Category: Personal Reflections

This came across this on my Twitter feed this evening.

Hard hitting, painful as a father to see, to consider. To picture my son begging for his live at the hands of a merciless beating. It’s a provocative image, eliciting a solid emotional response.

My intellect, as a general rule, questions emotion-based responses. Thus, I choose to search out details, and, perhaps, facts. Doing so, of course, simply adds muddle to this. Start with this, Whiting: Kelly Thomas verdict shocking, then understandable“, adds a bit of color, and here’s another piece with details “Two former officers found not guilty in death of Kelly Thomas“

I read through all of this, and am starting to feel confused and numb. Which side is right? Is this verdict really just? Unjust? Are these guys just doing their job?
A few details give me pause.

First and foremost, these officers beat Thomas for 10 minutes. Ten.

“Defense attorneys said Thomas suffered physically from drug abuse, and his exertions during the struggle were too much for him.”That’s countered by the county’s pathologist’s report stating Thomas cause of death was “from asphyxiation caused by injuries he received during the confrontation.” Not heart failure or any other “failure”. Being beaten savagely for nearly 10 minutes will kill the most physically fit of us. I find the defense’s “expert testimony” to the contrary expected, and hollow. Sorry, but I’m sure if you pay out enough cash, you’ll find someone with the right credentials to provide whatever argument you want. I feel the state’s experts have the most valuable insight here. Not buying the defense’s claims here.

Another was uttered by Ramos’ attorney,John Barnett“>, claiming “…they had no malice in their hearts.” His client’s own words counter this. The whole encounter started with Ramos “see these fists?….They’re getting ready to —- you up.” No malice, indeed.

So, ultimately, I need to acknowledge I wasn’t on the jury, didn’t see what they saw and hear what they heard. Just or unjust, we need to keep that in mind. If this is a failure of “the system”, then raging against some of the players is counter-productive (meaning the jurors, to be clear).

The defense, though, came up with one thought that should chill us. The defense said that “cops must protect themselves when they believe they are in danger, without fear of prosecution for handling the incident with force. “That fear costs lives” John Barnett, an attorney for Ramos, told the Los Angeles Times. “Not because they fear the criminal, but because they fear the court.” Afraid of the court, or afraid of being held responsible for their actions? Sorry, but I think they should feel that fear, that they should have that concern in the back of their minds, “I can be held accountable for my actions”.  And the argument that it costs lives specious.

Officers are granted great power, great authority and need to be held to a standard that warrants that trust. From what I’ve read this evening, it’s hard for me to feel that these officers lived up to that standard. Mr. Thomas, for whatever his issues and failures, didn’t commit a capital crime. I wonder if there is a way to prevent such terrible things from happening.

Today: another day where I sit amazed at the information stream I’ve set up for myself. Emails, website, tweets, etc, tons of stuff I WANT to process. Add to that the stream of stuff I “should” read. It’s really mind blowing.

I consider, though, “why?”  It’s hits me that is rather new. Must of my life, getting access to information required more effort. I needed to subscribe to a magazine or journal, go to a library, etc. Plus, editors and publishers weeded the irrelevant (ostensibly, at least). I never needed to invest time in determining whether I was investing in worthwhile information.

Now, knowledge races towards me. Things that would’ve required hours, of not days, of research I can now access from my bed. And it’s all there… ALL, good, bad, useful and not…all. And I value that, democratizing information, even with the added burden.

I’m working on the control skills. Really, though, the challenge is gluttony, on my part. I love knowing stuff, especially the eclectic, unusual. Perhaps a little showing off, but also it just makes me giddy. And that’s really my challenge: I want to read it all. How do I prioritize it, chose which this to ignore? Hmm… indeed…

I’ve actually had full conversations simply stating “dude” with different inflection and emphasis. Ah, life on the west coast!

At several moments on my drive in were several moments I wished I could photograph. Gorgeous ice formations upon trees, some highlighted by light from the rising sun. Bare branches with frost have this delightful quality, especially with cold sunlight glinting upon it. Hoarfrost, as it’s otherwise known.

Since I wasn’t able (either due to time, driver safety, or other reason) to grab a shot, I grabbed this one off the interwebs. Bon appetite!

Just stumbled upon this piece. I really like the Swedish House Mafia’s piece, and this cover of it simply brings chills. I’ll be exploring Shweta Subram’s work next.

As an antidote for the sentimentality of the next few days, I offer you these images.

Bon appetite!

This is mildly disturbing. A kiss before the slaughter? I guess that’s biblical…

I expect this really is Sebastian the Crab from Little Mermaid, but I still love it:

My personal favorite so far:

And I’ll leave you with this artistic joy:

I just met someone who’s never, ever, experienced Hee Haw, that iconic country TV show. Now, this isn’t someone who was raised in a Soviet gulag, or is under 21. I find such a situation a stunning breech of American culture.

So, without further ado, below you’ll find what I feel to represent the core of Hee Haw’s je ne sais quoi. So, enjoy your cultural lesson du jour, mes amis.

I work hard to make sure all my tasks have been captured, either in my calendar or my to-do list. Everything. Now,  I’ve had several folks give me a hard time about that, basically accusing me of a lack of creativity, or paranoia. They seem to view this as a sign of being rigid, inflexible and unable to adjust. All those give me a good chuckle. No, the reason I capture everything that needs to get done (in an electronic tool…this is important): it makes me agile. I KNOW everything that needs to be done, thus, it’s easy to re-prioritize and address whatever comes up, whether another opportunity, or the need to respond some crisis or another.

It’s my way of both honoring my commitments and yet maintaining an ability to respond. Nothing craps on a sense of accomplishment like missing a key deadline in the midst of “responding”.

Having my life solidly organized, and in an easy to access tool helps me to live in the moment. I’m not trying to retain all those tasks, their deadlines and who I’m doing them for. And that’s freeing. Amen!