West Memphis Three Are Free

I never thought I’d ever have the chance to write those words and as I sit her writing this, the whole event that took place in Jonesboro, Arkansas only a few hours ago is bittersweet.  As any of my regular readers will know I have been a staunch supporter of these three men for many years now.  In fact it was only three weeks ago that I wrote a blog piece about the DNA evidence the defence had that would clear Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley from having in part in the murders of the three little boys back in 1993.  For 18 years many of us have supported these men and done everything we can to get the message out that this entire thing has been a miscarriage of justice.  While they may have walked free today the way this was handled is still a massive miscarriage of justice and the legal system and everyone within it should be ashamed of how this has turned out, especially you Mr Prosecuting Attorney, Scott Ellington. 

A couple of days ago it was announced that the judge in the case had called a surprise last minute hearing for Friday morning and that is when the murmurs first began that the three could be looking at release from prison.  Most of us to begin with thought this is fantastic they acknowledge that the defence now has DNA evidence so they know the defence has a chance of winning the admission of evidence hearing that was scheduled for December.  What we didn't count on was that because these three were desperate to gain freedom the prosecutors could use this to their advantage and use underhanded tactics to allow their release, so they offered them something known as an Alford Plea.  The plea works with the defendant/s not admitting the act but acknowledging that the prosecution has enough evidence to likely prove the charge.  In a round about way they are admitting guilt by admitting the prosecution has enough evidence, which we all know is completely false.  The only reason the prosecution offered them this plea is because they needed to save face and avoid a lawsuit from the three men.  By taking this plea Damien, Jason and Jessie cannot sue the prosecution or the state for the 18 years misspent in Jail.

To begin with Jason Baldwin did not want to take the plea, he wanted to fight for their freedom and clear their name but they were advised by their defence counsel to take the plea.  Personally I think that the defence were worried that a retrial could end up the same abortion as the first one because of the obvious corruption that has carried this case now for 18 years.  Jason realised that in order to ultimately save Damien’s life from death row the plea needed to be taken.  As I said this makes it a bittersweet moment for us all, that yes they are finally free but their names are not completely cleared yet.  This is something that I am prepared to rally for and support them through in the future.  We need to clear their names and try to reassert some form of justice into what has become a three ringed circus.  We also need to try and find some closure for the three little boys that lost their lives at the hand of a coldblooded killer.  Whoever it is, they are still roaming free and we need to do whatever we can to find out the truth and make the real criminal in this case accountable.

This is the next stage in this story, this doesn’t stop here for those of us that support Damien, Jason and Jessie.  They need our support more now than ever as they try to adjust to a world they don’t know or understand.  I’ve shed tears of joy and tears of heartache through this case, hell I stayed up until 6am my time all the way over here in little old New Zealand just to watch them walk out of that court room free at last.  I’ve always been one to fight for those who need it, and I’m not going to stop now.  We need to rally together to support these three men and their families through what is still going to be some tough times ahead.  We need to clear their names and bring justice once and for all.

Podcast for 15th August 2011

In this podcast I discuss the London Riots, England's controversial new jersey for the Rugby World Cup, and introduce you to my Music Pick of the week.  Click Here to listen.  Please feel free to comment and join the discussion in the comments below.

What I Believe

I have a tendency to sit and think a lot about things, in fact its one of the reasons I seem to have a problem with insomnia so often.  I have a mind that doesn't shut down easily as I try to put the world to rights in my own head.  I often wish it was more like a computer where I could place my mind into sleep or hibernate mode.  But, that is not an option so my mind continues to wander over various topics and over the last few months I’ve been focused on what I believe, what exactly are my belief systems.  Its been like an exercise in learning who I am at this point in my life, because our belief systems can change and alter over time as I’ve come to discover that mine have.

I believe in the supernatural, the paranormal, the unexplained.  In fact it goes beyond a belief to more of a fascination and a need to learn and understand about those things that are unexplainable.  One of my dream jobs besides being a writer of course, is to hunt the unexplained and paranormal.  Ghost hunting would be fantastic and its one thing I actually plan to dabble in more this year.  I also believe in big foot, the lochness monster, and other various cryptozoological anomalies.  However, I do not believe in aliens; how's that for a little bizarre, here I am believing in all these other weird and wonderful things and yet I don't believe in little green men.  I do believe that Unidentified Flying Objects exist, but I don't believe that they are alien aircraft.

I believe in God or a higher power, I don't think it matters what you want to call it as its the belief in something out there that is the most important factor, I just choose to refer to it as God.  I believe every “religion” has something important to teach us in order to help us on our journey of life, so I choose to take the things from various religions that speak to my core.  But, here is the kicker, I don't believe in organised religion.  I believe that your chosen religion or belief system can be anything that speaks to your soul and makes you strive to be something wonderful.  As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post I feel that music is more my religion than anything else, if you haven't read that particular post yet I encourage you to in order to understand my rationale better.  You can find it Here.  For me it doesn't matter that people have different belief systems from me, we are all entitled to our individual ideology, what really matters is that we have faith in something.  One of the main reasons I no longer believe in organised religion is because of the trouble that is often caused in the name of religion.  So many wars have been started in the name of whatever they believe in at the time.  The Catholics fight the protestants, the Muslims fight the Christians, we burned witches or pagans for their beliefs.  How is all of that a good thing, shouldn't we be concentrating on loving our fellow man and accepting them despite the differences in belief.  Isn't religion supposed to be about peace, love and acceptance.  And yet the moment you disagree with someone's beliefs they turn their backs on you or persecute you.  I refuse to be a part of something that encourages those reactions and behaviours towards people.  I chose a path of love and acceptance no matter what you believe in.

I believe that individual culture is what keeps us feeling like we belong and at no time do we have the right to judge another persons culture.  Ethnocentric minds sets are what have systematically destroyed many cultures around the world.  Westerners especially are guilty of such behaviours, our ancestors have travelled to the ends of the earth and raped many people of their culture and sense of self.  I believe that is why so many indigenous cultures have issues with drugs, alcohol and committing crime.  When you lose your culture you lose your sense of self, when you lose your sense of self you lose your place within society.  When we are lost we turn to various vices in order to makes us feel better or to numb the pain.  As people we need to stop trying to change everyone's culture in order to make us feel better about ourselves.  We do not necessarily have to agree with the practices within other cultures, but we must respect them and allow them to continue their practices.

I believe it is our responsibility to look after this earth and all the creatures on it, which is why I am passionate about fighting the cause.  I believe that we have already damaged this earth enough and that if we don't do something about it soon, this earth will destroy us in return for our actions.  I believe wholeheartedly that this is the reason natural disasters have increased, we have created a knock on effect through global warning and the destruction of this planet.  I believe that because animals do not have a voice, we must stand up and act as a voice for them.  If we don't then creatures we take for granted will one day no longer wander the earth, they are disappearing before our very eyes and we must do whatever we can to stop this.

I believe that when we figure out our belief systems then we begin to know who we are as a person.  I believe that when you know who you are as a person, you can find peace within.  So, what do you believe?

London Riots

I think the whole world has watched in horror as these riots have unfolded in London and spread throughout England to Manchester and Birmingham.  I have many friends from the UK who have expressed their distaste at the English people involved in these riots, they have also spoken of their shame at even being British.  My own great grandfather came from Canning Town in the East End of London, jumping ship upon his arrival to New Zealand.  A lot of us have links to the UK and the people within it, so we have all in some way been touched watching what is going on.  I had one friend comment that they had lost their faith in humanity, however I saw that humanity returned tonight on the news, watching the droves of people coming to the areas worst hit in London and spending the day working together to clean up the mess.

In the coming days and weeks people will want answers, they will want to lay the blame with someone and expect whoever they point fingers at to take responsibility for what has happened.  I say that we are all responsible for what has taken place, I have expressed that on various social networks and I wanted to expand here on my blog.  Watching these riots it is abundantly clear that the majority of those taking part are young men who have absolutely no respect for anyone or anything, especially authority figures.  So the question posed is Why?  And the obvious answer I can see is that its because we have allowed this generation to exist.  We have come through a generation of people that have become to relaxed in parenting skills, we see it all the time children getting away with things they shouldn't be because we allow them to.  No longer can we use smacking as a discipline without fear of persecution or prosecution, instead we are encouraged to talk to our children rather than set boundaries and keep to them.  We have raised a generation that we have taught to stand up and fight against the authorities, rather than respect them and listen.  When someone breaks the law the penalties are not harsh enough, we simply slap them on the wrists and send them on their merry way, sending the message that its ok to break the law because you’re going to get away with it anyway.

We have created a generation of lazy people that want the easy way out so turn to living a life filled with making easy money, usually through doing things illegally.  We allow them to sit around and claim benefits all day and never encourage them to be productive in life.  Boredom creates restlessness and restlessness leads to these sorts of acts we see today.  We need to make changes for the next generations coming up through the ranks.  We need to get back to the days and ways of old that teach us respect for people, respect for property, respect for authority and respect for boundaries.  If we don't change the way we are raising our generations we are going to see more and more of these moments of unrest and uprising.  Something needs to change before it is too late. Make the changes for the next generation!