Re: "Posted by jasonmi7 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 11, 09 at 22:55 My question is; if many of you feel there should be much more strict standards on GC licensing; what are you doing to make it happen? How many of you have contacted your state legislatures, your congresspeople, run petitions? What have you done?" Good point and one I hope every reader takes to heart. I personally have become quite involved in local politics over this exact issue. I've also been involved w/consumer organizations that deal w/the issue, signed petitions, written countless letters, etc. Many people quickly become discouraged and give up, when they find out the legislators are more interested in getting campaign donations from the local buiders association. But I think in time, if people stick to it, they often have some success. I've kind of concluded that licensing is not in itself a good solution--there needs to be a licensing board that is not just run by builders as that's just more self-regulation and it never works. A bond is a good idea, but also there needs to be a public complaint database that isn't censored by the govt or builders or anyone. Criminalizing certain construction frauds is also needed. Educating consumers is also needed and that's something anyone can do, to share what they know about their construction mishaps, what they learned about the state's licensing or lack of it, etc. I was, and still am, determined to make my bad experience be worth something, so I continue to work in these issues and encourage others to do the same. If you want things to improve you have to work on it. It doesn't work if people just sit there and assume a handful of consumer advocates like hadd.com and hobb.org will do all the work. They need numbers of people to help. Citizen apathy is a very bad thing, whether it's about homebuilding, taxes, health care or any issue.

Alcohol laws vary state by state and even within certain states they can vary by county. Unemployment law varies state by state. If you have questions you need to read what the law is in YOUR state. It is extremely unlikely that you are going to find specifics about Alabama on a discussion board inhabited by Texans, Canadians, Wisconsinites, New Yorkers, and Australians speaking off the cuff. One thing is for sure, and that is that Muni Court cannot control what the Federal Social Security Office does. Now then, Social Security does have rules about paying benefits to those who are incarcerated for crimes they commit, while they are incarcerated. They don't send SS checks to prisoners in jail. Once out, even felons can receive SS checks if they are routinely eligible. Social Security benefits are not paid for the months you have been sentenced to a jail, prison or correctional facility or confined to certain public institutions for committing a crime. And, no benefits can be paid for any month in which you violate a condition of your probation or parole. Although you cannot receive monthly Social Security benefit payments while you are confined, your spouse or children can be paid benefits on your record if they are eligible. I don't know the all the laws in AL but I cannot see a first time offender, young girl working retail, doing any actual jail time over this. Then again I know that Alabama has dry counties and maybe judges have a "get tough" policy regarding the enforcement of alcohol laws and dole out harsh punishments for disobeying the alcohol laws. In my state there would be a HUGE monetary fine for something like this and it could be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances surrounding the case. There could possibly be jail time depending on the circumstances of the case. There may be loss of license for premise owner and also for the employee. For an employee to lose their license would be devastating as most employers won't hire someone without one even though they can. If there is jail time AND the girl is currently receiving SSI checks for one reason or another, (some minors can receive if they are in school and a parent is deceased or disabled) her checks would cease while she is incarcerated. Maybe that is what the employer was referrig to. I guess we will never really know. Read up on SS law to find out more. abc.alabama.gov

Here, they are trying to pass for Homeland Security reasons to reduce tampering with our food stock. They've tucked this restriction into the bill and it's going to be a detriment. It's probably a shoe-in because of the Homeland Security factor. The photographing restrictions need to be removed from the bill. Don't get me wrong, I'm really not for trampling people's rights. A photograph can only help an animal in need. The farmers make a choice to farm. I make a choice to drive a car. The car is my personal property. However, I need to take care of my car (inspections, etc) and that is a responsibility I accept when I take it on. There are even restrictions on my car while it's parked on my land. The same should hold true for farmers. I dealt with Ag & Markets for over a year about a pet mill in my area. They tell me they are restricted by the limited laws that are in place. They have documented neglect, felony and misdemeanor crimes yet the facility still is allowed to operate. The stories coming from consumers turn your stomach inside out. If people like the woman in the above story were not able to take photographs, I'm not so sure help would ever come to these animals. These photos outrage the public and increase their awareness of the actual animal cruelty taking place. Someone linked the path to the news article in that story. They initially gave the owner three days to clean up the farm. Three more days of suffering... That's how Ag&Markets operates for pets, too. They give the owner a warning and come back out to make sure the offense is taken care of. Each and every year they repeat the same procedure for the same issues of neglect. You'll have to let us know how Iowa makes out. Really, making it illegal to report a crime? We are working backwards.

I'm sure it's some kind of minimum security prison but I'm not so sure I want them to be a prisoner per se, with all the tax dollars going to support them while they are there. Instead, maybe they should have community service to help endangered plants and animals.