Like many people I will remember the ‘old’ Michael Jackson, that is to say the young and handsome young man that exhibited lots of raw talent when he was performing with his brothers, The Jackson Five. The years passed and many records and memories were made by Michael Jackson. But those same years were not kind to the super-star. Much of the problems that surrounded the music icon were of his own doing. As we are shocked by this news of his passing I know many will dwell on the lawsuits and eclectic aspects of his life. I however, would like to remember the better parts. The younger years when the world was just one hand grab away for this young performer.
Day: June 25, 2009
Breaking News: Michael Jackson — Cardiac Arrest
We’ve just learned Michael Jackson was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Los Angeles … and we’re told it was cardiac arrest and that paramedics administered CPR in the ambulance … and it’s looking bad.
He was picked up at his home around 20 minutes ago — we’re told his mother is on the way to visit him.
UPDATE: The 911 call came in at 12:21PM at his Holmby Hills home in L.A.
UPDATE: A Jackson family member tells TMZ Michael is in “really bad shape” and the brothers are headed to UCLA.
UPDATE: We just got off the phone with Joe Jackson, Michael’s dad, who says “he is not doing well.”
Some Of Govenor Sanford Trips To Argentina Paid For By South Carolina Taxpayers
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) “has taken at least three taxpayer-paid trips to Argentina, however, it’s unclear whether he met his girlfriend during any of them,” reports Politico.
Though he paid for his most recent trip, “sometime after his 2002 election as governor, Sanford traveled to Argentina on the dime of the South Carolina Department of Commerce.”
“It likely would have taken place after he had met the woman. Sanford said Wednesday he met the woman eight years ago, though a romantic relationship did not develop until one year ago.”
Video: “Gay Exorcism” By Black Church Shows Ignorance
This is psychological torture. And since it was done to a 16 year old, I think it constitutes child abuse. Above all else, it shows the lengths of ignorance that pervades some religious fanatics in America. I am sure this is not the only example, this one just happens to have been caught on video. If you can make it through the video and see the many minutes of this freak show you are to be applauded.
Caffeinated Politics Mentioned In State Newspaper Editorial
I am not sure if my pleasure arises from being sourced in a newspaper (a news format I dearly love), or if it results from the issue of how 10-year-old hunting is about to become state law, and is getting some well deserved scrutiny. Earlier this month I posted my thoughts about this matter.
Either way it was nice to see Caffeinated Politics mentioned in The Chetek Alert editorial “On The Hunt”.
| “Imagine yourself as a 10-year-old taking your first hunt with a seasoned hunter, perhaps your father or some other role model. Now imagine being told you’re not allowed to hunt again until you turn 12, because you don’t meet the minimum age requirement and cannot purchase a license. That’s exactly the situation 10-year-old hunters are faced with in Wisconsin.” |
| So goes the National Wild Turkey Federation’s 2004 scenario advocating getting loaded guns nearer the hands of kids. Ten-year-old “hunters” are “faced” with this crisis, the statement says, then quotes a series of adults-presumably because the children are too young to speak for themselves.
“I’m 50 years old and hunting means a lot to me. I learned from my grandfather when I was barely old enough to walk,” said Greg Shermo, [2004] NWTF Wisconsin State Chapter president. “My oldest son is 19 years old and a U.S. Marine and I have no grandchildren. If I have grandchildren and have to wait until my grandchildren turn 12, I may never get to teach them to hunt.” The two-year wait for a hunting license isn’t going to kill anybody-not the kids, who will do what they’re told, and certainly not their family members. Frankly, Shermo’s quote failed to deliver the intended dose of pathos. One man’s haste to teach his (yet unborn) grandchildren to shoot two years early is not a compelling case. After talking with a number of people, I’ve learned even avid hunters (my dad, uncles and grandfather included) aren’t in favor of the measure. Nevertheless, in a state where adult behaviors are routinely overregulated-two 17-year-olds can both be charged with misdemeanors for having consensual sex-it’s bizarre, almost laughable that legislators are lining up to support fourth- and fifth-grade hunters’ rights-with almost no public support. Seems unlikely the kids have been lobbying for themselves. Caffeinated Politics, a blog penned by a former Wisconsin legislative aide, attributes lawmakers’ support to the ubiquitous “special interests,” in this case the gun lobby and sporting groups. Clearly the NWTF has been on the job for several years. Conveniently, the whole business cropped up amidst the state’s budget-passing process, and even the usually weapon-wary Democrats (party of the author) are delighted to oblige in championing the cause. Hold it right there, pardner. Seems like just yesterday Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen had to defend gun wearers from incurring disorderly conduct charges. Gov. Jim Doyle has repeatedly refused to allow adults to carry concealed weapons, yet children are disenfranchised when they can’t pull the trigger? Can you say “double standard”? It’s remarkable, too, how quickly the legislation moved through the Assembly and Senate, and how eagerly the governor waits to sign it into law-again, with almost no public support. From all of us in the heart of hunting country to the politicians in Madison, get the message: We’re not impressed. |
Wisconsin’s Prisons Not The Place For Mentally Ill People
This is enough to make the most jaded person cry. I have some comments after a brief summation of the story.
A 21-year-old McFarland man, who struggled with mental illness and was accused of making telephone threats that locked down the UW-Madison campus in 2007, killed himself Monday night, three days after his arrival in a state prison where he was in solitary confinement.
Miller’s mother, Fawne Sandy Grandy, said he had just been transferred from the Wisconsin Resource Center, a mental-health treatment facility for inmates. Sandy Grandy said she notified the center about a month ago that she had received a letter from her son saying he was suicidal.
According to court records, Miller suffered from bipolar disorder and reactive attachment disorder, which stems from not forming normal attachments to primary caregivers at a young age.
It was so unnecessary. Jesse Miller deserved better than to be thrown into the same correction facility that Jefferey Dahmer also called his last home.
Having had a bi-polar friend languish in a state’s medium security lock up for months due to a manic episode, and then visit her and see the conditions she was thrown into for mental health reasons, alerted me quickly to a serious problem we have in Wisconsin. The senseless ease with which the state combines real criminals in corrections with those who suffer mental health concerns, such as being bi-polar, is maddening. There would seem to be enough evidence, such as the sad case today, to support a full review by the Wisconsin State Legislature of how best to deal with those who suffer from mental illness, and treat their cases in a more affirmative and healing environment than throw them into a hardened lock-up meant for the true criminally oriented.
Cold sterile concrete and steel environments, combined with rough and hardened convicts, is not where a person with bi-polar or other mental health issues should land. There needs to be a wholesale review of how in hell Jesse A. Miller ever found himself at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage when the actions he took resulted from being bi-polar!
We no longer live in the 18th century, or should harbor the mindset from past centuries of what mental health concerns are all about, or how they should be treated. I repeat, Jesse Miller deserved better than to be thrown into the same correction facility that Jefferey Dahmer also called his last home.
This is shameful!
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 