Texas death row inmate pulls out his only good eye, eats it

From the Associated Press…

HOUSTON — A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it.

Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant’s death.

While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial.

A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary.

“”Thomas said he pulled out his eye and subsequently ingested it,” agency spokesman Jason Clark said Friday.

Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond southwest of Houston.

“He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1,” Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas’ trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. “He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one…”

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“Snack and Drink” — A short documentary

I originally saw this short video as a special feature on the “Waking Life” DVD from 2001. Although it’s just a group of people walking to a 7-11 to get some snacks (and drinks), the artistic aspect of it is mind-blowing. It’s just a couple minutes long and definitely worth a view.

From the YouTube video info:

“Snack and Drink” is an animated documentary short by Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta, starring Ryan Power. This autistic teenager in Austin, Texas walks to a local 7-11 to get a snack and drink. It is rotoscoped with a wild variety of animation styles by different animators.

More on Rotoscoping

Politico.com lists top five places Obama and Clinton should campaign together

From the article:

1. Broward County, FL

Let’s face it: The politically engaged, mostly Jewish senior citizen condo commandos of South Florida still aren’t sold on Obama. Between the Florida primary fiasco, the viral emails, his former pastor’s pro-Palestinian remarks and his willingness to negotiate directly with countries such as Iran, Obama can use some help with this key demographic group in this battleground state.

Bringing in the junior senator from New York to vouch for him will go a long way. She won heavily Democratic Broward County — the state’s second-most populous county — with ease in the Jan. 29 contest, outdistancing Obama by nearly 25 percentage points. Sure, he didn’t put up much of a fight in Florida, but given the high numbers of ex-New Yorkers and senior citizens in Broward, it’s a safe bet she would have won big there anyway.

“She also did very well there during the primary,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesman Mark Bubriski. “The fact that she’s from New York gives her an ability to connect that’s unique.”

The payoff of a Broward joint event is almost limitless. It would send a signal to the Jewish community about Obama’s bona fides and represent a significant step toward reconciling party fractures. Party regulars nationwide who are still smarting over the 2000 presidential election would recognize the symbolism of Broward County.

2. Youngstown, OH

Both Clinton and Obama made strong plays for the white working-class voters of industrial Youngstown, but in the end, Clinton thrashed Obama in Youngstown’s Mahoning County by a nearly two-to-one ratio.

These are the kind of Democratic voters that Obama has had the toughest time winning over: blue-collar, white ethnic, Catholic — and gun owners to boot.

A joint event would provide a well-publicized platform for Obama to speak to economically dislocated, working-class voters in a city and a state that he failed to carry in the primary in part due to doubts about the sincerity of his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement — doubts that have been revived as he’s shifted away from organized labor and toward the political center to take on John McCain.

“Clinton really connected with both women and men on her economic message,” said Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist. “Clinton standing arm in arm with Obama would be the visual some people would need to say, ‘she’s giving him the economic blessing.’”

Besides shoring up his economic bona fides among blue-collar Dems, there would be additional benefits: an appearance by popular Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, an avalanche of free media in a battleground state and media market bleed into western Pennsylvania, another area where he could use some shoring up…

Click here for the full story, and to find out the other three places they should campaign

Dennis Kucinich vows not to give up on George W. Bush impeachment this time

By Mike Soraghan
TheHill.com
June 11, 2008
Click here for the original article

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said he’s not going to let his effort to impeach President Bush die a quiet death in committee.

He said Wednesday that he’ll bring his resolution back in 30 days if the Judiciary Committee, to which it was referred Wednesday, doesn’t act on it.

“This one’s coming back from the dead in 30 days,” Kucinich said after the referral vote Wednesday. “In 30 days, I’ll be joined by many more” members, he said.

Asked who those members were, he replied, “You’ll see.”

Democratic House leaders have been fending off impeachment efforts from Kucinich and left-wing activists since taking office more than a year ago. Republicans suffered politically from the impeachment of President Clinton, and Democratic leaders say they don’t want to be bogged down in messy impeachment proceedings.

Kucinich also has a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, which has been bottled up in committee since May 2007. The measure had 27 co-sponsors.

Kucinich’s 35-article impeachment of Bush has no co-sponsors, though several members were said to be planning to sign on Wednesday.

Kucinich himself made the motion to send it to the committee, saying his detailed allegations should be weighed in a hearing.

“Thirty days is a reasonable amount of time, not 30 minutes” of debate on the floor, he said. Attempts to get comment from committee officials on whether there will be a hearing were unsuccessful.

The vote on referral occurred without debate Wednesday. All Democrats voted to refer the bill, but Republicans split.

Most voted no, in an effort to highlight the ability of the “loony left,” in the words of a Republican aide, to force a debate and distract the House from pressing issues like gas prices and funding for the Iraq war. Democratic aides called the attempt to force a debate “a political stunt.”

But House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) had originally recommended a yes vote on referral, and some Republicans still voted yes, saying they wanted it gone.

“I believe the impeachment resolution is beyond ludicrous. Even the five minutes we spent on it were a waste of time,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). “I wanted it off the floor and dealt with.”