Alabama Penal Code 1865-66

The Penal Code of Alabama; Prepared by G W Stone and J W Shepherd.. | Alabama, Geo W. Stone, J. W Shepherd

 57.    Living in adultery or fornication.

    If any man and woman live together in adultery, or fornication, each of them must, on the first conviction of the offense, be fined not less than one hundred dollars and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not more than six month; on the second conviction for the offense, with the same person, the offender must be fined not less than three hundred dollars, and may be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not more than twelve months; and on a third, or any subsequent conviction, with the same person, must be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for two years.

58.    Bigamy.

    If any person, having a former wife or husband living, marries another, or continues to cohabit with such second husband or wife in this State, he or she must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not less than two, nor more than five years.

59.    Same; exception.

    The provisions of the last preceding section do not apply to any person, who, prior to such second marriage, had procured a decree, from a court of competent jurisdiction, dissolving his or her former marriage, and allowing him or her the privilege of marrying again; nor to any person who, at the time of such second marriage, did not know that his or her former husband or wife was living, and whose former husband or wife had remained absent from him or her for the last five years preceding such second marriage.

60.    Incest.

    If any man and woman, being within the degree of consanguinity of relationship within which marriages are declared by law to be incestuous and void, and knowing of such consanguinity or relationship, intermarry, or live together in adultery, each of them must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not less than two, nor more than seven years.

61.    Marriages between white persons and negroes.

    If any white person and any negro, or the descendant of any negro, to the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation was a white person, intermarry, or live in adultery or fornication with each other, each of them must on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not less than two, nor more than seven years.

62.    Same; officer issuing license or performing marriage ceremony.

    Any probate judge, who issues a license for the marriage of any persons who are prohibited by the last preceding section from intermarrying, knowing that they are within the provisions of that section; and any justice of the peace, minister of the gospel, or other person by law authorized to solemnize the rites of matrimony, who performs a marriage ceremony for such persons, knowing that they are within the provisions of said section, must, each on conviction, be fined not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars; and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not more than six months.

63.    Crime against nature.

    Any person who commits the crime against nature, either with mankind, or with any beast, must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not less than two, nor more than ten years.

64.    Attempts to procure abortion.

Any person who willfully administers to any pregnant woman any drug or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means to procure her miscarriage, unless the same is necessary to preserve her life, and done for that purpose, must, on conviction, be fined not more than five hundred dollars, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced  to hard labor for the county, for not less than three, nor more than twelve months.

The Attack - Book Review

I came to this book by Algerian author Yasmina Khadra (Mohammed Moulessehoul) after setting aside two other books featuring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One was a fictional account written from a biased perspective, and the other was a well-written but lengthy journalist memoir of his days covering the conflict. So, it's no wonder how my third choice turned out to be a charm. It is a well told fictional story about a Palestinian-Israeli surgeon who is a naturalized citizen, whose wife's remains are identified as the suicide bomber that blew up a cafe during a children's party in Tel Aviv. 

The story follows the unbelieving and devastated doctor as he battles through discovering who, what, where, when, and how his humble, homemaker wife could possibly have done what authorities accuse her of doing. It is painful traveling along with the good yet broken doctor as he slowly tries piecing together the puzzle of his beautiful wife's alleged ties to a terrorist attack. As a reader sharing in the doctor's numbing pain and shocking loss, you almost feel him justified in wanting to drown himself in depression. It would take withstanding more shock and pain, along with newly added doses of anger and hatred, before the good doctor embarks on a perilous journey toward discovery of the worse kind.

Captain Moshe: "I, too, was married to a beautiful woman, Dr. Jaafari. She was the pride of my life. It took me seven years to discover that she was hiding from me the most important information a man should have about his wife's fidelity." 

Dr. Jaafari: "My wife had no reason to deceive me."

(excerpt from The Attack by Yasmina Khadra - page 41)

I enjoyed how the author skillfully paints every character you encounter with just enough coloring so you know the type of person being presented. Whether they be relative or stranger, friend or foe, the persons you meet in the book are exactly who they appear to be. It is only one person, the doctor's wife Sihem, whose character alludes you. We never meet her face to face but others, mostly the doctor himself, share their impressions of who she was and who she might have become.

The author gives a taste of poetic writing with descriptions of the mediterranean weather, evening skies, desert winds and such. He paints a sweeping canvas with authentic landscapes to match the peoples and their land. The doctor's memories of an idyllic childhood, running through orchards and along hills on his grandfather's land, showcase examples of the author's descriptive writing skills. 

The flip side of such beautiful writing includes descriptions of prejudice, oppression, dispossession, and a military occupation that destroys the homes and hopes of a native community. Descriptions of children maneuvering around and through war-torn rubble, avoiding snipers and other deadly instruments of war.

The story shares the beauty of family heritage and tradition while trying desperately to survive the ugliness and devastation of war. There is a message in some of the madness depicted. Without preaching, the story shows what can drive an oppressed people to adopt a "by any means necessary" approach to resistance. 

As readers are driven to question just how well the good doctor knew his wife Sihem, another question comes to mind. How much of his own dignity and heritage had the good doctor sacrificed to become a naturalized Israeli citizen and successful surgeon in Tel Aviv. What is the price of acceptance one pays to live, work, and mingle amongst those who might abhor your naturalized presence and success.  And what price must you pay to return to your homeland and see the devastation and hopelessness, then look your peoples in the eye with a shame that cuts deeper than any scalpel. These are some of the thoughts this brutally honest and insightful story left me with. And I am better informed because of it.

I recommend this novel to anyone looking for a suspenseful, literary read with a poetic touch and brutally, eye-opening revelation. There are children on both sides of this conflict whose lives are blown to bits. We who have survived childhood must make sure all children following us have a chance. 

Give Peace a Chance!

 

Der Fuehrer Book - A Warning!

 

Der Fuehrer (The Fuhrer)

published January 1944

I once owned this book, but I recall its writing being a bit stifling in a somewhat older style. So, I passed it on. Now, my being older and more familiar with history and politics, I would like to give it another chance. The importance of learning from past mistakes of others is partly why. The other reason being the authoritarian politics we are seeing in our current times.

Below is a book review I came across by David Drury. It is a lesson in recognizing the methods used by one of the most atrocious, politically evil, authoritarian dictators to cross the pages of history. The Internet Archive link I've provided at the bottom of this post is where you can find the book for free, in print form as well as read-a-long audio. 

The first few pages read like the "Book of Revelation" warning of things to come. After witnessing all our current 47th president has said and done since taking office earlier the year, it makes you wonder whether he is following the blueprint laid out by this most evil of authoritarian dictators. After all, Hitler emulated Joseph Stalin's revolutionary ruthlessness in eliminating opponents, particularly the old elite.

Great Purge - Wikipedia

Night of the Long Knives - Wikipedia

The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941 – review | History books | The Guardian

What it all shows is authoritarian dictators can and do borrow the methods of other dictators, possibly their enemies, regardless of how cruel, barbaric and heinous the crime. And evil is what evil does!

David Drury
(amazon review)

5.0 out of 5 stars

Fertile Soil for Nazi Seed

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016

It has become an internet truism that as an online discussion proceeds forward the probability of someone comparing their opponents to Nazi's or Hitler approaches 1 (Godwin's Rule).

This adage of course gives birth to another (I'll call it
Viam Dimittere Godwin's Rule)... that after the mention of Godwin's Rule in an online discussion, the likelihood of all participants dismissing the comparison as over-reaction also approaches 1 at an ever faster pace than it approached Godwin's Rule.

Thus we are at risk of repeating history by not learning it, which is another truism that people roll their eyes at, thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

One of the best experiences for me about 8 years ago in learning about Nazism and Hitler was by reading "Der Fuehrer" which is a first person perspective, published in 1944, of someone who saw Hitler's rise to power. Through this book I learned so very much about:

1) How branding was used (nearly 100 years ago now) to create an iconography and identity for those without it
2) How Hitler used the mistakes of others to gain advantage, ever pragmatic. The rise to power is perhaps more interesting to me than all the other work on Nazism after they were in power, in part because it receives less attention, and also because it informs our ability to not repeat history.
3) How Hitler's movement worked around his weaknesses, and leveraged his strengths, energizing a movement.
4) How so many Germans were complicit in this movement, not fully aware of the depths of depravity they were heading towards, as the frog warmed in the kettle slowly for two decades.
5) How much innuendo and double-speak was used, including denials and misdirection on the treatment of Jews, whereby nothing overtly "scary" to the broader public was offered, and instead the "systematic stuff" was done behind the scenes, only doing just enough to terrify others but make the majority feel safe and powerful.
6) How economic motivators, of those marginalized by global economic forces out of their control, are almost all that is needed to motivate a mob to become a movement. The everyday people (volk) are never more motivated than by the fact that they are poorer this year than last year, or this decade than last decade, or that their children might be poorer than they are now. Simply put,
7) I learned how much of this was just politics. It wasn't like the movies or documentaries... it was just everyday politics in Germany. It was more like watching Meet the Press than Indiana Jones.
8) I also learned how many people thought that Hitler was a bit of a joke--that they were embarrassed by him--and the typical reaction of opponents was not to attack him but to dismiss him. This gave him the room to operate, and in a sense by being dismissed he was always underestimated (inside the Nazi party at first, then inside Germany, then in Europe, then around the world), right up until Nazi Troops took Paris if you think about it.
8) Also, I think that there are parallels between all kinds of other political forces (sometimes over-used as in Godwin's Law), but one I thought of recently when reading The Atlantic Monthly's piece on the "weaponization of social media" was the parallel to ISIS, which did much of the above... In a functional way, ISIS has more parallels to Naziism than other Radical Islam groups, in my opinion.

There are other excellent works on Hitler out there but this one is my personal favorite as it is sort of "stuck in time" on what it was like in Germany in the 20s and 30s. Today, rather than analyzing, myself, on PEOPLE that are "like Hitler" I instead tend to focus much on what Konrad Heiden focused on: the conditions that were present and the way in which they were leveraged to birth a movement that changed the world (for the worse) more quickly than almost any movement in history. Germany in the 20s and 30s was fertile soil for the horrid Nazi seed, and Hitler was the sower.

This is the demon who speaks out of the book.

‘We shall talk with the people on the streets and squares,’ says the demon, ‘and teach them to take the view of political questions which at the moment we require. For what the ruler says to the people spreads through the whole country like wildfire, the voice of the people carries it to all four winds.

‘We’ — the demon always says ‘We’ — ‘shall create unrest, struggle, and hate in the whole of Europe and thence in other continents. We shall at all times be in a position to call forth new disturbances at will, or to restore the old order.

‘Unremittingly we shall poison the relations between the peoples and States of all countries. By envy and hatred, by struggle and warfare, even by spreading hunger, destitution, and plagues, we shall bring all peoples to such a pass that their only escape will lie in total Submission to our domination.

‘We shall stultify, seduce, ruin the youth.

‘We shall not stick at bribery, treachery, treason, as long as they serve the realization of our plans. Our watchword is: force and hypocrisy!

‘In our arsenal we carry a boundless ambition, burning avidity, a ruthless thirst for revenge, relentless hatred. From us emanates the specter of fear, all-embracing terror.’ (from Der Fuehrer page 2)

Der Fuehrer; Hitlers Rise to Power, Konrad Heiden (1944) : Konrad Heiden : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Brazilian President's United Nations Address

 

Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Delivers in U.N. Speech

Brazil’s president says in UN speech that democracy can prevail over ‘would-be autocrats’ | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | The Guardian

As much as I would like to proudly include a link to our President of the United States' United Nations Address, I cannot. The U.S. saw its Big Beautiful EmBarrassment perform a rendition of the reality tv show he was fired from for making derogatory statements about Mexican Immigrants in 2015. Not only was his fifty-seven-minute U.N. rant appalling, but it was also full of misinformation, lies, ally-bashing and simply downright crazy. Trump's behavior characterized the exact derogatory remark he recently called Jimmy Kimmel, "A Nut Job!" 

'Your countries are going to hell': Trump bashes United Nations, world leaders in speech - ABC News

The United Nations and entire world got a front row seat to the narcissistic, self-aggrandizing, muddle-minded leader of America. And if they didn't understand what Citizens of the United States have been dealing with since inauguration 2025, they do now. 

The proof in that U.N. address makes it perfectly clear; the leader of the free world is unfit to lead, much less host a primetime reality tv show. At least he was forced to leave television to the professionals. Welcome back Jimmy Kimmel! 

Americans ask the world to join us in rejecting authoritarian leadership worldwide, while strengthening our democratic societies against tyranny and corruption. When a leader's number one directive is to teardown democratic institutions, shakedown countries and/or corporations and go all-out "retribution" against those he views as enemies (real or imagined), there lies the threat to national security. A threat from within.

The world needs more leaders like Brazil's democratic President Lula Da Silva. Leaders who stand up to tyranny with courage, regardless of the size or influence of an opponent. We need those elected representatives who still believe in truth and democracy to stand up for it like their homes and families depend on it. When the house is on fire and there's no fireman on site, do your best to be a fireman! 

"In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man!" - Rabbi Hillel

The last king to rule over America, though he never set foot on her shores, was King George III of England. American patriots ended that reign in 1783. They were courageous men fighting against all odds. And yet they endured through sacrifice and loyalty to "bring forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

No Kings

Raiders Offense? OFFENSIVE!

It is now 27-10 midway through the third quarter. The Commanders are smothering Geno Smith and the Raiders offense like barbecue sauce on some ribs. Coach Pete Carroll tossed his signature chewing gum just before half-time, as if to get the bad taste out of his mouth. And here we are in the second half with the taste getting worse. It ain't pretty.

Where is the running game? Where is any semblance of a blocking offensive line? Where are the tight end targets? What happened to making adjustments to take advantage of blitzing defenders? Who is running the offense at this point, it can't be the mastermind Chip Kelly can it?

Yes Raider Nation. Unfortunately, last Monday Night's loss to the Chargers was no fluke. It was actually a premiere of things to come. And here we are, hopeless in a season that seems all but over before it has really begun. Maybe chalk it up to rebuilding, with a team trying to get in synch with its parts. Sure the defense is decent, but we know how ineffective a tired defense being on the field too much can lead to.

I love my Raiders. Love'em like a favorite child. But damn it gets extremely hard watching them go through what is hopefully just growing pangs. 

In the time it took to write the above paragraphs the Commanders have added a touchdown to their lead. The NFL Redzone has become my broadcast of choice as I refuse to watch one more silver and black blunder today. It's so damn hard being a Raiders fan.

Win, Lose or Tie!

Score (end of 3rd Qtr)

Raiders 10

Commanders 34

England "warm-heartedly" Greets U.S. President

 

People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,

He's a warm hearted person who'll love me to the end.

People let me tell you bout my best friend,

He's a one boy cuddly toy, my up, my down, my pride and joy.

People let me tell you 'bout him he's so much fun.

Whether we're talkin' man to man or whether we're talkin' son to son.

Cause he's my best friend.

Yeah he's my best friend.

Trump and Epstein images projected onto Windsor Castle alongside Prince Andrew ahead of state visit

It was a friendship that spanned three different decades. To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein was a “terrific guy”. Epstein believed himself to be Trump’s “closest friend”, and praised the future president as “charming”.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” - The Guardian

Crawford Def. Canelo (Undisputed)

 

Terence 'Bud' Crawford makes history with victory over Canelo Alvarez 

The smaller, older boxer took on and took down the younger, stronger boxer. And it was a legendary night for boxing champion Terence 'Bud' Crawford from Omaha, Nebraska.

The super middleweight championship fight was mostly a feeling-out fight through the early rounds. Canelo would land mostly body shots while Crawford got in mostly head shots. It seemed to be pretty even until around the sixth round, where Crawford seemed to outwork and perhaps outland Canelo.

A Canelo headbutt in the ninth didn't draw blood on Crawford as he appeared to convincingly win all rounds from then on. Crawford got more relaxed as the fight went on, and it seemed Canelo got more and more frustrated and disgusted with himself.

Canelo still shows power, and it was almost as if you were watching and waiting for a Canelo power punch to connect and turn the fight completely in his favor. But the big punch never landed, in part due to the skillful footwork, defense, ingenuity, and mental toughness of Crawford.

Terence Crawford is a Smart, Strategical warrior who I believe has solidified himself as one of the greats of this boxing era. He moved up two weight classes for this fight. And while Canelo might have been the more proven champion coming in, Crawford proved he is and should have always been on the same championship-level radar as Canelo. 

Boxing owes Terence Crawford an apology for not featuring him in more championship, big purse events throughout his career. But tonight, we boxing fans are just excited to see this 37-year-old warrior display his championship skills in front of a record 70,482 spectators at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. It broke the record of 29,214 set in 1982 (Holmes vs Cooney).

Terence Crawford becomes the first (male) four-division world champion in boxing history. Shout out to Claressa Shields. 

I hope the stadium is prepped and ready for my Raiders (1-0) season opener there on Monday Night Football against the rival Chargers (1-0). Maybe the Raiders can take some tips from Crawford and out gameplan and outwork the Jim Harbaugh led Chargers, neutralizing their offense while cutting them down to size. Can't Wait!

Congratulations Terence Crawford on an impressive, Undisputed championship victory!

Winner by Unanimous Decision

Judges Scorecard

116-112

115-113

115-113

Round-by-round: Crawford tops Canelo, makes boxing history - ESPN

Former boxing world champion Ricky Hatton dies at 46 - ESPN