The Loveshade Family Blog tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog/1 2008-11-05T19:32:02Z Loveshade Home| Alden Loveshade| Reverend Loveshade (Discordian)| Lorien Loveshade| Loveshade Photos Movable Type 3.2ysb5-20051201 Will California's Gay Marriage Ban Force Divorce? tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.115 2008-11-05T18:08:34Z 2008-11-05T19:32:02Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org No marriage symbol (as it appears at http://thornsandnails.com/pics/not_marriage2_sm.gif)Proposition 8, a California initiative that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, has passed.  Because the measure amends the state constitution, it would effectively overrule the decision of the California Supreme Court that banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory.

But this leaves a convoluted side effect which will have a major impact on many Californians and others.

Thousands of same-sex couples married between the court decision in May and the vote on November 4.  What will happen to those couples?

The law will either be interpreted as:

1) Those same-sex couples who are already married can stay married.  But that would leave the dilemma of the state both approving same-sex marriage, and saying it's unconstitutional.

2) The marriages of those already married same-sex couples would be forcibly ended by the government.  That would essentially mean the state would force married couples to divorce.

Neither one of these options is something that conservatives or liberals would fully support.  The effects of the court decision and the vote cannot be ignored, and it will force this issue to stay in the public arena.  Either way, this controversy is far from over.

And is also begs the question: does this mean that the state of California would define the polygamous marriages of most Biblical patriarchs as illegal?

]]> Can You Post Comments Now? tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.114 2008-11-02T14:32:46Z 2008-11-02T14:36:29Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org Hopefully, yes you can!  For some reason still unknown to us, people had trouble posting comments to our entries for several days.  We think, and hope, we have the problem fixed.  Even though we still don't know what caused the problem!

In any case, if you're still having problems posting comments, or just want to make suggestions, feel free to email us at the address listed on our home page at www.loveshade.org

Thanks for your patience!

]]> Execution of Troy Anthony Davis--Delayed Again! tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.113 2008-10-27T22:02:27Z 2008-10-27T22:35:11Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org Stop image from http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I60022-2005Feb28"The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Friday halted Troy Anthony Davis’ execution, the third time his life has been spared shortly before he was to be put to death."

To see the article on Troy Davis, go to http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/10/24/troy_davis_stay.html

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We just learned some people have been problems posting comments during the last few days.  We're working on the problem and hope to have it fixed soon.  If you have a problem, please let us know.

You might want to visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

 

]]> Problem With Posting Comments? tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.112 2008-10-27T19:29:05Z 2008-10-27T19:30:31Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org ]]> Supreme Court Refuses to Review Troy Anthony Davis Case: Execution Scheduled tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.111 2008-10-17T21:09:16Z 2008-11-02T14:24:36Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org First Floor at the Statute of John Marshall in the foreground, shadowed, quotation from Marbury v. Madison (written by Marshall) engraved into the wall. United States Supreme Court Building. (image by Swatjester)This is hard for us to believe and hard to write.  The U. S. Supreme Court has refused to review the Troy Anthony Davis case.  Davis was convicted of killing a police officer who was shot 17 years ago, and sentenced for execution.

This is in spite of there being no physical evidence; witnesses recanting their testimony, some saying they were coerced by the police; Troy Davis continuing to assert his innocence; one of the two remaining witnesses being a suspect in the killing; a national and international effort to get the case reviewed; and the fact the Supreme Court put a stay on Davis' execution--it's rare for the court to do that and then not review a case.

Many people, including some prominent law enforcement officials, beliewe that what little evidence remains would not be enough to convict Davis.  In fact some law enforcement experts have said they believe he's innocent.

He's scheduled to be executed on Oct. 27, 2008.

See articles at  http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/102917/supreme_court_rejects_troy_davis_case%2C_gives_green_light_for_his_execution/ and http://www.alternet.org/rights/102930/amnesty_int'l:_supreme_court_refusal_to_hear_troy_davis_case_%22truly_shocking%22/

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You might want to visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> This is Our 100th Entry! tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.110 2008-10-17T19:21:12Z 2008-11-02T14:37:03Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org 100_dollar_bill.jpgAll right, so no one but us is likely to care that this is our 100th entry in The Loveshade Family Blog.  But it's a significant anniversary for us.

We've written and ranted about Crime and Punishment, Politics and War, Religion and Philosophy, Science and Technology, the Ek-sen-trik and Discordian, Family and Friends, and of course Love and Sex.  (We being Alden, Lorien and Reverend Loveshade and our good friend Danacasso).

Thanks to everyone who's posted comments (well, except maybe the spam bots).  We look forward to the next 100 posts, and hope you do too!

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There had been a problem with commenting on this post.  We still don't know the source of the problem, but hope we have it fixed.  If you still can't post comments here or have any other problems or suggestions, feel free to email us at the address listed on our home page at www.loveshade.org

]]> U. S. Supreme Court Still to Consider Appeal of Troy Anthony Davis tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.109 2008-10-07T10:50:49Z 2008-10-07T12:04:08Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org The U. S. Supreme Court plans to meet in private to discuss the case of Troy Anthony Davis.  Davis was convicted of murdering a police officer largely on the basis of the testimony of nine witnesses, seven of which recanted with one of the remaining two named as the possible murderer.

Troy Anthony DavisDavis was convicted of fatally shooting Mark Allen MacPhail, a 27-year-old officer killed on August 19, 1989.  The court said it would meet on Friday to discuss the case, but hasn't said when it will make a decision on whether or not to reconsider it.

For more details, see http://www.ajc.com/traffic/content/metro/stories/2008/10/06/troy_davis_appeal.html.

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You might want to visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> U. S. Supreme Court May Announce Decision on Troy Anthony Davis on Oct. 6 tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.108 2008-09-30T23:27:50Z 2008-09-30T23:30:03Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org We won't repeat what we've already posted (see the link at the very bottom to see our earlier blogs on this topic).  But the U. S. Supreme Court is scheduled to announce a decision on the Troy Antony Davis case on October 6.

We're hoping for a new trial for the man who was convicted of murder on evidence that later proved to be very questionable.

You might want to visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/ and see more about the current situation at http://www.ajc.com/mero/content/metro/stories/2008/09/29/troy_davis_case.html

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To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> Will Ice Cream Made From Breast Milk Be Served in Two Scoops? tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.106 2008-09-26T04:30:57Z 2008-09-26T05:23:17Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org CREDIT: Siegel, Arthur S., "Detroit, Michigan. Little girl with ice cream cone in the zoological park." "America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945," Library of Congress. "This morning, PETA dispatched a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of ice cream icon Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace the cow's milk in their products with human breast milk."

That's from the official website of PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  It's apparently in the wake of news reports that a restaurant owner in Switzerland plans to buy breast milk to use in soups, stews and sauces.

Their site claims it's cruel to keep cattle locked up, forcibly impregnating cows every nine months just to keep up milk production.Woman breastfeeding a girl (photo from the U. S. Government apparently taken in Paraguay)

Would their solution mean milk-supplying women would have to be impregnated every nine months?

Apparently not.  It appears that woman will continue producing breast milk as long as they're nursing, as the Veronika Robinson case points out (she breastfed her daughters until they voluntarily stopped at age 7, one of them almost 8 years old who asked for it again on her 9th birthday.)  PETA claims breast milk is not only better for the animals, but for people.

If this becomes a trend, it leaves us with a very large question: what about yogurt, or milk itself?  A cow can produce many times the milk that a human woman can.  Where would all that milk come from?

Read the PETA letter and comments at http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11993

See a short video about Veronika Robinson at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHRyRCHuQ7g and Robinson's corrections to some of the video at http://www.themothermagazine.co.uk/extraordinarybreastfeeding.html (thanks to Einley for pointing these out at http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=844263 )

 

]]> U. S. Supreme Court Stayed Execution of Troy Davis tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.105 2008-09-24T01:03:59Z 2008-09-24T01:14:22Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org Troy Anthony Davis at graduationIn a bizarre twist, the U. S. Supreme Court was scheduled to look at the case of Troy Anthony Davis on September 29, 2008.  But the state of Georgia insisted on killing Troy Davis on September 23, 2008.  After 17 years, they didn't want to wait six days even if it meant an innocent man might be saved from death.

Fortunately, the emails, protests, etc. that we and many, many others were behind helped.  The Supreme Court gave Troy Davis a stay of execution just two hours before his scheduled demise.

For those who think you can't make a difference, you can.  Without the support, Davis likely would have been killed by the state a year ago.

Whatever finally results in this case, it's another example of a fundamental problem with execution: if you kill an innocent man, you can't take it back.

Learn more about the stay at http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/death-penalty/22892/supreme-court-stay-granted-for-troy-anthony-davis-2-hours-before-georgia-execution/

Or visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

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To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> We May Still Be Able to Save Troy Anthony Davis tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.104 2008-09-22T17:35:27Z 2008-10-07T12:02:13Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org Troy Anthony DavisTroy Anthony Davis, a quite possibly innocent man convicted of killing a cop, is sentenced to die in Georgia on Tuesday, September 23, 2008.  After his conviction, seven of the nine main witnesses against him changed their testimony, some saying they were pressured into testifying against him by the police.  One of the two remaining witnesses has been identified by several people as the actual killer.  There is no physical evidence linking Davis to the killing, the murder weapon hasn't been found, and Davis still asserts his innocence.

But because of changes made in the law, it's extremely difficult for a man wrongly convicted to get new evidence heard in the court.  And with the death penalty, a mistake, a horrible mistake, is irreversible.

There's one last chance for Troy Davis--the ACLU and other organizations have an effort to get the execution commuted or stayed.  You can help by emailing the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles at https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=906&page=UserAction&s_src=acluonline_919908&JServSessionIdr001=fmuaepz1j2.app23a  

You can read more at http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/09/12/davis_denied_clemency.html

You may also want to do a search for the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which makes it much more difficult for a wrongly convicted person to receive justice.

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To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series to get Sixth Part? tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.103 2008-09-18T19:06:26Z 2008-09-18T19:22:59Z Reverend Loveshade http://discordia.loveshade.org Cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'LONDON (Reuters) - Children's author Eoin Colfer is to write a sixth novel in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, seven years after the death of its creator Douglas Adams, Penguin said Wednesday.'

Adams' widow approved it, but here's a very disturbing quote from guide's creator Douglas Adams (whom we named a Discordian saint) when he talked about how his series had five parts:

"Five seems to be a wrong kind of number; six is a better kind of number."

Can we accept someone who says something so blasphemist about our Holy Number Five to be a Saint?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/britain_galaxy_odd_dc

]]> Troy Anthony Davis Denied Clemency: Scheduled to be Executed tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.102 2008-09-13T01:21:16Z 2008-09-22T17:44:09Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org

Troy Anthony DavisTroy Anthony Davis, a quite possibly innocent man convicted of killing a cop, was hoping that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles would grant him clemency.  Seven of nine of the major witnesses against him recanted their testimony, and some who recanted said they were pushed into testifying by the cops.  One of the two witnesses remaining is said by a number of witnesses to be the actual killer.

But changes in the law made in the past few years have made it increasingly difficult for a wrongly convicted person.  Here's the result of the call for clemency:

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied it. Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. September 23, 2008.

Here's one paragraph from the article about the denial in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (September 12, 2008):

'Since he (Troy Davis) was put on Death Row, seven of the nine key witnesses against him have recanted. One of the two who did not change their story, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, was at the scene and later told police Davis was the shooter. New witnesses now say Coles confessed to them that he killed MacPhail, and others say Coles had a gun immediately after the shooting —- contrary to what Coles testified at trial.'

Some of you may not care--after all, innocent or possibly innocent people die every day. And people who commit capital crimes against others walk around free every day. A good friend of ours just lost his brother to cancer. Death happens all the time. But what about when it could easily be prevented?

How would you feel if you or a loved one was convicted of murdering a police officer, then later witnesses against you said they were coerced to testify against you by the police? How would feel if witnesses later pointed to one of your own accusers as the killer? How would you feel if the law wouldn't allow the court to hear any new evidence in your defense?

You can read more at http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/09/12/davis_denied_clemency.html

You may also want to do a search for the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which makes it much more difficult for a wrongly convicted person to receive justice.

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To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> Troy Anthony Davis Will Die This Month--Unless.... tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.101 2008-09-10T15:06:26Z 2008-09-18T19:21:01Z The Loveshade Family http://www.loveshade.org Troy Anthony DavisTroy Anthony Davis is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 23.  He was convicted of killing a cop on the testimony of nine witnesses with no physical evidence.  Davis says he's innocent, and seven of the nine witnesses have since recanted their testimony.  Some said they were pushed to testify by the police; some said they believe one of the two remaining witnesses who still blames Davis actually did the killing.

So why hasn't Troy Davis simply gotten a new trial?  It's because of a misguided 1996 Newt Gingrich era law that makes it much more difficult for a person convicted of a capital crime to appeal.  Because of that law, evidence in Davis' support can't even be seen by the court.

But it will be seen on Friday, Sept. 12, by the Georgia Department of Pardons and Paroles.  The department will decide if Troy Anthony Davis should be executed.

We aren't asking anyone to write the Georgia Department of Pardons and Paroles to declare Davis innocent.  We're simply asking that you ask them to truly consider the evidence.  It's quite easy.  Simply click on the link to the ACLU, which has provided an easy-to-use online form.  If at all possible, please do this by Friday, Sept. 12.  But even if it's after that date, please still do it.

Act now to demand justice and stop the execution of Troy Anthony Davis.

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To see all blog entries dealing with Troy Anthony Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

]]> Ken Campbell, stage adapter of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Illuminatus, dead at 66 tag:loveshade.org,2008:/blog//1.100 2008-09-02T04:13:00Z 2008-09-18T19:21:01Z Ken Campbell, who co-wrote the Illuminatus! play based on the trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, died at age 66 on Sept. 1, 2008.Campbell also adapted Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the stage in... Reverend Loveshade http://discordia.loveshade.org Photo of Ken Campbell from www.chortle.co.ukKen Campbell, who co-wrote the Illuminatus! play based on the trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, died at age 66 on Sept. 1, 2008.

Campbell also adapted Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the stage in 1979.

In addition to being a writer and director, he was an actor.  Some of you may remember him as Bartlett in the Pythonesque movie A Fish Called Wanda.  He auditioned for the part of the seventh Doctor Who, a part that ironically went to one of his protege's, Sylvester McCoy.

He was alternately praised and criticized for his highly eccentric productions.  His Wholiness the Rev. DrJon, from whom I learned Campbell died, declared Ken Campbell a Discordian saint.

Check the article about Campbell at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2663891/Ken-Campbell.html

There's another article that includes a clip from a TV show he made about the human brain at http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2008/09/01/7330/ken_campbell_dies

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