Do Jack Boots Come in Hip-Wader Length?

One can only hope so if one is a resident, or perhaps even just a visitor to, Ohio.

I first became aware of this story through this link

here.

From that page I was able to follow a link to the longer story in the Toledo Blade,

here.

In a nutshell, "An Ohio legislative panel yesterday rubber-stamped an unprecedented process that would allow sex offenders to be publicly identified and tracked even if they've never been charged with a crime."

The "good" news is that after six years someone registered as a sex offender through this mechanism can petition to have their name removed from the registry "if there have been no new problems and the judge believes the person is unlikely to abuse again."

Why not just haul everyone into court and ask if they've stopped beating their spouse yet? Heck, why even waste all that precious court time since convictions or even basic charges are not a requirement to have one's name and likeness placed on the internet? One compliant judge and a disgruntled partner/friend/co-worker/neighbor/fool-you-cut-off-in-the-Wal-Mart-parking-lot is all it really takes.

It is growing increasingly difficult for a right leaning libertarian to feel comfortably at home in the land of his birth.

Help! I Agree with Nancy Pelosi!!!

H.R. 2389 passed the United States House of Representatives today by a margin of 260-167. The bill is intended to protect school children across this fair land from the horrid fate of being prevented from uttering the Pledge of Allegiance in their classrooms because it contains the phrase "Under God".

Quoting Jim Abrams from his Associated Press article "House OKs bill guarding Pledge from courts": Opponents said the legislation, which would bar federal courts from ruling on the constitutional validity of the pledge, would undercut judicial independence and would deny access to federal courts to religious minorities seeking to defend their rights.. . . . The pledge bill would deny jurisdiction to federal courts, and appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, to decide questions pertaining to the interpretation or constitutionality of the pledge.

It is this element of the bill that is particularly frightening. How could the Congress possibly imagine it can pass a law that is not subject to judicial review? Schools may in theory be local institutions, but the reality is that federal funding has effectively nationalized all public education. The provision of the bill that would allow individual states to determine whether the Pledge passes local muster is purely cosmetic and not at all a viable solution in the real world. When little Johnny's parents move up the street from Bristol, Tennessee, to Bristol, Virginia, is he going to be tossed in jail the first day in his new school for inadvertently uttering the "G" word in front of his highly impressionable peers?

The world is becoming a truly frightening place when I am forced to admit that I wholeheartedly agree with Nancy Pelosi. Commenting on the bill she said, "We are making an all-out assault on the Constitution of the United States which, thank God, will fail."

If Pelosi is talking sense, can the men with the extra long sleeved white jacket be far behind?

A Final Nail in Childhood's Coffin

In 1982 I turned 18. The Viet Nam War was still fresh in everyone's mind, the attack on the U.S. Marine barracks had not yet happened, Grenada was not even in the planning stages yet. Patriotic fervor was far from running rampant among the youth of America, and like so many of my peer group I saw no value to military service. As I grew older my views matured, and by the time the first Gulf War rolled around I was ready to enlist. Not because I wanted to get shot at, or had any romantic notions that my single rifle would stand between Democracy and the Abyss, but simply because I had long since come to understand that some actions simply ought to be undertaken because they are the right thing to do. Two young children, and more importantly the mother of those children, can be very powerful persuaders against voluntary entry into military service. Especially during a time of war.

When the current conflict in Iraq came to a head, the various service branches were all in agreement on one thing - I was too old to be of any use. Opportunity lost. One son and one son-in-law in uniform were the only contributions I had left to make to an obligation I had been too immature to recognize at the time.

On June 22, the United States Army raised the age for enlistment to 42, once again cracking that door open. June 25 I discovered this. June 26 I was researching what would be needed to throw in my lot with the Army, and by June 30 I was at the door of my local recruiter.

Summer vacations can be so inconvenient at times. Between phone calls, email, and sheer persistence I did finally make contact with him, a phone call received on the morning of July 5. He was initially unaware of the details of the change in enlistment requirements, as that change had taken place while he was spending quality time with the family instead of with his employer. He promised to do a bit of research and get back to me. By the early part of that afternoon he called back.


Slamming that particular door forever. It seems that 42 actually means in Basic no later than one week prior to ones 42nd birthday. In many ways, it is far more disappointing to have squandered the legitimate chances given me as a younger man and then had this carrot dangled before me and snatched away than it would have been to get a chance to try and fail.

So the last feeble chance at holding on to youth is finally and formally laid to rest. But! Tomorrow keeps on coming. As long as we keep remembering that simple fact and continue to face the sunrise the opportunities and possibilities are endless.

For all of you who have had the maturity and wisdom to serve, in the past, at present, or during the years to come, thank you and stay well. For all the spouses, children, and parents who support that service and make it possible thank you as well. They could not do it without you in their corner.

Long Live the Sharon Doctrine

It must be nice to be the biggest bully in the neighborhood, especially if you have the comfort of an even bigger bully standing behind you to save your bacon should that prove necessary.

Ariel Sharon's policy of provoking aggression on the part of Palestinians, of setting impossible conditions and then holding the parties accountable when those conditions are not achieved, continue to thrive in the Israel of Ehud Olmert. The most recent example is the ongoing handling of the situation involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

After suggestions in recent weeks that there might be signs of a softening of the Hamas stance calling for the elimination of Israel, Olmert took the opportunity of Shalit's capture to make Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh personally responsible for Shalit's safe return and placing him under penalty of death. On Sunday they even went so far as to launch a missile attack against his office - even while negotiations for a peaceful return of the soldier appeared to be progressing. And completely ignoring the fact that it is believed those holding Shalit take their orders not from Haniyeh but instead from Syrian-based Khaled Mashaal.

News flash for Prime Minister Olmert: Killing people is not a proven method of convincing others not to reciprocate. Shalit is still alive, and it is more probable your actions threaten that state rather than enhance his chances of remaining so.

There is no question that Israeli civilians have suffered horribly from the actions of suicide bombers. It is unconscionable that the bombings continue. It is unacceptable that Palestinian gunmen invaded sovereign Israeli territory to capture Cpl. Shalit. But, both eyes for an eye and a whole room full of teeth for a tooth has not worked as a policy thus far. It is incumbent upon Israel as the exponentially more powerful party in this conflict to contain violence, and to not resort to murder in the guise of military response to provocation as a means of pretending to solve anything.

Perhaps the Israeli intent is to provoke the execution of Shalit so that they will be "justified" in executing an overwhelming military response that will, based on past history, take a heavy toll on unarmed civilian Palestinian women and children. Or perhaps Israel is reacting in anger instead of implementing a fully reasoned and considered policy. The first notion is despicable, the second frightening if being conducted by a military with the capacity of Israel's.

In either event, Israel does not need to fear the results of their actions. If too many of their neighbors become concerned and threaten a response, any help Israel may need will be immediately forthcoming from a United States who will justify any action to preserve its ally in the Middle East. The issue for American politicians is not one of right or wrong, but rather one of being all too aware the Cuban immigrants and American Jews are the linchpin for victory in too many important elections.

A Visit to the WTC Site

I was recently in New York again, and unlike past trips I could no longer find excuses not to make the trek down to the site of the World Trade Center. It certainly wasn't too cold. There were no time considerations.

Perhaps most likely, I was ready to stop avoiding the experience.

The very first thing that struck me is how amazingly small the location is. Somehow, from watching things on television it seems that it should be so much bigger. Visiting many national landmarks in my travels, I've discovered this is more common than not.

The next thing that struck me was how clean, almost sterile, the fencing and sidewalks around the site is. It is somehow unexpected, and entirely appropriate. Totally expected, and far less appropriate, are the tourists in their t-shirts and flip-flops chattering with each other about the hole in the ground. Also sadly anticipated were the merchants with their tables full of shirts, hats, and other patriotic trinkets struggling to extract a buck from tragedy.

The site itself had almost a cathedral quality for me, though more in the sense of the cathedrals of Europe that are all to often overrun with tourists. Ignoring the sideshow, the importance of the place is impossible to miss.

Damage to surrounding buildings is still all too evident. On the south side, plywood walls have been erected. They are painted black, with the warning to "POST NO BILLS" painted upon them in stark white. Unlike most other flat surfaces throughout the city on which this notice is posted, at the WTC site the signs are for the most part obeyed.

In several locations, visitors have scrawled messages of hope and encouragement on the white paint. It is obvious that the paint on these walls is renewed regularly, and these messages will likely be obliterated fairly soon. Without meaning any disrespect to the authors or the sincerity of their impulse to write, in most cases the erasure of these missives will be no great loss.

One particularly poignant message caught my eye though, and I can hope that through some small miracle it will manage to survive.

Written in blue ballpoint pen from the top left to bottom right of the white letter "N" the message reads simply:

"Daddy I miss you."

"Illegal Workers Face Hardship in Big Easy"

Where is the contact information for this pity party? I would dearly love to RSVP with my regrets.

So people illegally in this country are being underpaid and "made" to work in hazardous and illegal conditions by unscrupulous employers. There are two problems here. The problem of evil, opportunistic employers that the AP article focuses on. And the problem of people illegally in this country seeking employment at all, which the article dismisses as being of incidental importance at best.

Yes, any employer violating wage, labor and workplace safety laws ought to be cited and treated appropriately by enforcement of those existing laws. Hey, perhaps we could even begin enforcing those laws enacted as part of the 1986 amnesty that were supposed to make life so miserable for those employers who chose to employ undocumented labor. I understand that actually enforcing a law is far less popular than having some politician hold up a piece of paper and proclaiming how tough they are being on the problems of the day, but doing so might actually prove effective at alleviating those problems the legislation purports to address.

As for the plight of the poor, downtrodden, endlessly exploited illegal, undocumented alien workforce, I have a suggestion that just might mitigate a portion of their suffering. Get in line. Get a visa. Get legitimate employment that offers appropriate compensation and workplace safety without the threat of deportation that permits the exploitation in the first place. And when your visa expires, go home as is your obligation.

Once you are playing the game by the rules - all the rules, not just those you choose to exploit for your own convenience and personal advancement - I will be every bit as much on your side as I am on that of the kid born and raised in an Iowa cornfield. Until then, you will get no more sympathy from me than does the bank robber who snivels that the conditions of his chosen profession are too onerous to be conveniently endured.

Whatever Happened to Reporting the News?

The link associated with the title for this post is to a story on the website for NBC 4 in Columbus, Ohio. The headline screams "Teen Arrested For Allegedly Selling Self As Sex Slave"! (exclamation point added). Anyone bothering to read the story, or more accurately sucked in to doing so based on the headline, discovers this is nothing more than a run of the mill prostitution tale involving an entrepreneurial 16 year old girl getting a jump on the summer job market.

The story prompted the following email to the station. Not that it will change practices in Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere else, but wouldn't it be nice . . .?

Is there any remote possibility that journalistic ethics will ever again rear its head in this country?

I read your story online entitled "Teen Arrested For Allegedly Selling Self As Sex Slave". What followed was a garden-variety prostitution tale. The fact that a 16 year old was the prostitute is slightly unusual, but in today's world hardly constitutes "news", unfortunately.

It is the extensive use of hyperbole and the agenda driven selective presentation of facts that have made the majority of media outlets in the United States unreliable sources of information at best. It would be refreshing to find a news source, somewhere, someday, that simply reported the facts regarding a story and left it up to the consumer to draw their own conclusions concerning the implications of those facts.

The Five W's - anyone remember them from journalism school? Or were they purged from the curriculum immediately after integrity?

Where's the Beef?

An AP story encountered Sunday online at MSNBC (linked in the title above) shrieked in horror that "About 1 in 10 inmates released early from Los Angeles County jails were arrested and charged with new crimes while they were supposed to be behind bars, a newspaper reported Sunday."

The story recounts how 16,000 early releasees, including 16 who murdered, were rearrested. The message from city attorney Rocky Delgadillo is "That puts us all in peril."

What the story does not do is offer a bit of perspective. If 16,000 represents the number who couldn't be trusted to behave responsibly, that also means 144,000 did take full and proper advantage of a second chance. The Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles (http://www.lasd.org/divisions/custody/mcj/index.html) reports an average daily cost of $53.45 to house an inmate. At little simple math yields a figure of $19,509.25 annually, or $2,809,332,000.00 for the 144,00 inmates released who chose not to return the taxpayer funded lodging establishments. It is true that not all facilities in Los Angeles carry the same costs as the Men's Central Jail, but even if the systemwide average were dropped to a very generous assumption of $38.05 per day that is still $2 billion that taxpayers don't have to come up with.

Certainly mistakes are made on occasion, and people who should be kept behind bars are released. That is the nature of our judicial system, which would prefer a hundred guilty be wrongly exonerated rather than a single guilty person be wrongly convicted. Such a system forces our police and prosecutors to perform their duties more effectively, and protects us all from the possibility of persecution by a capricious government. That is a protection we all must vigorously defend even, if not especially, in a "post 9-11 world".

If this were still the 1980's, you can bet Clara Peller would be demanding to know "Where's the beef?"

Lost in Translation

A rose by any other name may be just as sweet, but the same cannot be said of temperatures.

I am currently on a job site in Canada. Those of you who are not Americans will naturally understand this, but for the benefit of those who are let me explain that in Canada they use a different system of weights and measures than that employed in the States. Canada has embraced the metric system, and there are some potentially dangerous differences between Centigrade temperatures and the Fahrenheit numeric equivalent.

Last night I thought it might be pleasurable to partake of the in room sauna. One hundred twenty degrees seemed warm, but not intolerably so. After about ten minutes of pre-heating I stepped in.

The first thing I noticed was the difficulty breathing. Hot, dry air has that effect so I was not terribly surprised. Alternating between searing my nasal passages and drying the inside of my mouth I managed to take in enough oxygen to stave off unconsciousness.

Soon after, I noticed my ears were hurting. Everyone is familiar with that pain in the ear canal experienced on a cold Winter day. This pain was the same, but there was a decided lack of chill in the air. After a few more minutes of tolerating the discomfort I finally removed my glasses - and quickly dropped them as the metal frames were burning my fingers. Ear problem solved!

Increasingly uncomfortable, gasping for air, and no longer able to see as well as I might hope, I persevered. I was going to enjoy my full thirty minutes doggone it! Shifting on the bench I returned to the book I had brought with me to pass the time. Two pages passed. Three pages. Five. At last it could no longer be denied: The book was strangely unpleasant to be holding. Not quite burning my fingers perhaps, but closer than any book should ever come to doing so.

Enough was enough. With ten minutes remaining in my planned half hour of relaxation I admitted defeat and fled the sauna.

As I cooled off a short while later with a beer and a bathtub full of hot water, it occurred to me that the sauna thermostat was calibrated for Centigrade, not Fahrenheit. A slow, and belated, conversion confirmed what I should have realized all along.

One hundred twenty degrees Centigrade, far from being slightly uncomfortable, is a blistering two hundred forty-eight degrees in "real" temperature!

And While We're Busy Being Politically Correct . . . .

Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird this week quoted a November 29, 2005 Boston Globe report that brought politically correct whining to a new low:

At the Nov. 14 meeting of the governing board of Provincetown, Mass., Selectwoman Sarah Peake raised a formal objection to the continued presence of the historical painting that graces the board's meeting room, though it is of a previously uncontroversial scene of Pilgrims voting on the Mayflower Compact. Peake's objection (according to a November report in the Boston Globe) is that there are no women in the painting.

Ms. Peake really needs to get a grip. If there is not enough to keep her busy - or hold her interest - in conducting the business of the governing board of Provincetown, then perhaps they either need a new member or a reduction in membership.

If she wants to get worked up over the inequities and indignities suffered by women at the hands of callous government, she needs look no further than her pocketbook. Sarah should start a movement to boycott US currency and coinage until women are fairly and equitably represented. All those dead presidents are MEN! Even the few guys that weren't presidents are men. The only representation of the fairer sex on US money is on the rarely used and effectively uncirculated dollar coin (Lady Liberty's appearances can hardly be counted). Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea (Sacagawea) are relegated to being "honored" on coins that no one wants! Why not just praise their fantastic personalities while the US Mint is at it?

I'll sign on with Sarah if she wants to refrain from all use of cash until such time as women get real estate on the front side of a few paper bills. Certainly U. S. Grant and Andy Jackson wouldn't mind making way for a noble cause!

And I may be mistaken. I have not examined the portrait extensively, but it is possible that the reverse of the two dollar bill has a cleaning lady hidden somewhere amongst all those dignified signers of the Declaration of Independence. Then again, that is another US monetary instrument that few beyond hard core collectors have any great interest in.

And if the cleaning lady is there, she's probably an illegal anyway . . ..

Will This Really Make Anyone Feel Better?

Zacarias Moussaoui is hardly the sweet sort of boy you would like to bring home to meet the parents. His comments and escapades both inside and outside the courtroom are far from acceptable to even the most tolerant norms of most individuals, particularly here in the United States.

But is potentially putting him to death going to make anyone feel better - or create the least deterrent effect for future terrorists?

Of course not.

The Moussaoui trial is a Big Top event put on by the government. He is the designated sacrificial lamb being offered up so that Washington can crow to the peasantry "See? We are doing something!"

He did not participate in the 9/11 attacks. Not because he did not wish to, but because he was already in custody. The reason he should be put to death? Because he didn't spill his guts to the FBI and tell them everything he knew about the impending attacks.

In short, he did not do the FBI's job for them.

By this logic, every criminal convicted in the future should then be charged with the follow-up crime of failure to drop a dime on himself before the act. "Uh, yeah. Happytown Police? I'd like to report that I'll be robbing the Second Local Bank and Hardware Emporium next Thursday afternoon at 2:47. Please don't be late."

Could he have prevented tremendous destruction and loss of life? Certainly. Did he actually cause that destruction and death? No. He has done plenty to find himself incarcerated for the remainder of his life, no matter how long that might be. Let the punishment fit the crime committed, and be content with justice being served.

Putting him to death because he knew about plans to use a "weapon of mass destruction" (can anyone find an incidence of that term being applied to an aircraft prior to 9/11?) but didn't share is little less than murder in the name of serving the national hunger for revenge.

Simple Concepts 101 - - - - Again

Almost as predictable as Springtime riots in Paris, it is time again for the semi-annual illegal alien debate.

The debate is being shaped as a matter of racism by those opposed to placing any restrictions on or in any way sanctioning individuals who have entered the United States without fulfilling the properly legislated and clearly defined legal obligations for doing so. Those individuals are by definition and their own willful actions Illegal Aliens. Aliens because they are not native to this country. Illegal because they have chosen to circumvent the laws defining how one may legally enter and remain here. Simple non-judgmental definition of words in the English language. No racism involved at all.

CNN aired comments from a young woman who appeared to be in her late high school or early college years. She wanted everyone to understand that she is not a bad person just because her parents brought her to this country to have a better life. She is totally correct, that does not make her a bad person. She is however in a bad situation, not of her devising but certainly not of the devising of the American taxpayer either. Her parents chose to enter this country illegally and bring with them one or more children who are also illegal. It is not "unfair" to send her to the country of her birth, citizenship, and legal residence any more than it is "fair" for the legal, taxpaying citizens of this nation to have to educate and provide medical attention to her and millions like her. It is the law, plain and simple. Equal protection does not mean equal outcome for all. Sometimes someone is going to get the short end of the stick. That's just the way it happens to be. If one class of citizen is singled out for special consideration just because they can get together a better PR machine to make people feel sorry for them, then there is no equal protection. Those without the special consideration are by definition then being discriminated against.

By the simple happenstance of a shared border and economic reality, the overwhelming majority of those persons in this country illegally are of Hispanic descent. It is not racist to insist that those who have violated the law by improperly entering this country, whether through conscious action or unknowingly through the actions of adults in their lives, should be expelled from this country when that violation is detected any more than it is racist to arrest a person who has committed murder and is Mexican.

The true issue in this debate, and the one most often overlooked is not the illegals per se. The true issue is border security, and whether we have the will politically to secure this nation against all possible sources of infiltration and harm. As much as it was a failure in the 1980's the most recent time we offered one last, final, never-to-be-repeated opportunity for those here illegally to become square with the law, I would welcome another such amnesty immediately for all persons presently upon soil that can be legally defined as part of the United States of America.

I support such an amnesty if, and only if, substantive and meaningful steps are taken to ensure that all our borders are properly secured against penetration. No one should enter or leave this country without being properly identified, accounted for, and certified to be here for an acceptable and legitimate purpose. The Civil Libertarians will get up in arms over that, but consider: isn't that already the criteria for legitimate citizens of this nation attempting to return from abroad? Just try getting past Immigration officers at JFK, or Miami International, or LAX with just your Kansas driver's license, winning smile, and explanation that you accidentally lost your silly little passport somewhere in Morocco while on vacation. Your ride home will run out of gas circling the airport waiting to pick you up.

And that is what this whole ridiculous argument needs to do - run out of gas. No one is demanding we send all the illegals home and keep them and all the other filthy little cockroaches like them where they belong. All anyone wants is to ensure secure national borders, and a population that is accounted for and contributes to the common weal through hard work and a fair share of the tax burden. Paying people a fair wage and making them full partners in the system may well cause produce and certain services to rise in cost, but that will also spread the costs of education, medication, and incarceration across a broader base and lead to a general improvement in the lot of all. And greatly reduce the prospects of terrorist agents crossing into this country while we are busy being politically correct and looking the other way.

It's Called Democracy, Boys and Girls - No Do-Overs

From the Be Careful What You Wish For department: the Palestinians recently held an election. What could be better? The free exchange of ideas, the will of the people carrying the day and leading to the peaceful transition of government.

Well, it seems no one except the Palestinians like the outcome of the election.

And so the consensus now is to make Hamas a global pariah before they even form a government and assume power. Cut off all funding and humanitarian support until they toe the line and adhere to the terms of their survival as dictated by the world.

In other words, create a situation once again where the Palestinians can do nothing but fail, and then use that failure as justification for punishing them further. This is no different than when Sharon isolated Arafat and removed his capacity to exert any control or authority, made demands of him that could not possibly be met, and then punished him and the Palestinian people for the failure to take action he was incapable of taking because Israel had made it impossible in the first place.

There is another way.

Only the most naive of fools would claim that Hamas is an organization that represents the better impulses of humanity. It is deplorable that as part of their charter they call for the extermination of Israel and refuse to repudiate that objective. There is no question that they have initiated violence against the people of Israel, though there is more than a little room for reasonable debate as to whether that violence has been on all occasions entirely unprovoked. Clearly most of the citizens of the world would not relish the thought of Hamas as a next door neighbor.

The truth though, is that through the political process and not through force of arms, the Palestinian people have spoken and asked that Hamas be the standard bearer for their hopes and aspirations. As a would-be sovereign people, their will should be honored.

Is it reasonable to fear that a Hamas led Palestinian Authority will differ little from the Hamas terrorists we have come to know and abhor? Of course. That should not however preclude them from having the opportunity to lead the Palestinian people forward. Sanctions, suspension of aid, and isolation from the global family of nations are all steps that should be held in reserve to be applied against a Hamas led Palestinian Authority that proves such actions are justified by their own future deeds. They need to be aware that the world is watching, and that if they do not act toward other nations with proper respect and consideration they will receive their justly earned reward. To punish first can only create a bunker mentality and a self fulfilling prophecy of failure. Persecution inevitably leads to the persecuted lashing out in regrettable ways, even when such persecution may well be justified.

It can certainly be hoped that a Hamas led government will comport itself responsibly, with honor and dignity, in a sincere effort to advance the interests of the Palestinian people who elected them. If they do that job well they should be rewarded, by the world at large and by the continued support of their constituency. Should they fail to execute that job effectively, the same people who have just empowered them will kick them to the curb. And if the Palestinian people should prove unequal to the task of controlling their chosen political leaders, then there will be more than ample opportunity for the rest of the world to step in and inflict the justice they seem so eager to dispense now in advance of the crime.

Jimmy Who?

Watching FOX Sports today for the football - that's another sore subject I WON'T be going into here! - it was difficult to avoid noticing Jimmy Johnson's hair.

Was that a body double?

Did he inflict that horror upon himself?

Did he pay someone to do that to him?

One thing is certain: all those charges of vanity Johnson has endured for years clearly are baseless. At least he has a sense of humor about it, and agrees that he looks like a Chia Pet.

Wow.