"Prosecutor Regrets Arrest Warrant For Nine Year Old" Yah. Really.

First there was this:   http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/13/justice/boy-arrested-gum-theft/

then this:  http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/idaho-prosecutor-arrest-warrant-year-mistake-28195388

This is my comment to McHugh:

"Dear Mr. McHugh,

I read about the arrest of the 9 year old Kootenai county boy over his theft of a pack of gum and failure to appear in court.

I also read your apology about it and that it was a "mistake."  I don't believe it was mistake.  Not really.  Of course, the genie is out of the bottle and this child is and will remain in the school to prison pipeline from now on.  Even upon him reaching the age of 18 and having his "records sealed" in the event that there are no further offenses will not protect him from having his childhood record exposed by anyone who chooses to do it -- not  in this era of cradle to grave surveillance and data mining and the increasing loss of our privacy rights via legislation and court judgements working hand in glove groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council. 

The combined law enforcement actions against this child also lend great support the narrative in this nation that the poorest among us will always be made examples of in the eyes the general public. The long arm of the law falls heaviest upon them no matter what. Your collective actions work to fulfills the social narrative of the moneyed classes that the poor don't deserve any thought, that there may be circumstances beyond their control, that their poverty IS a moral and character failing.  You, the judge who signed the warrant and the police all played your roles in backing up that narrative. 

You hewed to the letter of the law every step of the way. I'm sure you did. There are people who will applaud you for it. But others, like me, are also aware that not one of you showed any shred of genuine interest in the boy or his long term welfare.  You showed that service to justice was untempered by mercy or compassion.  Your public apology which has gone nationwide cannot undo the damage that has been set in motion and which will be played out over that boy's lifespan on levels you cannot begin to calculate. 

Each of you adults in your official capacities had opportunities to do better.  I'm sorry you didn't.  Even though I'm an ordinary person of ordinary means, I am a citizen of this nation and I can't be silent about this.  Sometimes a person has to speak up about the little things that, however well intentioned on the surface, work to undermine people's faith in honest, just government.  

As a courtesy, I should let you know that I am putting up the text of this comment to you on my blog at:   http://morgansher.blogspot.com/  

Cordially,
Morgan Sheridan"

Update:  I did receive a boilerplate reply from Mr. McHugh.   It a reiteration of the press release apology sent out to the media.  In other words, he had nothing to say.

Turkey Green Chile Stew

Ingredients

For roasting:

1 14 lb turkey

1 apple cut in half

1 medium onion cut in half

2 carrots cut in quarters

2 stalks celery cut in quarters

1/4 C olive oil

2 Tbsp melted butter

3/4 tsp black pepper

1 sprig thyme

For the stock:

2 bay leaves

1 Tsp dried minced garlic

1 Tsp peppercorns

2 large carrots cut into 2 inch lengths

2 stalks of celery cut into 2 inch lengths

1 medium onion quartered

For the stew:

6-8 whole fresh Hatch green chiles prepped & chopped up - medium to hot heat OR 1 C Bueno frozen prepared Hatch Green Chile.  Fresh or frozen. NO canned stuff.

8 medium red potatoes rinsed and quartered

Pinch of cumin

2 Tsp Kosher salt

Roasting the turkey:

• Remove giblets and neck.  Set aside or discard as you please.
• Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels.  
• Put 1/2 apple in the cavity near where the neck was.
• In the larger cavity put in the other half of the apple, the quartered carrots and celery and onion.
• Season with black pepper and thyme. 
• Mix the olive oil and butter and spread over the skin of the turkey.
• Cover with foil and put into a pre-heated oven set at 325F.  (Gas Mark 3 for those in Europe)
• Roast at 325F for 3 hours.
• Remove foil and baste using the pan drippings.
• Continue cooking for another 45-60 minutes until a meat thermometer says the internal temp is 165F when placed in the breast and 175F when placed in the meaty part of the thigh.

Remove from pan to a large platter and cover.  Let cool 45-60 minutes, cover tightly with foil and put overnight in the fridge.

Use the pan drippings to make your favorite turkey gravy & store.  --- After all, not ALL of the turkey is going to be used in this stew! 

After refrigerating your turkey overnight, you will be breaking it down:

• Carve off  the right half the breast, wing, both drumsticks and left thigh from the bird and set aside for other meals. 
• Remove the left breast half and divide that in half and add that to the set aside as well.   (Try to carve the breast meat as close to the breast bone as you can when you're doing this.)

You should be left with about a generous cup or so of white meat, the meat of 1 thigh, 1 wing,  the whole carcass as well as whatever meat is left on the carcass. 

Fill the stockpot 3/4 full with filtered water and add the stock ingredients:

• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tsp dried minced garlic
• 1 Tsp peppercorns
• 2 large carrots cut into 2 inch lengths
• 2 stalks of celery cut into 2 inch lengths
• 1 medium onion quartered

Pick off all the remaining skin and any visible fat from the carcass, thigh and wing. 

Dispose the skin and fat or add to a bowl for feeding pet dogs or cats later.

Break the carcass in half and add it the stock pot.  Add the thigh and wing bones as well.

Cook covered on a medium heat for about a 2 hours.  It should look like it's gently bubbling but the liquid should not be splashing out of the pot.  

Using tongs remove the carcass and all bones from the stock pot. 

Pick off any remaining meat from the bones and return the meat to the pot.  Dispose of the bones.

You should now have a good rich turkey broth with lots of tender meat in it.  Next add in the green chile, a pinch of cumin, the salt and the potatoes.  Cook on a medium heat for about 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

Serve.  Enjoy..

DA Gone Bad

Now there are news reports that DA McCullough knew that some of the people who were going to testify to the Grand Jury in the Michael Brown case were 1.) lying, 2.) were going to lie, 3.) he let them lie and 4.) he has no intention of prosecuting them for perjuring themselves under oath to the grand jury.

"“Clearly some were not telling the truth,” he said during an interview on KTRS 550. He added that he's not planning to pursue charges against any lying witnesses."  Let that sink in. 

He's not going to do a damn thing about the lying witnesses.  He's gonna just let it all go.

Since when is this ethical behavior?  What puts this man above the law?  Will this man be removed from office for willful misconduct and will he be disbarred?

And he does this, I guess, because he is willing to tolerate the death of an unarmed young black man at the hands of an angry white cop.  McCullough did not stand for justice in the case of Michael Brown.  He stood for lawless policing and white supremacy.

It's stuff like this that shames America.  And it happens all too often.




image Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA

Open Letter to Elizabeth Lauten, Communications Director for Rep. Fincher

Dear Ms. Lauten,

This letter is to register my disgust over the smearing tactics you employed in your "Open Letter To Sasha & Malia".

This is what I see after having seen and then replayed the video and gone over the stills of the event:

1.  Teen girls dressed appropriately for their ages:

Sasha wore hose and bobby socks to accessorize her dress with it's neckline hitting the collar bone, and a long cardigan.  Her hands were gracefully composed in front of her in a classic, modest pose.

Malia wore dark tights with her plaid skirt and grey crew neck sweater.  Her body posture is more guarded as she hugs herself and has a slightly tilted hip. 

Neither is a big deal.  They're dressed as appropriately as many government and diplomats adolescent children dress in Washington.   Their fashion is appropriate. 

2.  Fresh faces.  Not a hint of make up. This is nice because it doesn't mask their expressions.  Now, as I'm not a big ol' smiler normally, I don't see their expressions as sullen.  Their eyes are cast in the direction of their father.  Not away from him.  This is important.  If they were being sullen, IF they were being disrespectful they would have been looking away from him.

3.  Their eyes roll as their dad made a lame joke about the turkeys.  Yes they did and it's ok.  Teens do this.  They roll their eyes at dumb jokes.  So do children younger than they, adults, middle aged and elderly people.

4.  The Turkey Pardon is theater.  It has been Presidential theater for many decades.  But it is not a high solemn event.  It is not a matter of state.   So what if they didn't want to pet the turkey!   In my 30s, we had a friend who raised one and it was unpredictable as hell.  Anytime I tried petting it, its reaction and flapping around was unnerving.  This isn't the Obama daughter's first rodeo with the Turkey Pardon, so I reckon they've already learned that birds do not react in picture perfect ways.  Better to eschew the petting entirely than have the bird react less than calmly. 

What offends me about your bilious spew was the character assassination of their parents with  "Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department" combined with the racist undertones about black women's perceived sexual availability:  "Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar."

Our President's daughters, Malia and Sasha, have never behaved disrespectfully in any capacity where they've appeared in in the public eye whether here in the US or travelling abroad.  They are always observably modest and respectful, not only to the public, but their parents as well.  If rolling their eyes over a lame joke is a horror show of disrespect, then your standards of teenaged civility are impossible to meet in the first place.

It is also clear that these are girls who love and are loved by their parents.

And I bet that is really what chaps your butt.

Shame on you.  Your apology was made because you got caught being cruel to people who didn't deserve it, but don't think for a minute that folks don't see it for the political face saving gesture that it is.  Prayer?  Regret?  Unbelievable!

Morgan Sheridan

The Cos

I'm sad about the Cos.

Real sad.

He was hip and cool when I was growing up.  His comedy about growing up with his brother and the mystery of kids and parents and enduring in the world created not just empathy but a sense of common ground.

At some point, I heard a rumor or two, but they didn't affect me and he was the Cos.   Cool and avuncular.

Rumors get forgotten and then all of a sudden they get uncovered and thrown into daylight again.   But as more voices speak up, a pattern emerges.  And the avuncular man who showed us common ground and the understandings of that common ground becomes both tawdry and corrupted.

The pattern of voices is too large to ignore.  And while my path never crossed his, my experience has intersected with the women's voices saying "He did this thing to me."  and I know they're honest voices speaking, too.   There is a point where settlements and statutes of limitations expire and the sordid reality is finally revealed.

I'm sad that one of my beloved icons turned out to be unworthy.   At my age, I know can't dispense with the lessons I learned from feeling elements of common ground or intersectionality (which is a kind of new concept I'm learning about at 60).  The lessons learned are in my bones at this point.  On the other hand, it sucks that he turned out to be so much less.

Go See Jim at Stonekettle Station

There is a fine new post Jim Wright has written up at Stonekettle Station.  I do recommend reading it.  The link is over in my Good Links column. 

Your Consideration Requested

Not too long ago, in May and in another forum, I wrote a message to an acquaintance, a person I've long respected asking for input on a question that was and remains of concern to me.   The person I asked is a person who, over the years, has regularly written about honoring and respecting people's innate humanity and has been a well regarded voice of wisdom and compassion in a broader community.  Yet I received no reply.  Finally, a few days short of two months I broke down prodded said respected person about an answer to that question. 

A few moments after that prodding, I received an answer that I'd waited two months on.  It was along the lines of "I've learned not to comment on XYZ topic."  All right.  It's an answer.  It's basic, short honest answer.  My reply to that acquaintance was that I can accept that, but what I can't understand is leaving me to think my question was unworthy of any reply.  Thinking on it more, I still don't get it.

How hard is it to reply within 24-48 hours of getting a message asking a question?  I can understand unavoidable delays and circumstances.  But making a person wait and wait?  Where is the common courtesy in that? 

There is also a set of non-verbal messages that gets conveyed when someone ignores another person's questions and includes things like:  You don't matter.  You're not valuable.  Your concerns are (choose as many as fits the bill):
A. Worthless
B.  Unfounded
C.  Controversial
D.  Pointless
E.  blah, blah, blah. 

I don't regret the asking. 




 

Resistance

http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/henry-giroux-on-resisting-the-neoliberal-revolution/

The Music He Writes Isn't A Give-Away

I came across this story at Digital Music News about a musical artist, NJ White, who told a British producer "No, I won't give you my property for free."

Read it and celebrate:  http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/11/06/whitey

Per the closing line, I'm re-blogging this story to make sure it gets spread far and wide. 

A New Low In NM: Rape and Medical Torture Under Badge of Authority

Here is the story:  http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3209305.shtml?cat=500#.  UnmEg3CsjAn and it included the court filings from the victim's attorneys. 

Here is what I wrote in an email to Gila Regional Medical Center: 

"This is to express my outraged disapproval over your hospital's participation in the rape and medical torture under color of authority of David Eckert and then having the gall to bill him for the acts committed against him against his consent.  What your institution has done, along with the doctors and other medical staff, was beyond immoral.    Medical misconduct like this should remain in the history books, telling about the Nazi's forced medical experimentation or the excesses of Argentine army doctors in the 70's participating in the torture and execution of dissidents and their family members.  This should not be happening in a New Mexican hospital in the United States of America.  That man was raped.  How dare you fail to stand up for Mr. Eckert and his welfare!?!? 

Every doctor, nurse and technician in your institution personally involved in this debacle should be stripped of their licenses for life!  Your ethical review panel should all resign their positions.  Your legal counsel should be disbarred.  Your institution is a disgrace and will forever known for the crimes committed against Mr. Eckert.  Whatever fines and settlements you may bestow on him later, it will never excuse the egregious abuse inflicted on that man by your institution.

With the deepest anger and contempt,

[My name
My former military rank, branch and years served ]"

I'm really pissed off about this.  The police were doing everything they could to try and construct a drug case out of thin air against this man!  And they raped him - caused him to be raped by medical doctors - to further that end and used an invalid warrant to do so!  This is disgusting.  Eckert was raped and tortured.  Here in the U.S.  In 2013.  This happened here.  I have no good will for the doctors involved in this as my letter to Gila Regional Medical Center can attest.  The police... oh, gods, they need to be investigated, taken before a grand jury, and sent to trial for their abuses of Mr. Eckert.   Fuck the war on drugs.  It has been lost and innocent people like Eckert have been brutalized for far too long for no good reason.  This is unacceptable and un-American conduct against our citizens.  It is wrong.