Day #83 of Self-Isolation

[shadowkat]

Long day..drifting towards another...and another...

1. Me vs. New Desk Chair

Things are slowly re-opening here, but I'm still working from home remotely. It has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side - my balance and equilibrium have been slightly off all day long - so not a good day to take mass transit or go to the office. Thankfully, I did not have to.

Instead I spent the morning trying to figure out how to fix my new chair - because apparently it is supposed to have five wheels and it only came with four.

(Ordering furniture online is kind of like rolling dice. Hence the reason I rarely buy furniture and hate doing it. I'm rarely satisfied. And no, it's not possible to go to a furniture store and look around - I do not have a car and can't just go do that. If I could - I would have done it. I have tried to do it that why. I'm kind of heading you off at the pass there.)

Anyhow before anyone rags on Amazon - Amazon was actually extremely helpful. A kind lady from Tampa helped me find wheels and order them, stating that I'd be getting a $40 promo to cover the cost of the wheels. They come in a five pack. She spent a lot of time hunting down the manufacturer, asking them for the code for the wheels, then hunting the wheels in Amazon's site. I was rather impressed - and had me on the phone and told me what she was doing the whole way. Best customer service I've had in a long time. (The way you get hold of customer service on Amazon is you hit the "contact" and then "chat" and then "ask that they call you". It's hard to find but once you are there - quite helpful.)

The chair's okay - it's better than the one I had previously. I had gotten on sale. It should be much better when I'm able to pop in the fifth wheel.

So, the wheels are coming on Thursday. Hopefully this will be an easy fix. The chair is better than the other one I had, but I miss the one in my office. I had finally gotten the perfect set-up in my office, a standup desk, two monitors, a tower, a good keyboard, and a great leath chair. I'm annoyed. I want that set-up at home and I can't get it.

Oh well, it could be worse. Must look on the bright side.

2. Me vs. Sinus Headache From Hell

It cleared up this morning. I took my blood pressure - it was down, well down after I ate at any rate. Or where it should be.

Then high again this afternoon. I took another walk around Greenwood Cemetery - a long one. And came back with a sneeze and a sinus headache. Thank you, tree pollan and freshly mown grass. I think I may be allergic to Greenwood Cemetery. To be fair, I'm kind of allergic to the outdoors and the indoors...it's just a question of severity.

But I hadn't been getting the sinus headaches...possibly the air pressure?
God knows.

3. Black Lives Matter

Yes, the protests are still going on. Actually, you probably already know that since they appear to worldwide or global at the moment. The New York Times had a picture of folks protesting six feet apart in Edingburough, Scotland (which honestly is much brighter than what people are doing here - and we wonder why the US has the most COVID cases in the world at the moment, the US is stupid. Righteous yes, but also stupid.)

On the way back from Greenwood Cemetery - I walked past a few women putting together signs for the nightly banging of pots, and protesting for Black Lives Matter - while at the same time applauding the efforts of the essential health care workers. They've kind of combined the two now.
I gave her a thumbs up and clapped. She smiled at me. It was a warm moment of solidarity between two strangers - these moments are happening more and more now. It makes me feel a little less alone and isolated in this crazy bustling city. But the truth is - it's kind of impossible to be alone or isolated in NYC. Lonely yes. Alone and isolated? Not so much.

There is some good news on the BLM front - Congressional Democrats are rushing legislation to Propose a Broad Bill to Target Police Misconduct and Racial Biasis. I seriously doubt it will get passed - but the fact that the Republican run Senate won't pass it, will most likely be another nail in the Republican's coffin. The Republicans have basically done every possible thing they can think of to make this situation worse. (Fed up I donated some money to both Jaime Harris (South Carolina against old bigoted fart Lindsey Graham) and Amy McGrath (Kentucky against demon spawn Mitch McConnell). )

President Trump said that he had ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from Washington after three former Joint Chiefs chairmen condemned his use of military force in response to protests. [ He claimed that they'd done their job and weren't needed any more and took full credit for the decision of course. Only people who don't follow the news still support the asshole.]

Senator Mitt Romney marched with protesters yesterday, becoming one of the first prominent Republicans to do so. He posted photos of himself at a march in Washington, along with the message, “Black Lives Matter.” [I'm thinking Mitt may be the only Republican re-elected next year? So far he's the only one who stood up for the impeachment, pushed for the states to get funding, and marched with the protestors.]

Meanwhile the Minneapolis City Council is thinking of doing away with the police force or rethinking it
-This is not as simple as it looks. Minnesota and Minneapolis have multiple police forces and different unions.

And according to my New York Times briefing this morning...the big problem is that cops lie...



An encounter in Buffalo last Thursday — in which two police officers shoved a 75-year-old man to the ground and left lying him there while blood poured out of his ear — was troubling partly because of the original police account. [ Which was enough to motivate the Governor to take the bull by the horns and take action. It pissed him off, royally.]

The account claimed that the man “was injured when he tripped and fell.” If a video hadn’t existed, the truth might never have come out.

That’s a widespread problem:

In Philadelphia last week, the police said that a man had pushed an officer off his bike; a video instead showed an officer striking the man with a baton.

In a suburb of Sacramento in April, a police officer punched a 14-year-old boy multiple times while arresting him; the officer’s report didn’t mention the punches.

The Minneapolis police’s account of George Floyd’s death initially left out the most important details, like the knee pressed on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University, who has analyzed thousands of police reports, told CNN that lies like these were fairly common.

Activists in the current protest movement have begun to focus on how they can turn the rallies of the past 10 days into lasting change, to reduce both racism and police brutality. And reducing the frequency of false reports by the police is likely to be a key issue.

Already, reform-minded prosecutors and police chiefs have taken some steps in the last few years. The top prosecutor in St. Louis, Kim Gardner, has stopped accepting new cases or search warrant requests from officers with a history of misconduct or lies. In Philadelphia and Seattle, prosecutors are creating similar “do not call” lists, The Marshall Project has reported.

Chris Magnus, the police chief in Tucson, Ariz., told the Marshall Project: “If I had my way, officers who lie wouldn’t just be put on a list, they’d be fired, and also not allowed to work in any other jurisdiction as a police officer ever again.” Often, though, police-union contracts prevent firing even officers with a record of brutality and dishonesty — which then casts a shadow over the many police officers who tell the truth.

(The Times published an investigation this weekend, explaining how police unions have amassed political power and blocked change.)

False police reports are not a new problem. What’s new are the videos that have caused people to realize how common they are. “When I was a reporter, it was the police officer’s word against the victim’s or suspect’s,” Jamie Stockwell, a deputy national editor at The Times, told me. “Cellphone video has changed the debate over policing.”



After reading this, I've decided the police are really stupid. Honestly they have video cameras on them all the time. The Governor basically said the same thing, which I appreciated. My apologies to all the daytime soap operas and television dramas that have depicted the police as abusive idiots - you were right - they are.

Meanwhile on Facebook this morning, once again, because the Universe has a sense of humor, I found myself on the opposite side of the argument. A while back, when all this first happened, about a week or so ago, I wondered why people were protesting in NY and Brooklyn over a killing in Minneapolis - when the perpetuators had been caught. And I got attacked.

I, however, am proud to say that I did not attack this poor woman or anyone who has said this to me. Why? I can sort of see her confusion. I mean it's not like George Floyd's death is unusual or anything. [That's the problem - it's NOT unusual. Not at all. And George Floyd is by no means the first black man who these cops did it too. My mother told me over the phone that when she watched the video - it reminded her of slavery. ]

So why now? At the height of a pandemic? And why him? Why not Breonna Taylor, or Eric Garner, or oh so many others before them. I mean I've been discussing and fighting this issue since 1992, where were the rest of you guys, hiding under rocks? No, you were most likely oblivious - because back in the 1990s and well into the 00s, unless you worked in criminal defense or were involved in human rights advocacy, you didn't see how fucked up our justice system is or you were too busy fighting other social justice issues - that may or may not have pertained more directly to you.

I did see it. Lando and I used to have very long discussions about it at work from 2008 until roughly 2019. I know, for example, that the death penalty is racist and that the majority of people who get it are black. But most people don't know that. They don't know that many of the black men serving time in jail - are innocent or were pushed into a corner or were charged unfairly. I read the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in the 1990s and saw that a black man dealing crack or in possession with crack - would get 10-20 years, while a white guy dealing or in possession of cocaine got maybe a few months if that. But this was before the internet, before social media, before every cell phone had a camera...and people could lie easier back then. Systematic racism is built on lies and coverups and justifications. I heard them all. But most people? Oblivious.

But now...as the Governor pointed out - everything is recorded. I watched a woman videotaping a tree moving in the wind. I could do the same. It's harder to hide under a rock now. Harder to be oblivious. Not with information sent to you 24/7. So George Floyd's death instead of being a blip on the back page of a newspaper - was international news. The whole world saw it. Just as the woman filing the false police report against a black man in Central Park became international news. It's not just Big Brother watching right now - it's everyone, including the dog and the cats.

Instead I calmly explained that people are still protesting after the wrong-doers were charged because it was never about George Floyd or his death. If George Floyd had died two years ago, nothing would have happened. If he had lived - nothing would have happened. If he'd been shot - most likely nothing would have happened - although hard to know, but considering nobody did anything when the last 100 or so were...

No, it's connected to COVID-19. George Floyd said he could not breath. He'd just recovered from COVID. People were on respirators and dying - because they could not breath daily in hospitals. George Floyd became symbolic of all the people who died before him that we could not save.

It's because most of the people who died of COVID in the US are black. The week George Floyd died - the New York Times had published an obituary page with a 1000 names - representative of the 100,000 people in the US who had died of COVID-19, a high percentage of which were black Americans. It's partly and in large part due to the economic, educational, healthcare inequalities.

But mainly, people are protesting now... because most people can't ignore what they saw in the video. They can't look away anymore. George Floyd isn't another name on a very long list - his a face and a voice on a video with a man smiling above him, while that man is crushing the air out of him. And because every day we were being told how many people had died. Every day. For 90 days. Now 100.

We'd just learned 100,000 Americans had died of COVID-19. And we were tired of staying at home. Tired of being impotent in the face of lurking death. Here, finally, was an enemy we could fight and take our frustrations out on - the police suffocating a poor unarmed man on the ground. The police were COVID-19, and the man was us. It was as simple as that.

If it were for any other reason - the protests would have happened with Breonna Taylor (who I honestly thought was far worse, but her murder seemed buried somehow in the news - maybe because it wasn't recorded), or all the others that came before - an endless list of names. 100s of names. HUNDREDS.
I remember sitting in Weaving the Fabric of Diversity Meetings at church (our church's social justice group) and Forums trying to figure out how to fight it. And finally, I just gave up. I just couldn't do it any more. It hurt too much. And they held forums. We had a banner. It was stolen so many times, that the church took it down and put a sign behind the glass.


I remember discussing all of this with my friend and co-worker, J, a year or so ago. She asked me what I thought needed to happen for things to change. For people to wake up? And I said that in order for major change to happen in this country in the world - something catastrophic would have to happen. It would have to hit people personally. Affect them personally. So badly, it would knock them out of their comfort zone. They'd have to lose something.Right now, I told her - this was last year - people are too comfortable. They don't care about other people, they can ignore it.

When COVID-19 hit, I looked at J - and said, remember what we discussed, how something major had to happen?? I think this may be it. This is going to hit people where they live - it's a major ground-shifting event.

Over three million people around the world may be dead by the end of 2021. Possibly before. It may be more than that. It's scary to think that 3 million or more may have to die of a virus before change can happen. Just as it was more than 1000 black men and women who had to die of police brutality....before...

THIS HAD TO HAPPEN.

Before we could stop hurting one another and putting money, personal possessions, television shows, movies, books, jewelry, our own comfort, etc before human life. What does that say about us as a species? Are we worth saving? Sometimes I wonder. I wondered it every day of 2019 and for the first part of 2020. Are we, the human race, worth saving? I honestly couldn't see much to say we were...

As I walk around the cemetery - I wonder this. The trees stand ever patient, silent sentinels. Guarding over the dead. I hugged one today. Put my arms around as far as they could go and hugged a tree. Feeling its kindness, its patience, its wisdom flood into me. Trees have a certain kind of energy..something strong, and pure, and so old and so wise. It's like feeling connected to something far greater than oneself. And in that moment, I no longer felt just connected to humanity but to the earth beneath my feet even though it makes me sneeze.



4. New York vs. the Corona Virus

In our daily installment of New York vs. the Corona Virus - folks, some good news. New York has beaten back the Corona Virus.

Governor of New York: Today is Day 100 since we had our first confirmed COVID case in New York State. And with New York City entering Phase 1 today, the entire state is in the reopening process. At the outset, no one knew how long it would take us to control the virus. But we did understand that it all depended on our actions. I'm so proud of how New Yorkers responded. Together we bent the curve. When things are tough, New Yorkers are tougher. Now we will move forward by region smartly.

We have a 1% infection rate - the lowest to date. The state is re-opening. 450,000 people went back to work today in New York City. (Some of us never left - I've been working remotely and if I weren't doing it remotely, I'd have been doing it at the office - I'm considered essential apparently. I don't feel essential. I'm just keeping a bunch of vital construction projects going at the moment.)

Here's what else you need to know tonight:

1. "NY is launching the "It's Up To Us, New York" campaign to remind New Yorkers to keep doing their part to fight Coronavirus. The campaign will appear across social media, on MTA buses and trains and on billboards across the state. I want to remind New Yorkers that masks are mandatory when riding public transportation systems and to follow all guidelines and protocols when riding, including maintaining social distancing to the extent possible, using hand sanitizer and observing decal guidance." - He's trying to get everyone to wear masks and use hand sanitizers and social distance. He's like a gruff cheerleader.

2. "The MTA is taking unprecedented steps to keep riders and workers safe, including cleaning and disinfecting trains and buses daily. Since May 6th, the MTA has cleaned and disinfected 30,000 stations and cleaned and disinfected 500,000 subway cars. The MTA is also piloting the use of proven UV light technology to clean subway cars and crew facilities. The state is deploying over one million masks, and 25,000 gallons and 500,000 2-oz. bottles of sanitizer for the MTA for reopening." - Which means I don't have to be terrified of the subway any longer - I was for most of Feb through May. (I was still taking it in Feb and March.) And damn, a clean subway - it's almost worth taking it just to check that out - probably won't be that clean when I'm on it at 3:30 PM.

3. "New York City is now eligible to resume elective surgeries and ambulatory care. I previously announced that the state will allow elective outpatient treatments to resume in counties and hospitals without significant risk of COVID-19 surge in the near term." - which means doctor's appointment will not be a problem next week.

4. "We continue to focus efforts on reducing the infection rate of COVID-19 in New York City hotspot neighborhoods where residents have been most impacted by the virus. In partnership with Northwell Health and SOMOS Community Care, the state is opening 14 new temporary testing sites at churches located in communities that were hit hardest by COVID." - Guess where these are? In the low income neighborhoods that are heavily black and immigrant communities.

5. "I encourage all New Yorkers who have participated in recent protests to get tested for COVID-19. There are now more than 240 testing sites in New York City, and the state is prioritizing 15 testing sites across the city for individuals who have participated in recent protests. More information on where and how to get tested is available at coronavirus.health.ny.gov. Getting a test is easy and it's the responsible thing to do." - Hee Hee. I swear he is obsessed with testing. A college friend reported today on FB that Arizona has an uptick in cases and is in trouble - because they didn't start testing until late and didn't realize they were off until May. See, Arizona counted on the CDC and Federal Government and followed its dictates.
New York didn't. She said - "oh you were lucky", and I said, "No, luck had nothing to do with it. New York figured out it had cases - and the CDC and the Federal Government refused to let New York test back in February, so NY thought - okay, the heck with that, we're going to develop our own test and do it ourselves. Of course they had to get it approved by the FDA - or it wouldn't be considered official. Which took some time - yet less time than it took the CDC to approve testing. Once they did that - they discovered they had more cases than anyone else and were in deep shit. Which motivated them to develop their own testing situation, and get everything on their own, attempting along the way to get federal government reimbursement.

If this crisis has proven anything to us - it's proven two things: 1) The Federal Government is useless. 2) The Republican hierarchy or people in charge of that party are greedy demonic bastards with no souls.


New York continues to amaze me. It is a tough little state. You can knock New York down but its going to come up swinging.

I leave you with...trees..

Comments

[rogin]

It really helps to read your optimistic outlook on the demise of the republican party. Over here we just wait for the shoe to drop and Trump being re-elected, officially wasting the last years we have left to slow down climate change.

And yes, BLM demos are a thing all over Europe now. Which is great to see.

[shadowkat]

It's hard to see all the cracks from a far, I think?

In the US - climate change is kind of the least of the problems at the moment.

It's sort of like looking at a neighbor's lawn or house, and thinking I really wish they'd change that security system - the alarm is driving me nuts, when the neighbor's house is being broken into nightly or they are fighting off a nasty husband and keep pushing the button as a means of getting rid of that husband.

So what you're seeing is not the whole picture? All you have to do is watch the Governor of NY's press briefings daily - to see all the cracks. The Federal Government has done nothing to help in this crisis. All they've done is make everything worse. And there were lots of opportunities presented to them - early on. Such as giving money to the states, not the corporations. Bailing out the state health care and infrastructure not the airlines. And giving checks to the people struggling, not those who don't need them. Not to mention funding the CDC so that there were enough tests available early on. Etc. Etc.

Less people would be dead in the US if any of the above had been done.

They've done every thing wrong. The massive scale of their failure is overwhelming in a way.

There are people registering to vote right now that haven't voted in years.

[rogin]

I agree that it is hard to see from afar. I think you need to be there inside, to feel a true change of public mood happening. Which is why it makes me so happy to read that you think this mood swing is finally happening

Trump has always looked like a murder clown from over here. Even though no one expected Corona, it was pretty clear that his elections would lead to a pile of corpses in and outside the US. So I am still afraid, that this is actually what his followers wanted. But I am very very happy if I am wrong here.

[shadowkat]

What you didn't see is that his followers are actually the minority. But it's hard to know that - because of the media and the polls and the election. The reason he got elected isn't because he was popular - but because a lot of people either didn't vote, voted third party, or thought he was the lesser of two evils, or were thinking letting him win would result in Bernie and a revolution. So many factors at play.

Right now, the group who thought he was the lesser of two evils - have realized they made a huge mistake, and the group that didn't vote - is like, fuck, what did I do? And the group that went third party - is kind of sputtering.

Also Hillary isn't in the picture. And the Democrat candidate isn't hated like Hillary was. Trump is now kind of in that place Hillary was previously - people hate him like they did her.

The pattern is showing he's on his way out. You can't spin-doctor a virus.

[rogin]

Yeah, I think it is the electoral college that I am worried about. Hillary did win the popular vote after all by a large margin.

And over here they only ever report nationwide polls from the US, never those of the individual states that would show, how secure Biden's lead really is. I hope he makes it. Not that I am remarkably hopeful about Biden bringing about the change we need at the speed we need it, but at least he is not going to work more into the "burn it all to the ground" direction.

[shadowkat]

Well, in 2016, Hillary led in all the nationwide polls. She was leading pretty much up to the email reveal. People voted for Trump because of the emails.

Don't pay any attention to the polls or the marketing. Also a lot can happen between now and November. Up until March - people thought it would Sanders vs. Warren. Biden surprised a lot of people. (I wanted Warren.) It wasn't what the polls had indicated.

To do a poll - they randomly select people based on a database. Not everyone is polled. And they ask really dumb questions and are really annoying. I know I've hung up on them, and I've been tempted to give the opposite of what I think.

Polls are what the campaigns use to figure out how to get donations and where to put their energy, but they are highly unreliable.

[rogin]

Yes, sure. But the polls were not so off last time if you really looked at the individual state level.

Nationwide polls are meaningless, due to the electoral college. Were they even off last time? I think Hillary got voted ahead of Trump within the expected margin. Just not in the key swing states.

I would have liked Warren best too and lefty candidates had a lot more passionate followers. That's why it seemed so hopeful for them. But yeah, my aunt on Cape Cod also said, she'll vote for Biden (even though she preferred Sanders) after refusing to vote for Clinton last time (would have made no difference anyway, since her vote would have counted for nothing in a state that was already 60% for Clinton)

I wonder if there are any real movements to abolish the electoral college. It must be so frustrating to realize that depending were you live your vote counts more or less than others.

[shadowkat]

Well, the electoral college isn't the reason he got elected, it's one of them. Also, it's more complicated. How to explain?

Imagine you are a member of the European Union, and Austria is a state in the European Union. Austria has a certain number of delegates and votes in the election of the leader of the Union. But its population is say lower than Germany or France. With the number of delegates that you were provided - you get say 10 votes. If you did away with that number of delegates - your population would be counted, and your population is say 3% - or a 3% voting power, in comparison to France, a more populous country with say 40%. Under the electoral college - you'd have have 10, France maybe 20. With popular voting, you'd have a 3% say, and France a 40% say. Is Austria going to do away with electoral college to give France more voting power?

To do away with the electoral college - all 50 states have to agree. That means a state like say Hawaii or Iowa or Kansas, would have to literally go to maybe 2% or 1 % voting power, and the decision would be decided by New York, California, Illinois, and Boston - would they ratify for that?

That's why we can't just do away with the electoral college.

[rogin]

Yeah, that is a democratic problem of federal entities. In the EU it is the veto power that gives smaller states a way to throw a wrench into any developments. It is not good there either. one of the big reasons why the EU is failing in so many ways is that it is unable to make decisions.

The US doesn't have this problem but instead, they have these neverending stories of small rural states being overrepresented in the presidential elections. And I am sure you are right that they will never give up that advantage.

[shadowkat]

Again more complicated than that.

The electoral college wasn't really the problem - what was the problem is well...this:

"Chloe Mexile Benard got in line to vote in the Atlanta suburbs at 7:30 a.m. yesterday, according to The Guardian. She did not vote until almost noon.

Marneia Mitchell, a stationery designer in Atlanta, was starting her fourth hour of waiting in line when she told The Times, “It’s despicable.”

And Greg Bluestein, a politics reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, called yesterday’s primary elections in Georgia “like nothing we’ve ever experienced.”

In several counties around Atlanta, voting machines malfunctioned, and thin staffing because of the coronavirus left fewer poll workers to deal with it. As a result, many Georgia residents had to choose between enduring hours in line or losing their right to vote.

Yesterday’s problems were worse than usual — partly a result of recently bought voting machines — but were also part of a much larger issue. In no other affluent country do citizens regularly have as hard a time voting as they do in the United States. Most of our elections are held on workdays, and a shortage of election equipment and workers often forces people to wait in long lines.

The waits tend to be longest for African-Americans. One study of the 2016 election, using smartphone location data, found that voters in black neighborhoods waited 29 percent longer on average than voters in white neighborhoods.

And as was the case in the 1950s and ’60s, Georgia has again become a battleground over voting rights. In the 2018 midterms, the state had the country’s longest waiting times, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center analysis. Republicans in Georgia, who control most of the state government, have frequently opposed efforts by Democrats to make voting more accessible.

It was not fully clear why yesterday’s lines were worse in the Atlanta area than elsewhere in Georgia. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, blamed local officials — who are heavily Democratic — and said they had not properly trained election workers. Local officials, in turn, blamed him, saying he had not provided adequate training resources. Virus fears among election workers and high turnout, after George Floyd’s killing, may also have played a role.

“No corner of the state had a fully functional voting experience,” The Times reported. Michael McDonald, an elections expert at the University of Florida, wrote: “I have never seen the scale of election failures happening in Georgia today. This does not bode well for November.”

[chroniclesofdylan]

That was wonderful customer service you received from Amazon - I'm glad they were able to help so much and I hope you're able to fix the chair as smoothly!

[rose_griffes]

It is truly mind-boggling just how many lies have been told by police in various places in just the last week or two.

I've started looking a bit more at news sources like Mother Jones; they were the first to report that the tires slashed in Minneapolis over a week ago were, in fact, slashed by law enforcement. (Law enforcement lied for over a week about it.)
https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/06/videos-show-cops-slashing-car-tires-at-protests-in-minneapolis/

Oh, and this one finally has an admission from someone from the Dept. of Public Safety, but it includes another a lie:
https://www.startribune.com/officers-slashed-tires-on-vehicles-parked-during-mpls-protests-unrest/571105692/

[shadowkat]

It goes back further than that. I remember working in the Public Defender's Office in Olatha, Kansas back in the 1990s - and the lawyers I worked with telling me to watch one asshole of a cop on the stand during a involuntary manslaughter trial. The man lied through his teeth and was a bastard. I couldn't believe it.

Then of course the OJ Simpson trial and the horrible cops that worked that case.

People lie -- it's amazing how often they do.

[yourlibrarian]

Love the contrast of that top tree photo! It's very striking.

[shadowkat]

Thank you. I love those trees - they are really cool - I think they are Japanese Maples.