Supreme Court gets the chance to review police action without warrant

I learned of this story through a Washington Post report written by staff writer Robert Barnes. The tale is based in Kentucky, much later in the report we are told this took place in Lexington. The first paragraph tells us that the police were following a man who had just sold drugs to an undercover informant. We are not told that the police knew this man, he is only identified as ‘a man’.

I’m going over this story trying to make some sense out of it and I am not having any luck without jumping to conclusion, much in the same way the story is being told. The story leaves me with unanswered questions. And that does not bode well for the reporter. There are too many holes and leaps of conclusion that no well-written story should have. This reason I am focusing on this aspect of this story ahead of the subject is because this type of sloppy reporting is becoming all too common in today’s main stream media. One can expect this from what these so-called professionals refer to as street reporters. But I have read many street reporters who do a much more thorough job than Robert Barnes.

Anyway, I will try to wade through this mess and along the way I will point out the inadequacies of this reporter’s writing style.

Still in the first paragraph, we are told that the police entered a breezeway and heard a door slam and that they now had two choices. So far I am lead to believe that the police don’t know which door slammed or if it was even slammed by the as yet to be identified man they were following.

The second paragraph informs us that behind door number one (leap of faith, because how do they know which door he was behind since they only ‘heard’ a door slam?) and behind door number two is another person named Hollis King along with two people smoking marijuana.

Paragraph three tells us that after smelling ‘the drug’ (are we still talking about marijuana or some other drug?) they banged loudly on King’s apartment door and identified themselves as police and after hearing what they thought was evidence being destroyed they kicked the door down. Several questions arise here, since they are pursuing the dealer and they ‘know’ he is behind door number one, why are they pounding on door number two? Are they abandoning the pursuit of the guy who they have hard evidence against? Plus, by yelling out that they are police didn’t the dealer just become alerted and most likely did get rid of evidence? This sounds all very rookie-ish to me.

In the fourth paragraph the reporter has abandoned any reference to the dealer the police were pursuing. Instead he states that King was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Joshua Farley backed the police decision to kick down the door. Of course he would. And this is part of the problem. He claims to believe the story from his officers that they ‘heard noises’ that led them to believe ‘evidence was being destroyed’. I have to laugh at this claim. What ‘noises’ did they hear, a toilet being flushed? A match being struck to burn the evidence? This is beyond the realm of ridiculous. I cannot for the life of me imagine what ‘evidence being destroyed’ in this situation would sound like. They chose to use this lame excuse because of the three reasons for entering without a warrant this is the only one that they had a half-assed chance of getting away with. There was not a life being endangered, they were not concerned with the suspect escaping because as we read in this stellar report these were not even the guys they were chasing.

This Assistant Attorney General Joshua Farley should be ashamed of himself for using such a flimsy basis for taking this case to trial in the first place. By doing this only shows me that he along with many other legal system lackeys are emboldened by what the police are allowed to get away with.

The point of this Washington Post report is that the U.S. Supreme Court heard this case on Jan 12, 2011 and is in the process of deciding whether or not police can abandon the Fourth Amendment and kick down a door because the police claim they smelled marijuana.

I am in agreement with justices Ginsberg, Kagan and Sotomayor on this that police would indeed roam the halls and sniff for ‘reasons’ to kick in a door. Justice Scalia said the police did nothing wrong and that the occupants could have told police they could not enter without a warrant. Where has this guy been living? He is clearly out of touch with what law enforcement has been getting away with.

Police departments all across this nation have a growing reputation for abusing the ‘probable cause’ tenet. Therefore, I see this as a good opportunity for the Supreme Court to finally define police powers in similar situations. However, I realize that given the current atmosphere of law and order in this country, chances are good that the police will be given a free ride on this issue.

I must say here that I am in complete agreement that the illegal drug issue needs to be addressed. Drug abuse in this country has cost Americans untold billions of dollars in lost productivity and tax revenue, years of freedom in the ridiculously unbalanced and unfair prosecution, and the waste of lives alone should make this issue a top priority.

I admit I am being hard on the police. They need to do things the right way. If, as Justice Scalia says, criminals are stupid, they will eventually be caught at their illegal activity. There have been many instances where police have busted down the wrong door. In some of those cases innocent law-abiding citizens have been terrorized and killed. Given this environment, of course people are going to panic when they hear that thunderous pounding on their door followed by “Open Up”, “Police.”

Listen, drugs need to be removed from our streets. Criminals need to be punished. I object to the citizenry becoming victims due to over-zealous police forces who would rather bust heads and let God sort it out.

Oh, and as far as this reporter goes, how about giving us some hard facts and stop leaving out information like what happened to the dealer the police were originally pursuing.

DWI prosecutor is charged with DWI

No one ever accused a lawyer of setting their standards too high.

A Galveston County prosecutor with a reputation for winning lengthy prison sentences for drunken drivers has been suspended with pay after being charged with driving while intoxicated in a holiday season crackdown on the island last week.

Prosecutor Lester Blizzard was arrested on Harborside Drive around 11:15 p.m. last Thursday and was suspended by outgoing Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk pending an investigation.

Blizzard, who has tried numerous DWI cases, is known for successfully prosecuting DWI violators for long prison terms and for life sentences in some cases.

Let’s hope he gets a prosecutor who is as zealous as he has been.

Don’t hold your breath.

A sheriff's deputy was also arrested for DWI last Thursday at the same location shortly before Blizzard.

So, what’s going on down there in Galveston? It seems the law is not taken to heart by Texas public servants.

How very unfortunate that a public servant is caught breaking the law.

The ugly truth about the War on Drugs

As a high school student in the late 1960’s, I was exposed to the ‘new’ drug culture. But it was nothing like it would soon be. And it has only gotten worse. Living in the Midwest, we heard of only the occasional overdose and very little of the crime that plays such as large role in the drug culture of today. So when we heard our parents tell us how ‘wrong’ it is to do drugs while we were clearly not experiencing any of the ‘bad’ side effects that were preached to us, how could we possible believe them?

When Nancy Reagan pushed her famous ‘Just Say No’ spiel, we basically laughed at her for being a relic of that generation that only sought to control our lives.

The use of illegal drugs has indeed screwed up countless lives and has affected our society in ways that will never be fully understood.

Kids today who experiment with drugs and feel only the good side effects are just as unlikely to listen when adults extol only the bad that can come from drug use. All the while these same adults are getting through their days on sleeping aids, diet pills, alcohol and caffeine.

The most serious ‘drugs’ of course are the psychoactive class of drugs. These drugs alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. There are of course many reasons why people subject themselves to an altered state of reality, the most often reason cited is ‘because it makes me feel good’. It is quite literally escaping from reality and responsibility. Okay, there are drug users who can still function but these are only temporary situations and they are fooling only themselves by thinking they will not ‘lose it’ someday and destroy the lives of everyone who loves them and themselves.

The biggest threat is becoming physically addicted to them. This is where the damage to society at large really becomes clear. Criminal activity associated with getting the money to support the habit, because maintaining a steady legal income has become out of question, breaks down a society’s foundation in terms of productivity and healthy social interaction. More and more you find yourself doing things you have never before considered just for your own high. Theft and murder goes with the territory, and exacts an extremely heavy toll on society through taxpayer support of law enforcement, prison facilities and personnel, social services to families torn apart, etc.

The government tries to play their part in combating this evil scourge, but they never seem to gain any ground. You hear of the ‘major’ drug bust on some interstate freeway and while everyone pats themselves on the back you just can’t help but know this is only barely scratching the surface of what is still out there undetected. That ‘major’ bust may have been a sacrificial lure to distract police attention away from a much larger load driving right past them as they sit on the side of the road gloating and shaking their head.

Their approach to their ‘Drug War’ is based on the empty and quite foolish presumption that if they keep filling our prisons long enough and often enough with drug users then society will suddenly see the error of their ways and give up using illegal drugs. The futility of this endeavor is so stunningly obvious. If you do what you have always done, you will get what you always got. Perhaps a trite observation for such a serious problem, but truly, their method is not working.

Further proof that the War on Drugs is doomed to fail is our continuing love affair with legal drugs. Americans have become addicted to the idea that all cures for our aches, illnesses, diseases, sleep troubles and unhappiness can be had in the form of a pill. From the seemingly innocent taking of too much ibuprofen or acetaminophen, or even aspirin, to the continued use of sleep and diet aids despite written warnings to take a break from them periodically, to the drinking of alcohol to the point that the abuse of it is a contributing factor in the death of thousands of unsuspecting drivers on our nations roads. Is this Big Pharma’s fault alone?

They have undeniably done their very best to take advantage of this human weakness to want to find a quick cure for their maladies. Pharmaceutical companies have saturated doctors offices with free drug samples and urge doctors to push them off onto their patients. Big Pharma has become a ‘legally recognized drug pusher’. They advertise freely the idea that they are our best friends in their quest to get every American addicted to their latest and greatest breakthrough in medical science. They then bilk the insurance companies dry through their exorbitant prices.

Over the past decade or so Americans have been willing participants in fulfilling Big Pharma’s desire to addict every man, woman and child by sedating children who have behaved as children have behaved throughout time. They cherish their role as saviors to parents desperate for a quick and easy answer as to why their child ‘acts out’ in class, or seems hyperactive at home. They see that in order to mold future generations of drug addicts, they need to start with children. Just as illegal drug pushers do.

The drug addict is exactly the personality-type that Big Pharma covets. And parents too often eagerly accept the medical professions diagnosis that little Johnnie and Samantha have ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I submit that the real problem is the parents lack of patience and understanding in the root causes of their child’s behavior and their lack of effective parenting skills to correct that behavior. Unfortunately, there is no pill to overcome these deficiencies.

These children are most likely demanding more attention from their parents by using the only method they know. And I am not talking about the kind of attention that demands they open their mouths and swallow their pills or else.

Claims of ADHD are greatly exaggerated, having very little, if any, basis in reality. The unfortunate side effects of this miracle cure is brain shrinkage and hallucinations.

It is well documented that the amphetamine component of drugs like Ritalin cause stunted grown and reduced brain size.

A Cult of Pharmacology exists where all drugs are considered good and necessary, regardless of the mountain of evidence showing them to be either dangerous or medically useless.

This country’s health would be greatly improved by shunning the pharmaceutical industry and following the two simplest and most important things you can do for yourself. The two things that have been repeated many times. Exercise and eat right.

The Drug War is destined to fail because too many adults want it to. They don’t want to have to work at happiness. They want a little pill that will force them to feel better about themselves, if only for a little while.

Further Training for the Looming Police State

Narcotics officers and a Sheriff's Office SWAT Team in Prince George's County, Maryland violently stormed Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheya Calvo’s home and recovered a package containing 32 pounds of marijuana. When main stream media report a story in this fashion the majority of people who actually take the time to read or listen to the story believe immediately that the mayor is guilty. After all, why would the police fortify themselves with heavily armed SWAT team members if this guy wasn’t guilty? Why indeed.

The story takes on an even more “sensational” aspect (which media eats up like ‘crack’ candy) when they are able to report that officers also shot and killed Calvo's two black Labradors. Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Mario Ellis says deputies "apparently felt threatened" by the dogs, which is just a cavalier excuse that trigger happy police always use when they want to shoot something. They get away with this lie far too often. Calvo insists the dogs were not attacking, and as one of the dogs ran away a big bad policeman chased him down and killed it as it was cowering in a corner. Labrador retrievers are not known to be aggressive dogs. They may bark up a storm but they only attack when threatened. Unlike humans.

Calvo has not been charged and he, his wife and his mother-in-law are "persons of interest". Police say the investigation into how the drugs were in his home continues. Are they identifying these people as “persons of interest” out of bravado to avoid the embarrassment of obviously terrorizing the wrong family?

The raid occurred after Calvo returned from walking his dogs and discovered the package sitting on his doorstep addressed to his wife. As any husband would, he picked up the package and brought it into his home. This was the signal the overzealous police, hiding in wait, was hoping for. They unleashed their terror on this family, breaking in the front door, screaming for everyone to get on the floor, all with semi-automatic weapons pointing at the hapless, unsuspecting family. They feel they have the ‘legal right’ to commit this terror under a no-knock warrant which absolves them of all responsibility.

This article from Police Link does nothing to present the whole story and is meant to only cast this police action in a favorable light. This amounts to propaganda for the police state of which the vast majority of citizens don’t even realize they are under.

I was going through the comments that readers post on several different sites, each with their own version of the story, and I am once again appalled at the number of people who automatically assume the guilt of Mr. Calvo just because the police say so. This gullibility is one reason why people are so easily controlled by the people who control the media and an ever-increasing police fascist mentality that is taking over this country. Don’t get me wrong, there are good people out there who have joined their local police force for the purpose of ‘helping’ people by taking bad guys off the street. And we need them. The problem comes from those little dictator types who think that by putting on a police uniform they are given total and absolute control over any private citizen.

We have all run into these little racist Hitler wannabes. Unfortunately, there are more and more of them being accepted at police academies every year.

Sometimes it is just intuition that screams at you that identifies a story as having a false element. This story is one of those. After a little research I discovered that Mr. Calvo, besides being a very anti-drug Mayor, also is a director on the board of SEED, a national nonprofit that helps urban public boarding school students prepare for college. Based on this characterization of the man, it is looking more and more like this family is the recipient of someone’s idea of revenge.

There are several personality types that would have no problem in perpetrating just such a revenge. Someone who wants to see the mayor publicly humiliated and destroyed, or someone who wants to see the police humiliated, sends the package to get them busted. Perhaps by some drug dealer seeking revenge. Or, maybe a neighbor simply had the package delivered to this address, that is usually vacant during the day, and then snags the package before the residents get home. At any rate, this tragedy could have been avoided if the police had done some homework, notified the local police chief (who reported he had not been notified ahead of the raid) and not been so hopped up on the prospect of a gunfight in which they emerge the heroes for taking yet another despicable, murdering, gun-toting, crime lord out of commission for selling “marijuana?”.

The package was discovered to contain the marijuana in an Arizona shipping facility by drug sniffing dogs. There is no indication that the package had been opened in Arizona to verify the contents actually was marijuana. It is an assumption to think cops are that thorough. This gave police in Maryland time to organize the raid. It also gave them time to do a criminal background on the current occupants of this house. Had police actually conducted this research they would have discovered this address to be the home of the city’s mayor. They would have discovered the wife is not likely to have been involved in a major drug ring. But their mentality is such that they had an opportunity to take more illegal drugs off the street before they could be used to ‘destroy’ other families lives. If the Chief of Berwyn Heights Police Department has been notified of the impending raid he could have offered some insight into the occupants of this home.

Drug raids happen quite a lot across America, and due to the sheer number of them, there are bound to be “mistakes”. I’m saying that brain work needs to be undertaken to prevent this from happening again. And in the mean time, the Narcotics officers and the Sheriff's Office SWAT Team in Prince George's County, Maryland needs to apologize for their quick use of fascist tactics and their lack of proper preparation.

The bottom line here is that police are getting way out of hand in the exercising of their powers. They are given a lot of responsibility and are under a lot of pressure to enforce drug laws, as they should be, but they also need to do some thinking instead of first reaching for their weapons and automatically assuming they are busting a major dealer inside a fortress filled with drugs, guns and money. They had plenty of time to do so and chose not to.

What are we doing to our children?

A U.K. study shows that children in America and the U.K. are increasingly being given anti-psychotic drugs to treat a myriad of problems, most commonly autism and hyperactivity. This increased dependency on drugs to solve or control these problems could be jeopardizing the health of these children. We don’t know for certain because long-term effects of these drugs are not tested before being administered!

Here’s the side effects we do know of: weight gain, nervous-system problems and heart trouble. There is little long-term evidence about whether these drugs are even safe for children. Weight gain alone creates additional risks including diabetes.

Once again we go for the immediate quick and easy answer. We use our children as guinea pigs because some pharmaceutical company’s ad hawks their latest creation as the answer we have all been praying for.

What is the root cause of hyperactivity? Why is a pill the only answer to address this problems?

There has been a great deal of focus on Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as a cause of hyperactivity. Other conditions can cause it as well. Normal young children can be very lively and may or may not have short attention spans. Normal teenagers can also appear hyperactive; puberty can cause it. Children who are bored, are suffering from mental conflict, or are having problems at home — which may even include sexual abuse — can be hyperactive. The disorder has a large range of effects on children. Some have learning disabilities, while others may be very gifted, or both. None of these conditions warrant the use of drugs.

Hyperactivity can also occur because of problems with hearing or vision. Overactive thyroid, lead poisoning, atypical depression, mania, anxiety, sleep deprivation and a range of psychiatric illnesses are some of the potential causes. These conditions can all be addressed by treatments without using drugs.

These are the issues that need to be researched before resorting to any response from pharmaceutical companies who will push any pill that earns them money.

Thioridazine, sometimes used to treat hyperactivity in attention deficit disorder, was one of the frequently used early medications that was halted because it was later found to have heart-related side effects. This was only learned after children had been given the drug.

Doctors themselves are adding to health risks. For example, atypicals are a new generation of antipsychotic drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for adult schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression). None of the six drugs — Clozaril, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify and Geodon — is approved for kids, but doctors can prescribe them as "off-label" medications. Why are doctors allowed to prescribe these drugs to children as long as the drugs do not carry the original label? Why do doctors prescribe these to children knowing they are not approved for children?

Research on how the drugs affect children is sparse, and experts increasingly are concerned that the drugs are being prescribed too often for children with behavior problems, such as attention-deficit disorder and aggression.

In a USA Today interview, John March, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, prescribes the drugs to kids in some cases of serious illness when he thinks the benefits outweigh the risks. But he says prescribing them for behavior problems alone may be a mistake. "We have no evidence about the safety of these agents or their effectiveness in controlling aggression," he says. "Why are we doing this?"

A study of FDA data collected from 2000 to 2004 shows at least 45 deaths of children in which an atypical antipsychotic was listed in the FDA database as the "primary suspect." There also were 1,328 reports of bad side effects, some of them life-threatening. Are parents so desperate to get relief from the burden of a hyperactive child that they resort to drugs with these side-effects?

The FDA's Adverse Events Reporting System database captures only 1% to 10% of drug-induced side effects and deaths, "maybe even less than 1%," says clinical pharmacologist Alastair J.J. Wood, an associate dean at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville. So the real number of cases is almost certainly much higher.

We need to break free of conventional medicine’s dependence on drugs. This whole culture of take a pill to solve your problems needs to be stopped. Pharmaceutical companies placing ads pushing their latest miracle drugs need to be banned. The FDA needs to more thoroughly test these drugs before they are prescribed.

There are several alternative treatments to medication for the hyperactive child, but be absolutely certain you consult only a registered and qualified practitioner.

Osteopathy:

Osteopathy treats the musculo-skeletal system. It concentrates on gentle manipulation to restore and maintain the proper functioning of the muscles and bones. It is particularly useful for treating problems with the ligaments and spine. It improves lymphatic drainage and breathing which, in turn, can be very effective in treating hyperactivity in children. Cranial osteopathy also relieved many of the symptoms of hyperactivity such as headaches, dizziness and lack of concentration.

Nutritional therapy:

Much of our modern diet is highly refined and lacking in essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Nutritional medicine aims to redress this balance by adding essential nutrients to the diet in such a way that the body is able to absorb and utilize these nutrients. A nutritional therapist will recommend a system for diagnosing and eliminating any foods that are likely to trigger hyperactive behavior in the child.

Homeopathy:

The homeopathic approach is growing in popularity as an alternative treatment for hyperactivity in children. Homeopathy is gaining recognition in the conventional field of medicine and has been subject to many clinical trials. Homeopathy works according to the principle of “like cures like” where substances that cause certain symptoms can also be used to cure them. However, used in conventional doses, these substances would be toxic, so homeopathy dilutes them to miniscule levels in order to make them safe but, at the same time, retaining their effectiveness. Because homeopathy adopts the holistic approach, the child’s medical history, lifestyle and temperament will be assessed before treatment is prescribed. Hyperactivity is considered a complex problem by homeopaths. It is, therefore, essential that you consult a recommended practitioner rather than trying to treat the child yourself.

Acupuncture:

Acupuncture is based on the principle that well-being depends on the balance and flow of energy (called “Qi”) through the body. The acupuncturist will correct the flow of Qi by inserting thin needles into certain points in the body. Because some children are afraid of needles (acupuncture needles, incidentally, are painless), massage or acupressure will be used instead. However, most acupuncturists treating children will only use the finest of needles and only leave them in place for a few seconds. The acupuncturist will take a full history of the hyperactive child and then concentrate on the points where he or she believes the energy channels are being blocked in the individual child. Acupuncture has proved a very effective remedy for hyperactivity in children.

Herbal medicine:

Herbalism is probably the oldest form of medicine. Whereas modern medicine often relies on extracting one active ingredient, herbal medicine uses the whole plant. Herbalists often point out that symptoms may get worse at first but then a marked improvement will follow. Many herbal remedies are particularly relevant to the treatment of hyperactivity in children. A herbalist will be able to pinpoint the remedies which are best suited to the individual personality of the child.

At least try some other form of treatment before subjecting your child to the crap shoot that pills have become.

Drug use is violence

Drug violence in other countries is spurred on by American citizens.
There is no denying it, drug use in this country directly supports murder and other violence in the countries where the drugs come from. Drug use in this country supports murder and other violence in this country.

Gangs are supported directly and indirectly by our drug use (not just heroin or methamphetamine or marijuana or cocaine, but ecstasy and steroids too). You can access any news source in the world and read about how drug trafficking has claimed another life, either by taking the drug or killing to control the traffic of the drug.

People find themselves doing things for drugs that they never would have considered doing before their drug addiction. Stealing from others, prostituting themselves, submitting their free will. These are extremes that we have all heard of that are definitive reasons against drug use. Those ‘casual’ drug users who haven’t reached these extremes are just as guilty of sustaining the drug trade and therefore the violence that supports it.

Is the high worth it? People who do drugs do so for a few very selfish reasons. They want to ‘feel good’, they want to escape from reality, they do it because their friends do it and therefore think it is ‘cool’ to be one of the crowd.

Our legal system is not curtailing drug use. The threat of jail time or financial loss due to fines or losing a job or even their family and the stigma that goes with these losses is not enough to stop most drug users.

Society is approaching the illegal use of drugs from the wrong direction. Education is not working. Scare tactics don’t work. Drug users come from loving families that communicate with each other as well as from abusive households so that isn’t working either.

A personal choice. The potential user needs to ask whether doing this drug is going to improve my life. And I don’t mean in the way that it provides a temporary escape. This is not improving anything. I mean, is doing drugs going to make me a better person. It might make you feel like you are the ‘life of the party’ but again, that is only temporary and it comes at a very high price. What if the answer is ‘I don’t care if it makes me a better person’?

Too many young people are getting sucked into the mystique of the drug culture. The glamour needs to be dispelled. Whatever draw there is to starting drugs that first time needs to be identified and examined so that we can finally put a halt to the useless and expensive incarceration of the user (save tax dollars by not having to support them while in jail), clear space in rehab centers for others, lessen the demand for drugs so gangs in foreign countries and the U.S. cannot make a profit from drug traffic.

Afghanistan provides 90 percent of the world’s opium because it brings more money to farmers than growing food crops; Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia are increasing their coca production because they make more money on this than from food crops; Suriname has become a transshipment base for South American cocaine to the world; Myanmar is directly benefits from illegal drug traffic; Mexico benefits from drug trafficking.

What is it going to take to get U.S. citizens to see beyond their own personal desires to get high and recognize the effect they are having on those people who choose to become involved in the drug trade?

Stronger role models would defiantly help. Finding value in yourself will help the desire to not become a junky. Giving support to other people who need it to feel better about themselves can go a long toward finding that valuable side of you. Encouragement and support from family and friends can make a great deal of difference in valuing yourself.

We are the cause and effect. And as such, we hold all the power to change it. Please, lets not add to the problem.

The thing is that after coming back down, reality is still there. And possibly worse because you didn’t tackle whatever it is that made you want to get high in the first place.

Here is a list of drug treatment centers for yourself or someone you love. It is not too late.

Here is a list of support groups for ex-drug users.

Here is a website for parents of a drug user.

Getting high has many hidden costs

How many times have you been to the zoo? Any zoo. I have been to several zoos across this country, multiple times. I have never seen any animal become aggressive towards any human. Oh, I have heard stories of an animal attacking or becoming aggressive with a feeder or trainer, while in the enclosure with the animal, but not towards the general public.

This recent case involving the tiger that attacked and killed a teenager at the San Francisco zoo illustrates several behaviors that humans continue to engage in, that, in this case, resulted in the death of a young man, the death of a wild animal, wasted police manpower, wasted taxpayers money, allowing more lawyers to peddle their trade of lies and shifting blame, and nearly caused a zoo to lose accreditation.

All this, because three men felt they could not enjoy themselves on a visit to the zoo without getting ‘high’. They ignored warning signs by taunting wild animals, they shunned common sense by taunting wild animals, they broke the law by being drunk in public, they broke the law by possessing and using illegal drugs, they are helping to keep the illegal drug trade alive (one of our biggest roadblocks to making this society as strong and productive as it could be) and they paid a terrible price. But so did a bunch of other people.

The public can no longer enjoy the pleasure of seeing that tiger at the zoo because of the careless and stupid actions of these three young men.

On Christmas day, 2007, there were reports of a group of men taunting animals at the zoo. The public saw these actions and reported it to the authorities. Carlos Sousa Jr, 17, Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal 24, were witnessed yelling at the tiger, waving their arms aggressively and standing on the railing of the enclosure. This, obviously, must have been acceptable behavior from their alcohol induced point of view.

What this tiger saw was some humans exhibiting some unusual and extraordinary behavior directed towards it and the tiger reacted.

Once the animal climbed over the fence, an action he never had reason to attempt previously, he attacked the provokers. Just wild animal reactionary behavior.

The lawyers say, “if the wall was higher this would not have happened”. I say bullshit to that. If these guys had not acted like damned fools the tiger would not have acted like he did. If you are going to use hindsight for cause/effect then go the whole way. If we didn’t live in a society where we thought it acceptable to cage wild animals, this would not have happened. If we didn’t live in a society where lawyers are allowed to lie to keep criminals and wrong doers from being punished, these lawyers would not make stupid statements like this. Well, actually, this is a real stretch because they would still lie due to their twisted view of what justice is.

After these guy’s actions had been reported to zoo authorities, and after the tiger reacted to their taunting, their cries for help were ignored. Why? Because since these intoxicated men had exhibited such rowdy behavior no one believed their story of an escaped animal. This is just human nature. We figure they are drunk or mentally unstable, so how can we take them seriously about anything? We tend to ignore people who have shown themselves to be idiots. Plain and simple. How can anyone know when these guys calls for help is serious after displaying such idiotic behavior? There is no way to know unless witnesses verify their need for help. This is another good reason not to drink and behave like children I public.

After it was verified that their story was indeed true, calls went out to 911 and help did arrive.

Their lawyer is trying to put the blame back onto the zoo by saying if help had arrived sooner the boy would still be alive. In reality the blame lies with the men themselves due to their previous behavior. If they had not acted like fools then their story would have been taken seriously when it was first told. This action by their lawyer is just another underhanded trick they like to use called shifting the blame and placing doubt where it does not belong. So, yeah, we can all speculate. The bottom line is they alone are responsible for their actions. They alone chose to ignore common sense and tease a wild animal. It doesn’t matter that the animal was caged it is simply a stupid thing to so.

Paramedics arrived on the scene as quickly as they could after receiving the call and found a large puncture wound in the victims neck. It is doubtful he could have survived the attack if they had gotten there any sooner.

Police found the tiger sitting down not bothering anyone and when they approached it got up and moved away. Just as you would expect it to. At this point, they claim it started to attack another person, which I personally think is bull. They saw this as justification for killing the animal rather than try to get it back into the enclosure, a particularly daunting task I am sure.

How long has this tiger lived in this enclosure without being a threat to the public? As a result of these idiots actions, the zoo will have to spend more money to protect the animals and the public from fools such as these guys.

Toxicology results show Paul Dhaliwal’s blood alcohol content at 0.16, twice the legal limit. Why is it still acceptable to go out into public drunk? His brother, Kulbir, was within the legal limit, which showed some responsibility on his part since he drove them to the zoo. But still, he was drinking and driving.

Upon first being questioned they both lied about taunting the tiger or any other animal, even though many others had reported them doing exactly this. They have finally admitted to this only after they realized other people actually saw them do it and told authorities. They thought is was okay to lie to authorities. Another problem with this society, in general. They thought everyone would believe that they were innocently strolling past the tiger enclosure when it lunged at them. They actually believed that the thousands of people who have walked past this same enclosure without any indication of aggressiveness on the part of the tiger would believe their story.

Their lies brought about the possibility of a law suit against the zoo. Did they think there would not be an investigation? Why would they risk being found out that not only were they stupid enough to do what they did but would also be found to be liars and lawbreakers by being intoxicated in public?

I know, I know, they were trying to cover their own butts. But this is exactly my point. If they had told the truth to begin with, accepting their own responsibility, then the taxpayers would not have had to pay for the investigation and these lawyers would not have been given the chance to participate in their lies by trying to shift the blame from them to the zoo.

This lawyer could have kept his mouth shut and waited for the investigation to conclude to determine whether or not his client was lying. But no, he had to back up their story in the press. Is he stupid enough to believe their story of innocence or just jumping at the chance to get his name in the paper even if it is based on a lie? This is another problem with this society, lawyers who try cases in the media in an attempt to cover up these guys responsibility.

Where is the common sense and common decency that we are born with? Where is the intelligence that we humans know these are not actions to be taken against a wild animal and against the society that we live amongst?

Oh, and yes, there was marijuana involved. Can’t these guys get high enough with just one or the other? Marijuana is supposed to make you mellow not stupid like alcohol does. The waste of money spent on ingesting two different drugs that counteract each other just shows another level of stupidity and weakness.

When they told police they each had a couple of shots of vodka, everyone knows instinctively that ‘a couple of shots’ always translates to more than just ‘a couple of shots’. So they lied to police about this as well.

Lack of respect for authorities, and themselves, and personal weaknesses resulted in the death of their friend and the outing of themselves in public as liars. Was getting ‘high’ worth it?

Indiana fights DUI

The court system in Indiana is trying something different in handling drunk drivers. DUI offenders are required to attend a court-mandated panel presentation at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

At this particular presentation the offenders heard a panel member tell of how her brother was killed by a DUI driver. Her story is all too familiar, lamenting the loss of her loved one and how he will never do this or do that and how the offender spent a token amount of time in jail and is now free to go wherever he/she wants.

I applaud them for their effort to find the elusive method of preventing future tragedy. This is definitely a step in the right direction but it still is not enough. We cannot settle for reaching a small percentage of offenders who still have enough common decency to not repeat their offense against the unsuspecting innocents on our roads.

This reporter did not mention whether this was a one time panel or something that every DUI offender will have to go through. Maybe there are additional aspects of this program that goes further towards preventing future tragedy than what was reported in this article, I don’t know because the reporter did not go into any specifics. If this is all there is to this program then it is falls short.

Six people who were ordered to attend this panel showed up intoxicated. The reporter did not mention how these people arrived at the meeting. Did they drive themselves? Did someone bring them? Did any of these offenders loose their privilege to drive as a result of their arrest? Did anyone ignore this opportunity and just not show up?

The six people who showed up intoxicated clearly don’t get it. Something more needs to be done to keep them off of our streets. And reporters need to paint a much clearer picture about what is being done.

Darius Moore follow-up 9-27-07

As previously reported on 9-27-07 … Darius Moore, 17, of Gary Indiana, was driving while intoxicated on the night of September 15, 2007 when, he claims, one of his tires blew out and he crashed his car.

Today, Oct 17, 2007, Gary Indiana police spokesman report they will ask prosecutors to press unspecified charges against the Darius Moore in last month's car crash that killed two 18-year-old passengers in Gary, Indiana.

Police who responded to the crash failed to find the victims' bodies. According to Moore, they never searched for them. The father of one of the victims found them himself when he visited the site hours later.

Moore said he and the other crash survivor, DeAndre Anderson, begged police to search for their friends who were missing after the crash. Police radio dispatch tapes released last month revealed officers discussed the possibility that Smith and Green, the two missing teens, might be at the scene.

The police obviously did not search or did such a half-assed job that they should be, at the very least, embarrassed for not finding them.

A blood alcohol test, taken at the scene, shows that Darius Moore and the one surviving passenger had alcohol in their bloodstream which only proves they had been drinking. One of the two registered .09 and the other registered .05. because of their ages the results could not be publicly attached to which one was over the state imposed limit of .08.

Moore denies that anyone in the car had been drinking before the accident. So I guess the test lied? Maybe Moore is attempting to indicate that the police faked this test and are lying about the results. Since police have been known to lie, just as every other human has, it is easy enough to believe, but I don’t think you can fake the results of a blood alcohol test. Darius Moore is evoking the typical behavior of someone who has been caught doing something illegal, putting the blame off onto someone else.

His mother is enabling him by claiming the accident was not his fault. It is no one’s fault but his. He was drinking, underage, and he was driving that vehicle. Wake up, both of you. Face reality. Stop taking the act of drinking and driving so lightly.

Ignoring the fact that he was drinking and driving is only perpetuating the idea that it is okay to do it. he cannot be made to look noble by lying against the results of a blood alcohol test. He needs to answer for his total disregard for safety by drinking, driving, speeding, and allowing his passengers to ride without their safety belts attached. These issues are nothing to take lightly.

He needs to be punished. Nothing else he has heard about drinking and driving has gotten through to him. We have all been told for years about wearing safety belts. Now that he is responsible for a car accident that destroyed four families lives is not the time to fantasize that it was not his fault.

Take responsibility for your actions!!

Darius’s mother, Carmelita Evans said she wasn't surprised police were recommending charges against her son. "I figured the police would try to go after him in light of the lawsuits that are coming at them," she said. "Because the police are going down, I figured they would try to take my son with them."

I’m not surprised the police are going after him either. They should have arrested him on the night of the accident, on two charges at the very least. One, driving while intoxicated, two, drinking under the legal age. If police had actually followed through with their accident scene investigation heeding the possibility of others being involved and searched for the other two teens then those teens would either be alive or the police could charge the driver with vehicular homicide, too. They are not arresting him out of retaliation as she suggests, that is ludicrous.

Facing charges, Evans said, might put her son "over the edge -- that he could be liable for his friends' deaths. He's not sleeping, he's not eating properly. I hope this doesn't cause him to do something. I'm trying to seek counseling for him, but I'm a single mother and I don't have a lot of money."

The reason he is not sleeping or eating properly is due to a guilty conscience because he knows he is responsible for those boys deaths. He alone got behind the wheel and he alone was driving when that car went off the road. Again, face reality and make him suffer the consequences just as any person who drinks and drives should face the consequences.

It is unforgivable for police to ever leave a body behind for someone else to find, let alone a parent. Even though the police were given the possibility that the two missing teens were not in the car at the time of the accident is not a good enough reason not to search because there was indeed the possibility they were in the car.

It is equally unforgivable to allow drunken drivers to go unpunished. It sends the wrong message and we have seen it far too many times.

The family of one of the deceased teens is having an independent autopsy done, more for their own peace of mind, to see if the county coroner lied about their deaths being instantaneous. I understand why the family is doing this. The police are not above lying to protect themselves, anyone who thinks they would not lie is simply naïve and haven’t been paying attention. There are numerous cases where police have lied to protect themselves and their lies are backed up by every policeman and coroner in the country.

Drinking and driving is an intolerable activity that needs to be punished severely.

Why isn’t this country taking this responsibility more seriously?

Krystle Leigh Weber, today’s worst mother in the world

The mother of a two-year-old Wisconsin boy shared a marijuana blunt with her child as friends laughed, filmed the child smoking, and asked, "Hey buddy, are you stoned?" Krystle Leigh Weber, 20, was charged yesterday along with two male friends with pot possession and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

She was also hit with a child neglect rap, also a misdemeanor. (can you believe child neglect is only a misdemeanor?) According to a Circuit Court complaint, after a confidential source told police about the smoking incident, cops seized a cell phone from defendant Sean Held, 19, and discovered three videos of the August incident.

At least someone associated with this group showed some moral integrity.

On the clips, the boy is seen holding and apparently puffing on a blunt, and "staggering around a bedroom in what appears to be a confused and altered state."

In a police interview, Weber, who is pictured here in a Menomonee Falls Police Department mug shot, said that she initially rejected Held's suggestion to have her son "hit it," but eventually relented and agreed to let the two-year-old take a "small one."


The complaint notes that Weber told police that she "knew what she did was wrong, and she would do anything to keep her son." I’m calling bullshit.

Let the cops chase real criminals

Why are we continuing to arrest people for marijuana use?

FBI stats, just released in September 2007, show an all-time record 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006. Up by 43,000 from 2005.

The number of arrests for simple possession totaled 738,916. This is about 90% of all marijuana arrests and does not include trafficking, just possession.

By comparison, there were 611,523 arrests last year for all violent crimes combined.

This amounts to a lot of manpower and expense thrown at taking a natural herb off the streets that has never been shown to cause violent behavior in anyone. In fact, scientific studies have shown, long ago, that, compared to alcohol, marijuana is much safer. For one thing, marijuana is much less addictive with only 9% becoming addicted as opposed to 15% for alcohol users. Marijuana use has never been shown to cause any permanent harm to the body whereas, it is well documented, alcohol damages the brain and liver to the point that it leads to death. Alcohol, also well documented, incites violence and aggression, marijuana does not.

Cops love to keep marijuana illegal because it keeps their arrest numbers up which ‘proves’ to our community that their services are needed. Also, marijuana users are more docile than alcoholics and therefore are easier to arrest, with less chance of fighting back. Whereas, violent criminals tend to endanger them and the citizenry by using weapons to prevent being arrested.

Where cops are really needed is on our roadways where their heightened presence is more likely to catch drunk drivers that tend to kill us. Their presence would help decrease the number of speeders who are more likely to lose control of their vehicles and kill us. Their presence is needed to prevent careless and reckless drivers from killing us. Their presence is needed to help prevent road rage that can kill us.

There has never been one documented case in which a marijuana user has caused the death of anyone.

Does this show that the priorities of law enforcement officers are misplaced? You bet it does.

With these arrest figures carried out to daily arrests, this means that every 38 seconds of every day a marijuana user is arrested.

Since most people don’t really take anything seriously until it affects their finances, let’s look at some numbers. It is estimated, by people who spend a lot of their time examining such mundane things, that if marijuana was a taxable commodity, the U.S. government could conceivably collect $31 billion from the estimated $113 billion annual marijuana business. Wow! How much healthcare could that figure cover?

The extra time that cops would have on their hands for not arresting these non-violent people could now be focused on catching the actual violent offenders who are still on their most wanted lists.

Taxes collected on marijuana sales could help fund cancer research since they are damaging their lungs through inhaling smoke. Because let’s face it, tobacco smoke has already been proven to cause death from lung cancer, why would you think marijuana smoke is any different. Personally, I think it is foolish for anyone to put such carcinogenic substances into your body. Everyone would condemn anyone who purposefully did this to another human being and call it torture and cruel and unusual punishment (true, it would take a long time to work and you would be happy along the way, but it still will kill you). But hey, it’s your body.

In case you are too high to pick up on it, I don’t think marijuana is a ‘crime’ that warrants this much time, effort and money pursuing. I think cops should spend their time on more worthwhile endeavors. I certainly do not think that marijuana users should be labeled as ‘hardened criminals’. And I don’t fall in step with our drug czar in the all too common belief, shared with other non-drug users, that smoking marijuana leads to harder drug use. This is just urban legend. True there are some smokers that will occasionally experiment with harder drugs but it is by no means the next ‘logical’ inevitable step. The number of those that do is no higher than for those who never smoked pot and went straight for the harder stuff.

I think marijuana users, and alcohol users, are wasting a lot of money that could be better spent on things like a savings plan for the future, either theirs or for their kids. That money could be better spent to improve your living conditions.

It has been proven through studies, and I am sure you have seen this yourselves, that smoking marijuana causes stupidity. If you smoke pot and are one of the lucky few to still have a job, don’t jeopardize it. Too many of you are smoking at work or getting stoned on your way to work. This is just stupid. One, because just having marijuana is still illegal, two, you could get fired if caught with it (let’s face it, if you are stoned at work, you cannot hide it for very long) and most importantly, your job performance suffers and you could cause injury to your self or someone else, depending on what you do for a living. Come on people, keep it strictly recreational if you are going to insist on continuing to use it.

If marijuana was legalized, following in the steps of alcohol legalization in the 1930’s, then there would not be any profit for gangs and other criminals to fund their other criminal, and more violent, enterprises. This is just a no-brainer. By leaving any involvement with marijuana illegal, the legal system has created, and is maintaining, a criminal underground that is more dangerous to this society only because it’s use is illegal. If you want to argue that marijuana impairs your driving and therefore that makes it a danger to society then I have to agree with you. But so is alcohol. And since they are both detrimental to safe drivers everywhere why is one illegal and the other not?

Also, our jails would not be so crowded, because, believe it or not, a large population of inmates, 44% in 2006 according to the FBI, are incarcerated for marijuana offenses. Arguably the least criminal characters in jail today. Is it really necessary to build more prisons to house these non-violent offenders?

America’s prison population totaled 2.1 million inmates as of mid-year 2006, according to Department of Justice Statistics.

The overwhelming majority of drug arrests are for possession of marijuana, and most persons in prison for a drug offense have no history of violence or high-level drug selling activity.

Virtually all of these prisons are horrifically overcrowded. State prisons were operating at 99 to 113 percent of capacity, and the federal prison system was operating at 134 percent of capacity. This compounds the dangers and brutality of prison life. Inmates are exposed to physical and sexual assault, and put at risk for diseases such as HIV/AIDS or developing mental illness.

It does not take a excessive amount of brain power to figure out that by removing these non-violent ‘offenders’ from the equation, we could solve the over-crowding issue and not be faced with raising taxes to pay for more, even larger prisons.

No double standard here

Drunken Blackwater guard who killed Iraqi is back in Iraq thanks to State Department.

Why not! Drunken drivers are allowed to drive our roadways everyday after being caught and given nothing more than a symbolic slap on the wrist.

This is just a simple case of naiveté in it’s purest form. Our ‘justice’ system believes that someone who is willing to go into public, drunk, with a deadly weapon, be it a rifle, a machine gun or a car, without any regard to the lives of innocent, unsuspecting citizens will not do it again just because the guilty person acts remorseful and says they won’t. This amounts to criminal enabling.

The fact that it has been proven many times over that these people have caused death, injury and untold millions of dollars in property damage, after saying they would not do it again, is not enough to get our law makers to put the safety of the rest of us first.

The fact that these people are willing to go back out into the public under the influence of a substance that has been proven to disrupt their thinking and common sense shows they cannot control themselves and therefore need to be more heavily monitored in order to keep the rest of us from paying for their diseased negligence.

Of course it is a disease. No one will argue that it is not. That doesn’t give them the right to be behind the steering wheel. It does not alleviate the responsibility of our justice system and lawmakers from doing more to keep these people off of the roads.

If money is the only thing lawmakers understand then look at the amount money spent every time an EMT and police officer is called to cleanup after these people. Add in the amount of money spent for hospital personnel to care for any survivors. Add in the amount of money spent by insurance companies to cover the cost of hospital stays, vehicle replacement costs, lost wages, etc. Look at the number of lives that are affected by this one persons irresponsible act of getting behind the wheel of an automobile while drunk.

Lawyers have work thrown their way, too, as a result of drunk drivers so maybe lawmakers are just looking after their ‘brothers’ welfare.

It is disgusting and unconscionable to repeatedly hear of a drunken driver killing another person after being arrested multiple times for drunk driving.

It is not unheard of to learn that people have been arrested 5, 6, 7, or even 10 times for drunk driving only to find them on the road again.

Yet our government, local, state and now federal, thinks its okay to subject law abiding citizens to these people’s behavior.

Why??? Why is this insanity allowed to continue?

We have MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), RADD (Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving), and even BADD (Boaters Against Drunk Driving) as well as BADD (Bikers Against Drunk Drivers) and the problem is not lessening.

So many groups against drunk drivers and yet there are still so many drunk drivers on the road. What is wrong with this picture?

Thanks to the efforts of these advocacy groups, as well as others, and the list is long, the penalties and consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs have gotten much stiffer.

Stiffer penalties is obviously not a good enough deterrent. It certainly is not keeping the ‘hard core’ drunk driver off the roads, the people who have been arrested multiple times and will continue to drink and drive until they themselves are killed.

It seems to me that death is the only thing that will stop these people because these groups are not effective enough by themselves.

These groups are not even deterring the first time drunk drivers. Those people who drink and then drive for the first time make it home without incident and are then foolishly emboldened to believe that they are not affected by alcohol become convinced that it must only be a problem for other people.

These groups are only convincing those of us who don’t drink and drive. We congratulate ourselves that we are doing something to stop drunk driving, usually in the name of a loved one who was killed by a drunk driver, and the problem continues with no end in sight.

So, now, it does not surprise me to hear that the federal government believes that a person who got drunk and killed someone with a government issued weapon is not a sign that this person is not responsible enough to have a weapon.

Apparently, no one really takes the problem of alcohol abuse seriously enough.

Unsafe vehicles and drivers

Darius Moore, 17, of Gary Indiana, was driving while intoxicated on the night of September 15, 2007 when one of his tires blew out. He was also driving well over the speed limit.

All three of these factors combined to create a tragedy that is repeated far too many times. A tragedy that could have been prevented and will haunt him the rest of his life. He alone is responsible for the deaths of two of his friends.

As tragic as it is for him to live with his memory forever, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the negligent deaths of two individuals who left grieving families behind.

His carelessness and disregard for common sense affected a lot of people in a very negative fashion.

The police verified he had been drinking by field sobriety tests. His own admission verified the tire blew out. The fact that his vehicle rolled approximately 15 times attests to the high rate of speed at which he was driving.

All three of these factors could have been prevented by him, Darius Moore.

We have all been told for far too long about the inherent dangers of drinking and driving. We have seen the pictures. Many of us know families who have suffered as a result of this social evil. There are many bodies in the cemetery who thought they could safely drink and drive. Each one of them convinced themselves that no one else knew what they were talking about concerning their drinking and driving. They each thought they were the exception to all the ridiculous talk and scare tactics to get people not to drink and drive.

Darius Moore has no good excuse for being behind the wheel of that vehicle that night.

Hopefully MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and every other group that purports to be against drunk driving will do more than just talk and see to it that this individual is put away for his crime. Some of you will say he made a terrible error in judgment. This is not good enough to let him off. Every drunk driver makes a terrible error in judgment. This is exactly what needs to be addressed.

We can no longer go soft on these individuals for their crimes because they still are not getting the message. They are not convinced of their limitations under the influence. Much more needs to be done.

Even without adding the reaction-time stifling effects of alcohol to the mix, far too many drivers think they can safely drive at excessive speeds. Sure they can get away with it as long as nothing unexpected ever happens. There are a lot of things outside of their control that can happen, like a tire blows out, a dog runs across the street, another car swerves into their path, they focus too long on that text message they just have to send while driving, the car in front of them stops suddenly because the car in front of them stopped suddenly, etc. When you are driving above the posted speed limit you drastically shorten your stopping distance and therefore your margin of safety meaning you purposefully make it impossible to react in time. The result is your vehicle swerves suddenly from the excessive brake pressure you just applied, one of your tires blows due to the excessive weight of your vehicle being exerted on it, your vehicle then rolls over, you then are seriously injured or killed along with everyone in your vehicle and anyone who is in your path.

Somewhere in the U.S. these scenarios happen on a daily basis. Why do you think it cannot happen to you?

Why doesn’t anyone else take these facts seriously? These are not just exaggerations of what could happen but probably never will. This is not just some scare tactic to get you to slow down. The fact that they have happened should be enough for every driver to use more caution on the road. When you are driving you are responsible for the safety of everyone around you, not just yourself and your passengers.

Back to the accident involving Darius Moore, as far as the tires are concerned, if they were in bad enough condition to blow out then they should have been repaired or replaced. Does anyone take the time to check the condition of their tires or any other part of their vehicle before they are forced to after they break down? Why not? Again, your safety and the safety of everyone around you depends on your vehicle being in a safe enough condition to drive.

Did Darius Moore make the decision to spend money on alcohol instead of repairing or replacing worn out tires? Of course, he will tell you it wasn’t his fault. It never is. It is always some factor out of his control. But the truth is, there was a greater chance of that tire being worn out and needing attention than just coincidence that it blew out while he was drinking and speeding.

People are not taking seriously enough the fact that each one of is responsible for the safety of everyone around us on our roadways. No one respects the fact that we alone can cut the number of traffic accidents if only we would obey traffic laws and keep our vehicles in safe working order.

I would like to feel safer on the roads I travel. I would like for my family to be safe on these roads. I do not feel safe when some fool comes rushing up behind me and tailgates because by driving the speed limit I am not moving fast enough for him.

I do not feel safe when some fool is dividing their attention between the road and a cell-phone conversation or text message that could be, should be, taken care of while parked.

I do not feel safe knowing there are fools who disregard the fact that drinking slows their reaction time and judgment and as a result I could die for it.

Budget problems and energy conservation

The state of Pennsylvania partially shutdown Monday morning because they could not work out a solution to the budget. This prompted about 24,000 state workers to be put on furlough, without pay, and shutdown museums, parks, drivers license testing. But the governor saw fit to keep the casinos and state liquor stores open.

They have been ‘working’ at this budget for nine days and the result is that the state lost the authority to spend money on nonessential services and employees. But gambling and liquor sales, which are obviously considered essential to the state of Pennsylvania, are allowed to continue.

This brings up a point about the lottery. Gambling in this manner is such as sure bet for the state that they cannot possibly stop it. Read this to say that those who gamble on the lottery win very little and the state always wins a lot. Get a clue people.

And if they took away liquor sales there would be such a riot among the alcoholics that there would be fighting in the streets. You really don’t want to piss off alcoholics, there are a lot of them.

By the way, the reason these state employees are getting an unexpected unpaid vacation is because the governor wants a surcharge placed on residential electricity use to fund alternative energy programs and electricity conservation and the senate won’t allow it. This state has a $650 million surplus! And now the surplus will grow from money saved by not paying these 24,000 state employees.

Haven’t we been hearing for years that we need to come up with alternative energy sources? And isn’t electricity conservation a good thing? Why can’t they use some of that surplus to fund the governors project? A project which, on the surface, sounds right, but he is a politician so you can’t take anything from him on surface value. Why take money away from state employees?

Notice I haven’t identified the political parties of either side? That is because it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that the governor is holding state employees hostage to get what he wants and the senate refuses to give in. This is pure politics and it stinks. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.

The governor is simply throwing a tantrum. And both sides are being stubborn at taxpaying citizens expense, as usual.

List of topics I will go on about

I am angry that U.S. couples go to foreign countries to adopt children when there are so many here in the U.S. that are just as deserving.

The bureaucratic nightmare in the U.S. is a large reason why Americans go overseas, but I believe it is also due to misplaced loyalties.

I am angry that I cannot drive on any street at the posted speed limit without having some fool rush up behind me because I am not ‘moving fast enough’.

And the police are not doing anything to curb this behavior.

I am angry that the U.S. federal government has turned its back on Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, two U.S. Border Patrol Agents who have been jailed for doing their job. They are facing 11-12 year sentences because an ‘illegal’ immigrant, drug-smuggling, looser was shot during an attempted arrest while carrying 743 pounds of marijuana.

I am angry that ‘illegal immigrants’ are given ‘free’ health care while my mother, an ‘American’ tax-paying citizen has to pay through the nose for health care that is draining her bank account and all future earnings.

I am angry that a drunken ‘illegal’ immigrant, who left his vehicle, smashed from a single-vehicle accident, laying on its side in the middle of the road, while he walked home, where a nurse who in a compassionate effort to check on the condition of its occupants was struck and killed by another vehicle who claims they ‘didn’t see the vehicle’.

(I am also angry that this driver of this second vehicle was not paying close enough attention to road conditions and allowed this second accident to happen.)

(I am also angry that this second driver will not face a stiff enough penalty for not putting the safety of everyone else on the road ahead of his or her own while driving on our public roads.)

(I am also angry that this ‘illegal’ dirt-bag who has done nothing toward the adding to the better quality of life of Americans, will not get a stiff enough penalty for taking away a selfless American citizen who dedicated her life to helping others. She was a nurse, what did this loosed ever give to society. Not a damn thing.)

I am angry that people try to weasel out of paying fines for breaking the law, and the cops that allow them to. If you break the law and get caught, be an adult and pay the fine!

I am angry that the FBI doesn’t care enough about our security to keep better control over their weapons and laptops.

On Feb 13, 07 it was reported that more than 320 weapons and laptops from around the country, from FBI offices no less, have ‘gone missing’ over a period of 44 months..

The laptops contained everything from software for creating identification badges to sensitive or classified information.

This indicates a general lack of care in protecting the general public.

Just put in your time and collect a paycheck.

Someone, an FBI employee is selling these to the highest bidder.

Feb 24, 07 FBI agents pose as mobsters, sting Florida cops.

I am angry that law enforcement can so callously throw away the laws they are sworn to uphold so they can make some extra money.

Mar 31, 07

Read a story yesterday about two 10 year old boys beating on a homeless man.

A 17 year old was walking down the street with these two 10 year olds and they saw a homeless man. The 17 year old began yelling at the man and throwing rocks at him knocking him to the ground.

He actually encouraged the 10 year olds to hit the man with rocks and sticks.

They beat this man because….why?

There are so many questions to insert here.

Why did this 17 year old think it was acceptable to belittle this man?

Why did this 17 year old think he could throw rocks at this man?

Why does this 17 year old have this prejudice in him?

Why does this 17 year old lack respect for human life?

Why is this 17 year old intolerant of other people?

Why did this 17 year old think that it was acceptable to teach his beliefs and prejudices to these 10 year olds?

Why was this 17 year old allowed to be a role model for anyone? I'm sure there was some indication that this looser was not a good role model for kids.

Why did this 17 year old not receive the guidance needed to teach him respect for human life?

Why was this 17 year old not taught tolerance of other people?

If he had been taught tolerance and respect then why were they not enforced?

Is the problem the responsibility of his parents or society as a whole?

Where did this 17 year old get the idea that this behavior is okay?

Did he receive a high school education, evidently not.

He may have had this education put in front of him but he did not accept it. Why not?

Did he receive any religious guidance, evidently not.

He may have had this guidance put in front of him but he did not accept it. Why not?

Has drugs once again interrupted the development of yet another childs’ social development?

These 10 year olds now think it is acceptable to hate another person because of that persons ‘life style’ or that persons condition.

This 17 year old interrupted the social development of these 10 year olds by teaching them hate, prejudice and intolerance.

None of these kids ever thought about the possibility that this man is this far down on his luck because of circumstances out of his control.

None of these kids ever thought that one day they may end up in this same situation as this man.

Where are these kids headed in life?

What is the future of our society if this is what is growing within our society?

I am angry that we as a whole have failed these kids, this homeless man and our future.

Learned today of another case of a drunk driving incident by an unlicensed low-life taking the life of someone who contributed to our society.

These scum-bags survive these accidents and do not get enough penalty to fit this totally avoidable asinine act!

When is this society going to do something meaningful to take these damn fools off of our streets?!?!?!