My Theory of Relativity

i am beginning to wonder about the amount of coffee i drink in relationship to the amount of questions i ask.

• the less coffee i have, the more questions
• the more coffee i have, the more answers i have
• go figure.

I'm Going to Talk about Child Molestation

Let me talk about child molestation and children's museums. Why? Because I want to and I feel I need to talk about it.

There is a current article in our local paper about the new Children's Museum. The headline for the article reads "Lone adults not always welcome -SLO Children’s Museum bars entry to anyone not accompanying a child or on a tour, while other facilities in the area are more lenient". SLO Tribune - Jan 11, 2009


ZZZZT, what a grabber title that is, huh? Interestingly enough, that is exactly what the article is about... usually we get this flashy, hot-issue, bold title only to find out the story is a piece of fluff. But this article really is about a children's museum that is excluding lone adults under the pretense that they would rather be 'erring toward caution' when it comes to their establishment and that they are creating a safe haven for all those little ones that come in with mommy or daddy or grandpa.

Look, i've raised two children. I think child molestation sucks and is a sickness and I would probably have tried to kill any adult that would have tried to molest either of my children... but some things just go to damn far.

If the museum is really erring on the side of caution, and not just catering to 'the fear factor', they better stop letting in parents with children, grandparents and uncles with children, babysitters and neighbors with children and any adult that may know the child, including school teachers, priests and police.

Why?

Because if they did their homework they would know that out of all the child molestation cases, **60% of them are done by family members and acquaintances.

If you are going to open a CHILDRENS museum, then there should also be enough staff to properly care for it and its patrons, with enough security so that the museum wouldnt have to settle on the use of an archaic, preemptive reasoning that infers that a lone adult constitutes a potential child molester.

I am all for being informed and cautious and safe. I am very much against instituting fear where there is no need for fear. I am very much against the insinuation that a lone man or woman is, by default, a sexual predator, until they can prove otherwise.


**strangers are the offenders in approx 10% of child sexual abuse cases. Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approx 30% are relatives of the child, most often fathers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances/neighbors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse

BEWARE!!!

BEWARE!

BEWARE!!!

This makes me feel like tossing my lunch.....

The following article was posted on January 8th, 2009, in the New Times - Volume 23, Issue 23
http://www.newtimes-slo.com/shredder/1733/missing-but-unmissed/

Tossing it
Call it the Dumpster dive opportunity of a decade or the dumbest government decision since the war, but according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, as of Feb. 10, thrift stores, re-use stores and Goodwills are going to have to toss out all their used kids clothes and toys.

That’s right, just in time for the worst recession in American history, Congress and the Bush Administration are apparently banning thrift stores from selling used kid stuff.

Here’s the background: After last year’s scare about lead in everything from lunchboxes to T-shirts, Congress passed a law demanding that retailers verify that all children’s products are lead-free.

In practice, that means that all children’s products sold after Feb. 10 have to be tested for lead. It costs upwards of $1,000 to get the test done, per batch of product. That’s not a big cost for Mattel, one of the manufacturers actually found to have sold products with lead. But it is a big deal to people who hand-make toys, games, and clothes. In other words, it’s a big deal to the type of folks least likely to make products anybody has to worry about.

It’s an even bigger deal to consignment shops and thrift stores, because they can’t go around spending $1,000 to test a $1 hoodie. Their only apparent choice? Toss it out.