Pen-Elayne on the Web

Neighborhood Rapists

A coworker passed along an informative website this morning, which seems fairly legitimate on its surface, but they also appear to arrange presentations at organizations which like to create "an entrepreneurial, business-friendly environment attractive to investors," and they're associated with the National Heritage Foundation, which has, among other goals, "Replacing tax-dollars with charitable dollars, thus lessening the burdens of government." So I wouldn't entirely trust something that right-leaning, but founder Steve Roddel doesn't appear to have any closeted skeletons and an ACLU rep gives it a conditional thumbs-up, saying "I don't have any problem with websites like these that try to share information about sex offenders. As long as they are educational and pro-active, I think it is a good thing." Still, I don't tend to cotton to fear-mongering, and Roddel's remark "We are ready to launch in Britain. We are just waiting for the law to be changed." tends to give me pause; exactly what law needs to be changed there, and why does it exist to begin with? Yes, I'd like to know how to avoid rapists' homes as well, but any time I hear a version of "it's for the children" it usually sets off all sorts of mental red flags.