Weekly Crime Poll: Does a Killer's Social History Matter?

Weekly Crime Poll: Does a Killer's Social History Matter?

There are many ways to look at this delicate and controversial subject, but I believe we step into dangerous territory when we use the 'he was a product of his environment, let us be lenient' defense for someone who is guilty of committing a crime, and here is why:

*two people can go through very similar experiences (twins for an extreme example) and one does something bad, while the other does not. If we are products of our environment, wouldn't this be unlikely?

*It would provide an automatic excuse for anyone who has been through the horrors of war, or other such tragedy.

* Being in a (alleged) democratic society, personal responsibility and accountability for your actions should be tantamount, rather than blaming others or your past, for your current behavior.

* Would it make sense to locate those that have been through less than ideal circumstance in the past, and upon finding they did not act out in a negative way, reward them for this non behavior? Then, the same should hold true for the ones that do act out.

* A lot of people have bad past experiences, but use them to learn and grow from, often becoming the better for it. The ones that do not, and become dangerous to society are simply that:dangerous to society. There is no reason to look any further, as it does nothing to change the present situation. I agree, however, that it should be studied so that we may find and educate those at risk of becoming this way, so that they can avoid going down the same path. For example, both of my parents were physically and emotionally abused as children. They were educated that this often carries down through generations, and being aware of that, paid careful attention not to do as their parents had done. Because of this, I can thankfully say I was never abused. However, if they had abused me, would the fact that they had been abused made my abuse any less abusive? Obviously not. So, why should a person with a bad past receive leniency, which only perpetuates this negative behavior, when they could have had the courage to break the cycle, and made a choice not to?

* Everyone has something bad in their past experience, or they have not lived long enough yet. So, in essence, everyone would have a built in excuse to commit atrocities and receive lighter sentences. Remember, all experience is relative, and there is really no benchmark to pit one persons against another's.Somebodies wife of many years cheats on them, steals everything they have, and leaves. Somebody else has a girlfriend of a couple weeks break up with them. If either one of them then went on to randomly kill someone that you care for and love, blaming it on their 'failed relationship', would you be more lenient about the man who's wife cheated? I think not.

I have much more to say on this subject, but will drop it for now. Thanks for reading.

Bin Laden's body buried at sea | World news | guardian.co.uk

Bin Laden's body buried at sea | World news | guardian.co.

Osama bin Laden is finally dead, as of yesterday, sources say. Hmmm. I guess I can believe that is possibility. I mean, he had to die sometime, right? And, not to mention, he has had an awful lot of folks supposedly looking for him for the last ten years or so. In fact, it is harder to believe that he has remained in hiding this long, only poking his head out once in a while to release another recording of the 'jihad's greatest hits'. Remember? Those usually poor quality VHS and audio tapes he would release every now and then, that seemed as if they were made soley to inflame the USA into an anti-islamic frenzy, and served very little other purpose that I could see.

So, he was killed in a ultra top secret Navy SEALS mission, led by the head of the CIA. Ok, that seems somewhat plausable, even though it is somewhat hard for me to imagine the head of the CIA being the commander of the highly specialized SEALS. It is akin to the president of the NFL taking a turn at coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers during the SuperBowl. There are more folks that are much better qualified than a Public Relations man/pencil pusher when it comes to leading men in a delicate operation, but it is still plausable, I suppose.

So, after killing him, they decided against recording the event, or documenting, by way of photos and other forensic evidence, the body. Now, that one is kind of odd. You would think that somebody with a camera around, even a cel phone camera, would have thought to snap a couple pics for posterity, or to show their ma, wouldn't ya? But, they did have the head of the CIA running the show, so maybe he forgot how important recording evidence was...OK, I know that doesn't fly, but it is getting harder to defend this idea. It doesn't really matter, because they can always take a look at the body, or photograph it later, right? What? They already buried him? And, may I ask why so quickly? Oh, I see, because of our sensitivity to his religious beliefs of being buried within twenty four hours...well, that sure was thoughtful of us to be so politically correct and sensitive to others, even our most hated enemies, beliefs and customs. Did we send condolance cards to all of his family and friends, too?

Still, if anybody doesn't believe that he was killed, all we have to do is exhume the remains, and...huh? Nobody wanted him buried in their country? Ok, so where is he then? What? I don't think I heard you correctly. It sounded like you said he was 'buried at sea'...oh, you did say that? Ok, no, but really...where is the body? Somewhere deep in the ocean? Really? Well, that one may be a bit harder to sell.

So, let me get this straight: there are no eyewitness acounts, nor journalistic documentation of the event, nor any documentation afterward, including this historic (and, if I recall correctly) first 'burial at sea' ,within twenty four hours to accommodate a religious belief, (even though it is rare, if not completely unheard of, for a Muslim to ever be buried at sea) of a wanted fugitive (was Saddam Hussein treated the same way? Where was he buried? Maybe that country could've put Osamma up for a while, too? I'm just sayin'...), and that no one there thought it may be wise to gather even a shred of tangible evidence that the event even occured? So what do we have to go on? I see. Just a few White House officials saying it happened, and both coincidently and convieniently, right before the re-election campaign for the President kicks into high gear? No body. No photos. No Proof. Nothing, but some politicians word? Seriously? Do they not even bother trying anymore, when it comes to deception and cover-ups? A class of fourth graders could create a better story.

OK. I got one too.

You know me. I own some of the most highly advanced photo/audio/video state of the art recording gear in the world. And, let's just pretend that on any given day, I have over five hundred phoographers that follow and attempt to record my every move. But, last night, without anyone knowing, I snuck out my bedroom window, real quiet like, and went into the forest. While there I shot me a big ol' damn Bigfoot. I know it was a Bigfoot because he had big feet, and I've seen a couple history channel shows on them, which qualifies me as an expert on Bigfoot Identification. Just know this, I was absolutely certian that the thing I killed was Bigfoot. Then, not feeling much like trying to drag his big ass back home, but knowing that just leaving him to rot would be such a vast waste of meat, I butchered him in the field, packed up all the meat and scrubbed down everything else in the river, as I am very tidy and conscientious that way. Then, before going home, I shipped the Bigfoot meat off to some starving third world country as a show of my altruistic nature, only then realizing that I forgot to snap a couple photos (even though I have 28,0000 plus previous pictures of my renderings of bigfoot and have seemed absolutely rabid to kill one for over ten years, just to show the world that I could), and, due to the highly sophisticated, and patent-pending method with which I lodged the killshot into his big hairy head, I cannot really even share a very clear story about my successful hunt with you...you still believe that I killed a bigfoot, right? Right?!? Why not? I can't remember what country I sent the ground bigfoot patties off to, damn it! Why won't you just believe me, and let the world know what a heroic bigfoot hunter I am? Oh yeah, and just for good measure, since in this analogy I'm comparable to the politician in the earlier story, lets throw in that most of what has ever come out of my mouth has been either lies, hyporbole, or exagerations to make me look better, and Hunters Unlimited Magazine is a month or so away from handing out their esteemed Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award...My word is enough evidence that I bagged the big fella, right? No? Hmmm. Tough crowd. It sure makes it difficult when anyone uses their head for something more than a place to host a vacant set of eyes, and slackened jaw, to get my bigfoot story to sell. What does the US government have that I don't?

Of course, many bought the idea that the twin towers fell down because airplanes crashed into them, even though the men who designed the towers said it was an impossibility since they were designed with such forseeable disasters in mind. Many also bought the whole idea of those same airplanes onboard 'blackboxes', (that could have convieniently and efficiently explained much to discredit many of the conspiricy theories), melting and being completely destroyed by the intense fire, to the point of unrecognition and never being found. Yet, at the same time, in that same horrific cauldron of melted metal, the paper passports of the infidel pilots of said planes were found still very much legible and unscathed to tie the suspects to the crime within hours of the disaster. Who writes for these guys? It seems almost better if they just shrugged their shoulders and told you that they forgot what happened, or there was nothing to understand. You know, like Reagan used to do. So, if they got Osamma, then I got a Bigfoot, and the world is a better place because of it! Now, wheres my award? I'll be signing autographs later. Is it really that easy?

A few thoughts on justice...

This was written as a response to a dude who was railroaded into prison, only to be released when it was found that the DA paid off the star witness (see link). Here is my comment:

1. eatbliss on January 14th, 2011 5:44 am
   Overhaul the justice system? Maybe to start…

   1. Everything should be appointed by the courts randomly. Judge, jury, lawyers…all should be randomly appointed, at a fixed fee, to be supported by taxes. No one should be able to ‘buy’ their way out, as money should mean very little to those that want the responsibility of upholding justice. It literally would be ‘the luck of the draw’, but every citizen that is accused, rich or poor, regardless of their color, sex, or class, would have the same equality and treatment under the law.

   2. Stop rewarding da’s for their conviction rates, public defenders for allowing the guilty to walk free, or apathetic judges that no longer wish to see justice served, as much as they enjoy the money, power, and prestige of being a judge. All those that work in the courts should be there to serve their citizens, nothing more. If they are only there to support a lifestyle that they feel that they are entitled to because of their hard work in law school, and, in the process, use and destroy lives to feed said lifestyle, they should not only, not be there, but they should be locked up for their selfish and greedy ways. In fact, I will go one further and say that those that feel a true calling to teach, heal, or carry out justice should never allow money or power to cloud their judgment, nor their profession. I wonder how many would be there if they were paid little more than minimum wage. Only the ones that were passionate about the law and dedicated, would remain. If you don’t believe me, look at artists. Some profit very little from their art, but are driven by the passion to create. So should be the passion of those that carry out justice. Money and power should be of little matter to those that have a true calling to see justice served.

   3. I don’t know if this would work, as I don’t have all the answers, but being held accountable for your actions, regardless of whether you are a criminal, police officer, judge, or citizen, should be the foundation of our judicial system. Those that attempt to corrupt it, or circumvent it, should face the same charges as one who commits treason, as that is really what it is. Everyone should be held equal under the law. If ‘Jonny’ has no money, and therefore cannot defend himself as ‘equally’ as ‘Fred’ who has a lot of money to hire folks who went to better schools, or are more affluent, to represent him, it should not be called justice. Let both ‘Jonny’ and ‘Fred’ be appointed lawyers randomly, with a random DA and randomly chosen judge. It still may not be true justice, but at least it would be more fair. Also, make judges responsible to prove that locking someone up would be the best way to treat an offender.

   4. I’m sorry to point this out, but ‘murderers’ are most often the least likely to offend again in the same way, since usually their crime was situational, and one of circumstance. They are portrayed to the public as scary monsters to keep the citizenry willing to fork over the money to keep the machine supported, not to protect them from any danger. You are more likely to be murdered by someone you know and trust than any ex con that has murdered in the past. Think about it.

   That’s all. Kinda random, I know, but just my three cents worth. 

Miley Cyrus, Salvia, and Freedom

Watch Miley take a hit, trip and giggle

So, I wonder if we should start looking for the ' Hanna Montanna ' branded salvia pouches being peddled at Walmart , anytime soon?

While I do believe it is true that anyone that looks up to Miley Cyrus as a role model has no business even getting anywhere near salvia, the fact of the matter remains: Kids will experiment. Many will search for ways to alter their consciousness, as kids (and adults) have done since the dawn of man. Some will go a bad route, abusing substances to their own detriment. Most will 'grow out of it', and look back on those experimental times with fond, often humorous, memories.

Personally, I'm glad she chose salvia to use, and hence, bring into popular culture, for it is, by far, one of the least menacing, or harmful of substances that can be used to alter consciousness, of the many available. Trust me when I say, any really young fan of Ms. Cyrus who decides to give salvia a go, will probably scare themselves so badly that they will swear off all drugs for life. The stuff is intense, for a very short duration, with almost no ill physical effect. And, it is not something on which you can become addicted.After a hit of salvia, you do not feel like doing it again for a while, You may try it again, for its unique, novel effect, but as a matter of choice, not out of any kind of need, or dependence.

If she were banging heroin,smoking tobacco or even drinking alcohol, I'd be much more alarmed and worried for the future of our impressionable young children. People really should educate themselves about things before flying off the handle and freaking out about stuff like this.

The worse thing I see happening is a kneejerk public reaction that may make this once obscure, relatively safe herb, completely illegal, thereby taking away a bit more of our freedom, and sending law enforcement on a new costly search and destroy mission in yet another battlefront of the already failed war on drugs.

Education, not prohibition, is the answer. Please people, think with your heads and inform yourself before lashing out from fear of the unknown.

And Miley, use your position and voice to market freedom and education, as America was founded on, instead of crumbling to the demands of 'the machine' to speak out against this very normal teenage act of experimentation, that many would/will do with, or without, your influence. Thanks.