Wednesday, September 21, 2005
How Far Can It Go? (Part Deux)
Richmonders should understand what I'm talking about. Everybody else, take it as a serious warning because it's probably already started where you live.
A few posts below, I commented on how the state is destroying its heritage by mowing over its family farms in favor of expanded commerce. Now I've realized this unimpeded growth is hurting us economically as well.
Ok, I get it: America likes big. From our football players, 18 screen cineplexes, to the local Super Wal-Mart. Can you imagine anywhere else in the world the "Big Gulp" or gut-busting, 2400 calorie hamburgers would be so successful? (And at the same time waifish women are held at the pillar of society. The contradictions and hypocrisies are astounding.)
Today, it has come to my attention that the two remaining pieces of open land in Short Pump are soon to be plowed and paved, and yet another mall will stand where flowing grass once did. What used to be pristine countryside is now faux stucco.
We live very much in what we consider to be a disposable society. I accept that. I don't think the beginnings of a seismic shift in societal patterns can be achieved until the next major economic downturn. But our leaders, state and especially local, have to start thinking about this urgent issue.
What I'm trying to say is basically this: suburban sprawl is slowly killing our state and our country.
Now, I'm all for free enterprise and free commerce. However, if we don't get a handle on our growth, Virginia is not going to come out better. Aesthetics do count for something, folks.
How is this hurting us economically? Well, it just happens to be the biggest problem Virginia is facing: transportation.
As we are a mobile country, more of the development like we see in Short Pump is actually bad for us. As we expand outward from our cities, rural areas need massive new roads to get people moving. Our cities are relatively able to handle the traffic. They're based on high volume, but that's not where we're growing.
We're talking about MILES of expansion and bad growth that has come on us like a cancer. It's like the old yarn about the frog in the frying pan. If you throw a frog in boiling water, he'll thrash around and die a horrible death. If you put him in cool water and turn the heat on, he never notices that he's dying until it's too late.
If you really want to see how mobile we are as a population, just look at the opposing lanes the next time you're driving. Drive around for a day and guess at the percentage of people you see driving alone in their cars. The results will astound you.
Instead of recycling plastic bottles, we should really be making recycling our state our first priority.
So, what's the answer? More regional cooperation, and growth that actually has some sort of planning involved. I want to see more assistance and incentives for companies and stores to take existing property and redevelop it to their purposes. Let's use the land we've already developed instead of raiding the countryside. All of our transportation conversations as a state has been about funding. Let's talk about how we can limit spending through intelligent growth.
I'll do my part. No shopping at the mega-mallfor some gadget I don't need. No more trips to WalMart for cheap plastic crap. More online shopping. The technology is here, let's use it.
I'll do my part. Will you do yours?
A few posts below, I commented on how the state is destroying its heritage by mowing over its family farms in favor of expanded commerce. Now I've realized this unimpeded growth is hurting us economically as well.
Ok, I get it: America likes big. From our football players, 18 screen cineplexes, to the local Super Wal-Mart. Can you imagine anywhere else in the world the "Big Gulp" or gut-busting, 2400 calorie hamburgers would be so successful? (And at the same time waifish women are held at the pillar of society. The contradictions and hypocrisies are astounding.)
Today, it has come to my attention that the two remaining pieces of open land in Short Pump are soon to be plowed and paved, and yet another mall will stand where flowing grass once did. What used to be pristine countryside is now faux stucco.
We live very much in what we consider to be a disposable society. I accept that. I don't think the beginnings of a seismic shift in societal patterns can be achieved until the next major economic downturn. But our leaders, state and especially local, have to start thinking about this urgent issue.
What I'm trying to say is basically this: suburban sprawl is slowly killing our state and our country.
Now, I'm all for free enterprise and free commerce. However, if we don't get a handle on our growth, Virginia is not going to come out better. Aesthetics do count for something, folks.
How is this hurting us economically? Well, it just happens to be the biggest problem Virginia is facing: transportation.
As we are a mobile country, more of the development like we see in Short Pump is actually bad for us. As we expand outward from our cities, rural areas need massive new roads to get people moving. Our cities are relatively able to handle the traffic. They're based on high volume, but that's not where we're growing.
We're talking about MILES of expansion and bad growth that has come on us like a cancer. It's like the old yarn about the frog in the frying pan. If you throw a frog in boiling water, he'll thrash around and die a horrible death. If you put him in cool water and turn the heat on, he never notices that he's dying until it's too late.
If you really want to see how mobile we are as a population, just look at the opposing lanes the next time you're driving. Drive around for a day and guess at the percentage of people you see driving alone in their cars. The results will astound you.
Instead of recycling plastic bottles, we should really be making recycling our state our first priority.
So, what's the answer? More regional cooperation, and growth that actually has some sort of planning involved. I want to see more assistance and incentives for companies and stores to take existing property and redevelop it to their purposes. Let's use the land we've already developed instead of raiding the countryside. All of our transportation conversations as a state has been about funding. Let's talk about how we can limit spending through intelligent growth.
I'll do my part. No shopping at the mega-mallfor some gadget I don't need. No more trips to WalMart for cheap plastic crap. More online shopping. The technology is here, let's use it.
I'll do my part. Will you do yours?
Comments:
<< Home
Get the bus line off broad st and maybe big business will come back downtown. Else, who wants a larger budget for Loss Prevention over 'Inventory'.... rofl
# posted by 
: 3:31 PM
: 3:31 PM
Crime Commission Chair Soft on Child Sexual Abuse
Del. Albo Introduces Bill Gutting Protections for Children
RICHMOND, VA -- January 14, 2004 -- Virginia state delegate David Albo (Springfield) proposed legislation yesterday to drastically reduce penalties for sexually abusing children in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Albo, as chairman of Virginia’s Crime Commission, proposed legislation to lower penalties for engaging in “sexual intercourse, sodomy, or fondling” a child. Penalties for these crimes would be reduced to the equivalent of tampering with cable television service (18.2-165.1, class 6 felony) and would be classified as a lesser offense than stealing chickens (18.2-97, class 5 felony).
Albo’s bill includes the following provisions:
* Sexual intercourse with a child age 0-18 would become a Class 6 felony, punishable by a fine or a maximum of 5 years in prison. It is currently punishable as Rape (unclassified felony, 5 years-Life), Incest (Class 3 felony, 5-20 years) or as Carnal knowledge (Class 4 felony, 2-10 years).
* Sodomizing a child age 0-18 would become a Class 6 felony, punishable by a fine to five years (see 18.2-10 of the Virginia Code for sentencing ranges). It is currently classified under Crimes against nature (18.2-361) as a Class 3 felony, punishable by from 5 to 20 years.
* Having sexual intercourse with a minor who is being held in a local or state correctional or juvenile detention facility would be made a Class 1 misdemeanor (Albo bill, 18.2-387.1).
What Possible Reason?
What possible reason could Delegate Albo have for attempting such a sweeping rollback of legal protections for children? According to Grier Weeks, executive director of the National Association to PROTECT Children (PROTECT), Albo's legislation is typical of elected officials who view child sexual abuse as “a social disease, not a crime.”
“If you look at the bill carefully, you'll see that these get out of jail free passes are not being offered to all criminals,” says Weeks. “This bill says that if a child molester simply proposes sex with a neighbor’s child, that’s a crime and it should be 1-10 years. But if that same criminal actually rapes or sodomizes his own niece or his student or a player on his ballteam, that’s a social problem and it's okay to punish it with a fine.”
In Virginia, over 90% of all sex crimes committed against children are perpetrated by adults the child knows, according to data published by the Virginia Department of State Police (“Crime in Virginia”, Jan.-Dec. 2002)
PROTECT was in Richmond Monday and Tuesday to seek support in the legislature for tougher penalties for criminals who betray a child's or a family’s trust to molest children. PROTECT is seeking enhanced penalties for child molesters who abuse their position of trust or authority-including parents, step-parents, clergy, teachers and coaches. Current law rewards these perpetrators and Albo's bill would make it far worse.
“Albo took the weakest law protecting kids, Indecent liberties, and used it as a trash can to dump every rotten thing you can do to a kid into. If he wants to use the Crime Commission to do this kind of thing, he should pick on someone his own size and leave child crime victims alone.”
Leadership says it will fix bill, Chairman Albo stands behind it
PROTECT spoke Tuesday with members of the House and Senate Courts leadership who acknowledged serious problems with Albo's bill and pledged to remove preferential treatment for adults who abuse positions of trust and authority in committee. Commission Chair Albo, however, refused to meet with PROTECT outside the Commission meeting and said he stood by the new reduced penalties. Albo claimed that since tougher penalties for the same crimes are still on the books (Rape, Incest, Carnal Knowledge) elsewhere, his bill would simply give prosecutors more options.
“Using that logic, we're waiting to see if Mr. Albo is going to introduce a Class 6 Felony homicide law or a misdemeanor drug dealing law next,” said Weeks.
PROTECT is a national membership association with members in 48 states and 6 countrie
Post a Comment
Del. Albo Introduces Bill Gutting Protections for Children
RICHMOND, VA -- January 14, 2004 -- Virginia state delegate David Albo (Springfield) proposed legislation yesterday to drastically reduce penalties for sexually abusing children in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Albo, as chairman of Virginia’s Crime Commission, proposed legislation to lower penalties for engaging in “sexual intercourse, sodomy, or fondling” a child. Penalties for these crimes would be reduced to the equivalent of tampering with cable television service (18.2-165.1, class 6 felony) and would be classified as a lesser offense than stealing chickens (18.2-97, class 5 felony).
Albo’s bill includes the following provisions:
* Sexual intercourse with a child age 0-18 would become a Class 6 felony, punishable by a fine or a maximum of 5 years in prison. It is currently punishable as Rape (unclassified felony, 5 years-Life), Incest (Class 3 felony, 5-20 years) or as Carnal knowledge (Class 4 felony, 2-10 years).
* Sodomizing a child age 0-18 would become a Class 6 felony, punishable by a fine to five years (see 18.2-10 of the Virginia Code for sentencing ranges). It is currently classified under Crimes against nature (18.2-361) as a Class 3 felony, punishable by from 5 to 20 years.
* Having sexual intercourse with a minor who is being held in a local or state correctional or juvenile detention facility would be made a Class 1 misdemeanor (Albo bill, 18.2-387.1).
What Possible Reason?
What possible reason could Delegate Albo have for attempting such a sweeping rollback of legal protections for children? According to Grier Weeks, executive director of the National Association to PROTECT Children (PROTECT), Albo's legislation is typical of elected officials who view child sexual abuse as “a social disease, not a crime.”
“If you look at the bill carefully, you'll see that these get out of jail free passes are not being offered to all criminals,” says Weeks. “This bill says that if a child molester simply proposes sex with a neighbor’s child, that’s a crime and it should be 1-10 years. But if that same criminal actually rapes or sodomizes his own niece or his student or a player on his ballteam, that’s a social problem and it's okay to punish it with a fine.”
In Virginia, over 90% of all sex crimes committed against children are perpetrated by adults the child knows, according to data published by the Virginia Department of State Police (“Crime in Virginia”, Jan.-Dec. 2002)
PROTECT was in Richmond Monday and Tuesday to seek support in the legislature for tougher penalties for criminals who betray a child's or a family’s trust to molest children. PROTECT is seeking enhanced penalties for child molesters who abuse their position of trust or authority-including parents, step-parents, clergy, teachers and coaches. Current law rewards these perpetrators and Albo's bill would make it far worse.
“Albo took the weakest law protecting kids, Indecent liberties, and used it as a trash can to dump every rotten thing you can do to a kid into. If he wants to use the Crime Commission to do this kind of thing, he should pick on someone his own size and leave child crime victims alone.”
Leadership says it will fix bill, Chairman Albo stands behind it
PROTECT spoke Tuesday with members of the House and Senate Courts leadership who acknowledged serious problems with Albo's bill and pledged to remove preferential treatment for adults who abuse positions of trust and authority in committee. Commission Chair Albo, however, refused to meet with PROTECT outside the Commission meeting and said he stood by the new reduced penalties. Albo claimed that since tougher penalties for the same crimes are still on the books (Rape, Incest, Carnal Knowledge) elsewhere, his bill would simply give prosecutors more options.
“Using that logic, we're waiting to see if Mr. Albo is going to introduce a Class 6 Felony homicide law or a misdemeanor drug dealing law next,” said Weeks.
PROTECT is a national membership association with members in 48 states and 6 countrie
# posted by : 8:41 PM
: 8:41 PM<< Home
