Be on the lookout for infamous pedophile and scourge of the blogosphere Jack McClellan.

Now that this has hit the local media (it was a top story on KATU at 5 o’clock), word is sure to spread fast. But if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to be on the lookout. Report any suspicious activity you may see him engaged in and be sure to keep your children away from this terrible, evil man. If he approaches your children, call 911 and report it. Do not trust him and do everything you can to avoid him.

AP Photo

It is my firm belief that he poses a direct and very real danger to every child in the greater Portland Metro area.

From Warriors for Innocence

Jack just posted again on his favorite pedophile message board. He’s announced that he’s decided to live in Portalnd[sic], Oregon because it’s “the biggest media market in Oregon” and he would feel safer there.

Jack originally wanted to live in Gold Beach. Kudos go to the Gold Beach Police who warned Jack that they’d be keeping a close eye on him. Jack immediately ran off crying and complaining about his “safety”.

Jack’s already up to his old tricks and bragging about it as well. He says he “already attended a big GL event in the area (The Oregon State Fair in Salem), and had a great time with no problems. There are several more GL events coming up this weekend that look promising, and I doubt I’ll be bored living here.”

Freedom of Speech is a great thing, but sometimes is just goes too far. I very much believe that such is the case with McClellan, who claims he’s never actually done anything ‘illegal’ with a child.

Again, if you live in the greater Portland area, be sure to tell all your friends and neighbors - especially those with young children - to be on the lookout for this evil, evil man. If you have a blog, post a warning and a link to Warriors for Innocence. Just do something, anything, to protect local children and to get this man locked up for as long as possible.

Special thanks to KATU, Texas Fred, and especially Warriors for Innocence.

Edit: Added photo

It’s been yet another week and I’m again behind on my posting. I’ve decided to try something new this week, I’m offering a ‘news roundup’ of things I found interesting, important, and insightful. They are presented in no particular order.

Wisconsin Police Chief Writes Himself a Ticket

KEWASKUM, Wis. - Police Chief Richard Knoebel says he wasn’t about to take the easy way out when he accidentally drove past a stopped school bus with its emergency lights flashing.

For violating traffic laws, Knoebel wrote himself a ticket for $235, docked himself four points on his driving record and paid the fine the next day.

Yahoo! News

I applaud Mr. Knoebel and his actions. I’m sure that police are more honest and trustworthy than the general American population (not everyone, though, I’m making generalizations), but it’s still amazingly reassuring to see that he had the honesty and integrity to do what was right. I’m sure that he could just as easily have ignored his violation and gone on without a second thought. I wish I could say that this is indicative of a new moral and social direction in America, but I’m afraid it remains an outlier in the continuous decay that surrounds us.

Switzerland May Allow Assisted Suicide for the Mentally Ill

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: A ruling by Switzerland’s highest court has opened the possibility that people with serious mental illnesses could be helped by doctors to take their own lives.

Switzerland already allows physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients under certain circumstances but the Federal Tribunal’s decision, which was released on Friday, puts mental illnesses on the same level as physical ones.

International Herald Tribune

I see real problems with this on two fronts, one being the continuing decay of the importance and sanctity of human life, and the other being the fact that mentally ill patients are being allowed to make such decisions. If many mentally ill patients cannot even make decisions about their treatments, what position are they in to decide to end their lives?

Frankly, I just don’t get the idea of assisted suicide laws in the first place, and I find physician assisted suicide especially troubling - it is the role of doctors to work to protect and save their patients, not end their lives. I don’t really care if people decide that there lives are so terrible that they need to commit suicide, but at the point that there are laws that allow doctors to ‘help’ is just insane. And what is there to stop the slippery slip from assisted suicide (which is apparently now expanding) to mandatory euthanasia for seriously ill or elderly patients. I don’t like it one bit.

China to Censor Year of the Pig Commercials

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese state television will censor advertisements featuring pigs in order not to offend Muslims in the Year of the Pig, a media company said on Friday.

“Originally they didn’t want pig images in ads on TV, because they worry about conflicting issues with Muslims in China,” said Lisa Wei, managing director of media investment firm GroupM China Trading.

Yahoo! News

Personally, I find this terribly surprising and a sad reflection of the world we live in. While I can’t say that I care for the Chinese government or their rampant censorship policies, this just seems to be going off the deep end. I’m not even going to pretend to be an expert on China, but I’ve always had the impression that they at least ignore religion and often seem to actively suppress it - it seems very strange to me that they would thus censor for such a purpose. The other aspect that gets to me is the fact that the Chinese have a rich culture dating back 1000s of years. For a great many of these years, the zodiac system and lunar calendar have been essential - that they are censoring their own traditions to pacify Muslims is silly at best and cultural suicide at worst.

More than 120 People Killed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with a ton of explosives hidden beneath cooking oil, canned food and bags of flour obliterated a Baghdad food market on Saturday, killing at least 121 people in one of the most fearsome attacks in the capital since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

It was the fifth major bombing in less than a month targeting predominantly Shiite districts in Baghdad and one provincial city to the south. This one leveled about 30 shops and 40 houses, witnesses said.

Yahoo! News

What is it with these terrorists?! When are they going to learn that killing innocent civilians (and your own people at that) is no way to get the support you need to make real change. I’m going to refrain from offering many comments on this, mainly because I just can’t understand why the terrorists perform such heinous acts and I have no ‘advice’ to offer. I just know that there is someone out there who can stop this, some way that it can be done, I’m just not sure who or how.

Teacher Fired over Suicide Bomber Comment

Andrew McLuskey was sacked from Bayliss Court Secondary School in Slough after a Religious Education lesson discussing the pros and cons of religion.

Pupils at the predominantly Muslim school claimed Mr McLuskey said most suicide bombers were Muslim.

BBC News

I’m not going to bother finding statistics for this one, but I’m confident enough to say that his comments were 100% accurate (that most suicide bombers are Muslim). I understand that the fact he teaches ar a mainly Muslim school (talk about the Islamification of Europe), but if the facts do support the statement, I see no justifiable grounds for letting the teacher go. I understand that the school likely wanted to create a ’safe’ environment free of ‘prejudice,’ but to fire a teacher over (seemingly) factual comments is insane and incomprehensible in my mind.

Again on a bit of a tangent, this situation highlights an interesting difference between British and American schools. In the United States even teachers of accused terrible crimes will almost always be put on ‘administrative leave’ for weeks or months before the school can even consider firing said teacher. In England, it seems, a few complaints about a teacher’s comments (even if they are seemingly truthful) and the teacher’s out the door faster than you can ask, ‘huh?’

German Preteen Gets Sex Change

A 12-year-old German boy who insisted he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body convinced his parents that something had to be done, so they agreed to allow him to receive a series of hormone injections, making him the youngest sex-change patient in the world, according to published reports Monday.

[…] Her treatment, which has cost more than $40,000, is being funded by German taxpayers.

FoxNews

This story comes straight from the ‘what in the world were they thinking’ department on multiple levels. I’m really not even sure where to begin, so I’ll go ahead with the most obvious to me.

What in the heck were they thinking. There is no way in the world that a twelve year old has the maturity, intelligence, and common sense to make such a life-altering decision. The very idea that this was ever allowed even makes me a bit nauseous. People are born with a specific gender for a reason, and to do something so disgusting and self-mutilating as ‘gender reassignment’ is a complete travesty to the moral and ethical values that lie at the basis of our society and culture. I am also appalled at the doctors for taking any part in such a disgusting act.

I realize that much of the scientific literature does not support my following contention, but I still firmly believe that virtually all of the diseases that deal with gender identity and sexuality are entirely psychological in nature and can be treated with the right combination of therepy and neurological medications. Until I see solid and repeated scientific evidence, I also refuse to believe that any of it is genetic.

In the whole scheme of things, some random Tim becoming Kim is not going to have any impact on me at all (beyond, perhaps, spawning a rant like this). But this is different, and if I was German, I’d be fuming mad and protesting the government right about now. Why? The $40,000 cost of Tim’s mutilation is being paid for by the German people, through their national health plan, and ultimately through their taxes. I’ve always thought that socialized medicine is nonsense, but this takes it to a new low. In some countries (Canada comes to mind), people have to wait days, weeks, or months for the medical care they need (perhaps to save their lives). Yet, at the same time, government funded health care is permanently disfiguring a young boy in Germany. Does anyone care to explain why this is a good thing? I guess that’s one more reason to avoid the Democrats in 2008.

Boston Bomb Scare

BOSTON — The CEO of a New York City-based marketing firm apologized for a publicity stunt that caused a bomb scare, saying the firm had acted quickly to try to resolve the problem.

[…] More than three dozen of the devices were installed around Boston weeks before authorities responded Wednesday. Authorities shut down highways, bridges and river traffic as bomb squads checked out the devices. There was barely a stir in nine other cities across the country where similar devices were placed.

NewsDay

I fully understand that authorities across the United States (and the entire world) have been very uptight and perhaps a bit jittery in recent years, but I just don’t see how LED signs can be confused for bombs. I understand that some of the locations they were placed could be considered targets for terrorist attacks, to nearly shut down the city over it was certainly an overreaction.

When it comes to punishment, I’m really not sure what should be done. Yes, the men placed very odd, clearly either littering or vandalizing signs around the city, but I believe them in that they had no criminal intentions and certainly did not intend to create a bomb scare. At the same time, I think that they (or the advertising agency) should be held somehow responsible for their actions, most likely in a financial manner (reimburse the police and other public safety costs) or perhaps community service, but not through prison time - we have bigger things to worry about. I also hope that this incident sends a message for any person or company considering an unusual or ‘creative’ marketing campaign, please try to avoid possible bomb scares.

As any of you that live in Oregon, Washington, or the Northwest in general well know, the snow is falling and has been for a few hours. In Beaverton, near the 185th and Highway 26 overpass, we’ve got over an inch and I would not be surprised if we hit two real soon.

Just about every school district in the greater Portland Metro Area has closed or is on a 2 hour delay, even as I sit in school and type this, Beaverton remains open, with people still arriving more than 45 minutes late. Buses are stuck on various roads, some roads are turning into ice rinks, and accidents seem to abound.

I have heard of students who got into fender benders out there, and rumor has it that one teacher slipped on the ice and may have broken a rib. All I have to say is ‘Thank You,’ Beaverton School District, for calling yet another weather-day wrong. Not!

Breaking News at 8:35 AM: They are sending us home! But I’m not looking forward to the trip home. We’ve got 300 to 400 students at a school of 2600, more than 45 minutes into the day. Many staff are gone as well. This should be interesting.

Update: As it turned out, the 8:30 decision (it took a few minutes before they told us) was only the beginning. Even though all the buses that would end up being there were at the school by 9:00AM (presumedly they were late dropping off kids and simply decided to stay), none of the buses actually left until about 11:30AM, at which point we made it home almost as quickly as on a normal school day. I am under the impression that the district policy is not to release until enough buses are at the schools to release them all at once. Although the policy makes sense, Westview (and I was under the impression that Sunset as well) had buses chained and ready to go, sitting for almost three hours while who knows what was going on with the central office.

They were nice enough to order pizza for students waiting for the buses, which I thought was a kind gesture, but I wish they could have simply sent us out more quickly. I guess it doesn’t really matter, though, as everything worked out in the end.

I’m not sure why the administrators didn’t make the call earlier, but I heard something on the news about it being too hard to stop the process of starting a school day (and sending out buses) once it had begun. Great, but as one teacher put it, “They’re oh-for-three this year” (meaning not closing one day that most other districts did when there was some ice and at least one student getting into an accident as a result, closing for the day after the windstorm (December 15th) when most of the district had no real problems, and now today for putting thousands of staff and students in danger by not closing until 8:35AM.

Breaking News at 5:45PM: It looks like they’re getting more on top of it. Beaverton has just announced (at 5:35PM) that they will be closed tomorrow (January 17) as well.

• All schools and District facilities will be closed on Wednesday, January 17, 2007.
• All after school and evening activities have been cancelled for Wednesday, January 17, 2007.

Beaverton School District via Portland Information Network.

The Constitution could not be any more clear when it comes to the separation of Church and State:

There is no provision in the constitution requiring the total separation of church and state.

Despite this fact, cities and towns across the country seem to believe it is there duty to prevent any potentially religious objects from finding there way into public ‘holiday’ displays. Most of the time they seem to take the ax (pun intended) to Christmas trees and manger scenes. This year, however, the fight seems to be going another direction entirely.

News:

Views:

Needless to say, I find the whole thing entirely retarded. I am a Christian, but I respect the Jewish people and their religion a great deal. In a world where we usually hear about people fighting for Christmas trees and manger scenes, it is almost a bit refreshing to see that other groups sometimes have to go through the same hoops. Not that such a situation makes it any better, but it demonstrates a level of ‘equality’ that often seems to be missing.

Getting back on topic, there is no reason - so far as I can tell - to deny permission for a private religious group to erect a temporary holiday symbol on the same public property that is shared by other, more secular symbols (such as ‘holiday trees’). If anything, I would view the city’s decision as limiting the rights of freedom and expression and of religion of those being denied the permission.

By no means would allowing a religious holiday symbol in the display constitute a government ‘endorsement’ of religion. In fact, by allowing various holiday symbols they would be showcasing the diversity that most places seem to flaunt endlessly. It is the threats from the ambulance-chasers of religion - your friends at the ACLU - that are responsible for a great deal of this. On that notion, I encourage everyone to check out an organization actually defending your rights to practice and share your religion and related holidays - the Alliance Defense Fund and their special Christmas Page.

I also applaud Senator Allard on his support of the effort and scheduled attendance at the lighting ceremony - it is people like him that will lead the fight against those who want to trample over our traditional values and implement nonsense levels of diversity and sensitivity. I also encourage all people in Fort Collins who are religious - regardless of your denomination - to join in the lighting ceremony to show your support.

When it really comes down to it, I feel that the whole problem can be solved with two simple changes:

1. Allow the Menorah to be built
2. Pass a law requiring future symbols to be granted permission unless a valid reason can be found not to.

Common Sense:

Holidays are meant to be celebrated and enjoyed. If a group wants to construct a temporary religious symbol on public property (as long as it is reasonable, legal, and non-damaging - no sacrifice pits or things of that nature) they should be allowed to. It does not represent a government endorsement of religion and helps to encourage diversity in the community. It would truly be a win-win situation.

News:

Views:
I agree that smoking is a disgusting habit and that secondhand smoke is a terrible nuisance. I tend to support laws which prohibit smoking in restaurants and businesses, as they provide for the health and safety of a great number of non-smoking employees. At the same time, I am against excessive and seemingly authoritarian laws that invade the lives of innocent people. Yes, smokers are disgusting, but they are still people.

What I really don’t like about the proposed law is that it limits the rights of people on their own property. From the article I gather that almost all smoking outside is to be banned - even on the private property that is not a single family detached home.

It is my guess that this law will be challenged within 30 seconds of the first ticket being handed out. I have no idea what the courts will say, being that this will be taking place in California, but it should be interesting.

In the end, it’s not the particular law that I disagree with, but the potential for a slippery slope that could form if it is upheld. How about we ban public consumption of sugar, it’s bad for you too.

Common Sense:
If you do smoke, please don’t do so around others who do not approve and try to quit as soon as possible

If you don’t smoke, never take it up. Smoking is a disgusting and dangerous habit.

News:
According to the Associated Press, Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington has canceled classes tomorrow (11/9/2006) in order to host a campus-wide, student led, ‘diversity symposium’.

Apparently the mess started when a group of students attended an off campus party dressed in blackface, mimicking the racial segregation on the newest season of the popular reality show Survivor.

The real trouble started when pictures were taken at the party found there way online and became fodder for raging debate and discussion on a campus e-mail list.http://news.lycos.com/dynamic/stories/C/COLLEGE_RACE_SYMPOSIUM

Views:
At first glance it was my strong opinion that Whitman had gone one step too far in canceling classes for such a symposium. I did see some merit in such a response, but I saw no reason for them to put learning on hold so that students could attend.

That view, however, had one major thing missing: context. I have no connection whatsoever to Whitman: I had no real idea what the climate was like on campus. It is on that note that I must go out and take a look around the blogosphere - apparently this whole controversy is a very big issue on the campus. I think the following quote sums up my research pretty well:

Even with that in mind, I still believe that canceling classes is excessive and I applaud the administration for not making (as far as I can tell) the event a mandatory, indoctrination type event as we have seen in the Freshman Orientations (which I bet provide amazing content for blogs) at various colleges around the nation, as seen here and here.

I’m starting to ramble, so I’ll close with one last thought: I really hope that parts of the symposium get put online for the blogosphere to dissect. Somehow it has piqued my interest, and I really wonder just what they’ll be talking about.

Common Sense:
Don’t dress in blackface unless you have a really good reason.

I would have love to have gotten this up this morning, but I just don’t have that kind of time before school.

Farly early this morning (shortly after 6AM), we awoke to the sound of a large number (perhaps three of four) helicopters flying overhead. Thinking that this was more than a little strange, my dad turned on the TV and it all made sense: there had been a murder less than 1/4 of a mile down Bethany Boulevard (the main road in this area). Now remember, this is a low-crime suburb of $300,000+ homes - violent crime is not something we see a lot of.

The news reports were sketchy, with local television stations reporting between one and five people killed and having no real details beyond that. As luck would have it, it was about 7:05AM by then and my sister and I had to leave to catch the school bus.

As a result of the police work and the proximity of the murder, Bethany Boulevard had to be closed (and it remains closed at this time). As one can imagine, there were traffic problems and more than a few school buses were late as a result.

At school there were no official announcements, allowing the rumor mills to run at full capacity. I never heard any actual names, but I heard that one of the people shot went to Westview and another to Meadow Park (a local high school and middle school, for those of you who don’t know). There were rumors of names, but I never actually heard them. The only rumor that I heard was that the person was an ‘Asian break dancer’, a moniker that could fit any number of people. Enough with the rumors, let’s see what the latest info on the local news sites tells us:

• Three victims - a woman and her two sons, ages 12 and 16
• Is is believed that this was not a random crime - the killer likely knew the victims
• There was no sign of forced entry into the house
• A man who lived in the house [presumably the husband or boyfriend] found the bodies on returning from a night shift at his place of work
• The family had lived there for about two years, and tended to keep to themselves
• Bethany Boulevard is to remain closed for an indefinite period of time [presumably due to the investigation]

Sources: KATU TV and KOIN TV

Bethany is in yellow and Cornell is about an inch or two off the bottom of the image (less than 1/4 mile):

3:45pm - Just received an automated call from my school notifying all students that counseling is available if it is needed. I would consider this confirmation that the older boy was a student at Westview.

4:30pm - From KGW.com “They were identified as Melody Dang, 37, and her two sons, 16-year-old Steven Dang and 12-year-old Jimmy Dang, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.”

With that, I can confirm that I do not know these people.

News:

Views:

If you know me or it you’ve been reading this blog for more than a few weeks, it should come as no real surprise that I am outraged at the verdict. More than that, I’m outraged that a border patrol agent can receive prison time for doing his job, stopping a smuggler, serving his country, and possibly saving a life.

Yes, some of the blame may fall on Compean and Ramos for failing to report the discharge of a weapon, but at most they should receive disciplinary action in regards to his job - not criminal charges.

The charges are in regards to violating the suspect’s civil rights and violating certain United States Border Patrol policies. Again I firmly believe that polity violation should only be punished be the employer. As for the Civil Rights violations, I trust Ramos in that he truly believed the suspect had a gun and that the shots may well have been his.

I have no idea what Border Patrol policy regarding shell casings is, but I find it despicable of the prosecutor to use the fact that Compean picked his up as grounds for destroying a crime scene and contributing to the attempted cover up. If anything, I’m sure it came as a result of the stress involved in the pursuit and the shooting. Law enforcement agents should not be held liable except in cases of gross negligence or of actual malice. He may have made a bad decision, but I bet others would have done it as well.

Yes, they may have acted in a manner unbecoming of Border Patrol agents; yes, they may have fired when it could have been prevented (even of that only becomes apparent with 20/20 hindsight); yes, they may have perused when policy says not to. But none of what they did should be a crime for law enforcement officers, none of what they did should put them in jail. They are brave and patriotic Americans who deserve a round of applause and a thank you for protecting our borders and out nation.

Beyond the implications of this case, I strongly question the sanity behind border patrol policies. Not shooting unless the suspect is dangerous makes sense - similar rules apply to many local police jurisdictions - but the pursuit rules make no sense. It is a crime in its own right to flee even a traffic stop for a minor infraction and the officer will (most likely?) pursue and arrest you. Being in the United States illegally is a crime, but people fleeing from Border Patrol agents does not even allow for pursuit? Who in the world came up with that? I, for one, would feel a greater danger knowing an illegal drug smugglers in nearby than having a car going five miles over the speed limit. Maybe I’m just crazy.

Common Sense:
I hate to say this, but I guess no Border Patrol agent should ever peruse a suspect or shoot them unless they have a gun in their face. On the other hand, I guess drug smugglers can roam free with little worry of bing caught as long as they intend to flee back to Mexico when perused.

News:

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Needless to say, I find this quite outrageous. I simply cannot comprehend why anyone in the world would want to go out and slay a (seemingly) innocent family. Not only that, but this particular shooting occurred in such a small town - it seems to me that such circumstances will only make the situation worse.

Imagine what it’s going to be like Monday morning at the girls’ high school. Three students in a school of 145 were murdered over the weekend. I can’t imagine what that would be like even at my school of more than 2500, but in a school as small as Harmony I’d imagine in must be especially tough. My condolences go out the the staff, students, and all members of the surrounding community.

Something also sounds just a bit fishy to me, what are the chances that the son was arrested on ‘unrelated’ charges within hours of the bodies being discovered. I’m not saying that he did it or had any knowledge of it, but the circumstances seem just a little too suspicious to this blogger.

Why is it that so many families have been killed recently? There was the one in Florida earlier this week and now one in Iowa. And all this comes after the week of widespread school shootings. And the body of the college student found in Vermont. I’m really getting sick of breaking news stories about slain families and children.

My appeal to the mainstream media and all would be murders, can we please have something happy for a change?

Common Sense:

Not much to say on this one… Don’t go out and shoot people?