Saturday, May 10, 2003
In Defense of Prison Rape
I read recently about a "right-left coalition" to address the severe problem with prison rape. Rich Lowery - to his credit - states that it is a national shame that prison rapes are the stuff of talk show humor and largely ignored.
But I think he misses - or chooses to ignor - one very potent fact. More than the isolation and boredom of a prison sentence, rape is THE deterent for men from the punishment of prison.
Hey, the concept of prison may not be a walk in the park, but nothing too bad. Three squares a day, LOTS of time to read and write or play card games. Boring perhaps, but nothing too horrible.
It is those aspects of prison punishment that are NOT part of the regimen that make it a horror to contemplate. Gang fights, a shiv in the back, being bent over a bunk for some maniac's face-down fun... now THAT is a damn good reason to avoid prison at any cost.
I think there is some tacit understanding of this reality and that this "right-left coalition" will ultimately fail because we collectively WANT them to fail. If prison maintains its connotative meaning of being a hell on earth, rational criminals will at least be very reluctant to risk that punishment.
I read recently about a "right-left coalition" to address the severe problem with prison rape. Rich Lowery - to his credit - states that it is a national shame that prison rapes are the stuff of talk show humor and largely ignored.
But I think he misses - or chooses to ignor - one very potent fact. More than the isolation and boredom of a prison sentence, rape is THE deterent for men from the punishment of prison.
Hey, the concept of prison may not be a walk in the park, but nothing too bad. Three squares a day, LOTS of time to read and write or play card games. Boring perhaps, but nothing too horrible.
It is those aspects of prison punishment that are NOT part of the regimen that make it a horror to contemplate. Gang fights, a shiv in the back, being bent over a bunk for some maniac's face-down fun... now THAT is a damn good reason to avoid prison at any cost.
I think there is some tacit understanding of this reality and that this "right-left coalition" will ultimately fail because we collectively WANT them to fail. If prison maintains its connotative meaning of being a hell on earth, rational criminals will at least be very reluctant to risk that punishment.
Friday, May 09, 2003
What I Want Right Now
I've discovered that I want something that doesn't exist. I want the ultimate hiker's companion. It is an electronic device that combines a number of useful capabilities. It should function as a 3 watt two-way radio, it should have GPS capabilities with terrain-corrected 3D maps, a satellite phone, compass, altimeter, thermometer, barometer, range finder, an alarm clock, stop watch, silent buzzing, have about 10 TB worth of storage for the HD video or digital stills or audio that it can record and function as a small flash light. It should also be able to receive the weather station and act as a radio and visual distress beacon. It should be able to be left in my backpack and send its info via radio channel to nano-devices attached to my "special" sunglasses, my ears and my larynx.
It should be possible to charge it using solar power, it must float and be as close to indestructable as its "thin film" neutronium sheathing can make it. It should be about the size and shape of a pair of binoculars.
Ok, maybe that's a little much. But I'd be quite happy to settle with a 3 watt two-way radio with a "real world" range of 5 miles, GPS capabilities, a clock, silent call alarm, receive the local radio weather station, it must be water tight (to 10 meters) and float, solar chargable and capable of being dropped from a height of 10 feet onto rocks without breaking it and a little emergency blinker light. It should also have mic/headphone out port and it should be capable of directionally finding other, similar devices. The commonly used buttons should be big enough to be used while wearing ski gloves. It should have a 5 year comprehensive warranty.
How much would I pay for a pair of such devices? Hmmm... I did a search on the web for something with these capabilities and nothing really fits the bill. Oddly enough, none of those I found touted their ruggedness! I'd think that such an outdoorsy device like a "hiker's walkie-talkie" would consider this characteristic as critical. The best of them cost about $350 for a pair. For MY design, I'd pay $400 for a pair.
I've discovered that I want something that doesn't exist. I want the ultimate hiker's companion. It is an electronic device that combines a number of useful capabilities. It should function as a 3 watt two-way radio, it should have GPS capabilities with terrain-corrected 3D maps, a satellite phone, compass, altimeter, thermometer, barometer, range finder, an alarm clock, stop watch, silent buzzing, have about 10 TB worth of storage for the HD video or digital stills or audio that it can record and function as a small flash light. It should also be able to receive the weather station and act as a radio and visual distress beacon. It should be able to be left in my backpack and send its info via radio channel to nano-devices attached to my "special" sunglasses, my ears and my larynx.
It should be possible to charge it using solar power, it must float and be as close to indestructable as its "thin film" neutronium sheathing can make it. It should be about the size and shape of a pair of binoculars.
Ok, maybe that's a little much. But I'd be quite happy to settle with a 3 watt two-way radio with a "real world" range of 5 miles, GPS capabilities, a clock, silent call alarm, receive the local radio weather station, it must be water tight (to 10 meters) and float, solar chargable and capable of being dropped from a height of 10 feet onto rocks without breaking it and a little emergency blinker light. It should also have mic/headphone out port and it should be capable of directionally finding other, similar devices. The commonly used buttons should be big enough to be used while wearing ski gloves. It should have a 5 year comprehensive warranty.
How much would I pay for a pair of such devices? Hmmm... I did a search on the web for something with these capabilities and nothing really fits the bill. Oddly enough, none of those I found touted their ruggedness! I'd think that such an outdoorsy device like a "hiker's walkie-talkie" would consider this characteristic as critical. The best of them cost about $350 for a pair. For MY design, I'd pay $400 for a pair.
Beggers in Mainz
In case you're wondering, Mainz, Germany is just crawling with beggers. Most just sit in a stupor over their pot/can/cup awaiting contributions to their plight. These don't bother me. What DOES bother me are the aggressive ones that seek you out and follow you, assuming that your annoyance at their insistence will separate you from a few coins. Well, after having been accosted five too many times yesterday, I'd had enough.
I could see him coming from 50 meters away. He saw ME too and made a bee-line for me. Cornered. I could do a 180 and sprint madly, but there'd just be another one and I'd be out of breath to defend myself. THIS one was the one I'd have to deal with. HE was the archetype of all aggressive beggers blighting tourist sites everywhere. I took a deep breath and assumed the invisible mantle of being the Champion of the Accosted, the Defender of the Pestered, the Savior of the Preyed Upon. My first line of defense is the language barrier. This isn't very effective in Germany since most people here speak English. Their spiel is then translated into English. But this time it was late in the day, I'd been approached too many times and this guy was SMOKING. Waving his arms with the smoking brand between his fingers.
I cut him off and pounced. "No, you can not have any of my money. If you are hungry then why don't you take the money you spend on cigarettes and buy some FOOD? Do you know why you're begging? Because you're too stupid to figure that out yourself." I turned and walked away.
Oh well, yet another reason I'll rot in Hell.
In case you're wondering, Mainz, Germany is just crawling with beggers. Most just sit in a stupor over their pot/can/cup awaiting contributions to their plight. These don't bother me. What DOES bother me are the aggressive ones that seek you out and follow you, assuming that your annoyance at their insistence will separate you from a few coins. Well, after having been accosted five too many times yesterday, I'd had enough.
I could see him coming from 50 meters away. He saw ME too and made a bee-line for me. Cornered. I could do a 180 and sprint madly, but there'd just be another one and I'd be out of breath to defend myself. THIS one was the one I'd have to deal with. HE was the archetype of all aggressive beggers blighting tourist sites everywhere. I took a deep breath and assumed the invisible mantle of being the Champion of the Accosted, the Defender of the Pestered, the Savior of the Preyed Upon. My first line of defense is the language barrier. This isn't very effective in Germany since most people here speak English. Their spiel is then translated into English. But this time it was late in the day, I'd been approached too many times and this guy was SMOKING. Waving his arms with the smoking brand between his fingers.
I cut him off and pounced. "No, you can not have any of my money. If you are hungry then why don't you take the money you spend on cigarettes and buy some FOOD? Do you know why you're begging? Because you're too stupid to figure that out yourself." I turned and walked away.
Oh well, yet another reason I'll rot in Hell.
Zimno Zygotes
I just read that there are over 400,000 frozen human embryos in American fertility clinics. I have no ethical or moral problem with freezing embryos, but why in the world are there so MANY??? I get this image of miles of orderly rows of little test tubes dusted with frost with little "2001 - A Space Odyssey" fetuses inside. Occasionally a bored orderly in a white bio-hazard suit walks by with a clip board steps up to one of the unsuspecting (REALLY unsuspecting) test tubes and looks closely at it and then flicks it with his finger. The 'tinking' sound echos. He goes back to his errands.
It seems that the donors whose genetic contributions created the embryos are very reluctant to dispose of them, even if they are past child bearing age. Incidentally, do the embryos have a "use by" date? Entropy is slowed - but not stopped - for the embryos, so how long are they viable? Ten years? One hundred? Ten thousand maybe? Why don't we put a few thousand in the payload section of one of those inter-galactic space probes and launch them out to Andromeda. They won't get there until well after humans at home have died out, so maybe the species could continue. Imagine the alien finding the embryo-packed probe in the outer arms of Andromeda. "What is it, dear?" "Oh, just another one of those thoughtful care packages from home. Here, have one!"
I just read that there are over 400,000 frozen human embryos in American fertility clinics. I have no ethical or moral problem with freezing embryos, but why in the world are there so MANY??? I get this image of miles of orderly rows of little test tubes dusted with frost with little "2001 - A Space Odyssey" fetuses inside. Occasionally a bored orderly in a white bio-hazard suit walks by with a clip board steps up to one of the unsuspecting (REALLY unsuspecting) test tubes and looks closely at it and then flicks it with his finger. The 'tinking' sound echos. He goes back to his errands.
It seems that the donors whose genetic contributions created the embryos are very reluctant to dispose of them, even if they are past child bearing age. Incidentally, do the embryos have a "use by" date? Entropy is slowed - but not stopped - for the embryos, so how long are they viable? Ten years? One hundred? Ten thousand maybe? Why don't we put a few thousand in the payload section of one of those inter-galactic space probes and launch them out to Andromeda. They won't get there until well after humans at home have died out, so maybe the species could continue. Imagine the alien finding the embryo-packed probe in the outer arms of Andromeda. "What is it, dear?" "Oh, just another one of those thoughtful care packages from home. Here, have one!"
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Genesis
More than any other single issue, this blog's genesis was as a result of the Iraq War. You can say a raft of valid things about war. You can spout any sort of hyperbolae about it as well. But there is one aspect of war that I find indispensible. That is the brutal honesty of war. While not a word commonly associated with large scale organized violence, I mean 'honesty' precisely. There is something virtuous in it's finality in resolving a conflict mano-a-mano or a technological variations thereof. You can scream about the dubious legality of a particular war or it's moral reprehensibility or its dire economic consequences, but few in its wake dispute its victor and the immediate consequences of that victory. To the loser comes the choice for sober introspection or simple dissolution.
War - most especially this one - has exposed the naked agendas of so many groups. The perfidous French, the hypcritical anti-war factions, the evolution of the New Europe and the stagnation of the Old, the self-deluded Middle East and the willingness of so many to sacrifice their principles for ONE MORE DAY UNDER THE ILLUSION OF PEACE were all left in stark relief for the world to see.
I guess when Quasimodo was forced before the mirror and any illusion dispelled, that must have been one cathartic day.
Well, the global mirror has been planted in front of a lot of groups around the world and their reactions have signaled a sea change. Let's take a look at some of the more severely affected groups.
The Liberals of America were exposed as perhaps the most heinous hypocrites since The Inquisition for their opposition to the war. What was their collective reason for opposition to removing the world's most notorious (not to mention the most prolific) living tyrant? "No blood for oil!" Let's ignor for the moment that occasionally the astute politician overlooks the motives of a fellow politician if their objective is the same. Let's also not look too closely to the fact that Liberals the world over have fancied themselves the "Defenders of Liberty", the "Champion of the Oppressed" and the "Advocate of the Helpless" and in that spirit claimed that "If Iraq wants to remove Saddam, let them do it!" But let us NOT ignor that the net effect of their opposition was to kill ever more innocent people in Saddam's slaughter houses, children's prisons, olympic training facilities, Kurdish towns and dank oubliettes everywhere.
But was their opposition really against the removal of Saddam Hussein? I don't think so. I think they identified their inchoate rage at having lost control of the American government with their opposition to ANYTHING George Bush does, so they opposed the war as a way to oppose Bush. The extent of this nearly autonomic response goes beyond anything I've seen before in American politics. If Bush had proposed a non-binding resolution to declare April 1st, "Cherish a Child Day", they'd oppose it on the grounds that it would disproportionately favor the rich.
Do the American Liberals give George Bush credit for anything he's done that meets with their approval? You'd think his proposal for a big push for AIDS research would be near and dear to their hearts. The silence of their appreciation is deafening. Even if they DO appreciate the proposal, they'd be damned before they'd be "outed" by their friends for having given Bush credit for it or anything else.
I have no love of Bill Clinton (well, to be honest, no LIKE, no respect and nothing but relief that he's gone), but when he did something right, I gave him credit. When he finally went into the Bosnia to save the Muslims, that was the RIGHT thing to do. It was a moral decision that was RIGHT. Some chide his belated decision, but I do not. He coaxed, cajoled and coerced Europe to deal with a problem that was literally in their back yard, but Europe's nature prevented them for doing anything. After it was clear that no European would EVER come to the aid of anyone unless they were dearly paid for it, Bill sent the troops in.
The Old European response is similar to the Liberal response in America. Old Europe's fear of an American president disturbing their carefully cultured society of suspended animation and delusion of superiority is just too horrible to consider. It was only by living here amongst them that I was able to really understand how a thing like Auschwitz happened. They've been exposed for the self-absorbed, cowardly, perfidous, obstructionistic Nationalists that they are.
Conversely, the New Europeans showed themselves - contrary to Chirac's characterization of them as ill-behaved children - as a people that really DID learn the lessons of World War 2 and Totalitarian regimes. Their dismissal of Chirac's direction that they line up behind his opposition to the removal of Saddam Hussein stands as the most signficant moral stance in Europe since Karol Joseph Wojtyla's speech in Krakow in '77. The consequence to their collective decision - especially the Polish - is that the world knows that they can be depended upon. That is certainly more than can be said for....
The Perfidous French warrant special consideration. In fact, the Perfidous French deserve their own post. But suffice it to say that they have no allies but economic allies and for good reason. They are as dependable as the weather and their delusions of "...the first amongst the most powerful nations..." have not yet encountered the reality of their economic, military and political power.
The peoples of the Middle East have maneuvered themselves into a hopelessly untenable position. While almost uniformly agreed that Saddam Hussein *should* should have been removed, they viewed anyone BUT a Middle East country doing so as an invastion of the Middle East generally. All the while they quietly accepted the fact that even if they had WANTED to remove Saddam, they could not have done so due to their military weakness. Rather than accept the need of America to assist or lead the effort to remove Saddam, they elevated Saddam to Saladin-like status. Now imagine the hypocrisy of elevating the man that has killed more Muslims than anyone else in history as a hero of Islam. But that before admitting weakness! This was made only worse by the Arab news networks complete misrepresentation of the facts of the war. The Arab news reports went from declaring the Iraqi army as valiant victors driving the heathen invaders out of Iraq to watching cheering Iraqi citizens welcoming American soldiers literally overnight. How could this happen? They too must spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. Did they really think that they could project their illusory utopia of Islamia over the world for much longer? This blog isn't for them because they will not have read this far. Pity.
More than any other single issue, this blog's genesis was as a result of the Iraq War. You can say a raft of valid things about war. You can spout any sort of hyperbolae about it as well. But there is one aspect of war that I find indispensible. That is the brutal honesty of war. While not a word commonly associated with large scale organized violence, I mean 'honesty' precisely. There is something virtuous in it's finality in resolving a conflict mano-a-mano or a technological variations thereof. You can scream about the dubious legality of a particular war or it's moral reprehensibility or its dire economic consequences, but few in its wake dispute its victor and the immediate consequences of that victory. To the loser comes the choice for sober introspection or simple dissolution.
War - most especially this one - has exposed the naked agendas of so many groups. The perfidous French, the hypcritical anti-war factions, the evolution of the New Europe and the stagnation of the Old, the self-deluded Middle East and the willingness of so many to sacrifice their principles for ONE MORE DAY UNDER THE ILLUSION OF PEACE were all left in stark relief for the world to see.
I guess when Quasimodo was forced before the mirror and any illusion dispelled, that must have been one cathartic day.
Well, the global mirror has been planted in front of a lot of groups around the world and their reactions have signaled a sea change. Let's take a look at some of the more severely affected groups.
The Liberals of America were exposed as perhaps the most heinous hypocrites since The Inquisition for their opposition to the war. What was their collective reason for opposition to removing the world's most notorious (not to mention the most prolific) living tyrant? "No blood for oil!" Let's ignor for the moment that occasionally the astute politician overlooks the motives of a fellow politician if their objective is the same. Let's also not look too closely to the fact that Liberals the world over have fancied themselves the "Defenders of Liberty", the "Champion of the Oppressed" and the "Advocate of the Helpless" and in that spirit claimed that "If Iraq wants to remove Saddam, let them do it!" But let us NOT ignor that the net effect of their opposition was to kill ever more innocent people in Saddam's slaughter houses, children's prisons, olympic training facilities, Kurdish towns and dank oubliettes everywhere.
But was their opposition really against the removal of Saddam Hussein? I don't think so. I think they identified their inchoate rage at having lost control of the American government with their opposition to ANYTHING George Bush does, so they opposed the war as a way to oppose Bush. The extent of this nearly autonomic response goes beyond anything I've seen before in American politics. If Bush had proposed a non-binding resolution to declare April 1st, "Cherish a Child Day", they'd oppose it on the grounds that it would disproportionately favor the rich.
Do the American Liberals give George Bush credit for anything he's done that meets with their approval? You'd think his proposal for a big push for AIDS research would be near and dear to their hearts. The silence of their appreciation is deafening. Even if they DO appreciate the proposal, they'd be damned before they'd be "outed" by their friends for having given Bush credit for it or anything else.
I have no love of Bill Clinton (well, to be honest, no LIKE, no respect and nothing but relief that he's gone), but when he did something right, I gave him credit. When he finally went into the Bosnia to save the Muslims, that was the RIGHT thing to do. It was a moral decision that was RIGHT. Some chide his belated decision, but I do not. He coaxed, cajoled and coerced Europe to deal with a problem that was literally in their back yard, but Europe's nature prevented them for doing anything. After it was clear that no European would EVER come to the aid of anyone unless they were dearly paid for it, Bill sent the troops in.
The Old European response is similar to the Liberal response in America. Old Europe's fear of an American president disturbing their carefully cultured society of suspended animation and delusion of superiority is just too horrible to consider. It was only by living here amongst them that I was able to really understand how a thing like Auschwitz happened. They've been exposed for the self-absorbed, cowardly, perfidous, obstructionistic Nationalists that they are.
Conversely, the New Europeans showed themselves - contrary to Chirac's characterization of them as ill-behaved children - as a people that really DID learn the lessons of World War 2 and Totalitarian regimes. Their dismissal of Chirac's direction that they line up behind his opposition to the removal of Saddam Hussein stands as the most signficant moral stance in Europe since Karol Joseph Wojtyla's speech in Krakow in '77. The consequence to their collective decision - especially the Polish - is that the world knows that they can be depended upon. That is certainly more than can be said for....
The Perfidous French warrant special consideration. In fact, the Perfidous French deserve their own post. But suffice it to say that they have no allies but economic allies and for good reason. They are as dependable as the weather and their delusions of "...the first amongst the most powerful nations..." have not yet encountered the reality of their economic, military and political power.
The peoples of the Middle East have maneuvered themselves into a hopelessly untenable position. While almost uniformly agreed that Saddam Hussein *should* should have been removed, they viewed anyone BUT a Middle East country doing so as an invastion of the Middle East generally. All the while they quietly accepted the fact that even if they had WANTED to remove Saddam, they could not have done so due to their military weakness. Rather than accept the need of America to assist or lead the effort to remove Saddam, they elevated Saddam to Saladin-like status. Now imagine the hypocrisy of elevating the man that has killed more Muslims than anyone else in history as a hero of Islam. But that before admitting weakness! This was made only worse by the Arab news networks complete misrepresentation of the facts of the war. The Arab news reports went from declaring the Iraqi army as valiant victors driving the heathen invaders out of Iraq to watching cheering Iraqi citizens welcoming American soldiers literally overnight. How could this happen? They too must spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. Did they really think that they could project their illusory utopia of Islamia over the world for much longer? This blog isn't for them because they will not have read this far. Pity.
...3...2...1...
Awright. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. It's time to join the Exodus from the arena of the dumbed-down Big (Massaged) Media, the Luddites, the unprincipled Agenda Advocates and the Holy Hypocrites and enter the Blogosphere. I have no temporal sense of obligation to this, so don't expect daily updates and don't even HOPE for the hourly obligation some seem feel they have to update their blog. I don't. I like to pretend I have a life, so I'll do so when I'm moved by the need.
Awright. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. It's time to join the Exodus from the arena of the dumbed-down Big (Massaged) Media, the Luddites, the unprincipled Agenda Advocates and the Holy Hypocrites and enter the Blogosphere. I have no temporal sense of obligation to this, so don't expect daily updates and don't even HOPE for the hourly obligation some seem feel they have to update their blog. I don't. I like to pretend I have a life, so I'll do so when I'm moved by the need.
