Roger O Green

The Kyle Rittenhouse verdict

compassion, kindness

I’m trying to contextualize the disappointing but unsurprising Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.

One part is Mark Evanier’s tweet. “And one day soon, someone of a different political view and/or race will do what Kyle Rittenhouse did and all the folks cheering today’s verdict will be screaming, ‘Rule of law!'”

There is a 2021 article in Slate that I found intriguing. “Black gun rights advocate Kenn Blanchard says Black Americans shouldn’t be scared of the Second Amendment.”

And of course, many African-Americans are afraid. Race DOES permeate the politics of gun control. Think of the death of Philando Castile, who announced to an officer at a traffic stop that he had a gun in his car. He ended up dead, and that continues to gut me.

I’m left to speculate what would have been the reaction by law enforcement to a young black male running through the streets of Kenosha, WI with an AR-15. Perhaps he would have ended up dead like Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. He was a good black man with a gun trying to end an Alabama mall shooting.

But Kyle Rittenhouse, running through the chaotic streets with an automatic weapon, goes past law enforcement without incident. As a Boston Globe columnist noted: “You can be a vigilante when your mission is to serve the system.”

STFU

Much has been made of the judge’s rulings during the trial. For the most part, I concur. Yet there is one aspect that I have to agree with him. The fact that Rittenhouse had not made public comment before the trial should not have mattered. Moreover, when the prosecution suggested that this was an issue, and the judge reprimanded the state on Fifth Amendment grounds, it hurt the case. It was prosecutorial ineptness.

In this blog back in 2014, I wrote: “If I am ever in a situation that would involve the criminal justice system – whether as the victim and/or witness or defendant – I will not comment on what I might testify about until the trial is over. I won’t talk about it, and I certainly won’t blog about it.”

Very few things irritate me more while watching the news than having Lester Holt, or whomever, saying, “X is breaking their silence.” It’s as though talking about testimony to the press before the trial is what one is SUPPOSED to do. I do not buy it.

As a practical matter, shutting up is probably better. Alec Baldwin spoke after the shooting death of the cinematographer for the movie Rust. When he talked about how well-run the set operated, he may have made himself vulnerable to civil liability.

With God on his side

It fascinates me that the two folks on my Facebook feed who clearly supported the outcome put it in a Christian context. My old neighbor Greg says the verdict was “Absolutely beautiful totally innocent! 100% self-defense.” He bashed the “bleeding hearts”, and ends with “so good for Kyle excellent praise God.”

As someone who has been reading a lot of the Old Testament recently, there’s a lot of stories of the people of Israel preparing to invade other folks. Start with Joshua 1, for instance.

But this is not the Christian theology I believe in. I’m more of a Colossians 3:12 kind of guy. “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” That would mean, in my mind, not becoming a Stand Your Ground provocateur.

Ellen Green and my JEOPARDY quest

archive.org

My sister Leslie is friends with Ellen Green out in SoCal. Best I can tell, she’s no relation to us. But she has been on JEOPARDY. In her appearance on Show #4074 – Thursday, April 25, 2002, she started strong but ended up in third place. But it’s cool to even get to the stage.

This fall, I got to meet Ellen during my weekly Zoom meeting with my sisters. She seems very nice. Subsequently, Leslie sent me a link to Ellen’s appearance, which is housed on archive.org.

In fact, there are several dozen Jeopardy episodes there, some going back to 1984 when Alex Trebek first started hosting the show. They tend to be items likely originally recorded on VHS tape from the local affiliate as opposed to a pristine copy put out by the Jeopardy folks. Some include the ads, which are entertaining on their own. There is even something labeled as Islamic Jeopardy.

Can I find either of my episodes? Well, not so far. I found specific references to my one win, on services such as Yideo.com and Trakt.TV. Oddly, I did find a sparse reference to Roger O. Green on IMDB, which made me laugh.

Looking through YouTube, I had little expectation of finding anything. Their copyright police are quite vigilant. But I did come across the credit roll for 11/10/1998, my second and final appearance.

DIY

So it gets me wondering. Can I upload the episodes to Archive.org? I have a VHS tape of the shows. It also contains some behind-the-curtain footage. Don’t ask how I got it. Now, this tape has been kindly transferred to a DVD. But can that be uploaded? I have no idea since I own no computer that has a drive where the shiny disc used to go. Any insights would be appreciated.

Incidentally, my sister also has ANOTHER friend who was on Jeopardy, Jim, who was a four-day champion in 1989 and got to the Tournament of Champions. Ellen and Jim recently met, and as Leslie reported, they were “like 2 peas in a pod…could not get a word in edgewise, but it was ok.” Jeopardy folks are like that.

The last of the renewing hit single

The Spy Who Loved Me

Here is my last list of the renewing hit single. I define it as that pop single that lifts the artist to that place on the Billboard pop charts to where they had been in the past.

Upside Down – Diana Ross. In 1980, her first #1 since 1976’s Love Hangover.

Walk Away From Love – David Ruffin. He had two Top Ten songs, each reaching #9. This one from 1976, and his first solo hit, My Whole World Ended in 1969.

Winning – Santana. This track hit #17 in 1981. The previous Top 20 single was Everybody’s Everything, #12 in 1971.

Laughter In The Rain – Nel Sedaka. This song in 1975 was his first #1 since Breaking Up Is Hard To Do in 1962.

The Simons

Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon. The song from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me reached #2 in 1977. Her previous Top Five was Mockingbird in 1974, with James Taylor. Before that, You’re So Vain, #1 in 1973.

My Little Town – Simon and Garfunkel. This one-off reunion appeared on both Simon’s and Garfunkel’s solo albums as it went to #9 in 1975. Cecilia was their last Top Ten track, hitting #4 in 1970.

Strangers In The Night – Frank Sinatra. Went to #1 in 1966. His last Top Ten was Witchcraft, #6 in 1958. His previous #1, Learnin’ the Blues in 1955.

Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me, Girl – the Spinners. It was #2 in 1980. The Rubberband Man was #2 in 1976.

Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen. Before this #9 track from the movie Philadelphia, he most recently reached the Top Ten in 1988 with Tunnel of Love, which also got to #9.

She Works Hard For The Money – Donna Summer, With ten Top Five songs between 1976 and 1980, at least one a year, ending with the #3 The Wanderer in 1980, it wasn’t until 1983 before she got her next one, a #3 smash.

Tee to Zee

Her Town Too – James Taylor. His track with J D Souther reached #11. His previous Top 20 track was Your Smiling Face, #20 in 1977.

My Melody of Love – Bobby Vinton. the last Top Song for him was I Love How You Love Me, #9 in 1968. His last Top 20 hit reached #3 in 1974. It’s sung partially in Polish, and I have a great deal of affection for it. For years, almost every time I’d visit my hometown of Binghamton, I’d hear this song on the radio.

What Does It Take – Jr. Walker and the All-Stars. Like his big hit, Shotgun in 1965, this song too reached #1, in 1969. On one of those Motown compilations, Junior complained that the songwriter kept pitching it, but that Junior didn’t think it was his style. The voiceover: “But the songwriter won out.” That would have been Johnny Bristol, Vernon Bullock, or Harvey Fuqua.

Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson. the #6 single in 1967 was his first Top Ten finish since Baby Workout, #5 in 1963.

Just the Two of Us – Bill Withers. The collaboration with Grover Washington, Jr. reached #2 in 1981, as did Use Me in 1972.

Smell Like Nirvana – Weird Al Yankovic. He was not a singles success in the 20th century, but this song got to #35 in 1992. Previously, Fat hit #99 in ’88, and Like A Surgeon, #47 in 1985.

Time of the Season – the Zombies. The group had its previous Top 10 hit with Tell Her No, #6 in 1965. It had to break up to get another one, #3 in 1969.

Am I more or less political?

rallies

Someone I knew peripherally three decades ago I got to know much better in 2021. They said he thought I was less political now than I was back in the day. I’m not quite sure about the definition of the word in this context. This, of course, got me thinking about my love/hate thing with all things involving politics.

I grew up in the 1960s and went to some civil rights actions. But from 1968 through 1974 I was more involved in opposition to the war in Vietnam, even getting arrested in 1972.

Meanwhile, I went to college in New Paltz in 1971. I was a political science major, so I’ve always paid attention to politics, sometimes with stunned disbelief. I joined the New Paltz Democratic Club c. 1973. There was an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the massive reapportioned district of Howard Robison (R-Owego). I described my petitioning here.

I carried petitions again in 1980 for a guy running against a solid incumbent in Albany, which was almost impossible. And I was involved in some social justice activities. I know I went to the anti-nuke rally in June 1982 in NYCNY.

During the 1990s, I befriended my city councilperson and carried petitions. Also, I was involved with some anti-racism activities.

For the six months prior to the water in Iraq in March 2003, I participated in more than two dozen protests, including the big one on 15 February 2003.

Later that decade, I carried petitions for someone I had known for over 25 years. Did I mention that I really HATE carrying petitions, yet I’ve done it at least four times?

Since then, my public participation has been spotty. A rally for freeing falsely imprisoned persons here, a women’s empowerment march there. My daughter was heavily involved in Black Lives Matter rallies in 2020; I went to one, on Juneteenth.

But I do write about it, sometimes

I don’t know if blogging about inequity is DOING anything about it. Regardless, almost every January 15 and April 4 in the past decade, I’ve written about some of the less familiar works of MLK Jr. or tried to recontextualize Martin for the 21st century.

During the orange years, going back at least to 2015, I wrote about him. A LOT, actually, more often than I wanted to because he was so toxic. If you go to my blog and search for trump, you’ll see I probably wrote about him at least 400 times, such as here and here and here and here and here. And those are just some of the ones for 2016. Frankly, I grew tired of even thinking about him. But the process was cathartic, at least for me.

And occasionally, I’ve addressed a wide range of issues from global warming to voting rights.

I write about politics less so now because it’s a more normal, albeit dysfunctional time, your usual sausage-making. But just this summer, I got to suggest to my mayor, who knows me by name, to check out this video about inequality.

So I still pay attention, reading scads of information from differing POVs. If I have something to say, I have the pulpit of my own design. But I’ve never been that motivated to write/talk about politics all the time.

Menthol-flavored cigarettes kill

The Great American Smokeout

As a non-smoker, I never realized that menthol-flavored cigarettes were so specifically dangerous. That is until I heard about the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. The AATCLC has been noting this problem for years.

Specifically, “in 2009, Congress passed — and President Obama signed into law — the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The act implemented a total flavor ban in cigarettes, but excluded menthol subject to further research on the public health impacts of menthol in cigarettes.” More research.

“In 2011, the FDA’s Advisory Committee concluded that the ‘Removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States.’ Though Canada, the European Union, Ethiopia, and other countries have taken menthol off the market, the United States has yet to do so, despite overwhelming evidence collected by the FDA that a menthol ban would benefit public health.”

The CDC notes, “Menthol in cigarettes creates a cooling sensation in the throat and airways when the user inhales, making cigarette smoke feel less harsh on the user.” So it’s not surprising that “studies have shown that menthol in cigarettes likely leads people—especially young people—to experiment with smoking.”

Target marketing

Moreover, “there also is heavy marketing by tobacco companies in African American neighborhoods, magazines that are popular with African Americans, and at music and lifestyle events aimed at African Americans.” Nearly 9 in 10 black Americans smoke menthol cigarettes, compared with less than a quarter of white Americans.

This is interesting. “Women who smoke are more likely to use menthol cigarettes than men who smoke. A 2009-2010 study showed LGBT people who smoke are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than heterosexual people who smoke, and that the difference was even greater in terms of LGBT women versus heterosexual women.”

Along with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), AATCLC brought a Formal Complaint against the FDA back in June 2020. “The lawsuit asks the court to compel the FDA to carry out its statutory duties under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and take steps to add menthol to the original list of prohibited characterizing flavors. Such action would result in the removal of menthol-flavored tobacco products from the marketplace.”

However, there are folks who, for quite legitimate reasons, fear a menthol ban will make a bad situation worse.” People will start selling menthol cigarettes illegally [which will] make the community more vulnerable to police harassment.” It could “lead to greater tensions with police in black communities.”

Per this recent article, the issue remains unresolved.