JLWOP and Something like Pad See Ew

Juvenile Life Without Parole
In May of this year, the United States Supreme Court came out with a ruling that severely limited the practice of incarceration without the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders. Specifically, the court ruled that it was unconstitutional to convict a young person to life without parole for any crime except homicide.

Now many inmates who were convicted as juveniles are filing for relief, even if they are incarcerated for murder charges, due to language in the ruling that points to the slow and continuing development of the youthful brain. Some folks are getting upset that convicted murderers are filing for relief, years after their convictions, due to some unspecific language about neurological development.

Seems reasonable.

But check out the short profiles of a few of the inmates filing for relief in Pennsylvania.
My two favorites:

"Tamika Bell. Bell was 16 when she and a friend robbed three people in a car parked at Penn's Landing in September 1995. Her friend shot the driver, Max Broyko, to death, and then both girls fled."

which is topped only by:

"Aaron Phillips. Phillips was 17 when he and two adult friends robbed a man in 1986... Phillips, now 41, and his accomplices were unarmed, but one of the robbers pushed the victim to the ground during the robbery. The victim died 18 days later from heart disease, but a coroner blamed the stress of the robbery as a contributing cause of death, prompting Phillips' arrest for murder."

For the full article, check out: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20100717_May_ruling_gives_hope_to_5_pa__kid-lifers.html




In other news, on my walk home from facilitating a bike safety workshop for some of the immigrant families in South Philadelphia, I stopped at the Vietnamese supermarket. I was so excited by the cheap, interesting food options, that I ended up grocery shopping without much strategy.

So by the time I got home, I had to think of something to do with the random ingredients I had just purchased, as well as some of the produce I had picked up for a dollar a bag at the Italian market a few days earlier.

The result:

Something Like Pad See Ew


Ingredients
1 package Banh Cuon square tapioca noodles
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 bunch green beans
olive oil
hot chili oil
soy sauce
brown sugar
sriracha hot sauce
1 block tofu
Thai basil

Method:
Heat oils, add onions and garlic
Add tofu, top with sriracha, add a little soy sauce, and cook until browned on both sides
Chop greenbeans into 1" bites and add to pan, cooking until tender
Meanwhile, boil water and cook noodles (about 3 minutes, could probably have gone for less)
Turn down heat, add more soy sauce and a few pinches of brown sugar, and simmer until soy sauce cooks down
Add cooked noodles, toss until coated
Chop basil into small slivers and add