They're coming to get me, hee hee, ha ha...

No, really, they are.

I'm serious.

You think I'm joking?

Not.

You have to read this one to believe it...

Democrat Proposes Jail Time for 'Hostile' Bloggers
We know that the government is becoming more and more audacious in its attempts to control our lives and regulate our speech and whatever it thinks we're thinking (see the newest iteration of the federal Hate Crimes law), so a new story from Wired should come as no surprise. Looks like Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez, Calif., is ready to throw mean-old bloggers in the hoosegow.
http://townhall.com/blog/g/b719c095-9ae8-4eb4-a9f7-9e3911a527db

Prison Awaiting Hostile Bloggers
Proposed congressional legislation would demand up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to “coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/prison-awaiting-hostile-bloggers/

As a friend of mine commented, who defines hostile?

One person's hostile is another person's humor is another person's stupid.

Are the Democrats going to define hostile? lawyers? politicians? ministers? atheists? environmentalists? the military? gun owners? your mother?

Lest you think that this doesn't pertain to you, think again. The bill (HR 1966) doesn't just pick on bloggers. Oh no, it's fair in its unfairness. It includes email, telephones, instant messaging, text messages and website. Yep, if you are hostile (however someone might define it) via any device using electronic means, you could be jailed for up to two, count 'em, two years.

Can you imagine going to jail for two years and not having access to your cell phone, computer or telephone? Talk about hostile.

If you "coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person”, per the bill, off you go to the pokey.

What is it with Democrats and free speech? What happened to all the peace, love and freedom loving types from the 60s and 70s? Did they take sour pills? Free speech has come to mean speech that I like and can agree with wholeheartedly. I can yell, but you can't. I can tear you down but you can't reciprocate.

Remember "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me"? Seems that we've become so sensitive and wimpy that words are worse than sticks or stones.

What's next? Thought crimes? Oh, wait, we may already be there. I haven't gotten into the issue much, but there are some who wonder why beating up a person of another race or sexual preference is worse than beating up someone who's of the same race or sexual persuasion.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and friends want to shut down talk radio because they don't like what's being said. Now a fellow Democrat wants to go after bloggers. Just how long do you think it'll be before we're living in some Orwellian nightmare world once we start down the road Sanchez and her ilk are trying to shove us?

I don't like hate-speech, harassment, nastiness any more than the next person. However, I defy anyone to find a definition that the majority of us can agree upon. I also think we're getting really, really stupid with this stuff.

Oh man, I think that comment might have been somewhat hostile. Cuff me, I'm a cyberbully.

Here's part of the bill:

SEC. 3. CYBERBULLYING.
(a) In General- Chapter 41 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:`Sec. 881. Cyberbullying
`(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.`(b) As used in this section--
`(1) the term `communication' means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; and`
(2) the term `electronic means' means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.'

Crime Stats

Someone left a response on one of my previous blogs and mentioned something about our crime stats per the GBI being better than some other (or a lot of other) metro counties.

Here's my take on crime stats... they can be manipulated with ease.

I know it's anecdotal evidence, but I have talked with folks who have been robbed and not seen the incident ever show up on a crime report or in the paper.

Robberies can become miscellaneous incidents with the flick of a pen. People can be talked out of filing a report for any number of reasons in any number of ways (I know of at least one myself). Store owners choose not to have thefts reported as they know it will stop people from shopping at their stores.

A store in Fayetteville was robbed three times at gunpoint per different individuals working at nearby stores. Different people at different times told the same story. I may have missed the stories, but it's hard to believe I missed three different incidents in the paper.

I know of another store that had someone break in through the roof once, someone broke out the front glass and they had another break-in of some sort, don't remember the details. I never read about it and neither did the store owners.

I could tell tale after tale along the same lines as those. I'm out in the community a lot and talk to a lot of people. Ask almost any store owner in the county if the crime is getting worse and see what they have to say "off the record".

Years back I worked at Southlake Mall as a store manager. I'd close the store at night and walk out to my car alone and not think anything about it. Well lit parking lot, a security guy driving around periodically in those cute little glorified golf cart vehicles.

We had a bunch of retirees who'd come to the mall every day and walk, talk and hang out. They are the ones who told me about the two rapes in the parking lot over a two or three week period. I never heard it from the mall security, never read about it in the news, never had the police come around and warn us to be careful. Some of the retirees started coming at night to walk the ladies out to their cars.

I asked security about it and was told there had been a few incidents they were concerned about but nothing to worry about, they'd beefed up security. Ha. It happened again. Never did hear it officially.

Stores don't like to report crimes. The police don't like to report crimes as it makes them look like they're not doing their job. Not saying that we have a crime wave here or anything along those lines, just saying I'm a bit skeptical about the stats. Just an opinion, not something I could ever prove.

I have lived here close to 30 years now and I know the changes that have occurred in the County. I know there's an increase in crime, I don't care what the stats say and quite truthfully, I don't care if we stack up better than other counties. I want us to be better than the best like we always have been.

And, I prefer the truth, unvarnished. If crime is going up I don't want it candy-coated. I want to hear what is being done to stop it.

Voter Apathy

Once again voter turnout in Fayette County was... well, pathetic. Close to 75% of the registered voters in the county didn't bother to vote. With all the options available these days there is simply no excuse other than apathy. Early voting was available in Tyrone, Peachtree City and Fayetteville. Absentee voting is easier than it ever has been. The polls were open from 7 in the morning until 7 at night on the 15th.

I don't know that the end result would have been any different if 100% of the voters had turned out. The end result isn't the point of this diatribe.

In the past Fayette County has been known for the involvement of its voting population. We've always had high turnout. However, in the last 3 elections we've had extremely poor voter participation.

When the citizens stop voting I see it as a sign that the county is headed in the wrong direction. When people who should care about what their elected officials are doing stop being involved, stop voting, then special interests take over. When no one cares enough to watch those who are directing the future of the county, deals are made, corners are cut and ultimately the citizens wake up and wonder what happened to their once-great way of life.

A large number of people moved to the county in recent years to get away from what they perceived as less-than-stellar living conditions. They chose Fayette County because of its great schools and great quality of life.

Read the newspapers. Our way of life is going quickly by the wayside. When I moved here my son was entering the first grade. Life was great, peaceful, no crime to speak of aside from the occasional kid prank.

Now? I hear from the Fayetteville police that they won't let their wives shop alone in the Pavilion. I hear from my now-closed favorite restaurant that the store next to them was robbed at gun point three time in the past year or so. I read about robberies and mayhem. We're being pressured to allow more multi-family housing. Old farms are being sold to developers. Fayetteville is building like there's no tomorrow. Big boxes are the norm. Large empty buildings dot the roads while new buildings are going up. I could go on and on.

We're becoming just like those places many left. And yet almost 75% of those who could make a difference can't be bothered to take the time to find out who's running for office and go to the polls.

I've been writing about this each election and it doesn't make a bit of difference. The only people who read this are the ones who agree and vote. Those who don't vote won't make it past the first paragraph, if they make it past the title.

It's a shame. And it's a sad thing for a once-great county that may just be on the other side of its prime. I still think it's not too late to change the county and save it. We just need more people who care enough to get involved.