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Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts

Thursday, July 13

So, Now They Are Getting Paid Off For It....Update on Philando Castile Shooting Death

Paid off, bought out, whatever way you want to put it, it still means the same thing. He was paid for taking the life of someone's son, someone's husband (I don't care if they had papers or not), someone's father. It's bad enough when they acquit or don't bring charges at all on someone who is clearly guilty of having taken a life that should not have been taken, but when they pay that person off? I don't know if I want to cry, scream, or just puke.

When are these juries going to get some backbone and do what's right? The officers who have been involved in these shootings can't  ALL not be guilty!!  I heard it said about the numbers of black men who are incarcerated and claim to be innocent, "Well, why were they arrested and charged and jailed if they're so innocent?" So why is that same standard not being held to these officers? Most don't even come to trial, and the reason is usually 'not enough evidence to get a conviction'. When there IS a case brought to trial though, the prosecutors are telling you " Look, here's the evidence, this guy committed a crime, let's put this criminal away where he belongs!"  And every time, you fools let them go! What the hell are you all so afraid of? Just like back in the slave days (and later), when everyone would see horrific crimes being committed against blacks, but when it came to standing up for that person it was 'Aw nah suh, Ah dint see nuffin suh' because everyone was so scared of  something happening to them. Well, one day it might be  YOU, or your child, or your brother, or your husband, and you're going to wish that someone would stand up for you and yours. This is what Philando Castile's mom has to look forward to:

The grave of Philando Castile at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis on the one-year anniversary of his 
death on  Thursday, July 6, 2017. 
David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS via Getty Images


Minnesota officer who killed Philando Castile formally leaves police department, given $48,500 buyout

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a July 2016 traffic stop and was acquitted last month left his department not long after the criminal trial concluded, officials said this week, departing from the force shortly before the first anniversary of the shooting.
While it had been previously announced that Jeronimo Yanez — who was a St. Anthony, Minn., police officer when he shot Castile in another Twin Cities suburb — would leave his department, few details were available until this week about his exit from the force.
Former St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) 
Yanez pulled over Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., on July 6, 2016, for a traffic stop that began calmly and escalated to bloodshed in moments. After Castile told Yanez he had a gun, Yanez began telling him not to pull it out and Castile responded he was not; seconds later, Yanez fired into the car, mortally wounding Castile.


After the shooting, Yanez said he feared for his life and thought Castile was grabbing a gun. Castile and his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, both said he was not reaching for his gun. The shooting’s aftermath unfolded in an emotional Facebook Live video filmed by Reynolds from the car’s front seat that soon spread around the world, becoming the second deadly police shooting of a black man in as many days to spark intense protests due to a viral video.
Yanez, who was charged last year, was acquitted last month on charges of manslaughter and endangering Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter, who was in the car’s back seat.
On the day of his acquittal, officials in St. Anthony released a statement saying Yanez would not return to the police force because “the public will be best served if Officer Yanez is no longer a police officer in our city.” In a statement at the time, the city said it would offer him “a voluntary separation agreement” to be negotiated in the near future.
On Monday, St. Anthony officials announced that Yanez and the city had reached that agreement ending his employment there. The city did not immediately say when Yanez left the force or whether he received any severance payment, but instead explained why they sought the agreement instead of firing him.
“Since Officer Yanez was not convicted of a crime, as a public employee, he would have appeal and grievance rights if terminated,” the city said in a statement. “A reasonable voluntary separation agreement brings to a close one part of this horrible tragedy. The city concluded this was the most thoughtful way to move forward and help the community-wide healing process proceed.”
Under the terms of the confidential separation agreement, Yanez agreed to leave the department on June 30 with a payment of $48,500 and a payout for up to 600 hours of unused personal leave, according to the five-page document, a copy of which was released to The Washington Post on Tuesday. (Documents previously released by the city have pegged his annual salary at more than $72,600.)
This agreement also says it settles any claims Yanez may have against St. Anthony. The agreement — which was signed on Monday by Yanez and Mark Casey, the St. Anthony city manager — was first reported by the Associated Press.
An attorney for Yanez did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author of Live  from  Bikini Bottom.  
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Friday, May 6

Did Prince's Death Have Anything To Do With Opioids?

Prince Rogers Nelson
     Let me start off by saying that I don't know if this story is completely true, partly true, or none of it true. I am just repeating something I read online, and we all know how much stock we can put in most of that!! LOL

     
Pre-med student Andrew Kornfield
     As I'm sure you all know, there has been no conclusive answer to the burning question everyone has; what was Prince's cause of death? Of course there is the usual speculation that we always hear about rock stars and untimely deaths, that it was drugs that did it. Well, a lot of people will be pointing fingers and saying "See, I told you!" It appears that Prince either did have a problem with prescription painkillers, or someone else thought he did; the person who found him was a medical student who was sent to "speak with Prince about addiction to prescription painkillers"! Unfortunately for the student, Minnesota is now debating whether or not to charge him with possession since he was carrying a starter pack of the prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction, Suboxone. I really have a problem with this one; he called 911 trying to get help, so how did they know he had the drug on him?  And why would they charge him with possession of a drug that his father (a licensed physician) probably gave him? I mean, people who are prescribed the drug, if they can't afford it some doctors will give them those packs that come from the pharmacy sales reps, which do not come with prescription labels. How would anyone know if it was a prescription or not? What do they do, charge and arrest them first then clear them after they find out it's legal?  I don't really think in this case that would have been necessary. 

     So we don't know if Prince actually did have a problem and the doctor (the kid's father) was sending him some meds  or if the doctor thought Prince might have a problem and sent the kid to try to talk him into getting help. (Personally, MHO is the former.) I don't believe though that the kid should be charged with anything. There are a lot of things that kid could have done to keep from ever being involved, but he didn't do any of them. He called 911 and he stayed till they came. Since Minnesota has a Good Samaritan law  I think they could kinda stretch it to include this guy. 

What do you think? 


Tuesday, January 13

Homeless Man Dies of Hypothermia; No Foul Play Found.

Each time I see a section of a city where there is new construction going on, I'm usually struck by how much money is being spent there,  and then I usually think to myself how wasteful it is. I see not just more, but more expensive housing for the affluent in the inner cities of the nation, rather than housing for the homeless, and/or the mentally ill, and unfortunately this is what happens...

Robert Hunter Jr, 21
 A tenant entering the sprawling industrial complex at Bailey Avenue and Broadway spotted the body lying on the ground near the building at about 6 a.m. Thursday and called police.
Ronald Hunter Jr. was dead.
The temperature overnight had been 2 degrees, and a stiff wind took the wind chill to nearly 20 degrees below zero.
But the 21-year-old Hunter, who was homeless and mentally ill, had discarded his jacket and attempted to remove his shirt before he died, police said.
In the most severe cases of hypothermia, medical experts say, individuals have been known to undress when they become disoriented and think they are overheating as their blood vessels constrict.
Hunter’s 6-foot, 3-inch, 150-pound body was unable to produce heat quickly enough to replenish the warmth lost to the bitter cold and harsh winds.
“There was no foul play. Hypothermia caused the death,” said Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda, confirming an Erie County Medical Examiner’s autopsy.
Hunter’s death highlights just how at risk the homeless – especially those who are mentally ill – are in winter weather as severe as that which occurred during the past week, according to workers and volunteers who assist them. Some homeless people lack the ability to know when it is time to come in from the cold.
“On nights when it is declared a Code Blue, with temperatures below 15 degrees, we go out in a van trying to bring the homeless to shelters,” said Aubrey Pula, program manager at Harbor House, a downtown drop-in center where Hunter sometimes spent the night, pacing the floor and staying to himself.
“Some refuse us, and we give them food and blankets,” she said.
A surveillance video camera at the Acme Business Park captured Hunter’s final moments overnight Wednesday as he wandered into a desolate section at the north end of the business park – a massive, subdivided one-story structure with several tenants, ranging from Catholic Charities to an auto parts manufacturer. Authorities told Hunter’s family what was on the tape.
“He kept falling down and getting up,” said Ronald Hunter Sr. “It looked like he was trying to make his way to the building to maybe try and get inside, but he never made it. He was wandering around back there for some time.”
Hunter’s father went to the spot where his son died.
“I went Thursday evening, and the snow had been plowed away,” he said of the parking lot that rolls up to loading docks at the back of the complex, which is not far from a Bailey Avenue bridge over railroad tracks, north of where Bailey intersects Broadway.
“He was way, way in the back in that parking lot,” the father said of where his son collapsed and died. “I still hope the police continue their investigation. I have questions and I don’t think everything is known.”

‘I’m hearing voices’

The path to Ronald Hunter Jr.’s death began several years ago, when he started acting strangely and became alienated from those who loved him most, relatives said.
“When he was living with us, I found him curled up in a ball in the corner of a bedroom, and I said, ‘What’s wrong, baby?’ ” his father recalled.
“I’m hearing voices telling me to kill myself,” his son told him.
“We called Crisis Services, and they evaluated him,” his father said.
It was determined that the younger Hunter suffered from schizophrenia and behavioral disorders.
“But because he was 18, it was up to him if he wanted help,” said Sharon Hunter, his stepmother.
The elder Hunter said his son sought help from time to time from a mental health services provider but did not stick with it.
And his mental illness worsened in recent years, said his mother, Donna McNally.
“He began to have outbursts,” she said.
But her son, the youngest of seven children, could be the most gentle and loving person when he was calm, McNally said.
As a boy, Hunter attended Lincoln Academy grammar school. As a teenager, he went to Burgard High School, although he quit before graduating.
The last time his mother saw him was on New Year’s Eve, when Ronald Hunter Sr. drove him to her home in the Town of Tonawanda.
“He came in and said, ‘Mom, I love you,’ ” McNally recalled. “I said, ‘I love you, Ronald.’ ”
“We hugged and then he left.”
Ronald Hunter Sr. had driven his son to her home after picking him up at Erie County Medical Center, where the young man had spent two days in the psychiatric unit after police took him there following a disturbance at a West Side convenience store.
At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the father said, he drove his son and a long-time friend to downtown Buffalo.
“Ronald was going to live with his friend, and he wanted to apply for cash to help with the rent. They were going to try and make ends meet by living together. I dropped Ronald off at Social Services,” the father said.
And that was the last time he saw his son.

Help at Harbor House

Staff members and residents at Harbor House, where Hunter sometimes stayed, recalled that Hunter kept to himself.
“He’d pace the floor, but he didn’t bother anybody,” said 57-year-old Eugene Jones, who has been homeless since he was evicted from his apartment after ownership of the building changed hands six months ago. “Ronald didn’t go wild like some people do.”
Thomas Kissell said he could relate to what Hunter had gone through. He, too, knows what it is like to be out in the extreme cold, saying he almost died Friday morning.
“I’d gone to the emergency room at Erie County Medical Center because my legs were swelling up and I didn’t feel well. I was released at 2 a.m.,” the 50-year-old Kissell said, showing hospital discharge papers. “I walked all the way here,” he said of the Harbor House facility on the 200 block of Genesee Street.
“It took me hours, almost till dawn. I knew if I stopped I’d freeze to death.”
Kissell pulled up his pant leg to reveal his bloated right calf.
“Look at how my leg is swollen,” he said. “Both my legs are swollen to the knees.”
A bottle of Brisk iced tea-lemonade in a side pocket of his knapsack was no longer liquid, but slush.

On the edge

On Wednesday, the day before Ronald Hunter Jr.’s body was found, Buffalo recorded the most frigid temperatures and negative wind chills of the week, according to National Weather Service data. Just before 9 that night, the temperature dropped to 2 degrees, while the wind chill dipped to minus 18 degrees.
The low temperatures for the entire week only exceeded single digits once, and the brutal wind chills continued into Thursday morning.
Where are the homeless to find shelter? Harbor House, which describes its operations as a “night-time drop-in center,” is open year-round. The Buffalo City Mission and St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy also offer shelter to the homeless.
The stories of the homeless who find shelter at Harbor House show how close they live to the edge of life, said Michael Broadus, who works at the facility, which specializes in assisting the mentally ill.
“If I were homeless, I’d hope that someone would be there for me,” Broadus said.
Harbor House’s Pula offered condolences to the Hunter family from the staff and those they serve.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with the family,” she said.
She then went out Friday night, on the fifth consecutive Code Blue effort of the week, to gather homeless from the streets and take them back to Harbor House.
“They’re really good people, even the ones that do bad things,” she said. “Once you talk with them, you see how good they are.”

Thursday, December 4

Old Man with Shotgun vs 12 Year Old with Toy Pistol; Who Wins?

*For some reason the videos are not working, but I am trying to correct that. In the meantime, here are the links to them:

1. Police "talk" to man with shotgun
2. Tamir Rice - Tamir Rice shot by police

Even the ultimate, non-violent pacifist has to be getting angry at what’s going on now in our streets; they’ve got to be able to see that there is something seriously wrong in this country. 
A 12 year old boy carrying a toy pistol gets shot dead less than 30 seconds after the police arrive on the scene; an unarmed man repeatedly tells the police he can't breathe when they have him in an illegal chokehold but they don't pay attention, and consequently he dies; an unarmed teen-ager with a bag of candy in his hands is shot dead by a citizen, but the police do not arrest the man until public outcry forces them to (although he is acquitted at trial). Why are our children dying but no one is being held responsible for their deaths? Why are the killers not made to pay??


Something dreadful has happened in this country, and although I know that race plays a large part in it, that is not the whole problem. IMO the attitude of the police department itself is what the problem is. The police department has begun to feel that they are like the sheriffs of yesteryear, that they make the laws and can enforce them as they see fit. When this attitude is coupled with the stereotypical picture of blacks that a lot of them have, you end up with this huge disparity in the way people are treated. Cops don’t have a problem with old white men with shotguns, they have no fear of them. 

This is dreadful, mainly because of the difference in how this case was handled as opposed to how the case of Tamir Rice was handled. No one tried to talk to that little boy; he was 12 years old, you mean to tell me that these big strong policemen feared for their lives from a 12 year old child who wasn’t threatening them, or behaving like a gangbanger?? 


 The rookie of the pair claims he yelled at the child from the car before it stopped, telling him to put down the gun, but 2 seconds after the car stopped Tamir Rice was dead.
The officer talked to the old white man for 9 and ½ minutes, then walked over and picked up the rifle!! But no one can see the disparity between the ways we are treated….


Saturday, September 6

Family Sues Philly School District Over Asthma Death

In my opinion, this is just another example of how the educational systems in this country have suffered when it comes to deciding where funds should be spent... If there were more money in the Philadelphia School District, there would probably have been a full-time nurse, or at least one there more than two days a week!  Laporshia Massey would have been able to use her inhaler as necessary, and would not have felt that she couldn't go to the administration and tell them how she was feeling. This child's death could have been avoided; perhaps if the school staff had been trained about asthma (and other illnesses that children suffer) and given options on what to do in those cases. One of the staff could have contacted the parents and demanded that the child be removed from school if they had training and could recognize the distress she was in. It's just sad that budgets have been cut to this point, to the point where children are dying because they are not allowed to use the medication that has been prescribed for them.

Wednesday, Sept 3, 2014 • Updated at 10:59 PM EDT

The family of a girl who died of an asthma attack after attending a public school without a nurse has sued the Philadelphia School District.


The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, said that 12-year-old Laporshia Massey remained at school despite complaining late in the day about breathing problems. She was driven home after school by a staff member Sept. 25, 2013, and died later that day, the lawsuit said.

Bryant Elementary School officials should have called 911, especially with no nurse on duty, lawyer Michael Pomerantz said. The West Philadelphia school had a nurse just two days a week.

"They have a phone there. ... Call 911. Play it safe, especially when you know there's no one else on the school grounds who was able to assess the situation," said Pomerantz, who filed the suit on behalf of the girl's estate.

Students were not allowed to use inhalers or take medicine without a nurse present at Bryant, so Laporshia apparently did not try to use her inhaler at school, the lawsuit said.
A school district spokesman did not immediately return a message Wednesday. The district, which reopens for students on Monday, does not typically comment on pending litigation.

Laporshia's father, Daniel Burch, has said the family got two calls about their daughter, but neither sounded urgent. In an interview last year, he said she was the big sister to his two sons, who also have asthma.
Burch described her interests as typical for a sixth-grade girl: "Fashion, clothes, nails, drawing, writing."
Laporshia was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia just after 6 p.m., and died within the hour, Pomerantz said.

The civil rights lawsuit seeks more than $150,000 in damages.

Sunday, March 16

And We Think Unemployment Is Bad Here!!


I've been unemployed (through no fault of my own, the contract ended) for over a year now; 14 months to be exact. I couldn't even begin to guess how many applications I've filled out, or how many people I've talked to... Job hunting has been my full-time day job, and unfortunately it's an unpaid one! I've talked to all kinds of agencies, learning along the way that there is no longer just one kind of agency, the "temp" kind. 


I've also learned that it's no longer only the biggest companies which use an agency for their hiring and firing. It turns out that HR is one more thing that American companies have outsourced.

Nothing in my experience compares to this though!


At Least 16 Nigerians Killed in Stampedes Over Jobs

ABUJA, Nigeria — At least 16 people were killed in desperate stampedes for government jobs in Nigeria when hundreds of thousands were invited to apply for fewer than 5,000 positions, officials and activists said Sunday.

Interior Minister Abba Moro held the applicants responsible, saying they "lost their lives through their impatience." Activists blamed his ministry and called for him to be fired. Emergency officials said the death toll could rise.

Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria on March 15, 2014 where several people were killed.

Nigerians are desperate for work, with official statistics putting the unemployed at 24 percent of the 170 million people or nearly 41 million unemployed. Unemployment among young people aged under 24 is even higher — 38 percent according to official statistics and nearer 80 percent according to the World Bank. 

Moro was quoted as saying by the official News Agency of Nigeria that many of the applicants "jumped through the fences of affected centers and did not conduct themselves in an orderly manner ... This caused stampedes and made the environment unsecured."

The Education Rights Campaign blamed his ministry for inviting more applicants than centers could accommodate and not providing enough security. The campaign, which called for Moro to be fired, gave the example of Abuja National Stadium, which has a capacity for 60,000. It said 65,000 applicants were invited and seven people died. The other deaths took place in Minna, Port Harcourt, Dutse and Benin City, Moro said.

The campaign said scores of people were killed. The Nigerian Red Cross and some hospital officials said many seriously injured patients were admitted, and some could die, raising the toll.
About 500,000 applicants were invited to apply for 4,556 vacancies at the Nigeria Immigration Service, according to Education Rights.

Applicants said they each paid 1,000 naira (about $6) — apparently for the right to write tests on Saturday at the application centers. The Education Rights Campaign said it was scandalous that the government had collected about $3 million from applicants and demanded the money be returned.

—The Associated Press

First published March 16th 2014, 3:47 pm

Wednesday, September 29

CA Police Will Not File Charges In Case Of Boy Bullied To Death For Being Gay - Topix

Read Full Story Here at Lezgetreal.com

We're hearing more and more stories like this of younger and younger children being 'bullied' to death, and in so many cases it's because they were rumored to be gay; perhaps a young boy was slight or shy, or a girl was a tomboy...

How do the parents of the children accused of doing the bullying sleep at night? How do they live with the thought that their child contributed to the death of another child? Or do they just shrug it off as "God's judgment" on someone who was sinning? These are children who have not had a chance to even know for sure if they're gay, let alone ACT on it!! Besides, since when does God use children to pass judgment on and take the life of another child? Get it right society, there's something wrong with a young child finding their life so intolerable that they are willing to kill themselves. They should be full of hope and joy at the thought of having a long life ahead of them, not so full of despair that they hang themselves, take too many pills, or find a gun and shoot themselves. (What kind of society allows 12 and 13 yr old children to get their hands on guns anyway?) These children are supposed to be our future! Don't you realize that each time a child dies, we lose a scientist who may cure AIDS, a doctor who may save your life, perhaps even a President?

WAKE UP SOCIETY!!!

Wednesday, February 4

WWII vet frozen to death leaves estate to hospital


This should not be allowed to happen in this country. 93 year old people do not freeze to death in their own homes in this so-called "land of milk and honey"!! And why was it allowed to happen? Because the utility company was a private one that was not subject to the rules and regulations that ALL utility companies should be subject to! The company being "private" in no way frees them from their moral and ethical obligation to put people before dollar signs.

(CNN) -- A 93-year-old World War II medic who froze to death last month in his Bay City, Michigan, home left his entire estate to a local hospital, an estate attorney told CNN Wednesday.

The attorney would not disclose the exact amount left behind by Martin Schur. But his nephew said his uncle indicated to family members two years ago that he had saved up more than a half-million dollars over the years. Schur and his wife, Marian, who died more than a year ago, did not have any children.

"I just know at one time he said he had over $600,000 in savings," said William Walworth. "That's what he told me and my brother, and he was proud that he was able to save and build his estate up to that."

Cathy Reder, an attorney negotiating on behalf of Bay Regional Medical Center and the Schur family, said she was filing paperwork in probate court Wednesday for the court to determine the validity of the will. A hearing has been set for March 17.

Reder would not specify the amount left to the hospital, other than to say it's more than $1.

"The will leaves everything to Bay Medical Center," she said.

The hospital had no immediate comment.

Walworth said his uncle was a frugal man who hadn't eaten at a restaurant for over 30 years. "He was very tight, and he was very frugal. But he did manage to save a lot of money."

He said it's possible his uncle's estate could be less than $600,000, but he believes it's still "sizable."

"Knowing my uncle, that's him," Walworth said. "He loved his community. He loved Bay City, Michigan."

He added, "Hopefully his death is not in vain and we can learn from this, and he's still able to save lives. ... He was a very unique, special person in my life. I'm proud of what he was able to do in his life."

He said he hopes his uncle's message will spur others to "look out for their neighbor."

The size of the estate -- if it's as large as the nephew believes -- adds another tragic twist to Schur's death. The power company limited his electricity because he owed about $1,000. Video Watch neighbor say the death is "unforgivable" »

Schur's death last month shocked Bay City, a town of about 37,000 on Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay.

The World War II veteran's frozen body was found in his home January 17, just four days after a device that regulates how much power he uses -- installed because of failure to pay -- shut off his power. A medical examiner said the temperature was 32 degrees in the house when Schur's body was found.

The medical examiner told The Bay City Times that Schur died a "slow, painful death." "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning," Dr. Kanu Virani told the paper.

The Michigan State Police launched an investigation into Schur's death for possible criminal violations. "We have to do everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen again, whether it's Bay City or in any one of the cold weather states," Bay City Mayor Charles Brunner said last week.

The death has prompted a review of Bay City Electric Light & Power's rules and procedures for limiting or cutting off power. It also resulted in Bay City residents protesting Monday to the city about its handling of the whole situation.

A neighbor who lives down the street called Schur's death "unforgivable."

"This can't be allowed to happen in this country," said Jerome Anderson.

Walworth said he believes his uncle's death was "preventable."

"It should never have happened. It's a tragic loss," he said. "I had a lot of fond memories of my uncle, and that's the type of memory I don't want to have: Him freezing to death."

Utility officials said Schur owed about $1,000 resulting in a "limiter" being put on his home. Limiters are devices that cut power as a warning for people who haven't paid their bills. Limiters can be reset to restore a lesser degree of power until a bill payment is worked out. In Schur's case, the limiter was never reset, and it's unclear whether he knew how to do that.

Schur had been living alone since his wife died, Walworth said.

Unlike private utilities regulated by the state, Bay City runs and oversees its own utilities and therefore doesn't fall under Michigan's public service commission. By law, Michigan requires private companies to prohibit cutting off service to senior citizens between November and April. Seniors must register for the program.

The city has begun questioning whether its rules and procedures for limiting or cutting off power need a major overhaul. The utility has stopped its practice of cutting power to customers who don't pay their bills.

The utility also has removed all "limiters" on homes.

Walworth said someone should have looked at Schur's payment history and made direct contact to see whether something was wrong. He's hoping the nation will learn from his uncle's death.

"Hopefully, some good can come out of this. I'm still an optimist."

Tuesday, September 2

Human Trafficking Victims File Lawsuit Against US Military Contractors in Iraq

I know it's a rhetorical, somewhat naive question, but what has our world come to? Is more of this what we have to look forward to if this war continues? There are 12 families who have been left without a wage earner, without a husband, without a father, without a son, and for what? Isn't it bad enough that we are over there fighting a war we should never have gone into? Isn't it enough that almost 5,000 lives have been lost in the fighting? Why are they adding to it doing things like this? These con-men, schemers...Then for 12 of the 13 to lose their lives that way; do you think the contractors would have been shaken by this, and done something good, like let the last one go?? Oh no, they take him and make him work for almost 15 months before allowing him to return to his home. This is disgraceful. I want to rant and scream and hit someone, but who? What is it going to take to make someone stop this awful mess?