Increase in Violent Crime

Authorities in the UK have determined that violent crime is steadily rising even though less violent crimes such as car theft and burglary are down.

Less serious “crimes against the person” were up 17% and one of the reasons is the crime recording process. Common assault is now recorded for the first time ever. Police now record as a crime, simply what the victim tells them. That’s Not Right – is it?

Harassment is also up, including racial harassment, which is a new crime C’mon! so authorities have been encouraging people to come forward to report these offences.

Serious violent crime rose by 18%:

One criminologist states that the increasing violent behavior is driven by “postmodern angst”. He claims that people are more uncertain in life, there are only informal controls. Post modern angst eh? I’ll keep my eye peeled for him!

Theories are pretty wacky:

In more prosperous times, property crime goes down and violent crime goes up. Reason being – people have more money so they’re out drinking, and fights occur. It’s a theory that has lost favor in recent times. I wonder why?

Gun crimes seem to be better:

Gun crimes for last year were only up 2%, slowing down from an increase of 34% the previous year. Imitation gun crimes using replicas have jumped to a startling 46% increase. There’s a five-year minimum sentence for gun possession. The police have been cracking down on gun related crimes – and it’s about time! Good job!

The police have had a big drive against crimes such as car theft/burglary and home burglaries. It’s been one of their great successes. They brought in the automobile manufacturers, attempting to make cars harder to steal or burglarize.

The UK police have made a real effort – encouraging people to make their homes more safe & secure with burglar alarms, particularly in rough areas.

It appears that although violent crime is up, the UK police have succeeded in reducing other areas of crime. Now they’ll start cracking down on gun related crime, and hopefully next year, I can report a decrease of violent crime in the UK!

Sailors Net More Than Fish!

In breaking news – eight sailors were charged with arranging fake marriages to Polish and Romanian women, to increase their military housing pay and help the women obtain U.S. citizenship. Nice job guys and your timing is great too! Stupid is, as stupid does….Forrest Gump!

The Naval “CIS” Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement claimed that none of the women lived with the sailors they married. The sailors received $35,000 in fraudulent basic housing allowance payments, investigators said. One sailor was up to almost $2K per month! A Go-Getter!

The Navy stopped the allowances. That’s to be assumed of course. Where were the “bean counters” when these swabs applied for the obvious fraudulent money? If convicted, the men, from the USS Kennedy and USS Simpson could catch up to five years per count. It’s not clear if the women will face charges. Each paid $6K for the weddings to the GI’s so they could petition for U.S. citizenship, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The NCIS investigation began when a sailor assigned to the USS Kennedy, was approached by a sailor from the USS Simpson with the scam to get basic housing pay for marrying a Polish woman. The sailor who arranged it was supposed to get $6K from the Polish woman and the sailor that married her would get the basic housing allowance. But apparently, not the wife.

Five of the sailors went to court on Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Four of the men face charges of “conspiracy to enter into a fraudulent marriage” and “conspiracy to present false claims to the government”. It sounds like they’re taking this seriously (they take everything a little too seriously) and will be “hammering” these young men for their parts in the scheme that netted a whopping $35K!

Now, I’d say a reduction in grade and a stiff fine would be enough – even toss them in the brig for 30 days to boot, and a “BCD”. But we’ll see – it’s $35,000.00 dude, what’s the matter with you?

Well, it isn’t what’s the matter with me, I worry about the balance and even handed justice. It’s what’s the matter with a legislature filled with money grubbing “hustlers” and privileged Govt. officials – military and civilian, who spend that much money on air fare, hotels, hookers, food and booze for an overnighter at a lodge – because they’re above the system that they police.

We should focus on the BIG MONEY and put those criminals behind bars, not just these kids, scraping to get by. This is where the reports from the GAO of $400 crescent wrenches and toilet seat covers come from. This is where the influence peddlers, and taxpayer-funded freeloaders should be – (behind bars) – not just some kids trying to hustle a few bucks to make ends meet. Not that I condone anyone cheating the American taxpayer – ever, but there seems to be a double standard sometimes, to me anyway!

With all her faults – God Bless America!

Fox News Reported:

“Yong Hak Kim, 53, a top administrator of Amex Manufacturing in eastern Tijuana, was seized as he drove to his business early Thursday. About 24 hours later, he was able to escape the small home where he had been taken, grabbing a gun and running into the street.”

Now that’s an armed and dangerous man folks. He’s been kidnapped and escaped running for his life with their gun! Beats the heck out of a stun gun or pepper spray!

“He told police he was unharmed by his abductors, but injured himself after brandishing a weapon and trying to jump aboard a passing gasoline truck. The scene caused such a commotion that neighbors called the police, said Victor Ramirez, a spokesman for Tijuana’s police department.”

Damn, that had to hurt. It shows the measure of his resolve in saving himself – he jumped onto a moving gasoline truck – OUCH!

Apparently his abductors were too busy sleeping off their beer, tequila or heroin to notice their captive busting loose, stealing their gun and bolting out of there. I’m not sure I could have been that forgiving and just may have “popped a cap” into my kidnappers (just to keep them busy) while I ran for the police. They’re lucky they “jacked” a nice guy! Check out the full story!

Just when we’re having so much controversy about illegal immigration, these idiots pull this – right in T.J. too! That’s going to ruffle the feathers of the good ol’ boys for sure! Leave it to Mexican “tough guys” to screw things up when so much is at stake – I’ll never understand these guys I guess?

Arm Yourself Wisely!

One of the hot trends in the “self defense products” industry has been the wide acceptance and use of a variety of cheap, effective, personal alarms.

More than ever, we’ve seen these handy little devices, being bought up like “hot cakes” by women (men too) to keep handy in a purse or pocket. Some come with alarm modes only, and others come with either flashlights, stun capability or strobes. I have even seen a couple that also double as door and window alarms by use of an attachment. That’s quite a deal for a $10 – $20 self defense product that really works.

In fact, self defense products in general, have been selling at unheard of prices, far below what I paid for my first canister of Mace Pepper Spray over 20 years ago!

There is one downside to equipping yourself with only a personal alarm. Sure, they will make a lot of noise and certainly draw attention if you activate one near people, but what about if you’re alone and no one is around? What if people ARE around and you activate your personal alarm to ward off a determined attacker?

They will walk right up and attack you with a vengeance, robbing or otherwise assaulting you – and there’s nothing you can do about it! For those who buy or carry a personal alarm, I recommend some good backup like pepper spray or a stun gun. If you have to stand and fight, then activate your alarm to confuse them, and go into self defense mode, employing a solid man stopper! As mentioned, a good blast or two of pepper spray in the eyes and mouth, or a couple seconds of “several hundred thousand volts” flowing through their body from your backup stun gun – should do the trick!

So be prepared, stay aware, and hit them with your best shot and run if possible. If not, then fight for your life – they will!