I’m getting aggravated.

My cup runneth over---with indignation.
The other day, a judge gives a suspended sentence
to a criminal, even though D.N.A. proved he committed
a four year old crime. What happened to do the crime—
do the time?

Tom DeLay, in his infinite wisdom, deemed himself unelectable ( no kidding? ) so he quit the race. That meant that Congress will drops all charges and investigations, and once again--- BINGO!
No punishment, and he retires with his annual personal
subsidy ( pension ) intact. Wonderful.

Last but maybe the most important: Sales Tax & The
Internet. For all of you who buy on the internet, and think it’s wonderful that you don’t pay taxes, think again. Because it disrupts the level playing field of all retailers who have to compete, think about this.
Retailers pay rent, utilities, labor, and many thousands of dollars more in overhead and operations costs. When
a retailer goes out of business, because you don’t keep your business local, everybody suffers. Jobs are lost,
tax revenues are lost, and the list goes on. Then we all
suffer because people collect unemployment, our taxes
go up, etc. etc. At the very least, everyone should pay sales tax ( unless we get to a national sales tax equal for all consumers, like England. ) I urge you to write or call your congressperson to support sales tax for the internet.

Rock

ILLEGALS & COLLEGE TUITION

Yesterday’s lead-story addresses college tuition for illegal residents. Some interesting comments:

Victoria Perez was brought here at the age of 3 by her parents. Now she’s 18. She says “ We’re all human beings.
It isn’t fair ’’. Any reason why she could not have applied for citizenship in those 15 years? Smart enough to go to college---smart enough to fill out the papers.

Attorney general Blumenthal says they were brought here without any choice. Well, they had the choice to apply for citizenship. Rep. Pamela Z. Sawyer worries because many community college students are single, unwed mothers struggling to make ends meet. Brilliant comment by an elected official. Maybe they should have spent their time better than making babies. I guess that’s another letter. Nadia Minor says
“ I feel like we’re paying for mistakes we didn’t make ”.

WRONG!!! You’re paying for the mistake of not having applied for legal status, so don’t expect ME to pay for your mistake. Hooray for Sen. Dan Debicella, who calls it a “ massive subsidy for illegal immigrants”.

When does it end? When do we stop the bleeding?
The bleeding of tax dollars, and the bleeding hearts who cry for those who simply won’t help themselves by following the laws.

10 other states have passed laws creating equal access to college aid to all students. Why don’t these illegals just move to one of those states?

Rock

This is just a little local issue, but really applies everywhere, so I'm venting.

In the paper recently , a city official says it will save the city over-time dollars if people co-operate and put their garbage out a day early, to avoid overtime by having to collect on a holiday. He goes on to state that $ 14,000.00, while not a huge amount, is very important to helping balance the budget and solve the financial crisis. Right on, John.

However, the big issue is totally missed. Don’t ask us to put out the garbage on a different day from normal. TELL US. And what’s the nonsense about having to collect it the following day if residents don’t co-operate, because of the health hazards, and plowing hazards if it happens to snow?

There is a law on the books that if you don’t shovel the city sidewalk in front of your property, you, the taxpayer are liable for damages, liability and possibly a fine. So if you don’t put your garbage out on Tuesday, and we have to pay over-time on Thursday, the garbage should be thrown ( and I mean thrown ) back into the home owner’s yard, and a citation with a stiff fine should be issued---enough to cover the over-time pay. Then attach a lien to the property,
and hire a tough collector to get the money.
I don’t want my city taxes paying for some jerk’s thoughtlessness. And if they don’t read the paper to know what’s coming, too bad for them.
Hopefully, the city will heed my sage advice and this will serve
notice for future holiday weeks, even if too late for this time.

Rock

Tying Up The Courts---What A Waste Of Money!!!
Two stories in my local paper

spurred my indignation level.

Two years after being convicted of murder, Michael Skakel’s attorneys have decided that there is a statue of limitations on murder, and his conviction should be overturned. Really now. And worse still, the attorneys claim that the prosecution erred in closing arguments by calling him a killer and a spoiled brat. Well, I think that’s what closing arguments are. Arguments. And almost any argument should be okay. ( Same with the defense, by the way. ) And I think that there should be a statue of limitations on horse-feathers appeals.

The other store was about a woman named Audra Soulias, who accused William Kennedy Smith of sexually assaulting her: SEVERAL YEARS AGO! Oh and by the way, in case you missed the story, she then admittedly had consensual sex SEVERAL TIMES after the supposed assault. Say what??? I think we know why she continued to have sex with him.

I don’t know if Smith was innocent or not; ( he was acquitted, by the way ). What I do know is that she should have reported the alleged assault the same night, and then she should have stayed out of his bed and out of his life, except for charging him with a crime then, not 5 yrs. later.

I don’t know why the courts allow this kind of crap. It is an asinine waste of court time and tax-payer’s money. How about we deluge our congressman with
e-mails and faxes to write some intelligent legislation about this.

A. Charges must be pressed against anybody within 30 days, with law enforcement having the needed time to make a case or not. Accusations should ABOLUTELY not me made public until charges are brought, to avoid slandering those who really are innocent. I don’t believe
the public has a right to know who is being investigated; only who is being charged. ( Actually, I don’t believe the public has a right to know anything about other people’s business, but that’s another letter. )

B. People like Audra Soulias should be prosecuted for something between malicious mis-use of the courts and just plain stupidity.

C. Convicted criminals should have 90 days to file their one and only appeal. Too many bites from the apple as it is.

D. Once convicted ( after losing the appeal ) criminals must serve the time. And no time off for good behavior. What the heck does that mean anyway? It should be added time for bad behavior.

E. And just for luck, ignore the nonsense about judge’s discretion. Too damn many activist judges as it is. The courts should be run like I run my restaurants. I pay my managers , tell them how I want the food prepared and served, and they do what I pay them to do. Well, I think judges are like my managers; they are told what is law.

We, the bosses, through our elected officials, write the laws, prescribe the sentences so they are consistent everywhere, and pay the judges to run the court proceedings and inflict the punishment if a criminal is convicted. Very simple. If the judges feel the need to inflict their opinions and do things their way, they should resign and run for congress.

Rock

The “ Unjustice ’’ System

Sometimes it’s virtually impossible to imagine what goes through a person’s mind.
A story in the Republican-American details the sentencing of four employees who got caught stealing furniture from their employer, Hitchcock Chair Company. They were all given suspended sentences and probation. Whoop-te-doo. The judge, Alexandria DiPentima, said the sentences were appropriate in light of probation investigations.
What the hell does that mean? She also ordered restitution. Who monitors that?

Now the story gets worse. Not only were the employees caught on tape by a private investigator, but the company’s owner placed these people in charge of tracking down the thefts in the first place. Oops. The owner made the mistake of putting the fox in the hen house. Does this mean that the guilty should get off so lightly? Company president Ronald Coleman Jr. said “ I don’t agree with this and I don’t understand it. ’’
Well, Mr. Coleman, permit me to enlighten you, if I may. These poor folks didn’t really understand what they were doing. They needed furniture for themselves and their friends. and even at wholesale, your fine quality made the merchandise too expensive. And they worked very hard, and felt that you never really paid them quite enough. Therefore, they created their own compensation. Even though that created delivery problems for your legitimate customers, what the heck? Small price to pay to help out four fellow citizens down on their luck.

And the judge? Well, of course, she just felt so sorry for these poor, downtrodden people, so abused by the capitalistic oppressors, that she had no choice but to let them go. And that is exactly what she did. She let them go. A slap on the wrist, maybe a wink and a nod, and once again justice goes unserved. The worst of it is there will never be an end to soft-headed judges imposing their own brand of injustice until the legislature sets specific punishments. Forget the word guidelines. It doesn’t work. Forget the judges’ arguments that their legal training makes them smart enough to know what’s best. That’s pure crap. What’s best is that if you do a crime, you will do time. Real time. Hard time. Commentary invited.

Editorial: Fast Food Lawsuit

So try to understand this. An obese man files a lawsuit against 4 fast-food restaurants, and some Doctor’s group out of Washington, D.C. applauds him. Some how I have to believe these are the same kinds of doctors who support keeping mal-practice information confidential, so as to not injure the reputation of “ good ’’ doctors who might have made “a mistake’’.

I just have to wonder, what ever happened to personal responsibility? Could anyone possibly believe the fast food chains are healthy? Unless you order a salad ( and even then, be wary of most dressings ) you have to know it only tastes good. There is nothing healthy about it. When my customers asks for veggie burgers or the like, I tell ‘em right up front---we are cardiac city. I sell Hot Dogs, Fried Fish and Philly Steaks. Sure, the dogs are grilled, but that doesn’t mean much. We are a throw-back to the 50’s. Back then, I’m not sure cholesterol ( good or bad ) even existed.

The operative word is MODERATION!!! Nothing will kill you if you don’t eat it too often; if you do, you need a shrink, not a lawyer. And by the way, the biggest offenders are the judge who allowed the lawsuit, and the
T.V. talk shows who give this guy free publicity. He and his lawyer both claimed to be doing it for future generations of kids; however, neither was willing to donate the money if they win ( perish the thought ) to healthy causes. What does that tell you about this guy’s character?

Those people who want cradle-to-grave care should go live in Sweden. I thought the founding principle of our country was self reliance. That idea seems to have gotten lost along the way.

Thoughts---Comments---Need Me To Say It For You
inmyopinion@sbcglobal.net

Rock

Hey Wayne. Are you reading this. This is a tester.