The World Around You

The latest Mobile Press-Register/University of South Alabama statewide poll suggests John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are in a dead heat for the Republican nomination. We all know poll results mean very little at this stage, but given their name recognition and prescence in the state, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson would have some serious ground to make-up, but it can certainly be done. The paper does note that Giuliani is running weaker here than in other places, and that is to be expected, but without a clear religious conservative candidate (Alabamians are going to be very skeptical of Romney who they perceive as a latecomer to some of their strongest beliefs).

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The bill never stood a chance. The governor wanted to bring attention to this issue, but he had to know there was no chance it would pass.

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Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on their sweep of the Yankees that was wrapped up last night. The winds of change are blowing in Tampa and many former Biscuits are contributing to the charge.

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As details begin to emerge about what was known well before the shooting at Virginia Tech about the shooter, the real tragedy is emerging. It was not the lack of responsiveness in the immediate aftermath of the early morning dorm room shooting. It was the lack of response by the university higher-ups to obvious cries for help from a student and his teachers. This should be the lesson learned. There are always warning signs, if someone was just paying enough attention…

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And here we go again. Remember, I am someone who is very active in the field of violence prevention, but the recent rise in homicides in Montgomery and the shooting at Virginia Tech are not connected to a deeper cultural issue. These are cylical things that come and go. This doesn’t mean we should not be addressing the underlying factors that contribute to these events, but this kind of “culture” talk always happens after one of these horribly tragic events and it makes me sick.

We should always be looking for ways to reduce violence in our communities and to try and understand the best approaches for doing that. I hope Virginia Tech will offer an opportunity to begin that discussion on some college campuses where it has been long neglected, but one event does not make a trend.

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We really are getting into the Scarlet Letter territory with this one. As for Rep. Keahey statement that there has to be something “totally different” going through the mind of a sex offender who vicitimizes anyone under the age of 12…(a) how would he know? (b) NOOOO, it’s the same thing that goes through the mind of anyone who wants to take advantage of someone else sexually…it’s about power not about the sex act.

How is victimizing someone under the age of 12 any different than victimizing anyone of any other age. The crime is terrible no matter who is perpetrating it or who it is being perpetrated on…and I’m not sure adding something to the license plate to brand offenders does anything but make them targets for additional crimes.

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The Birmingham News continues to dig deeper and deeper into the scandal involving legislators who used their positions to gain employment with the two-year college system and some of whom proceeded to do nothing to earn their paycheck. If some legislators don’t start having to resign over this…well, that would be Alabama.

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The Birmingham News is doing an outstanding job of running down the story of state legislators, their family and businesses getting paid for work that was never performed, and in most cases not expected to be performed in the two-year college system. It’s about time the cover was blown off the corruption that has been going on for years and it should allow for major restructuring of these types of practices, but given this is hte Alabama Legislature, it may not. I think the State Board of Education, led by the Governor, will push for what changes it can just to rub the legislature’s face in it, if nothing else.

This will be a big story for some time to come.

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