Okay I need about thirty guys with big guns and bikes...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/mexicocrimeprostitutionchild, I want you to read it and then get very angry. Now I have written dozens of articles in the past about children and young adults being forced into prostitution here in the US. Over the years a lot has been done to halt this horrendous practice. (Not nearly enough, but at least folks are trying.) We actually have some very powerful laws on the books now to help with this tragedy. Now I read this article and I understand that we still have a lot to do.

Now I hear a lot of you saying, "That's not our country. We shouldn't get involved because it is none of our business. Don't we have enough troubles at home with a recession and three foreign wars going on?" The only one of those questions that I deem worthy of a friendly response is the last one. Yes, we do have serious problems going on here at home. Yes we are committed (Apt word that) to three wars that are draining our resources and getting our people killed. I will respond to that part later. Let's handle the first ones first.

"Its not our country." Yep, okay you got me on that one. Mexico and the rest of Central America is not our country. We are global neighbors and somewhat allies with most of the parts of CA, but it isn't part of the US. "We shouldn't get involved because it is none of our business." Reminds me of that wonderful scene from A Christmas Carol where Scrooge compliments Marley for being good at business and Marley moans, "Mankind was my business!" It shouldn't matter where it happens or who it happens to when children are horribly abused. Mexico or Mars, it should always be our business.

People might point out that we have no right forcing our ideas onto other people, other cultures. The problem with that line of thought is this. We aren't talking about a difference in politics or even philosophy. What is happening to these children is wrong, even illegal there. If it weren't wrong by their standards you wouldn't get such amazing quotes as ""Yes, there's people trafficking but not in an alarming manner," Mendez admitted in his office in the border town of Tapachula.
"There is a lot of prostitution, particularly of minors."

A lot of people will tell you that "Wrong is just wrong" for pretty much every single moral, political and even religious argument in the world. I don't necessarily agree with that idea. I believe that many of the ideas/concepts/beliefs that each group considers to be set in stone or absolute are purely cultural and situational. (Hmm, maybe grounds for another blog one day) However, if we are to survive as a race, our first priority must be the protection of our children. What is happening in CA and other parts of the world is wrong and its time someone did something about it.

Unlike a lot of naysayers, I look at the human race and I see so much potential. We have the capacity to grow beyond ourselves and walk amongst the stars (Figuratively and literally) if only we try hard enough. But if we are going to be worthy of this, we have to stand up for ourselves and our fellows. To paraphrase a great TV show's main tag line, "Save the children, Save the world." Any volunteers?

okay we know you risked your lives but...

Sometimes you read about legislation that is stupid. Sometimes you read about legislation that is insulting and sometimes you read about legislation that is both combined. Yahoo News released an article http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/9-11-first-responders-to-be-checked-on-fbi-terror-list that states that, due to some whizbang wording added to a bill to recompense First Responders who suffer illnesses during their incredibly heroic actions during 9/11 passed, any First Responder who tries to get a part of the allocated funds must pass a background screening to make sure they or members of their family are terrorists.

Now there is already a lot of controversy over this bill because a lot of people felt that the First Responders who dealt with horrific events of 9/11 didn't deserve the extra compensation since they were just doing the jobs they were paid to do. I have opinions about that emotion, but will not go into it here since that isn't exactly the subject of the blog. I will just say this to those people. Thwwpppttt! (That's writerish for a very loud and rude raspberry)

Now I am not saying that some super sneaky member of a terrorist organization couldn't get a job as a fireman, EMT, National Guardsman using false credentials. Perhaps with some evil intent of carrying a bomb into the local Starbucks and ending the evils of Lattes forever. However, unless I completely misinterpret the idea behind terrorists, you don't usually stick around for hours afterward wading through collapsed buildings and breathing in toxic fumes while trying to rescue the Starbucks customers you just tried to blow up.

So using that logic, any First Responder who is now suffering the horrific effects of breathing in smoke, asbestos, chemical fumes etc while they risked their lives to save as many people as they could, then it kind of stands to reason that they aren't terrorists. This moronic and highly insulting rider to the legislation is just a way to keep people who desperately need the money now from getting it and you can bet some gifted soul in our government will do his/her/its damned best to find good men and women ineligible because they read the wrong book in preschool or sold unlicensed lemonade on the street corner when they were 12.

Work with me here on this one, guys. Make a fuss and raise a stink over this insulting piece of trash. The people already have enough to worry about without having to worry about being disallowed because they might be "terrorists." You got a blog? Talk about it. Got a Facebook page? Talk about it. Join the SIOTBAA Society! Make some noise!

Freedom of Speech

Okay before I start what may be one of the most important blogs of my writing career let me give you guys a little quote.

"The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances."

In my own not so humble opinion, this is the most important bits of wording ever written because it gives all of us the right to say and believe what we think is right without fear of persecution.

Now onto the subject that prompted this particular blog. One of my best friends and a far better writer than me called last night to fill me in on the details of a truly amazing event. He entrusted me with writing a blog telling the story and letting people know about the dangers of telling the truth. I really don't think that I am better suited for this than him, but here goes.

My friend runs a local newspaper and is one of it's chief reporters. The other day, early in the morning, he received a phone call from local law enforcement that something big was about to happen. When he arrived at the headquarters, an impressive list of whos who of law enforcement were waiting including Secret Service and GBI officials.

Benjamin rode along as these powerful figures went to serve various warrants. The first house they visited, a woman was served with 99! warrants for identity theft. Let me repeat that just in case you missed the first line. NINETY NINE! She was handcuffed and taken away by the officers. My friend took pictures of the incident which is his job.

After finishing the warrant rounds, Benjy called his office and told them to "Stop the presses." He rushed back to his office, wrote the story and published the picture. Hours later, the paper was published and a very short time later, he received a phone call. The caller identified himself as the son of the woman who had been arrested for the 99 counts. He proceeded to tell Ben that he didn't have the right to publish these pictures of his mother. Of course, Ben pointed out that he did (See above note about 1st Amendment rights) The caller than proceeded to say that "He had something for You and the 1st Amendment"

Keep in mind here that being arrested does not make you guilty. Having your picture in the paper being arrested doesn't make you guilty. No matter what a lot of people seem to think, the only time you are proven guilty of a crime is when you are tried by a jury of your peers and found to be so. Even then, the conviction can be overturned and your innocence restored. Ben didn't accuse the woman of anything or imply that she was guilty. He simply reported the fact of her arrest.

(Let me make another aside about general stupidity. Threats against a person are one thing since you can actually physically assault a person. However the 1st Amendment, 2nd, 3rd etc cannot be physically assaulted unless you try to burn the actual document. They are a concept, an idea and a sense of spirit.)

Since I have known Ben for a very long time I can tell you right now threatening him is about as safe as tap dancing in a land mine. He doesn't get scared and he doesn't back down. As a journalist, he firmly believes in telling the truth no matter what. He has been this way for as long as I have known him. Hells in college, he was known as the heaviest armed man in the state.

The reason I mention that is because what happened next is very typical of that. Whereas many people would have hidden in their homes or offices worried that some angry individual was coming after them, Ben drove home, opened up his well stocked gun safe, pulled out a Mossberg 500 shotgun and slung it across his back. He then proceeded to take a ride through town on his motorcycle. (Note he did call the law enforcement people to tell them of the threat and to tell them of his show of force before doing so.)

Now a lot of people would say that Ben was over reacting. They would imply that he was asking for trouble by riding through town with a gun. They might say that Ben should just keep quiet and let the police handle the situation. Ben did exactly that by informing the police of the situation. He didn't find out who the guy was and where he lived (Child's play for him) and go beat the crap out of him. All he did was show that he would not be intimidated by some dipstick who was too cowardly to confront him face to face.

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/datasets/journalists-killed-by-country-since--3/versions/1 is an excellent website that tracks the number of journalists killed while doing their job. It shows why no journalist should ever take lightly a threat against their lives. For the most part (Ignoring Faux News right now) reporters struggle everyday to drag the truth out of the darkness kicking and screaming whether people like it or not and a lot of very powerful people don't like it. Sometimes these brave men and women pay for this effort with their lives.

Our freedoms are never free and standing up for them has never been safe. All of the people who fight to do this (Military, Police, Journalists etc) deserve our undying gratitude for having the courage to brave the "slings and arrows" (Bullets, hand grenades) to protect them. The next time you read a story in your local paper that exposes crime, graft and corruption please take a moment to say thank you for the people that made it possible.

Frack me!

In a recent article The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talked about what is going on with all the "fracking" being used to pull natural gas out of hard to get places. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11108/1140094-84-0.stm is just one of dozens of articles I have seen ever since this all started and as usual these articles got me thinking.

Okay I am all for using our own natural resources instead of shipping in oil/gas/guano or whatever from overseas. I am all using new techniques to access these resources. Hells, I am even for deep sea off shore drilling despite the horrors of the Gulf Oil Spill. What I am not for is using questionable and often times extremely hazardous methods and materials in the process.

To backpedal a minute and use the Gulf Spill Disaster as an example. The spill and others like it didn't occur because deep sea drilling is inherently bad. It occurred when a bunch of people decided that expediency and profit was more important than taking the necessary precautions. The Spill occurred because of the gigantic Cluster Flock that the owners/operators/financiers created to make a little more money. If drilling off shore is done properly and with the proper safety measures in place, it is about as safe as drilling on land.

Okay back to the present. For those who are not yet aware, Fracking or Hydraulic Fracking is the process in which vast amounts of liquids is pumped down a pipe and used to crack apart shale and other types of rock to release the natural gas trapped inside of it. This process has opened up thousands of acres of gas deposits that had been inaccessible. Some estimates put the amount of natural gas that could be made available through this process at of 87% of our current production. Sounds awesome doesn't it? BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

The first reported problems people started having with fracking (besides the massive amounts of air pollution produced where ever these plants set up) is that natural gas and other contaminants are seeping into their ground water supplies. The Gas Companies deny any correlation between fracking and the problem, but when you turn on your outside tap and then light the water coming out of it with a lighter, that throws red flags up in my book.

But hey, I am feeling magnanimous today so lets give the Frackers the benefit of the doubt on that one. I mean, for all we know, these communities could have always had high octane drinking water. Probably saved millions of buying Red Bulls. So lets move on to the disposal of the Fracking Water. Since this is a brand new process there are no real guidelines for the disposal/cleaning of the water/chemical mix produced. Some companies send their waste liquid to water processing plants that are set up to decontaminate the liquid and make it safe. Others "recycle" their liquids by pumping it back down the holes again. Still others have been caught simply dumping the liquid directly back into the rivers and streams. As of yet, no one in the governments (Local/State or Federal) have made any real attempts to regulate this issue.

Now my final point. As the above article mentions, "Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in Pennsylvania and more than 12 other states from 2005 to 2009." These companies are pumping chemicals into the ground that most countries wouldn't even use during a time of war. They are doing this with little or no oversight and keeping very few records of exactly what they are pumping into our water tables. With practically no oversight, they are "self regulating" their actions and are pretty much answerable to no one.

All of the above ranting is because everyone wants easy answers and quick solutions to our problems. "Grab as much as we can and the hell with tomorrow" is pretty much the universal attitude among most companies and politicians. Never mind, things like fracking and strip mining are destroying our ecosystem and will create a very bleak tomorrow if these things aren't reined it. As long as our lights stay on now and our cars keep rolling for the next decade or so, tomorrow can be dealt with soon enough.

Well, I have news for the politicians, CEOS etc. Tomorrow is rapidly becoming TODAY and all of the past due bills created by greed are about to come due. It's time we stopped pushing things off till tomorrow and maybe, just maybe start working on making things right today.

Birther Bust!

Okay, once again, Arizona is proving that you can never have too much questionable legislation. They set the bar pretty damned high when they created their oh so popular and creatively disguised attempt at racism Immigration Laws. Now they have pushed it even higher with what I am going to lovingly call the "Birther Bust" (Birth or Bust, it's a joke!) movement.

Now everyone knows the controversy (if you can actually call it that) over President Obama's birth records. The conspiracy fans are convinced that the man was not born in the USA and is therefore not eligible to be the President. Never mind that there are multiple documents showing otherwise. Never mind there are numerous witnesses (many of them very prominent officials) who were around at the time and have sworn to his status. These oh so dedicated people are determined to prove that he was born in Kenya, Mars or Vulcan.

So now Arizona is pushing a state bill that will require any presidential candidate running in their ballywick to submit absolute proof that he or she was actually born in the US and not on some foreign soil. They haven't worked out the exact details yet, but they will involve more than simply showing your birth certificate. Arizonians are determined that no one else will ever pull the wool of false citizenship over their eyes again. Huray!

Now before I get any further in my rant, let me say something that will probably shock most of you. BACON BITS! Wait no that's not it. In principle, I actually have absolutely nothing against Arizona's Immigration Policies or this new masterpiece they have come up with. I feel that people who are in this country illegally are criminals and should be sent back to whatever nation they came from if discovered. In a perfect world where ignorance and racism wasn't so durned prominent, giving the police the ability to demand proof of citizenship when pulling someone over for "other violations" would be okay. Of course, anyone with any common sense knows we don't live in that perfect world so this idea is simply begging for abuse.

As for the second idea, I have no problem with adding more proof to establishing a presidential candidate's bonifides. (As an aside, I personally feel that the "born in the US rule is a silly one that disqualifies a lot of people who could prolly do a better job than the people we normally get. Citizenship should be more than enough.) Birth certificates, Eye Witness Reports, doctors records and any other thing that you can think of can be thrown in the mix for all I care. My problem isn't with the idea it is with the intent.

Arizona officials claim that this legislature isn't aimed at Obama. They say that the question of his citizenship did not spark this idea. They claim that they simply want to make sure that any potential candidate (Keep in mind Obama is running in 2012 and if this passes will be affected by it.) Well, I say to that MEADOW MUFFINS! In the 200+ years we have been having elections, no movement like this has ever been recorded. It is only since Obama took office and the Birther Bullies have started cranking out their propaganda that an idea like this has taken hold. Arizona is aiming at Obama, but doesn't have the stones to come out and admit it.

I am a firm believer in States' Rights and feel that each state has the right to stand firm in whatever resolve they believe in. Arizona did with the Immigration Hoohah. With all the powers that be pointing fingers and wagging them, Arizona has stood firm (Mostly) and hasn't backed down (much). I personally think this new flimflam is the dumbest, most blatant stunt yet, but what do I know. (well a heck of a lot actually, but...) Come Arizona, just walk over to your window and yell, "We don't like Obama and we aren't going to take it anymore!"

and you thought professional wrestling was fake!

Okay I will admit that I am not the brightest bulb in the box and nowhere near as perceptive as some of my friends and colleagues (Yes Ben I am talking about you), but this latest budget frenzy has got even dim old me going what the hell? The Reboobicans have just released their budget idea for America and I gotta tell you that it is a doozy. Of course, I also have to tell you that the (R)s brave new plan looks almost exactly like the (D)s old plan from before.

Worded differently and kotched in slightly different terminology, but its basically the same old same old. Hells, the biggest part of their plan to reduce our deficit is to make drastic changes to medicare and social security. These changes, including vouchers, is exactly the same thing the (D)s proposed a while back and prompted the (R)s and (TB)s (Teabaggers or Tuberculosis take your pick) to start screaming about Death Panels for Seniors and the Deaths of Grandpa and Grandma by the hands of the (D)s.

No believe it or not, this is not why I am crying fowl (duck, goose, chicken) and rubbing my balding pate. I really think that there is nothing wrong with changing your mind and if the (R)s really believed that these ideas would work, more power to them. No, my friends, what has got me all confuzzled is that the moment the (R)s came out with their brand new (?) plan, the Damnocrats immediately started attacking the plan using the exact same rhetoric that the Reboobicans used against them right down to the Death Panels and "Basing our prosperity on the backs of our elderly."

I mean come on folks, this is the worst case of Deju Vu I have ever experienced. (Or have I already experienced it? Hmm) Or is this opposites week or something? Have (R) suddenly become (D) and vice versa. Did their aides get all the cue cards mixed up? Are evil alien carrots mind controlling everyone? (Bet no one can tell me what TV series that is from and it ain't Futurama FYI)

Any police officer will tell you that it is damned suspicious when a bunch of people say exactly the same thing. When everyone has the exact same story, it is a sure sign of lying. Now, once again (Keep in mind the same damned thing happened when (R) lambasted the (D)s plan when most of the (D)s plan came from proposals made by the (R)s specifically people like John McCain) the parties have switched songs, but the lyrics remain the same just being sung by different leads.

The circus that is going on right now in Washington is one of the best examples of the old saying about the "play remaining the same." It is time we stopped listening to badly written reruns and came up with some brand new programming.

6 year old terrorist? or If this had been my daughter...

Okay everyone imagine this nightmare scene, you are walking along when some complete stranger comes up and starts running his/her hands all over your six year old daughter/sister/niece touching her in highly inappropriate places without even giving you the flimsiest reasons why. What would you do? I know what I would do and it definitely involves putting my fists in very inappropriate places on the attacker. At the very least, people should be screaming in outrage and yelling for the cops. Except what do you do when the person molesting your little girl is the cops?

http://news.yahoo.com/video/politics-15749652/tsa-frisks-6-year-old-parents-speak-out-24890589 covers this horrible situation. A little girl is pulled away from her parents in an airport and is frisked by a TSA officer. The frisk involves touching her on her chest and bottom and peeking down the front of her pants. (I shit you not, watch the video. All this time the parents are asking why this is happening and the little girl is doing her best to be polite even though it is obvious that she is terrified.

All I can say to this travesty is WTF? Okay I am all for safety and security while flying. I have nothing against the various scanners and such that travelers have to endure. I do have some problems with the officers grabbing adults searching for contraband/bombs etc. Yes it is embarrassing and annoying, but at least adults have some concept of what is happening and can move past it. Little kids are taught from birth that letting anyone touch them in improper places is bad and that they should tell adults when it happens. Well, here it is happening while adults watch and no one is doing anything to protect her.

Needless to say that the little girl was terrified and wondered what she did wrong to be punished that way. Needless to say her parents are angry at the event. This little girl will probably have nightmares because of this and be very confused for some time to come and yet nothing is being done about it.

It seems like every month, people are being asked to give up more and more freedoms and dignity in the name of safety and security. Many times I have asked, "Where do we draw the line?" Well, now I am saying that this is where we draw the line. When our children are molested by the very same people that are supposed to be protecting them, it is time to draw the line and start pushing back. It is time we stopped saying, "well that is the way it has to be" and start saying, "OH HELL NO!"

Our children are our greatest treasures and the only real hope the future has. Let's start treating them that way.