Children

Child Abuse Takes Many Forms

There are outstanding bench warrants for thousands of parents all across America.

A man named David, the president of a consulting company in California owes $198,954.70. Gene, a man who now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico dodged his obligation for some twenty years and is $242,147.00 in debt. And a dude from Illinois named Mark who sports a full brown beard, aviator glasses and a cheery smile owes an astounding $618, 679.00!

All of them owe the money to their children. And there are countless thousands more just like them who have reneged on agreed upon or court ordered child support. They are parents who have walked away from the most precious obligation one can have - their own children. And, its not just delinquent Dads, there are plenty of Moms who are shortchanging their children too. [click to continue...]

My mailbox is filling up with e-mails asking how prosecutors can try to convict someone of murder if no body has been found. Is it fair to proceed to trial without one? Without a body isn’t there always reasonable doubt about whether the person is really dead? What about the corpus delicti principle?

No body, no trial, right? Wrong.

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Why Are We So Captivated?

When did murder become so entertaining?

Throughout history death has been the center of classic literature. Think Cain and Abel, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. But there’s something very different about reading the great books and what passes for entertainment these days.

Take television for example where murder is served up as a nightly ritual. Law & Order, C.S.I., Cold Case, N.C.I.S.. Some have become so popular they’ve spawned their own spin-off shows.

But none takes murder to the level that Showtime’s Sunday night showpiece ‘Dexter’ does. The cable network has just announced the program broke a ratings record with total viewers jumping 21% over last year.

When Showtime first began airing ‘Dexter’ and then when it’s parent company CBS aired episodes on the network during the writers strike, some church groups spoke out about its storyline.

Now it’s my turn. [click to continue...]

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Preacher Tony Alamo in cuffs

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merica has a doctrine that very clearly separates our government from our various religions, a definite separation of Church and State. Our founding fathers wrote about the need to keep the two institutions detached way back in 1791 when adopting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Being a career journalist I especially like the First Amendment. You know, the one that guarantees free speech and makes it illegal to infringe on freedom of the press? It’s also the amendment that includes language guaranteeing the “free exercise of religion” and prohibits the government from taking steps to prohibit it.

The amendment does not guarantee a citizen’s right to abuse children in the name of God, marry multiple wives, withhold taxes from the government or use deadly snakes in services. But all of that - and more - has occurred in the name of religion.

Consider characters like 74 year old Tony Alamo who runs a Christian ministry headquartered in tiny, isolated Fouke, Arkansas. Federal agents moved into the compound last week to rescue several young girls. The FBI arrested Alamo a few days later at a motel in Arizona on suspicion of transporting minors across state lines for sexual purposes. [click to continue...]

The Illegal Way To Enter America

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his is the sound of me opening a Pandora’s Box. But crimes are being committed so I must.

Look, I’m a sympathetic person. I openly weep at complete stranger’s misfortunes. But I cannot abide people who break the law and then want sympathy because they get caught and punished.

I’m speaking about those immigrants, in this country illegally, who’ve been recently caught up in a federal sweep of suspect workplaces.

Yeah, yeah - I know all about the Statue of Liberty plaque declaring America welcomes the world’s huddled masses. And I’m all for that - if it is done in an organized, respectful, legal way. [click to continue...]