Trials and Jury Vertdicts

Have you ever sat on a jury trial for any reason whatsoever? Have you ever prepared for a trial as a defendant, victim, paralegal or attorney? Have you ever been part of the media reporting on a jury trial? Unless you have, I would suggest that you keep your opinions about someone's guilt or innocence to yourself because you would be wrong. In all  cases no one knows the entire story but those involved. It is all about perspective. It is all about how someone sees the facts. It is about how the evidence is presented. It is about the expert witnesses. It is about research. It is all about who the jury believes. In the end, it is not how you or I feel at all. Remember: Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one. 

I watched The OJ Simpson trial and it all of a sudden was about race because he killed his ex-wife who was white. It was not about race when they got married now was it?

I have watched the George Zimmerman trial and how it became about race.  He is Hispanic because of his mother and he is White because of his father. But wait - he is also Black because of his maternal grandfather.  WHAT DOES IT MATTER? 

 “This time we’re doing it right… This time we’re not burning down our communities. This time we’re going out to Whitey’s suburbs and burning down HIS community. We’re going to make Whitey feel the pain.” Supposedly attributed to the current Black Panther Leader. Seriously? Why? You have the same choices everyone else in this country does. You can go to college and make something of your life regardless of race, creed, or religion. So this whole thing of being stomped on by the white folk is just so not real. I was never a slave owner and none of you living now was ever a slave. Get over it. If you want to be angry about being a slave be angry at several of the Arab Muslim countries who imported the most. They used them for everything, including to fill the ranks of their armies. They didn't grow in population though because all of the male slaves were emasculated before they were allowed to enter the Muslim country. The thousands that died from this because of infection, blood loss etc could be easily replaced because it was only a relatively short trip for them to get more slaves. England came next because they figured out that they could have return cargo on those empty ships that went there to trade. Black Africans sold their own.  Did you you know there were free African American slave owners not just white owners? "These include individuals such as Justus Angel and Mistress L. Horry, of Colleton District, South Carolina, who each owned 84 slaves in 1830. In fact, in 1830 a fourth of the free Negro slave masters in South Carolina owned 10 or more slaves; eight owning 30 or more"  (Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South, Michael P. Johnson and James L. Roak New York: Norton, 1984), p.64.) There are more listed in the book. It is worth reading.

As the late Senator Daniel Moynihan reportedly said, "[e]veryone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  

So lets look at some facts on the Zimmerman Case:

1. Trayvon Benjamin Martin, born February 5, 1995, was a 17-year-old African-American high school student who lived in Miami Gardens, Florida with his mother Sybrina Fulton. In February 2012, Martin was visiting his father Tracy Martin in Sanford, Florida after receiving a ten-day suspension from Krop Senior High School. The suspension stemmed from the discovery of drug residue in Martin's book bag. His mother kicked him out of her home.

2. George Michael Zimmerman, born October 5, 1983, was a part-time student at Seminole State College and a neighborhood watch captain at the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford at the time of the shooting. He is married to Shellie (Dean) Zimmerman and is the son of Robert (of German decent) and Gladys (of Black Peruvian) Zimmerman. His maternal grandfather was black. (so how does this play out in the race card?) (How did "white Hispanic come out of that?"

3. A handful of members from the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) offered a $10,000 reward for the "capture" of George Zimmerman.

4. 911 call shows Zimmerman stopped following Martin after dispatcher’s request, corroborates story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj7qEcD8R-8

5. Prosecutor Angela Corey announced that she will not present the case to a grand jury. (Did she fear that it would not get to trial if she presented the evidence she had?)

6. Zimmerman's bond hearing was held. Judge Lester sets Zimmerman's bond at $150,000. During the hearing, Zimmerman apologizes to the family of Trayvon Martin for the loss of their son. A judge later had him and his wife arrested for supposedly lying about their income for the bond hearing and change the bond to 1 million dollars which he paid the 10% of by law and was released. 

7. A photo of Trayvon Martin's body and George Zimmerman's school records were mistakenly released by prosecutors. Special Prosecutor Angela Corey's office issues a statement asking reporters to "please disregard and do not use the information contained in the initial e-mail. It was inadvertently attached."

8. Zimmerman sued NBC Universal for allegedly editing the 911 call he placed on the night of the tragic event. He states in the lawsuit that NBC unfairly made it appear that "Zimmerman was a racist, and that he was racially profiling Trayvon Martin".

9. Trayvon Martin's girlfriend, known as Civilian Witness 8, who was on the phone with Martin the night of his death, admits that she lied under oath when she told court prosecutors that she was in the hospital on the day of Martin's funeral.

10. Martin's parents settle a wrongful-death claim against the homeowners association of the Florida subdivision where their son was killed.

11. The jury saw multiple photos of his bloody and swollen nose, and cuts to the back of his head, showing that Martin clearly got the best of their fight before Zimmerman fired the shot.

12. Although Martin was only 17-years old in life, his stature 5'11", 175 pounds (Definitely not the 12-14 year old we were shown in the media) and  Zimmerman, in contrast, seems to weigh between 170 and 175 pounds, and is between 5' 7" and 5'9" 

12. Zimmerman was in trouble previously prior to this was 1. Failure to have the registration for his car, 2. Unlawful Speeding (same day as 1), (age 21)  3. Resisting arrest without violence 4. Resisting Arrest with violence/Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer on the same day as 5. He and His girlfriend at the time filed restraining orders against each other.  6. The #4 here was moved to NON Violence on a Law Enforcement officer because Zimmerman completed an Alcohol Program. Zimmerman was 20 when these occurred.

13. Martin had been suspended from school because of drugs. He also used "Lean"  and did so since June 2011 per his texts. That were presented in court. 

So they both were not the angels everyone claims. SO what! Are you perfect? No. Am I perfect? No. A jury of his peers found him NOT GUILTY. That is how things work in this country. If you want to lynch people just because you "think" you know the entire story, please go to another country to see how that works. Some places have no trials. They kill you on the spot for an accusation. No facts. Just accusations.

More facts laid out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF-Ax5E8EJc

Something that was interesting. A black man talking about the demonstration in Akron, Mississippi. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0b7_1373822934

Weed, fights and guns: Trayvon Martin’s text messages released.  http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/23/3413343/

Did Trayvon Martin Referee School Fights?  http://www.wagist.com/2012/dan-linehan/did-trayvon-martin-referee-school-fights

Senseless violence after the verdict:

http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/07/21344-black-mob-beats-up-white-guy-over-zimmerman-verdict-on-tape/

http://twitchy.com/2013/07/14/kill-pigs-anti-cop-vandals-in-oakland-riot-smash-windows-burn-flags-over-zimmerman-verdict-photosvideo/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/14/george-zimmerman-acquitted-murder-in-trayvon-martin-shooting-death/

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/07/violence_aftre_zimmerman_verdict_why_oakland.html

Perhaps all of us should understand what Martin Luther King was about. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.” Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

A jury who saw ALL the evidence made a decision. That is how the justice systems works. You do not have to like it, but you do have to live with it. No one wins in this case. The divorced Martin's lost their son. George Zimmerman and his family will forever look over their shoulders because someone is going to do something stupid. George has to live with the fact that he took someone's life. 

There are far more important things that are going on this country that we all should be upset about: IRS targeting, NSA, Benghazi, Fast & Furious. countless serial killer trials that are going on now. 

I am sorry that the 17 year old young man is dead. What if it had been Martin that had killed Zimmerman? Would this have gotten the media attention that it has? I think not.  It would have been a Black against a Black Hispanic then. That would have gotten swept under the rug and called self defense.  

This is the picture of Trayvon the media portrayed

This is the reality. This face shows a young man who was a fighter. Check out his teeth. He has a few missing now.

This is reality

Again, not the little boy

This was the night Trayvon Martin was shot
NOT A LITTLE BOY

This is what the media portrayed.  Man shoots little boy. NOT WHAT HAPPENED!

George Zimmerman that night

Back of George Zimmernan's head that night

Maternal side of the family of George Zimmerman

Black Panthers Reward Poster

Life in General - It sucks

I will be selling a lot of things in the coming week or two. This is so I can afford to pay rent, utilities, car payments, groceries, cell phone bill. etc. and putting my stuff into storage.

My lease is up at the end of August and we discussed my inability to pay and stay caught up. I will need to move because without a job and a roommate who does not do what they agreed to, I cannot make ends meet. I am too far behind to even make it work now. Where I will move I have no clue. My car most likely if I can keep up the car payments, otherwise I will be in a homeless shelter. Then if I cannot make the payments on the storage, I will lose what little I do have at the end of all of this. I guess it should not matter. They are only possessions and memories that I do not need. Who needs those right?

Quite frankly, I never know from one week to the next if I am getting my unemployment or not. Apparently I missed an appointment that I did not know I even had with the Career Center so my check this week is not forthcoming until I make another appointment.  Oh and I have no gas for a job interview that I missed this morning because I have no money from unemployment. This cycle never ends.

Oh and Frankie needs a home otherwise he is going to a Cat Shelter. I cannot afford to feed myself let alone the cat.  I also cannot afford kitty liter. Before you tell me about Bi-State Pet Food Pantry, I have used them in the past and they are wonderful. They require Veterinary records of shots to continue to use them. I cannot afford that either. Hell I cannot afford to go to the doctor myself right now let alone a cat.

This all stems from a person who could not keep his dick in his pants and be faithful. To you I say the following: Cheating is not an accident. Falling off a bike is an accident. You don't just trip and fall into a vagina!

I have been on a downward spiral ever since. the cycle needs to end and I need a job that I can stay at until I retire! 10 years. 10 years till I retire. But the way my luck has been going they will raise the age of retirement or I will have to work until I die because there will be no Social Security.

Before you get offended at what is coming up please note, I am not discussing those I consider Family.
Unlike some people I know, I do not have the luxury to spend my husbands money and not work.  I would love that luxury! I would love to consider that all jobs out there are beneath me because they do not pay what I used to make before I got laid off.  I would love it if I did not have to work and be able to spend time with my own children and grandchildren on a regular basis.  That is not the way the world works, not for me and not for most people.

I would like it for an employer to say " We know you are over qualified for this position but we will hire you anyway!" I would like an employer to say "We want someone who is here for the long haul and we think you are that person!" I would like an employer to say "We value your experience, wisdom and knowledge and we want to hire you!"

One can hope right? In the meantime I have to make ends meet. Things I will be selling include books, dvds, gaming books, a PS3 with games, computers, computer parts etc.

National School Lunch Program

The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools.The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses, while at the same time providing food to school age children. It was named after Richard Russell, Jr., and signed into law President Harry S. Truman in 1946.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/ProgramHistory.htm

http://federaleducationpolicy.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/1946-national-school-lunch-act/

The majority of the support that is now provided to schools participating in the program comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served. Schools are also entitled to receive commodity foods and additional commodities as they are available from surplus agricultural stocks. The National School Lunch Program serves 30.5 million children each day at a cost of $8.7 billion for fiscal year 2007. Most participants are also eligible for food during the summer through the Summer Food Service Program.

The current nutrition standards being used by the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast program were established in 2010.

In late 2009, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released School Meals: Building Blocks For Healthy Children. This report reviews and provides recommendations to update the nutrition standard and the meal requirements for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. School Meals also sets standards for menu planning that focus on food groups, calories, saturated fat, and sodium and that incorporate Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Dietary Reference Intakes.

hefoodfarce.com/2010/07/18/the-future-of-america-its-a-fat-outlook/


In November 2011, an agriculture appropriations bill passed by Congress garnered controversy for blocking a proposed change by the Obama administration to school lunch regulations, whereby 1/8 of a cup of tomato paste would no longer have been considered as having the nutritional equivalent of 1/2 a cup of vegetables, but instead only as having the nutritional equivalent of 1/8 of a cup of vegetables (i.e., schools can only credit a volume of vegetables as equivalent to its actual size). Critics of this move by Congress claim that pressure was placed upon officials voting on the bill by lobbyists representing pizza manufacturers and cheese producers, as it was seen to threaten the ability of schools to serve pizza and credit it with the same level of nutritional value as they heretofore had. Many critics have sardonically summarized the situation as "Pizza is now a vegetable" or "Congress decides pizza is a vegetable". However, others have pointed out that 1/8 of a cup of tomato paste stacks up remarkably well against a 1/2 cup of vegetables nutritionally, albeit with an excessive amount of sodium that could be argued to reduce its nutritional value.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/9/new-york-school-drops-michelle-obama-lunch-standar/

Gee Mrs. Obama - can you please stick to your own kids and stay out of our business and our schools? You are wasting our school tax dollars!

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/Legislation/dietaryspecs.pdf

This is the rule for School Lunches and Breakfast Programs. Breakfast must consist of 1 Fruit Cup and 7-10 oz of grains which is cereal and 1 cup of milk and that is across all age groups. Lunch varies by grade level.

Let me see. Meat alternatives include Black Beans, Black eyes peas, Garbanzo or Chickpeas, Great Northern, Kidney Beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, Pink Beans, Pinto Beans, red beans, soy beans, baked beans with a variety of meats in them, refried beans, lentils, almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pretty much every nut and seeds out there and soup beans.

I have to admit I had no idea what a mung bean was and looked it up. The mung or moong bean is the seed of Vigna radiata, native to the Indian subcontinent, and mainly cultivated in India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Burma, Bangladesh, Laos and Cambodia. Amount Per 1 cup (202 g) Calories 213 % Daily Value* Total fat 0.8 g 1% Saturated fat 0.2 g 1% Polyunsaturated fat 0.3 g Monounsaturated fat 0.1 g Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 4 mg 0% Potassium 537 mg 15% Total Carbohydrate 39 g 13%
Dietary fiber 15 g 60% Sugar 4 g Protein 14 g 28% Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 3% Calcium 5% Iron 15% Vitamin B-6 5% Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 24% *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001W2W2Q The cost of a Mung Bean is not cheap. $14.10 per pound for organic which the first lady wants us all to eat. (Still have no real idea if I would like it or not but hey I will try something once to see if I do, but not at those prices)

Then we get to the MEAT of it. Beef Brisket, Corned Beef Brisket, Beef Cheek Meat, Beef Chuck Roast, Beef Flank Steak, Ground Beef, beef heart, beef kidney, Beef liver, beef loin steak, beef ox tail, beef rib eye, beef skirt steak, beef rib roast, Beef Eye of Round, beef round roast, beef rump roast, Beef Special Trim (practically free of fat), beef steak that is formed like a steak, beef stew meat, beef tongue, canned beef, chicken and ALL its parts and organs, canned chicken, dried eggs, frankfurters, knockwurst, vienna sausage, ground buffalo, goat, lamb, pork, clams, crabs, crawfish, fish steaks, fish portions, fish sticks, mackerel, Oysters, salmon, scallops, sardines, shrimp, quid/calimari, tuna, turkeyand yogurt. Remember we are talking ALL organ meats as well with everything here.

ALL of this HAS to be LEAN MEAT! Have you priced lean meat at the store? It is the most expensive cuts of meat! The good news is that it can be fresh or frozen so maybe the school can catch a sale? Nah. They have to buy from the USDA. It is in their rules. The rest of the food is supposed to be organic. Have you priced organic foods? Look up Whole Foods and Trader Joes online and tell me how much organic and lean meats are.

The problem is that a lot of kids are going hungry because they do not like the food they are being served in our schools. This program was supposed to alleviate the problem of hunger for low income families. Most kids are not buying the food or taking what is served because the portions are either too small or they taste horrible. The schools are losing money to the tune of $100,000 a school year. That might not seem like much but when you figure out that it is your school tax dollars that is being spent on that food, it is horribly wasteful.

Recent local store ads.

Dierbergs Ad that is inclusive of today:
Dierbergs All Natural Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast is $3.99 lb.
Fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon $11.99 lb.
Fresh Jumbo Catfish Fillets $9.99 lb.
Center Cut, All Natural Bone-In Rib Pork Chops are $2.67
Jumbo or Family Pack Fresh Ground Chuck $2.97 lb.

Schnucks Ad that is inclusive of today
USDA Choice Certified Angus Beef, Fresh Boneless Shoulder Steaks $2.99 lb.
Pride of the Farm Fresh Rib Pork Chops $3.69 lb.

Both stores offer Fresh Local vegetables and fruits all summer long. After the summer is over though, they ship it in just like everyone else. Is it all organic? No clue. The ad does not say.
Not bad prices really. But times that by 5 days a week per student. Not so cheap now is it?

Let us now look at Whole Foods. Their web site says that their Quality Standards are "We’re seriously serious about quality around here. We carry natural and organic products because we believe that food in its purest state — unadulterated by artificial flavors, sweeteners, colorings and preservatives — is the best tasting and most nutritious food available." So you know when you buy from their it is going to be organic.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values

Current ad for Whole Foods
Organitc Hot Dogs $4.99 each 12 oz pkg. About the same as Oscar Meyer equivelent at most stores not on sale.
Wild Caught 16/22 count cooked shrimp 11.99 each

How much does it cost to go organic? Check it out:
http://www.chow.com/food-news/53451/how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-organic/

I am not saying that we cannot go organic in the schools or do lean meats. What I am saying is that the cost needs to go way down, be competitive with the other non-organic foods and the health of the food needs to meet proper guidelines. When a fast food restaurant checks the food  for bacteria and pathogens more often than the schools do, there is a huge problem. Of course the restaurants are held to safety codes and health standards. Schools are not held to the same standards. Organic food does not last as long as the normal antibiotic drug ingested foods we are used to eating.

My own organic test came in the form of tomatoes and potatoes.  I bought organic tomatoes and potatoes at a farmer's market and I got normal tomatoes and potatoes at the local grocery store.  The organic cost more per pound but I felt that I needed to eat a little healthier. Now mind you I purchased from the local store first and still had not eaten very many of either one. I got the organics and used a few that day and then put them in the fridge for the next day. By the time I got to the tomatoes the next morning, they were rotten all the way through. My other tomatoes were fine (the ones from the store). My organic potatoes also started getting moldy that day. So in reality I would have to go to the store more often with the organic fruit and vegetables, which with the cost of gasoline will cost me more than going to my local store. (I am not here to debate organic vs. Monsanto. That is another rant for another day.)

In December 2009, a report was released that showed that fast food restaurants were far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens in beef and chicken than the school lunch program. "We simply are not giving our kids in schools the same level of quality and safety as you get when you go to many fast-food restaurants", said J. Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. "We are not using those same standards." (Eisler, Peter; Morrison, Blake; DeBarros, Anthony (2009-12-09). "Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches". USA Today)

The statistics in this article amaze me
 http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/shpps/2006/factsheets/pdf/FS_FoodSafety_SHPPS2006.pdf

When I worked in the food industry I had to take classes on those safety codes and health standards. Why is it not REQUIRED in the schools?

Your child gets sick at school and they send them home. Are they really sick or was it tainted food?

http://hernandotoday.com/he/list/news/food-poisoning-cause-of-elementary-school-illness-20130531/

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/23/nyregion/a-second-bout-of-food-poisoning-sickens-22-children-at-a-school-in-trenton.html

This set of articles listed here at the New York Times website scare me.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/food_safety/index.html


Some more things for you to look at.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2173937670001/several-districts-opt-out-of-federal-school-lunch-program/
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-06-19/catlin-leaving-federal-school-lunch-program.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/niskayuna-school-district_n_2544868.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/20/school-trash
http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/school_lunch.htm
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-02-20/news/ct-met-school-lunch-waste-20110220_1_cps-lunchrooms-lunchroom-waste-unwanted-fruit
http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/ph/rt/food_waste_and_organics.htm
http://www.kiddiecatering.com/
http://www.fns.usda.gov/slp
http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/newsroom/jcnm/04fall/bergman/bergman1.asp