THANK-YOU, ALL, for the comments of support on the changing attitude of my writing, thoughts, and blog. It's good to know that I'm not the only one evolving and changing. Change is a good thing. Change is good.

I'VE BEEN WORKING OUT pretty hard the last few weeks. I've had enough of the sitting around eating of the winter, and had to get out there and move it some. My long time readers know that I use to be obese. I researched and became my own nutritionalist and trainer. I went from a tight 18W/20 to a nice fitting 5/6. I've read pretty much every "diet" out there. Guess what! They all say the same thing, "Eat right and exercise." Seriously, that's all they're about. But that's a sideline...

I've been working really hard. I jog up the steap hill that I live on over and over again until my thighs, calves, and butt burn. Then I do it again for good measure. I jog 50-60 minutes every day (except Sunday...that's my day off). I work my abs hard. I do crunches and criss-scrosses and several other moves until it feels like I've a dang blowtorch on my stomach. Then I push just a little harder...just a few more...until I quite litterally can not get another out.

For all of this hard work, I should be sore in the morning. RIGHT? I need to feel sore. I need to know that I'm pushing hard enough and that's how I measure it, by how sore I am in the morning. I've even tried working out twice in one day.

Nothing.

I have lost nearly half of my winter weight gain, and my clothes are fitting better, but I NEED the pain. I WANT the pain. I loose motivation without the pain.

I DESERVE THE FREAKING PAIN!!!

Planted he garden this morning. :)

My apologies to Batman who will be seeing this twice...

DNA Clears Man of Two Child Murders

In short, this man was convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend's two children twenty years ago. He has now been exonerated using modern technological advances.

"It is better that 100 guilty men go free than one innocent man stands convicted" - Thomas Jefferson

It would be nice if our system made it impossible for an innocent man to be convicted of a crime he did not commit. However, our system is run by men who are by nature flawed. Therefore, our system cannot help but have failure in it. As reprehensible as it may be, there are and will continue to be innocent persons who are punished unjustly. This, not the willful act of the people, but one which simply cannot be avoided.

When this travesty does occur and a person's life has been destroyed, one cannot help but feel remorse for the one imprisoned wrongly, and their loved ones. I feel that it is incumbent upon us to do our best to restore said person to the best of our abilities and also pay restitution for the hardships they were forced to endure.

Apparently the government agrees … and has set that amount at $25,000 per year. (This is where I start to rant…)

Let's start with the fact that this money isn't paid automatically, he must APPLY for it. Well, I feel that time in prison by an innocent man is application enough.

Also, $25,000 a year isn't NEARLY enough for what this man has lost. After twenty years in prison he is eligible for a mere $500,000. If the U.S. Government gets to tax it, he might walk away with a little over half of that. But I'd like to examine what this man endured, his trials, over the last twenty years to determine if the $500,000 is truly a worthy number:

20 years of the title "Child Molester and Murderer";
20 years of the stigma that goes with his title;
20 years of confinement;
20 years of sexual assault (let's not bury our heads in the sand and pretend we are unaware of what happens in prison, particularly to rapist and child molesters);
20 years of prison fights;
20 years of prison food;
20 years without daily physical contact with those he loves;
20 years without vacations or respite;
20 years of hell most of us would not even want to IMAGINE, much less live.

I look back over the last twenty years of my life and at age 36 I am heavy-hearted of what he missed out on:

Love and commitment;
children;
first steps;
first words;
family picnics;
family vacations;
grandchildren;
respect;
education;
a career;
the chance to take what he has earned and invest it;
a home to call his own;
a life in general.

Does $500,000 really provide any justice at all for what this man has been through and what he has lost?

Let's see, the woman who foolishly opened a containing of hot coffee in her car as they pulled away from McDonald's received how many MILLION in compensation for her own irresponsible act of stupidity?

I realize that in reality, we as a society can never repay this man for what it has cost him, but we could at least put forth a serious effort. How much is a man's life worth when it has been stolen from him?

I would say that $500,000 isn't nearly enough. Yes, we need to set a limit, but what is that limit knowing that it will never be enough? Realizing that money can never restore to him what was stripped of him, we should at least see to it that he can live comfortably for the rest of his life. We owe him that much.

So we have rapists, child pornographers and child molesters running around all over our country and THIS is what the government is spending my tax dollars on???

Yet, Hugh Heffner has three whores actually living with him, which he's been doing for decades, and no one says a word to him. Believe me, they're getting paid for their, uh, SERVICES, but I don't see any of them being prosecuted. "It's their lifestyle, how they choose to live."

Yeah, okay, so as Bear pointed out, Heff can live with three women having sex with each and they get a television show. BUT some guy in Utah who's willing to commit to three women for a lifetime and have children with them and raise them, yeah, HE goes to jail. WTH??? Evidently here the issue is with the commitment. Maybe those guys out in Utah need to stop marrying these women and just live with them all instead. Then they could have an entire damned harem and the government won't care. Just. Don't. Call. It. Marriage. and they'll be okay.

Finally!
I love Jason Whitlock!
He so speaks the truth!

Watch the videos. I couldn't have said any of this better myself. MLK would be proud!!!

Of course Snoop Dog is taking total offense to what Imus said and to being compared to Imus:

"[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC."

So, according to Snoop Dog, it's okay to use the term "ho" when you are referring to females in "the hood", but not once they pursue an education (which he himself so desperately needs). So Imus's real mistake here wasn't in using the term "ho" but in HOW he used it. Thanks for the 4-1-1 Snoop. It's all clear to me now.

Oh, and while you're at it, Snoop, could you give some clarification about when the term "n---a" is an appropriate term and when it's not. Since you and your ilk, and those who purchase that crap you record, have proven its use is more than acceptable, you should give instances and situations when the rednecks around here can use it. I wouldn't want anyone to add it to their repertoire of socially acceptable slang without their first being informed of when it should and shouldn't be used. After all a "n---a" must still be a "n---a" no matter who's doing the identification, right?

I love his description of Imus, "old-ass white man". The term is Caucassion, "old-ass Caucassion man," thank-you. Unless of course the "old-ass white man" gets to call you a "dumb-ass black man," which I don't think you'd appreciate, even if it is true. You are a dumb-ass who is making money from the degredation of your own race. Impressive. May I breathe the air you breathe?

Please note the dripping sarcasm. And for the record, Imus did a stupid, stupid thing.