Eric Garner WAS MURDERED. PERIOD.

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a black man, died in Tomkinsville-a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, after police officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in a chokehold.
Thankfully, the whole attack was caught on video.
On December 3, a Grand Jury decided NOT to indict Pantaleo on any charge.
In case you're the average American nd don't really know what this means-it is NOT a proper trial or anything of the sort, it is the first step in the felony trial process.  The Grand Jury actually has a LOWER standard of proof, meaning instead of finding they believe someone did something "beyond a reasonable doubt" (a higher, criminal trial standard), they only need to have a, generally, found that there is "probable cause" to believe that someone did something, can be charged with a certain charge, etc.
The fact that this did not happen is what is referred to in legal circles as "bullshit".

Having myself spent 3 years studying law culminating in the dubious achievement of a Juris Doctorate (no, you don't have to call me "Doctor" anything, unless im trying to get reservations), I have a slightly better idea of how wrong the decision was. Since this is truly upsetting, I'm going to explain EXACTLY why Pantaleo should not only have been indicted, but CONVICTED of Murdering another human being.

Now, in the general legal understanding of criminal law, there are three elements of ANY crime:  Mens Rhea, Actus Rheus, and Causation.  Just to be unnecessarily obtuse and confusing, the legal community continues to employ a dead language even in 2014.  Since NO ONE speaks Latin, its necessary to explain that Mens Rhea is the mental element, or the "criminal's" intent-meaning they meant to do the Actus.  The Actus Rheus is, surprisingly, the act.  If the "criminal" intends to do something, but only dreams and never does-this element has not been satisfied.  Of course these both must concur, or happen at once to apply. Although the third element, causation, is not latin, it can be confusing.  In this context, for causation to be satisfied, the "crime" must actually be caused by the "criminal" and his Mens and Actus-basically IF without the "criminal's" intervention, the crime would not have occurred-then causation is satisfied.

In particular, Murder is described as "the unlawful killing, with malicec aforethought, of another human being".  This means Murder's particular elements (the particular things that comprise the crime of murder, as opposed to the crime of jaywalking, etc) are as follows:
-Unlawful : basically, its not Self-Defense, or War
-Killing : the victim is dead,, otherwise I suppose you'd be dealing with assault and so forth
-With Malice Aforethought : in other words, the accused didn't kill someone by accident, or so quickly that it was a reflex, etc
-of Human Being:  This means, for those of you, and we KNOW you ARE out there-who think that certain ethnicities aren't human beings, THEY MOST DEFINATELY ARE.

In case the Tomkinsville Grand Jury members are capable of reading, here's why Mr. Pantaleo should have been CONVICTED of Murder:

1.  His actions satisfy the Actus Rheus of Murder, the killing, because he was the one "applying" the "chokehold", or just plain CHOKING, Eric Garner.

2.  He satisfies the Mens Rheus, or had Malice Aforethought, because he plainly heard Eric Garner, ELEVEN (11) TIMES say "I can't breathe", and he did NOT release Mr Garner.  Nor his continued choking necessary to "defend himself", as there were FOUR (4) other officers immediately present, Mr. Garner was plainly no longer ANY kind of threat as he was face was down, on the pavement-AND Mr. Pantleo was engaging in an Illegal act applying the chokehold, as it is prohibited by the law enforcement division he is employed by. (this means the apparently completely incompetent prosecutor could also have employed some type of "per se" argument)

3. Since all this happened at the same time, it's easil proven that Mr. Pantaleo also satisfies the Causation element, of Murder because Eric Garner was a human being,  and the video clearly shows that Mr. Pantaleo's choking caused Mr. Garner to be unable to breathe, and, indeed, the official cause of death (notably) Homicide by asphyxiation CLEARLY proves it.

Ultimately, this simple and easy argument is crystal clear, correct, and obviously so.  We, as citizens and human beings, are resultingly left to ask: "Why wasn't is successful then?"  Why didn't the prosecutor resign in anger?  Was he so interconnected and involved with law enforcement as he works side-by-side with them every single day...that he was unable to adequately assert a simple argument?  Are we employing incompetent law enforcement?  Does the acquittal mean that the law DOES NOT apply to law enforcement? Or are black men committing misdemeanors no longer human beings?  Is racism STILL so prevalent in the USA as to be incorporated into law enforcement as a matter of course?

I think, if nothing else, the legacy of Eric Garner-and too, too many others-is to define and elevate the importance of those questions and others.  If we let them drop, or accept the answers this acquittal (and the recent one in Ferguson) leave us with:  That law enforcement is not subject to the rule of law; That ACCUSED Black misdemeanor criminals are not human beings; That the courts are not able, or, worse, unwilling, to enforce the law against their own officers; etcetera and on and on..then we are no better than the members of that grand jury, the incompetent or unwilling court, or the supportive and corrupt law enforcement in that community.

I sincerely and honestly hope that no one who reads this is capable of that.



-x

" The "Chokehold" is a tactic banned by the New York City Police Department (NYPD).^[9][10] Garner was initially approached by Officer Justin Damico on suspicion of selling “loosies”, single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps.^[11] After Garner expressed to the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, officers made the move to arrest Garner. Officer Daniel Pantaleo, also on scene, put his arms around the much taller Garner's neck, applying an apparent chokehold shown in a widely viewed video recording of the event. While lying face-down on the sidewalk surrounded by four officers, Garner is heard to repeat numerous times, "I can't breathe".^[2] Garner was pronounced dead approximately one hour later at the hospital"
--Published December 3, 2014, Wikipedia News feed

New SIMPLESEQ 10 step analog sequencer in Simple line of Eurorack Synthesizer Modules from New Voodoo Design now available!!
We have set the price point for the next few made for $120.00 (USD), which is VERY AFFORDABLE and in keeping with our Simple line in general.  The SimpleSeq will ONLY BE AVAILABLE VIA CUSTOM FOR CLIENTS CONTACTING US DIRECTLY, it will not appear on the web site as the others have.
The demand is simply WAY TOO HIGH already and we cannot expect to satisfy demand or fill orders if we put up a 100$ analog sequencer on our site.

Please check out the SIMPLE SHORT YOUTUBE DEMO here
http://youtu.be/PhDNVZUKgAA

Sponsoring Artists
Give us YOUR INPUT!!
Please let us know, via this blog, or our email, or any other contact info you get-what you think about sponsoring artists.
Does it work?
Does it make you think more or less of a product?
How far should we go? (keeping in mind we are a small company)
In this vein, take a look at the shop, WWW.NEWVOODOODESIGN.COM, site's front page-where we've posted a video of a song where an artist (through NO payment or support of ours) used one of our devices-the Hate Generator-in his music.
Thanks Everyone, hope to hear from you-and-as always-WE VALUE OUR CLIENTS OPINIONS IN EVERYTHING WE DO!! 

GUY WALKING AROUND CARY TOWN IN FAN IN RICHMOND VA WEARING OUR SHIRT FROM LAST YEAR!!

GUY I SAW/RAN INTO WALKING AROUND CARY TOWN IN FAN IN RICHMOND VA WEARING OUR NEW VOODOO DESIGN & CUSTOM INSTRUMENTS SHIRT FROM LAST YEAR!!

Front (left his head off for privacy reasons)

Hell yeazzz.

THAT is NICE, right? 

Back. AWESOME RIGHT?!!!

Ideas-PLEASE let me know if this one is DECENT

Im thinking of putting out a small run of simple utilitarian modular modules in eurorack (most popular) format.
Perhaps as a part of the Simple Module run? if anyone has ideas for a name for them other than that, let me know.

proposed outboard joystick module design sketch

As the first  one,Im thinking Ill do one thats allows you to hook any 2 control or Audio cables up to a simple Joystick (the 2 cables being controlled by UP/DOWN, and LEFT/RIGHT directions on the stick). 
Heres the kicker though:
-I want to use a cable to allow an outboard joystick.  Perhaps 6 foot straight or 12 foot coiled?
Anyways, this crappy sketch ought to give you an idea what im talking about.
Ive seen modules put out by other companies with "force pads" (pressure sensitive resistors) & joysticks..BUT both have the operative device (joystick, pad, etc) ON THE MODULE...meaning that someone wanting to use the damn thing would have to HOLD THEIR HAND UPRIGHT ON THE MODULE IN THE MODULAR the ENTIRE TIME THEY USE IT.
That seems somewhat absurd and nonsensical to me.
Nobody wants to do that.
That's why controllers for game systems are NOT on the box itself.
Duh.
Anyways, I think Ill at least make 5 or 10 with a simple little thumb joystick and see how popular the idea or run ofmodules turns out to be.
If its really popular ill make more..maybe even if its only kinda popular because I think the idea is so good.
Any ideas for other "utilitarian modules"?
Perhaps another outboard one? Like an 'outboard mini-mixer console'?

Thoughts?

thanks

MORE SDIY (SYNTHESIZER DIY) THINGS NOONE EXPLAINS: NOMENCLATURE & WHAT STUFF LOOKS LIKE THAT PEOPLE CALL THINGS YOU DONT KNOW

Let's start today with the different kinds of TRANSISTORS:
1. TO-92 type 1 -
 this is the most common type you will see today. Its plastic, black and about as small as possibly can be and still be able to be handled and employed by human beings' hands.
NOTE: when using these in anything-PAY ATTENTION to the WAY THIS IS POINTED (WHICH SIDE IS ROUNDED AND WHICH FACES WHAT WAY




2. TO-3 this is the METAL CAN type often seen in higher voltage type stuff and vintage germanium and others used in pedals & effects that employ vintage parts.









3. SOT-23 this is the type more and more in use lately as it is a SMD (surface mount) type design.  VERY small and essentially TOO small to be easily handled by a human. Most often employed on assembly lines and plants using robotic emplacement and manufacture



4. TO-126 this is almost entirely limited to vintage (80s-early90s) manufacture.  Not seen often in newer designs, but is sometimes. Allows for some small heat sinking, but is still relatively small and plastic. Note the hole which identifies it in relation to the others.






5. TO-18 & TO-5 these are the SMALLER METAL CAN type, also much more common with vintage and more expensive parts. Durable and dependable.





6. TO-92 type 2 VERY similar to #1, but differentiated visually by the difference in the way the legs appear-they have a fanned-out design as opposed to the straight-down formation of #1.  Also very common today and still very much in use.

SOT252

Other less common types: SOT 29 & 89, TO 251(these have metal heat sinks attached) & 252 (these have notches & heat sinks) etc

THATS ALL FOR TODAY !!
But these are the most common, and if you know what 1-6 mean, youll be able to nvigate most buying, catalogs and searches on ebay or mouser, etc.
Good Luck!

LOOKING FOR ANIMATORS OF ALL EXPERIENCE LEVELS FOR FUNKY

ELECTRO-RAP SPACE PIRATE SHORT COLLECTION/MOVIE
Myself (Jim Tracy : The New Voodoo (electronic/punk), Heyzeus (Folk/Funk), TriUM (underground hiphop), No Bueno (old school punk), Dread (Grind/Death Metal), Locust (Electronic/Black Metal), BURNd (atmospheric/doom) etc) and Dustin (Dank D (hiphop/underground) are looking for Students, Amateur, and Professional Animators to produce shorts which will be essentially be music videos that help tell the story of 2 Space Buccaneers (Space Captain Crash &   ) as they engage in various adventures involving: The Attack of The Lovely Lesbians (Robots originally made to be Sex Toys who altered themselves to carry Boobazookas & other weapons), The Race to Defuse The Funk Bomb, Battle with the Henchmen of the Anti-Groove & their WhiteBread Whips, Smuggling Powdered Weird into the Everpresent Empire of Corporate Blah -past the Evil Corporate Forces of Generals GetAJob & GrowUp, and finally their participation in the Revolution of Beat as it finally takes down Emperor Ass Pilot despite his attempts to use his secret "talking out of his ass" hoodoo to confuse our heroes.

JOIN TODAY!
All interested parties can either email newvoodoocustoms@gmail.com or go to www.newvoodoodesign.com or this blog and use the contacts.
Simply submit any example of artwork and you will be sent an abbreviated example track and must return an animation of 15-20 seconds sync'd up with any portion provided within 7 days to be considered for the project.
The project will be displayed on screens behind the band on a 46-state tour of the US, shown in select theaters, and promoted on various media and the web, so any work provided by artists will be repaid in recognition in addition to the achievement and collaboration itself.