Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

How much longer until we put them in camps and begin their extermination? We’re at that point almost already.

Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

Gee that's not misleading...

I figured since I'm starting a blog I might as well try to make a few bucks with it (yeah right). The best way to monetize (ooooooooh) traffic for small web sites is Google's AdSense program. AdSense allows you to add those little ads that you see on a Google search page and in the right column of this here site.  Anytime someone clicks on one of those ads I get a portion of the fee Google charges for the ad. Google doesn't just put a random ad there though. They look at the content of a page and put in an ad that they believe would interest the visitors of that page. And that's how this entry has come about.

It seems that Google thinks my visitors would be interested in sex offender registries. That's somewhat reasonable as my largest entry was about sex offenders. Now I want you to remember that sex offender registry information is available for free from every state and is online. Knowing that this information is free and that state budgets don't exactly have the money to fund this I started wondering and I checked it out. Seems the site is run by an outfit called National Alert Registry. I assume they are a corporation but its unclear as they don't actual add it their name (cuz you know then we might realize they're just a bunch of people making money off of sex offenders) They are registered with the Florida Department of State and are from DeLand, FL. They are a FOR-PROFIT corporation. But that's far from clear from their web site. Like I mentioned before at no time do they indicate that they are a company and in fact they mislead people into thinking they are an official government organization. Here's their "official site":

 

Now doesn't that look official? The seal on the side and the crest on the top ( I think its a crest, I don't know what its called) both make this look like it's part of the federal government. However again this is just some scam outfit from Florida trying to make a buck off of concerned parents who don't know better. National Alert Registry charges $4.95 per month to email you a list of sex offenders who have moved into your area. However all this information is free from your state and in the coming months a national sex offender registry will go online for FREE.

While I disagree with the concept of the sex offender registry, I can see someone feeling this is a useful service. But there is no excuse for these scam artists pretending to be official while making a buck off people's fear and insecurities.

Revelation 22:20: "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"

What? No Ovens?!

I received a comment on my previous post from a gentleman I will refer to as Dick.  Dick decided to ignore every last point I made in my article and write a very long manifesto about how we need to protect children and how we should pass a constitutional amendment to create colonies for sex offenders to live in... Just take a deep breath and read that again. (Don't worry I'll wait.)  Unfortunately I hastily deleted the comment as I didn't want people to use the comment as a way to contact him. He's free to espouse any whack job view but I'm not going to help him do it.

Dick referred to something called "domestic terrorism." At first I had no clue what in the world he was talking about but eventually I realized he was referring to sex offenders. Apparently sex offenders by themselves aren't scary enough so he wants to make sure he puts in the primary buzzword of fear since 9/11: terrorism. Because of that word, the President took away our civil liberties and Dick intends to use the same scare tactics to mutilate the Constitution into supporting some Nazi-esque police state.  (I know I just invoked Godwin's Law but does anyone have an analogy that fits better?)

Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

Sex Offenders Are Bad (And Getting Badder)

Last night I caught part of the CBS Evening News. (Yes, I know was one of the ten or so that actually watch but bear with me. ) Katie Couric had a story about sex offenders and MySpace. It seems MySpace is trying to remove sex offenders from their web site. In addition, a number of states have sued to force MySpace to turn over their list of sex offenders who have registered. Texas was one of those states and their Attorney General used that information to pick up sex offenders whose probation rules prevented them from using the internet. So far, so good I guess. I think it's a silly regulation but hey its the rules. I feel better to know that children are safer though. *sigh of relief* Unfortunately Texas AG Greg Abbott had more to say:

Parents need to understand there are predators on the Internet who are more vicious than those who used to lurk in parks or playgrounds.

What? Huh? I don't feel as safe anymore.

These predators are incorrigible; they will stop at nothing in order to try and find their next victim.

Oh my God! That's scary!! Unfortunately, its also not true. A few things to consider:

• "Predators" don't lurk in parks or playgrounds. 95% of the cases of child sexual abuse involve someone the child knows, not a stranger.
• More vicious? Do you have any evidence that they're more vicious? Or does it make you look tougher on crime?
• "Predators" aren't incorrigible. At least according to the state of Wisconsin Department of Corrections (15% re-offend in 10 years), the state of Arizona (5.5% over a 14 year period), North Carolina Sex Offender registry (only 71 recidivist sex offenders in the entire state, including prisons), National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (13.7% re-offend) and the Canadian government (13.4%). There is no way that you can consider someone who has a 15% rate of re-offending "incorrigible." In fact sex offenders have a lower rate of being re-arrested for any offense after release than non-sex offenders (43% vs. 68%).
• Stop at nothing? If they will stop at nothing, they must be pretty incompetent if they only re-offend at most 15%.

Our country has a hang-up on sex. It's why we treat sex offenders much worse than drug dealers or armed robbers. Parents are scared by the thought of their babies being violated (not that it's remotely likely but they don't know that) so they elect leaders that say they'll be tough on crime. The elected leaders talk about how sex offenders are monsters which makes the officials look like saviors when the tough on sex offender laws pass but also scares parents even more who demand more be done which makes officials get tougher and enact stricter laws and around and around we go...

In the end, we have people who are treated like a Jew in Nazi Germany when these people are less likely to commit a crime than other felons. We have parents incredibly scared, children aren't that much safer than they were before and our Government is spending our money with little to no benefit.

Galatians 5:1: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."