I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to the  many people who have shown me support leading up to and during my trial.  I imagine that so many people have so many opinions as to my guilt or innocence.  Someone on my guestbook said they knew for a fact that I liked children.  Let me assure everyone who reads that and may think that it is a reliable source that that person is WRONG.  Every lurid comment on that guestbook was left anonymously by people who claim to know me, or who rushed to judgement based on what they saw on the news when I was arrested.  I never hid behind false names or anonymous emails.  I spoke, and continue to speak candidly about my mistakes, my lack of judgement and the way I hurt so many people who were close to me.  I had the wherewithal to address my shortcomings and own up to my behavior.  What I did was stupid but not criminal.  But the ones who decide they are judge, jury and executioner hide?  I find that interesting.

     I would like to extend, to any group that would welcome me, my services as a speaker.  My goal now is to spread a warning for men and women who use the internet as a playground, and to educate parents and youths about the trappings of the on-line world. It is such uncharted and dangerous territory and it is being policed vehemently.  What once was considered just an anonymous wasteland of random thoughts, screwball comments and sarcastic remarks is now a repository for evidence of criminal wrongdoing, even if it is only thoughts on a screen.  We all need to be diligent in making sure it is explored and used with supreme caution.  What I went through, I do not wish on anybody.  Churches or groups who wish to hold seminars or lectures pertaining to this topic should Contact Bruno Moore with all their pertinent contact information.  Thank you again to everyone who has supported me, congratulated me and embraced me.  To those who continue to criticize, or harbor opinions of my guilt, I tell you that I told the truth on the stand.  That is the best I can do.

Bruno Moore

FINDING MRS. RIGHT

So you want to find that special girl, the one that, standing still, has the windswept hair, the tawny tan and the Zamphir musical track to go along with her.  You’ve searched every local spot du jour, attended enough 8 minute dating events to grab you that 40 hour commemorative lapel pin and have gone down 10 miles of grocery isle hoping for a cart catastrophe with Ms. Sugar and Spice.  However, like during so many hours of deep sea fishing, the big one gets away. 

                Well take it from a man who fought through the quagmire of loneliness, companion withdrawal and rendezvous gone awry.  The problem, unless you’re truly an illegitimate member or delusional leader of some polygamous cult, is not with you fair friend.  This one goes to the girls.

                Here is a case study in what I refer to as the Downward Spiral of Female Dating Etiquette.  For so long the burden of correct approach has been placed squarely on the shoulders of everyman.  Open her door, compliment her shoes, and learn how to tango.  But very little is expected of the woman when it comes to courtship.  The rule of thumb is easy.  Man is the provider.  Let him.

This philosophy is a modern one.  I remember distinctly, my grandfather telling me how he met my grandmother on a bet.  He was stationed in Ft. Pierce in the Coast Guard in the forties.  He and a group of buddies saw her, placed bets on if she would say yes to him or not and he defiantly marched up to her and asked for a date to the “picture show”.  They were married for almost 60 years.  Then the 70’s brought women’s rights to the forefront of pop culture and a new generation of women began to change the dating paradigm.  The burden on men, however, did not change.  We were still expected to lead the way in a relationship, or in the beginning of one.  We were trusted with opening doors, standing against the curb so that we would be splashed by oncoming traffic, saving her from a soggy fate.  We were the ones delegated with the approach still.  But armed with a new found independence, women began to use it.

                They continue to use it today.   For some, however it has evolved into an abuse of this independence.  Apathy towards sincerity and compassion, a “looking out for oneself” mentality and outright meanness have resulted in a narcissistic attitude from some women towards dating. This element activates a male tendency to act the same.  And what we have here, to steal a quote, “is a failure to communicate”.

                Consider a man who goes to a club and sees a girl he is interested in.  He approaches her and there are hundreds of authors making millions of dollars by writing about this delicate task.   The approach is all about style, diction, confidence, scent, look, and ultimately luck.  But a connection will depend on a plan much loftier than yours or mine. (Look Up at this point)   But again there needs to be reciprocation in the approach and quite often, for reasons we will study together, what is reciprocated is a blank stare, rolled eyes or the “giggle and run” .  Straight out answers like yes and no, purely positive or purely negative, are things of the past.  A society conscious of material wealth, and who has it, and how it can easily be obtained proliferates.

                Perhaps one thing can quiet the unnerved, and calm the soul.  The vast foray into the dating world seems to be a fate not unlike Dante’s Inferno.  But faith always has the upper hand.  God’s plan for you, your best place to him, is to be married.  Getting there, now that’s where the fun begins.

THE SOLDIER

In the smoke and dust of war, it is seldom the soldier that receives recognition for the right reasons. In the present conflict, especially, it is a war of politics as much as it is a war of exploding cars and rocket grenades. The casualty is the soldier and not just in the literal sense. No more noble job has ever been undertaken. These are men and women , barely adults, who serve to honor their country, and to do good for others. They live and die for a flag of stars and stripes ten thousand miles from home while in the lofty stratosphere of America the bountiful, we chatter and clatter on about this President and that senator. We hammer out plans and resolutions, we strategize from the confines of our living rooms, agonizing about SuperBowl Half-Time shows and a war-for-oil conspiracy. The soldier, however, has no such luxury. Instead of a casual quip about who's to blame for Iraqi mistreatment, instead of theorizing about the intentions of The Commander-in-Chief, the soldier is perhaps patrolling a riotous alleyway, trying in vain to keep the peace. Another soldier is welding scrap metal to her pathetically armed vehicle, hoping that the steel she has salvaged is just thick enough to deflect a round of automatic fire, and another soldier lies motionless in a heap, just yards way from the burning ruins of a building where he drew his last breath.

It is a benefit to loathe war. It is a reality to have to fight it. It is a disadvantage to let half-truths and lackluster argument diminish the importance of the fundamnetal element of the battle, the soldier. Soldiers stop being Democrats and Republicans when they start being fighters. We stop being Americans when we forget that there are men and women who love their country more than they love life itself. We stop being Americans when we lose sight of the good fight, the justice for which war is often waged. We stop being Americans when the weight of our own petty politics outweighs the gravity of the business of the soldier. And we stop being Americans when we think of American military might in terms of numbers and not in terms of family members who have gone to war.

This war is about so many things, but it is, above all, about the 18 year old man who wanted to see the world, and make it a better place. It is about the mother of three who has been called to a higher duty, who went to a desert land to save the children there, hoping that one day they would have the same opportunity as her own. It is the most noble thing one can do, fighting for a good cause. How insignificant are we who would choose to criticize of a war rather than choose to honor those who fight there. The danger isn't a difference of opinion. The danger is indifference in itself.

Bush 2004 is gearing up for quite a fight. With enough Democratic presidential candidates to start a congressional softball team, a waning economy and a cornucopia of missing Iraqi chemical weapons, The good son might just have his work cut out for him. On the heels of a war whose justification is still in question, and Bush the Sequel looming ever closer, the Republican camp is strategizing. His job approval rating is soaring with white voters, but black voters are harder to warm up to. According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, his approval among blacks is up from a meager 29 percent in 2000, to about 36 percent in 2002, but 36 percent does not a presidency win. Traditionally, black voters have been loyal Democrats. But with the flood of Dems to choose from, a split black vote may be inevitable. Even with the Reverend Al Sharpton and former Democratic senator Carol Braun Moseley on the short list of Democratic candidates for presidency, Bush 2004 is confident that with a little spinning, black voters can be attracted. Indeed, both Sharpton and Moseley were blasted in a recent Washington Post editorial. Writer Jonetta Rose Baras called them "mediocre (Black) candidates" and said that black voters in America "deserve better". The Republicans couldn't agree more. Bringing those split votes together for the common good of one Republican candidate could be the ends to justify the means. According to a poll by Black America's Political Action Committee (BAMPAC), Black voters are in limbo with 4 out of 10 black voters polled left with the feeling that the Democratic party has taken them largely for granted. Though their feelings for the GOP are split at about 50/50, there has been an upswing in Republican support. A Democratic move to lay off several black party workers to make room for the presidential campaign budget was met with harsh criticism from black leaders. The DNC quickly rescinded the move, but damage may have already been done. Black voters, who are traditionally Democratic loyalists and unwavering supporters of the DNC may be looking elsewhere. In the current political landscape, it seems Black Americans are like men and women without a country.

Democrats also backpeddled after The NAACP took issue with some Democratic presidential candidates themselves.. NAACP CEO Kweisi Mfume blasted Senator Joseph Leiberman, Representatives Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich for not attending the NAACP annual convention in Miami, Florida in July. In an 11th hour move, Leiberman, Gephardt and Kucinich found time in their schedules to attend the last day of the convention. Before the schedule switch, Mfume called the candidates "persona non grata". Mfume also criticized Bush for choosing a whirlwind trip to Africa over a chance to meet with NAACP leaders at the same convention.

Knowing that his success among black voters may very well rest on the success of his domestic agenda, and his effort to reach out to the black community, Bush has vowed to persue initiatives that Republicans say will reach minorities at that level. In another Joint Center pole, 36 percent of blacks say they were worse off than the year previous. Taking that into consideration, the Bush campaign began a move to promote home ownership among minorities. In October of 2002, Bush hosted the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership. In June of 2002 Bush began pushing for an "aggressive homeownership agenda". Through downpayment assistance, increasing the availability of affordable homes and supporting self-help ownership programs like those that help minorities get into homes through community volunteerism and "sweat equity", the aim is to lure Black voters to the Republican polls through providing them the American Dream.

Pamela Mantis of the Republican National Committee says the minority homeownership program is one of a handful of grass-roots programs that Republicans are spearheading to attract African Americans. Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program, geared towards holding school districts accountable for their performances is another program slanted towards African-Americans.

"For a child in a school that is consistently failing, " Mantis explains, "it gives parents the option to switch their kids to a different school".

The key, according to Mantis, is reaching African-Americans on an individual level.

"Outreach isn't anything new. Perhaps we haven't been perfect in the past, but under the leadership of President Bush, we recognize we need to do a better job".

The "No Child Left Behind" initiative may very well be the Republican's answer to concerns African Americans have about the education of their children. According to a BAMPAC pole, 84 percent of Black Americans polled say improving education is number one on their priority list when looking for a candidate to support. Those numbers have not fallen on deaf ears.

But, not all African-Americans are as confident that the GOP is sympathetic to their needs. David Bositis, Senior Political Analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington DC says a Republican attempt to warm up to black voters may be too little too late.

"The main problem that the Republican Party is going to have to work on reestablishing is some level of trust with African Americans. That's something that's going to take time".

Bositis says the Republican agenda and what he calls their "substantial amount of baggage" limits their ability to gain that trust. He points to a 2000 speech at Bob Jones University where Bush was asked about the confederate flag controversy across the South. Bush answered that it should be up to the states to decide the appropriateness of flying the banner.

"To African Americans", Bositis says, "flying the Confederate Flag is an insult".

Republicans may still have a long way to go to gain the trust of the African American community and the challenge is to do it without seeming insincere. Scrambling to get votes by last-minute initiatives that seem attractive to African-Americans may do more harm than good to the Republican party. But the Bush campaign may be scrambling for more than just the black vote. With, so far, an unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, with a chain-of-command meltdown regarding tainted intelligence about uranium yellowcake sales to the Hussein regime and internal conflict over US soldiers overstaying their mision in Iraq, The Black vote may be the last thing on the Bush agenda. If that is the case, then once again, the African American voter may be left feeling slighted, an unfortunate consequence to a neverending circle of political gameplay.