IOWA GETS TOUGH ON SEX OFFENDERS ALRIGHT...

Simple post today. Just read the story below from the Iowa City Press Citizen. I've highlighted some of the key points.

My comment? Thank God we have the 2-thousand foot zones around day care centers and schools to protect us from these weirdos.

Lawyer argues to commit sex offender

A state prosecutor wants a convicted sex offender to undergo further supervision after his release from prison early next month because he allegedly meets the criteria for a sexually violent predator.

Weyburn E. Wasson, 58, formerly of 414 Crestview Ave., Iowa City, will be released Nov. 3 from the Anamosa State Penitentiary, online Department of Corrections records show. Wasson was sentenced in 2001 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of third-degree sexual abuse. Iowa's earned time law reduced Wasson's sentence to 4.6 years.

A private voice tutor, Wasson was accused of indecently touching three teenage boys in his Iowa City home. Prosecutors dropped five additional sex abuse charges as part of a plea agreement.

Court filings show Wasson refused sex offender treatment while in prison.

Filed Wednesday in Johnson County District Court, assistant Iowa attorney general Denise Timmins argued in a report that Wasson should be committed following his release from prison to the Department of Human Services "to be held in a secure facility for control, care and treatment" until he is deemed safe.

There will be a hearing Tuesday to determine if there is probable cause to Timmins' claims.

A phone message left with the state public defender's office in Des Moines was not immediately returned Thursday.

Timmins states that Wasson suffers from a mental abnormality where he is sexually attracted to adolescent males. That predisposes him to commit sexually violent offenses and difficulty in controlling his behavior, Timmins stated.

"(Wasson's) mental ab-normality makes (Wasson) likely to engage in predatory acts constituting sexually violent offenses if not confined in a secure facility," Timmins wrote.

THANK GOD FOR THE BOWHUNTERS

I think the action by the City Council to approve a bowhunt of deer within city limits this year was a set-up. The rules and regulations are so convoluted that it's nearly impossible for it to matter in the "thin the herd" argument that supporters cheered. Many long-time and avid deer hunters emailed me to say thanks, but no thanks:

I cannot understand why anyone would want to participate. I am an avid deer hunter, love venison, and enjoy the outdoors. This can be an expensive sport. I usually buy two or three deer tags a year. I do not shoot a real expensive bow, or arrows, therefore, it cost about $12.00 every time I shoot a deer. It is rare to salvage an arrow after a deer is hit. My understanding of the rules for this hunt are that they apply to doe only. If I shoot five doe this year I will have the privilege of possibly getting a Buck tag next year. If I go through the process and guidelines set up by the City and/or DNR, I will spend $75.00 on deer tags to shoot five deer and approximately $60.00 for five arrows; if I am good. The City also wants me to field dress and haul the deer in to be donated. I don’t mind. According to my calculations,
Iowa City spent $301.65 per deer for outsiders to come in with rifles, and shoot deer over a 6 year period. This is $66,667 per year. Cedar Rapids wants me to spend a minimum of $135.00 and donate the deer. This does not include the time, effort, and gas it takes, to help knock down the population by 100 deer. I DO NOT understand how I should be excited and motivated to participate in this hunt. How about paying me $100.00 a deer and save money on “Sharpshooters”. Just a thought, I would probably do it for free. Love to Hunt, but not this time, Mike

So far, only about 120 deer have been taken - out of a population estimated at 3,400.
This morning, I'm thinking quite a few people would like to have that number higher by one more:

Traffic pileups cause backup on I-380 this morning

Traffic stopped on Interstate Highway 380 for nearly an hour this morning after four accidents occurred within 10 minutes in Johnson County. A northbound vehicle was disabled when it hit a deer at about 7:30 a.m. near North Liberty. After the driver exited the vehicle, an armored truck collided with it a short time later, "demolishing" the stranded vehicle according to officials. Drivers in the Southbound lanes were distracted by the accident, which caused a three-car collision followed by a four-car collision. Northbound and southbound lanes were closed for about 15 minutes and an hour, respectively. Six injuries were reported, but none were life-threatening.

So, let's tally that up with some guesses on the cost of the problem:

1 -- 1st car - $1,000 original damage
2 -- Armored truck - $4,000 damage to itself
3 -- 1st car - $10,000 "demolished" by armored truck
3 -- 3-car collision by distracted drivers - $15,000 (5 grand per vehicle guesstimate)
4 -- 4-car collision by other distracted drivers - $25,000 (same formula as above)
5 -- Six injuries - who the hell knows, but possibly as much as $50,000
6 -- Northbound lanes closed for an hour - $2,000,000 in lost wages and income
7 -- Southbound lanes closed for 15-minutes - $500,000 using formula above

Total Cost: 2.6 million dollars...and I think I'm being pretty fair with the guestimates.

Caused by 1 deer - and we have 3,400 of them in Linn County alone.

Anyone wanna tell me how cute they are again? Cute indeed.

OH, THOSE PEDOPHILES...

I've had an awful lot of people commenting recently on the Sex Offender Registry in Iowa and many have various answers to the "problem" in Iowa. Recently, New Jersey passed a curfew for sex offenders for this Halloween. Those being monitored by the Parole Board say more than 2000 sex offenders must stay in their homes this Monday from 7pm until the next morning. They cannot answer the door when trick-or-treaters come calling, they can't go to a Halloween party where children attend, nor can they take their own children out on Halloween.

Hard to believe, but true.

Anyway...Since we're spending a lot of time on sex offenders and trying to keep our children safe, I thought you folks should maybe consider a problem that might deserve a bit more of your attention. The age of consent in Iowa.

I've posted the code from the Iowa website. Before we start focusing on band-aids like 2-thousand foot "no living" zones around schools and daycare centers...we might want to find out just what is legal and what isn't.

Section 709.4 of the Iowa Code deals with the various sexual abuse provisions. One of which is Sexual Abuse in the 3-rd Degree...otherwise known as statutory rape. Here's the law:

A person commits sexual abuse in the third degree when the person performs a sex act under any of the following circumstances:
1. The act is done by force or against the will of the other person, whether or not the other person is the person's spouse or is cohabiting with the person.
2. The act is between persons who are not at the time cohabiting as husband and wife and if any of the following are true:
a. The other person is suffering from a mental defect or incapacity which precludes giving consent.
b. The other person is twelve or thirteen years of age.
c. The other person is fourteen or fifteen years of age and any of the following are true:
(1) The person is a member of the same household as the other person.
(2) The person is related to the other person by blood or affinity to the
fourth degree.
(3) The person is in a position of authority over the other person and uses that authority to coerce the other person to submit.
(4) The person is four or more years older than the other person.
Sexual abuse in the third degree is a class "C" felony.

This is what most of those who are on the Sex Offender Registry have been convicted. And the fact remains...that the age of consent in Iowa is 14 under some circumstances...and 15 in most others. See the highlighted areas above.

This is a surprise to a lot of people...like this sample email from Marilyn:

Not all sex offenders on the list are at danger. What about those who are put on the list for lesser charges.
I know of a young man that recently got put on the list for being accused of exposing himself. He was in the he rest-room when 2 young boys walked in and saw him. So just because they saw him made him guilty of exposing himself and was put on the list.
What about those who have had consensual sex and just because the girl was under 18, he is accused of rape, but on the other hand he should not of been.
Where does that leave them to live? I think we need to take a serious look at who is really an offender.

I've highlighted, again, the perception that most people might have. Before you start believing your lawmakers can protect you from all the ills of sexual actions, consider what they set as a starting point for people to begin their sexual escapades.

Physician...heal thyself.

THEY JUST DON'T GET IT...OF COURSE, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN

In my earlier post regarding the FCC meeting in Iowa City, I said it was a bit unusual to hear how us low-life's in "the media" need to be less consolidated and ownership rules need to change because the coverage is too concentrated. Ironic, considering these groups complaining all come from ONE part of the country...Washington DC.

The people who organized the meeting were left-wingers...I mean, let's be honest. Take a look and see if you can find ONE organization representing the right...or even center. Even the two FCC commission members were Democrats:

The Iowa City meeting is being organized by Free Press and the University of Iowa Lecture Committee in partnership with many local organizations, including Iowans for Better Local Television, FAIR!, Progressive Action for the Common Good, Iowa City Federation of Labor, SEIU Local 199, Johnson County Democracy for America, Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Iowa Civil Liberties Union, Linn County InterReligious Council, American Federation of Teachers Local 716, AFSCME Local 12, League of Rural Voters, Iowa City Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual Transvestite Pride Committee, Quad Cities Interfaith, Iowa City Public Access Television, Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Johnson County League of Women Voters and ICAN.

So, I do an interview with one of the local organizers; I covered the event; I spent an entire hour of my morning show discussing the topic of media consolidation. Believe me, there were some nervous nellies in upper management who were standing by with their hands on the transmitter switch. But after doing all that, I get this updated press release:

Iowans testify against further media consolidation - Hundreds pack forum on ‘The Future of the Media’ in Iowa City

IOWA CITY -- More than 500 people filled the Pomerantz Center at the
University of Iowa on Wednesday night for a “Town Meeting on the Future of the Media,” voicing their concerns about media consolidation to Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein.

“We learned last night that people in the heartland see many good reasons to oppose further media concentration,” Adelstein said in a statement. “We heard a lot of solid evidence that the area’s media may be failing to address key issues of local concern. People decried the lack of serious coverage of the problems faced in their communities. They pleaded with us not to let it get any worse.”

The event featured panel discussions with community leaders and local media makers on how increasing concentration of ownership affects local news and information, followed by an open microphone session. The crowd lined up for nearly three hours to offer public testimony on the quality of local news coverage, increasing commercialism, and the impact of media giants such as Clear Channel and Sinclair Broadcasting.

“The people of Iowa are very concerned about what’s happening to their media,” said Amanda Ballantyne, field organizer for Free Press, which presented the event along with the University of Iowa Lecture Committee. “Instead of allowing big media companies to swallow up even more TV and radio stations and newspapers, the audience made clear that they want policies that encourage more diverse, independent and local voices.”

“The verdict was unanimous -- from elected leaders, teachers, workers, minorities, nurses, parents and grandparents -- people are dissatisfied their with local media outlets,” Adelstein said. “The message I will take back to Washington is that we had better address the very real issues raised by concerned citizens of Iowa before we consider further media consolidation.”

“The citizens of Iowa spoke about how the public airwaves should be used to serve the public interest, not the financial priorities of a few big media corporations,” said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. “We hope all of the FCC Commissioners will make an effort to participate in events like this one, so that average citizens can make their voices heard in the crucial policy decisions that will impact all of us.”

To read more about the Town Meeting on the Future of the Media, please visit www.freepress.net/future/=iowacity

It's funny that none of the local voices heard at the meeting got any mention in the press release. I mean, really...this is all about Rush Limbaugh, isn't it? Out of our entire day at my current station, the only non-local voice on the airwaves from 5am to 9pm is Rush. That's it. Local from 5am to 10am (ME, local), 10am to 11:30am (Jan Mickelson, Des Moines), 11:30 to 1:00pm (the local BIG Show), Rush from 1pm to 4pm, 4pm to 7pm (Bob Bruce, local), and 7pm to 9pm (Andy Peterson, local). That's not even including the sports call-in shows we do with the Minnesota Vikings, Iowa Hawkeyes, and local play-by-play. So, you can imagine - it really steamed me off to be thrown under the bus like they did.

So I sent the following and here's the email exchance with Craig Aaron, Communications Director for FreePress.net (again, in WASHINGTON DC!):

Greg WRITES: I have to say, I'm really disappointed in the focus of your press release. Having covered the event, given it highlight on my morning show (the only station to do so), and discussing local issues for the past 15-years...to hear someone from Washington say we don't discuss local issues is a bit absurd.

If this is an example of fairness and balance, I certainly will see your attempt to restore the same to "the media" in a different light.

You can't say I didn't try...but you did. Maybe you should take some time and effort to actually understand people and companies before you lay claim to the experience in being able to fix it.

Craig Aaron REPLIES: Thanks for your feedback. We tried to accurately reflect what people told us in Iowa City and what they said during their testimony last night. Time and again, we’ve been told that the quantity and quality local coverage has declined as media ownership has become more concentrated. We hear the same thing all across the country.

We mentioned Clear Channel and Sinclair because they came up repeatedly during the hearing, because they own or operate multiple stations in your market, and because they own more radio and TV stations than anyone else. We strongly believe that the policies that created these behemoths are misguided and have negatively impacted the quality of journalism, coverage of local issues, and the diversity of opinions on the public airwaves. Many people in Iowa share these concerns.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that individual reporters, editors, hosts and producers aren’t doing excellent work – no matter who owns their stations or newspapers. But we believe that fixing media policies will create an environment in which this work thrives. Perhaps the press release should have been clearer on that point.

Our interest isn’t in dictating solutions from Washington. We just want the public to be actively involved in the policy decisions being made in their name but without their consent. Let the chips fall where they may.

Thanks for dedicating time on your program to these important issues. If the turnout last night is any indication, media policy is a major concern of listeners in Iowa. I hope you’ll continue to discuss these topics on your program.

I believe one of the comments by an attendee quoted in the local paper really got me to be more pissed off than I should be...it was something to the effect that, "We should have more local bands on the radio"

So that is the context of my final reply: Maybe they should stop listening to Bob and Tom on our rock station and tune in News/Talk once in a while.

And THIS is a perfect example of why you cannot ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, deal reasonably with liberals. Did you get that, Mr President?

CHILDHOOD NIGHTMARE, RIP

I don't know why it struck me as a bit sad and happy at the same time, but the last of the Flying Monkeys from the movie Wizard of Oz has died.

Sig Frohlich, who died at the age of 97, was a bit-part actor for much of his long career in Hollywood, playing messengers, waiters, callboys, clerks and soldiers, rarely earning even a flicker of recognition from viewers over 50 years. In fact, I couldn't even find a photo on the internet. Save one very scary one...

But he achieved some lasting celebrity (and nightmare of mine) as one of the winged monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. This was despite the fact that he was completely disguised in a monkey costume and uttered no words on screen. The 13 actors playing the monkeys were originally promised $25 for each time they swooped down screaming from the sky on the heroine, Dorothy. Take that, Hollywood big-shots.

The director, Victor Fleming, maintained that it was the usual fee for a whole day's work. But it was agreed that Frohlich, who was an early member of the Screen Actors' Guild, should receive an extra $5 a swoop since he was the one who snatched Dorothy's dog, Toto; and he was paid more for his other scenes with Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch.

In earlier interviews, recalled how the monkeys were dressed up like "Thanksgiving Day turkeys" with special belts around their waists - designed to carry them through the sky on screen.

By the way, the Flying Monkeys (which never had a name on screen) were listed at #94 in the top 100 film monsters of all time. According to rumor, the steel tracks in the rafters of MGM Sound Stage 29 where the movie was filmed are still in place as a haunting reminder for visitors.

Now I know what I want to be for Halloween.

BILL BENNETT HAS SOME CATCHING UP TO DO

The topic is something I don't much discuss on the radio, but since it happened on radio and the liberals seem to be having a field day with Bill Bennett and his comments...I thought I'd jump in just a little bit.

Former Education Secretary William Bennett, “I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." He went on to call that "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Of course it's true. You may not like what he said (and neither do I), but it happens to be the entire basis of the origins of Planned Parenthood. Is it just me or do people just not read and remember their history? It's only a few clicks away if you have the courage to find it:

"The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

"Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race." Margaret Sanger. Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population...and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Margaret Sanger's December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon's Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.

"Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need ... We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock." Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review.

"Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems." Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defectives." [no source available at this time...]

"As an advocate of birth control I wish ... to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the 'unfit' and the 'fit,' admittedly the greatest present menace to civilization, can never be rectified by the inauguration of a cradle competition between these two classes. In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feeble-minded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation....On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective." Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"The campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical with the final aims of eugenics." Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

"Our failure to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying ... demonstrates our foolhardy and extravagant sentimentalism ... [Philanthropists] encourage the healthier and more normal sections of the world to shoulder the burden of unthinking and indiscriminate fecundity of others; which brings with it, as I think the reader must agree, a dead weight of human waste. Instead of decreasing and aiming to eliminate the stocks that are most detrimental to the future of the race and the world, it tends to render them to a menacing degree dominant ... We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all." Margaret Sanger. The Pivot of Civilization, 1922. Chapter on "The Cruelty of Charity," pages 116, 122, and 189. Swarthmore College Library edition.

"The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind." Margaret Sanger, quoted in Charles Valenza. "Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?" Family Planning Perspectives, January-February 1985, page 44.

"The marriage bed is the most degenerative influence in the social order..." Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

"Give dysgenic groups [people with 'bad genes'] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization." Margaret Sanger, April 1932 Birth Control Review."

As we celebrate the 100th birthday of Margaret Sanger, our outrageous and our courageous leader, we will probably find a number of areas in which we may find more about Margaret Sanger than we thought we wanted to know..." Faye Wattleton, Past-president of Planned Parenthood

Like I said...Bill Bennett was wrong...but he has a heck of a long way to go to match up with the founder of the largest pro-abortion group in the country.