Number 34

September 21, 2011 — 1 Comment

Well. At 7:00 pm EST this evening, Troy Davis was not executed.

Lawrence Russell Brewer, convicted murderer of James Byrd Jr. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice/AP Photo)

But this man was. I don’t see him on the list yet, but I’m assuming he is number 34 of those executed by the justice system in the United States this year.

Truly the crime he committed was despicable, horrific, and evil. As was the murder of Mark MacPhail, of which Troy Davis has been convicted.

But I stand by Gandalf’s words in my last post. Killing from hatred, from cruelty, from some evil passion, is wrong. But killing from a cold and calculated sense of justice, in my opinion, is also wrong.

James Byrd, Jr.’s son Ross Byrd agrees. In this article he said that “the execution of Brewer is simply another expression of the hate shown toward his father on that dark night in 1998. Everybody, he said, including the government, should choose not to continue that cycle.”

May Troy Davis live. And may the death penalty in every one of these United States finally die.

Mob Justice

September 20, 2011 — 1 Comment

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” – Gandalf, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy

The execution of Troy Davis is scheduled for tomorrow, slating him to be next after 33 people who have already been executed in the United States this year.

Some – including notable public figures such as Pope Benedict XVI, Desmond Tutu, and Jimmy Carter – say there is too much doubt in Troy Davis’s case, that our justice system may likely be killing an innocent man. The prosecuting attorney says differently, in this CNN article in which he was interviewed. I found the last quote especially interesting –

“Lawton [the prosecuting attorney] said he’s against mob justice of any kind.

“‘Would it be different if all these people were agitating to have someone executed? The criminal justice system should cow in the face of that kind of mob action? No, we would all say no,’ he said. ‘That’s not the way the system is supposed to operate.'”

No, the system is supposed to operate coldly and correctly, immune to human whims and emotions. I know.

But death is just so . . . final. Are we sure about this? Really?

The Alien Race of Giants

September 12, 2011 — 1 Comment

Here’s a little bedtime reading . . .

The Alien Race of Giants
8/23/11 Julia Tindall Bloom

Around the campfires of some distant world
Stories are told of a race of giants
Who walk their planet continuously
From the first light of their sun
Right up until darkness
Sometimes even longer.

Then for the other half of their planet’s spin
They lie down and look dead
They hibernate all through the time of darkness.

When they rise with the light of their sun
They are terribly hungry
And half-dead
So they eat birds’ eggs and animal flesh
And drink a magic potion of roasted ground tree seeds.

These giants, it is said,
Can go on living like this for thirty-thousand turns of their planet –
Or more!

And then, usually, there is silence
As this stunning idea is pondered.

To E or Not to E?

August 24, 2011 — 12 Comments

Okay friends, help me out.

I think I want an e-reader.

The thought of all those free public domain books just there for the downloading! The portability. The clutter reduction. The instant access. The saving of trees! And yes, I admit, the novelty of a new gadget.

But then, there’s the electricity consumption – minimal though it may be. And the purchase price. And the complication of gadgetry (it could break or crash or I could lose it). And the piles of books I already own that I have not read. And the many more used books I could buy without any more trees needing to be cut.

Not to mention the library, a beautiful building just blocks from my house where I can get many of the books I want (though not all, not even through the magic of interlibrary loan).

But now even the library has digital books available!

What would you say to an one such as I? Fire away.

Proud Papa

August 23, 2011 — 2 Comments

Okay, it feels like time to post something again. Summer in Minnesota must be savored, which is why I don’t spend much time here in bloggyworld. But here’s a poem I wrote last month, based on a random idea that popped into my head as I was waking one morning. Don’t look for any deep philosophical point please.

Proud Papa
by Julia Tindall Bloom 7/24/2011

At the annual meeting of the divine council
(Which in divine time happens annually but in earth time has never yet happened at all)
God pulled out his wallet
And with a flick of his wrist
One hundred billion photos folded out like a long long tongue.
“My kids,” he beamed.
The rest of the divinity smiled politely,
Verbally noticed family resemblances,
Told God he was a lucky guy with a beautiful family.
But each to oneself they wondered,
“Are those children home alone?”