The Death Penalty and the Start of NFL Football

A Reason to Live:


The NFL kicks off a new season today!

It feels a little like this

Amazingly, of the five NFL games taking place today the only one that is being nationally televised is the game that I care about the most.  At 5 p.m. PDT the San Diego Chargers will host the Seattle Seahawks.  While this is only a preseason game and even though I expect that the starters will play very limited minutes given the shortened training camp resulting from the prolonged  labor negotiation, I'm thrilled.
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Before you say anything negative, remember that Picasso made 

a lot of money from abstract art.  This is from my 

incomprehensible period.

Give Him a Pistol with One Shot and the Chance to do the Right Thing:

At long last, the corrupt asshole who abused his power as a Pennsylvania judge will finally be sentenced today in Scranton.

For those of you would aren't up on this case, former Judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted in the "Cash for Kids" scandal.  Basically, the State of Pennsylvania thought it would be a good idea to contract out to a private company the task of jailing kids under the age of 18 who committed crimes.  Once this company had a financial incentive to put kids in jail, they conspired with Judge Ciavarella, who was illegally paid nearly one million dollars from the private jailing company, to place any and every child that came in front of him for sentencing in their facility no matter how minor their crime.

One kid sentenced for marijuana possession never got over the shock of being tossed in jail.  His Mother, Sandy Fonzo, claims that his suicide was a direct result of Ciavarella throwing him in jail for what should have been a slap on the wrist.  Here she is confronting Ciavarella on the steps of the courthouse immediately following his being found guilty.  Skip to 1:01 on this video to hear the boy's Mother:

I would have thought that for his own safety he would

have been jailed immediately following the guilty verdict.

Shockingly, for the last six months after being convicted,

Ciavarella has been free while he awaits sentencing.

One retired school teacher had her barn and another building burned down by a pair of kids that were sentenced by Ciavarella.  After he was found guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for issuing detention sentences, the Supreme Court ruled that everyone who Ciavarella sentenced would have their convictions overturned.  This left the 100 or so people that lost property to the small percentage of those Ciavarella sentenced that actually deserved to be locked up shit outta luck.  In this case, the teacher estimated her loses at $173,000, which insurance will not cover because it was ruled as arson and therefore, they claim, up to her to recoup her loses from the person responsible.  Originally the two kids that committed the arson were told to make restitution to her but since their convictions were thrown out this woman has to bend over and take it.  The state of PA has authorized two $1,500 checks, one for each of the two arsonists, to cover her $173,000 loss.  Here is the article.

I sincerely believe that Mark Ciavarella deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Updated August 15, 2011: Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison.  Hopefully that means he will die in prison.

TL;DR: The NFL is back!  The NFL is back!  For me and millions of other American football fans today is like Christmas morning when you were a small child, plus a birthday all wrapped up in a lengthy hug from a hot member of the opposite sex.  I'm a little excited.


Also, a Judge who abused his power is going to be sent to prison but for how long?