Ridiculous Thoughts

My wife and daughter love to collect and trade pins when we go vacation at Disney World.

It seemed a shame to pack these beautiful pins away between trips so I came up with a simple and inexpensive frame to hold them. I’ve written up and made it available as a page on this site.

Enjoy, and as always, comments are welcome below.

Steve

Pin Links

• Official Site
• Wikipedia Article
• Dizpins
• Pinfinder

I have been planning to post something up here explaining why the residency restriction Holden is proposing is a bad idea. My friend Cynthia sent a speakout into the local paper that covered it all, so I asked her for permission to reproduce it here.

This proposal was dreamed up as election year pandering by a candidate who has refused to support the school district and the public safety building. The evidence is in. Colorado and Iowa have seen the results and are looking to remove these restrictions from their states.

Let’s keep the debate firmly focused on the safety of our children. It isn’t intuitive and it is hard to believe; but the evidence is overwhelming. This proposal is a danger to our children.

Vote with your minds or vote with your hearts. But don’t vote with your guts—instincts will lead you astray on this one.

As always comments are welcome below.

Steve

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The rush to enact a sex offender residency restriction bylaw here in Holden is misguided, ill-informed, and potentially dangerous for our children.

According to the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics — the authority regarding factual matters of criminality — fully 93% of child and juvenile sexual assaults under age 17 are committed by either a family member or an acquaintance of the victim. Thirty-four percent are committed by family members and 59% are committed by acquaintances. That leaves only seven percent committed by strangers. Almost half of the offenders of victims under age 6, by the way, are family members. “Stranger Danger” is a dangerous myth that creates a false sense of security and denies the fact that 93% of child sexual assaults are committed by family members or acquaintances of the child.

But many of you do think that creating buffers around schools and child-care centers will reduce the number of child sexual assaults. It may save one child, you say. Well, other states have gone down this road and guess what? Colorado, Minnesota, and Iowa as well as the Department of Justice’s Center for Sex Offender Management and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children have come to realize these buffers don’t work. Restricting residency has no positive effect on the incidence of child sexual assault. Indeed, their experience shows such restrictions have the opposite effect; they actually endanger children. As recently as this past December, the Iowa County Prosecuting Attorneys Association recommended Iowa rescind all of its residency restrictions. And these are prosecuting attorneys who have real experience dealing with the consequences of residency restrictions. Post-release, virtually half of their sex offender population feel off the map, becoming either homeless or living somewhere in secret. How is losing track of sex offenders supposed to make our children safer? The notion is absurd.

So let’s say a residency restriction bylaw is enacted anyway. Remember, nearly half of all sexual abusers of children under age six are family members—and your bylaw does not speak at all to the first-time offender. Whether you like it or not, those offenders often go home to their families. Are we going to make them move? Now families are uprooted, many of whom have children who have already by victimized once. Here’s what will happen. Offenders will be homeless or will lie about where they living. That’s the reality. Homeless high-risk sex offenders, lost to follow-up, are a serious danger.

Lastly, I want to talk about responsibility. As elected officials considering a bylaw with far-reaching consequences, you have a professional and ethical responsibility to do your homework. So far, those of you who support this bylaw have demonstrated no evidence that these bylaws protect children. None. Zero. You seem willing to “legislate,” if you will, by the vagaries of your gut. You seem willing to ignore the considered opinions of real experts with real experience managing this offender population. Well, here’s the rub. Your support for a bylaw that is known to create barriers to effective law enforcement, that is known to result in dangerous sex offenders becoming lost to follow-up guarantees you this: you will be held responsible for your decision, which includes the first sexual assault by a sex offender who failed to register because of your bylaw. Perhaps then you will see the merit of rational and reasoned decision making over tough-on-crime rhetoric that “feels” good.

Cynthia Bazinet

Thanks to all of the citizens of Holden who came out to support the public safety building and the school budget.

While the light turnout was disappointing there was strong support for the school budget which passed unanimously.

The Public Safety Building passed by a huge margin, despite opposition from the selectmen and a vocal minority of attendees.

The Safety Building still has to pass a Proposition 2 1/2 override at the ballot box in order for the project to move forward. Please come out and support this very important project.

Steve

Parents Please Come Out!

The Holden Town Meeting is tonight at 7:00 pm. This is your best opportunity to come out and express your views and vote your mind. Many people underestimate the important of participating in local government. However, this is where decisions about your property taxes occur. It is also where many decisions about how state funds, local aid dollars, are used.

Should they be saved or spent? If they should be spent how? What is the impact to your tax bill and to your life?

While there is no real controversy this year over the school budget, it is important that you parents come out and support it. The people who generally vote against the budget will be out, possibly in force, to oppose the new public safety building. Without support they may be able to defeat the school budget. Additionally a strong showing for the school budget will help us next year as we work towards a budget compromise.

Finally, it is also important that you come out and express your feelings on the Public Safety Building. Yes it is expensive. But, it is a long term investment, it is badly needed, and it will only get more expensive as time goes by. If we bite the bullet an spend the money now the resulting building will be in service longer and serve us better.

If you agree or disagree, comment below!

Steve

Kids Should Have Fun!

OK, I admit that I already knew that this was the right answer to questions about kids and sports and other events. But every parent wants their children to excel, to be the best. This makes it hard to internalize the lesson and as a result sometimes we either put too much pressure on them, or we miss the true glory of the moment. This happened to me twice this weekend.

My son, Arthur, had two tournament events this weekend. The Destination Imagination regional tournament and the State Championships for his swim league were both this weekend.

At the DI tournament, the team didn't win anything. They had some trouble in the instant challenge and their "Surprise Happening" for their prepared challenge didn't work. They had a bottle with vinegar and baking soda that was supposed to blow its top and make a mess. It didn't blow. I was very disappointed for them.

However, if I had been thinking about I would have realized that they did a great job recovering from the bottle problem. The show went on and they finished smooth and clean.

Best of all, the whole team was happy with their performance. They worked for months on it. Struggled and pulled together a good performance when it counted. Great job guys!

At the swim meet, again I was disappointed that Arthur didn't win anything, or even score a personal best time. However, he swam hard and did a great job. He was also a great sport -- cheering on his team members and rooting for them to do their best. He had fun swimming, had fun with his teammates and felt that he had done his best. I was paying attention to the wrong thing at the time.

So, think of this as a gentle reminder of what we all already know. Look at the whole picture and remember that you have fun at the things you enjoy -- even when you aren't the best. I'm certainly not the best coder or astronomer.

Finally, when you realize you forgot this lesson; make up for it. After I talk with Arthur tonight, he'll know how proud I am of him!

Steve