I now know what bothers me these days at my core with regard to politics. It is not the telephone calls in the evening, asking me how I am going to vote, so that the information can be reported to media outlets for dissemination into the American psyche in the hopes that they WILL vote just like the polls SAY everyone is voting. I can simply ignore my telephone and not answer, though I should not have to. Sorry true friends. Just leave a message.
It isn't the television advertisements destroying the mood of an otherwise fabulously and intellectually intriguing episode of Bones, for which I have had zero time lately to indulge. I could turn my television off, though I should not have to.
It isn't the droves of paper and wood product decorating my neighbors' yards, faking me out as I come around the corner, thinking another "for sale" sign has gone up.
It IS this: Made clear in a CNN news article this morning at 3:53 a.m. titled, "Congress OKs Stop Gap Spending, Ready to Go Home", I find the clearest answer, so understated as to be completely missed...almost. The summary text, as far as I've gotten yet, reads, "Before shutting down for campaigns, Congress on Thursday passed a measure to fund the government another 2 months." As a side note, wow...didn't know funding was such an easy thing, but I digress.
I now know with sudden clarity and complete certainty what has bothered me in increasing measure all these years of my adult political life - it is that Congress is more concerned with campaigning than with running the country. They care not one iota about DOING their job. They just wanna campaign for the job, not really DO the job. The culture of our government leaders has shifted from service to the people to some form of self-preservation, the likes of which are publicly touted in the news as simple "fact", ..... and no one even notices.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
mens rea - a Latin lesson
Latin is obsolete but for vestiges in our English language. So, too of course, is the concept underlying the Latin term "mens rea" i.e. "guilty mind" in our criminal culture. Our police authorities are launching detailed, resource-laden investigations over wildfires in the mountains because they want to find the bad guys who torched the mountains. Maybe there aren't any bad guys. Hemingway once said, "Sometimes sharks are just sharks." So, in Hemingway-esque manner, sometimes accidents are just accidents. No one was irresponsible or carried any evil/criminal intent.
Now, in first year law school, most of us learn about "mens rea" in our Criminal Law classes, the "intent" of a crime. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that "mens rea" is simply Latin for "guilty mind."
There are levels of guilt, or intent, in the human mind according to the criminal code nationwide, and though various states and the federal government see shades of differences, generally all agree that there is a big difference between taking an apple from the produce section of a grocery store because you are starving (thanks Alladin for that), and bludgeoning to death the old grandpa in the car in front of you because he is driving too slowly for you to get past him. Between these examples lies a vast gulf of "guilty mind" levels. I don't like how that previous sentence reads, but it is as close as I can get this morning. There is your Criminal Law 101. Mens rea. Intent.
Notice that what is NOT included in criminal intent is the "accident" scenario - you are driving along a neighborhood street, completely sober, obeying every law in a car that meets all standards, and a child runs out from between two parked cars at the last second before you are on top of them. The absolute worst outcome and literally no intent to harm involved, not even stupidity.
What I have not addressed, and apparently what is the impetus for my writing today, is the "guilty mind" level that precedes the apple example, but before the car and little child. It is something we see in both traffic tickets and dog bites in the State of Colorado. We call it "strict liability" in the legal sysem, and it means if it happens on your watch, you have committed a crime, whether or not you had the specific intent to do so. You are out walking your 2 year old Golden Retriever on a leash at the bike path, passing by a family riding their family bicycles. Your retriever has NEVER showed any signs of aggression or bitten anyone. Today is different. The 4 year old, low to the ground on his new mini-bike with tetra flames and horn, reaches out to touch the dog without warning. The dog defends and bites the hand that does not feed him. He's a dog. He bites. (Public Service Announcement: Dogs bite. If owners tell you the dog is nice and doesn't bite, run. Dogs bite.)
The child was bitten. You had no specific intent on any level to harm that child with your dog. But, you have just earned yourself a "dangerous dog" citation. It does not matter that the dog has never bitten before. It does not matter that the child reached out to pet the dog. What matters is that you failed to restrain the dog, the dog did harm to another person, and YOU are held criminally responsible. No mens rea though, no "guilty mind". You are just held strictly liable for all damage.
To bring that all around to today's thought: We sure are holding a lot more people "strictly liable" for things that are making no sense to me. I think in Colorado at least, it is spawned by a restitution law (criminal law only) that passed some years ago, allowing insurance companies to be "victims" within the meaning of the law, and to get "restitution" from the criminals who caused the damage that the insurance companies had to pay for. So, in order to get a court order for restitution, ya gotta have #1 a crime, #2 a criminal, #3 a victim, and #4 some kind of monetarily-based loss. Then you can have #5 restitution, or payment for the damage of the crime. You break into my home and steal my prized Yugioh card collection. The cops find you. You have sold my prized Yugioh collection. After determining its value (THAT's a riot in itself), the Courts will generally enter a restitution order against you, saying you must pay me that amount of money to restore me.
But did you do anything wrong to cause your dog to bite that little 4 year old? No. The dog, for whatever reason in his instinct, felt threatened, but YOU must pay for it and YOU have violated the criminal code, here in Colorado anyway.
So, during wildfire season in Colorado, I see newsarticles all over about whom to hold responsible, whom to cite for the fires beginning......and I am struck once again that our society spends an inordinate amount of time calling all the wrong folks criminals. There is no mens rea. I think that concept is as dead as the Latin language. We have lost our minds.
Now, in first year law school, most of us learn about "mens rea" in our Criminal Law classes, the "intent" of a crime. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that "mens rea" is simply Latin for "guilty mind."
There are levels of guilt, or intent, in the human mind according to the criminal code nationwide, and though various states and the federal government see shades of differences, generally all agree that there is a big difference between taking an apple from the produce section of a grocery store because you are starving (thanks Alladin for that), and bludgeoning to death the old grandpa in the car in front of you because he is driving too slowly for you to get past him. Between these examples lies a vast gulf of "guilty mind" levels. I don't like how that previous sentence reads, but it is as close as I can get this morning. There is your Criminal Law 101. Mens rea. Intent.
Notice that what is NOT included in criminal intent is the "accident" scenario - you are driving along a neighborhood street, completely sober, obeying every law in a car that meets all standards, and a child runs out from between two parked cars at the last second before you are on top of them. The absolute worst outcome and literally no intent to harm involved, not even stupidity.
What I have not addressed, and apparently what is the impetus for my writing today, is the "guilty mind" level that precedes the apple example, but before the car and little child. It is something we see in both traffic tickets and dog bites in the State of Colorado. We call it "strict liability" in the legal sysem, and it means if it happens on your watch, you have committed a crime, whether or not you had the specific intent to do so. You are out walking your 2 year old Golden Retriever on a leash at the bike path, passing by a family riding their family bicycles. Your retriever has NEVER showed any signs of aggression or bitten anyone. Today is different. The 4 year old, low to the ground on his new mini-bike with tetra flames and horn, reaches out to touch the dog without warning. The dog defends and bites the hand that does not feed him. He's a dog. He bites. (Public Service Announcement: Dogs bite. If owners tell you the dog is nice and doesn't bite, run. Dogs bite.)
The child was bitten. You had no specific intent on any level to harm that child with your dog. But, you have just earned yourself a "dangerous dog" citation. It does not matter that the dog has never bitten before. It does not matter that the child reached out to pet the dog. What matters is that you failed to restrain the dog, the dog did harm to another person, and YOU are held criminally responsible. No mens rea though, no "guilty mind". You are just held strictly liable for all damage.
To bring that all around to today's thought: We sure are holding a lot more people "strictly liable" for things that are making no sense to me. I think in Colorado at least, it is spawned by a restitution law (criminal law only) that passed some years ago, allowing insurance companies to be "victims" within the meaning of the law, and to get "restitution" from the criminals who caused the damage that the insurance companies had to pay for. So, in order to get a court order for restitution, ya gotta have #1 a crime, #2 a criminal, #3 a victim, and #4 some kind of monetarily-based loss. Then you can have #5 restitution, or payment for the damage of the crime. You break into my home and steal my prized Yugioh card collection. The cops find you. You have sold my prized Yugioh collection. After determining its value (THAT's a riot in itself), the Courts will generally enter a restitution order against you, saying you must pay me that amount of money to restore me.
But did you do anything wrong to cause your dog to bite that little 4 year old? No. The dog, for whatever reason in his instinct, felt threatened, but YOU must pay for it and YOU have violated the criminal code, here in Colorado anyway.
So, during wildfire season in Colorado, I see newsarticles all over about whom to hold responsible, whom to cite for the fires beginning......and I am struck once again that our society spends an inordinate amount of time calling all the wrong folks criminals. There is no mens rea. I think that concept is as dead as the Latin language. We have lost our minds.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sweeping in honor of International Peace Day
I haven't looked at the news, locally or abroad, to find out if the world is participating in our global Hallmark holiday. Chances are I will do that after I write here. Interestingly, I'm just trying to keep peace in my home and in my various bosses' offices. That is about all I really can do....keep my own porch swept and in order, so to speak.
Maybe if we just kept our own porches swept, we would have a lot more sweeping than kabitzing going on. And if we had more sweeping than kabitzing, while we'd probably have a few more allergies initially (cuz some of our porches are pretty dusty), we'd probably work up an appetite. And if we worked up an appetite, perhaps we would invite folks over to have a meal. And if we had a meal, we'd probably play a bit of music. And in all this food and music, we'd be so busy eating and singing, there would be no time to dismiss the deep beliefs and experiences of people who are different than us....we wouldn't be publishing on the front page of every newspaper the pros and cons of having a mosque at ground zero, or the dichotomy between Lindsey Lohan's treatment in the court system and Paris Hilton's treatment...and maybe there would be a bit of peace amongst the sweeping. If nothing else, there would be some peace because everyone's mouth would be full.
Maybe if we just kept our own porches swept, we would have a lot more sweeping than kabitzing going on. And if we had more sweeping than kabitzing, while we'd probably have a few more allergies initially (cuz some of our porches are pretty dusty), we'd probably work up an appetite. And if we worked up an appetite, perhaps we would invite folks over to have a meal. And if we had a meal, we'd probably play a bit of music. And in all this food and music, we'd be so busy eating and singing, there would be no time to dismiss the deep beliefs and experiences of people who are different than us....we wouldn't be publishing on the front page of every newspaper the pros and cons of having a mosque at ground zero, or the dichotomy between Lindsey Lohan's treatment in the court system and Paris Hilton's treatment...and maybe there would be a bit of peace amongst the sweeping. If nothing else, there would be some peace because everyone's mouth would be full.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Guled's 11 Rules to Life
I read on my friend's Facebook page the 11 Rules to Life (or something close to that) attributed to Bill Gates, but really written by a journalist named Sykes I think. In any event, because those 11 Rules are so blasted good, I sent an email to my 11 year old son to read those blastedly good 11 rules. Below is the email I got back from him today, spelling warts and all. I responded that if he would fix the spelling glitches, I'd give him some school credit (we virtual school now). So far, he hasn't been a taker. I attempted to paste a copy of his email here, but the small pictures and emoticons will not paste, making the gist of his email fall pretty flat I guess. I've interlineated some comments where pictures were:
From: gulyus99@hotmail.com
To: champton@q.com
Subject:
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 10:42:31 -0500
GULEDS 11 RULES to life and the UUUUNIVERSE
1: neverrr ever ever ever ever ever evveerrrr let twisted people talk you down, or play with electrical sockets.
2: forget being "fine" cause you'r gonna need tharapy, so save up a looot of money!
3: deeeeeee [3-D apparently]
4: moneyyyy= X-box [gaming]
5GOLDEN: treat people how you would want to be treated and no crossies! [crossed fingers]
6: world [peace sign] means to have war and peaple will always die even if we find eternal youth because we will always have [evil villain pic] in our heart.
7: have fun don't waste your life for there is not just [evil villain pic] but this [pics of sunshine, rainbows, an island, Japanese soup, smiley face, pizza and x-box symbol] ahhhhhhhh!
8: never let your hate overwhelm you (don't stay mad) cause you never know who or when someone will! [uh oh smiley "o" ghost face]
9: do not be afraid of shadows because it is simply your own creations that the shadows use.
10: our deepest fear is not that we are inadequete but that we are powerful beyond measure! [from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson read by Nelson Mandela and on our Chamber of Academic Secrets wall]
11: send this to the next person who you think needs encouragement.
From: gulyus99@hotmail.com
To: champton@q.com
Subject:
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 10:42:31 -0500
GULEDS 11 RULES to life and the UUUUNIVERSE
1: neverrr ever ever ever ever ever evveerrrr let twisted people talk you down, or play with electrical sockets.
2: forget being "fine" cause you'r gonna need tharapy, so save up a looot of money!
3: deeeeeee [3-D apparently]
4: moneyyyy= X-box [gaming]
5GOLDEN: treat people how you would want to be treated and no crossies! [crossed fingers]
6: world [peace sign] means to have war and peaple will always die even if we find eternal youth because we will always have [evil villain pic] in our heart.
7: have fun don't waste your life for there is not just [evil villain pic] but this [pics of sunshine, rainbows, an island, Japanese soup, smiley face, pizza and x-box symbol] ahhhhhhhh!
8: never let your hate overwhelm you (don't stay mad) cause you never know who or when someone will! [uh oh smiley "o" ghost face]
9: do not be afraid of shadows because it is simply your own creations that the shadows use.
10: our deepest fear is not that we are inadequete but that we are powerful beyond measure! [from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson read by Nelson Mandela and on our Chamber of Academic Secrets wall]
11: send this to the next person who you think needs encouragement.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
That Dang Mouse
I need to type some stuff to see if my “fix” for this computer mouse conflict worked. You see, it has been moving on its own accord since I wiped and reinstalled my operating system. So far, with two lines of text, I am not having an issue. Wow! I’m so happy!! A complete reversal of events in the cosmos of late! Even with the Logitech mouse plugged in and my laptop NOT giving me the option to disable the onboard pointer like it used to (where’s THAT checkbox option?!), I am able to type fluidly again without this cursor jumping around. Now, the only typos appear completely user produced! Just in time for my first day in the office. Cyn is one happy typer.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Labor Day indeed
I have labored since early this morning, trying to clean up and organize a whole new game plan. I have begun some work in Colorado already, and will begin more this coming week. Some pretty fun assignments! But the biggest issue of all pays $0 per hour and involves a whole bunch of damaged workers in a place I used to live. The chemicals that make our lives manageable and "civilized" are killing the people who produce the stuff that makes us "civilized"....things like cars and plastics, cell phones, sheets for our beds, copper wire for our electricity, chemicals to purify our drinking water.... I was idealistic in 1987 as I dared to broach the doors of the law school, and I am idealistic today in 2010. I have this crazy notion that things should be fair. So sue me.
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