Monthly Archives: April 2025

I am Quite Conflicted About the Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione

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Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering a health care executive, will face a federal death penalty if the DOJ and Pam Bondi get their way, and I admit that doesn’t sit right with me.

Now, it is not that I am ideologically opposed to capital punishment. That debate is far more complex than the space here would allow me to elaborate on but in closely defined cases I think it is warranted.

Nor is it that I think the troubles and evils of the for-profit health care system in any wayjustify that murder, Our  for-profit health care system trades lives for cash and that is fucking repulsive but Mangione’s actions, if guilty, saved not a single life. I understand the rage that propelled such action, but understanding and condoning are very different things.

I can see and even condone the use of the death penalty for calculated premeditated acts of murder for political purposes.

What I know for a fact is that this Department of Justice, this vacuous-headed Attorney General, and this administration has zero interest in fair, dispassionate, and unbiased justice. Luigi Mangione is facing the death penalty not from any sense of justice or cool logical conclusion but because this is the sort of crime that has deep personal meaning to the corrupt people of this administration. While conversely, they liberated the criminals that they see as allies and fellow travelers. The violent terrorists that attempted to overthrow a free election received pardons, allies under investigation find those investigations dropped.

This is the fascist heart of the Trump administration.

For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.

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First Episode Review: MOBLAND

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Sunday saw the release on Paramount+ of Mobland, billed as ‘from the criminal world of Guy Ritchie.’

Paramount+

Set in the milieu of the present-day London world of criminal gangs and families of organized crime, Mobland seems to focus on the rivalry between competing families The Harrigans, led by Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) his wife Maeve (Helen Mirren) an assortment of their adult children along with the family’s chief fixer, Harry (Tom Hardy) and The Stevensons, led by Ritchie (Geoff Bell).

After an unexplained night out together between Eddie Harrigan and Tommy Stevenson leads to crisis the tensions between the family ramps up when Tommy Stevenson goes missing the open warfare is place in the table by his concerned father.

Amid the growing conflict Conrad Harrigan learns of a treason in his inner circle creating pressure on his organization in addition what is coming from the Stevensons.

The initial episode introduces a bewildering number of characters in the cast, some of which may turn out to be less consistent in their appearances than others but still requiring a sharp focus while watching. Mobland like much of Guy Ritchie’s crime movies, is not something one can take in casually while on a mobile device or performing household chores. To follow the intricate plotting and large cast demand attention.

In my opinion it is worth that attention. These are deeply crafted characters being performed by a very talented cast. Of course, an opening episode directed by a major director may not show the entire show’s true quality but so far this is something to look forward to each week.

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