Cranky Bastard

The Cincinnati Post - Albert Terney, 103, police officer: "He survived a childhood bout with diphtheria, then spent four years in a Price Hill orphanage after his railroad-worker father, Joseph Terney, died in a train accident. His mother, the former Julia Toth, was a native of Hungary who didn't speak English and had no relatives close by. The orphanage children didn't have enough to eat, and Mr. Terney talked of being beaten by a priest for talking. The priest also sexually abused him, said Mr. Terney's niece, Virginia Beck. 'I think the priest preyed on children whose mothers couldn't speak English,' Beck said."

The above is from an obituary of a man who was a police officer in one of the towns in which I spent part of my childhood. Price Hill, where the orphanage was located, is about twenty miles north in a suburb of Cincinnati. Can you imagine that life and that the people who said they had the voice of God, who were supposed to be caring and protecting you, beat and sexually abused you? His death this week, at the age of 103, reminds us, once again, that this advantage taken by powerful priests has been going on for ages. It is ashame that Popey Dict today came out with a writing blasting atheists as the root of evil, when it appears he did very, very little to contain and eradicate the problem of sexual abuse in his own organization. Maybe someone should send this obituary to him for the necessary reminder of the problems he should be tackling. Of course, he shouldn't need a reminder to rid his Church of sex offenders. Imagine that.

The Cincinnati Post - 'Marlboro Marine': "'Marlboro Marine'"

Take the time to read this Pulitzer-worthy story about the real war and its real impact. For all of us that are lucky enough not to have to live through this, we owe it to the ones who do to know what they endure.
Note: Make sure to read both the part I linked here and part II on the November 27th Kentucky Post front page.

Court rejects Ala. death row challenge - Yahoo! News: "In April, Arthur's lawyers sued the state claiming that the inmate was being deprived of his rights and was entitled to DNA testing of critical pieces of physical evidence, including a rape kit, bloodstained clothing and hairs aimed at showing that someone other than Arthur committed the murder. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta affirmed a federal judge's dismissal of Arthur's lawsuit, citing the authority of federal courts to dismiss such claims that are speculative or are filed too late in proceedings. Arthur filed his claim five days before the state of Alabama moved to set an execution date. The case is Arthur v. King, 07-397."


While I know that these things are often more complicated than what you can get in a story of a few hundred words, I would hope that it actually is. This story seems to say that an arbitrary deadline is what is keeping a man waiting for execution from DNA testing. I don't see the harm in allowing the testing even if it proves his guilt. Can't most of us agree that when killing someone, there shouldn't be a hurry for that event? Also, I am just not a fan of this precedent. The public should want DNA testing for just about everyone in prison regardless of their sentence or execution date. We should want it if for no other reason than if it were us or a loved one in that position. If this story is right, I say delay the death.