Friday, August 30, 2013

Letter To My Son: Happy Birthday

Dear Anthony,

It's hard to imagine you being the little football-sized baby I held in my arms fifteen years ago.  Today we celebrate you, and as a 6' 00" 220+ lb teenager that's a lot to celebrate!  Many teenage guys your age are struggling with pressures of wanting to do adult things, and still wanting to be a kid where mom and dad handle the hard decisions.  You're starting to find a balance with this.  We braced ourselves over the past few years dealing with some of the choices you made which taught you a hard lesson.  Through this we all grew as a family.  I believe it's also made your dad and I grow as parents, and you as an individual.  We are very proud of you.

No matter what gifts you get, money you receive, or birthday wish you make, remember the most important gift of all is that we gave you life.  And by bringing you into this world, investing time, food, shelter, clothing, and imparting our wisdom, we expect a little bit in return.  We expect you to make mistakes and learn from them.  We expect you to try harder when everyone else gives up.  We expect you to respect yourself and others, mind your manners.  We expect you to look to the future while appreciating the here and now.  We expect you to love us, faults and all, as much as we love you.

I know you will exceed these expectations.

To remember today's shenanigans here's a little recap of how you started your fifteenth birthday:  

Sixty balloons, a Halloween prop, and a laptop at 1:30 a.m.  Setting up our oldest son's birthday surprise.  He gets a new laptop and we get the entertainment of scaring the crap out of him when he takes his morning shower.


 

Happy 15th Birthday, Ant!



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

God Help Us

"Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason," Attorney General Eric Holder.

Oh you better believe I'm gonna rant about the AG's latest punch to the American justice system.  I sincerely hope my readers weigh in on the topic also.  It's hard for me to accept that our country, my fellow Americans, have become so lackadaisical in their morals and societal beliefs that we not only pacify and coddle our children, now we are doing the same damn thing to adults.  The 'truly good law enforcement reason' is because it's the law.  Law enforcement enforce the laws that you pansies up there in the Capitol make, even though none of you follow them because you think you're above it.  

"...nonviolent drug offenders who have no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels will no longer be charged with offenses that impose draconian mandatory minimum sentences."

I see what he did there...'no ties to LARGE-SCALE organizations, gangs or cartels'.  Because LARGE-SCALE never start out small?  Get a clue, Mr. Holder.  Portraying nonviolent drug offenders as misunderstood pot heads show you have no idea what the system you are suppose to be in charge of is designed to do.  Before the whiners and crybabies on Capitol Hill and in Hollywood start protesting for this, let's take a look at why the mandatory minimum sentences seem 'draconian'.  It's because the nonviolent drug offenders are repeat offenders.  The very hand that feeds them is the same hand they bite, over and over and over.  The government has lined its pockets at the expense of drug abuser/users/offenders for years through the pharmaceutical companies and pill mill doctors.  It's oddly similar to minimizing the stigma of DUIs (so many government officials have been charged with it!).

"Prosecutors would do this by omitting from official charging documents the amount of drugs involved in a case, lawyers with expertise in criminal law said. By doing so, prosecutors would ensure that nonviolent defendants without significant criminal history would not get long sentences."

The nonviolent drug offenders are the smugglers who drive from the legalized states with vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana just under trafficking amounts (25 lbs), or run the grow houses in prominent neighborhoods that your kids pass every day.  They are the nonviolent offenders with no remorse who sell it to kids.  Nonviolent is irrelevant when you look at the big picture and see, truly see, the ramifications.  Violent drug offenders start out non-violent, just as LARGE-SCALE starts out small.  And the nonviolent defendants without significant criminal history is left wide open to interpretation unless they have NO criminal history.  

I have a great idea.  All these government jackwaggons who think the laws are too tough for these nonviolent offenders, come out for a ride along with your local law enforcement and see who has it tougher. People bitch and moan "where's a cop when you need one?"  They're doing their job with minimal support from their government to carry through after they enforce the very laws their government made.  Long hours, family sacrifices, minimal manpower, low pay, and lucky to get suitable gear, but they're doing their job.  

"By reserving the most severe penalties for serious, high-level or violent drug traffickers, we can better promote public safety, deterrence and rehabilitation, while making our expenditures smarter and more productive," Holder said.

Before you know it the nonviolent offenders of any crime will follow suit with lessening the minimum mandatory sentencing.  All to save a buck--Obama Care much?  This does not promote public safety.  It promotes stupidity and allows offenders to shirk their responsibility to abide by the law.  You're proposal sucks, Mr. Holder.  

For a full read of the purpose of above rant go to: http://news.yahoo.com/top-u-lawman-outline-drug-offender-sentencing-proposal-040126447.html