Sunday, December 07, 2008
New Hairdo
To celebrate a new job/I was asked to cut it, I place the fate of my hair and head into the capable hands of my lovely sister Katie - who did a wonderful job. Since my lovely sister Margaret didn't get a chance to see my before and after pictures, I put a few of them up to show her what the new hairdo looks like.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Pleasant Weekend
I had a very pleasant Thursday at GCC. I had gone there in the afternoon for a speech at the president and a professor were giving on the future of American politics after this recent election. When I signed up, I hadn't recognized the location the meeting was being held, the "Founder's Room". The first thing that I did when I arrived was to go to the security office and have them point me in the right direction. Turns out that the meeting was being held in Pittsburgh and not at the college, so I hung around until Orchesis that evening and visited with some old students that still attended the college.
It was fun seeing old friends. If I had went to visit, I would have arrived earlier in the morning than I did. Later afternoon, midweek, was not a very good time to see old commuters; they usually leave directly after classes. Even with the poor timing I managed to see Brittney (!who is now engaged to Daniel!), Rebecca, Theresa (just passed by), Dr. Jones, Will (Whoo!), and Andrew (with a beard now).
Just as much fun was the speech tournament held in Franklin on Saturday. Just as college was a "blast from the past" (as said by Jacqueline), the tournament was a great time to re-connect. I saw a lot of faces that are still competing, one of the old competitors that is now married since May (congrats!), and several of my mom's friends that I keep in touch with through my mom. :-)
One more week and we'll be seeing the Romines in Ohio. Lots of fun again!
It was fun seeing old friends. If I had went to visit, I would have arrived earlier in the morning than I did. Later afternoon, midweek, was not a very good time to see old commuters; they usually leave directly after classes. Even with the poor timing I managed to see Brittney (!who is now engaged to Daniel!), Rebecca, Theresa (just passed by), Dr. Jones, Will (Whoo!), and Andrew (with a beard now).
Just as much fun was the speech tournament held in Franklin on Saturday. Just as college was a "blast from the past" (as said by Jacqueline), the tournament was a great time to re-connect. I saw a lot of faces that are still competing, one of the old competitors that is now married since May (congrats!), and several of my mom's friends that I keep in touch with through my mom. :-)
One more week and we'll be seeing the Romines in Ohio. Lots of fun again!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Ahhh....
Today was an average day lately. I got up around 8:00, ate, read the newspaper, sat, put away cloths, made my bed... etc. Since the craft shows have been down, I haven't been doing much of anything. The most exciting things I did today was moving our flatscreen TV into the position of prominence and putting the old TV where it would be available for Dad to cart into the shop for use or parts.
I have my resume all polished and updated. I had lost my virtual and hardcopy versions of my last resume so I had to restart and put it together. (Actually, I salvaged an old copy of Jesse's I had saved, so I didn't quite start from zero)
That's enough for tonight. Margaret, Mom and I ran the dogs this evening and I'm looking forward to a good night's rest.
I have my resume all polished and updated. I had lost my virtual and hardcopy versions of my last resume so I had to restart and put it together. (Actually, I salvaged an old copy of Jesse's I had saved, so I didn't quite start from zero)
That's enough for tonight. Margaret, Mom and I ran the dogs this evening and I'm looking forward to a good night's rest.
Friday, August 29, 2008
I'm Home
After a long and grueling drive, I arrived at my parents house at 7:30 AM. I had very little hope of surprising them since the dogs bark whenever a strange car drives up to the house. Our lovely dog Cody did bark, but not much, and apparently my mom assumed Cody was barking at something random in the yard. I came into the house very quietly and said hi to my OLD sis at the computer and we both went into Mom's room. She heard us coming and did a double take when she saw me. Mission accomplished!
This is just a short post put up in a hurry. I'm going to be busy for the next month or so, but I hope to find time to share some of the sites I saw along the day. Ooops. Mom and Jesse needs use of the computer. I'll see ya'll later!
This is just a short post put up in a hurry. I'm going to be busy for the next month or so, but I hope to find time to share some of the sites I saw along the day. Ooops. Mom and Jesse needs use of the computer. I'll see ya'll later!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
David's Second Day of Traveling
We last left David starting into Nashville, TN last night. When he called this morning, he seemed to have a very strong impression of the center for country music - loud, live musicians. There was approx 6 square blocks of drinking bars that were full of people listening to live musicians. There couldn't have been much talking going on because the music was so loud even out on the sidewalks! He left there about 10:30 at night and drove on to a restful night at his wigwam. :^) Next morning he was ready for spelunking at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. For the long 6 hour tour he needed different shoes and clothing than he was wearing so he took a somewhat shorter but enjoyable tour. His impression of Mammoth Cave was - big! Abraham Lincoln was his nest stop - birthplace that is. He enjoyed this piece of history, especially the Lincoln Memorial. There was not a lot of documentation available here, something on which the Helen Keller museum had been strong. Driving through Elizabethtown was the next stop and this appeared to be a small version of a typical midwast town. Finding a night's stopping place in West Virginia is the next hurdle at which we left him. He ate Subway once yesterday and once today, but has otherwise subsisted on a box of miscellaneous snacks - a thoughtful gift from Florida friends.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
David's 1st day and night of traveling
Hello! This is Margaret, my baby brother, David's, OLDer sister. I was asked to write a short story about his first day (Monday) being on the road. He had a great time driving around and sightseeing the places he stopped at along the way. At the end of the day, he decided to spend the night in the parking lot of a church and sleep in his car. What he didn't know was the church had recently been burglarized, so people driving by were watching the church for any suspicious activity. Now enter David. (SCREAMING SIRENS) Hours later, before he realized what was happening, he was rousted out by police with a few police lights around David's car. The police told David (through the police car's horn) to get out of the car immediately. They patted him down while he stood with palms on the car and fired some questions at him. Still heavy with sleep, he answered the question about his social security numbers WRONG TWICE!!! Gasp! He was about to be arrested. WAIT!!! On his third try, he gave the police the correct SSN. WHEW!!! It did not help that his car was full of stuff. The police did not know if these were things he had just removed from the church. Eventually they decided he was okay and told him to keep driving. All the fuss because of a person's wild imagination when he or she saw David and his car full of stuff in the parking lot and thought he was stealing stuff from the church. So the person called the police on my poooorrr baby brother. What is the sad part is that I was not there to bask in the excitment. Hopefully I get to have my turn someday. :) David was in Montgomery, Alabama this morning ready to see more sights. As of 9:00 PM Tues, he was just parking in Nashville, Tenn, ready to see some new sights. He has reservations for the night at a motel where the rooms are a big teepee or wigwam. We will find out tomorrow morning about Nashville and the wigwam.
Monday, August 25, 2008
My trip - edited as I travel.
Google Map of the path I take.
edit: 8:36AM August 25th: last blog before I leave. Should be off in 10. Wish me luck!
For those new to my wonderful world of blogging, welcome to my wonderful and wild blog. I'm hoping I get a few new readers while I'm on my trip home. Mostly because I'll tell people to check. :-P
I've finally opted to just do this post myself and I'm going to give the job of updating this list to my super-great-sister. Well, they both are, but my OLDer sister will be the one helping me out.
Alabama Shakespeare festival - unfortunately, the appearances that are put on ended the 22nd during my recheck Sunday night, so I think I'll be passing that by. It's not too far out of the way. so I may hit it yet.
First White House of the Confederacy - Montgomery Alabama - Jefferson Davis first residence as President of the Confederacy.
Unfortunately, I can't see any more of Alabama without adding a few hundred more miles to my trip home, so I'll hit other sites along my route that have more sites to see. Onto Tennessee!
First stop - Chatanooga. Why? Because it sounds cool. :-)
The next stop in Tennessee is Nashville, home of Country music. I'm going to see how I feel when I roll through this little burg. There is a lot to see in Kentucky, so I may just pick one or two quick sites to see and then roll on. I'll let ya'll know!
Unfortunately, we've had an all too short trip through Tennissee, but we'll make up for it in... tum tum tum.... Kentucky!
First stop Mammoth Cave. I'm planning a full day stop here. Apparently one of the trips into the cave can lasts a full working day - WOOT - 150 foot ceilings - 200 foot long caverns - I'll bring extra batteries and film.
Hodgenville is home of the Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and civil war memorabilia reside in this lovely area along with other random historical memorabilia.
North another 2 or three miles and I'll hit Elizabethtown. What are the big attractions there? Not much. It bills itself as a traditional town with residents such as Abraham lincoln and his father, and tours with authentically garbed guides. Mostly, I just like the movie with the same name, so I'll stop by so I can satisfy my own personal quirk that has driven me to visit this town.
My travel book has a few other places I might hit such as Maysville with the National Underground Railroad Museum and the Cumberland gap, the Tuskeegee institute. Mostly, I'm just going to see what comes up along the way and plan the side trips according to my time schedule. I have educational CDs on Swing and Jazz, Japanese language CDs, Korean language CDs, and all the sermons and audio books on my computer, merely one download-to-a-personal-listening-device away. I have lots to occupy my brain, family to be inquisitive, friends to be updated. It will be a relaxing trip. Not quite as relaxing as canoeing in Canada for a week - nothing has EVER been that relaxing, but close.
edit: 8:36AM August 25th: last blog before I leave. Should be off in 10. Wish me luck!
For those new to my wonderful world of blogging, welcome to my wonderful and wild blog. I'm hoping I get a few new readers while I'm on my trip home. Mostly because I'll tell people to check. :-P
I've finally opted to just do this post myself and I'm going to give the job of updating this list to my super-great-sister. Well, they both are, but my OLDer sister will be the one helping me out.
Alabama Shakespeare festival - unfortunately, the appearances that are put on ended the 22nd during my recheck Sunday night, so I think I'll be passing that by. It's not too far out of the way. so I may hit it yet.
First White House of the Confederacy - Montgomery Alabama - Jefferson Davis first residence as President of the Confederacy.
Unfortunately, I can't see any more of Alabama without adding a few hundred more miles to my trip home, so I'll hit other sites along my route that have more sites to see. Onto Tennessee!
First stop - Chatanooga. Why? Because it sounds cool. :-)
The next stop in Tennessee is Nashville, home of Country music. I'm going to see how I feel when I roll through this little burg. There is a lot to see in Kentucky, so I may just pick one or two quick sites to see and then roll on. I'll let ya'll know!
Unfortunately, we've had an all too short trip through Tennissee, but we'll make up for it in... tum tum tum.... Kentucky!
First stop Mammoth Cave. I'm planning a full day stop here. Apparently one of the trips into the cave can lasts a full working day - WOOT - 150 foot ceilings - 200 foot long caverns - I'll bring extra batteries and film.
Hodgenville is home of the Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and civil war memorabilia reside in this lovely area along with other random historical memorabilia.
North another 2 or three miles and I'll hit Elizabethtown. What are the big attractions there? Not much. It bills itself as a traditional town with residents such as Abraham lincoln and his father, and tours with authentically garbed guides. Mostly, I just like the movie with the same name, so I'll stop by so I can satisfy my own personal quirk that has driven me to visit this town.
My travel book has a few other places I might hit such as Maysville with the National Underground Railroad Museum and the Cumberland gap, the Tuskeegee institute. Mostly, I'm just going to see what comes up along the way and plan the side trips according to my time schedule. I have educational CDs on Swing and Jazz, Japanese language CDs, Korean language CDs, and all the sermons and audio books on my computer, merely one download-to-a-personal-listening-device away. I have lots to occupy my brain, family to be inquisitive, friends to be updated. It will be a relaxing trip. Not quite as relaxing as canoeing in Canada for a week - nothing has EVER been that relaxing, but close.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Welcome Wyatt!
I would like to announce that my sister has birthed a lovely baby called.... drumroll please.... Wyatt! He is Seven pounds 7 ounces and very healthy. After Katie arrived at the hospital, it was only a two hour wait for the grand arrival. My mom said Kate is doing fine and that she (my mom) will keep me updated.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Key Largo Trip Pictures
No underwater pictures will be posted yet - not that I'm in that big of a hurry to get them up. The pictures don't do the fish and coral any justice.
First picture is one of my lovely sister's shoulder... and Christina! I snapped this while I was home during the end of July
We went through some rain but there were some beautiful clouds before the rain hit.
A friend of my scuba partner met us for dinner.
Uhg... horrors that was the motel room the first night. At least the water worked and flowed quite strongly.
The Marriott had a much better room.
Half the skyline of Miami. The towers are quite spread out, so you go about 10 miles before you skyscrapers aren't nearby. Most of the skyscrapers on the shore are motels.
A picture looking down from 19 stories up. Our motel room had a lovely view. In fact, the horizontal space by the shore is so expensive, that the swimming pool, jacuzi, bar, workout rooms, were all on top of the fifth story. The camera lens got something smudged on the lens so all my morning short have a haze in the middle.
The church roof the workers are on is around five stories up.... way down there. :-)
First picture is one of my lovely sister's shoulder... and Christina! I snapped this while I was home during the end of July
We went through some rain but there were some beautiful clouds before the rain hit.
A friend of my scuba partner met us for dinner.
Uhg... horrors that was the motel room the first night. At least the water worked and flowed quite strongly.
The Marriott had a much better room.
Half the skyline of Miami. The towers are quite spread out, so you go about 10 miles before you skyscrapers aren't nearby. Most of the skyscrapers on the shore are motels.
A picture looking down from 19 stories up. Our motel room had a lovely view. In fact, the horizontal space by the shore is so expensive, that the swimming pool, jacuzi, bar, workout rooms, were all on top of the fifth story. The camera lens got something smudged on the lens so all my morning short have a haze in the middle.
The church roof the workers are on is around five stories up.... way down there. :-)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Priceless
It is the most beautifully accurate list of game laws in the world: http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html
For other fun reading, go to the Evil Overlords lists of do's and don'ts.
For other fun reading, go to the Evil Overlords lists of do's and don'ts.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Thanks Bro
I don't think I ever said thank you for the external hard drive you got me. It has been a lifesaver. I keep all my valuable pictures and memorabilia from the very beginning of college to now. The files could do with a good cleanup, but saving them in the first place was most important. I have 5 gigs just in college pictures alone.
Mom and Dad just finished with Twin Lakes. They said it was a pretty good year. Ryan, Katie and Margaret arrived for Saturday and Sunday. Margaret brought one of her calmest Siberians and people LOVED the dog. She got an offer for $1000 to buy they young dog, but my sis didn't want to sell to a person who wanted to buy it today on a whim and perhaps give it to a pound tomorrow on a different whim.
From what I hear, Ryan did a lot of demonstrating while Katie and Mom sold. Margaret and the rest of the clan traded off on watching Kristina. I hope they all arrived home safely.
On a final note: If while walking through the woods you see all the animals running in the same direction - follow them.
Mom and Dad just finished with Twin Lakes. They said it was a pretty good year. Ryan, Katie and Margaret arrived for Saturday and Sunday. Margaret brought one of her calmest Siberians and people LOVED the dog. She got an offer for $1000 to buy they young dog, but my sis didn't want to sell to a person who wanted to buy it today on a whim and perhaps give it to a pound tomorrow on a different whim.
From what I hear, Ryan did a lot of demonstrating while Katie and Mom sold. Margaret and the rest of the clan traded off on watching Kristina. I hope they all arrived home safely.
On a final note: If while walking through the woods you see all the animals running in the same direction - follow them.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Hancock
After seeing a lot of negative reviews on Hancock, I wasn't really sure I wanted to see the movie. After all, superhero movies are usually fun because they are action packed, somewhat lighthearted, and pit the forces of good against evil in a final pitched battle.
After seeing Hancock, I can confirm that the movie switches tone quite a bit from the beginning to the end. It starts out somewhat lighthearted and ends on a serious note, there is no major physical fight between good and evil, and there isn't as much action as one suspects from a superhero movie. Hancock is a study of a mostly nice but grumpy immortal that has no memory who is alone on the earth and despised because no one appreciates him for what he does (mostly because he tends to break stuff while half drunk because he's lonely.)
I won't give away any major plot points, although it wouldn't matter if I did because my family loves spoilers! Suffice it to say that it is an OK movie, and if they would just take out all the swearing I would give a 6 out of 10 and probably suggest people see it.
One reviewer whose revew I read must have been quite high while watching the movie. All the blatant errors and unconnected events he mentioned were explained in conversations and conclusions one could/should draw from statements made. I doubt he'll read my blog, but if he does: they call it plot developments and you have to pay attention to the conversation to follow along.
After seeing Hancock, I can confirm that the movie switches tone quite a bit from the beginning to the end. It starts out somewhat lighthearted and ends on a serious note, there is no major physical fight between good and evil, and there isn't as much action as one suspects from a superhero movie. Hancock is a study of a mostly nice but grumpy immortal that has no memory who is alone on the earth and despised because no one appreciates him for what he does (mostly because he tends to break stuff while half drunk because he's lonely.)
I won't give away any major plot points, although it wouldn't matter if I did because my family loves spoilers! Suffice it to say that it is an OK movie, and if they would just take out all the swearing I would give a 6 out of 10 and probably suggest people see it.
One reviewer whose revew I read must have been quite high while watching the movie. All the blatant errors and unconnected events he mentioned were explained in conversations and conclusions one could/should draw from statements made. I doubt he'll read my blog, but if he does: they call it plot developments and you have to pay attention to the conversation to follow along.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I Held Boards for Breaking
I've done my first Tae Kwon Do test yesterday. I'll find out Thursday if I am no longer a white belt! It's pretty similar to Shotokan karate, but not quite a serious as when I and my brother trained in PA. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get my white belt quite grungy. It wouldn't normally be a problem because I have no problem washing my belt, but because this school puts strips of tape as an indicator of skills you've passed, I can't wash without ruining their setup. But I must persevere just another four days and then I'll get a pretty new belt!
Over the last week, I've seen an abnormal number of ads for semi-interesting science fictions shows. Well, at this point, I've decided to share the wisdom found in viewing those shows.
1. If you walk alone and are not the hero, you will die... quickly... but not before screaming or firing a gun to alert others that there is a problem, but not giving enough information to be helpful.
2. If you walk in groups and hear a noise, there is a mysterious compulsion to break up into groups of two or three which then quickly break up into singles for mysterious reasons. The only exception are the heroes who !surprise! stay in a single group.
3. When a mythological, deadly creature, that can't open doors is wandering, no-one ever follows instructions to keep the door closed and locked; instead opening doors because... um... becau... hmm... apparently reason or emotion plays no role.
4. If you are a bad guy, and it's the end of the show, your reaction speed is slowed by somewhere between 520 to 565 percent.
5. Where do you hire security guards who are willing to kill at the request of the smallest evil peon? Do they ask on the hiring form? "Please check if you will kill without reason and sacrifice yourself to hide the boss's insecurity?"
6. If there is a line of walking, anonymous, walking bio hazard suits, the last person in the line wilw ALWAYS stop at the entrance of an alleyway and look the other direction while the hero/villain/dinosaur knocks him out without a sound.
7. Hands are not important. A small T-Rex can drop down out of a roof 2/3rds of it's body length and pull a person up into the roof within 2 seconds.... all while hanging by it's feet.
8. A minor hero can kill a monster in one shot to save the girl while two US black-ops members with full automatic weapons only make it retreat without any apparent wounds.
9. A king kong 300 feet tall can swat F-16's out of the air.
10. All scientists are really stupid. always. no exceptions. If the hero is a scientist, he is useful only because he is luck or he is bending the laws of physics.
Conclusions:
1. If my girlfriends starts growing hair as I watch, run.
2. Not remembering where I've been for over 12 hours ..repeatedly... is a matter for concern. I should mention it to a doctor instead of assuming it is an everyday occurrence.
3. If I'm on a wilderness trip, and all the guides have semi-automatic automatic guns, I can be pro-active and leave *before* getting stuck in whatever is going down. Optionally, it should be a law that I can be proactive by legally killing the guides. After all, the guides would have died anyway. :-D
4. A 15 foot cliff is NOT an absolute barrier, especially when I have rope and there are handholds all across the cliff face.
Over the last week, I've seen an abnormal number of ads for semi-interesting science fictions shows. Well, at this point, I've decided to share the wisdom found in viewing those shows.
1. If you walk alone and are not the hero, you will die... quickly... but not before screaming or firing a gun to alert others that there is a problem, but not giving enough information to be helpful.
2. If you walk in groups and hear a noise, there is a mysterious compulsion to break up into groups of two or three which then quickly break up into singles for mysterious reasons. The only exception are the heroes who !surprise! stay in a single group.
3. When a mythological, deadly creature, that can't open doors is wandering, no-one ever follows instructions to keep the door closed and locked; instead opening doors because... um... becau... hmm... apparently reason or emotion plays no role.
4. If you are a bad guy, and it's the end of the show, your reaction speed is slowed by somewhere between 520 to 565 percent.
5. Where do you hire security guards who are willing to kill at the request of the smallest evil peon? Do they ask on the hiring form? "Please check if you will kill without reason and sacrifice yourself to hide the boss's insecurity?"
6. If there is a line of walking, anonymous, walking bio hazard suits, the last person in the line wilw ALWAYS stop at the entrance of an alleyway and look the other direction while the hero/villain/dinosaur knocks him out without a sound.
7. Hands are not important. A small T-Rex can drop down out of a roof 2/3rds of it's body length and pull a person up into the roof within 2 seconds.... all while hanging by it's feet.
8. A minor hero can kill a monster in one shot to save the girl while two US black-ops members with full automatic weapons only make it retreat without any apparent wounds.
9. A king kong 300 feet tall can swat F-16's out of the air.
10. All scientists are really stupid. always. no exceptions. If the hero is a scientist, he is useful only because he is luck or he is bending the laws of physics.
Conclusions:
1. If my girlfriends starts growing hair as I watch, run.
2. Not remembering where I've been for over 12 hours ..repeatedly... is a matter for concern. I should mention it to a doctor instead of assuming it is an everyday occurrence.
3. If I'm on a wilderness trip, and all the guides have semi-automatic automatic guns, I can be pro-active and leave *before* getting stuck in whatever is going down. Optionally, it should be a law that I can be proactive by legally killing the guides. After all, the guides would have died anyway. :-D
4. A 15 foot cliff is NOT an absolute barrier, especially when I have rope and there are handholds all across the cliff face.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Vacation... Or Maybe Not?
Whoohoo! I'm going home for the third weekend of July. I'll be in PA for 5 days, taking it easy, being pampered by mom, eating delicious cold cereal, and sleeping until noon. Yeah.... not going to happen.
I am going home, but to help out Mom and Dad with a craft show over Saturday and Sunday. We'll probably be spending half the day Friday and Monday driving. Since we're going to be using a new vehicle to pull stuff, it may take a bit longer if we have any breakdowns. I think Craft shows are a great way to visit home. Sure there is a lot of work, long hours, and long drives, but the value helping out at home is definately worth the work, and for the long hours and long drives, there is a lot of time to catch up on what people are doing, discuss life plans, figure out Sudokus... you know, fun stuff.
I am going home, but to help out Mom and Dad with a craft show over Saturday and Sunday. We'll probably be spending half the day Friday and Monday driving. Since we're going to be using a new vehicle to pull stuff, it may take a bit longer if we have any breakdowns. I think Craft shows are a great way to visit home. Sure there is a lot of work, long hours, and long drives, but the value helping out at home is definately worth the work, and for the long hours and long drives, there is a lot of time to catch up on what people are doing, discuss life plans, figure out Sudokus... you know, fun stuff.
Monday, June 02, 2008
FLDS Final Post - probably
At this point, I'm not predicting any major challenges to the legal situation in Texas concerning the CPS. Judge Walther has rescinded her emergency order at the order of the Texas Supreme Court after the appeals court then supreme court of Texas found that CPS and Judge Walther had overstepped their respective authorities. As typical of such an order from a higher court, there were no details of how the order should be rescinded, so Judge Walther has ordered all the children to return if the FLDS clarified their age of marrying at 18, the parents agree to attend parenting classes, notice is to be given if the families travel more than 100 miles away from their home, and Texas CPS can have full access to homes for inspections. One young lady won't be returned because of "identified sexual abuse *edit(14 hours after orginal post): the CPS went ahead and agreed to release the final child* , but at this point all the other children are heading home. Everyone has agree to the terms.
Sadly, because of this rushed judgement in the first place, the children are now victims of known, undisputed, serious psychological scarring of taking kids away from their parents at a young age (which occurs even if the parents are innocent and the children are quickly returned); the tripled rate of future incarceration that comes from being in foster homes for any period of time; and likely sexual abuse that occurs in foster homes (such abuse is 4 times more likely in foster homes than in the general population... especially when the foster homes some of these kids have already been reprimanded because of KNOWN sexual abuse at the homes ). Uhg. Researching the effects of child welfare actions is a very sobering process. There are no "exemplar" states where Child Protective Services is concerned, which brings to my mind the idea that the very concept of CPS is broken.
It is wonderful that the children have finally been returned to the parents. All the newspaper articles are reporting that this is a good change. In fact, all the articles are reporting the exact same thing, just with the occasional word substitutions - what happened to original reporting? All the newspapers seem to act as one big marionette. Individual thought or independent analysis seems to be a foreign concept. Go ahead and try searching for "FLDS" in google news and organize by date. All the articles, which includes big newspapers like the USA Today, are nearly word perfect copies of each other. *edit: It took about 3 days before most of the articles started being original. The turnaround is vastly improved over when this started. After the first raid, it took almost 2 weeks for wide variation to occur*
There are still problems with the new situation and the problems are the same as before. Its the exact same problem that I brought up in the first post. The problem with the current situation, which probably won't be settled quickly, is the idea that the judge has any right to set conditions on the parents for getting their children back. The whole process of taking the children away was invalidated by the upper court, so why does the judge have the right to put conditions on giving the children back, especially when the parents are not charged with anything except for being under a general cloud of suspicion by the CPS? Judge Walther's new order is essentially what would happen if the CPS brought a suspicion of sexual abuse toward a specific individual before a court. If that is the way the state sets it up then so be it, but Judge Walther has set aside the standard legal steps that the Texas CPS must go through in order to gain the right to unlimited inspections. Judge Walther, in the interest of the children, has usurped the legal right of the parent and set aside the legislated restrictions on the CPS. It goes back to Judge Walther's apparent philosophy that the government can get involved on suspicion alone when child abuse is involved.... ah... here I go again.
I'll quit right here, since I would only start repeating previous points. My hope is that the massive expenditures by the CPS will bankrupt it for this year or next year, but government doesn't quite work like that. I hope this whole situation will lead to a re-examination of child protective services country wide, because as far as I can tell, it is a terrible system where the cure is worse than the bite.
And just to see if anyone reads these... The next few posts will be personal info posts (which I'm sure my mom will enjoy reading more), but no more posts will be posted until I get thought out comments from two separate people. replies to comments by myself will not count. :-)
Sadly, because of this rushed judgement in the first place, the children are now victims of known, undisputed, serious psychological scarring of taking kids away from their parents at a young age (which occurs even if the parents are innocent and the children are quickly returned); the tripled rate of future incarceration that comes from being in foster homes for any period of time; and likely sexual abuse that occurs in foster homes (such abuse is 4 times more likely in foster homes than in the general population... especially when the foster homes some of these kids have already been reprimanded because of KNOWN sexual abuse at the homes ). Uhg. Researching the effects of child welfare actions is a very sobering process. There are no "exemplar" states where Child Protective Services is concerned, which brings to my mind the idea that the very concept of CPS is broken.
It is wonderful that the children have finally been returned to the parents. All the newspaper articles are reporting that this is a good change. In fact, all the articles are reporting the exact same thing, just with the occasional word substitutions - what happened to original reporting? All the newspapers seem to act as one big marionette. Individual thought or independent analysis seems to be a foreign concept. Go ahead and try searching for "FLDS" in google news and organize by date. All the articles, which includes big newspapers like the USA Today, are nearly word perfect copies of each other. *edit: It took about 3 days before most of the articles started being original. The turnaround is vastly improved over when this started. After the first raid, it took almost 2 weeks for wide variation to occur*
There are still problems with the new situation and the problems are the same as before. Its the exact same problem that I brought up in the first post. The problem with the current situation, which probably won't be settled quickly, is the idea that the judge has any right to set conditions on the parents for getting their children back. The whole process of taking the children away was invalidated by the upper court, so why does the judge have the right to put conditions on giving the children back, especially when the parents are not charged with anything except for being under a general cloud of suspicion by the CPS? Judge Walther's new order is essentially what would happen if the CPS brought a suspicion of sexual abuse toward a specific individual before a court. If that is the way the state sets it up then so be it, but Judge Walther has set aside the standard legal steps that the Texas CPS must go through in order to gain the right to unlimited inspections. Judge Walther, in the interest of the children, has usurped the legal right of the parent and set aside the legislated restrictions on the CPS. It goes back to Judge Walther's apparent philosophy that the government can get involved on suspicion alone when child abuse is involved.... ah... here I go again.
I'll quit right here, since I would only start repeating previous points. My hope is that the massive expenditures by the CPS will bankrupt it for this year or next year, but government doesn't quite work like that. I hope this whole situation will lead to a re-examination of child protective services country wide, because as far as I can tell, it is a terrible system where the cure is worse than the bite.
And just to see if anyone reads these... The next few posts will be personal info posts (which I'm sure my mom will enjoy reading more), but no more posts will be posted until I get thought out comments from two separate people. replies to comments by myself will not count. :-)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Updated info
Briefer update on yesterday's post:
update May-22-09, 8:36 AM: Of the 31 FLDS children 14-17 years old and pregnant as claimed by the CPS, 11 have been found to be 18 or older and their youngest, the 14 year old, is not pregnant. the total was 9 adults when I was posted last night. Keep in mind that these updated numbers are not the final total. All the children's hearings for this stage of the legal proceedings will conclude on June 2nd, at which point we'll get a better, though not necessarily completely accurate, picture of which of the accusations of the CPS still stands. Outside the just mentioned less-than-31 pregnant minors, no specific allegations of abuse have been pointed out, just general statements of widespread abuse. (All specifics are being withheld by the CPS to protect the children)
update May-22-09, 8:36 AM: Of the 31 FLDS children 14-17 years old and pregnant as claimed by the CPS, 11 have been found to be 18 or older and their youngest, the 14 year old, is not pregnant. the total was 9 adults when I was posted last night. Keep in mind that these updated numbers are not the final total. All the children's hearings for this stage of the legal proceedings will conclude on June 2nd, at which point we'll get a better, though not necessarily completely accurate, picture of which of the accusations of the CPS still stands. Outside the just mentioned less-than-31 pregnant minors, no specific allegations of abuse have been pointed out, just general statements of widespread abuse. (All specifics are being withheld by the CPS to protect the children)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Brief ? FLDS Update
I know I haven't posted any more information on the Texas raid on the FLDS ranch lately, so I thought I would do a quick update. I haven't decreased my reading on the news articles, but after the last post on the FLDS, there didn't seem to be much point to posting until something started to change, which could only happen if the CPS started returning children, or the court cases started to be heard. This Monday was the start of the one group of court hearings.
Since the last post, the CPS figures for the number of children in custody by Texas Child Protective Services continued to rise. The number has been staying steadier for longer and the popular figure seems to be 463, with only one number jump in the last week.
Mom, since you wanted me to keep you updated on what I was seeing, I'll try to post at least one article for each point. Over the last three weeks, I've seen at least a dozen or more articles outlining each point, so if you search on google news, you should find more. Call if you have questions. :-)
First (not so recent) development. All the children have been placed into foster homes at this point. As stated earlier and research further, foster care seems to be universally, across the US, a TERRIBLE situation when compared with the general public (which isn't a stellar example in the first place). And what does the CPS, put these children into foster homes that would normally not be allowed to host foster children again because of physical, sexual, or verbal abuse. My suggestion is to not look much further into this, because it gets very depressing, very fast. These children have been ripped from loving homes (more on this later) into a culture that is far worse than the national average.
Second development. The CPS keeps being surprised when these children just keep being found to be older than they look! Both of the underage "children" who gave birth while in custody, were declared adults within hours of giving birth. From what I can pick up from the newspaper articles, I think the CPS accepted their birth certificates at that point just so they could take they children away, which was attempted... also within hours of giving birth. Apparently the mothers were generously given a few months to wean the children after a judge slapped one of the requests down. A lot of these "underage" pregnant children have already presented birth certificates, but as I said a few weeks ago, the CPS is ignoring evidence in favor of a "looks like" policy. This week, the oldest one to be cleared as an adult is almost 28 (as declared by a judge, not the CPS who still insisted that the "looks like" policy is the valid way to go... after all, birth certificates can be faked on a very short noticeway (that was sarcasm guys))
Mental Health professions that were present during the initial raid and care of children (by the police and CPS mostly) blasted the CPS for their poor conduct, lack of care for the children, and dishonesty in their monthly report to their board. This what was said all along by the women taken by the CPS. (1) No-one believed them when the raid took place; (2) the FLDS had their cell phones removed after a few videos of living conditions were sent by cell phone; (3) so far nothing the FLDS has said has been disproved.
According to the CPS, the whole reason this raid took place in the first place was because the CPS workers saw a broad base, a culture, of underage marriages. The number of those "underaged children" who are married or pregnant and underage has been dropping steadily, mostly due to the fact that now there are outsides in this loop determining the fate of these children: specifically, there are judges that accepts birth certificates as a reasonable indication of age!
Consider this: If the count of the number of children started out in the high 300's and has steadily risen to over 460 almost two months later, what recourse does a family have if children disappear? The CPS never kept records. The count is still not constant. Who knows if children were kidnapped, killed, abused, or tried to run away from their new situations? Only the parents will bear the burden of knowing they will not see their child again. Almost two MONTHS later, and children are still unaccounted for. Yeah. Not a pleasant thought.
In one instance, one of the husbands who has one wife ( 5 children by the same wife ), was not charged or accused of anything by the CPS, and was willing to move away from the ranch to regain his children but was denied his request. ( Mostly because he was appealing to a wrong court ) The sad part of this story is that he, his wife, and his lawer has only been able to find three of his children in state custody. Two of them are lost in the system somewhere.
Moving onto my final two points, I don't want to say that all the FLDS members are innocent, but I will say that even if all the CPS is still claiming at this point remains true, the FLDS ranch is a haven of peace and tranquility when compared to the rest of the world. Go ahead. Do some work for yourself and compare the claimed rate of underage/unmarried pregnancies in the general population to what the numbers of children the CPS is claiming to have gotten pregnant while under 18 (while married) at the FLDS ranch.
My second point is this: the legal age for marriage in texas is under 18. The numbers the CPS throws around is a smoke screen. The lowest age of marriage In Texas is 16 years of age with parental consent. The big problem that the FLDS members will have is that marriages are religious and not civil, so that if any man married a girl at 16, he could be legally charged with rape because the state does not recognize the marriage, even if he only has one wife. This is the issue that got Jeffs (the FLDS prophet) put in jail. The lowest legal age in Utah to marry IS 14, but it has to be a civil union, not a religious one, so when Jeffs helped arrange a marriage for a 19 year old and a 14 year old (yeah... that is really young), he was held responsible for accomplice to rape because it was not a civil union.
The violations perpetrated by Texas' child care services is not unique to the FLDS. Do a bit of searching on CPS, Child Protective Services, foster care, and the number of innocent lives broken and destroyed is too long and to painful to consider. Pray for children taken unjustly from their parents whether in Texas, Maine, or any other state of the union. The best therapy for the harms against children is the protection and healing available through the Grace of God.
Since the last post, the CPS figures for the number of children in custody by Texas Child Protective Services continued to rise. The number has been staying steadier for longer and the popular figure seems to be 463, with only one number jump in the last week.
Mom, since you wanted me to keep you updated on what I was seeing, I'll try to post at least one article for each point. Over the last three weeks, I've seen at least a dozen or more articles outlining each point, so if you search on google news, you should find more. Call if you have questions. :-)
First (not so recent) development. All the children have been placed into foster homes at this point. As stated earlier and research further, foster care seems to be universally, across the US, a TERRIBLE situation when compared with the general public (which isn't a stellar example in the first place). And what does the CPS, put these children into foster homes that would normally not be allowed to host foster children again because of physical, sexual, or verbal abuse. My suggestion is to not look much further into this, because it gets very depressing, very fast. These children have been ripped from loving homes (more on this later) into a culture that is far worse than the national average.
Second development. The CPS keeps being surprised when these children just keep being found to be older than they look! Both of the underage "children" who gave birth while in custody, were declared adults within hours of giving birth. From what I can pick up from the newspaper articles, I think the CPS accepted their birth certificates at that point just so they could take they children away, which was attempted... also within hours of giving birth. Apparently the mothers were generously given a few months to wean the children after a judge slapped one of the requests down. A lot of these "underage" pregnant children have already presented birth certificates, but as I said a few weeks ago, the CPS is ignoring evidence in favor of a "looks like" policy. This week, the oldest one to be cleared as an adult is almost 28 (as declared by a judge, not the CPS who still insisted that the "looks like" policy is the valid way to go... after all, birth certificates can be faked on a very short noticeway (that was sarcasm guys))
Mental Health professions that were present during the initial raid and care of children (by the police and CPS mostly) blasted the CPS for their poor conduct, lack of care for the children, and dishonesty in their monthly report to their board. This what was said all along by the women taken by the CPS. (1) No-one believed them when the raid took place; (2) the FLDS had their cell phones removed after a few videos of living conditions were sent by cell phone; (3) so far nothing the FLDS has said has been disproved.
According to the CPS, the whole reason this raid took place in the first place was because the CPS workers saw a broad base, a culture, of underage marriages. The number of those "underaged children" who are married or pregnant and underage has been dropping steadily, mostly due to the fact that now there are outsides in this loop determining the fate of these children: specifically, there are judges that accepts birth certificates as a reasonable indication of age!
Consider this: If the count of the number of children started out in the high 300's and has steadily risen to over 460 almost two months later, what recourse does a family have if children disappear? The CPS never kept records. The count is still not constant. Who knows if children were kidnapped, killed, abused, or tried to run away from their new situations? Only the parents will bear the burden of knowing they will not see their child again. Almost two MONTHS later, and children are still unaccounted for. Yeah. Not a pleasant thought.
In one instance, one of the husbands who has one wife ( 5 children by the same wife ), was not charged or accused of anything by the CPS, and was willing to move away from the ranch to regain his children but was denied his request. ( Mostly because he was appealing to a wrong court ) The sad part of this story is that he, his wife, and his lawer has only been able to find three of his children in state custody. Two of them are lost in the system somewhere.
Moving onto my final two points, I don't want to say that all the FLDS members are innocent, but I will say that even if all the CPS is still claiming at this point remains true, the FLDS ranch is a haven of peace and tranquility when compared to the rest of the world. Go ahead. Do some work for yourself and compare the claimed rate of underage/unmarried pregnancies in the general population to what the numbers of children the CPS is claiming to have gotten pregnant while under 18 (while married) at the FLDS ranch.
My second point is this: the legal age for marriage in texas is under 18. The numbers the CPS throws around is a smoke screen. The lowest age of marriage In Texas is 16 years of age with parental consent. The big problem that the FLDS members will have is that marriages are religious and not civil, so that if any man married a girl at 16, he could be legally charged with rape because the state does not recognize the marriage, even if he only has one wife. This is the issue that got Jeffs (the FLDS prophet) put in jail. The lowest legal age in Utah to marry IS 14, but it has to be a civil union, not a religious one, so when Jeffs helped arrange a marriage for a 19 year old and a 14 year old (yeah... that is really young), he was held responsible for accomplice to rape because it was not a civil union.
The violations perpetrated by Texas' child care services is not unique to the FLDS. Do a bit of searching on CPS, Child Protective Services, foster care, and the number of innocent lives broken and destroyed is too long and to painful to consider. Pray for children taken unjustly from their parents whether in Texas, Maine, or any other state of the union. The best therapy for the harms against children is the protection and healing available through the Grace of God.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Sad Lack of Pictures
Writing a programming language is the BOMB! Woot!
I was going through my pictures yesterday because I wanted to post a few pictures of my last visit to PA, but as I opened up the pictures, I realized that I hadn't taken the camera out of my bag until the last day of my trip. The only two pictures I got were very quick snapshots of my wonderful older sister and myself - and they didn't turn out well. :-( Sorry M. Next time we'll have to get some good pictures.
I went to Taekwondo last night and there is a new white belt joining. I am not the lowest ranked person there anymore!
I was going through my pictures yesterday because I wanted to post a few pictures of my last visit to PA, but as I opened up the pictures, I realized that I hadn't taken the camera out of my bag until the last day of my trip. The only two pictures I got were very quick snapshots of my wonderful older sister and myself - and they didn't turn out well. :-( Sorry M. Next time we'll have to get some good pictures.
I went to Taekwondo last night and there is a new white belt joining. I am not the lowest ranked person there anymore!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Quick Update
I managed to get through another successful weekend of taking care of dogs. When a friend is out of town, I go over to her house and let the dogs out thrice daily, but they don't listen very well, so if one goes running I end up chasing the dog down. (While it is a fenced in area, the enclosed area contains several blocks. After the second time the dogs got loose, I decided all future walks would be with a leash. Voila, problem solved!
Aikido is going pretty well. After my wrist injury in gymnastic years ago, it is nice to finally have flexibility back in my right wrist. Since I'm only planning to be in Florida a few more months, I went ahead and signed up for Tae Kwon Do classes at the same school I take Aikido. Tae Kwon Do (TKD) has a philosophy where your body is your tool, and practicing forms, kicks, punches, blocks are a part of developing that tool to respond to any action in a forceful and irresistible manner. Aikido has a more roundabout philosophy in that Aikido doesn't do blocks or punches to overpower the opponent. Aikido prefers to let the opponent do what he wants and then I redirect the motion into doing what I want. Aikido is very much a martial art of training fluid responses to an opponents aggression. Tae Kwon Do is very much a form for attacking and Aikido is very much for defending (or more accurately, Aikido is for avoiding the attack so there is no need to defend.)
My visit home went wonderfully well. I was definitely a help to Mom and Data at their craft show, and I was happy to help. I got to have long visits with Mom. During craft shows, Dat stays very busy in the back taking care of products or loading or preparing for the next show, so I didn't see as much of him as I would have liked this visit, but I still got to spend some time with him. Before I leave for Japan or Korea, I'll have a few months at home during the off season, and I'm looking forward to seeing dad more then and seeing what science projects he's been working on since I moved to Florida.
Margaret seems to be doing well. She seems happy at her job, although I do sense a certain slowness of reaction in dodging pokes. I guess Mom and Dad don't keep up her reflexes by poking and pushing as fast as her mostest favoritest brother does. ;-)
For work, I just finalized the installation of the Inventory module and updated the released ones. I think I just have to wait a week or so and see what happens in sales before I know if I'm going to be staying for the next three months (or so). Programming accounting software is fun, and there are always new problems that have to be solved, but I think I'm ready to see a new area of programming with a lot of new problems to solve. Even so, I hope the inventory module is a success!
Aikido is going pretty well. After my wrist injury in gymnastic years ago, it is nice to finally have flexibility back in my right wrist. Since I'm only planning to be in Florida a few more months, I went ahead and signed up for Tae Kwon Do classes at the same school I take Aikido. Tae Kwon Do (TKD) has a philosophy where your body is your tool, and practicing forms, kicks, punches, blocks are a part of developing that tool to respond to any action in a forceful and irresistible manner. Aikido has a more roundabout philosophy in that Aikido doesn't do blocks or punches to overpower the opponent. Aikido prefers to let the opponent do what he wants and then I redirect the motion into doing what I want. Aikido is very much a martial art of training fluid responses to an opponents aggression. Tae Kwon Do is very much a form for attacking and Aikido is very much for defending (or more accurately, Aikido is for avoiding the attack so there is no need to defend.)
My visit home went wonderfully well. I was definitely a help to Mom and Data at their craft show, and I was happy to help. I got to have long visits with Mom. During craft shows, Dat stays very busy in the back taking care of products or loading or preparing for the next show, so I didn't see as much of him as I would have liked this visit, but I still got to spend some time with him. Before I leave for Japan or Korea, I'll have a few months at home during the off season, and I'm looking forward to seeing dad more then and seeing what science projects he's been working on since I moved to Florida.
Margaret seems to be doing well. She seems happy at her job, although I do sense a certain slowness of reaction in dodging pokes. I guess Mom and Dad don't keep up her reflexes by poking and pushing as fast as her mostest favoritest brother does. ;-)
For work, I just finalized the installation of the Inventory module and updated the released ones. I think I just have to wait a week or so and see what happens in sales before I know if I'm going to be staying for the next three months (or so). Programming accounting software is fun, and there are always new problems that have to be solved, but I think I'm ready to see a new area of programming with a lot of new problems to solve. Even so, I hope the inventory module is a success!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Philosophy of Government
On Friday April 18, the judge involved in the mass hearings on what to do with the children from the FLDS compound has ruled that the over 400 children are going to remain in custody of the state. Furthermore, DNA testing is ordered on all the children and mothers to determine who is related to whom. Up until this point, mothers with children under the age of 4 have been allowed to remain with their children, but the judge ordered the separation of all the children from their parents, including the youngest age group. The children are now scheduled to be put into foster homes for the current duration.
Unless some appeal or emergency hearing is held, there will not be many new developments in the news until the next hearing on July 4th. In my last post, I mentioned a few of the legal, ethical, and logistical problems that the state of Texas was perpetrating. This wasn't to say that the religious compound didn't have faults or wasn't guilty of the accusations being cast at them, but partly to point out that the state didn't have the legal authority to perform the raid, separate the children from their mothers ... basically what was in my previous post.
This time, I'm going to delve slightly into my philosophy on the role of government. It is really quite simple: my idea of government is that it is whatever the people make the government. I like to think that in the United States, we chose to make government an entity of laws to protect individuals and their rights, applied by individuals who can give the government the human quality of mercy, when the laws are applied in a situation they were never intended to apply to; because no matter how well intentioned law-makers are, people can not see every effect of laws.
All of my information comes from news reports and the occasional live news report, and they aren't the most reliable sources but they seem to be the best available since the judge in this case has sealed most of the records relating to this case ( which the judge has the right to do in a child protective services case in order to prevent harm to the child. ) It appears that Texas has clearly stepped outside the lines of the law in pursuing it's goal of protection. A brief introduction into the possible laws that are broken can be found in an article I found on the site News Blaze.
When you read the article and the rights the might have been violated, keep in mind that no charges have been brought and no arrests made regarding abuse. By what right can our government use to order people to a particular action when those people have broken no laws? As far as I can tell, Texas has as much right of telling the mothers to get DNA testing as it does of telling them to move their compound two feet to the left. If now laws are being broken, government has no right to intrude.
But laws are not perfect and they don't cover every situation, so our forefathers implemented a mechanism by which new laws can be passed. But in that slice of time, if something is so egregiously harmful, it is, and has always been, up to individuals to take up the slack in an imperfect society. If an individual (you) think it is the necessary right for government to set aside the laws in the pursuit of protecting children, that individual is also accepting that it is the necessary right for an individual to set aside the laws in the pursuit of protecting children, because at the base of every government decision are PEOPLE choosing to set aside those laws. To separate the government from the moral link of individuals is a recipe for distress.
As a statement of personal belief, I believe that it is my responsibility to follow those laws of the society and government I live in, until it becomes morally impossible to do so, at which point I must be willing to accept the consequences for failure to follow government's laws. For the fathers, mothers, and children at the FLDS compound, that means losing spouses and children if they are found guilty of breaking laws. For government employees, it means.... nothing. Government breaking the law has very little feedback on government. As far as I can tell, the only government official that could be held responsible is the judge, and judges are very hard to discipline.
Our forefathers hoped that elections of limited period would force some responsibility upon government, but that mechanism is only useful if you make your voice heard when you have the chance. For too many people, politics and economics is too much work to follow and understand. Well duh! It is a lot of work. Did you think the society we have could be kept by an ignorant and lazy generation of people? We reap what we and our parents have sown. Plant good seeds for the future, today.
Unless some appeal or emergency hearing is held, there will not be many new developments in the news until the next hearing on July 4th. In my last post, I mentioned a few of the legal, ethical, and logistical problems that the state of Texas was perpetrating. This wasn't to say that the religious compound didn't have faults or wasn't guilty of the accusations being cast at them, but partly to point out that the state didn't have the legal authority to perform the raid, separate the children from their mothers ... basically what was in my previous post.
This time, I'm going to delve slightly into my philosophy on the role of government. It is really quite simple: my idea of government is that it is whatever the people make the government. I like to think that in the United States, we chose to make government an entity of laws to protect individuals and their rights, applied by individuals who can give the government the human quality of mercy, when the laws are applied in a situation they were never intended to apply to; because no matter how well intentioned law-makers are, people can not see every effect of laws.
All of my information comes from news reports and the occasional live news report, and they aren't the most reliable sources but they seem to be the best available since the judge in this case has sealed most of the records relating to this case ( which the judge has the right to do in a child protective services case in order to prevent harm to the child. ) It appears that Texas has clearly stepped outside the lines of the law in pursuing it's goal of protection. A brief introduction into the possible laws that are broken can be found in an article I found on the site News Blaze.
When you read the article and the rights the might have been violated, keep in mind that no charges have been brought and no arrests made regarding abuse. By what right can our government use to order people to a particular action when those people have broken no laws? As far as I can tell, Texas has as much right of telling the mothers to get DNA testing as it does of telling them to move their compound two feet to the left. If now laws are being broken, government has no right to intrude.
But laws are not perfect and they don't cover every situation, so our forefathers implemented a mechanism by which new laws can be passed. But in that slice of time, if something is so egregiously harmful, it is, and has always been, up to individuals to take up the slack in an imperfect society. If an individual (you) think it is the necessary right for government to set aside the laws in the pursuit of protecting children, that individual is also accepting that it is the necessary right for an individual to set aside the laws in the pursuit of protecting children, because at the base of every government decision are PEOPLE choosing to set aside those laws. To separate the government from the moral link of individuals is a recipe for distress.
As a statement of personal belief, I believe that it is my responsibility to follow those laws of the society and government I live in, until it becomes morally impossible to do so, at which point I must be willing to accept the consequences for failure to follow government's laws. For the fathers, mothers, and children at the FLDS compound, that means losing spouses and children if they are found guilty of breaking laws. For government employees, it means.... nothing. Government breaking the law has very little feedback on government. As far as I can tell, the only government official that could be held responsible is the judge, and judges are very hard to discipline.
Our forefathers hoped that elections of limited period would force some responsibility upon government, but that mechanism is only useful if you make your voice heard when you have the chance. For too many people, politics and economics is too much work to follow and understand. Well duh! It is a lot of work. Did you think the society we have could be kept by an ignorant and lazy generation of people? We reap what we and our parents have sown. Plant good seeds for the future, today.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Legal Travesty When Dealing With Polygamy
Update 4/17/2008 - 1:30 PM : Nice report by a senator who is reporting on the authority of Child Protective Services, abuse by CPS, and inherent incentives in law to encourage CPS to abuse their authority.
Warning, while this blog has been built in my head over the last two days, I only have one lunch period to put it on virtual paper. Spelling, grammar, and nonsense sentences will be fixed at an unspecified future time. For any reporters reading this, while this first paragraph is here, feel free to correct my grammar when you quote me. ;-)
As I've been reading articles throughout the days, I've bookmarked interesting ones. I tried to sort through which ones to show you, but you'll get the same idea if you go to google news and search on "polygamy" and read back a few days.
--------------------------------
Every since the polygamous sect in Texas was raided, I've been following the developments very closely. Reading dozens of articles a day, watching videos of officials making statements, and trying to piece together what was happening through public sources.
My interest was mild at first. I just happened to be watching the news when the raid started and got hooked. The raid started on the religious compound because of several calls over a two day period from an underage girl stating how she had been beaten and raped by being married to an elderly man who was in the compound.
Police showed up at the compound with a warrant to search for the girl who had made the call, and after a tense hours (the details of what was going on between police and compound authorities in those hours was never in any of my reading) the sect allowed the police to enter the compound. Women and children were removed from the compound and taken to an holding area. After pictures of the holding area (taken by cellphones) were released and the mothers made complaints about the conditions they were being held in, police confiscated all the cellphones because the women might be coordinating their responses with the men in the compound.
The women who did not have children under four years old were forcefully separated from the children, and returned to the ranch or sent to a retreat for battered women ( the individual women could choose which place to go to ). The children were separated by age and sex and sent to places which could care for them until it was decided what to do with them.
Today is the court hearing to decide what to do with the children.
--------------------------------------
The problems with this situation is multitudinous.
Lets start with the original call and search warrant. The search warrant authorizing the search of the compound was based on an anonymous call that wasn't recorded, merely written down, so we have no voice verification possible. The latest news on the caller is that the names and situation reported matches a previous Modus Operandi in Arizona in which the anonymous call was proven to be false accusation - the maker of that anonymous call was never caught. Aside from the apparently high probability that the call is again a false accusation by the same person, we have the second issue of police officers requiring children to be removed from the compound.
The authority the police used to remove over 400 children from the compound was that the children were in immediate danger, but at the time they gave the reason that they needed to remove all the children so the one that called would be safe.... but why remove the children that CLEARLY did not meet the criteria? ( as in the 300 children that were under the age of four. ) This was merely one lie of many told by the police and CPS to those in the compound and the world at large. Two days later, as questions mounted, the police and child services responded that all the children were in immediate danger of sexual abuse and would not be released. The only basis the authorities used was the anonymous call. At this point, I was reading everything I could find on it because the abuse of authority by the police and CPS seemed clear to me, but no voice speaking up for the compound was being reported. As far as I can tell, no abuse had yet been proven in three days of searching. The closest they found was a bed used by the sect in their religious marriages. IMMEDIATELY the claim went out the underage sex occurred in that bed; with no supporting evidence except rumples sheets and a single hair. Phht. My opinion of how this was being handled was about as low as I thought my opinion about anything could go. I was so wrong.
During all this time, the workers for child services were not getting any confessions of child abuse from the children. The explanation? The parents being around are inhibiting the children. i.e. Child abuse is going on, we just have no proof of it. What do they do? They forcefully separate the children over four years old from the mothers and give the mothers two options - back to the sect or a shelter for abused women. The women that returned to the compound were crying and weeping, and some of the women talked to reporters, stating that they were fearful that they would never be allowed to get their children back, because the authorities had proven no wrongdoing and shown no abuse, and still they police took the children.
But what about the women that did not go back to the compound? Six women voluntarily chose to go to the shelter, "because they were afraid", and that was all the papers reported. Just over a day later, all six women requested to be taken back to the compound, because there were not being given their children. When given the choice by the police, the women were told that they would get their children faster if they went to the shelter for battered women. Of course the women were afraid. They were afraid that they police would not be returning their children - and they didn't.
All along the women have been claiming that the police and child services lied to them. The first claim of lying was that the people at the compound were told that being removed from the compound was just for questioning and that they WOULD BE RETURNING. Then the authorities got the women to separate from the children by telling them that they would be taking them to another section to see another group of the children. When the women had been gathered to supposedly be driven to other children, police and child services surrounded the women and gave the the stupid two choices of returning to the compound or going to a shelter for battered women.
Come on! If police really think they are being battered and are forcing the women to take action, why is one of the courses of action given by the police to go back to the compound where the battering is supposedly taking place. If the police really believed battery was going on, why are they putting people back in harms way.
What about the law. Surly the judges involved in the two counties would be watching over this and saying, "Whoa!" The sad truth is that the same judge who gave the search warrant to police based on an unverified anonymous caller, has authority over both counties. And it is this same judge who is showing no respect for "proof of wrongdoing" that is going to determine what happens to the children.
Already, the older boys have been shipped seven hours away to a ranch for for juvenile delinquents. The owner of the ranch didn't know how to handle it because he was being asked to implement the group from the compound ( straight laced and sheltered from bad influences outside the compound wall ) with a group with known criminal (mostly repeat offenders) records.
Ah, I got off on a tangent. Back to the lying by authorities. This has never been refuted. When asked ( and I've seen the live news feeds ) the authorities merely say that right to practice religion does not trump the right of the children. Ummmm. So they are lying. And aren't afraid to admit it.
----------------------------
All the newspapers are being spoon fed their information, and taking all this unquestioningly. Very few papers have even addressed the legality of the situation. Everyone seems to assume that the compound is guilty by default. As far as I can tell, the judge thinks that all the children are at risk because polygamy is inherently abusive of children. Quite simply, No one is standing up for the rule of law and requiring a burden of proof. The main lady that gives the reports to the reporters have said that even they can't prove anything, that the children will still likely be shipped away. One psychologist assisting in the case said "There are things I know about [what happened to the boys] that border on abusive, but whether they can prove it, I am not sure". He "know"s its happening, he just can't prove it? This type of baloney is the whole basis for the current situation. Every body "knows" there is abuse going on, but NOBODY had even come close to publicly saying what that abuse is. It is always attorney/client privilege, can't speak out because he might be the target of revenge, or they won't say anything public until their case is stronger.
If there is proof that ever comes to the forefront, it is useless if the anonymous caller is never identified or if the anonymous caller was ::gasp!:: lying. Any evidence found through the course of this investigation rests on the probable cause of the original warrant. If the caller is not found, the basis for the warrant disappears, and no evidence found afterwards may be used in the court of law. It doesn't matter if nothing is ever proved though. Everyone, newspapers, State District Judge Barbara Walther, child services, police, and apparently America at large has decided that the children are being abused. When the question was asked what would happen if the caller was never found, the head child services lady merely made a reply that religion does not trump the right of the children.
----------------------------
I fear that lack of proof will not derail this train for a long time. By the time everything gets sorted out, who knows what travesties are visited upon these children. Already, they have been forcefully separated from their parents, the younger, innocent children being asked blatant questions about sexual abuse, and conscientious officials already have plans are in the works to take kids and put them in foster homes, or keep them in big dormitories. I can't help but think that the people in the compound had the right idea: shut themselves out from the insane world outside. The public at large, as defined by what public newspapers report, has decided Texas is leading a crusade against backwards religion. For myself, I've decided that Texas is an example of the depths lawlessness can go in the very heart of law enforcement.
Warning, while this blog has been built in my head over the last two days, I only have one lunch period to put it on virtual paper. Spelling, grammar, and nonsense sentences will be fixed at an unspecified future time. For any reporters reading this, while this first paragraph is here, feel free to correct my grammar when you quote me. ;-)
As I've been reading articles throughout the days, I've bookmarked interesting ones. I tried to sort through which ones to show you, but you'll get the same idea if you go to google news and search on "polygamy" and read back a few days.
--------------------------------
Every since the polygamous sect in Texas was raided, I've been following the developments very closely. Reading dozens of articles a day, watching videos of officials making statements, and trying to piece together what was happening through public sources.
My interest was mild at first. I just happened to be watching the news when the raid started and got hooked. The raid started on the religious compound because of several calls over a two day period from an underage girl stating how she had been beaten and raped by being married to an elderly man who was in the compound.
Police showed up at the compound with a warrant to search for the girl who had made the call, and after a tense hours (the details of what was going on between police and compound authorities in those hours was never in any of my reading) the sect allowed the police to enter the compound. Women and children were removed from the compound and taken to an holding area. After pictures of the holding area (taken by cellphones) were released and the mothers made complaints about the conditions they were being held in, police confiscated all the cellphones because the women might be coordinating their responses with the men in the compound.
The women who did not have children under four years old were forcefully separated from the children, and returned to the ranch or sent to a retreat for battered women ( the individual women could choose which place to go to ). The children were separated by age and sex and sent to places which could care for them until it was decided what to do with them.
Today is the court hearing to decide what to do with the children.
--------------------------------------
The problems with this situation is multitudinous.
Lets start with the original call and search warrant. The search warrant authorizing the search of the compound was based on an anonymous call that wasn't recorded, merely written down, so we have no voice verification possible. The latest news on the caller is that the names and situation reported matches a previous Modus Operandi in Arizona in which the anonymous call was proven to be false accusation - the maker of that anonymous call was never caught. Aside from the apparently high probability that the call is again a false accusation by the same person, we have the second issue of police officers requiring children to be removed from the compound.
The authority the police used to remove over 400 children from the compound was that the children were in immediate danger, but at the time they gave the reason that they needed to remove all the children so the one that called would be safe.... but why remove the children that CLEARLY did not meet the criteria? ( as in the 300 children that were under the age of four. ) This was merely one lie of many told by the police and CPS to those in the compound and the world at large. Two days later, as questions mounted, the police and child services responded that all the children were in immediate danger of sexual abuse and would not be released. The only basis the authorities used was the anonymous call. At this point, I was reading everything I could find on it because the abuse of authority by the police and CPS seemed clear to me, but no voice speaking up for the compound was being reported. As far as I can tell, no abuse had yet been proven in three days of searching. The closest they found was a bed used by the sect in their religious marriages. IMMEDIATELY the claim went out the underage sex occurred in that bed; with no supporting evidence except rumples sheets and a single hair. Phht. My opinion of how this was being handled was about as low as I thought my opinion about anything could go. I was so wrong.
During all this time, the workers for child services were not getting any confessions of child abuse from the children. The explanation? The parents being around are inhibiting the children. i.e. Child abuse is going on, we just have no proof of it. What do they do? They forcefully separate the children over four years old from the mothers and give the mothers two options - back to the sect or a shelter for abused women. The women that returned to the compound were crying and weeping, and some of the women talked to reporters, stating that they were fearful that they would never be allowed to get their children back, because the authorities had proven no wrongdoing and shown no abuse, and still they police took the children.
But what about the women that did not go back to the compound? Six women voluntarily chose to go to the shelter, "because they were afraid", and that was all the papers reported. Just over a day later, all six women requested to be taken back to the compound, because there were not being given their children. When given the choice by the police, the women were told that they would get their children faster if they went to the shelter for battered women. Of course the women were afraid. They were afraid that they police would not be returning their children - and they didn't.
All along the women have been claiming that the police and child services lied to them. The first claim of lying was that the people at the compound were told that being removed from the compound was just for questioning and that they WOULD BE RETURNING. Then the authorities got the women to separate from the children by telling them that they would be taking them to another section to see another group of the children. When the women had been gathered to supposedly be driven to other children, police and child services surrounded the women and gave the the stupid two choices of returning to the compound or going to a shelter for battered women.
Come on! If police really think they are being battered and are forcing the women to take action, why is one of the courses of action given by the police to go back to the compound where the battering is supposedly taking place. If the police really believed battery was going on, why are they putting people back in harms way.
What about the law. Surly the judges involved in the two counties would be watching over this and saying, "Whoa!" The sad truth is that the same judge who gave the search warrant to police based on an unverified anonymous caller, has authority over both counties. And it is this same judge who is showing no respect for "proof of wrongdoing" that is going to determine what happens to the children.
Already, the older boys have been shipped seven hours away to a ranch for for juvenile delinquents. The owner of the ranch didn't know how to handle it because he was being asked to implement the group from the compound ( straight laced and sheltered from bad influences outside the compound wall ) with a group with known criminal (mostly repeat offenders) records.
Ah, I got off on a tangent. Back to the lying by authorities. This has never been refuted. When asked ( and I've seen the live news feeds ) the authorities merely say that right to practice religion does not trump the right of the children. Ummmm. So they are lying. And aren't afraid to admit it.
----------------------------
All the newspapers are being spoon fed their information, and taking all this unquestioningly. Very few papers have even addressed the legality of the situation. Everyone seems to assume that the compound is guilty by default. As far as I can tell, the judge thinks that all the children are at risk because polygamy is inherently abusive of children. Quite simply, No one is standing up for the rule of law and requiring a burden of proof. The main lady that gives the reports to the reporters have said that even they can't prove anything, that the children will still likely be shipped away. One psychologist assisting in the case said "There are things I know about [what happened to the boys] that border on abusive, but whether they can prove it, I am not sure". He "know"s its happening, he just can't prove it? This type of baloney is the whole basis for the current situation. Every body "knows" there is abuse going on, but NOBODY had even come close to publicly saying what that abuse is. It is always attorney/client privilege, can't speak out because he might be the target of revenge, or they won't say anything public until their case is stronger.
If there is proof that ever comes to the forefront, it is useless if the anonymous caller is never identified or if the anonymous caller was ::gasp!:: lying. Any evidence found through the course of this investigation rests on the probable cause of the original warrant. If the caller is not found, the basis for the warrant disappears, and no evidence found afterwards may be used in the court of law. It doesn't matter if nothing is ever proved though. Everyone, newspapers, State District Judge Barbara Walther, child services, police, and apparently America at large has decided that the children are being abused. When the question was asked what would happen if the caller was never found, the head child services lady merely made a reply that religion does not trump the right of the children.
----------------------------
I fear that lack of proof will not derail this train for a long time. By the time everything gets sorted out, who knows what travesties are visited upon these children. Already, they have been forcefully separated from their parents, the younger, innocent children being asked blatant questions about sexual abuse, and conscientious officials already have plans are in the works to take kids and put them in foster homes, or keep them in big dormitories. I can't help but think that the people in the compound had the right idea: shut themselves out from the insane world outside. The public at large, as defined by what public newspapers report, has decided Texas is leading a crusade against backwards religion. For myself, I've decided that Texas is an example of the depths lawlessness can go in the very heart of law enforcement.
Monday, March 31, 2008
A Subtle Joke
I was reading the news this morning and I came across a few articles that I wanted to share with the world, or at least that small, elite portion of the world that visits this site.
First up, a cute article found in the New York Times reporting on a kennel that rescues dogs from pounds and then rents the dogs to people. Apparently, they get a lot of repeat business, but do customers get to rent the same dog, make reservations for their four-footed favorite ahead of time, or do people have to settle for the next available best friend?
Penultimate in my non-existent ordering system is a fascinating article on abstinence movements. I haven't finished the article yet, but as soon as lunch comes around, I'm looking forward to finishing it. So far, the author of the article seems to be treating the topic in an open-minded way. Too many of articles in newspapers I read on this topic ( which includes articles on the hookup culture, college as way to be true to yourself, being gay is all right, religion in college is silly, unrequited love causes gun spree ) are incredulous or insulting. The idea of tolerance today never applies to those who are intolerant because they believe in an absolute right and wrong.
I will end with an end-of-times article. Certain scientists (most are remaining anonymous!) are worried that the new Hadron Reactor will end the world by creating a small black whole. Even if it does only have the mass of an atom, it may swallow the world eventually an atom at a time or the black whole may dissipate as described by Hawking. Who knows, perhaps no rips in the fabric of space time will be created at all.
First up, a cute article found in the New York Times reporting on a kennel that rescues dogs from pounds and then rents the dogs to people. Apparently, they get a lot of repeat business, but do customers get to rent the same dog, make reservations for their four-footed favorite ahead of time, or do people have to settle for the next available best friend?
Penultimate in my non-existent ordering system is a fascinating article on abstinence movements. I haven't finished the article yet, but as soon as lunch comes around, I'm looking forward to finishing it. So far, the author of the article seems to be treating the topic in an open-minded way. Too many of articles in newspapers I read on this topic ( which includes articles on the hookup culture, college as way to be true to yourself, being gay is all right, religion in college is silly, unrequited love causes gun spree ) are incredulous or insulting. The idea of tolerance today never applies to those who are intolerant because they believe in an absolute right and wrong.
I will end with an end-of-times article. Certain scientists (most are remaining anonymous!) are worried that the new Hadron Reactor will end the world by creating a small black whole. Even if it does only have the mass of an atom, it may swallow the world eventually an atom at a time or the black whole may dissipate as described by Hawking. Who knows, perhaps no rips in the fabric of space time will be created at all.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Another Picture Post
My sister Margaret came down for a 3 day visit. We saw all sorts of things while she was down here. We went to Disney World and rode rides and bought pictures of us screaming, drove to Universal Studio and watched 3-D movies and sat through horror makeup demonstrations and rode more rides, and spent the last day at Blue Springs riding a canoe looking at Manatees then snorkelled in the spring and dodged big fish. :-)
Whew. Picture time! Check back periodically for pictures. I just spent the last hour opening up 27, 4 meg pictures at once. Now that my computer's memory usage has come down from 3 gigs, I need a break. :-)
Whew. Picture time! Check back periodically for pictures. I just spent the last hour opening up 27, 4 meg pictures at once. Now that my computer's memory usage has come down from 3 gigs, I need a break. :-)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Three More Days
My sister is coming to visit! My sister is coming to visit! Whoo hoo! I thought it was an important enough of an announcement to pull get back into blogging. Disney World, Universal Studios, and a day swimming; that is our tentative schedule for the weekend.
I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting them for the rest of the family. Another exciting thing about this weekend is my first ( and M's first ) experience with couchsurfing. I'll also let you know how that goes.
Well, this wasn't a long post. More like putting the toe in the water to see if it's warm, but I'll be back with more!
I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting them for the rest of the family. Another exciting thing about this weekend is my first ( and M's first ) experience with couchsurfing. I'll also let you know how that goes.
Well, this wasn't a long post. More like putting the toe in the water to see if it's warm, but I'll be back with more!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Wonderful Parental Visit
One lovely weekend has passed. Mom and Dad came down for a visit/vacation, and we went to the Cocoa Pier, SeaWorld and Universal Studios. I found the weekend quite relaxing, even if I did have to get up at 5:45 to drive Mom and Dad to the airport. ;-)
Mom had come down previously and seen some of the sites already, and since I've seen most of them also, Mom and I would wait in the car for parts of the trip and we would visit together while dad got to see the attractions. I got caught up on most of the happenings of friends, family, and debate. This doesn't mean I didn't talk to Dad though! This is just the slow time of the year for news from. He would help mom catch me up on life in PA and tell me a bit about his current projects, show me some interesting articles he found and other news.
I've come to a few decisions reguarding work and plans for the summer, but I'll save the for a future post. Right now, I feel like some Subway!
A single frame is hard to capture what is going on, but the swimmer is rotating as the dophins swim around each other.
A very impressive sight. Dad and I were in the soak zone for the Shamu show, but we managed to miss every big splash, sometimes by a foot or so. :-)
A close up of the killer whale. I'm pretty sure when I came to Sea World during the summer that the whale they call Shamu would also get up on that pearch for viewing, but I may be wrong. Shamu outweighs this killer whale by quite a bit. You can a large wave advance across the surface as Shamu comes through the gate. The other killer whales only produces ripples as they come through the gate.
The trainer goes all the way from the back of the pool to the front ledge on the nose of the killer whale. Just how would you go about training an animal to do that?
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Picture Post
I went to an Aikido seminar this weekend, and here are some pictures. I'm also including car pictures since the last pictures I showed were pictures at night.
(edit: due to popular demand, I'm labeling these pictures)
My new car. A 98 Saturn SL1. It has a stick shift; it does not have power windows, power locks, or power steering. Quite a simple, hopefully reliable car. Dee and Herman at the Aikido seminar I went to at Cocoa beach.
Herman is a student at the same dojo as myself. Herman has been doing Aikido for over two years now.
Hmmm. I'm looking a little unfit in this snapshop. Herman and myself before we left for the day. The weapons section of the seminar is about to start, but we decided not to stay around for it.
(edit: due to popular demand, I'm labeling these pictures)
My new car. A 98 Saturn SL1. It has a stick shift; it does not have power windows, power locks, or power steering. Quite a simple, hopefully reliable car. Dee and Herman at the Aikido seminar I went to at Cocoa beach.
Herman is a student at the same dojo as myself. Herman has been doing Aikido for over two years now.
Hmmm. I'm looking a little unfit in this snapshop. Herman and myself before we left for the day. The weapons section of the seminar is about to start, but we decided not to stay around for it.
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