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)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Favorite Links
I thought I should start warming up with something easy, so today I'm going to share a few of the links that I tend to listen to a lot. All the songs mean something to me (OK, the one with the baby is just funny), and I know you'll listen to them and think... what is so special about this? Good luck figuring it out. :-)
I ran across this one a year or so ago. The music is a bit hard to understand.
http://clairvoyance.game-server.cc/nc_catastrophe.html
For some reason, this song makes me want to cry and work out at the same time. I wish I could remember why this song was so special to me.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8
This one was also on my brother's wedding CD if I remember right. Friends and family would give a few favorites for inclusion on a CD, and this is the one I put forward.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=322035153655719879
This one is just very exciting. I've watched all previous 154 episodes, but everyone else hasn't, so a lot of what's going on in the credits won't really be noticeable. The only one of these top four which doesn't get me teary eyed.
http://www.stage6.com/Bleach-Fan/video/1624091/Bleach-Ending-3-11th-Division
fluff:
I enjoy watching breakdancing, and this guy does a magnificent impressions of breakdancing with just his hands.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/967401/finger_break_dance_very_cool/
Wrong... and cute. The part with dog is fantastic.
http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/
I ran across this one a year or so ago. The music is a bit hard to understand.
http://clairvoyance.game-server.cc/nc_catastrophe.html
For some reason, this song makes me want to cry and work out at the same time. I wish I could remember why this song was so special to me.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8
This one was also on my brother's wedding CD if I remember right. Friends and family would give a few favorites for inclusion on a CD, and this is the one I put forward.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=322035153655719879
This one is just very exciting. I've watched all previous 154 episodes, but everyone else hasn't, so a lot of what's going on in the credits won't really be noticeable. The only one of these top four which doesn't get me teary eyed.
http://www.stage6.com/Bleach-Fan/video/1624091/Bleach-Ending-3-11th-Division
fluff:
I enjoy watching breakdancing, and this guy does a magnificent impressions of breakdancing with just his hands.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/967401/finger_break_dance_very_cool/
Wrong... and cute. The part with dog is fantastic.
http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/
Thursday, November 29, 2007
I Bought A New Car
Yes it's true! I have a new car!
I went back to the dealer this afternoon, test drove a car or two, looked at a few more, and decided to buy the saturn after all. I drove my boss's truck over there originally, so I had to leave it at the dealer until my boss could come with me to get the car. On the way we picked up a repair manual and a front right motor mount. It looks like my weekend just got filled! I drove the Saturn around town after I picked up the motor mount and I must say that it handles rather well. I'm satisfied with it.
I went back to the dealer this afternoon, test drove a car or two, looked at a few more, and decided to buy the saturn after all. I drove my boss's truck over there originally, so I had to leave it at the dealer until my boss could come with me to get the car. On the way we picked up a repair manual and a front right motor mount. It looks like my weekend just got filled! I drove the Saturn around town after I picked up the motor mount and I must say that it handles rather well. I'm satisfied with it.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Thanksgiving Pictures
No new car today. I tried out several cars yesterday, and settled on a bare bones 1998 Saturn LS1 with 124K miles logged. It has no power steering and is a 5 speed manual. It isn't a great deal, but it is reliable, simple, and not very expensive; all of which are pluses... at least until I find a Spyder. :-)
Well, I had a WONDERFUL visit home during Thanksgiving. 5 days was far too short. And as a treat to y'all, I have some pictures! Click on them to see bigger versions.
Well, I had a WONDERFUL visit home during Thanksgiving. 5 days was far too short. And as a treat to y'all, I have some pictures! Click on them to see bigger versions.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Three Weeks in Three Minutes
I've been late, and since I just wrote a brief e-mail detailing what I've done the last three weeks, I though I would co-opt part of the e-mail and at least get something up so that my Mom (she is wonderful!) would have something to read when she checks in the morning.
Let's see, giving a brief mention to what I do while down here.
Let's see, giving a brief mention to what I do while down here.
- Three weeks ago I drove 5 1/2 hours to visit my Uncle, Aunt, and two friends from Switzerland.That had a NICE room rented for the week (I only stayed two days) and it was nice visiting with family and friends. I had some loverly conversations with Aunt Angie and the hottub was wonderful. I actually went to sleep in it briefly.
- The week after I went scuba diving and found 54 sharks teeth, lots of shells, and spent way too much money buying junk. Having little fish nibble on my ears was an experience.
- Last week I went snorkelling to try out a shorty wetsuit. It was boring, dark, and raining so I quit early.
- Now? I'm taking a break this weekend and recovering from Aikido. I bruised my thumb muscles Saturday morning from giving too many wristlocks. Wristlocks are tricky... I really have to grab and sqeeze and I bruised my thumb muscles from too much pressure. Being gentle is NOT an option or our Sensei will spot it and demonstrate a proper wristlock to the failing individual. No one wants that. :-)
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Picture Intensive Day
Same old-same old for this week. I was tempted to put up pictures of my Aikido bruises, but my mom worries enough. :-)
I took my camera down while snorkelling this time, and I managed to take some better pictures this time. Some trivia: in aquatic lingo, a cavern system is a cave system that contains native life and a cave system is/are cave/caves that doesn't contain life. Blue springs is both a cavern and cave system. It's considered a cavern to at least 90 feet down, past that... the spring probably starts to turn into a cave system. So without much more delay, picture time!
The water was the best I've seen. Very few people were around to disturb the silt and sand.
The sign at 60 feet.
Underwater pictures with snorkels NEVER turn out right. This was a bear to position properly. By swimming down then facing up, I go too high for a nice picture. After 10 seconds of twisting, I just give up, swim down with my back down, hit the sign, allow time for floating up, and snap! Oooo. Red chest hair.
There were two other freedivers diving, and this is a picture of the wife, about 25 feet down - I'm a little lower. I kept waiting for someone to come down so I could try an upwards picture and I think it turned out well. The husband was a fantastic diver, but I was never down at the same time... actually I was. The husband dove down first, the 15 seconds later I dove down, and headed straight down to the "death sign" to take a picture of another diver that deep (the water is very clear, but without ambient light, it's hard to see )... and... he's nowhere around. He took a light with him, but I didn't see anything farther down. I'm guessing he was at a minimum of 90 feet if I couldn't see his light. On the way up, I looked around in the crannies, but he wasn't to be found. By the time he came up, I would have had time to swim down and up another time.
Random fish shots. Notice the teeth of the fish in the last picture. Margaret remembers those fish. >:-) That particular fish was just under 3 feet... average. I saw a really big one that barely veered out of the way as I came through. I was within 6 inches of him as I glided by the fish. I guess he was pretty comfortable with his weight.
Algae art in the cavern. The first picture has "JESSE", a tic-tac-toe game, and a figure of a spiky haired person.
And the geo-cache picture I said I would get posted for everyone. I dropped of the nail trimmers and picked up the baseball key chain. The paper on the left is 10 sheet stapled together with signatures filling up the first page. An officer left her card there. She came earlier that day and beat me to the geo-cache.
I took my camera down while snorkelling this time, and I managed to take some better pictures this time. Some trivia: in aquatic lingo, a cavern system is a cave system that contains native life and a cave system is/are cave/caves that doesn't contain life. Blue springs is both a cavern and cave system. It's considered a cavern to at least 90 feet down, past that... the spring probably starts to turn into a cave system. So without much more delay, picture time!
The water was the best I've seen. Very few people were around to disturb the silt and sand.
The sign at 60 feet.
Underwater pictures with snorkels NEVER turn out right. This was a bear to position properly. By swimming down then facing up, I go too high for a nice picture. After 10 seconds of twisting, I just give up, swim down with my back down, hit the sign, allow time for floating up, and snap! Oooo. Red chest hair.
There were two other freedivers diving, and this is a picture of the wife, about 25 feet down - I'm a little lower. I kept waiting for someone to come down so I could try an upwards picture and I think it turned out well. The husband was a fantastic diver, but I was never down at the same time... actually I was. The husband dove down first, the 15 seconds later I dove down, and headed straight down to the "death sign" to take a picture of another diver that deep (the water is very clear, but without ambient light, it's hard to see )... and... he's nowhere around. He took a light with him, but I didn't see anything farther down. I'm guessing he was at a minimum of 90 feet if I couldn't see his light. On the way up, I looked around in the crannies, but he wasn't to be found. By the time he came up, I would have had time to swim down and up another time.
Random fish shots. Notice the teeth of the fish in the last picture. Margaret remembers those fish. >:-) That particular fish was just under 3 feet... average. I saw a really big one that barely veered out of the way as I came through. I was within 6 inches of him as I glided by the fish. I guess he was pretty comfortable with his weight.
Algae art in the cavern. The first picture has "JESSE", a tic-tac-toe game, and a figure of a spiky haired person.
And the geo-cache picture I said I would get posted for everyone. I dropped of the nail trimmers and picked up the baseball key chain. The paper on the left is 10 sheet stapled together with signatures filling up the first page. An officer left her card there. She came earlier that day and beat me to the geo-cache.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Titleless (not hyphenated)
I am so close to tossing XP and picking up another operating system. I would have done it last week, but I can't get my wireless card to be recognized, so I would be off the internet, which is just not acceptable!
Nobody wants to hear about my computer frustrations though, so lets go onto a more pleasant subject. The pain from the 5k is at manageable levels at this point. I haven't been into the gym since last week, but tomorrow I've planned a nice long jump rope session.
There isn't much more news to give. The only other activity I've done this week is give blood to a local blood bank down here. In the three hours they were stationed in Tavares, I was there only donor. :-( At least they go one donation though!
I'll try to put some pictures of my geo-cache I found in my next post.
Nobody wants to hear about my computer frustrations though, so lets go onto a more pleasant subject. The pain from the 5k is at manageable levels at this point. I haven't been into the gym since last week, but tomorrow I've planned a nice long jump rope session.
There isn't much more news to give. The only other activity I've done this week is give blood to a local blood bank down here. In the three hours they were stationed in Tavares, I was there only donor. :-( At least they go one donation though!
I'll try to put some pictures of my geo-cache I found in my next post.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Quickie News
Time for an update
- My computer is still not on the internet, so I need to blog/check e-mail at work
- I went out Firday night to downtown orlando with some friends. It was a lot of fun, so I hope R&D enjoyed themselves too. The pizza was nice (but the crust was a bit thin for my taste.
- After having 2.2 drinks Friday night and getting home after 1:00 AM Saturday morning, I proceeded to get up at 6:30 and run a 5K the next morning.... then 3 tought hours of tennis... and the hardest Aikido session workout I've had since I started. It was a monumental struggle just to stand up to exit the car.
- I'm off geocaching. There are two new ones nearby that were posted recently, so I'm going to find them!
Friday, August 31, 2007
YMCA
I went to the YMCA again today. I found that jump roping in air conditioning is vastly easier than jumping rope outside in the heat and humidity. Today I brought my jump rope, but all the areas were full. Apparently, something called 'Boot Camp' was going on and all the auditoriums were in use. I just worked my legs and came home. I'll try again tomorrow.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
SeaWorld Again
Yes, I went to Sea World today - and I only stayed four hours. It was just too hot today. But don't worry, half way home, I stopped at a light and a breeze came sideways through the open windows and it was cool (as in cold). I had been sweating all day, and finally, a bit of fresh air. Five minutes later, when I passed a bank with a clock and temperature guage, I realized I had almost acclimated to the summer temperature. That refreshing breeze, the cool air as I drove... 85 degrees out. Must have been 98 while I was walking around, and a 85 degree breeze was wonderful!
Tomorrow is Blue Springs!
Tomorrow is Blue Springs!
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