Break the cycle

Listening to this defense attorney (on Fox) for child-beater Madelyne Toogood, I find myself feeling somewhat sorry for the lady. But only from the standpoint that she apparently doesn’t have the independence or brains to say “this Irish Traveller bullshit stops with me and mine; I am going to make something of myself in this world and give my children hope for a different future.”
Rocket Rosen? What a name. [I guess his first name is actually “Steven”.] And don’t insult Indiana jurisprudence, asshole. Just because we convicted Mike Tyson and our judges set punishment rather than our juries doesn’t mean we have shitty courts.
Claiming that growing up in this “Irish Traveller culture” means that “you don’t go to high school, you don’t go to college” is likewise a load of bullshit. They don’t do those things because it’s easier to fleece unknowing victims and live on their ill-gotten gains than it is to get an education and become productive members of society. If this young lady had really wanted to break the cycle and make something of herself, I’m sure she could have done so.
And this tearful BS of hers last night, saying the child shouldn’t be punished for her (the mother’s) mistake, got it exactly wrong. The child was hardly being punished by being assigned to a foster family by CPS. The mother was being told that, until further evaluation, she was being deemed an unfit mother. Any punishment therein was strictly directed at the mother — not at the child.
Watch this whole thing get spun into intolerance of a different culture.
LATER: I just looked at the Fox News website and read the following in this story on the case:

Authorities said the mother had left the store angry because she was refused a cash refund for goods. The woman is then seen putting her daughter in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle, then pummeling, slapping and shaking her for nearly a half-minute.

This woman is seriously fucked up in the head. She does not need to get her daughter back, and her other two children need to be taken from her as well.
The idiot attorney added:

Rosen also criticized the girl’s temporary placement with another family, saying the Toogood family was tight-knit and traumatized by the decision.
“To me, this is very detrimental, very psychologically detrimental, bordering on abusive,” Rosen said.

Um, counselor…abusive to whom? The family isn’t the victim here. A little girl who had no way to defend herself from her enraged mother is the victim here.
MORE UPDATE: I see Rachel has weighed in on this 🙂

Here we are in Naples

Much has changed in the year and a half since we were last here.
For one thing, Michelbob’s is closed until next month. Bastards. Sally wanted ribs for her anniversary dinner.
For another, Bill’s on Fifth is now Pier 41. The food is just as good or better, though. I had filet mignon and Sally had shrimp scampi…both amazingly tasty. The chef came out and made the rounds and was very happy to hear us wax poetic about the food.
For another, we went down to Marco and Mustang Sally’s appears to have closed the door. Which is a shame, they had good food, too. Not to mention the karaoke vocal stylings of Myles Loud. His Elvis and Tom Jones (complete with torn-open shirt) are spot-on. Apparently he hangs at the La Casita restaurant in Marco now.
On the plus side, the beach is still there. Down the street, the Tides Inn has finally been torn down to make way for condominiums…starting at $2.5 MILLION. Yet here we are on the south end of Loudermilk Park, 300 feet from the beach…and Sally’s parents aren’t rich.
On the minus side, we only seem to come here when tropical storms are heading right for us…
I’m beginning to wonder if the north side of Naples has changed as much as the south. Scares me.

Naples, FL…

What is it about this town…you drive and drive and drive and never seem to get anywhere.
And residents, get a clue…lane changes are best signalled with that funny little lever on the left side of your steering wheel.
Otherwise, it’s that second wedding anniversary kind of thing. Posts will be light this week since I’m limited to 48kbps via AOL. Echh. At least Sally’s parents got cable at the condo this year, and at least they get Fox News 🙂
Beach? What beach?

Foreign or domestic…

…terrorism is still terrorism.
And PETA is about to find out what a terrorism investigation is all about. Giving money to the ELF is a no-no, morons. Especially under a “get tough on terror” administration.
Your salad days (hee hee) under Clinton are over.