Outlander Book 6

I had a goal ... I wanted to finish A Breath of Snow and Ashes before the school semester began so I could concentrate on readings I have to do for class. I think the first have of the book (> 700 pages) took me at least 2-3 weeks. The second half of the book (another ~ 700 pages) took me maybe 4-5 days!

But why is it that we can get so attached to books and their characters?  I feel a deep sense of loss now that I'm done - even though book 7 is sitting downstairs and book 8 is available in stores. It doesn't matter. My daily life without Claire and Jamie is so empty. And it's only been like 1-2 minutes since I finished!

I'm not sure exactly how historically accurate Outlander is, but I think it's pretty spot on. And I've also read that the info about Claire's use of herbs for medicine is also very accurate. I actually am really interested to learn more about the use of herbs for things. It's really fascinating!  And some of my recent articles for wikiHow have included natural remedies that are identical to the ones Claire used!

My biggest dilemma at the moment is to wonder what to read tomorrow. I need a book for the bus and I don't know yet which novel we'll be starting with for my YA reading class. It's not like I don't have 6 million options - I just always have such a hard time choosing! In fact, when I was figuring out what to read before I picked A Breath I stood in front of my To Read bookshelf for over 10 minutes trying to decide. Maybe I'll pick a non-fiction book for tomorrow so I won't feel as bad if I don't finish it quickly. 

Sidetrack:

Speaking of the bus tomorrow.  It looks like I'll be up at 7:15am tomorrow in order to catch one of two possible buses between 7:55am and 8am. That should get me to school just after 8:30am or so. Registration starts at 8:45am and orientation starts at 9am. 

It's been a long time since I've taken the bus from home to campus and back. In an ideal world is like to avoid the LRT, but that might be fairly impossible. I also need a paper map of the buses. I like to be able to hold maps in front of me to make plans like that. 

I really like the route bus 43 takes but it really sucks that it only runs M-F at rush hour times. How stupid is that?  Especially considering it's only 1 of 2 buses that runs up and down 119th Street!

Orientation:

Orientation is for the School of Library and Information Studies. Technically it's for first years. And technically I'm not a first year. But it's my first year in SLIS. 

They've sent us an agenda but I'm still not 100% sure what to expect. It'll be nice to put names to faces of profs in SLIS. And it'll be nice to see whose been assigned my advisor. But we don't get much time to talk to our advisor, so that's not helpful. At least they'll be giving us food. And it's only a half day, so I'll be home after lunch - assuming I stay for the entire lunch. 

Delivery:

Speaking of which, I'm expecting a delivery from FedEx tomorrow. The tracking website says they're suppose to come before 12pm. I called and asked that they come after 2pm instead but they made no guarantees. So I'm leaving a note on my door just in case. Too bad it wasn't ready for delivery last weekend or even Saturday. 

I don't know why they specify before 12pm. Or why there's no way to ask for a specific time. And if the times they deliver never work out, I don't get why there isn't a way to automatically have the package left at a depot. Why bother having a delivery driver knock on the door when you know you're not going to be home?

I've actually had the most delivery trouble with FedEx. My personal fave is UPS. They seem to have things under control. FedEx doesn't even read postal codes or addresses when they make deliveries (long story). 

Mice:

I haven't found anymore dead mice in my house since this morning, so that's good. But there do seem to be a lot of flies. I think that's just because I leave the backdoor open when I'm outside with the cats and things get inside. For the most part they seem to be entertainment for the cats!

Back On Track:

I'm a little calmer about Claire and Jamie now. I think I'll be able to sleep. I hope anyway. 

At least I know Brianna, Roger, Jem and Mandy are safe and alive. And that Claire and Jamie are going to start a new life somewhere other than Fraser's Ridge. And I'm so mad at Arch Bug and his wife - two-faced weasels!  Grrrr

Waste of Packaging

Everywhere you look there's excess and unnecessary packaging. I order some socks via Groupon a little while back and they came in a massive box!  And every time I go to Costco I shake my head. Why do manufacturers insist upon all this extra cardboard and plastic to wrap their products in?

Actually, that reminds me of a quote from Ascension, a TV show about a whole bunch of people who thought they were in a space ship headed to a possible new earth, but really they're were just in a fake space ship still on earth and it was a big social experiment. Anyway, one of the guys from inside the experiment managed to get outside and ended up at a convenience store for stuff. Once he'd bought the stuff he asked why everything was cocooned in plastic!  Ironically that line was the best line of the whole show. 

I think it would be awesome if manufacturers tried to figure out ways to pack their products in anything other than plastic. And stopped packing their product, which is already in a container, inside yet another container!  One layer is enough!

And Costco should implement a policy whereby extra packaging isn't allowed. For example, if the item is $9.99 for 5 items packed together, then force the customer to pick up 5 items. And if they want less than 5 items, fine, but it's still $9.99!  Actually, come to think of it, I bet some customers would be okay paying the same price for less because it might still be cheaper than elsewhere and won't cause them to waste stuff. Or ... for every item under the limit Costco donates it to charity. So if you only want 3 of the 5, 2 get donated to charity. Everyone still makes the same amount of money, but there's less waste. 

I should write a letter to Costco!

Public Transit and Disappointment

Several things happened today -

(1) I finished watching season 9 of Supernatural, which is all the episodes on Netflix. Now I have to figure out where to get season 10, since that was technically last year. I wonder if maybe Netflix will post season 10 when season 11 starts airing?  Hmmmmm

That reminds me, I have to check if there are more episodes of The 100 to watch yet. And buy the books - yes, it was based on a set of books!

(2) I took public transit from 105th St and 82nd Ave to campus and back. I had appointments in both locations but parking on campus is ridiculously expensive, so I parked near my second appointment and took the bus over to campus. This is only the second time this year that I've taken public transit. Considering I pay over $300 a year for my UPasses through school, those were two very expensive public transit rides!

However, I intend to start taking public transit to and from school everyday starting in September - well, technically starting August 31st. Since I no longer have to drive all over town for cat sits, I no longer need my car with me!  And the extra time on the bus and LRT will allow me to read more!  And as of right now it's only 3 days a week. Since I already pay for the UPass anyway, this is one of my methods to save money - no parking passes or extra gas required. (Like my car needs any fewer kilometres in it!  It's a 2011 and hasn't hit the 70,000 mark yet!)

(3) And it's a good thing I'm looking for ways to save money because I also found out today that I am not getting an RAship to TAship this coming school year. While they aren't guaranteed, they're also not fair. Students have absolutely no idea how it's decided who gets an RA position and who doesn't. And what's worse, if you "luck out" and get picked to be in certain labs, you might get the chance to present at a conference. Yet students seems to have absolutely no control over this. 

I think it's quite an unfair process. Each available RAship and TAship should be posted and those interested should apply. Then the person chosen has to be someone who applied and was superior in some way to the rest of the applicants. Rather than the way it is now where I'm assuming you either have to bribe your way into one, or become a teacher's pet??  Who knows. The process needs to change. 

AND they need to complete the process earlier in the summer - somehow. By mid August good jobs for the fall on or near campus are already filled. So if you waited to see if you got an RAship before applying, you're out of luck. But if you apply earlier in the summer and get the job, and you later find out you also got an RAship, and you're not able to work both sets of hours, then you have to turn one down which means that hiring manager is probably pissed at you (and won't consider you again in the future) and they have to scramble to fill your spot. 

Now, if the RA jobs in HUCO were in anyway related to your thesis, research, or supervisor, then I can understand there not being an application process. But these jobs aren't related to anything. First off, most students don't know what they're going to research until after they start first year - and they won't look for a supervisor until first year. Now it is possible that someone who has an RAship with professor X then decides that (a) they like what they're doing in their job and (b) they like the prof, then they might use the RAship as a means to decide what their research is going to be, and who they want as their supervisor. 

Which means that in the end the domino effect happens. If you happen, by chance, to get into lab A with prof X, who also happens to have a decent amount of grant money, then you're set. You will probably be rehired year after year to work in that lab for that prof. And chances are no one else will ever be considered, regardless of qualifications, ability or skills. 

As I anticipated, this turned into a rant. But it makes me mad. I feel like any chances I had were taken away before I even did anything. And that I had absolutely no control over my own future in this regards. I also can't help but wonder if it breaks the collective agreement - I should actually look that up. 

Don't worry, I'll be saying and doing something about it - which will probably end up guaranteeing me NO job for my third year!

----------

Oh, that car pulling up outside reminded me. I wonder if the dudes in the camper will be back tonight? The last few nights they've pulled in at 2am. Apparently they're performers at the fringe festival and my neighbour has given them a place to stay. But they seem to spend the night in their camper rather than in the house. At least they did last night. And last night they had a girl over. And they either didn't think about the fact that they're outside in the middle of a concrete square surrounded by houses with windows open, or they didn't care!  My window is way too close, and I heard things I rather not have heard. 

It actually reminds me of a funny event that happened when I was a little kid. Our house backed onto the parking lot of an elementary school. And in the summer and on the weekends the parking lot was obviously empty. Well several times me and some friends watched a car pull in with a guy driving. He parked just on the other side of our fence, which I'm thinking he thought was out of view, and then a lady walking a dog would wander by and hop into the car. Into the backseat. And the dog would sit in the front seat. Even at my age at the time I knew what was going on. And I guess the woman must have lived in the area with her husband???

Enough reminiscing!  Time for bed!

Sam and Dean

I'm almost done watching Supernatural on Netflix - all 9 available seasons. I calculated it the other days and estimated that it's about 120 hours of TV!  9 seasons x approx 20 episodes/season x 40 mins per episode. Yikes!

I recognized episodes up until mid season 8 when I must have stopped watching. Ironically it was almost at the exact point that the Men of Letters came into play. 

After watching so much Supernatural I can't help thinking of a couple of things:

1. Have I lost my mind?

2. I wonder if I should change the topic of my Masters thesis from romance novels and social media to Supernatural and social media. 

3. How interesting it is to delve into the personalities of Sam and Dean after watching them almost non-stop for 120 hours. 

4. Poor Castiel. That dude never gets a break. 

Castiel:

Wow, that guy has spent his entire time on Supernatural trying to do good and having the absolute worst luck. He always seems to get involved with the wrong people for the right reasons. While he's done some pretty bad things, I don't think he ever did any of them with bad intentions. In a lot of ways the poor guy was misguided by the lack of a father figure (i.e. God). 

I have to admit that Castiel is my favourite character. He's also the most complicated, if you ask me. There's so much about him that we don't know or make assumptions about. And I really don't like how Dean has treated him so far in season 9. 

God:

I remember back in the day there had been rumours that that author dude might be God because he disappeared around the end of season 4 or 5 (the numbers have blended together now). But considering I'm almost at the end of season 9 and he hasn't been mentioned again, I'm thinking that rumour was wrong. 

Someone did say early on that God has been gone from heaven for a long time and was somewhere on Earth. But that topic hasn't been brought up recently either. 

I have no idea if they'll ever get back to this storyline, but it does make you think. First, in many fictional stories, whether they're books, movies, TV shows or something else, things like angels, demons, and the Devil are talked about quite a bit. They're all given faces and names and provide dialogue. But it's very rare to see God (I.e. the God Christians believe in) to be an actual character. Why is that?  Are they (and who are they) afraid of offending someone?  Do they think they'll get the character wrong so why bother?  Or do they think it would end up being too political (I.e. God is Alanis Morrisette)?  Maybe it would require too many other explanations and make it too complicated?

Who the hell knows!  But it is interesting. How might a God character be added to Supernatural?  How would they spin it?  Would it be male or female?  (In side references God has always been referred to as a he in the show.  Is that on purpose?  Is it trying to demonstrate a man's inability to believe God could take a female form?)  How would they explain where he or she has been all this time?

And why have so few angels ever actually seen or spoken to him or her?  Is there another side to that storyline?  Is it possible there actually isn't a God but actually just an extremely powerful angel who has mislead everyone?

Sam:

At the start of the show I liked Sam. Now in season 9 I'm no longer a big fan. He's lost a lot of his compassion and empathy. He's bitter and jaded. He's almost too emotional. And it's not because of the things that have happened to him but rather his building hatred of Dean. He's holding a massive grudge against Dean and can't let it go. (Although I'm not sure he should let it go.)

The thing I don't get about Sam is that he's been hanging out 24/7 with Dean for about 8-9 years now and somehow he's still surprised at Dean's behaviour. Come on!  Dean is a freakin open book!  You can easily predict how he's going to react to any situation involving Sam. And any situation in general. I don't think Dean has actually changed that much in 9 years. He's actually been pretty consistent. So why the hell is Sam so shocked when he finds out that Dean allowed an angel to possess him in order to make Sam better?  What did he think Dean was going to do?  Sit back and let him die?  It's not like he's been able to let Sam go before - why would he be able to do that now?

Dean:

Dean is the quintessential big brother. He will act like a big brother to Sam until the day he dies (permanently) no matter how old they are. Engrained in his brain is the fact that he must - at all costs - protect Sam. 

But Dean is also attached to Sam like a kid attached to their special blanket. Sam is Dean's handle on reality. He last link to family and life. Dean is terrified of being alone. He can't imagine life without Sam. I think if he had another family member to take care of he'd be able to let Sam go, but he has no one else, so Sam gets the full brunt of his fears. Dean believes in family to a fault, and he doesn't understand people who don't understand the concept of family, including Sam. To Dean, family trumps everything. And you always forgive family. 

Stereotypes:

Dean also acts like a typical guy. He drinks too much. He likes cool cars. He doesn't like to read. He likes guns. He likes women. He doesn't get too emotional. He has rules he can apply to almost any situation. He doesn't quite get subtle hints. He's easily distracted. And the list goes on. 

Sam is almost the complete opposite, almost as if the writers were making Sam the pseudo girl in the story!  Ironically the only time Sam acts like a stereotypical guy is when he lost his soul. How's that for hidden meaning!?!

Supernatural has had no strong female roles. There was Ellen and Jo, but they were quite short lived and Sam and Dean always seemed to be rescuing them. There's Charlie, whom I really like, but she's not really a regular character - and now they've sent her off to Oz!  Oz? Really?  Short of story lines were we?  There's Sam and Dean's mom, but she's almost like a curse to them instead of a help. And then there's Ruby - who turned on Sam.  And Meg - whose another demon.  I guess Meg lasted the longest as a strong female character, but the fact that "good" Meg was another actress was weird. 

Ironically Abedon - the knight of hell whose trying to take over from Crowley - might be the most significant female character right now.  

Crowley:

I think the accent makes it hard for me to think of him as truly evil. He's self-centred and full of himself, but he does have some redeeming qualities. And he's funny and sarcastic, which makes me think there's hope for him.  I just wish he'd wear a different suit once in awhile!

It's too late at night to continue thinking about this!

Edmonton Public Library Book Sales

This past Friday I went to my first EPL book sale at Stanley Milner Library downtown. I'd heard about them many times before and never got around to going. Now I'm going to have to go every time!  I think the next one is in November!!

I'm not 100% sure where they get the books they sell. Some are definitely from the stacks, as they have stickers on them. But some appear to be from other sources. I guess it's possible that some were books that were donated but not needed for the stacks. But there were a lot of boxes from Better World Books as well - which makes me wonder if BWB tries to sell their donated books to raise funds. Not sure. 

Regardless I was really impressed with the selection AND the quality. Some of the books were fairly recently released in brand new condition. And for paperbacks it only costs $1 per book and hardcovers are $2 per book. You really can't go wrong there!

They also sell DVDs, music CDs, and audio books. Plus they have a table of special stuff that's specially priced. I don't know about the CDs or audio books, but the DVDs were $2 each and I got 6 of them. All movies I've seen before but didn't own. There were probably more I could have taken but I held back!!

I bought only fiction books this time. They had tables of non fiction as well but I didn't spend too much time there because I saw them last and was already tired!  Plus it was more crowded in that room.  Next time I'll start with the non fiction!!

The sales are always 3 days long - Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sunday's they sell the books for $10 a box. Considering I filled a box about ½ full and paid $34 - the $10 a box deal is excellent. The only problem is that you're left with whatever remains on Sunday after 2 days of people going through everything. 

I'd go back today (Sunday) but I'm sure what I got Friday is enough for this week!

One of the books I got is for my mom for Christmas. The next sale in November may offer even more Christmas presents!!  It's August and I've already bought about ½ my Christmas presents for this year!  Yay!

Yellowstone Grizzly Bear

Recently a man was found dead in Yellowstone. It was determined that he was killed by a grizzly bear. They found the bear, which turned out to be a female with two cubs. She had apparently killed the man, ate some of him and cached the rest. 

While a mamma bear protecting her young can become violent and kill humans she feels are a threat, it is apparently unusual for her to stick around and feed on the body. 

Because of this unusual behaviour, park authorities decided they had to kill the bear for fear it would attack other humans. They also captured the two cubs and are sending them to a zoo. 

The Yellowstone NP Facebook page has been very open and transparent about the whole situation and has been accepting of the negative feedback from folks who don't agree with their actions. 

I think, from a public relations perspective, they've handled the situation rather well. They've been good about not glossing over any of the facts and have outlined the facts that allowed them to make their decision. 

Obviously not everyone has agreed with their decision. Some folks have commented that the man who died made the decision to hike in off trail areas, alone and without bear spray or other protection. And that because of these decisions he made he put himself at risk and therefore the bear shouldn't be killed because of his actions. 

Other folks are upset that so many people are on the side of the bear and not the man. And that people should feel sorry for the man and not the bear. 

Some people are on the side that the bear means nothing compared to humans and shouldn't be given a second thought. Others feel that the bear meant something but should still have been put down. 

My personal opinion is that I don't like the killing of wild animals in wild places that were just being wild animals. And even though she did more than a defensive mamma normally would, she didn't do more than a bear would. She might have started by defending her cubs but when the threat was gone she may have realized she had sustenance for her cubs. 

Regardless, I don't think the man should be blamed for what happened. He paid for what happened with his life and that is extremely sad. We have no idea what he did or didn't do while he was out hiking, or how exactly the situation unfolded. Whatever it was he did or didn't do, I'm pretty sure he didn't purposely go after the bear or cubs. He was technically no threat to them, even if mamma thought he was. As such he certainly didn't deserve to die. 

But I also don't think the bear deserved to die. She deserved a second chance. Ironically humans get more forgiveness for more vile acts than wild animals do. I think, at the very least, they could track her and watch her behaviour. If she proved to be dangerous they could have reevaluated. But if she went on being a non-rogue bear then they could have just left her alone and the park would have three majestic bears instead of none of them. 

I've said before, and I'll say it again, that if I'm ever killed or mauled by a bear that I wouldn't want the bear killed if it wasn't doing anything unbearlike. As a human I understand the risks I take being in a bear's very limited territory. I have a lot more safe space than it does, if I didn't want to take the risk, I'd stay home. 

I'm sad that there are people who feel the bear is better off dead because it means nothing and wild animals aren't important. Those folks, unfortunately, don't understand the concepts of conservation and preservation. 

I can respect both sides of the argument as far as the two sides who believe the bear had worth. I can't respect those who feel the bear was expendable and that nature is useless. 

Theatre Trial - Final Verdict

I don't know why, but I didn't post right away after the verdict on Friday. I let it simmer in my head first. 

I also read some comments that were posted on The Denver Channel's website where they had live video. 

Overall, I am surprised. I honestly thought they were headed towards the death penalty. After all, the Boston bomber got the death penalty and he only killed 3 people. 

I don't think they were swayed by emotion but I do think they may have been swayed by the fact that Holmes is mentally ill. Interestingly, I had read that Brachler worked to keep the death penalty just for Holmes. If a jury won't sentence Holmes to death in Colorado, I seriously doubt they'd sentence anyone else to death. This might actually spell the beginning of the end of the death penalty in Colorado. 

While I'm surprised by the jury's decision,  I have to admit if I had been in their shoes I'm not sure I could vote to sentence someone like Holmes to death either. Holmes isn't a clear cut case where you can sentence him to death and not feel any guilt or remorse. Someone like Paul Bernardo, however, is. I don't blame the jury for not giving him the death penalty, it would probably have weighed on them, unfairly, for years. Maybe the rest of their lives. And it's not like the other option was that he went free, so they can feel good knowing he won't be able to do this again and he's being punished. 

I think the media was surprised by the outcome. And I'm sure some of the victim's families are feeling justice wasn't obtained. I know that there were quite a few people posting comments online that were quite angry at the verdict. But others that were understanding. In the court of public opinion, no unanimous verdict has been reached either. 

After the verdict was read the judge dismissed the jury with his thanks and scheduled the next sentencing hearing for the remaining counts (attempted murder and the explosives count). In these cases the judge gets to decide sentencing. And while he'll be fair, it really doesn't matter what he decides as it won't change Holmes' situation in any way. Kind of seems like a waste of time actually. 

I wonder what prison he'll be sent to. I imagine he won't stay in the county jail for life, but who knows. And I wonder if they'll put him in the general population. I doubt it, they didn't do that at the county jail. But at the county jail he hadn't been convicted yet. Hmmmmm. I also wonder what type of psychiatric treatment he'll get in prison. He had good treatment up until now, but he was still waiting for his trial and everyone under the sun ended up assessing him. It is possible his treatment will go downhill from here on out. I'm not sure the U.S. prison system is known for its good mental health programs. 

The next sentencing hearing isn't till the end of August. And that won't be overly exciting. I'm going to have to find something else to watch! 

Theater Trial - Sentencing Hearing - Phase 3 - Waiting

August 7th, 2015

At around 11am today court was back in session for a very short time because the jury had sent out a request to view a specific video.  The video in question, prosecution exhibit 1000, is a video of the crime scene.  You can only imagine why the jury would want to view a video of the crime scene when trying to determine if the defendant should be sentenced to death!

The prosecution, obviously, had no problems with this.  The defence originally didn't either, but then changed their minds and didn't want to jury to see the video.  The judge disagreed because the video was already in evidence and he'd already instructed the jury they were allowed to see any of the evidence.

However, this is where things get weird, and I don't understand how court proceedings work.  When the jury is deliberating, all the evidence is placed into the jury room with them.  They can look at any item they want (guns, photos, printouts, journals, reports, etc.) anytime they want, and for as long as they want.  But things that are electronic - videos, emails, audio recordings - are only sent back in their disc format and the jury has to request equipment to watch/view/hear the item.  In this case, the judge will allow them to do that, but he'll only agree to send the equipment back for a limited time AND only allow them to watch the item once.  Why?  They can sit and stare at a gun for hours if they want - but they can't watch and rewind a video?  That doesn't make sense to me.  If the video was printed out in photos, they could look at them as much as they wanted, but because it's in electronic format, they can't.  Is the court prejudice against electronic forms of evidence?  Considering the world we live in, that's pretty stupid.

Court is back in recess and the jury is probably viewing the video by now.

And so ... we continue to wait ...

p.s. Considering Holmes sat through months of this trial barely moving or making any sort of facial expression or expressing any sort of emotion, I'm wondering what he's doing right now.  He's obviously aware of what's going on, but either can't or won't react to it.  So is he sitting in his cell right now just waiting, but not contemplating what all this means?  Or is he aware of what this means and does he have thoughts and emotions about it?  Is he capable of emotions?  Can he feel scared?  Regardless of whether he knew what he did was wrong, he must have some feelings about what happens to him.  Is just not able to express those emotions, but he feels them.  Or can he not feel them either?  Has the combination of disease and drugs essentially eliminated his emotions?  Or only removed his ability to show them?  I don't know why I find this interesting, but I do.

Theater Trial - Sentencing Hearing - Phase 3 - Closing Arguments

August 6th, 2015

There’s a 9-1-1 call that someone in the theater made where you can hear the never-ending gun shots happening in the background.  I don’t know what gunshots sound like live, but the ones in the recording sound like they’re coming from a big gun.  Holmes brought both an assault rifle and a shotgun into the theater, so it’s probably one of those.  The sound of the gunshots plus the sounds of screams is something you’ll never forget, and Brachler ended his closing argument with that recording while the photos of the 12 murder victims slowly disappeared from the screen.  If that’s not impactful, I don’t know what is.

Ms. Brady is doing her closing argument now.  All the defense attorneys are really good.  And you can tell they do care about what they’re doing.  Holmes, I don’t know if he realizes it, should be incredibly grateful for such an awesome legal team at no charge to him, even if he’s sentenced to death.  I really believe they did everything possible to try to prevent a death sentence, but he literally gave them nothing to work with.

And you can tell that they all take this extremely seriously, and this is quite emotional to them as well.  Ms. Higgs seemed on the verge of tears at the end of phase 2.  Ms Brady is very emotional now doing her closing arguments.  While it could be an act, I seriously doubt it is.  I don’t think someone could be a public defender if they were uncaring or not empathetic.  

Brady is saying that death is not a punishment for mental illness and that death is not justice for someone with a mental illness.  That may be, but the alternative is life in prison without parole.  Is life in prison better for someone with a mental illness?  Isn’t being locked in a prison for the rest of his life - which could be over 50 years - going to make him worse?  The fact that his delusions aren’t gone, won’t life in prison make those delusions worse?  Isn’t there a possibility that locking him away in prison might end up making him become violent again?  He’ll definitely be medicated the rest of his life, but that medication hasn’t changed his mind about his delusions, it’s only somewhat calmed him in a way as to prevent him from acting out.  Is he going to get the proper treatment in prison?  

From a logical perspective, regardless of what the verdict is, his case is going to be appealed for decades.  He’s going to be locked up for years before any final decision is made, unless he tells his attorneys not to appeal.  

As I’m watching this it occurs to me that I’m not sure if the death penalty is something a jury should be made to decide.  Brady is really laying the guilt on thick.  I’m sure many of the jurors are strong people, but I’m not sure this is a decision they should have to live with the rest of their lives.  They did nothing wrong, that seems like a lot of stress for someone who is technically not involved in the legal system.  I can’t help but think that the death penalty should be decided by the judge, or a group of judges.  Maybe the death penalty should be decided by a group of judges in the area where the crime happened.  

3:12pm - closing arguments complete - jury released to deliberate.