According to TPMMuckTracker, "A Kansas jury just found Scott Roeder guilty of first degree murder in the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller at his church last May. The jury reportedly deliberated for less than hour. Roeder, an extremist anti-abortion activist, admitted on the stand that he killed Tiller. Roeder was also found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault for pointing his gun at church ushers."

WOW!

Cormac McCarthy's 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Road, tells a dark and dreadful story about a man and his young son. The pair find themselves on the road, literally, making their way across a hostile, unforgiving landscape burned out presumably by a catastrophic event of universal proportions.

Darkness prevails in every moment, around every turn in the story, save for the love of the man for his son and that of the son for his father. Their relationship, based on the fact that they "carry the light," provides the only relief from the prevailing dreadfulness.

The passage below provides important insight into the place of worry and anxiety in the lives of children, no matter how small, young or seemingly unaware of difficult surrounding circumstances. This narrative sadly reminded me of so many children in the inner city. It follows an encounter the man and the boy experienced with a thief who made off with all their belongings. After catching the thief and taking their possessions back, the man sent the now naked thief away.

If you can remember last year a 22-year-old Natalie Dillon put her "virginity" up for auction to pay for school. Since then, numerous young women are giving it a test drive.

According to the Huffington Post, "In Northern Ireland, a sixteen-year-old girl attempted to sell her virginity to the highest bidder using the U.K.-based online classifieds website Gumtree."

When Gil Kerlikowske was appointed Drug Czar, I was heartened. I got to work with Gil a few years back when he was Chief of Police in Seattle, and I worked as criminal justice policy adviser to the County Executive. He's a sharp guy, who believes in making policy based on research. If there is one thing that research and statistics have shown us is that the billions of dollars this country has spent prosecuting the "War on Drugs" has been money thrown down a rathole. So I was happy when I read that the Obama administration was going to stop using the term "Drug War".

Good first step to changing minds, I thought, to change the language. Because instead of winning -- whatever that means in this context -- we have made losers out of thousands of otherwise innocent law abiding people by turning them into criminals, while fostering violence here and around the world.

Since Gil was appointed we have heard a little about the issue, but mostly national drug policy has been changing behind the scenes. Well sometimes its best to look to media outside the U.S. to find out what is happening here.

This story of this inner city funeral director in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a recent Religion & Ethics broadcast, is the heart breaking reality in too many cities. I need to hasten to add it is not the only reality. But it is a serious problem. Do yourself a favor and watch the video.

I was blessed in 22 years as a pastor in one of the poorest areas of South Dallas, to only have to do one funeral for a young man whose death was gang related. I hope I never have to do another. One of my assistants and I attended the wake. We watched young boys and girls coming to grips with death in a way that was unnatural and unnecessary.

The New York Times has a story posted on its website that purports to expose current and past abuses by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau (ICE) in covering up the deaths of detainees. ICE is one of the new agencies created by the consolidation of numerous federal agencies into the Department of Homeland Security after September 11th. Primarily composed of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service, ICE is divided into four sub-agencies, one of which, the Detention and Removal Office, is charged with administration of detention facilities (essentially jails) for high-risk individuals who are engaged in deportation proceedings. I disclose that I have a close friend employed by ICE in Washington although she is not mentioned in the story and I don't know what division of ICE she works for.

Ever hear the phrase "Better Safe than Sorry" - I guess that doesn't apply in DC!

Well, I guess Friday and Saturday night loving is probably not going to happen for awhile in DC, because if you get caught carrying more than 2 condoms, you could face charges for Prostitution.

According to Change.org, "In D.C., police can declare 'Prostitution Free Zones' where officers can pick up (I mean, arrest) anyone suspected of sex work. And they've been accused of using carrying three or more condoms as proof of intent to sell sex -- rather than intent to spend the weekend getting jiggy with a guy."

WOW! Come on DC!

Hello Everydaycitizens. I hope all of your New Years and Christmas Vacations were truly blessed with the love of your family and friends and great hope for this 2010 year. I had such a wonderful time catching up with friends and family, enjoying my church family, and stuffing my face with all the delicious food my family prepared.

While Perusing through the internet, I came across an interesting story about prostitution in Dallas, Texas. According to Associated Press, "The program starts with a monthly roundup of prostitutes in an area health officials consider the national epicenter of syphilis. Dallas vice police have identified more than 1,300 prostitutes working four truck stops serve that more than 2,000 big rigs a day."

"Truckers were conducting counter-surveillance for prostitutes," Dallas police Sgt. Louis Felini said. "They let them use CB radios to advertise prostitution and drugs. As soon as a squad car entered the lot, every truck driver along I-20 knew how many cops and where they were."