Your Military Defender Blog

PANDEMIC:  On TV, many events seem odd without an audience – e.g. SNL or WWE events.  Also, why do announcers working with panels say “I will go to you first” when all they have to do is say that individual’s name?

FOR HISTORY BUFFS: Last time, we posed a question – How can Pittsburgh’s radio station KDKA violate the rules?  After all, call letters of all radio stations east of the Mississippi River begin with W while those west of the Mississippi begin with “K”

The answer is that KDA is a pioneer station, “grandfathered” and permitted to hold onto its cachet.   KDKA was the world’s first commercial radio station, beginning broadcasting in Pittsburgh in 1920.   In January 1923, the K/W boundary was shifted to the Mississippi; existing stations were allowed to keep their old call letters rather than confuse longtime listeners with a new identity. Nearly a dozen W-stations still exist west of the Mississippi.

KDKA made the nation’s first commercial broadcast on Election Day 1920.  The power of radio was demonstrated when people heard results of the Harding-Cox presidential race well they could read about it in the newspaper.

EASY LISTENING.  For those who enjoy working to classical music, try Google – YouTube – Best of (name of the composer).  Great stuff.

LITTLE LIBRARIES.  Our neighborhood had been blessed with those little mailboxes in which people place used books.  A godsend to the Military Defender through the pandemic.  But thankfully, some nearby public libraries have opened – no longer requiring reading the only thing seemingly left in the little libraries – Harlequin romances!

AA COMES THROUGH.  Some 12-step friends have not been deterred from their meetings by the virus.  Plenty of virtual meetings – including one that is proving popular in Manchester, UK.   One “friend of Bill” recently announced that he had attended virtual meetings in all 50 states.

NEWS

The Crime Report 

Prosecutors Condemn ‘Myopic’ Approach to Punishment (“Interviews with 22 district and state’s attorneys from smaller jurisdictions indicates a willingness to step outside their traditional roles to look for alternatives to incarceration.”)

Courthouse News Service 

Quarter-Million-Dollar Misdemeanors: Private Cops Cash In on Unusual Contempt Case (“With trial still months away, taxpayers have paid more than a quarter-million dollars to a private law firm deputized by a Federal judge to convict an environmental attorney of misdemeanors.”)

California High Court Debates Making Lower Bar Exam Passing Threshold Retroactive (“The California Supreme Court is considering whether to apply a newly-lowered bar passing score to the February 2020 exam, following a flurry of letters and petitions from law school graduates, deans, and legislators.”)

New York Times 

Opinion: Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation (by John Lewis, “Though I am gone, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.”)

About 20% of N.J. Prisoners Could Be Freed to Avoid Virus (“Believed to be the first Covid-19 bill of its kind, the legislation could free more than 3,000 New Jersey prisoners within a year of release.”)

Politico 

New Pentagon training refers to protesters, journalists as ‘adversaries’ (“The training comes amid worsening relations between the federal government and protesters.”)

Collateral Consequences Resource Center 

Who Must Pay to Regain the Vote? A 50-State Survey (“This report examines the extent to which state laws consider repayment of legal financial obligations in determining whether to restore voting rights to felons.”)

New York Daily News 

Michael Avenatti is broke, likely will need public defender: documents (“Michael Avenatti is unable to pay his attorneys and will likely hire a public defender to fight allegations he stole money from porn star Stormy Daniels, a new court filing revealed.”)

CNN 

Behind closed doors during one of John Roberts’ most surprising years on the Supreme Court (“New details obtained by CNN reveal how Roberts maneuvered on controversial cases in the justices’ private sessions, at times defying expectations as he sided with liberal justices. Roberts exerted unprecedented control over cases and the court’s internal operations, especially after the nine were forced to work in isolation because of Covid-19.”)

PERILS OF REOPENING THE COURTS.  NACDL’s CHAMPION magazine has a splendid new issue devoted to virtual trials. The president of the organization, Nina J. Ginsberg, warns that future litigants may be forced to choose between a speedy adjudication with questionable constitutionality; or a full, fair trial endangering the health of all concerned.

Numerous authors contribute to the edition, asking such questions as:

• To what degree can a platform such as Zoom substitute for: face-to-face confrontation; the defendant’s ability to be present for trial; and an opportunity to observe the judge’s competency?

• Is Constitutional confrontation lost in video testimony?

• To what degree are telephonic hearings allowable?

• How can virtual criminal trials overcome key constitutional hurdles such as the right to physically face the accuser, the right to powerfully participate in one’s own defense, the right to be “present,” and an accused’s ability to probe for juror bias?

• Does virtual testimony fundamentally alters the psychology of jurors – the ability to assess credibility. What about decreased “virtual juror” attention spans?

• Will be pandemic make it difficult to obtain a representative cross selection; will certain demographics be excluded from the jury pool such as elderly persons, racial and ethnic minorities, and those unemployed or of low income?

• Will we pandemic harm the right to a speedy trial?

• Will the virus impair the effectiveness of counsel, in that it cuts down on client meetings and investigations?

• How are typical objections handled during to videoconference testimony?

• Is a “virtual witness” in fact unavailable to testify? Will remote testimony weaken further Fair Play?

• A live witness sworn and subject to cross-examination presents a demeanor which can be observed by the trier of fact. How does this play during a virtual trial?

• Will a defendant prior to trial be provided an opportunity to take a deposition?

• If there is more than one video-conference witness, is there a danger that the cumulative effect chills the defendant’s ability to confront witnesses and enjoy Due Process?

ETHICS CORNER: Randy, Tom, and Lance were impressive as the “three Galahads” –key to football success for the University of Mississippi in the 1990s. Each year, the three grads proudly fly the traditional Mississippi flag from their front porch at Homecoming.

 Mississippi has now withdrawn the Confederate Stars and Bars from its official state flag.  The three ex-players have no particular political leanings but nevertheless want to fly their old banners this year.

•  Randy lives in a racially mixed area

• Tom is a Vicksburg policeman

• Lance is a Lieut. Col. stationed at Keesler AFB, MS.

What is your advice to each man?

RACE FOR REAL.   George Pellecanos writes in his detective story RIGHT AS RAIN:

 A lot of people on the street I lived on, they had bumper stickers on their cars – “Teach peace.” “Celebrate the diversity.” I’d see their little girls walking around with black baby dolls in their strollers.  But come birthday time, you didn’t see any black children at those little white girls parties – none of those children from “down at the apartments” nearby. These people really believe you put a bumper sticker on your Volvo so the neighbors can see and that is all you have to do.”

*  *  *

You saw a black man and you saw a criminal and you made up your mind.    Yeah, there was noise and confusion and lights. I know about all that.  But would you have pulled the trigger if Wilson had been white? I don’t think so… Cut through all the extra bullshit and you’re going to have to just go ahead and admit it, man: you killed a man because he was black.

FOR HISTORY BUFFS.  Earlier, we asked whether it was permitted for any member of Parliament to drink alcohol while that chamber was in session.

The answer: the Chancellor of the Exchequer is so permitted– but only during his annual Budget speech!  The last three Chancellors have all stuck to mineral water.

THANK YOU. Client TH kindly writes:  “You are trying your best for me – I wish I had money supporters like you, asked for help in the military and got the cold shoulder.

REFLECTIONS ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE: “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live if it is not a reasonably good place for all of us to live in. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. Pres. Harry Truman

 National Law Review

The Constitution Protects Faces in the Crowd (“Unlimited law enforcement application of facial recognition software to surveillance footage is an unreasonable search and a violation of Constitutional rights for people in a peaceful crowd.”)

‘Afraid of the President’: Ex-Mueller Prosecutor to Testify of Political Interference in Roger Stone Sentencing Memo (“A pair of DOJ attorneys are set to testify before Congress at a hearing titled ‘Oversight of the Department of Justice: Political Interference and Threats to Prosecutorial Independence.'”)

 New York Times

Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm (“In what may be the first known case of its kind, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man’s arrest for a crime he did not commit.”)

Texas Lawyer/Law.com

Can Judges Force People to Wear Face Masks in Court? This Texas County Wants to Know (“Harris County has requested an attorney general opinion about the county’s legal authority to require people to wear face masks in courthouses.”)

New York Daily News

Coronavirus outbreak at San Quentin prison hits almost 200 inmates (“The number of coronavirus-positive inmates at San Quentin State Prison in California has increased tenfold in barely two weeks, according to health officials.”)

National Law Journal/Law.com

Commentary: A Black Lawyer’s Letter to His Son: “My Mission Is to Keep You Safe” (“Greenberg Traurig litigation partner A. Michael Pratt pens a letter to his son upon his college graduation. Typically a time to celebrate, current events weigh heavy on their minds.”)

Legal Intelligencer/Law.com

Pa. Supreme Court Strikes Down Probation Policy Barring Medical Marijuana Use (“Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, who wrote the court’s 16-page opinion, said the language of the law was clear, and any policy concerns expressed by a county court system would best be addressed by the General Assembly.”)

Muslim Woman Was Forced to Remove Hijab for Booking Photo After Arrest, Advocacy Group Says (“More than 100,000 people have signed a petition criticizing the treatment of Alaa Massri, 18, at a correctional center in Miami.”)

FOR HISTORY BUFFS.  Last time, we asked about the surprise awaiting English war planners in 1939.  Here’s the answer:  Supposedly a law was passed by the British Parliament in 1803 setting up observers to watch for a possible invasion by Napoleon. Somehow, the position was never abolished, even after Waterloo.  During World War II, when civil servants came to set up aerial observers to signal a possible Nazi invasion, they found a small group – still waiting for Napoleon.

… A NEW QUESTION.  Alcoholic beverages are prohibited in the English Parliament with one exception. Can you name it?

A METHODIST CONTRIBUTION. The superintendent of the Arlington, Virginia district of the United Methodist Church has several suggestions dealing with fairness and equality:

• prayer, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time the officer held his knee on George Floyd’s neck.
• Education – reading books on racism
• Working for equal justice under law
• Personal experience with people different than us

MORE ON HOMESCHOOLING. New friend Andy contributes more on parents who suddenly find themselves teachers:

• If you see my kids locked out today, never mind –we are having a fire drill
• “Alexa, homeschool the children.”
• Kids watching too much TV? Turn off the sound and turn on the subtitles – now they are reading. 🙂
• “Arithmetic: Mommy has to homeschool three children for two months. She only has one bottle of wine left. How many more bottles does she need before the liquor store shuts down?”
• It took less than one week of homeschooling to understand why nuns used to hit their students with rulers.
• After one week of homeschooling, we have our first fundraiser. It’s a Go Fund Me… I’m going to need a lot of chocolate and medication.

THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT – 11 RULES. .  Paul Anthony Jones writes in Mental Floss about this venerable institution.

The UK Parliament is one of the oldest in the world.  It operates under strict rules and ancient traditions unheard of in modern politics.  Here are a few of its prohibitions.

1. GIVING A SPEECH IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH…

It’s not permitted to give a speech in the UK Parliament in any language except English unless absolutely necessary—despite the fact that from 1916–22 Britain had a native Welsh speaker as Prime Minister.

2. … OR READING A SPEECH.

According to Companion to the Standing Orders and Guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords, in most instances, the reading of speeches is “alien to the custom of this House, and injurious to the traditional conduct of its debates.”  Members may have “extended notes from which to speak, but it is not in the interests of good debate that they should follow them closely.”

3. USING NAMES.

Members of the House are prohibited from calling one another by name. All comments must be addressed via the Speaker to fellow “honourable members.” Only the Speaker may use members’ first names.

4. LETTING THE SPEAKER “WALK” TO THE CHAIR AFTER ELECTION.

Tradition dictates that the Speaker must be physically “dragged” to the Speaker’s chair when elected to the position (although it’s more of a ceremonial dragging than an actual one). Supposedly this bizarre ritual is a holdover from the days when the Speaker of the House—once tasked with dictating Parliament’s will to the king—often found himself first in line for imprisonment (or worse) if the king didn’t like what he had to say.

5. GETTING A VISIT FROM THE MONARCH.

No reigning monarch has entered the House of Commons since 1642, when Charles I stormed the House of Commons, an event that eventually led to civil war. When the queen officially oversees the State Opening of Parliament every year, her speech has to be read from the nearby House of Lords.

6. AND 7. TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AND APPLAUDING.

Members may have electronic devices—”provided that they cause no disturbance and are not used in such a way as to impair decorum.”  They must be in silent mode and can’t be used “to film, take photographs or make audio recordings in or around the Chamber.”

Applause is also forbidden, which 56 newly-elected Scottish National Party MPs found to their cost in 2015, when they were admonished by the Speaker for spontaneously applauding their leader, Angus Robertson.

8., 9., AND 10. DRESSING CASUALLY, WEARING SUITS OF ARMOR, AND HAVING SWORDS.

Parliament’s strict rules extend to what members are permitted to wear, with current guidelines requiring “businesslike attire” at all times. There have been some exceptions to Parliament’s strict dress code over the years, mostly as a means of protesting or raising awareness for various causes.  In 2013, British Green Party MP Caroline Lucas wore a bold T-shirt protesting against the appearance of topless women in tabloid newspapers—and was promptly scolded by the Speaker for failing to meet Parliament’s strict sartorial rules.

Wearing a suit of armor is also banned, thanks to a law introduced by King Edward II in 1313. The same statute banned swords from the Chamber—although tradition states that the two opposing benches in the House of Commons are positioned precisely two sword-lengths away from one another. (There is one exception: The Serjeant at Arms is allowed to carry a sword.)

11. USING “UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE.”

Of all the UK Parliament’s rules, those surrounding what is officially known as “unparliamentarily language” are among the most curious. For centuries, the Speaker of the House has repeatedly chided Members on their use of abusive, insulting, or slanderous language.

It is not permitted, for instance, to accuse a fellow MP of being a liar, a hypocrite, or a traitor. It is also against the rules to accuse anyone in the Chamber of being drunk.

But there is not, according to Parliament’s own rules, a “hard and fast list of unparliamentarily words.”  Whether something is in breach of the rulebook depends simply “on the context” in which it was said.  Nevertheless, some of the words that have been deemed unparliamentarily over the years include:

• Ass
• Blackguard
• Coward
• Git
• Guttersnipe
• Hooligan
• Idiot
• Ignoramus
• Pipsqueak
• Rat
• Slime
• Sod
• Squirt
• Stoolpigeon
• Swine
• Tart
• Wart

An MP found to use language along these lines is typically asked by the Speaker to withdraw the comments or asked to leave the chamber.

Some MPs, however, have found ways of getting around Parliament’s rules. The phrase “terminological inexactitude” is used to avoid accusing a fellow member of telling a lie. According to one tale, in the 19th century, opposition leader (and future Prime Minister) Benjamin Disraeli was asked to withdraw a statement he had made accusing half the government of being “asses.”  In his half-hearted apology he stated, “Mr Speaker, I withdraw – half the cabinet are not asses.”

LEGAL NEWS

Bloomberg Law

U.S. Courts Try Out Social Distancing, Video for Grand Juries (“After months of being shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic, the doors at Federal courthouses around the nation are slowly starting to swing open with the convening of socially distanced grand juries. Jurors, tasked with deciding whether to issue criminal indictments, will be seated far apart from one another, or in some cases—like in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, and in Montana’s federal district court—will be required to view proceedings via video in different rooms or courthouses. That use of video is worrisome, said Nina J. Ginsberg, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. ‘There is such a tendency to depersonalize what you’re seeing on a screen, and you’re distancing yourself from the gravity of the decisions that you’re making,’ she said.”)

Washington Post

Police promised reforms. They still fatally shoot nearly 1,000 people every year. (“The Washington Post has documented 5,400 fatal shootings by police in the United States since the start of 2015.”)

Experts doubt this is a moment of reckoning for policing in U.S. (“The politics of police reform that have quashed previous efforts still loom: powerful unions, legal immunity for police and intractable implicit biases.”)

The Marshall Project

I Wonder If They Know My Son Is Loved (“Visiting my son in jail for the first time, I know that I cannot protect him. Although he is too young to drink, the criminal justice system regards him as an adult.”)

New York Times

Officers Charged in George Floyd’s Death Not Likely to Present United Front (“Facing decades in prison and a bail of at least $750,000, two former Minneapolis officers blamed Derek Chauvin, and a third has cooperated with investigators, their lawyers said.”)

Washington Post

Tacoma mayor calls for officers to be fired over death of another unarmed black man who yelled ‘I can’t breathe!’ (“Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards called on Friday for all four officers involved in the death of Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old black man, to be fired, after the county medical examiner ruled his death a homicide in police custody. He died March 3 while in handcuffs, after being restrained by officers on the ground.”)

Two ex-officers involved in Floyd’s death blame veteran officer in first court appearance (“Attorneys for two of the fired Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s death cast their clients on Thursday as rookies who were ignored by their superior, the Star Tribune reported.”)

America is awash in cameras, a double-edged sword for protesters and police (“Smartphone cameras, home security cameras, traffic cameras — digital eyes are a boon and danger to protesters.”)

SOME CUTE MOTHER’S DAY THOUGHTS

 Son: Dad, do you know the difference between a pack of cookies and a pack of elephants?

Dad: No.
Son: Then it’s a good thing Mom does the grocery shopping!

A: I have the perfect son.
B: Does he smoke?
A: No, he doesn’t.
B: Does he drink whiskey?
A: No, he doesn’t.
B: Does he ever come home late?
A: No, he doesn’t.
B: I guess you really do have the perfect son. How old is he?
A: He will be six months old next Wednesday.

 “If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says ‘keep away from children’”

I saw Mummy asking Santa why he didn’t put his dishes in the dishwasher.

Daughter: Mum, what’s it like to have the greatest daughter in the world?
Mum: I don’t know dear, you’d have to ask Grandma.

What three words solve Dad’s every problem?
Ask your mother.

THE HISTORY OF PANDEMICS. Nicholas LePan presents an interesting timeline of historical pandemics online at https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/

INTERESTING LITERARY THOUGHTS:

• People who knew nothing did not suddenly discover the truth just because they were frightened. They became people who made things up. The more desperate the witnesses, the more false signposts began to clutter the road to understanding

• Tell the truth to everyone you meet; scroll all the walls of headquarters of the truth. Harass people until they listen.

• It doesn’t matter what really happens what matters is what people believe

— Ruth Downey, Semper Fidelis

IN THE NEWS.

 NPR

WESA: Dreadlocks-Wearing Inmate Who Sued Is Released From Solitary (“A Pennsylvania inmate whose dreadlocks violated a jail’s haircut policy has been released from solitary confinement after more than a year, although his federal lawsuit is still pending.”)
ABC news

Over 5,000 corrections officers have contracted COVID-19 (“The pandemic continues to rage on inside prisons.”)

BBC News

Coronavirus: Nigeria’s death penalty by Zoom ‘inhumane’ (“The sentencing to death of a Nigerian driver via Zoom is ‘inherently cruel and inhumane’, Human Rights Watch has said.”)

Behind bars for 40 years, Maryland woman seeks release due to COVID-19 (“Eraina Pretty is the longest-serving female inmate in Maryland’s system.”)

The Appeal

Death Of New Mother At Federal Prison Hospital Prompts Calls For Accountability In Texas (“Andrea Circle Bear was confined within FMC Carswell while suffering from the novel coronavirus. ‘She was serving a 26-month sentence that ended up being a death penalty,’ one maternity specialist said.”)

Texas Lawyer/Law.com

Things Will Change When Texas Courthouses Reopen: Judiciary Lays Road Map for After June 1 (“Judges in face masks, constant courtroom cleanings, only two people per elevator and counsel tables moved six feet apart: These are some changes lawyers may notice when Texas courts start opening back up after June 1.”)

A PTSD POEM.

You find that ever since the war

you don’t know what you’re fighting for

but there is a feeling deep inside

of anger that you cannot hide!

Every day you try to cope

maybe your only source of hope;

yet, haunted by the horrid dreams

you can’t ignore those anguished screams

… From a poem by warrior – and PTSD survivor – K W

RICHARD POWERS – THE OVER-STORY.  Mr. Powers writes:

• The wrong people have all the rights…
• At a fire, you want to observe the handful of people screaming PUT IT OUT when everybody else is happy watching things burn
• Say the planet is born at night, and it runs for one day… Anatomically modern man shows up four seconds before midnight. The first cave paintings appear three seconds later.

IMPRESSIVE. A recent PBS special on the Vatican shows the Pope not only washing the feet of the poor during Holy Week but then actually kissing those feet.

THANKS TO THE LITTLE LIBRARIES.  A few years ago, a good citizen inspired others to set up “little libraries” in their neighborhood – yard storage spaces where people could place books they had finished reading to be picked up by others.    As local libraries close, we are indebted to these sources.  We found several detective stories by James Patterson, who has sold more than 300 million copies, often in collaboration with others. A philanthropist, he is said to have a yearly income of about $95 million.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES?  Someone’s clever play on words, The Aging of Aquarius…

A SMART CONGRESS? Representative  Bill Pascrell   of New Jersey deplores the lack of evenhanded information to elected representatives. He cites the growth of corporate lobbying, whose expenses ballooned [between 1983 in 2013] from $200 million to $35 billion.  He asserts that the Federal government spends $9 4 billion on information technology…while Congress itself spends zero on independent assessments of technology issues!

IN THE NEWS

The Marshall Project 

COVID-19: A Survival Guide for Incarcerated People (“Tips on how to protect yourself from the virus within the limits of prison or jail.”)

 The Intercept 

ICE’S Immigration Detainees Protested Lack Of Coronavirus Precautions — And Swat-Like Private-Prison Guards Pepper-Sprayed Them (“On the morning of April 9, 24-year-old Carlos was feeling some of the typical symptoms of Covid-19: weakness, nausea, headaches, and pain in his throat. Carlos, whose name has been changed for fear of retaliation by correctional staff, is currently detained at the Stewart Detention Center, a privately run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in rural Georgia.”)

 Texas Tribune

  70% of Texas prisoners tested have the coronavirus. Experts say it’s time for more testing and fewer inmates. (“Some of the nation’s biggest COVID-19 outbreaks have been in prisons and jails, and they can quickly spread to surrounding communities. Are Texas prisons doing enough to protect inmates, staff and the public?”)

 Washington Post 

As virus spreads in jails and prisons, correctional officers fear for themselves and their loved ones (“Nationwide, defense attorneys and other advocates have been pushing for the release of many inmates as they fear the spread of the virus in detention facilities. But corrections workers and their unions say more must be done to protect them as well.”)

Editorial: Privacy amid a pandemic may look a little different (“THE VERY idea of the government amassing location data about millions of citizens is anathema to America’s strong sensibility for civil liberties — except, perhaps, if America is in the throes of an epidemic and the data is being amassed to help stop the disease’s spread.”)

Three people charged in killing of Family Dollar security guard over mask policy (“A Family Dollar store security guard was fatally shot in Flint, Mich., on Friday after telling a customer her child had to wear a face mask to enter the store, the prosecutor’s office said.”)

Justice Department sides with church over virus restrictions (“The Justice Department has filed a statement of interest siding with a Virginia church suing the state’s governor over restrictions because of the coronavirus.”)

VICE 

New York Is Seeing a ‘Frightening’ Increase in Domestic Violence Calls (“Calls to New York’s domestic violence hotline rose by 30% in April, compared to the same month last year.”) …New York Daily News

From last post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ5iIWNu8dU

FOR CHURCHGOERS.  Some excellent music for believers who cannot get to services during Holy Week some can be accessed directly; others will be accessed by “YouTube” followed by the title.   

HOLY WEEK

Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine Op 11 Monalisa de Lego

“The Palms” Crystal Cathedral Choir.swf

The Crucifixion         John Stainer – YouTube   www.youtube.com › watch   April 17, 2017  Daniel Summers

EASTER

Handel Messiah – And the Glory of the Lord

Brussels Choral

“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” & “Thine Be the Glory” – Duke Chapel, Easter 2012

Because He Lives– Bill Gaither, Gaither band

 THANK YOU RB.  Client RB praises us for the brief. We recently completed for the Navy corrections board. “You’ve done a great job,” he states.

FIRST BLACK WINNER ACCEPTED HER OSCAR IN A SEGREGATED HOTEL!   Over 75 years ago, Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for ‘Gone with the Wind,’ [GWTW], accepting her award at the Ambassador’s Coconut Grove nightclub.

She was one of the biggest African-American movie stars  — but she did not sit with the rest of the cast. Instead, she sat at a small table set against a far wall.  With the hotel’s strict no-blacks policy, producer David O. Selznick had to call in a special favor just to have McDaniel allowed into the building.

Hollywood’s highest honor couldn’t stave off the indignities that greeted McDaniel at every turn.  Hollywood pigeonholed her as a “sassy Mammy” stereotype, with 74 roles in film, all as a domestic.

One of 13 children, McDaniel was born in June 1893, into extreme poverty in Wichita, Kansas.  Following the family’s move to Denver, her brothers, Otis and Sam, dubbed themselves the “Cakewalk Kids” after a dance fad that doubled as a sly caricature of white cotillions.

She was determined to avoid her mother’s and sisters’ fates as maids: she joined the show, doing impressions in “white face” for African-American audiences.

In 1929, McDaniel landed a gig in a road tour of the hit musical Show Boat.  But the stock market crash led to layoffs by producer Florence Ziegfeld Jr.  She was stranded and penniless in Milwaukee. Undaunted, she took a job as a bathroom attendant at Sam Picks Suburban Inn, then stepped in when the venue had no headliner. Her show stopping singing and dancing earned her $90 in tips and a job on the spot.

In 1931, McDaniel moved to Los Angeles.  Acting opportunities were limited to subservient servant roles.

By 1935, McDaniel was being touted as “one of the most prominent performers of her race” to promote the Clark Gable comedy China Seas.  She and Gable forged a close friendship during filming. When Gable learned his co-star wasn’t welcome at GWTW’s 1939 Atlanta premiere — Georgia law prohibited blacks in white theaters — he refused to go.   He only relented after McDaniel’s urging.

Incidentally, among the teen choir members costumed as slaves at the event was a young Martin Luther King Jr.

The NAACP made no secret of its disdain for the GWTW author and her frequent use in print of the N-word, simply for the Ku Klux Klan, and depiction of slaves as enjoying their fate.

Acting in the movie, McDaniel refused to utter the N-word.

Even after World War II, she continued to play underwritten maid parts in such films as 1946’s Song of the South, Walt Disney’s adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories.

In her final years, McDaniel found success on the radio, taking over in 1947 the title character in Beulah, a hit comedy series about a live-in maid.  It was the first time an African-American woman starred in a radio show, earning McDaniel $1,000 a week.   She was cast in the TV version of Beulah in 1951 but shot only six episodes before falling ill.

She died in 1952 of  breast cancer.  She was 57.

HOW TO REALLY GET INTO COLLEGE? College counseling has become a widespread industry, with a number of independent experts” even resorting to illegal actions to place youngsters into highly-competitive universities.

Professor Shamus Khan writes in the Washington Post Outlook regarding a more acceptable way to get into the schools – philanthropy.   Dr. Khan claims that Jared Kushner was admitted to Harvard, even though he had less than stellar grades after his dad donated $2.5 million to school.

MATERNITY LEAVE.   Social worker Dayna Kurtz claims that the United States “holds the dubious distinction of being the only developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave is a federal mandate.”

HUMOR FROM OUR FAVORITE BROTHER-IN-LAW.

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning , and a good ending… and have them as close together as possible.

For seniors:  Remember when soda pop machines dispensed glass bottles… newsreels preceded the movie….you collected 45 RPM records…having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot… your  three childhood punishments were having to go to bed early, not being able to leave the house, and not going to  a  party.   These three childhood punishments have become my adult goals.

 THANK YOUR RB.  Client RB praises us for the brief. We recently completed for the Navy corrections board. “You’ve done a great job,” he states.

FIRST BLACK WINNER ACCEPTED HER OSCAR IN A SEGREGATED HOTEL!   Over 75 years ago, Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for ‘Gone with the Wind,’ [GWTW], accepting her award at the Ambassador’s Coconut Grove nightclub.

She was one of the biggest African-American movie stars  — but she did not sit with the rest of the cast. Instead, she sat at a small table set against a far wall.  With the hotel’s strict no-blacks policy, producer David O. Selznick had to call in a special favor just to have McDaniel allowed into the building.

Hollywood’s highest honor couldn’t stave off the indignities that greeted McDaniel at every turn.  Hollywood pigeonholed her as a “sassy Mammy” stereotype, with 74 roles in film, all as a domestic.

One of 13 children, McDaniel was born in June 1893, into extreme poverty in Wichita, Kansas.  Following the family’s move to Denver, her brothers, Otis and Sam, dubbed themselves the “Cakewalk Kids” after a dance fad that doubled as a sly caricature of white cotillions.

She was determined to avoid her mother’s and sisters’ fates as maids: she joined the show, doing impressions in “whiteface” for African-American audiences.

In 1929, McDaniel landed a gig in a road tour of the hit musical Show Boat.  But the stock market crash led to layoffs by producer Florence Ziegfeld Jr.  She was stranded and penniless in Milwaukee. Undaunted, she took a job as a bathroom attendant at Sam Picks Suburban Inn, then stepped in when the venue had no headliner. Her show stopping singing and dancing earned her $90 in tips and a job on the spot.

In 1931, McDaniel moved to Los Angeles.  Acting opportunities were limited to subservient servant roles.

.By 1935, McDaniel was being touted as “one of the most prominent performers of her race” to promote the Clark Gable comedy China Seas.  She and Gable forged a close friendship during filming. When Gable learned his co-star wasn’t welcome at GWTW’s 1939 Atlanta premiere — Georgia law prohibited blacks in white theaters — he refused to go.   He only relented after McDaniel’s urging.

Incidentally, among the teen choir members costumed as slaves at the event was a young Martin Luther King Jr.

The NAACP made no secret of its disdain for the GWTW author and her frequent use in print of the N-word, simply for the Ku Klux Klan, and depiction of slaves as enjoying their fate.

Acting in the movie, McDaniel refused to utter the N-word.

Even after World War II, she continued to play underwritten maid parts in such films as 1946’s Song of the South, Walt Disney’s adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories.

In her final years, McDaniel found success on the radio, taking over in 1947 the title character in Beulah, a hit comedy series about a live-in maid.  It was the first time an African-American woman starred in a radio show, earning McDaniel $1,000 a week.   She was cast in the TV version of Beulah in 1951 but shot only six episodes before falling ill.

She died in 1952 of  breast cancer.  She was 57.

HOW TO REALLY GET INTO COLLEGE? College counseling has become a widespread industry, with a number of independent experts” even resorting to illegal actions to place youngsters into highly-competitive universities.

Professor Shamus Khan writes in the Washington Post Outlook regarding a more acceptable way to get into the schools – philanthropy.   Dr. Khan claims that Jared Kushner was admitted to Harvard, even though he had less than stellar grades after his dad donated $2.5 million to school.

MATERNITY LEAVE.   Social worker Dayna Kurtz claims that the United States “holds the dubious distinction of being the only developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave is a federal mandate.”

HUMOR FROM OUR FAVORITE BROTHER-IN-LAW.

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning , and a good ending… and have them as close together as possible.

For seniors:  Remember when soda pop machines dispensed glass bottles… newsreels preceded the movie….you collected 45 RPM records…having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot… your  three childhood punishments were having to go to bed early, not being able to leave the house, and not going to  a  party.   These three childhood punishments have become my adult goals.

A liberal legal advantage? With many Supreme Court justices aging, the next president likely will get to name one or two new justices. But who can win Congressional approval, given the frayed relationship between the two major political parties? Wat if there’s a stalemate?

A recent Washington Post Outlook suggests that this situation would strongly favor the Democrats.  The article notes that 13 generally-conservative states are under “liberal” Federal appellate courts.   In contrast, in only six liberal states are under conservative Federal courts.

As a result, allowing the Court to sit with eight justices would favor liberals.    Why? Because – when a tie arises –standard Supreme Court practice is to leave the judgment of the lower court stand.   And that would highly favor the liberals, given geography and Federal circuit court appointments.

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Great language regarding PTSD.  In the detective story “The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent,” Susan Elia McNeal writes about a character named Maggie Hope and her adventures in England in World War II.  Maggie had PTSD – she experienced “a mixture of shame, anger, guilt, and brief” which became a “miasma of depression which followed her everywhere.”    In the book, she learns a name for this condition, supposedly created by Winston Churchill – he called PTSD “the black dog.”

The author movingly writes:

The black dog of depression is dirty and scarred, feral and rabid. He looks on the night with yellow eyes gleaming, waiting for a chink in the armor, a weakness, vulnerability, a memory; and then, jaws wide and fangs deep, he would leap….

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Army Col. Thomas Hundley, a doctor, hoped to inspire the troops with motivational messages on a DOD-run health website   He suggested that soldiers could improve their fitness through prayer.   This drew a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a group claiming more than

40,000 service-connected adherents.   The head of the organization, Mikey Weinstein, suggests that Col. Hundley inappropriately used his senior position for “missionary duties.”

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Who are “We the People?”   The school board in Howard County, just outside Washington DC, recently took an interesting stand on religious diversity. They voted unanimously to expand the schedule of religious and cultural holidays. Recognizing growing diversity, students will get off for two Jewish holy days, the Muslim holiday of Eid el-adha, the eve of the lunar New Year, and the Hindu holiday of Diwali.

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The Confederate battle flag – hate or heritage?  The Southern Poverty Law Center magazine, Intelligence Report, has some interesting statistics about the Confederate battle flag.   Almost 6 in 10 Americans view it as primarily a symbol of Southern pride; however, 72% of African-Americans see it as a symbol of hate. Interestingly, white reaction to the old Rebel flag seems to be affected by respondents’ level of education, the magazine reports.  The more the education, the more discomfort with the Stars and Bars.

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Unfair!   Military personnel accepting involuntary separation pay cannot receive VA compensation, according to the website Task & Purpose.

The website tells the story of a 31-year-old Marine veteran named Tim Foster; he received a 50% disability rating from the VA.  Soon, he was shocked to learn that compensation benefits would be withheld until he returned his separation pay. The website suggests that there are over 23,000 involuntarily separated veterans.   The government is seeking to recoup some $576 million dollars from them.   The website comments this is a true hardship – many of these veterans have long since spent the separation pay

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OLDIES BUT GOODIES

We heard an interesting story while stationed in England a few years back. At the start of World War II, the Brits feared a German invasion.  So they set up a Sentry system to warn the population.  Astonishingly, in one village, they found the program already well in place – it had been there for over a century, handed down from father to son!   The assignment:    Look out for Napoleon and his ships.  If you see him, ring the bell, and then run like hell. J