This is is absolutely the correct and common sense ruling, so I'm seriously surprised that it comes from such a reliably Republican state. There will doubtless be death threats and impeachment hearings...

Wow, this is some clever legal shit, if I'm grokking it right. And I might be grokking it wrong, so straighten me out if I'm mistaken, please.

A wingnut kills six people at a school, and gets shot dead by cops. As is the style with these things, he leaves behind journals full of hate and wingnuttery. Now, here's where it gets weird: The killer's parents, being decent people, transfer the killer's entire estate, including the writings, to the victims' families, and they go to court asserting that any release of the wingnut writings would violate their copyright, as owners of the estate. The judge agrees, so the journals won't be published, and haters won't get the hate fuel they yearn for.

I ain't sure whether it's right in principle — gets complicated, if you think about the possible precedent. But dang me, it is clever, and if it smothers a dead madman's free speech rights, well, guess I'm OK with that.

Being old, death gets my attention, so I read the obituaries. This is a collection of recent obits, mostly of people whose work touched my life, because I want to say thanks (or maybe give 'em a final fuck you).

There’ll be a roundup like this occasionally, until I’m on the list myself.

   
Marty Atkins
forgotten person

Jewel Brown
sang with Louis Armstrong's band

Orlando Cepeda
baseballer, San Francisco Giants

Bill Cobbs
actor, *Night at the Museum *

Grace Davis
forgotten person

Tom Fowler
rock'n'roller, The Mothers of Invention

Kinky Friedman
singer-songwriter, "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Any More"

Leah Levin
good guy

Don Madden
cartoonist, Playboy

Jonathan Morano
writer, Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Russell Morash
DIY TV producer

Martin Mull
actor, Fernwood Tonight

Marty Pavelich
hockeyer, Detroit Red Wings

Mildred Thornton Stahlman
saved newborn babies

Martin Stolar
good guy

Robert Towne
screenwriter, Chinatown

   
Previously dead

40+ years ago, the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier was literally all the rage. On my side of the political spectrum, people protested and wrote letters to their Congress-critters. Being young and skeptical, I did some research, which back then meant an afternoon with microfiche news archives at the library, and I walked away certain that there was AT LEAST reasonable doubt of his guilt.

Which makes his conviction false, his imprisonment unjust.

These days nobody much talks about Peltier, and he's just had parole denied again. The feds are still adamant that he's guilty, overjoyed that he remains in prison. I remain unconvinced that he's guilty, and if he is, 48 years in prison seems ample punishment, but he'll doubtless die there.

... "The idea of rounding up unhoused folks and forcing them into camps or out of the jurisdiction entirely is obviously very concerning. And it should be of grave concern, because once something is invisible, you don’t know what’s happening to the already really vulnerable people living there." ...

Being old, death gets my attention, so I read the obituaries. This is a collection of recent obits, mostly of people whose work touched my life, because I want to say thanks (or maybe give 'em a final fuck you).

There’ll be a roundup like this occasionally, until I’m on the list myself.

   
Bruce Bastian
WordPerfect

John Everett Benson
tomb carver

Rick Bevel
forgotten man

Johnny Boone
Cornbread Mafia

Mike Brumley
baseballer, Seattle Mariners

Buzz Cason
songwriter, "Everlasting Love"

James Chance
saxman

Ed Denson
good guy

Evans Evans
actress, Bonnie and Clyde

Maya Pines Froomkin
journalist & mom

Willie Mays
said 'hey'

Tamayo Perry
surfer

Paul Pressler
Christian child rapist

Donald Sutherland
actor, Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Anthea Sylbert
costume designer, Carnal Knowledge

T, a/k/a Vega
good guy

unnamed
forgotten man

Ben Vautier
artist who loved his wife

   
Previously dead