Trayvon Martin And The Meme Too Big Too Die

Meme alert!  Katie at Feministing wrote on the Trayvon Martin killing on April 2.  Her lead:

George Zimmerman claims he killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self- defense, though Zimmerman outweighed Martin by over 60 pounds...

Implausible!  Yet the NY Times quietly reported that Zimmerman weighed 170 pounds and Martin weighed 150. 

Now, the Times buried that in their big tell-all, even though they had to recognize the news value of that widely reported factoid (a factoid the Times broadcast without clarification or correction by quoting Trayvon Martin's father and which was repeated by Times columnist Charles Blow on March 25).

Coudl the Times be right about Zimmerman?  Per this March 27 interview with George Zimmerman's friend, the old weight of 250 came from a 2005 police report; we all saw a much slimmer Zimmerman in the debunked "no injury" ABC police video.

As to Martin, the family says 140, the police report says 160.  Maybe the Times saw a coroner's report, maybe they split the difference.

I remain optimistic that our friends on the left will either rebut the Times or shift the narrative away from "Large man versus small boy".  Here's hoping!

And - need you ask - I welcome other examples of "Damn the Times, full speed ahead" use of the old, dubious meme.

I wil add that the reaction (for example, at Memeorandum) to the Times weight loss revelation surprised me.  I expected cheers from the right and silence or pushback from the left.  Instead, probably due to the ABC retreat and other news, it's been crickets.

NOT PAST THE DEADLINE:

This April 1 post from the Daily Kos, kicked up from a front-page search, illustrates a recent use of the weight meme.  It predates the Times report so we can't knock this one.

His theme is that if the races were reversed racist righties would be pleading for justice instead of facts.  Hmm - if the town had a black police chief in a state with a history of covering up crimes against whites and with (probably) black witnesses saying the white kid started the fight? So now I am a racist for not believing the people who believe that all the white devils are lying?  Is their thought process color-blind, or am I a racist for not believing other racists?  Is a color-blind thought process even possible?  Can I avoid the racism charge by feeling sympathy for their perspective but not seeing the facts required under the law?  Interesting, in a college dorm way, but I digress:

Then one night this typical teenager is walking alone in a strange neighborhood, munching on some junk food and talking on his cell phone. And remember that we're reversing the races here, so now he's a white kid walking alone in a strange neighborhood, and it's a black man who steps out of an SUV and starts following him. A black man who outweighs the teen by nearly a hundred pounds.

The link is to a March 12 WDBO news report:

Zimmerman is nearly twice the teenager's size, measuring at 5 feet 9 and weighing 250 pounds, according to police records.

That ties in to the notion that it was an old arrest report.

ASK A SILLY QUESTION:  "Can I avoid the racism charge by feeling sympathy for their perspective but not seeing the facts required under the law?"  Of course not - I'm a righty.

 

Comments

[Sandy Daze]

Good Morning all.

OS~ABO~OMG,
Sandy

[myiq2xu]

When you consider how much the media originally got wrong you have to honestly wonder if it was an accident.

[bgates]

Since TM's first post on this topic (8pm March 17), the national debt has increased by approximately $57,398,400,000.

[Sue]

And Zimmerman has gone from a cold blooded overweight killer of little children into a battered old skinny man. What a difference a day makes to our fact checking MSM.

[JeanD]

Tom,

If you look at the 'Hardball' segment on MSNBC last night, you will see that they solved the case! GZ must be guilty. The graphic had the "old" pictures of both TM and GZ with the title "The 99% Solution" to indicate the certainty of the voice identification as not GZ.

It went downhill from there, repeating many of the previously identified misdirections. But, they did have a map!

Also enjoyable was their clever side-step regarding the audio edit scandal. Now, it seems the FBI will examine old 911 calls to see if GZ identified suspicious people by race, or if he did so only when asked the question by the dispatcher. (No mention, of course, of their misleading prior edit.)

It appears that an effort to identify GZ as a long time hater/racist is the next gambit.

I would link, but I can't get the video to load. Suffice to say that guest host Michael Smerconish did not cover himself in the glory of open minded truth-seeking.

[buzz]

Here's the funny thing: In the last 10 years I've weighed 225, and I've weighed 175 (I'm currently somewhere in between). The 175 pound me could kick the living sh*t out of the 225 pound me. So the emphasis on weight doesn't really make a lot of sense. Not just with Zimmerman either - there are a lot of 150 or 160 pound 17 years olds who are quite dangerous with their hands. No idea if that's true or not of Martin, of course.

[Pofarmer]

So, now Martin is taller(which means longer reach, FYI) and probably about the same weight. It is confirmed? that there was a spent round which did not eject that indicates struggle. Zimmermans injuries have been confirmed. All that we really don't know, is the exact circumstances of the initial altercation. Heard it said yesterday that Martin was 60 feet? From his front door at the time of the shooting? Why attack the guy when you could go inside and call the cops on him?

[Gabriel Sutherland]

On the weight issue, I stepped on the scale after the holidays in January. My expectation was 185. Actual weight was 205. Driver's license says 175 taken 18 months prior to that time.

[Clarice]

I always lie on my drivers license, too, Gabriel. Although after so many renewals I don't think they are buying that I' m, still 21, 6 ft tall and 110 lbs. and that I'm just standing on my knees with my cheeks puffed out when they took the picture.

[Ignatz]

Do I have legal recourse if Michelle Obama pops up in my ad bar one more time and asks me "are you in?"

[Rob Crawford]

So the emphasis on weight doesn't really make a lot of sense.

First, you have to understand that the press has the mentality of children.

Then it all makes sense.

[bgates]

Could be worse, Iggy. Imagine that sentence without the word "ad". (That reminds me, remember how one of the multitude of wonderful things about Presdint Awesome and the First Lady of Cool was going to be how they'd frequent DC's restaurants and watering holes, just chillaxin' with the regulars? God, I hate them.)

[Sue]

so now he's a white kid walking alone in a strange neighborhood, and it's a black man who steps out of an SUV and starts following him.

I don't know about anyone else, but if I was that white kid walking alone in a strange neighborhood (in the rain, don't forget the rain) and a black (let's make her woman so sex isn't a motive) woman started following me, I'd either use that phone I was talking on to call my daddy and say someone is following me what do I do or I would use it to call the police.

[jimmyk]

Zimmerman is nearly twice the teenager's size, measuring at 5 feet 9 and weighing 250 pounds, according to police records.

I wonder if that's where Mary Cutcher got the idea that TM was "half [GZ's] size," and that he was a "little boy," as opposed to actually having had any kind of clear view of what happened. Some eyewitness.

[Rick Ballard]

We're missing the birth of a new meme. The month over month change in the delinquency rate indicates that tossing in the towel is being reevaluated as the most rational course of action.

[Ignatz]

--Could be worse, Iggy. Imagine that sentence without the word "ad".--

Which in turn is infinitely preferable to that sentence without "pops up in my ad bar one more time and".

And according to the apparently still at-large sylvia that's exactly what happened with Trayvon and Zimmerman.

[Rick Ballard]

Is Jim Ryan manning the bozon shields this morning? My bozon detector tape has gone pitch black.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Curious if any of our econ experts have thoughts on this blog post. Bruce Krasting examines numbers and finds that Social Security payroll tax revenue seems to be up a lot more than expected. Is the jobs situation improving markedly?
SS outflow is up a lot too. Lots of people hanging it up and retiring, presumably.

http://brucekrasting.blogspot.com/2012/04/social-security-good-news-bad-news.html
"I’m surprised by the extent of this improvement. These numbers appear to be too good. The Jan. – Apr. results suggest that total employment has now exceeded the levels that prevailed in 2008. But that is not the case based on other information."

[Rob Crawford]

Wow:

“You will recall the incident of the beating of the black homeless man Sherman Ware on December 4, 2010 by the son of a Sanford police officer. The beating sparked outrage in the community but there were very few that stepped up to do anything about it. I would presume the inaction was because of the fact that he was homeless not because he was black. Do you know the individual who stepped up when no one else in the black community would? Do you know who spent tireless hours putting flyers on the cars of persons parked in the churches of the black community? Do you know who waited for the church-goers to get out of church so that he could hand them flyers in an attempt to organize the black community against this horrible miscarriage of justice? Do you know who helped organize the City Hall meeting on January 8, 2011 at Sanford City Hall?? That person was GEORGE ZIMMERMAN.” – from a letter to Turner Clayton of the Seminole County NAACP written by “a concerned Zimmerman family member”

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

I (probably) missed this in the deluge of comments. An American Thinker article lists the facts in an accessible way.
Are they wrong on some stuff or is this a good summary to email friends?
LUN

[Rob Crawford]

That's a good summary, Jim.

[narciso]

I don't think so, Jim Mtn, even Santorum's idiocy and Lowry's naivete are included as an aperitif, except for FL Code 782.30 that might im ping on his defense as a neighborhood watch captain,;

[yeah that will happen]

Sue,

You bring up a good point. If TM was talking on his cell phone and he was afraid/upset that someone was following him in a threatening way why did he NOT call 911?

[jwest]

Not that this matters much, but just to set the record straight…

I was under the impression from early reports that George Zimmerman was the product of a Peruvian mother and “possibly” a white father. It was also my impression that George was adopted by Robert and Gladys (is that a common Peruvian name?) Zimmerman.

The NYTimes article seems to portray George as the natural born son of Robert and Gladys. Anyone know the real story?

[Captain Hate]

I always lie on my drivers license, too

Glad to hear it's not just me...

[Tollhouse]

Interesting info Jim, but at this point, I suspect the BLS may have changed their methodology just like they changed the unemployment methodology a couple months ago. The numbers are simply estimates after all, based on models that may or may not be accurate.

And this,

"The BLS conducts its surveys by land-line phone. It does not attempt to contact households that exclusively use cell phones. In 2010, 27% of all households exclusively used cell phones. The exclusion of a quarter of all households makes the BLS numbers very suspect."

Surveys and self-reporting, it's all bs.

[Sylvia]

Well maybe if you don't go around trying to punch cops and get a felony charge, later reduced through pleading, you won't have a police report that has your old weight on it.

Also the fact that GZ lost about 70 pounds is a little unsual. Most people do not and cannot lose that amount of weight natually.

Was GZ on drugs like Coke? Which provoked his temper? In fact we know that GZ was fired from a job from a security guard st night clubs because he had too much of a Jekyll and Hyse personality and got fired after he literally threw a girl who was a guest at the club, who witnesses say was sarcastic to him but not disorderly, twisting her ankle. I don't know if this was before or after he beat up a cop.

We'll never know if he was on drugs because they didn't do a tox report on him from that night.

[NK]

RobC-- GZ handing out flyers and putting them on windshields to correct the 'injustice' of a cop's son beating a vagrant; what do you infer from that?

[Rob Crawford]

Was GZ on drugs like Coke?

I have it on good authority that he was a member of the Pepsi Generation.

[DebinNC]

The gf claims she urged Trayvon to run. Maybe so, or maybe she fed his anger and urged him to knock GZ's block off. We'll never know which, but knowing she was listening made it impossible for Trayvon to flee imo.

[Rob Crawford]

GZ handing out flyers and putting them on windshields to correct the 'injustice' of a cop's son beating a vagrant; what do you infer from that?

That he wasn't the monster the lynch mob desperately needs him to be.

[Clarice]

Ah, Sybilvia adds another lie to the mix "security guard st night clubs because he had too much of a Jekyll and Hyse personality and got fired after he literally threw a girl who was a guest at the club" As I recall this was from an anonymous report with absolutely no confirmation anywhere..

As for his weight loss, another anonymous caller says it's because GZ was hanging around with the Duke LAX team and got HIV from Ms Mangum. Or something.

[Rob Crawford]

And, Sylvia, if you don't try to crack someone's skull open on concrete, then you won't have to play catch with a 9mm slug.

[Rob Crawford]

As I recall this was from an anonymous report with absolutely no confirmation anywhere..

Sylvia's favorite kind!

Actually, though, I think she gets all her information from a guy named Gluteus Maximus.

[Sylvia]

Oh and I don't know if GZ literally throwing a girl at a club, was before or after he tried to beat up a cop, or after he tried to beat up his girfirend, for which she took out a restraining order.

[narciso]

My these same lights, Cameron Poe, the hero of Con Air, was a stone killer,

[Gabriel Sutherland]

In fact we know that GZ was fired from a job from a security guard st night clubs

We do? Link?

Just curious. But, isn't security at a night club a risky job where club goers say one thing and the security says another. It's a club with drinking where patrons otherwise let their guard down to relax, but quickly flip if confronted.

[jwest]

That's a good summary, Jim.
Posted by: Rob Crawford | April 03, 2012 at 11:38 AM

Not really. Lipkes’ article is mistaken when he says that according to Zimmerman’s “testimony” (perhaps Zimmerman’s statement) “…he had returned to his truck and was waiting for the police when he was surprised by Martin.”

That’s not what happened, so he doesn’t seem to have a good grasp on the situation. From the source Lipkes linked to:
“Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.”

Zimmerman was in the process of walking back to his SUV, not already there, when the encounter with Trayvon occurred.

[Rob Crawford]

Sylvia, why would anyone throw a girl at a club? Throwing a club would make much sense, though there are few that are suitable for that use.

[Sylvia]

Do a search on GZ and security guard. You'll find it.

[Rob Crawford]

Fair enough, jwest. Other than that, though?

[Rob Crawford]

But, isn't security at a night club a risky job where club goers say one thing and the security says another.

No, not at all. Uh-uh. Drunks who screw up are scrupulous about telling the truth.

[narciso]

Actually we don't know that, for a fact, the Daily News asserted something of the sort;

The commenters here, have the same general grasp on reality, mostly voted for Obama;

http://thehill.com/video/campaign/219629-sarah-palin-suggests-gop-nominee-go-rogue-with-vp-pick

[Rob Crawford]

Do a search on GZ and security guard. You'll find it.

Primary source? Or do you just repeat whatever you hear without attempting to determine its source, their interests, and their likely knowledge?

Wait... what am I asking...

Never mind. Just tell Gluteus to provide citations next time.

[Sylvia]

Yes and the cop who was punched repeatedly by GZ was lying too.

[NK]

RobC-- OK- is it also logical toinfer that he's also a bit of a busybody, who goes out of his way to 'get involved'?, i.e. 46 call to 911 over 8 years, following TMartin on the fateful night.

PS: has anyone seen the Det. Serino 'affidavit' he signed on the night of the killing?

[Rob Crawford]

Yes and the cop who was punched repeatedly by GZ was lying too.

Well, there was something hinky about that, because the charges were dropped.

Best speculation I've read is that the officer was under cover -- making Zimmerman think some random guy was accosting his friend. But that's only speculation, and you'll note that I'm careful to say that.

[Sylvia]

Also did you hear the other rumor that GZ's father was at the police station that night? Now I heard he was a judge in VA, but then I also read he was a judge in Orange County. Is there an Orange county there?

I'm telling you, my theory that GZ and probably the father, belonged to some sort of gun rights group, wanna be militia, the kind that put on camo and run around the woods and cry about the Consti, with maybe members in the police force too, will come true.

[DebinNC]

From the wtbo link above:
............................................
"Documents detailed how Zimmerman confronted a state agent who was arresting three bar employees on the UCF campus. WFTV learned that in 2005, Zimmerman was arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. The report states that Zimmerman said 'I don't care who you are," and then he cursed and pushed the officer."
............................................
I wonder if it was an undercover officer and GZ didn't realize it was a "state agent" he was "pushing". Are "cursing" and "pushing" a state agent considered acts of "violence"?

[jwest]

Fair enough, jwest. Other than that, though?
Posted by: Rob Crawford | April 03, 2012 at 12:06 PM

I still haven’t read through it all. He kind of lost me with that major mistake.

When someone makes that large an error in the basic premise, I don’t hold much hope for the rest. If Zimmerman had claimed in his “testimony” that he had returned to the truck prior to the confrontation, his entire story would be a lie. It hurts our side when our own people get the primary facts wrong.

[Ignatz]

So, is it pronounced "Sy-bil-vi'-a" or "Sy-bil'-vi-a" or should I just stick with "bat-s**t-cra-zy" to be safe?

[Rob Crawford]

RobC-- OK- is it also logical toinfer that he's also a bit of a busybody, who goes out of his way to 'get involved'?

God forbid anyone "get involved"! Or "go out of their way" to do so!

i.e. 46 call to 911 over 8 years

Turns out the calls weren't to 911, but to the non-emergency number. Do you pay attention to these threads?

following TMartin on the fateful night.

Back home, we called that "keeping an eye out for your neighbors".

[Rob Crawford]

I still haven’t read through it all. He kind of lost me with that major mistake.

Major mistake?

I didn't think it was "major".

[hit and run]

I'm telling you, the best option the Martin family has at this point is to dump Crump, hire Sylvia and sue the hell out of Zimmerman, the Sanford PD, the state of Florida, the NRA, and Coca Cola Enterprises.

In small claims court.

No one but no one rivals Sylvia in small claims court.

[Danube of Thought]

An uh-oh from Raz:

A majority of Wisconsin voters now support the effort to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker.

A new Rasmussen Reports statewide survey shows that, if the recall election was held today, 52% of Likely Voters would vote to recall Governor Walker and remove him from office. Forty-seven percent (47%) would vote against the recall and let him continue to serve as governor.

[Rob Crawford]

bat-poo-crazy-lady:
I'm telling you, my theory that GZ and probably the father, belonged to some sort of gun rights group, wanna be militia, the kind that put on camo and run around the woods and cry about the Consti, with maybe members in the police force too, will come true.

Your friend Gluteus will produce flying monkeys before that.

[narciso]

It could do with some pruning, but I give it an 8/10.

[Sylvia]

In most counties the non-emergency number goes to 911 at night.

[Rob Crawford]

I wonder if it was an undercover officer and GZ didn't realize it was a "state agent" he was "pushing". Are "cursing" and "pushing" a state agent considered acts of "violence"?

Pushing would be battery, so, sadly, yes.

Immaterial, as a) the charges were dropped, and b) it has no bearing on the present instance.

[Sue]

I hate (no really, I mean love) it when something makes me burst out laughing and spew coffee on my screen.

[Neo]

“You will recall the incident of the beating of the black homeless man Sherman Ware on December 4, 2010 by the son of a Sanford police officer. The beating sparked outrage in the community but there were very few that stepped up to do anything about it. I would presume the inaction was because of the fact that he was homeless not because he was black. Do you know the individual who stepped up when no one else in the black community would? Do you know who spent tireless hours putting flyers on the cars of persons parked in the churches of the black community? Do you know who waited for the church-goers to get out of church so that he could hand them flyers in an attempt to organize the black community against this horrible miscarriage of justice? Do you know who helped organize the City Hall meeting on January 8, 2011 at Sanford City Hall??

That person was GEORGE ZIMMERMAN.”

[Susan]

Grest read
theconservativetreehouse.com

also Halfsigma.com

[Sylvia]

Okay I just googled it. It says several places that GZ's father was a judge in Orange County. And it also says GZ the son was in jail in Orange County and they live in Florida. So I'm assumming it is the same Orange County, in Florida, where the dad was a judge.

[Rob Crawford]

Are you sure, Sylvia? There's also an Orange County in California.

(At least, that what my friends in the Orange County Liberation Front claim.)

[Sylvia]

Rob the charges were not dropped they were pled down to a misdemeanor and the charges were "sealed". How did he get thme sealed, hmmm?

Ajd Hit, don't get me started on Magistrate , small claims, judges, like GZ's dad. It is basically the same as being a mafia man. Corruption to the ears.

[jwest]

Major mistake?
I didn't think it was "major".
Posted by: Rob Crawford | April 03, 2012 at 12:17 PM

If Zimmerman was at his truck when the confrontation started, everything else Zimmerman said in his statement that night would be false. How could he explain Trayvon’s body being behind the buildings? What grass was on his back and which sidewalk did he get his head banged up against?

All it takes for a story to fall apart is one critical element to be wrong, then everything else falls apart.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Tollhouse@11:53
Thanks for the response. I had overlooked the word "estimates" in the very first sentence. The author seems to consider the data valid enough to have written about it, but clearly the case is far from clear-cut.

[narciso]

'I get this strange feeling of de ja vu, that extraordinary feeling,. . .

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/04/03/we-need-to-have-this-conversation/#comments

[Sylvia]

Okay I just googled again and it might clear it up. GZ's dad was a state supreme court judge in VA. He was a magistrate, which is small claims, judge in Orange county there.

[Rob Crawford]

Rob the charges were not dropped they were pled down to a misdemeanor and the charges were "sealed". How did he get thme sealed, hmmm?

HMMM!@M!M!M!@M!!M!$@#?!!?

That actually supports the idea that it was someone undercover/plain clothes.

But, OK. Misdemeanor. Yawn.

And, yeah, we get it. You hate Zimmerman. You think he's Satan incarnate. You want him lynched, will gleefully dip your hands in his blood, and will spin the wildest fantasies to see it happen.

You're sick. D.E.R.A.N.G.E.D.

[DebinNC]

Susan, is this the post you were suggesting? Just a quick scan produced a headline noting Ms. Green's son Chad is 14. If so, it's good to see that TM didn't leave a small child home alone.

[Rob Crawford]

jwest -- doesn't he also state it's not clear where the truck was?

But, OK, OK.

[Rick Ballard]

Jim,MtnView,

The Daily Treasury Statements for Q2 show a YoY increase of 2.35% ($11,219) for the line item Withheld Income and Employment Taxes. That does not support the SSA numbers reported by Krasting at all.

[narciso]

Some more context;

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/04/02/the-ongoing-trayvon-martin-story-cnn-and-fox-the-dumbest-crap-i-ever-heard/

[Danube of Thought]

I don't know if GZ literally throwing a girl at a club, was before or after he tried to beat up a cop, or after he tried to beat up his girfirend, for which she took out a restraining order.

If God came down and declared that all three events actually occurred, it would all still be inadmissible at trial.

[Threadkiller]

Orange County is in New York. There is a reality show that focuses on angry, violent white people.

Is that the one?

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

jwest/RobC, thanks.
Seems like the details conflict a lot and the truth is far from known but the outlines of the competing narratives are:
1) TM was stalked and killed in cold blood by GZ
2) GZ got an address to report to the police, then was attacked by TM on the way back to his vehicle.

Clearly the AT article finds the latter more compelling.

[I lost my program.]

Did the good guys win?
===========

[Danube of Thought]

don't get me started on...

Oh please, by all means, Sylvia, get started on all of them. It's a pleasure to see a nutball in full rant.

[Rob Crawford]

Well, "Conservative Treehouse" wins points for using a VaultBoy graphic to link to a preparedness site.

[Sylvia]

Danube, past events are admissible at trial if they can be made relevant. We heard them for Casey Anthony and Jason Young etc.

[henry]

Danube, Raz predicted the Kloppster would win with 52% last year. The recall will be close, turnout will determine who wins. Meanwhile the unions are smearing Barrett and pushing Falk hard, setting up an ugly primary for Walker's opponent. The ads between the two are popcorn-worthy.

[Melinda Romanoff]

!esuegleteB !esuegleteB !esuegleteB

(Petronas doesn't work on the Web, I've tried.)

[Danube of Thought]

Federal Evidence Rule 404:

(b) Crimes, Wrongs, or Other Acts.

(1) Prohibited Uses. Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character.

[bgates]

Since my first comment on this thread, the national debt has increased by roughly $317,000,000.

$40,000/second is too vague. How about $346/month, per capita? $1386/month for a family of four!

[Rob Crawford]

DoT -- clearly Sybilvia was referring to small claims court.

[Threadkiller]

"My nephew is 20 years old, a very responsible young man. So there was not panic at that moment that he was not home. I made several attempts to call his cell phone and it was going straight to voicemail. I called my nephew’s cell phone and it was going straight to voicemail. So at that point, I figured they had been in the movies because they would always go to the movies.”

Tracy Martin and his girlfriend went to bed. But the next morning, the day Martin and his son had planned to return to Miami, he learned that Trayvon still wasn’t back in the house. Tracy called his nephew again, this time reaching him and learning that Trayvon wasn’t with him.

“I had [his girlfriend] call juvenile justice, just to check and see if anyone by the name of Trayvon Martin had been picked up. No Trayvon Martin,” the father told NNPA publishers. “My next call was to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department to see if any kid had been picked up.

“My third call was to a non-emergency number at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department and I informed them that I was filing a missing person’s report. I let them know it hadn’t been 24 hours, but it was unusual for Trayvon not to return home."

http://www.carolinapeacemaker.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=26486&sID=3&ItemSource=N

His instincts, despite having a responsible nephew, was to see if his kid was "picked up".

[Extraneus]

The 175 pound me could kick the living sh*t out of the 225 pound me.

Imagine the 225 pound you chasing down and catching the 175 pound you, or the 150 pound you? And didn't the girlfriend claim that Trayvon said "I lost him"? That would seem to imply that he wasn't too proud to run.

[Don't confuse me. The Trayvonites have been saying it's crazy to think a 140 pounder would attack a 240 pounder; the Zimmers have been saying, well, maybe not so crazy.

Now that GZ is down to 170, sure, maybe he has been working out and is scarier to those who know him, but how would Trayvon know that? As a practical matter its an interesting point, but can the Trayvonites really argue that since 240 lbs strangers are scary, 170 pound strangers are scarier, or as scary? TM]

[Sylvia]

Ha I think it's funny Obama is giving a pretty serious speech right now busting on trickle down, and FOX is the only network not running it. Propaganda chanell doesn't want the people to hear anything that contradicts them.

[Sylvia]

Danube, Fed rule of evidence is for FEDERAL court. Find me an equivalent state court rule.

[Danube of Thought]

Game on:

ORLANDO, Fla. -

State Attorney Norm Wolfinger released a statement on Monday saying he is "outraged by the outright lies" contained in a letter written by the attorney of Trayvon Martin's parents, who are seeking a federal review in the case.

Martin family attorney Ben Crump said he is asking the U.S. Justice Department to review the investigation for possible interference by Wolfinger's office on the night Martin was shot to death by Neighborhood Watch leader George Zimmerman.

Crump sent a formal request to the Justice Department on Monday, saying, "within hours of the shooting in which Trayvon Martin was killed, Sanford Chief of Police Bill lee met with State Attorney Norm Wolfinger. We also believe that family members of shooter George Zimmerman were present at the police department. It was further revealed that State Attorney Norm Wolfinger and Chief Bill Lee overruled the recommendation of the lead homicide investigator, Chris Serino, who recommended that George Michale Zimemrman be arrested for manslaughter for killing Trayvon Benjamin Martin."

[Threadkiller]

This story was missed:

" Chairmen Question Obama Administration on Mailing Out $$$$$$$ $2 bills randomly sent in envelopes as incentive to completesurveys

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 22, 2012 - Earlier this week, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and Water & Power Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (CA-04) sent letters to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Office of Management and Budget requesting information on the use of American tax dollars to pay for a controversial Department of the Interior (DOI) survey on the need to remove four privately owned dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California.

In 2011, DOI distributed a nationwide survey with the questionable purpose of measuring the societal, non-economic value of removing the four dams. The survey consisted of several waves of mailings, some of which included a two dollar bill used as an incentive to respond and a letter stating that DOI will send an additional $20 if the completed survey is returned before a specific deadline. According to the Federal Register, an estimated 10,400 households were contacted about the survey. In questioning yesterday before the House Water and Power Subcommittee, the Bureau of Reclamation was unable to provide an accounting of how much had been spent on this survey.

“This is as maddening as it is wasteful. The Obama Administration literally mailed cash to random citizens across the country to find out their feelings on tearing down four dams that they’ve likely never heard of. Federal spending is out of control and this type of nonsense needs to stop. Our demand for documents and emails is aimed at finding out exactly how this ever happened,” said Chairman Hastings.

“This so-called survey is yet another example of how out-of-touch this Administration has been on its quest to remove four perfectly good hydroelectric producing dams. Using taxpayer dollars on a slanted survey and the muzzling and eventual firing of its own scientist who disagreed with the Interior Department proves what many have been saying: dam removal is a pre-determined conclusion from this Administration. It simply ignores the destruction of jobs along with the cheapest and cleanest source of electricity on the planet,” said Chairman McClintock."

http://naturalresources.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=286370

[Sylvia]

Okay Fox is running Obama now, finally.

[Stephanie]

Msnbc is broadcasting that at lunchtime as part of their efforts to get behind Michelle's 'no fat child left behind' as a public service to Cheetos riddled basement dwellers. Their mothers are not amused.

[Rob Crawford]

*sigh*

Ten seconds to find the Florida statutes on admissability.

90.610 Conviction of certain crimes as impeachment.—
(1) A party may attack the credibility of any witness, including an accused, by evidence that the witness has been convicted of a crime if the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year under the law under which the witness was convicted, or if the crime involved dishonesty or a false statement regardless of the punishment, with the following exceptions:
(a) Evidence of any such conviction is inadmissible in a civil trial if it is so remote in time as to have no bearing on the present character of the witness.
...
(3) Nothing in this section affects the admissibility of evidence under s. 90.404 or s. 90.608.

Checking the statutes in (3) led to:

90.404 Character evidence; when admissible.—
...
(2) OTHER CRIMES, WRONGS, OR ACTS.—
(a) Similar fact evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is admissible when relevant to prove a material fact in issue, including, but not limited to, proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident, but it is inadmissible when the evidence is relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.

"You're wrong, Sylvia" should be a macro on my keyboard.

[Porchlight]

His instincts, despite having a responsible nephew, was to see if his kid was "picked up".

Interesting, TK.

Just curious to the parents of teenagers out there - would that be your first instinct if your teenager had gone out the previous night and not returned home, and you've just learned he wasn't with the person you thought he was with?

And if your kid had been "picked up," wouldn't you have expected him to call you? Or his mother? Wouldn't you have expected to have already heard of his being "picked up" by now?

Does anyone else get the feeling that if Trayvon had in fact been arrested, it wouldn't have been a surprise to anyone who knew him?

But remember, George Zimmerman was wrong, racist and stupid to wonder what this young man he'd never seen before was doing wandering around in the rain in the dark in an apartment complex that had suffered a rash of burglaries in the last several weeks.

[glasater]

Anyone listening to Obama in front of the AP and audience?

Good heavens, Obama is behaving and talking like a raving lunatic.
I truly believe he has gone off his rocker to put it kindly.

[narciso]

The Python sketch about Party Political Broadcast was never more apt, meanwhile
among those that are 'supposedly on our side,
yet flacked 'Julianne's Bender'

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/04/03/sarah-palin-co-hosts-today-live-blogging-the-show/

[Rob Crawford]

Well, glasater, that explains the gushing review his comments received in this thread.

[glasater]

He's speaking right now, Rob. His eyes give him away. He is beyond bizarre.