Private agendas & an utter contempt for judicial independence

Posted on | July 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

I didn’t closely follow the Casey Anthony trial that just wrapped up in the US. It was a 3 ring circus of media lynching, unrealistic jury expectations of CSI like evidence and political bullshit. If you are interested in the sordid details of the trial, just Google Casey Anthony and you’ll be up to your eyeballs in sites. But here’s the short version: Casey Anthony was on trial for her daughter’s death. She was acquitted earlier in the week and that let off a firestorm in the US. People have been doing their best impressions of a lynch mob since Tuesday.  The most disturbing responses come from some of the GOP candidates, who really should know better. Well in a perfect world they should, but with this group of nit wits, nothing is sacred.

What has me so bothered by Republican Presidential candidates weighing in on the trial? A little thing called judicial independence. Each one seems to think being President means they have the right, no the duty to interfere with the courts. They are also using it to beat Obama around the head with accusations he did not step in to ensure Anthony was convicted. It isn’t the President’s job to do this. If anything, he should remain silent.

Sarah Palin may not have declared herself, but we all know she’s such a media ****** she will eventually. She said ““It’s almost strange that the president has not yet made one statement on the issue of the death of young Caylee Anthony. Why the strange silence, Mr. President?”

Is it me, or did Palin just accuse the President of being a closet child killer. At the very least she is implying Obama is happy the accused child murderer was set free. What would she have Obama say?  Do we really need a politician stating the obvious. Aside from the fact this would be seen as interfering with STATE laws if Obama spoke out on the trial, Palin would be the first to stand up and screech Obama is interfering in State rights.

Michelle Bachmann, another right wing evangelical who wouldn’t know the truth if it reared up and bit her in the ass said this: “Well, I’ve been visiting all the primary states, and I’ve been talking to people, and people all over the place are asking me, why, in Barack Obama’s America, someone who murders a baby who happens to be white doesn’t get punished.” There we have it boys and girls, no suspected white child killer has been found not guilty in the entire history of the US of A. until a black man took office. This isn’t just a superficial statement, it reeks of political opportunism. This is one of the stupidest statements I have ever heard.

And finally Herman Cain stepped into this mess. Let’s play spot the problems with this: “I can promise you Casey Anthony and anyone else who I think might’ve killed their children will have no business in a Herman Cain administration. President Cain would look her right in the eyes and ask her point blank if she killed that little girl, we’d get right to the bottom of it.”

Cain is stating clearly he sees no problem with using his position to 1) interfere with the judicial process and 2) not worry about guilt or innocence, if he things the person is guilty, he’ll manipulate the system to see “justice” done. The key words here are “I think  might’ve”. It’s up to the courts not individuals to determine this. Like it or not, justice doesn’t always prevail, but that’s reality. To step over the courts and institute mob style rule guarantees one thing – a lot of innocent people will die.

The child’s death was tragic enough. Do we really need politicians stomping on her body to push their own political careers?

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New Tech Support Blog Post

Posted on | July 7, 2011 | Comments Off

I just posted an article on what makes a good computer support person. Check out I hear a harrruuummmm. Should I be worried? Lessons in tech support.

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Just what the U.S. needs, one more idiot

Posted on | July 5, 2011 | Comments Off

Looks like the Grandmaster of white supremacy is thinking of throwing his hat into the Presidential ring. Yup, David Duke, the former KKK Grand Wizard (or something insanely ridiculous like that), has announced he will test the waters in a tour of the US to see if there is enough support for his brand of hatred. We can thank the Tea Party for making out and out jackasses like Duke believe there may be enough support in America to make him a viable candidate. Tea Party hatred is so thick on the ground, with outlets like Fox News playing the role of willing cheerleader, it’s allowed Duke to crawl out of the wood pile and announce his intent.

For those of you who don’t follow certain seedier elements of society, Duke is the former head of the Klu Klux Klan, a white power, anti-Semitic nonsense spewer who coincidently is also a convicted criminal. He’s already made 5 unsuccessful bids for the President’s seat. This time, he believes the temperature is just right. Tea Party have been so busy stirring up extreme fear of the scary black man and Muslim in power, they’ve created a perfect storm of intolerance that allows snakes like Duke to slither into public view again.

His website is curiously quiet on this so we’ll have to wait and see if he was just yanking some chains to see how much bullshit he could stir up, or whether it’s a serious intent. Either way, the last thing our friends to the south need is one more whiney, sulking, self righteous idiot making life more difficult for them. The only difference between Duke and the rest of the Tea Party candidates, is Duke doesn’t hide his white sheet.

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G20 Redux–the face of an anarchist

Posted on | June 25, 2011 | Comments Off

Anarchist
Pronunciation:/’anekist/

noun
Canadian political straw man used by politicians and police to justify abuse of power. Empty word to describe anyone they are afraid of. See: citizen
—————————————————————————————-

Want to see one of the G20 “anarchists”? Still unconvinced about the abuse of power that took place here in Toronto last year? Listen to John Pruyn, 57, of Thorold speak at the G20 Redux protest at Queen’s Park one year after the largest mass arrests in Canadian history.

It’s time Canadian politicians, police and hockey commentators of dubious fashion sense are forbidden to use the word anarchist.

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Oh look … another Blue jay!

Posted on | June 24, 2011 | Comments Off

Your going to get tired of Blue jays soon. This is my fourth attempt at doing a full colour ink drawing. Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Not sure why, but trying to feather in blue is incredibly difficult – the shadows and highlights just don’t cooperate. It’s not hard doing them in browns or black. I’m not sure why the blue is so hard.

Anyway, here’s my fourth attempt at drawing a Blue jay in full colour:

From Catpaw’s Art work – birds

The first two were okay, but very rough around the shoulders and breast. Eyes are a doddle, but trying to feather in blue? Who knew it would take so much effort. For the third attempt, I tried to do a light wash of blue first and then put in the feathers, but it really made the bird look like I’d used pencil crayons.

This time I feathered the blue on, then ran over sections with white ink to get a bit of highlighting. The chest was much easier as well. I diluted the ink down with distilled water, put a hint of black into it and Bob’s your uncle! Delicate little chest feathers. His crest looks pretty good, but it’s going to take a lot of practice to get the rest looking as good. I ran into only one major problem this time – Cat kept trying to drink the watered down ink. He seems to think little trays of ink are some form of room service.

I promise, last Blue Jay for awhile! I’ll move onto other little feathery friends soon.

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Song birds and ink pens

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | Comments Off

I tackled a blue jay today. Well, not really, I tackled the task of sketching one in pen and ink. As with my previous ones, I’ve used an earlier drawing and fleshed it out with nib pen and ink.

I used Winsor & Newton’s Nut Brown ink this time. Very similar to the Peat Brown, but without that hint of red in it. I’m not as happy with this drawing as I was with my earlier ones. I think I was getting a bit impatient and didn’t pay close enough attention to the feathering. I was also a bit heavy handed around the beak, mostly because I blotted a bit and was trying to cover the boo boo.

From Catpaw’s Art work – birds

I think this is a prime candidate for a full colour ink treatment.

Here’s the original pencil drawing it was based on:

From Catpaw’s Art work – birds

The feathering is much more subtle. I need more practice with my pens before I’m comfortable with complex feathering.

I’m working on some new pencil drawings. I’ll post them when I’m happy with them. In the meantime, enjoy.

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