[Written a few hours ago on a plane. Later uploaded for your consumption.] So I’m continuing my thoughts about plans for the Summer. You probably ought to read part I first. This post is also a bit of a ramble. I was thinking a bit more about Spring/Summer travel, you … Click to continue reading this post
[Written a few hours ago on a plane. Later uploaded for your consumption.] I find myself on a plane to New York (sort of) all of a sudden. I’ll explain later what it’s all about, since I do not yet know to what extent I’m allowed to blog about the … Click to continue reading this post
I’m rather shocked by this story, and feel compelled to draw it to your attention. This week’s LA Weekly’s cover story is by Judith Lewis, and it is a very detailed account of what’s been happening to Billy Cottrell since you probably last heard about him. He was convicted for his role in various arson attacks on SUV dealerships in the Pasadena area, and sent to prison. Just to remind you, Billy Cottrell was a graduate student in theoretical physics working with colleagues of mine just up the road at Caltech, and so it has even more resonance as a story than normal, since even though I never knew him, he -or his type- is so familiar to many of us, right down to the youthful fascination with Euler’s eiÏ€ + 1 = 0. (Apparently he left that written at some of the crime scenes…)
I leave a question mark in the title of this post for lots of reasons: Just how “bad” was he in the first place? Had some of the vehicles that were damaged not been from out of state, the crimes would not have been Federal matters, and the full weight of the crimes being acts of terrorism (and all that brings with it in today’s atmosphere) would not have transpired. The judge seems also to have simply added three years to his sentence on a whim. His having Asperger’s syndrome was never allowed to be mentioned in the case at all, and so the jury was never given the opportunity to consider that some particular behavioural characteristics (in the course of the crimes themselves, and in the course of the courtroom defense) might have been exacerbated by it. The list of things goes on.
But since his sentencing, things have got even worse. It’s just dreadful. The terrorist […] Click to continue reading this post
