Riley Ann

It's terrifying to write this. So I won't. The following are actual excerpts from various news reports:
On Oct. 29, 2007, fisherman Robert Spinn of Bayou Vista found a storage container on an uninhabited island about a mile offshore in Galveston Bay, Texas. It contained cement and a blonde toddler wrapped in three plastic bags. "I ripped the bags (in the container) open with some fishing pliers. I saw a shoe. I knew it was a person." Sheriff’s investigators named the girl “Baby Grace” and embarked on 26-day media blitz to confirm her identity.
Nellie Zeigler heard about “Baby Grace” on a talk radio program and found an artist’s sketch of her on the Internet.
The toddler's identity was a mystery for weeks until Sheryl Sawyers of Ohio, saw an artist's sketch of the girl and told authorities in Texas she thought it was her granddaughter. The call from Sheryl Sawyers led authorities to Royce Clyde Zeigler II (24) and Kimberly Dawn Trenor (19), who had invented a story that their daughter, Riley Ann Sawyers had been taken away by child welfare officials in Ohio.
Riley was born and lived in Ohio until her mother Kimberly separated from Robert Sawyers, and took Riley to Texas last summer. Kimberly met Royce Zeigler playing the online game World of Warcraft, and had an online relationship with him.
Kimberly's defense attorney portrayed Trenor as a scared 19-year-old girl who had moved to Texas from Ohio to marry a man she met while playing an online game, and after two brief encounters. She said Riley's father, her former boyfriend, had assaulted her and Zeigler was her "knight in shining armor, her Texas cowboy."
They married June 1st, 2007, and settled in Spring, Texas.
Although Zeigler's mother Nellie, and her husband didn’t approve of “ready-made marriages,” she said the family opened their home to Trenor and Riley and quickly came to love and adore the vibrant, charismatic and intelligent toddler who brightened their lives.
Nellie Zeigler recalled going to the couple’s home in June to deliver milk and snacks, saying she knocked on the door, but it took Trenor a while to answer. "Kim had a belt wrapped around her shoulder," Nellie Zeigler testified.
The following week, Nellie Zeigler picked up Riley on Saturday morning, eventually changed
her diaper and was disgusted with what she saw.
“Her little butt was bruised, greenish, yellowish, purplish, and I got mad,” Mrs. Zeigler said. “I
let her watch cartoons, anxious for Kim and Royce to come over."
Nellie Zeigler told the couple she disapproved of the belt discipline, saying both dropped their heads."Mom. This is never going to happen again," Nellie said of how her son replied. "After that, I never saw bruises on her again."
The weekends of mall shopping and bonding ended abruptly with Riley’s death July 25, 2007, and Nellie Zeigler would spend the next four months agonizing over the whereabouts of the “sunshine of our lives.”
Nellie Zeigler eventually learned Ohio officials didn’t have Riley, and she and her husband confronted Trenor, asking her why she wouldn’t tell authorities her girl was kidnapped.“My husband said, ‘Kim. You’re lying,’ and the third time he asked, she jumped up and starts to cuss us out,” Nellie Zeigler testified. “She shot the finger at us and said ‘F---you! F---you! F---you!’”
The confrontation continued upstairs, Nellie said. "What kind of mother are you?’” Nellie Zeigler said. “‘You show no emotion. You never talk about her. You never seem to care where
she's at.' I'm crying and she's smiling at me."
The two had more heated words, when Trenor said, “You’re going to pay for this,” Nellie Zeigler testified. The couple left, she said.
Royce Zeigler worked for a company contracted to create schedules for petrochemical companies, earning $54,000 annually. The fatal beating happened after Zeigler stayed home from work to make sure his wife was following his discipline plan, the defense said.
According to Trenor's attorney, Tommy Stickler Jr., Zeigler wanted Trenor to spank Riley with a belt when she failed to say things like "please" and "yes sir" or "no sir." Zeigler didn't believe Trenor was doing it, however, because the 2-year-old's behavior wasn't changing. A list was found by authorities after the arrest of the couple for the murder of Riley, the list, called "Rules for Riley," included such things as "being polite," "behaves in public," "toys stay in her room" and "listen to mom & me." There was space for a 10th item on the list but it was left blank.
During her opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen detailed for jurors the day that she said Riley Ann died for forgetting to say "please" and "yes, sir. "Allen said that on July 25, 2007, Trenor and Zeigler disciplined Riley by whipping her with a belt, pushing her head against a pillow and holding her head under water. She said Zeigler grabbed Riley and tossed her across the room, fracturing her skull. An autopsy concluded the skull fractures caused her death. Riley died of three skull fractures she received when Zeigler, threw the child across the room, authorities said.

Riley Ann Sawyers tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, "I love you," assistant district attorney Kayla Allen told jurors earlier in the day during her opening statement. The toddler's pleas didn't stop her mother from brutalizing her, the prosecutor said. "To the very end, Riley said, 'I love you' to her mom. She's reaching out," Allen said. "That's her lifeline, to her mother. What does Kim do after hearing her say I love you? She starts beating her."

"I said we have to get her to a hospital. (Zeigler) said, 'No we can't. We'll go to jail,' " Trenor said in the videotape, crying. "There came a point where she stopped breathing. He started doing CPR on the floor. He took her ... and handed her over to me. I could just feel her going cold."
At the defense table, Trenor's eyes teared up as she watched the videotape on a large screen.
Several jurors wiped away tears.
Galveston County Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Pustilnik Testified that any one of three skull fractures he found during his autopsy could have killed Riley. He said that it would have been apparent within seconds of one of the fractures that Riley was in need of medical help. Symptoms included a change in body temperature, headache and the inability to stand up, he said, all symptoms described by Trenor in her statement to investigators. She said that Zeigler accused Riley of faking when she was unable to stand.
After Riley was killed, beaten so badly that Trenor said Zeigler complained of it making his shoulder sore, the couple bought a plastic container, partially filled it with cement, stuffed her beaten body inside and stored it in a shed for two months. They tried to bury it in a wooded area north of their home, but when that failed, they dumped it in Galveston Bay in September.
The seven-woman, five man jury took less than two hours to convict Kimberly Trenor of capital murder in the slaying of her 2-year-old daughter. Trenor will receive an automatic life sentence without parole because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty due to technical reasons peculiar to Texas law. Jury foreman Randal Rothschild said it didn't take the panel long to reach a verdict because we had all the evidence. Apparently the jury felt it was pretty cut and dried. As his eyes teared up, Rothschild added, "It was a very emotional trial."
Zeigler will be tried for capital murder in a separate trial. No date has been set yet.
The island where the toddler's body was found was officially renamed "Riley's Island." A wooden cross bearing a plaque with her name was placed there as a memorial, but Hurricane Ike washed it away on Sept. 13.
A Mr. Miller, who made that cross, said he is making a new one and hopes that he and Riley's family can place it on the island later.
"It's sad the cross is gone. But as much damage as the hurricane did, I was afraid the whole island would be wiped away," he said. "God did not want that to happen. The cross will be put there again in her honor."
In Mentor, Ohio, pink balloons were released into the wintry sky after the funeral for Riley. Some of the balloons had cards attached with her picture and an address where the finder could return it to her family in northeast Ohio. The balloon release coincided with similar releases around the world in memory of the toddler, who had been nicknamed Baby Grace.
"People all over the world adored this child. She was loved and cherished by everyone," Riley's great-uncle, Mike Nebelski, said in a eulogy.
"Let's not forget Riley. Let's not forget all the other kids out there who are missing," he said.
After the service and balloon release, the funeral procession left for Mentor Cemetery for burial of the 36-inch coffin. Inside was an urn with the girl's ashes and various other items, including a dress and a stuffed animal toy.
Riley Ann Sawyers was with us for 866 days. The site below is an online memorial.

http://rileyann-sawyer.gonetoosoon.org/

Morticia

I've just returned from a little walk with Jose to a little whole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant on Seventh Street with Jose. His idea. The food was very good, but the air conditioning horrible. Cheese enchiladas for us both, and Coca Cola. Yummy!
Walking back I told him, "Now I feel like taking a nap and won't be able to get any work done. Thanks a lot, Jose."
"Your welcome."
And I plan on attending a outdoor screening of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," tonight in Pasadena, at the mall, sponsored by the Planetary Society.
It's been another interesting week, gaining and losing a friend, so I come out even I guess.
My lovely case manager has been so busy with paperwork involving an upcoming audit that she and Paul had virtually locked themselves up in their office for the last week and a half, being no fun at all. Except for yoga of course. Which was grueling this week. I must have had a lot of toxins built up because Beth had me sweating like a pig as she tortured... enhanced interog... put us through our paces. Erin of course just breezes right through. She's sporting a new hair style this week, which everyone except me complimented her on at this week's Cooking Club. All I can say is that it's very straight. And kind of hangs down... straightly. She reminds me a little of Morticia Addams... the Carolyn Jones Morticia, not the Angelica Huston Morticia. Still very beautiful, hell, Erin could be bald and wearing a burlap sack and she'd still be beautiful... as a matter of fact I wouldn't mind... ah, skip it.
Anyway, by Wednesday she had finished her audit work and could rejoin the living. I didn't see her on Wednesday because we don't do anything on Wednesday. But I did see her Thursday at the Cooking Club (Banana Foster, without the rum, damn it!), and Friday morning before the movie. I tried to tell her of the invitation I had received the day before to speak at the freaking 20th anniversary dinner for SRHT, but she was busy chatting with female clients all freaking morning. So I told Paul instead who seemed interested, and I Emailed that info to Erin, who had been invited to attend. My speaking engagement has not been confirmed yet. I'll find out Monday.
It was also very good to trade messages with my friend Shannon via FaceBook. She said she liked the post named after her very much, and that it made her miss her grandparents and my mother more than she thought possible. After reading it she called her mother, Bobbie, and told her about it, and then sent me this message:
"Just got off the phone w Mom... was telling her about your blog. She laughed and wanted me to remind you of the time she babysat you when she lived in Hollywood ... and you were waiting for her to make coffee. Remember why? She said you put a MOUSE in the cannister and was just waiting for her to find it. And she did!! She said you weren't afraid of her or anything and just laughed and laughed... She wanted me to tell you that her heart has never been the same!! She said something along the lines of "You little bast**d!! I'll kill you if I catch you!!" LMAO, apparently you ran like hell!! Smart boy you were!! Ahh memories!! She sends her love and laughs your way... : )"
I have no memories of this event, but know it was something I was quite capable of masterminding. I just wonder where I got the mouse.
Please, don't let anybody know, dear readers, but Bobbie doesn't like lizards very much either.
Oh yes, Bobbie has now made me responsible for any future heart condition she may incur.
I had received a box of chocolate cookie mix from Fred Jordan Wednesday and decided to bake them for the movie on Friday. Erin suppled the butter, me the egg, the mix and manpower. It had to watch these cookies very carefully while baking because my oven is broken right now and basically has only one temperature... broil. But I managed, and was able to come up with sixteen tasty chocolate chip cookies, after giving two to Erin, and one for myself, to taste test. It was good. I wish I had one right now.
Jose liked them too.
After subjecting poor Erin to the iconic, "2001, A Space Odyssey," a while back, it was only fitting that I should subject her to the more main stream sequel, "2010," starring our old friend from "Sorcerer," Roy Scheider. Erin enjoyed this movie much more and was thoroughly and actively engaged while watching. She was a little confused about some technical issues which I was only to happy to help clarify for her. For instance, why it was necessary for the Leonov spacecraft to skirt through Jupiter's atmosphere in order to slow down enough to be caught by the giant planet's gravity and enter into orbit, and why the Discovery spacecraft was used as a booster rocket at the end in order for the crew to escape before it's launch window.
"Your so smart Rick," she told me.
"No, you are."
"No, you are."
"No I'm not. You are."
"No, you are."
"No, I insist, you are."
"No, you are."
On and on. This conversation didn't really take place, but it would have been funny if it had.
"Are they in outer space?" Jose asked.
Afterwards, in Erin's office, she told me she had been in an automobile accident that morning. Obviously she was okay, so I wasn't too concerned. She had been driving to work in the fast lane when someone suddenly pulled out in front of her. She rear ended them, but there was almost no damage to either vehicle, and she and the two girls in the other car were alright, so telephone numbers were exchanged, and both continued on their respective journeys.
I walked out with her when she left for the day. She was on her way to get a $50 free massage that she had been suckered into buying because her mother had filled out some contest forms while at a fair when visiting her daughter. I asked her if she was interested in buying this bridge I happened to own in Brooklyn.
The only damage I could see was a bent front license plate.
"You must not have been going that fast," I told her.
"No, I was going pretty fast," she said.
"No you weren't."
"Yes I was..."
On and on.
Before she drove away I gave her a hug, and told her it was nice to get my friend back.
I should have told her to drive carefully too.
Later I took a walk with Ron, and we got into an argument, or actually he got into an argument with himself, I guess. He kept giving me unasked for advice and he resented the fact that I didn't automatically accept his word as gospel and had the temerity to question him, getting so angry that we went our separate ways. I think he's going insane, and quite frankly being around him lately has been more of an ordeal than a pleasure. We shall see.
Now I must leave for Pasadena. See you all, dear readers, tomorrow.

Acorn

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, began in Arkansas in 1970 when three men launched a campaign to help the poor get the basic necessities of life. Since then it has expanded into a national organization with over 400,000 members serving in 1,200 chapters in over 100 cities across the country, with chapters in Argentina, Mexico, Peru, and Canada as well. What do they do in all of those places and cities? The same things they did back in Arkansas in 1970, they advocate for the disadvantaged among us, those who don't have lobbyists in Washington D.C. to speak for them, those who don't contribute to political reelection campaigns, those with the least power. That's why the Republican Party hates Acorn, and those that Acorn represents. They hate them because of this annoying little statement that Thomas Jefferson placed in The Declaration of Independence in 1776, that "All men are created equal," as an argument against the prevailing political system at the time, the divine right of kings, and its implication that even the so called lowest among us have a voice in the way government works, and that voice is most heard by using the right to vote. You might say Acorn is the lobbyist for the nation's poor, and the Republicans don't want the nations poor to be heard, to vote, or even be seen.
These are the crimes that Acorn has perpetrated that has caused the Republicans to yell, stomp, scream, and cry like little babies, calling to cut off federal funds for the organization:
Acorn investigates companies that practice predatory lending practices on those who can least afford it. Not only that, but Acorn has the audacity to push for strict state laws to end such predatory lending. It has helped mortgage holders who are at risk of losing their homes. It advocates for affordable housing by urging the development of housing trusts, like the one I live in, at local, state, and federal levels. It helps homeowners repair their homes, such as in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where they organized fundraising and organizing drives to ensure that the victims of the storms received assistance and were able to return to the affected area, where they gutted and rebuilt over 1,850 homes with the help of their volunteers, its Housing Services helped more the 2,000 homeowners affected by the hurricane and is an official planner working directly with the city in reconstruction.
Acorn has helped pass living wage legislation, where businesses that work with the government are required to pay their employees enough money that they can pay for the necessities of life, in New York, Chicago, Denver, Oakland, and eleven other cities. Acorn works with schools and teachers unions to increase their funding and for school construction, documenting the need for textbooks and structural repairs, emphasizing smaller classrooms, parent involvement, and credentialed teachers.
But what really pisses the Republicans off, what really musters their ire, and what has caused the current animosity directed toward Acorn, and has since before the last Presidential election, is Acorn's efforts at getting poor people and minorities registered to vote. During the 2008 election Acorn was responsible for getting over 1.3 million voter registration forms in 21 states. That's it! Pure and simple. That is why we're hearing all of this hoopla directed toward this organization, and all of this trumped up controversy. Poor people and minorities tend to vote democratic, and the Republicans don't want that because if these people vote they have a greater chance of losing elections. In other words the Republicans are afraid of the democratic process, and want to control elections by stifling the true voice of those who are rightfully eligible to vote in this country. Hell, I don't blame them! If I were a Republican I wouldn't want them to vote either, because if the majority of eligible voters are actually able to cast ballots, those especially hit hard economically by the policies of the Republicans, they will most likely remain out of power.
So what do you do if your the Republican Party? Why you villainize those who make it less likely you will win the election. That's how the Republicans work. They did it with Kerry with the Swift Boaters. They're trying to do it now to Obama with the tea baggers, the birthers, the tenthers, labeling Barack as a socialist, a Muslim, not eligible to be President. Next week they'll probably start calling him an space alien from the planet Tralfamadore.
Now charges have been levied against Acorn concerning voter registration fraud and these current sting videos circulating on You Tube and cable news programs, with Acorn employees being secretly recorded doing unacceptable practices and behavior, causing an uproar with the Republicans, a wave of fake outrage that unfortunately has pressured the controlling Democrats in Congress to play into Republican hands, once again, voting in the House and Senate to cut off over 50 million dollars in federal funding, which ultimately will hurt the Democratic Party in upcoming elections next year.
What I have to say about that is this; yes these tapes are appalling, and yes there are legitimate instances of voter registration fraud. But in any large organization, especially when that organization utilizes large numbers of temporary workers such as in voter registration drives, there are going to be a small percentage of bad apples, which the Republicans are currently taking advantage of. Acorn's senior management has admitted to these errors, has fired those employees responsible, and is conducting internal investigations to correct these problems.
And as far a voter registration fraud, I offer a big SO WHAT?! Any false registrations submitted and excepted won't ever make their way to the polling booth. False registrations do not equal false votes. Besides, Acorn is doing everything it can to correct these problems as well.
What I would like to know is where is the outrage for real transgressors? And there's so many to choose from I hardly know where to start. Where's the outrage for KBR? The no-bid contacts, the shell companies in the Caymens used to avoid taxes, the allegations of human trafficking, the faulty wiring that has electrocuted our own soldiers? Where is the real merited outrage for this despicable corporation? Where's the outrage for Halliburton? More no-bid contracts, more tax havens, over charging the Pentagon billions of dollars, war profiteering, serving our soldiers sewage for water. Where's the outrage? Or Blackwater? The Republicans private army, who has blatantly gunned down innocent Iraqi citizens. Where is that outrage?
I only hope our President has more sense than the Democratic Congress does and vetoes any bill that comes across his desk that would hamper Acorns continued work for the citizens of this nation who cannot stand up for themselves.
We will see.

Shannon

Listen: My father Ray had a best friend who's name was Lester. They were in the Army together during World War II. I don't know if they fought next to each other, or worked together, or what their relationship in the armed services was, except that they played baseball while serving. There are pictures.
They became very close. I don't know why. My father was a Yankee, hailing from Chicago, and Lester came from the south, or at least his future wife, Alice did, as they would return to Alabama frequently. In any case, they remained life long friends, and guess what? Both of the women they wound up marrying, my mother Susie, and Alice became life long best friends as well. Life long.
Ray and Susie adopted me and my sister while living in San Jose, California, now the heart of Silicon Valley. I don't know how they wound up there, although my father worked as a foreman at a local Safeway candy factory, and used to bring candy home almost every night to spoil us mercilessly. To this day I can give or take candy and sweets. We lived in a Duplex, with my grandparents from my mother's side, Madge and Charley, living next door. Lester and Alice lived somewhere else, not in San Jose, but close enough to take long drives to visit occasionally. By this time Lester and Alice had children of their own, the eldest girl, Bobbie, and the son, a little older than me, Terry.
My father and Lester came up with an idea. They decided to go into business with each other, and we all moved down here to Los Angeles, to North Hollywood specifically, where they opened up a liquor store right across the street from Universal Studios, on Lankershim Bl. Both families lived in apartments on Magnolia Bl., that shared a connecting rear porch, or utility area that entered into each others kitchens. Both families were very close, the children eating dinner in one kitchen, while the grown ups ate in the other. Terry and I were close enough in age to become great friends, though he would take advantage of me at every opportunity. I didn't seem to mind. Bobbie's and my sister's age difference was much greater, and they did not share the same kind of relationship that Terry and I did, but they are great friends now. If I remember correctly Bobbie's best friend was a blond, by the name of Cookie. Lovely woman. Lester and Alice were wonderful people, filled with inner strength, earthiness, humility, and always with great humor, constantly kidding each other, and us throughout their lives. They passed down these traits to their children. My family was rather more serious.
One of my fondest memories of that time is when us kids were served liver for dinner. None of us liked liver all that much, and one night, displaying a streak of independence and defiance, and with all the adult supervision next door, we simply threw our liver out the bloody kitchen window! Now you must understand, Lester and my mother were the authoritarians of our respective families, and the thing we didn't count on was Lester leaving for his shift at the store and walking right by our kitchen window where he spotted all of this discarded liver on the ground.
"WTF!" he must have thought to himself. We were busted! One other time we were caught catapulting our peas up onto the ceiling with our spoons, but that's a story for another time.
Or maybe not. In any case, and for some reason, Lester bought out of the business, which my father ran until his death, and Lester and Alice, Bobbie and Terry moved only a few blocks away, where Terry and I constantly visited each other.
Now Bobbie is an exceptionally beautiful woman, and as nature would have it she became involved with boys. The only boyfriend I can ever remember though of hers was this guy named Leonard. Now Bobbie, being the eldest would sometimes look after me and my sister, and we would stay over at their place for a few days, and Leonard would stop by on occasion. I don't know why. And I'm not sure what kind of relationship this Leonard had with Lester and Alice, but I do remember one time when Bobbie pleaded with me not to tell Lester and Alice that Leonard had been around. I'm not sure if I complied with that request or not, but I think I may have, as Bobbie and I have remained good friends throughout the years, although we don't have all that much in common, and we rarely contact each other now due to the fact the only times that she touches her computer these days is to dust it.
I never dust my computer, just hose it off once in a while.
Anyway, Lester and Alice moved further away to Diamond Bar. My father passed away when I was eleven. My mom got married again twice. I started my career as an amateur alcoholic (I was never good enough to go pro) and went crazy. Bobbie and Leonard married and produced their own child, Shannon, the beautiful woman pictured above (which I stole from her FaceBook page... sorry). They were living close by to me in Glendale, while my mother and sister abandoned me and moved out to Bullhead City, Arizona. At some point Lester and Alice, and eventually, Bobbie, Leonard (presumably Leonard's relationship with Bobbie's parents had sweetened), and little Shannon, moved out there as well.
But while Bobbie was still in Glendale she helped me out of the many jams that addicts tend to get into, and later more while living in Bullhead, and even in 2000, when I, after living in Bullhead a year, moved back to Southern CA.
So, Lester and Alice, Bobbie and Terry, and that interloper Leonard, have always been, and will always be, cherished and loved friends of mine and my sister, and my sister's daughter Keri (although I'm deeply saddened to say, Lester, Alice, and my mother have all since passed).
And Shannon too. I've been in contact a great deal with Shannon lately, as she is, I'm sorry to say, an addict too. That's not my opinion, and I'm not pinning that title on her. She is a self proclaimed FaceBook addict. She can't clean her bathrooms, for God's sake because of FB activity. For her own good I invite her to attend a local Face Anonymous 12 Step meeting as quickly as possible. Tonight if she can manage it, although I'd hate to lose contact if she were to sober up. She puts up with my foolishness.
She's all grown up now and has two lovely children of her own who I've never met, Kelci and Jake. I've never met them because we haven't been in contact until recently, and because they live all the way over in freaking Alabama, along with her mom and dad, and Uncle Terry, who lives somewhere around there too.
Most of my memories of Shannon were when she was a small child and teen, as I find myself being twenty years older than her (but still incredibly good looking). But I do remember this trend, she has always seemed to root for me no matter how much trouble I got myself into and out of. She always asked how my writing was progressing, and about my first book (which she can now read online on this blog in the Salvation Diary series, although I would strongly advise against it. Every woman who has ever read it seems to fall madly in love with me for some inexplicable reason. I've gotten three out of four of my last girlfriends with this ploy, and have forbidden my lovely case manager, Erin, and her friend Courtney, from reading it, and I don't want to be responsible for any divorces). I do remember the last time I saw Shannon though. I was working as an ATM technician in Bullhead, servicing one of the machines there one hot day, when I heard someone call out, "Hi Rick!" I immediately pulled out my 9mm automatic suspecting an impending robbery attempt, only to see Shannon in her car waving at me, then driving off.
Dearest Shannon, although the title of this post is graced with your name, I'm afraid the subject matter is more about the great love and bond that exists between our two wonderful families.
I hope that I and my dear sister will be able to visit out there next year, and eat homemade tacos with my dear life long friends, Shannon, and her beautiful mother Bobbie.

Catching HTV

Last Friday I was sitting in my box, minding my own business and working on the September 11, 2001 post, following our brief and localized power outage, when a sudden explosion, two of them, occurred outside, shaking my box a twidge, making my stacks of books jiggle. This event was notable and made me a bit nervous. Anyone who has lived in California for a long period of time, or is a native like me, has a great appreciation for sudden movements of buildings they happen to be in as this area is prone to massive earthquakes. And one of my fears is that I'll still be living in Los Angeles when the predicted "Big One" strikes, leaving me and my box, and the rest of Los Angeles in a shambles. Fortunately I have two gallons of emergency water stashed away for just this occasion. And six cans of tuna. And I plan to move to Ireland where as far as I know they have no earthquakes. Just freaking Leprechauns! Wiley bastards.
My television was on at the time, tuned onto MSNBC, and after about two minutes after this event a live picture of the space shuttle Discovery landing at nearby Edwards Airforce Base was presented. Then it dawned on me, ahh... sonic boom. I should have known, as the shuttle lands here rather frequently when the weather is to crappy back in Florida for it to land safely. NASA doesn't like to land here because it costs several million dollars to ferry it back to the Kennedy Space Center, piggybacked on top of a 747. It was waved off from Florida though after two attempts were scrubbed due to thunder storms there, adding another day to the mission.
The sonic boom is caused by the shuttle slowing down from the supersonic speeds it was experiencing while in Earth orbit, slowing through Mach 1, or at about 761 miles per hour to speeds slower than sound. The double boom is caused by the difference in air pressure as sound shock waves pass this barrier from the nose to the tail of the vehicle.
Discovery and its crew were up there after a 14 day successful mission to the International Space Station, delivering equipment, supplies, and personnel. Two refrigerator sized science racks were delivered, one to conduct experiments on solids such as metals and ceramics in the micro gravity of outer space, which for those worried about the costs of space exploration when we have so many pressing problems back on Earth, could lead to making better materials for us to use at home. The other rack will be used for fluid physics research which could also provide better fuel tanks and water systems right here.
They also delivered a new sleeping compartment, air purification system (which is very important as there is almost no air outside at all), and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, named after Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, after he stuffed the ballot box, if you will, by urging his viewers to vote for him. But this is a serious piece of equipment as humans tend to experience bone and muscle loss while in zero gravity for longs periods of time, which can only be countered by regular, sustained exercise. This, plus shielding from cosmic and solar radiation are major obstacles which must be overcome if man is to ever land safely on the planet Mars, and return.
Astronaut Nicole Stote flew aboard Discovery to begin a three month mission upon the Space Station, replacing Tim Kopra who wanted to come home. I don't blame him. After you've been up there for a while, seen what there is to see, there isn't all that much to do besides re-read Moby Dick.
Nicole has been trained to do a very interesting thing tomorrow, if all goes well. She is going to use a new robotic arm, delivered to the Station in April, and provided by our neighbors in Canada, to catch the Japanese HTV unmanned supply vehicle, which is slowly sneaking up on the Station this very moment. The HTV, or the H-II Transfer Vehicle as the Japanese like to call it, will deliver three qand a half tons of equipment and food. If everything goes right, and the astronauts aboard the Station are able to capture and unload the HTV, they will then unload their accumulated trash onto the HTV, which will return to Earth and burn up as it enters the atmosphere. The capture will happen at about one forty seven in the afternoon Pacific Standard Time.
There are only six more scheduled shuttle launches planed before the 3 remaining vehicles are to be retired, which have been operational since 1981, and successful in 126 of its 128 missions so far. It will be replaced in 2014 by the Orion Spacecraft, which besides being able to return astronauts to the International Space Station, is planned to send them back to the moon as well, and possibly on to Mars.
As for the Space Station itself, I plan to walk out to our garden on Saturday September 26th, at around seven fifteen in the evening when it may be visible in the skies above Los Angeles for about five minutes, and wave hello.

Creation

Charles Darwin studied to become an Angelical clergyman at Cambridge University. At that time he did not doubt the literal truth of the Bible. But he was endowed with a brilliant, and curious mind which soon took him in the direction of the science taught by the likes of John Herschel, who sought explanations in the laws of nature, rather than divine intervention.
Upon returning from his voyage on the Beagle, and after formulating his theories of natural selection being the mechanism for evolution of all species that have lived and died since life began on this planet, he became critical of the Bible as history, and wondered why all religions were not equally valid, or why one particular religion would be more valid than all the others, seemingly being arbitrarily attributed to the geographical location of ones birth as to which faith one adopted. If your born in the Middle East chances are good you will be taught and adopt the Muslim faith, in Sri Lanka the Buddhist faith, in Ireland the Catholic faith, and so on. He also did not see the work of an omnipotent being in the pain and suffering experienced in daily life, the early death of his own children, Annie at the age of ten, and Charles at eighteen months, both of Scarlet Fever, and Mary after just a few weeks of life, being prime examples which radically altered his views on Christianity and religion in general.
Before they married Charles had lengthy discussions upon where his research was taking him with his future wife Emma, who's own religious view were based upon intensive thought and questioning and based upon Unitarianism, which elevates inner feeling over religious texts and doctrine. Each knew that the probability that their differing views might become a wedge between them if they married and as they progressed through life, Emma worried about her future husbands belief's that prohibited their spending eternity together after their deaths, and Charles growing certainty that no God was required to explain the diversity of life on Earth, and then by extension, confirmed by future discoveries in physics and astronomy, that no God was required to explain anything found in nature and the universe.
They did marry, and had ten children together, seven of them surviving into adulthood. Charles views deepened after the death of their eldest daughter Annie, and after the publication of his landmark book, "On the Origen of Species," and his subsequent work and writings, and the chasm between he and his wife grew as the became older.
Yet his theories have proven to be true. They are a fact that all of the biological sciences are based upon. Because of the courageous work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace (who independently discovered the same idea, but Darwin published first), and their insistence on basing their work and ideas on where the evidence took them, rather than where they may have personally wanted it to go, have given us the true key to knowing how we all came into existence. The only reason evolution is called a theory is because that is the way science works, as the paleontologist Stephen J. Gould eloquently states:
"Well evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
The new British film, "Creation," directed by Jon Amiel, and starring my favorite contemporary actress, Jennifer Connelly and her real life husband, Paul Bettany, chronicals the true story of Charles and Emma as he was formulating his theories, as the distance between faith and reason widened within their marriage. It premiered in Toronto last Thursday, and is scheduled for release in Britain on September 25th. Yet no distributor has picked up the film for distribution within the United States, seemingly because they fear the subject matter too controversial for an American audience in which only 39% of the population believes in the theory of evolution, and even that includes those with a Theistic view, that evolution is the chosen mechanism of God to propagate life on earth.
Like the belief of the majority of Americans in the pseudo-sciences, such as astrology and numerology, and ghosts, UFOs, and the abominable snowman, I find the trend to hold on to cherished falsehoods that have been soundly disproved by the methods of science, truly troubling in this age of science. To hold on to folklore while the truth of fact is ignored spells little other than a dangerous and disturbing precedent when living in a world where serious problems of climate change and weapons of mass destruction exist and must be dealt with. I also find disturbing this form of censorship that these film distributors appear to be foisting on the American public by denying access of this well reviewed movie to the American public. I believe there is a real audience for this film, as there was for "Inherit the Wind," which deals with similar subject matter, and which was nominated for four Academy Awards. I invite all of you dear readers who wish to see this movie shown in this country to go to the site below and sign a petition demanding the American distribution of this film.

http://action.americanhumanist.org/t/9133/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2101
Let Americans make up their own minds if they wish to explore the lives of Charles and Emma, which in fact has little to do with evolution, but rather a complicated and magnificent story of love and respect.

Crying Like Little Babies

I would have posted this earlier, but due to technical difficulties beyond my control... like the whole freaking power going off in my box, the whole building, and the surrounding blocks from Seventh Street to Fourth, and from Central to who knows how far east. And without power I can do absolutely nothing, no work, no research, no Email activism (I swear to God, I have two to three hours of Email to go through each and every day), no nothing. So I need power, and lots of it!
I went downstairs, as did most of the residents. My lovely case manager, Erin was standing alone in her office in the dark.
"Hi Rick," she said.
"Hi."
I walked outside to confirm that the power was off in the local area, and yes the traffic lights were out too.
Sure enough, like rats off a sinking ship, Erin and Paul walked out of the building to go to their offices at the Olympia where hopefully the electricity was still functioning, right when I needed her most, in a time of difficulty and uncertainty, when I could have used some support and succor.
It makes little difference that if our positions had been reversed I would have done the exact same thing.
Anyway, as to the point of this post, by my count President Barack Obama has been in office now for 238 days. In that time he has done these things:
Passed the "largest" economic stimulus bill in American history.
Ordering the closing of Guantanamo Bay military detention facility and abolishing "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Setting a fixed timetable for withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq.
Ordering 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and enlisting, with modest new assistance, European allies in a new multi-layered strategy there and in Pakistan.
"Returning science to its rightful place" by lifting the Bush restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
Signing laws to expand children's health insurance.
Signing a law meant to improve the ability of women who allege pay discrimination to sue their employer.
Diminishing the role of lobbyists in the White House
"Forge a meaningful statement from the United Nations" criticizing North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile.
Lifting travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban Americans who seek to travel more frequently to the island and send more US currency to their immediate family.
Engaging world leaders in Europe, Turkey, Latin American and the Caribbean with "strength and humility."
Stopping an impending worldwide economic depression that hasn't been seen since the 1930s.
And attempting to pass historic national heath care legislation that has not been overhauled for decades.
All but the last of these accomplishments he did in his first 100 days in office, and many of these tasks were mandated due to the mess left to him by the previous administration.
What did his predecessor get done in the same period of time? He cut taxes for the richest among us paving the way for the economic collapse we witnessed at the end of his presidency; ignoring our founding fathers belief in the separation of church and state by providing federal funding for "faith based initiatives"; and after having been warned that Al Qaeda intended to use aircraft as weapons to attack our country, allowed the attacks of September 11, 2001 to occur (and forget about Dick Cheney's argument that they kept the country safe for eight years due to their "techniques," it just doesn't hold any water at all. Discounting the attack of 9/11 itself, which occurred on their watch, there were terrorists attacks in the U.S. after the World Trade Center fell, anthrax spores were mailed to several media outlets, and two United States Senators, killing 5 people, and infecting 17 others. And during the Bush years worldwide terrorist attacks increased. Besides, you can never prove a negative. Trumping up the claim that Bush policies kept the country safe, is like taking credit for keeping meteorites from flattening Washington D.C. It didn't happen, but I'm not willing to give George Bush credit for it. Remember Katrina).
Still thousands of demonstrators marched in Washington last weekend filled with hate for our new President, bused in by the likes Dick (there's no lack of Dicks on the right) Armey, and his FreedomWorks Foundation, who lies about this being a grassroots movement. Half of these people don't even know why they're there, and don't even no what socialism is, but they claim to hate it.
These poor misguided fools just don't like the fact that a black man was elected President, and hint at armed rebellion to stop each and every policy of the new administration, even while acting against their own best self interests. They ignore the fact that the nation spoke last November through its election process, and are doing what infants and children do when they don't get their way, crying like little babies, stomping up and down, and pouting. They also ignore the fact that Barack was elected in large part because of the hash up their guy, George W. Bush made of his administration and country. They even lie about the size of their demonstration, overstating the number of people there by 930,000.
I have close friends that continue to believe that George Bush was the greatest President ever, and dislike Barack Obama intensely, and everything he stands for, or does, despite the fact that his policies benefit them. I don't hope to change their minds. But this is what happens when you get most of your news information from the Fox Propaganda Network, and Rush Limbaugh.
Get over it people! You lost! The nation has spoken and it's time to grow up.