[3/5/09--8:00 PM--New Story on Daily Pilot--scroll down]DICTATOR WATCH
Obama starting to consolidate power in White House. Congress worries. LA TIMES
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CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT TO HEAR PROP 8 ARGUMENTS TODAY
If gay marriage becomes the law of the land, will gay polygamy also be the law? How about heterosexual polygamy? AP
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TEXAS CONTINUES TO PERSECUTE FUNDAMENTALIST MORMONS
In Texas, a man can lawfully live with more than one woman and have children with all of them so long as he doesn't call more than one of the relationships a marriage. Or, he can have serial relationships with many women and have children with all of them. See Texas Penal Code Sec. 25.01.
Fundamentalist Mormons marry one woman in a regular marriage and then marry others in what they call celestial marriages. This is part of their religion. Because they call it "marriage," they are persecuted for bigamy in Texas.
The law turns on words.
What does "marriage" really mean in law? That's what the California Supreme Court and probably then the U.S. Supreme Court will decide. And, eventually, what they decide will have far reaching effects.
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SELF-GOVERNING GROUPS
The U.S. has long tried to have everyone living here conform to the same sets of laws and mores. This worked so long as the U.S. had a white Christian majority that forced its will on everyone.
Now, however, as the U.S. becomes more and more diverse, very different peoples are demanding the right to have their own laws and mores. They want self-determination and self-governance.
It will probably be Muslims who will be most vocal in demanding these rights as they push to be allowed to follow Sharia law. This is already happening in Europe and elsewhere. Other groups will also demand similar rights.
Unfortunately, it won't be a live and let live situation. Muslims will demand that others follow their ways. In England, Muslims have already forced a pizza shop to stop serving pork products (bacon, ham) on their pizzas.
We live in tumultuous times as the big wheel keeps turning and the world re-sorts itself.
We live in tumultuous times as the big wheel keeps turning and the world re-sorts itself.
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[New Story 3/5/09--8:00 PM]
DAILY PILOT TRIES TO DEFEND NOT TELLING READERS WHAT VIOLENT CRIMINALS LOOK LIKE EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE WHITE.
By the way, the Latino who shot a man at the K-Mart Shopping Center is still on the loose. He's armed and dangerous. Do not approach him. If you have a tip, call the CMPD at (714) 754-5252.
Apparently, we've been striking a nerve over at the almost Daily Pilot with our criticisms of the paper for not giving readers full racial/ethnic descriptions of dangerous and outstanding criminal suspects in our city except when they're white.
When a criminal is white, the DP doesn't seem to have any compunction about putting that fact in the story. Call it a double standard.
The CM PRESS believes that you have a right to the fullest descriptions available and especially if the criminal is violent or commits serious crimes and is still running around our streets--maybe your street. It's just common sense that this information can help you protect yourself and your family.
The Pilot's typical PC descriptions of non-white violent criminals as "a man," or "two men," and similar non-descriptions helps no one to be safe and doesn't give citizens enough information to give tips to the cops.
In a smallish city such as Costa Mesa, innocent citizens are likely to cross paths with such criminals.
Again, and just to make the point, maybe if citizens were armed with the descriptions of criminals they could avoid being victims.
Perhaps if a long time Pilot employee had been made a little more aware of statistics on crimes--even just by reading descriptions of most of our violent criminals in Costa Mesa--she might have been a little more wary of the Latino illegal alien who approached her and who then stabbed her to death in her own carport.
One guy over at the Pilot sniffs that the paper relies on the The Associated Press Stylebook for guidance about racial descriptions. We think this is nonsense.
The Associated Press? The AP? Give us a break. We've written complaint letters to that organization about its left wing bias. Some conservatives refer to the AP as AP OBAMA because of its bias.
Nevertheless, we've had various editions of the AP Stylebook (other style books as well) on our shelf for more than thirty years and they're all useful in some instances so long as you know how to use them, and have some power of discernment.
Want a clue to the lefty bias of the AP? Here's part of what appears in their Stylebook under "race." Our comments are in [].
"race Identification by race is pertinent:
---In biographical and announcement stories, particularly when they involve a feat or appointment that has not routinely been associated with members of a particular race." [In plain English: If you find a non-white getting some positive award, be sure to mention that they're non-white so readers will have a good impression of them and their racial group.]
But here's the clincher about why saying you're relying on the AP Stylebook to try to justify hiding ethnic/racial descriptions is nonsense: The AP Stylebook is actually silent about using racial descriptions in stories about outstanding violent criminal suspects. Local newspapers usually have their own policies for this.
In defense of the AP, below in bold is what appears on the AP's website for journalists. Maybe the Daily Pilot should take this to heart.
AP encourages all news organizations to fight for freedom of information.
Getting answers is the essential work of a free press in a free society. As the trend toward government secrecy trickles down to the smallest town office and police department, the need for a free press and for telling the whole story has never been stronger.
Don't worry, AP, the CM PRESS will not only fight against government secrecy, but also against lefty newspaper secrecy, and we'll continue telling the whole story.
We'll also always try to print the fullest descriptions of outstanding major and violent criminal suspects that we can obtain. This is essential to properly serve and help safeguard the public.
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Those are our opinions as we continue to do the job that newspapers used to do.
