The candidacy of Mitt Romney during the Republican Party's primary election campaign may be contributing to the current decline in the number of practicing Mormons. Traditionally, most Mormons have had only a vague idea about the fundamental doctrines of the religion that claims them as adherents. LDS leadership has tried to deflect questions about Mormon doctrine by claiming to be a restored version of apostolic Christianity. However, as questions about his Mormon faith dogged and ultimately scuttled the Romney candidacy, many more Mormons became aware that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is, in fact, far from being Christian. What churches refer to as "back-door" losses has long been a problem for the LDS. As it became more and more clear to a formerly ill-informed membership that being a Mormon was to be decidedly "un-Christian," the rush for the exits appears to be accelerating. Even in the State of Utah, which has been a bastion of Mormonism even before it was admitted to the Union, Mormons numbers are falling. This does not bode well for the future of this wealthy and powerful cult.
Being a Mormon means being part of a culture apart from that of the average American. Not unlike Scientology and the Jehovah's Witnesses, two other "Made in the U.S.A." cults, the LDS exerts intense and continuous pressure to control every aspect of its members' lives. Leaving the Mormon church usually leads to ostracism by friends and family, as well as economic reprisals and personal attacks. So those who are leaving are, for the most part, trying to do so quietly, by simply staying away from cult meetings and "education" sessions. But a few are speaking out, and questioning publicly the indoctrination that they have been subjected to, sometimes since childhood. Stay tuned for a radical shake-up in Mormon leadership in the months ahead, and a re-thinking of support for "high-profile" positions, such as that held by Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
American Gangster - Movie Review
Ridley Scott has directed some of the most iconic films in movie history (e.g., Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Blackhawk Down), but he just may have topped them all with this riveting drama of the rise and fall of a New York narcotics kingpin. Starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, both at the top of their game, and a supporting cast rich with talent, American Gangster is a worthy successor to the genre’s greatest – films such as the best of The Godfather series and The Untouchables. Denzel Washington fills the criminal part of Frank Lucas with one of his best ever performances, while Russell Crowe, in another outstanding performance, plays an honest cop, Richie Roberts, whose out-of-control personal life intersects maddeningly with his career as he evolves from policeman to prosecutor.
Set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, American Gangster is based on a true story, documented in a New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson. That story recounted how Frank Lucas smuggled drugs into the United States from Southeast Asia, during the Vietnam War. As the story unfolds, we are treated to an inside look at the drug trade of that era, and the endemic corruption of the NYPD. Forced to become outsiders after turning in a large stash of illegal cash accidentally uncovered in a bookmaking stakeout, Richie Roberts and his partner are marked men among their brother officers. Then Richie gets a second chance, when he is invited to join a special drug taskforce in Essex County, New Jersey. The taskforce is under the auspices of the Federal “War on Drugs,” launched by then President Richard Nixon. His partner goes in a different direction, which we will leave for you discover when you see this film.
For Frank Lucas, New York’s gritty streets, wild club scene, and the stark violence of his ‘business” are interspersed with warm family gatherings, creating a character of sympathetic complexity. For Richie Roberts, long hours of investigation and night classes at law school are juxtaposed with combative courtroom encounters with his ex-wife, more than ably portrayed by Carla Gugino. As the audience, we are drawn to both Lucas and Roberts, all the while knowing that in the end only one can emerge the victor. Lymari Nadal, who portrays the wife of Frank Lucas, is excellent in the tragic role of a former Puerto Rican beauty queen who knows enough about her husband’s business to realize that it can only end badly, yet chooses to stay till that end.
Among the outstanding supporting cast, Ruby Dee, as Frank’s mother, Cuba Gooding Jr., as sometime rival Nicky Barnes, Armand Assante, as mafia kingpin Dominic Cattano, and Josh Brolin, as corrupt NYPD Detective Trupo are especially worth watching. The list of those whose performances contribute strongly to the overall film is just too long to include in this review. The two hours and 40 minutes run time will go by quickly, so buy the large soft drink and popcorn combo at your local theater. But don’t down your drink too quickly, because you won’t want to have to miss a minute of this Oscar-worthy film for a run to the restroom.
Set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, American Gangster is based on a true story, documented in a New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson. That story recounted how Frank Lucas smuggled drugs into the United States from Southeast Asia, during the Vietnam War. As the story unfolds, we are treated to an inside look at the drug trade of that era, and the endemic corruption of the NYPD. Forced to become outsiders after turning in a large stash of illegal cash accidentally uncovered in a bookmaking stakeout, Richie Roberts and his partner are marked men among their brother officers. Then Richie gets a second chance, when he is invited to join a special drug taskforce in Essex County, New Jersey. The taskforce is under the auspices of the Federal “War on Drugs,” launched by then President Richard Nixon. His partner goes in a different direction, which we will leave for you discover when you see this film.
For Frank Lucas, New York’s gritty streets, wild club scene, and the stark violence of his ‘business” are interspersed with warm family gatherings, creating a character of sympathetic complexity. For Richie Roberts, long hours of investigation and night classes at law school are juxtaposed with combative courtroom encounters with his ex-wife, more than ably portrayed by Carla Gugino. As the audience, we are drawn to both Lucas and Roberts, all the while knowing that in the end only one can emerge the victor. Lymari Nadal, who portrays the wife of Frank Lucas, is excellent in the tragic role of a former Puerto Rican beauty queen who knows enough about her husband’s business to realize that it can only end badly, yet chooses to stay till that end.
Among the outstanding supporting cast, Ruby Dee, as Frank’s mother, Cuba Gooding Jr., as sometime rival Nicky Barnes, Armand Assante, as mafia kingpin Dominic Cattano, and Josh Brolin, as corrupt NYPD Detective Trupo are especially worth watching. The list of those whose performances contribute strongly to the overall film is just too long to include in this review. The two hours and 40 minutes run time will go by quickly, so buy the large soft drink and popcorn combo at your local theater. But don’t down your drink too quickly, because you won’t want to have to miss a minute of this Oscar-worthy film for a run to the restroom.
While never attempting to be a political statement, American Gangster does accurately depict the futility of the so-called War on Drugs, launched by Richard Nixon, and the corrosive effect on law enforcement and the rest of society that continues to result from it. Like any form of prohibition, the War on Drugs creates more problems for society than it solves, and American Gangster makes that abundantly clear, simply by telling the true story of Frank Lucas. Would that our nation's political leaders had the courage to declare an end to this stupid Nixon war, which like that long dead President's other paranoid endeavors turns out really to be a war on the American people and their personal freedom.
Rated R for strong violence, occasional nudity, drug content, and language, you should definitely leave the kids at home for this film. But see it on the big screen - it appears destined to become a classic.
**** 4 out of 5 stars for American Gangster.
Rated R for strong violence, occasional nudity, drug content, and language, you should definitely leave the kids at home for this film. But see it on the big screen - it appears destined to become a classic.
**** 4 out of 5 stars for American Gangster.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Anti-Death Penalty Crowd's New Trick
The Northern elitist anti-death penalty crowd is determined to impose its will on the citizens of Southern and Western States with an arrogant disregard for the laws passed by Southern and Western Legislatures. This is an old Yankee trick – using the Federal courts to accomplish what the Northern elitists can never accomplish through the ballot box. With the overwhelming majority of citizens of Southern and Western States, as well as a the majority of citizens in a significant number of Northern States, in favor of capital punishment for murderers and those who commit a small number of other heinous crimes, the Yankee elitists have resorted to using the Federal courts to stop executions in Kentucky, Texas, and other States in recent months by claiming that lethal injection, the preferred method of capital punishment in modern America, is a cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. What is unconstitutional is Federal meddling in the affairs of a Sovereign State.
The claim that lethal injection causes some momentary pain to the condemned is such a transparent ploy that even the U.S. Supreme Court ought to acknowledge it for what it is – an attack on the right of the people, acting through their elected State Legislatures, to invoke the ultimate penalty, capital punishment, for those who willfully take the life of another human being, or commit such other crimes as are deemed so egregious as to merit the death penalty. For Southerners and Westerners, capital punishment is deeply rooted in their Christian beliefs. Genesis 9:6 states, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (KJV) The English Standard Version of the Bible, a more recent and improved translation, puts it this way, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” Southerners and Westerners understand that a murderous attack on another human being is tantamount to an attack on God Himself, since God made human beings in His own image. To attack the image bearer is to attack the Creator of the image bearer.
Southerners understand that, as Christians, our Savior, Jesus Christ, abolished the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament – it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices, and keep other ceremonial laws, since Christ Himself was sacrificed on the cross in fulfillment of the Law. However, the moral laws of the Old Testament are still valid, and still apply to us today. The Ten Commandments haven’t become the “ten suggestions”. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (KJV) Again, the English Standard Version provides us with a more understandable modern translation: “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (The ‘jot’ and the ‘tittle’ are the smallest marks used in writing in Hebrew.) What Jesus teaches us is that, while the Gospel frees us from the power of the Law to condemn us to eternal damnation, the Law still provides us with:
1) A check on the behavior of sinners. This is the Christian Doctrine explained by Dr. Martin Luther in the 16th Century, when he spoke of the Kingdom of the Left Hand (the state) and the Kingdom of the Right Hand (the church), both of which have been established by God to rule in the realms He has assigned to them. The sword is given to the State to punish evildoers who violate civil laws, such as the laws against murder. (The sword means any of the sanctions that the State may impose, and enforce by violence, if necessary. This includes warnings, fines, imprisonment, being barred from office, etc.)
2) A mirror to show us how far from God’s standard of perfection our own behavior falls. For only when we see how utterly we fail in meeting God’s standard are we driven to despair of ever winning eternal salvation by our own merits, and we are ready to receive the Gospel and learn that it isn’t by our merits, but by the merit of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, crucified and dead on the cross on Good Friday, but risen and alive on Easter and forevermore, that we are freely given eternal salvation.
3) A guide to show us how we should live out our new found freedom in Christ, by delighting in pleasing God who has not spared even His Only Son, but has done everything necessary for our eternal salvation, out of His boundless love for us and His mercy – none of which we deserve, but which we receive by God’s unfathomable grace. We strive to obey the moral laws that God has established for our good, even though we know that we will often fall short. For by obeying God’s laws, we show our love for God to the sinful world, and so draw others to Christ, as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.
When we, as Christian Southerners or Westerners, through our elected State Legislatures, pass laws that impose the death penalty for murderers, we are acting in accordance with our Christian Faith and in obedience to the Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. As Dr. Luther said, “The prince does not bear the sword for nothing.” In the 21st Century, our individual Sovereign States have taken the place of the prince of the 16th Century. Nevertheless, Dr. Luther’s words are still true – it is not for nothing that our States have been given the power to impose the death penalty.
To oppose the Federal tyranny embodied in the Supreme Court’s interference in purely State matters, we appeal to the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The interference by the Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, in the right of the Sovereign States to impose capital punishment, under the thin tissue of lies that they are doing so to uphold the constitutional rights of murderers to avoid cruel and inhuman punishment, is a vile and unconscionable action that tramples on the principle that government derives its just power from the consent of the governed. We have given our consent, through our elected State Legislatures, to carry-out the death sentences that our State Courts have imposed. We have given no such consent to the Federal Courts to interfere. Nor have we given our consent for the U.S. Supreme Court to use a transparent subterfuge, in the form of objections to lethal injection, to carry water for the Yankee elitists who oppose capital punishment for their own immoral secular humanist reasons.
Today, the Federal Government is answerable only to itself. It has taken on all the trapping of an imperial tyrannical ruler – little different from the role played by King George III when Thomas Jefferson penned our Declaration of Independence. The Founding Fathers were wary of the tendency toward tyranny inherent in allowing a strong, central government. So when they later adopted the United States Constitution, they left it open to the Sovereign States that acceded to that Constitution to also secede when and if they determined that the actions of the Federal government were inimical to the interests of the citizens of such States. Only when the individual States have the power to secede is there any check on the tendency of the central Federal Government to become tyrannical. Knowing that certain actions will lead to certain States seceding, the Federal Government will be inclined to refrain from such actions. A respect for State Sovereignty and the right of a Sovereign State to secede is the only possible check on Federal Government Tyranny. The Federal Government will become answerable to the people, and seek to regain the consent of the governed as embodied in the acts of the Sovereign States’ Legislatures, only when those Sovereign States once more assert their right to secede from the Union.
In the wake of the Southern defeat in the War for Southern Independence, the Yankee elitists illegally added the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. That Amendment abrogated many of the rights that the Founding Fathers had fought and sometimes died for in the Revolutionary War for American Independence. It is now up to the Governors, Legislatures, and Courts of the Sovereign States to declare the 14th Amendment null and void, and to once more assert their right to secede from the Union, as a check and balance on the growing tyranny of the Federal Government, and the Yankee elitists who maintain a tight grip on the levers of Federal power. Absent such action, we will become increasingly oppressed by taxation, by laws and regulations that interfere with our personal liberty, by activist Federal Courts that trample on State Sovereignty, and by imperial foreign adventurism and entanglements that imperil our safety and our way of life.
Twelve states prohibit the death penalty. All are Northern States, plus Hawaii. Several more Yankee States retain the death penalty, but do not impose it. All of the Southern and Western States have retained the death penalty and continue to impose it when a crime calls for capital punishment. The method of carrying out the death penalty is lethal injection in all but one of the 38 States that impose capital punishment. Nebraska still uses electrocution. The Federal Government’s attack on lethal injection is an attack on State Sovereignty and the consent of the governed. Now is the time for the States to once more assert their Sovereignty by ignoring the illegal orders of Federal Courts, and proceeding with scheduled executions. By doing so, they will be striking a blow to end the growing tyranny of the Federal Government and restore the right of the people to choose for themselves the form of government that they believe most likely to secure their safety and happiness.
Sic Semper Tyrannis!
The claim that lethal injection causes some momentary pain to the condemned is such a transparent ploy that even the U.S. Supreme Court ought to acknowledge it for what it is – an attack on the right of the people, acting through their elected State Legislatures, to invoke the ultimate penalty, capital punishment, for those who willfully take the life of another human being, or commit such other crimes as are deemed so egregious as to merit the death penalty. For Southerners and Westerners, capital punishment is deeply rooted in their Christian beliefs. Genesis 9:6 states, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (KJV) The English Standard Version of the Bible, a more recent and improved translation, puts it this way, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” Southerners and Westerners understand that a murderous attack on another human being is tantamount to an attack on God Himself, since God made human beings in His own image. To attack the image bearer is to attack the Creator of the image bearer.
Southerners understand that, as Christians, our Savior, Jesus Christ, abolished the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament – it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices, and keep other ceremonial laws, since Christ Himself was sacrificed on the cross in fulfillment of the Law. However, the moral laws of the Old Testament are still valid, and still apply to us today. The Ten Commandments haven’t become the “ten suggestions”. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (KJV) Again, the English Standard Version provides us with a more understandable modern translation: “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (The ‘jot’ and the ‘tittle’ are the smallest marks used in writing in Hebrew.) What Jesus teaches us is that, while the Gospel frees us from the power of the Law to condemn us to eternal damnation, the Law still provides us with:
1) A check on the behavior of sinners. This is the Christian Doctrine explained by Dr. Martin Luther in the 16th Century, when he spoke of the Kingdom of the Left Hand (the state) and the Kingdom of the Right Hand (the church), both of which have been established by God to rule in the realms He has assigned to them. The sword is given to the State to punish evildoers who violate civil laws, such as the laws against murder. (The sword means any of the sanctions that the State may impose, and enforce by violence, if necessary. This includes warnings, fines, imprisonment, being barred from office, etc.)
2) A mirror to show us how far from God’s standard of perfection our own behavior falls. For only when we see how utterly we fail in meeting God’s standard are we driven to despair of ever winning eternal salvation by our own merits, and we are ready to receive the Gospel and learn that it isn’t by our merits, but by the merit of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, crucified and dead on the cross on Good Friday, but risen and alive on Easter and forevermore, that we are freely given eternal salvation.
3) A guide to show us how we should live out our new found freedom in Christ, by delighting in pleasing God who has not spared even His Only Son, but has done everything necessary for our eternal salvation, out of His boundless love for us and His mercy – none of which we deserve, but which we receive by God’s unfathomable grace. We strive to obey the moral laws that God has established for our good, even though we know that we will often fall short. For by obeying God’s laws, we show our love for God to the sinful world, and so draw others to Christ, as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.
When we, as Christian Southerners or Westerners, through our elected State Legislatures, pass laws that impose the death penalty for murderers, we are acting in accordance with our Christian Faith and in obedience to the Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. As Dr. Luther said, “The prince does not bear the sword for nothing.” In the 21st Century, our individual Sovereign States have taken the place of the prince of the 16th Century. Nevertheless, Dr. Luther’s words are still true – it is not for nothing that our States have been given the power to impose the death penalty.
To oppose the Federal tyranny embodied in the Supreme Court’s interference in purely State matters, we appeal to the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The interference by the Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, in the right of the Sovereign States to impose capital punishment, under the thin tissue of lies that they are doing so to uphold the constitutional rights of murderers to avoid cruel and inhuman punishment, is a vile and unconscionable action that tramples on the principle that government derives its just power from the consent of the governed. We have given our consent, through our elected State Legislatures, to carry-out the death sentences that our State Courts have imposed. We have given no such consent to the Federal Courts to interfere. Nor have we given our consent for the U.S. Supreme Court to use a transparent subterfuge, in the form of objections to lethal injection, to carry water for the Yankee elitists who oppose capital punishment for their own immoral secular humanist reasons.
Today, the Federal Government is answerable only to itself. It has taken on all the trapping of an imperial tyrannical ruler – little different from the role played by King George III when Thomas Jefferson penned our Declaration of Independence. The Founding Fathers were wary of the tendency toward tyranny inherent in allowing a strong, central government. So when they later adopted the United States Constitution, they left it open to the Sovereign States that acceded to that Constitution to also secede when and if they determined that the actions of the Federal government were inimical to the interests of the citizens of such States. Only when the individual States have the power to secede is there any check on the tendency of the central Federal Government to become tyrannical. Knowing that certain actions will lead to certain States seceding, the Federal Government will be inclined to refrain from such actions. A respect for State Sovereignty and the right of a Sovereign State to secede is the only possible check on Federal Government Tyranny. The Federal Government will become answerable to the people, and seek to regain the consent of the governed as embodied in the acts of the Sovereign States’ Legislatures, only when those Sovereign States once more assert their right to secede from the Union.
In the wake of the Southern defeat in the War for Southern Independence, the Yankee elitists illegally added the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. That Amendment abrogated many of the rights that the Founding Fathers had fought and sometimes died for in the Revolutionary War for American Independence. It is now up to the Governors, Legislatures, and Courts of the Sovereign States to declare the 14th Amendment null and void, and to once more assert their right to secede from the Union, as a check and balance on the growing tyranny of the Federal Government, and the Yankee elitists who maintain a tight grip on the levers of Federal power. Absent such action, we will become increasingly oppressed by taxation, by laws and regulations that interfere with our personal liberty, by activist Federal Courts that trample on State Sovereignty, and by imperial foreign adventurism and entanglements that imperil our safety and our way of life.
Twelve states prohibit the death penalty. All are Northern States, plus Hawaii. Several more Yankee States retain the death penalty, but do not impose it. All of the Southern and Western States have retained the death penalty and continue to impose it when a crime calls for capital punishment. The method of carrying out the death penalty is lethal injection in all but one of the 38 States that impose capital punishment. Nebraska still uses electrocution. The Federal Government’s attack on lethal injection is an attack on State Sovereignty and the consent of the governed. Now is the time for the States to once more assert their Sovereignty by ignoring the illegal orders of Federal Courts, and proceeding with scheduled executions. By doing so, they will be striking a blow to end the growing tyranny of the Federal Government and restore the right of the people to choose for themselves the form of government that they believe most likely to secure their safety and happiness.
Sic Semper Tyrannis!
Texas Overwhelmed By Illegal Aliens Fleeing Oklahoma
As Oklahoma House Bill 1804 goes into effect, tens of thousands of illegal aliens are fleeing across the Red River into Texas. An employee of a Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex area school district, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated this morning, “We were already unable to deal with the thousands of children of illegal immigrants in our school district. Now we are seeing an influx of new children being enrolled 2 ½ months after the new school year has already started. These kids tell us that they are coming from Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and other places in Oklahoma. Their families are here illegally, and they are afraid that they will be arrested if they stay in Oklahoma, or that they won’t be able to get ‘off-the-books’ jobs anymore. These aren’t just Mexican kids – we are seeing kids from Central America, South America, Asia, and the Middle East, as well. Frankly, I don’t know where we are going to put them.”
At the places where illegal aliens gather to get those ‘off-the-books’ jobs, observers are reporting that the number of men standing around waiting to be picked up for jobs has also increased in recent weeks. “Part of this is just the normal, steady growth in the illegal population,” said a police officer in one Metroplex suburb, “but part of it is also the result of what the legislature did up in Oklahoma. We are seeing more Oklahoma license plates on the cars parked around where the illegal aliens are congregating, and more in the parking lots of our apartment complexes, as well as in neighborhoods with a lot of rent houses. Texas landlords don’t seem to have any trouble renting to illegals.” The officer also reported that crime rates are rising, with more burglaries and thefts, as well as more assaults, being reported as the flood of illegals from Oklahoma surges across that State’s border with Texas.
On October 31, 2007, Federal Judge James Payne denied a request for an injunction to stop Oklahoma House Bill 1804 from going into effect. 1804 makes it a felony to knowingly transport illegal aliens. It also requires that employers that are state contractors check the immigration status of prospective employees and requires proof of citizenship to receive certain state benefits. Even before the 1804 went into effect, some employers who profiteer from illegal aliens were complaining that they couldn’t get enough employees for construction related jobs. Meanwhile American laborers were applauding the Bill, saying that it will finally force Oklahoma construction companies and contractors to pay them a living wage. “We’ve been among the worst paid workers in America,” said one American construction worker. “Maybe now, when they can’t hire an illegal for starvation wages, they’ll start to pay us fairly. This is good for Oklahoma and it is good for me and my family.”
Some of the illegal aliens from Oklahoma are also fleeing into Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and other states. But Texas appears to be the most popular destination, most likely because it is already home to either the first of second largest illegal alien population in the United States, thanks in no small part to its miles of unprotected border with Mexico. Whether California or Texas has the highest population of illegals depends on who you ask, since getting an accurate count is next to impossible. While California has traditionally led, due to large numbers of illegals from China, the Middle East, and elsewhere in Asia, in addition to illegals from Mexico and Latin America, Texas has a rapidly growing population of illegals from Asia and the Middle East, as well. Oklahoma illegal aliens may be speculating that getting across the border into Mexico will be easier from Texas, if the Federal government actually gets serious about identifying and removing illegal aliens nationwide.
As the burden of dealing with perhaps as many as 100,000 additional illegals in one year weighs heavily on schools, hospitals, police departments, and social service agencies, Governor Rick Perry soon may be compelled to call a special session of the Texas Legislature to deal with the problem. Special legislative sessions in Texas are permitted to address only the issue for which they are called. Passing a Texas version of Oklahoma House Bill 1804 may be necessary to protect already overburdened public services from being completely overwhelmed by illegal aliens looking for a more hospitable state. Since Oklahoma Bill 1804 has gotten past Federal Court review, passing a bill with parallel language in Texas may be the Lone Star State’s only recourse in the face of the invasion it is now experiencing.
At the places where illegal aliens gather to get those ‘off-the-books’ jobs, observers are reporting that the number of men standing around waiting to be picked up for jobs has also increased in recent weeks. “Part of this is just the normal, steady growth in the illegal population,” said a police officer in one Metroplex suburb, “but part of it is also the result of what the legislature did up in Oklahoma. We are seeing more Oklahoma license plates on the cars parked around where the illegal aliens are congregating, and more in the parking lots of our apartment complexes, as well as in neighborhoods with a lot of rent houses. Texas landlords don’t seem to have any trouble renting to illegals.” The officer also reported that crime rates are rising, with more burglaries and thefts, as well as more assaults, being reported as the flood of illegals from Oklahoma surges across that State’s border with Texas.
On October 31, 2007, Federal Judge James Payne denied a request for an injunction to stop Oklahoma House Bill 1804 from going into effect. 1804 makes it a felony to knowingly transport illegal aliens. It also requires that employers that are state contractors check the immigration status of prospective employees and requires proof of citizenship to receive certain state benefits. Even before the 1804 went into effect, some employers who profiteer from illegal aliens were complaining that they couldn’t get enough employees for construction related jobs. Meanwhile American laborers were applauding the Bill, saying that it will finally force Oklahoma construction companies and contractors to pay them a living wage. “We’ve been among the worst paid workers in America,” said one American construction worker. “Maybe now, when they can’t hire an illegal for starvation wages, they’ll start to pay us fairly. This is good for Oklahoma and it is good for me and my family.”
Some of the illegal aliens from Oklahoma are also fleeing into Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and other states. But Texas appears to be the most popular destination, most likely because it is already home to either the first of second largest illegal alien population in the United States, thanks in no small part to its miles of unprotected border with Mexico. Whether California or Texas has the highest population of illegals depends on who you ask, since getting an accurate count is next to impossible. While California has traditionally led, due to large numbers of illegals from China, the Middle East, and elsewhere in Asia, in addition to illegals from Mexico and Latin America, Texas has a rapidly growing population of illegals from Asia and the Middle East, as well. Oklahoma illegal aliens may be speculating that getting across the border into Mexico will be easier from Texas, if the Federal government actually gets serious about identifying and removing illegal aliens nationwide.
As the burden of dealing with perhaps as many as 100,000 additional illegals in one year weighs heavily on schools, hospitals, police departments, and social service agencies, Governor Rick Perry soon may be compelled to call a special session of the Texas Legislature to deal with the problem. Special legislative sessions in Texas are permitted to address only the issue for which they are called. Passing a Texas version of Oklahoma House Bill 1804 may be necessary to protect already overburdened public services from being completely overwhelmed by illegal aliens looking for a more hospitable state. Since Oklahoma Bill 1804 has gotten past Federal Court review, passing a bill with parallel language in Texas may be the Lone Star State’s only recourse in the face of the invasion it is now experiencing.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Free At Last - Genarlow Wilson Released
In one of the most blatant cases of wrongful prosecution in recent years, Genarlow Wilson was sentenced to 10 years in a Georgia prison for engaging in consensual oral sex at a New Year’s Eve party. There have been accusations of racism over this case, but all of the main actors were black – including the prosecutor who wouldn’t take no for an answer when lower courts ruled that 10 years without parole was a cruel and unusual punishment for what in a saner world wouldn’t be counted as a crime at all. Finally, after much foot-dragging and delay, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled 4 to 3 in favor of releasing Wilson. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears stated, “For the law to punish Wilson as it would an adult, with the extraordinarily harsh punishment of ten years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole, appears to be grossly disproportionate to his crime.” Amen, to that, Chief Justice.
Wilson was freed within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling. But sadly the saga doesn’t end here. Georgia law still makes the consensual act that Wilson engaged in a crime, and any teens caught doing it are liable to be sentenced to a year in prison. This is how lawmakers in Georgia and elsewhere throughout the United States continue to feed the insatiable appetite of the Prison Industrial Complex for more convicts to generate more revenue for those who profit from the misdeeds or misfortunes of others. The many good citizens, who engaged in letter writing campaigns, petition drives, protest marches, and other actions in support of Genarlow Wilson should not rest on their laurels from this one feeble victory. Hundreds of thousands more are still enslaved by the Prison Industrial Complex in America – the result of politicians and prosecutors in league with the profiteers to maintain America’s infamous distinction as the Nation with the highest percentage of its population behind bars.[1]
This 21st Century Slavery isn’t based on skin color – it is based on economic status, and personal decisions to practice the individual liberty that our forefathers envisioned in the Declaration of Independence and in the original United States Constitution. Attempting to live ones’ life as a free person makes it highly likely that one will become just another victim of the unholy alliance of Government and the private enterprises that together make up the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). You can bet that the agents of the PIC will be scrutinizing and spying on Genarlow Wilson’s every move, in an attempt to put him back behind bars. The PIC doesn’t surrender easily, as Wilson’s case so clearly illustrates. Once they had him in their clutches, every possible legal maneuver was used to keep him there as long as possible. They will be watching him for any minor misstep that they can use as an excuse to return him to prison. Being a young man of modest means is all it takes to wind up in prison in 21st Century America.
England and Wales, a comparable Western Democracy, had an incarceration rate of 139 prisoners for every 100,000 in population in 2003. Australia, another Western Democracy with a large immigrant population, imprisoned 112 people for every 100,000 in population. Canada, our closest neighbor and a country with a similar economy and history, had an incarceration rate of 116 prisoners for every 100,000 in population. Russia, that crime ridden and impoverished land, had 628 prisoners per 100,000 in population. The United States outdid them all, with the dubious distinction of locking up 702 people for every 100,000 in population.
Are you outraged that the USA has a higher incarceration rate than Russia? Does it make you angry to learn that the USA imprisons people at a rate nearly 7 times greater than Australia, Canada, England and Wales? If so, good! We should be outraged and angered by these statistics. Because these aren’t just numbers on a tally sheet, like counting how many jelly beans there are in a jar. These numbers represent real people. They represent people in prison who have families – mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents, spouses, and children. Each one of these is not just an individual tragedy, it is a tragedy for a dozen or more family members who mourn the imprisonment of a loved one, and who are deprived of their loved ones’ presence in their lives, often for decades. These numbers represent young men who are locked up with hardened criminals, and are brutalized by their fellow inmates and the guards who either participate or look the other way while the unfortunate young man or woman is raped, beaten, and victimized repeatedly.
Why is this happening? It isn’t because of high crime rates. U.S. crime rates are about in the middle of the pack among developed countries. The big drivers of our shamefully high incarceration rate are sentencing guidelines for non-violent and consensual crimes, promoted by the PIC, and supported by the politicians that have sold their souls and their votes to the PIC. In 1980, the United States had approximately 40,000 people in prison for drug offenses. In 2003, that number had jumped to 450,000 – or nearly 25% of all inmates. Thus the biggest factor contributing to the highest rate of incarceration in the world is not violent crimes, but non-violent consensual crimes. When we add to drug possession and use the petty crimes committed by drug users to obtain money to buy drugs, we see that the cost to society for pandering to the PIC is much greater than even the incarceration rate reveals. The one most important step that we can take as a nation to end this outrage is to end the “war on drugs”.
Legalizing drugs will have four major benefits to American citizens as a whole:
1) Deaths from “bad drugs” and overdoses will virtually disappear. People die from using illegal drugs because they have no way of knowing either the purity or the potency of the drugs they are using. If drugs are legalized and sold by reputable retailers, deaths from using drugs, particularly among teenagers and young adults, will virtually disappear. This alone should be reason enough for most parents and grandparents to demand an end to the war on drugs.
2) Petty crime rates will drop dramatically. If drugs are legalized, they will be affordable to those who choose to use them; burglaries, muggings, shoplifting, prostitution, and a host of other crimes will all but disappear.
3) Taxes will go down significantly, as the need for ever more prisons, police, and prosecutors drops. The PIC profiteers won’t like this outcome, but the average American will.
4) The individuals and families whose lives are now being destroyed by incarceration will be restored to the community as law abiding, tax paying citizens. Instead of being a financial burden on society, they will become a financial asset.
Any one of these four reasons should be enough to convince any thinking American that it is time to demand an end to the war on drugs and the criminalization of personal behavior, such as that which landed Genarlow Wilson in prison and put him and his family through four years of hell. However, the propaganda machine of the PIC is highly effective, and the number of politicians they control is greater than the number who would oppose them. Both Democrats and Republicans are solidly in the pocket of the PIC. This is the case in State Legislatures as well as in the Federal Congress. We must stop applauding politicians when they promise to “get tough on crime”, and start heckling them instead. Political promises to get tough or be tough on crime are simply code words that tell the PIC that they can count on a politician they have bought staying bought.
If you have trouble feeling sorry for Genarlow Wilson, just close your eyes and picture your son or daughter as the one who was kept imprisoned for over two years. It doesn’t matter whether the prisoner is black, brown, or white – what matters is that the PIC has hijacked our criminal justice system and turned it into a cash cow for their profiteers. We need to take it back, and we need to restore the freedoms and liberties that the Founding Fathers envisioned for America. We need to fight in our state legislatures and county governments. We need to fight at the Federal level in all three branches of Government. We need to keep on fighting till we are once more a free people. We need to free not just one prisoner, like Genarlow Wilson, but hundreds of thousands of prisoners who are locked away in prison for personal or consensual behavior. We must not stop till the misguided laws that imprison our brothers and sisters are repealed. The PIC will not stop its war on us until we starve it to death. Get involved, and spread the word. No more Genarlow Wilsons!!!
[1] See “Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends” by Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project – June 20, 2003.
Wilson was freed within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling. But sadly the saga doesn’t end here. Georgia law still makes the consensual act that Wilson engaged in a crime, and any teens caught doing it are liable to be sentenced to a year in prison. This is how lawmakers in Georgia and elsewhere throughout the United States continue to feed the insatiable appetite of the Prison Industrial Complex for more convicts to generate more revenue for those who profit from the misdeeds or misfortunes of others. The many good citizens, who engaged in letter writing campaigns, petition drives, protest marches, and other actions in support of Genarlow Wilson should not rest on their laurels from this one feeble victory. Hundreds of thousands more are still enslaved by the Prison Industrial Complex in America – the result of politicians and prosecutors in league with the profiteers to maintain America’s infamous distinction as the Nation with the highest percentage of its population behind bars.[1]
This 21st Century Slavery isn’t based on skin color – it is based on economic status, and personal decisions to practice the individual liberty that our forefathers envisioned in the Declaration of Independence and in the original United States Constitution. Attempting to live ones’ life as a free person makes it highly likely that one will become just another victim of the unholy alliance of Government and the private enterprises that together make up the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). You can bet that the agents of the PIC will be scrutinizing and spying on Genarlow Wilson’s every move, in an attempt to put him back behind bars. The PIC doesn’t surrender easily, as Wilson’s case so clearly illustrates. Once they had him in their clutches, every possible legal maneuver was used to keep him there as long as possible. They will be watching him for any minor misstep that they can use as an excuse to return him to prison. Being a young man of modest means is all it takes to wind up in prison in 21st Century America.
England and Wales, a comparable Western Democracy, had an incarceration rate of 139 prisoners for every 100,000 in population in 2003. Australia, another Western Democracy with a large immigrant population, imprisoned 112 people for every 100,000 in population. Canada, our closest neighbor and a country with a similar economy and history, had an incarceration rate of 116 prisoners for every 100,000 in population. Russia, that crime ridden and impoverished land, had 628 prisoners per 100,000 in population. The United States outdid them all, with the dubious distinction of locking up 702 people for every 100,000 in population.
Are you outraged that the USA has a higher incarceration rate than Russia? Does it make you angry to learn that the USA imprisons people at a rate nearly 7 times greater than Australia, Canada, England and Wales? If so, good! We should be outraged and angered by these statistics. Because these aren’t just numbers on a tally sheet, like counting how many jelly beans there are in a jar. These numbers represent real people. They represent people in prison who have families – mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents, spouses, and children. Each one of these is not just an individual tragedy, it is a tragedy for a dozen or more family members who mourn the imprisonment of a loved one, and who are deprived of their loved ones’ presence in their lives, often for decades. These numbers represent young men who are locked up with hardened criminals, and are brutalized by their fellow inmates and the guards who either participate or look the other way while the unfortunate young man or woman is raped, beaten, and victimized repeatedly.
Why is this happening? It isn’t because of high crime rates. U.S. crime rates are about in the middle of the pack among developed countries. The big drivers of our shamefully high incarceration rate are sentencing guidelines for non-violent and consensual crimes, promoted by the PIC, and supported by the politicians that have sold their souls and their votes to the PIC. In 1980, the United States had approximately 40,000 people in prison for drug offenses. In 2003, that number had jumped to 450,000 – or nearly 25% of all inmates. Thus the biggest factor contributing to the highest rate of incarceration in the world is not violent crimes, but non-violent consensual crimes. When we add to drug possession and use the petty crimes committed by drug users to obtain money to buy drugs, we see that the cost to society for pandering to the PIC is much greater than even the incarceration rate reveals. The one most important step that we can take as a nation to end this outrage is to end the “war on drugs”.
Legalizing drugs will have four major benefits to American citizens as a whole:
1) Deaths from “bad drugs” and overdoses will virtually disappear. People die from using illegal drugs because they have no way of knowing either the purity or the potency of the drugs they are using. If drugs are legalized and sold by reputable retailers, deaths from using drugs, particularly among teenagers and young adults, will virtually disappear. This alone should be reason enough for most parents and grandparents to demand an end to the war on drugs.
2) Petty crime rates will drop dramatically. If drugs are legalized, they will be affordable to those who choose to use them; burglaries, muggings, shoplifting, prostitution, and a host of other crimes will all but disappear.
3) Taxes will go down significantly, as the need for ever more prisons, police, and prosecutors drops. The PIC profiteers won’t like this outcome, but the average American will.
4) The individuals and families whose lives are now being destroyed by incarceration will be restored to the community as law abiding, tax paying citizens. Instead of being a financial burden on society, they will become a financial asset.
Any one of these four reasons should be enough to convince any thinking American that it is time to demand an end to the war on drugs and the criminalization of personal behavior, such as that which landed Genarlow Wilson in prison and put him and his family through four years of hell. However, the propaganda machine of the PIC is highly effective, and the number of politicians they control is greater than the number who would oppose them. Both Democrats and Republicans are solidly in the pocket of the PIC. This is the case in State Legislatures as well as in the Federal Congress. We must stop applauding politicians when they promise to “get tough on crime”, and start heckling them instead. Political promises to get tough or be tough on crime are simply code words that tell the PIC that they can count on a politician they have bought staying bought.
If you have trouble feeling sorry for Genarlow Wilson, just close your eyes and picture your son or daughter as the one who was kept imprisoned for over two years. It doesn’t matter whether the prisoner is black, brown, or white – what matters is that the PIC has hijacked our criminal justice system and turned it into a cash cow for their profiteers. We need to take it back, and we need to restore the freedoms and liberties that the Founding Fathers envisioned for America. We need to fight in our state legislatures and county governments. We need to fight at the Federal level in all three branches of Government. We need to keep on fighting till we are once more a free people. We need to free not just one prisoner, like Genarlow Wilson, but hundreds of thousands of prisoners who are locked away in prison for personal or consensual behavior. We must not stop till the misguided laws that imprison our brothers and sisters are repealed. The PIC will not stop its war on us until we starve it to death. Get involved, and spread the word. No more Genarlow Wilsons!!!
[1] See “Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends” by Marc Mauer, Assistant Director, The Sentencing Project – June 20, 2003.
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