ANSWERS TO KAWAMOTO'S INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Do you have a favorite TV show? Why is/was it your favorite?

I have several but probably none that I just absolutely can't miss anymore. I get bored with TV these days it seems. Let's see... When I was younger my favorite TV show was "Lost in Space" or the old "Superman" series. Then when "Knight Rider" came out, you couldn't get me away from the TV then. Later on, it was "Star Trek", which I came to enjoy after taking a science fiction literature class in college. Then I really enjoyed "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I couldn't get into any of the other ones after that, though. I suppose nowadays I mostly enjoy "Family Guy", "South Park" and "King of the Hill" because I enjoy crude cartoon humor.

2. Have you always lived in the South?

No, actually I haven't. Also it depends on what your definition of the South is. I lived in Hampton, Virginia for several years. But before that, I lived in Caracas, Venezuela for a bit. I was a military brat. I've lived in Texas, Mississippi and Georgia as well, but those I would all consider to be the South.

3. Do you have any hobbies that are unusual or just that you really enjoy?

Well, I enjoy all my hobbies, otherwise I wouldn't do them. I'm not sure if any would necessarily be considered unusual or not. Perhaps they would be considered unusual for a woman. I love cars and working on cars. I like motorcycles as well. Lately I have really been into playing poker and I've taken up knitting (which anyone that knows me, would say is unusual for ME). I've also been learning R/C flying. Of course I had to start out on helicopters because that was more difficult. Oh, and I'm teaching myself how to play guitar, but that's not very unusual as I have a musical background anyhow. I am also my friends' computer repair person. I like fixing stuff, I guess. Check back next week and I'll probably have one or two new hobbies I've picked up.

4. Is there a really cool website you've come across that you want to share?

You mean, besides my own? LOL. Well, I like these three websites for the strangeness factor: http://www.rathergood.com, http://www.joecartoon.com, and http://www.subservientchicken.com/

5. What do you think of the new law just passed in Florida with the GPS tracking of sex offenders?

I have very mixed feelings about this. On one hand I certainly don't like the idea of sex offenders, especially repeat sex offenders being let loose if they are a danger to people. I suppose there is no real way to know if they would repeat the crime or not until it's too late. So I really think when it's a case of having sexually molested a child, that they should probably never be let loose again. I guess that seems even more harsh than tracking them, but I think these are criminals you don't want to take a chance with. If they would clear out all the nonviolent people convicted of victimless crimes in jail, they'd have plenty of room to house the violent criminals which I feel should stay in there.

I'm a Libertarian, so I really believe that only crimes that have a victim involved should be considered as such. The ones that are in jail because they were convicted of drug possession, or gambling, or consensual sex with another person shouldn't be in there. If they didn't hurt anyone else, then it shouldn't be a crime. Yet a lot of these people end up staying in jail longer than the violent criminals. Obviously sexual predators would fall under violent criminals.
The thing that bothers me about GPS tracking is that once it's implemented, it's not likely to go away. And I'm sure Big Brother is going to expand on what 'crimes' would be eligible for GPS tracking devices. Today it's only sex offenders, next week it could be 'deadbeat dads' or anyone on probation. How long before people are convinced that having a GPS tracking chip inserted in newborns is going to help tremendously with Missing Children cases? And then how much longer before the government makes it almost mandatory like they do with numbering your children with Social Security Numbers? Do we really want a generation of people being tracked this way? I have a dim outlook on the future because I feel eventually we will be living in a police state whereby everything we do will be tracked in some way by the Imperial Federal Government just in case we might be a terrorist threat or involved in some sort of criminal activity. It's sort of a 'guilty until proven innocent' approach. Already a lot of stuff people do is tracked in some way and many people are unaware of it.

I say keep the f-ckers in jail and leave the rest of us alone as long as we're not hurting anyone. Maybe if these sexual predators knew that a conviction would bring a life sentence with no chance of parole, they'd think twice about it. I guess now there will be a market (albeit a black market) for those that can hack into the GPS system and make it seem someone is one place when they're not. Just another reason that jail is a safer place for these people...

Ok, off my soapbox.

I've answered Kawamoto's questions. Read below if you want me to interview you.

MEME RULES

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.