Puppy Rage

Psychotic:

[Nicolas] Hubbard traded his computer for a puppy with a woman who lives at the home, Detective Martha Shea said, but he became angry when the puppy scratched his daughter. He left the woman messages that he wanted to hurt the dog, police said.

The woman told Hubbard she would take the dog back and he agreed, police said. After she retrieved the dog, he changed his mind and wanted the dog back.

She refused, because she feared for the dog's safety, and agreed to return his computer, police said.

Hubbard showed up at the home on Thursday, kicking and punching the front door and yelling. After the woman kept him from entering, police said, Hubbard then smashed a car window

It's past time we brought back flogging in the public square as punishment for this sort of senselessly violent behavior. Long past time. There are very few forms of anti-social and petty criminal behavior that cannot be remedied by a good striping.

Take vandalism, for example. It is one of my pet peeves. Vandalism, in the forms of both wanton destruction of private property and placing graffiti on public property, has in recent years become fashionable among teenaged and twenty-something urban males with malfunctioning moral compasses and brains over-saturated with the crap that passes for modern pop culture. I guarantee that twenty lashes with a cat-o-nine-tails will stop that behavior cold.

Nothing teaches a hard lesson as quickly or as effectively as pain. We have forgotten that in the West, and it is imperiling our survival as a civilized culture. Don't believe me? Take a vacation to England -- or Detroit. Be sure your will is up to date before you leave.