Dana, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm anti-Giuliani because all/most of my NYC friends are. I figure I should listen to the people who actually lived under his rule.

Learning some form of self-defense is always appealing, but I just haven't found the time.

I went in for jury duty. Out of a group of 61 people (should have been 62, but one was missing), I was number 50. We were lined up in order and herded over to the criminal courts building, kindergarten-style. Once we were inside the correct courtroom, we were seated on the benches in order, with cards that identified us by juror number, so that if we answered a question, the court reporter could note who was speaking.

By the time the judge talked to us, it was probably 10AM. We'd had to report at 8AM. I don't know if this counts as part of voir dire, though I suspect it does, since she was basically asking questions to see if any jurors would be eliminated for one reason or another (though no one was ever told they were eliminated -- we were all kept until the end).

She asked who had served on a jury before, and what the case was. One guy, who was number 6 but was ultimately not picked, had been on three juries including a capital murder case. Out of the 61, probably less than 10 had ever served on a jury.

She asked if anyone had been arrested or convicted of anything beyond a traffic ticket. That was an interesting run of answers. Again, less than 10 people, and the most common answer was domestic violence. There were a couple of DUIs as well.

She told us the case we were trying was aggravated sexual assault, meaning that the defendant had (allegedly) used a weapon to threaten or compel the victim. She asked if anyone had either been the victim of a violent or sexual assault, or was close to someone who'd been the victim. And that was a depressing 20 minutes or so, because fully half of the people there raised their hands. There were several cases of child molestation, either the person themself or a case where they had a family member. A few women had been raped. A few people had relatives who had been murdered. One man said his brother and brother's wife had been killed by their son in a murder-suicide.

I'm sure the judge had more questions, but those are the ones that stick out to me. After that, it was time for lunch. They told us that there was a cafeteria, and not to leave the building.

That Vanity Fair article was awesome. And it's true that people who weren't here and/or paying attention when he was mayor really don't get it, I think partly because who could believe all the stories are about the same person?

Continued ~ma for Grace and Noah.

Damn.

It's always worth recapping Giuliani's famous riposte to a ferret owner who called in to the mayor's weekly radio show to protest the city's ban on them as pets: "There is something deranged about you.… The excessive concern you have for ferrets is something you should examine with a therapist.… There is something really, really very sad about you.… This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.… You should go consult a psychologist.… Your compulsion about—your excessive concern with it is a sign that there is something wrong in your personality.… You have a sickness, and I know it's hard for you to accept that.… You need help."

Man, your jury duty is more more involved. I spent fully half the day, longer, actually, just stuck in one of two rooms waiting for a judge to need a jury. Read two books, a newspaper and did crosswords. Then 60 of us got called and did a quick & dirty voir dire (lasted maybe 15-30 minutes) and I was one of the lucky 12 to sit on the jury for the STUPIDEST CASE EVER. Man.

When we came back from lunch, it was the lawyers' turn. They were both in the courtroom the whole time, as was the defendant, though I didn't notice him there until they pointed him out, due to where I was sitting.

The prosecutor was most concerned with finding out whether we believed we could convict based on the testimony of a single witness, assuming we believed that witness completely. She got herself in trouble several times by coming too close to talking about the specifics of the case -- that was my understanding, at least. The defense attorney objected several times, and several times the judge called them up to the bench to discuss it.

She also (or possibly this was the judge) said that the full range of possible punishment in this case was anywhere from five years' probation to life imprisonment, and we were asked if we would be able to "consider" the full range of punishment options, if the defendant was convicted.

The defense attorney was mostly concerned with the lower range, and wanted to know who would not be able to consider giving the defendant probation. A lot of people spoke up for this one, and it looked to me like several people considered this their way out of having to serve on the jury.

After that, the judge and attorneys conferred. The judge said that the attorneys were "lenient" or "forgiving", I forget which one, and that they'd come close to not being able to make a jury. As number 50, I was the last regular juror called. The alternate, who was somewhere around 55, was not too pleased.

I think a big part of Giuliani's pull is that he appears (and certainly did on 9/11) as more presidential than the President.

Liese, you should train! The head of my type of jiujitsu (small-circle) is a teacher at a high school in Los Angeles, and frequently has to break up fights. He does H2H training for LAPD also, but says he uses the martial arts principles more in his teaching job.

Plus, it's fun.

She asked if anyone had either been the victim of a violent or sexual assault, or was close to someone who'd been the victim.

Your experience was worse than mine, but when I was called a few months ago I was also surprised at how many people had been victims of crime or connected to it.

ALSO this reminds me that everyone was telling me all this shit I should pull to get out of jury duty, blah blah blah, and like the week after I got rejected this same judge was in the news for punishing a member of the venire for attempting to get out of jury duty by making him come in for the duration of the trial anyway. And I read this whole long article today about how he's a great judge but rather high-handed when it comes to potential or current jurors. So I'm glad I didn't try anything.

Why are you a pacifist?

Whew. That's a biggie.

I'm a pacifist because I value the human being. I think that human life is valuable and should not be harmed without a gravely serious reason. I believe that when we do violence to others, we do violence to ourselves. It seems to me that it is rare when causing injury solves problems. I believe that great fundamental social change can come non-violently, so that informs my activism.

In the pacifists I know, I admire their fortitude and integrity. I admire their willingness to put their bodies in the (literal) line of fire in order to protect the innocent. I see pacifism as a methodology for mutual respect and for establishing communication.

I am in fact, one of the borderline pacifists who would prefer, when attacked, to resist non-violently rather than fight back. But I know quite well that I would and will intervene using violence to protect someone else. So I can't really ask, say, the SO, not to protect me if he is able.

There's some faith-related stuff too, but that's tougher to explain, particularly since most people in my faith don't agree with me.

(I should mention that I appear to be fine with consensual violence. I am a hockey fan, after all.)

I would like to learn to fight because I think I would enjoy the mental and physical discipline of it, and because I always think it is better to know how to de-escalate a situation if possible. It's like guns. I'm pro gun control, but I would like to learn to shoot because I think it's better to know than to not know in the case of an emergency.

I also feel that with my current job, it's fairly likely that I will be in explosive situations involving physical confrontation and possibly various types of weaponry. I would like to be able to hold my own long enough to get help if a situation came up.

My kids get jumped all the time. One got stabbed this last week. Where I interact with them is generally safer, but not always.