The Faces of Death

A. Study of the Texas death penalty under Governor George W. Bush was performed by three Chicago Tribune reporters – Steve Mills, Ken Armstrong, and Douglas Holt – in June 2000. Their study found glaring and pervasive failures in the death penalty process under the presidential hopeful. By the time of the study Gov. Bush had executed 131 alleged murderers.

The investigative journalists found that, of those 131 executions, defense attorneys in 40 cases presented either no evidence whatsoever or only one witness during the trial’s sentencing phase. In 29 of the cases, James “Dr. Death” Grigson testified that the defendant would commit future violent acts, although in most of these cases he had never interviewed the client. In 43 (one-third) of the cases the defendant was represented at trial or on initial appeal by an attorney who had been or was later disbarred, suspended, or otherwise sanctioned. In 23 of the cases prosecutors utilized jailhouse snitches, a form of testimony so notoriously unreliable that some states warn jurors to view it skeptically

B. On 9/11/2001 approximately 3000 Americans died and NORAD was nowhere. Since Sept. 11 government representatives have in fact promoted a series of mutually contradictory narratives of how the nation's air defenses responded to the unfolding attacks. Various chronologies were presented at different times by the high military command, the North American Air Defense command. Gen. Richard Myers, the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11 told the Senate that no fighter jets were scrambled to intercept any of the 9/11 flights until after the Pentagon was struck. Myers's statement to the Senate was incredible, given the standard U.S. air defense protocols for dealing with errant instrument flights (including off-course passenger planes).

In place many years before Sept. 11, these procedures are automatic and require no special order. Within minutes after a flight ceases to respond to ground control, the FAA is expected to alert NORAD - which scrambles jet fighters to intercept the errant flight for reconnaissance purposes. These are supposed to be airborne within 10 minutes of the problem arising. This routine was activated on at least 67 occasions in the year prior to June 1, 2001

C. Iraqi death totals range from 50,000 to 100,000 civilians but no accurate official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the outbreak of war in 2003. Some non-governmental estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000. About 3500 U.S. servicemen had been killed, according to the U.S. Defense Department. Violent deaths — those brought about by the intentional act of others — were wide spread studies reported. The chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it, researchers concluded.

D. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast suffered. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest landfalling U.S. hurricane ever recorded. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans,.

The storm killed at least 1,836 people, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm was widespread and resulted in an investigation.

Don’t you think it time to end the culture of death?




http://davidcogswell.com/MediaRoulette/LateMay05.html