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Saturday, April 25, 2015

Unarmed Black Man, Freddie Gray, Killed By White Cops In Baltimore

(BALTIMORE)—Freddie Gray should have received medical attention at the spot where he was arrested—before he was put inside a police van, authorities said Friday.
Commissioner Anthony Batts said the investigation is being refined and the picture is getting “sharper and sharper.” He did not elaborate.Baltimore police have come under intense scrutiny after Gray was taken into custody and suffered an unexplained spinal injury that led to his death. Six officers have been suspended with pay as local police and federal authorities investigate.
As for calls for his resignation, he said: “That’s not going to happen.”
Gray, who is black, was arrested April 12 after he made eye contact with officers and ran away, police said. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into a police van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.
Gray was not buckled in by a seat belt, a violation of the police department’s policy.
He asked for medical help several times, and after a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called. At some point — either during his arrest or inside the van — he suffered a mysterious spinal injury. Authorities have not explained how or when it occurred.
Deputy police commissioner Kevin Davis said Friday that Gray should have received medical attention at the spot of his arrest. Bystander video shows Gray screaming as officers carried him to the van, his legs appearing limp.
After a week of protests, people angry over the death promised their biggest march Saturday, when they would try to “shut down” the city. The demonstrators say Gray’s death shows police mistreatment of blacks in Baltimore and throughout the country.
The mayor thanked protesters for being peaceful so far. She expects the results of the investigation to be turned over to prosecutors in a week, and they will decide whether any criminal charges will be filed.
“I will not deny we have had a very long and complicated history on issues such as these,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. “But it’s important to remember that we have an equally long history of peaceful and legal protest.”
Asked if Gray’s possible “rough ride” is a one-off, the mayor said: “It’s clearly not a one-off. The reason we have the policy around seat belts in the police vans is because of an incident that happened previously,” referring to Dondi Johnson. He died of a fractured spine in 2005 after he was arrested for urinating in public and transported without a seat belt, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The leader of a group of local ministers called on Batts to resign immediately.
“It seems that no one in the police department can explain what happened,” said the Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Baltimore.
He said the police department is “in disarray” and Batts has shown a “lack of viable leadership capabilities.”
The mayor appeared to back the police commissioner at her own news conference.
The president of a black lawyers’ group predicted thousands of people would turn out Saturday, when good weather is forecast and the Orioles are hosting the Boston Red Sox in a Major League Baseball game.
“Things will change on Saturday, and the struggle will be amplified,” said Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice.
Shabazz rejected the notion that he was an outside agitator who would stir up trouble.
Bernard Young, Baltimore City Council president said prior to a rally on Thursday that he hoped citizens wouldn’t let “outside forces come in here and dictate how we act by destroying our infrastructure.”
“We can lead ourselves. We’re capable of doing that,” he said.
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Killer Cops: Best Pax Posts

American Cops Fired More Bullets At One NYC Man Than All German Cops Fire In A Year

One Small Town's Cops Have Killed More People Than Combined Police Of Germany And U.K.

Cop Arrested After Video Shows Her Shoot Unarmed Man in Back Lying Face Down in the Snow

American Plutocracy: Who's Punished And Who's Not

Australian Comedian Jim Jeffries Nails 2nd Amendment Evangelists
(This is a great companion piece to Jeffries shtick below.)

Walter Scott’s Killing Is the Sum of Every Black Nightmare About White Cops

You Will Remember This White Woman's "F_____ Nigger" Rant The Rest Of Your Life

"Bad Black People." Why Bill O'Reilly Is Wrong Even When He's Right

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Miscarriage Of Justice And Misplaced Punishment
Compendium Of Pax Posts On Violent Criminals And Violent Police

The Future Of Race In America: TED Talk By Michelle Alexander, Author Of "The New Jim Crow"


Pax On Both Houses: Compendium Of U.S. Prison System Posts

The Caging Of America: Why Do We Lock Up So Many People?
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/caging-of-america-why-do-we-lock-up-so.html

"The Caging Of America: American Prisons Routinely Used To Incarcerate The Mentally Ill. 500,000 Behind Bars"

Open Season On Unarmed Black Men. White Cop Kills Another Innocuous Black Man

Selma, "Glory" And America's Astronomical Incarceration Rate
Particularly For Blacks
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/selma-common-and-john-legend-win-best.html

Republican Party Is "Full Of Racists," Colin Powell's Chief Of Staff
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/10/republican-party-is-full-of-racists.html

"Non-Racist" Gringos Cheer Black Man Who Would "Ventilate Black Asses With M16s"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/non-racist-gringos-cheer-black-man-who.html

The Daily Show Interviews Republican Official Who Spills Beans On Deliberate Voter Suppression 
Masquerading As Prevention Of Voter Fraud


"Gun Cartoons and Gun Violence Bibliography"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/07/gun-cartoons-and-gun-violence.html

American Cops Fire More Bullets At One NYC Man Than All German Cops Fire In A Year

1 Small Town's Cops Have Killed More People Than Combined Police Of Germany And U.K.

Diane Rehm Guest Gets To The Nub Of Police Violence And How Easily It's Prevented

Cleveland Police Shoot And Kill 12 Year Old With Toy Gun

"Given FL's "Stand Your Ground Law," Can This Black Woman Kill The White Cop Who Assaulted Her?"

Harvard's Steve Pinker Notes Slight Uptick In Violence In A Much More Peaceful World

"Shark Attacks Rise Worldwide: Risk Assessment And Aquinas' Criteria For Sin"

"Faulty Risk Assessment And The Epidemic Spread Of Self-Terrorization

Pax On Both Houses: Compendium Of U.S. Prison System Posts

Whites Think Discrimination Against Them Is A Bigger Problem Than Bias Against Blacks

"Why Would You Confess If You Didn't Do It?"

Fact: "Two hundred people confessed to the Linbergh kidnap-murder."

After My Mugging c. 1970, The Police Pressured Me To Give False Testimony

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Miscarriage Of Justice And Misplaced Punishment

Frontline: A Rape-Murder Case Involving A Daisy Chain Of 4 False Confessions

NC Man Found Innocent Of Fatal Stabbings After 37 Years In Prison

Oh, right... That perp was a white guy.

***

Another white guy:

In America, Big Time Terrorism Started With Angry, White, Prototypal Tea Bag Veteran, Timothy McVeigh



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Digital Fasting: A Way To Develop "Sabbath Rhythm"


The [digital] fast I choose | On developing a rhythm of sabbath

February 27th, 2012 
Holy one,
You formed the cosmos and all that is within. You spoke your creation into motion. And when you saw it was good; we were good, you rested. You ceased. Help me to understand what it means to stop, to refrain from the busyness that has caused me to forget–us to forget–that you have called us sons and daughters–not slaves. Renew in us a desire to rest in you.
Busy and Proud of it?
I am guilty of speaking openly about my busyness.
Perhaps unintentionally.
When someone asks, “How are you?” a typical response, after sighing, involves some commentary on my growing list of things to do for the week for work or school, a complaint about what project didn’t quite get done the week before or the reading response that’s due in a few hours. There are moments when I catch myself doing this and change the subject, realizing that’s probably not the response the inquirer was expecting.
I’m sure this isn’t endemic to me or even to Western culture, though I will say our correlation between busyness and worth is much more visible in the United States. When I consider my own Filipino cultural understanding of the work ethic of industriousness or being masipag, it seems inevitable that rest just doesn’t have space in my life.
Reclaiming sacred space
This digital age in which we live has made it easy for us to stay connected in more ways than I imagine are healthy. Twitter. Facebook. Email. Text. Chat. Oh, and phone calls–probably the least used function of today’s mobile device. I had a classmate in my grad program who worked for a company that designed mirror TVs. That’s right–a television embedded in your bathroom mirror. Even in the restroom we can’t be left alone to our own thoughts.
You’ve seen these scenarios play out. You’ve likely participated in one: facebooking at dinner, texting while driving, answering just that one email while on vacation. It seems we simply cannot unplug. Why? Are we expecting breaking news to hit while we finish our salad? Are we multitasking thinking we are saving ourselves time later? Is it that it’s human nature to want to stay connected, and now we have no shortage of tools that enable this?
At what point did we make this jump from pagers, cell phones, smart phones and pocket PCs being periphery communication devices to masters of our time and affection? Perhaps this wasn’t even a conscious decision. Make no mistake, though: we do have a choice in the ways we give out our attention–a scarce commodity these days. Scott Belsky, in an article entitled, What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking & Sacred Space challenges us to reclaim what he calls ‘sacred space.’ We can no longer assume that our drives to work, bus rides and spaces where we could typically unplug, will remain unconnected. For this very reason we must be intentional about not just carving out but protecting–safeguarding–these spaces.
A Biblical provision for Sabbath
Western culture’s association with productivity is killing us. We see it all the time—60+ hour work weeks, no time for family  or friends and the sinking feeling that we can squeeze in one more thing during our downtime. How does this play out in a work environment where more is expected of you, sometimes without regard for those needed boundaries—our church settings included? Eugene Peterson, inThe Good-for-Nothing Sabbath cautions us to seek a biblical and not cultural understanding of Sabbath. One that does not trivialize  Sabbath by designating it “a day off” but that allows us to “enter realms of spirit where wonder and adoration have a place to develop, and where play and delight have time to flourish” [Peterson].
I’ve known for years that the practice and rhythm of Sabbath has been missing from my life. I lament and sometimes try to address it, but somehow fall back to the busyness that I manage to justify in my life, in the name of church or school or just being a helpful person. For me, the challenge has been and will continue to be completely unplugging—whether it be putting away my phone and laptop for the day or finishing [or getting a head start] on something for work or school. Marva Dawn, in Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, reminds us that “our observation of the Sabbath is a special time of recognizing that, ideally, as members of the Christian community we are part of an alternative society, standing in contrast to the values of the world and able to offer to those outside the community the opportunity to choose another way” (41).
So what might this other way look like?
Begin with developing a ritual. A rhythm. No one is saying be legalistic about it. In fact, I encourage you to be realistic. We romanticize this idea of unplugging and set goals that don’t last more than a month. It’s like starting a diet that tries to push too hard, causing us to fall off the wagon. What is one thing you can start incorporating in your weekly practice of ceasing and feasting? Remember, celebrating Sabbath isn’t merely ceasing and resting–it’s also celebrating and feasting. What are ways you can celebrate the sabbath by doing more than refraining from work?
This other way is intentionality. We must choose to observe Sabbath.
So what might this other way look like in my life?
Those who know me are aware of my over connectedness. I’ve likely volunteered to do projects for you, I’ve walked you through setting up a twitter or facebook account. I was working on a masters in digital media while starting seminary. I work and go to school. You can send me a tweet or post on my facebook timeline and I’ll likely get back to you within minutes. You get the picture.
If there’s anyone who needs to learn the rhythms of Sabbath, it’s me. So what am I covenanting to do? I’ll start simple:
I’ll unplug.
I will choose a digital fast and start by putting away my laptop.
Cease from checking facebook and twitter so that I might make room to celebrate abundantly the relationships and gifts that God has given.
And in doing so, free myself for play and worship in the company of others as God intended.
That probably means turning off my social media or email notifications on my phone as I enter Sabbath time. Seems simple enough, but the deliberate act of changing my settings is part of the preparation. I am choosing to do this.
Earlier, I referenced Marva Dawn’s Keeping the Sabbath Wholly. In it, she speaks to the very bold statement we are making in observing Sabbath: ”Keeping says clearly that we are not going to do what everybody else does.” And she is right. Let us live out our set apart-ness by ceasing and fasting and in doing so learn what it means to feast in God’s presence.
Let the world look at us like we’re crazy for taking a time out from the digital noise around us. It will still be there, louder than ever when we return.
__________
Referenced and Recommended Reads
Dawn, M. J. (1989). Keeping the Sabbath wholly: Ceasing, resting, embracing, feasting
Heschel, A. J. (1951). The Sabbath, its meaning for modern man. New York: Farrar, Straus and Young.
Peterson, E. (1994) “The Good for Nothing Sabbath,” Christianity Today.
Sabbath Manifesto, http://www.sabbathmanifesto.org/

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Friday, April 24, 2015

Mike Huckabee: U.S. "Moving Rapidly Toward The Criminalization Of Christianity"





Mike Huckabee: U.S. moving toward 'criminalization of Christianity'



The United States is moving toward “criminalization of Christianity” as a result of legalizing same-sex marriage, Mike Huckabee told a group of conservative pastors in a conference call organized by the Family Research Council.

“I think it’s fair to say that Christian convictions are under attack as never before,” Huckabee said Thursday, according to audio of the call obtained by Right Wing Watch, a project of the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way. “Not just in our lifetime, but ever before in the history of this great nation. We are moving rapidly toward the criminalization of Christianity.”

The former governor of Arkansas, who is expected to announce his presidential bid on May 5, said it is his “biblical duty” to pray for the members of the Supreme Court as they prepare to rule on same-sex marriage this summer.

In an apparent defense of gay conversion therapy, Huckabee also said that the government is telling chaplains that they cannot help people “seek assistance” for a “homosexual lifestyle” and to “put their Bibles away, no longer pray in Jesus’ name.”

 Alan: There was a time -- and not long ago -- when conservative Christians would not have sought assistance from anyone other than God Himself. If conversion from a homosexual lifestyle can't be done with prayer and divine intervention, it surely won't be done with new-fangled psychological treatment.

Huckabee said that he cringes whenever he hears people call a court decision “the law of the land.”

“And I’m thinking, how many people passed 9th grade civics? This is not that complicated. There are three branches of government, not one,” he said, adding that when a court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, that does not mean that licenses should be issued the following day.

The likely presidential candidate told the pastors that opponents of gay marriage are “pariahs” among the “ruling class” and donors. He also noted that “supposedly conservative donors and conservative office holders are running away from the issue.”

“If the courts rule that people have a civil right not only to be a homosexual but a civil right to have a homosexual marriage, then a homosexual couple coming to a pastor who believes in biblical marriage who says ‘I can’t perform that wedding’ will now be breaking the law,” he said. “Let me make clear: It’s not just saying, ‘I’m sorry you have a preference.’ No, you will be breaking the law subject to civil, for sure, and possibly criminal penalties for violating the law, depending on how the law is written in communities, states and in the nation.”

Huckabee told the pastors that if they do follow their convictions according to the Bible, “your behavior will be criminal.”

“Once the courts have been allowed to run over us and nobody stands up for us in the other two branches of government, then God help us all,” he said.




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How We Know How Many Galaxies Are In The Universe, Thanks To Hubble

File:8 Observable Universe (ELitU).png

Observable Universe
Wikipedia

How We Know How Many Galaxies Are In The Universe, Thanks To Hubble

As the Hubble Space Telescope celebrates its 25th anniversary, it’s easy to take for granted all we’ve learned thanks to its incredible discoveries. But don’t forget that when it was first launched, the spherical aberration in the primary mirror caused all the images it was returning to be blurry and distorted. What was supposed to be the flagship NASA science mission of the 1990s was shaping up to be a catastrophe. There were only two choices: fly to space and service the telescope, or simply accept the woefully inadequate equipment.
The decision was made to fly the space shuttle to dock with Hubble, and fix the mirror. When the telescope was serviced in December of 1993, the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) were both installed, not only fixing the optics but enhancing the camera technology on board. The result was a sharpening of the resolution by a factor of more than a hundredfrom what was previously available through Hubble.
Image credit: NASA, STScI, of the nucleus of the galaxy M100 before (L) and after (R) the servicing mission.
Image credit: NASA, STScI, of the nucleus of the galaxy M100 before (L) and after (R) the servicing mission.
With the greatest-ever optical systems and observing power at its disposal, a very unusual proposal was greenlit. A team was going to point Hubble at a patch of sky without an observing target. Rather than observe a planet, star, nebula, cluster or galaxy, Hubble was going to observe the black void of empty space. By pointing at a patch of sky with nothing in it:
  • no bright stars,
  • no gas clouds,
  • no nebulae,
  • no known galaxies,
  • no clusters,
astronomers were hoping to find out whether empty space was truly empty, or whether, as the Big Bang and the cosmological principle predicted, a plethora of galaxies from the distant Universe would be revealed to us.
Image credit: NASA / Digital Sky Survey, STScI.
Image credit: NASA / Digital Sky Survey, STScI.
The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth approximately once every 90 minutes, or 18 times per day. Over a total of 342 cycles (where each cycle is a half-an-orbit), it images this exact patch of sky, a patch where only maybe five or six very faint stars within our galaxy lived. It pointed away from the galactic plane, out into intergalactic space, at a blank location known to be empty to the limits of our largest and most advanced ground based telescopes. And after a total of nearly ten days‘ worth of light had been gathered in multiple different color filters, they composited the image and released it to the world. Here’s what it saw.
Image credit: R. Williams (STScI), the Hubble Deep Field Team and NASA.
Image credit: R. Williams (STScI), the Hubble Deep Field Team and NASA.
In this tiny region of space, where zero known galaxies were seen previously, we now had discovered around three thousand. With the exception of about five or six points showing diffraction spikes (the “pointy” features), which are stars within the Milky Way, every single point of light in this image is a galaxy. This is the Hubble Deep Field. More recently, as of 2012, an even deeper version was created, using a more advanced set of cameras and optics, and a total of twenty-three days worth of observing: the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF).
Image credit: NASA; ESA; G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch, University of California, Santa Cruz; R. Bouwens, Leiden University; and the HUDF09 Team.
Image credit: NASA; ESA; G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch, University of California, Santa Cruz; R. Bouwens, Leiden University; and the HUDF09 Team.
This latter image, consisting of a region of space barely a thousandth of a square degree on the sky – so small it would take thirty-two-million of them to fill the entire sky — contains a whopping 5,500 galaxies, the most distant of which have had their light traveling towards us for some 13 billion years, or more than 90% the present age of the Universe. Extrapolating this over the entire sky, we find that there are 170 billion galaxies in the observable Universe, and that’s just a lower limit. Given that there’s an astonishing amount of Universe out there that Hubble cannot yet see — and that it can only see the brightest of the most distant galaxies — we may yet find closer to 10^12 (or a trillion) galaxies within our visible Universe.
And given that there are hundreds of billions of star within our own galaxy, that teaches us there are some 10^23 stars in the Universe, each one with their own unique story, history, planetary systems, and just possibly a chance at life. So on your 25 anniversary, for all that you’ve done, thank you, Hubble.
Ethan Siegel is the writer and founder of Starts With A Bang, and professor of physics at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. His first book, Beyond the Galaxy, is due out later this year.
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