We're Back: The Last 10 Films We've Seen

We are back from our ice-fishing trip to Colorado (ok, we are kidding a bit), but we were away for a long time. Hopefully those of you in Atlanta, Ottawa, London, Praque, Istanbul and Dubai were able to find other ways to inform/educate yourselves. And, with that in mind, here are the last ten films we've seen. Many of these were from Netflix streaming, which we are getting more hip towards.


The image of stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman is meant to be ironic, as she was one of the Jewish stand-up comedians who was NOT interviewed for the documentary film "When Jews Were Funny," which we heard about when the film was being screened at the River Run Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

Here we go:

1) "When Jews Were Funny" doc. 2013. dir: Alan Zweg (top image)

2) "Like Crazy" 2011. dir: Drake Doremus

3) "Days of Being Wild" Hong Kong. 1990. dir: Wong Kar Wai.

4) "Blue is the Warmest Color" France. 2013. dir: Adellatif Kechine (center image)

5) "Into the Abyss" doc. 2011. dir: Werner Herzog (bottom image: the film is about an execution in Texas, the American state with the highest number of executions)

6) "Barbara" Germany.  2012. dir: Christian Petzold

7) "West of Memphis" doc. 2012. dir: Amy Berg

8) "No" Chile. 2012. dir: Pablo Larain

9) "Soylent Green" 1973. dir: Richard Fleischer (it's a science-fiction film with Charlton Heston)

10) "Climates" Turkey. 2006. dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan



http://www.whenjewswerefunny.com


http://www.sarahsilvermanonline.com


http://www.tcadp.org


http://www.wernerherzog.com

http://www.filmcomment.com

Little Thinkers (8 of 16): Mahatma Gandhi

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, Croatia and Mexico.

Today, we quote the great Mahatma Gandhi, who was the subject of "Gandhi" (1982), which won the Best Picture Oscar as well as a Best Actor Oscar for Ben Kingsley, who played the Indian leader.

Here is the quote, which people as vastly different as conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Sister Helen Prejean, America's leading anti-death penalty advocate, can perhaps agree on:

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth's the truth."

SIDEBAR: We are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of BBC journalist Komla Dumor (1972-2014), who was only 41 years old. A source in Ghana, his native country, reported that Dumor died of a heart attack at his home in London, but that was not verified by the BBC. Dumor joined the BBC in 2007. He leaves behind a wife and three children as well as a tremendous journalism legacy.

http://www.incredibleindia.com

http://www.sisterhelen.org

Presidential Quotes (11 of 16): Rutherford B. Hayes, a Forgotten Man

If one takes the Mental Floss "Name All 43 Presidents Quiz," we have a feeling Rutherford B. Hayes, a one-term Republican president from Delaware, Ohio, might be one of the half-dozen a person would forget.

Hayes (1822-93; president from 1877-1881), did have a better fate than his successor, President James Garfield, who was the second of four American presidents to be assasinated.

Here is a quote from Hayes, which those of us who are capital punishment opponents can identify with:

"One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals."

http://www.miller.org/president/hayes

http://www.vadp.org (Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)*

Both the Miller Center and the VADP are based in Charlottesville, Va.

http://www.mentalfloss.com

The Republicans Are Coming! The Republicans Are Coming!

Since this Shark Week on the Discovery Channel here in the United States, and the Republican Party National Convention will be starting on Monday, Aug. 27th in Tampa, Fla., we thought we'd make fun of our friends on the right. Of course, not all of them are as radical, fringe as Michele Bachmann, but then again, quite a few of them are indeed like sharks, and we don't mean the nice, friendly sharks one sees in the comic strip "Sherman's Lagoon."

As of today, many right-wingers are skewing Vice President Joe Biden for controversial remarks he made in Danville, Va., a town I'm a bit familiar with, in which he told a largely African-American audience that the Republicans would put them back in chains. The right immediately saw this as a reference to slavery. Biden also thought Danville is in North Carolina, but when college basketball season comes along, many residents in Danville pretend they are in the Tarheel State as well (for those of you in Dubai, the University of North Carolina and Duke University, both in North Carolina, are national powerhouses in the sport).

Of course, the partisan party faithful will be more likely to get excited if they see Chuck Norris as opposed to the likes of Congs. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky), Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), then they will accuse Chevy Chase of having too much power and influence in the Democratic Party.

Then, some convention-attenders may have one too many bourbons and have to call Yellow Cab of Tampa (a real taxi company), and hence miss out on the prayer breakfast the next day.

There have been some folks who are new Republicans like Cong. Artur Davis (R-Ala.), an African-American party who quietly switched sides in June. But, one has to wonder if this is genuine or if Cong. Davis just wants to stay in office as Alabama is a red state even by the South's standards.

And, assuredly, tonight Gov. Mary Fallin (R-Okl) will sleep well tonight having decided to execute an inmate named Michael Hooper last night. We will admit that Hooper's crime, which was the murder of his girlfriend and her two young children was very heinous. But, isn't hypocritical of Fallin and those who proclaim to be fiscal conservative to spend at least one million dollars per execution (according to a 2011 column in "Tulsa World," Oklahoma has not released figures on how much capital punishment costs), not to mention that executions seem to certainly contrast the teachings of Jesus Christ.

But, we look forward to posting several entries about it here and our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Times" as we include voices ranging from Cenk Uygur, a Current-TV progressive talk show host who used to be a Republican, and Dennis Miller, a comic/talk show host who switched stripes from liberal to conservative. Perhaps, now he even shares a Pabst Blue Ribbon or two with his pal Bill O'Reilly.


http://www.dsc.discovery.com/sharkweek

http://www.gopconvention2012.com

http://www.yellowcaboftampa.com

http://www.slagoon.com

http://www.godanriver.com

http://www.ok.gov/governor

http://www.okcadp.org

http://www.dennimillerradio.com

http://www.current.com

http://www.pabstblueribbon.com

The links above are for: 1) Shark Week; 2) Republican Convention; 3) Taxis in Tamps; 4) "Sherman's Lagoon" (comic strip); 5) Danville Register and Bee; 6) Oklahoma governor's home page 7) Oklahomans Against the Death Penalty; 8) Dennis Miller; 9) Current TV; 10) Pabst Blue Ribbon

Quote of the Day/Week- John Kerry

Today's quote of the day comes from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as we continue to profile party nominees who did not win the presidency, though Kerry came agonizingly close to winning over then-President George W. Bush in 2004.

Kerry, 68, was also the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts under then-Gov. Michael Dukakis, whom we quipped two weeks ago. Today, Kerry serves as the head of several key committees in the U.S. Senate. During his tenure, Kerry has made friends with Republicans, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who we quoted last week.

Earlier in his life, Kerry was known for his active opposition to the Vietnam War, and he was ironically (given that he later became a senator), the first Vietnam vet to testify against the war in Congress in 1971.

Kerry supports gay marriage and gun control laws, and he is an opponent of capital punishment, which is reflected in this quote:

"The consequences of a crime should not be out of proportion with the crime itself."

Worst Person of the Year for 2011_ Rick Perry

Like most bloggers, I have probably committed over 2,000 copyright infringements, if one wants to be extreme and petty about such matters, but I do kind of wish I had enough loot to copyright the term: Execution Happy Evangelists.

The term not only applies to Rick Perry, the current governor of Texas and Republican presidential candidate, but also Gov. Bob McDonnell, the GOP governor of Virginia. Both have risen to prominence in state politics by exploiting their perceived righteous view of the world by proclaiming themselves to be good Christians. Yet, neither sees the contradiction, not only with their theological views, but also with their limited government ideals as executions are, in addition to being a human rights violation, quite expensive (estimates range, but it is widely believed that each execution costs $2 million).

So far Perry has overseen the executions of 234 Texas inmates. There are several that have been cited as wrongful executions, meaning the person sentenced to death may not have killed the person they were found guilty of murdering. The one that clearly stands out the most is the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004. Willingham was executed for killing three of his daughters by arson, but many fire experts both within the Lonestar State and from the outside found the initial investigations to be faulty.

The Willingham case was the subject of a "New Yorker" article by David Grann entitled "Trial by Fire," which was also the title of a PBS/Frontline documentary of the same name about the execution.

Perry has also been scrutinized for his shady political wranglings and dubious business deals from several magazines, including "The Atlantic," "The New Republic" and "Rolling Stone."

Though Matt Taibbi, one of America's most liberal and outspoken journalists, is not known for objectivity in his pieces for "Rolling Stone," he made a valid point when he said that Perry's highly controversial deal with Merck to have sixth grade girls in Texas get STD vaccines was a definitive breech with the Texans who elected and re-elected him (amazingly enough, Perry is now in his third term).

In a more sanguine piece by Alec MacGillis in "The New Republic," the author cited just how contradictory Perry is in his anti-government crusade and his own record in Austin. Among Perry's shady dealings was one in which he signed a deal for a nuclear landfill, and allowed damaging deregulation for col-fire power plants. In addition, Perry worked with UBS Bank to raise revenues from the deaths of retired Texas teachers.

Perry has also allied himself with radical evangelists in The New Apolistic Reformers who think abortion is murder and that the Democratic Party is possessed by Satan. He has also called social security an illegal Ponzi scheme.

And, at a Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Perry made a bold declaration that the death penalty was effectively the only way to reduce homicides in America.

So, for the second year in a row, we are choosing an Execution Happy Evangelist as our Worst Person of the Year.

Last year, our choice was current Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who is an advocate for allowing guns on campus even though Virginia Tech has seen two horrific school shootings in recent years.

With the Iowa Caucuses happening tomorrow, we certainly hope Perry performs dismally so that we don't have to fear the possibility of another inept, immoral Texas politician in the White House.

Quote of the Day- Henrik Ibsen

Today's Quote of the Day, not to be confused with our Quote of the Week (yes, they are basically the same thing) comes from the great Norwegian playwright of yesterday Henrik Ibsen; a production of one of his most-famous plays "A Doll's House" will be produced by Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, in October:

"A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm."

On our other blog, we used this Ibsen quote last month, which seems appropriate given that the state of Georgia may very well execute Troy Davis, a man who may well be not guilty of murder by week's end, especially for those of us who are ardent, vocal opponents of the death penalty:

"A minority may be right, and a majority is always wrong."

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Bush 'Executes' 253 People

Perhaps "The Onion" decided to tweet this faux story they ran back in 2000 because Illinois officially abolished the death penalty today, but we just loved the headline even though 'the story' is almost 11 years old:

"Bush executes 253 New Mexico Democrats"

"The Onion" is a satire newspaper/magazine which now has its own show on IFC. In the 2001 fake news article, the publication said George W. Bush ordered the execution of 253 Democrats in Las Cruces, N. Mex., so he could get the state's five electoral points away from Al Gore.

They even had this great faux quote from the ever-diabolical Karl Rove: "We express great sorrow for the families of the condemned."

We must admit that as much as we love "The Onion," they have gone over the line at times. I do think the 2009 faux story proclaiming that female Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson from Iowa had died after a fall from the uneven bars was in remarkable bad taste. And, the then-17-year-old gymnast said she strongly disapproved what "The Onion" did.

But, the 2000 classic faux story about the 'actions' of Bush is vintage "Onion" material. And, of course, Fox News runs stories which are just as ridicilous, but they pass them off as genuine news!

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Tommorow, I am hoping to finally post the last ten films I've seen. It is going to be quite a strange list indeed!

Kudos to VCU

Since I went to a relatively small school in Virginia, Radford University, I want to personally congratulate the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams from Richmond, Va., the unlikeliest team to make it to the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in Houston next week.

The Rams pulled a huge 71-61 upset over top-seed Kansas yesterday, amazing everyone in the college basketball universe. The Rams are coached by Shaka Smart, who is only 33. They were helped by 26 points from Jamie Skeen, a senior Wake Forest transfer from Charlotte, NC.

VCU also has a player from my hometown of Roanoke, Va., in Troy Daniels who is an alumnus of William Fleming High School.

We were also hoping the University of North Carolina would join them, but the Tarheels fell to the University of Kentucky by a score of 76-69. The Wildcats won the game in large part because of 22 points from their star player Brandon Knight.

Ironically, the voice of the Tarheels is named Woody Durham (for those of you in Kazakhstan, Durham, NC, is where Duke University is located is UNC's main athletic rival). As it turns out, Woody Durham, 68, was also a childhood friend of Duke's announcer Bob Harris as both are from the Burlington, NC-area which is close to both campuses.

And, speaking of Kazakhstan, they lost a road Euro Cup qualifying game to Germany by a 4-0 score over the weekend. The Germans got two goals each from Miroslav Klose and Thomas Mueller. But, Zhambyl Kukeyev almost scored for the Kazaks in the 71st minute of play.

I must profess that soccer geography is a bit strange as Kazakhstan is not one of the 47 countries in Europe. Nor are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Israel, yet all are competing for slots in the 2012 Euro Cup which will be held in France this summer.

According to NPR, only one of the 47 European countries executed people last year, and that was Belarus, which is run by a ruthless dictator named Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus executed two people last year.

As a life-long death penalty opponent, I regret that the United States of America ranks fifth in the world in executions.

Ironically, Turkey, my late father's home country, which has often been criticized for human rights abuses by Amnesty International outlawed capital punishment well over a decade ago.

The other two teams to reach the men's final four are Butler University, another underdog which also made the semis last year, and the University of Connecticut.

For those who feel politics and sports don't mix, we fully understand. But, the other side (well, right-wingers) seem to have no problems mixing up the two as one can plainly see an NRA billboard at Memorial Stadium where the minor league Salem Red Sox play home games in Salem, Va., and a similar billboard can be found at the Lynchburg Hillcats' stadium as well. So, there ya' go!

Our Worst Person of the Year for 2010 Is....

.........Ken Cuccinelli, the arch conservative far-right Republican attorney general of Virginia.

Perhaps, Suzy Khimm in a December 2010 article from "Mother Jones" (a magazine that is more to the left than I am) summed it up best when she said:

"Cuccinelli has relished his role as a political lightning rod who has used elected office for ideological warfare.

Jeff Goodell, an environmental writer for "Rolling Stone" said in the magazine's current issue that Cuccinelli has been using his office to deliberately rattle state institutions, such as The University of Virginia, from performing scientific research projects he personally and politically opposes.

Cuccinelli handily defeated a moderate, well-qualified candidate in Steve Shannon (both men are ironically from Fairfax County) by a shocking 58-42 margin in the state election that gave him the attorney general's office.

In a mere two years, Cuccinelli, who is only 42, has used his elected office in Richmond to cater to a variety of right wing and even extreme conservative causes: the death penalty, guns, pro-life, anti-gay, immigration, taxes, spending and property rights.

He was supported by the NRA and far right figures like Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Ron Paul during his run against Shannon.

Many gunsGodncountry folks in places like Boones Mill, Tazewell, New Market and Farmville saw Cuccinelli as their kind of anti-government extremist. But, not everyone was fooled by his traveling medicine man show, which was also how Gov. Bob McDonnell won his race that same year over state Creigh Deeds.

"The Washington Post" in an editorial for Shannon said that Cuccinelli would be 'an embarrassment to Virginia.' Alas, they were right.

Cuccinelli's main cause celebre has been using his far right 'fishing buddies' in federal courts like Judge Henry Hudson to block President Barack Obama's federal health care iniatives and he defends himself by saying that 'this is his Constitutional duty.'

As Goodell indicated in his article on global warming's main political culprits, Cuccinelli did indeed waste considerable state funds fighting former UVA professor Michael Mann's efforts to research global climate change (Mann is now at Penn State).

Cuccinelli also supported the dubious exectuion of Teresa Lewis, a rural woman who resided near Danville, who was found to be barely mentally eligible for capital punishment. The execution, which took place last September, drew protests from across America and around the world.

In short, Cuccinelli is everything that the far right (and the Tea Party of course loves this guy) represents: genuine hypocricy. Alas, Cuccinelli is up for reelection at the end of his term. But, perhaps his selfish ego will convince him to run for a more prestigious office like the Governor's mansion where he might run against a qualified Democrat who give him a good ole fashion quarterback sack. There are very few people who deserve it more.

PS- Apparently, when I mentioned him in an earlier entry, I didn't spell Ken Cuccinelli's name correctly. But, if we've learned one thing from the GOP it is to never apologize if you have erred!

Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty

This list was actually compiled by Akorra.com rather than myself even though I am a staunch death penalty opponent, and I have made no secret of views here on this blog or in other media outlets.

Last night, Virginia, my home state, carried out the lethal injection of Teresa Lewis, 41, from Danville, Va., who had a mental iq of 72. If a person has an iq of 70 or less, they can not be executed.

I will get to more details of this flagrant human rights violation in a bit, but first here is the list:

1. An Eye for An Eye Makes the Whole World Go Blind
2. Life in Prison is an Alternative
3. Racial bias
4. Ignores Possibility of Redemption
5. Punishment Doesn't Always Fit the Crime
6. Contrary to Constitution
7. Gender Bias
8. Possibility of Condemned Being Innocent
9. Financial Bias
10. Geographical Bias

I think the cost of a death penalty case, which is reportedly around $2 million is another strong factor capital punishment, and one of the reasons why there are those on the libertarian right oppose the measure.

The fact that Virginia has an arch conservative Governor in Bob McDonnell, a favorite among fringe right-wingers and evangelical radicals, and a similarly far-right of center Attorney General in Ken Cucinelli doomed Lewis as both officials would probably execute their 86-year-old grandmothers for jay-walking if it could advance their political standing in the Republican Party.

According to Channel 7 in Roanoke, Va., the last meal Lewis had was fried chicken, sweet peas and a Doctor Pepper. The execution was carried out at 9:13 p.m.

Lewis was given a death sentence conviction for her role in a murder-life insurance scheme, but defense attorneys argued that she was duped by the two men who actually pulled the trigger who were both substantially smarter than her.

The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty released the following statement from anti-death penalty activist Andrea Bible about the Lewis execution:

"I am grieving because we live in a country where politicians and the courts believe it is ok to sue the state's resources to kill someone who functions at the level of a 13-year-old girl."

One of the two victims' daughter supported the execution and attended the lethal injection process at Jarrat, Va., where the sentence was carried out. Lewis, who is also a grandmother, had a son who wanted to visit her before she was killed by the state. As of Wednesday, the Virginians for Alternatives to Death Penalty (Vadp.org) said that he was in need of a ride to Jarratt. Vigils sponsored by the VADP were held at Jarratt and throughout the state.

It was Virginia's first execution of a woman since 1912.

Lewis' execution received international media attention as it was one of the lead stories in last night's BBC World News broadcasts and was the subject of an article in "The Vancouver Sun" (a newspaper in Vancouver, Canada).

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Female Justices Opposed Likely Execution

According to a tweet from NPRNews, both Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor were two of the three justices who were opposed to the highly likely execution of Danville, Va., resident Teresa Lewis, who would be the first Virginia woman to be executed since 1912. The execution is scheduled for tomorrow night.

I have made no secret of my vehement opposition to capital punishment which I firmly view as a human rights abuse that is unbecoming of American justice.

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) rejected clemency for Lewis on Friday, an earlier time frame that past governors, such as Tim Kaine (D) who opposed capital punishment morally but still allowed several to go through during his four years in office.

Lewis' attorney told NPR that: "A good and descent person is about to lose her life because of a system that is broken."

The controversial case has made international news as it was one of the BBC's top stories last night. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad has ever used Lewis' impending execution to justify his anti-Americanism and his own dubious political stance in support of an execution (which was originally intended to be from stoning) of Iranian woman Sajjad Mohammad Ashtiani who was found guilty of adultery.

Ironically, Turkey, my late father's country which is also predominantly Muslim, does not allow the death penalty any more as capital punishment became a political mechanism there as late as the early 1980s.

Author John Grisham also wrote a letter to the editor to "The Roanoke Times" expressing his opposition to Lewis' execution.

The murder incident is a complicated one in nature as Lewis, now 41, hired Matthew Shallenberger (the trigger man) and Rodney Fuller to kill her husband Julian Lewis and her stepson C.J. Lewis.

Rocap also told NPR that one of the gunmen manipulated Lewis, who is borderline retarded (according to the BBC, she was just barely eligible for the death penalty by a 72 score--inmates with a 70 IQ can only get life imprisonment.).

Additionally, there is the fact that the co-conspirators/fellow culprits got lesser sentences in Pittsylvania County. Shallenberger committed suicide in jail. Fuller is serving life.

The incident happened on Oct. 30, 2002.

Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (vadp.org) is sponsoring state-wide vigils in Charlottesville, Fairfax, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Richmond and Norfolk among many other places, including one in the gas station town of Jarratt, Va., on I-95, due north of the North Carolina border, where the execution would take place, at 8:00 p.m.

I have done my part by calling, emailing and snail mailing McDonnell's office as well as contacting Pittsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney David Grimes, in regards to my moral opposition of this impending execution.

You can call Gov. McDonnell's office at 804-786-2211. Even though, he has made up his mind, it is very important that he is challenged on this matter both politically and morally.

PSA- An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Go Blind

The State of Utah is planning to execute its first inmate since Joseph Mitchell Parsons in 1999 tonight (after midnight, Utah time).

A five-member firing squad is scheduled to shoot Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, at the state prison in Draper. Due to the highly-debatable nature of the execution, it is getting more national coverage than most executions. Ironically, another controversial execution was scheduled to take place in Oklahoma, but the controversy regarding the condemned man's guilt led to the Sooner State's governor Brad Henry (D) to commute the sentence to life imprisonment.

There is no such controversy regarding the guilt of Gardner who was sentenced to death for the 1985 shooting murder of defense attorney Michael Burdell at a courthouse in Salt lake City. Gardner was standing trial for the murder of a bartender.

The Salt Lake City newspaper "The Deseret News" recently published a story regarding how Gardner was severely mentally and physically abused as a child, and how he was frequently sent to state institutions when he was as young as ten years old.

According to another article in "The Deseret News" (this one by Dennis Romboy, which was published today), Gardner is steadfastly refusing to eat anything though he did have his last meal on Tuesday which consisted of a steak, lobster tail, apple pie, vanilla ice cream and a 7Up.

Uthans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is holding prayer services starting at 5:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m., east coast time). The abolition group will then hold a vigil outside the state capitol building in Salt Lake City from 9 p.m. until midnight.

Several militant pro-death penalty supporters posted over-the-top messages on a message board for comments regarding the Gardner case on the web site of "The Deseret News."

These included the following sentiments:

"Can't wait for the sound of gunfire in the distance all the way in San Diego."

"Last meal should've been a MickeyD's Happy Meal."

"I get tired of those who say he didn't have a chance because of his childhood."

"I am tired of hearing hearing other countries don't have the death penalty. We aren't other countries."

And, perhaps the most outlandish of all:

"I know it (the death penalty) deters me from killing anyone."

But, there were several posters with the opposing view that I fully agree with. This included a person who said that as a Mormon (it should be pointed out that I am agnostic) she was very troubled that people affiliated with his/her church hold such venemous views.

This was similar to a stance taken by The Rev. Carolyn Tanner, a retired Episcopalian minister from Utah, whose statement was posted on the Utahns for Alternatives to the Death Penalty web site:

"As Christians we condemn the taking of a human life, recalling that Jesus himself was a victim of state-sponsored murder. His death holds before our eyes the poverty of capital punishment and its capacity to dehumanize those who carry out its sentence."

The same organization posted an editorial from "The Salt Lake Tribune" which stated that: "the legal and ethical argument supporting capital punishment in Utah has been eroding like sand castles of high tide."

Similarly, Diane Rust-Tierney, the executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (based in Washington, DC) said the following in a column she wrote for the online journal "The Huffington Post:"

"Despite the curiousity generated by the high-profile manner of imposing the punishment (she was refering to the Utah case), the death penalty is on the wane in America."

NOTE: For those of you who reside in Tashkent, Uzbekistan,and might not be entirely familiar with American pop culture, the above image is from the 1971 Clint Eastwood film "Dirty Harry." Of course, we also realize that people in Uzbekistan (who I gather might actually be reading my blogs on a regular basis) might be far more hip than many of my fellow Americans might realize!

UPDATE: Gardner was executed by a firing squad in Draper, Utah. I must profess outrage over things that death penalty proponents posted in regards to an article about the execution. First, there is this myth that those of us opposed to capital punishment feel more sympathy for the killer than his victims. This is utter nonsense, and it illustrates the pure hate and venom we get from the other side. Second, these uber-partisans point out that it is wrong to compare executions to the crucifixion of Jesus because Christ was not a murderer. But, they ignore the fact that the death penalty has evolved into a method in which people in power suppress their opponents. This is one reason why the death penalty no longer exists in my late father's county, Turkey. But, their reasoning also makes me further realize that many people who proclaim to be Good Christians are truly hypocrites. As for the name of the man who was to be executed in Oklahoma for a crime he may very well have not committed, it is Jeff Matthews.

Virginia's New Republican Governor To Oversee His First Execution

In what may be the first of an alarming trend, Virginia's newly elected, arch-conservative Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) will in all likelihood be overseeing the first of what those of us opposed to capital punishment expect to be many executions during his tenure.

The crime in question is a particularly brutal one, and the guilt of the condemned in this given case is not an issue. But, as attorney John W. Whitehead said in an editorial that ran on Feb. 16 in "The Huffington Post," 139 people from 26 states, including Virginia, have been proven innocent of their crimes while on death row in recent years.

According to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (vadp.org), the clemency statement for Paul Powell, whose execution time is around 9 p.m. tonight, the defendant has admitted to the murder of Stacie Reed, 16, on Jan. 29, 1999, near Manassas, Va. In addition, Powell admits to his bizarre, obnoxious behavior which lead Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, one of the leading proponents of capital punishment in Virginia, to seek the death penalty for his crimes.

The clemency statement adds that Ebert's office presented false evidence that Powell was convicted of two, perhaps three capital murders and that the prosecution also certified false evidence in court.

The VADP cited a similar case involving the 2005 death sentence of Robin Lovitt, which then Gov. Mark Warner (D), now a member of the U.S. Senate, commutted to a life sentence. The VADP's web site states that McDonnell now faces a similar breach of public trust with regards to the Powell case.

Last week, according to fwix.com/roanoke, McDonnell steadfastly refused to grant Powell clemency due to the brutality of the crime and the defendant's actions in writing a profanity-laced letter to Ebert which revealed that he had in fact murdered Reed.

The VADP's site also states that then state attorney general McDonnell prevented a review of false evidence for the Virginia state supreme court in Richmond. McDonnell's predecessor Tim Kaine (D) was actually opposed to capital punishment which McDonnell criticized upon Kaine's election.

McDonnell also told various media outlets at the time that Kaine's reasoning for his personal opposition, which did not actually prevent him from approving of executions while governor though he stopped some of the more controversial cases from going through, should not be attributed to Kaine's religious convictions. McDonnell said this because like Kaine, he is also of the Catholic faith and he came to different opinions regarding the death penalty.

Ironically, one of the vigils against Powell's execution in the gas station town of Jarratt, Va., about 60 miles south of Richmond, will be held at the Star of the Sea Parish, a Catholic church, in McDonnell's native Virginia Beach. The current governor is also an alumnus of Pat Robertson's Regent University.

According to the pro-death penalty web site appropriately called prodeathpenalty.com, Powell stabbed Reed after attempting to rape her before attacking Reed's sister Kristie whom he also tried to murder.

While one can not dispute the savage nature of Powell's actions, the site offers no background of who is sponsoring their site, where they obtain their information or contact information. Much of the material is also dated.

Other pro-death penalty web sites and blogs, including one called People You'll See in Hell, are using the Powell case to promote more executions in spite of expensive court costs, no significant data that shows capital punishment is a deterent and documented inconsistencies in the capital punishment trials around the country.

Whitehead cited many of these reasons in his column as he pointed out that the average cost of a capital punishment trial is $1.9 million, which has ironically made some conservatives start to oppose the death penalty and murder rates in states without death penalty statutes like Vermont have 40 percent lower homicide rates that pro-death penalty states. The prominent attorney also said death penalty trials were open to prosecutorial misuse and various state and court trends.

Whitehead opened his piece by stating: "Capital punishment studies have shown, whethr or not you are sentenced to death often has little to do with the crime committed and everything to do with your race, where you live and who prosecutes your case."

Race is actually not a factor in the Powell case, as the 31-year-old is a white male though many famous exonerated death row inmates in Virginia and North Carolina have tended to be African-American.

Frank Green, a "Richmond Times-Dispatch" reporter who has arguably overseen more executions than anyone in Virginia (he was covering death penalty cases when I was a reporter for a weekly newspaper in Woodstock, Va., from 1999-2001) reported on March 17 that Powell first encountered problems with the law when he was charged with destruction of property at the age of 12.

Green's article stated that Lorraine Reed Whoberry, Stacie Reed's mother who will be attending tonight's execution, had recieved a message from Powell indicated his remorse for the murder. Whoberry wanted to see Powell on death row to see if his sentiment was genuine, but authorities prevented her from meeting with him.

The Richmond newspaper also stated that Reed was stabbed to death in the heart with a survival knife.

Though the crime is quite heinous in nature, there were plenty of signs that Powell was mentally unstable according to Green's article. The condemned man showed signs of serious depression, isolation and self-hatred according to mental health records of him as a youth.

Powell has asked to be executed by the electric chair. Ebert said he would attend the execution. Protesters will gather outside the execution site in Jarratt starting at 8:30 p.m. Other vigils be held in Arlington, Charlottesville, Fairfax, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke and Winchester.

Our condolences certainly go to Reed's family, but the fact remains that capital punishment, especially given the inconsistences in this case, is inappropriate. And, this execution will likely open the proverbial flood gates for more controversial cases to go through. Given McDonnell's far right politics, I am also concerned that he will not take the appropriate precautions that other governors, whether Democrat or Republican or for the death penalty or not, have done in the past in future death penalty cases.

To give McDonnell credit, he ran a brilliant campaign for governor in which he somehow convinced people in evangelical, rural hamlets like Stuart, Edinburg and Boones Mill that his Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds from Hot Springs, who is still a state senator, was a liberal extremist in spite of the fact that Deeds had maintaned an "A" from the National Rifle Association for his voting record in the General Assembly.

Those wishing to stop Powell's execution call Gov. McDonnell's office in Richmond at 804.786.2211 and ask that the condemned man's sentence be changed to life without parole.

I have volunteered for the VADP in the past. The organization is based in Charlottesville, and is headed by Beth Panilatis.

When I was a reporter, I had to cover death penalty cases. In fact, I met Ebert on one such occasion. I took my objectivity very seriously, but now as a blogger, even given the controversial nature of this issue, I feel it is pertinent to express my own views against capital punishment. It was one of the few issues which my late Republican grandmother Waynie Sturgis of Rock Hill, SC, and I actually agreed on.

Quote of the Week- Susan Sarandon

Since Virginia's new far-right leader Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has said he will go through with the first execution under his administration (we presume there will be many more, jaywalkers beware!) this week, it seems appropriate to quote one of the nation's leading anti-death penalty advocates Susan Sarandon.

Though I am considerably more to the political center than Sarandon, one has to admire her for taking a stance and sticking to it. She has recently been in the news for her personal life as her relationship with actor Tim Robbins is apparently over.

Robbins directed Sarandon, arguably the sexiest 64-year-old around, in her 1995 Oscar-winning performance as Sister Helen Prejean of Louisiana.

Sarandon also debuted in the 1970 film "Joe," which starred the late Peter Boyle of "Young Frankenstein" fame, which we put on our recent list of the Best Left-Wing Films of all time.

I decided not to put "Dead Man Walking" on the list because it is a superlative film which has a relevant message which goes beyond its politics.

Ironically, Prejean who is more admired by liberals than conservatives, is also pro-life.

Here is the quote of the week from Sarandon, who grew up in Edison, NJ:

"I try to live every day in the present, and try not to turn a blind eye to injustice and need."