The Scarlet Letters

From CNN.com:

SALISBURY, Maryland (AP) -- A woman who stole $4.52 worth of fuel was ordered to stand outside the gas station Friday wearing a sandwich board sign that declared: "I was caught stealing gas."

Is it alright for a judge to order public humiliation as a punishment for a crime? If so, where does it stop? This seems to me to be a bad idea, reminiscent of The Scarlet Letter.

Public humiliation often doesn't "teach them a lesson." It instead builds up resentment and anger. Sometimes it does work, though.

My sentence: make her pay $425.00, one hundred times the amount that she stole. I'd make this a federal law. If you steal gas, you pay 100 times the going rate, which is 190 dollars a gallon right now. The potential benefits would no longer outweigh the disadvantages.

Boycott "Made in China"

Reasons why we should boycott all "Made in China" products:

1) The government uses forced labor. Many prisoners, including those imprisoned for political or religious beliefs, are forced to work in mines and factories.

2) Many Chinese companies are directly linked to the Chinese military. China is probably our biggest threat, even more so than Iran or North Korea.

3) All labor unions are controlled by the Communist Party of China (effectively the government). Workers cannot strike or negotiate if working conditions are bad or wages artificially low.

 
mucho gracias to commentator Thorley Winston of Tacitus for the link.

I didn't realize it was this bad over there. Slave labor? I'm not going to be anal about it, but from now on, I'm opting for the US/European/Japanese made items when I can.

Liberal Media Bias

John Leo wrote an excellent column last week. He makes a persuasive case that the Los Angeles Times is biasedly liberal news source. This comes from ignoring facts, ghost-quoting, and reporting flatly wrong news (without a subsequent apology).

I think I may start a list, just for Markus.

Liberal and Biased Media:
BBC
L.A. Times

The Height of Irony

After Sharon tells Jews to move out of France, Chirac tells Sharon that he is no longer welcome in France.
 
[pause]
 
I guess Sharon was right; even the president of France doesn't like Jews any more.
 
I don't think this was the right response to Sharon's comments.
 
[wow]

Additions to the Blogroll

I've added three blogs that I found recently and have found to be worthy of regular visits.
 
ScrappleFace -- ten-fold as funny as the Onion.
 
Tacitus.org -- Full of very heated discussions.
 
Boots and Sabers -- Dwells a lot on Wisconsin politics, but insightful and useful for national events.
 
 

Sharon advises Jews to leave France

From BBC:
 
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has urged all French Jews to move to Israel immediately to escape anti-Semitism.
 
Two comments:
 
1) Sadly, as long as existentialism and fascism are the ideologies of the elite in Europe, we will continue to see anti-Semitism. Judaism is diametrically opposed to those philosophies (as is Christianity). These modern Western inventions have little tolerance for differing worldviews.
 
2) Don't tell me the BBC isn't liberal after reading this sentence:
 
   France has suffered a wave of anti-Semitic attacks coinciding with renewed fighting in the
   Middle East.
 
"suffered??"
 
gimme a break.

The 7 Essential Parts to Freedom

F - faith
R - responsibility
E - empathy
E - education
D - dedication
O - order
M - morality

(borrowed from my pastor's sermon)

Fourth of July

We went down to Liberty Park in Jersey City for the Fourth of July this year. I wish I had pictures; fireworks right next to the Statue of Liberty. It was truly awesome. We may screw up sometimes, but this is really a great country.