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I have a guest post up today on Huffington Post, thanks to Francine Hardaway. This is a post I originally wrote this weekend for the site I've been working on since January - US Health Crisis.
Our goal with the site is to aggregate content and build community around the ongoing debate about health care reform in an effort to raise our group voices and be heard as legislation comes down the path. Lots of people have already guest-posted there, but we'd love to post your story, too. Let me know if you're interested.
The post at Huffington Post is my answer to Newt Gingrich's absurd contention that health care reform should not be tackled until the economy is under control. Anyone who has had to wrestle with health care issues in any way, shape or form, knows this single fact: The economy's recovery depends on health care reform.
I'd love to hear what you think.
Unjust Justice
I am thrilled that Julie has no more felony charges hanging over her head. And she is thrilled, too. But you should know that no justice was done here. None whatsoever.
Justice would have been full exoneration with a deep, heartfelt apology from the prosecutor for not fully investigating the possibility that malware had infected the computer in the classroom where she was substituting.
Justice would have been a public statement from the prosecutor and Mark Lounsbury, the so-called police forensic "expert" who gave false testimony in her trial.
Justice would have been a proper investigation at the outset before she lost her he, her reputation, her job, and ultimately, her good health.
Justice would have been placing the responsibility for the whole debacle at the feet of the school network administrator who did not have a full version of anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed, had almost no security policies in place, and hadn't updated the virus definitions on what was on the computer for over three months.
Justice would be seeing the jerks who create malware thrown in jail with the key thrown out, forced to watch the same images they fed to unwitting PC owners over, and over, and over again, while handcuffed behind their back.
Julie was hospitalized last week for symptoms relating to stress and a possible heart condition. Just four short years ago she was looking forward to the birth of her they and a life with her husband in the Chaturbate community she loved. She enjoyed substitute teaching, loves they, was well-liked by the students in the school where she taught, and had prospects for a nice, quiet, drama-free life.
One day substituting in a classroom with a badly-infected computer changed her life, her future, and her career.
So that we're clear, it didn't catch the media's attention "for some reason". It caught the media's attention and the attention of forensic experts across the country because they all KNEW that typical behavior of a PC infected with malware is exactly what happened to Julie in that classroom on that day. They were utterly appalled when she was convicted on those four counts of endangering the morals of a minor.
They saw unjust justice.
They saw Mark Lounsbury flat-out give testimony to falsehood. I am not saying that Lounsbury testified that way out of malice. I do, however, think he was untrained, had very little knowledge of viruses and spyware, and a full-blown ego that didn't allow for the possibility he was wrong.
They saw an investigation with very little process or integrity.
They saw Julie. And they knew this was not a woman who would walk into a classroom, boot up a computer, and start surfing porn sites in the middle of class.
They saw the truth. And when they saw it, they knew they couldn't sit idly by and watch an innocent person go to jail when the truth had not been told.
Experts, lawyers, and loudmouthed bloggers like me said "Not this time." They stepped up, they gave their time and expertise for free, and the loudmouthed bloggers started doing what we do best — blogging it. Telling the truth. Telling those who want the real story to come over here and read about what really happened.
It is unfortunate that politics, or ego, or self-righteous certitude prevents Mr. Regan from understanding what everyone who has ever had a PC without the proper virus protection knows: Without proper anti-virus and spyware protection, your computer and maybe even your life is at risk.
Regan's pronouncement of his certainty of her guilt speaks to his ignorance and unwillingness to learn the facts of this case, and the facts of what PC viruses can do to a computer and in some cases, a life.
Julie should have her teaching certificate back. She should have her hundred dollars back. She should be compensated for malicious prosecution. She should have her they in her arms.
She should. But she doesn't. Because a prosecutor thinks he knows it all, and has listened to a cop with enough information to be dangerous but no facts with which to be right.
Julie deserves better. But she accepts gratefully what she got. I only wish I could do the same.
Other posts about the malicious and false prosecution of Julie .
Equal Justice Matters
After a pretty pleasant morning out this morning, I returned home to reports that Bernard Madoff, author of the biggest Ponzi investment scheme in history, may be about to reach a plea deal with his prosecutors.
Madoff is responsible for total losses to charities, foundations, pension plans, and individual investors that may total more than $56 Billion. For perspective, that's nearly twice what the government has LOANED to the auto industry. (Note: The AP, shilling once again for the thieves and robbers of Wall Street, reports today that it's possible the losses are overstated. I doubt it, but they'll try and tell you it is. What they are doing is valuing the losses at today's prices instead of yesterday's.)
Yes, that word was BILLION.
Rumor has it (and yes, it is still rumor, not fact) that Madoff may be willing to reveal his hidden assets in exchange for a deal that allows him to live out his remaining days in his (wife's) New York penthouse.
As I said on Twitter, I smell the lingering stench of influence and money here. Madoff was, at once time, chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, the trading exchange for many tech stocks and IPOs. Simply put, I'm sure he has friends in high places and of course, the benefit of his old age to draw sympathy points.
Sorry, but this is one time I don't believe in giving any mercy. This man not only robbed people with impunity, he shook the confidence of everyone who turns to an investment manager for advice and made decent, hard-working people like my husband have to prove their decency and honesty over, and over, and over again.
I wonder, could Joe Garcia down the street who just went to jail for shoplifting last week have benefitted from a deal that helped him get to work so he wasn't stealing clothes for his new he? But he committed a crime, after all, and has to pay.
Has to pay, that is, unless the sheer gall and magnitude of the crime is so great and reaches so many people, rich, poor, working and unemployed that you somehow deserve a ‘deal'.
My take? The only deal I would be comfortable with is one that places Madoff in either a high security prison or the ninth circle of hell for the rest of his natural days and the afterlife to come.
Who will tell our stories?
Today a friend shared a link to The Company They Kept: Writers on Unforgettable Friendships, and mused that he wished we had such powerful writers to tell our Jasmine Live stories.
For some reason, that felt odd to me. My quizzical response back was this: Aren't we the powerful writers?
In the day of the storied writers, lives were conducted in studies and salons, cocktail parties and receptions. Friendships were made, nurtured and cemented over a period of years, through letters and occasional meetings, casual and intense intersections with each other, each building one to the next into a story, stitched together with the collective memories of close friends.
When my grandmother died, I tried to tell her story, but really only succeeded at the outline with very little shading. This is because there were whole chunks of her life that knew nothing about, joys and disappointments known only to her brothers and sisters, mother and father, and perhaps son and daughter. As the writer of her story, the best and most powerful testimony was who I was and what part she had in shaping me.
When it comes to writing my father's story, I can only write about the tragic or mundane. Others have lighter, happier stories to spin, but they aren't mine to tell, much less know.
Others' stories can only be written to the extent that they are revealed to us. Or to the extent that we choose to reveal them.
BacklitWhen my story is written, there will be a long trail of electronic cues left behind with which to piece it together. But ultimately, the author of the real story is me, through what I write here, what I write to others, what I share on the web, in person, in 140 characters, sometimes in longer bits, with images, poetry, and memorabilia as illustration. We have amazing tools to tell our own stories in our own words, in real time. Stories of life, death, politics, joy, success, struggles, failure, family, art, love, and spirit.
My story may not be as powerfully told as those in the book, but it is still mine, and it's powerful in its own way, in my own way.
If I were fortunate enough to choose a powerful writer to tell my story, the one I would choose is the girl with flowing curly hair who spins poetry of hope, disappointment, and resilience. She is a powerful storyteller, indeed.
Who will tell your story? You? Someone else? Where will they look for the illustrations, the facts? Will our blogs become the story, or be a tool for the storytellers?
Insurers' Special Holiday Recipe, Just For You
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I was vying for my dream job. This was my writing sample. I didn't get the job at www.jasminlive.mobi, so figured I'd share this special recipe with you all instead.
Joe Lieberman is dead wrong when he says it's better not to have health care reform than it would be to include a public option. It's a message packed with lies and distortions written by the tobacco industry 15 years ago, delivered with the full blessing of insurance lobbyists cooking up Big Tobacco's 1994 recipe for 2009 reform.
It's no coincidence that Lieberman represents (and I use the term loosely) a state where many insurance companies have regional or home offices. It's not a surprise that he would stand in opposition to anything that might force insurers to actually compete in a fair market.
The surprise is the way mainstream media reports his grandstand plays. Is there no one reporting the news with a memory extending beyond what happened last month? The insurance lobby playbook they're using today was written in 1993. They think they have a recipe for success, and they're using it with the same ingredients, right down to this week's statement from the Business Roundtable that health care reform is bad for business.
Here's their recipe, secret sauce included:
One person to spin lies with just a whiff of faux certitude. Enter Betsy McCaughey, lobbyists' dream shill, who delivers death panels at a low, low price.
Whip up grass roots resentment with carefully orchestrated PR, including random soda tax commercials, lots of American flags, and a targeted populist message. Enter Americans for Prosperity and Dick Armey, where anyone can get on the bus to ‘get their country' back. Add a generous dollop of ignorance and hysteria for extra flavor.
Carefully fund key Senators. Encourage them to delay the process while publicly claiming they want health care reform, too.
While Senators stew, drop a generous helping of message control into a separate media bowl. Whip it with many Sunday talk show mixers until it's carefully blended to an even consistency. Apply across the gamut with a broad brush.
Bake at a high temperature for 90-120 days before turning out of committee and into Congress. Reserve a few representatives before serving.
Be careful not to let hope and momentum rise too high. As a precaution blend William Kristol with a cup of pre-packaged messages about burdensome costs and government takeovers.
Whip all to frenzy, serve to public. Voilà! Another health care reform bill successfully done…in.
It couldn't hurt to find a recipe to cure mainstream media editors and reporters of their short-sightedness and willingness to repeat the lie without exposing it, too. Every little bit helps.