Divemedic

Thomas Dorsa was arrested in The Villages, Florida for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He is 25 years old, and has 16 prior felony convictions, along with a number of misdemeanor convictions. SIXTEEEN felony convictions in just 8 years.

How was he even free to commit that many crimes? Well, here is his DOC file from the last time he was in prison. Note that he was released last March for Felony Aggravated Battery on a pregnant victim. He served 1 year and 10 months for that felony. This crime, his 15th Felony in 6 years, has a maximum penalty of 15 years. Why did he serve less than 2?

Then there is this mugshot, where he was convicted of felony battery and criminal mischief in 2011. This was a plea deal where he was initially charged with Aggravated Battery, and pled it down to felony battery and criminal mischief. He was sentenced to 4 months in jail, where he was released two months early, and 1 year of probation. He didn’t fulfill his probation because of the aggravated battery on a pregnant victim mentioned above. When he was released, he gave the address where he would be staying to his parole officer. A Google search shows that address to be a vacant lot. Why wasn’t THAT looked into?

In fact, a search of the Marion county court record shows a record of drug and violent crime convictions going back to 2006, when he was 15 years old. There was trespassing in 2010, which earned him a 1 month suspended sentence in jail, the 2009 conviction for shoplifting and resisting detainment by a retail merchant with force which earned him 31 days in jail, and the multiple drug offences that he has been convicted of. That is just one county. There are 12 other felonies in there.

When are we going to admit that jail and prison do not rehabilitate anyone? When are we going to admit that our justice system isn’t just, it doesn’t prevent crime, and just doesn’t work?

The girl that I blogged about who was orphaned when her mother was killed in a car accident? She received some assistance from the community, but she is now needing some help for college. She was going to attend Full Sail University, but the death of her mother is changing her plans, and she will attend community college instead.

There is a fundraiser for her here. Maybe you can contact the coordinator and help her out…

Incrementalism, it’s a thing.

The State Senate of New York just passed a ban on machetes. It moves on the State Assembly.

This guy has the right to remain silent, and he should have used it.

He was not happy with the judge’s revocation of his bond, and decided to call him a slang word for male genitalia. Then, after being sentenced to 60 days in jail for contempt, he did it again, receiving a second 60 day sentence.

A judge has the legal power to control his courtroom. That MUST be the case, in order for justice to function, otherwise there would be no way to hold court. This power is nearly absolute in the courtroom, especially when court is in session.

Not so much when outside of the courtroom.

The Miami Herald is running with a story that accuses Carnival Cruise lines of discrimination, and compares the decision to banning blacks or Jews from going on cruises. Why? Carnival is refusing to book cruises from Cuban born US citizens for cruises leaving the US and cruising to Cuba.

“They’re imposing repressive Cuban laws on American citizens,” says Maria de los Angeles Torres, a respected expert on Cuba and a longtime pro-engagement and anti-embargo academic who directs Latin American and Latino studies at the University of Illinois in Chicago. “It’s like they’re bringing Cuban law here.”

Why is this?

Current Cuban law prohibits Cuban-born individuals from entering Cuba via ship or other sea vessel, regardless of U.S. citizenship status. For that reason, at the present time, Fathom cannot accommodate Cuban-born individuals.

Following the law is not discrimination. The US has a no fly list. Air carriers are required to follow the law if they want to fly here. This is exactly what is happening here. Does the Herald expect the world to continue the Cuban boycott? Or is it time to tear down the wall?

Another problem that I have with the article is this:

Forty-seven years in this country, 36 as a U.S. citizen, a voter — and I cannot sail on an American cruise ship because Cuba says so.

The Carnival ship in question is not an American ship: It is registered in Bermuda.

 Finally, there is this:

Something precious is lost when a foreign government dictates what kinds of U.S. citizens can sail out of the Port of Miami.　

That isn’t what is happening. Cuba is not dictating what kind of people can sail out of Miami, as Cubans are free to sail from that port any time they wish. What Cuba is doing is dictating who can enter THEIR country.

So there have been rumors for weeks that the Republicans are going to refuse to seat Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, no matter what the voters say.

“The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,” Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. He even questioned why primaries and caucuses are held.

In other words, the leadership of the Republican party only supports elections if the voters  select the proper candidate.

The plan involves delegates for Ted Cruz being the ones who are on the committee that sets the rules for the convention, and then using those rules to prevent Trump from getting the delegates he needs to win. This would trigger the brokered convention we have all been hearing about, which would mean that literally anyone (except Trump) could be the nominee. Seeing as how Ted Cruz has been caught in a few peccadilloes recently, it won’t be Cruz, either. It looks like the establishment is pushing for Ryan.

As you can understand, this has Republican voters feeling angry and disenfranchised, with  seven in ten Republican voters saying that the election process is not working the way that it should.

As an independent voter, I can tell you that this really makes me angry. Whether or not you like Trump is irrelevant. Elections are supposed to mean that the majority decides. Once you publicly declare that elections don’t matter, you have ceased being a democratic republic and have moved firmly into being a dictatorship. I cannot support, and will actively oppose, any attempt to subvert the system of free elections that this nation was founded upon.

Should the person who receives the most votes, whether that be Trump or anyone else, not get the Republican nomination through some sort of underhanded maneuvering, it will be time to admit that the Republican party no longer supports free elections. At that point, I would rather have Hillary in office than put that party of dictators in charge. I will either vote for Hillary or sit the election out.

For years, the Republicans have been telling us to select the lesser of two evils when voting. I will take that advice. This is nothing but a grab for the reins of power, elections be damned. I will not, and can not, support that. No matter what.