We’ve all seen the Dateline NBC episodes of “To Catch a Predator.” If you haven’t seen it, Dateline has made prime-time entertainment out of contacting would-be child molesters over the Internet, luring them to a meeting place, and videotaping their humiliating confrontations with reporter Chris Hansen. Sometimes we laugh at the stupidity of the men who are trying to seduce 14-year-old girls. Sometimes we cry when we see the predator is a Rabbi or a middle-school teacher.
But we all feel a little better when the show is over and the predator’s have received justice… except in Murphy Texas.
One of the 25 men caught in the sting — a prosecutor from a neighboring county — committed suicide when police came to arrest him.
The Murphy city manager who approved the operation lost his job in the ensuing furor.
And the district attorney is refusing to prosecute any of the men, saying many of the cases were tainted by the involvement of amateurs.
I don’t want to spend to much time on this, so I’ll keep my tirade short and sweet. If “amateurs” can do a better job at catching these pedophiles than local or federal law enforcement… then maybe we should be giving them the guns.
My brother-in-law and his friends just posted this video of Mika’s new Grace Kelly song. It’s actually very well done for a bunch of college kids and a local park…
I wrote a little while ago on BeancounterBlog.com how to become a millionaire by starting a Web 2.0 company. Well, after a news article I read today at www.nytimes.com I think I’m going to change my recommendation on how to become a millionaire.
Instead of putting actual work – you know, the blood, sweat, and tears kind – into a web business simply follow the following steps:
1. Walk down the street of the nearest town and find a dry cleaner
2. Make sure the dry cleaner has a large sign saying “Same-day Service” and another one saying “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” If you can’t find both signs, repeat step 1.
3. Once you’ve found the dry cleaners, take in a pair of pants to be altered.
4. Come back a few days later and pick up your pants. When the clerk brings you your pants, start yelling about how those aren’t your pants.
5. Sue the dry cleaners for $67 million dollars (yes, that’s million)
6. Have a change of heart and sue the dry cleaners for $54 million (yup, still millions)
I really don’t know what to say. After reading the story about the poor dry cleaner shop owners I didn’t know whether to cry at the state of the American judicial system or to cry at the stupidity of my fellow man.
In cross-examination, Mr. Manning asked Mr. Pearson whether it was reasonable for someone to sue a merchant for millions of dollars for not receiving the satisfaction guaranteed by a sign.
“Without regard to the law, as a human being, as a person, don’t you think it makes sense to interpret merchant signage in a reasonable way?” Mr. Manning said.
Mr. Pearson, who is representing himself, eventually responded, “No.”
