Monsters in our midst

Christopher Michael Barrios of Brunswick, GA is dead.

Why? Because our justice system is painfully flawed. Sex offenders do not register when then move. Does anyone really believe that these upstanding members of society would voluntarily stroll into a police station to tell authorities where they are living?

Sex offenders are not marked/visible enough in society. Therefore, responsible caring parents can't protect their children from these monsters. I believe and it has been proven that once a sex offender, always a sex offender.

These guys (and yes they are mostly male) should face the death penalty when they attack a minor. The only way to cure a sex offender is to kill them.

Some states have considered issuing license plates that read SX OFFDR. I believe that is a good start. It is the least that we can do.

When Sonny Purdue was running for another term as Governor of Georgia, his television ads touted a “Sonny Do” list and encouraged voters to send him ideas and suggestions.

Well Sonny. Here’s a big TO DO. Protect our children. Mark sex offenders with license plates, tattoos or any other easily identifiable marks. Sonny, create a state list that identifies sex offenders with names and addresses. Distribute this list in schools once each quarter. Make sure that it is updated.

Sonny DO follow up on the where-abouts of sex offenders. These dangerous criminals can not be trusted to police themselves. They are hurting and killing children. No respect should be given to their privacy. They gave up that right when they touched a child.

The current sex offender codes say “If an offender moves to another county in the State of Georgia, he/she is required to register with the Sheriff of his/her new county of residence in addition to notifying the Sheriff of his/her previous county of residence.” Yeah, ok… that is not going to happen.

How can parents look for sex offenders in GA today? Check out this site-

Sex Offender Search Page

State sites like this are obviously not enough. The parents of Christopher Michael Barrios deserved a chance to save their child. How many people even know about these sites?

Let’s get serious about tracking, marking and exposing the monsters in our midst.

Drug ads are making me ill

How many times have you plopped down on the couch to watch the news, only to be assaulted by a avalanche of drug advertisements? AntiAgita, OvertheAche, YouthinaPill… the drug companies seem to be taking over prime time. Last night, I counted eight commercials that mentioned side effects during one half hour news program. Forget the cure, all these drug ads are giving me a headache.

While we have the right to change the channel when someone tells us to ‘ask our doctor’ about a new medicine, these commercials are costing viewers much more than TV time. You may want to sit down now if you are one of the thousands of Americans who are forced to choose between medicine and meals. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “In 1991, drug companies spent $51 million on advertising. By 2000, it topped $2.3 billion.” HeathDay News recently reported that, “Pharmaceutical companies now spend an estimated $4 billion a year promoting products on TV, radio, in print, and on the Internet.”

The cost of these ads has to be absorbed somewhere. Let me take a wild guess as to where the cash is coming from…yep, our pockets. The drug companies should not be peddling their products on prime time. America can barely afford outrageous drug prices. Drug costs are so high that many American’s are even heading over the border to Canada to get what they need to stay alive.

If a drug company has an effective product, doctors are the only folks who need to be sold on it. When I lived up north and went to a country doctor, I recall at least half-a- dozen times when well-dressed, drug sales representatives arrived with cases of samples and big toothy grins. Friendly, attractive drug reps are encouraging doctors all over the nation to prescribe their treatments by handing out information packets and samples. This takes up a doctor’s time, but does allow some under–insured patients to take home much-needed samples.

I know some folks who work in the pharmaceutical industry; one is a scientist and the other a lawyer. They are each making well over $160,000 (plus bonuses) a year for their services. They are hard working, highly educated employees. They deserve to be fairly compensated. But if the drug companies are paying thousands of lawyers and scientists on staff at that rate, how can they keep drug prices at a reasonable level? Simply put…they can’t.

Prime-time ads are a waste of money, theirs and ours. They are also an insult to the citizens of our great, under-insured nation. Shame on the pharmaceutical giants! The next time a new drug dances or sings across your television screen, grab the remote. The less we watch the channels that profit from drug ads, the fewer ads there will be.

Now somebody please get me an aspirin.

Sunrise Symphony

Watching the sunrise over the marsh is a treasured moment in my day. The birds sing out, welcoming the light. The great oak trees hide beneath a layer of mist. The sky turns from deep dark gray to amber. Morning dew drips from the marsh grass and rice.

Two years ago, when admiring the majestic beauty of a morning like this, the only sounds were of nature. A woodpecker announced its arrival with a lurching squeal. The eagle screamed out at the young eaglets as hunting lessons began. Finches, cardinals and mockingbirds joined together in an orchestral symphony for the new day. Even the occasional grunt of a wild pig made itself known from deep in the marsh.

Today, all these sounds remain. The only difference is that a litany of man-made sounds has joined in. Even as the sun rises, the sound of automobile traffic invades. Like nails on a chalkboard, the rushing sound of the highways cut to the core.

Why? Coastal Georgia is losing the barrier that protects us from such invasive sounds. Developers keep developing and trees topple by the hundreds. Thick, dense forest becomes open space. The houses that replace the forest do not stand tall enough to protect us. And so the world rushes in to mar the tranquility of a sunrise.

The symphony ends and a noisy world busts in.

Good morning Coastal Georgia. Now wake up!