Here is another installment of stuff that happens that is so outrageous it deserves intervention by the mythological Erinyes (or Furies). Just as a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."
Tisiphone – There are so many things happening that come under the head of "vengeful destruction" that it is difficult to select one. I am trying to pick stories in this catrgory where a victim was, or appears to have been, targeted for private vengeance, in advance, by a public official. I believe the case of Marelle Lawson meets this criterion.
In 2013 Ms. Lawson (who is diabetic) was eating dinner when Officer Shane Sawyers and partner arrived at her home to serve a warrant for contempt for allegedly violating a no-contact order. He refused to allow her to finish her meal, and the incident soon degenerated into physical abuse. Sawyers grabbed one of her arms and bent it behind her back, resulting in excruciating pain to a shoulder previously injured. Then the officers gang-tackled her to the floor, where she was punched in the face and kicked, then maced in the punched face. The incident resulted in a civil rights lawsuit by Ms. Lawson against the Department in general and the officers in particular.
Fast forward to 2015, where on March 31 Ms Lawson was dragged from her car, pepper sprayed, had her already crippled shoulder re-injured, and was thrown face-down to the pavement. She recognized the officer who conducted the stop as Officer Shane Sawyers.
Patrol vehicles in Bridgetown (pop. 25,000) are equipped with ALPR scanners which allow officers to know up front which vehicle in the area belongs to whom. Their use is automatic. Tisiphone, it seems at least extremely likely that this officer targeted the woman who is suing him and his Department. Please check it out.
Megaera – There are many grudging people in the world today, grudging many things to many other people, but the State of Kansas has become so grudging with a young mother who has Crohn's disease that it has attracted national attention.
Crohn's disease affects about 3.2 per thousand people in Europe and America. If you are like me, you probably have a vague idea of Crohn's as a combination of Republicitis and Republicosis. That's fairly accurate as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. It can also present with anemia, skin rashes, arthritis, eye inflammation, mouth ulcers, and fatigue, and can lead to bowel cancer. There is no cure. Cannabis oil has been shown to alleviate it, at least in some patients.
One patients who gets some relief from cannabis oil is Shona Banda, who has been charged with endangering a child, distribution or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of school property, unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She's facing up to 28 years in state prison for trying to treat her illness. Pretty stiff for a substance that was in every American medicine cabinet until the government decided to demonize it in the early 1900's in order to smear Mexican immigrants.
To add insult to injury, the state has also taken her son, placing him first with his father, then in "protective custody," then back with his father. Now Banda has only limited access to her child. Incidentally, he is considered a witness, and will be put on the stand to testify against her if, as she intends, she pleads not guilty. Megaera, isn't this taking stinginess and grudging a little too far?
Alecto – It's unceasing. It never stops. Fearful people spreading more and more fear (and hate) about innocent people who "look different" from them, and if they also "believe differently," well, that's just more proof. It's in the news again – now the targets are Syrian refugees, who are thought to be terrorists, but who in reality are refugees in the first place because they are RUNNING AWAY from those same terrorists.
Some in particular are claiming that if refugees are to come to the US, we should isolate them in camps as we did with Japanese Americans during WWII. These include Roanoke, VA mayor David Bowers, Tennessee state House GOP Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, Rhode Island State Senator Elaine Morgan, and others.
Unsurprisingly, this does not sit well with Japanese Americans who have been there and done that.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan apologized to the surviving Japanese Americans and paid them token reparations of $20,000 over a 10 year period. The federal commission studying the WWII camps said they were the result of “prejudice, war hysteria, and the failure of political leadership.” No Japanese Americans committed espionage or sabotage during the war. Now, the “prejudice, war hysteria, and failure of political leadership” are being repeated.
So these Japanese Americans are holding a news conference today at the Buddhist Chursh of Florin, in Sacramento County in California, to denounce the whole idea. Not coincidentally, this church is the place where, in 1942, local Japanese Americans were notified of their impending imprisonment.
In the Japanese Buddhist pantheon, there is a god, Fudō Myōō, who is described as a sword-brandishing angry wisdom king. Alecto. maybe if you asked nicely, he would be willing to help you with these individuals and groups who are attempting to dehumanize refugees as they did to his people long ago. There are plenty of creatures, such as tengu (wise bird-like demons – you may have heard of them in D&D or Guild Wars, but they are originally from very, very, very old Japan), he could send as reinforcements.
9 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes”
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Cross-posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/3928654 Also, I forgot the H/T to JL for the Alecto story. Sorry!
No problem JD–thanks for the great post!
Tisiphone: Unbelievable, horrible behavior by this same PO. I hope she sues again!! Sawyers needs to be arrested, and fired and his cohorts.
Magaera: I hope that Ms. Banda gets her case thrown out, 28 years for using cannabis oil??? Pretty low of the state to take her child away, and then if found guilty, a long prison term. Really sad. All the way around.
Alecto: Where do these ID's come up with this stuff? About 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up into internment camps during World War II without being convicted of any crime. Half of them were children. Some people died in the camps, and others, medical and psychological problems from the trauma. I could think of no one better than Alecto to set some to the path of reasoning.
Well, I just finished my break, (at school), so gotta run. Enjoyed reading about more Eninyes.
Thanks, Joanne for this.
Tisiphone: That cop needs to do several years of hard time. The coward would probably PC up.
Megaera: Outrageous!!!
Alecto: Denying access to Syrian refugees and putting Japanese Americans in concentration camps is not a fair comparison, because the Japanese Americans were US citizens. However that in no way diminishes the evil of denying access to properly vetted refugees.'
Great job!!
Thank you so much!
Roughly two thirds of the interned Japanese Americans were US citizens, certainly well over half. but of course that means one third were not. But I don't think today's Japanese Americans who are protesting the idea of interning refugees were even thinking ot that. They were thinking that, when xenophobic bigotry comes in the door, citizenship, along with other rational considerations, flies out the window. (Also possibly that 100% were innocent.) But we'll let Alecto sort it out, with or without reinforcements.
Tisiphone: I hope that cop is prosecuted for his mis treatment of Ms. Lawson, but the way things have gone lately, he probably won't be.
Megaera: Having a relative with Chrohn'sdisease, I fully understand why this woman would do anything she could for relief. I am fairly certain her ex husband will do any harm he can to her to get custody of the child. It is way past time for the use of cannabis to be legalized in every state. The War on Drugs has destroyed too many people.
Alecto: This has reminded me of the way our Japanese Americans were treated all along. The government fear mongored to the point where otherwise reasonable people believed that they were in danger from people who had been their neighbors. The politicians are doing the same thing now.
Tisiphone: This poor woman must have had one of the worst deja vues a person can have: being harassed and abused by a policeman, the same policeman to be precise. Marella Lawson should compensated for both assaults plus the fact that the second was a retaliation for the civil case on the first. And her file should be cleaned after the bogus case against her is dismissed because it is likely Shane Sawyers will come after her again otherwise. He and his colleagues have already been cleared of potential criminal charges and his boss is defending them, so there's little to expect in terms of justice there. It's up to you now, Tisiphone.
Magaera: Medical research in Israel had already proven that smoking Marihuana with a high THC and CBD was effective in the treatment of Crohn's disease. Marihuana oil, a concentrate extracted from Marihuana is higher in THC and CBD and therefore more effective. Kansas doesn't allow the medicinal use/prescription of Marihuana oil, the reason for Shona Banda to have to distil it herself. She may also have smoked it, not to get stoned, but against her (abdominal) pain and to enhance her appetite. It looks like Kansas is going after her because of the smoking, the rest followed from there. The way Kansas is dealing with medicinal Marihuana use and the way it's treating her son, yo-yoing him between his father and foster care is typical for Kansas that's still back in the dark ages. But they're messing around with the wrong woman: Shona Banda is a well known woman, known for her fight against Crone's disease and for the legalization of medicinal Marihuana. She's been at death's door before the use of Marihuana and her story appeared in Rolling Stone. She's up for a fight, but she could do without the grudging.
Alecta: Do you also have a sister called "never learn from mistakes" or "repeat mistakes continuously", Alecta? They're probably American born, it's unlikely they would have migrated from Greece
Kudos to the Japanese community in America for holding a news conference to denounce the idea of putting Syrian refugees in camps. You know, those camps that were invented by the British during the Boer War in South Africa. They called them concentration camps, I think. As if the Syrians who finally get there, haven't suffered enough.
I love the idea of Fudō Myōō, assisted by a legion of Tengu wreaking havoc on the idiots that come up with such inhumane ideas again. I bet Fudō Myōō would make them see sense.
Tisiphone: Destruction of the P.O." cujones would suffice, nicely, but a new law suit is probably a better bet.
Mageara: Oh, this poor woman, and her child! dorothy was so lucky to find herself "…not in Kansas anymore."
Alecto: Our political process is so screwed up, that reason has flown the coop, and the worst thing we could do to refugees is being presented as public policy. You want to bith home grown terrrorism? well, let's see now…oh yeah, we'll tke these poor, scared people and put them in interment camps where we can be sure they will receive the absolute minimum of care education and training, social islolation from the dominant culture, which will turn into the most motivation to hate… and then the pundits on the right will screm about how thankless these people are.
Tisiphone — I hope that Marelle Lawson is successful in suing the police department and the officer involved. I further hope that the officer is charged criminally, found guilty and does prison time, never to work as a police officer again.
Megaera — Not clicking my heels twice just in case I end up in Kansas! This is pure bullshit and the state must be held to account.
Alecto — While the internment of the Japanese Americans, and Canadians, during WWII is a somewhat different situation to that of the Syrian refugees, the unbridled bigotry, fear and contempt is the same. There is no place for it!
These all just beggar belief!