1 in 100

There was a great report in the New York Times yesterday about how 1 out of every 100 U.S.adults is now behind bars. You can read it at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html?hp

We incarcerate 1% of our adults now, a higher percentage than any other country in the world.

How have we possibly gotten to this point?

I'm not talking about 'prisoner's rights' here, where the government is being sued for a not serving vegetarian meals, by some bozo who doesn't have the fortitude to move his meat away from the peas. I'm talking about how they get there in the first place.

Here in central Iowa we are spending millions on a new jail because the criminal population is overflowing our capacity to incarcerate everybody.

We throw people in jail for years in this country for stunningly trivial offenses. There were originally three ways to go to jail at the federal level - now there are over 4,500.

Is it the Federal sentencing guidelines? Because they have NOT resulted in what they were intended for, and now we are stuck with them. The U.S. Supreme Court has to rule on the fairness of these over and over again.

Is it ‘three strikes you’re out?’ There are people in jail now for most of the rest of their life because they were hungry and metaphorically stole some bread three times, Sort of like Les Miserables.

Is it because people don’t take any personal responsibility anymore? A lot of people in jail were never taken to church as a child, never taught good manners, and there were never any consequences for their bad behavior as they were growing up.

Is it the lack of gun control?

Or, is it because our society is simply fed up with crime, and it’s easier to throw people in jail forever, out of sight, out of mind, and let’s just forget about rehabilitation?

Because folks, it costs you and I a lot of money; almost $24,000 per year per person behind bars. Last year, we spent $49 billion dollars nationally keeping people in jail, and it just goes up every year.

What do you think? There is a survey to the right. Please vote and let me know your opinion. If you have any other ideas, leave me a comment by clicking on that little underlined comments thingy below, and I’ll add it to the survey.

Have a great weekend! And don’t do anything bad, because your butt will get hauled to jail!

I woke up!

Rights Boy has finally woken up from a long winter’s nap. And there is still eight inches of snow on the ground outside! When is this global warming thing going to kick in around here?

Today, Rights Boy wants to talk about a couple of his good friends.

First, I’d like to introduce you to Gul DuCurry – pride of the Cardassian Empire.

Don’t mess with Gul DuCurry; if you run into her in a dark alley, slowly turn the other way and run, because she will kick your ass!

Her nickname is Golda Curry, and you can see her demonstrating martial arts and coordinating competitions at celebrAsian, Iowa’s 6th Annual Asian Heritage Festival, on May 17th at the State Capitol East Complex. For more information, check out the site http://www.celebrasian.org/.



Second, please meet Mr. Clean. Mr. Clean hangs out on the Des Moines Register’s web site, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/, commenting on news stories and blogs. He’s sort of a Will Rogers, Mark Twain kind of guy; he can’t come up with anything original himself, but he likes to write short zingers at others.

He is often featured in the ‘Reader Comment’ sidebars in the printed version of the Register, recently on topics including the Drake Men’s basketball team, the endless Iowa winter, Urbandale pool situation, bike trails, and Erin Crawford’s garden.


So, summarizing me and my friends:

Rights Boy blogs here,

Mike Burgher writes letters to Editors, Congress, and anyone else who still accepts his mail,

Mr. Clean writes commentary on the Register’s website,

Gul DuCurry kicks your ass.

Any questions?

Click on the little underlined comment thingy below, and leave me a comment!

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm

Oh, my. You know your cause may be in trouble when the New York Times goes after it.



The Times has a nice article on global warming and the “availability entrepreneurs;” activists, journalists and publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil fuels. This group has started an “availability cascade,” a self-perpetuating process: the more attention a danger gets, the more worried people become, leading to more news coverage and more fear.

From the article:

A year ago, British meteorologists made headlines predicting that the buildup of greenhouse gases would help make 2007 the hottest year on record. At year’s end, global temperature average was actually lower than any year since 2001; little news coverage.

When the Arctic sea ice last year hit the lowest level ever, it was big news and heralded as a sign that the whole planet was warming. Meanwhile, a large part of Antarctica has been cooling, but that was pretty much ignored.

Hurricane Katrina was supposed to be a harbinger of the stormier world predicted by some climate modelers. When the next two hurricane seasons were the calmest in three decades, the availability entrepreneurs changed the subject. Droughts in California and Australia became the new harbingers of climate change (never mind that a warmer planet is projected to have more, not less, precipitation over all).

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Mr. Gore didn’t dwell on the complexities of the hurricane debate, nor did he mention how calm the hurricane season had been. Instead, he alluded somewhat mysteriously to “stronger storms in the Atlantic
and Pacific.”

So, I guess the lesson is, no matter what the weather in 2008, be afraid – be very afraid…

A Look Back at 2007 - Part 1

"There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them."
-- Lawrence Welk

For the next few days, Rights Boys takes a look back at the assaults on our rights in 2007 from our nanny state, surveillance state, police state and of course the state of government stupidity.

NSA Spying

By the end of 2007 there were forty pending lawsuits against AT&T, Verizon, MCI, Sprint and other telephone companies, accusing them of violating the law and the privacy of their customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications. This has included the records and full content of the private domestic communications of millions of ordinary Americans. The President and the phone companies hid this information from Congress and the American people for at least six years.

These actions violate at least four major privacy laws that have protected Americans' privacy for over 30 years. The laws deliberately and specifically require telephone companies to safeguard the privacy of their customers’ communications, especially when the government seeks to access them.

Congress is currently considering legislation that would grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies for the illegal actions

PATRIOT Act

Many provisions of the PATRIOT Act were scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2006, but were renewed and strengthened in March 2007. This increased the ability of the government to search telephone, email communications, medical, financial and other records and enhanced the discretion of law enforcement to detain anyone as a terrorism suspect.

RIAA vs. the People

By the end of 2007, the RIAA had sued over 20,000 of its customers for downloading music. Sending threatening ‘John Doe’ letters that contend hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, the RIAA settles for $3000 with mostly frightened teenagers, thus avoiding court and any chance for due process. Not one penny goes to any artist.

In December, the RIAA’s latest position is that simply copying a CD that you own to your computer or iPod is illegal.

We are approaching an age of perpetual copyright where nothing will even again go into the public domain.

And now, your government at work… funny and sad

TSA watch list, Airport Security

Airport officials in Albany, N.Y., were red-faced because a fake bomb planted by U.S. government inspectors slipped through their security system. The fake bomb was included with carry-on luggage that also contained a bottle of water. Airport officials did, however, seize the bottle of water.

Political Correctness

A production of The Vagina Monologues in Tallahassee, Fla., was retitled The Hoohaa Monologues, after a woman complained the title was offensive. Meanwhile in Cross River, N.Y., a suburb of New York City , three honors students were kicked out of their high school for saying the word "vagina" during their own reading of The Vagina Monologues.

Saginaw State University in Michigan now forbids the telling of any jokes that may involve "race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or familial status, color, height, weight, handicap or disability," reports the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. That place must be a laugh riot.

Don’t Mess with Texas

The State of Texas argued before the Supreme Court that a murderer who had been treated for schizophrenia – and defended himself at his trial wearing a purple cowboy suit and issuing subpoenas to Pope John Paul II, President John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ -- is sane and should be executed.

Fiscal Responsibility

The State of Iowa sure got its money's worth when it hired a consulting firm to give advice on how to budget properly. The suggestions made by the firm A.T. Kearney ultimately saved the state government close to $3.1 million. The cost of the consultant? Well, $3.9 million.

In September, the Pentagon paid $998,798 US to a small South Carolina parts supplier for sending two 19-cent washers to Cape Canaveral.

The Ig Nobel Peace Prize, not to be confused with the bauble won by Al Gore, was awarded to the Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. The lab was recognized for researching a chemical weapon, the so-called "gay bomb,” which “will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other.”

Low Impact Crime

Crime is pretty hard on the environment. Creating, transporting and maintaining a weapon, shooting a handgun or exploding a bomb - these causes a lot of pollution.

So it’s nice to see our local Des Moines metro criminals think about sustainability and go low impact as they do their green crime thing.


A kid armed with a sharp pencil held off authorities for a half-hour at the Polk County juvenile facility today. It was a brilliant move, waving his weapon around and exploiting the rampant fear of getting poked with a pencil lead.







A thug pulled a stick from his sleeve and whacked a man in the face last night, after the man was told to move and refused.





Des Moines police stopped a man who had attempted suicide with his sword. Police confiscated the sword and a spear and battle ax.

An inmate at the Polk County jail has vowed to starve himself unless he is given a vegetarian diet. That’ll teach ‘em.

Rights Boy loves the Earth

Rights Boy sometimes cracks wise at the dire predictions of climate change and the motives of our global prophets. Downright cynical.

But he does believe in conservation, recycling and consuming less instead of more; especially if he can save some money. So he will occasionally give advice on important green issues or solutions.


Rights Boy loves the Earth. Our planet is so-o-o hot.

The core is molten iron around 1,800 degrees F. The crust is mostly silicate rock with a wonderful ability to store vast amounts of heat. The greenhouse effect is the best of all; it keeps the atmosphere and surface warm enough to support human life.

Rights Boy was recently talking to his good friend Andy, who has decided to exploit the Earth’s hotness through geothermal.

Geothermal is a new green technology, used since the time of ancient Rome, which takes advantage of the heat stored in the ground. A steady supply of energy is captured and moved from the Earth to and through the home. Once installed, it uses much less energy, saves ongoing money and reduces pollution compared to conventional furnaces and air conditioners. Andy estimates the pollution reduction equivalent to taking four cars off the road (!!)


This morning I marveled at Andy’s wisdom and selfless act to reduce pollution and save money. So Rights Boy went to the gas station, filled up, dedicated this latest tank to his friend, and turned the thermostat up three degrees when he got home.

Seriously though, Rights Boy thinks geothermal is a good thing. Does anyone else use geothermal and what do you think?

No promotion for you !!

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined again this week in the Des Moines Register; this time ripping into sitting Senators and Representatives who spend all their time running for president and ignoring their day job. You can view the opinion here with comments from other DMR readers. Following is the original unedited version.


I was always taught that voting is an important privilege and responsibility not to be taken lightly. You should be informed and you should vote; if you don’t vote then you don’t have much justification to criticize the outcome. I was thinking about this when Barak Obama came out swinging at Hillary Clinton recently for her vote on an Iran resolution, a vote which he didn’t bother to make at all.

For Senators and Representatives voting is not just a privilege, it is actually their job; to represent the citizens who elected them and pay their salary and endless perks. If they don’t show up for important votes, then they are representing no one, and they are stealing time and money from the taxpayers.

For the third time in this administration, the Senate was required to confirm a new U.S. Attorney General. After the fiasco that was Alberto Gonzales, and with Congress teetering around 15% approval, you would think that every Senator would want to be on record with his or her constituency as participating and voting.

Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, McCain and Obama skipped this vote, no doubt because of higher priorities somewhere in Iowa or New Hampshire. All four Democrats said that they opposed the nomination of Mukasey for Attorney General; but apparently not enough to show up and vote against it.

More and more, it seems like the daily operation of the federal government is interfering with the presidential campaigns. Several of the presidential hopefuls collect, but do not earn, a check for a daytime job in Washington and their own State. Chris Dodd is certainly the most transparent; he appears to be settling down in Iowa and has enrolled his daughter in school. A warm welcome to Mr. Dodd and family, but I do wonder what the citizens of Connecticut think about it.

These days, the duration of a presidential campaign is sometime between two and four years, and there are several sitting Senators and Representatives spending all their time and effort in Iowa with presidential aspirations as their only priority. Why we should reward any of these Senators a promotion to U.S. President, when they don’t even do their current jobs?

Ethanol Redux

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined in the Des Moines Sunday Register on ethanol; “A Crime against Humanity,” according to one United Nations official.

Rights Boy had previously posted the unedited version here. His favorite reader, Anonymous, ripped Rights Boy a new one for the opinion.

You can never please Anonymous!

What does privacy mean to you?

The definitive source for all human information, Wikipedia, defined privacy as “the ability of an individual or group to control the flow of information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively…Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses.”

Merriam-Webster is more succinct. Privacy is “the quality or state of being apart from company or observation…freedom from unauthorized intrusion, as in one's right to privacy.”

Not anymore…

Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Americans can't expect to have privacy, because people give up so much information online already.

Kerr declared, "Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won,” and privacy now means that “government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.”

I guess Kerr cannot see the difference between someone choosing to type info into a Google search query, verses the government sifting through one's private records and listening in on phone conversations without the proper warrants.

Our privacy rights are disappearing before our eyes. Between fears of terrorism, cameras and web cams everywhere, shared medical records, or Internet search engines that keep history for two years, there is no privacy. So just give up. And trust the government.

We are frogs in the cooking pot; the water is starting to boil and we don’t even notice.

Meanwhile, A US federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve computer backups of all its e-mail due to pending litigation over missing messages. Apparently the Bush administration has been deleting as much of its electronic history as possible. Some bureaucrat in the White House basement, bless his heart, still believes in privacy!

A crime against humanity

Rights Boy was amused that the Register issued a thistle to United Nations official Jean Ziegler, chiding his grammar, expertise and conclusions for likening ethanol production to a "crime against humanity."

The corporate welfare and subsidies for ethanol production in the United States is probably a crime against taxpayers, but it’s hardly a crime against humanity.

Perhaps now the Register and others will begin to recognize that the United Nations is an organization of politicians - not scientists, not global environmental prophets, not even lobbyists for the Iowa Farm Bureau.

Every UN diplomat and official has his own country’s self-interest, agenda, and product to sell to the rest of us.

So the next time someone from the UN, or the Vatican, or even a Hollywood Academy Award winner tells you that climate change is somehow a crime against the planet caused by human existence, think about it. If he tells you it’s the end of civilization as we know it, we can’t possibly adapt, we should be riddled with guilt and start purchasing carbon offsets, think about his motive and what he is really selling.

Sometimes it’s snake oil.

Irony on Parade

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that the administration is deeply disappointed with the measures in Pakistan, and agreed in a press conference this week that “it is never reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism.”

Rights Boys wonders if Perino knows the definition of irony.

If you care anything about your constitutional rights you are probably ROTFLMAO.

Rights Boy must be so old. He has fond memories of the good old days when the U.S. Justice Departments protected and upheld rights, instead of trampling on them - before the Patriot Act, wiretapping without warrants, suspension of habeas corpus and unlawful search and seizure – just to name a few.

At least General Muschariff is honest that he has suspended citizens’ rights instead of acting like the people never had them.

First in the Nation in Weird

Most of the time, Iowans are normal, boring, middle-of-the-road farmers, bankers and insurance agents.

But when that special time comes around for Iowa’s ‘first in the nation’ presidential candidate selection, when the spotlight is on, Iowa proves that it is also first in the nation in weirdness. Odd news from Iowa has been so plentiful lately that we have been a regular feature on Fark.com and apparently under consideration for our own coveted weird ‘Iowa’ logo. We have finally made it.

The great pumpkin tax – Just in time for Halloween, Iowa started taxing pumpkins, deciding that they were decorations and not food. Forms were available at grocery stores and pumpkin patches where you could swear to the State that you were going to eat that pumpkin instead of making a Jack-o-Lantern and thus avoid the sales tax.

Boys with toys – A man was arrested in Cedar Rapids after a government agent allegedly found him in an office building restroom with his pants down lying next to an inflatable, anatomically correct doll. Everyone hoped that the doll was of legal age and didn’t have any communicable diseases.



Propping up the mammary industry – $200 or the best offer; a woman who doesn't want her breast milk to go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it.









Man’s best friend – Apparently deciding he’d had enough, a dog on a hunting trip pulled a Dick Cheney and blasted a man with a shotgun at close range. ‘Wufff! You go chase that damn duck!’

Stay tuned for more...

The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
– Edmund A. Opitz


A recent letter to the DM Register by associate professor Kevin Gannon (“Civics quiz leans sharply to the right”) left Rights Boy wondering about his qualifications to teach history. See his letter at :

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION04/710230360/1035/OPINION

I agree with Gannon on the need for more civic literacy in our country. It is a sad fact that immigrants who have studied to become American citizens tend to have a better understanding of U.S. history than a typical high school graduate.

But Gannon’s assertion that teaching the principles of “limited government” and a “free-market economy” is part of a vast right-wing conspiracy against academic freedom is absurd and shockingly ignorant coming from a college professor.

America was not founded on the principles of big government and socialist economics. Our Founding Fathers preached that “less is best” regarding government, and its citizens are owed little more than common protection and the opportunity to succeed through hard work.

Unfortunately, through a number of so-called populist or progressive moves, clearly unconstitutional, by both liberals and conservatives, we now have a massive federal government that domestically does very little other than redistributes wealth. The government provides welfare to every special group that you can think of: corporations, farmers, illegal immigrants, even the so-called “poor” that own a house and two cars yet cannot afford health insurance.

Gannon’s contention that right-wing groups are against academic freedom doesn’t match reality. Rights Boy's observation is that conservatives simply want a more comprehensive curriculum than the narrow, cookie-cutter, politically correct socialist nonsense that Gannon teaches.

More Scary Stuff !

Rights Boy loves Halloween !! You might expect that from someone who lives behind a mask.

Rights Boy used to go overboard at Halloween and scare the neighborhood kids on Beggar's Night with spooky music, candles, severed heads and other body parts. Sometimes little kids would run away from the door crying as their parents laughed in the background. Good times...

For some reason the kids don't come around anymore. I don't get it.

These are a few pictures of Rights Boy's yard art from a recent Halloween.

What do you do for Halloween? Do you dress up? Click on 'comment' below and let me know.

Be scared. Be very scared…

Which of these three is the scariest?

A Hillary Jack-O-Lantern?

A Spiral Compact Florescent Light bulb?

Or Mike Gravel?

The correct answer is the Compact Florescent Light bulb!

Compact Florescent Light bulbs (CFLs) use about 75 percent less energy and are supposed to last up to 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs, with a savings of $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.

CFLs are often touted as ‘saving the environment’ and the product is pushed extensively by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

Ironically CFLs are one of the most environmentally unfriendly products you can use. If you improperly dispose of a CFL or break the bulb, they may release mercury and vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health. You do NOT want to meet a thug in the back alley wielding a Compact Florescent Light bulb (CFL) as a weapon.

And woe unto you if you happen to break one in your house! I think if Rights Boy breaks one of these at home, he’ll just sell the house rather than clean up the environment.

Following is a summary of instructions from the EPA if this happens:

1. Have the following items ready for the cleanup:

ziplock bags (4-5)
trash bags (2 to 6 mm thick)
rubber, nitrile or latex gloves
paper towels
cardboard or squeegee
eyedropper
duct tape
shaving cream and small paint brush
flashlight
powdered sulfur (optional)

2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.

3. Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag. Use disposable gloves - do not use bare hands.

4. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

5. Place all cleanup materials in a second plastic bag and seal it.

6. Check to see if your state prohibits trash disposal of CLFs. (If your state prohibits, you are SOL…)

7. Place the sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.
8. Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

9. If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet, first remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

10 .If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

11. CFLs contain mercury sealed within the glass tubing. If the broken CFL releases mercury, have everyone else leave the area; don't let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out. Make sure all pets are removed from the area. Open all windows and doors to the outside; shut all doors to other parts of the house. DO NOT allow children to help you clean up the spill.

12. If a mercury spill occurs on carpet, curtains, upholstery or other absorbent surfaces, these contaminated items should be thrown away in accordance with the disposal means outlined below. Only cut and remove the affected portion of the contaminated carpet for disposal.

13. Locate visible mercury beads. Use a squeegee or cardboard to gather mercury beads. Use slow sweeping motions to keep mercury from becoming uncontrollable. Take a flashlight, hold it at a low angle close to the floor in a darkened room and look for additional glistening beads of mercury that may be sticking to the surface or in small cracked areas of the surface. Note: Mercury can move surprising distances on hard-flat surfaces, so be sure to inspect the entire room when "searching."

14. Use the eyedropper to collect or draw up the mercury beads. Slowly and carefully squeeze mercury onto a damp paper towel. Place the paper towel in a zip lock bag and secure. Make sure to label the bag as directed by your local health or fire department.

15. After you remove larger beads, put shaving cream on top of small paint brush and gently "dot" the affected area to pick up smaller hard-to-see beads. Alternatively, use duct tape to collect smaller hard-to-see beads. Place the paint brush or duct tape in a zip lock bag and secure. Make sure to label the bag as directed by your local health or fire department.

16. OPTIONAL STEP: It is OPTIONAL to use commercially available powdered sulfur to absorb the beads that are too small to see. The sulfur does two things: (1) it makes the mercury easier to see since there may be a color change from yellow to brown and (2) it binds the mercury so that it can be easily removed and suppresses the vapor of any missing mercury. Where to get commercialized sulfur? It may be supplied as mercury vapor absorbent in mercury spill kits, which can be purchased from laboratory, chemical supply and hazardous materials response supply manufacturers. Note: Powdered sulfur may stain fabrics a dark color. When using powdered sulfur, do not breathe in the powder as it can be moderately toxic. Additionally, users should read and understand product information before use.

17. If you choose not to use this option, you may want to request the services of a contractor who has monitoring equipment to screen for mercury vapors. Consult your local environmental or health agency to inquire about contractors in your area. Place all materials used with the cleanup, including gloves, in a trash bag. Place all mercury beads and objects into the trash bag. Secure trash bag and label it as directed by your local health or fire department.

18. Contact your local health department, municipal waste authority or your local fire department for proper disposal in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

19. Remember to keep the area well ventilated to the outside (i.e., windows open and fans in exterior windows running) for at least 24 hours after your successful cleanup. Continue to keep pets and children out of cleanup area. If sickness occurs, seek medical attention immediately.

Pretty scary…