Tuesday Evening: Darkness and Updates

Good Evening!

Today the sky grew dark early. I don’t know, with the autumn months, it does bring the night much earlier than during the summer, but for some reason…it got very dark around 5pm.

I am not in the mood for thoughtful observations and commentary tonight, so I will just post a few links and leave it at that.

First an update from Miriam, she made this comment four hours ago:

As talks of a possible pending ceasefire seem to be negotiated,- the predictable chaos ensues…lots and lots of rockets fired all day long and I feel like I’m spending more time in the shelter than out of it. I’m hopeful that we’ll see an end to all this soon. I miss my regular boring life.

I will keep you updated on her, I think it is important to maintain some kind of personal connection to the events playing out over there.

I’ve got some more updates for you all.

I wrote about this “stand your ground” case a while back, it dealt with a black man who killed a white man on a neighborhood basketball court. The dead man’s daughter was a witness and had to testify during the trial. Well, 71-year-old black man found guilty of manslaughter, jury rejects ‘Stand Your Ground’ claim | theGrio

A Tampa jury have found Trevor Dooley, a 71-year-old black man,  guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of his white neighbor, 41-year-old David James, in front of James’ then-8-year-old daughter Danielle.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the jury rejected Dooley’s claim of self-defense under the state of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

One of the jury members said the law did not apply to this case, while jury foreman Walter Joss said, “The whole silly thing was over a skateboard … and it just escalated.”

However, the Jamaican-born Dooley believes that racism played a big part in his conviction.

He told reporters, “Do you really think that if it was the other way around and the skin color would be different we would be here today? … We wouldn’t.”

Hmmmm, let’s see how this case reflects the outcome of the Zimmerman trial, which is set for June 10th of next year.

Elmo has resigned…you may have heard by now that more accusations are coming forward in the matter of the annoying red muppet created by Kevin Clash.

Elmo Puppeteer Resigns After Fresh Allegation

Kevin Clash, the longtime voice and puppeteer behind “Sesame Street’s” Elmo character, resigned on Tuesday after a new allegation was made that he had underage sexual relationships.

Announcing the decision with what he called a “very heavy heart,” Mr. Clash said in a statement, “Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work ‘Sesame Street’ is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately.”

His statement came at around the same time that a lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York accusing him of “sexual activity” with a 15-year-old. The accuser, Cecil Singleton, is now 24. The suit said that Mr. Singleton “did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash’s sexual acts and conduct until 2012.” It sought $5 million in damages.

Mr. Clash had no comment on the lawsuit. He was first accused last week of sexual improprieties by a man who later recanted and said they had an “adult consensual relationship.” That man has remained anonymous and has not filed a suit.

Coincidentally, Buzzfeed reports that Penn State Takes Down A Photo Of Elmo Being Given A PSU T-Shirt

Penn State University appeared to make private a photo on their Flickr feed Tuesday of Elmo receiving a Penn State T-shirt during a visit to the university in March. The rest of the photos of the event remain online.

Shame they didn’t have the…geez what is the word? The humanity? No, the consideration? The responsibility? To act as quickly to the obvious sex abuse happening under their noses…

That is all I have for you…like I said, not up for much of anything tonight. This is an open thread, a tired…apathetic open thread.