Saturday, May 30, 2015

Prosecutor shows Aurora theater killer insane



The Colorado prosecutor seeking to jump start a political career with a death penalty conviction in the Aurora theater massacre inadvertently has shown the killer met one of the standards for legal insanity.
Despite a headline in the Denver Post emphasizing that James Holmes knew right from wrong, that isn’t the only test for legal insanity.
“The policeman at the elbow” also has qualified defendants for an insanity defense. In other words, if a defendant is so mentally ill that he/she would commit the crime with a policeman watching then it was irresistible.
Prosecutor George Brauchler has presented evidence day after day showing that Holmes was careful in his planning.
He went too far when he introduced evidence showing that the killer knew police and even the FBI were watching. He had, after all, scared his psychiatrist so much she reported him to police.”
The page after page in his notebook stating “why, why, why …” might be well asked to Brauchler.
Why not accept the defense plea of insanity and avoid forcing survivors, relatives of victims and the whole nation to go through a show that is reaching “War and Peace” length.
Perhaps jurors can “binge” on 222 hours of video testimony from just one psychiatrist.
The Post reported: "Did you hope they had you under surveillance?" psychiatrist Dr. William Reid asked James Holmes about the vehicle, during one of their many interviews.
"Yeah, a little bit," Holmes replied.
Reid asked why. "So they could do the right thing."
"Do the right thing, meaning?" Reid asked again. "Lock me away before I did it," Holmes replied.
Though a gag order from a judge who relentlessly approved almost every prosecutor request prevents publication of comments or statements of defense plans it does not take a legal scholar to venture that will argue he went ahead with the killings, knowing it was wrong, because he could not stop himself.
Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 70 in his attack during a premiere of the Batman movie, “Dark Knight Rising.”
He even planned to sabotage investigators when he searched their house but showed he was conflicted when he warned them before they went.
Perhaps the most vexing question is why police did stop Holmes after being warned by his psychiatrist. In case after case of gun massacres in the U.S., including Columbine in Colorado, law enforcement was warned something evil was in the offing. Columbine parents personally warned deputies to no avail.
Perhaps it is a "Catch 22," if you think you are insane you cannot be.








Friday, May 29, 2015

Gay valedictorian outed, speech blocked


Although American TV includes popular shows like “Grace and Frankie,” two women friends whose husband dump them to marry each other after more than 20 years, apparently it is not suitable to talk about homosexuality at a Boulder-area charter school.
And there are plenty more shows like that. It is necessary to go to an old South Park show to even hear the word fags, and even then it is clearly meant to embarrass the speaker.
Charter schools, sometimes set up to keep God in, and aberrant behavior out, apparently see it differently, if Twin Peaks is an example.
The school’s valedictorian, Evan Young, 18, who had a 4.0 gradepoint, wanted to mention that he was gay during his speech.
The school objected because it said he was ridiculing teachers and other students.
But the school acted in such a way that it was the first time Young’s parents knew he was gay.
A gay liberation group denounced Twin Peaks Charter Academy School. OutBoulder executive director Mardi Moore, said, “It was reckless and very dangerous.”
She said it was more important for aynyone who has a public position, also any position of trust under Colorado law, must observe basic privacy statements even more than the average person.
OutBoulder has arranged for Young to deliver his graduation speech at a private home Sunday.
Such conduct was unlikely to be tolerated at a public school, she said, noting the St. Vrain School
District had condemned the action.
Young said the school suggested changes in his speech, and he made all but one. Still, they declined to allow him to exercise his free speech rights.
Not only does this amount to “prior restraint,” which the Supreme Court has made the foundation of free speech rights, the school admitted calling Young’s parents, and inadvertently or not, revealing that he was gay.
His father, Don Young, said he was not greatly surprised by his son’s sexual preference. He also said he was not sure announcing his choice at the graduation was the best choice.
But the family says they were only notified a few minutes before the speech. And it was made clear it would even be mentioned that he was the valedictorian.
The Camera further reported: "On the Friday, the day before the ceremony, I had written him a handwritten letter so that he couldn't forward it," Evan Young said. "I'd told him I'm not going to remove the part where I say I'm gay, because I am. It's important to me. And I said if he has any questions, he can contact me by email over the next 24 hours or so.
"He didn't ever email me back, and so I figured he must be OK with my speech."
"The kid worked hard for four years," Don Young said. "Straight A's and everything else. He wasn't even recognized."
It would not have been the first time for a graduation speaker at high school in the very liberal area, often called the People’s Republic of Boulder, to have talked of gayness.
A statement from Twin Peaks said: Students have a broad right to express their points of view in a non-disruptive manner when they are not participating in a school-sponsored activity. However, when a student is participating in a school-sponsored activity, the Supreme Court recognized in its Hazelwood decision that the school has not only the right, but the duty, to ensure that the student abides by reasonable standards. Specifically, the court said that the educators may exercise “editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”
The statement does not explain why the school brought Young’s sexual preference to his parents’ attention.
It added, “The student was asked on more than one occasion to provide a revised draft of the speech for review but chose not to do so. The student failed to abide by the pre-screening rules applicable to all students giving speeches at the ceremony. The Valedictorian further failed to follow guidelines of the evening by cutting off the sleeves of his graduation gown. The school provided another gown for use at the event.”








Thursday, May 28, 2015

Where the heck is Cutter?


 Networks reported Wednesday that corruption arrests of FIFA executives was partly triggered by its selection of oil-rich Qatar as the host of the 2022 World Cup.
Jon Stewart’s Daily Show had much fun with the story, but like the networks kept calling the country “Cutter.”
Networks used the pronunciation “Cutter” even while using videos of the FIFA talking about the 2022 games being awarded to the Gulf nation with temperatures above 130 degrees in summer. FIA President Sepp Blatter referred to the country as “Qatar.”
Then why does mainstream media in America call the country “Cutter,” as in a Coast Guard vessel?
Numerous answers are available on the Webb., keeping in mind that it is not unusual for Americans to have a different name for everything, though comedian Steve Martin used that term to describe the French.
Jim, on Yahoo Answers, said, “I'm in Qatar 3-4 times per year, and I think I've got a pretty good handle on how the country's name is pronounced. 
The whole "gutter" "cutter" thing is an American military abomination. The military types think it's cool, so they keep doing it even though they know it's wrong. The country's name is pronounced "KAT-tar", pure and simple. Not gutter, not cutter. KAT-tar.”
Once again, remember the French, when Paris refused to join in the second war against Saddam Hussein, conservative Americans had the name “French fries” removed from the menu at the congressional cafeteria.
Stewart did make the point that why should the U.S. care about soccer anyway., seeking to “deflate” the controversy, a reference to the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady’s alleged shortcuts to victory.
Stewart also made the point that billions were lost by U.S. and other banks, stolen is perhaps a better word, and no one went to jail. The FIFA bribes are being put at $150 million, including some money spent to persuade the organization to stage the games in the U.S.
Stewart suggested the scandal might turn out to more boring than soccer, noting it had been a 24-year sting.
For those interested, live streaming of FIFA’s congress meeting, at which Blatter, not to be confused with bladder, seemed likely to keep his job despite many arrest, was beginning.
Some sites suggested that a true translation of Arabic, by  American experts, leaves room for calling it “Cutter.”
Russian President Putin, whose country hosts the cup in 2018 and is under investigation for widespread sports doping, protested the arrests of FIFA officials as a capitalist plot.






http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/news/y=2015/m=5/news=live-streaming-of-the-opening-of-the-fifa-congress-2609211.html