Louisiana Death Penalty Commotion

So the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning ruled that child rapists cannot be sentenced to death for their crimes. I'll use this post to illustrate a few points. Redneck Conservatives are generally resistant to change, dimwitted, slow thinking, and simplistic in nature. Don't like what I just said? Tough. Grow some balls and take the criticism like a man if you're so tough. Now read what I have to say and join us in civilized society or perish.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal claims it is an affront to the people of Louisiana among other things. Oh. Poor baby. Sounds more like a bruised ego than a rational acceptance of law. It was a Supreme Court ruling. It's been deemed unconstitutional. Are you telling me Louisiana citizens are willing to push for something unconstitutional just to heal a bruised ego? As Governor, you're calling a Supreme Court ruling an affront to the people of Louisiana. I think you have the order of power reversed Piyush. Jindal you dipshit. Pandering to the masses methinks. You're an empty shell of a man and nothing more than a talking head.

Let's not even get into the reality that the death penalty by itself does not deter crime. The death penalty for simple southern folk, and Texans I might add, appears to be more about getting revenge than actually punishing someone for a crime. It's a simpleton's law. That's right. I said simpleton. Do something wrong. Kill them. It might be okay for Neanderthals, but we live in a civilized society now. Their beef with this ruling is all ego and no brain. Justice Anthony Kennedy said it all. Expanding the death penalty to other crimes is far too risky. Wrap your head around that one for a while. This is why people like rednecks really advocate the death penalty. They are angry, hurt, and may or may not be grieving. They don't know how to handle those emotions like an adult. Now they want revenge in a simplistic eye for an eye sort of manner. They'd much rather act like this is high school and they have to defend their pride with violence out by the bicycle rack. Like many before me have told people of this nature...

You do realize what they do to child rapists in prison, don't you?

I am convinced the redneck/Texan style Conservatives in this country want it to be like the old west. Let's tie in another story in the news about the Virginians and gun rights because the mentality is related. They open carry their firearms proudly. Did you notice all of them were white? Let's see how they feel about young black males being able to open carry and watch how their ignorance and stereotypes suddenly spring to life. You know they'd somehow use that to justify their own right to carry a gun and twist it in their favor without actually answering the question. That's just how they think. It's also how fascism starts to seed into a society.

They can't reason with anyone and see things like guns and killing as suitable replacements for civil discourse and humane punishment. They don't have the capacity for thinking at that level. I will continue to call these people stupid. I don't want stupid people making decisions about who lives and who dies. We want the smart people to make those decisions. For the religious reader, shouldn't we be leaving it up to God to pass judgment? In that respect, it is not our place to decide who lives or dies.

One Liner @ Jeremy Hubbard

ABC World News Now ran a story about a girl who won a car thanks to perfect attendance. The story isn't the focus of my post. The news anchor is.

Jeremy Hubbard, one of the news anchors, asked how someone can't miss a single day. He said you've got to at least take one day off because you've got to stay home and watch some cartoons some time. That's what he said he did.

While I tend to think that Jeremy Hubbard and Vinita Nair are a great team, that comment might explain why he is on the late night shift and not in prime time.

I only have one last question to ask. Why in the world did you type "jeremy hubbard" into a Google search?

I will applaud his efforts to actually comment on news items and not just report them. It's refreshing to see news anchors who actually think. Vinita Nair deserves just as much credit in this department. Too bad it's late night news. Of course, all my visitors seem to care about is whether or not this guy is gay. Is that what you call newsworthy information?

Now that Don Imus said it...

While Don Imus may be telling the truth when explaining what he meant this time around with regard to remarks about a black man being arrested, to act as though the reaction coming down on him is completely absurd hints at just how much of an ass he can be.

If you caught the video footage of his reaction to all of this, you got to see a rather flabbergasted Imus with his hands by his head struggling to get the words out to express his understanding of the events.

It's relatively easy to see how his comments, without following up with any sort of qualifying remark, might be interpreted the way they were. It's not the least bit absurd. Unfortunately, many lack the ability to see how words no matter how carefully arranged can mean different things to different people.

I'm not saying we all must explain ourselves after every comment we make, but it is rather natural to do so in conversation. At least it is for those of us who interact with other people on a regular basis by way of verbal communication. In addition, someone who has come under fire for making racially sensitive remarks in the past should have keyed in on the need to qualify his comment within a matter of moments. You should expect that your words will be examined under the microscope no matter what.

Bush Family Dinner Commercial

A commercial has been on the air over the last few years and only seems to play late at night. It starts with an image of President GW Bush on a stage surrounded by listeners. One audience member, a young woman, asks a question about if the Bush family ate together around the dinner table, hinting at values surrounding families who spend time together. Bush jokingly says something along the lines of only eating at the dinner table so as long as his mom wasn't the one cooking.

Then Barbara Bush comes on the screen, obviously not laughing. She talks about how families who eat around the dinner table together have children who are less likely to smoke, use drugs, or drink alcohol.

What? Are you kidding? Who are you talking about again?

A lot of good those dinner table values did for those two screw ups. They picked the wrong family to serve as an example. GW was an alcoholic and rumored to have used cocaine. Jeb is also no saint.

Natural Gas Leases, Shreveport

Companies are looking to lease from landowners in Northwest Louisiana for natural gas rights. When the subject of mineral rights enters my mind, stories of lost homes, stripped ground, and ruined lives soon follow. Why? Part of my family comes from Southern Indiana where coal companies have thrived. Some of my family members have actually worked in the coal mines. One lesson they learned was to buy the mineral rights when buying a new home and never to sell their mineral rights. My grandfather told stories of how the coal company would come in and people would lose their homes. The coal companies did not care for the little man, which is also largely why the UMWA exists. Those were indeed, sad stories. I am afraid the people of Northwest Louisiana might be in for something they aren't fully ready for.

While various contracts exist and lawyers specialized in mineral rights laws should be consulted, I see no guarantee that companies will treat landowners with the respect they deserve. The way I see it, selling your mineral rights or even natural gas rights is like selling your soul. The promise of extravagant amounts of money has lured many Louisiana citizens into signing leases. I would never sell my mineral rights for any amount of money. If any of our nearby neighbors sign a lease, we will likely put our home up for sale and leave Shreveport. We don't want a situation where a neighbor has signed away natural gas rights and the company requests legal right of way through our property to access the natural gas. Yes, that happens. Like it or not, these companies are quite skilled at manipulating the public. More people are asking questions about money than about what they are risking with regard to their property. It might even end up lowering property values in your area. It's a dirty business. To give you another perspective on just how dirty they can play, if you don't sell and everyone else around you did, they'll just drill horizontally underneath and take what they want regardless. In addition, the promise of money makes neighbors do and say very bad things to each other. If enough people sign leases in any given neighborhood, it forces everyone else to sign in too. Not very neighborly.

We will also see an increase in work related injuries. Those who work for the companies setting up rigs and drilling will undoubtedly expose themselves to dangerous situations. While field employees understand the risk, what you must understand as a member of the community is that safety is not all that important to a gas company or a mining company. Coal miners are all too familiar with this way of life. The world of natural gas is no different. Expect to hear about safety violations, environmental contamination, explosions, fires, injuries, and unfortunately, deaths.

I am ashamed to have voted for Cedric Glover who has brought these companies into our communities and hope that the people of Shreveport and the surrounding area are smart enough to resist the dangling carrot on a stick. I am ashamed that a Democrat of all people would succumb to the will of a company over the well being of their constituents. These realities will become more apparent as more individuals sign into lease agreements. With the struggling economy, the promise of money is awfully tempting. Times are tough. Imagine how tough it will be when your property is at stake. Heed my warning and think of your future. Remember what I've said here when the company is ruining the way of life in your community. I highly doubt you like the notion of contaminated water flowing from your tap. I can only say I told you so.

I hope this post is not too late and that people in this area are doing their research.