Reaching The Community In A Too Fast World (updated)
It’s been a while since I last talked about crime, but the random murder of Katherine Ann Olson has jump-started my interest again. To be honest, I got burnt out on crime and very disheartened. Writing about random crime is a difficult thing to do, and you can only do it so much before it starts to eat away at you. However, I have been haunted by a comment left by the sister of one of the men who had been murdered earlier this year and that I had talked about at length. The comment was from Michelle Wright, sister to Michael Trinity:
“I was just now coincidentally posting comments to 3 other “news” reporters at other sites pertaining to my brother’s murder. They are all sadly outdated, and then I stumbled onto your website. Michael Trinity is my brother, and he lived here in California before being murdered in Minnesota. I see no updates on the criminal proceedings; or anything else about this story at all since April, when it happened. As far as I’m concerned, this story is far from being over, and should not be shelved away just yet. Your concern alone is more help than you can imagine right now, and the only thing I have come across so far. Being here in California, I hear nothing about it and have had a hard time getting any info at all. We should continue to keep this story alive, I would like to know the fate of the 3 teens involved in my brother’s murder. The full story has yet to come out. Our mother will be comforted to know somebody out there still cares. Thank You.”
Of all the posts I’ve ever gotten to this blog, I think that perhaps this is the most important one I’ve ever had, and is a constant reminder to me as to why I blog. I don’t blog to get the news out there. I am not a news source. There are plenty of blogs that are, but I am not one of them. I blog because there are things that I care about and I hope to help build a better community by bringing these things out into the open. Even if it means just connecting one single family member of a murder victim living half a country away to my community, I feel that I have succeeded in my goal. (more…)
LOST: The Scariest Treaty You’ve Never Heard Of (updated)
Just when you thought it was safe to pull your head out of the sand and embrace the “global community”…
I received an alarming email from the CEI yesterday, alerting me to the LOST, which up until then I had never heard of. LOST, or Law Of the Sea Treaty, is a UN pet project that has been floating around for more than 60 years and was rejected by President Ronald Regan in 1982 because it was not in America’s best interests. Not to much surprise, the Treaty was revived by the Clinton administration and was signed; however we were spared the nightmare because the Republican controlled Senate wouldn’t ratify it.
However, the LOST is rearing its ugly head again, and this time both congress and President Bush are on board with this ugly little chunk of socialist tripe. That’s bad news. (more…)
Do You Believe In Ghosts?
In the spirit of the season, I thought I would indulge a little bit in sub-culture and figure out who out there has interests outside of the normal realm of politics, culture and community that I usually write about.
Interestingly, the St. Paul Pioneer Press had an article about local ghost hunters, and since I was impressed the the local printed media actually reported on something useful for a change, I would follow suit and post on ghosts.
So the Hastings Paranormal Team is out chasing ghosts around Hastings, which is one of Minnesota’s oldest and supposedly most haunted cities, which I find fascinating. Any little bit of history is of interest to me, and if that history isn’t quite dead yet, all the better. The HPT deploys an array of technology to record their encounters, including EVP, or electronic voice phenomena (if you saw the movie “White Noise” you know what they’re talking about), and supposedly have had quite a bit of luck in their investigations (which they post online via their website).
When Politics and Progress Collide
Is there ever a time when it acceptable for government to to stand in the way of economic progress and growth? Perhaps. I mean, if a company is doing something harmful to the consumers or the community, the government should step in and take care of the problem. But that only makes sense as one of the essential functions of government should the be protection of the masses… But what happens when politics interferes with progress?
As an avid supporter of the community and a firm believer that the government should show more restraint when interfering with economic and community growth, I question when the government steps in for purely political reasons. As such, I raise question over the fact that Minnesota governor, Tim Pawlenty, is threatening progress on the iron range for purely political reasons.
The Trouble With Gore
Ok, so I was reading an repugnant article in the Washington Times this week about why conservatives hate Gore and finding myself getting more and more agitated that people get paid [presumably] good money to write this sort of garbage. After all, as an outspoken conservative with a fistful of opinion, I found that none of the reasons this author cited were even close to the truth, and really the whole article was aimed at making conservatives look like a bunch of ignorant pricks. Furthermore, this particular author hijacked an already well-known phrase and turned it around, referring to conservatives as having “Gore Derangement Syndrome.” What kind of crap is that?
So here I am, again, to set the record straight as to the trouble with Al Gore. (more…)
Why I Applaud the Music Industry Lawsuits: A Lesson In Reality
(This essay was written by my favorite record producer and ushered in the end of an era. I question the future of some of my favorite bands, and am saddened that one of the few things that brings pleasure to my life is being put into jeopardy. I beg all of those people who think that it is their right to download and enjoy free music to read this and carefully consider the message that is being relayed here. -Arclightzero)
Arclight’s Movie Corner and a Challenge to the Left
Two topics in one post? Bonus! How did you get so lucky? Well, let me tell you how you got so lucky. I got my hands on a very important movie that not only got me thinking, it inspired me to pose a challenge.
Today’s movie is the documentary ”Michael Moore Hates America” which I picked up yesterday and have already watched twice. Why? Because I wanted to make sure I took it all in. So despite the name of the movie, the movie really isn’t about Michael Moore hating America so much as it is local movie maker, Michael Wilson, going out and telling people the truth about this great Nation.
From Here to Where?
So I came away from this past weekend’s event feeling warm and fuzzy about the relationship between Conservatives and Liberals. Ok, so we still have a lot of distance to cover, and we will still probably never see eye-to-eye on the topics, but maybe we don’t have to. Maybe all we need to see is that we all want what is best for this country and its people; maybe we only need to come together in understanding instead of finding commonality. It may be the only way we can save this sinking ship.
But my feelings on the topic of coming together are always bittersweet, and every time I have a positive experience with a liberal, I am subjected to something that tarnishes the feeling again and reaffirms my feeling that we have some serious problems here.
Wisconsin Starts to Slip Down That Slippery Tobacco Slope
Well Wisconsin, if we’re not careful we’re going to be Minnesota pretty soon… And that’s not a good thing.
For those of you who don’t know, the Wisconsin budget was passed on Saturday (only three months behind schedule) and much to my dismay the $1/pack increase in the cigarette tax was part of that budget. Granted this is less than the $1.25/pack tax that was originally being sought, whoop de shit. It’s still a significant hit against the lower classes of Wisconsin citizens in the name of “public health” and reducing the number of smokers in the state.
