B16 and the Czech Republic

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Here is an article on some recent papal words over healing wounds in the Czech Republic. I find it rather interesting because I know a number of recovering Catholics who are working on healing the wounds they received growing up in a Roman environment.

I had the good fortune to visit Prague both before and after the Iron Curtain came down. It seemed to have recovered from the Soviet occupation quite well. It was full of Catholic tourists who could not visit until after the Pope said it was okay to do so.

Breaking News: Glenn Beck is full of shit

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

Hard-hitting journalist Katie Couric had a nice chat with Glenn Beck, which includes questions from twitter. One of these questions asks Glenn what he meant by "white culture" when he said "Obama has a deep-seated hatred for white culture". Get yourself some popcorn and enjoy his delightfully awkward and smarmy response.

Watch on YouTube

Am I the only one who finds this unnerving?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

In the United States we have a surplus of prisoners, more than modern-day China does. This despite having not even half the population China does. Most of these prisoners, even the felons are in prison for non-violent offenses, chiefly drug-related, ones that will not make them a clear and present danger to the rest of society. Why, if our modern legal system is designated one of rehabilitation, do we then deny felons the right to vote? It does not seem rehabilitating to me to take a democracy and disenfranchise what is now 1 in 100 Americans. That instead seems a closet way to disfranchise people without getting called on it.

Now, before certain people accuse me of wanting to create anarchy, I am not suggesting the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer or that Garrido fellow get turned loose. Such men in fact are being turned loose because our prisons are already overstuffed with non-violent felons, which makes it difficult to keep tracks of the ones really needing watching. But surely if we were to release non-violent offenders on drug charges and legalize (and tax, let's not forget the taxation) certain drugs we could handle the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer or Garrido (whose first name I've forgotten) easier? And avoid the unfortunate implications of for-profit prisons that often hold felons who are denied the vote? And again, I do not mean to imply that we should turn loose people like Garrido who are clear and present dangers.