If you were/are a fan of Animaniacs, I would like to encourage a touch of charitable-ness.

Betty and Byron Vaughns were involved in the production, and they were burned out last year, lost 'most everything. Also, the animation industry is on the skids out in California, and they have no work.
(Sound familiar? Thanks Japan and Korea, and their US enablers!) Here is their own report:

Most of you remember me, Byron Vaughns; some may know my wife Betty and some do not know us at all.  This blog was really started for her and we really need your help.

Betty formerly worked as my production assistant at Warner Bros. Animation when I was a director on Tiny Toons and Animaniacs; she moved on to working with the development department under Jean McCurdy in the 1990’s.  She later worked as a producer on a pilot for Nick Jr. before becoming the Administrative Director of Animation Creations, our animation workshop studio for children located in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Recently, she has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and is facing quadruple bypass surgery (high risk because of the high cholesterol & diabetes) and has lost sight in her left eye due to glaucoma. This situation has been compounded with a time consuming move from Arleta to Sylmar (she had to be rushed to the emergency room during that time).

The rest of their report is here.

Please go read their story. I learned of them from "Uncle" Eddie Fitzgerald's blog, (a friend of John Kricfalusi's, and the man "Pinky" the mouse was modeled after. Narf.) They have a real need, and if you have the ability (even a 10-spot) send 'em something. They have gotten approximately 1/3 of what they really need, to my knowledge. So help me prove the proggies wrong, that they do not need the Give-ment to bail them out. Friends they do not know they have will help them make it.

If you are in Dire Straits, then if you are so inclined, pray for the Vaughns, that they may get animation work, get monies, and get Betty back to good health. In fact, not IF.  Do it regardless of Straits! Good for them, good for you.

If YOU have a blog, please do a version of this on yours. Let's help. Donations can be done via PayPal on their site linked above.

Thank you.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.

God help us when we are in the hands of humanist justice.

Where theft was an issue under the Mosaic covenant, there are two basic divisions: if the thief returns the property voluntarily:

Lev. 6:1-7  The LORD said to Moses:
  "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him,
  or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do,
  when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property must be found,
  or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.
  And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.
  In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty."

The thief was not thrown into jail. He was required to make restitution + 20% of the value. (elsewhere, indentured servitude is prescribed for more heinous thievery.) Then the thief is to atone for his sin by making a sacrifice. All of these things serve to restore him to right standing with the victim and with God, as he has sinned against both.

This served as a model for criminal justice for millennia (however imperfectly implemented), until  the Quakers had a Real Good Idea. We should Make Criminals Think About What They Have Done. The Penitentiary was born. See the word "penitent" in the name? The miscreant is put in stir to consider his deeds and Feel Bad about them. He is given a Time Out. This serves as the model for dealing with criminals today, except that the criminals tend to Think About It, and Smile. Particularly the pervy ones.

So which is better, a system which punishes by requiring restitution, or one that is retributive, placing  miscreants in jail to learn ever better ways of being a miscreant, living at the expense of their victims? I recognise that this is about thieves; there are other crimes to be dealt with later on.
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Me lovin' daughter gets it. She realises the inherent mercy of the much-maligned spanking. Done properly, a spanking is a disciplinary event, a point in time, bringing the child to book for his infraction, and teaching him the concept of Consequences. After the event, he is restored to good graces and loved up on. He is forgiven, and is not to be narrowly looked upon over the misdeed. It is Done.

Compare this with the modern "merciful" methods like "time out"  and "taking away of privileges", I see spanking as the winner. It happens, and it is done. The child is restored to the family, taught and forgiven. The solitary confinement and loss of privileges drags on and on for hours or even weeks, a continuous torture of punishment, continually under the ban, constantly reminded of their failure; a breeding-ground for bitterness.

Before the howls of "ABUSE" come spittling out of the mouths of those whose parents did not do it right, I am speaking of spanking with a paddle or wooden dowel, never the hand. The hand should be used for comforting. Your child is not a puppy, who needs to be whacked right then. Spanking is discipline, not punishment; teaching, not judicial revenge. Therefore, the spanking should not be done while angry. THAT is where abuse happens. Cool off, 'splain it to the child, spank 'em, then comfort them when they calm down. Forgive them verbally. That also means it is not brought up again. It is Over.

Wise use of discipline when they are children will help lessen the likelihood of their requiring multi-year timeouts when they are grown.