By Alan Burkhart
The upcoming elections are problematic at best. How does one vote with any confidence when both major parties are up to their eyeballs in scandal? How does one place any faith in the Republicans when they've fallen flat on their faces on so many major issues? How can we take the Democrats seriously when they no longer even bother to cover up their lies and political game-playing?
One thing I've learned over the years is that when one party makes an accusation against the other, that accusation is likely to be true of both parties. Dirty politics has reached new lows in recent years. Candidates are far more likely to seek election based upon how badly they can scandalize the opposition, rather than trying to honestly earn our votes. And there are plenty of scandals to go around.
The list reads like a Who's Who of weak ethics, sexual perversion and naked avarice. William Jefferson, Mark Foley, Harry Reid, Tom Delay, Nancy Pelosi, Bob Ney and others continue to hog the headlines in an orgy of pure old trashy behavior. Each party shamelessly points its greasy fingers at the other and shouts "corruption" at the top of its lungs. Neither party has the character to look inward and clean up its own mess.
All this might be easier to take if our government was being run with some semblance of efficiency. Unfortunately, it seems they're all too busy slinging mud and rhetoric to accomplish anything worthwhile.
The Democrat Party hasn't had a fresh idea in fifty years. The Republicans have actually presented a few good ideas, but lack the spine to act upon them. All in all, our government has become an international embarrassment to the people it supposedly serves. Beneath the dome of the capitol, where once dwelt hard-working men and women who had the nation's interests at heart, now lurks a pack of power-hungry, money-grubbing thieves and liars. Their votes are for sale to the highest bidder, and no average citizen can hope to outbid the power players who lobby congress for dozens of special interest groups. Regardless of which side of the ideological fence you call home, you have little true representation in Washington.
At the White House, a once-popular President muddles along, telling us to Stay The Course while operatives of radical Islam stream across our border with Mexico. George W. Bush has no intentions of securing our border, in spite of the fact that the vast majority of Americans have screamed loudly for proper enforcement. America's sovereignty is for sale, and more and more American jobs will soon be on the auction block as the Bush Administration prepares to bypass our ports and remove the last barriers restraining the flood of cheap products from China and Mexico. Bush is even planning a gigantic foreign-operated superhighway to accommodate the invasion.
So... who do we vote for in November?
As bad as they are, the GOP still seems to be the best choice. While the current crop of Republicans are but a faded shadow of the 1994 Conservative Revolution, the party's platform still comes closer to American values than that of the Democrats. The Deaniac Democrats have drifted so far leftward that they bear no resemblance to the party that stood for the working man back in the 40's and 50's. They're little more than a gang of socialists, and America is not a socialist nation. The Democrat Party is undeserving of our votes.
The Repubs however, are only marginally better. Both parties are rife with corruption. Both pay lip service to border security while seeking to pave the way for 15 million illegal immigrants to gain a legal foothold on our soil. Both play the War on Terror and our economy to their own political advantage.
The best that any commonsense American can hope for at this point is that the Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, and elect new leadership to lift them out of their doldrums and put America back on track. Whether it's a Republican flirting with young boys, or a Democrat with $90,000 in his freezer, our government absolutely must clean the skeletons out of its closets and get back to the job of running this country.
As Americans, we have the right and the obligation to expect better of our elected leaders.
Related Reading:
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Flying Low
By Alan Burkhart
Being a long-haul trucker, I have worlds of time during the week to ponder upon the subject of my next column while riding along the highway. Sometimes the inspiration comes from talk radio. Others times it’ll be a local newspaper in a town a thousand miles from my home. And every once in a while, my ramblings spring from something that happens to me on the road. Today is one of those days.
I’m well-acquainted with the fact that trucking is a risky way to make a living. America’s highways offer a multitude of ways to die. Combine that fact with the utter craziness that permeates our culture these days and it’s no wonder that truck driving made askmen.com’s list of “Deadliest Jobs.”
Thursday, October 12th…
I was westbound on US 6 in Southern Nevada (near Tonopah) - a desolate region that would make Mars look populous by comparison. Mind-numbing stretches of flat, empty highway occasionally interrupted by a climb over a modest mountain. Hundreds of miles of nothing but barren desert. You can go an hour at a time without meeting another vehicle.
So I'm cruising along, and I'm approaching a short but very steep (I'd guess an 8 or 10 percent grade) hill. Being this steep, it is of course a blind hill. I had no clue what was on the other side. I was approaching it at a pretty good clip, looking forward to the brief rush of falling off the other side. Sort of like an 18-wheel roller coaster. I had the stereo blasting the Blues, my shoes kicked off, and my aviator sunshades on. Smiling.
All was right in my world... until I topped the hill and found myself nose-to-propeller with a small airplane. A Cessna if I’m not mistaken.
Everything happened in a flash. The pilot veered up and starboard, while I, being the cool and collected professional, screamed the “S-word” several times in rapid succession while jamming on the brakes (well, what would you have done?).
There was a sickening nanosecond in which I was absolutely certain the wing tip would clip the top of my cab. The plane cleared my truck and trailer by no more than a few feet, and went over the hill and out of sight. It appeared to be maintaining a low altitude.
I was too dumbfounded to do anything but just plod ahead with a death grip on the steering wheel for several miles. When coherence returned, I speculated that perhaps the pilot had been attempting an emergency landing. I doubt he’d have been making a normal landing on approach to a blind hill. I've seen private pilots use deserted highways near their homes for runways, and it's legal to do so in some areas. But under normal conditions, would one not circle first and look for traffic?
While chatting with my brother that night on the phone, he suggested that maybe the guy had spotted me from above and was simply buzzing me out of malicious mischief. I suppose that's also a possibility. Either way, I am grateful to be alive. That was definitely not something I’d care to experience again.
Okay, so I had a bad incident that lasted all of two or three seconds. What’s my point?
First, had either I or the pilot of that plane been in the middle of a sneeze, both of us would likely be dead right now. His quick reaction and my jamming upon the brake pedal gave us just enough room to miss each other. We’ve been blessed with the chance to learn from our mistakes.
My mistake? First, I was flying low (excuse the pun) while climbing a blind hill. While it’s reasonable to assume that one will not meet an airplane on a two-lane highway, it was grossly irresponsible on my part to have been rolling that fast when I couldn’t see what lay ahead, even if only for a couple of seconds. I was bored, just knew I had the road all to myself, and had a lapse of judgment. What if there had been a stalled vehicle in the road just over the hill? What if that airplane had been just a few feet closer?
Life is precious. Perhaps we all need an occasional reminder of just how fragile and easily lost our lives truly are. I could have been decapitated by the wing, or ground into sausage by the propeller. As it turned out, both the pilot and I ended up with a story to tell, and I’ve been reminded that even after 29 years of trucking, any day could be “my day.”
So the next time you think about doing something marginally foolish for entertainment’s sake, please do ask yourself if the rush is worth risking your life for. I’m betting the answer will be a resounding “No.”
Related Reading:
Being a long-haul trucker, I have worlds of time during the week to ponder upon the subject of my next column while riding along the highway. Sometimes the inspiration comes from talk radio. Others times it’ll be a local newspaper in a town a thousand miles from my home. And every once in a while, my ramblings spring from something that happens to me on the road. Today is one of those days.I’m well-acquainted with the fact that trucking is a risky way to make a living. America’s highways offer a multitude of ways to die. Combine that fact with the utter craziness that permeates our culture these days and it’s no wonder that truck driving made askmen.com’s list of “Deadliest Jobs.”
Thursday, October 12th…
I was westbound on US 6 in Southern Nevada (near Tonopah) - a desolate region that would make Mars look populous by comparison. Mind-numbing stretches of flat, empty highway occasionally interrupted by a climb over a modest mountain. Hundreds of miles of nothing but barren desert. You can go an hour at a time without meeting another vehicle.So I'm cruising along, and I'm approaching a short but very steep (I'd guess an 8 or 10 percent grade) hill. Being this steep, it is of course a blind hill. I had no clue what was on the other side. I was approaching it at a pretty good clip, looking forward to the brief rush of falling off the other side. Sort of like an 18-wheel roller coaster. I had the stereo blasting the Blues, my shoes kicked off, and my aviator sunshades on. Smiling.
All was right in my world... until I topped the hill and found myself nose-to-propeller with a small airplane. A Cessna if I’m not mistaken.
Everything happened in a flash. The pilot veered up and starboard, while I, being the cool and collected professional, screamed the “S-word” several times in rapid succession while jamming on the brakes (well, what would you have done?).
There was a sickening nanosecond in which I was absolutely certain the wing tip would clip the top of my cab. The plane cleared my truck and trailer by no more than a few feet, and went over the hill and out of sight. It appeared to be maintaining a low altitude.
I was too dumbfounded to do anything but just plod ahead with a death grip on the steering wheel for several miles. When coherence returned, I speculated that perhaps the pilot had been attempting an emergency landing. I doubt he’d have been making a normal landing on approach to a blind hill. I've seen private pilots use deserted highways near their homes for runways, and it's legal to do so in some areas. But under normal conditions, would one not circle first and look for traffic?
While chatting with my brother that night on the phone, he suggested that maybe the guy had spotted me from above and was simply buzzing me out of malicious mischief. I suppose that's also a possibility. Either way, I am grateful to be alive. That was definitely not something I’d care to experience again.
Okay, so I had a bad incident that lasted all of two or three seconds. What’s my point?
First, had either I or the pilot of that plane been in the middle of a sneeze, both of us would likely be dead right now. His quick reaction and my jamming upon the brake pedal gave us just enough room to miss each other. We’ve been blessed with the chance to learn from our mistakes.
My mistake? First, I was flying low (excuse the pun) while climbing a blind hill. While it’s reasonable to assume that one will not meet an airplane on a two-lane highway, it was grossly irresponsible on my part to have been rolling that fast when I couldn’t see what lay ahead, even if only for a couple of seconds. I was bored, just knew I had the road all to myself, and had a lapse of judgment. What if there had been a stalled vehicle in the road just over the hill? What if that airplane had been just a few feet closer?
Life is precious. Perhaps we all need an occasional reminder of just how fragile and easily lost our lives truly are. I could have been decapitated by the wing, or ground into sausage by the propeller. As it turned out, both the pilot and I ended up with a story to tell, and I’ve been reminded that even after 29 years of trucking, any day could be “my day.”
So the next time you think about doing something marginally foolish for entertainment’s sake, please do ask yourself if the rush is worth risking your life for. I’m betting the answer will be a resounding “No.”
Related Reading:
Friday, October 13, 2006
Flying Low
By Alan Burkhart
Being a long-haul trucker, I have worlds of time during the week to ponder upon the subject of my next column while riding along the highway. Sometimes the inspiration comes from talk radio. Others times it’ll be a local newspaper in a town a thousand miles from my home. And every once in a while, my ramblings spring from something that happens to me on the road. Today is one of those days.
I’m well-acquainted with the fact that trucking is a risky way to make a living. America’s highways offer a multitude of ways to die. Combine that fact with the utter craziness that permeates our culture these days and it’s no wonder that truck driving made askmen.com’s list of “Deadliest Jobs.”
Thursday, October 12th…
I was westbound on US 6 in Southern Nevada (near Tonopah) - a desolate region that would make Mars look populous by comparison. Mind-numbing stretches of flat, empty highway occasionally interrupted by a climb over a modest mountain. Hundreds of miles of nothing but barren desert. You can go an hour at a time without meeting another vehicle.
So I'm cruising along, and I'm approaching a short but very steep (I'd guess an 8 or 10 percent grade) hill. Being this steep, it is of course a blind hill. I had no clue what was on the other side. I was approaching it at a pretty good clip, looking forward to the brief rush of falling off the other side. Sort of like an 18-wheel roller coaster. I had the stereo blasting the Blues, my shoes kicked off, and my aviator sunshades on. Smiling.
All was right in my world... until I topped the hill and found myself nose-to-propeller with a small airplane. A Cessna if I’m not mistaken.
Everything happened in a flash. The pilot veered up and starboard, while I, being the cool and collected professional, screamed the “S-word” several times in rapid succession while jamming on the brakes (well, what would you have done?).
There was a sickening nanosecond in which I was absolutely certain the wing tip would clip the top of my cab. The plane cleared my truck and trailer by no more than a few feet, and went over the hill and out of sight. It appeared to be maintaining a low altitude.
I was too dumbfounded to do anything but just plod ahead with a death grip on the steering wheel for several miles. When coherence returned, I speculated that perhaps the pilot had been attempting an emergency landing. I doubt he’d have been making a normal landing on approach to a blind hill. I've seen private pilots use deserted highways near their homes for runways, and it's legal to do so in some areas. But under normal conditions, would one not circle first and look for traffic?
While chatting with my brother that night on the phone, he suggested that maybe the guy had spotted me from above and was simply buzzing me out of malicious mischief. I suppose that's also a possibility. Either way, I am grateful to be alive. That was definitely not something I’d care to experience again.
Okay, so I had a bad incident that lasted all of two or three seconds. What’s my point?
First, had either I or the pilot of that plane been in the middle of a sneeze, both of us would likely be dead right now. His quick reaction and my jamming upon the brake pedal gave us just enough room to miss each other. We’ve been blessed with the chance to learn from our mistakes.
My mistake? First, I was flying low (excuse the pun) while climbing a blind hill. While it’s reasonable to assume that one will not meet an airplane on a two-lane highway, it was grossly irresponsible on my part to have been rolling that fast when I couldn’t see what lay ahead, even if only for a couple of seconds. I was bored, just knew I had the road all to myself, and had a lapse of judgment. What if there had been a stalled vehicle in the road just over the hill? What if that airplane had been just a few feet closer?
Life is precious. Perhaps we all need an occasional reminder of just how fragile and easily lost our lives truly are. I could have been decapitated by the wing, or ground into sausage by the propeller. As it turned out, both the pilot and I ended up with a story to tell, and I’ve been reminded that even after 29 years of trucking, any day could be “my day.”
So the next time you think about doing something marginally foolish for entertainment’s sake, please do ask yourself if the rush is worth risking your life for. I’m betting the answer will be a resounding “No.”
Related Reading:
Being a long-haul trucker, I have worlds of time during the week to ponder upon the subject of my next column while riding along the highway. Sometimes the inspiration comes from talk radio. Others times it’ll be a local newspaper in a town a thousand miles from my home. And every once in a while, my ramblings spring from something that happens to me on the road. Today is one of those days. I’m well-acquainted with the fact that trucking is a risky way to make a living. America’s highways offer a multitude of ways to die. Combine that fact with the utter craziness that permeates our culture these days and it’s no wonder that truck driving made askmen.com’s list of “Deadliest Jobs.”
Thursday, October 12th…
I was westbound on US 6 in Southern Nevada (near Tonopah) - a desolate region that would make Mars look populous by comparison. Mind-numbing stretches of flat, empty highway occasionally interrupted by a climb over a modest mountain. Hundreds of miles of nothing but barren desert. You can go an hour at a time without meeting another vehicle. So I'm cruising along, and I'm approaching a short but very steep (I'd guess an 8 or 10 percent grade) hill. Being this steep, it is of course a blind hill. I had no clue what was on the other side. I was approaching it at a pretty good clip, looking forward to the brief rush of falling off the other side. Sort of like an 18-wheel roller coaster. I had the stereo blasting the Blues, my shoes kicked off, and my aviator sunshades on. Smiling.
All was right in my world... until I topped the hill and found myself nose-to-propeller with a small airplane. A Cessna if I’m not mistaken.
Everything happened in a flash. The pilot veered up and starboard, while I, being the cool and collected professional, screamed the “S-word” several times in rapid succession while jamming on the brakes (well, what would you have done?).
There was a sickening nanosecond in which I was absolutely certain the wing tip would clip the top of my cab. The plane cleared my truck and trailer by no more than a few feet, and went over the hill and out of sight. It appeared to be maintaining a low altitude.
I was too dumbfounded to do anything but just plod ahead with a death grip on the steering wheel for several miles. When coherence returned, I speculated that perhaps the pilot had been attempting an emergency landing. I doubt he’d have been making a normal landing on approach to a blind hill. I've seen private pilots use deserted highways near their homes for runways, and it's legal to do so in some areas. But under normal conditions, would one not circle first and look for traffic?
While chatting with my brother that night on the phone, he suggested that maybe the guy had spotted me from above and was simply buzzing me out of malicious mischief. I suppose that's also a possibility. Either way, I am grateful to be alive. That was definitely not something I’d care to experience again.
Okay, so I had a bad incident that lasted all of two or three seconds. What’s my point?
First, had either I or the pilot of that plane been in the middle of a sneeze, both of us would likely be dead right now. His quick reaction and my jamming upon the brake pedal gave us just enough room to miss each other. We’ve been blessed with the chance to learn from our mistakes.
My mistake? First, I was flying low (excuse the pun) while climbing a blind hill. While it’s reasonable to assume that one will not meet an airplane on a two-lane highway, it was grossly irresponsible on my part to have been rolling that fast when I couldn’t see what lay ahead, even if only for a couple of seconds. I was bored, just knew I had the road all to myself, and had a lapse of judgment. What if there had been a stalled vehicle in the road just over the hill? What if that airplane had been just a few feet closer?
Life is precious. Perhaps we all need an occasional reminder of just how fragile and easily lost our lives truly are. I could have been decapitated by the wing, or ground into sausage by the propeller. As it turned out, both the pilot and I ended up with a story to tell, and I’ve been reminded that even after 29 years of trucking, any day could be “my day.”
So the next time you think about doing something marginally foolish for entertainment’s sake, please do ask yourself if the rush is worth risking your life for. I’m betting the answer will be a resounding “No.”
Related Reading:
Friday, October 06, 2006
No Safety for the Children
By Alan Burkhart
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen a horrifying upswing in the incidence of crimes committed against (and by) children. School shootings, sexual assaults and abductions have created an atmosphere that has some Americans wondering if there is any safe place for our children. Frankly, I don’t believe a safe haven exists at present. Not even in the home.
Let’s take a brief look at recent events…
Monday, October 2, 2006
Charles Roberts walked into a one-room Amish school house near Lancaster, PA. Roberts released everyone except 10 young girls. The girls were restrained with “disposable handcuffs.” Roberts also was armed and had 600 rounds of ammunition. Law enforcement officials believe he’d been planning the attack for a week.
By the time police broke into the school, five children were fatally wounded. Roberts’ had taken his own life shortly after shooting the girls. According to suicide notes Roberts had left at home, he was filled with anger and despair over the death of his newborn daughter. Roberts also claimed in the notes that he was haunted by dreams of earlier molestation of two relatives.
Friday, September 29, 2006
In Cazenovia, WI, fifteen year-old Eric Hainstock broke into his parents’ gun cabinet and stole two firearms. Shortly thereafter the young man gunned down his school principal, who died a few hours later from his wounds.
Hainstock’s motive? Principal John Klang had issued him a verbal warning for having tobacco on campus. Hainstock will be tried as an adult, and could get life in prison for his crimes. True, Hainstock was less a victim than a perpetrator in this incident, but that does not alter the fact that yet another young life has been destroyed.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Fifty-three year-old Duane Morrison calmly walked into Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, CO and locked himself in a classroom with six girls. It is believed he sexually assaulted all of them. When police stormed the building, he fatally shot 16 year-old Emily Keyes and then killed himself.
School shootings aren’t the only source of danger for our children. Children are subjected to all manner of perverse behavior from demented adults, and sometimes even from other youngsters.
In early September of this year, an HIV-positive girl, 11 years old, was coerced into having sex with as many as 20 people in Milwaukee, WI. Police have rounded up most of the suspects and the girl is recovering. She was being “coached” by a 16 year-old girl. One 40 year-old man involved said she looked “grown up.”
In mid-July, 20 year-old Craig Roger Gregerson abducted 5 year-old Destiny Norton, smothered her, and sexually abused her after her death. He then concealed her body for several days in his basement, soaking her body with cleaning fluids to cover the odor as she decayed. Destiny lived with her parents next door to Gregerson, who even went as far as to participate in a neighborhood candlelight vigil held for Destiny before her body was discovered.
And how’s about good old Congressman Mark Foley, who helped pen the very legislation that could put him behind bars? C’mon Mark… sending tawdry e-mails and IM’s to a 16 year-old congressional page? Bad idea.
And let us not forget Dean Schwartzmiller, who may be the “Dean” of all child molesters. Schawrtzmiller was recently convicted on 11 counts of child molestation.
It is alleged that Schwartzmiller has molested 100 young boys in three countries since 1969. Consider this bit from Fox…
What drives people to desire sex with, and violence against, children?
The causes of pedophilia depend upon who you ask about it. Some will lay the blame on hormone imbalances. Others will claim that an offender was molested as a child. Mark Foley is now making this claim. Some say it’s genetic. And still others claim it’s the lack of Godliness in our culture.
Violent behavior is generally rooted in one’s upbringing and environment. One who grows up with violence is far more likely to engage in violence as an adult. William Walsh, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the Health Research Institute in Illinois have theorized that low levels of zinc and copper in the blood can also be triggers for violent behavior in males. Outside influences can play a significant role both in pedophilia and violence against children. The all too-common (and dangerous) mix of sex and violence in movies and video games is certainly a factor.
A wide range of therapy is being used to treat pedophilia, but success has been limited, as evidenced by the many repeat offenders. One report (ATSA) states that fifty-two percent of pedophiles who molest young boys will offend again. Compare that to thirty-nine percent for those who attack adult women. Overall, 14% to 20% of sex offenders are repeat offenders. Even the lowest of those numbers is too high.
Here’s an idea for an effective treatment: Lock’em up and throw away the key.
Related Reading:
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen a horrifying upswing in the incidence of crimes committed against (and by) children. School shootings, sexual assaults and abductions have created an atmosphere that has some Americans wondering if there is any safe place for our children. Frankly, I don’t believe a safe haven exists at present. Not even in the home.
Let’s take a brief look at recent events…
Monday, October 2, 2006
Charles Roberts walked into a one-room Amish school house near Lancaster, PA. Roberts released everyone except 10 young girls. The girls were restrained with “disposable handcuffs.” Roberts also was armed and had 600 rounds of ammunition. Law enforcement officials believe he’d been planning the attack for a week.
By the time police broke into the school, five children were fatally wounded. Roberts’ had taken his own life shortly after shooting the girls. According to suicide notes Roberts had left at home, he was filled with anger and despair over the death of his newborn daughter. Roberts also claimed in the notes that he was haunted by dreams of earlier molestation of two relatives.
Friday, September 29, 2006
In Cazenovia, WI, fifteen year-old Eric Hainstock broke into his parents’ gun cabinet and stole two firearms. Shortly thereafter the young man gunned down his school principal, who died a few hours later from his wounds.
Hainstock’s motive? Principal John Klang had issued him a verbal warning for having tobacco on campus. Hainstock will be tried as an adult, and could get life in prison for his crimes. True, Hainstock was less a victim than a perpetrator in this incident, but that does not alter the fact that yet another young life has been destroyed.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Fifty-three year-old Duane Morrison calmly walked into Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, CO and locked himself in a classroom with six girls. It is believed he sexually assaulted all of them. When police stormed the building, he fatally shot 16 year-old Emily Keyes and then killed himself.
School shootings aren’t the only source of danger for our children. Children are subjected to all manner of perverse behavior from demented adults, and sometimes even from other youngsters.
In early September of this year, an HIV-positive girl, 11 years old, was coerced into having sex with as many as 20 people in Milwaukee, WI. Police have rounded up most of the suspects and the girl is recovering. She was being “coached” by a 16 year-old girl. One 40 year-old man involved said she looked “grown up.”
In mid-July, 20 year-old Craig Roger Gregerson abducted 5 year-old Destiny Norton, smothered her, and sexually abused her after her death. He then concealed her body for several days in his basement, soaking her body with cleaning fluids to cover the odor as she decayed. Destiny lived with her parents next door to Gregerson, who even went as far as to participate in a neighborhood candlelight vigil held for Destiny before her body was discovered.
And how’s about good old Congressman Mark Foley, who helped pen the very legislation that could put him behind bars? C’mon Mark… sending tawdry e-mails and IM’s to a 16 year-old congressional page? Bad idea.
And let us not forget Dean Schwartzmiller, who may be the “Dean” of all child molesters. Schawrtzmiller was recently convicted on 11 counts of child molestation.
It is alleged that Schwartzmiller has molested 100 young boys in three countries since 1969. Consider this bit from Fox…
Prosecutors pointed to a graphic 456-page memoir, 10 binders full of child pornography and 1,500 notebook pages with headings including "no, but yes boys," "best of the best, 13 and under" and "single-parent boys."Sadly, I could continue citing one case after another of violence and perversion against children. I haven’t even scratched the surface. According to Psychology Today, roughly one in five American children have been molested. Think about that for a moment… in a school classroom with 30 children, six of them may have been molested. In a school with 500 children, 100 of them may have been molested. And that molestation may be ongoing.
(FoxNews)
What drives people to desire sex with, and violence against, children?
The causes of pedophilia depend upon who you ask about it. Some will lay the blame on hormone imbalances. Others will claim that an offender was molested as a child. Mark Foley is now making this claim. Some say it’s genetic. And still others claim it’s the lack of Godliness in our culture.
Violent behavior is generally rooted in one’s upbringing and environment. One who grows up with violence is far more likely to engage in violence as an adult. William Walsh, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the Health Research Institute in Illinois have theorized that low levels of zinc and copper in the blood can also be triggers for violent behavior in males. Outside influences can play a significant role both in pedophilia and violence against children. The all too-common (and dangerous) mix of sex and violence in movies and video games is certainly a factor.
A wide range of therapy is being used to treat pedophilia, but success has been limited, as evidenced by the many repeat offenders. One report (ATSA) states that fifty-two percent of pedophiles who molest young boys will offend again. Compare that to thirty-nine percent for those who attack adult women. Overall, 14% to 20% of sex offenders are repeat offenders. Even the lowest of those numbers is too high.
Here’s an idea for an effective treatment: Lock’em up and throw away the key.
Related Reading:
- Coroner found gory scene at Amish school
- Colorado Town Mourns Girl Killed in School Shooting
- Wis. Teen Who Complained About Being Teased Fatally Shoots Principal
- Wisconsin Teen Charged in Group Sex Assault on 11-Year-Old Girl
- Court Papers: Neighbor Planned Abduction of Murdered 5-Year-Old Utah Girl
- International Serial Child Molester Convicted of Abusing 2 Boys
- Psychology Today: Pedophilia
- National Sex Offender Registry
- Self-Help: Overcoming Pornography Addiction
- Facts About Sex Offenders
Monday, October 02, 2006
Building the Perfect World
By Alan Burkhart
Larry Shirley is a city councilman in Charleston, SC. After viewing a video of an armed robbery conducted by a group of young teenage children, he publicly stated that parents of bad children should be sterilized.
Said Councilman Shirley…
"We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. Once they have a child and it's running the street, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable." (The Conservative Voice)
This may seem insensitive to some, but I think old Larry might be onto something here. You know the old sayings: “Like father like son,” and “like mother like daughter.” Yeah, this could actually benefit our society. But why stop there?
Let’s also sterilize ugly adults, so that after a few years go by we’ll no longer be burdened with ugly children. You know how it is… the ugly kids in school are picked on and abused anyway, and then the beautiful, popular kids get in trouble for it. That’s unfair. When I was in school, I got in trouble almost daily for picking on this kid with no chin and a hooked nose. His eyebrows were grown together, too, so we nicknamed him “Uni-brow.” We thought it was pretty funny, but for some reason he never grasped the humor of it.
Moving right along, perhaps it’d also be a good plan to spay stupid people as well. Hell of an idea! If we can sterilize every man and woman with an IQ under 85, we could drastically reduce poverty, crime, drug use and Democrat voters. Yep. This is sounding better all the time.
While thinking this through, it occurs to me that perhaps we should be proactive. It’d take several generations for all the “undesirables” to die off, so maybe we should speed the process? Hey, it absolutely must be done in a humane manner. Totally painless. Someone wake up Doctor Kevorkian and get some ideas on this.
But, who to eliminate?
Left-handed people? Get’em out of here. They look too weird when they play the guitar. C’mon, we all know that being left-handed isn’t normal. I know this because I’m normal and I’m right-handed.
Gays? Gimme a break. If we get rid of the homosexuals, then the word “gay” can go back to its original meaning. If you don’t know, look it up.
And is anyone else bothered by really skinny people? Bugs the Hell out of me. Put them on a special diet for six months. After that, anyone with less than 35% body fat must visit Doctor Kevorkian. Fair is fair.
Better yet, why not make Larry Shirley the Czar of Desirable People. I’ll put my trust in Larry any day. If Larry doesn’t like them, then they gotta go.
Okay, I’ll quit acting crazy. Larry Shirley evidently sees himself as being far enough up the food chain to decide who can be fruitful, and who must wither on the vine. I wonder if Mr. Shirley has a clue that most free nations (including the US) oppose China’s policy of forced abortions and sterilizations? Perhaps, Mr. Shirley, you should pack up and move to Communist China. You’d fit right in, and the USA will be a better place without you.
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| Original Image Credit: City of Charleston |
Said Councilman Shirley…
"We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. Once they have a child and it's running the street, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable." (The Conservative Voice)
This may seem insensitive to some, but I think old Larry might be onto something here. You know the old sayings: “Like father like son,” and “like mother like daughter.” Yeah, this could actually benefit our society. But why stop there?
Let’s also sterilize ugly adults, so that after a few years go by we’ll no longer be burdened with ugly children. You know how it is… the ugly kids in school are picked on and abused anyway, and then the beautiful, popular kids get in trouble for it. That’s unfair. When I was in school, I got in trouble almost daily for picking on this kid with no chin and a hooked nose. His eyebrows were grown together, too, so we nicknamed him “Uni-brow.” We thought it was pretty funny, but for some reason he never grasped the humor of it. Moving right along, perhaps it’d also be a good plan to spay stupid people as well. Hell of an idea! If we can sterilize every man and woman with an IQ under 85, we could drastically reduce poverty, crime, drug use and Democrat voters. Yep. This is sounding better all the time.
While thinking this through, it occurs to me that perhaps we should be proactive. It’d take several generations for all the “undesirables” to die off, so maybe we should speed the process? Hey, it absolutely must be done in a humane manner. Totally painless. Someone wake up Doctor Kevorkian and get some ideas on this.
But, who to eliminate?
Left-handed people? Get’em out of here. They look too weird when they play the guitar. C’mon, we all know that being left-handed isn’t normal. I know this because I’m normal and I’m right-handed.
Gays? Gimme a break. If we get rid of the homosexuals, then the word “gay” can go back to its original meaning. If you don’t know, look it up.
And is anyone else bothered by really skinny people? Bugs the Hell out of me. Put them on a special diet for six months. After that, anyone with less than 35% body fat must visit Doctor Kevorkian. Fair is fair.
Better yet, why not make Larry Shirley the Czar of Desirable People. I’ll put my trust in Larry any day. If Larry doesn’t like them, then they gotta go.
Okay, I’ll quit acting crazy. Larry Shirley evidently sees himself as being far enough up the food chain to decide who can be fruitful, and who must wither on the vine. I wonder if Mr. Shirley has a clue that most free nations (including the US) oppose China’s policy of forced abortions and sterilizations? Perhaps, Mr. Shirley, you should pack up and move to Communist China. You’d fit right in, and the USA will be a better place without you.
Related Reading:
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