A lively exchange

Regular readers of Goat Rope know that I'm more of a class warrior than culture warrior, metaphorically speaking. The class one isn't going so well these days as far as my guys are concerned. It's more a one-sided class beatdown. Cultural conflicts, which aren't my main gig keep popping up. One such is the subject of transgender rights or the lack thereof. That's on the menu in this week's Front Porch. I think it's one of the better ones.

Why warehousing people doesn't work

We've been trying to chip away at mass incarceration in WV for a while now, both for adults and for kids in the juvenile justice system. This NY Times op-ed provides a good summary of why it just doesn't make sense.

One thing that does make sense is substance abuse treatment. WV just launched its first residential treatment program for regional jail inmates. That's kind of a big deal since many inmates aren't eligible for parole without treatment.

Off topic, I really hope the WV legislature doesn't revisit the bogus "religious freedom" license to discriminate bill in the future. Here's what an editor at the Gazette-Mail had to say about that.

Urgent owlet update...and other stuff

Photo credit: Sister in law Unit.

A while back I posted a picture of a baby great horned owl that was born on our hill. I'm pleased to say that he survived and has now taken to venturing forth. This isn't quite the same as fledging, according to the Spousal Unit. Apparently that is like moving out. Instead, the little critter is branching, which entails a return to the nest. You can see both in the picture above, with the nest in the upper left and the owlet in the lower right.

YOU REALLY CAN'T. I've often mentioned here my campaign to update state motto of West Virginia from "Mountaineers Are Always Free" to "You Can't Make This **** Up." This column by statehouse reporter Phil Kabler has a priceless example in it.

COAL-LAPSE. There's been a lot of coverage about the decline of coal. This AP article suggests it's happening faster than anticipated. Note that the article attributes most of this to market conditions rather than a certain Muslim socialist of questionable American birth.

SPEAKING OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE. I knew things were bad, but I didn't know things had gone this far.

Dodging a bullet

I think it was mostly luck and an unforeseen and unforeseeable outbreak of rationality in the recent WV legislative session, but the Mountain State managed not to pass one of those controversial "religious freedom" bills that are a license to discriminate. Similar bills have been causing controversy--and costing money--in several states. It's nice that we managed not to embarrass ourselves, even if it was kind of an accident.

Meanwhile, this NY Times article on inequality, longevity and geography is worth a look. For some reason, we didn't look too bad in this one either.

NOTE: for some reason, the several  hundred odd (no disrespect intended) people who subscribed to this blog via email haven't been getting it for a while. I'm going to try something. Please let me know if it works if you happen to get this and read it. Thanks!