List".
America de Cali was one of those entities. Two high-ranking members of the Cali drug cartel, Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, were America fans and used some of their drug money to support the club. Convicted in 1998 and placed into a Colombian prison that barely even slowed them down, their involvement landed the Red Devils on the Clinton List that same year along with any other business that involved the brothers.
In a way, the Curse of Garabato had manifested itself: if it couldn't prevent league titles, it could force the club to do without professionalism's benefits. Not only would no sponsor touch America, but they could no longer win prize money from any competition that involved American clubs. That came up in 1999, when the Red Devils won the Copa Merconorte, a competition involving American clubs, and missed out on $200,000.
With no way to make money other than gate receipts and merchandise sales, America's financial situation became dire. All they could afford to pay players was $3,000 a month, or $36,000 a year. There are not many quality soccer players that will take that kind of pay. In fact, you personally quite possibly make more than that yourself, even if you're not an athlete. The club's debt promptly ballooned, and as long as the Rodriguez brothers maintained control of the club, in fact as long as America de Cali remained a business in their current form, getting off the Clinton List was impossible.
Despite this, on the pitch, the Red Devils did surprisingly well. For one thing, they still exist as a soccer club. For another, they racked up five more league titles in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008 (the last two after Colombia converted to a split-season format known in Latin America as Apertura/Clausura). A more familiar way to illustrate different measures of success from team to team is the fact that America considers this a subpar showing.
In 2010, America finally escaped from the Clinton List by restructuring the club to be run by the city of Cali; the Rodriguez brothers had been extradited to the United States in 2004 and no longer had any control- Gilberto to Pennsylvania; Miguel to Kentucky. It just took several more years to wrestle control from the rest of the Rodriguez family. The Red Devils are free, but not without accruing $2 million in debt that they now have to try and pay off.
And while sports curses only hamper one club, the political world has no such restriction. For while America de Cali has freed itself of its drug-addled past, another Colombian club, Santa Fe, has found itself under suspicion of being financed by another trafficker, Bogota kingpin Daniel "El Loco" Barrera.
The Clinton List looms once more.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Wisconsin Recall Update
We have allegations of recall signatures being gathered from, among others, the dead.
How's democracy going where you live? (That includes you, first Tunisian visitor who just showed up. Welcome aboard, guy.)
How's democracy going where you live? (That includes you, first Tunisian visitor who just showed up. Welcome aboard, guy.)
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Tinkerbell Effect
Several facts of society, facets we take for granted, aren't quite as intractable as they seem. They're plenty intractable, but the reason for that is that we say they are. Things like money, the rule of law, government, even society itself only exist because we all agreed at some point that they should be so. A 2004 article (PDF) in the Macquarie Law Journal by Cameron Stewart referred to it as the Tinkerbell Effect. If everyone agreed that, say, planes couldn't fly, that doesn't make that true. The plane will still be airworthy no matter how many people claim otherwise. But if everyone agreed that planes should not be ALLOWED to fly, if nobody is willing to take the plane up in the air, the plane won't fly. It COULD fly, but it won't.
We could bring up several things to illustrate the point of what happens when people as a group decide to stop existing under a particular societal setup- riots, mobs, rebellions, revolutions, even the odd community that prints its own local currency- but today, we have something much more unique.
Ken McElroy of Skidmore, Missouri was not a nice man. In fact, Skidmore's nickname for him was "the town bully". He had a rap sheet that would stretch halfway to Kansas City, including theft, rape, pedophilia, arson, assault, cattle rustling, even burning down someone's house... or at least, he would have had he actually been convicted of anything. He would, on 22 out of 23 occasions, escape conviction via witness intimidation- sometimes by making threats, sometimes just by parking outside the witnesses' houses and watching them. After acquittals would come the bragging- once safe via double-jeopardy law, McElroy would taunt townsfolk about what he was now free to admit he did. After one acquittal in 1973 over the attempted shooting of a farmer, McElroy bragged to Skidmore that he might as well have killed him. Through the multitude of offenses, townspeople terrified of McElroy kept turning to law enforcement, but every time, all they got back was a message that there wasn't anything they could do, but keep an eye on him.
Then there's the matter of that one conviction. McElroy was convicted of shooting grocer Bo Bowenkamp. Trena McElroy, Ken's wife, accused Bowenkamp's wife, Lois, of accusing Trena's daughter of stealing a 10-cent piece of candy. After a threat from Trena to "whip her ass" and the brandhishing of a pocketknife by Ken, Lois banned them from the store.
After several nights of parking outside the Bowenkamp house, at least two of which involved firing his shotgun, and one offer of $100 to Lois to settle the dispute with Trena via a street fight (Lois was in her 50's; Trena was a teenager), he pulled up behind the grocery and shot Bowenkamp. McElroy was convicted in April 1981 and sentenced to two years in prison.
But not for long. McElroy appealed, won the appeal mere hours later, and was freed on bond. Not long afterward, he showed up to a local tavern, rifle in hand, threatening to finish the job. This immediately violated his bond, and several witnesses were willing to testify, but McElroy's lawyer managed to get the hearing postponed. That was all the town could stand.
On July 10, 1981, less than three months later, much of Skidmore gathered at the Legion Hall to demand the county sheriff do something. He suggested a neighborhood watch program. They responded that that's supposed to be his job. Meanwhile, McElroy arrived at the tavern. It was no coincidence; he had heard about the meeting. The sheriff, upon wrapping up the meeting, headed out of town for the county seat of Maryville, 15 miles away. The rest of the meeting-goers soon decided to head to the tavern. Soon, over 40 people were there, about 30 in the tavern itself. Some of them had never gone there before. McElroy left, got into his truck, and the crowd followed.
Then McElroy was shot from at least two directions, in the middle of the day, in July, with a crowd of a reported 45 people present. Trena was spattered with blood; she was not shot and soon rushed to safety. The sheriff got word over the scanner and rushed back into Skidmore.
But nobody saw anything.
Obviously, this was a bald-faced lie- dozens of people were standing right there- but the town had mutually agreed that nobody saw anything. Nobody had told the sheriff of anything during the earlier meeting. And, as per the Tinkerbell Effect, so it was. Trena, Ken's wife, wasn't in on this, and made accusations, but with nobody else willing to back her up, her word alone was not enough to press charges. Every time a potential witness was asked, they would simply say that they heard gunshots, hit the ground, and saw nothing. A hotline was set up for tips. Nobody called, unless you count the media.
And the media wasn't being talked to either, at least after the initial stretch of time. As daughter Cheryl Bowenkamp recalled 25 years later,
The shooting was in 1981. 30 years later, no further progress on the case has been made. None is likely to be made.
The town of Skidmore, still refusing to finger a shooter, doesn't regret it, because they feel to this day it had to be done. Had McElroy not been shot, he simply would have continued his reign of terror, and law enforcement would have continued to allow it. But at the same time, they do regret it, as the incident is all the otherwise very sleepy town is likely to ever be known for. As it happens, the media only appears interested in Skidmore when someone gets killed there, and every time they come around, Ken McElroy's name is thrown around again.
Skidmore, which mainly caters to truckers and farmers, has an annual four-day Punkin' Show in the fall, which includes such things as dance contests, tractor pulls and frog-jumping contests. It is by all accounts lovely. If that sounds boring and sleepy, good. That's just the way Skidmore would like it.
But everyone else has determined that Ken McElroy will be Skidmore's claim to fame. And so it is.
We could bring up several things to illustrate the point of what happens when people as a group decide to stop existing under a particular societal setup- riots, mobs, rebellions, revolutions, even the odd community that prints its own local currency- but today, we have something much more unique.
Ken McElroy of Skidmore, Missouri was not a nice man. In fact, Skidmore's nickname for him was "the town bully". He had a rap sheet that would stretch halfway to Kansas City, including theft, rape, pedophilia, arson, assault, cattle rustling, even burning down someone's house... or at least, he would have had he actually been convicted of anything. He would, on 22 out of 23 occasions, escape conviction via witness intimidation- sometimes by making threats, sometimes just by parking outside the witnesses' houses and watching them. After acquittals would come the bragging- once safe via double-jeopardy law, McElroy would taunt townsfolk about what he was now free to admit he did. After one acquittal in 1973 over the attempted shooting of a farmer, McElroy bragged to Skidmore that he might as well have killed him. Through the multitude of offenses, townspeople terrified of McElroy kept turning to law enforcement, but every time, all they got back was a message that there wasn't anything they could do, but keep an eye on him.
Then there's the matter of that one conviction. McElroy was convicted of shooting grocer Bo Bowenkamp. Trena McElroy, Ken's wife, accused Bowenkamp's wife, Lois, of accusing Trena's daughter of stealing a 10-cent piece of candy. After a threat from Trena to "whip her ass" and the brandhishing of a pocketknife by Ken, Lois banned them from the store.
After several nights of parking outside the Bowenkamp house, at least two of which involved firing his shotgun, and one offer of $100 to Lois to settle the dispute with Trena via a street fight (Lois was in her 50's; Trena was a teenager), he pulled up behind the grocery and shot Bowenkamp. McElroy was convicted in April 1981 and sentenced to two years in prison.
But not for long. McElroy appealed, won the appeal mere hours later, and was freed on bond. Not long afterward, he showed up to a local tavern, rifle in hand, threatening to finish the job. This immediately violated his bond, and several witnesses were willing to testify, but McElroy's lawyer managed to get the hearing postponed. That was all the town could stand.
On July 10, 1981, less than three months later, much of Skidmore gathered at the Legion Hall to demand the county sheriff do something. He suggested a neighborhood watch program. They responded that that's supposed to be his job. Meanwhile, McElroy arrived at the tavern. It was no coincidence; he had heard about the meeting. The sheriff, upon wrapping up the meeting, headed out of town for the county seat of Maryville, 15 miles away. The rest of the meeting-goers soon decided to head to the tavern. Soon, over 40 people were there, about 30 in the tavern itself. Some of them had never gone there before. McElroy left, got into his truck, and the crowd followed.
Then McElroy was shot from at least two directions, in the middle of the day, in July, with a crowd of a reported 45 people present. Trena was spattered with blood; she was not shot and soon rushed to safety. The sheriff got word over the scanner and rushed back into Skidmore.
But nobody saw anything.
Obviously, this was a bald-faced lie- dozens of people were standing right there- but the town had mutually agreed that nobody saw anything. Nobody had told the sheriff of anything during the earlier meeting. And, as per the Tinkerbell Effect, so it was. Trena, Ken's wife, wasn't in on this, and made accusations, but with nobody else willing to back her up, her word alone was not enough to press charges. Every time a potential witness was asked, they would simply say that they heard gunshots, hit the ground, and saw nothing. A hotline was set up for tips. Nobody called, unless you count the media.
And the media wasn't being talked to either, at least after the initial stretch of time. As daughter Cheryl Bowenkamp recalled 25 years later,
"Right after the shooting some of us here in Skidmore were willing to talk about what we had gone through in the year prior to the shooting. No one was going to talk about the shooting itself. But it only took the first couple of stories that were printed for us to realize that it didn't matter what we said. It was going to be twisted. So...everyone quit talking. That seemed like the best way. Most of the stories that got printed were blown out of proportion and would have made a great western."
The shooting was in 1981. 30 years later, no further progress on the case has been made. None is likely to be made.
The town of Skidmore, still refusing to finger a shooter, doesn't regret it, because they feel to this day it had to be done. Had McElroy not been shot, he simply would have continued his reign of terror, and law enforcement would have continued to allow it. But at the same time, they do regret it, as the incident is all the otherwise very sleepy town is likely to ever be known for. As it happens, the media only appears interested in Skidmore when someone gets killed there, and every time they come around, Ken McElroy's name is thrown around again.
Skidmore, which mainly caters to truckers and farmers, has an annual four-day Punkin' Show in the fall, which includes such things as dance contests, tractor pulls and frog-jumping contests. It is by all accounts lovely. If that sounds boring and sleepy, good. That's just the way Skidmore would like it.
But everyone else has determined that Ken McElroy will be Skidmore's claim to fame. And so it is.
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Back Page, Before They Cut It All To Fill The Back Page With The Royal Wedding
With it hailing out, and me working on something larger- might be tomorrow, might not, but still- today we'll do something of a back-page roundup. I'm going to fire four stories at you that I'm banking you haven't seen today, and we'll see if anything socks you in the eyeballs.
*Bolivia is on track to to pass a law, the Law of Mother Earth, giving nature the same rights as man. The Guardian shows them as "the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered," as well as the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities." They're also trying to get something similar through the United Nations, though that shows far poorer chances of success.
*The FDA has given approval to a hat, the NovoTTF-100A, that fights brain cancer by generating electric fields using the electrodes on your scalp to attack tumor cells. It comes with a gazillion caveats- the type of brain cancer, how much the cancer has progressed, what else has been tried- but it got a narrow approval after a clinical study showed it was as effective in the test group as chemotherapy, with less of some side effects (and more of others). That paves the way for further testing in other circumstances.
*Women in Tajikistan are increasingly taking note of a quirk in Tajik society that leaves them at major risk, according to Eurasianet. Divorce rates are on the rise, but the common way for Muslim spouses to get married is a religious ceremony called a nikkah. Couples that opt for a nikkah frequently do not obtain paperwork officially recognizing the marriage. No official marriage means no prenuptial agreement, and with women's rights lacking in that part of the world, the husband-that's-not-officially-a-husband can easily wind up with just about everything; according to the article, about 80% of female spouses wind up without property or child support, usually because they didn't register. Women can be hit from the other end as well, as even the ones that register and obtain a divorce (Tajik law enforces a 50-50 split) can end up shunned by their community because of the divorce.
*And finally, let's head over to Alicante, Spain, where authorities have recovered two priceless paintings stolen in the late 1990's: "La Anunciación" by El Greco and "La Aparición de la Virgen del Pilar" by Francisco de Goya. The paintings are reportedly undamaged; the thieves looked after them well. That's about all they could do; as they were both placed on the Art Loss Register and made known to the art community and to police, they couldn't easily be resold. When they reportedly started trying to do so in October, the cops got wind of it and began an investigation that led to the paintings' eventual recovery.
*Bolivia is on track to to pass a law, the Law of Mother Earth, giving nature the same rights as man. The Guardian shows them as "the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered," as well as the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities." They're also trying to get something similar through the United Nations, though that shows far poorer chances of success.
*The FDA has given approval to a hat, the NovoTTF-100A, that fights brain cancer by generating electric fields using the electrodes on your scalp to attack tumor cells. It comes with a gazillion caveats- the type of brain cancer, how much the cancer has progressed, what else has been tried- but it got a narrow approval after a clinical study showed it was as effective in the test group as chemotherapy, with less of some side effects (and more of others). That paves the way for further testing in other circumstances.
*Women in Tajikistan are increasingly taking note of a quirk in Tajik society that leaves them at major risk, according to Eurasianet. Divorce rates are on the rise, but the common way for Muslim spouses to get married is a religious ceremony called a nikkah. Couples that opt for a nikkah frequently do not obtain paperwork officially recognizing the marriage. No official marriage means no prenuptial agreement, and with women's rights lacking in that part of the world, the husband-that's-not-officially-a-husband can easily wind up with just about everything; according to the article, about 80% of female spouses wind up without property or child support, usually because they didn't register. Women can be hit from the other end as well, as even the ones that register and obtain a divorce (Tajik law enforces a 50-50 split) can end up shunned by their community because of the divorce.
*And finally, let's head over to Alicante, Spain, where authorities have recovered two priceless paintings stolen in the late 1990's: "La Anunciación" by El Greco and "La Aparición de la Virgen del Pilar" by Francisco de Goya. The paintings are reportedly undamaged; the thieves looked after them well. That's about all they could do; as they were both placed on the Art Loss Register and made known to the art community and to police, they couldn't easily be resold. When they reportedly started trying to do so in October, the cops got wind of it and began an investigation that led to the paintings' eventual recovery.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I Make Them Good Girls Go Ba-a-a-a-ad
There aren't many sources available for this one, given that it's a small local case file from 1311, so it's brief today, but there's enough to go on, including one of our recent Rapid-Fire Book Club entries, Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki Leon.
Back in 1311, sheep were abundant in Ireland. Really, they still are, but we need some sort of flimsy lead-in here, so go with it, because we need to introduce a woman by the name of Eva Giffard. She was a weaver and wool seller from Waterford. With all the sheep around, this shouldn't have been all that bad, at least considering it was Europe in the Middle Ages.
But, the price of wool had gone up, leaving her less able to turn a profit on the resale. What's a medieval wool seller to do?
There is, of course, only one logical solution: break into the pen of old man Ivor Obrodir, walk up to twenty sheep, and rip the wool right off of them with her bare hands. Shockingly, the sheep had a problem with this innovative method of shearing, and she was caught. As Leon wrote, Giffard defended herself such that she almost managed to get acquitted.
Another difference between now and 1311: it took until the late stages of the trial for someone to go check her priors. And as her rap sheet went, she was a "common robber of sheep, calves and hens".
The record is silent on what was done with her, but let's hope 'an eye for an eye' was not applied.
Back in 1311, sheep were abundant in Ireland. Really, they still are, but we need some sort of flimsy lead-in here, so go with it, because we need to introduce a woman by the name of Eva Giffard. She was a weaver and wool seller from Waterford. With all the sheep around, this shouldn't have been all that bad, at least considering it was Europe in the Middle Ages.
But, the price of wool had gone up, leaving her less able to turn a profit on the resale. What's a medieval wool seller to do?
There is, of course, only one logical solution: break into the pen of old man Ivor Obrodir, walk up to twenty sheep, and rip the wool right off of them with her bare hands. Shockingly, the sheep had a problem with this innovative method of shearing, and she was caught. As Leon wrote, Giffard defended herself such that she almost managed to get acquitted.
Another difference between now and 1311: it took until the late stages of the trial for someone to go check her priors. And as her rap sheet went, she was a "common robber of sheep, calves and hens".
The record is silent on what was done with her, but let's hope 'an eye for an eye' was not applied.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Nicked Votes
Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus has apparently, due to "human error"- namely, her own- failed to input 14,315 votes from Brookfield, which when added into the totals hand David Prosser a 7,000 vote lead. That's just barely enough to push the race out of the realm of an automatic recount, meaning Joanne Kloppenburg would have to pay for it, at the cost of $5 a ward.
When one looks at Nickolaus, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports, it becomes clear she is used to this kind of attention...
Given the timing of the find, the very coincidental amount of votes found, the place they were found being Prosser's and the Republican base, and Nickolaus' previous history, even after 538 pegs it all as incompetence rather than corruption, it seems fishier than the Time Bandit. Either way, it means Nickolaus has messed up badly.
If this is corruption, Nickolaus has stolen an election.
If this is incompetence, Nickolaus has disenfranchised 14,315 people, even if only for two days.
Either way, she should not be allowed anywhere near the inner workings of the political process at any point in the future.
When one looks at Nickolaus, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports, it becomes clear she is used to this kind of attention...
In the 1990s, she worked as a staffer for the Assembly Republican caucus, one of four GOP and Democratic legislative groups that were shut down following a criminal investigation into state staffers doing campaign work on state time.
Prosser led Assembly Republicans as minority leader in that House from 1989 to 1994 and than as speaker in 1995 and 1996, giving him oversight of the GOP caucus in that House.
"To my knowledge (Prosser) has not had any contact with Kathy since she left the caucus," Prosser campaign manager Brian Nemoir said.
The caucus investigation eventually led to the resignations and criminal convictions of leaders in the Senate and Assembly for directing caucus and staff employees to engage in illegal political activity during their state employment.
Nickolaus, who earned $54,000 a year as a data analyst and computer specialist for Assembly Republicans, was granted immunity in 2001 by authorities conducting the investigation.
In a criminal complaint issued in 2002 against then-Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen and others, prosecutors claimed Nickolaus developed a computer software program that was used by state officials to track donations. According to a Journal Sentinel report, Nickolaus said she developed the software on her own time because she wanted to sell it to the state elections agency for use in automating state-required campaign reports. She left the caucus around that time.
Given the timing of the find, the very coincidental amount of votes found, the place they were found being Prosser's and the Republican base, and Nickolaus' previous history, even after 538 pegs it all as incompetence rather than corruption, it seems fishier than the Time Bandit. Either way, it means Nickolaus has messed up badly.
If this is corruption, Nickolaus has stolen an election.
If this is incompetence, Nickolaus has disenfranchised 14,315 people, even if only for two days.
Either way, she should not be allowed anywhere near the inner workings of the political process at any point in the future.
Monday, March 28, 2011
I Sentence You To Life, And All Its Horrors
Amnesty International today issued their annual report on the state of the death penalty worldwide, and they are overall showing a fairly sharp decline over the past year... as long as you exclude China. China is by far the biggest proponent of the death penalty worldwide, executing more people than the rest of the world combined, so much so that if you included China in the count, it would skew the reading.
So excluding China, 719 people were executed worldwide in 2009. In 2010, the number was 527. At least, as far as we know; some countries aren't totally forthcoming in releasing their statistics. China, meanwhile, has at least 2,000 by Amnesty International's count, with rumors of it being as high as 8,000.
You see now why China had to be excluded?
22 other countries were scored as having at least one execution in 2010. Iran had 252, North Korea 60, Yemen 53, the United States 46, Saudi Arabia 27, Libya 18, Syria 17, Bangladesh 9, Somalia 8, Sudan 6, Palestine 5, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Taiwan 4, Belarus and Japan 2, and Iraq,
Botswana, Malaysia and Bahrain 1. Most of those countries, though, might have higher counts beyond what was scored, and Vietnam and Singapore might have also carried out at least one. (The confirmed count adds up to 521. Amnesty misplaced six executions here somewhere.)
It must be noted that these are actual executions. Not death sentences. While death sentences are given out in the thousands- 2,024 given by 67 countries- often, they aren't carried out.
Belarus is probably under more scrutiny than any other, outside of China. They are the only country left in Europe that still executes, in defiance of pressure placed upon it by the EU, which will not start officially talking with Belarus until it, among other things, abolishes the practice.
Over the past decade, 31 countries have. Gabon is the most recent, the 139th overall, while Mongolia instituted a moratorium- not abolition, but a step in that direction. Here in the US, Illinois recently abolished the death penalty, the 16th state to do so. Texas accounted (PDF) for 17 of the 46 American executions; if it were a country, it'd be ranked 8th in 2010 executions. Ohio had 8, Alabama 5, Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi 3, Georgia 2, and Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Utah and Washington 1. There would have been more save for the fact that almost all American executions are by lethal injection, and there was widespread difficulty in obtaining one of the drugs in the cocktail, sodium thiopental. Arizona had to get theirs from the United Kingdom. Texas, down from 24 executions in 2009, has also been dealing with fallout from the executions of inmates who have later been exonerated; as a result, they've been more deliberate in proceeding.
In China itself, last month they abolished the death penalty for 13 'economic' crimes, a move which Amnesty International derided as "legal housekeeping", as China rarely carried out the executions for those crimes anyway. Among the crimes: tax fraud, tomb robbing, fossil stealing, and the smuggling of cultural relics. The death penalty was also abolished for those over age 75. That still leaves 55 crimes that can get you killed in China.
Still a long way to go.
So excluding China, 719 people were executed worldwide in 2009. In 2010, the number was 527. At least, as far as we know; some countries aren't totally forthcoming in releasing their statistics. China, meanwhile, has at least 2,000 by Amnesty International's count, with rumors of it being as high as 8,000.
You see now why China had to be excluded?
22 other countries were scored as having at least one execution in 2010. Iran had 252, North Korea 60, Yemen 53, the United States 46, Saudi Arabia 27, Libya 18, Syria 17, Bangladesh 9, Somalia 8, Sudan 6, Palestine 5, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Taiwan 4, Belarus and Japan 2, and Iraq,
Botswana, Malaysia and Bahrain 1. Most of those countries, though, might have higher counts beyond what was scored, and Vietnam and Singapore might have also carried out at least one. (The confirmed count adds up to 521. Amnesty misplaced six executions here somewhere.)
It must be noted that these are actual executions. Not death sentences. While death sentences are given out in the thousands- 2,024 given by 67 countries- often, they aren't carried out.
Belarus is probably under more scrutiny than any other, outside of China. They are the only country left in Europe that still executes, in defiance of pressure placed upon it by the EU, which will not start officially talking with Belarus until it, among other things, abolishes the practice.
Over the past decade, 31 countries have. Gabon is the most recent, the 139th overall, while Mongolia instituted a moratorium- not abolition, but a step in that direction. Here in the US, Illinois recently abolished the death penalty, the 16th state to do so. Texas accounted (PDF) for 17 of the 46 American executions; if it were a country, it'd be ranked 8th in 2010 executions. Ohio had 8, Alabama 5, Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi 3, Georgia 2, and Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Utah and Washington 1. There would have been more save for the fact that almost all American executions are by lethal injection, and there was widespread difficulty in obtaining one of the drugs in the cocktail, sodium thiopental. Arizona had to get theirs from the United Kingdom. Texas, down from 24 executions in 2009, has also been dealing with fallout from the executions of inmates who have later been exonerated; as a result, they've been more deliberate in proceeding.
In China itself, last month they abolished the death penalty for 13 'economic' crimes, a move which Amnesty International derided as "legal housekeeping", as China rarely carried out the executions for those crimes anyway. Among the crimes: tax fraud, tomb robbing, fossil stealing, and the smuggling of cultural relics. The death penalty was also abolished for those over age 75. That still leaves 55 crimes that can get you killed in China.
Still a long way to go.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wikileaks Update
I may not know what to do with Julian Assange, but Interpol sure does: they have arrested him. He is being held without bail, facing extradition to Sweden on those disputed sex charges, now further disputed from the left because Assange's accuser has been newly connected to the CIA.
He'll spend the next week remanded in British custody; I imagine the next step is to see what happens with that insurance file Assange has threatened to decrypt, and to see if any new leak sites spring up to serve Wikileaks' purpose.
He'll spend the next week remanded in British custody; I imagine the next step is to see what happens with that insurance file Assange has threatened to decrypt, and to see if any new leak sites spring up to serve Wikileaks' purpose.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Random News Generator- Mexico
Mmmmmmm. Warm, tropical Mexico. The snow around here is starting to stick, so the RNG landing on Mexico really does the oh wait there's a drug war there. Drat.
Mmmmmmm. Nice, safe Wisconsin, where the guns are primarily focused on deer.
This one is really particularly depressing, standing out amongst the by now depressingly hollow-sounding arrest of a regional leader of one of the many cartels and the gruesomely familiar-sounding uncovering of a mass grave containing 18 people. Two months ago, Hermila Garcia, a 38-year-old lawyer, took the job of police chief in Meoqui, a border town in Chihuahua state with a 90-person force, because nobody else would. The job had been vacant for a year. Garcia made news for electing not to carry guns or other weapons, choosing to instead try and talk her way out of any problems. Her figuring was "If you don't owe anything, you don't fear anything."
Yesterday morning, she was proven wrong. She was gunned down by drug traffickers at about 7:20 AM yesterday. She was driving to work alone.
An AP photo here shows that federal officers have now assumed control. They may be waiting a while before anyone else steps forward.
Mmmmmmm. Nice, safe Wisconsin, where the guns are primarily focused on deer.
This one is really particularly depressing, standing out amongst the by now depressingly hollow-sounding arrest of a regional leader of one of the many cartels and the gruesomely familiar-sounding uncovering of a mass grave containing 18 people. Two months ago, Hermila Garcia, a 38-year-old lawyer, took the job of police chief in Meoqui, a border town in Chihuahua state with a 90-person force, because nobody else would. The job had been vacant for a year. Garcia made news for electing not to carry guns or other weapons, choosing to instead try and talk her way out of any problems. Her figuring was "If you don't owe anything, you don't fear anything."
Yesterday morning, she was proven wrong. She was gunned down by drug traffickers at about 7:20 AM yesterday. She was driving to work alone.
An AP photo here shows that federal officers have now assumed control. They may be waiting a while before anyone else steps forward.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
French-Canadian Bean Soup
I got a cold. I'm lightheaded, I'm loopy.
But at least I'm not dying, and at least I'm not as loopy as Dutch Schultz.
Schultz was a New York mobster during Prohibition and former Public Enemy #1 (the precursor to today's Ten Most Wanted list). Schultz was, in fact, the Public Enemy #1 that replaced John Dillinger. On October 23, 1935, he and three associates were gunned down in a hit job carried out by Charlie 'The Bug' Workman, Emanuel Weiss, and a man known only as 'Piggy'. However, Schultz remained alive long enough for police (who thought he'd be fine) to show up, get him to a hospital, and maybe, they hoped, find out who shot him.
Bad luck on that. Schultz was in fact in intense, mortal pain, with a fever of 106, and on painkillers. In addition, the bullets were coated with rust, so as to give him blood poisoning just in case he didn't die right away. He was in no condition to talk.
Not that he didn't try...
Schultz: Has it been in any other papers? George, don't make no full moves. What have you done with him? Oh, mama, mama, mama. Oh stop it, stop it; eh, oh, oh. Sure, sure, mama.
Now listen, Phil, fun is fun. Ah please, papa. What happened to the sixteen? Oh, oh, he done it, please. John, please, oh, did you buy the hotel? You promised a million sure. Get out. I wished I knew.
Please make it quick, fast and furious. Please. Fast and furious. Please help me get out; I am getting my wind back, thank God. Please, please, oh please. You will have to please tell him, you got no case.
You get ahead with the dot dash system didn't I speak that time last night. Whose number is that in your pocket book, Phi1 13780. Who was it? Oh- please, please. Reserve decision. Police, police, Henry and Frankie. Oh, oh, dog biscuits and when he is happy he doesn't get happy please, please to do this. Then Henry, Henry, Frankie you didn't even meet me. The glove will fit what I say oh, Kayiyi, oh Kayiyi. Sure who cares when you are through? How do you know this? How do you know this? Well, then oh, Cocoa know thinks he is a grandpa again. He is jumping around. No Hobo and Poboe I think he means the same thing.
Sergeant Luke Conlon: Who shot you?
Schultz: The boss himself.
Conlon: He did?
Schultz: Yes, I don't know.
Conlon: What did he shoot you for?
Schultz: I showed him boss; did you hear him meet me? An appointment. Appeal stuck. All right, mother.
Conlon: Was it the boss shot you?
Schultz: Who shot me? No one.
Conlon: We will help you.
Schultz: Will you help me up? O.K. I won't be such a big creep. Oh, mama. I can't go through with it, please. Oh, and then he clips me; come on. Cut that out, we don't owe a nickel; hold it; instead, hold it against him; I am a pretty good pretzler -Winifred- Department of Justice. I even got it from the department. Sir, please stop it. Say listen the last night!
Conlon: Don't holler.
Schultz: I don't want to holler.
Conlon: What did they shoot you for?
Schultz: I don't know, sir. Honestly I don't. I don't even know who was with me, honestly. I was in the toilet and when I reached the -the boy came at me.
Conlon: The big fellow gave it to you?
Schultz: Yes, he gave it to me.
Conlon: Do you know who this big fellow was?
Schultz: No. If he wanted to break the ring no, please I get a month. They did it. Come on. (A name, not clear) cut me off and says you are not to be the beneficiary of this will. Is that right? I will be checked and double-checked and please pull for me. Will you pull? How many good ones and how many bad ones? Please I had nothing with him he was a cowboy in one of the seven days a week fight. No business; no hangout; no friends; nothing; just what you pick up and what you need. I don't know who shot me. Don't put anyone near this check~ you might have -please do it for me. Let me get up. heh? In the olden days they waited and they waited. Please give me a shot. It is from the factory. Sure, that is a bad. Well, oh good ahead that happens for trying. I don't want harmony. I want harmony. Oh, mamma, mamma! Who give it to him? Who give it to him? Let me in the district -fire-factory that he was nowhere near. It smoldered No, no. There are only ten of us and there ten million fighting somewhere of you, so get your onions up and we will throw up the truce flag. Oh, please let me up. Please shift me. Police are here. Communistic...strike...baloney...honestly this is a habit I get; sometimes I give it and sometimes I don't. Oh, I am all in. That settles it. Are you sure? Please let me get in and eat. Let him harass himself to you and then bother you. Please don't ask me to go there. I don't want to. I still don't want him in the path. It is no use to stage a riot. The sidewalk was in trouble and the bears were in trouble and I broke it up. Please put me in that room. Please keep him in control. My gilt edged stuff and those dirty rats have tuned in. Please mother, don't tear, don't rip; that is something that shouldn't be spoken about. Please get me up, my friends. Please, look out. The shooting is a bit wild, and that kind of shooting saved a man's life. No payrolls. No wells. No coupons. That would be entirely out. Pardon me, I forgot I am plaintiff and not defendant. Look out. Look out for him. Please. He owed me money; he owes everyone money. Why can't he just pullout and give me control? Please, mother, you pick me up now. Please, you know me. No. Don't you scare me. My friends and I think I do a better job. Police are looking for you allover. Be instrumental in letting us know. They are English-men and they are a type I don't know who is best, they or us. Oh, sir, get the doll a roofing. You can play jacks and girls do that with a soft ball and do tricks with it. I take all events into consideration. No. No. And it is no. It is confused and its says no. A boy has never wept nor dashed a thousand kim. Did you hear me?
Unnamed detective: Who shot you?
Schultz: I don't know.
Detective: How many shots were fired?
Schultz: I don't know.
Detective: How many?
Schultz: Two thousand. Come one, get some money in that treasury. We need it. Come on, please get it. I can't tell you to. That is not what you have in the book. Oh, please warden. What am I going to do for money? Please put me up on my feet at once. You are a hard boiled man. Did you hear me? I would hear it, the Circuit Court would hear it, and the Supreme Court might hear it. If that ain't the pay-off. Please crack down on the Chinaman's friends and Hitler's commander. I am sore and I am going up and I am going to give you honey if I can. Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
Detective: What did the big fellow shoot you for?
Schultz: Him? John? Over a million, five million dollars.
Detective: You want to get well, don't you?
Schultz: Yes.
Detective: Then lie quiet.
Schultz: Yes, I will lie quiet.
Detective: John shot and we will take care of John.
Schultz: That is what caused the trouble. Look out. Please let me up. If you do this, you can go on and jump right here in the lake. I know who they are. They are French people. All right. Look out, look out. Oh, my memory is gone. A work relief police. Who gets it? I don't know and I don't want to know, but look out. It can be traced. He changed for the worse. Please look out; my fortunes have changed and come back and went back since that. It was desperate. I am wobbly. You ain't got nothing on him but you got it on his helper.
Detective: Control yourself.
Schultz: But I am dying.
Detective: No, you are not.
Schultz: Come on, mama. All right, dear, you have to get it.
(Frances Schultz, Dutch's wife, shows up at his bedside.)
Frances: This is Frances.
Dutch: Then pull me out. I am half crazy. They won't let me get up. They dyed my shoes. Open those shoes. Give me something. I am so sick. Give me some water, the only thing that I want. Open this up and break it so I can touch you. Danny, please get me in the car.
(With these words of wisdom imparted, Frances leaves.)
Conlon: Who shot you?
Schultz: I don't know. I didn't even get a look. I don't know who can have done it. Anybody. Kindly take my shoes off. (He was told that they were off.) No. There is a handcuff on them. The Baron says these things. I know what I am doing here with my collection of papers. It isn't worth a nickel to two guys like you or me but to a collector it is worth a fortune. It is priceless. I am going to turn it over to... Turn you back to me, please Henry. I am so sick now. The police are getting many complaints. Look out. I want that G-note. Look out for Jimmy Valentine for he is an old pal of mine. Come on, come on, Jim. Ok, ok, I am all through. Can't do another thing. Look out mamma, look out for her. You can't beat him. Police, mamma, Helen, mother, please take me out. I will settle the indictment. Come on, open the soap duckets. The chimney sweeps. Talk to the sword. Shut up, you got a big mouth! Please help me up, Henry. Max, come over here. French-Canadian bean soup. I want to pay. Let them leave me alone.
Schultz died two hours later without another word.
But at least I'm not dying, and at least I'm not as loopy as Dutch Schultz.
Schultz was a New York mobster during Prohibition and former Public Enemy #1 (the precursor to today's Ten Most Wanted list). Schultz was, in fact, the Public Enemy #1 that replaced John Dillinger. On October 23, 1935, he and three associates were gunned down in a hit job carried out by Charlie 'The Bug' Workman, Emanuel Weiss, and a man known only as 'Piggy'. However, Schultz remained alive long enough for police (who thought he'd be fine) to show up, get him to a hospital, and maybe, they hoped, find out who shot him.
Bad luck on that. Schultz was in fact in intense, mortal pain, with a fever of 106, and on painkillers. In addition, the bullets were coated with rust, so as to give him blood poisoning just in case he didn't die right away. He was in no condition to talk.
Not that he didn't try...
Schultz: Has it been in any other papers? George, don't make no full moves. What have you done with him? Oh, mama, mama, mama. Oh stop it, stop it; eh, oh, oh. Sure, sure, mama.
Now listen, Phil, fun is fun. Ah please, papa. What happened to the sixteen? Oh, oh, he done it, please. John, please, oh, did you buy the hotel? You promised a million sure. Get out. I wished I knew.
Please make it quick, fast and furious. Please. Fast and furious. Please help me get out; I am getting my wind back, thank God. Please, please, oh please. You will have to please tell him, you got no case.
You get ahead with the dot dash system didn't I speak that time last night. Whose number is that in your pocket book, Phi1 13780. Who was it? Oh- please, please. Reserve decision. Police, police, Henry and Frankie. Oh, oh, dog biscuits and when he is happy he doesn't get happy please, please to do this. Then Henry, Henry, Frankie you didn't even meet me. The glove will fit what I say oh, Kayiyi, oh Kayiyi. Sure who cares when you are through? How do you know this? How do you know this? Well, then oh, Cocoa know thinks he is a grandpa again. He is jumping around. No Hobo and Poboe I think he means the same thing.
Sergeant Luke Conlon: Who shot you?
Schultz: The boss himself.
Conlon: He did?
Schultz: Yes, I don't know.
Conlon: What did he shoot you for?
Schultz: I showed him boss; did you hear him meet me? An appointment. Appeal stuck. All right, mother.
Conlon: Was it the boss shot you?
Schultz: Who shot me? No one.
Conlon: We will help you.
Schultz: Will you help me up? O.K. I won't be such a big creep. Oh, mama. I can't go through with it, please. Oh, and then he clips me; come on. Cut that out, we don't owe a nickel; hold it; instead, hold it against him; I am a pretty good pretzler -Winifred- Department of Justice. I even got it from the department. Sir, please stop it. Say listen the last night!
Conlon: Don't holler.
Schultz: I don't want to holler.
Conlon: What did they shoot you for?
Schultz: I don't know, sir. Honestly I don't. I don't even know who was with me, honestly. I was in the toilet and when I reached the -the boy came at me.
Conlon: The big fellow gave it to you?
Schultz: Yes, he gave it to me.
Conlon: Do you know who this big fellow was?
Schultz: No. If he wanted to break the ring no, please I get a month. They did it. Come on. (A name, not clear) cut me off and says you are not to be the beneficiary of this will. Is that right? I will be checked and double-checked and please pull for me. Will you pull? How many good ones and how many bad ones? Please I had nothing with him he was a cowboy in one of the seven days a week fight. No business; no hangout; no friends; nothing; just what you pick up and what you need. I don't know who shot me. Don't put anyone near this check~ you might have -please do it for me. Let me get up. heh? In the olden days they waited and they waited. Please give me a shot. It is from the factory. Sure, that is a bad. Well, oh good ahead that happens for trying. I don't want harmony. I want harmony. Oh, mamma, mamma! Who give it to him? Who give it to him? Let me in the district -fire-factory that he was nowhere near. It smoldered No, no. There are only ten of us and there ten million fighting somewhere of you, so get your onions up and we will throw up the truce flag. Oh, please let me up. Please shift me. Police are here. Communistic...strike...baloney...honestly this is a habit I get; sometimes I give it and sometimes I don't. Oh, I am all in. That settles it. Are you sure? Please let me get in and eat. Let him harass himself to you and then bother you. Please don't ask me to go there. I don't want to. I still don't want him in the path. It is no use to stage a riot. The sidewalk was in trouble and the bears were in trouble and I broke it up. Please put me in that room. Please keep him in control. My gilt edged stuff and those dirty rats have tuned in. Please mother, don't tear, don't rip; that is something that shouldn't be spoken about. Please get me up, my friends. Please, look out. The shooting is a bit wild, and that kind of shooting saved a man's life. No payrolls. No wells. No coupons. That would be entirely out. Pardon me, I forgot I am plaintiff and not defendant. Look out. Look out for him. Please. He owed me money; he owes everyone money. Why can't he just pullout and give me control? Please, mother, you pick me up now. Please, you know me. No. Don't you scare me. My friends and I think I do a better job. Police are looking for you allover. Be instrumental in letting us know. They are English-men and they are a type I don't know who is best, they or us. Oh, sir, get the doll a roofing. You can play jacks and girls do that with a soft ball and do tricks with it. I take all events into consideration. No. No. And it is no. It is confused and its says no. A boy has never wept nor dashed a thousand kim. Did you hear me?
Unnamed detective: Who shot you?
Schultz: I don't know.
Detective: How many shots were fired?
Schultz: I don't know.
Detective: How many?
Schultz: Two thousand. Come one, get some money in that treasury. We need it. Come on, please get it. I can't tell you to. That is not what you have in the book. Oh, please warden. What am I going to do for money? Please put me up on my feet at once. You are a hard boiled man. Did you hear me? I would hear it, the Circuit Court would hear it, and the Supreme Court might hear it. If that ain't the pay-off. Please crack down on the Chinaman's friends and Hitler's commander. I am sore and I am going up and I am going to give you honey if I can. Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
Detective: What did the big fellow shoot you for?
Schultz: Him? John? Over a million, five million dollars.
Detective: You want to get well, don't you?
Schultz: Yes.
Detective: Then lie quiet.
Schultz: Yes, I will lie quiet.
Detective: John shot and we will take care of John.
Schultz: That is what caused the trouble. Look out. Please let me up. If you do this, you can go on and jump right here in the lake. I know who they are. They are French people. All right. Look out, look out. Oh, my memory is gone. A work relief police. Who gets it? I don't know and I don't want to know, but look out. It can be traced. He changed for the worse. Please look out; my fortunes have changed and come back and went back since that. It was desperate. I am wobbly. You ain't got nothing on him but you got it on his helper.
Detective: Control yourself.
Schultz: But I am dying.
Detective: No, you are not.
Schultz: Come on, mama. All right, dear, you have to get it.
(Frances Schultz, Dutch's wife, shows up at his bedside.)
Frances: This is Frances.
Dutch: Then pull me out. I am half crazy. They won't let me get up. They dyed my shoes. Open those shoes. Give me something. I am so sick. Give me some water, the only thing that I want. Open this up and break it so I can touch you. Danny, please get me in the car.
(With these words of wisdom imparted, Frances leaves.)
Conlon: Who shot you?
Schultz: I don't know. I didn't even get a look. I don't know who can have done it. Anybody. Kindly take my shoes off. (He was told that they were off.) No. There is a handcuff on them. The Baron says these things. I know what I am doing here with my collection of papers. It isn't worth a nickel to two guys like you or me but to a collector it is worth a fortune. It is priceless. I am going to turn it over to... Turn you back to me, please Henry. I am so sick now. The police are getting many complaints. Look out. I want that G-note. Look out for Jimmy Valentine for he is an old pal of mine. Come on, come on, Jim. Ok, ok, I am all through. Can't do another thing. Look out mamma, look out for her. You can't beat him. Police, mamma, Helen, mother, please take me out. I will settle the indictment. Come on, open the soap duckets. The chimney sweeps. Talk to the sword. Shut up, you got a big mouth! Please help me up, Henry. Max, come over here. French-Canadian bean soup. I want to pay. Let them leave me alone.
Schultz died two hours later without another word.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
A Shameless Excuse Post
According to the most recent available figures, one in every 31 people is either incarcerated, on parole or on probation in the United States. So it's entirely possible someone in the audience will be arrested at some point.
So if you are, please note that the police, such as this cop which another video on the topic identifies as Tom Mumford of San Miguel County, New Mexico, hate it when you do this after they have arrested you for starting a bar fight:
According to another show that interviewed Mumford, the assault-for-spitting charge wasn't pursued. An unedited clip shows that the bleeped words included the F-word for 'gay', and the N-word (which he used on a white officer).
Of course, if the clip shown here isn't enough, apparently you can purchase the entire 28-minute session, with an optional six bonus minutes. If that's how you want to spend your money.
So if you are, please note that the police, such as this cop which another video on the topic identifies as Tom Mumford of San Miguel County, New Mexico, hate it when you do this after they have arrested you for starting a bar fight:
According to another show that interviewed Mumford, the assault-for-spitting charge wasn't pursued. An unedited clip shows that the bleeped words included the F-word for 'gay', and the N-word (which he used on a white officer).
Of course, if the clip shown here isn't enough, apparently you can purchase the entire 28-minute session, with an optional six bonus minutes. If that's how you want to spend your money.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Random News Generator- Norway
It's Norway today on the RNG. Not long ago we explored the effectiveness of the death penalty in preventing crime in America, and reached the conclusion that it is not a deterrent at all.
Norway's penal system operates on that very principle, taken to the logical extreme: sheer punishment as a correctional device does not work, and that rehabilitation stands a much better chance of preventing recidivism. Enter the brand spanking new Halden Prison, recognized in today's article from the Digital Journal as the world's most humane prison.
These are not low-level offenders Halden takes in. They are murderers and rapists and drug dealers, just like you'd find in any high-security facility in America. Halden, however, gives them a jogging trail, a sound studio, a two-bedroom house for visiting family, a soccer field, a "kitchen laboratory", flat screen TV's. There are no bars. Prisoners are regularly asked how their prison experience can be improved. Guards don't even carry guns, on the theory that it just serves to antagonize.
And Halden gives them color. Grey, stark, spartan-looking facilities are what we know in America.
While grey still largely pervades, this is what Halden Prison looks like. Note the murals. If I didn't tell you that was a prison, you might think it was a high school. Maybe a college.
This is not how one would want to treat a murderer or rapist here. It's not "justice". We want to make the bastards pay for what they did. You don't want them in a prison that is literally a nicer place to live than the house in which I live voluntarily.
But does Norway's way work? Obviously, since Halden's only been open a month, you can't speak for it, but Norway knows what it's doing. Given a two-year window of recidivism, Norway's rate is 20%. The American rate- and the British rate- both hover between 50-60%. And Norway simply incarcerates fewer people- 69 people per 100,000 populate Norwegian prisons, as opposed to 753 per 100,000 in the US.
And this is the big question. A punishment-based incarceration is centered around a feeling of 'we'll make sure they never hurt anyone ever again'. But is it better that this be simply forced upon the inmate, or is it better to 'coddle' them and increase the odds that they no longer have any desire to hurt anyone ever again?
Norway's penal system operates on that very principle, taken to the logical extreme: sheer punishment as a correctional device does not work, and that rehabilitation stands a much better chance of preventing recidivism. Enter the brand spanking new Halden Prison, recognized in today's article from the Digital Journal as the world's most humane prison.
These are not low-level offenders Halden takes in. They are murderers and rapists and drug dealers, just like you'd find in any high-security facility in America. Halden, however, gives them a jogging trail, a sound studio, a two-bedroom house for visiting family, a soccer field, a "kitchen laboratory", flat screen TV's. There are no bars. Prisoners are regularly asked how their prison experience can be improved. Guards don't even carry guns, on the theory that it just serves to antagonize.
And Halden gives them color. Grey, stark, spartan-looking facilities are what we know in America.
While grey still largely pervades, this is what Halden Prison looks like. Note the murals. If I didn't tell you that was a prison, you might think it was a high school. Maybe a college.
This is not how one would want to treat a murderer or rapist here. It's not "justice". We want to make the bastards pay for what they did. You don't want them in a prison that is literally a nicer place to live than the house in which I live voluntarily.
But does Norway's way work? Obviously, since Halden's only been open a month, you can't speak for it, but Norway knows what it's doing. Given a two-year window of recidivism, Norway's rate is 20%. The American rate- and the British rate- both hover between 50-60%. And Norway simply incarcerates fewer people- 69 people per 100,000 populate Norwegian prisons, as opposed to 753 per 100,000 in the US.
And this is the big question. A punishment-based incarceration is centered around a feeling of 'we'll make sure they never hurt anyone ever again'. But is it better that this be simply forced upon the inmate, or is it better to 'coddle' them and increase the odds that they no longer have any desire to hurt anyone ever again?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Does Death Prevent Death?
Last night, this story came over the Fark wires, showing that California has 700 inmates on Death Row, and has executed only 13 since 1977.
Fark being Fark, inevitably the first guy to make it to the thread said that it was "time to add an express lane", which was variously interpreted as both 'streamline the appeals process so it doesn't take so long' and 'execute them faster; what are we waiting for'.
One of the 'execute them faster' proponents mentioned that the death penalty is meant to be a deterrent.
Sounds like my kind of hypothesis.
What we're going to do today is simple. In practice, the death penalty is nearly exclusively applied to murder cases. The last execution in America for any crime that did not include a murder was on September 4, 1964, when James Coburn was put to death for robbery in Alabama.
Knowing that, the best way to go about investigating the power of the death penalty as a deterrent is to compare murder rates. Specifically, we will compare the murder rate in states with the death penalty to the murder rate in states without.
In addition, as some states have the death penalty but are reluctant to use it, we'll further separate states by the date of their most recent execution. We'll set a cutoff of three years, giving us three total categories:
1. States actively using the death penalty (have executed since April 26, 2007)
Alabama (last executed June 11, 2009)
Arizona (May 23, 2007)
Florida (February 16, 2010)
Georgia (October 20, 2009)
Indiana (December 11, 2009)
Kentucky (November 21, 2008)
Louisiana (January 7, 2010)
Mississippi (July 23, 2008)
Missouri (May 20, 2009)
Ohio (April 20, 2010)
Oklahoma (January 14, 2010)
South Carolina (May 8, 2009)
South Dakota (July 11, 2007)
Tennessee (December 2, 2009)
Texas (April 22, 2010)
Virginia (March 18, 2010)
2. States inactively using the death penalty (have the death penalty, but have not executed since April 26, 2007)
Arkansas (November 28, 2005)
California (January 17, 2006)
Colorado (October 13, 1997)
Connecticut (May 13, 2005)
Delaware (November 4, 2005)
Idaho (January 6, 1994)
Illinois (March 17, 1999)
Maryland (December 5, 2005)
Montana (August 11, 2006)
Nebraska (December 2, 1997)
Nevada (April 26, 2006)
New Mexico (November 6, 2001)
North Carolina (August 18, 2006)
Oregon (May 16, 1997)
Pennsylvania (July 6, 1999)
Utah (October 15, 1999; there's been one in the news that's been scheduled, but it hasn't happened yet, so this is where Utah goes for now)
Washington (August 28, 2001)
Wyoming (January 22, 1992)
3. States without the death penalty, for which there is a moratorium, or have not executed since the 'modern era' of capital punishment began in 1976 with the Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia)
Alaska
Hawaii
Iowa
Kansas (June 22, 1965)
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire (June 14, 1939)
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin
This gives us 16 states in Group 1, 18 states in Group 2, and 16 states in Group 3, which by lucky happenstance is just about as close to perfect as we're going to get as far as evening up the sizes of the groups.
Step 2 is to compare everybody's murder rates. The most recent information is from 2007 according to census.gov (warning: Excel file), measuring number of murders per 100,000 people. The national average is 5.6.
Group 1 is bolded, Group 2 is italicized, Group 3 is standard. Their group numbers are also placed beside them.
14.2- Louisiana (1)
9.8- Maryland (2)
8.9- Alabama (1)
8.2- New Mexico (2)
8.0- South Carolina (1)
7.5- Georgia (1)
7.5- Nevada (2)
7.4- Arizona (1)
7.1- Mississippi (1)
6.7- Arkansas (2)
6.7- Michigan (3)
6.6- Florida (1)
6.5- Missouri (1)
6.5- North Carolina (2)
6.4- Alaska (3)
6.4- Tennessee (1)
6.2- California (2)
6.1- Oklahoma (1)
5.9- Illinois (2)
5.9- Texas (1)
5.8- Pennsylvania (2)
5.6- Indiana (1)
5.3- Virginia (1)
4.8- Kentucky (1)
4.5- Ohio (1)
--------note this line for later--------
4.4- New Jersey (3)
4.3- Delaware (2)
4.2- New York (3)
3.9- Kansas (3)
3.8- Nebraska (2)
3.5- West Virginia (3)
3.3- Idaho (2)
3.3- Wisconsin (3)
3.1- Colorado (2)
3.1- Wyoming (2)
3.0- Connecticut (2)
2.9- Massachusetts (3)
2.7- Washington (2)
2.2- Minnesota (3)
2.2- Utah (2)
2.1- South Dakota (1)
1.9- North Dakota (3)
1.9- Oregon (2)
1.9- Vermont (3)
1.8- Rhode Island (3)
1.7- Hawaii (3)
1.6- Maine (3)
1.5- Montana (2)
1.2- Iowa (3)
1.1- New Hampshire (3)
Obviously, there's some noise in the data, partially due to the way this was set up- after all, even if you've only executed one person in the last 50 years, if that one happened last week, you're in Group 1. Group 2 is all over the place.
But look at Group 1 and Group 3. Note that demarcation line placed between the 4.5 of Ohio and the 4.4 of New Jersey; it separates the states 25/25. You'll find a very clear separation, with almost all of Group 1 on Ohio's side and almost all of Group 3 on New Jersey's side. And remember, Groups 1 and 3 are of equal size, 16 states apiece.
Among states with at least 4.5 murders per 100,000:
Group 1: 15
Group 2: 8 (including five of the six most recent executions in the group- North Carolina, Nevada, California, Maryland and Arkansas; Montana's below the line)
Group 3: 2 (Michigan and Alaska)
Among states with under 4.5 murders per 100,000:
Group 1: 1 (South Dakota, which among states in Group 1 is the second-closest to slipping into Group 2)
Group 2: 10 (including the five longest waits in the group since their last execution: Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado and Nebraska)
Group 3: 14
That's a result. Parse however you wish, but that's a result. The death penalty, from this data, does not appear to be an effective deterrent to the crime it punishes.
Fark being Fark, inevitably the first guy to make it to the thread said that it was "time to add an express lane", which was variously interpreted as both 'streamline the appeals process so it doesn't take so long' and 'execute them faster; what are we waiting for'.
One of the 'execute them faster' proponents mentioned that the death penalty is meant to be a deterrent.
Sounds like my kind of hypothesis.
What we're going to do today is simple. In practice, the death penalty is nearly exclusively applied to murder cases. The last execution in America for any crime that did not include a murder was on September 4, 1964, when James Coburn was put to death for robbery in Alabama.
Knowing that, the best way to go about investigating the power of the death penalty as a deterrent is to compare murder rates. Specifically, we will compare the murder rate in states with the death penalty to the murder rate in states without.
In addition, as some states have the death penalty but are reluctant to use it, we'll further separate states by the date of their most recent execution. We'll set a cutoff of three years, giving us three total categories:
1. States actively using the death penalty (have executed since April 26, 2007)
Alabama (last executed June 11, 2009)
Arizona (May 23, 2007)
Florida (February 16, 2010)
Georgia (October 20, 2009)
Indiana (December 11, 2009)
Kentucky (November 21, 2008)
Louisiana (January 7, 2010)
Mississippi (July 23, 2008)
Missouri (May 20, 2009)
Ohio (April 20, 2010)
Oklahoma (January 14, 2010)
South Carolina (May 8, 2009)
South Dakota (July 11, 2007)
Tennessee (December 2, 2009)
Texas (April 22, 2010)
Virginia (March 18, 2010)
2. States inactively using the death penalty (have the death penalty, but have not executed since April 26, 2007)
Arkansas (November 28, 2005)
California (January 17, 2006)
Colorado (October 13, 1997)
Connecticut (May 13, 2005)
Delaware (November 4, 2005)
Idaho (January 6, 1994)
Illinois (March 17, 1999)
Maryland (December 5, 2005)
Montana (August 11, 2006)
Nebraska (December 2, 1997)
Nevada (April 26, 2006)
New Mexico (November 6, 2001)
North Carolina (August 18, 2006)
Oregon (May 16, 1997)
Pennsylvania (July 6, 1999)
Utah (October 15, 1999; there's been one in the news that's been scheduled, but it hasn't happened yet, so this is where Utah goes for now)
Washington (August 28, 2001)
Wyoming (January 22, 1992)
3. States without the death penalty, for which there is a moratorium, or have not executed since the 'modern era' of capital punishment began in 1976 with the Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia)
Alaska
Hawaii
Iowa
Kansas (June 22, 1965)
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Hampshire (June 14, 1939)
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin
This gives us 16 states in Group 1, 18 states in Group 2, and 16 states in Group 3, which by lucky happenstance is just about as close to perfect as we're going to get as far as evening up the sizes of the groups.
Step 2 is to compare everybody's murder rates. The most recent information is from 2007 according to census.gov (warning: Excel file), measuring number of murders per 100,000 people. The national average is 5.6.
Group 1 is bolded, Group 2 is italicized, Group 3 is standard. Their group numbers are also placed beside them.
14.2- Louisiana (1)
9.8- Maryland (2)
8.9- Alabama (1)
8.2- New Mexico (2)
8.0- South Carolina (1)
7.5- Georgia (1)
7.5- Nevada (2)
7.4- Arizona (1)
7.1- Mississippi (1)
6.7- Arkansas (2)
6.7- Michigan (3)
6.6- Florida (1)
6.5- Missouri (1)
6.5- North Carolina (2)
6.4- Alaska (3)
6.4- Tennessee (1)
6.2- California (2)
6.1- Oklahoma (1)
5.9- Illinois (2)
5.9- Texas (1)
5.8- Pennsylvania (2)
5.6- Indiana (1)
5.3- Virginia (1)
4.8- Kentucky (1)
4.5- Ohio (1)
--------note this line for later--------
4.4- New Jersey (3)
4.3- Delaware (2)
4.2- New York (3)
3.9- Kansas (3)
3.8- Nebraska (2)
3.5- West Virginia (3)
3.3- Idaho (2)
3.3- Wisconsin (3)
3.1- Colorado (2)
3.1- Wyoming (2)
3.0- Connecticut (2)
2.9- Massachusetts (3)
2.7- Washington (2)
2.2- Minnesota (3)
2.2- Utah (2)
2.1- South Dakota (1)
1.9- North Dakota (3)
1.9- Oregon (2)
1.9- Vermont (3)
1.8- Rhode Island (3)
1.7- Hawaii (3)
1.6- Maine (3)
1.5- Montana (2)
1.2- Iowa (3)
1.1- New Hampshire (3)
Obviously, there's some noise in the data, partially due to the way this was set up- after all, even if you've only executed one person in the last 50 years, if that one happened last week, you're in Group 1. Group 2 is all over the place.
But look at Group 1 and Group 3. Note that demarcation line placed between the 4.5 of Ohio and the 4.4 of New Jersey; it separates the states 25/25. You'll find a very clear separation, with almost all of Group 1 on Ohio's side and almost all of Group 3 on New Jersey's side. And remember, Groups 1 and 3 are of equal size, 16 states apiece.
Among states with at least 4.5 murders per 100,000:
Group 1: 15
Group 2: 8 (including five of the six most recent executions in the group- North Carolina, Nevada, California, Maryland and Arkansas; Montana's below the line)
Group 3: 2 (Michigan and Alaska)
Among states with under 4.5 murders per 100,000:
Group 1: 1 (South Dakota, which among states in Group 1 is the second-closest to slipping into Group 2)
Group 2: 10 (including the five longest waits in the group since their last execution: Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado and Nebraska)
Group 3: 14
That's a result. Parse however you wish, but that's a result. The death penalty, from this data, does not appear to be an effective deterrent to the crime it punishes.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
WTF, Arizona
I hereby urge a boycott of the state of Arizona for business, tourism or anything that gives them money, until such time as they decide to move away from the police-state mentality that has clearly taken hold.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Rationale and Inhibition, or Lack Thereof
Unless your moral compass is utterly beyond reproach, every so often there's a little voice, somewhere in the deep recesses of your head, that at least openly wonders what would happen if you engaged in an extreme, sociopathic reaction to some mundane act, or to no act at all in particular. Not just what we know as the id, but the most drastic possible form of id. What would happen if I took my half-eaten hotdog and smashed it in the face of the guy next to me who won't stop mugging for the Jumbotron. What would happen if I slammed on the brakes and forced that tailgater to ram into the back of my car. What would happen if I did this. What would happen if I did that.
Most of us quickly disregard these thoughts, though, as we know these actions to be immoral and wrong.
Most of us, anyway.
Now, perhaps you play video games, and perhaps you've gone on an indiscriminate rampage in Grand Theft Auto or something. The rules are different for video games; that's a controlled, ultimately safe environment in which nobody actually gets hurt. That is not what's at hand here. We're talking about real-life actions.
Nor are we talking about actions for which some sort of rationale, however twisted or flimsy, is provided. Even the examples provided at the top of this article don't really qualify. 'But he wouldn't stop mugging for the Jumbotron' and 'But he was tailgating me' are at least reasons. Bad reasons, but reasons. That is having a rationale. The issue at hand here is not a twisted rationale for sociopathy. The issue at hand is a total, utter lack of social inhibition control. The action for the sake of the action, and nothing more.
And it has happened. We'll examine here two such cases.
First, there's Thomas Venezia. Venezia in 2003 was given a five-year ban from hunting anywhere in the world, and was banned from Canada for life.
Venezia has claimed to have the "K chromosome", being quoted as saying "I love to kill. I have to kill." Luckily for us humans, for Venezia, that primarily means birds and deer.
Unluckily for us humans, Venezia would step on any toe to gain access to the grounds where he could shoot them. And Venezia stepped on a lot of toes, more or less the entire hunting community of Vermont. He would nudge people off longtime hunting grounds they'd used for years. He would park right next to people that beat him to a hunting spot he wanted. He would, in an activity where silence is paramount, scream "Lock and load, boys!" or "Come over here and I'll give you the nasty sting of steel!"
And it didn't end with straight hunting. According to an article from the Ludington Daily News,
After the sentencing, Venezia was pretty much shut out of the community, to the point where one person in the linked Atlantic article, Saskatchewan investigator Ronald Maynard, hesitates to call him a hunter at all. But it hadn't altered Venezia's mindset. When reporter John Vaillant met Venezia after the sentencing, a group of pigeons flew overhead. When Venezia looked up at them, Vaillant asked Venezia what he was seeing, and Venezia- who remember was starting a five-year worldwide hunting ban- responded "Fodder." He went on to nod at them and say "See those pigeons?... Now they're in range. (beat) That one's dead. So's that one."
Second, there's a pair of girls in Perth, Australia, whose names went unpublished as they were below the age of majority at the time. This is the purest possible form of a lack of social inhibition. The two, during a sleepover, discussed what it would be like to kill someone, decided they'd feel no remorse, and then duly set upon a friend, Eliza Davis, in a cold, detached manner. At the ensuing trial, no further reasoning was given, no further emotion supplied.
They were both given life in prison, eligible for parole after 15 years due to their age. In addition, the two were separated on the rationale that they would pose an unacceptable threat to others as long as they remained together.
Normally, you'd try and analyze something like this by trying to discern why. But when the sake of the act IS the reason, it's exponentially more difficult.
But it has to come from somewhere, doesn't it? No matter how heinously or seemingly inexplicably one behaves, there are prior events and experiences in their lives that combined somehow to lay some sort of groundwork for it. One is not born a monster, and to dismiss someone as such is to disregard possible clues as to how they became who they became, thereby permitting others to follow similar paths in the future.
What might cause someone to completely lose their sense of social inhibition like this? Feel free to chime in below if you've got a theory.
Most of us quickly disregard these thoughts, though, as we know these actions to be immoral and wrong.
Most of us, anyway.
Now, perhaps you play video games, and perhaps you've gone on an indiscriminate rampage in Grand Theft Auto or something. The rules are different for video games; that's a controlled, ultimately safe environment in which nobody actually gets hurt. That is not what's at hand here. We're talking about real-life actions.
Nor are we talking about actions for which some sort of rationale, however twisted or flimsy, is provided. Even the examples provided at the top of this article don't really qualify. 'But he wouldn't stop mugging for the Jumbotron' and 'But he was tailgating me' are at least reasons. Bad reasons, but reasons. That is having a rationale. The issue at hand here is not a twisted rationale for sociopathy. The issue at hand is a total, utter lack of social inhibition control. The action for the sake of the action, and nothing more.
And it has happened. We'll examine here two such cases.
First, there's Thomas Venezia. Venezia in 2003 was given a five-year ban from hunting anywhere in the world, and was banned from Canada for life.
Venezia has claimed to have the "K chromosome", being quoted as saying "I love to kill. I have to kill." Luckily for us humans, for Venezia, that primarily means birds and deer.
Unluckily for us humans, Venezia would step on any toe to gain access to the grounds where he could shoot them. And Venezia stepped on a lot of toes, more or less the entire hunting community of Vermont. He would nudge people off longtime hunting grounds they'd used for years. He would park right next to people that beat him to a hunting spot he wanted. He would, in an activity where silence is paramount, scream "Lock and load, boys!" or "Come over here and I'll give you the nasty sting of steel!"
And it didn't end with straight hunting. According to an article from the Ludington Daily News,
Once, Venezia spontaneously leaped from a truck and started firing at ducks, then later at pigeons because, he said, he needed action because he had gone an hour without killing anything.
After the sentencing, Venezia was pretty much shut out of the community, to the point where one person in the linked Atlantic article, Saskatchewan investigator Ronald Maynard, hesitates to call him a hunter at all. But it hadn't altered Venezia's mindset. When reporter John Vaillant met Venezia after the sentencing, a group of pigeons flew overhead. When Venezia looked up at them, Vaillant asked Venezia what he was seeing, and Venezia- who remember was starting a five-year worldwide hunting ban- responded "Fodder." He went on to nod at them and say "See those pigeons?... Now they're in range. (beat) That one's dead. So's that one."
Second, there's a pair of girls in Perth, Australia, whose names went unpublished as they were below the age of majority at the time. This is the purest possible form of a lack of social inhibition. The two, during a sleepover, discussed what it would be like to kill someone, decided they'd feel no remorse, and then duly set upon a friend, Eliza Davis, in a cold, detached manner. At the ensuing trial, no further reasoning was given, no further emotion supplied.
They were both given life in prison, eligible for parole after 15 years due to their age. In addition, the two were separated on the rationale that they would pose an unacceptable threat to others as long as they remained together.
Normally, you'd try and analyze something like this by trying to discern why. But when the sake of the act IS the reason, it's exponentially more difficult.
But it has to come from somewhere, doesn't it? No matter how heinously or seemingly inexplicably one behaves, there are prior events and experiences in their lives that combined somehow to lay some sort of groundwork for it. One is not born a monster, and to dismiss someone as such is to disregard possible clues as to how they became who they became, thereby permitting others to follow similar paths in the future.
What might cause someone to completely lose their sense of social inhibition like this? Feel free to chime in below if you've got a theory.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)