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Faryn Balyncd
Faryn Balyncd's Journal
Faryn Balyncd's Journal
December 19, 2013
Everyone in Virginia's criminal justice system knew that Johnathan Christopher Montgomery was innocent of the crimes for which hed been convicted.
His accuser had recanted her testimony and admitted she lied to police about being molested by Montgomery more than a dozen years earlier. And yet the state continued to deny him his freedom until an advocacy organization for the wrongly convicted petitioned for his release. Finally, on November 20, 2012, more than four years after he was sent to prison for aggravated sexual battery and lesser charges and two days before Thanksgiving Montgomery was conditionally pardoned by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and walked out of the Greensville Correctional Center. . . .
In early November 2012, Hampton Circuit Court Judge Randolph T. West threw out Montgomerys convictions and ordered his release from prison. But Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli argued that West lacked jurisdiction due to a state law that prohibits judges from considering new evidence, other than DNA evidence, more than 21 days after sentencing. Cuccinelli declared the release order invalid and kept Montgomery imprisoned in spite of Coasts recantation.
It was only after the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) filed a clemency petition for Montgomery that Governor McDonnell less than 24 hours later issued a conditional pardon and Montgomery was set free.
http://prisonlawblog.com/blog/2013/8/22/virginia-prisoner-pardoned-after-accuser-admits-she-lied#.UrL16-IQSU5
The person who voluntarily came forward, recanted her perjury, and testified that what began as a false accusation made by a panicked teen to her mother, who caught her reading pornography (and demanded an explanation, suggesting prior molestation might be the cause), and eventually spiraled into her giving perjured testimony rather than face the embarrassment of telling the truth has been sentenced.
But what of the Attorney General who, despite her recantation, fought to maintain the incarceration of a man everybody, including Cuccinelli himself, was innocent?
What does an Attorney General who believes that it is his duty to maintain procedures that make it more difficult for convicted felons (innocent or otherwise) to have new evidence considered, (but that it is NOT the duty of the Attorney General to seek justice for those convicted in a miscarriage of justice) deserve?
Thoughts?
What does an AG who fights to maintain a conviction based solely on perjured testimony deserve?
Everyone in Virginia's criminal justice system knew that Johnathan Christopher Montgomery was innocent of the crimes for which hed been convicted.
His accuser had recanted her testimony and admitted she lied to police about being molested by Montgomery more than a dozen years earlier. And yet the state continued to deny him his freedom until an advocacy organization for the wrongly convicted petitioned for his release. Finally, on November 20, 2012, more than four years after he was sent to prison for aggravated sexual battery and lesser charges and two days before Thanksgiving Montgomery was conditionally pardoned by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and walked out of the Greensville Correctional Center. . . .
In early November 2012, Hampton Circuit Court Judge Randolph T. West threw out Montgomerys convictions and ordered his release from prison. But Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli argued that West lacked jurisdiction due to a state law that prohibits judges from considering new evidence, other than DNA evidence, more than 21 days after sentencing. Cuccinelli declared the release order invalid and kept Montgomery imprisoned in spite of Coasts recantation.
It was only after the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) filed a clemency petition for Montgomery that Governor McDonnell less than 24 hours later issued a conditional pardon and Montgomery was set free.
http://prisonlawblog.com/blog/2013/8/22/virginia-prisoner-pardoned-after-accuser-admits-she-lied#.UrL16-IQSU5
The person who voluntarily came forward, recanted her perjury, and testified that what began as a false accusation made by a panicked teen to her mother, who caught her reading pornography (and demanded an explanation, suggesting prior molestation might be the cause), and eventually spiraled into her giving perjured testimony rather than face the embarrassment of telling the truth has been sentenced.
But what of the Attorney General who, despite her recantation, fought to maintain the incarceration of a man everybody, including Cuccinelli himself, was innocent?
What does an Attorney General who believes that it is his duty to maintain procedures that make it more difficult for convicted felons (innocent or otherwise) to have new evidence considered, (but that it is NOT the duty of the Attorney General to seek justice for those convicted in a miscarriage of justice) deserve?
Thoughts?
December 14, 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
(ha, ha.)
Late 15th early 16th century icon of St. Nicholas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas
(ha, ha.)
December 10, 2013
(ie, when you "compromise" with Republicans)?
The GOP will:
(1.) hold you, and you alone, responsible for the results,
(2.) NAME their adopted policy after you,
(3.) Hire media whores to portray your adoption of Republican policy as "socialism", "Marxism", & "communism",
(4.) "catapult the propaganda" 24/7/365 in every radio & television market, and
(4.) NEVER forgive.
(Are we ready to demand Medicare For All?)
What happens when you substitute Republican policy for Democratic solutions?
(ie, when you "compromise" with Republicans)?
The GOP will:
(1.) hold you, and you alone, responsible for the results,
(2.) NAME their adopted policy after you,
(3.) Hire media whores to portray your adoption of Republican policy as "socialism", "Marxism", & "communism",
(4.) "catapult the propaganda" 24/7/365 in every radio & television market, and
(4.) NEVER forgive.
(Are we ready to demand Medicare For All?)
November 14, 2013
a remarkable story...
Texas Other Death Penalty
A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the so-called safety net.
November 13th, 2013 by Rachel Pearson, St. Vincent's Student-Run Free Clinic
I have received permission to share my patients stories, and changed or omitted some names. This is a personal essay; the views are my own and do not reflect those of St. Vincents House or St. Vincents Student-Run Free Clinic.
The first patient who called me doctor died a few winters ago. I met him at the St. Vincents Student-Run Free Clinic on Galveston Island. I was a first-year medical student then, and the disease in his body baffled me. His belly was swollen, his eyes were yellow and his blood tests were all awry. It hurt when he swallowed and his urine stank. . ..I saw him every Thursday afternoon. I would do a physical exam, talk to him, and consult with the doctor. We ran blood counts and wrote a prescription for an antacidnot the best medication, but one you can get for $4 a month. His disease seemed serious, but we couldnt diagnose him at the free clinic because the tests needed to do soa CT scan, a biopsy of the liver, a test to look for cancer cells in the fluid in his bellyare beyond our financial reach. . . .He started calling me Dr. Rachel. When his pain got so bad that he couldnt eat, we decided to send him to the emergency room. It was not an easy decision.
Theres a popular myth that the uninsuredin Texas, thats 25 percent of uscan always get medical care through emergency rooms. Ted Cruz has argued that it is much cheaper to provide emergency care than it is to expand Medicaid, and Rick Perry has claimed that Texans prefer the ER system. The myth is based on a 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which states that hospitals with emergency rooms have to accept and stabilize patients who are in labor or who have an acute medical condition that threatens life or limb. That word stabilize is key: Hospital ERs dont have to treat you. They just have to patch you up to the point where youre not actively dying. Also, hospitals charge for ER care, and usually send patients to collections when they cannot pay.
My patient went to the ER, but didnt get treatment. Although he was obviously sick, it wasnt an emergency that threatened life or limb. He came back to St. Vincents, where I went through my routine: conversation, vital signs, physical exam. We laughed a lot, even though we both knew it was a bad situation. . . . . One night, a friend called to say that my patient was in the hospital. Hed finally gotten so anemic that he couldnt catch his breath, and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), where I am a student, took him in. My friend emailed me the results of his CT scans: There was cancer in his kidney, his liver and his lungs. It must have been spreading over the weeks that hed been coming into St. Vincents. . . . I went to visit him that night. Theres my doctor! he called out when he saw me. I sat next to him, and he explained that he was waiting to call his sister until they told him whether or not the cancer was bad. . . . . .It might be one of those real treatable kinds of cancers, he said. I nodded uncomfortably. We talked for a while, and when I left he said, Well now you know where I am, so you can come visit me. . . . . I never came back. I was too ashamed, and too early in my training to even recognize why I felt that way. After all, I had done everything I couldwhat did I have to feel ashamed of? . . . . UTMB sent him to hospice, and he died at home a few months later. I read his obituary in the Galveston County Daily News.
The shame has stuck with me through my medical trainingnot only from my first patient, but from many more. I am now a director of the free clinic. Its a volunteer position. I love my patients, and I love being able to help many who need primary care: blood pressure control, pap smears, diabetes management. We even do some specialty care. But the free clinic is also where some people learn that there is no hope for the chemotherapy or surgery that they need but cant afford. When UTMB refuses to treat them, it falls to us to tell them that they will die of diseases that are, in fact, treatable.
. . . . .
http://www.texasobserver.org/a-galveston-med-student-describes-life-and-death-in-the-safety-net/
Texas Other Death Penalty: UTMB medical student describes life and death in the so-called safety net
a remarkable story...
Texas Other Death Penalty
A Galveston medical student describes life and death in the so-called safety net.
November 13th, 2013 by Rachel Pearson, St. Vincent's Student-Run Free Clinic
I have received permission to share my patients stories, and changed or omitted some names. This is a personal essay; the views are my own and do not reflect those of St. Vincents House or St. Vincents Student-Run Free Clinic.
The first patient who called me doctor died a few winters ago. I met him at the St. Vincents Student-Run Free Clinic on Galveston Island. I was a first-year medical student then, and the disease in his body baffled me. His belly was swollen, his eyes were yellow and his blood tests were all awry. It hurt when he swallowed and his urine stank. . ..I saw him every Thursday afternoon. I would do a physical exam, talk to him, and consult with the doctor. We ran blood counts and wrote a prescription for an antacidnot the best medication, but one you can get for $4 a month. His disease seemed serious, but we couldnt diagnose him at the free clinic because the tests needed to do soa CT scan, a biopsy of the liver, a test to look for cancer cells in the fluid in his bellyare beyond our financial reach. . . .He started calling me Dr. Rachel. When his pain got so bad that he couldnt eat, we decided to send him to the emergency room. It was not an easy decision.
Theres a popular myth that the uninsuredin Texas, thats 25 percent of uscan always get medical care through emergency rooms. Ted Cruz has argued that it is much cheaper to provide emergency care than it is to expand Medicaid, and Rick Perry has claimed that Texans prefer the ER system. The myth is based on a 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which states that hospitals with emergency rooms have to accept and stabilize patients who are in labor or who have an acute medical condition that threatens life or limb. That word stabilize is key: Hospital ERs dont have to treat you. They just have to patch you up to the point where youre not actively dying. Also, hospitals charge for ER care, and usually send patients to collections when they cannot pay.
My patient went to the ER, but didnt get treatment. Although he was obviously sick, it wasnt an emergency that threatened life or limb. He came back to St. Vincents, where I went through my routine: conversation, vital signs, physical exam. We laughed a lot, even though we both knew it was a bad situation. . . . . One night, a friend called to say that my patient was in the hospital. Hed finally gotten so anemic that he couldnt catch his breath, and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), where I am a student, took him in. My friend emailed me the results of his CT scans: There was cancer in his kidney, his liver and his lungs. It must have been spreading over the weeks that hed been coming into St. Vincents. . . . I went to visit him that night. Theres my doctor! he called out when he saw me. I sat next to him, and he explained that he was waiting to call his sister until they told him whether or not the cancer was bad. . . . . .It might be one of those real treatable kinds of cancers, he said. I nodded uncomfortably. We talked for a while, and when I left he said, Well now you know where I am, so you can come visit me. . . . . I never came back. I was too ashamed, and too early in my training to even recognize why I felt that way. After all, I had done everything I couldwhat did I have to feel ashamed of? . . . . UTMB sent him to hospice, and he died at home a few months later. I read his obituary in the Galveston County Daily News.
The shame has stuck with me through my medical trainingnot only from my first patient, but from many more. I am now a director of the free clinic. Its a volunteer position. I love my patients, and I love being able to help many who need primary care: blood pressure control, pap smears, diabetes management. We even do some specialty care. But the free clinic is also where some people learn that there is no hope for the chemotherapy or surgery that they need but cant afford. When UTMB refuses to treat them, it falls to us to tell them that they will die of diseases that are, in fact, treatable.
. . . . .
http://www.texasobserver.org/a-galveston-med-student-describes-life-and-death-in-the-safety-net/
November 9, 2013
"Schoeneman said a new ruling on Friday from the State Board of Elections requires voters who cast provisional ballots to be present to have them counted, which means if you cast a provisional ballot, contact or visit your local Board of Election office to make sure your vote counts.
"Because of the ruling, Schoeneman said all provisional vote totals in Fairfax County won't be announced until Tuesday to give people the time to come in and have their vote count. The Associated Press reported there were more than 3,000 provision or contested votes statewide to be counted."
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/New-Absentee-Votes-Could-Swing-Va-AG-Race-to-Herring-231287821.html
That number is 1-855-910-8683, and needs to be done IMMEDIATELY.
Obenshain would not even be in contention if not for the Republican voter suppression/purges. We can be sure that if Obenshain wins, he will be instrumental in accelerating voter suppression before 2014.
The GOP: Dismantling democracy one voter at a time.
VA Provisional voters NEED TO "BE PRESENT" & CONTACT Bd of Election to be counted!
"Schoeneman said a new ruling on Friday from the State Board of Elections requires voters who cast provisional ballots to be present to have them counted, which means if you cast a provisional ballot, contact or visit your local Board of Election office to make sure your vote counts.
"Because of the ruling, Schoeneman said all provisional vote totals in Fairfax County won't be announced until Tuesday to give people the time to come in and have their vote count. The Associated Press reported there were more than 3,000 provision or contested votes statewide to be counted."
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/New-Absentee-Votes-Could-Swing-Va-AG-Race-to-Herring-231287821.html
That number is 1-855-910-8683, and needs to be done IMMEDIATELY.
Obenshain would not even be in contention if not for the Republican voter suppression/purges. We can be sure that if Obenshain wins, he will be instrumental in accelerating voter suppression before 2014.
The GOP: Dismantling democracy one voter at a time.
October 30, 2013
This is a curious backstory in more than one respect, but the thing that blows me away is not that Fox presents phony "news", but that they have obviously created a culture where their producers seem to have absolutely no qualms about overdubbing false, unaccredited sound tracks to an unmatched video track, and then presenting it, straightfaced, on their "news" as something that was said on the house floor.
They seem to be incapable of imagining any other any other business-as-usual, or the possibility that they would be caught, or that anyone would care.
Perhaps they think that news is mythical allegory.... and that there is no point even pretending to report historical facts as they happened, but just create slick, phony stage productions to illustrate, and dress up, their commentary.
We have come a long way from Murrow, Cronkite, and Brinkley.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017155332
So we've reached the point where phony photoshopped video is "news"-business-as-usual?
This is a curious backstory in more than one respect, but the thing that blows me away is not that Fox presents phony "news", but that they have obviously created a culture where their producers seem to have absolutely no qualms about overdubbing false, unaccredited sound tracks to an unmatched video track, and then presenting it, straightfaced, on their "news" as something that was said on the house floor.
They seem to be incapable of imagining any other any other business-as-usual, or the possibility that they would be caught, or that anyone would care.
Perhaps they think that news is mythical allegory.... and that there is no point even pretending to report historical facts as they happened, but just create slick, phony stage productions to illustrate, and dress up, their commentary.
We have come a long way from Murrow, Cronkite, and Brinkley.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017155332
October 26, 2013
Should Gene Sperling be fired IMMEDIATELY?
...or should the bastard CONTINUE to advocate the rape of Social Security & Medicare FROM THE OFFICE of the White House National Economic Council?
(a rape that would be totally without purpose if we would only change the tax rates for the 1% back to what they were AFTER the 1981 Reagan tax cuts, not to even consider the tax rates during the Eisenhower years.)
(and a rape that will not only add a nail to the coffin of the American middle class, but which will be a huge step in manipulating the Democratic Party into literally snatching defeat from the jaws of victory beginning in 2014.)
October 19, 2013
.... or would Trotskyist Wing, be more appropriate?
(I think more Americans would understand the Stalinist label, and recognize it in the behavior of the Republican right.)
George Lakoff and others have long recognized both the importance of linguistics in political debate, and the diabolical skill with with the right wing has employed linguistic framing to advance goals which, if truthfully labeled, would be roudly rejected by Americans.
"Conservatives understand what unites them, and they understand how to talk about it, and they are constantly updating their research on how best to express their ideas."
-George Lakoff
When "Tea Party" was invented by the Koch Brothers (along with their Big Tobacco sidekicks), they accomplished several things:
(1) They created the illusion of a grass roots, spontaneous movement
(2) They created the illusion of patriotism
(3) They created the illusion that the "Tea Party" was separate from the Republican Party, which both increased their leverage on leass rabid Republicans, and gave Republican leaders plausible deniability when necessary
In the 1960's (when we actually had an investigative press), the Birchers were exposed for what they were, and, as a result, they were marginalized.
Today, the corporate media trips over itself mirroring right wing memes, and using whatever terms right wing strategists have devised to project their evil message in a more favorable glow.
Isn't it time we retire the Koch Brothers designed pseudo-populist label with a more accurate label, a label which with resonate with Americans?
What if we were to hear less of the supposedly autonomous "Tea Party", and more about the "Stalinist Wing of the Republican Party"?
Linguistics: Should we refer, not to Tea Party but to the "Stalinist Wing of the Republican Party"?
.... or would Trotskyist Wing, be more appropriate?
(I think more Americans would understand the Stalinist label, and recognize it in the behavior of the Republican right.)
George Lakoff and others have long recognized both the importance of linguistics in political debate, and the diabolical skill with with the right wing has employed linguistic framing to advance goals which, if truthfully labeled, would be roudly rejected by Americans.
"Conservatives understand what unites them, and they understand how to talk about it, and they are constantly updating their research on how best to express their ideas."
-George Lakoff
When "Tea Party" was invented by the Koch Brothers (along with their Big Tobacco sidekicks), they accomplished several things:
(1) They created the illusion of a grass roots, spontaneous movement
(2) They created the illusion of patriotism
(3) They created the illusion that the "Tea Party" was separate from the Republican Party, which both increased their leverage on leass rabid Republicans, and gave Republican leaders plausible deniability when necessary
In the 1960's (when we actually had an investigative press), the Birchers were exposed for what they were, and, as a result, they were marginalized.
Today, the corporate media trips over itself mirroring right wing memes, and using whatever terms right wing strategists have devised to project their evil message in a more favorable glow.
Isn't it time we retire the Koch Brothers designed pseudo-populist label with a more accurate label, a label which with resonate with Americans?
What if we were to hear less of the supposedly autonomous "Tea Party", and more about the "Stalinist Wing of the Republican Party"?
October 17, 2013
So here's the audio of what the Holy Spirit woke up Diane Reidy to say to those apostate Congressmen:
https://soundcloud.com/toddzwillich-1/floor1-101612-wav
"He will not be mocked! This is not one nation under God. It never was.
The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under god! It never was.
Had it been, it would not have been!
The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons!
You cannot serve two masters! You cannot serve two masters!
Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."
God not happy with US voting to pay its bills! Sound file:
So here's the audio of what the Holy Spirit woke up Diane Reidy to say to those apostate Congressmen:
https://soundcloud.com/toddzwillich-1/floor1-101612-wav
"He will not be mocked! This is not one nation under God. It never was.
The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under god! It never was.
Had it been, it would not have been!
The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons!
You cannot serve two masters! You cannot serve two masters!
Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."
October 15, 2013
Stopping at the pharmacy on the way home from the hospital with my post-op wife, we dropped off her prescription at the pharmacy. When we called to see if it was ready, we were told that the Humana Prescription Drug Plan had refused coverage because the licensed physician who signed the prescription was employed as a resident physician.
When I called Humana, the very nice person person who Humana had hired to field such calls relayed to me the message Humana has trained her to tell such policy purchasers: that "THE GOVERNMENT MADE US DO IT. Medicare won't allow insurance companies to pay" for prescriptions written by fully licensed physicians who happen to be employed as a resident physician at the time.
How much Humana paid the person who dreamed up that blatant lie is unclear.
But what is clear is the type of business practices that have become "business as usual" in our current corporate culture.
These everyday nickle and dime denials make sense from one and only one perspective: These are the foundations which allow Humana's current CEO Bruce Broussard to be paid $10.5 million per year, (not counting $323,000 in "commuting" expenses), even as they pay peanuts to the nice people they hire to man the complaint lines.
PGA TOUR golfer Scott McCarron cracks a joke as (from left) Humana Challenge CEO Bob Marra, Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard, and Desert Classic Charities President John Foster share a laugh at the Humana Challenge Mayor's Breakfast
What passes for "capitalism" in today's culture would make Adam Smith VOMIT.
Humana Pays CEO Broussard $10.5 million by cheating post-op patients out of their precriptions:
Stopping at the pharmacy on the way home from the hospital with my post-op wife, we dropped off her prescription at the pharmacy. When we called to see if it was ready, we were told that the Humana Prescription Drug Plan had refused coverage because the licensed physician who signed the prescription was employed as a resident physician.
When I called Humana, the very nice person person who Humana had hired to field such calls relayed to me the message Humana has trained her to tell such policy purchasers: that "THE GOVERNMENT MADE US DO IT. Medicare won't allow insurance companies to pay" for prescriptions written by fully licensed physicians who happen to be employed as a resident physician at the time.
How much Humana paid the person who dreamed up that blatant lie is unclear.
But what is clear is the type of business practices that have become "business as usual" in our current corporate culture.
These everyday nickle and dime denials make sense from one and only one perspective: These are the foundations which allow Humana's current CEO Bruce Broussard to be paid $10.5 million per year, (not counting $323,000 in "commuting" expenses), even as they pay peanuts to the nice people they hire to man the complaint lines.
PGA TOUR golfer Scott McCarron cracks a joke as (from left) Humana Challenge CEO Bob Marra, Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard, and Desert Classic Charities President John Foster share a laugh at the Humana Challenge Mayor's Breakfast
What passes for "capitalism" in today's culture would make Adam Smith VOMIT.
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