Au Cochonnet Marin

“Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom; justice is what comes out of a courtroom.” Clarence Darrow

Justice is supposed to be blind, but for many it is only a one-eyed lady. They feel that once in a while she is lifting her blindfold to sneak a peek at the people appealing to her.
Is the good lady totally unbiased? She might be full good intentions, but she has to contend with some very clever lawyers bent on bamboozling her.

Things are not always what they seem to be. Ultimately, it is the version the most cleverly presented to the jury that will prevail.

In Jussie Smollett’s notorious case, initially, good people jumped on the bandwagon to rally against this blatant racist attack.
But from the beginning, things looked pretty fishy. First of all, for a man who had been trashed by two thugs, “Juicy” showed very few marks of physical violence.
Secondly, if this was a random attack, it is very unlikely that the assailants would carry a noose with them. And what about the bleach? And no witnesses…?

While at first everybody sympathized with the actor, it turned out that the purported attack was quite different than previously reported. After a detailed police investigation, Smollett’s story unraveled and most people concluded that his account of the story was a hoax.
Despite his claims of innocence, public opinion considered him guilty.

Suddenly all charges against the accused are dropped and the man is mysteriously exonerated. Lady Justice, what happened? Are you privy to something that we don’t know? I feel that some very strong emotional currents running under this story derailed the affair and that justice was misled.

By the way, “exonerated” does not mean “not guilty”.  More precisely, it means “relieved of a responsibility”. Significant difference.
The city of Chicago (plagued by crime) is less than happy about this conclusion.

Final thought

I am of the opinion that we should present this case to Judge Judy. The 76-year-old no-nonsense firecracker would decorticate this affair in less than 10 minutes. “Show me” she would say, and you’d better show her what she demands. And um… is not an answer!

Like many Americans hungry for justice, I think that she would do a great job grilling POTUS.

The truth shall set you free!

Alain

I have been looking for the right word to label this little essay and I think that I finally found the right term. Tendentious. If you are not quite sure of the exact meaning of this word, here is the English Oxford Dictionary’s definition:

“Expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view, especially a controversial one.”

I always said that to be noticed, you need to separate yourself from the pack; you have to be”tendentious” and today I came across such a person. She is a young French woman and her name is Julia Pietri. I am betting that before long she will be making the rounds of every American talk show.

She penned a little book titled “Le petit guide de la masturbation feminine” (The little guide to female masturbation) and she is an unabashed feminist advocate.

Due to its underlaying Puritan culture, American society has always been prudish and beset by taboos. Luckily, these bugaboos are finally starting to bite the dust one by one in an ever-increasing number.

Masturbation,  especially female masturbation is not a subject that is usually broached in polite society,  but it is a taboo that ought not to be. Onanism is alive and cannot be swept under the rug.

Julia, a well-spoken young woman, attacks this subject with gusto and there is no stopping her. She says:

“I write this book to help liberate women sexually, to democratize the true anatomy of the clitoris, so that nobody talks anymore in our place, to break the myth of vaginal orgasm…”

I stand for an open society, with fewer taboos as possible, and I applaud her initiative. Never forget that most taboos have a religious origin and that trusting a cleric is as bad as trusting a Scientologist.

In summary

When it comes to sexual matters, many people are poorly educated . They just do what comes naturally… using Polynesian navigation. A little education never hurt anyone and the more we know about a subject, the better off we are.

This book should be read by everybody.

Alain

 

Forty years ago, when were all young and handsome, some members of La Pétanque Marinière flew to Southampton, Great Britain to compete in the 1979 World Championship Cup.

They were Louis Toulon, René Di Maio and Marcel Parnell.

 

 

 

 

Louis, with whom I had the pleasure to play last Sunday, is now the sole survivor, but memories of this event survived.
Yesterday I came across some photographs (taken by Mireille Di Maio) of that period, and you can now see them in an album called Southampton 1979. Notice the snazzy red caps and the tricolor jerseys worn by our champions.

Seventeen (17) countries took part in this event notably Algeria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, the Netherlands, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, USA and Venezuela.

Our people did not bring back any medals, but just participating in this event was a thrill.

If I am not mistaken, no women played (or were not allowed) to participate in this tournament. Fortunately, times have changed and women (some of them extraordinarily good) are now represented in all tourneys.

Enjoy the pictures.

Alain