Snake handlers, finger surgery eve, and talk radio updates

You never know what you'll see in downtown Greenville. This past Sunday, in what used to be called Bergamo Plaza (apparently they are in the process of naming it something else, to go with the fancy new ONE building) I saw this snake-handling lady. She didn't mind me taking her picture.

Just another day in the neighborhood.

~*~

Well peeps, as mentioned previously, the surgery on my ganglion cyst is tomorrow morning. I confess to being a nervous wreck. Not really about the surgery itself, but about the anesthesia-shots (administered with a BIG ASS needle) I'm getting on either side of my finger. I've already had one shot--right in the cyst--and it wasn't fun. This promises to be far worse. Argh.

And the idea of my index-finger-joint being (aiyeee) scraped, is just SUCH AN UNPLEASANT CONCEPT. (Can't they use some other word?)

I hope I can type, but probably won't be able to for a couple of days, so this is the official SURGERY EVE update.

Luckily, I can still run my mouth, you lucky folks. I will be broadcasting as usual. Hopefully, I won't be on so many drugs that I make no sense... but when has THAT ever stopped me?

~*~

This week's OCCUPY THE MICROPHONE shows--

Monday: The Zimmerman verdict, with local activists Traci Fant and Efia Nwangaza.

Tuesday: Zimmerman trial juror #B37's interview with Anderson Cooper, excerpts and analysis. Much fulminating from your humble narrator, echoing the points in my last blog post (and even quoting some of the comments).

Wednesday: Stevie Wonder boycotts Florida, and an interview with Green Shadow Cabinet member Ben Manski, author of a popular statement about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden titled, Liberty is hunted around the globe: What Snowden taught us about American freedom.

Going on in a half-hour, and we'll be talking about one of the best rightwingnuts available for sheer comedy relief, TED NUGENT! (Shooting fish in a barrel, my friends!)

Check us out, yall; if you wanna join us LIVE AT FIVE, here is the WOLI-AM livestream link. Have a listen! Also, podcasts available at the website.

~*~

Hope all is well with you, have a great weekend... and take care of your joints!

~*~

UPDATE/EDIT 7/21: Surgery postponed until Thursday... so I can obsess and worry for another whole week. Argh.

Florida rules that stalking and killing a black child is legal

If people don't believe racism is alive and well, I tell them to go to Twitter. They have these handy things called hashtags: #. And you can follow it yourself. It's on full display there every single day and night.

Today, racists are crowing and happy with themselves. So don't tell me this hasn't strengthened and emboldened them. I can read for myself. Last night, after the announcement of the verdict in George Zimmerman's trial, they were gloating and joking that nationwide, "blacks and white liberals are furious"--and they were enjoying the HELL out of it. So before you say my headline is over the top, go over there and read, and then get back to me.

Trayvon Martin's murder has been ruled justified. And he was an innocent boy doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG.

Let's review.

A grown man (with an ongoing wannabe-cop fixation) followed an unarmed kid talking to a girl on the phone; jumped out of his car and stalked him (directly against 911 advice, even though he blatantly lied and told the 911 operator he was abiding by their advice) and then pointedly picked a fight with him, at night. The boy thinks he's a freak or pervert and says something like that to his friend on the phone. The white man's first words to him are "What are you doing?" instead of "Hey, I'm 'Neighborhood Watch,' what's up?" and there is a fight, in which the kid feels he is being attacked by a pervert, and fights back. Zimmerman, who deliberately broke 'Neighborhood Watch' rules by being armed and stalking a suspect, shot him in cold blood.

If the races were reversed? It is impossible to imagine, isn't it? Would a black man stalk and shoot a white kid without being arrested immediately and pleading out right away?

There wouldn't even have been any trial.

As Tavis Smiley commented this morning on TV: Under existing "Stand Your Ground" laws, it is understood that George Zimmerman could legally "stand his ground"--but Trayvon was not permitted to stand HIS ground and fight back. His act of fighting back against a strange attacker, was seen as proof that he was dangerous and deserved to die.

And so, there has now been a trial. A bad one. A trial with no African-Americans on the jury. Let me ask you, if the above reverse-race scenario occurred, would the jury trying the black man (if he didn't plead out, which he would have) be all black?

Again, it's a laughable reversal, isn't it?

It would never be permitted to happen.

Travesty does not cover it. This is a seriously racist country, and some places (like here and Florida) are obviously far worse than others. And plenty of racists defend Zimmerman's stalking-behavior and murder. (Right-wing commentator-queen Ann Coulter promptly tweeted "Halleluyah!" after the verdict was announced. )

It is open season on black males in the South. Well, let me amend that... the recent award-winning film FRUITVALE STATION, about the murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland, reminds us that it isn't just the South. Certainly, I saw comments on Twitter from as far away as the UK, saying rah-rah George Zimmerman.

I remember asking one frenetic Twitterer why they thought Trayvon seemed so "suspicious"; he looks like any one of the random regular kids in my neighborhood. I walk at night around here and I pass them all the time. They have their late-night candy in their hands, just as Trayvon did. They are polite and say hi to me, nodding amiably; I have never been afraid. One of the Twitterers said WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!? HE LOOKED SUSPICIOUS, HE LOOKED DANGEROUS!

No, he didn't. Only if you believe all black kids are intrinsically scary, could you claim such an outrageous thing.

It was due to the torrent of racist tweets that I knew what the trial's outcome would be, and said so, repeatedly, on our radio show. Local activist Traci Fant went to Sanford, Florida during the trial and called our show, making the same prediction. We knew that Zimmerman would be set free. He speaks for too many people; he is their hero.

The sacrifice of Trayvon Martin appears necessary to sustain the heart of racist America, since we now have a black president. The racists couldn't get rid of Obama, so this is their consolation prize. That's the only thing I can figure out.

I am deeply ashamed of our country and court system today.

~*~

Comments welcome, as always, but PRO-ZIMMERMAN COMMENTS WILL BE DEALT WITH VERY HARSHLY. As far as I am concerned, if you are pro-Zimmerman, you are a racist and I will be addressing you that way.

If you are pro-Zimmerman and somehow believe (i.e. lying to yourself) you are "not racist", you will hereby convince me that the race-reversal I offered above, could actually happen and the outcome would be exactly the same. There will be no other pro-Zimmerman discussion allowed here. NONE.

Take it to Twitter. They wallow in it over there.

Friday update (after the red velvet cake)

Today's Multicultural Festival was fabulous. Red velvet cake! Imani dancers! A special shout-out and copious compliments to Traci Fant for her hard work and terrific organizational skills.

It was especially fun because it was at McAlister Square, which is also the location of the WOLI radio studios, where we broadcast Occupy the Microphone. Today's show is up, as well as yesterday's, wherein we discussed various events in the ongoing trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. We discussed the racist trashing of young Rachel Jeantel (prosecution witness) at length, on both shows. (NOTE: I will be writing about the Zimmerman trial at length after the verdict, as I will also be writing about the Jodi Arias trial after her sentencing.)

And speaking of trials, my deepest apologies for omitting a link to Gregg's great interview with Alexa O'Brien, one of very few reporters covering the trial of Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. Extensive daily coverage of Bradley Manning's trial is available at her website.

Today, we wondered why some trials get daily televised coverage, and yet Manning's has been virtually ignored by the mainstream media. One might even come to the conclusion that the government and media don't want us to hear the details.

Ya think?

~*~

OTHER RANDOM STUFF you might find interesting:

[] Paula Cooper, who made big news as a teenager sentenced to death row, was released from prison on June 17th. She was only 16 when she was sentenced to death for the grisly killing of 78-year-old Bible teacher Ruth Pelke, and in 1986 was the youngest death row inmate in the USA.

The Gary, Indiana, murder was quite famous throughout the Midwest, and often cited by various pundits of the day as proof that the world was going to hell in a handbasket. Cooper stabbed Pelke 33 times, and with three of her friends, took off with Pelke's car and a whopping $10. Due to her age and (lack of) social status, there was an international outcry over her death sentence, including an intervention from none other than Pope John Paul II. Her death sentence was set aside in 1988, and it has since been found unconstitutional to execute inmates under 18.

[] Me and a horror-movie actor get in a Twitter argument after the announcement of the Supreme Court's DOMA ruling. Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee tweets "Jesus wept" and gets a torrential (and sometimes hilarious) response.

[] Charlotte, a local progressive, crafts strategies for electing Democrats/liberals here in South Carolina--and by extension, other conservative southern states. Contains an excellent analysis of the political psychology of the South, by a Greenville County native (and one of our regular radio show listeners).

[] I wrote about the documentary "Project Nim" over on Facebook.

[] Obama's War on Journalism (Salon) and Seven Myths about Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower (The Nation)

[] Sweet three-year-old Jameson Kessler is eager to save his baby sister's life with his bone marrow; he calls himself "Marrow Man"... yes, we all want to be superheroes, don't we?

And little Jameson will become a superhero for real. :)

~*~

Your official DEAD FROM CUTENESS video for this month features adorable Jumbo Pillow (he is only 6-months-old but looks older since he is, well, JUMBO PILLOW) meeting his new housemate Cooper. OMG!!! ((((faints from the cute))))



PS: This is called "Friday update" because I will not be online tomorrow, and this will have to do until after the weekend.

More on "Stand Your Ground" laws

... which we covered in depth today on my radio show this morning. As you know, this is the law being used to defend George Zimmerman, arrested this week in connection with the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.

Our guests, Traci Fant (organizer of the local rally seeking justice for Trayvon), Chris Harris and Amelia Pena, discussed South Carolina's "Stand your ground" law, which is a provision in the "Protection of Persons and Property Act." This was defined by the SC Legislature in SECTION 16-11-440(C) and is considered an extension or clarification of the "Castle doctrine"--a concept discussed at length by my radio-show participants.

In my opinion, the Castle doctrine should be sufficient, so I am not sure why an additional law was necessary. The National Rifle Association (and how did you guess) was one of the main agitators for the PPPA, which makes me wonder if increasing gun-sales was one incentive for the law. Concealed-carry laws are currently classified as "shall-issue"--one of those weird in-between categories nobody can quite figure out. Basically, if you ask for a permit and you are not a convicted felon, they will give you one for $50.

Since this IS South Carolina, I would wager all of the people in my radio-discussion had guns of their/our own (two out of three referred to their weaponry). We ain't skeered of guns in these parts. But of course, WE are not the people we are worried about.

The Stand Your Ground law has already been abused and/or (as in the case of Zimmerman) used to cover up some shifty and suspicious behavior.

Some examples--

Jason Dickey Manslaughter Conviction overturned:

Chief Justice Jean Toal wrote that Jason Dickey acted in self-defense in the shooting of 24-year-old Joshua Boot of West Columbia.

Dickey was a security guard at an apartment building and has served five years of a 16-year sentence.

Toal wrote that Dickey was confronted by two younger, intoxicated large men advancing toward him at the Cornell Arms apartment complex in downtown Columbia.

Associate Justice Don Beatty dissented in the 4-1 ruling, saying Dickey could have avoided the confrontation and was not inside the apartment building at the time of the shooting.

Dickey said Joshua Boot didn't live in the building, refused an order to leave, and came after him with a bottle.

Columbia defense attorney Jack Swerling represented Dickey in his 2006 trial and says the state Supreme Court's recent move makes this an "important case," but does not set a legal precedent for the thousands of South Carolinians with concealed weapons permits to open fire if they feel threatened.

It doesn't? Of course it does.

Does a "bottle" equal a gun? I'd say one fellow was, um, outgunned, wouldn't you?

And what of a seemingly-simple situation that suddenly becomes very deadly, very quickly?:

Gregory Kirk Duncan didn't take too kindly to the way Christopher Spicer, a guest in his Greenville County home, was talking about a picture of his daughter in a cheerleading outfit. Duncan asked Spicer to leave, and he did — but not for long.

Within minutes after exiting the house, Spicer tried to come back in through the screen porch door. Duncan stepped out onto the porch with a gun in hand and told him to leave, but Spicer kept trying to force his way past. So Duncan put a bullet through Spicer's head.

Duncan was initially jailed for the shooting, but a Greenville County circuit court judge appealed his arrest, citing South Carolina's Protection of Persons and Property Act, a series of laws enacted in 2006 that guaranteed a person the right to defend him or herself against "great bodily injury" in his or her own home, vehicle, or business. The case made its way to the state Supreme Court, and in May 2011, based on testimonies that confirmed the preceding story, Duncan was exonerated. The court ruled that Spicer's forceful attempt at entering the home constituted an adequate threat to warrant self-defense under the law.

Known as the "Bluffton Christmas Tow Truck slaying"--Preston Oates is now using the aforementioned "Castle Doctrine" as his defense in the shooting of Carlos Olivera. (This is after his escape-plan didn't work out.)

The shooting has greatly heightened existing ethnic-tensions in Bluffton for well over a year now:

Nelson [Olivera] has replayed the scene hundreds of times in his head. Still, he can’t comprehend how a trivial parking dispute could have ended so badly, leaving his younger brother dead and four kids without their father.

“It’s so sad. It was the holiday, and we were all laughing, smiling and hugging,” he said, shaking his head. “Then, in five minutes, our whole lives changed forever.”

Tow truck driver Preston Oates fatally shot 34-year-old Carlos Olivera on Dec. 24 after the two men argued over a parking boot Oates placed on Olivera’s minivan.

But just how that transpired, who was at fault and what penalty Oates should pay has been the subject of a bitter debate that has stirred ethnic tensions in this sprawling suburban community in Beaufort County.

Oates, who said the shooting was in self-defense, is charged with manslaughter and a weapons violation in Olivera’s killing. But some in the community, including Olivera’s family, want the charge upgraded to murder.

They say Oates shot Olivera execution-style while the victim had his back turned. Olivera was carrying a gun that night as well, but he never fired his weapon, authorities have said.

Another well-known incident locally, involved the shooting of a homeless squatter in Spartanburg. They shot him before even calling law enforcement.

And then they charged him with trespassing:

No charges will be filed against a homeowner who shot a homeless man at a vacant Converse Heights house earlier this week.

Citing a section of state law called the Castle doctrine, the Spartanburg Public Safety Department announced in a written statement Friday night that no charges would be filed against Maria Thompson or her husband, Ray Earl “Chuck” Thompson Jr., both of Chesnee.

A warrant, however, has been signed against the homeless man, 31-year-old Gregory Wells, charging him with unlawful entry, which is a felony, according to the statement.

On Tuesday afternoon, officers responded to 183 Connecticut Ave., which is a vacant home that is listed for sale. According to an incident report, Ray Thompson and Maria Thompson were notified by a real estate agent that a man was in their home when the agent came to show it.

The couple went to the home, and as Maria Thompson was looking for a house key, her husband pulled on the door, which opened, the report states. The couple later told police that Wells met Ray Thompson at the door. Ray Thompson asked Wells what he was doing in the house, according to the report, and the homeowner pulled out his .45-caliber handgun as Wells approached. Ray Thompson told police that he warned Wells to back up or be shot, the report states.

And finally, last weekend, another incident in Spartanburg, as two men were shot during an apparent robbery:

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office says it happened shortly after midnight Saturday at the 300 Building of Lee’s Crossing Apartments on Powell Mill Road.

When deputies arrived they found two people lying on the ground outside the apartment window behind several air conditioning units.

Deputies say the resident of the apartment building shot the two suspects. One suspect died on the scene, the other was taken to the hospital where he died.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger says Michael Deangelo Gentry-Hill Jr. and Darren Tyree “Ty” Hill both from Spartanburg died from gun shots wounds.

The Sheriff’s Office says there is not a threat to the community. Investigators have spoken with the resident of the apartment and no charges has been filed at this time.

The hitch in this last case is that Douglas Williams, the 29-year-old who shot the two intruders, was not supposed to be carrying a weapon, as a convicted felon. Nonetheless, he seemed to believe the Stand Your Ground law applied to him too.

AND THIS IS HOW IT WORKS IN REAL LIFE, PEOPLE. Everyone thinks they have the right to shoot anyone who "advances" on them, or just squats in a house. We have regressed to the Wild West, where everyone can pull their glossy six-shooters on everyone else, while simultaneously claiming to be the wronged party.

SC State Representative Bakari Sellers has proposed a bill to repeal the “Stand Your Ground” provision of South Carolina’s "Protection of Persons and Property Act"--which targets the phrasing in the bill regarding "retreating"--something I am not sure I totally understand. My guests believed it is unlikely that the total PPPA could be repealed here, and I agree. But could we modify or reform part of the bill? This remains to be seen.

STAND YOUR GROUND will be the subject of a local Q-and-A here in Greenville at the Reedy River Missionary Baptist Church, Monday night, 6pm. People like me, who don't quite understand all of the particulars, will be able to ask Rep. Sellers questions in person. What is the difference between repeal of the entire PPPA and modifying the "Stand Your Ground" section? How is this any different from the existing "Castle doctrine"? This is your chance to learn! Be there or be square. Hope everyone with questions will suit up and show up, and ask those questions.

DEAD AIR is planning to be there, so if you have any questions that are specifically about the SYG law, go ahead and ask them here, and I'll see what I can do. Let your voices be heard!

Occupy Easter (and similar sentiments)

Gregg Jocoy, intrepid producer of the fabulous Daisy Deadhead Show, expresses himself. (Photo from last week's Occupation.)





It has been 22 years since I missed any part of the Paschal Triduum. I did not want to write about this fact, until I was certain I could do it. And I wasn't at all sure; I don't mind telling you it is exactly like breaking an addiction. I have tried before and failed.

This year, success. In fact, roaring success, and I have been rewarded with more insights than I readily know what to do with. I will try to record some of these here. Wisdom means nothing if it isn't shared.

~*~

This year is the first year I did not attend Maundy Thursday Mass, Tenebrae (and/or Veneration of the Cross) or the Easter Vigil. It's a very strange sensation, a lot like losing your watch.

I wore a watch for years, and then quit after I got my wrist tattoo. It was jarring at first, then I realized I could estimate the time very well without it, at least within 5-10 minutes.

Going without my annual springtime ritual was daunting. It is so deeply ingrained in my psyche that I thought I might forget who I am. Again, jarring at first, and then I realized (emotionally, not just intellectually) I have entered a faith tradition that maintains the 'unchanging self' is an illusion. There is no reason to chastise myself for impermanence (anicca), and in fact, it is a natural phenomenon we should carefully observe, expect and welcome, as we welcome the seasons.

I have passed through the season of Catholicism.

And when you say it like that, it isn't nearly as scary.

~*~

We had a General Assembly today, Easter Sunday, which made it Occupy Easter. Writing that on a local Facebook page ("Occupy Easter!") got two local dudes all fired up and fuming at me, for reasons I am not sure I understand. Either they believe you should not demonstrate on a Christian holiday, or they believe you should... not quite sure what they were getting at. Apparently putting the two words together, Occupy and Easter, is what upset them so much. I couldn't figure out if they were religious or not, and maybe they couldn't either.

Yes, folks, things are getting mighty weird out there.

As I said on my radio show last week, it appears open racist war has been declared on African-Americans, specifically. The George Zimmerman apologists have streamed out of the woodwork, eagerly congratulating Zimmerman for shooting an unarmed black boy. They are serious too. A 68-year-old black veteran in New York, Kenneth Chamberlain, was shot in his home, apparently because they believed it wasn't really his home. A well-known and respected conservative columnist, John Derbyshire, was fired from the National Review because of a ravingly-racist column he wrote, filled with "talking points" that he shares with his children about how you shouldn't associate with too many blacks, go to heavily-black events, and "before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white." (Yes, I'm afraid it's all like that.)

In addition, the comments on this column were one long, horrific, endless litany of compliments for Derbyshire; the racists safely hidden behind their cute, made-up, untraceable, anonymous screen names like "Paul Ryan" and "HamletsGhost" (I couldn't hold back and added my two cents, of course).

What's going on?

As I believed during the ascent of the misguided Tea Party, I think the fact of a black president has caused them to become thoroughly discombobulated. I can't think of any other reason they have completely flipped their cookies.

I remember my husband replaying one Tea Party clip over and over on YouTube, a woman at a Town Meeting angrily proclaiming she "wanted her country back"--which made us wonder what she was talking about. Does she think she owns the whole country, all by herself? And where did she get an idea like that? Did somebody sell it? (Actually yes, Goldman Sachs did, but that doesn't seem to be what she was referring to.) She was a birther, and announced Obama was born in Kenya, her voice shaking with emotion.

Similarly, one of the angry (white male conservative) commenters who loved the column by racist Derbyshire, features a photo of Detroit in the 50s on the masthead of his blog. He captions the photo: I WANT THAT DETROIT BACK.

And this is the crux of it, isn't it? He wants to go back to the days when blacks were in their place, and they weren't rubbing elbows with the likes of him. One wonders if Mr Rightwing Blogger actually lives in modern-day Detroit? I'll bet he doesn't. He left Detroit willingly, waves of white flight at his back, and then shows tremendous fury that the city no longer belongs to him. And whose fault is that? Why did you leave, in that case?

Derbyshire counsels his children to avoid the multicultural and multiracial public square, to avoid the places and events that have "too many" blacks. And if they do, won't this make his kids even angrier... as Mr Rightwing Blogger is? As the birther-lady was? They have been taught that the blacks are TAKING OVER; the psychology of white flight is that whites and blacks cannot possibly co-exist in the same place. It's very territorial at base--the concept is that the place belongs to THEM or to US, and at some point, critical mass means it's theirs, and the whites run away in droves.

And they nurse the illusion that they have been banished, when in actuality, they have banished themselves.

They blame the blacks for the results of their own racism, as Mr Rightwing Blogger fusses that he wants his "old Detroit" back. Well, where did it go? Answer: white people like him left Detroit for whoever remained, for whoever came after. And then, they can blame the people who stayed, rather than themselves, for their own cowardice. (As I have written before, I have seen this over and over again.) As I read the comments on the Derbyshire piece, filled with taunts to the white liberals, that they should "go for a walk in a multiracial neighborhood"--I was flabbergasted. Do they consider blacks to be WILD ANIMALS, is that it? Because it sure does sound that way.

I comforted myself after reading this racist insanity, by going for a walk in my heavily-black, multiracial neighborhood. I was not accosted a single time.

~*~

My radio show Saturday featured my usual Tea Party-caller and sometime-commenter, who was also the subject of a discussion today, as we Occupied Easter. He is stuck on birth control (uppity women wanting to control their own lives, is a very sore subject with these people) and told me if I wanted government to buy birth control, then I can't complain when government ____ (fill in the blank). I asked him what was the difference between the dreaded Obamacare and Social Security or Medicare? Or government funds paying for Emergency Room treatment in public hospitals?

He replied, finally and truthfully, that he wanted to end all Social Security. Yes, finally, after months of goading, I got him to admit it.

Ending Social Security is basically advocating the mass deaths of sick, old and disabled people. Teabaggers who think this way intend to put disabled people down like dogs, since of course, that will be the actual result of this dogma put into practice. (After all, it was before.)

But we have a modest proposal.

If these conservatives want to renounce Social Security, they should be allowed to do so. (No, they don't get any refunds, just as us anti-war people don't get refunds on our war taxes and us vegetarians don't get refunds on meat-inspection taxes and so forth... sorry about that!) If they publicly announce that Social Security should be ended, we need to present them with an affidavit or some other legal waiver, and get them to sign on the dotted line. (I guess this would necessitate a new law or something, but hey, I am all for it.) This handy-dandy affidavit, which every liberal and card-carrying member of MoveOn shall have on their person at all times (needless to say), will immediately allow the gum-flapping teabagger in question to waive their rights to all future government aid: police, EMS, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, libraries, public schools, water fountains, parks, national monuments, The Smithsonian, etc.

And to enforce this new law, they would have a chip implanted and wear something like a Medic-Alert bracelet, which says: Do Not Resuscitate. If found on road half-dead, leave behind, do not call 911. (We should be able to easily devise a chip that helpfully BEEPS LOUDLY every time they enter public establishments, just like the library books that beep when they haven't been properly checked out.) Think of the huge amounts of money this would save, as the conservatives actually practice what they preach and stop being hypocritical liars! As of course, they will eagerly sign these documents IN DROVES.

I think this is a great idea. Who's with me?

Now, at first, the rise of deaths (leading to far less Republican voters, a pleasant short-term side effect) will alarm everyone, and finally, somebody will cry and squeal as they lay dying (quickly going viral on YouTube) that they are SORRREEEE SORRREEEE SORRREEEEEEEEEEEEE they signed the waiver and tearfully beg, whilst bleeding to death, to be taken to an Emergency Room after an accident. It will probably be some attractive white sorority girl, and it will make the news on all the cable channels for weeks on end. Fox News will plead that this innocent girl could not possibly have known the implications of what she was signing, and didn't intend to waive her ER privileges. She only meant the black people! She didn't know she would ever need an ER! (((sobs))) What a terrible misunderstanding!

And the law will be repealed, and that will be that.

But until then? Sounds like a lot of fun, and I say, introduce the waiver for them to sign IMMEDIATELY! The chip may take a little longer, but if you can implant nervous poodles with a chip to guarantee their way back to their frantic owners, we can certainly implant Tea Partiers with a chip to keep them out of OUR public hospitals and parks. Won't that be GREAT?

After a few dozen of them drop dead, they will get a clue and shut up. Or maybe not!

This means there will be a lot more STUFF for the rest of us.

I admit, I do feel sorry for the disabled children of the Tea Partiers, brainwashed to refuse life-saving medical care. But like they say, in every omelet you break a few eggs, etc. I am sure my Tea Party-caller will understand. And I am sure he will heartily agree about the signing the waiver!

Unless he is another Tea Party hypocrite, of course... and you don't think THAT could be true, do you?

(giggles)

~*~

Hope you all had a happy Easter. Here is DEAD AIR's official Easter song, which of course, I still love. The idea of rebirth and transformation is a recurring theme in all faith traditions.

It always makes me happy.

After the Goldrush - Prelude

Rally for Trayvon Martin

... will be tomorrow at Cleveland Park in Greenville, South Carolina, at 3pm.

Everyone is invited, and Greenville Occupiers will be there in force.

Some background from WYFF:

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The outcry over the shooting death of a 17-year-old in Florida has spread across the country, including the Upstate.

Police said Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman claims the shooting was self-defense.

A 911 call recorded Zimmerman saying he was following Trayvon, despite a police dispatcher telling him not to. Martin was unarmed, and was carrying only a package of Skittles and a can of tea that he had just purchased at a store. Traci Fant, CEO of think2xtwice.org, lives in Greenville. She has a son who is 16, and she said he goes to the store around the corner from their home all the time.

"I think it put a little fear in him, the thought of the whole thing," Fant said.

The mission of Fant's nonprofit group is to get teens to think before they act. She said she's been keeping an eye on what going on in Florida, and it bothers her.

"God just kept telling me to move on it," she said. "So I started called people and asking people if they wanted to do it."

Fant is organizing a rally at 3 p.m. Saturday in Greenville. "We care," she said. "We care about Trayvon and his family. It symbolizes our children. We really want to send the message that South Carolina cares about what happens around the world."

Fant has the support from other people in the community, including Greenville City Councilwoman Jil Littlejohn. "It could have happened in Greenville -- or it could have happened in any other city across the nation," Littlejohn said.

Indeed, it could have, since South Carolina also has a "Stand Your Ground" law, similar to the one in Florida.

The SC AFL-CIO calls for justice for Trayvon's family and stands with Rep. Sellers to repeal South Carolina's "Stand Your Ground Law.":

COLUMBIA, SC: As the country attempts to understand the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the SC AFL-CIO calls for justice for Trayvon's family and supports Rep. Bakari Sellers' proposed bill to repeal the “stand your ground” provision of South Carolina’s “Protection of Persons and Property Act” enacted in 2006.

"We have long had laws on the books that allowed for legitimate self defense," said SC AFL-CIO Vice President Ken Riley. "These new laws are being used by vigilantes to excuse frontier justice against unarmed people. People of color have a deadly serious reason to fear that this law provides bigots an excuse to shoot somebody as their first option to resolve a problem."

The state's "stand your ground" clause was recently used in the defense of a white Spartanburg home owner who shot a homeless man who was squatting in a vacant house for sale. District Solicitor Barry Barnette said the shooting was justified under the "stand your ground" provision of the state law. "Obviously, your have a right to defend your property," Barnette told the Spartanburg Herald Journal about the shooting.

The SC AFL-CIO believes these unnecessary laws conflict with its commitment to equal rights and due process for all citizens. "These new laws have no place on the books of a society that considers itself civilized," Riley said.

The SC AFL-CIO supports Rep. Sellers’ bill that would strike the section the statute that states, “A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in another place where he has a right to be, including, but not limited to, his place of business, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or another person to prevent the commission of a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60."

We will be discussing these issues on my radio show tomorrow morning at 9am, WFIS, 1600AM and/or 94.9FM in upstate South Carolina. And give us a call! Studio phone line: 864-228-WFIS which is also 864-228-9347. To listen via your phone: 724-444-7444, Call ID: 112747#

This gives us a chance to chow down at the Coach House right after the show, and then we will be making our way down to Cleveland Park. I am hoping to meet some of you there.