Alien Nation

"Often times I have hated in self-defense;

if I were stronger
I would not have used such a weapon."
Kahlil Gibran

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Dear Readers,

I was recently delighted to receive an intelligent anonymous comment (See my last blog entry "Now We Know - More") which, although filled with some rather harsh but good criticism about me and my blog, actually expressed thoughts and ideas! Thoughts and ideas in an anonymous comment? Wow! So different from the nasty personal attacks and death threats I've grown accustomed to receiving. And this commenteer gave me issues to which I can respond with more than a "oh yeah? Well I'M rubber, YOU'RE glue!" In fact, he made so many valid points for me to address that I won't be able to respond in a single post. (You know how wordy I am...)

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Writing and Style

First of all, as I've stated on numerous occassions, although I've spent much of my time typing at the computer these past two years, I am NOT a "writer". While many bloggers use the Internet to show-off their literary skills and clever ways with words, I have used this medium in self-defense to alert people to what has happened to my neighborhood with the goal of keeping sex offenders out of my backyard. I see myself not as a writer, but as an activist. A failed one, at that...

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Alienating Supporters

The commenteer indicated that my use of profanity and referring to the PTBs as having intercourse with toddlers is distasteful and alienates people who might otherwise support me in my cause. Supporters? What supporters? When I first learned that Nexus intended to bully their way into my residential neighborhood, I expected cries of public outrage. Putting sex offenders next to day care centers and helpless little old ladies? NEVER! But the public outrage didn't appear. It didn't seem to exist. The commenteers who said that I am the only one who cares, the only one who doesn't want the sex offenders in my back yard is pretty close to being correct. Most people's sympathies lied with Nexus. Why, I wondered...

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I've always realized the power of words, (but especially now that I'm being sued for mine). The power of the press to influence the opinions of a community is enormous, even monumental. Public words slant public opinion. Most people DO believe what they read in the paper. Most people DO trust their local government. The gentle words bestowed upon our community about Nexus were always benign terms like: boys, kids, Academy, teenagers, students, residents, campus, and non-profit. (At least until Hannabelle came along to set the record straight...) Awww. Shucks. Who wouldn't want these poor troubled ABUSED boys to have a good "home"? Hannabelle must not like children!!!! But those nice, soft words which might pertain to your own children do not express the unfortunate reality of the situation of the Nexus clientele. Yes, I might have offended many people by telling it like it is, but how else would people know? Nobody else was speaking the truth. At least, not the WHOLE truth.

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In a letter denying Nexus request for tax exemption for their Gerard facility in Austin, the Mower County Assessor states that Mille Lacs Academy is NOT and does not qualify as an "academy" (and is not elligible for tax exemption). Yeah, you can call it whatever you want. You can call it an "academy", a "school", a "home" etc. but the truth is that every inmate at the Mille Lacs "Academy" has been convicted through the court system as a juvenile sex offender who has caused harm to others. [Nexus' own admission]. Do you actually believe that they would be "very well-behaved in church" or raking leaves for the senior citizens if they weren't forced to be "in treatment"? These aren't little angels. These PTBs (poor troubled boys) earned their stay at the Mille Lacs Academy through their own bad deeds. The "campus" is an unlocked facility for juvenile sex offenders, licensed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Why do the "students" need 24/7 constant supervision and have their shoes taken from them? (And still there have been hundreds of escapes through the years.) If you read the actual court cases of some of the past inmates, [see Mille Lacs News] you get an idea of the type of crimes these "kids" are capable of committing. It is because they are dangerous in their own communities that they have been placed in ours.

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Yes, some people have been disgusted by my use of profanity. Usually its the people who have been duped into sympathy for the sex offenders that get most angry at Hannabelle's potty mouth. But I only use words. I am not violent. I don't rape people. No judge has put ME away (yet). WORDS are my sword. :) If you can't handle a few four letter words, how can you support the MLA "resident" convicted of the kidnap of two girls who were held in a garage and gang-banged repeatedly all day long.

From the court document:

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"J.K. was 14 years old when he committed the offenses. In the order revoking probation, the district court found:
"The offenses were committed against two young girls, ages 12 and 13, who were sexually assaulted by multiple individuals as part of a gang initiation. [J.K.] was in the car that drove Victim One to the garage where Victim Two was being assaulted. He admitted to having intercourse with Victim One and stated that he was the third one to “f…” her and that he ejaculated in her because another gang member told him to kill his sperm. [J.K.] was an active participant and forced the girls to have sexual intercourse with him at different times in a garage. Both victims were allegedly prevented from leaving. After one of the victims had been assaulted by another accomplice, [J.K.] pushed the victim back to the floor and forcibly penetrated her vagina with his penis. The victim tried to get away and told [J.K.] she was in pain during sexual intercourse. Afterwards, [J.K.] and the other gang members celebrated by going to McDonalds.
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J.K. was committed to Mille Lacs Academy, a residential treatment program for sex offenders."

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Gawd! I'm disgusted by the crimes these "poor troubled boys" have committed. Think of all the victims they have left numerous victims in their wakes, (at least one each.) I feel so much pity for the victims! I don't understand why others don't. If people are afraid of a little naughty language, why aren't they outraged that our local government is putting this kind of criminal next to day care? Its pretty ironic... Don't they think that these "boys" use that kind of language? Worse. Yes, it is a distasteful subject. But these are my new neighbors... I might not write about sex offenders in an eloquent manner, but I think I have a right to complain. These aren't "normal" kids. These are sex offenders who don't just "talk the talk", they "walk the walk".

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So if I shocked a few readers by using the F-word, I did my job. Shock therapy... Welcome to the ugly, dirty little world of sex offenders. Welcome to MY backyard. "Bringing you back to Reality" is more than just a slogan to me. Before Nexus intruded on our lives, my own mother, an intelligent woman thought that the Mille Lacs Academy was some kind of private school for privileged children, perhaps a military or prep school. What led her to think this? How many others were bamboozled? Why the misconceptions? - the propaganda fed to the public all these years. Until Nexus decided to move down the street, I too was guilty of not enlightening Mom- because knowing there were roughly a hundred sex offenders in our small town would scare her. Having them in her own backyard will, unfortunately change her life.

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So Hannabelle is the source of counter-propaganda, disspelling the Nexus propaganda spun by the local newspaper and city government. I realize that it is hard to hear. (This is NOT how I wanted to spend my time either... Yuck!) And I realize that I've been brash. Someone has to. The people have a right to know the truth. (Otherwise they might be lulled into a false sense of security and leave their keys in their car, only to have it stolen out of a grocery store parking lot by an escaped 13 year old sex offender...) The truth not only will set you free, it will keep you safe.

And although many people don't want to hear the truth, Hannabelle has tried very hard to tell it, even if it means losing friends and

becoming an alien in her own community.

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"How many legs does a dog have

if you call the tail a leg?

Four;

calling a tail a leg

doesn't make it a leg.

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Abraham Lincoln