Join us Tuesday from 6-7PM on 88.1 WFSK in Nashville for the “Beneath The Spin” radio program (soon to be streamed on the internet) that takes an in-depth look at what’s *underneath* the hype and the headlines of this week’s top news stories whether they be local, national or international.

Join host /Molly Secours/ this week when she and co-host /Brandon Hill/ discuss the recent 90 day moratorium Tennessee Governor Bredesen placed on the death penalty and the Tennessee legislature’s consideration of a bill to study how the death penalty is implemented as well as flaws in the system. Our guests will discuss the implications of the study and how this issue affects all Tennesseeans and spcifically African Americans.

Our guests this week will be Nashville attorney, /Kelley Henry/, an assistant federal public defender in who has represented men and women on death row at every stage of litigation–from trial through federal appeals– for close to fifteen years. Ms. Henry is a regular speaker at
national conferences regarding the defense of those sentenced to death.

Also joining us is /Reverend Sonnye Dixon/, Senior pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church in East Nashville and former President of the Nashville NAACP.

To call in: 615-329-8810 and join the discussion or visit
www.beneaththespin.com or www.mollysecours.com

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile malfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Is public policy made by elite groups making decisions behind closed doors? Or is it made by mass mobilization of the people? Are elected representatives cynically building their own careers? Or do they work tirelessly and selflessly for the best interest of their constituents?

To be honest, it’s a little bit of both.

If you look back over the course of this blog, you will repeatedly see me praise the inside-outside lobby strategy that TCASK employs. In other words, we want policy-makers to hear our messages both from insiders, their colleagues, lobbyists they know, etc, and from outsiders, the every day folks who make up their constituencies. It’s when policy-makers hear that 1) something is a good idea and 2) it is supported in their districts, that things start to happen. I spent this morning on capitol hill meeting with state legislators, and I just wanted to share a few quick, illustrative points.

As you all know, Representative Mike Turner has introduced a resolution calling on the Governor to free Paul House (email Representative Turner and say thank you). But to truly demonstrate to the Governor that this is something that he should do, we need bi-partisan support. So a few weeks ago, Joyce House and I went to visit Joyce’s representative, Republican Eric Swafford. And Representative Swafford, justly moved by Joyce’s story, agreed to co-sponsor the resolution. Today, I took it to him in it’s final drafted form and he became the initial co-sponsor. Then, as an insider, he had also spoken to several other Republican Representatives who I normally could never have gotten in the door with (at least not easily). But with Representative Swafford’s endorsement, I visited Chattanooga Representative Gerald McCormick who became the second co-sponsor (email Representative McCormick and say thank you), so we now have two Republicans named at the top of the resolution jacket! I also sat down with three other high placed Republican representatives who are taking the resolution under consideration and have a meeting to talk to yet another Republican whom Representative Swafford has talked about the case to next week.

So an outside voice, and a powerful one, Joyce House, was able to move an insider to act and open doors for me to follow up with a number of other insiders to truly change public policy. On a similar note, I’ll be meeting, next Tuesday, with Senator Jamie Woodson, from Knoxville. Senator Woodson is the Secretary of the Judiciary Committee and could be extremely helpful to us if she supported our study legislation. I’ll be joined by a representative of NAMI (a group that Senator Woodson has a good relationship with a.k.a. an insider) as well as a representative of Murder Victim’s Families for Human Rights, but at the same time, I’ll be calling on our members in Knoxville tonight and tomorrow to write to Senator Woodson urging her to support our study bill, so she’s already heard (as she did during our write-a-thon last week) that her constituents support this legislation before I walk in the door. And having groups that she trusts with me tells her that she can trust the message that we’re delivering.

When we bring such diverse voices to policy-makers, we work on policy making from the elitist and the populist perspective. We demonstrate that the right thing to do and the political thing to do can go hand in hand. And we all, working together, can make a difference!

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong heartiness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Last week was so busy, and I was out of the office so much, that I didn’t get a chance to report on one of last week’s biggest events – a day and half long trip to Jackson with Charlie Strobel. Charlie and I left Nashville before 6:00 am on Wednesday morning to arrive at Union University for an early morning talk to a Christian Ethics class. Over the next day and half, Charlie and I did 3 talks, a dinner reception, and 3 radio interviews. As Charlie said, “You really make use of every moment, don’t you?” And we certainly did.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Charlie’s mother was murdered in 1986, while Charlie was the pastor of Holy Name Catholic Church (where our office is currently located). Charlie and his family chose, instead of revenge, to believe in what he refers to as “the miracle of forgiveness.” And it is a miracle. Because as Charlie tells his story, you can hear that he and his family and are not consumed with grief or anger. They love their mother, and mourned her loss, but now can speak about her without tears and anger. As Charlie puts it, “we don’t have to live with him [the murderer] every day of our lives.” When we choose forgiveness over the vengeance represented by the death penalty, we choose a healthier path for the families of murder victims, not to mention a better choice for all of us, based on spirituality, justice, or economics.

Thank you, Charlie, for showing us all your light and for sharing your gifts with TCASK.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual claim among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

The Nashville TCASK Chapter held a terrific write-a-thon yesterday evening. On a dark and stormy night, 20 committed activists, some long time TCASK stalwarts and some first-tie participants, gathered at Fido’s (a fun coffee shop for anyone who is looking) and produced more than 60 hand written letters to state policy makers calling for fairness and accuracy in our death penalty system. Policy-makers heard from their constituents’ own pens the need to support legislation for a complete study of the death penalty system and a moratorium on executions until such a study can be completed!

And it wasn’t just in Nashville. In Sewanee, a first time write-a-thon site, 8 writers alerted their elected officials of the need for a study! TCASK write-a-thons were also held in Memphis, Jackson, Murfreesboro, Crossville, and Knoxville! Not to mention satellite events at several churches and schools.

And, of course, we’re not done. If you didn’t get a chance to join a write-a-thon last night, this weekend would be a great time to sit down and write to your State Senator and Representative. You can find them, with your 9 digit zip code here. Then tell them:

• You are a constituent.
• Our death penalty system is not functioning properly. It unfairly targets the poor, racial minorities, and the mentally ill.
• We even risk executing innocent people.
• Regardless of a person’s belief regarding the morality of capital punishment, we can all agree that our system should be fair and accurate.
• Ask them to support a complete study of the death penalty (Senate Bill 1911 / House Bill 2162)

For more tips, legislator specific info, or sample letters just email alex@tcask.org or give us a call at (615) 256-3906.

And check out the awesome pictures of last night’s event taken by Harry Simpson, TCASK’s resident photographer here.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness conditions that can be highly dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

For everyone who missed it, the Paul House case was featured on Fox News at 9:00 on Wednesday night. The story featured an interview with Paul House himself, his mother Joyce, and State Representative Mike Turner, who is sponsoring a resolution calling on the Governor to pardon House. It also featured the Union County D.A. once again making the claim that there was “attempted rape” since, with DNA evidence conclusively proving that House did not rape Carolyn Muncey, the prosecution is without any legitimate theory of the crime.

You can view the story here. This kind of attention can only be good as we seek to bring light to an incredible injustice.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile disfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile disfunction can be the symptom a strong health problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile dysfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile disfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying health conditions that can be so dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

As I mentioned a few days ago, Alex and I attended a day long workshop this week on grant writing. We gathered with others working in the nonprofit world to learn about meeting the constant need for funding. One of the other participants in the class, Michelle Cochran, is the Executive Director of an organization called Nashville SEES. Her organization works to increase the pay and training of child care workers, who currenty make somewhere around an average of $16,000 per year. She and I discussed the fact that the ages of 0-5 years are the most formative for a child’s development. However, in our country where people are constantly talking about how to care for children, we don’t put our money where our mouth is when it comes to early childhood–arguably the most important time in a child’s life.

The whole conversation got me thinking about how backward we often do things. We are spending millions of dollars over and above the cost of imprisoning people for life in order to maintain the death penalty. Many of the people that we are paying all this money to execute come from backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and mental illness–often experienced during early childhood. Bills are being introduced all over the country to expand the death penalty to include repeat child sex offenders, which of course, will cost extraordinarily more money and only add to the burden of an already broken system.

What would our society look like if we ended the death penalty and used the millions of dollars saved for early childhood education, better training and salaries for early childhood teachers, parenting support groups, and prenatal care? It seems we often wait too long to intervene in the lives of children. The earlier we begin to enhance their development, the better off we all are.

I applaud Michelle and others who are working to ensure that children don’t end up victimized, mistreated, and for some, caught up in the criminal justice system. How many on Tennessee’s death row would not be there had they had such structured, nurturing early childhood care? Why do we continue to pour money into a system that spends so much of our state’s resources only after someone has already committed a heinous crime instead of using those same resources much earlier in his/her life, perhaps creating a different outcome for everyone? Research shows that the death penalty has no deterrent effect. I believe that the best deterrent for ending violent crime may be offering young children, in the beginning of their lives, another way to experience the world around them–a way that is consistent, nurturing, and encouraging. Someday, perhaps, we will learn.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual complaint among men is the erectile malfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as heart trouble. Albeit the erectile disfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile dysfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying soundness conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile disfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.