Tuesday, 18. January 2005, 08:59:11
Saint Louis, Missouri continues to have a crime problem. That hasn't changed. What has changed is the way crimes are being reported.
Police chief Joe Mokwa is under pressure to help create an image of Saint Louis as a safe place to visit and a safe place to live. The chief's innovative contribution toward that objective is certainly straight forward, and perhaps illegal.
According to a copyrighted story by reporter Jeremy Kohler of the
St.Louis Post-Dispatch, the St.Louis Police Department now has a two tiered system of reporting crimes. The officer may report a crime by writing an Incident Report or he/she may opt to use the Crime Memo Data Sheet which was implemented sometime during the past two or three years.
Here's the difference:
An Incident Report is an official record of a crime. It is stored at police headquarters and, as a public document, can be viewed by any resident requesting to see it. The crimes are then tallied by category and a summary is forwarded to the FBI to become part of their annual crime report.
A Crime Memo Data Sheet is
not an official document. It is stored in a file cabinet at a district station and requires no further investigation or response. It can be viewed by practically no one. A member of the Board of Police Commissioners, Michael Quinn, was given the cold shoulder when he inquired about a rumor he heard of police officers "writing memos and shoving them in drawers."
Literally thousands of crimes, including robbery and rape, are not being included in the summary which is forwarded to the FBI. To add insult to injury, the victims of those crimes have no way of proving that their complaints were ever reported.
There's a lot at stake here. The wheelers and dealers, the bigtime operators, are spending a fortune to attract people and business to Saint Louis. They tell us crime is steadily declining and they've got the statistics to prove it. Well, thanks to the recent efforts of a top-notch investigative reporter, we know better.
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Thursday, 13. January 2005, 22:56:16
In 2003 George Bush ordered Pentagon officials to strictly enforce a ban on photographs and media coverage of flag draped coffins arriving at Dover air force base. He claims such a ban is necessary to protect the privacy of the soldiers' families and loved ones. This is bull manure. I didn't believe it then and I certainly don't believe it now.
George Bush isn't concerned about anyone's privacy but his own. The ban is intended solely to prevent US citizens from having a visual awareness of these dead soldiers returning from an unnecessary and immoral war.
Upon seeing the flag draped coffins, these dead soldiers are no longer merely names and numbers. They're no longer statistics which can be salved and dismissed by another dose of patriotic cliches and sound bites from the white house.
The visual image of these coffins brings to the forefront of our consciousness the reality of these soldiers' deaths -- the reality of what it means to lose a family member, a co-worker, a friend -- because of a war based on a lie.
George Bush cares little about the 1300 dead soldiers returned from Iraq, or the ones that will return tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. He cares even less about the thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been massacred.
No, George Bush and his neocon pals care only about one thing in Iraq -- setting up a puppet government which can ultimately be used to serve and protect the interests of Israel, no matter what the cost in dollars or lives.
Monday, 10. January 2005, 20:01:07
I read some good news today on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and I want to tell everyone I know about it.
The people of Saint Stanislaus parish have decided not to hand over their money and their land to the archdiocese of Saint Louis.
I think this is significant for all of us, regardles of what church a person may or may not attend. I'm talking about people standing up to a bully, whether it's a tough guy in the neighborhood or a government or a church.
These bullies, because they're stronger or richer or smarter, because they're a CEO or an archbishop or a president, they think that gives them the right to abuse or take advantage of other people. And everytime someone stands up to a bully, it sends a message to all of them. It tells them to sit down and shut up.
People of Saint Stanislaus: I admire, respect, and salute you because of your decision. Bravo, Saint Stanislaus! Well done!
Saturday, 8. January 2005, 11:38:58
In an ongoing dispute involving real and monetary assets totaling millions of dollars, the archbishop of Saint Louis, Missouri has recently threatened to excommunicate the members of Saint Stanislaus parish.
This is tantamount to saying "If you don't surrender your money and your land, then we don't want to have anything to do with you
any more.
These are not the words of a man of God. These are the words of a devil.
Information
Friday, 31. December 2004, 12:28:26
The archbishop of Staint Louis, Missouri - Raymond Burke - has removed God from the altar and replaced Him with a fistful of dollars.This Is Really Happening! Information
Monday, 27. December 2004, 18:19:50
Donald Rumsfeld says when you go to war, you go to war with the army you have, not with the army you wish you had.
This is an insult to all the US soldiers in Iraq. In fact, it's more than an insult. It's adding insult to the injury of those soldiers being there in the first place. This makes me mad.
Now, the situation in Iraq isn't going very well. And Mr. Rumsfeld and his neocon pals aren't very happy about it.
So, let me say this to Mr. Rumsfeld: "Hey Rummy, when you occupy a country, you occupy a country the way it is. You don't occupy a country the way you wish it would be."
Monday, 20. December 2004, 04:53:11
US soldiers are sent to invade Iraq because of an "immanent threat" involving weapons of mass destruction.
So what happens? No weapons of mass destruction, no immanent threat.
US soldiers are given vehicles ill equipped to withstand roadside bombs and rocket propelled grenades. The soldiers fortify their vehicles with armour taken from a salvage yard.
And what happens? They get arrested.
You know, if I were a US soldier in Iraq the question foremost in my mind would be "Who's the
real enemy here?" -
Thursday, 9. December 2004, 16:47:24
On June 10th, 1943 Franklin Roosevelt signed the income tax withholding bill into law. This enabled the United States government to take money from working people
before they could get to the bank and cash their paycheck.
As long as people worked for a living, the United States government would have a
guaranteed income to spend on whatever it deemed necessary or appropriate.
We were told the income tax withholding law was a temporary expediency in order to supply the needs of our soldiers who were risking their lives for the cause of freedom. The war ended a long time ago. The "temporary" withholding law never did.
The idea that government should be of the people, for the people, and by the people is valid and noble. It is possible
only to the extent that the
people control the purse strings.
June 10th, 1943 - a day that lives in infamy - was the day government of the people, for the people, and by the people, flew out the window of a place we called home. And I don't think that little bird is ever coming back.
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Wednesday, 8. December 2004, 18:07:52
Not long ago, the news media reported the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq had reached 1,000. They called it a "milestone".
I don't remember, did they call it a milestone forty years ago when the 1,000th soldier was killed in Viet Nam? I don't think they did.
Back then, we couldn't say "a thousand down and fifty-four thousand to go". But we can say it now
Tuesday, 30. November 2004, 03:09:06
Many people in the United States approve of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It is because their lives are largely unaffected by the US soldiers who are dying, or the Iraqi citizens who are being massacred.
But among those people with relatives or loved ones who have been killed or maimed in Iraq, there is no approval of this war. And they are beginning to make their voices heard, much to the dismay of Donald Rumsfeld and others who promote the imperialist goals of George Bush.
It is unlikely that the Bush regime will stop with Iraq. The arrogance of its members, combined with their greed and egomania, compels them to have little or no respect regarding the sovereignty of Iran, Syria, Lybia, Lebanon, or any other country.
What George Bush and his cohorts want now, more than anything, is a US army two or three times the size of the present one. This can happen in only one way. George Bush must make preparations to start drafting US citizens.
He must prepare to tell the people of the United States that death and maiming will no longer be limited to volunteer soldiers. Now, their own sons and loved ones will be forced to risk their lives by participating in a needless and immoral war on the other side of the world.
Widespread approval of the invasion and occupation of Iraq will plummet. And if you listen closely, you will hear the sound of the Bush regime quietly fadeing into the pages of history.
It happened with the Viet Nam war a generation ago. I believe it can, and will, happen again.
Tuesday, 30. November 2004, 02:07:33
"Look! There are no figs on this tree - only leaves."
Yes, it's true. But there's no reason to despair.
Be of cheerful spirit.
The leaves provide a good place to hide.
Saturday, 27. November 2004, 10:36:49
Some people say the Republican Party and the Democrat Party is the same wine poured into different bottles.
If that's true (and I believe it is) then the wine in both of those bottles is
beginning to taste more and more like vinegar.
Thursday, 25. November 2004, 03:32:28
Sometimes, late at night, I hear
Jack Kerouac humming a song from 1962.
"Jack? Is that you?"
I imagine a bass line for the melody.
And I start humming too.
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