Month: May 2023

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Trial Here Will Test New Law Stripping Local DAs of Post-Conviction Review

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Court arguments are set to begin in Memphis on Friday in a case that will test a new state law that stripped local control of post-conviction proceedings in capital cases and granted it to the Tennessee Attorney General.

In capital cases, individuals often seek a review of their convictions, requesting a different judge to assess evidence, determine intellectual disability, competency for execution, and other factors in the hopes of obtaining a reduced sentence. This process is known as collateral review.

Previously, local district attorneys represented the state in these cases. However, a bill passed by the Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly and signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee granted this authority to Republican Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter Jonathan Skrmetti.

“The attorney general and reporter will have exclusive control over the state’s defense of the request for collateral review,” stated the bill. “The attorney general and reporter will not be bound by any stipulations, concessions, or agreements made by a district attorney general regarding a request for collateral review. This amendment prohibits a trial court from issuing a final order granting relief in a request for collateral review until the attorney general and reporter files a response to the request.”

The House bill was filed in January, but it felt largely under the radar, primarily focusing on the requirement for law enforcement agencies to inventory sexual assault kits.

However, an amendment removed all of that language and completely re-wrote the bill to give the state AG control in these post-conviction cases. The legislature passed the bill in mid-April, and the governor signed it into law later that month. 

“This sudden move appears to be a response to the choices of voters in both Davidson County and Shelby County, who elected prosecutors to support more restorative and less punitive policies,” read a statement at the time from Tennesseeans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. 

Larry McKay, who received two death sentences for the murders of two store clerks in Shelby County in 1981, has now requested a court review of previously unexamined evidence in his case. Despite the new law, his attorney seeks disqualification of the “unelected” Tennessee Attorney General from the review.

McKay argues that the new law infringes on the responsibilities of local district attorneys, thereby violating the Tennessee Constitution. Additionally, he contends that the drastic alteration of the legislation violates the state constitution.

In support of McKay’s request, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy wants to review the new evidence. In a letter this month, Mulroy said, “The newly enacted statute is an unconstitutional effort to divest and diminish the authority granted to Tennessee’s District Attorneys General by the Tennessee Constitution. The new statute violates the voting rights of such voters because it strips material discretion from District Attorneys, who are elected by the qualified voters of the judicial district.”

State attorneys argue that McKay has sought review of his case multiple times in various courts. They challenge the arguments put forth by his attorney, asserting that the new statute does not violate the state constitution. They further note that McKay may not even get the desired outcome if the new evidence is reviewed.

“The General Assembly was entitled to take that statuary power away from the district attorneys and give it to the Attorney General in capital cases,” reads the court document. “They have done just that and their mandate must be followed.”

Memphis Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is scheduled to preside over the case and hear arguments on Friday at 10 a.m.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Michelangelo in Memphis

You don’t have to go to Vatican City. (Photo: Abigail Morici)

I’d walk a thousand miles just to be with you, dear reader, but that’s my limit. I won’t walk 500 miles more — or even a foot more — my body will crumble. So, if you ask me to meet you in Vatican City to stare at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which is 5,205 miles away from Memphis, I’d have to decline. But what if I told you that you could still see Michelangelo’s frescoes that adorn Sistine Chapel’s ceiling without having to renew your passport? That’s right, you can see them all at the Renasant Convention Center, thanks to the Los Angeles-based production company SEE Global Entertainment.

“The show came to be because my CEO went to the Sistine Chapel and had a miserable experience,” says Eric Leong, senior producer at SEE Global Entertainment. “I don’t like saying ‘miserable,’ but he felt rushed. He was only in there for 15 minutes before he got pushed out. He was shoulder-to-shoulder with other people, and the whole time guards are yelling to be quiet, no photos ’cause you’re not allowed to take photos there. And he just felt that he didn’t get to enjoy the art the way he wanted.”

So, the company got to making a version of the Sistine Chapel where people could really immerse themselves in the art of Michelangelo, the result being the traveling “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,” which features the 34 frescoes reproduced as high-definition photographic prints. Unlike the Vatican, Leong says, viewers can get up close to the prints and spend time witnessing each one individually, and to prevent over-crowding, the exhibit has a limited number of tickets per hour.

“We obviously can’t compete with the Vatican,” Leong says, “but we’re not trying to. We’re trying to give people a unique experience, a unique perspective. … And the ability to have a little bit of Rome or history come to you for the price of what a meal might cost you in Italy, you get to see the next best version of this timeless work of art. And you get to see it in an environment where it’s quieter, and you can actually take your time through it.

“If you haven’t been to the Chapel before, you’re gonna hopefully get inspired to go see the real thing,” Leong adds. “And you’re gonna learn about Michelangelo, you’re gonna learn new facts, and I always say if people have more time to spend being inspired by art, they’re gonna do better things, then the world’s gonna be better. It sounds extremely cheesy, but I believe it is true.”

Guests should expect to spend approximately 60 to 90 minutes in the exhibition. An audio guide, included in admission, will be available to download to accompany your viewing. All ages are welcome, and tickets can be purchased at chapelsistine.com/exhibits/memphis.

“Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,” Renasant Convention Center, on display through June 10, $22.50/adults, $19/children, $21.50/senior citizens, students, and military.

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 06/01/23

ARIES (March 21-April 19): History tells us that Albert Einstein was a brilliant genius. After his death, the brain of the pioneer physicist was saved and studied for years in the hope of analyzing the secrets of why it produced so many great ideas. Science writer Stephen Jay Gould provided a different perspective. He said, “I am less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” I bring this to your attention, Aries, in the hope it will inspire you to pay closer attention to the unsung and underappreciated elements of your own life — both in yourself and the people around you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Human life sometimes features sudden reversals of fortune that may seem almost miraculous. A twist in my own destiny is an example. As an adult, I was indigent for 18 years — the most starving artist of all the starving artists I have ever known. Then, in the course of a few months, all the years I had devoted to improving my craft as a writer paid off spectacularly. My horoscope column got widely syndicated, and I began to earn a decent wage. I predict a comparable turn of events for you in the coming months, Taurus — not necessarily in your finances, but in a pivotal area of your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I am weary of gurus who tell us the ego is bad and must be shamed. In my view, we need a strong and healthy ego to fuel our quest for meaning. In that spirit and in accordance with astrological omens, I designate June as Celebrate Your Ego Month for you Geminis. You have a mandate to unabashedly embrace the beauty of your unique self. I hope you will celebrate and flaunt your special gifts. I hope you will honor your distinctive desires as the treasures they are. You are authorized to brag more than usual!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): One study reveals that British people own a significant amount of clothing they never wear. Other research suggests that the average American woman has over a hundred items of clothing but considers just 10 percent of them to be “wearable.” If your relationship to your wardrobe is similar, Cancerian, it’s a favorable time to cull unused, unliked, and unsuitable stuff. You would also benefit from a comparable approach to other areas of your life. Get rid of possessions, influences, and ideas that take up space but serve no important purpose and are no longer aligned with who you really are.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In July 1969, Leo astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon. But he almost missed his chance. Years earlier, his original application to become part of NASA’s space exploration team arrived a week past the deadline. But Armstrong’s buddy, Dick Day, who worked at NASA, sneaked it into the pile of applications that had come in time. I foresee the possibility of you receiving comparable assistance, Leo. Tell your friends and allies to be alert for ways they might be able to help you with either straightforward or surreptitious moves.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Great shearwaters are birds that travel a lot, covering 13,000 miles every year. From January to March, they breed in the South Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Africa and South America. Around May, they fly west for a while and then head north, many of them as far as Canada and Greenland. When August comes, they head east to Europe, and later they migrate south along the coast of Africa to return to their breeding grounds. I am tempted to make this globe-trotting bird your spirit creature for the next 12 months. You may be more inclined than ever before to go on journeys, and I expect you will be well rewarded for your journeys. At the very least, I hope you will enjoy mind-opening voyages in your imagination.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): One of the central myths of Western culture is the Holy Grail. For over 800 years, storytellers have spun legends about the search for a precious chalice with magical qualities, including the power to heal and offer eternal youth. Sober scholars are more likely to say that the Holy Grail isn’t an actual physical object hidden away in a cave or catacomb, but a symbol of a spiritual awakening or an enlightening epiphany. For the purposes of your horoscope, I’m going to focus on the latter interpretation. I suspect you are gearing up for an encounter with a Holy Grail. Be alert! The revelations and insights and breakthroughs could come when you least expect them.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): June is Dare to Diminish Your Pain Month for you Scorpios. I hope you will aggressively pursue measures to alleviate discomfort and suffering. To address the physical variety, how about acupuncture or massage? Or supplements like boswellia, turmeric, devil’s claw root, white willow bark, and omega-3 fatty acids? Other ideas: sunshine, heating pad, warm baths with Epsom salts, restorative sleep, and exercise that simulates natural endorphins. Please be equally dynamic in treating your emotional and spiritual pain, dear Scorpio. Spend as much money as you can afford on skillful healers. Solicit the help of empathetic friends. Pray and meditate. Seek out in activities that make you laugh.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A hungry humpback whale can hold more than 15,000 gallons of water in its mouth at once — enough to fill 400 bathtubs. In a funny way, their ability reminds me of you right now. You, too, have a huge capacity for whatever you feel like absorbing and engaging with. But I suggest you choose carefully what you want to absorb and engage with. Be open and receptive to only the most high-quality stuff that will enrich your life and provide a lot of fun. Don’t get filled up with trivia and nonsense and dross.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Funny story: A renowned Hollywood movie mogul was overheard at a dinner party regaling an aspiring actor with a long monologue about his achievements. The actor couldn’t get in a word edgewise. Finally, the mogul paused and said, “Well, enough about me. What do you think of me?” If I had been in the actor’s place, I might have said, “You, sir, are an insufferable, grandiose, and boring narcissist who pathologically overestimates your own importance and has zero emotional intelligence.” The only downside to speaking my mind like that would be that the mogul might ruin my hopes of having a career in the movie business. In the coming weeks, Capricorn, I hope you will consistently find a middle ground between telling the brazen truth to those who need to hear it and protecting your precious goals and well-being.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When faced with important decisions, most of us benefit from calling on all forms of intelligence. Simply consulting our analytical mind is not sufficient. Nor is checking in with only our deep feelings. Even drawing from our spunky intuition alone is not adequate. We are most likely to get practical clarity if we access the guidance of our analytical mind, gut feelings, and sparkly intuition. This is always true, but it’s extra relevant now. You need to get the full blessing of the synergistic blend. PS: Ask your body to give you a few hints, too!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Has your intuition been nudging you to revise and refine your sense of home? Have you been reorganizing the domestic vibes and bolstering your stability? I hope so. That’s what the cosmic rhythms are inviting you to do. If you have indeed responded to the call, congratulations. Buy yourself a nice homecoming present. But if you have resisted the flow of life’s guidance, please take corrective measures. Maybe start by reorganizing the décor and furniture. Clean up festering messes. Say sweet things to your housemates and family members. Manage issues that may be restricting your love of home.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

National Insecurity

Photo: Franck | Unsplash

High-tech spying is in the news because of the one-sided, hypocritical debate in Congress on whether the popular app TikTok is actually a tool for Chinese government data collection on American users. The sensitivity of the issue has to do not only with rivalry with China but also the fact that the U.S. government has recently been the target of hackers. In November 2021 President Biden banned use of Pegasus, a powerful Israeli-made surveillance tool, by all U.S. government agencies. His order came in the wake of two developments: hackers who used Pegasus to break into the phones of some State Department employees, and investigative journalism that revealed use of Pegasus by many governments, democratic as well as autocratic, to break into the cell phones of political opponents and human rights activists.

As the New York Times recently found, not all U.S. agencies have apparently gotten the message; an unnamed government agency is said to be using the nearly undetectable surveillance device in Mexico. Meantime, the phones of 50 more government employees have been hacked. The U.S. case against TikTok, however, sidesteps two matters: the government’s own spying on citizens under cover of law, and the questionable political motives that seem to dictate the specific effort to kill TikTok. Congress members are far more concerned about the U.S. government as victim of spying than as perpetrator. We’ve been reminded of that with the top-secret documents hacked by an Air Force reservist that revealed U.S. spying on various allies as well as on Russia. That spying is widely considered legitimate, but Congress members prefer to forget the long history of government spying on unsuspecting citizens, a history that goes well beyond the Cold War. Various agencies — Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the State Department — have monitored social media to report on “national security” dangers. Leaders of Black Lives Matter, left and right political parties and resistance groups, immigrants from Muslim and socialist countries, environmental activists — the list of targeted groups is long. To that list should be added the mainstream social media — Facebook, Twitter, Google — that have given government agencies access to users’ personal information and communications. Their data collection probably exceeds TikTok’s, but somehow they are not considered national security threats.

Legislation passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress has cemented the government’s right to invade privacy, most recently to combat terrorism. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 permits electronic and other means of surveillance of U.S. citizens suspected of being “agents of foreign powers.” A FISA court, consisting of 11 federal district judges appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, considers applications to carry out surveillance and may issue warrants based on probable cause. FISA has been amended several times — the USA Freedom Act (2015) is the latest version — but has been challenged as an unconstitutional violation of personal liberty. That’s because catching terrorists was used to justify creation of a huge database that went well beyond counterterrorism.

The Freedom Act puts some limits on metadata collection but still has provisions for warrantless surveillance, for instance against whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden. Courts have rarely ruled against U.S. government intrusion, usually when national security is the justification. But then there’s the 2013 case in which the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, decided that Amnesty International lacked standing to challenge FISA. The case was brought against James Clapper, then director of national intelligence.

To judge from the virulence of the rhetoric, TikTok is one of China’s biggest threats to U.S. national security. Congress members actually seem to believe that killing off TikTok would be a major victory over a malevolent foreign power — a way to “protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party,” as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy put it. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, but its CEO claims the company does not share data with the Chinese government, has independent management, and is willing to store its U.S. data in the U.S.

Now I have to say that I have never used TikTok, nor do I even know anyone who does. But the roughly 150 million Americans who use it swear by it; TikTok has become an icon of U.S. culture. A number of countries, including the European Union, Denmark, New Zealand, and India, have restricted government use of TikTok or banned it altogether. But I have yet to see evidence that TikTok is channeling Chinese propaganda or amassing anyone’s personal data to be off-loaded to Beijing. Yet Congress members, and the Biden administration, are determined either to ban TikTok or force its sale, which the Chinese government opposes on the grounds that would harm investments in the U.S. The political lineup against TikTok mirrors the bipartisan consensus in Congress that is hostile to most anything Chinese made or owned.

Allowing TikTok to continue operating but ensuring that its database resides in a U.S. server such as Oracle would seem to be a reasonable answer for those who insist TikTok is a security threat. At one time the administration supported that idea.

But now we learn that Biden has “endorsed a bipartisan Senate bill that would give the Commerce Department the clear power to ban any app that endangered Americans’ security.”

That’s the authoritarian solution, but it would probably satisfy the China hawks, who love the prospect of turning public attention away from America’s real security issues. Their posturing on TikTok may fool some people, but far from strengthening national security, it reveals how insecure government leaders are when dealing with China.

Mel Gurtov, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Portland State University and blogs at In the Human Interest.

Categories
Music Music Features

No Tears Project Lights Up a Renovated Cossitt Library

Christopher Parker and Kelley Hurt (Photo: Brian Chilson)

When pianist Christopher Parker and singer Kelley Hurt composed the No Tears Suite to commemorate the Little Rock Nine, the Black students who defied Arkansas segregationists and walked into the once all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957, they never suspected the piece would take on a life of its own. That was over six years ago, when the couple were commissioned by the Oxford American to create the piece, and it made perfect sense to premiere it at the Central High School National Historic Site on the 60th Anniversary of the Little Rock Nine’s actions. Beyond that, however, there were no plans.

“It’s completely amazing,” says Parker of the trajectory of the suite he and his wife composed. “It just keeps snowballing, and now it’s unfolding that this thing was destined to be more than just one performance in Little Rock.” Ultimately, an album of the piece was released on Mahakala Music, but it wasn’t long before it grew into a movable musical feast which, ironically, shrank the original suite’s length to make room for local voices wherever the show took root.

Given the centrality of racial justice issues to today’s America, one might have predicted a second life for the piece, which blends orchestral jazz not unlike that of Gil Evans with Hurt’s invocations of the imagery and names from that day, inspired by Melba Pattillo Beals’ memoir Warriors Don’t Cry. Before long, Parker and Hurt sensed that they had struck a nerve. Their creation was resonating with cities across the region in ways they couldn’t have predicted. In 2019, a new arrangement by bassist Rufus Reid was presented in Little Rock, followed by a live-streamed performance in New Orleans the next year, then shows in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, the year after that. Most recently, the project was presented in St. Louis last month, soon to be followed by a series of events in Memphis from June 10th through 14th.

At the heart of the Memphis shows will be a June 10th performance of what has grown far beyond a suite, now known as the No Tears Project, at the newly reopened Cossitt Library on Front Street. It will be an apt use of the newly renovated library space, which has been carefully crafted under the guidance of programmer Emily Marks and other team members into a multimillion-dollar arts hub featuring video labs, recording studios, and performance spaces. Indeed, it’s entirely appropriate that this space, shaped by and for the Memphis community, should play host to a project that’s become a community endeavor in its own right.

As Parker explains, it all began with the Oklahoma show. “We collaborated with these people in Tulsa, and that was really successful,” he says. “We were like, ‘What do y’all do?’ And they were more like the folk rock/singer-songwriter type of ilk. They weren’t really writing civil rights songs, but more about the moral life, folksy and spiritual. So it tied things together in kind of a cool way. People in the audience knew those people and we found some commonality.”

The St. Louis show ramped up the local involvement considerably, with the involvement of a bona fide jazz great, saxophonist Oliver Lake, founding member of the World Saxophone Quartet. “Oliver’s poetry was hitting it on the head,” says Parker, “with five poems about Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Amadou Diallo. Not only was it very piercing, but it had this dark humor.”

The original suite was shortened to make time for those poems, and others by Treasure Shields Redmond, not to mention the dancing of Ashley Tate. Now all those elements will be presented in the Memphis show, plus trumpeter Marc Franklin’s new arrangement of Memphis pianist Donald Brown’s song “A Poem for Martin.” And Parker’s especially excited about the native Memphians who’ll be in the band. “[Saxophonist] Bobby LaVell’s daddy was Honeymoon Garner! And he lived with Fred Ford, who was his saxophone teacher. Then there’s Rodney Jordan, the best bass player I ever met.” Multiple Grammy-winning drummer Brian Blade will also participate.

Parker pauses a minute to let those names sink in, happy to minimize his own role in what was originally his baby. “I mean, with players like that, all I’ve got to do is just cut them loose. I don’t have to do a thing.”

Visit oxfordamerican.org/ntp-memphis for more information.

UPDATE: Due to technical issues, the venues for this series of performances have changed:

Education Concert
NEW TIME: Saturday, June 10, 2023 – Noon to 1 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Free to the public; seating is limited and reservations are required via Eventbrite.com

A 60-minute education concert for youth and families featuring No Tears Project ensemble members. The artists will play short selections of music interspersed with dialogue that highlights key moments and people from Memphis, Little Rock, and Jackson involved with the civil rights movement.

Community Concert
NEW TIME: Sunday, June 11 – 2 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: The Green Room at Crosstown Arts 
Free to the public; seating is limited and reservations are required via Eventbrite

A 90-minute concert from the No Tears Project ensemble led by Christopher Parker (piano) and Kelley Hurt (voice). The band will perform the world premiere of new works written by and in collaboration with Memphis artists, including saxophonist Robert “Bobby LaVell” Garner. A new arrangement of Memphis pianist Donald Brown’s song “Poem for Martin,” written by Marc Franklin, as well as selections previously written by Oliver Lake, Parker, and Hurt, in honor of the Little Rock Nine will also be performed with poetry accompaniment by Treasure Shields Redmond, and dance by Ashley Tate.

Community Concert
NEW TIME: Sunday, June 11 – 6:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: The Green Room at Crosstown Arts 
Free to the public; seating is limited and reservations are required via Eventbrite

A reprise performance of the same 90-minute program, designed to serve additional Memphis community members.

Recognition Before Reconciliation
Tuesday, June 13, 2023 – 6:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Free to the public; seating is limited – register via Eventbrite

A panel discussion featuring civil rights heroes and activists including Memphis 13 member and daughter of Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles Dwania Kyles; Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford; and activist Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers. Dr. Russell Wigginton, President of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis will moderate the discussion. Superintendent Robin White of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will provide opening remarks and context for the discussion.

Story Time with Elizabeth Eckford
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 – 10:30 a.m.
NEW LOCATION: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Free to the public; seating available on a first come first served basis.

Capping the residency in a 60-minute program for youth and families, Little Rock Nine member and heroine Elizabeth Eckford will share personal experiences and read from her book, The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Central High. Eckford, who as a 15-year-old in 1957 faced an incensed mob of segregationists and soldiers alone, will inspire the next generation with her words and story.

Categories
Fun Stuff Metaphysical Connection

Metaphysical Connection: A Healing Source

Photo: David Becker | Unsplash

The summer solstice may not occur until June 21st, but summer is officially here in Memphis. We can look forward to high temperatures and humidity for the next few months, with little relief, with one exception: water. Being able to cool off in a pool, water slide, sprinkler, or lake has been the saving grace of Memphis summers my whole life.

Memphis is known for its water. We sit above an aquifer that supplies our area with sweet, soft water, but that is not the only interesting part of Memphis’ water story. In the 1800s, the city of Raleigh, Tennessee, now the Raleigh neighborhood in the northern part of the city, was known for its healing spring waters. There is a story that in the early 1800s, a family was traveling along the stagecoach road, which is now James Road, and stopped overnight because their baby had fallen ill. There was a natural spring nearby and the family bathed the baby in the spring, hoping to ease its discomfort. Supposedly the next day, the baby had completely recovered, and that began the tales of the healing waters of Raleigh.

In 1842 the first spa was built, and in 1892 the Duke family of North Carolina built a spectacular inn off of what is now James Road. The Duke family built a fanciful retreat with gazebos, stone walkways, and a ballroom where orchestras and dances were held regularly, all with electricity and indoor plumbing. It was named the Raleigh Inn and was the place to go to be seen in society and also to partake of the healing spring waters. After about 10 years, the water table in Raleigh dropped and the springs dried up.

Memphis water still has healing benefits, as does all water. It helps keep our bodies hydrated and nourished, especially during the summer, and historically water has been known by many cultures to offer healing and energy to people who partake of it mindfully. Some believe that water has the ability to hold and carry energy and prayers and to cleanse. Water is the source of all life and is a powerful medicine.

To take advantage of all the benefits water has to offer us, partake of your water intentionally. Next time you drink water, put an intention into it. Bless it with the power of good health, or mental clarity, or whatever you need. The water will hold that intention and you will absorb it when you drink. If you have a water bottle that you use regularly, you can write an affirmation or create a sigil and put it on the water bottle to empower the water there. You can change your affirmation as often as you like and always have blessed water with you.

Many people are familiar with the idea of creating and drinking moon water. You simply fill up a cup or jar with water, and place it near a window where the moonlight will shine onto it, blessing and empowering the water with lunar energies. You can also do this with the sun and create sun water.

Water is a powerful cleanser, which is why so many cultures incorporate it into their traditions. When done mindfully, a bath or shower can cleanse negative energy from your body and spirit, leaving you energetically cleansed afterwards. You can even enhance your spiritual baths with water that has been blessed in the sun or moon, or with specific intentions. Moving water is best for cleansing or the releasing of prayers, as the water will run away from you and out into the greater water source, carrying the energy to a place it can be cleansed and healed, or to where the Universe can hear and answer your prayers.

Regardless of how we use it, water is important to life. We must respect it and our water sources and do our best to cleanse and heal the water so that it can continue to cleanse and heal us. As Chief Seattle said, “We are part of the earth and it is part of us. … Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together.”

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

Categories
Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: 06/01/23

Creme de la Weird

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, a ritual event took place at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on April 22, The Guardian reported. The traditional “crying sumo” event features pairs of infants, held up by the parents facing each other, who are frightened into crying by staff wearing oni demon masks. The first baby to cry wins the match. “We can tell a baby’s health condition by listening to the way they cry,” said Hisae Watanabe, mother of an 8-month-old. “I want to hear her healthy crying.” Crying sumo events are held throughout the country. “In Japan, we believe babies who cry powerfully also grow up healthily,” explained Shigemi Fuji, chairman of the Asakusa Tourism Federation, which organized the event. [The Guardian, 4/22/2023]

Clothing Optional

Police in Mesa, Arizona, responded to the One Life Church on April 16 after receiving a call about a naked man in the church’s baptismal fountain, AZCentral reported. Officers said Jeremiah Sykes, 20, was asked to leave repeatedly but wouldn’t comply; he then wrapped himself in a blanket and wandered about the property. Sykes told officers he was baptizing himself. During his booking procedure, he punched two officers, compounding his charges. [AZCentral, 4/18/2023]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Shivdayal Sharma, 82, died in a freak accident in the Alwar region of India on April 19, LBC reported. As Sharma urinated near a train track, a Vande Bharat Express train struck a cow, launching it 100 feet into the air before it landed on him. Sharma was killed instantly, and another man narrowly escaped being hit also. Ironically, Sharma worked at Indian Railways before retiring 23 years ago. Officials are calling for metal fencing to keep cows away from the tracks, along with the removal of garbage and vegetation. [LBC, 4/24/2023]

It’s a Dirty Job

The Blackpool Zoo in England is hiring! Wanted: “A team of people to join our Visitor Services team as ‘Seagull Deterrents.’” You, too, can dress up in a large bird costume and scare away pesky seagulls, which steal food from both visitors and animal enclosures. The Daily Mail reported that candidates must be “outgoing, as you need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume,” and hours will be variable. [Daily Mail, 4/23/2023]

The Passing Parade

On April 19, Viktoria Nasyrova, 47, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a bizarre plot she cooked up against a look-alike friend from Ukraine, NBC News reported. Nasyrova wanted to avoid being sent back to Russia, where she faced charges in a 2014 murder, according to the Queens district attorney’s office. So in 2016, she laced a cheesecake with phenazepam, a powerful toxin found only in Russia, and fed it to her “friend.” The victim survived, but her Ukrainian passport and $4,000 in cash were stolen. Nasyrova’s attorney said that she will likely be deported after serving her sentence. [NBC News, 4/19/2023]

The Continuing Crisis

In Carmarthenshire, Wales, residents have responded to the condition of a rural road that they describe as the “worst in the county” with a clever road sign, Wales Online reported on April 27. “Caution: Remove dentures. Adjust bra straps. Secure your nuts,” the sign reads. Abergorlech Road is full of potholes, and while some have been filled, residents believe “the road is so worn and damaged that it requires complete resurfacing in many places,” a spokesman said. “Whilst the sign is intended to be funny, the constant wear and tear on our vehicles is a real issue.” The Carmarthenshire Council contends that there is no money budgeted for resurfacing, but residents say it’s “ironic that the police can check our vehicles to ensure that they’re safe for the road, but no one is ensuring that the road is safe for our vehicles.” Maybe it’s time to call the Terminator. [Wales Online, 4/27/2023]

News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms!Tto find out more, visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
© 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication.
Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Dancing Peppers Salsa

David, Tracy, and Sidney Murrell (Photo: Michael Donahue)

I can personally vouch for at least two Dancing Peppers Salsa flavors.

I took a jar of Memphis style, a barbecue sauce-flavored salsa, to a dinner party. It was a huge hit. The hostess couldn’t get enough.

The next day, I took a jar of the mild chili lime to a kindergarten graduation reception. A friend loved a particular taste, which she couldn’t identify. It sets the salsa apart, she says. (I later found out it’s the fresh poblano peppers.)

This is all probably great news to native Memphians David and Tracy Murrell, Dancing Peppers Salsa owners and founders.

David, 66, who was an engineer at Sharp Manufacturing Company, retired as a lab technician at ABB. Tracy, 59, was at International Paper for 11 years.

Dancing Peppers Salsa “is a hobby that we turned into a side business,” Tracy says. Their son, Sidney, 26, handles the social media and deliveries.

Photo: David Murrell

David got the salsa bug in the 1980s after trying Pace salsa for the first time during a trip to Texas. “I had never had salsa before,” he says.

He began to make his own salsa by looking at the ingredients on the jar. “The main ingredient was canned tomatoes. I also used tomato sauce, a little tomato paste. I heated it up and put in onions and garlic. It started with that. My main spice probably at that time was cumin. And chili powder and salt and pepper. No cilantro or anything. Just a basic type of salsa.”

David didn’t get his salsa to taste like Pace’s until he added bell peppers. But he discovered new spices, including Mexican oregano, on a business trip to Monterrey, Mexico. He began adding those to his salsa.

Tracy was a fan of David’s salsa. “I loved it,” she says. “I’d rather have chips and salsa than popcorn and Coke.”

David kept tweaking. And he acquired a name for himself. “I was kind of just ‘the salsa guy.’ That’s what I did.”

In late 2010, he dropped off a jar of his salsa at the old Easy Way produce distribution office on Mendenhall. He also left a note with the secretary that read, “If you’re interested in putting this in your stores, give me a call.”

A month later, he got a call from the owner of Easy Way. He said he wanted 50 cases. He asked David, “How far along are you with this? Have you got a label? Have you got a co-packer?”

David replied: “I have nothing but a recipe.”

But David eventually got his ducks in a row and began selling his salsa under the brand name Rojo Gold in 2011. But he later rebranded because the name was too close to another company.

The Murrells’ medium salsa, which has a pepper blend to give it a little kick, was the first flavor. “It took me forever to get the first one made. The medium hot recipe came out in about a week. I added some habanero and some chipotle powder.”

The Memphis style flavor originated after David and Tracy visited Memphis Italian Festival. They were still hungry when they got home, so David pureed some commercial barbecue sauce with some of their salsa. They loved it.

The barbecue sauce recipe he now uses is based on one from his friend’s mother. “I always loved her barbecue sauce. It’s like our Memphis style. Sweet and spicy.”

His recipe includes tomatoes, jalapeños, brown sugar, white sugar, molasses, onions, garlic, and then the barbecue spices.

Mild chili lime is the latest Dancing Peppers Salsa flavor. In addition to fresh poblano peppers, the salsa includes fresh onion, garlic, and lime juice. It also includes ancho chili pepper.

Naomi’s homestyle marinara, which uses San Marzano tomatoes, is just the latest salsa idea from the Murrells. And the blend is based on one of David’s mother’s Italian recipes.

Dancing Peppers Salsa is now in about 175 stores, including selected Kroger stores.

David has other Dancing Peppers Salsa business ideas dancing around in his head. But he’s not ready to reveal all of them just yet. For now, he’d like to get Dancing Peppers Salsa into more states. But, he says, “I don’t want to get stressed out. I like low stress. I want to keep it manageable.”

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Happy Birthday, Great Pyramids, and MemGPT

Posted to Facebook by City of Memphis

Memphis on the internet.

Happy Birthday

Posted to Facebook by City of Memphis

City leaders remembered the city’s birthday last week in a Facebook post that read, “It’s true, we were founded on this day in 1819 (and we’re told we don’t look a day over 200). Starting as a quiet little spot along the mighty Mississippi, we grew, and grew, and grew into this amazing place so many of you call home today.”

Great Pyramids

Posted to Facebook by Allan Creasy

The MEMernet celebrated the world’s greatest pyramids in a meme making the rounds last week. Only one of the pyramids has waders and turkey fryers, though.

MemGPT

Lauren Korleski asked ChatGPT last week to craft a Memphis-correct message to someone, asking them to come to work on time. Success? You be the judge:

“Hey there, buddy! Listen up, ’cause I got somethin’ important to tell ya. We need you to hightail it to work on time, no dilly-dallyin’. Time is tickin’ and we can’t afford no tardiness, y’hear? So, lace up them boots, grab a cup o’joe, and hustle your way to the workplace pronto. We’re countin’ on ya to be here and give it your all. Don’t keep us waitin’ like a slowpoke on Beale Street. See ya bright and early, partner!”

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Two Steps Forward

Paul Young at his HQ opening (Photo: Jackson Baker)

As of last week, when the Shelby County Election Commission began making candidate petitions available for would-be office-seekers, the 2023 Memphis city election can be said to have officially started.

In reality, numerous campaigns, both for mayor and for city council, have been proceeding for some time. The mayoral field would seem to be all but set, and council hopefuls, many of whom have been lying back, waiting to be sure about the council’s still unofficial district lines, have begun filling in the blanks as well.

Two candidates for mayor — both destined, one way or another, to have a major impact on the election results — chose last week to enact rollouts of a sort. One was 83-year-old former Mayor Willie Herenton, who had a campaign kickoff event last Thursday at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn on Central. The other, some 40 years his junior, was Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young, who formally opened his campaign headquarters last Saturday at Poplar Plaza.

Herenton is the senior eminence of this race (or, in some quarters, where his tenure wore too long, the éminence grise). He was elected mayor in five previous elections, the first being his 1991 epochal victory as the city’s first elected African-American chief executive. For better or for worse, his name is known to virtually all Memphians who pay attention to their social or civic circumstances.

Young is, by contrast, a newcomer to most Memphians, despite having held numerous positions of importance in city and county government. Though he has significant backing among the city elite and is the leading fundraiser among all mayoral candidates, with cash on hand of roughly half a million dollars, Young acknowledges being a relative unknown to the public at large. In an effort to build up his name recognition, he has dutifully attended almost all the preliminary events, both large and small, that have been held so far for mayoral candidates.

In his own words last Saturday, “We can’t just play this as politics as usual … just to [select] whatever name you know. … We’ve got to do it differently this time. … History is made when people step up to the plate, to do the thing that needs to be done to elevate our community.

“I’ll say it again. It’s not about the name, you know. It’s about what results those individuals created. As a result of the work that they’ve done in their present or previous role. I could care less about politics. I want to do the work. … For the past 20 years, I’ve been doing the work. I’ve been the person behind the scenes doing the work. It’s time to step up. I represent the next generation.”

Herenton, too, spoke of a “New Path” for the city and promised to unveil this week a package of proposals, including one for a “multi-million dollar restorative justice campus.” He pledged a “tough love” approach to public safety and advocated that the council repeal several recent actions restricting police actions.

As a token of his “strong-mayor” attitude, Herenton reminded his listeners that he had as mayor resisted calls for a public referendum on the financial deal that brought the NBA Grizzlies, “a great team,” to Memphis.