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There's also the 3 guys that were accused, when they were teenagers, of killing three eight year-old boys, and were placed in jail (one on death row). The evidence is absolute crap, and the "investigation" into the murders was bumbled and shoddy. The key evidence against the "leader" was that he wore black a lot and liked to read about Wicca and other "satanic" and "demonic" things... like heavy metal music. Oh no!

HBO has played two documentaries on this case (Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2) and they are enraging. Granted you're seeing edited information, but if you can, I'd really recommned seeing these two DVDs. Amazon is selling them DVD 1 and DVD 2

There's also a web site dedicate to the cause of helping the guys (Known as The West Memphis Three) get a fair trial and have real evidence shown (which there doesn't seem to be any of). Visit wm3.org for details.

I've been fascinated with this case for 10+ years and check out the wm3 site a few times a year to see what's new with the case. It's an absolute tragedy that three children were killed, and it's another tragedy that three other lives (teenagers) were destroyed as well if in fact they are innocent, as it would seem they may be.

• The difficulty of preregistering copyright if you use Linux
• The inability to travel by air in the US if you're not willing to obey laws you're not even allowed to see
• The trouble you can get into if you behave counterculturally in redneck America

Exactly. Case and point? The West Memphis Three. Free the WM3!

Minorities? Hell, as far as I can tell, if the media is against you, and you don't have the money for a good lawyer, you are screwed, white or black.

Case in Point

This is really disturbing - but not exactly new stuff. While it takes a slightly different tone, and the process has been different - there are many people in this country who's rights get violated without just cause. Free the West Memphis Three!

Shut up boy, you'll do what you are told, when you are told. You are nothing without a record deal from a company that is controlled by the RIAA. You are not a recording artist until we say you are a recording artist.

Sincerely,

Hilary Rosen

Sarcastic as it seems, it rings pretty true to life.

On a personal note...

I just ordered my first CD in over a year. Rise Above which is 23 Blag Flag songs to benefit the West Memphis Three . It looks like it will be awesome, from the song list.

Good thing you're being a nutless SOB AC! It's all you zealot whores disavowing all sciences for the sake of religious sanctity above all else that make this world the bordello of evil it currently is. Put your religion and prejudices aside and look at the facts for once! You especially shouldn't base your hatred on your religion, either! I doubt it states somewhere in the Bible that you are supposed to feel a certain way about something. Everyone keeps pushing that "Science killed God" thing when in reality, it's the fanatics that take things out of context that turn people away from God. That is precisely why I chose atheism over a denimination. I was fed up with followers pushing it upon others and pointing fingers at outsiders over such trifle things as interpretation and opinions. Religious beliefs are fine to have so long as having them does not infringe upon the rights of others or bring about persecution or abuse towards another. I don't care if I'm flamed or made a troll! I'm sick of this! I had to speak my mind! It's bad enough having people approach you and tell you how you are condemned to hell. It's another to find this BS in an open forum of discussion on an intelligent conversation! End of sermon.

On the one hand, I'm not one to encourage needless paranoia. On the other hand, I don't like this.

I'm in a fairly militant mood these days for both personal reasons (as discussed on the Ticket Booth Tyranny thread) and political ones ( Damien Echols' Rule 37 appeal was denied, and I'm very pissed about it).

Post-Columbine, a friend of mine was given trouble for wearing a BEIGE trenchcoat. If the Powers That Be (or anyone else) start looking for a certain "profile," then anyone who has anything in common with that profile is screwed. Where I live, there have been a lot of recent stories concerning racial profiling. (Maybe THAT is why more African-Americans aren't on the net. *wry smile*)

But of course, it's not just race. If someone wants a scapegoat, it's easy to pick a likely-looking one. This goes on in schools, it goes on in law enforcement, and it goes on in politics.

I'm not over-cautious with personal info because I don't feel I have to hide things from people. However, I realize that if things in this country get really crazy, I'm going to be one of the first people that gets harassed for being a social deviant.

The FBI's probably got a file on me as it is, but as long as I'm not kicked out of my housing or prevented from getting a job or arrested for something I didn't do (or something I did do that shouldn't be illegal), I don't give a damn. However, I've got contacts, resources, and what-have-you; many of my fellow social deviants aren't quite so lucky.

So I fight for their right to keep their correspondence and personal details private. And since some of them talk to me over e-mail, I don't want anyone reading my e-mail either. Things that I do that are public or semi-public record (/. posts, my web page, petitions I've signed, that sort of thing) are obviously things that I don't mind having traced back to me. But there are a lot of people who can't or choose not to be as open as I am, and dammit, that's their right. (Even in the current atmosphere of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, for instance, I'm sure some homophobic military types would love to scan e-mail looking for anything that might suggest a soldier is gay. *sigh*)

Another big problem here is that people don't profile for actual criminals as often as they seem to for stereotypical criminals. Racial profiling is a major example of this -- black man driving nice car in suburbs, wonder how he got it? Drug money? Let's stop him. Etc. Satanic Panic based profiling is another biggie; there is no other reasonable explanation for why Damien Echols is on death row and his two friends are in prison serving life sentences. With net-based searches, we'd get the additional problem of "profiling" of anyone who, say, visited 2600's website.

I, personally, have nothing to hide, and haven't suffered much in the way of harassment. But damned if I'm going to make it easier for other people to have their lives ruined for no good reason.

Issue #1 is the original incident that Jon Katz witnessed, and others like it. In other words, not allowing kids to see movies they HAD the permission to see, but that the parent wasn't going to stay for. This could have easily become an issue in my life; Mom had no interest in The Crying Game (she likes romantic comedies to the exclusion of almost all else) but had absolutely no problem with her 15-year-old daughter watching it. Dad was actually interested in seeing it, but he's a workaholic who might not have found the time while still in the theaters. ("No, really, two tickets to see this R-rated movie, for me and my Dad. He'll be here any minute ..." I'm sure THAT would've gone over well!)

Issue #2 is that ADULTS are getting screwed with here. If I'd had to put up with that nonsense when I was picking up opening-night tickets to Elizabeth for myself (21) and my boyfriend (20), I would have been quite irritated. To say the least.

Issue #3 is closed-minded parents who scream at their kids for wanting to see a movie that happens to be rated R rather than forming independent judgments. As per my previous rant, Father doesn't always Know Best. I was incredibly blessed to have a father who was relatively into the same sort of entertainment that I was (lots of deep symbolism, lots of satire, British humour is way up there, etc) and remembered to share it with me as soon as it would do anything other than completely go over my head.

Issue #3A is that teenagers in this country are, in general, guilty until proven innocent. That there link that I just posted is about a miscarriage of justice that pre-dates Columbine by nearly six years, and has yet to be rectified. As I've posted on yesterday's thread, there is a real problem with folks assuming that your basic "oddball" teenager is going to be Conducting Depraved Satanic Rituals and Committing Heinous Crimes for Satan.

Foolish hysteria like what we are now witnessing WRT movie theaters tends to have very nasty results. Read everything on that link if you don't believe me. Three guys about my age are in jail for a crime that occurred six years ago that they clearly did not commit; one of them is on Death Row. Every time I see someone using that lovely catch-all bogeyman "Satanism" as part of what kids shouldn't see, I cringe, because I remember the West Memphis Three case.

And thanks to Littleton, something like the WM3 case is much more likely to happen again. This is an outrage. Here's a clue: Quit treating teenagers like lobotomized children, and 99% of them won't act like they are! Hello??

*sigh*

The "Hellmouth" experience IS NOT "teasing" in any normal sense of the word. This is one of the big problems we seem to be having with being taken seriously. To some extent, I can accept that "teasing" is always going to go on. I cannot and WILL NOT accept that intimidation, physical abuse, rape/attempted rape, extortion (of lunch money or otherwise), etc. should be a valid part of high school "socialization," or that a school administration should look the other way as this goes on.

As for dangerous, go read this -- I think that the experiences of the author and his fiancee go beyond simple "teasing."

Oh, and BTW, Matthew Shephard was white. So is Damien Echols, who is on death row for a crime he obviously didn't commit, because he was seen as a freak and local law enforcement thought he was a "Satanist."

Race isn't the only thing that'll get you killed in this country, I'm afraid.