RickRouse.com

In my opinion the only thing worse than a criminal getting away with a violent crime is an innocent person being convicted of one, and it happens far more often than most people realize. Thanks to advanced DNA testing methods, hundreds of wrongly convicted inmates have been exonerated and released in recent years, and undoubtedly many, many more are praying that their turn will come as well.

Back in the days before reliable DNA testing became available, countless people were convicted primarily based upon eye-witness accounts. But it has become increasingly clear thanks to the results of several independent studies on eyewitness credibility as well as the sheer number of convictions being overturned after DNA testing that eyewitness accounts are often simply inaccurate.

The state of Florida has just exonerated and released James Bain, a man who was convicted of brutally raping a young boy and sentenced to life in prison even though his twin sister testified that he was at home watching television right beside her during the time the crime was being committed. Although there was no direct physical evidence linking Bain to the crime and evidence of police misconduct during the trial, the prosecutor forged ahead anyway. Bain was ultimately convicted based almost entirely upon questionable testimony by the victim.

But now justice has prevailed although it took 35 years and the birth of a new technology to make it happen. Mr. Bain had requested DNA testing several times before, and each time it had been denied. His lawyers eventually found a judge who agreed to order the testing, and the rest is history.

When asked if he was bitter about being falsely convicted and incarcerated for three and a half decades, Mr. Bain replied “No, I’m not angry, because I’ve got God.”  What he will also have is a cool $1.75 million ($50,000 per year of incarceration) as compensation for his time spent behind bars. In my opinion that amount is way too low.

While I’m certainly not one to believe in treating criminals with kids gloves, I do believe that every inmate serving time for a violent crime should receive the benefit of DNA testing if it is requested (as long as the test can reasonably be expected to prove guilt or innocence of the crime). They shouldn’t have to jump through hoops or beg, it should be automatic.

Sure, such a policy would be expensive, but our criminal justice system was founded upon the principle that it’s far better to see a guilty person go free than an innocent one convicted. With advanced DNA testing so reliable and readily available, allowing an innocent person to languish behind bars is simply immoral.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.’   –Sir Winston Churchill

Why is it that we humans have such a strong tendency to repeat the errors of the past? Time and again we choose to ignore the lessons of history and try to succeed by following the same failed paths that have been tried so many times before, always with the same result: miserable failure.

The history of human civilization is littered with the corpses of numerous societies which attempted to create a veritable Utopia where everyone shares and shares alike, working “according to one’s abilities” and taking “according to one’s needs”. Of course the problem is always the same. The people who have the ability to innovate and perform don’t because they realize that the fruits of their hard work will be shared equally with the ones who refuse to do any work of their own. After all, why would anyone want to work his tail off to build wealth and create jobs while the lazy guy next door just sits around in his underwear waiting for his share of your paycheck to come in?

The very foundation of socialism goes against the inherent realities of human nature. No matter what, there will always be plenty of people who aren’t too concerned with living up to the concept “from each according to his abilities”. It’s much easier instead for the lazy to concentrate their energies on the “to each according to his needs” part.

Even in our highly successful version of a free market economy, we Americans see approximately half of our citizens toiling away every day to support the other half. Just imagine how bad the problem would be should we decide to continue down the current path to full-blown socialism!

The Soviets tried to make socialism work on a massive scale, and the result was hundreds of millions of people living in abject poverty for decades. And we all know about the poor folks struggling to survive in North Korea and Cuba. Why on earth would we Americans choose to subject ourselves to the same kind of misery? But alas, far too many of our countrymen are perfectly willing – eager, in fact – to do just that. It simply boggles the mind to think about it.

The concept of socialism is based upon a faux premise of fairness. In reality, it is extremely unfair to everyone involved. It strips the fruits of ones labor from his grasp and gives it away to others while robbing the “lucky” recipients of the sense of self-worth that comes from making an honest living for themselves.

America is, and always has been, a very generous and compassionate country. As always, we will see to it that the truly needy have everything they need in order to make it. We don’t need the government running our lives and redistributing our wealth in order to make life “fair” for the less fortunate. Our collective conscience is quite good at ensuring that the legitimate needs of our friends and neighbors are met.

History is the best teacher any of us could ever have, and the historical record is clear. Everywhere that socialism had ever been tried it has met with utter, abysmal failure. I pray that the sleeping majority in America will finally wake up and stop this train bound for nowhere in its miserable tracks.

President Obama attained that position almost entirely because of one trait: he is black. On a certain level I can understand why the general electorate was so eager to elect the first black President, and the fact that we did so speaks volumes about how far white Americans have come in putting the prejudices and injustices of the past behind us. But when it comes right down to it, Obama was not the right man to play such an important role in our nation’s history, and many of the folks who voted for him now agree with me.

So if not Mr. Obama, who? Well, how about retired Lieutenant Colonel Allen West?

Before today I had never heard of Mr. West, but after watching him speak on the video below and several others, I can truthfully say it’s a shame that he wasn’t selected as the man to make history by being elected our first black President. Experience? In my opinion, he has plenty. In fact, his 22 year career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army gives him exponentially more leadership and executive experience than the guy who now inhabits the White House. Even more important, he has a true moral compass, plenty of common sense and a deep-seated respect and understanding of the Constitution and the founding fathers who established it.

Mr. West is running for Congress in 2010 in Florida’s 22nd congressional district, and with his drive and determination I would say the odds are definitely in his favor. Check out the video and see if you are as impressed as I was.

Well, the major storm that struck approximately two-thirds of the U.S. has caused some major headaches at our house. First of all, the wind snapped one of our three massive and quite beautiful white pines off below ground level, leaving what appears to be an empty hole where one would expect to see a stump. The tree beside it was snapped off about half-way up like a giant toothpick. Amazingly, the third pine was left pretty much intact (although it looks a little bare without its ”buddies” standing next to it).

Then, just a few minutes later the power went off. But instead of it being restored in just a few hours as is typical, we are now on our third day without electricity. I’m having to head over to the county library every morning to get my work done, and even that has turned out to be a challenge since the storm has also made their WI-FI connection spotty at best.

Things could be better for sure, but they could also be a lot worse. We’re still healthy, the house is still in one piece, and the good Lord is still looking out for us. All in all, I’d have to say that we’ve been blessed.

I started publishing my primary website RLROUSE Directory & Informational Resources way back in 2003, and in the six years since its inception it has grown from about 20 pages to well over 3,000, with more being added all the time. In addition to the handy web directory, there are also thousands of articles on various topics such as birding, health & medical, technology, science, travel and more.

Just in time for the holidays, I have given the site a bit of a makeover (the first in almost 3 years). I would appreciate it if you would take the time to check it out and let me know what you think. As always, comments and suggestions are very welcome. Thanks!

By now you have surely seen at least one of the countless commercials for FreeCreditReport.com that blitzes the airwaves every day. The ads vary, but they always feature a smiling fellow singing about the hassles you can encounter unless you keep a close eye on your credit report. Then the company makes the implication that you can get a FREE credit report and credit score simply by logging on to their website and requesting them. After suffering through about ten thousand FreeCreditReport.com commercials, I decided to check into their offer and see if it is legit. Well, technically it is, but…

When you visit the FreeCreditReport.com home page, you’ll find an “Important Notice” on the left-hand side of the screen explaining that you will only receive a free copy of your credit report and credit score after signing up for a 7 day trial account for their paid credit monitoring service known as “Triple Advantage”. The problem is this text and the background behind it are displayed in a way that makes the “Important Notice” much less noticeable than the humongous button on the right that says “Click here to see your Free Credit Report & Score!” Most people would probably click on that button right away without even noticing the “Important Notice”.

After clicking the button to request your free credit report & score you’re taken directly to the sign-up pages where you enter your personal information and credit card number. After you sign up for everything (including the paid “Triple Advantage” service) you are taken to another page where you can actually request your free credit report and credit score, which you get without further delay. So far, so good. But…

Some basic research on customer satisfaction with FreeCreditReport.com turned up a hornet’s nest of discontent and complaints with the website and its “free” offer. Apparently the company is a bit hesitant to cancel the “Triple Advantage” accounts upon request, even during the trial period. I found page after page of complaints stating that “Triple Advantage” accounts weren’t canceled after repeated requests to do so.

Some customers complained about having the $14.95 monthly fee charged to their card month after month even though customer service had agreed to make the cancellation. Other customers were billed because they simply forgot to cancel their memberships within the trial period, but that is not the fault of the company. But after paying for the first month’s service (as they rightly should have), some requests to cancel apparently fell on deaf ears at the company.

The bottom line: FreeCreditReport.com is NOT a scam if you take the time to read EVERYTHING on the site and agree to the terms and conditions, but apparently dealing with the company after signing up for the free trial of “Triple Advantage” can be quite a hassle.

The good news: A new federal law states that every consumer in the United States is entitled to receive ONE free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus. These credit reports are indeed 100% free with no gimmicks or hidden charges. To order yours, all you have to do is visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com and enter your personal information. It is completely legitimate (the site was set up solely to facilitate consumer requests for the free credit reports mandated by law).

Note: AnnualCreditReport.com (the truly 100% free site) and FreeCreditReport.com are in no way connected with one another.