Link Salad, the (Good) Fight Edition
-- The Life and Death of Juliano Mer-Khamis - Adam Shatz, London Review of Books, 21 Nov. 2013
"Jenin has had a reputation for defiance since the Ottoman era, when residents refused to pay taxes to the sultan. Seized from Jordan on the first day of the 1967 war, it soon became a centre of resistance to the Israeli occupation: the camp, which was set up in the early 1950s as a temporary shelter for refugees from Haifa and the neighbouring villages, was known to be especially militant. By the time Juliano was stationed there, it had evolved into a concrete slum where more than ten thousand people were squeezed into a space not much bigger than five hundred square metres. If a soldier killed an old woman or a child by accident a weapon would be planted on the corpse: Juliano’s job was to carry the bag with the weapons. One night they were trying out new shoulder-fired missiles. They shot at a donkey, but instead killed the 12-year-old girl who was sitting on it. Explosives from the black bag were laid on top of the donkey."
-- Zepp's Last Stand - Madeleine Blais, Tropic, Nov. 1979
"At 9 A.M. the next day, Zepp was to appear at the Pentagon for a hearing before the Board for Correction of Military Records. This was, he said, “the supreme effort, the final fight” in the private battle of Private Zepp, Company D, 323rd Machine Gun Battalion, veteran of World War I, discharged on Nov. 9, 1919-with dishonor."
-- The Lords of Rikers - Geoffrey Gray, New York Magazine, Jan. 30, 2011
"Both McKie and Robinson have left One Main, but not under circumstances either of them would have chosen. On October 18, 2008, Robinson was beaten to death in his cell by fellow inmates. And months later, McKie and a partner were charged with running a criminal enterprise inside their housing area and outsourcing their duties to the teenagers who killed Robinson. The enterprise was so organized that it allegedly had a name-“the Program”-with inmates operating in “teams” to enforce order while extorting inmates for their commissary chits and phone privileges, even the right to sit in a seat. If convicted, McKie and his partner could face up to 25 years in prison and end up serving time with those once under their watch. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March and is shining a light on one of the darkest places in our culture. Taxpayers pay about $72,000 per inmate per year at Rikers, just about twice as much as tuition at the best private schools in Manhattan."
"Jenin has had a reputation for defiance since the Ottoman era, when residents refused to pay taxes to the sultan. Seized from Jordan on the first day of the 1967 war, it soon became a centre of resistance to the Israeli occupation: the camp, which was set up in the early 1950s as a temporary shelter for refugees from Haifa and the neighbouring villages, was known to be especially militant. By the time Juliano was stationed there, it had evolved into a concrete slum where more than ten thousand people were squeezed into a space not much bigger than five hundred square metres. If a soldier killed an old woman or a child by accident a weapon would be planted on the corpse: Juliano’s job was to carry the bag with the weapons. One night they were trying out new shoulder-fired missiles. They shot at a donkey, but instead killed the 12-year-old girl who was sitting on it. Explosives from the black bag were laid on top of the donkey."
-- Zepp's Last Stand - Madeleine Blais, Tropic, Nov. 1979
"At 9 A.M. the next day, Zepp was to appear at the Pentagon for a hearing before the Board for Correction of Military Records. This was, he said, “the supreme effort, the final fight” in the private battle of Private Zepp, Company D, 323rd Machine Gun Battalion, veteran of World War I, discharged on Nov. 9, 1919-with dishonor."
-- The Lords of Rikers - Geoffrey Gray, New York Magazine, Jan. 30, 2011
"Both McKie and Robinson have left One Main, but not under circumstances either of them would have chosen. On October 18, 2008, Robinson was beaten to death in his cell by fellow inmates. And months later, McKie and a partner were charged with running a criminal enterprise inside their housing area and outsourcing their duties to the teenagers who killed Robinson. The enterprise was so organized that it allegedly had a name-“the Program”-with inmates operating in “teams” to enforce order while extorting inmates for their commissary chits and phone privileges, even the right to sit in a seat. If convicted, McKie and his partner could face up to 25 years in prison and end up serving time with those once under their watch. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March and is shining a light on one of the darkest places in our culture. Taxpayers pay about $72,000 per inmate per year at Rikers, just about twice as much as tuition at the best private schools in Manhattan."