The trial of the century

So the trial in which I was an alternate juror ended today. I can talk about the case now.

What happened was, one Robert Baker and one Marianna Kelly went out drinking. Jason Baker (no relation to Robert) asked to go along, but Robert said no, telling him that he and Ms. Kelly were going to a private club. Jason and another friend, Ty Mullen, stayed at Ms. Kelly's house, drinking and doing whatever, along with a third party, Dave Richardson. Robert and Ms. Kelly went to the club, then after the club closed, went to Blondie's, a public bar, where Robert apparently bought a six-pack to take home. Ms. Kelly had too much to drink, so when they got back to her house, Mullen and Richardson helped her upstairs, where she was apparently throwing up. Richardson stayed with her, while Mullen went downstairs.

According to Robert, he was leaving to go home when Jason cold-cocked him, punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious. After he came to, he found Mullen standing over him trying to help him. He was in "defensive mode", so he took a small pocketknife out of his pocket and sliced Mullen in the arm. He was okay enough to drive himself home, despite the fact that his left eye was swollen shut and he had a concussion. And, of course, despite the fact that he'd basically had the snot beaten out of him, he didn't trouble himself to seek any kind of medical care or notify the cops that he'd been assaulted until sometime the next day. And the first words out of this genius's mouth were "I don't have any insurance. Somebody's gotta pay these medical bills."

Others alleged that Mullen kicked Robert Baker, that there was a beer bottle thrown, and a lot of other confusion.

I talked to my brother about this, and he said that cases like this are hard to prosecute because the sequence of events are very messy to sort through.

I just talked to the judge's secretary. Jason Baker pled out. Damn, that is unsatisfying.

I'm letting Moveon.org borrow my blog...

Joe Sestak is running against Curt Weldon. You may remember that Weldon is currently being investigated for using his influence to get his daughters employed; one got more business as a lobbyist, the other works for a corporation.

There's nothing wrong with helping your kids; my parents have helped me out of many a jam. There is a lot wrong with using your position as a Congressman to peddle influence. (Here is an article from the Kansas City Star.)

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The joys of audition tapes

I've been spending the better part of two days now trying to get a news audition tape together. It hasn't been easy. The wire service WSYC subscribes to sucks for PA news. I was able to cobble together enough news, sports, stocks and weather to put together a 4:57 broadcast. Oh, and I had actualities, too, for three of the stories.

What's kicking my ass is this cold. I sound terrible. Fortunately, I'm applying for a job where they know I sound much better than that, and that I can write.

Which helps.

Kermit the Frog You scored 52% Organization, 51% abstract, and 69% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables. First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean. Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type. Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself. You are mostly organized, both concrete and abstract, and more extroverted. Here is why are you Kermit the Frog. You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Kermit is also reasonably tidy. He'll even dress up for interviews. You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Kermit spends a lot of his time as a reporter collecting facts, but he is also the author of the dreamy song "The Rainbow Connection." You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course. You are both extroverts. Kermit gets along with everyone. Sure a few folks annoy him, but that's just because they are annoying. Kermit likes to meet new people when he does his job as a street reporter. You definitely enjoy the company of others, and you don't have problems meeting new people... in fact you probably look forward to it. You are willing to take charge when necessary or work as part of a team. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Kermit starred on Sesame Street years before The Muppet Show. The other possible characters are Oscar the Grouch Big Bird Snuffleupagus Ernie Elmo Cookie Monster Grover The Count Guy Smiley Bert If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also if you want to tell me your favorite Sesame Street character, I can total them up and post them here. Perhaps your choice will win!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Organization You scored higher than 99% on concrete-abstra You scored higher than 99% on intro-extrovert

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The emperor has no clothes

It may take a gay ex-Congressman to reveal the nakedness of the Republican Party, even though they've been nekkid as a jaybird since 2001.

Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), who has basically kept power in the House because he's a nice and inoffensive guy whom everyone likes, is waffling on whether he knew about Mark Foley's clumsy attempts at cybersex. He's now fighting for his political survival.

What's interesting is not that Americans care about Mark Foley, necessarily. This could cost the Republicans the majority in Congress by energizing Democrats enough to get off our collective butts and vote.

One more, for amusement...

I got an interesting postcard in last night's mail.

Mensa testing day is October 21. For $30 ($25 since I got the postcard), I can take their test to see if I fit into the top 2% of the population in terms of intelligence.

Of course, if I were truly intelligent (and I am), I'll keep my $30 and not join.

An observation

Yanno, I don't know why everyone's getting all worked up over the fact that former Rep. Foley was the proponent of legislation that ostensibly protects children from those of his ilk. After all, lobbyists for various causes draft legislation all the time.

(Apologies to the CNN cartoon I stole this from)

The sun is shining

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I'm almost done with my paper. Whoo-hoo!

On a more amusing note... (deep, bitter irony alert)

Some idiot in (where else) Texas is pushing the Caney Creek school district to ban Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a novel which is about censorship.

I don't know which is funnier. The fact that said idiot is from Texas or the fact that Bradbury's vision of dystopian hell is coming true.

Just for that, I think I'll re-read Fahrenheit 451 again tonight, just to spite the idiot. That'll learn 'em.

I wanna know where you are!

In memory of the 93 Jewish Maidens

This was something I hadn't heard of until today.

The 93 Jewish Maidens were students at the Beth Jacob school for girls in Ghetto-era Warsaw. They learned that they were to service the German troops. Instead of submitting to the Germans, they chose mass suicide. Chaya Feldman wrote letters about the students' decision; unfortunately, I cannot find a copy online. (Here is a post about the 93 Maidens, and here is the Wikipedia article about the Warsaw Ghetto.)

I also had the opportunity to read other writings by and about Holocaust victims.

Reading this material and watching films like Schindler's List really hits home for me, largely because the only things that separate me from those who had to face that evil are 50 years and an ocean. That's it.