Today's headlines, my thoughts

Some storied from Fox News, and my humble comments:

Kirby Puckett, the bubbly, barrel-shaped Hall of Famer who carried the Minnesota Twins to two World Series titles before his career was cut short by glaucoma, died Monday after a stroke. He was 45.

Kirby Puckett was what I like to call a throwback. He was tough and hard-working, loyal to his team and always hustling. He was fun to watch. I never was much of a Twins fan, but I was most definitely a Kirby Puckett fan. Anyone who truly loves the GAME of baseball will find it hard not to be. So long, Kirby. We will miss you.

Cindy Sheehan, who drew international attention when she camped outside President Bush's ranch to protest the Iraq war, was arrested Monday along with three other women during a demonstration demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Women Say No to War, which helped organize the news conference and march, said Sheehan and three other women were arrested while trying to deliver a petition to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations with more than 60,000 signatures urging the "withdrawal of all troops and all foreign fighters from Iraq." Police said they were arrested for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest… Richard Grenell, the spokesman for the U.S. Mission, said in response to Sheehan's arrest: "We invited her in to discuss her concerns with a U.S. Mission employee. She chose not to come in but to lay down in front of the building and block the entrance. It was clearly designed to be a media stunt, not aimed at rational discussion," Grenell said.

This is typical. Ms. Sheehan refuses to actually discuss matters in a civilize manner. Instead, she opts for maximum media exposure. Has anyone else had enough of this blow-hard?

Hood College is reviewing its homecoming rules after a lesbian was crowned king, a college official said. Jennifer Jones, the 21-year-old senior who beat out three men for the honor, said the crowning was a positive step for the private liberal arts college.

I mention this as a seg-way to a question that I asked a few weeks ago while watching the coverage from Torino. Obviously, gender lines are blurring more and more as our world becomes more progressive towards sexual orientation. So, how long until international figure skating allows for same-sex pairs? I give it no more than 5 years.

A woman whose 4-month-old daughter died after being left in a hot car was sentenced to five years in prison Monday. Melisa Wildman, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child. She also was sentenced to 15 years probation. Wildman told police she had consumed Xanax, four or five beers, cocaine and marijuana in a 12-hour period before Savanna died in April 2004. A sheriff's officer and paramedics had found Wildman unconscious in her car just hours before the baby's death.

I’m surprised her lawyer didn’t try to go after the physician who prescribed the Xanax. After all, the trend in today’s culture is to always find a way to blame another. Surely in a case like this the mother is the victim and not the criminal. The pathetic sentence she got corresponds with this line of thought. 5 years for aggravated manslaughter of a child? Is anyone else offended by this? And in a related story…

A woman who put her newborn in trash that ended up in a Nebraska landfill was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Lori Schultz, 21, wept in court and said she could have prevented her son's death. "The pain inside of me will be inside of me for the rest of my life," she said. "I know my baby is supposed to be 2 years old but he's not because I made a terrible mistake." Schultz pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to second-degree manslaughter. She will have to serve at least four years before being eligible for parole. After her son's birth Feb. 2, 2004, she said she wrapped him in towels and a garbage bag and put him in a trash can because she was afraid of how Paul Alan Lundberg, her boyfriend and the boy's father, would react. A volunteer searcher found the body April 5, 2004, at a Jackson, Neb., landfill. Judge Steven Jensen said he had to impose the maximum sentence because of the severity of the crime.

As I read this story, every sentence seemed to incite more shock. This is wrong on multiple levels. Let me point them out one by one: 1) “…I made a terrible mistake.” A terrible mistake? You murdered someone. That is not a ‘mistake’, it’s a malicious act designed to fulfill some sort of selfish desire. A terrible mistake is taking a wrong turn on your way to the mall. I would have given this woman ten years for the simple lack of insight. 2) Second-degree manslaughter. Is it because the prosecutor was too lazy or plain gutless? Why not charge this woman with premeditated murder? Any lawyers out there care to explain? 3) “She will have to serve at least FOUR years…” Four years for killing a baby? What’s interesting is that if she had gotten a partial birth abortion just a few days before, it wouldn’t have been punishable. I don’t see the logic in any of this. 4) “…HAD to impose the maximum sentence.” The maximum sentence was ten years? For murdering a baby? And we’re trying to deter this type of behavior? She will be 25 when she gets out of prison (most likely) and will have many years of fertility remaining. At least give her life in prison. If not that, then she needs to be sterilized. I swear, you have to pass a test to drive a car in this country, but any incompetent moron can have a baby. Does this make sense to anyone?