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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

To love and to cherish

Mildred D. LovingJuly 22, 1939 - May 02, 2008
Resided In:
MIlford VA
Funeral Home:
Cedell Brooks Funeral Home

Visitation:
May 09, 2008

Service:
May 10, 2008

Cemetery:
St. Stephens Baptist Church Cemetery

Mildred Delores Jeter Loving, went home to be with her Heavenly Father on Friday, May 2, 2008. She was home surrounded by her her family.

Mildred was born July 22, 1939 to the late Theoliver ''Jake'' Jeter and Musiel Byrd Jeter in Caroline County, Virginia.

Mildred attended public schools in Caroline County. She joined St. Stephens Baptist Church at an early age.

Mildred was married on June 2, 1958, to the late Richard Perry Loving. From this union, three children were born, Sidney, Donald and Peggy. The love she had for her family and home put her through trials and tribulations, but she persevered.

Mildred was recognized by the ACLU and received a Human Rights Award in 1992.

Mildred was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Loving and son, Donald Loving.

Mildred leaves to cherish her memory, a devoted and loving daughter, Peggy Fortune of Central Point; her loving son, Sidney Jeter(Mary) of Tappahannock, Virginia; daughter-in-law, Kathi Loving of Woodford, Va; eight grandchildren, Michael, Mark(who was especially devoted to his grandmother), Eligenia, LaTasha, Sylvia, Sterling, Donald,II and Tracy(who was also very special to her); eleven great-grandchildren; two brothers, Douglas Jeter(Ida) of Milford, Va and Lewis Jeter(Eileen) of Clinton, Maryland; special friends, Joan Ware, Danneha Coleman, Shirley Johnson, Leslie Houser and Phyllis Jeter; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and other family members.

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Mildred Loving died last Friday, 2 May 2008.
Because of Mrs. Loving and her husband, Richard, we became more like God has always wanted us to be. We became more Christian, more loving.

For over 400 years before Mildred Loving married two people who loved each other but by accident of birth were of two different races by law in many states couldn't marry each other.


Of course in the eyes of God they could.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

May Day, May Day, May Day !

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Deaths in each week from 2003–2007



Deaths per day from vehicle bombs

Deaths per day from vehicle bombs

Deaths pre day from gunfire / executions

Deaths per day from gunfire / executions

Incidents Individuals
IBC page Latest incidents added Date
k9783 One by roadside bomb near Shaab stadiurm Zayuna, Baghdad 17 Mar
k9780 Policeman by roadside bomb, Amirat Street, Mansour, Baghdad 17 Mar
k9779 Six children by mortar on house, Sawmar, northeast Baghdad 17 Mar
k9777 Four bodies found tortured and shot in grave in Wardiyah, Madaen 17 Mar
k9776 Body of woman found tortured and shot in Zubair, near Basra 17 Mar
k9775 51-54 by female suicide bomber in Kerbala 17 Mar
k9768 Policeman and driver found decapitated, Harmat, east Mosul 16 Mar
k9766 Bystander by car bomb in Mansour, Baghdad 16 Mar
k9765 2-3 police in clashes with Mehdi Army in Hwedir, north of Baquba 16 Mar
k9764 Five bodies found shot dead in Baghdad 16 Mar
k9763 Three bodies found tortured and shot in Basra 16 Mar
k9762 1-2 by suicide bomber at KDP HQ in Nabi Younis, Mosul 16 Mar
k9784 Bodies of 3 kidnapped Awakening Council members found in Udhaim 15 Mar-
17 Mar
k9753 Contractor working for Georgian troops found tortured and shot in Numaniya 15 Mar-
16 Mar
k9756 Street cleaner by roadside bomb in trash can, Karradah, Baghdad 15 Mar
k9755 Two bodies found tortured and shot in Baghdad 15 Mar
k9752 Man iin crossfire between police and gunmen, western Kut 15 Mar
k9754 1-2 in clashes between police and Mahdi Army in Kut 14 Mar-
15 Mar
k9751 Two by mortar shells, Al-Maymunah, Kut 14 Mar
k9750 Former national football player shot dead, Al-Yarmuk, Baghdad 14 Mar

See all records…

Download CSV file

Casualties in Iraq
The Human Cost of Occupation

Edited by Margaret Griffis :: Contact
American Military Casualties in Iraq
Date
Total
In Combat
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03):40653315
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) (the list)
3926
3207
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03):36043009
Since Handover (6/29/04):32062682
Since Election (1/31/05):26282419
American WoundedOfficialEstimated
Total Wounded:2991123000 - 100000
Latest Fatality May 1, 2008
Page last updated 05/1/08 8:53 pm EDT
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
IBC page Name or personal identifier Date
k9753-ec1226 Athir Ibrahim 15 Mar
k9752-dx1355 Hussein Awda / Hussein Ouda 15 Mar
k9750-xa1285 Munther Khalaf / Munthir Khalaf 14 Mar
k9746-dz1289 Shakir Farman, son of tribal chief 14 Mar
k9736-fz1295 Paulos Faraj Rahho 13 Mar
k9731-ck1384 Qassim Abdul Hussein al-Iqabi / Qasim al-Akabi 13 Mar
k9723-fw1365 Abd-al-Haydari / Saed al-Haidery 12 Mar
k9721-bz1307 Wife of dead man 12 Mar
k9707-eu1341 Abeer Abed al-Kadhim 11 Mar
k9705-uz1333 Abbas Jihad 11 Mar
k9699-xn1353 Cousin of Thaer Saggban al-Karkhi 10 Mar
k9699-vc1154 Niece of Thaer Saggban al-Karkhi 10 Mar
k9699-xh1283 Thaer Saggban al-Karkhi / ThairGhadhban al-Karkhi 10 Mar
k9694-sx1345 Khalid Nasir al-Mayyahi / Khalid Nasir al-Miyahi / Khalid Nasir 9 Mar
k9663-eb1265 Son of dead woman 9 Mar
k9685-bk1359 Son of dead woman 8 Mar
k9685-nz1238 Daughter of dead woman 8 Mar
k9684-kd1312 Son of Abid Eid 8 Mar
k9684-xb1371 Abid Eid 8 Mar
k9673-nd1300 Hisham Mohammed 6 Mar
k9645-dv1355 Abdul Sattar Tahir Sharif / Abdulsattar Taha Shareef 5 Mar
k9644-ev1264 Cousin of dead brothers 5 Mar
k9644-sz1285 Brothers 5 Mar
k9631-xk1194 Wife of dead man 4 Mar
k9619-hc1303 Qassim Abid Filaih / Qasim Abid Fuleih 3 Mar

See all records…

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Devil Wins Again

Bush was interrupted by applause as he said, "In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed."

Court upholds lethal injection

The 7-to-2 ruling is expected to end a de facto moratorium on executions nationwide.
By Warren Richey Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the April 17, 2008 edition

Washington - Lethal-injection procedures in Kentucky do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
In a 7-to-2 decision announced on Wednesday, the US Supreme Court upheld the injection procedures used by Kentucky officials to execute condemned prisoners. The majority justices ruled that the existing procedures do not pose a "substantial risk of serious harm."
The action opens the way for an end to a de facto national moratorium on lethal injection executions that has been in place since the fall.
In deciding the case, Baze v. Rees, the high court established a new, more rigorous constitutional test of execution methods under the Eighth Amendment. But the justices declined to embrace a significantly stricter constitutional test that lawyers for death-row inmate Ralph Baze had urged.
They had asked the high court to invalidate Kentucky's three-drug lethal injection protocol because, they said, it posed an unnecessary risk that Mr. Baze would endure an unacceptable level of pain and suffering.
In rejecting that standard, the majority justices said there is no Eighth Amendment requirement that a government-sanctioned execution be pain-free. The Eighth Amendment requires that an execution procedure not involve "a 'substantial' or 'objectively intolerable' risk of serious harm," writes Chief Justice John Roberts in the court's main opinion.
"A stay of execution may not be granted on grounds such as those asserted here unless the condemned prisoner establishes that the state's lethal injection protocol creates a demonstrated risk of severe pain," Chief Justice Roberts writes. "He must show that the risk is substantial when compared to the known and available alternatives."
Roberts adds: "A state with a lethal injection protocol substantially similar to the protocol we uphold today would not create a risk that meets this standard."
The plurality opinion, written by Roberts, was joined in full by only two other justices, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito. Justice John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Stephen Breyer concurred in the judgment only.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter filed a dissent. Justice Ginsburg said she would have remanded the case to the lower courts with instructions to consider whether the failure to include available safeguards in execution procedures creates an "untoward, readily avoidable risk of inflicting severe and unnecessary pain."
The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by lawyers for Baze and a second death-row inmate, Thomas Bowling. The lawyers maintained that the lethal injection protocol used by Kentucky and other states involved too high a risk that personnel might botch the procedure and cause the condemned inmate to experience excruciating pain.
Thirty-six states and the federal government use lethal injection as the preferred method of execution.
Twenty states and the federal government filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the Supreme Court to uphold Kentucky's lethal-injection program. Opponents of the death penalty urged the high court to set a high standard to reduce the risk of the kinds of botched executions that have taken place in several states. They said Kentucky's lethal-injection protocol did not meet minimal standards used to euthanize dogs and cats.
At the heart of the Baze case was a hypothetical scenario vividly portraying what Baze might experience if the execution protocol was not followed precisely.
Under the three-drug protocol used in Kentucky, the first drug administered is a barbiturate that is intended to render the inmate unconscious. Next, the inmate receives a dose of a drug that causes total paralysis. Finally, potassium chloride is injected to stop the heart.
The concern is that if the first drug fails to work properly the inmate will remain mentally aware as the other drugs are injected. Medical experts agree that a condemned inmate will endure unbearable pain and suffering from the injection of the potassium chloride. But because he has just been paralyzed by the second drug, the inmate will be unable to show any sign of distress. To an observer, the inmate may appear to have gone peacefully to sleep. But some experts say the inmate may, in fact, be fully conscious and in agony during his final moments of life.
At least two states, Missouri and Florida, have taken steps to prevent this scenario by requiring verification that the inmate is unconscious prior to the administration of the other two drugs. Critics say properly trained medical professionals are needed to ensure the procedure is as pain-free as possible. But ethics codes bar medical professionals from participating in executions.
In his plurality opinion, Roberts said Kentucky had established a number of safeguards to prevent botched executions. They included requiring members of the injection team to have at least one year of professional experience as a certified medical assistant or paramedic. In addition, the state requires the warden and deputy warden to be present in the execution chamber and available to watch for problems.
"In light of these safeguards, we cannot say that the risks identified by [the inmates] are so substantial or imminent as to amount to an Eighth Amendment violation," Roberts writes.
"Much of [the inmates'] case rests on the contention that they have identified a significant risk of harm that can be eliminated by adopting alternative procedures," he writes. But the Eighth Amendment does not require the invalidation of execution methods whenever a slightly or marginally safer alternative is identified.
"Permitting an Eighth Amendment violation to be established on such a showing would threaten to transform courts into boards of inquiry charged with determining 'best practices' for executions," the chief justice writes.
In his concurrence, Justice Stevens says he supported the plurality result because it was in line with Supreme Court precedent. But he urged his fellow justices – and the nation – to begin a reexamination of the death penalty."The time for dispassionate, impartial comparison of the enormous costs that death-penalty litigation imposes on society with the benefits that it produces has surely arrived," he writes.
Justice Stevens said he believes the high court's decision in the Kentucky case will spark further litigation. "Instead of ending the controversy, I am now convinced that this case will generate debate not only about the constitutionality of the three-drug protocol," Stevens writes, "but also about the justification for the death penalty itself."



Find this article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0417/p01s06-usju.html

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