Bernard Jackson--guilty of all counts. The only way this dude was getting off was if the defense could punch some "reasonable doubt" into the DNA evidence, since they had strong matches to the samples. That meant they had to get technical about collection, storage and chain of custody. The mere fact that the trial was so short tells me that either, 1) they had nuthin' nay bupkis in the way of testimony on the DNA evidence, or 2) the judge limited what they could do. The jury chose to go with the DNA and a rapist is convicted. To jail for a LONG time with this guy. Next is to put one Jeffrey Moreland behind bars for murder and rape. Another case with DNA evidence and a brave sexual assault survivor. I doubt Alonzo will shill for his case...
Buried in President Obama's statement about checks being in peril was the shear number of checks that the Feds issue to people. Part of it is demographics, as we are getting older as a country, but the shock was considering that out of the 300 million people in the U.S., 70 million of them got a check from the Feds. That is about 23% of the population. That doesn't include state programs that write checks, nor does it include programs administered by the state that have federal funding. I am concerned that so many in our country seem to be on this federal dole. Generally speaking, any production that comes from this benefit money is offset by the cost to the government of administering the programs that cut the checks. Here is a link to the CBS story and to this excellent comment made on HuffPost that popped up when I googled "70 million checks." Has the American character changed from one of self sufficiency to one of dependency?
Finally there was this item about the life span of Black men in prison as compared to those who are not imprisoned. This one made me think a lot, it did. As a health care provider, I have long been intrigued by studies that indicated that Black people did not receive the same care as White people. There are a lot of factors involved--some biological/physiological, some sociological--in both situations. It has some scary implications about the choices some Black folks are making about the way they live--that when they are free to chose, they make bad choices. Some would argue that even if they are out of prison they are not free--they are limited by the heavy influence of the slave past and the White prejudice of the majority. In addition, that Black poverty and stigma means they get "worse" health care. It's a really intriguing topic that might get a longer treatment at some time. It would be interesting to shake out the economic strata of the prisoners independent of race and see how it goes. In my opinion and observation, the poorer classes and those dependent on handouts seem to make poor personal health choices on a regular basis. Go to a state where most of the population is White and run the study based on economic status and whether or not a "welfare" check is received...now, that would make an interesting study.
That's all folks--wait, not quite. Check out this video...
How funny is that! Thanks everyone for reading and commenting and have a great evening!
1 comment:
T.O.:
I read that link to the PRISONER story, and I found it not as much surprising as I thought, but rather more conclusive to my determinations.
I "live the adventure" seeing such people around our house every day, and there IS much truth in that article.
I might try and tackle a commentrary on that story very soon.
I think what I might have to add would not only be more revealing, but perhaps open a few doors as to possible solutions.
Hey, 'ya never know until 'ya try, right?
Excellent post.
Have a great Sunday.
Stay safe out there.
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