It's a jungle out there

Police say that the men bragged to their friends of doing this on a regular basis. For spice and variety they visited their favorite resort towns (including Aspen) and plied their vile craft.

One can only pray that these men were caught in the act of performing their first crime and that their bragging was some crazy criminal fantasy they were just getting started on. Doubtful though. From the sounds of things, these subhumans brought their poisonous concoctions and sicko minds right into our town.

It's hard to find anything good to say about these men. At least one of them was (allegedly) caught in the act. How do you punish heartless beasts like these? How do you give Christian forgiveness to such unrepentant wierdos?

Maybe their mamas never loved them. Whatever the case may be, I don't ever want these pimples on the ass of humanity walking the streets again, in Aspen or anywhere else. I don't particularly want my tax dollars going to feeding, housing or studying them either. Saudi Arabia catches guys like these and chops their heads off. No long appeals, no costly television coverage... just off with their heads. But here in America the justice system has fallen victim to it's own cycle of checks and balances. Crafty lawyers twist the words and clutch at loopholes to clog up the system, rendering real justice impossible. Even with overwhelming evidence, including witnesses, many obviously guilty and murderous scumbags walk free from the clutches of the law every day.

In other words, we can't count on law enforcement to protect us, or to provide justice. The wheels have come off and we must now learn to fend for ourselves. We must be alert, aware and active. We must calculate the risks and watch our backs. This is, unfortunately, what our children must learn about living in a world gone wild.

The axiom "don't talk to strangers" has never held more water than today. "Don't take candy from strangers," is even more important. I am going to be sure that my daughter understands those words and lives by them every day.

I've been doing some work down at the Theater in the Park lately. The theater is located along the edge of Wagner Park by the Aspen Art Museum. The city has been doing some path work along the Rio Grande below the recycle center and along the tent.

They are using a mini-excavator and a front loader as well as some other heavy machines. This has provided me with a front row seat of nature on the run. I have seen two snakes lying in the dirt near the melee. One, a pretty big specimen, was shedding it's skin. (And I've heard that it's not even shedding season yet.)

I'm not just going to bitch about it. I have an idea. Why shouldn't the city or county reevaluate little projects like these? Why not do them by hand? Someone needs to create the Human Touch® Construction Company. I called a reputable earth moving company and got basic rates on machines like those mentioned above. The mini-excavator runs about $45 per hour. The front loader costs about $135 per hour. The bigger machines cost $175 per hour.

So if the city is using just the mini-excavator and the front loader for 10 working days that costs us $15,200. (They were using more than that.) Paying a human laborer $15 per hour will get you 1,013 hours, that's 126 full 8-hour days for the same price.

Not all of these jobs can be done by hand, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that much of this work that I witnessed could have. Using human hands would feed families, decrease pollution and use of natural resources, be a heck of a lot more quiet and probably save money in some cases. Even if it costs a little more, the benefits are well worth it.