You get one free rape.

Sometimes, you wonder what our legislators could be thinking. One of the new laws that took effect this month in Texas allows a juvenile charged for the first time with dating-related violence (assault, rape, etc.), to take a class and avoid any criminal record.

That translates to one free rape. Or more -- if a juvenile takes the class, and avoids a criminal record, then when he commits his second offense, there's no record of that first offense, so he can just take the class all over again.

Naomi Gonzalez is the Representative who came up with this stupidity. I wonder how she would feel if her daughter were attacked and the assailant got away with it? On the other hand, I wonder if she has a son who might be guilty of such an offense? I can't think of any other reason a person would want to give a rapist another chance.

"Budgets may block teen effort." The Dallas Morning News; September 2, 2011; p. 4A.

Essie Mae Jeopardy

Essie Mae loves Jeopardy, so I thought we'd have a little game here:

"I'll take Geography for $100, Essie."

"The black students in this district feel isolated because they don't speak the predominant language, Spanish."

BUZZ!

"What is Mexico City?"

"I'm sorry, that's incorrect."

BUZZ!

"What is Juarez?"

"I'm sorry, that's incorrect."

BUZZ!

"What is Havana?"

"Ohhhhh, no. The correct question is: What is Irving, Texas -- What is Irving, Texas?"

Scary, isn't it?

"Black students feel isolated, report says." The Dallas Morning News; August 29, 2011; p. 1B.

Did Jesus drive?

Illegal immigrants in New Mexico are protesting the legislature's consideration of repealing the law that allows illegals to get drivers licenses. A group of them recently gathered outside Governor Martinez's office chanting, "Jesus was an immigrant." (I wonder where ICE was while this protest was in progress). 

I'm not sure in what sense they mean Jesus was an immigrant. His mother and earthly father were from Nazareth, and that's where He grew up. Maybe they mean He came from heaven. At any rate, He wasn't illegal. And as Mr. Essie May points out, "He didn't have a drivers license, either."

"New Mexico may restrict licenses." The Dallas Morning News; September 7, 2011; p. 3A.

Is this what our armed forces personnel should be learning?

All the gays are excited because they can now serve openly in the military. Here are some other reasons why I'm anything but excited about it.

The military now holds sensitivity training to teach our armed forces to be nice to the homos. One mother of a gay serviceman said that after the training, the "harsh remarks" stopped. I question the ability of a man to serve when he is so "sensitive" he can't handle "harsh remarks." What's he going to do if he's captured and the enemy tortures him?

More than 2 million military folks have now taken courses on how to deal with witnessing same-sex partners kissing after a deployed ship comes home. I wonder how long they sat in that class? I don't care what their reactions to perversion are. What I want them to be able to do is defend my country! There are only so many hours in the day. What relevant training do you suppose was left out so we could make them "more sensitive"? On the other hand, how many hours do you suppose were devoted to teaching gays how to be sensitive to the feelings of those who find their public displays of affection offensive? If I were a betting woman, I'd put a bunch of money on zero!

In San Diego, 200 active-duty personnel made up the nation's first military contingent to participate in a gay pride parade. The Marine Corp Times proclaimed on the cover, "We're Gay. Get Over it." I'll say it again, friends:  We are in deep doo-doo!

"Gay service members prepare for ban's end." The Dallas Morning News; September 11, 2011; p. 8A.

Day of Pffft

The Day of Rage kind of turned into the Day of pfffft. A bunch of nut cases decided to descend on Wall Street to protest a "financial system that favors the rich and powerful at the expense of ordinary citizens." They expected maybe 100,000 protestors. Estimates aren't in yet, but observers say there were hundreds -- maybe 1,000 --  there.

One protestor said, "You need a scorecard to keep track of all the things that corporations have done that are bad for this country." Maybe he's talking about providing thousands of jobs? Maybe he's talking about innovations that make our lives easier? Maybe he's talking about medicines that keep us alive and funtioning? Maybe he's talking about the food on the grocery store shelves? Who knows?

Another man, 23-year-old Micah Chamberlain, is a line cook from Columbus, Ohio. He held up a sign that said, "End the oligarchy." I have my doubts that he even knows what that word means. At any rate, he said he had hitchhiked to New York. I question the wisdom of taking off work to go somewhere when you can't even afford to get yourself there. At any rate, Micah says that "1 percent of the people have 99 percent of the money." I don't know where Micah got his figures, but the latest I could find showed that the top 1 percent had just over 34% of the wealth. Maybe the reason they got wealthy was because they worked instead of making fools of themselves on Wall Street.

"'Day of Rage' mostly stymied." The Dallas Morning News; September 18, 2011; p. 6A.

Can you hear me now?

I have a neighbor who has a motorcyle. He's taken off the muffler or whatever it is they do to make it LOUD. EARTHQUAKE LOUD. I just hate it when he's up and down the street in our otherwise quiet and peaceful neighborhood.

Randal Dean of Dallas says there's a reason for the motorcyclist to make his machine loud. It's so other drivers will hear him coming. I have a better suggestion. Paint the darn thing in bright neon colors, then other drivers will see you coming and you won't damage the hearing of every person within a five-mile radius.

"Noise serves purpose for bikers." The Dallas Morning News; September 14, 2011; p. 14A.

They call this poverty?

People are wringing their hands over the number of people below the poverty level in the U.S. But how many people have you seen or do you know who honestly don't know where the next meal is coming from or where they'll sleep tonight? Can you name one?

Here are some statistics about America's poorest:

80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.


92 percent of poor households have a microwave.


Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.


Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite TV.


Two-thirds have at least one DVD player, and 70 percent have a VCR.


Half have a personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers.


More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.


43 percent have Internet access.


One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD TV.


One-fourth have a digital video recorder system, such as a TiVo.

96 percent of poor parents stated that their children were never hungry at any time during the year because they could not afford food.



83 percent of poor families reported having enough food to eat.


82 percent of poor adults reported never being hungry at any time in the prior year due to lack of money for food.


A poor child is more likely to have cable TV, a computer, a wide-screen plasma TV, an Xbox, or a TiVo in the home than to be hungry.
 
Doesn't quite fit my definition of poverty.
 
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/09/Understanding-Poverty-in-the-United-States-Surprising-Facts-About-Americas-Poor
 

I'll give you a hint.

Texas' poverty rate rose 9% in 2009 and 2010 while the national rate increased only 6%. Experts say they can't explain that.

Wanto el hinto?

Rio Grande border, Mexico, illegals.

Comprende?

"Texas poverty up nearly 9%." The Dallas Morning News; September 14, 2011; p. 2A.

Aww, Herman, say it ain't so!

I really like Herman Cain and a lot of the things he has to say. We seemed to be on the same page on most issues. But I found out something this week that has made me change my attitude a bit.

One of Herman's top advisers, Scott Toomey, is a homosexual and former treasurer of the Madison Pride Board. There are some allegations of misconduct against him stemming from when he held that position. Madison Pride said in 2008 that its board removed Toomey as treasurer after learning bills related to its 2007 event had not been paid and discovering other "financial discrepancies" that it said Toomey had failed to report. Toomey moved to Florida and "went underground" after the scandal. Toomey's promotional company also has been accused in court of not paying vendors. Toomey filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and reported more than $20,000 in pending legal judgments against him from companies and a credit union, court records show.


Having someone with such a shady background as a top adviser shows a distinct lack of judgment. In response to a question in Iowa on June 6, Cain said he would have no problem appointing gay staff members to work in the White House as long as they were qualified. Having someone who is proud of his sin as a top adviser shows a distinct lack of moral fiber. And that's a deal breaker for me!
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/herman-cain-2012-gay-adviser_n_961497.html

Government regulation affects young bakers.

Government regulation is affecting young bakers all over America. Hasbro has been forced to redesign the iconic Easy-Bake Oven. And this redesign comes with a whopping 67% price increase.

The Easy-Bake bakes with an incandescent bulb -- you know -- those bulbs the government says we have to phase out and replace with compact flourescents. The problem, of course, is that compact flourescents don't get hot enough to bake anything.

So little girls will now be baking in a monstrosity that looks more like a purple portable stereo than an oven. Personally, I wouldn't give $29.99 for it, much less the updated price of $49.99. That may be the view of a lot of parents -- in which case, Hasbro will have to come up with some new toy or lay off workers. Your government dollars at work!

"After a no-light-bulb moment, designers tinker with Easy-Bake." The Dallas Morning News; September 15, 2011; p. 9A.

Different Solutions to the Problem

The City of Dallas has been setting up checkpoints to check drivers licenses, insurance, inspections, registrations, and outstanding warrants. Marisol Gonzalez thinks it's horrible! You see, Marisol happened to get stopped at the checkpoint set up on Woodmeadow Parkway. She was arrested on outstanding warrants.

Marisol's solution to this problem is that "I don't even go on that road anymore. I go all the way around." Gosh, Marisol, my solution to the problem would be to take care of business so that I don't have outstanding warrants. Then I wouldn't care where the checkpoints are, and I wouldn't find it "stressful every time I drive."

"Checkpoints put drivers on the spot." The Dallas Morning News; September 15, 2011; p. 1B.

Racist?

A bunch of City of Irving employees have filed complaints with the EEOC claiming discrimination. Their chief gripe? Some of the employees in their department called two of the city council members idiots. The two council members singled out for idiot status happen to be black.

So beware -- if a black man is an idiot, you can't say it. Incidentally, the two council members say they don't think race has anything to do with their designation. If it doesn't bother them, why should it bother anybody else?

"Irving employees file bias, retaliation claims." The Dallas Morning News; September 15, 2011; p. 1B.

Let's think about that.

Some people see racists behind every tree. Patricia Turner is a professor of African-American studies at the University of California Davis. She wrote an essay about the movie, The Help.

If you've not seen it, I highly recommend it. It has a message told with both pathos and humor. The acting is Oscar quality. And if you grew up in the 1960's, you'll enjoy the cars, the fashions, and the home decor.

But Patricia thinks The Help is dangerous. The message she took away from the movie was that the white women portrayed in it were bad; therefore they were racists. The problem with that, she says, is "To suggest that bad people were racists implies that good people were not."

Patricia may know a thing or two about "African-American studies," but she's terribly short on logic and accurate perception. There were at least a half dozen (maybe more) women with any character development at all in The Help. Only one or two of those were truly "bad" women -- Hilly and the state DAR lady. The others were products of their environment -- some were strong, some were not. The weaker ones succumbed to peer pressure. But it was obvious that each experienced guilt and remorse for the things she said and did. A "bad" person has no guilt or remorse.

Now to her giant leap into illogical logic . . . people will assume that if bad people are racists, good people are not. That's as absurd as saying "White people are good so black people are not." Obviously, there are good white people and bad white people just as there are good black people and bad black people. There are bad people who are racists and bad people who are not. There are good people who are not racists and good people who are. And most importantly, just in case she doesn't know it, there are just as many black people who are racists as there are white people -- maybe even more.

"'Good people' were racists, too." The Dallas Morning News; August 31, 2011; p. 15A.

Should I have to pay for a smoker's habit?

Dallas County, in trying to get a handle on rising insurance costs, has come up with a plan. Each smoker covered by the County's insurance policies will pay $50 per month more than employees and dependents who don't smoke. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a surcharge for smoking or a discount for not smoking.

Critics of the plan say it is "lifestyle discrimination." The American Cancer Society says, "Premium discounts for healthy behavior amount to penalties for people who are less healthy." I don't look at it that way. I don't smoke. The smokers in my insurance pool increase my premiums. Why should I have to pay for their bad habits?

From another perspective, if smokers can afford $5 a pack for cigarettes, many of them buying more than one pack a day, surely they can afford a paltry $50 a month added to their insurance premiums. You can be sure that it will cost the insurance company a lot more than $600 a year when they develop cancer, heart disease, emphysema, bad sinuses, or any of the other maladies caused by tobacco.

And the final point here? No one has to pay the extra $50 per month. They just have to decide whether they'd rather smoke or get cheaper insurance.

"Where there's smoke." The Dallas Morning News; September 10, 2011; p. 1B.

We need to teach our kids to have thick skins.

I have never understood the mentality of bullying. Why does one person, seemingly unprovoked in any way, feel the need to degrade, harass, or assault another person? Yet this behavior is fairly common across all age groups. It's nothing new -- it's been going on since the world began. And, unfortunately, as long as this earth is populated by human beings, it will continue.

All kinds of programs "addressing the problem" have come and gone, yet "the problem" remains. Parents can assuage the impact, however, by teaching their children to have thick skins against verbal assaults and to have quick fists against physical ones. A bully mentality is not open to reason. One can't use logic and a plea for empathy with them, because they're not logical and they're not feeling. 

They verbally bully to gain attention, but if the victim ignores the jabs, all the fun is taken away, and they will eventually grow bored and find another victim. Physical assault is another matter. The bully never expects his weaker victim to fight back -- and how many bullies have you known who picked on a victim phsyically stronger than themselves? Go to the authorities -- school, law enforcement, or civil suit. When a bully puts his hands on his victim, he has crossed the line from bullying to criminal assault. If the authorities do nothing, put your kid in some good self-defense classes. When he knocks the whey out of the bully, you can rest assured he won't be bothered again. "Let us reason together" rarely works, but Mr. Fist often does.

They just don't get it.

The Obama Administration has said that we should strengthen the unions so the economy will grow. I got news for him -- strengthening the unions will not help the economy. In fact, the unions have a great deal to do with what's wrong with the state of our nation right now.

As an example, the U.S. Post Office, an institution since the time of Benjamin Franklin, is going bankrupt. You want to know what a large part of the problem is? The postal union. They have a contract that says the Post Office cannot lay them off. They get health benefits far above what the average worker does. Post Office labor costs are 80% of agency expenses compared with 53% for labor for UPS and 32% for FedEx. And they get standby time. The USPS spent $4.3 million on employees who did nothing in the first half of the year because of requirements in union agreements. The agreements mandate that postal employees have a certain number of guaranteed work hours, which means that they cannot be laid off during periods of low mail volume or unplanned events like the breakdown of equipment. This leads to “standby time,” in which employees spend the day doing nothing — for example, waiting in a cafeteria or breakroom. In fiscal 2009, the Postal Service logged over 1.2 million hours in standby time. To add insult to injury, an audit found that at least some of the time, it's not logged properly as standby time, so that if the employee puts in additional hours, they get paid overtime. So what is the Post Office to do? For one thing, they'll suspend Saturday delivery. That won't cut labor costs any, because they'll still have to pay employees to not deliver the mail on Saturdays. I guess the saving will come in the form of fuel costs.

So think about that next time you're urged to "Look for the union label." I do. But I don't look for it for the reason they want me to.

"Official: U.S. Postal Service on brink of default." The Dallas Morning News; September 5, 2011; p. 7A.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62233.html#ixzz1XIidhMSA

Color me surprised!

The Dallas Morning News asked some of their guest columnists for their ideas about how September 11 should be commemorated. I just glanced over the names and professions of those who were commenting, and as an experiment, I decided, before reading their comments, which ones would have a bunch of mumbo jumbo about "tolerance," "kindness," and "love our enemies." I was pretty good at it.

Emily Worland is a high school psychology and government teacher. Ah - a true liberal, I suspected. Emily says we should "shift into a lesson on how to avoid a buildup of such hatred in the future, through the promotion of tolerance and understanding of other cultures and religions." Does she mean those cultures and religions who want to blow us all up? And just whose "hatred" is she referring to?

Julie Blair is a freelance journalist. I pegged her as a bleeding heart. She says 9/11 "unleashed ill will against Muslims." She'd like to see a "nationwide day of tolerance in which students in grades K-12 spend time delving into world cultures. While differences should be discussed, so, too, should similarities." I wonder in what way she thinks most of these kids are similar to the terrorists who flew those planes to such mass destruction?

W. Michael Read is a lawyer. Without knowing what kind of lawyer he is, I couldn't predict what he might have to say. Having read his thoughts, I'm quite certain he is not a defense attorney. Michael says, "I still need about 10 more years to stop hating everything that remotely reminds me of those hijackers. Get back to me then, and until then, I'll just fly the flag, bring up some hate in me and observe 'Patriot's Day,' silently grieving for those who have lost someone because of the cowardly and sick acts of total losers." I think Michael comes a lot closer than any of the others to the feelings of the average American.

"How should we remember?" The Dallas Morning News; September 4, 2011; p. 6P.

We don't do soccer.

I am no big sports fan, but I do keep up a little bit. And even I know that the former superstar soccer player's name is Kyle Rote, not Kyle Rhodes as The Paris News dubbed him in a photo appearing in yesterday's newspaper. I guess Paris just isn't a soccer town!

"Welcome." The Paris News; September 7, 2011; p. 2.

The Eye of the Needle

Stephan Gozdecki showed his ignorance in a letter to the editor. He says: "I have no issues with a good Christian candidate, but it does not appear that any of the current Republican contenders fit that description. Aren't they all millionaires? My Bible says that a rich man has as much chance as (sic) getting into heaven as a camel through an eye of a needle. I'm not sure what their Bible says."

Well, Mr. Gozdecki, their Bible says that "whosoever will may come." It doesn't say "whosoever will, except for the rich." And about that eye of the needle thing? You have to know what the eye of the needle is. In Bible times, cities were protected by huge walls. Gates into the city were opened during the day. At night, they were closed. Inset in the large gate would be a smaller one, called the eye of the needle, that could be opened after the gates were closed to the normal daytime traffic (see photo). For a camel to fit through this small gate, he had to kneel down and be unloaded of his burdens.

So, Mr. Gozdecki, a camel could fit through the eye of the needle, but it wasn't easy. Just like every other sinner, and just like the camel, the rich have to kneel down at the feet of Jesus and be unloaded of their burden of sin. The only reason it is harder for a rich man to do this than for a poor one to is because the rich tend to depend on their riches instead of God. But I have known several rich Christians. The words can, and often do, go together. Conversely, I have known many vile poor people.

I don't know about the spiritual status of all the Republican candidates, but I can assure you that being rich does not preclude them from being Christian. And besides all that, there is more wealth in the Democrat side of congress than there is in the Republican. Check it out -- and might I suggest that you check it out a little closer than you checked out "what your Bible said."

"Are candidates good Christians?" The Dallas Morning News; September 1, 2011; p. 14A.

I keep giving them the solution.

The CDC is concerned. They conducted some research to see how many sugary sodas people are drinking. They say its a socio-economic thing: Low-income adults got about 9% of their daily calories from sodas while high-income adults got just 4%. Blacks get more of their calories from sweetened beverages than other racial groups.

That tells me a couple of things. Sodas are expensive, so it seems that low-income people waste more money than high-income ones. Maybe that's why they're low income. The second thing it tells me is that I was right all along -- we should not allow carbonated beverages to be purchased with food stamps or SNAP or whatever they call it. Problem solved!

"CDC says we drink too much -- soda, that is." The Dallas Morning News; September 1, 2011; p. 9A.

One Sane Decision

I had heard the other day on the news that a young child whose father died from leukemia was being denied her Social Security benefit. Just another example of government stupidity and incompetence, I figured. But then I heard the whole story.

Bruce Beeler died in 2001. In 2003, his widow decided to be artificially inseminated with sperm the couple had preserved.  If she couldn't afford to raise the child on her own, she shouldn't have been inseminated. The intent of this law was to provide for dependent children who survived the father, not innumerable children that might be born years in the future. What if Mrs. Beeler has 20 sperm samples saved up, and she becomes pregnant from them all? Should we pay for 20 children? An already overburdened system will almost certainly be forced to reduce payments to legitimate beneficiaries if we allow that.

Thankfully, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the SSA decision to deny the benefit.

"Girl conceived after dad died can't get benefits." The Dallas Morning News; September 1, 2011; p. 7A.

The devil made me do it.

Remember years ago when comedian Flip Wilson did his Geraldine routine and would say, "The devil made me do it"? Well Amirmakan Ahmadpour has a different take on that. God made him do it.

Amirakan went in to the Viewpoint Bank in Carrollton August 18 and robbed it. He was shortly nabbed by the police. He told them he was only doing what the Lord asked him to do. When the officer asked him what the Lord told him to do, he said, "Go into the bank."

When the jury comes back with the guilty verdict, I guess they can tell Amirakan that God made them do it.

By the way, this made me think of those old Flip Wilson routines, so I looked some of them up on Youtube. If you've got the blues, take a look at some of them. They'll crack you up, and laughter is good medicine!

"Accused robber says Lord made him do it." The Dallas Morning News; August 30, 2011; p. 3B.

Maybe the next invention will be right.

I've commented before on how The Dallas Morning News can't seem to find heterosexual couples who have nice gardens and remodeled houses.

And yet again they've featured Fred and Pierre with they're home re-do. How sweet they look posed with their little puppy dog, Fluke. They've come to Texas to "re-invent" themselves. Maybe in this invention they'll figure out that in Texas, boys are supposed to like girls.

"From Teardown to Uptown." The Dallas Morning News; August 27, 2011; p. 1E.

Well, Duh!

It's been a year since the Dallas Housing Authority moved 50 homeless people into the Cliff Manor Apartments in Oak Cliff. Neighbors were not happy about the idea. Most of them say it's not been quite as bad as they expected.

There was the new resident who defecated in the elevator several times. He doesn't have a medical problem, he just did it because he wanted to. There have been more fights and drug use. Ambulances and police are coming more frequently -- in fact, the Dallas police reported an 86% increase in calls for everything from assaults to burglaries since the new guys moved in. 

It's unclear, the newspaper says, what caused the increase. Well, Duh!

"A year later, a home not quite so bad." The Dallas Morning News; August 27, 2011; p. 1B.

I call it malarkey, you might call it . . .

Vandana Sabharwal of McKinney doesn't think the prevalence of profanity in our society is all that bad. She's a very enlightened woman. She's "lived in many cultures and classes."



She says that she believes in "realizing sensibility differences and accepting the person for what they are 'being' in that moment . . ."


I don't use profanity, and I don't like to hear it, either, but if I did, I would have to classify that malarkey as a bunch of bovine excrement.


"How I view 'bad' words." The Dallas Morning News; August 26, 2011; p. 20A.