Saturday, March 14, 2009

Crimes Most Frequently Committed From Ignorance of the Law

Of all the violations of the law that I regard as sobering and tragic, crimes committed unknowingly by otherwise-law-abiding persons who are ignorant of the law may well rank at the very top.

For that reason, and partly because my own independent religion emphasizes consistent obedience of the law, I have chosen to establish a blog I'll be updating from time to time that cites the state and federal laws that Texans are most likely to violate without their being aware of it:

--If you receive 20 letters in your mailbox that were each addressed to the same cited person other than yourself (or any other member of your household, for that matter), and if you write "incorrect address" and forward that letter to the Postal Service 19 consecutive times, but after receiving the yet another letter with that same person's name cited as recipient on a 20th occasion, you then toss that 20th letter into a trash can either out of exasperation (no forwarding address was apparently provided by the recipient, you note with frustration) or absent-mindedly, you have allegedly committed a federal offense. That violation of federal law is mail tampering, a Balcones Post Office staff member named Stephanie stated to me on the telephone on March 21, 2009.

--The crime of complicity in crime. If you happen to know or believe that someone else has committed a crime, but you choose not to share that information you are privy to with a law-enforcement agency, you may possibly be guilty of a form of complicity in crime, since you allegedly withheld pertinent criminal-law evidence from a law-enforcement agency.

--Many adult Texans are apparently unaware that they are in fact prohibited by state law from themselves ever romantically dating or having carnal relations with any person who is under 17 years of age. (In other states, such as New York, for instance, state law reportedly prohibits any adult person from romantically dating or having carnal relations with any person who is under 18 years of age.)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Travis County's Agricultural Crops a Mystery to Many

I recently spoke with an intelligent, thoughtful Central Texan man who told me that he does not know which agricultural crops are being raised on farms in Travis County, Texas.

It is obvious that the vast majority of Travis County residents, myself among them, would also be stumped on that subject.

Travis County, Texas, has an apparent need for a special new museum exhibit or library exhibit that highlights and profiles each of the agricultural crops being raised by farmers in Travis County these days.

According to the entry about Travis County by Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl that is found in the authoritative and copyrighted "The Handbook of Texas Online" by the Texas State Historical Association, sorghum, hay, wheat, and cotton in the early 1980s accounted for about 70 percent of the approximately 94,000 acres harvested in Travis County during that time period.

Other crops being raised by farmers in Travis County in the early 1980s were potatoes, sweet potatoes, peaches, and pecans, according to "The Handbook of Texas Online."

Unfortunately, the otherwise-impressive "Handbook of Texas Online" entry for Travis County has not yet been updated to state which agricultural crops are currently being raised in Travis County by farmers.

The online entry about Travis County, Texas, may be found at the following website address:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/hct8.html

My Advice to Young Children

If an 8-year-old male youth or female youth were to ask me for advice on how they could make the most of their life at that age, I might respond by asking them:

---Do you keep a daily or weekly diary or personal journal for yourself?
---Are there any pastimes or hobbies or sports or games you would like to learn?
---Which board game do you enjoy the most? Would that be checkers, chess, dominoes, a card game of some type, or some other board game?
---Which subjects or persons do you enjoy the most?
---Of all the famous persons you have read about or heard about or seen on television or in the movies, which individuals do you like or love the most? Have you considered doing some research on the Internet about each of those famous persons?
---When you feel bored, which activity do you find is the most likely to help you put an end to that boredom?
---What do you like or love the most about your mother or father, or your brothers or sisters?
---What do you know about the town or city in which you live? Have you considered doing some research about your town or city on the Internet, or at your local library?
---Have you done research to identify each of the museums and libraries and art galleries and other cultural places in your city that you might to visit, if one or both of your parents are willing to take you there?
---If you were asked today which job you want to have as an adult, what would you say? Have you done any research to learn more about that type of job?
---How often do you write letters to friends or relatives of yours?
---When you eat dinner with your family, which subject do you enjoy talking about the most?
---Which vegetable do you enjoy eating the most at dinnertime? Are there any creative or new dishes featuring that vegetable that you might like to help your mother or father prepare?
---Which vegetable do you least enjoy or dislike? Have you considered putting some ketchup or mustard on that vegetable before you eat that vegetable? Does that help the flavor of that vegetable, do you find?
---Do you expect to become famous someday? If so, what do you think will make you famous?
---Do believe you are a good person?
---How do you decide who to become friends with?
---Is there any person you don't like? Why don't you like that person?
---Of all the grown-ups you know of, is there any grown-up whom you fear?
---Do you ever cry? When that happens, what are you thinking about or feeling?
---Do you get an allowance from your parents? If so, do you often spend all of your allowance money on the same day? Do you sometimes wish you had saved some of your allowance money for another day?
---If you have a major problem in your life, do you ask your mother or father for advice?
---If you were President of the United States today, what would you do today?
---How would you like to see your country change?
---Is there any classmate of yours whom you believe is a bully?
---Do you know why that classmate of yours acts like a bully?
---Have you talked with your mother or father about any bully you know about at your school?
---Do any of your classmates ever talk with you about drugs or tobacco or alcohol? Do any of your classmates ever try to pressure you into trying drugs or tobacco or alcohol? If so, have you complained to your mother or father or your teacher about that classmate?
---Do you ever get in trouble with your parents? Do you know why you sometimes get in trouble with your parents?
---Which teacher of yours is your favorite so far? Have you talked with that teacher about what it's like to be a teacher?
---Is there any teacher of yours who scares you or frightens you or gets you upset in any way? If so, do you find that you generally don't raise your hand and ask questions of that teacher? Have you asked your mother or father to meet with that teacher and talk with that teacher about your concerns?

Legal Precedents for Victims of Anonymous Communications

One of my most fervent hopes is that a factually-reliable website on the Internet will soon be established that cites and describes legal precedents that have been established, and government actions that have occurred, on behalf of protecting the legal right of law-abiding Americans to enjoy full freedom from unwanted anonymous communications.

The proposed new website on the Internet might, among other things, note lawsuits that have been filed against the alleged perpetrators of, and alleged financiers of, anonymous communications to which an American citizen or foreign visitor to the United States was subjected against his wishes.

As a law-abiding, non-stalking, and consistently honest single adult American citizen who myself diligently abstains from any participation in anonymous communications of any type with anyone else, I take great pride in accurately citing my full legal name in this Internet blog, for instance. That personal accountability, I might add, is crucial in a truly benevolent democratic nation where individuals speak with sincerity and moral courage and a devotion to the truth.

Anonymous communications, by contrast, are often accompanied by stalking and other criminal intent, contempt for the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion rights of others, sinister slyness, injurious malice, prevarication, and fraud.

Anonymous communications not directly authorized by the individual being subjected to them are intrinsically injurious, and comprise a pervasive indictment of the institution or group of individuals or individual sponsoring them. This is so regardless of whether that institution is a government-owned entity, a religious group, an atheist group, a political group, a so-called "educational" institution, a media company, or a business entity of any type, and regardless of whether the sponsoring group of individuals or sponsoring individual is reportedly "admired by many" or "respected by many" or "liked by many" or "someone with lots of power and prestige and socioeconomic status," etc.

Institute for Study of Corruption in American Government

If I were financially wealthy, I would welcome the opportunity to donate money toward establishment of a non-profit Institute for the Study of Corruption in American Government.

Ours is a nation where news about scandalous conduct by government officials and candidates for elective office are an all-too-frequent and near-daily occurrence.
Those scandals make a mockery of those who boast about American society has the greatest integrity and loftiest ideals, and the greatest legal and political and governmental system, of any nation in the world.

American society has an urgent need for a non-profit research institution dedicated to studying and evaluating factual evidence of corruption involving conflict of interest or alleged violations of the law for which government-owned institutions, current and former elected officials, or candidates for elective office at the local, state, and federal levels, could be held blameworthy.

Findings and recommendations from that proposed new research institution---an institution of the finest integrity that would not be affiliated with any political party or religious organization-----could help to restore confidence in the American political and governmental system.

The proposed research institution might, among other things, house archives and a research library relating to lawsuits or criminal-law investigations and prosecutions that have been filed or pursued against officials of cited political party organizations in the United States.

Recycling Demonstration Centers Needed

I find it very sad to sense that in the 21st Century year 2009, I myself still have not read or heard about any federally-sponsored or federally-endorsed "United States Recycling Demonstration Center" situated in our nation's capital city.

Washington, D.C., should hold the distinction of being our nation's premier showcase city, and a city where the very finest of American ideals are found and exemplified in abundance.

Any American citizen or foreign visitor to Washington, D.C., should enjoy the option of visiting a Model Home and Model Workplace demonstration center being used to help educate the general public on a year-round basis.

Trained "tour guides" and educators could help to point out each of the techniques and strategies that each household could diligently pursue to participate fully and comprehensively in natural-resource reycling of all trash items generated inside that household's house, condominium unit, or rental apartment.

In a different section of that proposed U.S. Recycling Demonstration Center in Washington, D.C., trained educators could politely describe the various ways in which each employer could diligently and comprehensively on a year-round basis participate in natural resource recycling at the workplace.

This is just one of the ways in which our federal government could be doing more than it currently is to promote comprehensive nationwide participation in natural-resource recyling on a year-round basis by all American citizens and all other residents of the United States.

And that massive expansion of our nationwide natural-resource recycling industry, in turn, could serve as a major boon in a salutary realignment and revitalization of our nation's economy.

Those who recycle convey the message that they believe in the future of this country. They also convey the message that they reject the widely-held view of people all over the world that American society is doomed to failure because of the "throw-away" and "toss it all into a trashcan" mentality that has pervaded American life ever since the mid-20th Century.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

One Strategy for Promoting Excellence in U.S. Economy

I've come up with a modern religious strategy for helping to promote excellence in the products and services from businesses operating in the United States, and for thereby helping to promote a salutary realignment of our nation's economy in a manner that truly rewards excellence.

As a religious tradition, I plan to regularly add to and revise and update a personal list of consumer goods and services that I particularly enjoy and admire and regard as first-rate in caliber.

Some examples of prepared foods and beverages I have particularly enjoyed eating or drinking, and that I have purchased in supermarkets or ordered in restaurants or cafes in Austin, Texas, in the last approximately 10-year period:

FROM THE SUPERMARKET:

---the delicious and healthful H.E.B. Supermarkets-brand "Rio Red" Grapefruit Juice that's "Not from Concentrate," as the front of the carton states. This brand of pastueurized 100 percent grapefruit juice is made exclusively from Texas Rio Red Grapefruit, raised along the Rio Grande River Valley. By far the most delicious of all the grapefruit juices I have purchased in the supermarket. It feels good to note that this is one Texan item that appears to be best in the nation for that consumer-goods category.

--a delicious prepared Turkey Salad featuring Apricot and Almonds as major ingredients, offered for sale in the deli section of at least one supermarket in Austin, Texas, of the San Antonio-based H.E.B. Supermarkets. I find that combination very tasty, and I also know that the apricot and almonds and turkey found in that product are healthful ingredients.

--a delicious and creative "Curry Chicken," a canned-good item, that is "ready to eat." Southerners will be pleased to note that this canned-good item was produced by "Crider, Inc.," in Stillmore, Georgia---a city that I myself had never previously heard about or read about, so I plan to consult the online Wikipedia soon to learn more about Stillmore, Georgia. This curried-chicken product is so lean that it contains only 1 gram of fat per 2-ounce serving, and features zero saturated fat and zero trans fat, and only four grams of sugar per serving. One minor awkward point: the ingredient label notes that this product's ingredients include "partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil." Many American consumers these days are attempting to generally avoid purchasing commercially-processed food products that contain any partially hydrogenated oils, if at all possible.

---the delicious and healthful Cranberry and Concord Grape Juice blend from Ocean Spray that does not contain any corn syrup, and with no sugar added, either.

---the Low-Carbohydrate, High-Fiber, large whole-wheat tortillas produced commercially by La Tortilla Factory of Santa Rosa, California, and being sold retail in supermarkets. Each tortilla contains 12 grams of fiber, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein, 0 saturated fat, and only 1 gram of sugar

---the Kuner's of Colorado "Southwestern Jalapeno Black Beans with Lime Juice." This side dish canned-good item has very good flavor to it, and is delightfully spicy. One serving (one-half cup) of this item contains 1.5 total grams of fat, zero grams of saturated fat, and 0 grams of trans fat; 8 grams of fiber; only 2 grams of sugar; and 7 grams of protein. Sodium level is 520 mg per serving. One serving reportedly contains 15 percent of the minimum daily requirement for iron, and 6 percent of the minimum daily requirement for calcium.
This product is distributed by Kumer-Empson, a division of Faribault Foods Inc. of Faribault, Minnesota.

---Bigelow-brand "Green Tea With Mint." I am finding that when I prepare a cup of hot tea for myself using these wonderful tea bags from the Bigelow company based in Fairfield, Connecticut, the tea is not only pleasant to my palate but also relaxes and soothes my throat. This has a good calming effect on me, I find. I would like to see the package for this product quantify the antioxidant benefit from sipping this hot tea; I'm hopeful that that statistic would be very impressive.

INSIDE A RESTAURANT OR CAFE:

---the Hibiscus Tea offered at Kerbey Lane Cafe in Austin, Texas. Hibscus Tea inside Kerbey Lane Cafe is consistently delicious.

----the delicious Turkey Sausage offered as a menu item at the Java House coffeehouse near the intersection of West 12th Street and North Lamar Boulevard in central Austin.

---the Asian Chopped Chicken Salad and Pei Wei Spicy Chicken Salad offered at Pei Wei chain restaurants. I myself customarily order each of those salads without any crispy noodles or crispty wontons.

---the delicious Chicken and Shrimp Oriental Salad, and the also-delicious Hawaiian Salad, offered on the menu at Cheddar's chain restaurants.