Right As Usual

I found this on Ace of Spades.  LOVED the sentiment!

It appears that government officials may have been involved, according to CBS News. Wanis al-Sharef, a Libyan Interior Ministry official in Benghazi, said the four Americans were killed when the angry mob, which gathered to protest a U.S.-made film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad, fired guns and burned down the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. He said Stevens, 52, and other officials were moved to a second building - deemed safer - after the initial wave of protests at the consulate compound. According to al-Sharef, members of the Libyan security team seem to have indicated to the protesters the building to which the American officials had been relocated, and that building then came under attack. Stevens, 52, was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979. A Libyan doctor who says he treated Stevens told the Associated Press Wednesday that the diplomat died of severe asphyxiation and that he tried for 90 minutes to revive him. Ziad Abu Zeid said Steven...

First, and most importantly, it's critical to be respectful of the family.  It has to be devastating to lose a loved one so young, no matter what the circumstances.  To have the shock of the death followed by criticism of that child seems especially cruel.   However, few violent deaths happen in a vacuum.  Mr. Martin's death is no exception.   Was the shooting a deliberate targeting of a Black youth?  At this point, that is unknown.  The initial reports of racial slurs being recorded seem to be in error - enhancements support the belief that the words used were "f---ing punk" - not nice, but not a racial comment.   Was he just walking home (well, not HOME, but to his father's girlfriend's house, where his father was at the time)? CORRECTION - his father and girlfriend were out.  When they returned, they thought Trayvon had gone out with the nephew of the girlfriend. At this point, his actions have been called into question.  He was NOT a model A-B student - he...

This week, I'm going to start a major re-organization project.  You may see some evidence of the process (if you see a Page Under Construction sign, take that as a temporary thing).  My goal is to group similar posts under a topic division - it may be links in a sidebar, it may be tabs on the heading bar - I'm not sure how it will turn out.   In the meantime, here's a cogent and insightful piece on Capital Punishment.  I think it refutes the idea that those who favor the Death Penalty for egregious crimes are knuckleheads - one of those arguments against continued imprisonment of murderers is that they so often visit their violent nature on the people around them - guards, prison staff, and even other prisoners.  Does being locked up for a crime mean that you have lost your right to life?