Good To Go

What does the 209A law really include?

As the law is written in Massachusetts, General Law 209A relates to physical violence. Somewhere along the way, however, judges, attornies and police officers started to enforce the law as if any contact, no matter how slight or unintentional, were the same as slashing a woman's throat.

My own case was finally dropped after Barnstable County District Attorney Michael O'Keefe had ignored the judges announcement that he would probably find me "Not Guilty."  His minions continued until we were nearly ready to impanel a jury, even though the only offense involved was the sending of emails that could not be deemed threatening in any way.

O'Keefe definitely takes no prisoners. Fortunately, his office was firing blanks.

Still, the cost to the Commonwealth of this fiasco, which I estimate to be at least $50,000, can never be recovered. Too bad he didn't use the money to go after real criminals instead of going after fathers who just want to be part of their children's lives.

Why does Michael O'Keefe go after emails in the same way he goes after murder? Isn't it time we had a DA who understand the difference between jaywalking and mass murder?

I sure think it is. That's why I urge you to write in the name of my attorney, James P. Dillon, Jr. for the office of District Attorney on election day. I met Dillon the day that O'Keefe had me brought in chains and shackels into the Barnstable Court. I listened to him talk with other prisoners. The man listens. He knows the difference between murder and mischief.

National "Bring a Drink To Someone Who Looks Hot" Day

You can change the world... today. Right now. No waiting. I'm serious.

Let me tell you how I did.  it all started when I was stuck at a road construction site just outside Williamstown, Massachusetts, on Route 2, about 10 miles over on the New York side. I think that it was Grafton, New York.

They are rebuilding a bridge on Route 2 just after the intersection with Route 7. Somehow, I was first in line and the flagger (a man) looked like he was frying. I gave him a Pepsi and he was very very appreciative. He had told me that I would have to wait about 15 minutes, but suddenly decided to wave me on.

Of course, on the other end of the bridge, a Goddess was standing. She laughed and smiled at me and asked me how I got there. I said that the guy had waived me through, perhaps because I gave him a drink and I offered her one for herself.

She just took water and gave me a smile that thrilled me from head to toe. As I drove off, I thought that maybe I had discovered something (that should be obvious) about people.

After the bridge, there was a big sign for a detour, which I thought was a Route 2 detour. I said my goodbye and headed off to followe the signs. It was a glourious day and I was enjoying the sunshine and the other side of the Purple Valley (I don't know what valley it is but it's just a magnificent) and talking on my cell phone and don't you know that my driving brought me aroound in a big circle-- right back to the Goddess.

Well, at that point, I wasn't going to question fate, so i got out and started talking. I left her and her crew with a case of Iced Tea (about $6). I got her name and thought that perhaps when I came back over Route 2, I'd try to find her again..

It was that week when temperatures soared over 100 degrees in the shade. Can you imagine working in the full sun on such a day without at least a gallon of water each?  Having run three marathons in the past, and having seen the effects of heat prostration, I went back each of the next few days- with cases of beer and iced tea and bags of ice and salt (from Mythbusters--ice, water and salt cool off drinks in the shortest possible time).

I got to know the crew, who told me many interesting things about the Goddess, some I can't share with you. Others were more benign, such as pointing out her car as she was headed out for the day.

The rest, as we say, is history....Well anyway, it will be history. I started "National Bring a Drink To Someone Who Looks hot" day and called a couple of radio stations with my idea. I got on the air on a few of them and everyone seemed to think it was a great idea.

I don't know how many people actually took up the idea but.... I think that it's a pretty powerful one... offering help to whoever needs it. Simple things-- water, a smile, a kind word, an ear to listen.

It's so simple and we don't have to wait for any governments to implement it. We can change the world.

National Bring A Drink To Someone Who's Hot Day

I have an idea that is so simple it will boggle your mind. It is not my own idea. Many other people have offered me help along the way and..

I am asking everyone to simply find someone who needs help, who looks hot and sweaty, who looks tired and offer them a drink of water, or tea, or whatever.

I am thinking about road crews, shut-ins, lawn guys, police officers, lifeguards, prisoners, children, old people,

You may need help some day. Take this chance to help someone who's day is today.

"Love Speech"

There have been many examples of "hate speech" reported in the press. There seems to be zero tolerance for "hate speech", even though America's Bill of Rights theoretically protects peoples' right to make speeches in favor of whatever they want, whether or not it would be considered hateful to other people.

I'm not here to defend Nazi's or the Ku Klux Klan or others who raise the public ire.  However, I thought it might be nice if people started using "love speech" as an antidote to "hate speech". For example, instead of denouncing the posting of swastikas on a temple, news stations could cover people voicing their support for tolerance and the love of their neighbors.

The Right Moment To Make A Difference

In reponse to an article in the Washington Post about a former German camp guard at Ravensbruck facing up to her past:

The trouble with making the decision to resist as an individual is the knowledge that most people don't believe they can make a difference. That's why soldiers are trained to obey orders without question. We don't want them deciding on their own that there is no point in taking the hill. We don't want them deciding not to give their lives until they find something meaningful to do. We want them to trust our officers and follow their orders.

Yet we still ask them to retain enough humanity to be able to pull back and not slaughter surrendering prisoners, not to do things to facilitate criminal actions.

I do not want to forgive this woman, yet I cannot completely condemn her. At least she has enough bravery to face up to where she was and admit something of what she did. She has learned about what happened and has sympathy for the victims. Asking for forgiveness is far more than most of her generation have done.

I don't think that I always stand up against injustice when it is directed against others. I am not ready to risk giving up my life to possibly save others. I admit to being somewhat of a coward in that regard. I have stuck up for friends in the past when they were unfairly accused. I have tried to intervene in some situations online when people have made hateful speech. But I am not ready to give up my life to protect strangers' lives. I tell myself that I have a duty to protect the interests of my family and can't afford to make such a move.

Still, I'd like to think that when a real challenge comes where I can make a difference, I would make the right choice. I would probably let the moment pass while thinking about it. Many of the people who make a difference go ahead because there is a moment when there is simply nothing else they can do. Others wait for their chances and never find them, thinking that as long as they have never done anything themselves, they are not as completely to blame.

Would that the choices were always so clear.

Time For Good

The following was written in response to an email that I received called "Time for God?". (I have published that entry separately.)

Time for good is what I have. I'm not sure what God has to do with it. The email points to Jesus' sacrifice. There are mothers and fathers who make that same sacrifice for their kids every day. There are people giving their lives for other people every day.

If it is God, let him show his face. If this is all his work, let him explain it to us. It is time that he showed his face again.

If it is good, let us be proud of doing what is right, with no thought of benefit or reward. Let us free the birds, feed the hungry, give shelter to the weary, give our shoulder to the crying, and take care of what has been given to us.

It is time that people realize that what is good comes from good people. It does not come from without or from above. It comes from what your parents taught you and the love that they gave you. It comes from the kindnesses that strangers did for you. It comes from the smiles that you earned. It comes from the good that is within you. It comes from the love that you received that you did not earn. You did not deserve it. It was freely given to you by people who cared.

If people stopped thinking of themselves as evil, maybe the churches could be filled again with the people who realize that they can make mistakes but that is is a good thing to be with people who are trying to make things better.