Friday, August 18, 2006

Just when you think people cannot get much worse...

along comes a story like the one , with some pretty terrible allegations. I just read it on the 1010 WINS radio station website at this link: http://1010wins.com/pages/70993.php?contentType=4&contentId=190780. It is a story about an alleged child molestor, who allegedly has preyed upon children between the ages of 23 months and 8 years old over the course of the years 1998 through 2005. As per the report, the alleged suspect was a contractor who molested children in the homes in which he was working. I don't know how long they leave these stories up on the net, but if you want to read it I suggest clicking the link as soon as possible.

Amazingly this guy, according to the article: allegedly molested the children often while the parents were in other areas of the homes. He allegedly sometimes showed them pornography while he molested them, he allegedly restrained some with rope and or handcuffs, and he allegedly videotaped himself and the children in some instances as he molested them and or as childen were in various states of undress.

According to the article, a neighbor interviewed about him stated: "Never in a million years would I think he would do what he did,'' said Mandeville, who said he's known Bilski for 15 years. "He was a good friend. It's sad. It's terrible what he did to the families and it's terrible what he did to himself.''

Well I have to boom about this one. In my opinion, if this actually winds up being proven to have happened and this guy is found guilty, then it will not be only sad that this happened it will be, as I see it, absolutely intolerable! I am of the belief that anyone convicted of such crimes against children should, at the minimum, receive 25 years incarceration per instance of any child being molested. So if you were to molest a single child 5 times and be convicted of that, you would receive 125 years in jail - no chance of parole. If you molested 2 children at once, you would receive 50 years if convicted; and so forth. If you were found guilty as a repeat offender, I am of the opinion that the death penalty would be too good for you. This guy, if convicted, would be in jail for at least many lifetimes if he lasted that long.

Of course I am not in charge, and I have no power on my own to try to get the necessary legislation passed that would implement strict sentencing guidelines for those convicted of such offenses, those whom I believe to be heinous monsters. Then again, I can vote, and I do vote regularly in all major elections and in some minor elections. I suggest you all do the same and that you all vote for law and order candidates who want to put a stop to things like this from happening. I also can write, as is evidenced here; but I also write to my elected officials on a fairly regular basis about issues that are of concern to me. I will be writing to my congresswoman, my senators, and quite possibly to the governor of NJ about this one. If as many of us as possible did likewise, then at least people who were convicted of such offenses would stand a very slim chance of ever being able to do it again. Tolerance may be a good thing in some cases, but I am of the ilk that tolerance of this sort of thing is insanity.

A final note, lest you think I have condemmed this man already. All of the allegations above, were just that - allegations. They were, in essence, reported in the article. This man has not been found guilty of anything, though it appears allegations have been made and charges have been filed (quite a large number of them). Yet based on allegations and charges alone, I will not convict and condem anyone. This man, like anyone else in a criminal prosecution within the USA will have his day in court, probably many days in court, and so it should be. I kind of have some hope that he would be found not guilty because I would like to believe that things like those alleged cannot and do not happen. Yet,if he is guilty of these alleged offenses, I would have little if any mercy for him as those children would probably suffer through the rest of their lives.

All the best,
Glenn B

Simple Pleasures, quite frankly maybe the best of all...

Today is Friday, or I should say it is my Saturday this week because I worked this past Sunday. While technically not Saturday it is my first day off this weekend. Not bad. I puttered around on the Internet today trying to locate a local dealer who had in stock a riflescope for which I have been searching. Well I actually looked for a few scopes, but none of them were to be had anywhere locally, and I needed it by today for a shoot tomorrow. The scope is mainly for our (my son Brendan and I)upcoming black bear hunt at the end of the month, and it will sit atop our Marlin 336. I was pretty disappointed that I could not find a the illuminated reticle scopes for which I was searching. In fact, I did find one 2 days ago at B&H Photo in NYC, but it was scratched and the last they had in stock.

As it turned out I went down into the basement, and cleaned the 336. That was simple pleasure number 1. Talking to Brendan about the gun and about our hunt, as I put it back together, was simple pleasure number 2. Then I grabbed a Tasco 3-9x42MM, Mil-Dot reticle scope that I have had laying around unused for a few years, and I slapped that on the Marlin. I have only mounted one scope before, and I did a fair to good job on that one, so I hope I did likewise with this one. Brendan and I will take it to the range tomorrow to sight it in. I was none too happy not to have found a scope with an illuminated reticle, but having had this one on standby, so to speak, was nice; that was simple pleasure number 3 today. Finally getting a scope mounted on the 336 was also nice, simple pleasure number 4 was that I got it done at all.

Not too long after I was done with that, I realized my daughter had taken our car, and I was stranded at home - well not stranded really but too far from the gun shop to walk there to get ammo within a reasonable time. I gave her a call on the cell phone and she told me she would be home soon. When I asked where she had been,, she said looking for a job; that was simple pleasure number 5.

Soon after that, my wife got home from work. My daughter and son came in just after that. My daughter got a phone call almost as soon as she had walked in the door, it was someone telling her to come in for a job interview based on her looking today! That was quick, and it was simple pleasure number 6.

I put the finishing touches on the Marlin and then put it away. Then I mowed the lawn while my wife was making leftovers for dinner along with a nice fresh salad. The salad had some tomatoes from our yard in it. We ate dinner outside on the patio, and we each had a glass of wine with dinner. I enjoyed my wife's cooking and her company immensely. That was simple pleasure number 7 for today.

Simple pleasure number 8 was when I realized that the whole family was nice to one another today, no moaning, no groaning, and no arguing. I am not as grumpy as I once had been. It wasn't a very special day, yet all those things above that I have labeled as simple pleasures made it one heck of an especially fine day. We didn't have to go out and spend a lot of money on things, we didn’t have to go somewhere special to spend the day, we didn't have to go to a fancy restaurant, we didn’t have to have a special meal, we didn't have to do anything out of the ordinary, we just had a nice day. A nice day is one of the simplest pleasures of them all, and when shared with your family, at least even in part, a nice day is hard to beat.

All the best,
Glenn B