Howdy and welcome back to our little tin can by the sea. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I wish that I could be sitting at the tables of all of my friends and family, but not this year. We've been doing well as we adapt to my life with cancer. I am still optimistic that it will be eradicated from my body, but part of me knows that only 16% of people that contract stage 4 colon cancer live more than five years after being diagnosed. I still try to stay chipper and I often say, "Every wakeup is a win!"
No numbers. At this point, they are meaningless. Our governor has tailored the reported data so that Florida looks good. Meanwhile, people die. The delta variant has razed the unvaccinated and it will continue to do so. With over 90 million still unvaxxed in the US, it has a plethora of hosts. I'll do an annual post again in March, to mark year two.
The real reason that I'm blogging today is that the verdict for the death of Ahmaud Arbery came back today. This is how it was reported by Rachel Tillman of Spectrum News:
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan each faced nine counts of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
Travis McMichael, 35, was found guilty of all charges against him, including malice murder and felony murder.
Greg McMichael, 65, was found not guilty of malice murder, but was found guilty on all other counts, including felony murder, assault and false imprisonment.
Bryan was found not guilty on one count each of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault, but was found guilty on six other charges including felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and attempt to commit a felony.
All three men will be required to stay in custody until their sentencing hearing, a date for which has not yet been announced.
The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole.
Revenge is not Justice. Does this "right" compensate for all of the "wrongs"? No, and it was to be swept under the rug initially, if not for a video of the event authored by Bryan. The Georgia's DA office is still biased. The Georgia police are still biased. Many of the citizens of Georgia are biased. This has not changed that, but that is where the work needs to be done, one mind at a time.
To that end, the following was reported by the New York Times:
Judge Timothy R. Walmsley of Savannah was tapped to preside over the Arbery case in 2020 after all five judges in Glynn County, Ga., where the shooting occurred, recused themselves.
That needs to be fixed.
We're on a mission in the everlastin' light that shines
A revelation of the truth in chapters of our minds
- Michael Jackson, "We are here to change the world", The Ultimate Collection, from the film Captain EO, Disney, 1986
