Last week was a lot of eggings and TP'ings -- it must have been spring break. This week is full of real crime :-) :

• A resident of an apartment complex reported the disappearance of her cat. It's a black, gold and white female with a red collar, and the owner is offering a $1000 reward.
• My therapist is harassing me, says a local woman.
• That big screen TV is not stolen from an apartment, it was repossessed.
• Same goes for the dog stolen -- it escaped and was picked up my animal control.
• An elderly man instructed his off-leash dog to "kill her, kill her" while gesturing towards the mother of a man wo decided he'd better call police.
• A sick racoon found lying against a fence at [...] was sent to live on a big happy farm out in the country with lots of other raccoons, if you know what I mean. [As said before , this is exactly how it appears in the newspaper. --MB]
• Three men fishing under a no trespassing sign were advised to dip their lines elsewhere.
• A man called police to say a telemarketer is harassing him. [We all should be doing this. --MB]

I am sitting in my back yard looking out over the green lawn, listening to the mowers of suburbia and connected wirelessly with my laptop. The weather is a warm 70F here in Oregon and I am sitting in the shade of an early leafing tree. The wind is blowing and it will be chilly tonight since it is not summer yet. Only spring.

But my observation is on the pleasentness at sitting in the green, warm yard of a home in America. The level of wealth is phenomenal. Here I am, sitting listening to the wind in the trees, connected to the Internet while others are starving and dying. I am so lucky and blessed. How can this be while others are suffering?

The sun is shining and there are pools of warm sunlight in our bedroom. But where did I find the cats sleeping? In the bathroom!!

When we remodeled, I installed heated floor tiles in the master bedroom bath. And the cats have found it!!! They don't need the sun any more.

I don't usually blog about political or moral topics, but recently I've run across a few things that are troubling me and which need a society wide discussion. But I haven't seen them anywhere else.

Kuro5hin as an article about the U.S. House of Representatives bill HR3820 The bill, titled the "Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004," would grant Congress the right to overturn the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court "to the extent that [they concern] the constitutionality of an Act of Congress." A two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress would be required to overturn such a decision; this is the same condition applied to overturning a Presidential veto of legislation. The bill is currently in committee.

The constitution already stipulates that the congress and the people can make anything constitutional by passing an amendment. In the past, the law makers can make anything legal by passing new laws. But this changes the rules and makes congress (and it's controlling party in the current congressional dynamics) the supreme power in the land without reqiring the people (us) to vote.

The New Orleans Channel 6 News reports that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals as ruled that Louisiana cops don't need a search or arrest warrent to conduct a brief seach of your home or business if the officer "fears for his safety".

Now, most cops aren't bad guys, but it's a tough job out there and people are shooting at you. That doesn't make for the best of situations for making reasoned and balanced decisions. And any claim of checks and balances go out the window unless there is a video camera present.

Enough of my soap box. The real problem I see is that both of these are serious changes in the norm or the percieved norm of what we consider the balance of power and justice. Why aren't these being brought up for public discussion? How can we be an informed populous when things like this can be proposed and acted on while most people don't hear about it.

I am bothered by this. Earth to Media!! There's news happening!!

To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists.