The Rich Upper-Classhole, Esq.

This is a continuation from http://somethingclassier.tumblr.com/post/16940946872/my-little-book-idea-continued but you don’t really have to read that to understand

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“She’s stabilizing. The bleeding has slowed, and she seems to have no underlying problems,” the man said. He made direct eye contact with Frank as he stood above him. If Frank hadn’t known any better, he could have sworn that the voice had come from someone else other than the nurse he was currently making eye contact with. This though distracted him enough that the next words out of the nurse’s mouth didn’t immediately register: “As for the child… I’m sorry, it didn’t make it.”

             Jonathan was on the thirteenth (and thankfully last) hour of his shift when he had to tell Frank Halliday that his unborn son had died. The poor man continued to sit in the ancient hallway chair, staring into space. Jonathan, on the other hand, became uncomfortable in the silence. He had had the misfortune of telling prospective fathers about miscarriages before—so many times, sadly, that it hardly pained him to say it anymore. The real tough part, the part that he truly dreaded, was the reaction that fathers had in response to their loss. Medical school had taught Jonathan that grief came in five stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – but experience had made it clear that these stages did not come necessary in this order; he had seen just as many men break into t prayer as he had seen try to ignore the situation completely. All too many had snapped into anger, followed swiftly by violence. As Jonathan looked down at the shaking and strangely quiet man, he began to fear the worst.

            Though outwardly Frank appeared as if he were going to burst, he simply didn’t know how to react. Somehow, by some means unbeknownst to even himself, he had reached acceptance. He slowly became consciously aware of how eerily calm he was internally. He remembered where he was, and blinked, taking in a deep breath.

            Meanwhile, Jonathan began to retract his hand from his security radio. Though it didn’t appear that Mr Hallifax (no, Holiday? Maybe Henderson?…) or Mr Whatever was going to lash out in any way, he was still likely in need of help. Jonathan cleared his throat:

            “Sir, the hospital has grief counselors if you would like to meet with them. They may be able to help you with any problems you might be ha-“ he stopped himself, questioning himself. Did the hospital still have grief counselors? Jonathan faintly recalled having read that the higher-ups had done away with them in the latest budget cuts. Thankfully, the man in front of him shook his head. He hung his head limply for a few moments, then looked up.

            “No, thank you. Just get me a cab. I’ve got to go… feed the dog.”

…continued from http://somethingclassier.tumblr.com/post/16546362748/im-thinking-i-need-to-write-a-book …

 Of all of the things to be doing fifteen minutes past midnight, Frank hadn’t planned to be sitting in a hospital chair. After all, he had been sleeping to the tune of a particularly wonderful dream just half an hour before. Fate clearly had other plans, he thought, taking in a breath of air that seemed to be more antiseptic than oxygen.

                It was true that, up until 11:47 PM, Frank had been sleeping peacefully in his oh-so-soft bed with his loving wife. Now, Frank had heard the term “bloody murder” before, but he hadn’t necessarily understood it – until 11:48. Frank was jerked awake by his wife’s scream, a scream of pain he was sure he would never forget. By the time the ambulance crew arrived, Frank’s ears still felt like they were ringing. The ride to the hospital was a blur – thankfully, he had been permitted to ride in the ambulance, because he couldn’t trust himself to drive.

                He looked down at his hands, which were shaking violently. He couldn’t make them stop, so he stuck his hands under his legs, squeezing them between his thighs and the frigid, hard chair. The doctors wouldn’t let him into the room, instead locking him out and leaving him with “we’ll try our best.” What did that mean, their best? This was his wife they were talking about! Surely all those years in medical school must account for something!

                As he heard what were likely the muffled shouts of his wife, Frank shuddered with extreme discomfort. He felt intense waves of pain, nausea, sadness, and anger flow through him within the course of a few seconds. The inhuman, buzzing fluorescent lights weren’t helping, nor was the awkwardly out-of-place Caribbean music playing over the crackly intercom system. The speaker nearest Frank was in dire need of replacing, but based on the equipment he had seen on his way into the building, the hospital was facing more pressing problems.

                Frank looked through the frosted-glass window, barely able to make out the shapes of the doctors. Suddenly, one of the doors swung open, and a nurse stepped out. The mid-forties man pulled down his mask to reveal a face that looked like it hadn’t seen a razor in days. Frank began to tremble even before the man opened his mouth.

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This is intended to be the next part of my little story. This is intended to take place a month after the murder. I’m probably gonna have these folks adopt the kid, but who knows yet?

From Tottenham to Damascus: New Media’s Global Society

                On 6 August 2011, Tottenham (north London) burned as police vehicles, buses, and shops alike were damaged in what became the worst British rioting in a generation. In less than a week, more than £32 million ($44.7 million) was spent as Scotland Yard scrambled to put nearly 16,000 police officers on the streets of London to quell the escalating violence.[i] [ii] As Prime Minister Cameron’s government struggled to contain the flash-riots through 10 August, Syria was over half a year into its own, far more violent uprising. Just as the England riots were concluding, the Syrian towns of Taftanaz and Sermin were being invaded by state-backed armored vehicles and tanks, which killed at least one woman and injured twelve others. Enraged by high unemployment and totalitarian rule by President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians have been protesting and fighting since early 2011 in a rebellion that has taken over 5,000 lives to date.[iii] Separated geographically and culturally, England and Syria have never had more in common than they have had in the last year: both countries have felt the effects of modern violence with association of social “new media”. By examining both the events in London (retrospectively) and Syria (currently as well as prospectively), one can not only recognize both the benefits and the undeniable risks of new media as applied to conflict, but can also begin to develop management of these technologies to encourage peace.

                Although the start of the London riots is generally attributed to the police shooting of Mark Dugan, police tension with African-Caribbean people and other minorities had been an underlying problem in the area. In what became known as the 1985 “Broadwater Farm riot”, many youths from Broadwater Farms estate (known locally as simply “The Farm”) in Tottenham, North London, harassed residents in order to incite violence from the police following the death of Cynthia Jarrett.[iv] Dozens were arrested, but lack of proper riot-training left Police Constable Keith Blakelock murdered by the mobs. Though the regional council and police changed tactics as a result of the riot, local contention towards the police remained. Thus, in 2011, the youth of Tottenham were primed for more unrest; when Mark Dugan’s friends and family members protested the police, local youths took notice—and told their friends. Unlike their counterparts in the 80’s, this generation of Londoners was armed with lightning-fast interpersonal communication through the BlackBerry Messenger service, or BBM. As of 2011, Blackberry was favored by as much as 37% of both 12-15 year olds and 16-24 year olds in England due largely to the inexpensive, easy-to-use BBM service.[v] BBM allowed for the transmission of messages to up to 2,400 people in seconds, spreading such rebellious dialogue as: “Everyone from all sides of London meet up at the heart of London (central) OXFORD CIRCUS!!, … f*** the feds we will send them back with OUR riot! >:O Dead the ends and colour war for now so if you see a brother… SALUT! if you see a fed… SHOOT! [sic]”[vi] While platforms like Twitter and Facebook were sluggishly used to coordinate police and resident efforts for beneficial purposes, BBM was the complete opposite; due to the private nature and lightning speed of BBM, youths were communicating at rates Scotland Yard could only dream of. [vii] New media, in other words, was being used both constructively and destructively at the same time. Police struggled early on with outdated tactics to confront a quickly-evolving crowd until BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) began cooperation with police to track individuals who had instigated the riots. When news hit the crowd that RIM was willing to shut down BBM at the government’s request, another surge of discontent bolstered the rioters; hacking group “TeaMp0isoN” even went so far as to hack into the BlackBerry blog and threaten to release company information to rioters. As the riots died by 11 August 2011, the problem was clear to observers like University of Liverpool sociologist Clifford Stott, who “would define [the riots], in simplistic terms, as class warfare…[simply] class war on the streets of Britain.”[viii] Given the medium to communicate quickly, not to mention a medium that had strengthened an “us versus them” mentality, the youth of England had been the perfect model of the misuse of new media.

                While BBM was the voice of the opposition in the streets of London, the Syrian resistance has fallen on a wider range of new-media variations. Since January 2011 through the writing of this paper (January 2012), Syrian discontent with Assad has evolved into full-fledged rebellion – thanks greatly to new media. Though early demonstrations organized by social media failed to materialize (namely the 4 February “Day of Rage”), protesters were inspired by the successful use of the internet and cellular communications in other Arab Spring revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.[ix] Facebook and Twitter, which had seen little usage in Syria until summer 2011, became vital organs in the complex circumvention of the government-imposed ban on journalism. President Bashar al-Assad reacted in the only way the totalitarian leader knew how: On 3 June 2011, roughly two-thirds of Syrian computer networks were disconnected from the global internet, marking the point of no return for the regime. [x] Violence grew steadily worse as Assad’s armies used whatever force necessary to quell the protests, and in response, several Syrian Armed Forces personnel defected to form the Free Syrian Army on 29 July 2011. In their official announcement video, they called upon other members of the Army to defect, and they vowed to work with the people to bring down Assad. [xi] Estimated to be nearly 40,000 strong in 2012 by their figures, the FSA has been known to use satellite phones, cell phones, email, Facebook, and couriers for command and control.[xii] Though technically a warring organization, the FSA claims that it is fighting for peace in response to the high amount of civilian casualties at the hands of Assad and his armies. As the FSA has been coordinating with new media, journalists of any kinds are the principal targets for Assad’s security forces; over 28 documented cases have occurred in which bloggers and media activists have been “held for days or weeks or months, more often than not subjected to abuse, [and] released without being charged.”[xiii] In November 2011, video activist and avid internet journalist Ferzat Jarban was found dead one day after his arrest for filming protests in the city of Homs. Though the end of the Syrian uprising is still unclear and difficult to speculate on, there is no doubt that new media will continue to be vital for the resistance.

                Of the two regional conflicts, the riots of England are more suitable for highlighting flaws in new media. As the rebellious youths of Tottenham prove, new media is accessible to everyone and can be used as a highly counterproductive tool for unrest. One of the core developments of new media over traditional media is the public nature of the platform—and generally, the protection of free speech therein. With mainstream use of the internet has come a new outlet for racists, xenophobes, revolutionaries, and citizens alike.[xiv] Furthermore, the internet has only amplified the sound-byte nature of traditional media; if a user of new media is led by small bits of non-contextualized information, like hearing about death that may be related to police brutality, it is likely that this will strengthen their confirmation bias that the police are against users.[xv] Additionally, internet “journalism” often lacks the quality and objectivity that professional media has, which can make information from terrorist groups convincing by being purposefully misleading. Political scientist Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone”, emphasizes that “networks” such as those made by new media “are generally good for those inside the network, but the external effects… are by no means always positive.” [xvi]

                Of the actions to be taken by governments in response to new media, censorship is by far the least creative and most damaging to stability within said governments.[xvii] Unfortunately, many citizens in modern, industrialized democracies adhere to outdated principles that all non-state power in authoritarian governments is good and leads to democracy, which is obviously false. In order to make new media more advantageous to peace, first its users must take on the responsibility of being media-literate (i.e. cross-referencing, reading with awareness, etc.). That is to say, the anti-racist, non-xenophobic majority needs to learn to actively resist negative minority influences, and from a young age. The public also needs a venue to democratically engage with the government, especially political parties, which will require the help of skilled legislators and will create an enlightened populace. On the policy side, the connection between this new generation – which is increasingly interested in political news – and citizenship must be made. [xviii] Simply put, users of new media must aggregate to nurture discussion with policymakers. Legislators and policymakers themselves must then forget the manipulative pro-government ways in which traditional media is regarded, and instead assist in the evolution of the public sphere.  Cooperation and mutual understanding, in short, will promote peace.

“How would you feel if one of us was murdered? Would you have our murderer put on death row?” My parents threw that curve-ball at me shortly after I shocked them by mentioning that I don’t support the death penalty. They continued, asking whether or not I would have Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky killed for their actions in the Cheshire, Connecticut home invasion murders. I responded no on both accounts, much to their pro-death astonishment.

If my parents were to be actually killed, then of course, I would go out and murder their killer. We are a species of reasoning, and I would most likely seek revenge. Wouldn’t you? However, I do not believe in the death penalty, because even if I as an individual cannot do what is right in the most wrong of circumstances, that does not mean that society can’t either. Never mind that the deterrence effect of capital punishment is questionable, and throw aside the moral and religious reasoning; I deem neither important. Simply put, the death sentence should not be used as a punishment plainly because it is the role of society to be better than the individual. We do not pass laws on the whim of a single congressman, nor do we engage in warfare when a solitary policymaker feels the need to do so – thus I ask, why should the public propagate the notion that killing is an acceptable method for accomplishing one’s goals? I would be wrong to murder out of revenge, and despite their sympathy, the public mustn’t stoop to my level.

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                Despite my dislike of the death penalty, I am still an ardent supporter of retribution. After all, it is a central reason as to why punishments exist at all. As a young boy, I was stupid enough to throw food in the school cafeteria; the following week, I had to stay after school each day to help with the janitorial routine. Proportionally, if a man hurt a community in some way, he will most likely have to complete community service as reparations. I think that retribution or restitution needs to be part of any alternative to the death sentence, and I am certain that families affected by homicide would agree.

                Taking into account this requirement of retribution, the best alternative to the death sentence is life imprisonment in a maximum-security prison without possibility of parole (preferably with one-strike threat of solitary confinement). By placing murderers one step short of solitary, there will be some incentive for them not to engage in illegal activities once inside prison. Most importantly, life imprisonment is rendered relatively quickly, and thus gives a case finality while decongesting the courts. In fact, life imprisonment can lead to fewer appeals than the death sentence! Life imprisonment also offers the opportunity for prison labor, the profits of which going to the victim’s family as a form of restitution; though money simply cannot replace a loved one, it can certainly help a damaged household recover. 

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This blog post is an official entry for the Law Blogger’s Scholarship, sponsored by The Law Office of Joshua Pond, http://www.joshuapondlaw.com

Penelope tried not to look rushed; after all, she was carrying a baby through the city at four o’ clock in the morning, and she didn’t want to attract any more attention if she could help it. Slowing down wasn’t an option, or at least not yet anyway. The mother in her didn’t want to drop her baby, but the bullet in her right thigh was fighting her maternal instincts—and boy, was it persuasive! She tried not to think of the other round that had been fired into her side just minutes before. It hurt like nothing she had ever experienced before, more than the miscarriage, and certainly more than the abuse. She was beginning to feel faint from what she could only assume was blood loss when her baby’s cry suddenly jerked her back to reason. “Hush now, don’t worry… mama’s gonna bring you someplace safe. They’ll take care of you” she cooed. “Everything’s going to be all right, everythings…” she sucked in air with agony “..gonna be fine.” She would’ve felt a twinge of regret at lying to her first (and likely only) son, but dishonesty was of little concern compared to making it there.

                As she trudged on in the snow, she left a red trail behind her. She was getting strange stares from passer-by, but she didn’t notice. She had to keep going on. For him. Just a little further. Her entire left side from her ribcage to her knee was soaked with blood, and it was beginning to run down to her worn boots. By the time that she had made it two blocks, she could feel her skin growing cold. Her breathing had become laborious now, and her normally 20-15 vision was beginning to fade in and out of focus. All of her years of self-censorship (for “cussing shows a lacking vocabulary”) were forgotten, and she began muttering every swear that she had ever known. The infant, born a dangerously small 2,500 grams, seemed to weigh a tonne. She had long since given up consoling him, but somehow he had grown quiet on his own. Eventually the darkness began to retreat from the rapidly rising sun, but not without consuming Penelope along with it.

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                That evening’s edition of the Bugle was not much different than any other edition—in fact, it was quite ordinary. So ordinary, in fact, that most readers didn’t even notice the small boxed-in story under section D-15 describing a mysterious incident near the back entrance to St Martin’s Medical Centre:

Infant and Likely Mother found Outside St Martin’s

Police investigators and medical staff alike were baffled this morning when night watch security heard a baby in the early hours of the morning just outside the hospital. Security Guard Jeff Davidson of Norfolk was headed towards his car after his shift at 5:00 AM this morning when he heard a baby’s cry. “It ain’t too often we hear babies in the staff parking lot, so I knew something was up!” commented Davidson. He was shocked to find a woman collapsed with a baby bundled beside her just 30 yards short of the staff entrance to the hospital. Medical staff determined that the woman, suspected to be the mother, was shot several times before collapsing as a result of excessive bleeding. There is no identification yet, but parties who may have information are encouraged to contact the Jefferson Police Department.

Thus were the first events of the child’s life. After a month of little development on the case, the Jefferson Police Department gave up on the investigation, and shortly after the child was put up for adoption.

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I’m thinking about writing a book. This would be the first part. I’m not sure quite where this is going other than a basic guideline, but I’d like to post it here to make sure I actually write. Even with only having a few followers, I can still be held accountable!