Here's whats bothering me: Justice, or the lack there of.

If you read Saturday's Gazette, you would have seen on the front page of the local section, above the fold, a story about former Capital District Off-Track Betting executive Davis Etkin. You would have read of a proposition he presented to the City Council asking for (among other things) financial backing to bring a men's tennis tournament to Schenectady. As you kept reading, you would have found out that our City Council was very interested in supporting and aiding this proposal.

Good idea you might say; since we lost the "Buzz" to Albany, we need a replacement. Schenectady, after all, had spent time and money creating a tennis arena that was now empty and literally going to rack and ruin. Well, I hope you kept reading; if you did, you would have found out about Mr. Etkin's past, how he had gone to trial and subsequently been found guilty of mismanaging funds, $3 million and change actually. Some of that OTB money built the current tennis arena, and $100,000 of it was used personally by Mr. Etkin, for food and alcohol at teletheaters for himself and his friends and family.

Because of his advanced age (and also being physically frail) he was sent to jail for months, not years, and then spent a year under house arrest. And to top things off, his son was convicted of bribing a witness and also got a minimal sentence.

Why am I telling you this? Because of justice and equal opportunity for fairness for everyone. Turn the page in said paper and hidden in a three-paragraph story halfway down the page is a small story about a pizza robbery. A group of teens - one as young as 14 - robbed a pizza delivery man for $20 in cash, chicken wings and pizza. They were tried as minors (which means their records are sealed) but sentenced as adults. That means they're going to prison for as much as four years.

Yes, I know they were wrong. Yes, I know they were stupid, misguided and foolish. Yes, I agree they need to be held responsible for their actions. But really, this smacks of the old English poverty laws of the 1800s.

Remember debtor's prison? What do you think is going to happen to those boys (for indeed they are boys) in prison? And most importantly, do you think they will be rehabilitated or more likely further corrupted?

What has their life been like up to this minute? If these were Niskayuna kids, what would have happened to them? Again, statistics show that 90 percent of teens incarcerated reoffend within five years or less. And 75 percent commit more serious and violent crimes.

Lest you think these figures came from so called bleeding heart liberals, let me tell you a story. About six years ago, a group made up of sheriffs, probation officers, police chiefs and guidance counselors got together and did a five-year study of juvenile crime. These were not the results they expected to find, but they stuck with them and are trying to educate the rest of us.

Good youth programs are much more effective than detention. But let's face it, it's not hard to beat a 90-percent failure rate.

So I beat my drum again and ask, what are you doing for your youth in your community? Outreach has to be personal - not marches and speeches and yet more meetings.

Don't donate stuff that's not good enough for your family to wear. All kids deserve the best, especially those in need.

Going to church is nice, but taking your religion to the streets and living it, that's really what being a good person is all about.

My endocrinologist asked me point blank last week in his office, "Judy why do you do it? Quest, I mean." This made me really uncomfortable, and as I winced and squirmed, I said what I always say: "I do it because I'm stubborn, because everyone says I can't or shouldn't."

What prompted him to ask on that fine day was my sky blue T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Because I Can." He looked at me with total disbelief.

"I do it because I love kids. They're my family," was another stock answer that came from my mouth. He looked at me very gently, and said "I believe you do it as a mitzvah".

Now, I am not Jewish, but it is my understanding that those of the Jewish faith believe in doing mitzvahs, or good deeds, just because. Not to store up points for eternity or look good in your family's or your rabbi's eyes, but just because.

I do believe that Jesus said something similar in the words "Let not your right hand know what your left hand is doing"

Every organized faith or religion in this crazy old world has something about giving of yourself that is, for no reward but the reward of good acts. Remember the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Every day I see inequality and lack of fairness and so called justice misused. I am a Libra - the scales, the balance, the right outcome. Is that not what this country was founded on? Not justice when it's easy or convenient, but justice as your daily bread. That's why Lady Justice is blindfolded, not to make her unseeing but impartial.

I recommend to everyone the movie "The Great Debaters." Besides being simply a great movie, it has a lot to say about conscience and taking risks so the world will be a better place.

It's nice to say we are going to war to bring truth, justice and the American way to Afganistan and Iraq. Defending the homeland, I believe is yet another reason we are at war. But if we have no justice here, no truth, no honesty if it's still all about, what you have and who you know why are we fixing other nations, other people?

Perhaps we need to look at ourselves first. Maybe we need to carry the banner of freedom to our youth, our people. "Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" is not propaganda; that's on our Statue of Liberty. Maybe it's no accident that both the Statue of Liberty and the justice statue are both woman.

Remember "And Ain't I A Woman?" the slave who could work like a man and still take care of her children? It's all about the children, after all. Bring the war home, bring a war of love and bread and committment to our community. Come join hands and walk the streets with me and we will commit great acts of valor and simple good deeds.

Mitzvahs from you and I.

QUEST is a community-based organization that provides a safe environment, free meals, counseling, art and recreation programs that keep Hamilton Hill children in school, out of trouble and on track for better lives. For more information on QUEST, visit www.questkids.net.