Girls On Film

2008-04-08 - 11:34 a.m.

Well, since I was at work I missed the climax of the Angels game last night. I got to hear a little on the radio, and there's an 800 number I can call for a reasonably current game status report ("Currently, the Angels are leading the Indians 2 - 1 in the top of the 9th"). The Indians picked up three runs and made it 4 - 2...and then Torii Hunter hit a grand slam walk-off homer to bring it home 6 - 4.

That particular section of the 57 freeway will be something to avoid tonight. The Angels play the Indians again...and across the freeway (literally), The Honda Arena (formerly the Arrowhead Pond [where the Ducks play hockey]) is hosting...Bruce Springsteen.

If you're in my area and you want to be home sometime this week, avoid that portion of the 57 tonight.

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So the Barbie Bandits were sentenced recently, and the NAACP is up in arms. They believe that the two women involved got lighter sentences because they were white.

Here's the breakdown:

• Heather Lyn Johnston, actual robber (white)
  Recommended: three years jail, seven years probation
  Got: Two years jail, eight years probation
  
• Ashley Nicole Miller, actual robber (white)
  Recommended: three years jail, seven years probation
  Got: Ten years probation
  
• Benny Allen III, bank teller who helped write the note and handed the women the money (black, on probation for previous drug conviction)
  Recommended: Six years in jail
  Got: Five years jail
  
• Michael Chastang, planner (black)
  Recommended: unknown
  Got: Ten years jail, served after fifteen years on an unrelated drug-trafficking charge

It's also mentioned that the two women cooperated in the investigation, and that may very well have helped in their sentencing. Chastang also had Ecstacy on him when he was arrested, and that may have hurt HIM.

Did race play a part? Maybe. Did the fact that the two black men had larger roles in the robbery play a part? Most likely.

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Want to know where your tax money is going? You probably won't like it.

===

In Florida, a group of teenagers lured another girl into a house and beat the living shit out of her. Why? So they could post a video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube. Two boys kept watch outside while six girls gave the victim a concussion and other injuries.

The video got them all arrested for false imprisonment and battery, and the three who grabbed the victim and drove her to another location afterward have been charged with kidnapping.

The mother of one of the boys is quoted as saying "they weren't really involved". Bullshit - they were lookouts, most likely watching for police or another responsible adult. They knew what was happening in that house. They deserve to be charged just as much as the girls who administered the beating.

This is yet another reason I'm "too old to be cool" - because I don't have a clue as to how beating someone in a six-on-one fight just to post it on YouTube would be a cool thing to do. Not a fucking clue.

Of course, the fact that they'd film it and post it in a public forum - where they could be identified and charged - just shows that they aren't cool...or smart. And they're going to a place where THEY just might be the victims of a beating.

With no cameras or witnesses.

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Onward into the day: lunch, a trip to the PO, and then work.

Shower's free.

Be seeing you.

Bob - 2008-04-09 09:24:49 - http://shadowgm.diaryland.com
I don't know about anyone else, but my understanding of probation is that it can be pretty harsh. Eight and ten years respectively are not 'getting off light'. --- A bit of the emotional/intellectual disconnect can be heard on the taped beating as the victim is being pummeled near the front door, and you hear someone say, "Don't hit the shelves!" (a nice cabinet with glass shelves and Mom's knicknacks).

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