Deadbeat dad of 23 gets a hand slap

 

Meet Howard Veal. Now, Mr. Veal apparently vehemently follows Darwin in that he has fathered 23 children with 12 different women. Yes, spread the seed. Someone should get with this man and document his pick-up lines because they seem to work rather well.

Of all those children, 23 and counting, Veal has paid a grand total of $90 in child support. Nothing more. Ever. To date, he owes $533,000 in back child support with 14 additional child support cases pending. He is currently unemployed in Michigan, a state bursting with a 13% unemployment rate.

The punishment doled out by the courts: 23 to 48 months in jail with a price tag to taxpayers of roughly $30,000 a year.

You are the poster child for irresponsibility," Kent County Judge Dennis Leiber told Veal at a court hearing, according to The Grand Rapids Press. "You're an insult to every responsible father who sacrifices to provide for their children."

I’d say that this makes a darned good case for male birth control.

Middle East peace talks progress summed up

Palestinians are threatening to withdraw from talks and Israel is refusing to extend a moratorium on settlement building. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton can’t seem to break the deadlock, though she did put her foot down and told both sides not to wreck the peace talks.

As always, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the Associated Free Press captured the sentiments exactly. This is progress.

Internet propaganda raises US terrorist threat

ABC News (and only ABC News) reports today that the threat of terrorism is now the highest since 9/11, with readily available al Qaeda propaganda on the Internet driving like-minded individuals in the US to terroristic acts.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter spoke during a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee September 22, 2010 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to present the facts behind the evolving threat level.

"A blend of al Qaeda inspiration, perceived victimization, and glorification of past plotting, has become increasingly accessible through the Internet, and English-language websites are tailored to address the unique concerns of US-based extremists," said Leiter, who stated that more complex and frequent attacks have happened in the last year.

"The attack threats are now more complex, and the diverse array of threats tests our ability to respond, and makes it difficult to predict where the next attack may come.”