Really Find the News Depressing

In no particular order:

• The Data Hack - anyone who had applied for a job in the last 10 years or so is probably most at risk, although this breach could extend over several decades of data.  Read here for a short commentary of the problem.


• The therapist who is demonized for suggesting that his patient might spruce up.  Given that the patient was in therapy to try to find a romantic relationship, it wasn't a bad idea (men do tend to focus on the visual).


• The insistence on tinkering with our money - AGAIN. The first suggestion, to boot Andrew Jackson and replace him with Harriet Tubman, was withdrawn when Republicans pointed out that Jackson was a slave-owning Democrat who butchered Native Americans, and Tubman was a gun-owning Republican who didn't wait for government to solve her problems.  South Carolinians might wish that Andy stay, as he was a Native Son, but otherwise, conservatives were fine with the change.  Now, they've decided to boot the non-Democratic Andrew Hamilton - who was raised by an unwed single mother in the Caribbean before immigrating to the USA, who served in the Patriot Army and whose actions entitled him to be classed as a hero, who single-handedly put the USA on solid financial footing, and died because he wouldn't be "dissed".  Maybe they'd prefer this woman?


• George Zimmerman's attacker, who shot at his vehicle, may face life in prison (although, I wouldn't count on it).  The attacker claims self-defense, contrary to pretty much every piece of evidence available.  The shooter does appear to be an unstable Looney-Tune.


• And, just for fun, an article looking at body re-shaping and impossible standards - for men.

Not the most important headlines, just ones that caught my eye.

Waiting for a Verdict

The mood on Facebook and the blogs is grim.  Nobody likes to think about the possible outcomes:

• Zimmerman is acquitted - riots destroy not only Sanford, but possibly other cities


• Zimmerman is convicted of SOMETHING - probably NOT 2nd degree murder, but manslaughter - a man loses a good portion of his life and money, although not objectively guilty of the crime


• Hung jury - contrary to the idea that this would be GOOD for Zimmerman, it just puts off the inevitable.  The next jury thinks, he got lucky the first time, and convicts him (particularly since Zimmerman is unlikely to have the cash for another set of lawyers).  If not prosecuted, see first bullet point (no pun intended).

Sultan Knish has a rather thoughtful piece about these cases, and why they so often involve the lower-middle classes.

The fact is, Zimmerman's neighborhood was being victimized by thugs.  The residents did not have the money to escape the problems.  Society thought that the rights of the perps were more important than the right of Zimmerman and his neighbors to be safe in their own homes.

Was Martin one of those thugs?  Who really knows?  There was no direct evidence at the scene to prove that he was - on the other hand, he apparently had time enough to go back to his father's fiancee's house and stash anything incriminating.  He may well have been just what his family and friends said - a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That having been said, he had NO right to attack Zimmerman, let alone to smash his head in concrete.  That Zimmerman felt threatened was a natural extension of Martin's actions.  So, in that sense, the killing was justified.

It is, in all ways, a Shakespearean tragedy.  Hubris, youthful aggression, family dynamics, death.