Is there a way out? That was the question“EMPz 4 Life” asked as it followed Brian Henry’s efforts to help a group of troubled Toronto boys.
Jordan Mendez doesn’t flinch as the jury foreperson reads the verdict.
Guilty of first-degree murder.
He stands, expression unreadable, as his co-accused lowers his head and the victim’s mother rocks in her seat, before rising and glaring at the two men who took her son’s life.
“I’ve been in this situation before,” says Mendez, smirking, as a court officer slips handcuffs around his wrists. It’s true — he has. Years ago, the verdict was manslaughter. And yet another murder trial still lies ahead for him.
And I did nothing
It brought back a much older memory. In the 1980s and 1990s, media stories, television shows, and political rhetoric frequently claimed that elderly Americans were so destitute, they were “forced to eat cat food,” because it was all they could afford. I remember hearing this as a child, and even then it didn’t ring true. I’ve been a pet owner most of my life. I know what cat and dog food cost, even the cheap stuff. And as a mom who often lived on the edge of poverty, I know what human staples cost, too. Tuna, ramen, rice, beans, oatmeal — these have always been cheaper, pound for pound and calorie for calorie, than commercially prepared 