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I’m Sorry Dave, You Got it Wrong

Dave Weigel writing for Slate says: No, President Obama Didn’t Support a “Stand Your Ground” Law in Illinois. He says this comparing what he says is the Illinois law that was amended by SB 2386. He says:

No: “Stand your ground” is substantively different than what Obama backed in Illinois. He backed a tweak to the “castle doctrine,” which reads like this:

A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate such other’s trespass on or other tortious or criminal interference with her real property (other than a dwelling) or personal property, lawfully in his possession or in the possession of another who is a member of his immediate family or household or of a person whose property he has a legal duty to protect.

“Stand your ground” takes the concept of the castle doctrine and turns it into a traveling force field of sorts. Here’s Florida’s language:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

It’s a pretty obvious difference, which probably means that the “Obama used to support this” theory is essentially trolling.

Public Act 093-0832 has 3 sections, each of which were amended by SB 2386. Weigel quotes section 3, but ignores section 1 which states:

Sec. 7-1. Use of force in defense of person.

(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony.

Nothing in either section 3 (quoted by Weigel) or section 1 (quoted above) mentions any limitation of place. Weigel is saying that section 3 is tied to place because he says Stand Your Ground becomes a “traveling force field of sorts”. The only section of the Illinois law that is tied to place is section 2 which says:

Sec. 7-2. Use of force in defense of dwelling.

(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate such other’s unlawful entry into or attack upon a dwelling. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if:

(1) The entry is made or attempted in a violent, riotous, or tumultuous manner, and he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an assault upon, or offer of personal violence to, him or another then in the dwelling, or

(2) He reasonably believes that such force is  necessary to prevent the commission of a felony in the dwelling.

Only Section 2 actually relates to a “Castle Doctrine”. Only Section 2 is tied to a place. All three sections were amended by the same wording from SB 2386:

In no case shall any act involving the use of force justified under this Section give rise to any claim or liability brought by or on behalf of any person acting within the definition of “aggressor” set forth in Section 7-4 of this Article, or the estate, spouse, or other family member of such a person, against the person or estate of the person using such justified force, unless the use of force involves willful or wanton misconduct.

The law does not state a duty to retreat, therefore in Illinois there is no duty to retreat. Illinois is one of 33 states with no duty to retreat. No duty to retreat IS Stand Your Ground.

Links: SB 2386 Public Act 093-0832, 720 ILCS 5/

Instalanche! Thanks Glenn!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was born on Fathers’ Day, and every so often my birthday falls on Fathers’ Day again. It did last year.

It was the Queen’s Birthday a few years ago (the date the UK celebrates, not her actual birthday which is in April).

I share my birthday with MC Escher, Newt Gingrich, Mohammed El Baeredai, the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Erin and Diane Murphy (Tabitha Stephens from Bewitched), Venus Williams, Barry Manilow, Greg Kinnear, Jason Patric, Thomas Hayden Church, Bobby Farrelly, Mark Linn Baker, Ralph Bellamy, Joe Piscopo, Kimber Eastwood (Clint‘s daughter), James Shigeta, George Clinton, Kami Cotler (the Waltons – Goodnight Elizabeth), Will Forte (SNL), and more.

I also share my birthday with Twitter friends @onefinejay and @littlebytesnews!

Some Bags I Made

I made a bag for my “Rollator” walker-cart. There is a basket that fits below the seat, but it doesn’t hold a lot, and can interfere with the seat. So I made this bag that will hold water bottles, lunch, and has a bottle holder on the side for convenience. The main bag zips shutand there are three pockets on the front for smaller items that I want quick access to such as a phone or camera. I can still use the basket if I want.

It attaches to the cart with some buckles that were salvaged from an old pair of snow pants and velcro attaches on either side of the seat for stabilization. It’s easily removable for travel.

walkerbagfront walkerbagback
I made a purse in the same fabric with an adjustable strap. It has a small pocket insideand two zippered pockets on the outside, one on each side. smallpurse
I carry this black purse a lot. It has a couple of pockets inside for my Kindle and Nexus 7. My iPad Mini is too big for those pockets by just *thismuch*. I didn’t have the iPad when I made the bag. It also has two outside pockets on each side and another zippered pocket inside. blackbag
This one is a convertible bag that can be worn cross-body or around the waist. It has clips so the bag can be detached from the belt when worn around the waist. Detaching the bag can make it easier to find something combobag

Daylight Saving Time

Set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to sleep tonight. It’s Daylight Saving Time. clock

Of course, if you’re up, you can set them to 3:00 am when the clock strikes 2:00 am.

Many clocks in your home will change automatically, the cordless phones, the cable boxes, computers.

Don’t forget your programmable thermostats, microwaves, stoves, coffee pots and other appliances when changing the clocks.

Don’t forget your vehicle too.

Change your clocks and you won’t be an hour early to church.

 

Now is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
smoke detector

 

 

Spring is just around the corner!

Great Song

We sang this song at church last week and again yesterday. I love it.

Roadside Memorials

I’m sorry you lost your loved one to some kind of accident. You and your family have my condolences.

But that’s it. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know who your loved one was. I don’t know the circumstances of the accident. I don’t know when it happened. All I know is that some time in the past someone’s loved one died nearby.

I don’t know if the deceased was old or young, male or female, married or single. I don’t know if she was a mother or he was a father. I don’t know if the children left behind were young or adults. Maybe this person was a beloved uncle or aunt. Had just started college or just finished. Finally had that dream job. Just got married. Just found out the family would be growing.

I also don’t know the circumstances of the accident. Was it a single- or multi-vehicle crash? Was the driver responsible drunk or high? Had she just broken up with her boyfriend and was driving angry and with tears in her eyes so she didn’t see the oncoming car? Were the road or weather conditions dry and clear or wet, icy or slippery? Was it night or day?

I don’t know any of this from a roadside memorial. I might see a cross. I might see it covered with limp balloons, dying flowers, and rotting stuffed animals. All that it tells me is that someone died there.

It doesn’t help me avoid whatever caused that accident.

If you must buy a teddy bear or other stuffed animal, take it to the police station, fire station, or a local hospital or emergency room. Put a note on it to say who it’s in memory of. Police and Fire personnel can give it to a child who is need of comfort. Maybe their house just burned down. Or there’s a domestic or criminal issue going on and the child needs to be removed for his or her own safety. Maybe a child’s been in an accident and brought to the emergency room. Her parent is hurt as well. Other adults in her life can’t get to her right away. A teddy bear can help comfort her or keep her company while she waits. A stuffed animal can help a child in chronic care in the hospital too. The nurses will know which child would be best served.

The child can be told that the gift is from an angel in heaven. And it will be.

Twitter Clients

I am looking for a Twitter client for Windows 7 that will allow me to monitor multiple Twitter accounts at once and have an option to remain static until I refresh it. I hate it when I’m reading something and it disappears because it’s auto-updated.

I went to Seesmic and Tweetdeck today to check out their browser-based and desktop-based options but I am having issues with both of them. I have accounts with both because I used to have them both installed on an old computer.

When I went to Seesmic I tried to log in with my email address and password. It said I had incorrect credentials and to try again. So I clicked the <Forgot your password?> link. I put in my email address and it came back with: “Something went wrong, or we could not find the email in the database”. Then when I tried to sign up, it told me my email address is already in the database, use another.

When I went to Tweetdeck I had a similar problem. I tried to log in with my credentials and it said to “Please check your password.” So I clicked the <Forgot your password?> link there too. The screen flashed for a moment, but nothing else happened. No confirmation that the request was received, no notification that an email would be sent, nothing. A short while later I received an email with a link to change the password. I clicked the link and entered the new password twice as required. Then it told me I hadn’t requested a password change – or I had clicked the link twice. Nope. I hadn’t clicked it twice.

I just tried again and got a notice that an email was sent., but it’s been half an hour and I haven’t received the email.

Tried again and received an email. Clicked the link, entered the new password twice. Received this:

Password Reset

Sorry, xxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx, it seems that there’s no record of you requesting to reset your password.

It’s probably because the password reset link that you clicked on in your email has expired or isn’t valid anymore (meaning, you’ve already clicked on it once).

Please request a new one.

This is all very frustrating.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Update: Finally got logged in to Tweetdeck. Still no luck with Seesmic. (01/03/13 10:50 pm CST)

 

mm-5