We've exterminated another Convicted Killer in Texas.
Last night's administering of the Lethal Needle to Luis Salazar makes it two nights in a row the Huntsville Death Chamber has done its job, extending Texas' lead in the National Execution Sweepstakes en route to maintaining its position as the #1 Executing State in America.
Last night's execution was reported in a small blurb on page 4 of the A section in this morning's Dallas Morning News, next to a full page Dillard's ad. Dillard's is known, by some, as Killard's, due to a reputation for shooting and killing suspected shoplifters. That reputation may be dying down because it has been a while since a Dillard's security guard has shot and killed anyone.
Luis Salazar got the Lethal Needle for stabbing to death a San Antonio mother of three, who's oldest kid was wounded in the attack as he tried to defend his mom.
Salazar said, to his own mom, brothers and sisters and his children, prior to being killed, that "I'm going to miss them and take them with me in my heart."
Last night's was the 12th Texas Execution of 2009 in what the Dallas Morning News proudly calls "the nation's busiest capital punishment state."
Sometimes reading what people think is really depressing. Depressing because when you read what some people think, you are reading what they wrote to express what they thought. And from reading what they thought, well, their thinking, as written, is, well, sad. Sad and stupid.
I like to believe, but I think I'm probably naive, that there are fewer really stupid people out there than there really are.
And then I read comments to my blog. Most of the comments are from people who are obviously well informed, smart, sophisticated, understand nuance and the concept of difference of opinion.
And then I get comments to something like the YouTube video I made of the eminent domain abuses that were done in Arlington to build a private business a football stadium. The comments are like a sad window into some very undeveloped, ignorant minds. Why is it the less someone knows the more sure they are of what they know? While smart people always seem to leave a window open to the fact that maybe there is some bit of information that might shed a different light.
So, the comments. This morning I got one from someone calling him/herself (I'm gender confused because he/she used "titty" in the name) "theonetitty."
Here is the comment...
"this guy must have lived in one of the homes destroyed to build it. its not really a scandal cause nothing illegal happened? Jerry Jones bought the land, and built on it. all the people and businesses that were there would have had to agree and sell their property for him to build it. who ever made this is kinda dumb. sorry."
Let's just ignore the shooting fish in a barrel part of the irony of someone saying someone else is dumb when that person can make so many errors in one short paragraph.
First off. Jerry Jones did not buy the land via negotiating with the property owners. The land was condemned by using the concept of eminent domain, where the government can condemn property for the public good and decide what you will be paid for your property after forcing you to negotiate. You can't just say NO, I don't want to sell. Usually this is used to build highways, hospitals, schools, airports. Using eminent domain to disrupt the lives of thousands of citizens to build a sports stadium is not the norm where eminent domain is non-scandalously used.
Second off. All the people who were victimized by this abuse of eminent domain did not agree with the hurried condemnation of their property. They fought it in court. Dozens of those cases are still in court.
Third off. How can anyone be so clueless as to think that absolutely everyone upon who's property this stadium was built agreed to sell their property so Jones could build a stadium?
Fourth off. The stink from this scandal has been so strong that when Jerry Jones tried to get Arlington to abuse eminent domain again, so that he could take some more houses, so he could build a parking lot, Arlington and Mayor Cluck said no, that they would be party to no more eminent domain abuse. With the city of Arlington refusing to help Jones steal houses he has had to go about it the old-fashioned way, by offering deals to homeowners to get them out of their houses. Several are saying NO. Which is what would have been said by many who's land was taken to build the stadium. Which might have been for the greater good. Forcing Jones to look elsewhere to build his stadium.
Somewhere like Dallas, perhaps, that's seems a logical location for a Dallas Cowboy stadium, at Fair Park, maybe, instead of in a lackluster Arlington neighborhood surrounded by a lot of industrial blight.
Trust me, when this stadium opens, the national press is not gonna be pretty. Like I've said before, the stadium looks like a giant thing from outer space that's been plopped down in a poor American neighborhood.
The one thing "theonetitty" said that sounded like it might be sort of true is "who ever made this is kinda dumb. sorry." Obviously I'm kinda dumb. But it was sort of rude to be so blunt about it. Below is the "dumb" video that riled up "theonetitty."
I mentioned yesterday that Tarrant County, that being where Fort Worth is, was scheduled to have its 4th Convicted Killer of the year killed last night.
Well, the execution happened on schedule.
The Dallas Morning News reported the latest Texas Execution on page 6 of the A section, as you can see in the picture, in a little blurb at the lower left, next to a big Macy's ad.
Before he was killed, James Edward Martinez told his mom and sister, who were there to watch him get killed, that he loved them.
Martinez then told the assembled execution watchers the "I hope y'all can move on after this."
Doers of evil deeds are always wanting their victims to move on. Or so I've noticed.
My nerves were already on edge due to last night's long thunderstorm that had several direct hits setting off alarms and shaking this place like a mild earthquake.
And then this morning Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sent me a picture of what appears to be a pair of rattlesnakes being friendly with each other.
Lately, due to the warm weather, snakes have been appearing on the trails I bike. This puts me in overreaction mode where I'll think for a second that a tree root crossing the trail is a snake. This causes an adrenalin overload.
On another rattlesnake related note. Tomorrow in Sweetwater the annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup starts. It runs through Sunday. If you haven't had Rattlesnake & Fries for awhile, this would be your chance.
Yesterday I mentioned I'm reading a book, Twentynine Palms, by Deanne Stillman and that I was surprised, as I often am when reading any random book, at how Texas finds itself somehow in the narrative.
In this particular book it was the Dallas Cowboys who suddenly were part of the plotline.
A running theme in Twentynine Palms is spousal abuse, husbands getting drunk and beating their wives.
I'll copy below the part of the story where the Cowboys provoked bad behavior off the field...
"The really serious trouble began during football season. The Cowboys were playing the Raiders. Like a lot of Texans, Max was a hard-core Cowboys fan, really believed that they were "America's team'; as the Cowboys went, so went the country. He exploded ecstatically with every completed pass, every down, died with every fumble, every bad call. Debie was a hard-core Raiders fan, like a lot of Northern Californians, like a lot of non-Texans, who did not identify with their own teams, who had a boss and didn't like him, who preferred the scrappy street-fighter image of the team with the pirate logo and the slogan "pursuit of excellence."
Max had polished off a couple of six-packs. The Raiders' infamous George Blanda faked a pass to his receiver, then lateraled to a guard, who outran two line-backers and a safety, completing the run for the winning touchdown. Debie jumped up and told Max to settle on a bet they had made. But Max was seething, as often happened when he drank too much, and he lunged at Debie. Debie grabbed one of his size-thirteen boots and threw it at him; he dodged and it hit a door, making a deep hole in the thin wood used for base housing. Max came after Debie again. She ran into the bathroom and locked the door. He ran after her, kicked the door down, lunged at her, and hauled her out...."
The beatings worsened, some Dallas Cowboy related, some not. Within a short time Debie took her kids and escaped. Max moved back to Texas. Where he has had plenty of reasons to continue to be aggravated by the hapless Dallas Cowboys.
I live in Tarrant County. In the town of Fort Worth. In Texas. In 2008 Texas only executed 2 Convicted Killers from my county.
It is only March, yet tonight Texas is on track to give the Lethal Needle to the 4th Tarrant County Convicted Killer in 2009. With another Tarrant County Convicted Killer scheduled for the Lethal Needle in June.
Tonight's planned execution is that of Convicted Killer, James Martinez. He killed his ex-girl friend, Sandra Walton and a friend, Michael Humphreys.
To give you an idea of how run of the mill executions are in Texas, tonight Michael Humphrey's dad, Brad, will witness the killing of his son's killer.
But.
This will not be Brad Humphrey's first execution witness trip. In 2001 Brad Humphrey watch Jeffrey Tucker die for the 1988 shooting of Brad's dad, Wilton Humphrey.
The majority of American states have not executed anyone in 2009. Which would mean the majority of American counties have not had a killer from their county executed this year. While here in Texas, by the time today ends, my county, Tarrant, will have had its 4th convicted killer of the year executed.
Also on this day, in 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He got 99 years and died in prison in 1998.
Also on this day, in 2004, Lee Boyd Malvo, known as the D.C. sniper, was sentenced to life in prison for his killing spree that left 10 people dead and terrorized our nation's capital.
The news of tonight's impending execution was on the first page of the second section of this morning's Dallas Morning News. We'll see where the story of the execution gets buried in tomorrow's paper.
I was pleased to learn, this morning, that Gar the Texan has taken me up on my challenge that he get his scrawny self in good enough shape that he can be in Wichita Falls on Saturday, August 29 for the annual Hotter N' Hell Hundred.
Last year almost 12,000 people braved the HOT Texas August sun to ride their bikes for 100 miles in the Wichita Falls zone.
Wichita Falls is named for a little waterfall that long ago disappeared in a flood. So, so as not to confuse visitors, Wichita Falls built a fake falls that looks quite real. In a Disneyland sort of way.
Reading Gar the Texans' Blog this morning I was disheartened to read that his training program has not gotten off to a good start, with a case of the vapors popping out even before he got on his bike.
Despite my always optimistic nature, I fear boondoggle ahead as Gar the Texan continues to try and muster the energy to go outside without having a vapor attack. That boy was in much better shape before his more recent marriage. Why? I do not know.
Below is a YouTube video of me trying to catch up with Gar the Texan in Palo Duro Canyon. He was able to pedal fast back then, prior to his marital duties apparently keeping him in a state of exhaustion and the vapors.
It took awhile to find some new color in the outdoor zones of Texas today. I don't think this tree was blooming when I was at the Tandy Hills last Thursday, but it was today.
I got an email yesterday that my mom directed my dad to send, asking why I've not gotten gas lately. My one longtime reader may remember me mentioning that when I get gas I call my mom and tell her how much it cost.
So, even though I didn't get gas, I called my mom today while hiking around the Tandy Hills.
It has not been a blue sky day in Texas. But it is warm. Swimming was very pleasant this morning.
I'm reading a book called Twentynine Palms. Twentynine Palms is a town in the Mojave Desert in California. It's a true crime book. Rather well written with a very high level of detail and historic background of the characters involved.
I like reading books where the area being described is somewhere I've been. I have never been to Twentynine Palms, but I have seen many of the places described, like Barstow and Victorville and the Mojave.
It surprises me how often I'll be peacefully reading along when there will be some Texas reference. In this Twentynine Palms book the Texas reference is a Dallas Cowboys reference. Short version, the Dallas Cowboys cause fits of wifebeating. I'll blog the details of that tomorrow. It seems like way too much bother right now.
It looks like I'm all about Public Service Announcements today.
A few days ago I got an email from Alan Small of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History asking for my possible help in locating resources to help with a program he is running. He is looking for experts on the history and culture of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.
I wonder why there is not sufficient history about the history of Fort Worth in the Fort Worth History Museum to help the students deepen their understanding of local history?
Hello my name is Alan Small with the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History's Community Studios program. We have high school students in our program who are working on a project involving the history and culture of Fort Worth. I am looking for experts on the history and/or culture of Fort Worth and Tarrant County who would like to speak to our kids, as well as locations where our students could visit to deepen their understanding of local history. Do you know of any such resources? Thank you for your time.
If you've been astonished by the amazing amounts of litter you see as you travel around Texas and have wished there was something, anything, you could possibly do to clean up some of it, besides not adding to the mess yourself, well you have an opportunity on Saturday, March 28 to make a dent in Fort Worth's pile of litter.
Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and the Downtown Public Improvement District have organized the Cowtown Great American Cleanup.
So, on the last Saturday of this month at 8 am, get yourself to the grassy area at Purcey and West Bluff Street. Volunteers are being asked to register. Why? I don't know. But the first 3,000 to volunteer get a free t-shirt and work gloves out of the deal. And you get a free lunch. I'll do just about anything to get a free lunch.
Encourage all volunteers to fill out the waiver form - available on the registration site - and turn them in as soon as possible. Free cleanup supplies only will be issued with completed waivers for all participants in a group.
Pick up your supplies (which will include free trash bags, T-shirts and gloves) between noon and 6 p.m. March 26 or 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. March 27 at the Public Health Center, 1800 University Drive. Cleanup supplies are distributed to the first 3,000 registered participants.
Plan on attending the celebration for cleanup volunteers, scheduled from noon to 2 pm. on March 28 in Trinity Park. Entertainment and food provided.
Information about trash drop-off sites and other important information will be included in your cleanup packet.
We've exterminated another Convicted Killer in Texas.
