Ta, Robyn. There are great places in PA; darling fiancé Meccalopolis and I intend to go back to Philadelphia one day, and Pittsburgh has a lot going for it. Far too much of it is Pennsyltucky.
Coerced confessions are about as valuable as eyewitness accounts, and both should be deemed unreliable. Time after time we find DNA evidence that exculpates innocent people who were convicted based on coerced confessions where the accused offered no details about the crime whatsoever, and merely surrendered to hours of intimidation and threats of the death penalty. Eyewitnesses who were “sure” they saw the perpetrator are often wrong. In our modern era of forensic science, it’s baffling these flimsy methods are even permitted anymore. People are a never ending work in progress.
A lot of what's used in court as forensic science is also bogus. Another innocent person who was executed, Cameron Todd Willingham, had discredited arson investigation ideas used against him.
Agree. The value of forensic evidence certainly can vary, and one expert is not equal to another. It’s a fallible system, but I agree with the old adage “it’s worse to convict an innocent man than to let 10 guilty men go free.” The science and confidence in evidence to convict people for serious crimes must be sound.
Donald Trump will, if elected, execute everyone on federal death row within ten minutes* of his inauguration. Then he'll start shooting shoplifters. VOTE.
I have nothing valuable to say about this 1931 case, but now it has me thoroughly pissed off. Anyone still wonder why cops are hated in much of America?
It's too bad we can never know for sure if this was, indeed, a "mistake." Or if it was the police intentionally finding a Black teenager to pin it on, rather than the violent husband. It's just so long ago, there's nobody living who could tell that story.
I don't see what the kid's family is complaining about. It's not like he was prosecuted for paying hush money to conceal an illicit affair. How is the even illegal? Can you imagine suffering such a terrible injustice? No in the history of the Universe has ever suffered such an injustice. /s
Sentencing a 16-year-old to life w/ no parole is pretty close to condemning them to death on the scale of immoral punishments - whether they're guilty or not - and I don't want to hear "arguments" that some of these children are "monsters". They're fucking children!
Reading this story and keeping in mind Trump's sick views on killing innocent Black teenagers, that it is ok because it will serve as an "example":
Trump in the ad said he hated "these muggers and murderers."
"They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples for their crimes," he continued. "They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence."
Just because Trump has echoed Hitler’s speeches for months, and there are reports that he praised Hitler to his staff, and he posted a video that referenced a “unified Reich” beneath headlines of a Trump Victory does NOT mean he is pro Nazi.
"Trump has echoed Hitler’s speeches for months, and there are reports that he praised Hitler to his staff, and he posted a video that referenced a “unified Reich”"
OT: Motherfuck, but I'm overhearing goddamn educators talking about astrology like it fucking means something. This is part of why things don't work in this country - even people who should know better don't.
Yes, but as a Leo born in the Year of the Monkey, my mischievous playfulness and desire to be the center of attention make sense. I didn’t get that from my parents.
I once had a patron in the library who was quite indignant that the astrology books were shelved with religion and self-help, instead of with the astronomy books. I foolishly tried to explain the difference, but she just wouldn't understand.
Adorno wrote a wonderful little book called "The Stars Down To Earth" where he analyzed a few year's worth of LA Times astrology columns and wrote about the messages there, of social conformism, and how the continuous messages from the stars were really advice about 'fitting in', and placating the bosses, etc, “somehow justify painful conditions which seem more tolerable if an affirmative attitude is taken towards them.” instead of telling the reader that the system is broken.
It's new to me. Never once in my education in the '70s and '80s was astrology ever mentioned as anything but something for fun that had no basis in reality.
Also, to be clear,.this was.a.convetwtion between two of my colleagues. Neither of them were spreading this bullshit to students, at least at that moment.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Isaac Asimov
when i was living in the smokies, there would be discussions where a new opinion would be presented, and the counter opinion would be, 'well, that's just your education talking.'
Ugh, we're doing a team meeting next week and our manager had us all do Myers-Briggs. We are a company that values science. Why the fuck are we doing pseudoscience bullshit like this?
We had to do that. The scientists were all green and blue and got more green when under pressure - here have many more facts to support my position. The grad recruits and senior management types were all red and got redder under stress - respect my authority even when I'm wrong and stop telling me that what I want is impossible and waving numbers at me .
Us sciencey typed were laughing a lot at the bollocks of it all. Thousands of pounds well spent. As was pointed out by my boss. We could have given them the same results for a tenner just based on our knowledge of the hiring policies of the nameless mega Corp we worked for.
I took the Myers-Briggs when I was in the military. It didn't know whether to label me an introvert or an extrovert. I see it as that I like attention as long as I don't have to work too hard for it or risk embarrassment.
I love taking those at work. They know mine from a mile away even though they are supposed to be "anonymous" because I put the most outrageous answers available.
"Have you ever thought about stealing from your job"
A lot of fields unfortunately haven't yet caught up to the reality that personality tests are bullshit. But the idea of being able to scientifically describe personalities is less obviously bullshit then the idea that they're determined by stars hundreds of light years away that just happened to be in the sky the week of your birth a couple thousand years ago.
I went to a job interview once where the owner of the company asked me for my birth information so he could do my horoscope. He was mildly annoyed that I didn't know the actual time of my emergence. I didn't say anything because I needed a job fairly badly. Obviously there was something wrong with my stars because I didn't get hired.
I will die mad about the fact that a more appropriate (not to mention dignified) name for the planet would be Ouranos, but for some dumbass reason we went with the "haha butthole" spelling.
My ex-wife was Irish Catholic. She and her family used to always chide me about how racist all of us Southerners were. They were all from around the Philly area... this was happening while I had them telling me how racist all of us Southerners were:
Ignorance knows no geographical location, or birthright - but what irks me is how they failed to see the mote in their own eyes... I have other stories as well... as if "casual racism" is somehow less insidious...
My mom lived in Florida for half the year and Rhode Island for the other half when she was growing up, so spent a lot of time comparing — things were obviously not great in Florida, but she was in RI when she got a gun pulled on her while driving in a car with her Black friends.
northern vs southern racism is a pet peeve of mine. whether you take the more passive aggressive or the more direct approach to racism doesn't really matter.
Ta, Robyn. There are great places in PA; darling fiancé Meccalopolis and I intend to go back to Philadelphia one day, and Pittsburgh has a lot going for it. Far too much of it is Pennsyltucky.
Sounds like the prosecutor and the murdering husband were fellow KKK wizards. Vile on every level.
Pennsylvania Goddam
This fucking country…
Coerced confessions are about as valuable as eyewitness accounts, and both should be deemed unreliable. Time after time we find DNA evidence that exculpates innocent people who were convicted based on coerced confessions where the accused offered no details about the crime whatsoever, and merely surrendered to hours of intimidation and threats of the death penalty. Eyewitnesses who were “sure” they saw the perpetrator are often wrong. In our modern era of forensic science, it’s baffling these flimsy methods are even permitted anymore. People are a never ending work in progress.
A lot of what's used in court as forensic science is also bogus. Another innocent person who was executed, Cameron Todd Willingham, had discredited arson investigation ideas used against him.
Agree. The value of forensic evidence certainly can vary, and one expert is not equal to another. It’s a fallible system, but I agree with the old adage “it’s worse to convict an innocent man than to let 10 guilty men go free.” The science and confidence in evidence to convict people for serious crimes must be sound.
Donald Trump will, if elected, execute everyone on federal death row within ten minutes* of his inauguration. Then he'll start shooting shoplifters. VOTE.
*Only a slight exaggeration.
As he robs all of the investors in his social media failure blind.
I have nothing valuable to say about this 1931 case, but now it has me thoroughly pissed off. Anyone still wonder why cops are hated in much of America?
OMG! That poor lad was smaller than I was at age 16 and I'm small. What the F?! Tell us, Nicki or Nikki Haley how the US is not a racist country.
I thought the same: he was smaller in stature than my sixth grade twins (though a bit heavier). He was tiny. That poor boy.
It's too bad we can never know for sure if this was, indeed, a "mistake." Or if it was the police intentionally finding a Black teenager to pin it on, rather than the violent husband. It's just so long ago, there's nobody living who could tell that story.
OT: CBS says closing arguments in the PAB criminal trial will take place a week from today (??!!).
C u…then…
One of the jurors couldn’t make Friday also
Lessee, court is usually off on Wednesday....then Memorial Day weekend, that's three days....so may as well ditch Thursday and Friday....
'Til Tuesday, I suppose.
Lets the jurors and everyone else enjoy their weekend.
Yeah, scheduled for the 28th, after the Memorial day holiday so the jurors can focus.
the suspense is killing us...
I don't see what the kid's family is complaining about. It's not like he was prosecuted for paying hush money to conceal an illicit affair. How is the even illegal? Can you imagine suffering such a terrible injustice? No in the history of the Universe has ever suffered such an injustice. /s
Sentencing a 16-year-old to life w/ no parole is pretty close to condemning them to death on the scale of immoral punishments - whether they're guilty or not - and I don't want to hear "arguments" that some of these children are "monsters". They're fucking children!
Just reading the description "4’7”, 91 lbs" took my breath away.
I wonder how well someone of that stature can swing an ice pick multiple times.
Reading this story and keeping in mind Trump's sick views on killing innocent Black teenagers, that it is ok because it will serve as an "example":
Trump in the ad said he hated "these muggers and murderers."
"They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples for their crimes," he continued. "They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/19/what-trump-has-said-central-park-five/1501321001/
We should execute people who steal classified documents. As an example for others thinking of stealing classified documents.
They should be forced to suffer.
Agreed. Execution for treason was good enough for The Rosenbergs.
Not to nitpick, but I believe the Rosenbergs were executed for espionage, not treason.
Not really a nitpick. Espionage is a whole lot more complicated than treason. I don't think Donnie could manage.
I know soemone who needs to serve as an example for their crimes...
So sez a man responsible for the deaths of roughly a million Americans, via his incompetence and inaction.
Deliberate medical neglect is technically genocide.
But, but Blexit!
And despite them being exonerated, he still feels they should have been executed.
Didn't the guy[s?] who actually did it literally confess?
ETA: Yes, someone unrelated to any of the Five confessed, and they proved it with DNA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case
I wonder what could be COLORING his opinion.
He says it to this day
Yes.
Just because Trump has echoed Hitler’s speeches for months, and there are reports that he praised Hitler to his staff, and he posted a video that referenced a “unified Reich” beneath headlines of a Trump Victory does NOT mean he is pro Nazi.
NYT
"Trump has echoed Hitler’s speeches for months, and there are reports that he praised Hitler to his staff, and he posted a video that referenced a “unified Reich”"
`
"...Why this is bad news for Biden".
"What an absurd statement! The barbed wire in OUR concentration camps is a full 3/16 of an inch thicker blah blah blabbity blah..."
Trump will not allow the woke mob to erase Hitler from history
~ Brett Stevens
Never cite up Hitler, me boys
Trump is merely Adolf-curious
As was the NYT in its day.
OT: Motherfuck, but I'm overhearing goddamn educators talking about astrology like it fucking means something. This is part of why things don't work in this country - even people who should know better don't.
Yes, but as a Leo born in the Year of the Monkey, my mischievous playfulness and desire to be the center of attention make sense. I didn’t get that from my parents.
Science schmience.
Yeah, well that's exactly what a Capricorn WOULD say.
I once had a patron in the library who was quite indignant that the astrology books were shelved with religion and self-help, instead of with the astronomy books. I foolishly tried to explain the difference, but she just wouldn't understand.
Maybe she needed a spelling primer.
Adorno wrote a wonderful little book called "The Stars Down To Earth" where he analyzed a few year's worth of LA Times astrology columns and wrote about the messages there, of social conformism, and how the continuous messages from the stars were really advice about 'fitting in', and placating the bosses, etc, “somehow justify painful conditions which seem more tolerable if an affirmative attitude is taken towards them.” instead of telling the reader that the system is broken.
Kind of similar to ESPN ‘analysts’ blathering on for hours about pro sports games, predicting outcomes.
The planets affect my life but that's because I'm a planetary scientist.
I'm no planetary scientist, but I still find that one planet in particular affects my life.
This is the dumbing in the Age of Aquarius.
I still object to dumbing. None of this is new.
It's new to me. Never once in my education in the '70s and '80s was astrology ever mentioned as anything but something for fun that had no basis in reality.
You're lucky, then.
Also, to be clear,.this was.a.convetwtion between two of my colleagues. Neither of them were spreading this bullshit to students, at least at that moment.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Isaac Asimov
when i was living in the smokies, there would be discussions where a new opinion would be presented, and the counter opinion would be, 'well, that's just your education talking.'
I can't with the astrology. Gimme tarot or gimme death by ghost scare.
Seance! I would do one of those, just for kicks.
It would be a good show, if it's done right.
They were a big thing in the 1920's.
Hey - our Department Chair had us all take a "Personality Test"....
I actually had to be the one to tell her this is pseudoscience....
She has a Doctorate. I have an AS & teach design & animation....
Some HR departments use those for job applicants.
Ugh, we're doing a team meeting next week and our manager had us all do Myers-Briggs. We are a company that values science. Why the fuck are we doing pseudoscience bullshit like this?
We had to do that. The scientists were all green and blue and got more green when under pressure - here have many more facts to support my position. The grad recruits and senior management types were all red and got redder under stress - respect my authority even when I'm wrong and stop telling me that what I want is impossible and waving numbers at me .
Us sciencey typed were laughing a lot at the bollocks of it all. Thousands of pounds well spent. As was pointed out by my boss. We could have given them the same results for a tenner just based on our knowledge of the hiring policies of the nameless mega Corp we worked for.
I took the Myers-Briggs when I was in the military. It didn't know whether to label me an introvert or an extrovert. I see it as that I like attention as long as I don't have to work too hard for it or risk embarrassment.
I love taking those at work. They know mine from a mile away even though they are supposed to be "anonymous" because I put the most outrageous answers available.
"Have you ever thought about stealing from your job"
"Yes, often, daily even"
"Sure. I'm taking this pen and maybe the desk, if it's not screwed down."
I heard through to office gossipline that they exclude mine because I throw the curve all the way off. Life laugh love I say.
A lot of fields unfortunately haven't yet caught up to the reality that personality tests are bullshit. But the idea of being able to scientifically describe personalities is less obviously bullshit then the idea that they're determined by stars hundreds of light years away that just happened to be in the sky the week of your birth a couple thousand years ago.
I went to a job interview once where the owner of the company asked me for my birth information so he could do my horoscope. He was mildly annoyed that I didn't know the actual time of my emergence. I didn't say anything because I needed a job fairly badly. Obviously there was something wrong with my stars because I didn't get hired.
"The fault, dear Brutus..."
That sounds just like something that someone with Mercury in Scorpio would say.
Or a Taurus.
Those lazy sex addicts.
Oh, wait, I'm a Taurus.
I like my sex addicts industrious.
I took a personality test for a dead end retail job once and it was a quite surreal experience given the extremely high stakes.
You have a personality!
You'd be surprised how rare they are. A lot of people just have personality quirks held together by a veneer of assholishness.
*woooooooo* *handwave* *wooooooo*
That sounds like something a Capricorn would say.
Or one of five other signs that can be described with similar, broadly applicable adjectives.
that's where crystals and reiki come in.
Bet his moon is in Taurus.
Better than being in Uranus.
when the moon is all in Uranus
and Jupiter hooks up with Mars
then lube will guide the planets
poppers will make you see stars
this is the dawning of the age of Promiscuous...
LMAO
I will die mad about the fact that a more appropriate (not to mention dignified) name for the planet would be Ouranos, but for some dumbass reason we went with the "haha butthole" spelling.
How about 'Tianwangqing?'
Pleez Wanderer, Urhiney. Polite company and all.
(gigglesnorts)
🤣🤣🤣
Only when he is driving his Ford
My ex-wife was Irish Catholic. She and her family used to always chide me about how racist all of us Southerners were. They were all from around the Philly area... this was happening while I had them telling me how racist all of us Southerners were:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing
Ignorance knows no geographical location, or birthright - but what irks me is how they failed to see the mote in their own eyes... I have other stories as well... as if "casual racism" is somehow less insidious...
My mom lived in Florida for half the year and Rhode Island for the other half when she was growing up, so spent a lot of time comparing — things were obviously not great in Florida, but she was in RI when she got a gun pulled on her while driving in a car with her Black friends.
It is so gauche to discriminate against skin color, but economic status --- Let's fucking go!
also, the whole all Southerners are racist thing is just fucking weird but I suppose it may be a result of the outcome of the civil war.
Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them" is a great read.
I'll definitely check it out. Thank you! :D
Indiana was a hotbed of the KKK in the 1920s, and my mother recalled reading about Bund meetings in the New Jersey hills.
NASCAR country. Indy 500 and all that - hick central.
northern vs southern racism is a pet peeve of mine. whether you take the more passive aggressive or the more direct approach to racism doesn't really matter.
What's the difference between a northern racist and a southern racist?
The southern racist is fine with Black people living next door as long as they don't "get uppity".
The northern racist is fine with Blacks standing up for their rights as long as they don't "lower the property values".
I'd add that it never really has been. they were just not as emboldened as they're currently.