Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Neocon Court returns Violence to the Mean Streets of Washington, DC. 32 years? Like what?


The graphic above is self explanatory. The graphic below comes from a California site (click here) that discusses juvenile crime. Guns are status. Guns are status among those that participate in crime. Juveniles are no different. Guns are a status symbol with gangs and California has a problem in their major cities with gangs that have resulted from illegal immigrants as well. This decision was a huge mistake and takes away the power of Mayors to 'target' effectiveness within their cities.


Washington, DC has 6th highest umemployment rate in the nation (click here). The graph at the bottom of the site has been 'toyed' with, so it is safe to say Washington,DC has maintained a consistently high unemployment rate. Apply the statistics as 'per capita' and DC has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. It has a far small population compared to higher rates of Michigan, Alaska, Rhode Island, Mississippi and California. Crime and drug economies are always a substitute for viable economies that supply jobs including those of teens.


Washington, DC is also 18th in the nation in violent crimes. Four of the other 17 cities are in states that also have high umemployment rates, California and Michigan. That means a majority of the most violent cities in the USA are accompanied by high unemployment rates.


Interestingly, Florida, which has liberal hand gun laws, has three of the remaining 12 cities with high violent crime rates. There is no correlation that says a nation, state or city is safer when citizens carry guns for protection. The correlation for gun control is far higher while addressing the underlying problems that spawn violent crime.




The Right Wing is already trying to 'tie in' any Republicans to their camp to voters that see this as an issue. There is a lot more to 'gun control' than simply saying, as the NRA does, "If people are armed they can better protect themselves." That's nonsense. That is anarchy. The USA needs to set the example of law enforcement and reformation of criminals. It can begin by returning the country to a viable economy with good paying jobs, a health care system that actually works for everyone and replacing the energy infrastruture with one that is reasonable and stops exploiting consumers for every dollar they earn.

Crime will occur even with jobs in a society, if those jobs can't address the needs of the employed as well. I am sure the nation's police force are now getting complaints on a regular basis about theft of gasoline. I am curious if insurance companies are receiving claims for same. If a consumer fills up their SUV with $100 of gas only to drive home 5 miles away and have their tank empty the next morning that is a claim that can be submitted. Most deductibles are higher than that, but, it is interesting to realize that the cost of a tank of gas is approaching the level of an insurance claim issue.

This decision is just "W"rong, but, what do you expect with extremists on the court ?