SHARK - Showing Animals Respect and Kindness

Photo credit: Léa Navidi

I found an amazing organization called SHARK, which stands for Showing Animals Respect and Kindness. 

They are a non-profit that has been around for about 30 years and their primary mission is to stop animal cruelty through non-violent means. 

They gather evidence of animal cruelty through media - photos and videos - which is bittersweet because much of their work is amazingly effective in notifying law enforcement and the general public of horrific, intentional cases of abuse, but is also disturbing and sickening and impossible to forget once you've viewed it. 

***Some of their videos have warnings on them, so please be aware of this and do not watch their videos if you feel it is too much for you to bear. 

And you don't have to watch their videos or view their pictures to know they are doing great work and are always in need of support and donations.

They are ever present on social media and can be found on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, eblogger, X, Reddit, and Patreon. They also have a newsletter you can subscribe to.

The people at SHARK are strong and courageous and they are making a difference and giving a voice to helpless animals that are enduring horrible abuses.  

Here is a link to their website: https://sharkonline.org

Please support them.

Oklahoma Judge Having Fun During the Trial of a Murdered 2-year-old

Photo credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova

It appears that an Oklahoma Judge named Traci Soderstrom thinks the trial of a 2-year-old boy who was beaten to death is funny. 

During the murder trial, this judge sat on the bench, playing on her phone and exchanging hundreds of text messages with her bailiff Angela Miller. 

Some of the texts she sent made fun of the jurors' hair and teeth, made fun of the prosecutor for sweating and having small hands, called the murdered child's mother a liar, declared the murder defendant innocent before the trial was over, lusted over a handsome man in the courtroom, and discussed the genitals of another. 

For a judge to show absolutely no care, concern, or respect for the murdered child during this trial is chilling. 

Here's a bullshit quote from an interview Judge Traci Soderstrom gave in 2022 while she was vying for her current position: 

“I also believe that it is important that every person that comes before the court is treated with respect, is treated fairly, is treated with dignity, and is treated with compassion. Obviously, the judge’s job is to judge but not be judgmental and disrespectful and mean-spirited about it.”

This embarrassment of a human being is also accused of failing to properly instruct the jury. The outcome of the trial was the defendant who was accused of beating the toddler to death (who the judge was rooting for) got time served; while the child's mother (who the judge called a liar) got 25 years in prison for enabling child abuse. While I'm not a lawyer, this outcome sounds fishy to me and maybe it could be declared a mistrial. 

This judge went so far as to order that the courtroom camera over her desk be blocked, so no one could see her texting on her phone during trials. So, rather than see how wrong her behavior is, she chose to find a way to hide it.

This callous, shameful woman has been a Lincoln County District judge since January 2023 and the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court has called for her removal. I certainly hope they remove Bailiff Angela Miller as well.

It will be shocking if Oklahoma allows her to remain on the bench. 

 

 

Sources: 

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/oklahoma-judge-could-be-removed-from-office/45532146

https://www.soderstromforjudge.com/about

https://www.countywidenews.com/news/dist-23-judge-candidates

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/calls-for-oklahoma-judges-removal-after-500-texts-sent-during-murder-trial-investigation/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspended-oklahoma-judge-faces-removal-bench-probe-texts-murder-trial-rcna120011

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/12/us/oklahoma-judge-texting-trial

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers died today at the age of 76. 

She was beautiful and charming. 

And she was a badass who paved the way for equal pay for women.

While she played the role of a "dumb blonde" named Chrissy Snow on the sitcom Three's Company, she was anything but. 

She fought for equality back in 1980 by demanding the same pay that her male co-star was making. Somers was making $30,000 per episode while John Ritter was paid $150,000 per episode. For standing up for herself, she was rewarded by being fired from the show and both of her co-stars stopped speaking to her.

They were angry at her for asking for equality. 

Joyce DeWitt didn't speak to her for 30 years. John Ritter snubbed her for 20 years. And she was treated like a criminal on the set of Three's Company while she finished out her contract, including taping her part from another room and having a police escort on and off the set.  

Three's company was never the same without Suzanne Somers. She was replaced twice from 1981 to 1984. The show ended in 1984. 

Somers went on to have a happy, successful life and career as a model, actress, author, wife, mother, and fitness guru. 

I will miss her.  

 

Sources:

https://bestlifeonline.com/joyce-dewitt-suzanne-somers-threes-company-news/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12633861/How-Suzanne-Somers-went-Threes-Company-star-ThighMaster-fitness-guru-look-career-following-death-76-300M-selling-iconic-exercise-tool-firing.html

https://www.thelist.com/1421197/suzanne-somers-john-ritter-relationship/

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a44703585/threes-company-joyce-dewitt-and-suzanne-somers-stopped-talking/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three%27s_Company

Happy Friday the 13th