Quotes
The value of an idea lies in the using of it. ~Thomas A. Edison
You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year. ~Henry Ford
Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. ~Will Rogers
Holmes
James Holmes will not be executed. The jury deliberated for six hours and decided that they could not reach a unanimous decision, which meant that the judge must give a Life in Prison without the possibility of Parole sentence.By Colorado law, there were three choices: Unanimous Death Penalty, Unanimous Life in Prison, and Could Not Reach a Unanimous Decision...in which case the judge is required to hand down a Life in Prison with out possible parole.
If they had unanimously decided on the death penalty, appeals would go on for decades. Since 1890 in Colorado, the history of the death penalty shows 78 people have been executed.
As one analyst said, "This is the death of the death penalty." One cannot imagine a more horrific crime that would merit death more than this one.
Opinion
There are currently two murder trials in Denver and nearby Arapahoe county. The death penalty is an option in both. The first is the James Holmes, Aurora Theater Shooting trial. Holmes was convicted of carrying an arsenal of weapons and wearing bullet-proof protective clothing into a theater and killing or attempting to kill 82 people in the audience.
The second is the Dexter Lewis trial in which four men, one claims to be a government informant and was not arrested or tried, walked into a bar late at night for the purpose of robbery. Somehow the robbery went wrong and Lewis used a knife to kill the bar owner and the four patrons present. Lynell Hill and Joseph Hill were given long prison sentences. Demarea Harris, the informant, was not charged. Lewis who stabbed each victim multiple times is facing the penalty phase of his trial.
The questions I see are: If the black man, Lewis, is given the death penalty, and the white man, Holmes, is given a life in prison sentence because of mental illness, won't that add evidence to the accusation that blacks are punished more harshly than whites in our courts? Will we have riots in Denver?
If Holmes gets the death penalty, will there be a claim that Holmes couldn't help it, the illness made him do the killing?
If both Lewis and Holmes are given the death penalty, will the Governor pardon both to life in prison because he does not believe in the death penalty?
Although the jurors have been instructed to stay away from media reports and base their decisions on facts not emotions, how can they not be aware of the ramifications their decision will have on other trials?
I am glad I do not have a vote in either case.
Colorado Hero
This week's Colorado Hero actually earned notoriety in Massachusetts.
Born June 1, 1849, in Kingfield, Maine, Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan Oscar Stanley and their four brothers and one sister farmed the family's land. When F.E. and twin brother F.O. turned 18, they entered Western State Normal School in nearby Farmington, to become teachers. After a difference of opinion with an educator, F.E. left shortly after his arrival. He soon took a position as a teacher/principal in North New Portland, near his hometown. There he met Augusta May Walker, also a teacher, and married her in 1870. After a few years in the education field, the couple realized that, although teaching was a noble profession, it was no way to support a family.
F.E., an avid artist, took up a form of painting using an experimental tool that would atomize paint. Acclaimed for his very realistic black and white portraits, he received a patent for what became the airbrush. As cameras became increasingly popular, F.E. purchased one to expand his portrait business-one of the largest studios in New England. It grew into the Stanley Dry Plate Co., and in 1884, F.E. and F.O. began their longstanding partnership. Two years later, they were granted a patent for a dry-plate coating machine, and eventually relocated to Watertown, Massachusetts. Although the company was grossing almost $1 million annually by the turn of the century, F.E.'s growing interest in horseless carriages turned into an obsession.
In the summer of 1897, they attended a local fair where they witnessed a French inventor demonstrate his steam-driven car. Apparently impelled by his wife's inability to ride a bicycle, Francis vowed to build something that his wife could ride. The French inventor's steam car was the impetus Francis needed. After the fair, the brothers began to develop a steam car of their own.
The brothers formed a car company in 1898 and produced their first steam car, which was dubbed The Flying Teapot. An instant success, the car was easy to run and achieved a top speed of 35 miles per hour (56 kph), quite fast for the turn of the century. Its major drawback was the need to stop every ten miles or so to refill the boiler. The brothers sold their company after only a few months, but they returned to the business of making cars in 1902 when they formed the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. They staged various events to publicize their steam cars, including racing up mountains and racing against gas-powered cars. Eventually the Stanleys sold their photographic plate business to George Eastman (Kodak) and concentrated on the manufacture of their steam cars, which came to be known unofficially as Stanley Steamers.
At age 53, F.O. Stanley contracted tuberculosis and doctors told him he had one year to live.
He moved to the Colorado mountains. There F.O. built the famed Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, later associated with Stephen King's novel The Shining. F.O. become a leading and well-loved citizen of Estes Park. He lived to be 91.
I have seen an actual Stanley Steamer in the basement of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. It is very "cool" for a car propelled by steam.
Riddles
1: How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
2: What do you call a bear without an ear?
3. A boy fell off a 100 foot ladder. But he did not get hurt. Why not?
Comments
Please leave your comments in the "Comments" section below.
Answers to Riddles
1: Just one—after that, it’s not empty anymore.
2: A “b”.
3. He fell off the bottom step.
The value of an idea lies in the using of it. ~Thomas A. Edison
You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year. ~Henry Ford
Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. ~Will Rogers
Holmes
James Holmes will not be executed. The jury deliberated for six hours and decided that they could not reach a unanimous decision, which meant that the judge must give a Life in Prison without the possibility of Parole sentence.By Colorado law, there were three choices: Unanimous Death Penalty, Unanimous Life in Prison, and Could Not Reach a Unanimous Decision...in which case the judge is required to hand down a Life in Prison with out possible parole.
If they had unanimously decided on the death penalty, appeals would go on for decades. Since 1890 in Colorado, the history of the death penalty shows 78 people have been executed.
As one analyst said, "This is the death of the death penalty." One cannot imagine a more horrific crime that would merit death more than this one.
Opinion
There are currently two murder trials in Denver and nearby Arapahoe county. The death penalty is an option in both. The first is the James Holmes, Aurora Theater Shooting trial. Holmes was convicted of carrying an arsenal of weapons and wearing bullet-proof protective clothing into a theater and killing or attempting to kill 82 people in the audience.
The second is the Dexter Lewis trial in which four men, one claims to be a government informant and was not arrested or tried, walked into a bar late at night for the purpose of robbery. Somehow the robbery went wrong and Lewis used a knife to kill the bar owner and the four patrons present. Lynell Hill and Joseph Hill were given long prison sentences. Demarea Harris, the informant, was not charged. Lewis who stabbed each victim multiple times is facing the penalty phase of his trial.
The questions I see are: If the black man, Lewis, is given the death penalty, and the white man, Holmes, is given a life in prison sentence because of mental illness, won't that add evidence to the accusation that blacks are punished more harshly than whites in our courts? Will we have riots in Denver?
If Holmes gets the death penalty, will there be a claim that Holmes couldn't help it, the illness made him do the killing?
If both Lewis and Holmes are given the death penalty, will the Governor pardon both to life in prison because he does not believe in the death penalty?
Although the jurors have been instructed to stay away from media reports and base their decisions on facts not emotions, how can they not be aware of the ramifications their decision will have on other trials?
I am glad I do not have a vote in either case.
Colorado Hero
This week's Colorado Hero actually earned notoriety in Massachusetts.
Born June 1, 1849, in Kingfield, Maine, Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan Oscar Stanley and their four brothers and one sister farmed the family's land. When F.E. and twin brother F.O. turned 18, they entered Western State Normal School in nearby Farmington, to become teachers. After a difference of opinion with an educator, F.E. left shortly after his arrival. He soon took a position as a teacher/principal in North New Portland, near his hometown. There he met Augusta May Walker, also a teacher, and married her in 1870. After a few years in the education field, the couple realized that, although teaching was a noble profession, it was no way to support a family.
F.E., an avid artist, took up a form of painting using an experimental tool that would atomize paint. Acclaimed for his very realistic black and white portraits, he received a patent for what became the airbrush. As cameras became increasingly popular, F.E. purchased one to expand his portrait business-one of the largest studios in New England. It grew into the Stanley Dry Plate Co., and in 1884, F.E. and F.O. began their longstanding partnership. Two years later, they were granted a patent for a dry-plate coating machine, and eventually relocated to Watertown, Massachusetts. Although the company was grossing almost $1 million annually by the turn of the century, F.E.'s growing interest in horseless carriages turned into an obsession.
In the summer of 1897, they attended a local fair where they witnessed a French inventor demonstrate his steam-driven car. Apparently impelled by his wife's inability to ride a bicycle, Francis vowed to build something that his wife could ride. The French inventor's steam car was the impetus Francis needed. After the fair, the brothers began to develop a steam car of their own.
The brothers formed a car company in 1898 and produced their first steam car, which was dubbed The Flying Teapot. An instant success, the car was easy to run and achieved a top speed of 35 miles per hour (56 kph), quite fast for the turn of the century. Its major drawback was the need to stop every ten miles or so to refill the boiler. The brothers sold their company after only a few months, but they returned to the business of making cars in 1902 when they formed the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. They staged various events to publicize their steam cars, including racing up mountains and racing against gas-powered cars. Eventually the Stanleys sold their photographic plate business to George Eastman (Kodak) and concentrated on the manufacture of their steam cars, which came to be known unofficially as Stanley Steamers.
At age 53, F.O. Stanley contracted tuberculosis and doctors told him he had one year to live.
He moved to the Colorado mountains. There F.O. built the famed Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, later associated with Stephen King's novel The Shining. F.O. become a leading and well-loved citizen of Estes Park. He lived to be 91.
I have seen an actual Stanley Steamer in the basement of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. It is very "cool" for a car propelled by steam.
Riddles
1: How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
2: What do you call a bear without an ear?
3. A boy fell off a 100 foot ladder. But he did not get hurt. Why not?
Comments
Please leave your comments in the "Comments" section below.
Answers to Riddles
1: Just one—after that, it’s not empty anymore.
2: A “b”.
3. He fell off the bottom step.