Trans Siberian Orchestra and “Wizards in Winter.”
Here is “Carrol of the Bells.” Also by TSO.
People have a lot of time on their hands.
That is Felony Murder
If someone dies while you are committing a felony, then you can be charged with murder. Any questions? Huntsville homeowner shoots armed robbers; 1 killed
So the drive to Huntsville to pick up a buddy who just got out of prison.
Two armed men got out of the vehicle to rob the home while the others waited. Someone inside the home who was armed fired multiple shots at the suspects.
One suspect, 20-year-old Montarious Hill of Anniston, was fatally wounded and died in the backyard.
The second suspect was shot in the leg and was later captured by Huntsville Police.
Three other people were arrested from a “suspicious vehicle” call to police. “All four suspects are charged with murder and robbery.” Three of the 5 people involved were out on bond for murder.
Georgia police officer gets life in prison for killing a handcuffed man with Taser
He was handcuffed. He was sitting down. The used the Taser 14 times in 30 minutes. He died. Georgia police officer gets life in prison in taser death
The 24-year-old ran when police arrived but less than a mile away the officers came up on Towns sitting down to catch his breath, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Towns begged them 10 times to let him rest before taking him to jail.
According to Photography is Not a Crime, Towns had a heart condition, which the police tried to use as mitigation. They also claimed police have the right to use a Taser on someone who is not complying with orders.
The defense attorneys also argued that police have the right to taser people when they are not complying, but the jury did not buy that excuse either, which is surprising considering how often juries succumb to the Blue Privilege theory.
The other cop, who was not convicted of murder, got 18 months of prison, 3 and a half years of probation, which angered the family of Towns. Hard not to see their point. He was guilty of manslaughter, reckless conduct and violating an oath of office.
They Suffered a Failure of the Victim-selection Process
If you break into homes, you will eventually find an armed homeowner. The results should not be surprising. Police: Homeowner opens fire during apparent robbery attempt | KSAZ
So how do you respond to an attack by multiple bad-guys, if you don’t have access to a firearm?
So a group of people break into a house. The homeowner opens fire in self-defense.
One miscreant is dead, one was wounded, and “several other people fled the scene.”
Things could have turned out very bad for the owner of that house, but Arizona is a state that recognizes that good people have right to defend themselves from bad people. (The reporter in this case isn’t to clear on that subject.)
Self-defense is a human-right.
Two More Sailors Retire from the Vendée Globe
Alone. Non-stop. Around the world. No Assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.
45 days into the race. News – Rookies’ regrets, warriors’ wars – Vendée Globe 2016-2017
In two cruel days the hopes of the Vendée Globe’s two top rookies have been dashed by mechanical failures. On Sunday afternoon it was the 35 year old race first timer Thomas Ruyant who was forced to abandon his race after 42 days while lying in eighth place. His seamanship in bringing his badly broken IMOCA, which threatened to break up and sink at any minute, 220 miles through some horrendous weather conditions, writes him into the race’s history books.
Thomas Ruyant hit a submerged object. It caused massive failure to the hull and deck. He is in Australia.
Paul Meilhat’s boat suffered a failure to the keel ram. The keels move on these boats and the hydraulic rams that move them are critical. The damage is too severe to repair at sea, so he is heading NW, trying to avoid weather that would threaten the boat.
I haven’t been following every minute of the race, but I think that makes 4 boats that have retired, and we are at about the half-way point. Two hit submerged objects.
December 21, 1864: Sherman Captures Savannah, GA
1864 was an election year. The Democrats were running George McClellan, one-time commander of the Union Army, on a platform stating the Civil War was unwinnable, and the North should sue for terms with the South.
Sherman – over the course of summer in 1864 and through autumn – was to prove just how wrong the Democrats were. Sherman’s March – HISTORY.com
Abraham Lincoln was behind in the polls, and was not expected to win reelection in 1864. But then Sherman captured Atlanta in September, and the mood in the North changed. (It changed in the South as well, but that is another story.)
General Sherman’s troops captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864. This was an important triumph, because Atlanta was a railroad hub and the industrial center of the Confederacy: It had munitions factories, foundries and warehouses that kept the Confederate army supplied with food, weapons and other goods
Not wanting to upset the new balance, Lincoln ordered Sherman to stay put until after the election, which Lincoln won. Shortly after the election, Sherman set fire to Atlanta and headed south, with the stated objective to “make Georgia howl.” (It was apparently Sherman’s position that the loss of Atlanta should have made it clear to the Confederacy that they could no longer hope to win the war. They didn’t see it that way, or were not ready to admit it at any rate.)
On November 15th, Sherman’s troops set fire to every government building in Atlanta (the fire would spread), and started toward Savannah.
Constant Sorrow
Alison Krauss and Union Station performing “Man of Constant Sorrow.” I first encountered this song as part of the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (I can recommend it wholeheartedly.)
Who would have pictured George Clooney as a comic genius.
