New crime shows all over TV

New crime shows all over TV. I literally cannot even keep up with them all.

Shows like:

Detroit 1-8-7 (as in MURDER).

Chicago Code (about a new, female police official who wants to clean up the city and ends up targeting a major public official for corruption -- an assassination is made against her life and a cop is killed, all in the first episode along with several other murders).

Harry's Law (about a law office -- in the last episode one of their lawyers sued fast food companies, making a heck of an argument to the judge about why the case should proceed during a hearing on a motion to dismiss the case, forcing the company to settle out of court).

Alaska Troopers (or something like that, about the "most rugged cops in the most rugged terrain").

Heck, even new shows about a pawn shop and "repo men" feature crime on a regular basis, as in every episode.

It makes your head spin trying to keep up with it all.

The point is, crime is literally everywhere in entertainment. And every bit of it is unrealistic and a major source of misconceptions about crime and criminal justice practice in the US.

U.S. report: Electronic flaws didn't cause Toyota speed surges

"U.S. report: Electronic flaws didn't cause Toyota speed surges"

That is the headline in the news.

In fact, NASA investigators did not find any electrical cause of the surges of speed in Toyota cars. This does not mean they don't exist.

The error is thought to plague only 1 in 100,000 cars.

NASA only examined 9 cars.

So what were the odds they would find a problem anyway?

The conclusion is that the crashes of Toyota cars were caused by "sticky" gas pedals and defective floor mats, as Toyota said all along.

Great.

But Toyota still knew about the problems and did not fix it until it was too late.

This fact is getting lost in the news.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110209/BUSINESS01/102090344/0/OPINION05/U-S-report-Electronic-flaws-didn-t-cause-Toyota-speed-surges?odyssey=nav%7Chead

The context of Muslim extremism in the US

Today on NPR's "Fresh Air" a UNC professor was interviewed about his new book dealing with Muslim extremists in the US. The book is called The Missing Matryrs.

The title alludes to the fact that there are so few Muslim terrorists, as opposed to the many that we have been led to believe exist.

In the book, author Charles Kurzman shows that out of 140,000 murders in the United States since 9/11, Islamist terrorists have killed a total of 33. And about two-thirds of those were killed in a single event, the Fort Hood shooting in Texas.

So the book does a good job of providing the context of violent attacks by Muslims in the US relative to your everyday. normal murders.

The book also shows that: "Of the 150,000 people who die each day, worldwide, Islamist militants account for fewer than fifty fatalities--and only ten per day outside of the hotspots of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan." Again, this is very good context for the threat posed to us and the rest of the world.

A member of the House of Representatives from New York plans to hold hearings soon to show that Muslims do not cooperate with US authorities in terrorism investigations and thus they pose a threat to our nation. Yet, Kurzman shows that about half of all information used to disrupt terrorist attacks in the US has come from Muslim communities.

Somehow, in spite of the small threat posed to us, Americans remain afraid of Muslims and think Islam is the enemy.

This book--a form of MEDIA--will hopefully go a long way toward calming us of our unnecessary fears.

http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/

Will California resume executions?

California has the nation's largest death row population.

But it has not executed anyone since a judge imposed a moratorium in 2006.

Now that judge is visiting the new execution chamber to see if it is acceptable enough to him to resume executions.

The state, in a massive budget crisis, still spent $900,000 to build the new execution room.

Here's hoping all that money did not get spent for nothing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110208/ap_on_re_us/us_california_executions

Donald Rumsfeld's greatest regret

Not an illegal, unnecessary war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and injured hundreds of thousands of US troops, costing US taxpayers trillions of dollars.

Not torture.

None of that kind of stuff.

But not quitting soon enough.

Amazing.

And he still says: "I think the world's a better place with Saddam Hussein gone and with the Taliban gone and the Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan."

Tell that to the Iraqis and Afghans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110208/pl_afp/usmilitaryiraqbookrumsfeld_20110208133019

Legislators in Alabama upset about prison inmates meditating

Seriously.

NPR did a great story about it today.

See, this ancient meditation technique has its roots in Buddhism.

And Alabama is a Christian state, where only Christians are your brothers.

Never mind that it is a secular practice, not currently affiliated with any religion.

Or that it works.

According to the article, "inmates who go through the course have a 20 percent reduction in disciplinary action. But it hasn't been an easy sell in Alabama, a state known for harsh punishment policies like chain gangs and hitching posts."

But that is far less important to legislators.

Click on the link to read the story and to listen to the radio report.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133505880/at-end-of-the-line-prison-an-unlikely-escape

Corporate crime in the news

Toyota is planning on releasing its final report about the crimes it perpetrated against consumers, its own customers.

Expect them to admit guilt, turn themselves in to authorities, and willingly submit to long prison terms.

Wait.

What was I saying?

I think I was talking in a dream, sorry about that.

Expect the report today.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133586576/u-s-to-release-final-report-on-toyota-recalls-today?ft=1&f=1001

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

The top TV face/voice of liberals in America will get a new show.

But Keith Olbermann will still fail to produce the kinds of ratings as the O'Reillys, Becks, and Hannitys of talk TV.

Now if Fox News was really "fair and balanced" wouldn't they hire him???
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110208/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_olbermann_current

Murder is the rarest of all crimes

Yet, it makes up the largest share of stories in the media about crime.

Here are some good, brieef readings about why. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2656207/murder_and_the_fascination_with_it.html?cat=17
(" it allows them to escape from their 'same ole, same ole' routines in life. Their insurmountable everyday problems tend to be minimized when compared to a murder, making the individual feel less overwhelmed about day-to-day stuff we can all face.")

http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/archives/vol39/vol39n2/articles/SchmidMurder.html
("one reason is that—let's face it—most of us in our own culture and others lead relatively boring, uneventful lives. As bizarre as it sounds, and although we may not want to admit it to ourselves," Schmid says, "many Americans engage routinely with murderous pop culture because it provides them with excitement in the midst of an otherwise mundane existence."

And more:

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=why+fascination+with+murder&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&fp=8eb2d7b121dffeee

Look what is in the news

Crime.

Street crime.

Random crime.

Violent crime.

Bizarre stories about disaster and crime.

Things like:

Polite robber holds gun, says sorry

Cops: Party ejection led shooting

Frat party ejection led to shooting

Beaten teen's lawyer 'appalled'

Lawyer: Lohan denies necklace theft

Another beating caught on tape

DNA: Body in canal is missing boy's

Kids were given pills on playground

Feds get first crack at Loughner

Swiss twins snatched; search on

New Mexico Murders Still a Mystery After 21 Years

And just think about all the potentially serious issuse being ignored so that we can focus on this instead.

AOL buys Huffington Post

This story is a great example of the realities of the media today:

Media consolidation.

Horizontal integration.

Vertical integration.

AOL has bought the Huffington Post:

"The transaction will create a premier global, national, local, and hyper-local content group for the digital age - leveraged across online, mobile, tablet, and video platforms. The combination of AOL's infrastructure and scale with The Huffington Post's pioneering approach to news and innovative community building among a broad and sophisticated audience will mark a seminal moment in the evolution of digital journalism and online engagement."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/07/aol-huffington-post_n_819375.html

Oh, that troubled Middle East

...

Bunch of crazy folks in that area, apparently.

Except that Egypt is in Africa.

(don't tell Fox News).

And you thought Ms. Teen South Carolina was bad.

Doh!

In the image: Fox News puts Egypt between Iran and Syria. Ironically, that is actually the country in which we've been fighting a war for eight years now.

http://hypervocal.com/news/2011/fox-news-map-room-where-egypt-lies-between-iran-syria-and-saudi-arabia/

Doesn't any student journalist ever take one of my classes?

This headline in the online version of the campus paper today:

2010 Statistics Show Increase in Campus Crime

Along with this image.

But what do these data really show?

Two separate things:

1) The purple and blue bars show crimes known to the police.

2) The green and orange bars show arrests.

Neither of these is a valid indicator of actual crime.

For example, police may find out about more crime but this does not mean crime is actually up. Perhaps it means police are doing a better job discovering it, or that students are more likely to report it. The point is that it is NOT appropriate to draw conclusions about crime trends from these data, yet this kind of story appears in the paper every single year.

(And never mind the fact that even these data do not show that crimes known to the police are up -- theft is up, but fraud is down, so it's a wash. That means even the headline is inaccurate. And the headline in the print version of the paper is "Lots of Larceny," which is at least factually true).

As for the arrest data, these show that arrests for alcohol and illicit drugs are actually down since last year.

Yet, these data also tell us little about actual drug use on campus. The vast majority of drug use is unknown to police and there is a wide divergence in these data every year because in some years there are more complaints than others and in some years police simply discover more violations than in others.

If only someone was teaching about how the media cover crime and criminal justice, maybe we would not have to be confronted with these stories every year. Or maybe if someone wrote a book about it?!?!?!

http://www.theappalachianonline.com/campus/7004-2010-statistics-show-increase-in-campus-crime

You don't say! Missed signs of violence?

Where have I heard that before?

Columbine.

Virginia Tech.

Even 9/11!

Etc.

Etc.

Etc.

Now Fort Hood.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110203/us_nm/us_usa_forthood

Random crime in the news

... as always.

Bus hijacked in N.C.; suspect Tasered

Fugitive sought in 2001 slaying caught

Nuevo Laredo police chief gunned down

Ex-Enron CEO's son found dead in dorm

Woman's screams heard from trunk

School principal is fatally shot

Fugitive's 22-year run ends in Mexico

Model indicted in journalist's killing

Search for boys now murder probe

Officer, suspect die in shootout

Boy's body found in California canal

Makes you feel so good about your country.

Nothing like jails sitting empty as a reminder of how stupid we are

America's incarceration binge is unparalleled in world history.

And we are only now realizing the economic drain it ultimately creates in our country.

But this is ridiculous.

Correctional facilities sitting empty because there's not enough money to incarcerate people.

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=13967419

Is New York safer or just more totalitarian?

From the article:

"Anyone visiting New York's 1,700 parks and 14 miles of beaches this summer will be able to do so free from the smell of cigarette smoke after the city council made its biggest anti-smoking push since it banned the habit from restaurants and bars in 2002.

"The measure will see smokers fined $50 if they light up in municipal parks and pedestrian areas of Manhattan such as Times Square.

"It was passed by 36 votes to 12 after a lively debate in which critics accused legislators of turning the city into a totalitarian state.

"The move follows similar health-conscious measures in New York to remove trans fats from restaurants, force food chains to display calorie counts on their menus and efforts to persuade food producers to reduce salt content."

So what should be the limit of the state when trying to control what we do to ourselves? (keep in mind the smoking ban is also meant to protect people who don't smoke from the dangers of second-hand smoke)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/03/new-york-smoking-ban-outdoors

Scientists warn of 'tsunami of obesity' as Western lifestyles spread across the globe

For decades, we've sat on our couches, being constantly bombarded by advertisements for highly sweetened and high fat foods, especially fast food (think Super Size).

And we've consistently gotten fatter and fatter.

Now, our lifetsyle is spreading across the globe.

Yeah,

I know, I know.

We have a choice about what we eat. Of course we do.

But "choice" is what we decide to do, like eat a healthy meal at home at the end of a long, hard day, or eat an unhealthy but easier one at a fast food restaurant. If choice is what we do, then "choice" cannot explain why we choose.

Research now shows fast food meets at least some definitions of addiction.

Add on to this that companies most heavily promote their least healthy foods, and that the least healthy foods are also the least expensive, and then you better understand why people choose these foods.

Take this Paris Hilton ad for the "Monster Thick Burger."

Now personally, this makes me NOT want to eat it. I mean, I want to stay as far away from that as possible!

The point of this post is that food companies are promoting products that they know will kill more and more of us. Not only here. But all over the globe.

And since anything can be a crime, maybe this should be.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/how-tiny-nauru-became-worlds-fattest-nation-2203835.html

The realities of American drug policy in Mexico

Thousands of Mexicans are being murdered each year due to "drugs in Mexico" (so says The Economist).

In fact, these deaths are attributable to US drug prohibition.

Interestingly, US officials know exactly who the cartels are and what areas of the country they control.

Yet, we (as well as the Mexican government) are powerless to stop them.
  

The figure to the right shows that the area where the most murder occurs is Chihuahua, largely controlled by the Sinaloa Federation.

This area borders New Mexico (a state whose former Governor Gary Johnson wants to legalize marijuana).

Why is there so much violence there? The profit to be made is simply enormous. These cartels make so much money (more than $20 billion per year), and so little is seized (less than $1 billion), that the costs associated with the profit are negligible. These guys make so much money they do not even count it. Instead, they weigh it (they know excatly how much a million dollars weighs, so that is how the money is accounted for). The huge profit margins explain why it is so easy for the cartels to buy off government and military officials.

Clearly, if these figures are to be believed, drugs cross many areas into the US. That is, it is US demand that drives these realities.

Yet, it does not have to be this way.

An alternative is legalization, where rational, free adults could get their drug of choice from US businesses. This would strip these cartels of their profits, reducing violence and corruption both in the US and especially Mexico.

Such an approach might increase use (although it might not). But clearly, prohibition is not working. And it is the Mexican people who are mostly paying for it.

Yes, It Is time for Pot Legalization, Mr. President

Not my words.

His.

Conservative Republican, former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson.

Questions he would like answered by President Obama, who recently said we should debate legalization:

Why, with record federal deficits and states teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, are we spending billions on yet another failed Prohibition that is accomplishing nothing other than making criminals out of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens and fueling drug cartels that threaten our fundamental national security? Is it not time to try something different?

Despite lip-service, about the need for treatment, harm-reduction and other strategies to address drug use as a health issue, why do the federal government's actual policies and budget still treat the situation as almost entirely a law enforcement problem?

How do we reconcile the fact, that in a supposedly free society, it is legal for a responsible adult to purchase and consume alcohol, while purchasing and consuming marijuana is a crime? I, along with millions of other Americans, are still waiting for a credible answer to that one.

Me, too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-johnson/yes-it-is-time-for-pot-le_1_b_816376.html