Tragic, Useless And Unbelievable

I was just thinking....
about the tragedy of Jennifer Martel's death.

Who is Jennifer Martel, you ask?
She was the girlfriend of Jared Remy, who Remy stabbed and murdered, while others watched, in the doorway of the Waltham, MA apartment they shared with their 4 year-old daughter last summer. I documented the tragedy when it unfolded HERE.  

A new Boston Globe article by Eric Moskowitz published on Saturday brings this tragedy back into the news, and paints a horrifying and startling picture of violence, entitlement, drug abuse and system abuse.

•  How did this perpetrator get away with his history of violence against women for as long as he did? 
• This monster had years-long rap sheets, ladled with violence, abuse, restraining orders(which he continually violated) and death threats, yet he got off with no more than probation and the promise of therapy and good behavior, then released to his parent's custody time and time again.
• In Moskowitz's piece he clearly states that Remy got off SIX times on charges of violence against women. He then notes that it is unusual for a documented violent offender to get off on charges twice-let alone six times. Remy seems to be the record holder. 

Again, I have to ask how this could have happened? 

And in my backyard! Remy grew up in my town, which is the starting point of his long rap sheet, and continues to the next town over from us-where I would attend criminal court too (If I had to). I know all those cops. Does this mean that I somehow share in the blame? 

Reading this article brings to mind so many emotions. Yes, something certainly was amiss here. Jared father, Jerry Remy is a beloved, hometown Red Sox sports figure, whoes influence in our town was greatly underestimated by us all. That much is evident by Moskowitz's article. I just learned that MY TAX DOLLARS paid for Jared schooling at a local school well known for emotionally troubled teens, because he couldn't make it at our public school. I then read about the intimidation and the chaos he created while he was there, supposedly being "encouraged and nourished" into becoming a contributing member of society. 

Am I pissed off? YES I am, so now I look to blame. I think not only do we blame the system that failed Jennifer, but we blame the entire village here. People I have trusted to educate, protect and serve it turns out are people who were influenced by celebrity and I blame all of them. Yet that won't bring Jennifer Martel back, will it? 

No it won't and there is blood on a lot of hands today. And this time it's not going to be so easy to just wash it away. I say it's about time. 

Moments Of Madness

This story is very sad. It's not reported  here to gossip or point a finger at anyone. I share it becausre maybe someone will learn something. Maybe this madness will stop. Maybe no but maybe yes and that one maybe makes it all worthwhile.

Jared Remy, son of beloved Red Sox announcer and former player Jerry Remy, murdered his girlfriend in cold blood last Thursday. An enraged Jared stabbed Jennifer Martel several times in a struggle that went from inside the apartment they shared to the outdoor patio. Two of their neighbors tried to stop Jared from stabbing her to death outside their Waltham, MA apartment. Sources say they punched, kicked and screamed for him to stop, but his fury continued and didn't stop until she was dead.

Their 4 year old daughter was in the house at the time.

Herein lies the caveat:
Jared was arrested for assault and battery the Tuesday before the slaying,  for smashing Jennifer's head into a mirror. The DA released Jared Remy on his own recognizance. Today the fingers are pointing all over the Middlesex DA's office and they are firmly denying any wrong doing. The facts of this case are blinding: Jared has a long rap sheet filled with violence. Since 1998 Remy has 15 counts of violence, six if them assault and battery on three different women.

Now the community wants to know how this happened. Middlesex DA, Marian Ryan, is attempting to explain this away by saying the victim herself is the best judge of saftey.

“Everything we know, both from the research and from 
experience in doing these cases, is in the 
majority of these cases, the best assessor of safety is the victim herself,” Ryan told the Herald, referring to Jennifer Martel, the mother of Remy’s 4-year-old daughter. “Miss Martel was declining to extend the restraining order that had been issued the night before.” Ryan said.


I'm not a DA and I don't play one on TV, but I'm thinking this monster slipped through the cracks somehow. I understand that Jennifer didn't want to extend the restraining order, even I can see that she was scared. LOOK AT THE GUY!!! He looks like a bad guy and I don't say that to make you giggle. There is nothing funny about him or this. It's obvious to me that his guy has a roid/rage problem. He looks terrifying and most certainly is terrifying, but why did it take the senseless death of a young woman to solidify that?

Lots of people are saying lots of things about Jerry Remy, his father who is a very public figure here in Boston. Things like that's why Jared got away with it so many times before. If that is true then we all share in the blame for Jennifer's death. I find it hard to believe that Jerry Remy's name carries that much weight in the court system or that we hero worship ourselves into looking the other way, but the facts here are the facts. There is no way that monster should have been alowed to live with a woman, let alone a woman and a child. Their village failed. No one saw this coming? Maybe they were afraid of him too but this family breakdown is a cautionary tale.

Bottom line: If it looks like a bad guy, talks like a bad guy and walks like a bad guy, then it's a bad guy.
If only it were that simple. Jennifer would be alive today.

Fade To Black

• He will always be remembered as Tony Soprano. With yesterday's news of the passing of actor James Gandolfini in Rome, Italy (how fitting) at the young age of 51, it's as if Tony Soprano got whacked. And now we will never know what really happened after that "fade to black" moment at the end of the series finale of "The Sopranos". It seems so tragic that the actor's life was cut so short. Somehow, Tony Soprano had more to do. In a way, he was every man's Tony Soprano. 

• Strange goings on here involving New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. Police found the body of a 27 year old Dorchester man who was shot in a car less than a mile from Aaron Hernandez's North Attleboro home. The car the man was found in was rented to the Patriot's tight end Hernandez. Police later spent hours searching the Hernandez home. He has not been named a suspect in the ongoing investigation...yet. Discuss...

• I'm exhausted from staying up watching all the Bruin's overtime games! We lost a tough one last night, but the B's comeback to put the game into overtime showed heart and courage and skill!! I'm enjoying every minute of it and I predict a cup VICTORY!!

• "Kimye" baby, spawn of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian still has no name! Or no name that we know of yet. Which is HA-LARIOUS! This whole "we need privacy please" thing is just not working for them. The Kardashian's would have an enema on TV if it meant lots of dollar$$$ and now Kimmy has decided that she and Kanye's baby are going into hiding? I can't say I blame her. This is the way it should be. All I'm saying is the machine that is Kardashian will put pressure on Kimmy to have baby in the spotlight more often, causing Kanye to back away from Kimmy even more than he already has, leaving Kimmy alone as a single mom.  AND I also predict that "Donda" will appear somewhere in baby Kimye's name. (Donda was Kanye's mom's name. She passed during a routine cosmetic procedure in 2007)

Please, discuss amongst yourselves..

Mumbled Messages

Remember Mumbles from Dick Tracy?

Mumbles was a Dick Tracy Character from the iconic Dick Tracy Cartoon who first debuted in the 40's. Quick bio: Mumbles was a gangster who was part of a quartet of musicians who committed crimes. Dick Tracy and the cops chased Mumbles and his gang for years. Mumbles did not have a speech impediment, but earned his nick name from using "sloppy speech".

Mumbles is also the nick name of the beloved Mayor of my fair City of Boston. Mayor Tom Menino has held his desk at city hall for 20 years. During that time, Mayor Menino would mix up and mash together certain names, words and constantly fumble minor facts into a bit of a jumble. The press would always have a field day, and they would play the video sound bites of his gaffe's on the radio and the TV news. Even the print papers would publish Mumbles "more infamous" blunders.

Flash forward to today:  So I'm reading my Boston Herald this morning and my favorite old Herald scribe hit me right between the eyes, as he has so many times before. His message powerful and sent clearly and articulately. I decided it was too good not to share here today. Quick Bio: Joe Fitzerald used to write sports, back in the day when Candy was a young and bright eyed journalism  undergraduate working at TV38. I read him every day. He has a knack for spinning a story and making you feel like you are having a conversation with him at the local diner counter over morning coffee. Joe was moved to the middle of the paper doing human interest stories about 5- 10 years ago. Joe recently lost his beloved wife of may years to Alzhimers at the age of 65 last October. He poignantly wrote about their life together.

The old Joe reared his head this morning with his message. You see, Joe is everybody's newspaper man, and even though Mayor Menino made embarrassing bumble and jumbles when talking, that's only a small part of the story of the man; the Mayor. Joe tells the story to not us, the Herald readership, but to his "pal Johnny", a sixth grader here in Boston.

I won't tell you everything, but I will share with you the words Joe printed of our imparting Mayor of Boston's wife, Angela Menino,

“Tommy’s always telling me, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Even though he doesn’t show it, I know it has to hurt.

“When we were kids we all had something that other kids could pick on, remember? Maybe we had an accent, or wore glasses, or were fat. There was always someone eager to make fun of it. Me? I wore braces.

“I can still remember one bully who loved making fun of me. I tried to be a good sport and laugh along with everyone else, but I also remember how much it hurt inside. And that’s what I think of when I see what they do to Tommy.”

I encourage you to take a moment and click the link HERE to read Joe's column, because it's a great lesson in humility and compassion. Isn't it the responsibility of the press to tell a good story? One that has relevance and is inspiring? Mr Fitzgerald has a real knack for that. All good newspaper men do.

As for Mumbles? Don't worry about him. His record speaks ever so clearly for itself. He knows what's really important. It makes me think we all should.

He Said/She Said

Interesting stuff going on here in MA.

Convicted killer Michelle Kosilek, who at one time was Robert Kosliek, an MCI Norfolk inmate serving life for the 1992 strangling of his wife and disposing of her body in a North Attleboro mall, has spent many years waging a legal battle with the state to pay for a sex change operation. Kosilek's doctors have diagnosed the inmate with gender-identity disorder and say that his "mental illness" has caused him to attempt suicide and self castration. Those same doctors have prescribed gender reassignment surgery.

Yesterday, Kosilek scored a victory when US District Judge Mark Wolf ruled  that denying the surgery violates his Eight Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment and his/her right to adequate medical care.

"She really appreciates the careful consideration of the court and the respectful decision," said Kosilek attorney Frances S. Cohen.

But there are those who don't share in that appreciation.

State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said following the controversial ruling that it sets a bad precedent for future cases and is, "well beyond the scope of reason, and an unjustifiable expansion of the requirements of the Eight Amendment." Senator Scott Brown was more to the point calling it "an outrageous waste of taxpayers dollars." 

So the question lies in what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment". Is it cruel to expect an inmate to serve his/her time trapped in the body of someone they are not? Or unusual for a "woman" to serve her time in the "male" inmate population when a 2009 University of California, Irvine study found that a transgendered inmate is 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.? Yet is it cruel and unusual to deny proper medical treatment to any inmate; transgendered or not?

Yesterday Kosilek scored a legal victory but I'm thinking this war is not over. Wether he gets his surgery or not,  20 years ago his wife Cheryl had no legal recourse when he chose to end her life. There was no appeal to Kosilek's ruling that he was going to kill her. No "careful consideration" to strangling her and dumping her body in a mall.

And all because he chose to utilize cruel and unusual punishment and murder her.

Uni-boob

So there's a big  Beantown bru ha ha in the paper today about how the notorious Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski was the talk of his Harvard University's 50th reunion yesterday. Apparently the Harvard Alumni Directory, the "Red Book" allowed Kaczynski, a Harvard Alum Class of 62, to post an updated entry with his personal stats. 

 According to today's Boston Herald:

" Kaczynski’s posting lists his occupation as “prisoner” and his home address as the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colo. Under awards, Kaczynski snidely cited, “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.” Under publications, he lists a 2010 manifesto, “Technological Slavery,” published by “Feral House.”

Sources say the Yard at Harvard was divided over this controversial addition to the Alumni directory. While some defended his right to be included others, like one of his victims, a Yale professor who lost his eye and hand from a Unibomber bomb, found his entry "chilling".

“It’s very chilling,” David Gelernter said. “He’s an unrepentant terrorist murderer who cut people, and slashed people to death in their kitchens, leaving them to bleed, while he hid in a shack somewhere in the West. So for some institution to lend authority to him, well, I can’t believe such things happen in the United States.”

Kaczynski, one of the world's most elusive and notorious criminals, kept authorities at bay for nearly 20 years as he terrorized the country with his mail bombing campaigns. Arrested in 1996, the Unibomber is responsible for 3 deaths and 23 injuries. He was found in a remote cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, in a disheveled and unkempt state. In his cabin authorities found multiple bomb making materials and over 40, 000 hand written journals detailing bomb making experiments. 

While the climate at Harvard yesterday was divided, some felt uneasy but justified about the controversy.

“One way or another, he has just as much right to be in there as I do. He is a Harvard graduate,” said classmate Richard Tucker, a retired investment manager from Newton. Tucker said he thought Kaczynski’s submission was “a little bit brave.”

Class of 1962 secretary Chris Wadsworth confirmed that the information came directly from Kaczynski and added that, "he has a sense of humor in spite of everything." Yale Professor David Gelernter finds nothing funny about it. 

“The new criminals here are the publishers of this ‘Red Book,’ for their passive collusion with this murderer,” Gelernter said.

The Humbling Of Weston

A huge water main break happened right here in my home town on Saturday, causing more than 2 million people in Massachusetts to be left without clean tap water. The break caused a water crisis unseen in the states history. An immediate order for residents to boil tap water rapidly for at least one minute before using the water for cooking and drinking was issued for the 30 local communities that were effected. On Saturday, while at work, I received a pre-recorded call from the town stating that there had been a water break, but that Weston's water supply had not been compromised. Then, two hours later, I received another pre-recorded call ordering Weston residents to boil our tap water, as it had now been deemed unsafe.

The confusion really set in when in just a few hours later, the phone rang again with the news that Weston's water supply was safe and there was no need to boil water. A scrawling message was broadcast on the local TV stations, all night, listing the affected town's water supplies, and Weston was not one of them. Turns out, it happened here, but it did not affect us. Local TV news aired the mayhem across the state, as people swarmed supermarkets with panic, depleting their supplies of any and all bottled water. Restaurants were forced to either shut down, or limit their service and coffee shops were all but put out of business for a day or two.

It makes one think about how much we take for granted. How lucky we are that we can turn the faucet on in our marbled bathrooms and not think much about the safety of the water that streams through it. About how when something like this happens, we can travel in our gassed up autos, to our food filled grocery stores and buy ample supplies of bottled water with the money in our wallets. About the fact that we have the electricity/gas to allow us to boil the water deemed unsafe and that we can afford to be inconvenienced for a few days.

There are so many others in the world who cannot say the same.
I, for one, am humbled, and although I have not been affected, this crisis makes me think about those who live without safe water on a daily basis.

And I wonder why such a disparity exists between people in the world. As I turn on my faucet and brush my teeth this morning, I will think about why I am part of the hundreds of millions who can.