For Your Consideration

FALCON II and The Fringe Benefits of Hunting Sex Offenders

Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement is now releasing some of the arrest figures attributed to Operation FALCON II, a week long combined effort to apprehend fugitives, in which violent sex offenders were a priority target.

Officials are justifiably proud to announce they captured 1,102 sex offenders.

The fringe benefit to this sweep is that they also apprehended 7,935 other fugitives wanted for being gang members, murderers, kidnappers, robbers, drug dealers, carjackers and burglars.  For a total of 9,037 arrested criminals.

Bravo!

The only bad thing I can say is that this type of concentrated effort cannot be maintained.  Not because Law Enforcement doesn’t have the desire to hunt these criminals down but because they simply do not have the manpower or funding to maintain this type of effort indefinitely.

Which gives me an idea…

You know those silly check boxes on your tax forms asking if you wish to donate $3.00 to the Presidential Election Campaign?  (The one I generally don’t check off, because I would rather donate to the candidate of my choice instead of donating anything to a candidate who is diametrically opposed to my beliefs.)  Well if they added a box to the tax forms asking “Do you wish to donate $3.00 to the tireless, unrelenting, unmerciful manhunt, prosecution and perpetual incarceration of Child Molesters and Sex Offenders?”  That would be a box I would check off without a second thought.

We could even take it a step further…you know how Firefighter’s stand at traffic lights asking driver’s to “Fill The Boot” for Muscular Dystrophy?  Maybe the Police could put a Child Molester in a set of pillory-stocks with a sign around their neck asking for donations to fund the hunt for fugitive sex offenders.

Just a thought.

The War Brought Home

Despite what some people may think…I am NOT a fan of the war in Iraq.  I’m really not a fan of war at all.  I do however; feel that at times it is necessary.

If you want to hate the war, I understand that…even admire it.  But the second you spew any venom directed at the troops stuck in this mess…you and I part ways and I find it hard to forgive and harder to forget, hatred directed at our troops.

Get a clue for crying out loud…these young men and women are stuck in a grinder of failed diplomacy, politics and religious hatred.  They are there to put an end to it.  Hate the grinder and not the meat.

But it is not my intent to argue the reasons for our current conflict or any other for that matter.  Our troops are there.  They are rebuilding, training, fighting, dying and being horribly wounded on our behalf.  Any argument about the cause of war at this point is merely academic.  It would do nothing to shorten the time our troops will be in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Nor will it lessen the wounds or suffering or those directly effected by the war.

So Hell Yeah, I support our troops.  It would be wonderful to have them all come home today, but that isn’t going happen.  So until that time…I will be happy to pass them all the ammunition they can use, pay to armor their Hummers, have some of my taxes go to bullet resistant vests or even mow their lawns while they are deployed.

I received an email from a friend.  One of those stupid chain emails I routinely delete with just the slightest glance or no real regret.  I was incapable of doing that this morning.  Maybe because it caused my eyes to well up and I couldn’t clearly see the delete key through my shimmering tears.

So I have decided to share it with you despite my misgivings of chain mail and my usual mistrust of any truth these emails may have.  This one just seems to transcend my ingrained skepticism.

I hope it touches something inside you like it did for me.

A Simple Thank You

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

No, he responded.

Heading out I asked?

No.  I'm escorting a soldier home.

Going to pick him up?

No.  He is with me right now.  He was killed in Iraq.  I'm taking him home to his family.

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut.  It was an honor for him.  He told me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew  them after many conversations in so few days.  I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you.  Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight.  He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family.  I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier.  We will then turn off the seat belt sign."

Without a sound, all went as requested.  I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.

Stuart Margel, Washington, D.C.

Here are two very very touching photos honored as this year's International Picture of the Year.

 

First Place
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. 

During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: "See the people in the windows?  They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines.  You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They will remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives.  They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should.”

Second Place
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

Kung Fu Fighting and Other Songs That Get Stuck In Your Head

My malicious nature was inspired this morning, by a song.

I am one of the many people that suffer exquisitely from songs that get stuck in my head.  Like an old LP album with a deep scratch, my internal needle sticks and the song is repeated ad nauseam and tends to stay for days on end, providing a defective soundtrack to everything I do.

Being of a generous nature, I like to share.  So when I stumbled on Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” this morning I immediately sprung into action.  I called Dave Lakhani of Bold Approach.  Knowing he was probably in flight on a business trip to San Diego.  I got his voicemail.  Thrilled, I asked forgiveness for the evil I was about to do and proceeded to blare 30 seconds of the most insidious portion of Kung Fu Fighting into the phone.  I can hardly wait for his angry return call.  I am certain he will try to counter with Tommy Tu-Tone’s 867-5309 (Jenny Jenny).

Unsatisfied with the lack of immediate response I called my wife, certain she had nothing better to do than to try to conduct business with the song stuck in her head.  Her immediate respond was to curse and then say…”You gotta call Dave”!  That’s part of why I love her so much.  She is surely equally as evil as I can be.

For those of you inclined to infect yourselves I found it as the soundtrack to a Google Video somebody with more time on their hands than sense, made of his two cats play fighting. Here is the link…

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8810348619140081740&q=cats&pl=true

And for even more ideas I found the Top 192 Most Annoying Songs to Get Stuck in your Head according to the keepersoflists.org.

Enjoy at your own risk, I assume no responsibility for your decline in productivity.  Just remember it’s nice to share!

Viewers VS Do-ers

When did we become a nation of viewers and not do-ers?  Like many Americans, I watch a lot of TV.  I tend to prefer shows like Cold Case Files, Dirty Jobs, Overhaulin’ and Myth Busters, shows based in some sort of reality.  When I stray from those I go for The Shield and CSI and have been eagerly waiting for the next season of Deadwood.

Really I watch way too much TV, but I still DO things.  I still get involved in the real things that go on around me (with the exception of the weekly two hours I become totally immersed in The Shield or Deadwood when new episodes are run…I admit I am worthless for anything else when they are on).

I can stomach watching some of the most horrifying footage they dare to show on TV, but that is AFTER the fact.  The events I can sit and watch have already occurred and I can do nothing to effect the outcome.  I could not be a news cameraman.  I simply could not restrain myself from getting involved or trying to make a difference or from trying to save a life.

For me, real life events occurring in real time are not “for my viewing pleasure”, and I wonder how other people can sit idle and film or watch actual events occurring.

I stumbled on perhaps the most appalling example of the “viewing pleasure syndrome” I have ever heard of…A young woman who filmed four people burn to death in a fiery car crash.  Unknown to her, one of the four victims was the young woman’s own sister.  She filmed their deaths on her camera equipped cell phone.

Here’s the link if you find it hard to believe… http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?storyid=55973

After finding out one of the dead was her sister she wishes she had done something more to try to save them…WTF!?!  What a sick example of indifference to the suffering of others.  Now I don’t know if this woman could have actually saved anyone, even if she had braved the flames to try to pull someone out of the twisted car, in fact she probably could have lost her life trying…but at least she wouldn’t have the burden of guilt that she now carries for doing nothing but filming the deaths of her sister and three others.

Now the only thing she has besides guilt is a short clip of the last moments of her sisters life, caught on film…”for her viewing pleasure”.

Breaking News: Zarex Production Confirmed!

My quest for the sweetened nectar of my youth has taken a good turn and I am closer than ever to finding a source of the elusive stuff.

After scouring the Internet I came upon a post that listed the distributors name on a bottle or Zarex.  The distributor was listed as One Pie Canning Co.

I found a telephone listing for them; One Pie Canning Co. 2 Depot St., West Paris ME 04289  (207) 674-3920, (207) 674-2510 fax. and immediately called them.  The woman who answered the phone was very nice and helpful; although she seemed somewhat amused at the lengths I was going through to find a source of Zarex.

While she did confirm that Zarex was in still in production and that they distributed Zarex, she was unable to tell me the actual company that makes it.  The bad news was that they only sold wholesale and only serviced the Northeast.  She was able to tell me that they largest chain they supplied Zarex for was Hannaford Grocery (Another Northeastern based company).

I looked up Hannaford’s and while they have some online shopping I could find no mention of Zarex.

So I whipped off an email to the good folks at Hometown-Treats.Com (Web-based purveyors of hard to find regional foods and treats) to see if they can make use of their East Coast based operatives to smuggle out some Zarex for my personal consumption, which to the best of my knowledge is perfectly legal in the state of Idaho.  I am eagerly awaiting word from Hometown-Treats and will let all of you seeking Zarex know the outcome.

Funny really…I would have an easier time finding a true Cuban cigar.

RoboCop Takes On The Handicapped (More Police Abuses)

At about this time 27 years ago, I was avidly studying.  Usually a mediocre student, I was motivated to study this time.  The book I read and reread, was the Maryland State Drivers License study guide.

One rule which stuck out in my mind and has stuck with me ever since was this…”The pedestrian always has the right of way”.  It was kind of a golden rule.

That’s why this story really gets me.  It seems a San Fernando Valley Police Officer issued a ticket to an 82-year-old woman for taking too long to cross the road.  The woman took so long because she relies on a cane.

The woman was crossing at a designated crosswalk.  She wasn’t jaywalking.  She entered the crosswalk when it was ok to do so.  She just didn’t make it to the other side prior to the light changing.  I am in good shape and I have been at crosswalks where there is no possible way to cross the span of the roadway in the “officially” allotted time span without running or jogging.  It is disconcerting to me to find myself stuck in the middle of the road when the light changes and the waiting cars begin to accelerate.  It’s a very unpleasant game of Red Light/Green Light with very real consequences.

Her reward for making it to the other side of the street was $114 dollar ticket.  I hope she goes to court and fights it tooth and nail.  Heck, I hope the AARP provides her a sharp attorney who will assist her in making the city and the Officer who wrote the ticket, look like the total asses they are.

Officials said they are cracking down on people who are crossing improperly.  OK, I can accept that, but don’t think this falls into that category.  They should immediately dismiss the fine, unless they want to end up being forced into costly traffic and crossing time studies or into building pedestrian over or under passes.  Another case of “be careful what you wish for”.

And to the Cop who wrote the ticket…Shame on you, you self-righteous, inconsiderate thug!  Even a 12-year-old Boy Scout would have helped her cross the damned road.  You may be “in the right” so far as the letter of the law, but your actions speak volumes about you letting your authority override common sense and human dignity.  I’ll bet your parents are proud you being a Cop…now get a freaking clue and justify their pride in you, by doing the right thing instead of behaving like some poorly programmed, inflexible robot.

RoboCop is sooooo 1980’s.

Detriot's 911 Failure (Costing Lives?)

Taking a few days off can be hell.  As anyone in the job place can attest…Mondays suck.  In my case, I am returning from the Idaho equivalent of the dark side of the Moon.  A cold, constantly windy, rural area where the Internet is still required to wear the same day glow orange warning triangle so prevalent on all the slow moving farm vehicles in the area.

I find myself actively avoiding the Internet when I am there, despite it’s siren call to me.  So I am behind in the news.  I spent yesterday just trying to catch up.

So now I am forced to pick one of the many topics I fell behind on…Iranian plutonium, Immigration, the Moussaoui trial…but I’ll stick with one close to my heart.

For those of you who have been following my rants and raves, you know I spent a number of years in law enforcement.  So the horrible issue with 911 in Detroit has me foaming at the mouth.

A 5-year-old boy called 911 after his mother collapsed and lay dying.  The boy did absolutely the correct thing.  He called for help.  The trained 911 operator at the other end of the line offered no help and no comfort.  Instead she assumed the call was a prank and berated the child and threatened him, saying he would get in trouble.

Police did eventually show up at the scene.  Unfortunately too late to be of any aid to the boy’s mother, she died.

The outrage over the incident prompted the release of another incident that occurred last year.  A woman called police after her husband had shot her in the head.  The “trained” dispatcher listened in disbelief and then asked if the woman was a mental patient.  She further stated that if she had been shot in the head she couldn’t very well be making the 911 call and that it must be “a miracle”.  The woman called twice for help and was disregarded twice.  Help was only sent after the woman called her son in another state and HE called for assistance.

So now they are being sued.  Good!  I hope the city is prepared to hand out a couple very large checks.  Believe me they will settle.  They don’t want this to go to court.

Despite groups coming forward to defend the dispatchers…their behavior in indefensible.  Now they are spinning it to highlight understaffing and poor training.  Well, despite “understaffing” the calls got through, only to be disregarded.  Poor training…I believe, but it doesn’t take any training to treat someone with basic human dignity and respect.  All these dispatchers had to do was pass on the information so a Police Officer could have checked it out in person.

That my friends…is the procedure.  Even if the dispatcher believes the call may be one of the many bogus or non-emergency calls that flood dispatch offices across our nation everyday.

These people deserved better.  They deserved to be taken seriously. They deserved some reassurance from the dispatchers that someone might just be willing to help.  These dispatchers took it upon themselves to negate the entire process.  To be judge and jury based of a few moments of desperate conversation.

They were wrong and they deserve to be held fully accountable for their actions or more appropriately in this case, inaction.  I just hope they are also personally sued in addition to the lawsuits being directed at the dispatch center and local government.

Still…whatever happens to the dispatchers cannot bring back the young boy’s mother or return feeling and mobility to the woman who was shot and left paralyzed.  These things may have come to pass even if the dispatchers HAD done their freaking jobs, and despite heroic efforts by police and emergency personnel, but now we will never know.

All I do know is that I would have preferred to read a story about a heroic young boy who saved his mother by calling 911 instead of this horrific example of callous neglect.

If any of you can think of anything that might sway my opinion about the dispatcher I’d love to hear it…because I did some dispatch duties and cannot think of anything to say in their defense.

The “High-Tech Lynching” of Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney?

Oh man!  That is what I have heard the media spotlight cast on Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, particularly in reference to coverage by Fox News.

There is quite a ballyhoo about the whole incident being racially motivated.  McKinney allegedly struck a Capitol Police Officer after he physically attempted to stop her from entering the US Capitol.  Members of Congress are allowed to bypass metal detectors, but supposedly McKinney was not wearing an identification badge and the Officer failed to recognize her.  The Officer claims he touched her only after asking her to stop several times and was ignored.

These incidents have happened a couple times in the past to other members of Congress.  It happens in part because members are afforded the luxury of bypassing the same security measures applied to the rest of the American public.  Seems to me the biggest mistake is not applying common sense security measures across the board.

I’m not certain it is racially motivated as alleged by McKinney through her attorney.  McKinney was simply treated as if she were an ordinary citizen…better in fact.  If you or I had struck a police officer I am certain we would have been slammed to the ground, handcuffed and dragged away…the security cam footage would have been prime footage for the evening news, an episode of Cops and a highly viewed internet viral video.

Yes, Fox News is making a big deal of it…reveling in the public discomfort of a Democrat…but racial?

The race baiting I have heard is coming from McKinney, her attorney and her supporters.  Terms like “lynching” and headlines like “FOX News Bitch-Slaps the Uppity Black Woman While Praising the Criminal White Man” (Criminal White Man referred to is Rep. Tom Delay {charged and pending trial) being tossed about by News Hounds is fanning the flames of hatred.

I agree Fox News has softballed the Tom Delay story but that seems to be politics and not racism.

So here are my feelings…fully investigate BOTH.  If found guilty…hammer them.  If not…get over it and get back to business.  We should further demand that the security policies be enforced across the board…to ALL citizens.  That one simple thing could have prevented McKinney from getting into this mess.

Oh yeah, one more thing…if there is security footage put it out for all to see.

Real Life Super Villains?

Russia and the Ukraine have been involved in a confusing (to me anyway) dispute over natural gas.  Seems Russia has it, the Ukraine needs it and a company called Gazprom supplies it.

Somewhere I missed the story of Russia pricing the gas so high that the Ukraine was forced into an energy crisis and its citizens were left in the cold.

The dispute is working itself out, in part due to international pressure.

That should be the end of it…but it’s not.

The whole incident got people looking into the mess and what the hell is actually going on.

Gazprom, the gas supplier, is partly controlled by the Russian government, and Gazprom is connected to RosUkrEnergo (RUE), whose owners are being kept a mystery.  Persistant rumors link RUE with Russian organized crime and the shadowy figure, Semyon Mogilyevich

Mogilyevich has been connected with the Russian Mafia and as reported by Walter Mayr in Der Spiegel…” faces a 390-year prison sentence in the United States for fraud and money-laundering. Mogilyevich allegedly holds Israeli, Russian and Hungarian citizenship, and he has been widely viewed as a Mafia boss for more than 10 years. He is also on the FBI's global most-wanted list. Through his attorney, Zeev Gordon, the fugitive has denied any connection with RUE. The attorney is the same Zeev Gordon who co-founded Eural Trans Gas, RUE's predecessor, to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Ukraine. In 2003, the company's profits were estimated at three-quarters of a billion dollars.”

It certainly doesn’t look too good, and Mogilyevich (spelled Mogilevich on the FBI’s site) is in fact wanted by US authorities.

While all is not known and conjecture is running rampant, the mess is being investigated.  While I am still a bit confused by the whole thing I am left with a distinctly uneasy feeling that a super villain is relaxing somewhere in a leather and chrome swivel chair, stroking a white, pug faced, long haired cat in his lap gloating over his plans for world domination.

Guess I’ll have to wait for the movie.

Where are you when we need you Mr.Bond?

On Katie Couric Leaving NBC for the CBS Evening News

Congratulations go out to Katie Couric.  CBS has confirmed she will leave NBC’s Today Show to anchor CBS Evening News.

Good for her.  She has certainly paid her dues and is thought of very highly of by many viewers.

Personally I no longer watch the Today Show…I simply have a very low tolerance for the amount of fluffy stories NBC's producers seem to like to cover on the show.  5 minutes of news, 15 minutes of fluff and 10 minutes of commercials is more than I can stand in half and hour.  Not her fault…just her job.

I know she will be more than capable of handling “hard” news, so the fault must rest with me…I fear I’ll suffer from a kind of jet lag.

As always, I will find it hard to reconcile her bright and cheery smile with news from Iraq, natural disasters and all the human tragedy that is the fodder of the evening news.  I will also have difficulty not expecting her to take a break to fart around will Matt Lauer and Al Roker on the street with the spectators outside of the NBC studio.

Sorry Katie…the fault rests with me.