[blogfocus saturday] crimewave in the sphere

Marijuana? Much, much worse, according to Schneekonigin.

Theme this evening is crime - doing it, thinking about it and writing about it.

1. First a crime in contemplation by Pink Acorn:

As I was reading the Sicily Scene Blog today I realized I have this huge, maybe 30 acre, pepper field right next door. As I scooted over to take this picture I saw my neighbor. We keep commenting how we are going to make a midnight run for some pepper samples ....but that never seems to happen.

2. Longrider differentiates between two often confused crimes:

Credit card theft is the act of stealing people’s money; identity theft involves taking on someone else’s identity for the purposes of obtaining money, property, work or whatever the thief decides to take; they take on their victim’s persona and pose as their victim in order to carry out their fraud on an ongoing basis – this is not simple credit card theft and is much less prolific.

Conflating the two is fraudulent and government does this for its own purposes; to defraud the consumer into supporting its insidious “solution” – identity cards and the national identity register that lurks beneath the surface.

3. Hercules shows that it's the hidden criminal you have to watch out for:

I always thought that crafty little bastard was up to something, blagging his way in to millions of homes across the world, pretending to be a lovable toy and then BAM, your kids are hooked on E!!! The term "off his face" Certainly does apply to this toy, doesn't it? In the news today Customs officers discovered nearly 300 grams (10.5 ounces) of ecstasy tablets hidden inside a Mr. Potato Head toy sent to Australia from Ireland.

4. Intervening to prevent a crime can be criminal, as Cllr. Gavin Ayling explains:

If people were not punished for intervening, if people could be sure the law would protect those who were acting in society’s greater interest, if people could defend others and themselves with force that the law currently considers ‘unreasonable’ from the safe confines of the courtroom, then (and only then) would people and society start to turn on those among them who were antisocial, violent and intimidating.

Like many things, it doesn’t seem that hard so long as you purge the pink fluff which takes the place of a spine in many politicians.

5. Ross Fountain is hot on the trail of the delinquent toddlers and came across this as well:

However whilst reading this story I spotted a link to an earlier story from May this year, "Criminal age 'should rise to 18' ". This is nuts, pure and simple and I guessed before I read it that it originated with the increasingly vocal pro criminal lobby group, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College, London. It is important to realise that 'youth crime' isn't a trivial subset of general crime. it amounts for a huge proportion of total crime.

6. Neocon comments on the Philadelphia Experiment:

This is a brave, if somewhat naive initiative... I wonder what happens when the first volunteer is gunned down. I know I wouldn't be out there without Kevlar and a K-frame.

Groups of volunteers will be stationed on drug corners and other trouble spots in a bid to stop the shootings and other crimes that have given Philadelphia the highest homicide rate among the nation’s 10 largest cities.

They will not be armed, will not have powers of arrest, and will be identified only by armbands or hats during their three-hour shifts.

7. James Cleverley looks at the Youth Service scheme:

There should be a balance between rights and responsibilities, young people should understand that not everything in life comes easily and pre packed. Labour have an obsession with the "respect agenda" seeming not to understand that respect has to be earned.

I would feel very uncomfortable if this kind of scheme was limited to military service, but the mix of activities is a healthy idea. I'm sure that there will be plenty on the left who will try to paint this idea as a big step back into the fifties but until they can come up with a better idea to tackle the fragmentation of communities and the huge increases in youth crime and anti-social behaviour they should keep shtum.

8. And lastly, the Anglo-Canadian Tea and Margaritas' gets unusually violent on crime:

I love animals and despise anyone who does them harm. I would see them strung up by their heels and publicly lashed if I ruled the world. Prisons for the guilty are far too soft. Colour tv, computers, diplomas!

The same as above goes for harming children and a several other horrible crimes.

Hear, hear! Hope to see you next Wednesday evening. Cheers!