Side Hustle:

A job or occupation that brings in extra money beyond one's regular job and main source of income. United States Supreme Court Justices annual salaries are between two hundred eighty-five thousand and four hundred dollars to two hundred ninety-eight thousand and five hundred dollars with chief Justice John Roberts being the highest paid Justice. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas annual salary is two hundred and sixty thousand dollars a year, and according to Forbes his net worth in 2023 is thirty-two million dollars, he may be worth more than that because of federal ethics laws Justices are only allowed to disclose those assets that might pose a Conflict of interest

Justice Ihomas questionable ethics behavior. have been long and extensive, from his accepting of trips and gifts from GOP megadonor and developer Harlan Crow including trips on his private jet and superyacht without disclosing them on financial disclosures as federal law requires. His marriage to Virginia "Ginni" Thomas should be a conflict of interest. She is a right-wing activist, which have raised considerable ethics concerns between her and her husband's work. She belongs to a group that submitted briefs before the Supreme Court that has weighed in on overturning the affirmative action laws in university admissions. Surely those laws have benefited Justice Thomas along his career.

Justice Thomas isn't the only one with questionable behavior, Justice Samuel Alito took a luxury fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer, whose hedge fund has repeatedly had business before the court, without disclosing it which Justice Alito defended his actions claiming he didn't know about Singer's connection to the cases before the Court, nor did he feel obligated to report it. Justice Sonia Sotomayer's staff have been accused of prodding public institutions to pay for her lunch while she spoke at the schools. That minor infraction could be considered an ethics violation. So on top of their annual salaries some of these Justices have used the authority of their position as a side hustle.

Gullah, Georgia is down deep in the south, which happens to be the home of associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Growing up poor and in the Jim Crow south fuel young Clarence that he would face racism and discrimination his entire life. He chose to be a lawyer over being a Catholic Priest because of the racism he faced even from his religion. His meteoric climb to the highest court in the land is historical. Yet he has decided not to truly make a difference for his people or his religion, instead he's basically trying to dismantle the same laws that allowed him to reach the pinnacle of being a Judge. To all of those rich "friends" he has, he will always be that boy from Gullah, Georgia!

The international community issued a scathing report about Iran. It condemned the country for its excessive number of executions so far this year. The killiing spree has the powers that be around the world in an uproar at Iran, with about 282 people executed so far this year, it has nearly doubled their total from this time last year. With their use of the death penalty for less serious crimes like drug-related offenses and anti-government protests, which violates international laws that limit the use of capital punishment to only the most serious crimes.

The "Sweet Home" state of Alabama brutally tortured three men last year in their reckless bloodlust. They forced these men to the execution chamber and poked and prodded on them for hours, trying to insert intravenous lines. Each man that went through the process was left bloodied and two came back a shell of their former selves. One of the tortured, Joe Nathan James Jr didn't return because Mr James was acting as his own lawyer and Alabama silenced him with heavy sedation to the point that he couldn't open his eyes. That move stands in direct conflict with his due process rights, and to make matters worse, the family of the victim didn't even want Mr James to be executed, but the ancient governor in this state didn't even bother to answer their phone calls. So ultimately, no justice for the Hall family.

A person or organization who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right, but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs. The hypocrisy of the international community is appalling when it comes to the silence it has shown toward the western countries who still have the death penalty. Their response to the way Alabama and other states in America have been carrying out torturous executions by any means is silence. Even with the states proposing to use an archaic method that involves using gas in executions, nothing and no response from the international community. With the silence the international human rights community has become complacent (and complicit) to what is going on in America, and the "Sweet Home" state of Alabama

Jeffery Lee

Z-674

L-12

When people are being wronged and we do nothing, then we're just as guilty as the perpetrators. The international community will sanction Iran, but no sanctions for America. We live in a world of double standards and hypocrisy. Here's a question to ponder. Does Alabama condone and support the despicable acts of Iran, or do they condemn them along with the rest of the international community!? Where is Alabama in this conversation?

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/06/iran-prisons-turned-into-killing-fields-as-drug-related-executions-almost-triple-this-year/

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Secrets: The Hidden Truth of Lethal Injections

 

A secret is something not known or seen or meant to be known or seen by others. Lethal injection in this country started out as the more humane form of execution. The electric chair, hanging and the firing squad were seen as an extreme form of execution. Now the secrets of lethal injection have come to the light.

States have vehemently tried to pass legislation trying to shroud lethal injection protocol in secrecy. When there’s a need to hide any aspect of capital punishment it’s because the need to hide something. By having a secrecy bill give the states even more of an advantage, because defendants will not be able to prove that any constitutional rights are violated if the procedure is cloaked in secrecy. States have been inclined to whatever it takes to execute an individual regardless of numerous execution being botched on mishandled, a lot of these botched executions is swept under the rug because of secrets that is hidden by new state “law”.

The last few execution attempts in the State of Alabama something have happened that went against procedure of how it use to go. Now with the changing of procedures on a need to kill basis allowed for numerous botched executions. 

Doyle Lee Hamm was punctured over ten times by executioners trying to find a viable vein in Mr. Hamm’s lower extremities, that an ultrasound already showed doesn’t exist. So Alabama didn’t run out of time as was portrayed, the torture was so horrendous that the state stopped trying to find a vein that’s not even there. Multiple guys have shown the signs of life even after they supposed to be already dead. They have gasped for air, opened their eyes, tried raising their heads and arms off of the gurney, but all of this is supposed to be legal when we don’t know the protocol that states supposed to follow and Alabama don’t even have a secrecy bill as state law.

This need to kill agenda have spread through all levels the government. Even those courts that chose to be silent and turn a blind eye to the injustice is playing a part in the injustice. Why even have constitutional rights and laws when the people elected to inforce them go out of their way to break them. The wheat and tare is supposed to grow up together yet there is more wheat that is being locked away and the tare is continuing to grow and the secrets need to come to light.

 

Jeffery Lee

The Caring Christian

Just – Ice

 

The quality of being just; fairness. The principle of moral rightness; equity. The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law. The administration and procedure of law. To treat adequately, fairly, or with full appreciation. This is the American Heritage Dictionary the Fourth Edition definition of what justice is.

Justice was originally designed to be carried out by fair and impartial elected officials. The climate of the fairness for justice started to heat up charged by selfish individuals hunger to hold on the power. As the heated hunger for power and notoriety intensified in the hearts of elected officials, the effectiveness of the justice system started to cool. Only a select few of privilege individuals actually see the effectiveness of the justice system. The rest experience the cold reality of a flawed system. For example wrongful convictions, mass incarcerations, police brutality is some of the fruit that have been produced from the chilling of the justice system.

The phrase “innocent until proven guilty” was a staple of the American justice system, when in fact certain ethnic groups is automatically assume guilty even before any evidence of guilt is presented in a court of law. The thirst of political ambition have clouded the judgement of individuals whose guilt by sight mentality doesn’t even allow our justice system to work like it supposed to. The cold-blooded mentality have turned the temperature of justice to sub-freezing levels. 

There’s no fairness in the way justice is carried out in this country. The laws isn’t being administered properly, we have judges and district attorneys seeking harsher sentences only to impress their constituents to vote to keep them in office. The original role of the justice system is null and void. So we’re left with an ice cold justice system that can’t be trusted to be fair and impartial. Yet don’t blame Lady Justice because she can’t see our differences, it’s the ones given the authority to carry out the just-ice system that’s cold-hearted!

 

Jeffery Lee

The Caring Christian

 

2016 “The Year Before”

 

 

 

This year came in like just another year. Most cities hosted many New Year’s Eve celebrations. Most Americans celebrated the incoming year by having a few drinks with family and friends. Some had parties watching the clocks tick down to 12:00. This year offered some a chance to start fresh with a clean slate. With most people making resolutions to become healthier and living a better life.

 

The political season has been in full swing for months now. There is a similar feel to the election season of 91 and 92. There was an excited republican field seeking to maintain control of the White House, with the Democratic Party seeking to get back into the White House. The Republicans had control of the White House since the seventies. They were able to shape this country in ways that did a lot more damage than good from sentencing laws to the electing of Unites States Supreme Court judges which have put into place some laws that helped America and hurt America. This year the Democratic Party is seeking to maintain control of the White House. Each party has some of the same families seeking the opportunities to lead this nation one again. In 1991 the Bush family had control of the White House and an ex Arkansas governor named William Clinton was seeking the office of President of The United States of America seeking to become the first democratic governor since the seventies. Now, in 2016 we have the Bushes and Clintons seeking control of power of the United States of America with Hillary Clinton wanting to be the first woman to hold the office. Jeb Bush seeking to become the first family to have a father and two sons to become president. So, 2016 has come in similar fashion as years long gone by.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the year and everyone is still trying to maintain their commitment to their resolutions. I know some have failed with their commitment and some are going strong. I don’t make resolutions, I just try and enjoy the year and live better than the year before and for the past sixteen years I have been bringing in the New Year sitting in an 8x5 single man cell with mostly the same routine. By being on my knees praying, and thanking God for giving me life and health for another year. Sometimes, we overlook the small things of life and chase after the major and big things. So, I hope and pray that this year brings with it positive blessing and is better than the last. Have a blessed and happy New Year and may God’s blessing be upon all.

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian

Who to Blame?

 

Am I the victim of circumstances or am I the victim of my environment? Could I be the product of a horrible up-bringing? Could it be I am the victim of being trapped in the color of my skin? Or was this whole circumstance I find myself in a byproduct at the hand of my own choosing? Did I make this problem that I now want so desperately to get myself out of? Who to blame?

I was born and raised in a small, rural town in South Central Alabama. My city was steep in the history of the fight for civil rights. Though my city is predominately black, there were so few blacks who held a place of power in the political forum of government in my city. So there was an intense fight to keep the old Jim Crow laws in place. So by the time I was born, the signs of the older days was still around. The hate for those that was similar to me was available. I was raised in a way that we should have respect for all of our elders, regardless of race or gender. So I was raised in the right way.

My family wasn’t the richest nor were we the poorest. I was raised in a dual parent home, a member of a very big family. Though a lot of our wants wasn’t met, our needs were generally supplied. There was love expressed in my house but in a way by having food on the table, bills paid. We was made to go to church until we was old enough to make our own decision and most of the time I chose to not attend church. Not saying that our family was perfect, far from it, we have our problems and struggles. Though we wasn’t perfect, we still did our best to show the love to each other.

The judicial system in my city have had a history of racial bias. There have been countless mistakes made by the prosecutors from using all of their strikes to form juries to fit a racial demographic. There have been time where prosecutorial misconduct have taken place. There have been cases where some cases have been over turned based on the prosecution neglect to reveal evidence to help a defendant to avoid prosecution. Being a person of color, the court system may seem like it is against our people. According to facts you are more likely to be convicted if you are a person of color and you commit a crime against a white person. Some say facts are just that facts but facts can be changed through work and effort because facts aren’t truth.

I have been a victim of circumstance all of my life. The deck have been stacked against me all of my life. So I fell victim to my own reality, to where I used my city’s history to cultivate a violent lifestyle. I allowed my city’s history to mold my way of thinking, my way of living. So who can we blame for the place we find our self? We can’t really place the blame in anyone area. There is really enough blame to go around but most of the time we don’t accept the responsibility of blame for our action. I am not going to say who is the blame for where I am, but I will say that mistakes was on every level of this journey to death row. Some of it is acknowledge and most of it will not ever be acknowledge. So continue to strive to become better in every aspect of your life regardless of the circumstance of your life.

Jeffrey Lee
The Caring Christian

Flawed

 

Flawed: a small, often hidden defect

 

A small and often hidden defect, flawed. Lethal injection, the hidden danger that have been kept hidden from view for a murder of years. Only a small glimpse into state’s death chambers have taken place so the flawed procedure of the lethal injection procedure have finally starting to come to light!

Our nation death houses have been on a decline in the last five years, only because the original suppliers of the toxic drugs have come to a moral conclusion that the lethal injection drugs wasn’t produced to take life but to save life. So most states decided to come up with more ideas to try and cover-up the flawed procedure that is called lethal injections. Now state have started to scramble more to keep the veil of lethal injection hidden.

Lethal injection legislation have been put into place and as trying to be put into place where the supplier of the toxic drugs for lethal injection to be kept secret. Alabama secrecy bill failed to acquire the number of votes to pass. Senator Cam Ward was quoted in saying that turning to another form of execution would be a litigation nightmare, and that he has no doubt that the secrecy bill will be passed during the next legislation session, keeping the suppliers secret but liable should something go wrong. So fi Alabama lethal injection protocol is up to par, why try to pass a secrecy act to try and hide the name of suppliers, yet leaving room for the chance of something to go wrong?

Flawed and often hidden defect, normally when something is flawed it is normally deemed unusable. A race horse deemed flawed will not be allowed to compete in any kind of competitive race. Our death penalty procedure have been flawed from the beginning of its beginning whether on the basis of its racial tendency to its unconstitutionally of its humanity. Now the flaws at lethal injections that have been kept hiddenin the secrecy of the death houses have slowly starting to come to light. The use of toxic drugs that have expired or made in an unsanitary manner are taking its toll on the life of the condemned. So if something that have been flawed from the beginning and have no way to be carried out properly it’s time to abolish the procedure all together. We have done a poor job in unveiling to horrific details of a system that was supposed to provide a constitutional execution. So in order to obtain a flawless execution procedure is to have no execution procedure. Because the risk of something going wrong or executing an innocent individual should outweigh the thirst of revenge!

Jeffrey Lee
The Caring Christian

The death penalty has never been put on life support for the past few years. The majority of the country are still in favor of the death penalty, yet the country’s thirst for executions has waned over the past decades. Some states have even decided to abolish capital punishment all together. Yet some states are in denial and still search for ways to humanely execute people. As long as the death penalty is on life support states will continue to scramble for ways to murder people in the name of the states.

The United States Supreme Court wanted to put lethal injection out of its misery. The recant ruling that upheld the use of the controversial drug Midazolam as the primary first drug to be used in the lethal injection protocol. The court more liberal justices stopped just short of saying the death penalty in the United States could be unconstitutional, in direct violation of American constitutional eighth amendment right of cruel and unusual punishment. The court was bitterly divided in its debate of the death penalty in the United States. Glossip v. Gross was a very intense case before the United States Supreme Court, where the justices uncharacteristically involved more of their personal feelings when excessing the law pertaining to the death penalty.

Nebraska, decided to pull the plug on their death penalty in the month of June 2015. Nebraska hadn’t had an execution since 1997, when they were still using the electric chair. The Nebraska government who could be considered heavy conservative decided to focus on finding a more sound reason for ending capital punishment; it’s a very expensive government program that doesn’t work. The cost of capital punishment are significant. The death penalty cost states hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute, while non-death penalty cases cost only a fraction of the amount. Capital punishment original plan was to be a deterrent to crime, yet most states use the needle as a bargaining chip to force a plea deal and avoid an expensive trial.

Wake up America! The death penalty has become more of a nuisance than a deterrent. It has even come to a point where the associate Supreme Court justices engaged in an unconventional way of debating the death penalty by involving more of emotions and feelings, instead of the law and legality of the constitutionality of the death penalty. Whenever the United States decides to take the death penalty off of life support and give it it’s proper funeral that it deserves, then and only then can the country really start the healing process that we as a nation stands in need of because violence only begets more violence!

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring
Christian

The Last Days

 

The last days of the death penalty have been in sight for a while. Now, with some states scrambling to find a legitimate replacement for lethal injection. The law for lethal injection began in the spring of 1977 in the mind of William Wiseman Jr. Wiseman himself was a preacher’s kid who opposed the death penalty on religious grounds. Bill, as his friends call him, got with Dr. Jay Chapman, Oklahoma’s medical examiner who came up with the three-drug protocol called lethal injection.

The United States Supreme court decided to h ear an Oklahoma death penalty case in April involving the use of Midazolam. The Supreme Court decided to get involved in the details of executions because states left to themselves was allowing a lot of problems to occur. Botched executions after botched executions were beginning to happen on a regular basis. This isn’t the first time the United States Supreme Court has decided to weigh in on the lethal injection protocol, when it upheld Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol in the case of Baze v. Rees. In the Kentucky case they chose to uphold the lethal injection protocol.

The justices of the United States Supreme Court have decided to inject their emotional opinions in their assessment of lethal injection. The more liberal justices have decided to make the case against lethal injection. Justice Elena Kagan described the protocol in the recent case of Glossip v. Gross as the grim possibility of burning alive from the inside. The more conservative justices decided to show their frustration with the continued support against the death penaltyby their strategic questions with vivid adjectives used to describe the tactics opponents against the death penalty have used. Justice Samuel Alito was more aggressive with defense attorney Robin C. Konrad, the Oklahoma death row inmate’s lawyer. He was quoted in saying “Let us be honest about what’s going on here.” He mentioned, “the death penalty is very controversial and is it appropriate for the judiciary to countenance what amounts to a guerilla war against the death penalty which consists of efforts to make it impossible for the states to obtain drugs that could be used to carry out capital punishment with little, if any pain?”

William Wiseman Jr. died a tragic death in 2007 in a plane crash, yet the law he decided to push and help get into law thirty years later is still causing problems today. Even though he was morally against the death penalty he put aside his religious views to help give the people of Oklahoma what they thought they wanted. The death penalty should be overturned to the facts of the law instead of the force of judges’ feelings.

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian

 

Finding Peace in Prison

 

The search for peace can lead an individual to a lot of places. Some people credit their finding of peace to a higher being. People also assume the finding of peace hinges on the state of mind that they find themselves in. In order for you to find peace you must know what peace is. Peace for you may not be peace for me.

My definition of peace comes from the Hebrew root word of “Shalom”, it means to be well, to be great, to be friendly. I found myself in a lost place of prison, death row to be exact. In order for me to find peace in myself, I had to make peace with where I was at. In my search for peace, I found myself relying upon drugs, women, money. My mindset was, if I has enough money, I could smoke enough weed to become high enough to be able to sleep with enough women I would be content. Contentment always seemed to escape me right at the moment it was in my gasp. So, my search for peace continued.

My journey in prison began with an immature mind. I had a lot of growing up to do. When I realized that I was going to be in this place for a while, I decided I hat two choices before me. First, I could either remain in the place of immaturity and associate my peace with stuff that could be obtained physically. Or, I could gradually replace my childish behavior with those of a man. It wasn’t an easy task. I still struggle with my childish nature. I began to find peace inside of this prison when I started thinking outside of this prison. My thought process began to change when I started feeding my mind and spirit something different.

“The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” Psalms 29:11 (NIV). For me finding peace first I had to find myself, and I started placing into me the things that produces peace. My sense of direction started to change, the hatred and anger I built up overtime started to disappear. Though I have found peace inside of this prison, the process to keep the peace is an ongoing procedure. Once you stop practicing the process to produce the peace, you start to do those things that caused you to lose your peace in the first place. So, I encourage you guys who are in search of their peace, whether you’re in prison or in the world, find yourself a process that brings you peace even if others disagree with it, continue to do it. My peace comes from the supreme source which is Christ alone! So, I say Shalom!

Jefferey Lee

The Caring Christian

 

The Real Kill Bill Vol. 5

 

The writ of habeas corpus, Latin for “you have the body” is a centerpiece of Anglo-American law. It is a legal device developed approximately 300 years ago in England, which an individual can use to have their imprisonment reviewed by a court. If a court decides that the individual is imprisoned without legal sufficient reason, then it will order the individual freed. In fact, over 50 death row inmates have been released since 1976. Most times, when the court grants a writ that means the sentence will be modified on stand the need for a review.

It was spring of 1995, William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton is nearing the end of his first term as President of the United States of America. On a cold April morning in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the cold Wednesday morning started out no different than any other with peo0ple rushing to get to work. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Olkahoma City was opening. Two ex-army soldiers had meet at fort Benning in 1988 and during basic training had become friends with mutual hate for the federal government. Timothy McVeigh, a gulf war veteran, and Jerry Nichols had shared interests in survivalism. They concocted an idea of retaliation against the federal government for its handling of the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992 and the 1993 Waco siege. McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the siege at Waco. The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.

On April 27, 1995, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, also known as AEDPA was introduced to the Senate by former Senate majority leader Bob Dole, it was passed by the Senate on June 7, 1995 by a 91 % majority vote. It was passed on March 14, 1996 by the House of Congress without objection. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on April 24, 1996, almost a year to the date of the horrible Oklahoma City bombing. The bill intent and purpose was to deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, provide for an “effective death penalty and “other” purposes.

While the bill has several titles and provisions, the majority of criticism stems from the bill’s tightening of habeas corpus laws. Those in favor of the bill say that the bill prevents those convicted of violent crimes from escaping justice and avoiding just punishment by filing frivolous appeals for years on end, while critics argue that the inability to make multiple appeals increases the risk of an innocent person being killed. How many innocent people have been killed in this country directly related to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty bill of 1996? Who is the real Kill Bill??

To be continued … !

 

Jeffery Lee

I remain The Caring Christian

~ Can the Death Penalty in America Survive? ~

 

Can the death penalty in America survive, if states continue to murder people with lethal injection drugs that have been obtained in a manner that requires states to hide where they got them? Some states have decided to impose secrecy laws that have been aimed at protecting drug manufacturers of the potent lethal injection drugs.

 

While most people agree on both sides of the death penalty fight that lethal injection has its issues, most states doesn’t want to tackle those tough issues. The 9^th U.S. Circuit, who said of Arizona last execution it was time to go back to the firing squat, while other states have suggested going back to the electric chair. Death penalty opponents say lethal injection’s problems are another reason capital punishment should be abolished altogether. While most proponents accuse abolitionists of using issues with the specific method to undermine the entire enterprise of the death penalty which still has a majority support amongst America.

 

The United States Supreme Court hasn’t intervened in a manner that suggest they are willing to overturn the death penalty. Some states have decided the cost and length of time it takes to litigate the death penalty appeals is one of the reasons why they have turned away from capital punishment. While still legal in 32 states, only a handful conduct executions on a relatively regular basis. In the last decade, six states have formally abolished the death penalty, which brings the total to 18, plus the District of Columbia, even though in some states like Connecticut, capital punishment still had public support when lawmakers opted to end it.

 

So, the death penalty in America can and will survive as long as we have states such as Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania all of which have executions scheduled in the coming months, and appear unwilling to let go of the practice, even as further questions arise. So, in order to keep these executions which are botched sometimes going states have placed secrecy around the drug companies that are supplying the drugs and in most cases they don’t even answer questions about their sources and that is what is keeping these experimental, unpredictable executions going. So, sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always the popular thing, and abolishing the death penalty in the United States will not be the most popular decision, but I believe it will be the right decision.

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian

 

The Death of the Death Penalty!

 

Can we all agree that there is a problem with lethal injection? Some say the problem with lethal injection is, it isn’t being applied or used enough. Others will say that lethal injection is being used as a form of barbaric torture, by allowing horrendous pain to be felt by the condemned. So, are we witnessing the death of the death penalty?

 

Recent documents released by Arizona Department of Corrections shows that Joseph Woods received 750 mg each of Midazolam and Hydromorphone during the course of his execution. Woods began getting the drugs at 1:57 pm on July, 23^rd and was declared dead at 3:49 pm. The ADC stated that, Woods remained deeply sedated throughout the process and did not endure pain. The ADC execution protocol clearly states that a prisoner will be executed using 50 milligrams of Hydromorphone and 50 milligrams of Midazolam. The execution logs says, Joseph Woods was injected with 15 separate doses of the drug combination, not only violating Arizona’s execution protocol, but proving it doesn’t work. Arizona Republic newspaper reporter Michael Kiefer, who witnessed Woods’ execution said, “Woods gasped at least 640 times before he died”, “He gulped like a fish on land.”

 

President Barack Obama who is a supporter of capital punishment, instructed the Department of Justice to review the death penalty protocols, meaning despite the relative success of lethal injection in some cases, questions about its viability, particularly challenges in obtaining and administering the drugs involved aren’t likely to go away. Republican U.S. senator John McCain was quoted as saying “I believe in the death penalty for certain crimes, but that is not an acceptable way of carrying out. And people who were responsible should be held responsible.” He said “The lethal injection needs to be a lethal injection and not the bullocks-upped situation that just prevailed. That’s torture.”

 

As long a death is deemed quick and swift it is viewed as painless. The death that is drawn out over a long period of time is deemed as more horrendous and torturous. The facts about the death of anything, there is no coming from it. There must be some form of a funeral whether it’s a burial or a cremation. The death penalty was ruled unconstitutional once before, but law makers and judges just put it on life support to make it better. Now, the dark secrets of trying to improve on old ideas is starting to show. So, I believe the death of the death penalty should have already taken place, because anytime the ones who are sworn to uphold the law and follow protocol have started to break their own protocol and allow death by any means. It is time to stop making the death penalty suffer in the same ways that some recent executed men have, and allow for its death to be abolishment without the possibility of resurrection.

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian

 

 

The Morality of Lethal Injection

 

Morality is a word that has been attached to the death penalty since its beginning. The word literally means, the recognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong. Right or good conduct, the mental disposition or characteristics of behaving in a manner intended to produce morally good results. So, do you believe that current condition of lethal injection in the United States of America is a moral way of killing a human being?
December 2006 Angel Diaz, a convicted man in Florida, was put to death by lethal injection. Mr. Diaz grimaced on the gurney for twenty-six minutes. He sustained eleven-inch and twelve-inch chemical burns on his left and right arms respectively and took thirty-four minutes to die. July 2014 Joseph Woods, a convicted man in Arizona, was put to death by lethal injection. Witnesses say, he gasped and struggled to breathe for about an hour and forty minutes before he was pronounced dead. His lawyers had enough time to file an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court to halt the execution which was later denied hours after he was killed. Arizona Rep. Governor Jan Brewer insisted the execution was carried out “lawfully” and that according to eyewitnesses and medical accounts “he did not suffer”.
Basically, we have a set of procedures in place we call lethal injection, that doesn’t always work, we have literally considered it insufficiently inhumane to use on animals and were developed by someone with no relevant expertise in the field. The death penalty in America remains a controversial issue. It is a practice that reflects the belief that the states has the ultimate power to end a human’s life for committing a crime of murder. Lethal injection remains a social, moral and an emotionally charge debate around the death penalty and the method of lethal injection remains unresolved in America, which is reason alone not to have it form a moral standpoint.
The philosophy of morality is ethics, the moral code or “Golden Rule” which states, “one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.” The United States of America was founded on Godly principles and one of those Godly principles that comes to mind is Galatian 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: For whatsoever a man sowed; that shall he also reap.” So states, communities and humans “free” or “confined” are now reaping from the many years of sowing hell, hatred and destruction amongst its people from the founding of the US even though it wasn’t last because Native Americans were already here to slavery times to now present times. Lethal injection which is a product of our vast thirst for revenge upon the convicted. So, in order to change the outcome of a situation we call “lethal injection”, we must change the procedure of lethal injection and the only moral way to accomplish this is to abolish the death penalty procedure all together!

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian!

 

 

Who Is To Blame!

 

Am I the victim of circumstance, or am I the victim of my environment. Could I be the product of a horrible upbringing. Could it be I am the victim of being trapped in the color of my skin, or was this whole circumstance I find myself in a byproduct at the hand of my own choosing. Did I make this problem that I now want so desperately to get myself out of. Who should I blame.
I was born and raised in a small, rural town in south central Alabama. My city was steep in the history of the fight for civil rights a place of power in the political form of government in my city. So there was an intense fight to keep the old I in a row laws in place. So by the time I was born the signs of the older days was still around. The hate for those that was similar to me was available. I was raised in a way that we should have respect for all of our elders regardless of race or gender. So I was raised in the right way.
My family wasn’t the richest nor were we the poorest. I was raised in a dual parent home, a member of a big family. Though a lot of our wants wasn’t met our needs were generally supplied. There was a great amount of love expressed in my house in multiple ways. The bills were paid, and food was on the table. We were made to go to church until we were old enough to make our own decisions, and most of the time I chose not to go. Not saying our family was perfect, far from it, we had issues like every other family. Though we weren’t perfect we still did our best to show the love of Christ to each other.
The judicial system in my city has had a history of racial bias. There has been countless mistakes made by the prosecutors from using all of their peremptory strikes to form juries to fit the racial demographic of the area. There have been times where some cases have been over-turned based on the prosecutions neglect to reveal evidence to help a defendant to avoid prosecution. Being a person of color, the court system may seem like it is against our people. According to facts you are more likely to be convicted if you are a person of color and you commit a crime against a white person. Some say facts are just that facts, but facts can be changed through work and effort, because facts aren’t truth.
I have been a victim of circumstance all of my life. The deck has always been stacked against me. So, I fell victim to my own reality, to where I used my city’s history to cultivate a violent lifestyle. I allowed my city’s history to mold my way of thinking, my way of living. So, who can we blame for the pace we find ourselves, but most of the time we don’t accept the responsibility of blame for our actions. I am not going to say who is the blame for where I am, but I will say that mistakes was made on every level of this journey to death row, some of it is acknowledge and most of it will never be acknowledge. So, continue to strive to become better in every aspect of your life regardless of the present circumstances of your life.

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring Christian

 

 

False Evidence Appearing Real! – Fear 

 

The condemned eats their last meal, says a final good bye to family and loved ones. They are escorted back to the death chamber. The condemned is clean shaven from head to toe, removing all hairs. While they are stripped, they are fitted with a diaper, for a grown-up. They are lead away to the execution chamber where they are seated facing two windows with curtains closed. Their legs are fitted into a shackle with electrodes. Upon their heads, a wet sponge is placed to conduct the electricity throughout the body, then silence!

 

There are several states who have decided to visit the past for execution methods, instead of moving forward. Tennessee is one of these states in particular. In the month of May 2014, they decided to sign legislation to revive the electric chair. The Tennessee legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam would allow the state to use electrocution against any current or future death row inmates, if lethal injection drugs become unavailable. Other states have even suggested going back to hangings or the firing squad as a means of killing the convicted. There has never been any state to go backwards from what they say, is a more “humane” way of killing people, to one that has set people completely on fire!

 

The switch is thrown, the condemned head is violently pulled back against the chair. Their body began to convulse to point of almost thrown out of the chair, if it wasn’t for the restraints. The air of the execution chamber is filled with a horrible stench of burning flesh. You can literally hear the volts of electricity coursing through the body of the condemned. Blood slowly starts to sip from the hood that has been placed over the face to null some of the horrific images on the condemned’s face, and finally there is one final violent thrust of the condemneds chest then, silence!

 

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The spirit that God has placed on the inside of us isn’t a spirit of a coward, like those states that are suggesting going back to even more gruesome forms of executions, and I believe that they think, if they can paint the picture of a more horrible death to one that seems a little more humane and civilized, that we will lose heart and give up the fight of challenging lethal injection! God forbid, now is the time for our fight to intensify! We don’t possess a give-up spirit, but a spirit of power to be able to fight whatever the state wants to throw our way!

 

Jeffery Lee
The Caring
Christian!

 

 

Under God! 

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The pledge of allegiance of the United States of America is an expression of the fealty or sworn loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892, and it was adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the words “under God” were added. 

 

Ben Franklin, at the constitutional convention said: “… God governs affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His (God) notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His (God) aid?” god is not mentioned in the constitution, but He is mentioned in every major document leading up to the final wording of the constitution. Most of the fifty-five “Founding Fathers” who worked on the constitution were members of Orthodox Christian Churches and many were even evangelical Christians. The first official continental Congress was opened in Christian prayer, which ended in these words: “… the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy son, our Savior, amen!” that sort of sounds Christian to me! 

 

Well, here is the dilemma for our Great Nation, a recent Harris poll shows that, a strong majority (74 %) of U.S. adults say they believe in God, that’s down from 82 % who had such belief in earlier years. The week.com recently reported that 5 % of Americans believe in Jesus would support the death penalty, which in my opinion is too many. Yet, at least 55 % support it themselves. Yet, we call ourselves Christian! That word gets tossed around often, yet the true meaning of it gets lost. 

 

The term Christian is derived from the Greek word Christianos, and means follower of Christ. A meaning of being Christian is often forgotten, because it also means, one who adheres to Christ teachings. Most of the miracles that Jesus performed were for people who in those days should have been killed according to Jewish customs of the time. The woman caught in adultery in John 8 was almost certain of the death penalty according to Mosiac law. She was to be stoned, but Jesus said to her in verse II “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more!” 

 

Our nation was founded by men who identified with Christianity, so their knowledge of God led them to write the Constitution based on Godly principles. I believe, a grave mistake was made when the constitution was written, they didn’t allow God into the Constitution. So, now with the plethora of “religious freedoms” in the United States, every man is allowed to say that, God’s will is for the death penalty to be applied, or God’s will isn’t for the death penalty to be applied. I believe, God’s will is in what He did. Jesus didn’t kill anyone or sanction the killing of someone who had killed somebody, but He himself took the place of Barnabas, a convicted murderer on the cross. So, for 5 % of Americans to believe Jesus would support the death penalty is pitiful! Even if God is omitted from the constitution, let’s not totally omit His examples. We have a great opportunity to truly become what the “Founding Fathers” intended us to be – One Nation under God! So, let us finally add Got to our Constitution and abolish the death penalty! 

 

And I am Jeffery Lee “The Caring Chritian”!

 

 

Flawed

 

A small and often hidden defect, flawed. Lethal Injection is the hidden danger that has been kept hidden from view for number of years. Only small glimpses into state’s death chambers have taken place, so the flawed procedure of the lethal injection procedure has finally started to come to light!

 

Our nation death chambers haven’t been as busy in the last few years. One of the main reason for decline is the original suppliers of the toxic drugs have come to a moral conclusion that, the lethal injection drugs were not produced to take life, but to save life. So, most states decided to come up with more ideas to try and cover-up the flawed procedure that is called lethal injection. Now, states have started to scramble more to keep the veil of lethal injection hidden.

 

Lethal injection legislation has been put into place, and is trying to be put into place, where the supplier of the toxic drugs for lethal injection is kept a secret. Alabama secrecy bill failed to acquire the number of notes to pass. Senator Cam ward was quoted as saying “that turn it to another form of execution would be a litigation nightmare, and that he has no doubt that, the secrecy bill will be passed during the next legislation session by keeping the suppliers, yet liable should something go wrong. So, if Alabama lethal injection protocol is up to par, why try to pass a secrecy act to try and hide the name of suppliers, yet leaving room for the chance of something going wrong.

 

Flawed and often hidden defects, normally when something is flawed it is normally deemed unusable. A race horse deemed flawed will not be allowed to compete in any kind of competitive race. Our death penalty procedure has been flawed from the beginning of its origin, whether on the basis of its racial tendency, or the humanity of its unconstitutional. Now, the flaws of lethal injection that have been kept hidden in the secrecy of the death houses have slowly started to come to light. The use of toxic drugs that have expired or were made in an unsanitary manner are taking its toll on the lives of the condemned. So, if something that is flawed from the beginning and has no way to be carried out properly, it’s time to abolish the procedure all together. We have done a poor job unveiling the horrific details of a system that was supposed to provide a constitutional execution. The only way to obtain a flawless execution procedure is to have no execution procedure!!

 

Because, the risk of something going wrong or executing an innocent individual should outweigh the thirst for revenge!

 

The Caring Christian

 

 

When you oppose anything, you have to disapprove of it. Also, you have to stand directly against it with a combative mentality. Some people, sometimes literally stand in the way of the opposition! Consider the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989, where students who opposed the communist regimen of China. Though considered a very small feat, their bravery is still something to behold!

 

The question was raised “Why do you oppose the death penalty”. The easy answer could be because I find myself currently on death row. It could also be, I oppose the death penalty, because I myself am a follower of Jesus Christ, which apart from salvation came to show us the proper way to forgive and love one another. But, there is problems with those answers, because I know guys here on death row personally, that are in favor of the death penalty, yet continue to fight to save their lives. I have no problem with that at all to each his own. So, being a believer in Jesus Christ does not exempt you from being pro death penalty. The church pews are filled with believers who are stuck with the Old Testament mentality of an eye for an eye. Some of them are judges and district attorneys who will only show the mercy of God as long as they are in church. When election years roll around they must appear to be tough on crime by presenting a hit-list of criminals they have either locked away for life, or given the death penalty. I believe killing is killing either by the murderer or by state approved executions which is still murder.

 

Now, states are scrambling to find a safe, a humane, a constitutional way to carry out executions, there isn’t one! With most states hiding behind secrecy laws put in place, they say to protect the manufactures of the execution drugs, but I believe the truth is, they are in place to hide out dated, unproven drugs that have shown in multiple executions where guys have been viewed to be in pain and to be suffering. Not even unconscious when they supposed to be, and literally trying to raise up off the execution gurneys. European countries that were heavy suppliers of execution drugs have now taken a strong opposing stance against the death penalty by refusing to sell the drugs to the United States, who were using those drugs created to “save lives” for killing! The United States and other countries opposed the treatment and killing of those college kids at Tiananmen Square in China in 1989, going so far as even condemning those actions. Yet, the United States have a lot more in common with those countries we condemn for the harsh treatment of their citizens by remaining a super-power nation that, executes its people just like Iraq, Iran, china and North Korea. In order to prove our differences, we must change our similar actions, I believe!

 

So, yes! I oppose the death penalty mot only on a moral level, but on the application of it. I oppose the death penalty, because of the real reason it is used instead of the one given, which is revenge, instead of closure. I believe, it is impossible to receive closure from having a loved one of the murdered victim witness’ the murderer being murdered. It only makes matters worse by reliving the crime again. I oppose the death penalty because it isn’t a deterrent to crime, because studies have shown that states and countries without it have a lower violent crime rate. I oppose the death penalty not only because I am currently on death row, and I’m a Christian, but because, I believe it is wrong, and goes against everything a true believer in God and justice stands for. I believe, that it is about time that we as a nation stop with the condemning of other actions and especially when these same actions are ours. So, I take a combative stance against the death penalty, by adding my voice to the voices of so many others, so that our one voice becomes so loud that we’ll be heard, and the death penalty be abolished! It has happened before. So, let’s get louder until it happens again!!

 

I remain
The Caring Christian

 

 

Lethal Injection: The New Scientific Experiment

 

 

Experiment is a noun for a test or a trial that is performed for the purpose of proving a principle on discovering something. The term can also be used to refer to experimentation on the act of conducting test operations. Another meaning for experiment is ‘experience’ though this meaning is considered obsolete, a test trial, a tentative procedure, an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, a chemical experiment, a teaching experiment, an experiment in living. 

 

 

Jay Chapman an Oklahoma medical examiner with little pharmacology experience first proposed the three drug lethal injection cocktail in 1977. When asked some thirty years later by the New York Times , he described himself as “an expert in matters after death, but  not in getting people that way!” Texas was the 1^st state to use lethal injection on December 7^th, 1982. After nearly a 1000 executions the 1^st challenge to the constitutionality of lethal injection came in 2006 with the case of Baze v. Rees, which the United States Supreme Court upheld in a 7-2 decision.

 

 

1^st drug sodium thiopental was an anesthetic, 2^nd drug pancuronium bromide was used to paralyze the inmate and halted his or her breathing. 3^rd drug potassium chloride was used to stop the heart. This was the popular procedure until the European Union (EU) put a ban on sodium thiopental in 2011, which have slowed executions but have not stopped them. The EU doesn’t try to cover up its anti-death penalty stance and calls for a “universal abolition”, by declaring that abolishing the death penalty would contribute to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights.

 

 

Midazolam, a sedative and anesthetic, and hydromorphone a pain killer, a derivative of morphine was used to execute condemned killer Dennis McGuire in Ohio last month. Father Laurence Hummer, the Catholic priest who gave Dennis McGuire his last rites, said “the last 11 minutes of his life he was fighting for breath, and I could see both his fists were clenched the entire time, there is no question in my mind that Dennis McGuire suffered greatly over many minutes.” Now Florida uses a similar drug protocol as Ohio, but have started using new “consciousness” checks from the “shake and shout” where the condemned inmate is violently shaken by the shoulders having his or name called, to the “trapezoid pinch” where the muscle between the neck and shoulder of the condemned is pinched hard enough where it can cause a reaction to see if the condemned is still conscious.

 

 

From the beginning when Jay Chapman chemical experiment was deemed fit to take human life, to the 1^st time Texas used it, to the 1^st time it was challenged before the United States Supreme Court, the lethal injection protocol was just an experiment to extinguish human life. The three drug cocktail basically masked the extreme suffering that have come to light in some of the recent executions. The test have taking over thirty years to show its ineffectiveness. The only experiment in my opinion and others, including the European Union that, the only hundred percent effective way both in cost and application is universal abolition. So please America let us not take another thirty years to figure that out, God bless!

 

 

I remain,

 

The Caring Christian

 

 

Twenty-five years ago, our Conference of bishops first called for an end to the death penalty. We renew this call to seize a new moment and new momentum. This is a time to teach clearly, encourage reflection, ad call for common action in the Catholic community to bring about an end to the use of the death penalty in our land.

 

 

In these reflections, we join together to share clearly and apply faithfully Catholic teaching on the death penalty. We reaffirm our common judgment that the use of the death penalty is unnecessary and unjustified in our time and circumstances. Our nation should forgo the use of the death penalty because the sanction of death, when it is not necessary to protect society, violates respect for human life and dignity. State-sanctioned killing in our names diminishes all of us.

 

 

Its application is deeply flawed and can be irreversibly wrong, is prone to errors, and is biased by factors such as race, the quality of legal representation, and where the crime was committed. We have other ways to punish criminals and protect society. For a quarter-century, Catholics have worked with others in state legislatures, in the courts, and in Congress to restrain or end the use of the death penalty. New allies and arguments offer new opportunities to make a difference. Under the leadership of our beloved Pope John Paul II, Catholic teaching on the death penalty has been articulated and applied with greater clarity and strength. Many people, especially Catholics, appear to be reconsidering their past support for the death penalty. The Supreme Court and some states, with our active support, have limited the use of capital punishment. Today, there is a serious re-examination of the death penalty – its fairness and effectiveness, its social and moral dimensions. We renew our common conviction that it is time for our nation to abandon the illusion that we can protect life by taking life. Ending the use of the death penalty would be one important step away from a culture of death toward building a culture of life.

 

 

I John Ch 3 verse 11-18 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, 12 unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous. 13 Do not be amazed, [then,] brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? 18 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.

 

 

Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others.

 

The antidote to violence is love, not more violence.

 

 

Read the whole statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Calling for an End to the Use of the Death Penalty here: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/death-penalty-capital-punishment/culture-of-life-penalty-of-death.cfm

 

 

 

 

For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall be saved. Our God we serve is the very essence of love because according to I John 4:16 God is Love. We as a body of believers have basically omitted those three simple yet powerful words.

 

 

 

Religious leaders on both sides of the debate of the death penalty have a leg to stand-on. If they are supporter for the death penalty they can very easily got to the bible in Exodus 21.23-28 23 and in any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe 26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake 27 And if he smite, out his man servant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake 28 If an ox gave a man or a woman, that they die; then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

 

Those leaders who oppose the death penalty can point to forgiveness, to forgive means simply to pardon; to show mercy to. Luke &:36-37 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: Condemn not and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall not be forgived.

 

 

 

To say God is pro or anti death penalty is a two-edge sword that can cut deep both ways. The God we serve is a God of justice. He is also a God of love. He is a God of mercy and love and forgiveness, but He isn’t a God of revenge. So I commend all those who have expanded their thinking beyond the Old Testament revelation of God’s words of eye for an eye to God’s love even for the condemned. Now it is the time for more of our religious leaders to take a stance against the death penalty, mainly on the grounds of how it is applied in an unconstitutional manner. The death penalty states have found themselves searching for a more lethal cocktail of drugs to carry out execution where guys are not showing signs of life when they suppose to be dead.

 

 

 

We must use extreme caution when we use scripture to validate our stance for or against the death penalty. By allowing Got into the procedure of the death penalty will only reveal the flaws and mistakes of the application of the death penalty. Executions only make more families victims of murder. We have to continue to grow in our thinking about the death penalty, because I believe God doesn’t choose sides because He came and died for all. So can we come to a point where we as believers are all God’s children all have sinned and fallen short of God’s grace and stand in the need of God’s forgiveness. Now it’s on us not to be selfish with the forgiveness we obtain and become merciful and give God’s forgiveness to others who need it.

 

 

 

I remain a Caring Christian!

 

 

 

Perception vs Reality

 

 

The word perception means the ability to take notice of something by using your senses, taking in your surroundings through sight, sound, taste, touch and smell give the perception of everything around. Perception is how your mind uses sensory input to make sense of the world around you. The mind take sensory impulses from the eyes, nose, skin, and ears. These details are used to form and idea of the surrounding environment.

 

 

In ancient times executions was done in a public setting, mostly in the middle of the town. The execution accomplished a few purposes, it was done in the public to act as a deterrent to crime, and was used as an act of celebration. First if would the criminals saw the fate of the individual committing crimes from beheadings to hangings most perceived the punishment outweighed the reward of crime. Second public execution was a form of celebration, celebrating justice for the victim’s family and the demise of a “bad” person. Public execution was viewed as a carnival event, but now sates rarely want to reveal any details of the execution protocol!

 

 

The state of Ohio killed a man last week with the controversial new two-drug cocktail of midazolam and hydormorphone. Ohio basically used a combination of a sedative and a painkiller never before used in the United States to execute an individual. The condemned killer presumably unconscious gasped and snorted a very guttural sound for roughly 26 minutes, clinching his fists and at one time even tried to sit up on the gurney, before being pronounced dead according to Fox news! The perception is justice was served but the reality is that yes Dennis McGuire was killed for the crime he was convicted of but no he did not die in a humane and constitutional manner!

 

 

Reality is the state of things as they actually exist rather than they appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. A still more broad definition includes everything that has existed or will exist. The death penalty have evolved from the public execution to a plethora of examples to kill a person, but the reality is and will be the only example that works without the possibility of error which not having the death penalty justice served!

 

 

I remain a
Caring Christian!