"BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT" IS DEAD

What kind of country are we that demands a verdict of "beyond a reasonable doubt" but then won't revoke a sentence when that doubt becomes extensively evident.

Don't we claim as Americans to value life above all else?

Then how can we not choose to err on the side of life when the guilt of a man is no longer clear.

Troy Davis - whether he was or wasn't guilty - he didn't deserve to die at the hands of the American justice system.

Beyond a reasonable doubt ... can anyone truly claim that's the case with Mr. Davis?

MORON MOMS OVERRULED IN NY

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/cuomo-signs-student-athlete-concussion-law-1.3179343

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed a new law that will increase protections for student-athletes who suffer concussions, a measure championed by Long Island legislators.
The new law would require any student who is believed to have suffered a concussion to be immediately removed from athletic activities and banned from returning until he or she is symptom-free for at least 24 hours and cleared by a physician.

Seriously?

Is it really necessary to completely legislate such common-sense aspects of parenting?

Is it really the school's job to ban a child from returning to sports after a concussion?

I pity today's children who -- if Cuomo is right and this is a necessary legislation-- apparently have morons and monsters for moms.

"Sorry Mrs. Mom,  you child was knocked unconscious and may have some brain injury, so...as much as I know you want to see him back out on the field...Uncle Andrew says he has to get a little rest and maybe even see a doctor."

MISSING SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T DIE ON 9/11

As everyone seems to be remembering the attacks of 9/11- especially people who live around the NY area - how many of us, what multitude of others who weren't anywhere near Manhattan and thankfully didn't lose someone in their family on that Tuesday morning are, nonetheless, having a difficult day today?

On that day, ten years ago, we all reached out for someone to help us through our fears and disbelief. We found ourselves comforting and also being comforted by loved ones - not understanding what had happened, not knowing what would come next.

Its been ten years. A decade. And it's true...we won't ever forget.

But for so many of us, remembering that day means feeling the emptiness of grief because that someone we talked to September 11, 2001...gripped hands with, watched tv with, held, cried with, reassured, leaned on...isn't here - has passed away. For so many of us, we have lost that one person we long to share this day's painful memories with.
Are these losses any less painful, any less real, than those suffered by 9/11 victims' families?
Never Forget, Always Remember...Every anniversary is difficult...not just because we are one of the unfortunate who lost someone to terrorists but because we remember so well where we were on that day and who we were with.

LONG ISLAND WHINES AFTER IRENE WINDS

Here on Long Island there was a hurricane...ok, a tropical storm.

Wires, trees, poles were all ripped down by the force of Irene's wind...no matter what meteorological

term you use to describe it. The aftermath has my head spinning faster than the corner stop sign caught in a 90 mile per hour gust.

Are we all so spoiled that a major (afterall, when was the last one?) event such as this doesn't demand some respect for the power that caused the destruction and an understanding of the huge undertaking of repairing the damage?

Surpise, Long Island...Mother Nature doesn't cater to our homegrown elite sense of entitlement.

Once again I'm reminded that when anything serious happens here...we are selfishly incapable of dealing with the fallout.

Although I was inconvenienced by the power outage—going days without electric, hot water, cable tv—although I incurred costs in the aftermath...I'm so proud of the tremendous job LIPA has done in the wake of Irene.

Now would be a good time for the residents of Nassau and Suffolk to stop complaining and begin planning how you can do better to prepare for the next big storm.