Martina Correia, Sister of Troy Davis and Anti-Death Penalty Activist, Dies at 44

Posted: December 2, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Injustice system, just because | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Martina Correia–older sister of Troy Davis–who was executed by the state of Georgia on September 21–died yesterday of breast cancer at age 44.

Correia, who fought for 22 years to keep her brother alive, died Thursday after a long battle with breast cancer.

Troy Davis was convicted and sentenced to death for the August 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah Police officer Mark MacPhail. After years of appeals, Davis was executed by lethal injection on September 21.

Correia was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31.

Curt Goering, chief operating officer of Amnesty International USA said in a statement, “Our hearts are breaking over the loss of this extraordinary woman. She fought to save her brother’s life with courage, strength and determination, every step of the way. She was a powerful example of how one person can make a difference as she led the fight for justice for Troy Davis, even as she endured her own decade-long battle with cancer.

“She was a tenacious fighter, a graceful inspiration to activists everywhere, and a true hero of the movement for human rights. At this sorrowful time, we at Amnesty International offer our profound sympathy to her family.”

Democracy Now has posted an interview (scroll down) that Amy Goodman did with Correia at her brother’s funeral in October. There is video at the link.

Correia wrote a beautiful blog post at HuffPo on September 16 in which she described her struggle to save her brother and help her son deal with what was happening to his uncle.

As a young child, De’Jaun didn’t understand that my brother, his uncle was incarcerated, much less slated for death. When the family was getting ready to leave after a visit, he’d say, “Come on, Troy, let’s go, let’s go!” But he couldn’t go with us, and my mom would say, “He’s in school. He can’t come. One day, he’ll come home with us.”

As De’Jaun grew older, I explained to him that his uncle was in prison. But I had not yet told him that Georgia planned to kill him. He confided in his uncle more than anyone else. When De’Jaun was 12 years old, it became clear to me that my son understood far more than I had realized.

Our dog, Egypt, had gotten out of the yard and had been hit by a car. We immediately brought Egypt to a vet who told us that the dog’s leg was broken in three places and would need extensive surgery to be repaired. If Egypt did not have the surgery, she would have to be put to sleep. The cost of the surgery was upwards of $10,000.

As I drove De’Juan home, I wondered how in the world I would come up with $10,000. Putting Egypt down might be the only realistic possibility.

In the silence of the ride, De’Jaun turned to me and said, “Mom, are you going put my dog to sleep like they’re trying to put my Uncle Troy to sleep?”

I had to swallow this giant lump in my throat to hold back the tears. I didn’t know that he related the two things. That he knew they were trying to kill his Uncle Troy. And, he knew about which method that they would use to kill him. At that point, I decided that if I had to pawn my car, I wasn’t going to be able to put our dog to sleep.

What an amazing woman, and what a tragic loss to the world.

Late Night: Let’s Hear It for the Beagle Freedom Project!

Posted: December 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

Via Time Magazine, The beagles in the above video were rescued from experimental animal lab at a California university in June. From NBC LA:

Nine beagles who were released Wednesday from a California university animal testing lab, arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday night on the first step of a journey which, hopefully, will lead them to new homes.

These dogs were bred specifically for research, according to the Beagle Freedom Project. The dogs have lived in the lab almost their entire lives.

Shannon Keith, of the Beagle Freedom Project, said dogs were scared and shaking.

“At this point, it’ll take a few days to do blood tests and see what’s up with them,” Keith said. “They’ve never felt a human touch of kindness.”

Keith said the dogs have never seen the outdoors, never walked on grass, and never smelled fresh air until they were released on Wednesday.

Did you know that beagles are the breed of dog most commonly used in research? I didn’t. It’s because they tend to be friendly, gentle, and docile and thus easy to control.

Recently, the group rescued 72 Beagles from a research lab in Spain–32 of the dogs were adopted in Europe and 40 were brought back to Los Angeles to receive treatment and hopefully find homes in the U.S.

All the male beagles, which are between 4 and 7 years old, have lived in cages their entire lives, [Gary] Smith, [the group’s spokesman] said.

“We’ve been told they lived one per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another,” Smith said. “They’ve been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they’ve spent most of their lives locked up.”

[….]

“Beagles are incredibly sweet, docile, companion animals,” Smith said. “The downfall is, the same reason the beagle is a perfect companion animal, is the same reason they’re used for testing.”

Wednesday’s rescue is the fourth for the Beagle Freedom Project, and according to Smith, by far, its largest mission.

Beagle Freedom Project will be seeking adoptive homes for these special beagles. You can find more information by clicking here.

Please watch the video. You’ll be glad you did. It went a ways toward restoring my faith in humanity for today anyway. But when you watch, keep a box of Kleenex handy.

Breaking…Huge Explosion in Iranian City with Nuclear Facility

Posted: November 28, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 8 Comments

Uh-oh…

The Guardian UK says there are “conflicting reports” about a major explosion in Isfahn, a city near the Iranian nuclear plants.

Iran’s semi-official Isna news agency quoted a judiciary official in Isfahan, saying that an explosion had been heard.

“We heard a sound similar to that of an explosion but we have received no reports about its causes and the consequences so far,” said Gholamreza Ansari, in quotes carried by Isna. He said the explosion did not appear to be of any significance.

Oh really?

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency was one of the first media organisations to report the explosion, saying it was heard at 2.40pm local time (1110 GMT). Fars quoted the deputy governor, Mehdi Ismaili, as confirming a sound that the news agency reported was loud enough to be heard across the city. The agency, however, removed the article from its website sometime later.

Ismaili then spoke to another semi-official agency, Mehr, denying his quotes as reported by Fars. “I have heard no sound whatsoever in Isfahan,” he said. Ismaili also told the Irna state news agency that he had not spoken to Fars in the first place.

Several residents of Isfahan told the Guardian that they had heard a loud blast. One said that it rattled the windows of their home.

So far most of the media reports seems to be coming from Israeli sources. This one is from Haaretz:

An explosion rocked the western Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, adding that the blast was heard in several parts of the city.

According to reports, frightened residents called the fire department after the blast, forcing the city authorities to admit there had been an explosion.Residents reported that their windows shook from the explosion’s force.

Speaking to an Iranian news website, the government of Isfahan said that the explosion occurred as a result of a military drill, denying reports that the blast was somehow related to the nearby nuclear facility.

“There is no such thing, the blast was entirely from the military maneuver,” the Iranian official said.

The Isfahan uranium conversion plant operates under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and is frequented by its inspectors and surveyed by cameras that broadcast to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

Thus, had the explosion occurred at the nuclear site, the UN’s nuclear watchdog would have known of the incident.

I certainly hope there is a reasonable explanation for this that doesn’t involve nukes or bombs dropped by another country.

I’ll update as I hear more.

UPDATE: From CNN, satellite images of the exposion.

Barney Frank Goes Out with a Bang, not a Whimper

Posted: November 28, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 2 Comments

Good old Barney Frank. I can’t help but love the guy. I didn’t see his retirement announcement today, but it sounds like he gave another wide-ranging and entertaining press conference. He will be sorely missed.

From CBS News:

Citing the political challenges he faced because of congressional redistricting, prominent Democratic Rep. Barney Frank on Monday announced he will not seek re-election in 2012.

[….]

Frank said he considered announcing that this would be his last term earlier but decided against it so his influence in Washington wouldn’t be weakened. He said he was particularly concerned the new Republican House majority would leave military spending untouched as it cut other government programs and that the GOP would undo the financial reforms he worked to enact.

“A funny thing happened on my way to retirement,” Frank said. “A very conservative Republican majority took over the House… [and] the things I fought hardest for could be in jeopardy.”

Frank, considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States, is known as an outspoken liberal with a sharp tongue. His liberal positions have made him a target of conservatives, particularly after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Frank took an opportunity to take a few pokes at the current anti-Romney, Newt Gingrich.

“I did not think I had lived a good enough life to be rewarded by having Newt Gingrich be the Republican nominee,” Frank said, alluding to Gingrich’s recent rise in the polls and the fact that many Democrats consider the former House speaker unelectable.

[….]

Frank took another shot at Gingrich when asked whether he would work as a lobbyist after retiring from Congress. “I will neither be a lobbyist or a historian,” Frank said, alluding to Gingrich’s claims that he worked as a historian — but not a lobbyist — for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

In addition, Frank challenged Gingrich to a debate.

Frank said he would be interested to debate the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act with the former House Speaker:

FRANK: I did not think I had lived a good enough life to be rewarded by Newt Gingrich being the Republican nominee. It still is unlikely, but I have hopes. Let me say, for example, I intend to continue to be an advocate of public policy. I look forward to debating, to take one important example, the Defense of Marriage Act with Mr. Gingrich. I think he is an ideal opponent for us, when we talk about just who it is, is threatening the sanctity of marriage.

Thanks for the hard work and the laughs, Barney. I for one will really miss you!

Hillary in Hawaii Open Thread

Posted: November 15, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: just because, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , | 7 Comments

I thought we could use another pick-me-up, so here’s a great anecdote about Hillary from The New York Daily News.

Hillary Clinton’s trip to Hawaii took a hilarious turn when a half-naked man interrupted her photo op and streaked in the background with nothing but a flaming torch and loin cloth.

Video of the incident, which surfaced Tuesday, shows the Secretary of State busting out a hearty laugh and clapping her hands when she spots the man zooming by.

“Th[at] was great!” Clinton exclaimed to the media. “I hope you all captured that.”

Clinton had been posing for photos with Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief executive on Saturday as the man appeared in the shot.

Barely containing herself, she then patted Tsang on the shoulder and joked “People will wonder what the chief executive is doing.”

Here’s the video:

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