I've been so busy at work the last few days that I haven't taken the time to even think about what to write here. But, it's all been simmering in the back of my mind, so I'll have some thoughts over the next few days.

UN in Charge of the Internet?

That's right. Apparently there are plans underfoot for the UN to take control of the Internet. I read this on Nealz Nuze over on the Boortz.com website. If you haven't had the opportunity to hear Neal Boortz on the radio, do yourself a favor and visit the Church of the Painful Truth. Neal's a Libertarian with a radio show out of Atlanta that I get here in Tampa Bay. I don't always agree with Neal, but he has made me start to think about things.
Okay, back on point. The UN wants to have care and custody of the Internet. Right now, URLs are assigned and controlled by US companies. Most of the computers serving the Internet are located in the US.

Think about this: UN control of the Internet would allow the UN to tax the use of the Internet to fund UN projects. Content could (and in my opinion probably would) be censored. Anything that has the global reach of the Internet just has to be controlled by the UN. Yeah, sure - sounds like a great idea to me. One argument that is sure to arise is that the US wants to keep third world countries down by not allowing them Internet access. Excuse me? The more people who have access, the more money entrepreneurs can make - whether the small Internet based Mom and Pop store or Walmart.

Isn't that what America is all about? Taking what is available to us, making it available to the world and, possibly making a living doing it. Sounds like someone else wants that money. In the eyes of the people behind this idea the UN should take it from the people who did the work (the US), made it something, and give it to someone else (the UN) to reap the benefits and who will then run it into the ground. And that's not to mention the power behind the Internet. He who controls the Internet controls the world. Who would you rather see control the Internet: the free world allowing international free speech and access or the UN who would tax and censor it? You know that's what would happen. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Here's the link to Nealz Nuze:

http://boortz.com/nuze/200312/12052003.html

You'll see more links in the future to Neal. If the above link doesn't work, please, take the time to type it in and look around his site or go to boortz.com.

Eminent Domain

Another subject that Neal has brought out in the open is that of Eminent Domain. This is the rule of law that allows government to take your property for the use of government.

Eminent Domain used to be used for roads and utilities. But more recently, local governments have used it to take property from a citizen and sell it to a developer so that a mall or higher price housing development can be built. This is usually done because the first owners aren't paying much in property taxes and the city or county finds that the shopping center or housing development will bring in much more in tax revenue.

Neal Boortz reported a couple of months ago that a group of people in Anniston Alabama were faced with Eminent Domain. They were made an offer by the county, they refused, and were served with ED papers to take their homes. Why? A developer wanted to build a shopping center anchored by Walmart in that location. The shopping center would bring in more tax revenue than the homes on that property would.

More tax revenue sounds good. It keeps the taxes down for the rest of us in the city or county. But...someone is losing their property. It doesn't make any difference whether the property is owned by poor blacks or middle class whites. It used to be that people were safe on their own property. We used to have to worry about robbers and home invasions by criminals.

I'm having a hard time figuring out who the criminals are. The ones who come quietly in the night and take things from my house or the ones who come in daylight with writs and notices telling me they are going to take my house and property and give me market value (maybe) it. I may not want to sell, but they will buy it from me or take it under Eminent Domain. Under ED they pay what they want (maybe market value - definitely not what I might have been able to sell for if I wanted to sell) or take it through legal maneuverings. Either way, I lose my property.

Don't the citizens of the United States of America have a say in whether they want to sell their property or not? Don't think this can't happen to you. Those people in Anniston probably thought the same thing. It doesn't matter whether you are rich, poor, middle class, black, white, Hispanic or other ethnicity or class. It doesn't matter if you live in the city, suburbs or country. It Can Happen To You.

Youth At Risk

As I've written before, I work in a high-risk youth facility. We actually have three programs on our complex: a minimum-risk, a moderate-risk, and a high-risk facility. My office is physically located in the high-risk facility but I work for all three. The topic of this post concerns all three but is more germane to the high-risk program.

The Juvenile Justice program is dedicated to preventing youth at risk from committing more crimes by committing them to programs that will educate them and give them counseling so that they can see why they have committed crimes, the consequences of those crimes, and how to make better choices in the future. While in our programs, they are in school for five hours a day, they get medical and psychological counseling, and they get the discipline some of them have never had. When they complete the program they either go to an aftercare program to integrate them back into society or they go home.

My problem is with the boys who go directly home. They go back into the same environment they came from; the very environment that made them criminals. Yes, they had choices, and made bad ones, but these are kids who don't have the maturity levels to say, "No, that's wrong I can't do that."

There is one boy in our facility who came from a family heavily involved in gangs, drugs, and criminal activity. Mom is in prison for dealing drugs. Dad is a hard-core gang member who expects his son to go into the "family business." What chance does this kid have? If he goes home, he will be back into it and the months (18-36) that were invested in his rehabilitation will be down the drain.

Another boy is a ward of the state (DCF - Department of Children and Family Services). Mom and Dad are nowhere around and have had their parental rights taken away. When he turns 18, DCF will say, "You're on your own. Have a good life." And that's it. He has no where to go, no money, no job, no home to go to. Even if he manages to get a job the same day he's released, where is he going to live? And the job? He has a bright future flipping burgers at McDonald's.

I know that we can't save every kid. There are just some kids who are going to continue to commit crimes until they end up in adult prison for life. But we have some kids who want to change. The two boys I wrote of before don't want to go back to their former lives. They see that there is another choice. We're trying to find some options for these two and others like them, but the options are few and far between.

I know Florida isn't the only state this problem exists in. Your state is probably having the same problems. It's up to each of us as citizens and taxpayers to rattle some cages. I've started. I've sent emails to state officials outlining the problem as I see it. Can I challenge you to do the same in your state?

Vocational Programs and Art Fairs

Work seems to be at the top of my mind today. I thought I would share with you some of the things we are doing at our high-risk program.

The State requires that we offer vocational programs. Well, since these kids are high-risk kids, there has been some concern about what tools we can trust them with. Do you want to give a kid in prison for battery or armed robbery with anger management issues access to hammers? You can see our dilemma.

Here are the programs in place now:

Construction: Our Education Manager has found a software program where they can learn construction concepts and techniques. He's still working on how to make it a hands-on program.

Puppy Raiser: I've already discussed the Southeastern Guide dog program. Oh, we've been told we're getting three more puppies in January! Three boys; a blond, a black, and a black and tan. All Labs. Labs seem to do the best in a prison atmosphere of the breeds they have.

To go along with the Puppy Program we are also offering Vet Tech and Small Animal Handler. Both of these programs offer certification through the University of Missouri and Florida State University (I don't remember which is which right now).

Tina is teaching a Small Animal Care class that will go hand-in-hand with the Vet Tech and Small Animal Handler certifications. We (I am her assistant) spend three hours a week teaching this class, and the other two days will be spent on obedience classes for the puppy raisers.

As you might guess, I'm very happy to be associated with this endeavor. Too many committed programs offer nothing for the kids to take home - job skills. With the skills from these classes, they will be able to get real jobs. And with jobs and right choices, they will not re-offend and will stay out of the system to become productive members of society.

Art Fair

Although it's not really a program within the scope of job skills, we also allow the boys to enter art work in the local county fair every year. The 2004 fair will be at the end of January and the boys who were in the fair last year are already getting excited about it.

I spoke to one boy yesterday who wasn't here last year. I nearly did cartwheels when I saw his artwork. This young man has a real future in art. He has a lot of raw talent and could go very far if he had a chance to go to an art school. Trust me, I'll be working on that.

What really did my heart good was as he left the room after speaking to me, he was beaming! The praise I had given him made a difference in him that was on his face. I meant every word I said to him and I think I gave him a glimpse of hope for the future.

Back to the fair. The boys who want to participate will have until January 17 to produce artwork to be entered into the fair. Most will get a ribbon of some sort. I wish we could take them to see their work displayed but that won't/can't happen. At least they will get the ribbons.

BRRRRRR!!!

It's noon as I write this and it's only 54 degrees! I know, some of you are digging out from the snowstorms. But this is Florida! Actually, I'm enjoying it. We don't get too many opportunities to wear sweatshirts and sweaters. I have some sweaters I've been waiting for a chance to wear.