Are we to believe the dragon’s symbol of power, prosperity and good fortune, honor, and success will be an indication of the future for all of us. The dragon is generally agreed to be the most famous of the animals representing a year. Will that energy be enough for change? Or will 2024 remain the same economic divide as 2023, 2022 and 2021 were for the majority of us. I’m not including 2020 or 2019 because Covid19 equalized our societies. Income levels didn’t matter as much as the wealthy hoped, many people still died like previous times with the plague. Death comes for everyone at some point.
In the news today, it says Russia and Ukraine are exchanging prisoners but haven’t resolved anything. Nor has Israel and Palestine resolved their issues. I wonder how these leaders sleep at night knowing their desires have cost so many lives. Are we that accustomed to death, it no longer fazes us? Where’s the honor and good fortune for those men and women who have died? All I see is the desire for POWER regardless of life losses.
And the crazy continues:
El Nino is threatening more crazy storms to hit the west coast like the 25 foot wave swells. According to MSN, “Huge waves are expected in the Gulf of Alaska, where the second storm was predicted to cause peak seas of approximately 51 feet on Tuesday night. Following this event, another system is poised to target Hawaii, with seas peaking at 42.8 feet on Saturday night.” If the models remain, the west coast areas are in for some crazy water damage.
Five state capitals were evaluated because of bomb threats. The states affected were Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, and Connecticut. Thankfully, they were hoaxes, but rescue resources and time were wasted. For what, 15 minutes of fame?
Then we have Alabama and its controversial execution. The inmate scheduled to be executed this way in Alabama is Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in the 1998 killing of a preacher’s wife as part of a murder-for-hire plot. Smith is scheduled to be put to death later this month (January 25th) using nitrogen hypoxia because his previous scheduled execution didn’t happen because of a lethal injection shortage. This controversial method is deemed by international human rights expert to cause severe and unnecessary suffering. Did you know Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi are the three states that have chosen to use nitrogen hypoxia but thus far the only execution scheduled is Alabama’s. Who would consider this a reasonable solution?
The reason nitrogen hypoxia was chosen is because of a shortage of lethal injection drugs. Why are there shortages? Hey Big Pharma, did you drop another ball? Here’s what the experts say about nitrogen hypoxia, yet they still intend for it to be acceptable for executions. “The method is designed to asphyxiate the condemned inmate by forcing them to breathe pure nitrogen, or toxically high concentrations of nitrogen, through a gas mask. It is untested, and critics have noted that setting off a stream of nitrogen gas in the death chamber could even threaten the health of other people in the room.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/first-nitrogen-gas-execution-alabama-painful-humiliating-death-experts-warn/ Interestingly enough the 8th amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment but doesn’t include inmates scheduled for execution. WTF? “Compassion is the basis of morality.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer
Some of you will remember my earlier posts about my brother’s lack of medical treatment in the prison system. What I hear too often, inmates got it good, three-square meals a day, tv., internet and a roof over their heads. The majority of the food served inmates you wouldn’t feed your pets. The tv and the internet are nothing like what we have at home. Inmates sleep in a twin bed with a four-inch foam mattress that you can feel the frame and they share that small space with another with a toilet right next to their sleeping space. Sounds like ideal living conditions, doesn’t it? The medical care they receive is a joke, but I’ll save that for another post.
Crazy… that we subject anyone to these conditions to exist. And those inmates that face death row are denied a humane death with a spiritual advisor.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive,” the Dalai Lama
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