More on Casey Anthony.

This is reprehensible.


One juror has quit her job, and is moving from Florida in fear for her life.

Is this the way good citizens who used six weeks of their life on a demonstrably unpleasant task should be treated?

Do your civic duty, then get lynched?

Shame.

On Casey Anthony

Innocent and not guilty are two different concepts. Without cause of death and direct forensic evidence, the prosecutors put forth a lot of circumstantial theories. I watched quite a bit, and I don’t think they made the case. The jury had to decide based on the evidence, not how unlikeable Anthony was.

Personally, I cannot understand how someone could go a month without notifying the authorities, or even worse, hit the party circuit. But, there are all kinds of reactions to stressful situations.  I do not like Casey Anthony, and I am certainly not alone.  However, my personal dislike does not invoke the death penalty.

Unfortunately, the press – Nancy Grace, in particular – made the trial into both a personal quest and a ratings bonanza. I found that extremely disgusting. I also think that the roving crowds of outraged citizens need to quit taking justice in their own hands, and put some faith – or at least respect – in our jury system. 
 
Maybe she’s guilty. Maybe not. In any case, the decision is made, and we cannot change it. Further, we are not above the law.   Are we to go out with torches and pitchforks whenever we disagree with a jury verdict?

I used to believe that all trials needed to be in the public eye.  With the sad state of the press today, I'm slowly changing that belief.  Several talking heads, including Nancy Grace, spent months, if not years, working to convict her on the air.  While we celebrate our freedom of the press, perhaps we should not feed it raw meat.

Someone said that the strength of our legal system is not in how we treat the best of us, but rather in how we treat the worst of us.

Maximizing . . .

 

. . . profit?

 

I can't argue with the concept.  Companies exist to make money.  However, shouldn't patrons be offered the whole schedule of choices?

 

When I searched for a certain book on Amazon, these were the first two options:

 

- The Gold Coast by  Nelson DeMille  (Paperback - Apr 1, 1999) Buy new: $14.99 $10.19

- The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille (Kindle Edition - Apr 1, 2001) Buy: $7.99

This option was buried in small print in about 20th position:

- The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille  (Mass Market Paperback) Buy: $7.99

Fair, I guess, but more than a bit deceptive.  I liken it to the grocer putting the bargains at the back of the shop in hopes they won't be discovered.

5.5 . . .

. . . or 1.5?

I know there are some of you who are frustrated because we haven't gotten everything done that we said we were going to do in two and a half years. It's only been two and a half years. I got five and a half years more to go.

- Barry O in Philadelphia

I think Barry is being a bit presumptious.

I do have to admit that he got a lot done.  Unfortunately, most of it was wrong.

I'm hoping for Carter redux.

At least, I can hope, can't I?

Rookie driver . . .

. . . in Italy

Son #1 and family spent four days with us starting on 24 JUN. On 28 JUN, they left for Civitivecchia (Port of Rome) to return the rental car and start a Mediterranean cruise. He had me as navigator while driving around Naples, but this was his first attempt without a co-pilot.

Results follow. 

We are on the ship and at sea. No problems getting to the port city...finding way around the port is another issue. All Italian signs. Had to hire a cab for 45E to take us to the ship after getting lost and forced out of town with no turn around due to median, then every intersection had a roundabout with four choices and a GPS that couldn't keep up. It was an adventure.

No surprise there.  No signs.  Signs in Italian (tough for a Texan).  Roundabouts.  Typical crappy GPS maps.

Photos of some of the touristy wanderings to follow. (He has them all on his computer, so it will be a couple of weeks before I see any.)

It was . . .

. . . a dark and stormy night.

Well, not really.

That's just an illustration of the type of prose in a book that I'm trying to read, and I may not succeed.

In the space of one page, I have read:

I could carry on his war against the old-money snobbery of this town that for years had dulled the lacquer of his magnificent achievement.

and,

. . . and so stepped back in time, my childhood around me like broken glass.

and,

I saw it all, unyellowed by time; then I blinked and it was gone, ashes in a sudden wind.

I am in simile/metaphor hell.

I may not survive.

Extra . . .

. . . baggage

Stars and Stripes, June 8

Two U.S. soldiers returning from a deployment in Afghanistan said Delta Air Lines charged them $200 each for extra bags for their connecting flight from Baltimore to Atlanta.

While on board Delta Air Lines flight 1625 Tuesday morning, Staff Sgts. Fred Hilliker and Robert O’Hair shot a video laying out their case. In the video, which was posted on YouTube, the soldiers say they are authorized to check as many as four bags, free of charge, on their return trip from Afghanistan

Filming while in their seats, Hilliker opens the video by saying he and the other 33 members of his unit were told in Baltimore that they were only authorized to check three bags for free.

The knee-jerk reaction is that nasty, unpatriotic Delta Airlines is ripping off our soldiers returning from a war zone.

Not so.

The soldiers are travelling on official orders that allow them to transport FOUR bags.  Delta has a contract with Uncle Sammy to transport up to THREE bags at no cost.

So, what about the fourth bag?

Since the soldiers have official orders, they will be reimbursed for the fourth bag when they file their travel vouchers - along with any other miscellaneous expenses such as food and lodging.  In fact, if they are on per diem, it is possible for them to recover a few more dollars than they actually spent.

A staff sargeant (E6) in the U. S. Army would have travelled on official orders more than once, and would know this.  If there is a problem (and I say if), it was created by the Department of Defense, not Delta. 

Stars and Stripes should have printed the full story, and these two sargeants should have known better.

Not that I'm a fan of Delta Airlines, mind you.  They are far from a gold class company.

-------------------UPDATE-------------------

Although Delta was following its contract with the government, the hue and cry from the viral Youtube video resulted in a change in policy.  Now, any soldier can travel with four bags at no added cost.

OK, now I'm waiting for the next uproar when someone has five bags. 

Or six.