Odds and Sods - Irish brawlers edition

Last night, I attended the Greenville Antiwar Society's candle lighting vigil in Bergamo Square, downtown. This commemorates the 5th year of the war, and every candle bears the name of a deceased American soldier.

There are now 3988 candles, total.

We've been doing it five years now, and the candles just increase. It's so beautiful, one woman said to me, but how sad every candle represents death.

I'll be posting more photos on the 19th, for the Blogswarm Against the War.

~*~

In the New York Times, Maureen Dowd writes the following:

If only they could see things as the president does. Bush, who used his family connections to avoid Vietnam, told troops serving in Afghanistan on Thursday that he is “a little envious” of their adventure there, saying it was “in some ways romantic.”

Do you BELIEVE this guy? (((shakes head in dumbfounded amazement))) I mean, what can one SAY??

~*~

I've just been listening to a self-defined feminist caller on C-Span berate lefty bloggers for criticizing Hillary. Is there no end to this???? Are we NOT ALLOWED to choose another candidate?

And speaking of feminism, are we allowed to point out that much of the "experience" HRC is nattering on about, was as FIRST LADY, an UNELECTED position?

Speaking of Hill, I just got an email from ((dramatic pause!)) ELTON JOHN! Yes, I'm pretty special to rate emails from VIPs, you are thinking. But no, it's just a mass-mailed invitation to Democrats to go to a pro-Hillary concert at Radio City Music Hall; tickets range from $125 up to $2300. If you raise over $10,000, you are invited to a special reception with Elton John and the Clintons. (Doncha love how they say "the Clintons"--while denying they are using Bill's popularity to whip up support for HRC?) I wouldn't be too interested in partying with policy-wonk Hillary, but of course, one can only imagine the parties Bill and Elton have been to; those might be some jolly fun!

~*~

Left: Also, last night, I saw local band SONIC MARVEL at the Gathering Spot (affectionately known as the G-Spot, by locals).

And on a personal note, speaking of the luck of the Irish, my beautiful almost-red-headed grandbaby (age 2 1/2) has chicken pox and an additional ear infection. :( I miss her SO MUCH, I'd gladly nurse her back to health with nary a complaint or hesitation.

Please send all positive thoughts to the Texas Hill Country!

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Listening to: Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
via FoxyTunes

Happy St Patrick's Day

St Patrick icon from Byzantines.net.





An Irish Airman foresees his Death

by William Butler Yeats (1919)



I KNOW that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

Dead Air Church: Palm Sunday

In the liturgy for Palm Sunday, regular parishioners play the part of the mob, and well-dressed church-goers shout "Crucify him!" It's quite something to see and participate in. The theological lesson sinks in admirably, as intended: I crucified Him, and so did you.

And so, our countercultural equivalent for Dead Air Church: the Grateful Dead's New Speedway Boogie, their song about Altamont.

And it came to pass in 1969, that there was a free concert given by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway on a cold December night, in which the Hells Angels were "hired" as security. (Note: This is fiercely debated, Sonny Barger claimed they were never technically hired in the conventional sense.) By the end of the evening, Meredith Hunter, an 18-year-old black man, would be murdered by "security." This event was captured in the concert documentary, Gimme Shelter, an amazing film.

The Dead were scheduled to play, and ultimately didn't. Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter wrote this song to all who would alternately minimize the event and avoid moral responsibility, as well as to those who would self-righteously judge and second-guess the survivors. It's an amazing song. I've quoted lines here and there numerous times on my blog, but this is the first time I've played the whole thing.

I saw things getting out of hand
I guess they always will.

~*~

The relatively new version of this song I've chosen is by an Australian band known as Black Cab, recorded for their 2004 album, suitably titled Altamont Diary. This version gives the song the psychedelic gravitas it so richly deserves. And I really like this video, which puts events in a 60s/70s druggie context.

Black Cab - New Speedway Boogie

[via FoxyTunes / Black Cab]

Don't forget to pick up your palm leaf before you leave, and have a great Holy Week.

Here I come to save the day!

More fun quizzes from cash for structured settlement.

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Listening to: Etta James - Watch Dog
via FoxyTunes

Former SC State Treasurer sentenced to prison

Left: Thomas Ravenel on his way to court, September 2007, photo by Alan Devorsey of the Greenville News.

Judge delays former treasurer's sentence for 5 months

Friday, March 14, 2008

By Tim Smith
CAPITAL BUREAU

COLUMBIA -- Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was sentenced to 10 months in prison, but the start of the sentence was delayed for 5 months. He also was fined $250,000, including $28,000 restitution to the state for the special election held to replace him.

The delay is to see what comes from the information Ravenel and his co-defendant Michael Miller, provided investigators.

A third man charged in the case, Pasquale Pellicoro, an Italian citizen, fled before his arraignment and has been sought ever since by the FBI. He was charged in a second indictment in the case, following the original indictment of Ravenel and Miller.

"We’re still looking for him," McDonald said today.

Ravenel, a Charleston multimillionare, and Miller, a Mount Pleasant disc jockey, are scheduled to be sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson.

Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine. Miller also pleaded guilty to a count of distribution of cocaine.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but a pre-trial report recommended 10-16 months for Ravenel, according to his lawyers.

Miller sold cocaine to Ravenel, who used it and gave it to friends, according to prosecutors.

In their "downward departure" motion filed Thursday, prosecutors argued that Ravenel and Miller had been cooperative.

"He has given a complete debriefing of his participation in the drug conspiracy and the participation of others involved in the conspiracy and provided the government with historical information concerning drug distribution in the Charleston area," prosecutors stated in identical motions for both men.

"Based upon this information, the government has indicted another individual who is a fugitive from justice."

Common Cause of South Carolina, a non-profit watchdog group, has asked Anderson to require that Ravenel pay for the cost of the special session by lawmakers to choose his replacement, said John Crangle, director of the organization. If Anderson follows the group’s suggestion, he said, it would be a first in the nation.

"The significance of it in our view is this is a national precedent," he said. "No judge, as far as we can tell, has ever required a public official who is a criminal defendant to do this kind of restitution before."

He said the cost totaled about $30,000. If other federal judges were to follow such a precedent, he said, it could mean defendants who were congressmen would have to repay states millions of dollars for the cost of the elections held to select their replacement.

Ravenel and Miller were indicted last summer by a federal grand jury.

Gov. Mark Sanford suspended Ravenel, and Ravenel resigned in September and pleaded guilty.

Miller originally also faced a state charge of trafficking in cocaine. The charge was later dropped, and he was indicted on seven counts of distribution of cocaine. Miller pleaded guilty last year to one of those counts.

Giving Ravenel a break is justified, his lawyers argued in a motion earlier this year.

"He has already begun actively trying to make amends in a variety of ways ranging from treatment and resignation to cooperating with law enforcement authorities," lawyers E. Bart Daniel and Gedney Howe wrote in their motion. "The additional punishment of jail time is not necessary in this instance."

The lawyers described his crime as a "modest scale, first-time offense."

"It is unusual in terms of the manner of distribution," they argued in their motion. "The offense has already carried with it severe and much publicized ramifications for Mr. Ravenel. Mr. Ravenel has and is learning from this experience."

Daniel declined to comment this week on his client’s sentencing.

Both men are free on bond. Miller was briefly detained late last year after he was arrested by Mount Pleasant police on charges of striking an officer and disorderly conduct.

Leaders of the black community told The Greenville News in November that African-Americans in the state are watching the case to see how Miller is treated in comparison to Ravenel, a white 45-year-old Charleston multimillionare.

Former U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd has said what is important isn’t that both men are treated equally, since the facts of their cases are different, but that both are treated fairly.

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Listening to: Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
via FoxyTunes