This is a serious WTF?

Due to prison overcrowding in California a significant number of convicted criminals are being released.

So what exactly does this say?

Is this a condition where California has TOO DAMN MANY LAWS?

Or and this may be more likely,

Does California have TOO DAMN MANY CRIMINALS?

I’m blown away by the kind of thinking that says it fine to release known criminals back into society simply because they’re crowded.

Prison is supposed to be a deterrent. In general I agree with Sheriff Joe Arpaios of Arizona methods. His philosophy is in general pretty much like what I was raised with in the South. In the South they still use chain gangs for road cleanup and repair. YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN PRISON IN THE SOUTH!

I was taught that when you were convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, all but your basic rights were suspended. So you were entitled to an appeal, you were entitled to food, and shelter. Anything beyond that was at the discretion of the Warden.

It astounds me that a California inmate costs the state on average $47000 a year. According to Legislative Analyst’s Office about 2/3 of the cost is administrative in nature (Security, health care, & operations) I think we AS TAXPAYERS are entitled to some kind of compensation. I think that all the inmates should be doing some kind of productive work. Instead of sitting around watching TV, working out, and getting degrees on the taxpayers dime.

Unfortunately, if California tried to use the prison population as a labor force offsetting the cost of incarceration, we’d spend more money fighting legal challenges than we’d save.

There is a subtext in all of this. It’s that there is in fact NO punishment or accountability. Why would the police spend any real effort to deal with petty theft when they know there’s no jail time even if they catch the perpetrator. The problem with this is, now the police are in a position where they’ll pick and choose which cases are more important.

So what’s the answer?

Deport Illegal aliens? Well that would work except that the hardened elements would be back in a week

Accelerate the execution of the prisoners on death row? Well, that would give us a few more cells to work with. It would certainly put the fear of California prison into potential criminals. But cleaning out death row isn’t a viable long term solution.

Eliminate the 3 strike Zero Tolerance laws? I think this actually would help. Zero Tolerance ANYTHING is stupid. When you have mandatory prison terms for certain offenses you automatically stress the prison system. Lets eliminate Zero Tolerance and get back to enforcing the spirit of the law not the letter.

Ship prisoners to out of state prisons? I don’t know if that’s a good idea or a bad one. Eventually, all the prison system will be overloaded, if it’s not already.

Whatever the solution, I don’t think dumping prisoners into society is the answer. Especially not with the state / local budget in crisis and police forces that are understaffed and overworked.

Lets face it most of the time the police arrive in time to clean up the blood, they rarely have an opportunity to actually prevent a crime. Dumping our prison population is far more likely to increase their janitorial duties.

As always, this blog is just my opinion and if you’ve got a different opinion you’re welcome to express it.

Circumcision as a Political Football?

I heard about a group in San Francisco that had managed to get an anti-circumcision law on the ballot in The City.

On the one hand I personally think that circumcision is a barbaric practice.

On the OTHER HAND I don’t think it’s reasonable in our society to add to the body of Nanny State laws.
When the State has a say in what happens with MY dick or the dicks of the males in my family then something is very wrong.

I suggested to my brother that he leave his sons intact. Not because of religious issues, or hygiene issues or anything other than a philosophical position.

I don’t know what my brother decided, but after saying my piece, the matter was closed.

If I, as the Patriarch of our family know when it’s time to butt out, what makes the state of California think that they have any greater say in what is clearly a personal issue.

Lets NOT even begin to discuss the interference in freedom of religion that this San Francisco law would create.

I wasn’t going to comment on this legal silliness UNTIL some nutjob in Santa Monica started to try to get the same kind of law enacted down here.

Folks, Circumcision is barbaric. However, it’s a personal choice for various reasons  AND it should remain a personal decision. This does not belong in the body of law. It also begs the question, are you going to have little boys dropping their trousers so that teachers can report the boys circumcision status to the state?

Again, and I can’t stress this enough Think for yourselves! Don’t eat the pudding.

I just love the Duplicity of al-Qaeda

I Was reading an article about al-Qaeda threats in the wake of bin Ladens demise.

Aside from the usual blah blah blah Jihad blah blah blah Allah blah blah blah blah Allah blah blah Jihad blah …

A couple of things stuck out.

1) “Men and heroes only should be confronted in the battlefields …”

Oh yeah? Hummm let me think about that. Where the World Trade Center once stood I don’t see a battlefield and I didn’t see armed combatants there on that September morning.

2) Their statement complained about our “mistreatment” of bin Ladens body…

Again… Let me think, Oh yeah wasn’t it al-Qaeda operatives that hung dead Americans from overpasses? Decapitated Americans on TV? Left body parts of American soldiers in various places around Baghdad?

3) Their statements congratulates “Islamic Nation on the martyrdom of their devoted son Osama,”

Oh well then, I look forward to them having the opportunity to congratulate the Islamic Nation on MANY more martyrs, I suspect that at least some of those will have their blood spilled on American soil.

They’re not coming to America folks… The jihadists are already HERE.

The media is reporting that al-Qaeda is targeting other cities (Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). This should not be a surprise.

It should be expected now and into the future. Since our government has not specifically targeted and deported non-citizens from hostile Middle Eastern countries living in the US and since our ability to deport non-citizens is constantly thwarted by our fear of appearing to profile, or being racist, we will effectively live with this kind of threat from here on out.

Something to think about the next time terrorists mount an attack within the borders of the United States. Do not delude yourselves, there will be some attack that our law enforcement folks will be unable to stop despite their best efforts.

When it happens, the media will be crying why? They’ll be demanding answers from law enforcement, politicians will begin fact finding missions, spending millions of our tax dollars and running around in tight little circles refusing to accept the common sense answers for fear of being called a bad name.

We as a nation really do need to get our priorities in order.

Musing about al-Qaeda

In writing about bin Ladens death, I realized that part of my rage at al-Qaeda is fueled by people and elements of the media that are all for appeasement.

There is no appeasing jihadis unless you’re willing to convert to Islam, have your wives and daughters cover themselves and submit to a theocracy where brutality is the norm.

If you’re willing to sacrifice everything that we as Americans are then I suppose appeasement is a choice.

For me, for a variety of reasons appeasement is completely off the table. I realized shortly after 9/11 that while I was too old to serve in the military, I still needed to make a decision about where I stood.

Admiral Yamamoto in the early days of World War II counseled against a Japanese invasion of America. He said if Japan tried to invade America there would be “a rifle behind every blade of grass”

Ghost Trees (c) 2010 David Kendal

I believe that we should make sure he was right.

I decided that if it came to a “Fifth Column” in America, or an invasion, or God help us appeasement under the threat of some nuclear or biological threat, that my only choice would be to fight.

I suppose it’s my Northern European roots. Something in me says it’s better to go out with a weapon in my hand and dine in Valhalla than to be led submissively to slaughter like a sheep.

Perhaps in that way, I’m no different from the 15th century beliefs that fundamentalist Islam preaches…

I’m still a barbarian from the North.

Osama bin Laden is DEAD!

WHOOOO HOOOO!

I’ve been told by my more moderate friends and family that I shouldn’t be so dang happy about it. But I’m happy we finally gave him lead poisoning.

The only thing I wish is that we hadn’t buried him at sea. I don’t think he deserved that courtesy.

I’ve wished for years that we would capture him and then whip him naked through the streets of New York and Washington DC. Then have him shot in the shadow of the Washington Monument and his head placed on a pike for the world to see.

Brutality and violence seem to be the only thing al-Qaeda understands. I’m all for giving it to them in abundance.

I’d guess that we have targeted all of the al-Qaeda leaders and subordinates.

I hope that their heads are squarely in the crosshairs of a SEAL, Ranger, or Other Special Operations guys, and that the al-Qaeda body count is about to rise very quickly.

Gothic! Medieval! Brutal! YES! All true and there is a part of me that is a little ashamed of that, but bear with me here.

That desire is born out of pure rage that comes from seeing our soldiers bodies defiled, and seeing videos of these al-Qaeda “Freedom Fighters” decapitating kidnapped terrified civilians.

I’m enraged because despite the fact that we haven’t had much in the way of attacks here in the US since 9/11, our way of life has been irrevocably changed. We are not as free as we were, we have lost some of our rights, traveling by air has become nightmarish, and we now look at everyone with suspicion. In one regard the terrorists succeeded, they made an impression and they took away our innocence.

On Sunday, our military brought justice to one of the people responsible for the changes to my home. I’m good with that and I thank those guys from the bottom of my heart.