Saturday, March 31, 2007

More Information on Andrew Riley

The Post Online of Athens, Ohio is becoming the major source of information on this "criminal."

Look what was written about Riley, his family and their lifestyle:

1. Police say Riley is a suspect in two break-ins at a local café; thefts at two residences; two incidents of vandalism in which windows at the Rocky Outdoor Gear store were broken; and several car break-ins.

2. Riley appeared in juvenile court on an arson charge when he was 11. That charge was dismissed after he attended an arson diversion program.

3. Officer Ed Downs, who is leading the Nelsonville police investigation said he thought Riley also had menacing charges pending when he was arrested on the arson charge.

4. People who live on the same street as Riley and his family often hear shouting and arguing coming from their house. They estimate that local police visit the house about every other week.

5. Nelsonville Police Chief David Redecker said his department’s file on the case is several inches thick.

6. Police executing a search warrant earlier this month at Riley’s home found a cache of stolen items, including knives, video games, hunting attire, jewelry and coats. Officers also found four check books reported stolen from a 77-year-old man and two cell phones reported stolen from another house.

7. Seven people, including Riley’s uncle, a convicted felon; two boys, ages 9 and 11; and a 5-year-old girl were living in the house. Two days after the search, the uncle was arrested on a warrant for an arson charge.

8. Police found a 54-inch flat-screen television on which they had seen Riley regularly playing the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

9. Police found about 80 percent of the stolen items at Riley’s home It is believed the remaining goods might have been sold.

10. Days after the search of the home, a video camera on Riley’s school bus captured him pinning the 15-year-old accomplice into a seat and beating him up. For that alleged beating, Riley was charged with witness intimidation and expelled from school, where he has a reputation for bullying.

11. Riley's biological father is incarcerated for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, intimidating a witness and other charges. He likely has little involvement in his son’s life.

When this kid is finally released, look for him on "Cops" or on a wanted poster near you.

A Tearful Riley Stands Before The Judge

He cries now, but he should have been crying when someone put the belt on his butt years ago.

The only reason he is crying now is because he got caught.

Do not let his actions fool you. he is playing to the court and the public.

Below is another article from the Athens, Ohio newspaper, "The Post Online."

Stifling tears and being comforted by family, 13-year-old Andrew Riley could only listen as lawyers and a juvenile court judge discussed his unusual case yesterday.

Riley, the Nelsonville juvenile who recently has received national media attention, faces 26 counts of theft, burglary and other crimes. Those 26 counts comprise more than 140 total charges, including 120 related to four stolen checkbooks.

Because he cannot be charged as an adult, conviction on one or all of the 14 felonies could remand Riley to the Department of Youth Services until his 21st birthday or could result in some sort of suspended commitment, such as probation, said Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren.

Public defender James Wallace, Riley’s court-appointed attorney, filed a motion yesterday to close the hearings from “all persons other than the parties and their attorneys” — a gag order that would prevent the public and the media from attending court proceedings related to the case.

The motion states that “obviously inaccurate publicity” and “its unusual intensity” merit the state to close the proceedings. The motion will be discussed at a 2 p.m. hearing today in Judge Robert Stewart’s courtroom.

Wallace, both at the hearing and in the motion, said media coverage of the case has been inaccurate and wrote that “(the story) certainly does not call for the vilification which has been rained on the 13-year-old.”

That includes Riley being referred to as a “vicious little miscreant” on one Web site for his alleged role in about nine incidents, ranging from a theft at a Nelsonville cafe to a first-degree misdemeanor charge of intimidating a witness.

Before the pretrial hearing began, other members of Riley’s family criticized the media attention, saying the 13-year-old has been convicted before trial. Family members declined to comment further.

Riley has spent the last 30 days in a juvenile detention center. Magistrates denied two previous attempts to have him released to his family. Wallace filed another motion, this time proposing to place him with Judith Riley, the boy’s maternal grandmother. If the motion were granted, Riley would live in his grandmother’s three-bedroom trailer in Marshfield and wear an electronic monitoring system. An uncle that lives nearby would also help.

“It would maximize time he has with family members,” Wallace said. “He can live again as a 13-year-old.”

Riley’s residence, where his mother and her boyfriend live, is without a telephone and would be ineligible for placement. If he were released, he would be allowed one call to his mother per week.

Assistant County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn, who is prosecuting the case, said the state is worried that the grandmother would be unable to “control the situation” and that representatives of Riley’s former school could testify to the danger of his release.


He needs to stay in jail until the trial and if found guilty, kept in jail as long as legally possible.

Victim Was Riley's Accomplice

I guess their is no honor among theives.

From the Athens, Ohio newspaper, The Post Online

The alleged accomplice of a Nelsonville boy facing more than 100 charges had a warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in Athens County Juvenile Court yesterday.

Jeffrey Mehl, 15, told Nelsonville police he had taken part in some of the alleged crimes of 13-year-old Andrew Riley. Mehl was also the victim in a videotaped incident that led to Riley’s charge of intimidating a witness.

Mehl faces eight misdemeanor charges of complicity to theft and one felony charge of complicity to burglary. He also faces two charges of receiving stolen property, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. The severity of a receiving stolen property charge hinges on the value of the stolen items.

Riley, the Nelsonville teen facing 14 felony and 12 misdemeanor counts, was caught on tape attacking Mehl on a school bus because Mehl had spoken with police about the crimes, police said.

Assistant County Prosecutor Patrick Lang, who requested the warrant, was quick to assert that arresting Mehl is not the ideal course of action sought by the court.

“We want to make every effort to get in contact with the family so he can come into court,” he said. “It’s always a last resort to have to get a police officer and arrest a kid.”


I think a good trip to the woodshed would have done both these young punks some good.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Mayde Creek HS Seperates Races For TAKS Rally

Mayde Creek High School Principal O.D. Thompson separated students into While, Black, and Hispanic groups to talk to them about their TAKS scores.

Now the public is up in arms, saying his actions are an act of segregation.

I don't think the principal had any malicious intent. I feel he was trying to get the students focused on TAKS.

As I have said numerous times, the TAKS test is a waste of time. Most teachers spend the majority of their instruction time preparing their students for this test. If a teacher teaches low level classes, most, if not all of the time is spent preparing the students for it.

Never mind that the students miss instruction on other thing; the outcome of the TAKS test is how students, teachers, schools, and administrators are judged.

In this day and age of everyone having to feel special, many are afraid they will be judged intolerant, racist, or any one of many terms that are used to label people if they say or do anything that people find offensive.

Those who feel "offended" need to get a life. Thsi principal was trying to do something positive.

Here is a post from the Houston Chronicle.

Administrators at a Katy school are facing criticism from parents after holding separate assemblies for black, white and Hispanic students to address low scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

The assemblies at Mayde Creek High were held for ninth- and 10th-grade students of different ethnicities to discuss steps to boost scores on the state-required test, said district spokesman Steve Stanford. He said only students at risk because of their scores were called to the meetings, and that no negative message was intended.

"The purpose was to encourage and to help at-risk students," Stanford said.

But Amber Queen, whose son is in the ninth grade, disagreed with the decision.

"I would think that they would bring all kids and talk to them at once," she said.

School principal O.D. Tompkins, who is black, decided to hold the sessions, Stanford said. He said test scores at Mayde Creek have lagged, and a higher proportion of students are at risk of failing the math and science portions than at some other district high schools.

The first meeting, held before spring break, assembled black students. The sessions for Hispanic and white students were held after spring break.

Tompkins didn't consider it humiliating or discriminatory, Stanford said.

Kevin Tatum, co-founder of the Katy Citizen Watchdogs, which monitors school performance and spending, said he did not yet have all the facts. "But if they did separate by race, what was the point?" he asked.

Stanford said students were segregated because that's how the state looks at and reports achievement. The separate assemblies apparently did not violate district rules, Stanford said.


Perhaps the people who are judging this principal should use their time to help their child do better in school.

In addition, perhaps the principal should have thought this one out a bit better. Having been an former administrator, I would have realized this could be taken the wrong way.

But what is a principal to do when students have lower grades, even lower prospects, and couldn't care less about school and education.

After all, many of them think they are going to be a world famous rapper, play professional sports, or become rich and famous. The funny thing is they don't have any ideas on how to get there. They think it is going to magically happen.

Perhaps an education would help? You think?

After all, that is what the principal was trying to do; prepare them for a better life.

One question I have is: If it is ok for the state to break down TAKS scores by race and ethnicities and judge the school and their personal on those groups, why can't the principal break the students down the same way to help them pass?

This is just some food for thought.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Jersey Guys: Illegals are Criminals And Should Be Treated As Such

Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, are the hosts of an afternoon radio show call “The Jersey Guys” on WKXW, 101.5 FM in Newark, New Jersey.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Carton and Mr. Rossi started “Operation Rat a Rat/La Cucha Gotcha,” a listener-participation game that encourages people to turn in friends, neighbors and “anyone suspicious” to immigration authorities.

Carton has been quoted: “If you’re here illegally, you are breaking the law — no better, no worse than the guy who robs the liquor store or the guy who waits to case your house out and robs you of your belongings. You are a criminal.”

You can link to the article in the New York Times here or by clicking on the title of this post

I know it may not be politically correct to agree with their statements, and the good Lord knows that that I couldn't care less about being politically correct.

As a result, I feel that their statements are right on the money. I realize that they are doing this as a radios joke, but they have hit the nail on the head with their statements.

Illegal immigrants ARE criminals. I have referred to them as "Criminal Aliens" in the past. They are a blight on our country. Some have said they only want a better life, and contribute so much to our country and it's culture.

I challenge anyone to show me any contributions that any criminal alien has mad to this country.

I challenge anyone to show me any improvements to our culture that have been made by criminal aliens.

I challenge anyone to bring forth one solid shred of evidence that show that criminal aliens have contributed to the betterment of our country.

I challenge anyone to bring forth evidence that shows the presence of criminal aliens in a community caused crime to go down or remain the same.

I challenge anyone to bring forth evidence that shows that the presence of criminal aliens in a community caused property values to go up or remain the same.

I challenge anyone to bring forth evidence that shows that the presence of criminal aliens in a community caused the cost of public medicine to decrease.

There are many other examples of how criminal aliens bring down a community but space prohibits them being listed here.

Yes, the Jersey Guys are doing this for ratings and to cause controversy. But their message is a right and pure as a newborn child. Illegal immigrants or "Criminal Aliens" are illegal and should me treated as criminals.

Anyone who fails to see that fact is either on drugs or should be.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Expense Is Too Great To Recover Body

The following clip is from the Houston Chronicle. The "Power's That Be" say the expense is too great to try to recover the body of Tynesha Stewart, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.

This is totally unacceptable, especially in Texas. Texans have the reputation of doing what is right and taking care of business.

But this is not just a Texas issue, it is a "human" issue. The body of Tynesha Stewart needs to be recovered no matter what the cost. Our tax dollars are used for so many other things. Why can't they divert some of the money that is used for the red light cameras to find her body and set her family's mind at ease.

Faced with the "virtually impossible" task of excavating 40,000 tons of landfill waste to find Tynesha Stewart's body, Harris County sheriff's officials made the agonizing decision Thursday night that the odds of success were too remote to try.

Sheriff's officials met with the slain Texas A&M University student's mother, Gale Shields, shortly before a scheduled 7 p.m. candlelight vigil to inform her there would be no search for her daughter's body.

"Oh my God!" a sobbing Shields said later. "It just broke my heart that they could put a dollar amount on my, on a person's life, especially if they probably know where she is. ... And they just want to leave her out there. They just want us to leave her out there in the trash because of a dollar amount. I just can't understand that."

A crowd of about 300 was packed into pews at Abiding Word Lutheran Church when community activist Quanell X took the pulpit, with Shields at his side, and announced officials would not be searching for the body.

Jason Glenn, one of Stewart's two uncles who play football in the NFL, responded with an angry outburst.

"What?" he shouted, then stormed out of the church.

Sheriff's officials say the man charged in the slaying, Stewart's ex-boyfriend Timothy Wayne Shepherd, confessed to investigators Wednesday night that he choked her, stuffed her body in a large plastic storage container and placed her body in a Dumpster in northwest Harris County on March 15. Authorities found no body in that bin, which had been emptied at least twice since.

By day's end, officials with Waste Management and the sheriff's office had estimated that there is a 65 percent chance that Stewart's body is at the Atascocita Recycling and Disposal Facility, 3623 Wilson Road.

There is a smaller chance the body is in a landfill in Clute, which is in southern Brazoria County.

The 504-acre landfill in northeast Harris County receives about 3,500 tons of nonhazardous residential, commercial and industrial waste every day. Although officials have narrowed their search area to a 2- to 3-acre section at the landfill, they said the body could be buried beneath as much as 40,000 tons and 50 feet of refuse.

"It's not 100 percent impossible, but it's very, very very rare to find what you are looking for," said Chuck Rivette, senior district manager for Waste Management, which owns the Atascocita landfill.

He added, "It's virtually impossible."


A case in Utah, John Martin, public information officer with the sheriff's office, said officials researched similar excavations across the country and found only one that was successful: In 2004, the body of a woman was found in a Utah landfill after a 33-day search. Martin noted that the search would have to assume that Stewart had told investigators the truth about where he placed the body.

Martin acknowledged that the issue had become the talk of the town, with many in the community — including Quanell X and radio talk-show host Chris Baker — criticizing the sheriff's office for not immediately committing to the search.

Martin, who said the department truly wants "to return Ms. Stewart to her family," said the office is prepared for backlash.

"Obviously it is just a heart-wrenching decision for everybody involved," he said.

"I don't think anything we could say would adequately console them (the family) at this point. ... We don't expect it to be a popular decision. But we've tried to be as pragmatic as possible."


Equusearch offers help
The excavation, which would have cost at least $350,000 and been paid for by taxpayers, would have required the clearing of another five or six acres adjacent to the suspected search site to allow large equipment in and out and to provide a place to hold the waste that would have been removed. Officials could not estimate how long the search might have taken.
Martin denied that money had anything to do with the department's decision.

"We didn't have the confidence we would be successful," he said.

At the vigil, held at the church where teams led by Texas Equusearch had assembled during a protracted hunt for Stewart earlier in the week, Quanell X called on friends and loved ones to raise money for an excavation.

An Equusearch official vowed the group would do all it could, if given the chance.

"It's an overwhelming task, but somebody's got to do it," said Cindy Wisdom, a case manager. "It's bad enough the daughter was murdered, but it's inhumane to let her body rot in a dump."

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Mayor Rocky Anderson: KOOKY

I just finished Rocky Anderson, the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah on The O'Reilly Factor.

This guy is a complete idiot. He skirted every question he was ask by Bill O'Reilly.

I do not know as much as others do about government and the law, but he stated a president can be impeached without the president committing a crime.

He said the President could be impreach for abuse of power.

I don't think an impeachment can occur without a crime occuring.

Bill said the Mayor's opinions were "kookie." He (the Mayor) just kept going on and on with his left wing retoric, sounding like an idiot.

I will bet the rent money he is looking at future political office, perhaps the Senate or the Governorship of Utah.

Keep a lookout for this guy. He IS a kook!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Free Speech? "Bong Hits 4 Jesus"

Below is a highlights from an article concerning the issue of a public school student's freedome of speech and the right of the school to maintain control.

The Supreme Court examines Monday a case raising questions over free speech rights in US high schools as it hears arguments over a student's unfurling of a quirky banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

Joseph Frederick drew the ire of his school principal in Juneau, Alaska, on January 24, 2002, when the then 18-year-old student unveiled the huge banner in front of television cameras as the Olympic flame passed in front of a crowd.

Principal Deborah Morse, whose school had authorized the students to leave class for the event, was not amused by Frederick's linkage between Jesus and a bong, a pipe used to smoke marijuana. Morse crossed the street, destroyed the banner and suspended Frederick from school for 10 days.

Frederick, now 23, said he had conducted "a free speech experiment." The banner is "absurdly funny. It doesn't make any sense at all," he said in a telephone news conference from China where he studies and teaches.

On Monday, his experiment goes before the US Supreme Court, which will hear debate over a student's right to free speech versus the school's power to impose order.

The case has drawn heavy hitters, including the powerful American Civil Liberties Union, which backed Frederick from the beginning. Morse is represented by Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who led the investigation of Bill Clinton and his relationship with a White House intern, which almost cost the then US president his job.

The US government will also side with the school. Frederick took his case to federal court, arguing that his free speech right, protected under the First Amendment, had been violated and demanding damages from Morse.

He lost the first round when a trial judge ruled for Morse, saying she did not violate the student's rights, and even if she had, cannot be held personally responsible for her decisions as an educator.

That judgment was overturned on appeal, based on a 1969 Supreme Court decision in favor of students who wore black armbands protesting the Vietnam war, an act the court said did not interfere with the school's mission.

Morse appealed to the Supreme Court, and Starr will argue for her that school officials need to be able to impose discipline, which has the approval of the National School Board Association.

The US government lawyer, Solicitor General Paul Clement, will argue that the banner's reference to a bong amounts to urging drug use, and high schools must be able to quash that sort of talk.

Surprisingly, religious group have taken Frederick's side, putting President George W. Bush's support base at odds with the administration.

The American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law and is dedicated to defending freedom of religion and speech, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of the student.

If schools could have banned advocacy of illegal acts during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, "students who urged their black friends not to move to the back of the bus" could have been kicked out of school, the brief said.

"In the abortion context, there would be no First Amendment protection for pro-life students who urged their classmates or others to 'sit in' at abortion facilities," the brief said. Students plan to demonstrate Monday outside the Supreme Court in
Washington. "What the banner said was 'look here, I have the right to free speech
and I'm asserting it,'" Frederick said.

"I wasn't trying to say anything about religion, I wasn't trying to say anything about drugs," he said. "The phrase was not important." It is to some: T-shirts with the slogan "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" are selling like hot cakes on the Internet.


As an educator, I can see the point of the administrator. Schools must be able to maintain control and a level of civility in their schools.

The courts have held in many cases that the school has the right and responsibility to maintain control and have wide leeway in maintaining control.

The question that I raise is whether the students were on a school function or not. I read that they were released from school to attend the Olympic Torch Run but did not read anything as to whether they were under school control at this event.

If they were at an event that was a school, then the principal had the right to do wherever she felt was necessary. If they were not under direct school control, I feel the school had no authority to take action.

From a personal side, I feel the student was being a jerk and probably was trying to see what he could get away with. Educators have always had students who acted like he did.

I don’t blame the principal for taking action. Now we will see if the Supreme Court will agree.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Charging for a Conference to Impeach Bush

Sometimes, when I have a few minutes, I check out the liberal websites and blogs to see what kind of trash they are putting out to the masses.

One site I frequent is the IndyMedia site in Houston. I can usually get a laugh and sometimes an idea for a post. This morning was no exception. They had a listing from the Houston Peace and Justice Center. I went to their site and found a another listing about a meeting in New York City.

In New York City, on February 17-18, there was an "Emergency Conference to Impeach Bush for War Crimes." What I can't figure out is why this posting would be on a Houston site? Did they really think someone would travel all the way from Houston to New York City to attend?

Here is the post. See if you can pick up some interesting things in it.

Sponsors of this event in New York City believe that it is time to put impeachment back on the table. Iraq spins out of control. Bush escalates plus threatens a still wider war with Iran. The Bush program of torture and illegal detentions continues. Bush's full domestic intelligence program remains in effect: NSA spying, the Patriot Act, the Military Commission Act. Workshops on state-by-state activities for impeachment; organizing labor unions; youth and student organizing; walk-outs, strikes, teach-ins. There'll be an all-afternoon intensive tutorial by experts on the crimes of the Bush administration. Co-sponsors are AfterDowningStreet.org, Progressive Democrats of America, and Green Party of the United States. Registration fee: $25-$50 per person, students/low income: $10-$20. For more information and to register, contact summit@worldcantwait.org or call 866-973-4463.

My questions are as follows:

1. How does one become an expert on the crimes of the Bush Administration?

2. How is it determined if someone is low income?

3. Why is there a sliding scale for payment: $25-$50 per person, $10-$20 for students/low income?

4. Why are they charging at all? If this is that important to them, they might get more supporters is they hosted the conference and let everyone in free.

5. Where was the money going/ If the conference was a sponsored event, it seems to be that the sponsors should take care of the cost.

6. Why was this meeting considered an "Emergency"?

I will never understand liberals. They live in their own little world.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Actress Betty Hutton Dead at 86

Actress Betty Hutton passed away on March 11, 2007.

I was out of town and was unable to post anything on this happening.

Betty Hutton lived near Palm Springs, California until her death due to complications from colon cancer at 86 years of age.

She was a tremendous actress and singer who had a flair for comedy.

I first saw her in the movie "The Greatest Show on Earth" and absolutly fell in love with her.

I always try to watch any of her movies when they come on television.

Rest in Peace Ms. Hutton. You will be missed by myself and many others.

Her movies are listed below:

The Fleet's In (1942)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
Happy Go Lucky (1943)
Let's Face It (1943)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
And the Angels Sing (1944)
Here Come the Waves (1944)
Incendiary Blonde (1945)
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
The Stork Club (1945)
Cross My Heart (1946)
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
Dream Girl (1948)
Red, Hot and Blue (1949)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Let's Dance (1950)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Sailor Beware (1952)
Somebody Loves Me (1952)
Spring Reunion (1957)

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Hillary: "Homosexuality Not Immoral"

It is obvious to me and, I hope, a great number of others that this woman will say ANYTHING to get support for her ultimate goal: The White House.

How can any religious person who goes to church and believes in the Bible support this woman.

Read on and form your own opinion. This is a direct quote by Hillary Clinton, the self-proclaimed "Smartest Women in the World."

"Well I've heard from a number of my friends and I've certainly clarified with them any misunderstanding that anyone had, because I disagree with General Pace completely.

I do not think homosexuality is immoral. But the point I was trying to make is that this policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not working. I have been against it for many years because I think it does a grave injustice to patriotic Americans who want to serve their country.

And so I have called for its repeal and I'd like to follow the lead of our allies like, Great Britain and Israel and let people who wish to serve their country be able to join and do so.

And then let the uniform code of military justice determine if conduct is inappropriate or unbecoming. That's fine. That's what we do with everybody.

But let's not be eliminating people because of who they are or who they love."


This woman has no conscience or morals.

As I have stated numerous times in the past: "Do not trust this woman."

Youth, 13, Charged With 128 Felonies

Andrew Riley, aged 13, is charged with 128 felonies following a crime spree that lasted over a year.

As an educator, I have seen first hand, hard core cases similar to this one.

I don't know all the specifics, but can make some generalizations about this "young man."

1. He has been a discipline problem in school, from a very early age.

2. His parents are uneducated and have very little experience in child rearing.

3. The home life is very poor.

4. The parents are too wrapped up in their own lives and take little interest in the lives of their children.

5. Alcohol and drugs are involved in the family at some level.

6. When this "young man" had problem with rules and authority in the past, the parents sided with their child and not the authorities.

7. Discipline was very weak in the family.

8. Spanking was not used as discipline.

9. The parents themselves had trouble with the law and authority in the past.

10. The "young man" has no fear in his life. Fear, whether real or imagined, is what keeps most children in line at an early age.

Be that as it may, the parents are in part ot blame for this. Yes, the "young man" must be held responsible for his actions, but so must the parents.

I am willing to bet if the first time any of this started, one of the parents had taken him to the woodshed for an attitude adjustment, he might have had a chance.

However, society will feel sorry for this "young man" and try to rehabilitate him, at a great cost to the taxpayers.

It is too bad we can't go back to the days of the 1950s. I can guarantee is he had been raised like I was, he wouldn't dare pull the stuff he did.

Trash is trash, no matter what the age, gender, and race. This kid might be considered white trash, but that would give white trash a bad name.

Rehabilitation might be the correct course to take, but I don't see it having a positive outcome.

Look for this "young man" on "COPS" or in the death chamber in the future. Yes, that is a harsh statement, but experience has taught me that some people cannot be turned for the better.

Link here for the article on this story.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Guns OK in DC...For Now!!!!!

The Constitution of the United States gives the citizens of our great country the right to bear arms. YES, I own guns; a few handguns, in addition to a rifle and a shotgun. I have been around firearms since I was a child. I don't think I am going to run out and kill someone.

When you read the below clip from Breitbart.com, you might wonder, like I did, as to what this dissenting judge was thinking?

Two things stand out in the clip. I will tell you what I saw at the end of this post.

A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's long- standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias.

In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment "are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent" on enrollment in a militia.

The ban on owning handguns went into effect in 1976.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also threw out the district's requirement that registered firearms be kept unloaded, disassembled and under trigger lock.

In 2004, a lower-court judge told six city residents that they did not have a constitutional right to own handguns. The plaintiffs include residents of high-crime neighborhoods who wanted the guns for protection.

"The district's definition of the militia is just too narrow," Judge Laurence Silberman wrote for the majority Friday. "There are too many instances of 'bear arms' indicating private use to conclude that the drafters intended only a military sense."

Judge Karen Henderson dissented, writing that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia because it is not a state.

The Bush administration has endorsed individual gun-ownership rights, but the Supreme Court has never settled the issue.

"I think this is well positioned for review of the Supreme Court," said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. He said the D.C. circuit is historically influential with the Supreme Court because it often deals with constitutional questions.

"You also have a very well-reasoned opinion, both in the majority and the dissent," Turley said.

If the dispute makes it to the high court, it would be the first case in nearly 70 years to address the Second Amendment's scope.

Silberman wrote that the Second Amendment is still "subject to the same sort of reasonable restrictions that have been recognized as limiting, for instance, the First Amendment."

Such restrictions might include gun registration, firearms testing to promote public safety or restrictions on gun ownership for criminals or those deemed mentally ill.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, said the decision gives the district "a crack in the door to join the rest of the country in full constitutional freedom."

A spokeswoman for the district attorney general's office declined to comment on the ruling.


Number 1: The Constitution doesn't apply to Washington DC because it is not a state.

Number 2: Firearms be kept unloaded, disassembled and under trigger lock.

What the hell use is a gun when it is unloaded, disassembled, and under trigger lock?

Since when the laws of the United States become null and void within the city limits of Washington DC?

The judge is off her rocker. I wonder what she has been smoking? To make two idiotic statements like that make me wonder what is on her mind?

I have the right to own guns here in Texas. They will NEVER get mine!

Friday, March 2, 2007

"Enough Is Enough" Texas to Criminal Aliens

Consider these facts:

A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 1.4 million to 1.6 million illegal aliens reside in Texas, about 14 percent of the U.S. total.

Another study, this one from the Lone Star Foundation in Austin, said illegal aliens drain $4.5 billion from the Texas economy, mostly in health care costs.

As a result, a growing number of Texas politicians on both sides of the aisle are seeking, in the absence of what they perceive to be meaningful action from Washington, to put the brakes on what was once a relative trickle and is now a flood.

State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler), is the author of one of more than two dozen proposals that target illegal immigration in Texas, proposals that amount to more stick and less carrot:

His bill would deny benefits to the children of illegal aliens who under the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment automatically become U.S. citizens.

He noted that at Parkland Hospital in Dallas and the public hospital in Houston, 70 percent of babies are born to illegal aliens.

In addition to health care costs, Texas schools paid more than $1.7 billion to educate illegal immigrants and the legal children of illegal immigrants in 2003-04, said the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Berman is not alone. Other bills would tax money that illegal immigrants wire abroad, require parents to verify legal residency before receiving state medical services and eliminate in-state tuition breaks for illegal immigrants.

Enough is enough. Berman has the right idea. He will certainly get my support, along with the support of many others.