Mary

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Posts by Mary

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  480

  Zimmerman Not guilty

  by mouthy in

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  Mary

  Mary, do you feel it's okay or justified to come back and fire a bullet towards an abusive husband and a child of 9 and 13, when she could have just gotten in her car and drove off and called the police?

  I don't think it's that simple TT. She was having a fight with a man with a history of violence who had beat her and threatened to kill her. She obviously felt threatened by him when this was happening, got the gun and fired a warning shot at him. Was it a good idea to do this in front of his kids? Of course not. But as I've already stated, people in abusive relationships do not always think rationally or do the rational thing. In the book I mentioned above, Francine Hughes' 3 children were there when she started the house on fire. Another abused woman told about in the book Life With Billykilled her abusive drunken pig husband with her teenaged son there. These women have no history of violence but people can only take so much before they snap.

  In Marissa Alexander's case, I would think that the history of abuse would have been strongly considered as a reason to let her go. No one died but she gets 20 years in prison. Just unbelievable.......
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  480

  Zimmerman Not guilty

  by mouthy in

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  Mary

  • She entered his house thinking he wasn't home to remove items. It says it was 'their' former home and apparently she still had a key. With the history of violence this guy had, I don't think it is at all unreasonable for her to want to get some of her items when she thought he wouldn't be there. We did the same thing years ago when my one sister was living with an abusive guy. We moved her out of there but she wanted to go back about a week later to get some of her items that she had left there. As fate would have it, Roger-the-creep unexpectedly showed up and if we had not been there with her, it would have gotten ugly really quick.
  • When discovering he was there she went out to her vehicle to get a gun. No, it says after they had an 'altercation', she went out to the garage, apparently wanting to get away from him. She couldn't because the garage door wasn't working. Knowing only too well what he was capable of, she got the gun and fired.

  That isn't "stand your ground" ... it's not meant to be an excuse to attack someone. Now what miscarriage of justice do you imagine you've seen?

  Simon, are you kidding? Do you have any idea what a history of domestic abuse can do to a person? I'm stunned you would even say that. You should read a book called "The Burning Bed". A true story of Francine Hughes who had an extremely abusive husband and after 13 years, she snapped and killed him. He wasn't immediately threatening her, he was, in fact, passed out drunk in his bed. She torched the house with him in it. She was eventually found "not guilty" because the jury understood the whole pattern of domestic abuse. The fact that Marissa Alexander, who was abused for years by her husband actually stands her ground when she felt she was in danger, and is now sentenced to 20 years in prison, is just sick beyond words.

  So please drop the rediculous comparisons - they just make people look desperate and silly.

  Sorry you think it does. Fortunately there's alot of people out there who are comparing the two cases as it highlights the complete inequity in the 'Stand Your Ground' laws in Florida.
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  480

  Zimmerman Not guilty

  by mouthy in

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  Mary

  She "went back" and shot towards her husband and his thirteen year old sons. The two cases are completely different.

  No they're not. They're virtually the same thing but with two different results. This woman's husband has a history of violence. She couldn't get away from him and knew that she was in for a beating or something even worse so she did what she thought she had to do because she obviously felt her life was in danger: she shot in his direction but didn't kill him. She got 20 freaking years for that!

  George Zimmerman followed an unarmed teenager and ends up killing him because he felt his life was in danger. He walks away a free man.

  No two sets of rules here...........
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  480

  Zimmerman Not guilty

  by mouthy in

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  Mary

  Apparently, the 'Stand Your Ground' law in Florida doesn't extend to a black woman trying to defend herself from an abusive husband:

  Fla. mom gets 20 years for firing warning shots

  

  Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville, Fla., received a 20-years prison sentence, Friday, May 11, 2012, for firing warning shots against her allegedly abusive husband. The judge rejected a defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.

  (CBS News) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida woman who fired warning shots against her allegedly abusive husband has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

  Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville had said the state's "Stand Your Ground" law should apply to her because she was defending herself against her allegedly abusive husband when she fired warning shots inside her home in August 2010. She told police it was to escape a brutal beating by her husband, against whom she had already taken out a protective order

  "I really was crying in there," Marissa's 11-year-old daughter told WETV. "I didn't want to cry in court, but I just really feel hurt. I don't think this should have been happening."

  Alexander was convicted of attempted murder after she rejected a plea deal for a three-year prison sentence. She said she did not believe she did anything wrong.

  She was recently denied a new trial after appealing to the judge to reconsider her case based on Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. The law states that the victim of a crime does not have to attempt to run for safety and can immediately retaliate in self-defense.

  Alexander's attorney said she was clearly defending herself and should not have to spend the next two decades behind bars.

  Alexander's case has drawn support from domestic abuse advocates - and comparison to the case of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who has claimed a "Stand Your Ground" defense in his fatal shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
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  480

  Zimmerman Not guilty

  by mouthy in

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  Mary

  Entirely Possible said: Whether GZ's life was in danger or not when he shot TM we will never know since no one can verify what whappened. Because he was breaking the first rules of carrying a weapon as a civilian, he created a situation where everyone involved lost big time.

  Bingo. I don't think GZ set out to purposely murder Trayvon Martin that night, but it was Zimmerman's actions that started the whole thing rolling and in the end, Trayvon Martin paid for it with his life.
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  314

  If you were on the Zimmerman jury, how would you vote? 2nd degree murder, manslaughter or innocent?

  by UnConfused in

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  Mary

  Involuntary manslaughter. If that's actually an option.
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  23

  Happy 4th of July

  by Think About It in

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  proud to be an american and x-jw..

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  Mary

  Since Canada Day and Independence Day are so close together, I thought this video would be a nice thing to post:

  http://www.wimp.com/explainscanada/
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  9

  Blood, what is the spirit behind the law?

  by CookieMonster in

  1. watchtower
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  during the years when i was an active jw i never questioned the ban on blood transfusion.

  i have been inactive now for a number of years and even during those early years i reasoned i will never accept a blood transfusion.

  however, thinking about it with an open mind, i question the current teaching of jw's on banning blood transfusion on any account even if it means saving a life.

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  Mary

  Hi Cookie;

  Here's a link with a lot of interesting information about the subject: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/best-of/76268/1/The-Best-of-Lee-Elder-Blood
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  34

  Any fallout from the "human apostates" convention talk yet?

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi folks.

  i'm just curious as to whether anyone is experiencing any repercussions following the "human apostates" talk on the saturday of the district convention?.

  my relatives will be attending soon, which makes me anxious.

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  Mary

  I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm having dinner with my holier-than-thou-JW-cousin-who's-no-longer-gay (ya right) tonight as they're down for their ASSembly. I'm sure we'll hear all about the wonderful spiritual food that they partook of at Jehovah's table today.
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  30

  Flood insurance and cover for overland flooding

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the huge floods in alberta the news now is starting to cover the issue of property damange and insurance.. we've never really thought a lot about insurance cover for flooding because it became a big issue in the uk about 5-10 years ago with limited land availability leading to building on flood plains and the eventual inevitable consequences and so when we bought over here we didn't buy anywhere that was a possible flood risk.

  our choice seems to have worked out as we've been completely untouched by the recent issues but tragically, others have been less fortunate and apparently few people are covered for 'overland flooding' which is where water enters your house through doors and windows.. it's hard to really know what is fair.

  i understand the reason why insurers don't cover it and the arguments on both sides.. one one hand, we included the flood risk when puchasing a home.

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  Mary

  Glad to hear you guys are okay Simon. I was just watching the videos of downtown Calgary and thought of you and your family. Never thought I'd see Calgary under water!

  I don't have flood insurance because if the waters ever got up to my house, you could kiss half of Southern Ontario good-bye. Either that or start building an ark. Normally when disasters like this happen, the government declares it a 'disaster zone' and provides monies to help people re-build.