As a mystery writer wannabe - I have completed two manuscripts and have a story concept for a third novel in a series - I am really struggling with the whole butt-in-chair routine given my sense of despair and loss of bearings in the midst of our current political, social, physical and environmental states if chaos. Since it’s not how I make a living this is not an urgent problem for me, but if there was a way for me to find my way back to focusing on something positive - like good, old fashioned murder, mayhem, truth and justice - my waking hours would be much better spent than with my current pattern of worrying and doomscrolling. So please weigh in on how you’re managing to cope and stay creative and productive in the midst of so much overall misery and uncertainty.

For Moi, recreational writing is a lot cheaper than knitting.

What Is Depraved Indifference

Depraved indifference is a type of conduct that lacks so much regard for the life of another person that it may warrant criminal liability to the same degree as a person intentionally committing a crime.

When assessing a person’s act, to qualify as “depraved indifference”, it’s important to look at the risk generated by the person’s conduct and not necessarily the consequences of injuries caused by the conduct.

In the United States, a depraved-heart murder or depraved indifference murder is a type of murder caused by a person’s depraved indifference to the human life although the person may not have had an explicit intention to murder.

In this type of situation, the defendant recognizes that his or her actions can result in the death of another or there is a high likelihood that another may die but chooses to ignore the risk.

The law considers that the person’s indifference or lack of concern for the risk to the life of another is so grave that the actions should be considered as a crime as if the person had malicious intent.

https://lawyer.zone/depraved-indifference/

It’s the corruption, stupid!

Oregon Independent gubernatorial candidate, Betsy Johnson, has run hard hitting TV ads about how she will solve all of our problems by using her experience in our state legislature to bring the two parties together to solve our most urgent problems. They are good, hard hitting ads with a strong centrist message.

When Tina Kotek won the Democratic nomination last week I worried that her strong liberal record as our House Speaker since 2013 might make her vulnerable to Johnson’s, perhaps broader, statewide appeal.

This evening, however, when questioned by the host of a local NBC affiliated news show, she doggedly tried to defend her unwavering pro-gun lobby voting record and dug in on her pro-gun lobby stance. Which, for me, begs the question of where her loyalties truly lie and why she’s running as an Independent candidate for Oregon’s governor.

I just received this text message:

[ALERT] Your profile shows you voted Republican in 2016.

Who did you vote for in 2016?
CLINTON… (removed link)
TRUMP… (removed link)

Please correct your record in the next 23 minutes. Failure to respond will interfere with our 2022 voter turnout strategy.

Stop Republicans

Reply Stop to end

For the record, the last time I voted Republican was for Gerald Ford, which I deeply regret.

violence’s total economic cost? Or the total economic/productivity cost of ignoring public safety measures during a pandemic. Oh, never mind.

Is that what those Baptist preachers have been saying all along. Is it really just a matter of semantics?

Have a listen…