Changes In Modern Life
Old people like to talk about things that were better back then. PG is going to talk about some things that are better today. This is a repost.
During the Vietnam war, there was talk about “back our boys in Vietnam”. In the current war in Babylon, the troops are an integrated fighting force of men and women. You do not hear these brave people referred to as “boys”.
A person who goes into combat, to kill or be killed, is not a boy. He is a man, or a woman. This is an improvement over the way things used to be. We still have wars, and have to refer to soldiers as something. Mankind is a work in progress.
A second way society has improved is the attitude towards cigarettes. In older times, almost everyone smoked, and they lit up wherever, and whenever, they wanted. No one asked for permission. Today, people routinely go outside to smoke.
One way in which our attitudes about cigarettes is changing can be seen in the way two presidents are treated by the press. Franklin Roosevelt was never photographed with his leg braces, or struggling to walk. Many people did not know he was crippled. However, his cigarette holder was a part of his image. He was photographed with that constantly. Has ANYONE seen a picture of Barack Obama smoking?
The election of a dark skinned man as POTUS brings us to our final issue of the day, racial (and other) slurs. It is just not considered polite to use insulting terms that refer to race, religion, national origin, etc. etc. (PG got an email at work once cautioning about discussing hair color.) In many ways, this is like the thing with cigarettes…people have not changed the overall attitudes, they just go outside.
Political correctness can be a nuisance. The excesses are well known. However, the basic concept of having concern for the feelings of others is a good idea. Things are different in 2013. Pictures for this discourse are from The Library of Congress.
He Lucky I’m A Christian
Rachel Jeantel, the friend of Trayvon Martin, gave a television interview recently. She said, referring to defense attorney Don West, “He lucky I’m a christian.” (5:26 in interview) It is tough to understand what she meant. An outburst, in a courtroom full of armed guards, would not have hurt Mr. West. Such an outburst would have done even more damage to the state’s case against George Zimmerman.
This comment brought PG back to an incident at Redo Blue. There was a person there, known here as the Bully For Jesus (BFJ.) This man had a hair trigger temper, and would use Jesus to hurt people. After seven years working closely with BFJ, PG sees Jesus as a source of abuse.
In this incident, BFJ heard PG say something to the store manager. “Does anyone adjusting the thermostat ask if their neighbor is comfortable?” BFJ was offended, and went off on PG. “You should thank G-d for Jesus. If it wasn’t for Jesus, I would have hurt you.”
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Justice Or Vengeance
A jury in Florida rendered a verdict Saturday night. Some are not happy with this ruling. They were looking for the courts to punish the defendant. To many, justice has fallen through the crack.
The truth is that we have trials for a reason. The howling mob, demanding a pound of flesh, is often mistaken. The system exists to protect people from an unjust prosecution. The mobs have not sat in the courtroom, and listened to the evidence. They have not had to make a decision. It is easy to monday morning quarterback a jury, but tough to be on one. Those six women should be thanked for their service, not told to commit suicide.
Some are urging the federal government to prosecute under hate crime laws. This is where Uncle Sam is not happy with the local ruling, and brings his own charges. This is also known as double jeopardy. It is not a good idea. One trial is enough.
Many of the people demanding government sponsored vengeance are Jesus worshipers. This is the man that Pontius Pilate said had done nothing wrong. The crowd shouted Pontius Pilate down. The crowd bellowed Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Compounding Pharmacy
The Associated Press has obtained E-mails from the state of Georgia about copping execution drugs. These substances are intended for use on Warren Hill, and others to follow. “Georgia Department of Corrections emails obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request make it clear that the state is using a compounding pharmacy to mix a doctor-prescribed dose of pentobarbital for Hill. The names of the sender and recipient of the emails are redacted, but it is clear from an email signature that one person is a corrections employee and the other person appears to be a doctor.”
“I spoke with the compounding pharmacist earlier today and I wanted to relay some instructions he gave regarding the prescription,” the corrections employee wrote in an email dated Monday. “Along with the patient name, he also needs their birthday and social security number. I will be happy to forward this information along to you when you are preparing to write the prescription.” Another email from Tuesday provides the relevant information for Hill and says the Department will need six 50-milliliter syringes of pentobarbital.
It is not known who the Doctor, or the Pharmacy, is. … “a Georgia state law says that medical professionals cannot have their licenses challenged or suspended for participating in a court-ordered execution. It is not clear what doctor is writing the prescription for the pentobarbital for Hill’s execution, and it’s not clear what pharmacy or pharmacist will mix it. A law passed by the Georgia Legislature classifies the name of any person or entity who participates in an execution as a “confidential state secret,” off-limits for release to the public. That includes any company that “manufactures, supplies, compounds, or prescribes the drugs.”
PG had never heard of a compounding pharmacy until last week. A google search shows quite a few in the Atlanta area. Here is what one such pharmacy says. “Pharmacists have been preparing drugs for patients long before manufacturing came into existence. This process is simply called “compounding.” Compounding is “the extemporaneous preparation of a special medication for a patient’s unique condition pursuant to a doctor’s specific formulated order (prescription).” The pharmacist’s ability to make a “Tailor-made” prescription affords the physician the ability to prescribe a medication better targeted, in his/her opinion, to a patient’s specific need. Contrary to what is sometimes assumed, each individual patient is different in his/her biological and chemical makeup. In the complex world of body chemistry we are all a bit different. Compounding affords the physician/pharmacist the ability to provide exceptional and very specific medicine that is more suitable and individualized for a given patients unique condition.
There are many reasons your doctor may provide you with a compounded prescription. 1- A dosage form (tablet vs. capsule vs. liquid) may be required or preferred by a patient where it may not exist. The pharmacist can change this dosage form. 2- A Particular medication strength may not be made by the manufacturer but can be provided thru the compounding process. 3- Some products have fillers or binders (inert ingredients) that cause allergic reactions to some patients. Compounding with the raw drug allows the pharmacist to NOT use those particular allergic causing materials. 4- Flavoring medications “to taste” for children and adults is a common practice.”
Compounding pharmacies have “come under scrutiny after a deadly meningitis outbreak was linked to contaminated injections made by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. The FDA considers compounding pharmacy products unapproved drugs and does not verify their safety or effectiveness.” It is not known if this applies to executions.
In a rare display of respect for state’s rights, the FDA usually does not deal with drugs used for executions. It is not known whether the reputed pentobarbital will be tested for purity before it is used to poison Warren Hill. It is a secret drug, prescribed by a secret doctor, from a secret compounding pharmacy. Rumors that the secret pharmacy will supply the state with “six 50-milliliter syringes of” Drano cannot be confirmed or denied.
UPDATE On Monday, July 15, we got this story: Fulton judge Gail Tusan stays Warren Hill’s execution. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday, July 18. At the hearing, it was learned that “the prison paid 5-thousand dollars for 6 (50ML) syringes of execution drug, Pentobarbital.” Judge Tusan granted a stay of execution for Warren Hill. “Judge Tusan: the Georgia law “unconstitutionally limits” #WarrenHill’s access to courts and his Eighth Amendment rights.” The state is expected to appeal the decision. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Kill Warren Hill
The motto of the State of Georgia is Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation. Sometimes, what they practice is Wisdom, Justice, in Moderation. One of these times is the plan to poison Warren L. Hill, Jr.
The focus of the controversy this week is whether or not Mr. Hill is mentally retarded. This post is not going to focus on whether the IQ is 70 or 71. This post is going to deal with other issues. These issues are summarized by a comment made at Peach Pundit recently.
1- Does anyone know why the State is so hell bent on executing him? It seems like whenever the State wants to waste someone, they let nothing stand in their way. The money spent on lawyers, fighting for the blood lust of the State, could be better spent on a new football stadium. 2- Has the issue of where the State is going to get the drugs to waste Mr. Hill been resolved? The manufacturer of pentobarbital does not want their product used for executions. There has been talk of the State using a pharmacy to concoct a special order drug to kill Mr. Hill. If a private citizen did this, to have a party, he would be in trouble. If the State wants to do this, to kill a man, then apparently that is OK.
The poisoning of Warren Hill has been scheduled before. A few months ago, he was given a pre-execution ativan, and fed a final meal. Then the reprieve came, and he went back into waiting. When the State of Georgia decides to execute someone, they do not give up. They have spent thousands of dollars on lawyer work, fighting for their desire to execute a mentally challenged man. The State of Georgia is broke, They could spend that money better in many ways. Why is poisoning Warren Hill such a priority?
Mr. Hill is African American. So are many of the men on death row, many with worse crimes than Mr. Hill. The last man executed by Georgia was white. The state seems to execute a white man for every black man. While racial inequality can never be ruled out in Georgia, it is probably not a factor here.
Georgia uses a method of execution tastefully known as lethal injection. Currently, that means an intentional overdose of one substance. Before the supply expired, the state used pentobarbital. The manufacturer of this substance does not want it used for executions, and has taken steps to prevent this from happening. The state is going to have to be creative. Here is one possibility. “There has been some indication that some states may turn to compounding pharmacies to get pentobarbital. Such pharmacies custom-mix solutions, creams and other medications in doses or forms that generally aren’t commercially available.”
When the Supreme Court approved poisoning as a method of execution, it approved the “Kentucky Protocol”. This is a three drug “cocktail”. States have been recently going for the intentional overdose of pentobarbital, which, truth be told, may be more humane than the three drug cocktail. The problem is that the drug of choice is no longer available. Is using a mystery drug, from a secret source, really wise and just? Is Georgia Smart Enough To Kill People?
And it is a secret source. “The Georgia Legislature in March passed a bill that would make the identities of suppliers and makers of its lethal-injection drug a “state secret.” The bill, designed to shield companies from harassment from death-penalty opponents, was signed into law last month by GOP Gov. Nathan Deal. “
A branch of the federal government, the F.D.A.,is supposed to monitor the safety and efficiency of drugs. Does this apply when these drugs are used to intentionally kill? “The safety and efficacy of all drugs has to be approved by the FDA, but once pharmaceuticals are approved for any purpose, it is up to physicians to determine to whom and for what reasons they will prescribe them. … The FDA-approved uses for pentobarbital include short-term treatment for insomnia and seizure control for patients with epilepsy. … It is also not FDA-approved for use in executions or for the use of anesthesia, but it’s not clear the FDA believes that’s its business.”
Here is the original chamblee54 post on Warren Hill. Pictures are from Gwinnett County.
Voting Rights Act
SCOTUS recently offered an opinion about the Voting Rights Act. “Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional; its formula can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to pre-clearance.” This requirement was applied to a collection of states, including Georgia.
The Voting Rights Act “requires that the United States Department of Justice, through an administrative procedure, or a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, through a declaratory judgment action “preclear” any attempt to change “any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting…” in any “covered jurisdiction.”
The decision has been widely denounced. Predictably, it is called racist. This feature takes the opinion that maybe the court made the correct ruling in this case. No one denies the importance of extending the vote to all qualified citizens. The question is whether the VRA is the best way to guarantee this right.
The states affected are mostly in the south. Perhaps, this oversight requirement should be extended to the entire country. Problems with restricting the vote have never been limited to the south. The expression gerrymandering was named for Elbridge Gerry, the Governor of Massachusetts.
The VRA has not stopped gerrymandering. If you look at the pictures in this post, you can see the bizarre results of district creation in Georgia. Every ten years, the congressional districts are re-drawn, subject to court approval. The courts have approved some strange districts.
Another question is just how fair the United States District Court, for the District of Columbia, is going to be. In trying to be fair to black voters, have white voters been treated unfairly? Is this really the best way to guarantee the right to vote?
The decision of the court is going to be debated. A new VRA may pass congress, hopefully with the concerns of the court taken into consideration. Black voters participate in great numbers now, and hopefully that will continue.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Failed State Index
Fund For Peace is about to unveil The Failed States Index 2013. FFP takes 12 indicators, mixes them up with a secret formula, and produces a list of 178 countries. The worst country, with the 001 rank, is Somalia. 178 is Finland.
A blog called Musings On Iraq brought the FSI to the attention of PG. The country between the rivers is 011 this year, despite, or because of, the heavy American investment there. MOI does not deny the problems in Iraq, but questions the way FFP keeps score. When you start looking at the twelve indicators, compare the scores over the last few years, you eyes might start to glaze over.
“The most glaring scores however were for group grievances and security apparatus that went from 9.7 to 10.0 and 9.9 to 10.0 respectively. Obviously the insurgency is taking off again, but 10.0 was the score Iraq received when it was still in a civil war in 2007. Yes, violence is up, but it’s nowhere near the level it was at during the sectarian conflict when several thousands were ending up dead each month, the government largely shut down, and daily life was completely disrupted.”
The problems in ranking Iraq highlight some of the problems with a study like this. It is tough to really know what is going on across town, much less across the world. MOI describes Iraq in 2007 as a country in collapse. This was when Fox News told America that we were winning the war.
The bottom ten is dominated by Africa. The first Asian state to appear is 007 Afghanistan, another state with an intense American investment. 008 is Haiti, 011 is Iraq, and 013 is Pakistan. The rest of the bottom 20 is African.
The top ten is dominated by Scandinavia. 173 New Zealand is the top non European nation, with 169 Australia rounding out the top ten. The other eight top tens are European, with 170 Ireland ten spots ahead of 160 Great Britain. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are considered as one unit.
The way that 160 Great Britain was judged, as one unit, probably affected the score of that state. Another state like that is 067 Israel/West Bank. This apparently includes Gaza. The troubles in the Arab parts counterbalance the good life in the Jewish state.
We are in paragraph eight, and still have not discussed 159 United States. 168 Canada and 097 Mexico round out NAFTA land. The top Asian state is 158 Singapore, 152 Chile tops South America, and 121 Botswana is on top of continental Africa.
According to the Guardian, “The organisation that produces the index, the Fund for Peace, is the kind of outfit John le Carré thinks we should all be having nightmares about. Its director, JJ Messner (who puts together the list), is a former lobbyist for the private military industry. … The main reason is that the concept of the failed state has never existed outside a programme for western intervention. It has always been a way of constructing a rationale for imposing US interests on less powerful nations.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Pimping The Flag
PG looked in the front yard, and saw a small flag by the driveway. It had been left, with the business card of a realtor attached to the staff. PG was not pleased. He walked to the end of the driveway, looked north, and saw a young lady placing flags in front yards.
The same thing happened in July of 2012. PG sent an email to the offending realtor, and did not receive a reply. In May of 2013, PG found one of last years flags in a garbage can. It had been worn down by the elements. The red, white, and blue had been reduced to pink, gray, and lavender.
The offending flag was snatched out of the ground. PG walked north, and gave it back to the realtor. This is not an appropriate use of the flag. The realtor said she would be coming back to gather up any flags that fell to the ground. Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen.
The flag code is explicit on this issue. The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
Lisa Jackson Is White
The New York Times did it’s liberal media duty Saturday with a story about Savannah, and the Paula Deen controversy. There were three curious words in paragraph four. “The predicament that Ms. Deen finds herself in began when a former employee — a white woman who is now managing restaurants in Atlanta — filed a discrimination lawsuit in March 2012.”
This thing has seemed, er, fishy from the get go. The restaurant industry is full of disgruntled former employees, few of whom are paragons of virtue. DFE worked in a restaurant partially owned by a famous person. It is uncertain how active the famous person was in the day to day operation of the restaurant. DFE has a lawyer, who gets famous person to say embarrassing things in a deposition. Somehow, this deposition is leaked to National Enquirer. And now we learn that DFE is white.
Confirmation of the ethnicity of DFE is tough to come by. Few pictures are available. You have to ask Mr. Google repeated questions. A law industry blog called Huseby (spell check suggestion:Houseboy) has a good story on the matter, with a couple of links.
The attorney for the plaintiff, Matthew Billips, has a few issues. “The case began with an “inflammatory letter seeking over a million dollars for forgo filing a lawsuit and allow Deen ‘a chance to salvage a brand that can continue to have value,’ ” Withers’ document said. (Tom Withers, attorney for Bubba Hiers, the brother of Paula Deen) In the motion to dismiss Billips, Withers quoted a tweet by Billips in which he said “suing Paula Deen is a hoot.” Withers also referred to a sexually laced tweet Billips directed at Deen “even more concerning.” In it, “Billips promises to symbolically undress and have sex with” Deen, Withers said. “Billips has posted sexually explicit tweets using extremely graphic and profane language and imagery. He has used the “N” word,” Withers’ motion said.”
Huseby links to an article in the ABA Journal that is downright fascinating. This feature confirms that Lisa Jackson, the DFE/plaintiff, is melanin deficient. The Deen-Hiers legal team has filed a motion, that is highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the pdf is not copy friendly, so the ABA summary will have to do. If you have the time to read the legal motion, you will enjoy it.
“The motion by lawyer Tom Withers says the plaintiff pursuing race-based claims has no standing to assert them because she is white, the Savannah Morning News reports. The plaintiff, Lisa Jackson, had claimed she was sexually harassed and worked in a racially hostile environment at a restaurant owned by Deen and her brother in Savannah, Ga. Withers represents Deen’s brother and the restaurant.
According to the motion, Jackson claimed she was offended because her nieces “are bi-racial with an African-American father.” But the motion says there is just one niece, and she is related to Jackson’s partner, who said in a deposition that the niece’s father is Hispanic and she hasn’t seen the girl in years…. “Jackson cannot enforce someone else’s right, and she has no actionable claim for feeling ‘uncomfortable’ around discriminatory conduct directed at others,” Withers wrote. Jackson must show that any harassment was directed toward her because she was white, but at her deposition she alleged she was treated more favorably than African American employees at the restaurant.” (Page 153)
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Citizenship Test
Atlantic Magazine online has a bit of amusement, Are You Smart Enough to Be a Citizen? Take Our Quiz. It is sponsored by Shell Oil, Prudential Insurance, and something called box. PG took the test.
It is thirteen questions, multiple choice. Some are the standards, like “6. How does a bill become a law?”. Some are creative, like the multiple choices for ” iconic American structures”. It would be interesting to see how many people answered Hoover Dam for a picture of the Gateway Arch. What this has to do with qualifying for voting and jury duty is a good question. (PG missed the Gateway Arch. He looked at the 20 available choices, and did not see the correct answer. Maybe the test of citizenship is looking carefully over long lists of options.)
Question 8 is strange. Pictures of the Supreme Court justices are shown, and the respondent is asked to match the picture with the name. Pictures of the Supremes are seldom shown. Even a fairly well informed person might have trouble telling Stephen Breyer from Anthony Kennedy. If you confuse Clarence Thomas for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you automatically fail.
PG scored 58, meaning citizens attained, with distinction. The scoring is weird. You get one point for every election you voted in over the last 10 years. Georgia’s tradition of runoff elections got PG 5 extra points. 6 of the 9 Supremes were named correctly. The “civic text” question, and the “references” question, were passed without a hitch. It is good to know that Rosie the Riveter was not a 1984 Ronald Reagan campaign ad.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Chamblee54 
leave a comment