6 Thursday, June 26, t 997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
JL II
The Prophet does it again
Cripe, I did it again. How many times must I say that if you want to
know prophecy, turn to On Target.
A few weeks ago I had written about the People's Republic of
California signing into law a bill to allow chemical castration of
• habitual sex-offenders. NOW, completely a surprise to me, the state of
Nevada wants to do the same thing.
A state Assembly panel is looking at two different bills which would
allow the state to enforce chemical castration. This is a series of
injections of a compound to suppress testosterone and in turn, sexual
desire in men.
At the time I wrote about it, I was very much against it. This can be
cart ied to extremes. How about a bill to cut offthe legs of someone who
escapes from prison? In Saudi Arabia you can get your hands cut off
for stealing. Off with your head for adultery.*
I, generally, do not believe that the state has the right to take "body
parts" to right a wrong. On the other hand, with the rash of problems
we're having here in Payrump, I'm starting to rethink my position.
Unfortunately, this comes after the fact. The damage is already
done. I think that life in prison without possibility of parole is a better
method of preventing this from happening again. There should be
strict rules for sentencing when children are involved.
The bill, SB101, is currently being debated and it's set up so that the
process is entirely voluntary. The second bill involving the same
subject, AB206 is also set up to be strictly voluntary. I suppose there
is a good chance that one of these bills will pass.
Like I said, I was originally very much against such a process. It
would let an offender out of prison early on the theory that he is no
longer capable of sexual contact. On the other hand, what about the
rest of his personality? What's to keep him from murdering someone?
I think we're beginning to dabble in things that should be left alone.
I II I I
There's only one way
Our state legislators worry too much
about the wrong things -- or how to
enforce them. Once again, there is dis-
cussion about how to curb advertising by
all these "escort" services in Las Vegas.
No doubt there's a problem. Escort
services, or outcalls, whatever you want
to call it, are more often than not fronts
for prostitution. It's been a problem in
Vegas for many, many years.
The concern of our legislators are how
to keep advertising from the eyes of our
children. I agree that this is a serious
problem. On the other hand, escort ser-
vices themselves are a problem.
Rural Nevada has the answer to the problem. Legalized prostitU-
tion. Simple as that. There is no advertising problem -- except when
trying to nit-pick exactly what the law prescribes. Legal brothels try
very hard to work within the letter of the law. They have to in order
to keep their license.
Prostitution is never going to go away in Las Vegas. The only way
to regulate is first to legalize it.
Illl I I II [
The optimist thhtks that
this is the best of all
possible worlds, and the
pesshnist knows it.
ar[;et
by Joe Richards
Jrom the
Kingdom of Nye
Whether you
hate him or love
him, he won't let
you ignore him!
to buy
