The current debate on the death penalty has been arguing that they can’t be done in a manner that they consider humane and this is being used, in recent coverage as the leading reason why some people think that the death penalty should be abolished. Some of the best arguments about the death penalty are being ignored since they aren’t news, and possibly because the media hasn’t put enough emphasis on the most important issues even in their regular coverage.

They are also making claims that might have unintended consequences when it comes to debating physician assisted suicide, or death with dignity, as some people prefer to call it. And in addition to this part of the reason why the execution was botched is almost certainly because of the poor efforts to debate the issue and because some of the most qualified people to carry out either physician assisted suicide or the closest thing they can come to a humane version of the death penalty may not want to be involved in it; and those that are willing to participate in it are less capable of carrying it out properly.

One thing they rarely if ever mention is the fact that anesthesiologists sedate, temporarily for the sake of operations of one kind or another, people every day all over the country; and in the vast majority of times they do so without complications. Their intention is of course not to kill them and they use caution to avoid infections or excessive use of drugs which could lead to brain damage or death. The skills needed to do this is why they need extensive training to do their job. Presumably the same skills could be used to implement either the death penalty or physician assisted suicide. If this is done properly then once the patient or inmate is sedated they won't feel any pain when the final step is taken to end their life, perhaps with a secondary or third drug. If anything this should actually be easier, in most cases, since they don't have to worry about avoiding killing the patient or causing either brain damage or infection since they're going to die anyway.

Madeline Cohen supported this assumption when she said, "One of the things that’s going wrong in the current situation is that doctors, anesthesiologists, people with medical training, do not want to be involved in killing someone. And the manufacturers of drugs that are used to provide sedation and kill pain don’t want their drugs used to kill people. And so, the states have turned to increasingly, shall we say, creative methods and shady practices to conduct lethal injection executions with very little medical oversight and with drugs of questionable origin." Democracy Now interview

Whether you agree with the death penalty or not it should be easy to understand that if they decide to do this and use qualified professionals then they should be able to do it without complications in the vast majority of cases, yet the reporting on the subject clearly implies that isn't always the case.



This doesn't mean that there aren't many other problems with the death penalty that would still exist if they implemented in more humanely and that is part of the reason why qualified professionals refuse to participate in it it. According to Jay Carney's statement about Obama's position on the death penalty he acknowledges these problems but declines to address them in their entirety. Jay Carney made the following statement about Obama's position on the death penalty:



He is acknowledging, correctly, that "the death penalty does little to deter crime," this is supported by statistics that show states with the death penalty, generally speaking, have more murders than those without the death penalty, as indicated in Nationwide Murder Rates. This shows that states without the death penalty have had consistently lower murder rates; in 2012 only one of the states with the top ten murder rates didn't have the death penalty; only four of the states with the ten lowest murder rates did have the death penalty.

This doesn't mean that the death penalty causes higher crime; it almost certainly does not; but it does indicate that it isn't a deterrent. However, there is evidence that dies indicate other more important factors which almost certainly do contribute to violent crimes that can be prevented; unfortunately this doesn't get nearly as much attention. According to a study done in 2002, "Correlation Between High Rates of Corporal Punishment in Public Schools and Social Pathologies," "Of the states with the ten highest murder rates in the United States, educators paddle children in eight of them; Of the states with the ten lowest murder rates in the nation, educators paddle children in one of them; Of the ten states with the highest percentage of the population in prison, educators paddle children in nine of them; and Of the ten states with the lowest percentage of the population in prison, educators do not paddle children in any of them." This almost certainly does indicate that corporal punishment is a contributing cause to higher violent crime including murder although the statistical study alone isn't enough to come to this conclusion, since there are other potential contributing factors.

Even though this relatively brief statistical analysis isn't enough to conclude that corporal punishment and child abuse leads to escalating violence there is plenty of other research to support this conclusion and since I have cited a lot of that and gone into this in Does child abuse and bullying lead to more violence? and Child abuse and bullying link in study long over due I won't repeat it here.

Another important issue to consider is how poverty increases crime and how it falls on those with the least amount of political power, often minorities. A relatively quick look at Wikipedia's List of U.S. states by poverty rate compared to the Murder Rates Nationally and By State at DPIC clearly indicates that the states with the highest murder rates as well as other violent crimes are often the states with the highest poverty rates. Efforts to reduce poverty will almost certainly reduce violent crime. It is often said that this should be "no excuse" like many other problems with crime; and perhaps at least to some degree they're right; however if could be at least a partial explanation and understanding it could help solve the problem.

By outsourcing jobs and polluting the environment among other things the political establishment is creating an economic environment where it is much more difficult for may of the poorest people in the country to provide necessities or educate their children and raise them properly. The claim of the free market is that competition will benefit everyone; but when they pay an enormous amount of money for advertising, including marketing psychologists that study how to manipulate people starting in their early childhood while simultaneously cutting the pay of the workers that provide the value to products and services this should raise serious doubts about this claim and it contributes to escalating poverty that contributes to violence.

The point is that with all this time they spend debating the death penalty back and forth they're constantly pushing a policy that doesn't work and ignoring policies that do.

A closer review of how corporal punishment is implemented, from several sources including Why Are Black Students Facing Corporal Punishment in Public Schools? also indicates that it is used more often on minorities or in lower income areas. A closer look at some of the schools in many inner cities and the poverty minorities are brought up in also demonstrates many of the problems that precedes crime including murder. There are plenty of sources that report on this; unfortunately few of the best ones get much if any media or political attention.

One of the best, which isn't widely publicized by the media, is almost certainly Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol who writes about how many African American children are written off even before they get out of elementary school, let alone high school. In this book he doesn't use the word "apartheid" but he is clearly describing something similar and in a later book, "The Shame of the Nation" he does go so far as to call it "Apartheid." Many people, including to some degree myself, might find it hard to believe that the U.S. is creating an apartheid education system. I don't encounter many minorities in my area and in the past I have rarely if ever lived in an area where there has been more than 5% of the population that was black, at most times there has almost certainly been no more than 2% of the population that was black where I have lived. And most of those minorities don't seem to be violent of living in much if any worse condition than the rest of us as far as I can tell. However the average % of the population that is black has been about 13%; where are the rest of them? On a couple of occasions I have visited Rochester briefly; that seems to be where they are; and they do seem to live in an area that is worse off than most of us and as far as I can tell from the reports of other cities where blacks are concentrated most of them are probably worse off. When I consider this it is clear that Jonathan Kozol appears to be right and most of us simply never even think about it.

It would be hard for someone who is familiar with the environment that many of these children are brought up in to doubt that this has a long term impact on who is more likely to be convicted of violent crimes. And it also indicates that if the contributing causes are addressed then these crimes could be prevented, or at least drastically reduced if policies were implemented to make the contributing causes less likely. It is easy to blame minorities for their crimes and at least to some degree it is justified but it should be clear to those that look at how policies contribute to a hostile environment; and that the political establishment is in a much better position to make major changes that improve the situation; but they decline to do so for one reason or another; and therefore they should also be considered partially responsible.



It may be easier to look only at those that are presumably committing the most crimes, or at least what is considered blue collar crimes, and put all the blame on them; however a closer look will almost certainly indicate that the contributing causes to many of these problems are based largely on decisions made by those with the most political power and education and those with the least are the ones that pay the price.

The damage for white collar crimes, or things that should be considered crimes is almost certainly much worse yet they don't even consider the death penalty for these and in many cases they don't consider any other penalty at all or even try to stop them. In many cases they also even spend an enormous amount of tax payer money to arrest protesters who are trying to draw attention to them.

When buildings collapse or catch fire killing hundreds of workers in sweat shops instead of charging the corporations with negligent mass murder they often arrest protesters.

When they find an enormous amount of evidence to indicate that pollution is killing thousands if not millions of people instead of charging the heads of chemical companies with negligent mass murder and possibly considering the death penalty or at elast trying to stop or even reduce the amount of pollution and invest more in clean energy they use tax payer money to arrest protesters.

When they have recalls for defective products that often result in a large number of deaths, often where there is evidence of a cover up, like the GM ignition recall or in cases where they may have been a result of relentless efforts to cut corners to reduce price like Wal-Mart's listeria outbreak from cantaloupes there is no consideration of the death penalty or any other criminal charges, although they may often be sued in civil court.

And when decisions made by politicians and corporations contribute to an environment where crime is much more likely, including violent crime then there is little or no effort to hold them accountable or consider it as mitigating circumstances for defendants; any attempt to consider this is often ridiculed and relegated to the fringes even when there is an enormous amount of research to indicate how public policy might impact crime.

Like many other subjects the decisions about the death penalty are largely dependent on appeals to emotion without much fact checking. This enables those with political power to more easily manipulate the public for their own purposes.

In Politics, not technology, caused botched executions In indicated that statistics among other research clearly shows that the death penalty doesn't work as a deterrent. FBI crime statistics for 2012 add to that evidence showing that if anything states without the death penalty have lower rates for violent crime and they also show that there is a correlation with high crime rates, the use of corporal punishment in schools, and high poverty rates.

Crime rates, including violent crime have been slowly but steadily decreasing since the early nineties; this includes the two years prior to 2012, but not 2012 which is virtually unchanged. It remains to be seen whether the crime drop is leveling off, beginning a reverse or just slowing down for one year. But there is plenty of research out there to better understand why crime has been dropping and how to continue policies that will continue it. Unfortunately the traditional media and political establishment might not be willing to acknowledge some of the best research and base their decisions on it or report it to the public. Past research along with new research and this review of crime, mostly in 2011-12 almost certainly indicates that the leading contributing causes of crime include poverty and escalating violence starting with child abuse and corporal punishment. This review may not be the best research; but it isn't hard to do a better job than our current politicians or media which spends and enormous amount of time presenting crap like Nancy Grace and Jane-Velez Mitchell.

The chart included in a cross post of this at Blogspot (At open Salon I'm skipping to the review right below.) is based on statistics from the FBI; presumably these have been peer reviewed; however that doesn't guarantee that they're perfect. Murders are the only crimes that local communities are required to report; so other crimes are reported on a voluntary basis. The DPIC has also compiled a list of murder rates which goes back 17 years and it indicates similar results based on all three categories although they focus on the death penalty.

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Simply showing a correlation between various potential causes or perceived deterrents and high crime rates should not be considered hard evidence of causation; however it does imply a potential connection of some sort; and it might indicate where to look for additional evidence or support other research that has been done using different methods. I discussed some of this in my last post about Politics, not technology, caused botched executions which indicates why it doesn't appear as if the death penalty has a deterrent effect. I also went into more details about how early abuse, including corporal punishment either in the home or school leads to escalating violence in Does child abuse and bullying lead to more violence? and Child abuse and bullying link in study long over due. This review hasn't been peer reviewed but all the sources for information have been shown so that they can be verified. Additional information that has been peer reviewed comes to similar results including extensive research either done or reviewed by Murray Straus who specializes in this subject.

It is unlikely that corporal punishment in schools is the sole cause of higher violence; however in many cases parents in states that support its use in schools might also be inclined to use it more often in the home. Otherwise there might be more opposition to it in the schools making it more likely that they would abandon it use. There might also be many examples where there are high rates of use of corporal punishment, even in states that abandon it in schools but it is probably more difficult to gather that information. So far Delaware is the only state to virtually ban its use in the home but this is very recent and it is to soon to determine the results. The actual law doesn't say it is banned but some of the media reports have said that and the law does allow for prosecution if corporal punishment leads to injury. Without further evidence from states that have banned corporal punishment in schools it could help to look at Sweden which banned corporal punishment in 1979. According to Sweden and United States Compared by Crime their rates of violent crime is much lower than the United States. When it comes to the murder rates even the least violent of the US states usually has more murders per 100,000 people than Sweden. There was one year in the past seventeen where one of the states murder rates was lower than the statistics cited in the comparison of the two countries.

While the US continues to keep a record percentage of the population in prison compared to the rest of the world Sweden is closing its prisons; it is almost certainly worth a much closer look to determine why and if part of it is their ban on corporal punishment or other social policies. According to most reports including Wikipedia's Human Poverty Index Sweden does a much better job reducing poverty, the best in Europe and far better than the US. However according to the Guardian Even in Sweden, the social security system is failing people although not nearly as bad as in the US. Our media rarely if ever spends much time comparing our system to others; which is highly unfortunate since if they did them much more people would recognize the problems with ours and possible solutions.

Between 1979 and 2000 there were and additional ten countries that completely banned corporal punishment and they all have lower murder rates than the USA, most of them are less than half. An additional twenty-three banned it since then and most of them also have lower murder rates; those that don't are mostly countries that have many other political problems, even worse than the USA.

According to a study done in 2002, "Correlation Between High Rates of Corporal Punishment in Public Schools and Social Pathologies," "Of the states with the ten highest murder rates in the United States, educators paddle children in eight of them; Of the states with the ten lowest murder rates in the nation, educators paddle children in one of them; Of the ten states with the highest percentage of the population in prison, educators paddle children in nine of them; and Of the ten states with the lowest percentage of the population in prison, educators do not paddle children in any of them.” Current crime statistics indicates that this correlation may have continued although it isn’t an exact correlation, presumably due to additional contributing factors, and four states have eliminated it since then.

The most recent year that I could find figures for both these specific categories was 2008 and I also found the murder rates in an organized fashion from 2012; these sources include List of U.S. states by incarceration rate and Murder Rates by State at DPIC. In 2008, of the states with the ten highest murder rates in the United States, educators paddle children in seven of them; Of the states with the ten lowest murder rates in the nation, educators paddle children in two of them; however one of those two is Wyoming which practically never uses corporal punishment; Of the ten states with the highest percentage of the population in prison, educators paddle children in all of them; and Of the ten states with the lowest percentage of the population in prison, educators do not paddle children in any of them. In 2012, of the states with the ten highest murder rates in the United States, educators paddle children in seven of them, one of the states without paddling, Delaware, only stopped using it in 2003; Of the states with the ten lowest murder rates in the nation, educators paddle children in one of them. This indicates a consistent correlation over an extended period of times for high murder and incarceration rates with states that use corporal punishment in schools.

Ohio banned corporal punishment in schools in 2009 and New Mexico banned it in 2011; however the rates used are from the year 2005-6. A significant amount of research indicates that corporal punishment almost certainly contributes to escalating amounts of bullying and additional violence. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that banning it will result in immediate reductions in violence.

Seven out of twenty one states with corporal punishment have above average poverty rates up to 20.1%; one has average, 16.6%; and thirteen have below average poverty rates, as low as 9.9% in Idaho, which uses it often and 10.6% in Wyoming which rarely if ever uses corporal punishment in schools and .

The percent changed from 2011 to 2012 states with corporal punishment are, in order of those from top of the list to those at the bottom, Tenn. +5.9, N M -2.4, SC -6.4, La. -10.4, Fla. -5.4, Ok +2.6, Ark. -2.7, Missouri +.8, Ala. +7.2, Arizona +3.5, Tx No change, Ga. +1.1, Ks. -.03, NC +2.1, Ind. +4.2, Colorado -1.8, Ohio -1.8, Miss. -3.0, Kentucky -7.1, Idaho +2.6, Wyoming -8.2.

Nine out of the nineteen states that continue to use corporal punishment had violent crime rates that went up; one had stable rates and eleven including the two that no longer use them all went down. Six of the nine that had rising violent crime rates are among the ten states that use corporal punishment the most often. Fourteen out of the twenty nine states that didn’t use corporal punishment prior to 2008 had rising violent crime rates. The rate of violent crime from 2011 to 2012 was virtually unchanged; the difference between those that used corporal punishment and those that didn’t percentage wise was negligible; however those that used it most often were more likely to increase than those that used it less often.

Corporal punishment was allowed, prior to 2008 in schools for 45% of the population; 48.5% of violent crimes were reported in these states during 2012. Based on the crimes that were reported 50.7% of murders, 49.8% or forcible rapes, 43% of robberies, 50.9% of aggravated assaults, 47.4% of property crimes, 56.2% of burglaries, 51.7% of larceny thefts, and 43.6% of motor vehicular thefts in states allowing corporal punishment in schools. The only two categories where the figures were below their representation of the population were robberies and motor vehicle theft.

Seven out of the ten states that used corporal punishment the most were in the top half of the population, implying that when it was used more often it correlated with higher crime rates than when it was used less often.

Recently an article was published about a Kansas lawmaker that wanted corporal punishment that leaves kids bruised, which shocked a lot of people; the bill didn't pass. What received much less attention is that some of the other states already allowed this and it continues, as allowed in Ingraham v. Wright, which injured the student so bad that physicians advised him to stay home for eleven days, based on the word of a teacher who said he didn't leave the stage fast enough. Many reports about Kansas imply that it is among the most extreme of the religious right; and in many ways they might be; but their policy of using corporal punishment is actually less radical than most of those that use it, to some degree. If you adjust the crime rates according to population it is actually in the lower half, since the top eighteen include some of the most populous, covering half the population. Wyoming, which actually uses it the least, if they use it at all of those that allow it, is the one with the lowest crime rates including the four that abolished it most recently.

There are of course other contributing factors that almost certainly lead to higher crime rates and one of them appears to be large cities. Only three of the ten states with the lowest violent crime rates had any cities with over 250,000 people and only one of the ten states with the highest rates of violent crime didn’t have any according to Wikipedia (Crime rate for cities above 250,000 population).

Five out of the ten states with the most violent crime had above average poverty rates; however when adjusted geographically it rises to eight out of ten. Only one out of the ten least violent states had above average poverty rates; when adjusted geographically it rises to two out of ten.



A close look at some of the inner cities that have the highest crime rates also have some of the lowest funds for their schools; yet those that argue against more funds for either schools or for social workers to educate low income parents about how child abuse and corporal punishment leads to escalating violence, also argue for much more spending on prisons security and police that almost certainly wouldn't be necisary if they funded prevention programs instead and they would almost certainly save much more in the long run, although in the short run they might wind up spending on both schools and prison.

Regrettably the best research on the causes of crime gets very little attention by the commercial media and it is rarely a leading factor when making many of the major decisions that could potentially reduce crime significantly more. There has been a significant amount of progress over the past few decades; and the commercial media hasn't always done such a bad job covering it but now the majority of the progress that is still going on is the result of grass roots efforts to educate the public and push for reform despite the lack of attention it receives from the politicians although occasionally when grass roots efforts succeed in convincing politicians to act credit is often given to politicians for implementing changes without much mentioning the grass roots efforts, like when Beau Biden, son of Joe Biden and Attorney General of Delaware, who was cited as the leading proponent of the law virtually banning corporal punishment.

The media coverage didn't put much if any emphasis on the grass roots efforts that encouraged Biden or any other politician that passes laws banning corporal punishment in schools when they cover it. Giving most of the credit to a politician seems to be standard operating procedure whenever grass roots efforts convince lawmakers to pass laws with popular support.

There were over ten shooting incidents at Wal-Marts across the country this month and close to if not more than another ten gun related incidents including armed robberies and car-jackings. One of them was below the Texas border and it included at least five deaths in a drug battle with Mexican soldiers; the rest were in the United States and there were at least a couple more deaths as well as accidental shootings that injured two people.

One of these shootings and one other incident involved attempts to run over police officers. There were also several bizarre assaults or attempted assaults, some involving mentally unstable people. One where a teen attacked a four year old stranger because she thought she was Chinese, another where a customer attacked a cashier with a pair of scissors while accusing them of being with the mafia and another where an angry man left an argument in the parking lot, sped off and smashed into three cars injuring five people not involved in the argument.

One police officer indicated that he found it hard to understand why a woman would leave her child alone in Florida while going to work at Wal-Mart. No doubt many other people might find things like this, and many of the other incidents that happen at Wal-Mart, hard to understand, as well but if they had to work on the wages that Wal-Mart provides or lived in a state like Florida which supposedly has one of the worst records for caring for the poor they might understand why some of them might resort to desperate measures. The Loesel family in Michigan wouldn’t have to worry about these problems but they’re still suing for even more money after winning $3.8 million verdict for a lost Walmart deal. This could work out quite well for Wal-Mart if towns that want to stand up to them hesitate because they could be forced to pay damages for not allowing them into their towns or allow them in and which while they destroy local economies and use their market power to monopolize areas.

This wasn’t a problem when anti-trust laws prevented a small number of oligarchies from cornering the market and avoiding real competition.

Barack Obama decided to show up at one of their stores and praise Wal-Mart for helping with clean energy!

Not surprisingly hardly anyone fell for it. Stacy Mitchell claims it is the last place he should be making such a speech; I disagree, he could have praised BP for their “beyond Petroleum” campaign in the gulf shortly after the off-shore rig exploded or praised ExxonMobil when their pipeline sprung major leaks or several other occasion; however in order to come up with something even worse than praising Wal-Mart for clean energy initiatives he would have to come up with something incredibly pathetic, so her point is valid.

Robert Reich asked what 'Numbskull' came up with this but it had to be a lot more than one numbskull before the decision was made and implemented; the resulting protest was so obvious people must be wondering how they could have possibly expected anyone to believe them.

Could they have actually been trying to incite protests?

If so, I suppose they succeeded.

They also settled a lawsuit about food poisoning that killed at least 33 people; even though they claim they take safety very seriously this is just one of many recalls that they have had to settle to recall large amounts of their products and they continue cutting as many corners as they seem to get away with until something like this happens.

Many people have been wondering if any executives been penalized for recent scandals; and the answer clearly seems to be, for the most part, no.

Nor are they the ones that are in the line of fire when there are shootings in their stores. Nor is there much if any effort to find out if their policies contribute to a hostile work environment or higher crime.

Or at least they haven’t been held accountable yet.

Their sales are finally headed steadily and consistently down; and hardly anyone believes their claims about this being a result of the weather or cuts in food stamps anymore than anyone believes they’re good for the environment.

Perhaps, without political reform, this is the only way that they can eventually be held accountable for their actions.

In the mean time they have been funding a pilot program in Texas where they’re teaching high school children to prepare for jobs in retail.

If this doesn’t raise alarm bells about corporations having too much control over the education system to promote their propaganda I don’t know what does.

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!

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In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. In January of 2014 another study, "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" provided additional statistical research indicating that Wal-Mart might be contributing to higher crime rates or at least a slowing of the decline in crime. The study found that. “on average, communities with Walmarts had 17 more property crimes and two more violent crimes per 10,000 people than those communities without Walmarts.” I reviewed this more in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices? where I explained that although this study is helpful they could have done better with additional data that is available and I reviewed some of that. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a previous blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in May 2014. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 or the "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart.

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Pa. Shoplifting suspect charged with faking Walmart receipt 05/01/2014

Palm Bay Fla. Walmart reopens after evacuation due to 'suspicious' package which turns out to be Copier parts, not bomb 05/01/2014

Wisc. Walmart employee had no cash, robbery suspect arrested 05/01/2014

Labor leader Maria Elena Durazo criticizes Los Angeles’ Ca. pension investments in Wal-Mart 05/01/2014

Man accused of stealing from Scott Twp. Pa. Walmart several times 05/01/2014

Police have cleared the scene of a bomb threat at a south Tulsa Ok. Walmart 05/01/2014 Police say the call originated from a private number so they couldn't retrieve the caller's identity from the caller ID.

Bogus bomb threat called into Circleville Ohio-area Walmart 05/02/2014

Teens charged in 'knock-out game' assault of teacher at Burton Mich. Wal-Mart 05/02/2014



Tree Hugger: "Cheap and organic" sounds like an oxymoron, but Walmart doesn't think so 05/01/2014

Cape Coral Fla. woman accused of TV theft at Walmart 05/02/2014

Arnold grandmother uses granddaughter to allegedly shoplift from Missouri Walmart 05/03/2014

Man arrested after being accused of robbing Fla. Wal-Mart 05/04/2014 Wright told police that he owned Wal-Mart and had sent them a letter making the company aware of the ownership, police said.

Carlisle Pa. police look for man who tried to steal woman's purse at Walmart 05/05/2014

Man, 34, shot outside far east El Paso Tx. Walmart 05/04/2014

Walmart spent over $109 million in FY14 on anti-corruption drive 05/05/2014

Madison Ala. police charge 2 with stealing from Wal-Mart 05/05/2014

Tales from Walmart: Sex in Aisle 12 05/05/2014

Fulton couple charged for attacking another couple at Granby NY Wal-Mart 05/05/2014

SD Police: Man arrested for punching Walmart security guard over foot-long sandwich 05/05/2014

Man stole $1,000 in goods from 2 Fla. Walmarts 05/05/2014

Huntsville Ala. lawsuit says developer wanted Star Market property for Bailey Cove Wal-Mart 05/05/2014

Going against residents’ wishes, Deltona OKs Wal-Mart 05/0/2014

Man shot by police at Walmart in Lakewood Colorado may have pointed a toy gun at officers 05/06/2014



Judge rejects young woman's plea in purse-snatching, but accepts her sisters plea, outside Pa. Walmart 05/06/2014

President Obama To Stop At Mountain View Ca. Walmart In Latest Bay Area Fundraising Trip 05/06/2014



China Workers Power Sets Off Strikes for Nike, Wal-Mart 05/07/2014

Cleveland Ohio | Federal lawsuit filed here against Wal-Mart 05/06/2014

Green Bay Wisc. group vows to keep fighting big-box Wal-Mart 05/06/2014

Walmart at bottom of supermarket ratings 05/06/2014

Albany NY Residents Express Disapproval of Walmart Express Moving In 05/05/2014

Why Wal-Mart Isn't Too Big to Keep Growing 05/05/2014

Victim in Hastings Mich. Wal-Mart crash dies in hospital 05/07/2014 In the three years from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2012, Fuller says there were 24 collisions right at Wal-Mart's entrance.

Robber racks up at Del. Walmart with stolen credit cards 05/06/2014

Walmart petty Thieves Arrested in Washington Township Pa. 05/06/2014 Both are being held at the Franklin County Jail.

3 teenagers sought in robbery at Lake Park Fla. Wal-Mart parking lot 05/06/2014

Woman pleads guilty to Ohio Walmart TV theft 05/06/2014

Critical Alerts For Walmart, Monsanto, Proto Labs, Qihoo 360 Technology, and Delphi Automotive Released By InvestorsObserver 05/06/2014

Crime Stoppers: Stolen Credit Cards Used at Lynchburg Va. Walmart 05/06/2014





Lihue Hawaii Walmart evacuated after bomb threat 05/05/2014



Woman allegedly stabs Wash. Walmart employee with scissors for disliking her ‘vibe’ 05/08/2014





Bank inside Ok. Walmart robbed Thursday 05/08/2014

Obama angers labor groups with Wal-Mart visit to promote energy efficiency 05/09/2014

Man arrested at Tenn. Walmart in theft investigation 05/09/2014 According to an affidavit, a woman with Begley told officers he threatened her and her children into shoplifting. She had taken items amounting to $446.40

Union City Ca. police: Suspected shoplifter bites Wal-Mart security officer 05/09/2014

Wal-Mart Bribery Lawsuit Should Go Forward, Judge Says 05/09/2014



Obama's Wal-Mart stop prompts labor backlash 05/09/2014



Wal-Mart worker denied entry to Obama event in San Jose Ca. amid protest 05/09/2014

Police: Armored truck employee ambushed outside busy Walmart in Pearland Tx. 05/09/2014



Man sentenced to prison in NC Walmart kidnapping 05/09/2014



Ballston Spa NY residents speak out against proposed Walmart 05/11/2014

Want big bank fees? Head for Wal-Mart 05/12/2014

Police: Man Robbed Id. Walmart With Knife 05/12/2014

Guns stolen from Ky. and Ind. Wal-Marts 05/12/2014





Sullivan Co. Tenn. deputies searching for man who allegedly stole purse, tried to use debit card in Walmart 05/12/2014

Suspects accused of stealing 22 cell phones from NC Walmart 05/12/2014



Man charged with stealing car from Athens Ala. Wal-Mart 05/12/2014

AZ deputies: Walmart serial thief arrested again 05/12/2014

Woman sought for Va. Walmart theft attempt in Chesapeake 05/12/2014

Fla. Deputies: Drunken man harassed Walmart customers 05/13/2014





Police search for man who exposed self to young girl at Fla. Walmart 05/14/2014

Accused thief banned from Oneonta NY Walmart 05/15/2014

Huntsville Ala. police blotter: Underwear, makeup, salad stolen from 3 Walmarts 05/15/2014







Smoke fills Sarasota Fla. Walmart 05/15/2014



City of Portland Oregon no longer investing in Walmart 05/15/2014

Easton Pa. man crashes van after selling heroin at Walmart, and fleeing police 05/16/2014

Teenaged bank robbery suspect caught while driving home from Colorado Walmart with new video game system 05/16/2014

Road project near Walmart site sparks complaint about use of Tigard Oregon gas tax funds 05/16/2014

Residents fight against Walmart at Quaker Village in Greensboro NC 05/16/2014

Columbia man arrested in Penn. Walmart armed robbery in Springettsbury Township 05/17/2014

Security Guard Attacked During Colorado Walmart Theft 05/19/2014

Man accidentally shoots self at Phoenix Ariz. Wal-Mart 05/18/2014



Walmart & Contractor Settle $21M Wage Theft Suit, Days After Obama Praises Penny-Pinching Retailer 05/15/2014

Meet the Ad 'Injection' Scheme Hitting Target, YouTube and Walmart.com 05/15/2014

Local woman with special needs handcuffed and interrogated inside a Mich. Walmart 05/14/2014

Walmart Suing a Photog’s Widow, Waltons Say They Own the Copyright to His Photos of Their Family 05/17/2014

Walmart Needs to Buy J.C. Penney to Thrive 05/16/2014

Nashville Tenn. Walmart employee charged with public indecency 05/19/2014

Shoplifter accused of enlisting 10-year-old's help at Ky. Walmart 05/19/2014

Man Arrested In Ca. Walmart Parking Lot BB Gun Attack 05/19/2014

Gallatin Tenn. police search for Walmart theft suspect 05/19/2014

Police: Armed Man steals $20K from RI Walmart store 05/19/2014

Person Killed in Frito Lay truck Collision Behind Dallas Tx. Wal-Mart Market 05/19/2014

2nd suspect arrested in car theft at Athens Ala. Wal-Mart 05/19/2014

Post Falls Id. Police declare suspicious package a false alarm 05/19/2014

Police: 'Palm reader' gropes women in Fla. Walmart parking lot 05/19/2014

Entrepreneurs hitched businesses to Minn. Wal-Mart. Then it left. 05/20/2014

Watchful Utah Walmart manager leads police to burglars 05/20/2014

Police looking for man involved in SC Walmart larceny 05/20/2014

Woman arrested at Ga. Wal-Mart 05/19/2014

Ill. Walmart worker alleges retaliatory discharge after comp claim 05/20/2014

Banks At Walmart Are 'Exploiting The Poor': Investor 05/13/2014

Walmart US CEO Gets A $1.5 Million Bonus For Missing Expectations While A Worker Gets $0 05/12/2014

Police: Man stole beer and television from Palm Bay Fla. Walmart 05/20/2014

Portland Oregon's $9 million investment in Wal-Mart? The financial return for recent investment prior to divestment could pay half an employee 05/20/2014

Hadley Ma. police: Granby man who rode bicycle into rear of vehicle in Walmart parking lot taken to hospital with minor injuries 05/20/2014

Two sought in Fla. Walmart theft 05/20/2014

Bayonne NJ woman charged with shoplifting razor blades from Walmart 05/20/2014

Camera Watches Nebraska WalMart Thieves 05/20/2014

Fort Bend Tx. Walmart re-opens after bomb scare 05/20/2014

Always Low Wages, More Pollution: Why Barack & Michelle Obama Relentlessly Shill For Wal-Mart 05/21/2014

Huntsville Ala. police say shoplifter pushes Wal-Mart employee to get away with DVDs in pants 05/21/2014

Sheriff's Office seeks identity of suspect in TV theft from York Va. Walmart 05/22/2014

San Antonio Tx. Walmart employee accused of bringing gun to work 05/23/2014

TrenDE Delaware Horror Story: Why Wal-Mart's lousy customer service reputation is warranted 05/23/2014

Hoax prompts evacuation of Camdenton Missouri Walmart 05/23/2014

Washington Police: Man who drowned in canal was running from Walmart guard 05/22/2014

Miss. Walmart employee charged with embezzlement 05/22/2014

Police: Meth lab bust at NC Walmart parking lot lands 3 in jail 05/22/2014

Walmart cracks down on shoplifting from Wyoming store 05/22/2014





Wal-Mart Is Falling Apart Like Never Before 05/19/2014



UPDATE: Man sentenced following 2011 Va. Walmart shootout 05/23/2014

Police: Oswego woman, already banned from NY Wal-Mart, charged with felony for stealing big screen TV 05/23/2014

Louisiana Walmart employee on light duty claims bathroom assignment is punishment 05/24/2014

JC Tenn. woman caught on camera stealing from Wal-Mart 05/25/2014







Bomb threat forces evacuation of Wal-Mart in Swatara Township Pa., police say 05/27/2014

Wal-Mart Shareholders Want to Hear More About This Bribery Problem 05/27/2014 But Institutional Shareholder Services wants you to vote no anyway; it also wants you to vote no on Wal-Mart's say-on-pay proposal and yes on a proposal to have an independent chairman. "Independent" means, in this case, "not having the last name Walton,"3 and again a majority of the shares voting on that proposal will be controlled by people with the last name Walton. Good luck!



What Wal-Mart prefers to keep secret 05/27/2014



Pair sought in Kingsport Tenn. Walmart shoplifting 05/27/2014

Pennsylvania mother charged with stashing $210 of stolen goods from Walmart in 3-year-old child's backpack 05/27/2014

POLICE REPORTS: Man in truck points gun at angry man in Tx. Walmart parking lot 05/27/2014

Springville Utah Walmart employee arrested for theft 05/28/2014

Mom leaves sick children in car at Dickerson Pike Tenn. Walmart 05/28/2014

Wal-Mart CEO says pace of acquisitions to accelerate 05/28/2014

Police: 74-year-old Auburn woman charged with burglary after shoplifting from NY Walmart 05/28/2014

Shoplifting suspect captured after fleeing the scene at ga. Wal-Mart 05/28/2014

Woman robbed at gunpoint outside Walmart in Franklin Wisc. 05/28/2014

Wal-Mart Fires Back at Proxy Adviser Over Pay, Bribery Criticism 05/29/2014

Two Fla. Walmart employees in Palm Springs arrested for theft 05/29/2014

Sketch released of man who exposed himself inside Fla. Walmart 05/29/2014

Man, woman accused of $2,000 merchandise theft from Fuquay-Varina NC Walmart 05/29/2014

Vandal uses marker to tell Pa. Walmart shopper ‘learn how to park’ 05/29/2014

Clear Evidence That Costco And Walmart Live In Totally Different Worlds 05/29/2014

As Walmart grows globally, so does worker resistance 05/29/2014

Tx. Wal-Mart Supercenter named in negligence claim 05/29/2014

Police looking for two men accused of stealing cash from Ky. Walmart 05/29/2014

Anna Ill. police investigating Walmart thefts 05/29/2014

Krebs woman charged in Ok. Walmart check-cashing scheme 05/29/2014

Police: Flatscreen Thief at Tx. Walmart Caught After Pursuit 05/28/2014

Woman nabbed after fleeing Mich. Walmart theft scene 05/28/2014

Some Employees Are Furious At Management Payouts In Walmart's Big Adtech Acquisition 05/27/2014



Suffolk Va. Police looking for Walmart shoplifting suspects 05/30/2014

Police: Man Dressed In Army Uniform Steals Pool From Walmart 05/30/2014

Police: 2 steal 35 iPods, other electronics from NC Walmart 05/30/2014



Walmart moms announce new strikes in 20 cities starting Friday 05/29/2014

Shoplifting incident reported at Walmart in Raritan Township Pa. 05/31/2014

Suspects hit two Pasadena Tx. Walmart stores 05/2/2014

PSP Investigating Retail Theft at Pa. Walmart 05/30/2014

Toccoa residents charged with armed robbery outside Clayton Ga. Walmart 05/31/2014

2 Wanted for Thefts at Ill. and Ky. Walmart Stores 05/30/2014

6 ways Wal-Mart’s greed has gotten the company in hot water 05/24/2014

When I went to school I was taught about how the bill of rights was created to protect us and prevent this country from ever turning into a police state. This includes the fourth amendment which says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

This was one of the reasons that our founding father fought the revolutionary war to obtain independence and establish a democracy, and what we were taught made America great.

Recently I have read “The Rise of the Warrior Cop” by Radley Balko which talks about an enormous amount of "no-knock" police raids conducted by SWAT teams for non-violent crimes and many of which are on the wrong house and people in these houses have no way of knowing that the people breaking in with flash grenades are police or not and might come to the obvious conclusion that they're terrorists, since they're protected by the fourth amendment in the USA, which is the leader of the free world.

If what I was taught when I was a kid is true then clearly this book needs to be debunked!

Several good reporters have claimed that a reporter is only as good as his sources and for the most part this is true assuming he does a good job citing them although some do go beyond that and do some original research beyond their own sources. One of the things that Radley Balko claims is that a SWAT team invaded a mayor's home and killed his dogs in one of these SWAT raids, without realizing it or consulting with local police departments, which hardly seems credible, and that can easily be confirmed or refuted by checking with his sources or finding corroborating sources like the following article from the Washington Post:



Well apparently, unless someone faked that article and planted it on the internet, which seems unlikely, he didn't make up that story; but this hardly indicates a pattern of behavior and some people trying to mislead the public often latch onto single incidents and imply that it is an epidemic. Without confirming further stories this could be an isolated incident by one rogue SWAT team.

Another incident he reports on involves Sal Culosi who allegedly was involved in illegal gambling activities. Checking for corroborating sources also turns up another Washington Post article:



Well apparently that one was also true according to corroborating sources. Five years later a law suit was settled by the Culosi family, Culosi family to receive $2 million from Fairfax, the officer that fired the shot was suspended for three weeks without pay and transferred out of the SWAT team and changes were made in that particular department that supposedly ensure that this type of event doesn't happen again. This means that the tax payers are still paying for the officers salary after his suspension was up and they're also paying for the settlement and according to Radley Balko Virginia’s government spent $20 million promoting the state lottery that year; other sources have indicated that studies show that gambling leads to increased crime but if the government is controlling it perhaps they're less likely to shoot you over it.

This isn't quite the way I might have expected my efforts to debunk this might have turned out assuming what I was taught in school was accurate but it is still worth checking some of his other sources like the following:



People that are worried about using tax payer money to settle lawsuits might be satisfied with this but and innocent was still killed and another injured for a raid that didn't turn up much drugs, certainly not enough to indicate that they were after a violent drug lord. This wasn't the same department as the one that killed Sal Culosi but it was four years later and they don't seem to have learned much from past mistakes.

Additional searches to confirm his reports confirms more of them and turns up more stories that he hasn't reported. So far I haven't found any that I have been able to refute. Many of these stories have been reported by other people but Raldley Balko clearly seems to be the one reporting far more on this subject than anyone else. Most if not all of his reports do seem to include details that can easily be confirmed from other sources although there are so many I haven't been able to check them all.

Business Insider: 9 Horrifying Botched Police Raids

The Shocking Tales of 11 of the Most Over the Top US Police Paramilitary Raids and the Innocent People They Victimized

Accidental Police Shootings And Wrong Address Raids

Cato Institute: Botched Paramilitary Police Raids



This isn't the kind of confirmation I would expect if the things I was taught as a child about the constitution protecting us from unlawful searches and seizures were accurate. Regrettably, when reviewing his work most of it turns out to be true; either that or there is a major effort to create an enormous number of stories through the traditional media which he cites as his sources, which would be even more far fetched.

If I want to nitpick I could argue that he didn't do as much reporting on why some police officers are so aggressive and and how they recruit people that probably shouldn't be police. At one point he asks readers to think about the type of people that were excited in high school:



This is good as far as it goes but it doesn't explain how they're trained in authoritarian ways to obey orders and in some cases to consider themselves above the law. Former police chief of Madison Wisconsin, David Couper, fills in some of the blanks that Radley Balko might not cover about how some bad police are trained in Hazing and Bullying in the Police Academy. Hazing is part of an escalating form of indoctrination that encourages violence and obedience without scrutiny. I have reviewed this in several posts including Authoritarianism and Psychology of the Ruling Class, White Collar Tyranny. Strict disciplinarian methods of educating children start with harsh early education tactics that often include corporal punishment which might lead to bullying later in life or hazing. This method is often used to teach children to blindly obey orders and believe what they're told from authorities.

This escalation of violence and obedience to authority would include the hazing in police academies that David Couper describes. The government also funded research into this in the past with the support of the Office of Naval Research as I reviewed in several posts in the past including "Eli Roth’s and Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority experiments much more extensive." The majority of these reports about these obedience experiments didn't focus on whether or not they would also lead to escalating violence; although the research done by Philip Greven did and I attempted to increase that focus. Philip Zimbardo, an associate of Milgram's, also dis several research projects which were funded directly by the Office of Naval Research and I reviewed them in the same blogs. The claims by Zimbardo and Milgram were that they did these to understand why the Nazi's were so obedient to authority, and how to avoid the same thing in the future; however, judging by the way the military and SWAT teams have been using hazing in their training, it seems as if instead of avoiding blind obedience without scrutiny, they may be trying to encourage it.

Couper also wrote his own review of SWAT! — Is There a Problem Here? Seeing this come from a former police officer and knowing that there are others like him, including some the Radley Balko mentioned should indicate a good alternative to the excessive use of force by the bad police officers, assuming we could convince political leaders to rely more on the good police officers and less on the authoritarians that they currently use. Murder rates in Madison (population 240,000) is significantly lower than most large cities above a population of 250,000 and it is below average compared to the rest of the country.

One problem might be that many politicians are more concerned about appointing police that will obey orders from them and advance their political agendas or the agendas of their campaign contributors than doing good police work. Anyone who has been to either the democratic or Republican conventions or many of the protests against corporate corruption in the past twenty years might have seen the results of this. When they have these conventions, instead of trying to give all people a reasonable chance to get their views across, they routinely restrict protesters to "free speech zones" where the media can ignore them so they have no opportunity to influence the public. the information given by the media is almost entirely controlled by a small percentage of the public. On top of that police are routinely used to enforce strict rules about trespassing or disorderly conduct when people with legitimate concerns try to get their voices heard but do little or nothing when it comes to labor violations or enormous amounts of environmental destruction by large corporations.

There have been far more of these incidents than the vast majority of the public is probably aware of. a relatively small percentage of the public is almost certainly keeping closer watch and some of these people have been actively opposing the militarization of the police; however in some cases they may have implied that it is happening more often than it is, although it won't seem that way to those that are in the areas where this is more common. there are still many areas where this is less common which is why many people are unaware of it. It may also be why they might b reluctant to believe this is going on. After taking a closer look at it I have found several of these raids that are much closer to my area even though I probably don't live in near the vast majority of these botched raids. It appears that they're happening more often than I realized here as well and if I hadn't looked for them I never would have known they happened, how often they're happening or how they go out of control much more often in other parts of the country.

Most people in this area probably wouldn't believe how serious this is unless they took a closer look; clearly the media isn't doing an adequate job covering it and we aren't protected nearly as well, if at all, by the first amendment.

In a follow up post I will review more about how some police forces, mostly in less privileged areas, are relying more on authoritarian methods that don't work than addressing the root causes. In most cases, addressing the root causes shouldn't be done by police though; instead some of the most effective solutions would be done by educators before violence escalates and police are necessary. I will also review past activities of the CIA that have involved, at best looking the other way while drugs are being imported, at worst actively covering up for their allies who are profiting from it and have been funding their agenda with funds; and possible posts by Jerad and Amanda Miller claiming they were the victims of an overly aggressive raid at gun point because his friend missed a court date for a marijuana pipe.

This is the second part of a review of Radley Balko's book and an attempt to Debunk or confirm “The Rise of the Warrior Cop” which did more to confirm the sources that he cited. Additional information from other sources indicates that the militarization of the police isn't addressing many of the root causes of crime in many city's. On several occasions in his book Radley Balko briefly implied this by saying that root causes no longer matter, at least not to the politicians that make decisions. On top of that in some cases the militarization of the police, combined with ignoring the root causes, might actually be leading to smaller reductions in crimes or in some cases an end to the reduction in crime that could see rises in crime.

Many people have been given the impression by the hype from the media that crime has already been rising, but in most cases that hasn't been true, so far. This may include the recent shooting in Las Vegas which might have been partially incited by an excessive raid, if Jerad Miller's post below is presented accurately. It appears that while many people that haven't been confronted directly with excessive police force those that have, including Jerad Miller have been paying much more attention to the large numbers of these cases, and they may also be responding to exaggerations in some cases.

Apparently while these SWAT raids have been rising rapidly over the past couple of decades violent crime has, for the most part, been dropping; and if anything the evidence that I have seen including some that has been cited by Radley Balko in the following excerpts indicates that it is almost certainly not because of the SWAT raids or an increase in police presence, although in some cases politicians attempted to make it seem as if it was for that reason.



An article from Mother Jones, America's Real Criminal Element: Lead, which may not come to all the right conclusions either, does point out numerous statistics about crime including the claim that "violent crime actually peaked in New York City in 1990, four years before the Giuliani-Bratton era," and long before they escalated this foolish policy of stop and frisk, which they claimed reduced crime. This article also points out the statistics indicating that violent crime have gone down elsewhere as well; and reminds people of previous claims that there was a coming epidemic of "juvenile super-predators" coming as a result of a growing number of young males. this epidemic never materialized. When they repeatedly support their political agenda with misrepresented rese4arch, whether it is the withholding of statistics in the 1970's or attributing stop and frisk policies for a reduction in crime that began before the stop and frisk policies, it is bound to have a negative impact on crime although in this case it might involve reductions in crime that could have been bigger than they were instead of increases in crimes, at least not yet. The 2012 FBI crime reports indicates that it didn't drop that year, instead there was a slight increase.

His conclusions is supported by an article from Techdirt, Number Of Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty Drops To 50-Year Low While Number Of Citizens Killed By Cops Remains Unchanged. As for the claim that "Criminologists are still fighting over what those reasons are" for the drop in crime; I have no doubt that this is true; however some of this fighting is almost certainly due to incompetence or political influence and other biases which can easily be recognized by people that know a little about some of the contributing causes. In addition to misrepresenting studies for political purposes, one major indicator of this might be some of the criminologists, psychologists, attorney's and other so-called professionals that are presented to the public in high profile manners on entertainment programs like Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell and Drew Pinsky.

These are among the worst so-called experts that I can imagine including those that actually do get some coverage from the commercial media, and the best experts don't.

Do any rational and sincere people actually believe that the experts on these shows have any credibility at all? Can there be much if any doubt that they're far more concerned about using this for entertainment purposes, and presumably selling advertising, than they are reporting the news accurately, and educating the public about methods that could significantly reduce crime?

The problem isn't that some of the sincere academic researchers don't know what the root causes of crime are and how to reduce it despite disagreement within the academic community. The problem is almost certainly that the so-called experts that serve the political interests of the elites, or that increased profits for those that control the media have far more opportunity to get their views across.

Has anyone heard criticism from the American Psychological Association or any other academic group? A relatively quick search of the internet, including a search of the APA web site didn't turn up any. Why wouldn't they be speaking out about this if it is so obvious to many people without the so-called expertise that many of the academics featured on these shows?

This almost certainly raises some doubts about part of the reason why criminologists can't agree on the causes of the drops in violent crime; however as I attempted to explain in Corruption or Bias in the American Psychological Association this doesn't mean that there aren't good psychologists that understand why it is dropping, or at least part of the reason. Many of these academic sources have done their best to present their work to the public even if they don't get help from the traditional media and perhaps in at least some cases the reason they aren't so outspoken against Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell is because it might only turn it into a shouting match and without access the the traditional media they would almost certainly lose even if their work is much better.

As I indicated in Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows one of the leading causes for the drop in violent crime is almost certainly because of drops in abuse of children over the past several decades as the result of improved education of parents about methods of raising their children that escalated when Benjamin Spock was educating the public decades ago. Other research indicates that media violence and gambling almost certainly lead to increased crime; but these haven't been decreasing so they probably aren't a leading contributing cause. When considering the escalating riots during the holiday season, theft of shallow items like Christmas decoration and murders over $200 Air Jordans it is a real possibility that deceptive advertising and hype might also be contributing cause to crime. But all these along with the rise in SWAT raids have been increasing while crime has been dropping.

More importantly one of the reasons to believe that, if anything, the increase4 in reliance on SWAT raids hasn't helped reduce the number of cops killed is that over two dozen of them have been killed or injured on these raids according to The Cato Institutes map of Botched Paramilitary Police Raids. This almost certainly indicates that the reduction of police deaths would have been even greater if not for the use of these SWAT raids.

A Wonkette Blog, Vegas Cop Killer Jerad Miller Was An Alex Jones Fan. You Know What That Means (FALSE FLAG), links to the following excerpt, posted over two years ago, which might indicate the possibility that the recent shootings at Cici's and Walmart in Las Vegas might have been partially incited by an overly aggressive raid years ago that may have given Jerad what he considered reason to hate the police, although there is good reason to be skeptical of at least some of it. Typos were preserved as he allegedly wrote them.



First of all, even if this is a true story no reasonable person would come to the conclusion that his response, shooting two cops that had nothing to do with the raid, is a reasonable response or effort to reverse the excessive police raids. This would be especially true for people that have looked into the subject from more reliable sources than Alex Jones, including Radley Balko, who has reported on some indications that some long overdue reform might be coming and police officers or ex-police officers like David Couper might be providing alternative methods to policing that could be escalated if more people knew about them.

There are several indications that this post is probably from the Same Jerad including the fact that both he and Amanda used their own names and he said he was in Indiana and apparently Las Vegas shooting suspects had Indiana connection. Also other news stories have reported on his links to Alex Jones. Also Wonkette hardly seems any more credible than Alex Jones, who at least acknowledges the serious problem of excessive SWAT raids, even if he does get carried away and come up with conspiracy theories that most rational people won't waste their time on.

Even if you don't believe Jerad's story about a raid at his friends house it does fit a pattern of behavior that has been repeated over and over again and reported by several sources including less reliable ones like Jones and more reliable sources like the Washington Post and Radley Balko who is now apparently a Washington Post reporter. The Cato Institute map reports about over a hundred raids on innocent people including dozens where they were killed and many more where the offense was nonviolent and the means would seem extreme to any rational person.

You don't have to agree with someone like Jerad Miller to acknowledge that a lot of people would be very angry about this and if they couldn't get reparations or reform that would make them even angrier.

As I indicated before there are many people in this country that have little or no idea that these excessive raids are happening at all, or if they here about some of them, they think it has nothing to do with them and the people that are being raided deserve it. I suspect that many of these people have good reason to believe this, since the media does such a lousy job reporting on many things.

People that are aware of this and feel that they have little or no legal options are much more likely to be sympathetic to arguments like Jerad Miller's or Cop Block: When should you shoot a cop? by Larken Rose. This is especially true if they have had some first hand experience with some of the more aggressive police departments in the country. It doesn't take much watching of the news to realize that some of the more extreme police activities and high crime areas happen in the same cities. Many of the most violent reports about police brutality come from areas where they have to deal with high crime and they respond with even more violence, so it only escalates. There have been plenty of these stories in cities like Chicago, Los Angelas, New York and other high crime areas.

Jonathan Kozol almost certainly provided a very good description of the background that precedes some of these violent crimes in "Savage Inequalities" and "The Shame of the Nation," although he focuses primarily on the inequalities in the education system, not how it escalates to more violent crime in adults. He reports on the inequalities of the education system in many of the areas where the highest percentage of blacks live and in most if not all cases they also have among the highest crime rates.

Kozol doesn't report much about the crimes of adults but he does report about how little opportunities children have and how they're taught in authoritarian manners that would be unacceptable in white communities. These children are often trained in public schools how to prepare for low level jobs like fast food or sewing, without much if any consideration of the possibility that they might be able to get better jobs, either in better paying trades, like construction, or mechanics or college educated jobs.

Jonathan Kozol also reviews how much less funding these schools have and in some cases how they also have to put up with much greater threats to their environment and how they're often raised in areas that might be violent.

Thanks to the authoritarian manner that many of these children are educated with they're accustomed to being treated as if they might be guilty of something before they get to be teens or young adults and are now subject to arbitrary stop and frisk policies that would be as unacceptable as the education methods in wealthier communities, however people like Michael Bloomberg and Ray Kelly simply ignore this civil rights violation or the possibility that part of the reason some minorities might wind up involved in criminal activity might be because they were treated like criminals before they were criminals and they had few if any other decent opportunities.

It is hard to doubt that children brought up in these surroundings could possibly have much opportunities that many of us brought up in other areas with better educational and job opportunities have. It should also be easier to understand how many of these children wind up involved in crime when the only opportunities in these areas might be illegal or involve gangs. When many children advocates ask for more money for programs they're often faced with the claim that "you can't just throw money at the problem and expect it to be fixed."

This argument has some truth to it but it is also true that you can't just withhold money and expect all these problems to be fixed. The people that make this argument rarely, if ever, consider the possibility that they should at least try to spend money on programs that actually work and allow scrutiny to prevent it from being wasted. This argument, as Jonathan Kozol points out repeatedly, is much less credible when you consider why they don't apply it to those in wealthier communities that get much more money for their education. Furthermore the flaws in this argument are even more obvious when you consider the amount of money they're willing to spend on prisons, court costs, and authoritarian police tactics that only lead to escalating violence. On top of that when many raids go wrong they have to spend additional money defending their tactics and in some cases the government gets stuck with the tab for losing multimillion dollar law suits for disasters that never would have happened if not for excessive reliance on militarized police raids for all the wrong reasons.

The most common justification for these SWAT raids isn't violent people, as the police often imply or say, but drugs. I suspect that they're much more common in lower income areas although there are some high profile exceptions, which almost certainly are more likely to get much more media attention. One of the most recent and outrageous of these raids is one where a toddler was seriously injured by a flash bang grenade that was thrown into his crib by the police, just before three o'clock in the morning and the sheriff defended this action by claiming it was the drug dealer that was a terrorist, as indicated in the following excerpt:



Cornelia police Chief Rick Darby was a little more tactful when he said:





This claim might sound more credible if it was the first time this had happened but as the first article about this raid points out some of the same people involved in this one were also involved in at least one other disastrous raid; and if you review the long history of botched raids escalating over the last few decades then you might find that many of them have made similar claims when something goes wrong and they ahve also made similar lame excuses like calling the drug dealers terrorists.

If additional consideration was given to the history the US government has in drug running or complicity with drug runners through the allies of the CIA it becomes even more clear that the so-called drug war is a farce, and it always has been. One of the highest profile reports about how the CIA has either been involved in drug running and even allowed it to get into East Los Angelas and other places was Gary Webb's articles "Dark Alliance" which originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and a more detailed follow up book by the same name, "Dark Alliance." This report was initially embraced by Gary Webb's superiors but after he was under pressure from powerful sources including the CIA his editor abandoned him and the traditional press debunked work, or at least they claimed that it ahd no credibility. However they didn't review it in the same manner that I did with "The Rise of the Warrior Cop” by confirming or refuting the sources. Instead they ridiculed it and implied that it was embraced only by the African American community without checking many of the sources cited by Gary Webb. At one point they simply asked the CIA if it was true and they said no.

So they reported their denial without any fact checking at all.

If they had checked some of the facts they would have found that one of his sources was a government report about an investigation by John Kerry, which hardly got any media coverage at the time. This was during the Iran-contra hearings which got all the headlines at the time but the report is still available, The Kerry Report formally called "Selections from the Senate Committee Report on Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy" chaired by Senator John F. Kerry this is also available in PDF format.

This isn't the first reports about complicity with drug running or the last; Alfred McCoy reported on this dating back to the Vietnam war and he followed up on it with some updates that took place as recently as the war in Afghanistan and numerous other investigators have also fact checked it and reported their sources in a much more effective manner than those who allegedly debunked them in the traditional media, although they didn't do this in a credible manner that involved checking facts.

The implication, if you consider the inadequate opportunities for poor people, the complicity with drug smuggling and the overly aggressive enforcement of selective drug crimes, is that this is a complex form of entrapment for those with the least amount of political power.

Some of these reports are in the following books or pages:

Alfred McCoy The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade This appears to be the first addition published in the seventies; it was followed up by a second and third edition with additional material that occurs in the eighties nineties and shortly after the turn of the century.

Celerino Castillo III "Powderburns" book

Celerino Castillo III "Powderburns" Home page

Similar methods should be made to debunk Jerad Miller's, Info War's or other claims including those of Media Matters in Alex Jones Alleges That Las Vegas Cop Ambush Was "Absolutely Staged" By Harry Reid And Other Conspirators. More often than not I have found that Media Matters ahs been fairly reliable; but in this case I suspect they could have done a better job reviewing this assuming they took the time to check some of their sources and Jerad's sources, often Info Wars. There has been a significant amount of speculation about the possibility that Alex Jones might have been responsible for inciting Jerad and Amanda Miller; and there might be some truth to that, since he does exaggerate things and come to some strange conspiracy theories, as his critics routinely point out.

However a close look at his reporting and fact checking it with other sources might confirm a significant portion of it making the exaggerations seem far more credible, especially to people that are already emotionally unstable. One of the claims that Jerad Miller allegedly makes or reposts from someone else is that "you're 8x more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist." This claim has apparently been wide spread on the internet and I'm not positive of the original source for this claim, perhaps it's Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid, which seems to be based on 2003 but if you go back fifteen years and include the 9/11 attacks then this would mean that there have to be well over 24,000 killings from police; and this is virtually out of the question. If on the other hand you only go back ten years and limit it to the United States it is almost certainly a far more reasonable claim, or at least it might seem to be.

According to the Atlantic Magazine, The Irrationality of Giving Up This Much Liberty to Fight Terror from a statistical point of view the fear of terrorism is greatly exaggerated since only a miniscule fraction of people are killed by terrorists, even including 9/11 compared to many other causes, including diabetes, drunk driving deaths and guns. This doesn't specify police but a List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States indicates that there are hundreds of people killed by police every year. A close look at the details of most of these quickly implies that they're under circumstances that most citizens wouldn't expect to be involved in and many people might think they're justifiable homicide, at least at a quick glance,, although it would be hard to tell whether a closer look would confirm that. Cato's list of Botched Paramilitary Police Raids cited by Jim Harper, who also claims You’re Eight Times More Likely to be Killed by a Police Officer than a Terrorist, does a better job citing the ones that have killed innocent people and this number is far smaller but it is more than enough for concern and it is more than enough to make a lot of people including Jerad Miller angry about it.

It doesn't take much searching to find some of the articles that have been cited indirectly by Jerad Miller or Infowars, through the Media Matters article and they include plenty that should be considered real concerns about excessive behavior of the police, even for people that don't support Alex Jones or Jerad Miller's position on gun control or their conspiracy theories. These reports backed up by alternative sources either cited by Infowars or that can easily be found on the internet include a woman that was terrorized in her own home by marshals, several incidents where police randomly treated everyone as potential suspects, and an incident where police shot two innocent women while pursuing another cop who was also a cop killer.

That's right, not to long ago Christopher Dorner, a former cop killed another cop and they had a manhunt for him. The following are a few of the stories cited by Jerad that I quickly found:

Info Wars: AP Photo: Checkpoint Cops Point Guns at Americans’ Heads

LA police shoot women in hunt for cop-killer Christopher Dorner "Officers assigned to protect another police official whom Dorner had threatened shot two women on Thursday morning. One of the women – who had been delivering newspapers in Torrance, south of Los Angeles – was shot in the hand, the other in the back. ...."

Florida Nurse Terrorized by US Marshals in Warrantless Raid

Lyons: Police raid felt like home invasion 'Goldsberry wasn't arrested or shot despite pointing a gun at a cop, so Wiggins said, “She sure shouldn't be going to the press.”'

Info Wars: Senate Doorkeeper Gives Out “Thank You Capitol Police” Buttons After Cops Execute Mother

CNN: Woman killed during D.C. chase was shot five times from behind, autopsy shows

Simply blaming all of this on right wing extremists without acknowledging the problems with the police won't do much to solve this problem, although it might temporarily appease many members of the public that often don't look to closely at these stories. Blaming all these events on white wing extremists associated with InfoWars is also flawed when you consider that many of the people they report as victims of police violence are minorities. you would think that left wingers would welcome this, but perhaps not when things get to partisan. Even if they do catch some of the potentially violent people before they strike out like Jerad Miller did they won't be able to catch them all. Ironically it is hard to imagine why they wouldn't have known about Jerad Miller before he went on his shooting spree since he broadcasted it so widely on the internet and this is supposedly what their NSA spying program is intended to prevent.

One of the legitimate concerns that InfoWars expresses is about an Indiana Sheriff who says: We Need Military Equipment Because "The United States of America has become a war zone;" if this is true it is partially because the police are escalating violence instead of preventing it in many cases. However it is mostly because politicians and the media continue to ignore the most important root causes of what causes violence to escalate including child abuse that escalates to more violence later in life and inadequate resources to educate children and solve social problems before thy escalate.

Violence among police isn't nearly as uncommon as people think even at home, Police domestic violence is nearly twice average rate. Part of the reason for this is presumably that they're often raised in the same authoritarian manner that causes escalating violence in other people as well; this is often part of the reason some of them want to be police officers, so they can be in a position of power. As David Couper pointed out Hazing and Bullying in the Police Academy only contributes to the escalation of violence and lack of accountability in police departments.

In many cases the worst police officers probably wind up in the most violent cities since the wealthier cities are less likely to hire them and the violent ones have a harder times finding less violent police officers. These cities are often less able to hold their police accountable since they're often the poorest where the citizens have the least amount of political power.

The more effective way to solve these problems should clearly be to provide the resources to prevent them from escalating not to increase the escalation and it doesn't help much when 21 sub-machine guns stolen from LAPD SWAT and even a Juvenile is accused of stealing guns from SWAT vehicle charged or even worse a Man goes on a Rampage in Stolen Tank before eventually being killed himself.

This should be as much of a concern of those concerned with gun control as it is with those on the right wing that are more concerned with protecting the second amendment even when it means allowing mentally ill or irrational people to have guns; since the excessive use of force by police is giving them a legitimate complaint even if some of their other complaints might not be so credible. This could, and in some parts of the country may already be, leading to an arms race between rogue elements and SWAT teams, some of which aren't behaving much better than the rogue elements.

Gun manufacturers won't complain about this.

The immediate problem may be to restore accountability for police departments that are most heavily involved in excessive force but in some cases, due to pressure from the public this may have already begun; although it may be mostly tokenism for now. Some police at lower levels are being charged although in most cases, even when there are convictions they aren't faced with nearly as high penalties as other people. The bigger problem is that politicians who make decisions and police commissioners who run police departments still don't seem to face much if any accountability at all. In rare cases under extreme pressure they might leave office, at least temporarily; but, as far as I know they never face criminal charges, and they generally wind up with other powerful positions at a lower profile.

Anyone paying close enough attention to news, at least from alternative news outlets might not be surprised but a study by Professors Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University has raised major doubts about whether this is a democracy or an Oligarchy. This has been reviewed by numerous sources in the alternative media including The Black Agenda Report but the traditional media has almost completely ignored it; which is part of the reason why the government doesn't respond to the public.

If a growing percentage of the public starts relying more on alternative media outlets demanding more from their politicians and even electing alternative candidates that the traditional media refuses to cover then perhaps this will begin to change.



The following are some of the web pages that compile lists of excessive police force or misbehavior; feel free to fact check those that you might think ar biased:

List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States

Innocents Down

Police State USA

Cop Block

Police Scandals: Deadly Force

The Free Thought Project: Americans Killed by Cops Now Outnumber Americans Killed in Iraq War

On top of that there are a plenty more that may or may not be listed on one of the previous pages including the following the following, some of which are covered by both those that consider themselves right wing or left:

Debunking the Myths of the 2013 Law Enforcement Assassination 'Trend' 04/04/2013

Think Progress: Police Officer Screams At Asian American Suspect: ‘I’ll Put You In A UPS Box And Send You Back’

Info wars: Chicago Cops Being Sued After Being Caught On Tape Physically And Verbally Abusing A Massage Parlor Employee

Las Vegas gunman’s Infowars posts included speculation about killing cops

Is Alex Jones Responsible for the Vegas Shooting?

Activist Post: Cops Kill 8 Times More Americans Than Terrorists Do

'The dawn of a new day... may all our sacrifices be worth it' Chilling online messages of white supremacist couple who gunned down three in Las Vegas and liked to dress up as the Joker and Slender Man

Man Dies in Tenn. Police Raid on Wrong House 11/04/2000 “We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made,” Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. “It’s a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again.” He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault. 2006-01-07

Police: Shooting Of Elderly Woman, 92-year old Kathryn Johnston, "Tragic, Unfortunate" 06/0/2014

Two Cops Who Killed Kathryn Johnston Plead Guilty — to Manslaughter 04/26/2007

California Cops Kill Man Claiming Self-Defense; Citizen Video Indicates Otherwise (Updated with Longer Video)

Virginia Cop Killed in Drug Raid; Suspect Says He Was Defending His Home

Attorney: Man was acting in self-defense when he killed sheriff's deputy 12/24/2013

Raid the Wrong House, Kill the Wrong Person

Ind. Police Raid Wrong House, Steal 18-Year-Old Girl's Computer Thanks to Unsecured WiFi Connection

DeKalb County Police Enter Georgia Home, Threaten To 'Cane' Family (GRAPHIC VIDEO) 08/08/2013

NRA backed law allows civilians to kill police officers 12/28/2012

Cop Shoots Partner While Aiming at Dog That Bared Its Teeth

Hawthorne police kill dog during arrest of owner, video of shooting goes viral

Militarized police overreach: “Oh, God, I thought they were going to shoot me next” 07/10/2013

FBI agents speak out on injuries from faulty grenades 11/17/2008

In Virginia, the Death Penalty for Gambling 05/01/2006

“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control 07/07/2013

Shaq Attack at Reason.com 02/na/2007

Swat Team Rescues Shaq In Mock Orlando Hijacking 11/09/1993

Deputy Shaquille O'Neal: The Missed Slam Dunk 06/15/2013

SWAT Madness and the Militarization of the American Police: A National Dilemma By Jim Fisher

Ex-officer convicted in elderly Pa. woman's murder 04/09/2013

Two Suits Filed Over Police No-Knock Raids at Wrong Homes 09/11/2003

Police Mag: No-Knock Searches: Reasonable or Deadly? 03/07/2011

Peyton Strickland

Ryan David Frederick 06/0/2014

Wrong-door SWAT raid leaves Georgia couple thinking they were being robbed 09/20/2013

Dana Hills High Students Allowed To Go Home After 4-Hour Class-By-Class Weapons Search 05/29/2014

Citizens caught in chaos of unusual bank robbery ‘dragnet’ take police to court 01/24/2013

Owners want to know who will pay for condo torn apart by SWAT team 04/27/2012

MILLER: D.C. businessman faces two years in jail for unregistered ammunition, brass casing 10/13/2013

Chrisman case: Phoenix Ariz. police officer sentenced to 7 years in prison 12/07/2013

Manchester NH - SWAT team shows up due to a man threatening to jump off of a building [HD] - YouTube 08/06/2012

SWAT team finds weapons, drugs and cash in Manchester home 05/30/2014

Walnut Street Shut Down, SWAT Team On Scene 09/13/2013

SWAT team sent to Nashua NH home after shots fired 07/22/2013

Police say Nashua NH emergency call may have been 'swatting' hoax 06/02/2014

Concord police, SWAT team raid West Street home, arrest two in drug bust 10/26/2013

Former Colorado Sheriff Pleads Guilty In Meth-For-Sex Case 04/04/2012

Mich. cops give kids toys after SWAT team terrifies family in drug raid on wrong house 05/06/2014 He said officers were looking for a man who rented the home nearly a year before his family moved in, and Handley said he’s upset that police failed to thoroughly investigate before bursting through the back door.

SWAT team smashes down front door of suburban house in early-morning raid and forces couple to the floor at gunpoint... before realizing it's the wrong home 10/08/2012

SWAT Team Launch Dawn Raid on Family Home to Collect Unpaid Student Loans 06/08/2011

SWAT team mistakenly raids woman’s Sheraden home 06/26/2013




New Orleans Police Officer Indicted in Drug Raid Killing

Detroit cop goes on trial for killing 7-year-old girl

Numbers paint portrait of Maryland SWAT team use

Woman Sues Police Over ‘Flash Grenade’ SWAT Raid

Evansville woman sues police department after SWAT officers raid her home

SWAT Team Brings TV Crew To Film Raid Against Threatening Internet Critic -- Raids Innocent Grandma Instead

BREAKING: Las Vegas Cop Killer Jared Miller’s Manifesto

By now pretty much everyone is probably aware of the shooting at a Las Vegas Wal-Mart earlier this month; however most people probably aren’t aware that the month or so prior to that shooting there has been over a dozen other shootings at Wal-Marts across the country, and that this isn’t much above average for Wal-Mart. Between May first and June eleventh there was a shooting at Wal-Mart, on average, once every three days or less; during 2013 there was a shooting, on average, once every four and a half days.

This incident did lead one news outlet to report about the recent study about how Wal-Mart leads to increased crime. Most news outlets never reported this at all and this article probably didn’t get nearly as much attention as the rest of the story and it is already forgotten by most.

There was also a shooting incident and SWAT raid about the same time as part of a police attempt to retrieve guns that were stolen from Wal-Mart earlier in the year; however this didn’t get nearly as much attention in the mass media. This was one of many guns that were stolen from a Tennessee Wal-Mart that had surprisingly lax security. Little or no attempt was made to consider whether or not Wal-Mart’s security measures are partially responsible for this incident.

At the end of the month there were two more gun related incidents including a shooting incident that was reported as a “Craigslist Shooting” by some media outlets. This might be part of a trend; Craigslist doesn’t do any advertising on the commercial media and the only time they’re ever mentioned by them is when something like this happens. Even when these incidents happen at Wal-Mart, as they often seem to they rarely refer to them as Wal-Mart shootings and as far as I know there are many more Wal-Mart shootings.

In this case it also involved attempts to sell large amounts of stolen property. Little effort is made to find out if these are related to large shoplifting sprees at places like Wal-Mart where thieves apparently find it exceptionally easy to steal large amounts of merchandise so easy they routine walk out of there with entire cartloads of merchandise.

This isn’t in doubt; they get caught all the time, eventually but often not until after they get away with it over and over again. This month they’re looking for someone that was video taped stealing six carts full; and on numerous other occasions they caught people the second or third time they went out with carts full. They say when they catch them more often it is because their security is improving; but I remember no one thought they could get away with this.

So they didn’t even try.

The crash injuring Tracy Morgan also drew more attention, for a little while how many truck accidents Wal-Mart has and some of the pressure from the corporations that contribute to them. However the reports about hundreds of other accidents killing many more people didn’t get nearly as much attention as the one that injured an actor that happened to be better known.

If they follow their past behavior they won’t address any of the root causes of this anymore than they address them for any of their other problems unless there is an enormous amount of grass roots pressure to do so.

As usual there were several bomb threats and at least one or two arson and another incident where someone arbitrarily hits another person with a bat because he was copying what he saw on TV. A large number of these incidents also result in customers being put on “lock down” where innocent people are often detained on the premises until incidents are resolved. This seems to happen at least a couple of times per month, including shooting incidents and bomb threats.

There were a couple of incidents where cars caught fire in two different parts of the country and they spread to other cars, in one case six cars caught on fire. I don’t know how Wal-Mart insurance responds to that.

If they respond well that would be newsworthy.

Sometimes I have to wonder if Wal-Mart executives are using reverse psychology or if they’re living in fantasy-land. Earlier this month an op-ed was written about Wal-Mart that was critical of them, one of many; and many people, including me, didn’t even notice. Then Wal-Mart refuted it in an incredibly incompetent manner and it went viral. Amazingly, the vast majority of comments on the page at Wal-Marts web site commended them for refuting it. Do they expect people to believe these comments are sincere?

How could they not have seen that one coming?

Their problems are even in their home office where they had an outbreak of food poisoning. But they can take comfort knowing that their undercover loss prevention officers fit in so well that some people ask them for marijuana before attempting to steal food. We now have corporations with their own private police forces, or something similar abut most people aren’t aware of it and there is some doubt about how accountable they might be, as well as the regular police which are routinely called in to do most of the work. They’re facing another law suit where they may have overreacted by tackling and handcuffing a mentally disabled woman that they falsely accused of shoplifting.

There were at least two stories where their labor practices are being exposed in the Canadian media and courts, one where a judge ruled they illegally shut down a store that voted to unionize and another where a worker exposed their hostile work environment and bullying.

One thing that might deserve more attention is that this began when the worker refused to falsify temperature logs to cover up for another employee who didn’t do their job. If you consider the reports about how much pressure these managers are under to “keep their numbers up” it is easy to understand why they get caught so many times selling expired food, or when someone gets pinched by a scorpion.

Yep, pinched by a scorpion, this is Wal-Mart.

This pressure is also almost certainly part of the reason why they have periodic incidents where workers shoot each other or threaten to bomb the place; and there are plenty of disgruntled customers that are also fed up with Wal-Mart and threaten to do the same. When these incidents are reported as isolated incidents, as they usually are, they often seem as if they’re just irrational people, and in many cases they almost certainly are; but when it happens so often and some of them even make it clear that they retaliating for something then it should be clear that part of the reason for the statistically higher crime at Wal-Mart is their oppressive work environment.

There are also some lighter moments like when they retrieve a stolen computer from one thief put it to one side and another steals it and gets away; or bizarre incidents like when it takes three weeks for anyone to notice there is a dead body decomposing in the parking lot.

Decomposing bodies being found in their parking lots aren't unprecedented; this happened at least once before and there ahve been many bodies found before they began decomposing. The most common location for these bodies seems to be either the parking lots or the bathrooms; they're usually poor people or suicides.

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!

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In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. In January of 2014 another study, "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" provided additional statistical research indicating that Wal-Mart might be contributing to higher crime rates or at least a slowing of the decline in crime. The study found that. “on average, communities with Walmarts had 17 more property crimes and two more violent crimes per 10,000 people than those communities without Walmarts.” I reviewed this more in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices? where I explained that although this study is helpful they could have done better with additional data that is available and I reviewed some of that. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a previous blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in May 2014. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 or the "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart.

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Troy police seek ID of Ohio Walmart credit card user 06/01/2014

Chinese workers reject Walmart's offer in labor dispute 06/01/2014

Ca. Walmart armed robbery suspect caught on surveillance tape 06/01/2014

FBI arrests man at Rochester NY Walmart 03/02/2014

Ga. Walmart shoplifter steals smartphones, fishing lures 06/02/2014

City woman accused of third Walmart theft in a month 06/01/2014

Walmart workers are going on strike to speak out. Why Walmart should listen. By Robert Reich 06/02/2014

Woman charged with leaving 4-year-old alone in car at VA. Walmart parking lot 06/02/2014

Man accused of taking photos up women's skirts at Mich. Walmart has conviction for similar offense 06/02/2014

Walmart Tops Fortune 500 most influential list 06/02/2014

Gun thieves hit same Memphis Tenn. Walmart for third time this year 06/02/2014



Thou shalt not steal! Woman arrested after swiping Bible, cheese and socks from SC Walmart 06/03/2014

Forbes: Report: Walmart's Billionaire Waltons Give Almost None Of Own Cash To Foundation 06/03/2014

UPDATED: Walmart management not sure when Auburn NY store will reopen after power outage 06/03/2014

Human rights fight in B.C. as Shoppers, Walmart resist drug labels for blind 06/03/2014

Walmart protest targets chairman's Paradise Valley home 06/03/2014

Manslaughter trial underway against former Conroe Tx. police officer in Walmart shooting 06/03/2014



NYC NY City Council members rip Walmart’s charity of ‘dangerous dollars’ 06/04/2014 A key bone of contention is the Waltons’ support of New York City charter schools. Since 2004, the Walton Family Foundation has funneled $16 million into the cause, including the DREAM Charter School, Village Academies and the Success Academy founded by Eva Moskowitz.

Walmart's 'Made in USA' push exposes strains of manufacturing rebirth 06/04/2014

Forbes: Walmart Slashed Tax Bill By Giving Top Execs Big Bonuses 06/04/2014

New Mama Pit Bull Found Tied to Shopping Cart Behind Long Island NY Wal-Mart: SPCA 06/04/2014

Raleigh NC police charge man threatened Walmart clerk to make cash theft possible 06/04/2014

After Bribery Scandal, High-Level Departures at Walmart 06/04/2014

Wal-Mart strikers plan to upstage shareholder meeting 06/04/2014

Utah prison inmate enters guilty pleas in Wal-Mart bomb scare 06/04/2014

Three Rob Ill. Wal-Mart 06/04/2014

Police seek suspect in Rocky Mount NC Walmart robbery 06/04/2014





Man arrested after NY Walmart shooting 06/05/2014

Decatur Ala. Wal-Mart employees detain shoplifting suspect; 2nd suspect turns himself in 06/04/2014

Bomb threats lead to searches at NJ Walmart, Kmart 06/04/2014

Nonprofits to NY City Council: Don’t block Walmart’s funds 06/04/2014



Walmart, Sam's Club in Doral Fla. evacuated for bomb threat 06/05/2014

Wal-Mart squeezes shareholders with store swag 06/05/2014

Wal-Mart Is Family Friendly—at Least to Members of the Walton Family 06/05/2014

Tenn. POLICE: Man allegedly drove to Walmart with no front tires 06/05/2014

Boynton Beach Fla. woman allegedly attempts to steal TV from Wal-Mart 06/05/2014

Police arrest alleged serial retail thieves at West Manheim Twp. Pa. Wal-Mart 06/05/2014

Maine communities saying no to Wal-Mart abatement requests 06/06/2014

Two Yankton SD residents indicted for unpaid Walmart shopping spree 06/06/2014

Walmart Plans Family Succession As Low-Wage Worker Plea Voted Down At Meeting 06/06/2014

Pharrell Thanks Wal-Mart for ‘Making the World a Happier Place’ 06/06/2014

Man accused of robbery in Fla. Walmart parking lot 06/06/2014

Bomb threat reported at Ky. Wal-Mart 06/06/2014

Tenn. Walmart murder suspect's cell phone password needed in investigation 06/06/2014

Three suspects sought in Md. Walmart theft 06/06/2014

Suspect allegedly has fondness for Ill. Walmart 06/06/2014





Shoplifting incident at Ga. Wal-Mart turns into lengthy chase 06/09/2014

Man accused of exposing himself in front of children at Wal-Mart in Silver Spring Twp. Pa. 06/09/2014

Low-wage protests planned at Wal-Mart, McDonald's in Springfield, Worcester, and Boston Ma. 06/09/2014

Delray man arrested after Walmart carjacking, chase in Boynton Fla. 06/09/2014

Suspect Sought in Berlin Wal-Mart Theft and Assault 06/09/2014

Man Claims 'Revenge' in Theft at Harvey Mitchell Tx. Walmart 06/10/2014



VIDEO: Wanted woman captured multiple times on Va. Walmart security cameras 06/09/2014

Police: Suspect sets TV, computer monitor on fire in NM Walmart parking lot 06/09/2014





Shrimp slaves: Walmart, Costco act against forced labor 06/10/2014

Crash in Napanoch NY Walmart parking lot leads to DWI charge 06/10/2014

Conroe Tx. officer who fatally shot teen accused of shoplifting from Walmart gets probation 06/10/2014

Reward offered in Denver Co. Wal-Mart car theft 06/10/2014



Mother says RI Walmart failed to report lewd act on her daughter 06/10/2014

Couple caught on surveillance video using baby to steal electronics from Tx. Walmart 06/10/2014

Man's employment with Cincinnati Ohio Wal-Mart 'like running on a treadmill' 06/10/2014

Residents upset about new Tx. Walmart being built near elementary school 06/10/2014

Police: Woman stole from NY Wal-Mart again 06/11/2014

Shareholders revolt against Walmart, Netflix 06/11/2014

Police looking for man who exposed himself at SC Wal-Mart 06/11/2014

Detectives looking for suspects in Ariz. Wal-Mart theft 06/11/2014

Deputies issue arrest warrant in Fla. Walmart, movie theater purse snatching cases 06/12/2014

Shoplifter arrested for NH Walmart theft 06/12/2014

Reports: Ware Ma. police charge man who allegedly exposed himself to young girls at Walmart store on Palmer Road 06/12/2014

Duo accused of stealing 18 TVs from Fla. Walmart identified 06/12/2014

Ithaca NY Wal-Mart emptied by bomb scare 06/12/2014

Small fire singes footwear area at Wal-Mart 06/12/2014

Small fire singes footwear area at Wyoming Wal-Mart 06/12/2014



Police: Man approaches boy, 9, in Pa. Walmart bathroom 06/12/2014

Deputies: 8-year-old caught with Fla. Walmart shoplifters 06/12/2014

Deputies: Orlando men used cloned credit cards at Fla. Walmart 06/12/2014

Woman accused of shoplifting, dragging children through SC Walmart 06/13/2014

Man claiming to be doctor kisses woman on mouth at Fla. Walmart, cops say 06/13/2014



Tulsa Ok. Police search for armed robbery suspect at 31st, Garnett Walmart Neighborhood Market 06/13/2014



Crews respond to car/ammo fire at Walmart in Lebanon County Pa. 06/14/2014

PD: Man arrested for indecent exposure in Ok. Walmart 06/15/2014



Fire causes $150 damage, closes NC Walmart for a few hours 06/16/2014

Man who shoplifted from Pa. Wal-Mart busted after picking up accomplice from prison, police say 06/16/2014

Police: Woman leaves children in car to shoplift in Ky. Walmart 06/16/2014

Payson woman arrested for stealing from Utah Walmart 06/16/2014

Gas leak at Avon Conn. Walmart 06/16/2014

Police blotter: Man jailed for burglary; arrests at Montana Wal-Mart; theft at TV station 06/16/2014

Mid-South woman fights attacker with umbrella in Tenn. Walmart parking lot 06/16/2014

XX 06/1/2014

Las Vegas police change account of couple's fatal shooting in Walmart 06/11/2014

Wal-Mart China to raise food safety spending to $48 million 06/17/2014

Mother-daughter duo accused in Vt. Walmart theft 06/17/2014

Police: Walmart employee helps rescue Tx. kidnapping victim in Ark. 06/17/2014

Suspect or hero? Dog taken from hot car at Center Township Pa. Walmart 06/17/2014

Woman dressed as Walmart worker tries to rob employee with gun in Poinciana Fla. 06/17/2014

4 suspected of credit card fraud at Walmart in Huber Ohio 06/17/2014

Police searching for woman, accomplice, who tried to steal TVs from Silver Spring Twp. Pa. Wal-Mart 06/17/2014

Nashville man accused of stealing from 3 Tenn. Wal-Marts in a day 06/17/2014

Thieves make off with $4K in cell phones from NC Walmart 06/17/2014

Conway man arrested after police said he tried to stab SC Wal-Mart employee during shoplifting 06/18/2014

Person wanted for using counterfeit checks at Walmart in Virginia Beach 06/18/2014



Citizens speak out on big box stores, Walmart 06/18/2014

Man arrested for Miss. Walmart shoplifting 06/17/2014

Eight Largest Cities Without Walmart 06/18/2014



Wake Forest NC Police seek woman for questioning in Walmart incident 06/18/2014



Wife says husband was suicidal when he rammed truck into vehicles in Tx. Wal-Mart parking lot 06/18/2014

Man accused of using cloning credit cards at Missouri Wal-Marts 06/18/2014



Kraft recalling Velveeta cheese from Walmart stores 06/19/2014

Police allege Saginaw man used knife in theft attempt at Mich. Walmart 06/19/2014

Woman wanted for theft at NC Walmart 06/19/2014



Ark. Walmart Shoplifter Head-Butts Employee, Gets Away With Loot 06/20/2014

Homeless man arrested after fight over best panhandling spot near Ill. Walmart 06/20/2014

Man Who Tried To Rob Walmart Commits Suicide, Broken Arrow Ok. Police Say 06/20/2014



Cashier, 19, charged in Ind. Wal-Mart theft 06/21/2014

Woman captured in Georgia who posed as Walmart employee, in Florida, during attempted armed robbery 06/21/2014

Woman pinned underneath car at Ohio Walmart 06/21/2014

Bentonville Walmart Employees Overcoming Bacterial Outbreak 06/23/2014

Police: NY Wal-Mart larcenies lead to Oneida County meth bust 06/21/2014

Lewiston man charged with trying to rob Auburn Me. Walmart 06/22/2014



Two Charged with Theft Scheme at WV Walmart 06/23/2014





South Jackson Tenn. Wal-Mart theft suspects arrested after police chase 06/23/2014

Driver in Ohio Walmart parking lot accident cited 06/23/2014



Man Charged With Kidnapping Teen From Tenn. Walmart Parking Lot 06/23/2014

Disabled Oregon Walmart customer says worker tried to keep him from using motorized cart 06/23/2014



Report: Teen, friend ran through SC Walmart in only Speedo after losing bet 06/24/2014



Bear spotted outside Jefferson Co. Missouri Wal-Mart 06/24/2014

Hillary Clinton to Host "Hard Choices" Book Signing at Little Rock Ark. Walmart 06/25/2014

Men used cloned credit cards at Fla. Walmart, deputies say 06/25/2014

Deadly Accident Near Dayton Tenn. Walmart 06/25/2014

Deputies: Drunk driver crashes into Walmart in South Pasadena Fla. 06/25/2014

Man charged after stealing laptop from ND Walmart 06/26/2014

KPD searching for woman who reportedly took two laptops from Tenn. Walmart 06/26/2014

Cornelius Ohio Wal-Mart evacuated because of natural gas smell 06/26/2014

Women in a motorized cart accused of stealing NY Walmart clerk’s wallet 06/26/2014

Walmart worker swindled store, Pinellas Park Fla. police say 06/26/2014

Tulsa Ok. Police Make Second Arrest In Fatal Walmart Shooting 06/26/2014

Walmart truck hits fire hydrant in West Linn Oregon 06/26/2014

Chief and bystander capture alligator near La. Wal-Mart 06/26/2014

Newport News: Police searching for suspects in attempted theft at Virginia Walmart 06/27/2014



Camby Ind. Walmart reminds parents not to leave kids in car 06/27/2014

12-year-old Florida Boy Drives School Bus to Panama City Fla. Wal-Mart 06/27/2014

Police: Ohio Walmart thief runs, is found near OSP post 06/27/2014

Man who exposed self to child at Walmart arrested, Orlando Fla. police say 06/27/2014

Jackon Co. Man Charged with Fla. Walmart Theft 06/28/2014



Shooting victim’s Utah Wal-Mart stop prompts investigation 06/29/2014

Man accused of gun, meth possession at Walmart in Colorado Springs 06/29/2014

Police: Bomb threat at Walmart in North Kingstown RI was hoax 06/30/2014

CEO: Wal-Mart Taught Me How To Be A Leader, Manager 06/30/2014

Man arrested for stealing soda and toilet paper from Utah Walmart 06/30/2014

Police: Surveillance shows woman assaulting child inside Pa. Walmart 06/30/2014

Customers evacuate Dickinson Walmart after sprinkler malfunctions 06/30/2014



Man accused of exposing himself at Milford Del. Wal-Mart 06/30/2014

Trial ordered for 67-year-old Saginaw Mich. man accused of using knife in theft attempt at Walmart 06/30/2014

Lower Nazareth Walmart shoplifting suspect arrested in P'burg Pa. 06/30/2014

Twitter commenters respond to Walmart ad for watermelon during BET Awards 06/30/2014

Police: Woman banned from Ga. Walmart found with drugs 06/30/2014

This Simple Chart Shows Why Wal-Mart Is in Trouble 06/30/2014 Same-store sales at the retail giant have dropped in 14 out of the last 21 quarters.

I have heard an enormous amount of talk about justice from the traditional media and the political establishment. This has, of course, been going on for a long time and I'm certainly everyone has as well.

This discussion of justice almost never involves figuring out what the root causes of crime are and attempting to inform the public of the most effective ways to prevent them are. I often get the impression that either I don't know what this form of justice is or the majority of the people on the commercial media don't know what justice is.

That doesn't mean that there aren't efforts to figure out what the most effective ways to reduce crime are; but unfortunately the best ones get little or no attention from the commercial media or the political establishment. Intentionally or not this results in an opportunity to compare crime rates from different states and other characteristics from those states to find out what some of the contributing causes of crime might be.

I have reported on the leading contributing causes of crime, especially violent crime, previously and come to the conclusion that the biggest one is almost certainly early child abuse, including corporal punishment, that escalates to bullying, hazing, domestic violence and other forms of crime later in life. another major contributing factor is almost certainly poverty especially in some abandoned inner city schools where the educations system is extremely dysfunctional. The most recent report of this has been Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows which demonstrates that reducing child abuse and repairing schools could do an enormous amount to reduce crime dramatically and Politics, not technology, caused botched executions where I indicated that there is an enormous amount of evidence to indicate that the death penalty as a deterrent, which has an enormous amount of political support, clearly doesn't work at all and is distracting from real solutions.

Reviewing the ten states that have the highest and lowest graduation rates; the strongest or weakest religious beliefs; most effective or lenient gun laws; most or least support of organized gambling; and political affiliation and how they deal with these issues; and comparing them with the highest murder rates, incarceration rates, and reports of violent crime could help understand how these might influence crime.

Statistics like these might help indicate causes of crime but without additional back up I wouldn’t consider them the strongest types of evidence to indicate what causes crime. In some cases there are strong correlations indicated and others they aren’t quite so clear. With multiple contributing causes it would be inappropriate to jump to conclusions without sorting out potential contributing factors; but this could narrow things down. In mot cases additional research has been included when it has been easily available.

This includes hard facts which can be confirmed from sources that have been cited followed by an evaluation, which I don’t expect everyone to agree with, although if there is a strong correlation it almost certainly indicates some kind of a connection one way or another.

This is not be the most authoritative review; but I did my best to show sources and present the work in a way that people without advanced education can understand it and come to their own conclusions by reviewing it themselves.

Most of the conclusions will be saved until after showing the work, as it should be, but, regrettably in many cases the political establishment and the media is ignoring some of the most important research; in many cases it is clear that the most rational course of action isn't being chosen by politicians and instead of informing the public about it the media often repeats appeals to emotions that distract from research that would enable the public to make some of the most rational decisions.

Even if this isn’t the best review available it is, as far as I can tell significantly better than what the political establishment and the media presents.

The reason for this isn’t because this is as thorough as it should be; regrettably it is better than the political establishment and the mainstream media because they don’t even seem to be trying to do a good job.

If you doubt that take a look at either this review or one even better from academic sources, alternative media or the library and think about whether you think the political establishment or media comes close to matching it.

The first part of this review covers comparisons with graduation rates and religious faith. Follow up posts will include coverage gambling, gun control, rates of gun related deaths, political affiliation and additional comparisons with the different categories. Additional follow ups might include reviews of violence from military veterans, efforts to prevent crime from grass roots efforts or alternative parties to the Democrats and Republicans and other countries and the impact that insurance advertising or other corporate interests might have on crime.

This review includes information from the following sources:

City-Data Crime rate in the US: Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Assaults, Burglaries, Thefts, Auto thefts, Arson

Wikipedia Crime rate for cities above 250,000 population

Mississippi most religious, Vermont least, survey says 01/29/2009

Church or synagogue attendance by state

State rankings of high school and college graduation rates 2011

State rankings of college graduation rates up to 2009 at this time

Gun laws by state

Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 (most recent) by state

Gambling in the United States

Murder rates by state at the Death Penalty Information Center .

Incarceration rates by state

reports of violent crime per 100,000 and previous post about Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows



The correlation with high school graduation and lower rates of violent crime and incarceration should be common knowledge by now and it has been confirmed in numerous studies over the last several decades, including some listed below. This should be a clear indication that more efforts should be made to keep children in school including, at time providing adequate funding for the schools and providing social programs to help parents when they need it, since this is far less expensive than prisons later in life.

Unfortunately instead of doing this they take the connection between high drop-out rates for granted and rarely discuss it while repeating get tough on crime rhetoric over and over again. In many cases, in addition to spending more on prisons they also spend more on legal expenses and propaganda to avoid putting the funds into lower income school. The arguments to justify this are routinely ignored when it comes to funding higher income schools. 

Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts 7/08/2009

Study bolsters argument linking graduation rates to cutting crime 09/12/2013

Study Bolsters Argument Linking Graduation Rates to Cutting Crime 09/27/2013



When it comes to murder rates and incarceration rates religious states are higher in both cases; however it isn't quite so clear when it comes to total reports of violent crime, although religious states seem to have slightly higher rates. When comparing it to states based on their church attendance it is almost identical although Utah is in fifth, which means that one of the states with the ten lowest murder and incarceration rates is among the most religious.

A relatively brief glance at the murder rates over the past seventeen years indicates that the murder rates haven't changed that much and it is mostly the same states that are in the top and bottom murder rates, although at times Arkansas drops barely out of the tenth it is often replaced by Georgia which is also in the ten most religious, making this change negligible.

This still doesn't explain causation; however as I explained in the previous post about corporal punishment the people that are most likely to use corporal punishment are often the most religious since it is often part of their religious belief as taught by many religious leaders including James Dobson. And the research cited in previous posts about this also indicate reason to believe that early abuse as a child often leads to escalating abuse later in life including bullying, hazing and domestic violence.



There have been several other studies to determine if religion impacts crime as well and they haven't all come to the same conclusions; one that used similar methods and came to similar conclusions is Religion and Crime: Is There a Correlation? | Visual.ly. They do, appropriately, caution, "But remember: correlation is not necessarily causation. There are many other variables, including poverty and education levels, that affect the crime rate." However, as I said, other research almost certainly indicates that part of the evidence for causation is almost certainly related to the connection with corporal punishment and other forms of abuse to children that might be related to religion. Also there appears to be a correlation with poverty, lack of education and religion as well, although it is difficult to tell which one causes the others or if another factor causes all three, or if they cause each other.

The most notable study, that I know of, that comes to significantly different conclusions is How religion cuts crime: Church-goers are less likely to shoplift, take drugs and download music illegally, which is based primarily on a survey of 1,200 people in the United Kingdom. It was led by PhD student Mark Littler. This means that they're essentially relying on the honesty of their respondents and it doesn't cover more serious crimes since they're not common enough to "show a significant pattern." It doesn't take into consideration murder rates or crimes in the U.S. or other countries.

The sources that I used to determine religious beliefs also use surveys, however they have less motive to lie about whether or not they believe in God than they might about whether or not they might be inclined to commit certain crimes like the use of illegal drugs and music piracy or other crimes. The statistics from the FBI for murder, violent crime and incarceration rates are almost certainly more reliable, although in the case of violent crime it is reported by local communities on a voluntary basis. Voluntary reports of violent crime is the one where the correlation with religion and crime is the least conclusive.

However this doesn't mean there is nothing to this study although I don't consider it very reliable. While reviewing the crimes in Sweden for the previous post about Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows I noticed that one of the few crimes that they might have higher rates of were theft of intellectual property or other property crimes, which might have been slightly higher. When it comes to violent crime, including murder Sweden has much lower rates and they're less religious than the U.S. As far as the theft of intellectual property there should be some doubt about whether this should be considered a crime at all in many cases. The laws on this haven't been made in a democratic manner and they almost certainly benefit those with the most political power at the expense of those with the least as I attempted to explain in a post about Copyright violators are thought criminals. Intellectual property isn't actually physical property and when someone listens to a song or reads an educational book they don't deprive others of the ability to do so as well. And the laws often do more to protect large institutions than they do to protect the authors they were originally intended to protect.

One reason for this might be that regions teach obedience to authority and they're less likely to teach critical thinking skills. Regardless of which religion people belong to the beliefs are chosen by their leaders and they're preached to the majority who aren't expected to question them, in most cases. This might explain why religious people might be more willing to accept their leaders laws about intellectual property than non-religious people are. In a democratic system the public is supposed to understand the laws and participate in their creation.

This article also cites Belief in hell, according to international data, is associated with reduced crime, which also uses a large amount of information from surveys, to back up their conclusions but fails to mention those that disagree or address their concerns. The methods used by this study are more complex than I can review at a brief glance but I remain skeptical of it for now. The information he cites for his conclusions aren't readily available; but the information that is available seems to contradict his conclusions. Even though the surveys that I have seen to determine religious faith doesn't address belief in heaven and hell it is reasonable to believe the less religious, living in states with lower murder or violent crime rates are less likely to believe in heaven and hell.

In another study which mostly agrees with my conclusions, Religion, Atheism and Crime, they claim "Religiosity had no significant relationship with violent crime, but it had a notable positive correlation with property crime. To see this, I simply used Microsoft Excel to plot the numbers against each other (see charts below). If nothing else, this data disproves the notion that less religious belief inexorably contributes to, or is correlated with, more crime. Not only is this completely false, but the opposite--that religion is correlated with crime--is somewhat true."

I didn't look as closely at property crime as he did but find it hard to see how he came to the conclusion that there is "no significant relationship with violent crime" when he used similar sources to mine, although for different years and they had several of the most religious states among the highest murder rates and the least religious among the lowest murder rates. later in his article he does come to seemingly contradictory conclusions that are more in agreement with my conclusions; "The US is the most murderous country in the rich world by far, while being one of the most religious. About 33% of Americans indicate religion is not important in their daily lives. For the least murderous societies (which include Singapore, Austria, Norway, Switzerland and Germany), this number is never lower than 40%, and goes as high as 78%"

Some states which might be a notable exceptions to the correlation between religion and higher crime might be Virginia, Kentucky and Utah. Virginia and Kentucky are among the ten states with the least reports for violent crime but they're on a voluntary basis so this data isn't as reliable as the murder rates or incarceration rates; and Utah is in the lowest for all three; and they're in the highest ten for graduation rates. Utah is the only state that is mostly, 60%, Mormon. The only other state that has a double digit population of Mormons is Idaho and they also have relatively low crime rates but they're not among the most religious.

As I indicated in A Relatively Brief History of the Mormon Church they have an extensive history of violence from the nineteenth century so this might seem surprising. However in the nineteenth century the whole country was more violent including other religions. There is also evidence of numerous high profile cases that have been listed in the previous article and they all had a history of violent upbringing; but they're only a small percentage of the population.

One reason why Utah might have lower violent crime rates than other states is that they have strong oppositions to gambling and drinking, which are also contributing factors to violence. A more important reason why they might have lower violent crime rates than other religions might be that unlike most other religions the Mormon Church no longer supports corporal punishment for children and it is, for the most part, banned in schools according to Beating Children With State Support. The article claims that “the LDS church has consistently discouraged this approach to child rearing;” however a review of the history of the Mormon church doesn't back this up especially the early Mormon history. But in more recent history former President of the Mormon Church Gordon Hinckley, “called physical abuse of children unnecessary, unjustified and indefensible.” He said: “I have never accepted the principle of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child.’ I am persuaded that violent fathers produce violent sons. Children don’t need beating. They need love and encouragement.”

If the majority of the Mormon followers abide by this belief then that could explain the reduction in violence among Mormons; however this might not apply to sects that are often referred to as Fundamentalists, like Warren Jeffs sect. Any violence that happens in some of these sects might not be reflected in this review since it is based on reports of violence that are reported and isolated sects would almost certainly not report any violence that might take place there if they have a choice.

A closer look at this might indicate that it provides additional evidence that corporal punishment leads to escalating violence and in the long run eliminating it will lead to reductions in violence. Olivier Muarel and Alice Miller has also called on the pope to speak out against child abuse in a letter written by Olivier Muarel and cited by Alice Miller. Miller asks "If the Catholic Church were to open its eyes, train its gaze on the cruelty being done to children, and speak out against it, would that have a detrimental effect on the power of the church? Probably, for at present time that power rests squarely on the subjection of the faithful to its authoritarian decrees. If self-possessed believers were to begin questioning the power structures of the church, those structures would come tumbling down." The result of Gordon Hinckley's position on corporal punishment is probably only beginning to impact beliefs, although it is too soon to determine if Alice Millers prediction will come true.

Most Mormon's remain loyal but many of them are almost certainly becoming more moderate and questioning their Church leaders when they think they're wrong. Recently the Mormon Church excommunicated Kate Kelly when she spoke out in favor of ordaining women and they also excommunicated numerous other people over the years including Sonia Johnson who was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. They're actually more reluctant to do this than they were in the past since it brings more unwanted publicity than it used to but the alternative is to allow free thinking people to raise more questions about their beliefs and some of them might erode some of their beliefs in the long run.

The following are a few additional articles about religion and crime:

Predominantly Atheist Countries Have Lowest Crime Rate According To Study - Religion - Nairaland

American Humanist: God would be an atheist: Why can't we all be Japanese?

Google of additional citations of this study.

Atheists don’t commit as much crime as the Religious do.

Aldous Huxley picked a great title for his book, A Brave New World that anticipated a slogan that propagandists can't resist. But of course his novel explained some of the methods an authoritarian government might use to indoctrinate their people; so the last thing spokesmen for such a government might want to do is draw attention to it by using this phrase, especially if they're using many of the same tactics described in the book or slight variations.

According to a Guardian article A Brave New World is among top 10 books some Americans most want banned. The reason given is sexually explicit material; however I suspect that some people are far more concerned about the political discussion and that some people might recognize similarities with what is going on in the media and the political establishment. This Saturday, for one reason or another, one of the pundits on the Morning show at ABC used the phrase when discussing whatever obsession of the day they were covering; then they quickly went into one of their bad jokes and everyone started giggling which is what they do almost non-stop on morning shows now.

I don't know how many people noticed but I suspect that they will avoid repeating it too often if they want to avoid drawing additional attention to it although they might not want to let people know why they would do so.

In A Brave New World the way they keep the majority complacent is to keep them happy when they can and they teach them at an early age to hate books and like many authoritarian books they heavily restrict access or ban books. In the modern world they don't quite ban books but they do everything they can to keep people distracted and they seem to be mixing up whatever method they can to keep people distracted and going along with the program of the political establishment by using what ever method they can including some from other classics as well, including The Iron Heel, by Jack London and, of course, Orwell's 1984; which is often compared to A Brave New World.

With consolidated control of the press and publishing companies it is extremely rare where anyone can get anything even close to the quality of these classics published anymore and even rarer for them to get much if any publicity if they do manage to get something published. Some of these books, including A Brave New World, describe how the political establishment conducts research into how to manipulate the public and convince them to go along with the program and in the real world they do just that but it isn't, by it's strictest definition entirely conspiracy, because it isn't completely secrets. As I discussed in several previous posts, including Political Psychologist Are Suppressing Democracy there is an enormous amount of research published in the academic and political world that is rarely ever mentioned to the majority of the public, or at least not in a manner that would enable them to avoid being manipulated.

This doesn't mean that there isn't additional aspects of it that does involve conspiracy; there clearly is. They routinely indicate that they do an enormous amount of psychological research which they consider proprietary, which means secrecy may be protected by law, in some cases. This clearly fits the definition of a conspiracy and even though they don't explain all of their activities they can't hide the results which are clearly incompetent if they want to inform the public in the most effective manner possible and they're also clearly manipulative so it isn't hard to figure what some of their manipulation tactics are designed to do.

One of the most effective manner they use now seems to be to entertain us by attempting to keep us glued to our TV watching true crime stories that are clearly done more to hype the truth and manipulate emotions and of the three major networks NBC seems to be the most effective at that with Dateline, To catch a predator and many other shows although they do their share of attempting to keep us watching with non-stop giggling at bad jokes in the morning and the other shows do their share of using crime to keep us watching; if there is one that does a better job with non-stop crime coverage it is probably Headline News with three consecutive hours of demagogues demonizing the crime du jour.

One of the few relatively new books that does describe authoritarian methods is The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins and it was also on the list of top ten books that people tried to ban along with Nickle and Dimed which is non-fiction and exposes Wal-Mart's practices among other corporations. Before that was Stephen King's The Running Man where chasing game contestants is part of the entertainment to keep the public glued to the television for entertainment purposes.

Anyone that rely s on the movie version of this starring Arnold Schwarzenegger might not realize how close the book, which was much better, comes to modern reality, although even it is an exaggeration, perhaps only a slight exaggeration. In the book the majority of the public were poor and barely got by and the best opportunity to raise funds was to enter "the games" where they supposedly offered a big reward for anyone that could survive a chase which was in the public streets, unlike the movie version where it was in an enclosed studio. The public was encouraged to call in and help hunt him down.

Whether it was the book or the movie it turned out that the government didn't keep their promises for a potential reward if they won and they were just used for entertainment purposes to keep the rest of the public cheering on while the government hunted down poor people who entered the games.

The fictional version may seem horrifying and too exaggerated to be true but the real version which is true isn't much better and they continue using poor people for entertainment purposes and it is luring in an enormous amount of people.

And in the real version many people almost certainly don't realize that they're being manipulated and that the next person that could be used for entertainment purposes could be them.



Ironically the people that find this entertaining, in many cases could be the most likely to be used for entertainment purposes and in some cases they actually volunteer for it at least when it comes to being participants in shows like Jerry Springer or Jenny Jones. Amazingly the manipulations tactics on the Jenny Jones show managed to incite a murder when a gay man told an associate that he had a crush on him and three days later killed him. There was a law suit which followed and the family of the deceased was awarded $25 million, but that decision was later overturned by the Michigan appellate court which ruled that the producers were not responsible for what happened to the guests after their appearance on the show.

Amazingly the use of people being manipulated by the media for entertainment on a trash show turned into a real life drama where someone really was killed for entertainment or something way to damn close. The media wasn't held responsible due to court rulings that overruled a jury system and the show wasn't canceled because of the law suit but because of ratings.

The justification to censor many of the books including the Brave New World, 1984 and the Hunger Games is often sex scenes or at least that is the reason presented by the media but the bigger problem is that they all might expose manipulation tactics, which they don't want to admit or draw additional attention to this might have been especially true about the Running Man but they seem to have used different tactics to avoid drawing attention to it.

When it first came out in the eighties it seemed like just another horror story but thirteen years ago the last thing the media might have wanted to do was draw attention to it because in the book version at the end its tanks were still better than a quarter full.

So they just ignored it and it seems to have worked better than trying to ban it.

In several past posts I have been attempting to find out how much various contributing causes impact violent crime. The leading long term cause for violent crime is almost certainly early child abuse that leads to escalating violence later in life but other things clearly are also factors which need to be addressed including poverty which I covered in Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows. Additional posts that covered other potential contributing causes to crime include Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion? Politics, not technology, caused botched executions where I indicated that and Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?

In two of the past reviews part of the way I attempted to narrow things down was to compare crime rates for different states with whether they use corporal punishment in schools, how much poverty they have, how many children graduate from high school and how religious they are according to surveys. In this one I compare crime rates with laws about gambling and gun control. These are not as consistent but they still provide some indication and additional studies have been used to compare them and add more information to understand how these might be understood and crime can be reduced.

This review includes information from the following sources:

City-Data Crime rate in the US: Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Assaults, Burglaries, Thefts, Auto thefts, Arson

Wikipedia Crime rate for cities above 250,000 population

Gun laws by state

Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 (most recent) by state

Gambling in the United States

Murder rates by state at the Death Penalty Information Center .

Incarceration rates by state

reports of violent crime per 100,000 and previous post about Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows



Comparing gun laws to murder rates, incarceration rates and rates of reports of violent crime doesn't seem to indicate a clear correlation that is easily recognizable. However when comparing rates of gun related deaths with the most effective gun laws there is a much clearer correlation indicating that states with more effective gun laws, in most cases have lower gun related deaths. Even a close look at the comparison of gun laws to murder rates, incarceration rates and rates of reports of violent crime indicates that if anything there are slightly more murders violent crimes and higher incarceration rates in the states with more effective gun laws; although, since the correlation isn't quite as easy to see as other correlations it would be easy for anyone to selectively choose their facts to support which ever position they believe in.

There are more than twice as many gun related deaths as there are murders in this country and some of the murders are not gun related which means that close to 60 to 70 percent if not more of gun related deaths are probably either the result of accidents or suicides. In some states like Alaska and Wyoming where they have relatively low murder rates but high gun related deaths it is much higher. On top of that the murders that get the most attention in the media are the mass murders which quickly turn into enormous media stories; yet they only account for about one in 170 murders. In 2012 there were Sixteen US Mass Shootings, Leaving at Least 88 Dead; but there were 14,827 murders according to FBI reports and the number of gun related deaths must be over 30,000.

There has been a common claim that there with More Guns, Less Crime popularized by a book by John Lott but these statistics clearly don't support that and other reviewers that have looked at his statistical claims closer have found more problems with them. However among gun rights advocates they repeat this over and over again without reviewing the facts behind it.

One of the most common arguments made is that mental illness is the leading cause of murders; and this may be true but they're much more likely to kill large numbers if they have easy access to guns and if there is a problem with mental illness is the best way to handle it to make guns easier to get? The statistical correlation comparing corporal punishment, graduation rates, poverty and even religion are all much clearer than with gun control laws. Recognizing and treating mental illness is is one of the best argument often made for addressing this; however recognizing the causes that preceded mental illness may be even more important in the long run although it won't be adequate to address the people that already have mental illness problems.

In most cases Mental illness is almost always something that begins early in life and the same research that indicates that corporal punishment and other forms of child abuse leads to escalating violence later in life also indicates that it also leads to escalating amounts of mental illness. Researchers like Dorothy Otnow Lewis and Lonnie Athens have looked into the back ground of many of the biggest mass murders and found more than the usual amount of abuse in their early childhood. In many cases Dorothy Otnow Lewis has also found hospital or court records to back up her claims and she has said that when she looks close enough she has always found some evidence of early abuse in murderers but this isn't always easy to find and many people who decline to look jump to the conclusion that the evidence of abuse isn't there.



According to Dr. Jeffrey Swanson "On the face of it, a mass shooting is the product of a disordered mental process. You don't have to be a psychiatrist: what normal person would go out and shoot a bunch of strangers?" Mother Jones: What Do We Actually Know About the Relationship Between Mental Illness and Mass Shootings?

Early childhood education is also a major factor when it comes to developing rational thinking skills and learning how not to go along with the crowd. On both sides of the argument on this issue, and many other, there has been an enormous amount of appeal to emotions and pressure to go along with the arguments from people on their own side.

The five states with the highest per capita gun death rates in 2008 were Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Wyoming according to D.C. group says Alaska leads in gunshot deaths. but unlike Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama; Alaska and Wyoming don't have among the highest murder rates. In Alaska "there were 142 gun-related deaths statewide in 2008, according to the CDC data. Of those, 116 were suicides, 18 were homicides and eight were either unintentional, of undetermined intent or some combination of the two."

Wyoming has similar suicide rates according to Guns: A way of life in Wyoming. In these two states they need more availability for mental health access for suicide prevention rather than homicidal tendencies.

However it would almost certainly be more important, whether it is preventing suicide or homicide to do much more to address the vast economic and educational inequality yet that is rarely discussed when it comes to the problems with crime in this country.

By comparison the death rate for auto accidents are still 20 % higher than guns although they're going down while according to this report the rate of gun related deaths have been going up; however the rate of murders ahve been going down until 2012 when they were about the same as 2011. The number of people that die because of air pollution is 200,000 in the U.S. which is more than five times either automobiles or guns.

There are plenty of other studies to chose from and some of them use statistics from different years to come up with their conclusions but if there done well then the results should be relatively consistent although when support for one side of the issue impacts the research this often isn't the case. A close look at both sides will almost certainly indicate at least a little bias but I suspect that one side will demonstrate much more bias and less rational and accurate use of the statistics. If you need me to tell me which is which you probably won't believe me but here are some from both sides.

Mother Jones: A Guide to Mass Shootings in America

Mother Jones: 10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down

Mother Jones: More Guns, More Mass Shootings—Coincidence?

Mother Jones: At Least 194 Children Have Been Shot to Death Since Newtown

Mother Jones: More Than Half of Americans Now Have Tougher Gun Laws

STUDY: States With Loose Gun Laws Have Higher Rates Of Gun Violence

20 Deadliest Gun States

Less Guns, Less Crime- Debunking the Self-Defense Myth

Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States

Crime Research Prevention Center: Evaluating Mother Jones’ “10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down”

The Truth About Guns: Debunking Mother Jones’ ’10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down’

The Unsinkable John Lott Vs. "Freaky" Economics





This method of compiling data for gambling is rough and not the best way of doing so but it does show that the states that have higher murder, incarceration and violent crime rates all allow more gambling of one kind or another than those with the lowest rates. However as I explained previously in The tragedy of gambling politics in United States the odds in organized gambling has to be fixed in favor of the house one way or another or there is no way they could cover their expenses let alone make a profit. The marketing of gambling is based on an enormous amount of hype and they attract customers by praying on their dreams and appealing to their emotion so that they don't think rationally.

The correlation with gambling and crime is probably not as large as other contributing factors including child abuse that escalates to more violence, poverty and lack of education but for problem gamblers it is almost certainly much higher than for the majority of the public. That doesn't mean that the majority is not impacted indirectly by gambling since they could become victims of crime that might be related to gambling and they have to pay taxes for the higher prison and court coots related to gambling. The enormous amount of efforts put into gambling can't possibly cover all their expenses and it provides no beneficial product, unless you count entertainment which is misleading since people aren't nearly as entertained when they lose as the gambling industry would have us believe; and that entertainment value fades quickly while the poverty is around for a long time.

For one reason or another the discussion about gambling almost always mainly involves two option either allowing more gambling or banning it. It rarely if ever involves allowing gambling but giving the public the information they need to make important decisions.

If they required gambling institutes to inform the players how much of their revenue is used for over head how much is kept for profit and how much is returned to the winners.

If players were constantly reminded that the average gambler isn't going to get more than seventy five cents on the dollar and the rare person who beats the odds would have to pay higher taxes then they would know that the average player probably doesn't get more than fifty cents back on the dollar and the more they play the more they lose.

There are plenty of other studies more thorough than this that indicates that there is a consistent increase in crime associated with gambling including this rare article by the Washington Post; the vast majority of other coverage about gambling from the media and the political establishment is in favor of gambling despite it's obvious flaws:



The one benefit that goes towards communities is increased jobs but they're only local jobs and even that benefit comes at a price while the costs in higher crime and abnkrupcy or other problems expands beyond the local area if they draw players from further regions.

Even the benefit of added jobs can be found other ways if communities try to create jobs that actually provide a benefit to society by fulfilling an legitimate need.

No Casino Surrey opposition to gambling including studies on local problems with crime

Man Tied to Murders at Detroit Barber Shop, Gambling Den Charged With Assault

National Gambling Studies

Casino gambling causes crime - Institute of Government and Public Affairs PDF igpa.uillinois.edu/.../PF13-2_CasinosCrime.p.

Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation

Poverty and Casino Gambling in Buffalo - Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation PDF

Gambling addiction leads many down criminal road

XI. Gambling and Crime

Casinos blamed for rise in crime by gamblers

In both cases it appears that more rational policies could contribute to reductions in crime in the long term but they almost certainly won't provide immediate results that can be easily recognizable. Another major contributing factor about both these issues is the culture and the way it is covered in both the political establishment and the media. Unfortunately in both cases this isn't addressed very well at all; Instead of informing the public in the most effective way possible about the effects of gun laws or gambling policies they routinely attempt to manipulate their emotions for the political purposes of those in power.

In the long run the most effective way to address these issues will also have to include political and media reform that enables more people to get their views across and doesn't give overwhelming advantages to lobbyists for the gambling and gun industries or any other special interests. If the more rational researchers are considered special interests then the different interests should be more balanced.

Do you think it would be a good campaign slogan to tell the voters that not only will the candidate stand up to Walmart and Sam's Club but he'll steal their beer, paper towels and cashews if he can get away with it?

It doesn't quite look like we'll find out; apparently he didn't use that slogan and Alabama decided they didn't want him as their Republican candidate to look after their finances.

In Arkansas it was a constable that got into trouble for crime at Walmart when he was in a car while the driver destroyed a Walmart Shopping Corral. Usually the police are the ones to arrest the criminals not drive off with them.

The police have plenty to be concerned about when it comes to crime at Walmart even when they're not involved in it. There couldn't be this much of a problem without occasional comments about the subject from them; although they rarely do speak out on it too much, for one reason or another. But this month at least three police departments spoke out about the problems they've been having or expect to have with Walmart.

One of the Texas police talking about it said that before their Walmart opened “We had regular meetings with chiefs of police within Kaufman County,” he said. “Everybody that has a Walmart store says you can expect 400 to 500 more calls within the year.” Ironically he doesn't seem to consider whether or not Walmart policies might have something to do with it and even complements them “Walmart is very security conscious,” he said. “We had contact with loss prevention before the store opened because they wanted to take every opportunity to reduce thefts.” If they really wanted to do that they could have never opened their store, or at least try to figure out what small businesses are doing right that doesn't create so many problems with crime.

The Tennessee police concerned about crime at Walmart at least acknowledged that taxpayers end up footing the bill; they also asked Walmart to provide more resources but so far they've had no luck.

Many people might consider the added cost to police the high crime at Walmart with little or not help from Walmart might be another taxpayer subsidy.

The police also had other concern and occasionally have to put themselves at risk when dealing with high crime at Walmart; there were at least two assaults on police this month. If there aren't political reasons for some police to down play the potential impact Walmart might have there must be some other reason.

There were at least two car chases that took place in Walmrt parking lots or started there, including one where three sisters tried to chase down one of their husbands with two vehicles smashing into his car on at least one occasion. There was also an incident where at least two employees were stabed while trying to detain a shoplifter and there were at least a couple of carjackings. One employee was arrested for painting "loser" on her co-workers car before going into the bathroom and putting more messages there; and employees in another store were accused of passing around and using a charge card that was lost instead of turning it in.

Do any of these people think about the fact that these transactions are routinely caught on camera?

There were also the usual number of bomb threats but in one cases they actually discussed how often they happen when reporting it, to some degree. Thjey didn't mention that Wal-Marts around the country get hundreds if not thousands of bomb threats every year and that the taxpayers wind up spending an enormous amount of money to investigate them, of course.

That would be to much to expect; but they did quote a couple employees talking about how this was their third or second. Other stores almost certainly get more while some rarely if ever get any bomb threats. What is more unusual is that on one occasion they found a live grenade, although it didn't go off. Usually when they do find something it is just a simulated bomb or a sodapop bomb which isn't very powerful.

They made another clear demonstration of how decisions are made at the top then when employees follow orders and it creates problems they falsely blame the employee. Apparently they had a store policy that required them to card all people accompanied by someone purchasing alcohol and a large number of parents that tried to buy alcohol with their children present were turned down. Initially one of these incidents was reported in the news and they said the cashier was acting against company policy then they were flooded with calls to the news and to Walmart saying that many other people had the same problem.

An article that received little attention about local residents that didn't want a plant for one of Walmart's suppliers near their children's schools probably should get more attention. The return of manufacturing to the U.S. is long overdue but it should not be done with a corporation like Walmart making all the decisions. This should be done with more input from the public and safety of the environment should be given serious consideration.

On top of that more people might want to think about ways to restore factory direct options. Before the retail establishment consolidated into a relatively small number of oligarchies the factory direct stores provided reasonable competition and it was much better for workers, employees the environment and everyone else except the small number of people that control the oligarchies.

With real reform then prostitution wouldn't ‘make more sense’ than working at Walmart or any other oligarch.

Sometimes I'm glad I'm not a cop.

If I was trying to arrest someone and he responded by taking off his boxer shorts and defecating in the parking lot I might call in the dispatcher and say, "I changed my mind I decided to call in sick today."

Do you think the police chief would mind?

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!

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In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. In January of 2014 another study, "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" provided additional statistical research indicating that Wal-Mart might be contributing to higher crime rates or at least a slowing of the decline in crime. The study found that. “on average, communities with Walmarts had 17 more property crimes and two more violent crimes per 10,000 people than those communities without Walmarts.” I reviewed this more in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices? where I explained that although this study is helpful they could have done better with additional data that is available and I reviewed some of that. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a previous blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in July 2014. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 or the "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart.

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Milford Del. Police Arrest Woman for Wal-Mart Shoplifting Spree 07/01/2014

Female WWE wrestler arrested on Conn. Wal-Mart shoplifting charges 07/01/2014

Workers allowed back into Ark. Walmart after bomb threat 07/02/2014

Police: Man performed 'lewd act' watching girls in NC Walmart children's section 07/02/2014

Woman wanted for stealing from Newport News Walmart 07/02/2014

Employee steals $3,000 worth of merchandise from ND Walmart 07/02/2014

Bus driver robbed outside Mount Pocono Pa. Wal-Mart 07/02/2014

Pa. Man Fights Attacker With Sword Using BBQ Brush Over $6 Walmart Card 07/02/2014

Adidas and shoe designer for Walmart settle trademark lawsuit 07/02/2014

Three charged with shoplifting from NH Walmart 07/02/2014

Police Identify ND Walmart Hit and Run Suspect 07/03/2014

Dalton Ga. Police need help searching for WalMart TV thief 07/03/2014

Bomb threat causes four-hour evacuation of Walmart in Wexford County Mich. 07/03/2014

Shoplifting Suspects Run Over Off-Duty Police Officer, working security at La. Walmart on Ambassador Caffery; he fires shots in response 07/03/2014

Virginia PD: Suspects pull knife on Walmart employee 07/03/2014

Man accused of exposing self to child outside Walmart in Apopka Fla. 07/04/2014

Robber attacks grandma in Tx. Walmart parking lot, shoppers stand by and watch 07/04/2014

Woman’s Wheelchair Stolen From Madison Tenn. Walmart 07/04/2014 Fortunately, a clerk was kind enough to clock out, take her to the car with her groceries and even help carry her into her home.

Man arrested after allegedly exposing himself to woman in Fla. Walmart parking lot 07/05/2014

Teens Arrested For Elderly Woman Tx. Walmart Robbery 07/05/2014

Woman carjacked outside of Laurel Md. Walmart, police say 07/05/2014

Confrontation at north Logan Utah Walmart leads to shots fired 07/06/2014

Ex-con wanted for theft arrested at west Nashville Tenn. Walmart 07/05/2014

Dog dies in hot car while woman “browses” at Fla. Walmart for 13 hours 07/07/2014

Boyfriend's mom tried to run her over in parking lot, Peoria Ill. Wal-Mart employee tells police 07/07/2014

Man accused of exposing himself in kids clothing department at NC Walmart 07/07/2014

Man pleads guilty in Ohio Walmart parking lot assault 07/07/2014

Sears, Walmart Pull, "Work makes you free," Poster of Nazis' Dachau Camp 07/07/2014

Robbery reported at Garner NC Walmart 07/07/2014

Mom, family members arrested for shoplifting at Henrico Va. Walmart 07/0/2014





Dog rescued from hot car outside Valparaiso Ind. Walmart 07/08/2014

Man Charged With Stealing Meat From Tenn. Walmart 07/08/2014



Death investigation underway at Irondale Ala. Wal-Mart parking lot 07/08/2014

Woman left dog in hot car outside Napanoch NY Walmart, deputies say 07/08/2014

Police: Charlotte NC mom left kids in car at Walmart 07/08/2014

Teen girl reports sexual assault outside Conway SC Wal-Mart 07/08/2014

Sexual predator molested girl at Walmart, Palm Bay Fla. police say 07/08/2014

Newark NJ man drags Walmart security guard with his car in Kearny: police 07/08/2014

Wal-Mart's warning to the world 07/08/2014 Sales not rising with lower unemployment.

Police say Manchester woman arrested for punching ex-boyfriend during custody exchange in Hooksett NH Walmart parking lot 07/0/2014

Evidence points to murder-suicide plan in Queensbury NY Wal-Mart shooting 07/08/2014

Alderman: Walmart won't help Wisc. taxpayers 07/09/2014

MORENO VALLEY Ca.: Parolee jailed in Walmart shooting case 07/09/2014

Breastfeeding Group Holds Nurse-In At SC Walmart After Employees Shame Nursing Customer 07/09/2014

"The Truth of the Matter Is Walmart Is a Horrible Place to Work" 07/09/2014

Suspects accused of stealing from Ariz. Walmart market 07/09/2014

Disgraced host Adam Richman still a spokesman for Walmart 07/07/2014

Deputies: Asst. Manager steals from Upstate SC Walmart 07/09/2014

Suspects pry open display case, swipe iPads from Ohio Walmart 07/09/2014

Alleged shoplifter tries to elude Las Cruces police inside NM Walmart 07/09/2014

Letter: Walmart is cruel to Betta fish (pets for sale) 07/10/2014

Photo: Bomb threat at Ohio Walmart 07/08/2014

Fla. Walmart Masturbator Brought Viagra And Condoms: Cops 07/08/2014

In These Times: OUR Walmart Crashes the Party 07/08/2014

Gouverneur woman accused of stealing from Watertown NY Walmart 07/10/2014

Man shot, killed in parking lot of Walmart in Marion County Fla. 07/10/2014

The Walmartization of Education 07/08/2014

Child starts fire in Ga. Walmart toy section 07/10/2014

Narcotics investigation results in two arrests at Wal-Mart in East Stroudsburg Pa. 07/10/2014

Man Shot In Madison Tenn. Walmart Parking Lot 07/10/2014

Wanted man sees deputy while leaving Fla. Walmart, flees 07/10/2014

Woman publicly shamed for stealing from Fla. Walmart 07/11/2014

Man accused of impersonating police officer at SC Walmart 07/11/2014

Chipley Fla. Walmart Theft 07/11/2014

Tracy Morgan sues Wal-Mart for NJ crash 07/12/2014

Woman accused of biting employee in Fla. Wal-Mart theft 07/12/2014

Ga. Wal-Mart shoplifter allegedly strikes employee 07/13/2014

Infant formula bottles tampered with in Walmart stores near Toronto Canada 07/13/2014

Man leaves loaded handgun in South Carolina Walmart bathroom 07/12/2014

OKC Police: Woman with knife wrestled to ground by Ok. Walmart customers and employees after jumping pharmacy counter 07/14/2014



Wal-Mart, Campbell Soup owners top 'America's Richest Families' list 07/14/2014 Media corporations were the second-most common sources of wealth

MLK Walmart in Ark. closed, evacuated after power pole causes problems 07/14/2014

Man wanted for grabbing woman’s buttocks at Newport News Va. Walmart 07/14/2014

Woman cited for leaving children in car at Pasadena Tx. Walmart 07/14/2014

Police ID woman found dead in Elkton Del. Wal-Mart parking lot 07/14/2014

Man pleads guilty to taking up-skirt photos at Mich. Walmart 07/14/2014

Police investigate death of man in Mich. Walmart bathroom 07/14/2014

Wal-Mart theft, forgery suspect recaptured after fleeing Athens Ala. police station 07/14/2014

Mother says stranger tried to lure son at Walmart in northwest Harris County Tx. 07/14/2014

'Bible' listed on Walmart back to school lists in Tulsa Ok. 07/14/2014 Cameras were not allowed inside

Man accused of stealing from Ind. Walmart, running from police 07/15/2014



Police Arrest ND Walmart Employee for Embezzlement 07/15/2014

Man wanted for shoplifting at Suffolk Va. Walmart 07/15/2014

Rare forest in Florida sold to make way for Walmart 07/16/2014

Ottawa OPP officer charged with shoplifting electronics and resisting arrest at Walmart 07/16/2014

Woman takes cooler full of merchandise from Utah Walmart, arrested 07/16/2014

Mom accused of leaving 4 kids in hot car at Georgia Wal-Mart 07/16/2014

Man charged with neglect after leaving kids in Tenn. Wal-Mart parking lot 07/16/2014

NC Walmart air conditioning theft still under investigation 07/16/2014

Man incites dog to attack people in Fla. Walmart parking lot 07/16/2014

Bradenton Fla. Walmart throws out $18,000 worth of food after lightning strike 07/16/2014

Police Seek Info On Suspected Pa. Wal-Mart Thief 07/16/2014

Judge denies request in Swansboro, NC developers suit 07/16/2014

Police look for suspects accused of switching price tags at Pa. Walmart 07/16/2014

Crime Stoppers: Collegedale Tenn. Walmart TV thefts 07/1/2014



Decatur man accused of stealing $1,800 worth of cell phones from Alabama Wal-Mart 07/17/2014

Fort Ashby WV man arrested with handgun at Wal-mart 07/17/2014

Three Sacramento men accused of burglary at Galt Ca. Walmart 07/17/2014



Man took upskirt pics of woman at Fla. Walmart, Sanford police say 07/17/2014



Shoplifting attempt becomes robbery arrest after suspect fights employees at Huntsville Ala. Wal-Mart 07/17/2014

Arrest in Pa. Wal-Mart Thefts 07/17/2014

Charges pending against Rogersville Tenn. man who fell off cliff during Walmart theft getaway 07/19/2014

Wal-Mart thief sought in Hudson NH 07/19/2014



Early Morning Fire Closes Trinity Parkway Ca. Walmart 07/19/2014

Man took photo up woman's skirt at Fla. Wal-Mart, cops say 07/19/2014

Body found in vehicle at Kansas Wal-Mart parking lot 07/20/2014

Convicted Felon Arrested In Tenn. July 10 Walmart Market Parking Lot Shooting 07/21/2014



Court upholds $1M judgment against firm in Nevada Wal-Mart customer’s death 07/21/2014

Walmart executives dominate list of top-paid executives 07/21/2014

Richmond man pleads guilty to firearm charge related to Utah Walmart shooting 07/21/2014

McCandless Pa. Residents Speak Out Against Proposed New Walmart 07/21/2014

Viewer records scene as infant rescued from SUV outside NE Philly Pa. Walmart 07/21/2014

WATCH: Phone video of suspected shoplifting spree at Ok. Wal-Mart goes viral 07/22/2014

Fruit recall affects Costco, Trader Joe's, Walmart, Kroger stores 07/22/2014

NC mother accused of forcing son to steal from Walmart 07/22/2014

El Reno police searching for thief in Ok. Walmart theft 07/22/2014

2 women robbed of purses at Holly Hill Fla. Walmart 07/22/2014



Police: Woman stole from Mechanicsburg Pa. Wal-Mart, nearly struck security officer with vehicle 07/23/2014



Man Sentenced for Ohio Wal-Mart Parking Lot Attack 07/23/2014

Feds ask developer to stop work on Fla. Walmart in rare Miami-Dade forest 07/23/2014

Landowner says Walmart is 'done,' seeks Wisc. city offer 07/23/2014 The owner of Walmart's preferred site for a downtown Green Bay store does not think the retailer will try again with an alternative proposal.

State worker accused of pulling out gun in Tenn. Walmart parking lot 07/23/2014

Hanover Va. Board Approves Plans to Build Possible Walmart, Residents Upset 07/23/2014

Open carry of firearm in Missouri Walmart alarms customers 07/23/2014



NC Walmart bomb threat leads to arrest of Elizabeth City man 07/21/2014



Affidavit Details Arrest Made In Connection With Coweta Ok. Walmart Theft 07/24/2014

Va. Walmart thief ID’d 07/24/2014

Wal-Mart’s New U.S. Chief Faces Empty Shelves, Grumpy Shoppers 07/24/2014

Suspect in San Marcos Ca. shooting arrested outside Wal-Mart 07/24/2014

Police: Man tried to steal from Fla. Walmart before leading police on chase 07/25/2014

Suspects ID'd in Anna Ill. Walmart theft 07/25/2014



3 Utica NY women accused in $2,600 theft from Walmart 07/26/2014





One dead after car hits tree near Lehigh Fla. Walmart 07/27/2014

Walmart in Chesapeake Va. cleared after bomb threat called in 07/27/2014

Woman charged after kids left inside car with keys at Tenn. Walmart 07/27/2014

Norman residents fight proposed Ok. Walmart Supercenter 07/27/2014



Chipotle Va. crime leads police to McDonald’s and Walmart 07/28/2014

Man with child wearing 'Keep Calm and Play On' T-shirt steals Mich. Walmart cash register 07/28/2014

Man steals thousands of dollars at Deerfield Beach Fla. Walmart, deputies say 07/28/2014



Walmart apologizes to NC mom asked to breastfeed in toilet stall 07/28/2014

Ohio Walmart evacuated because of phoned threat 07/28/2014

Mom charged with neglect after missing son found wandering at Fla. Wal-Mart 07/28/2014

Police: Shoplifting mom left kids behind at Fla. Walmart 07/28/2014

Victim shot at Fayetteville Ga. Walmart 07/28/2014

Goldman Adds Costco, Tosses Wal-Mart From Its Shopping Cart 07/29/2014

Man faces several charges after reported shoplifting and allegedly useing a stun gun on one of the officers at Tenn. Wal-Mart 07/29/2014



Lincoln Co. woman accused of embezzling $4K from NC Walmart 07/30/2014

Police: Woman stole lube, condoms from NC Walmart 07/30/2014

XX 07/3/2014



Officials: Woman stole money from NC Walmart 07/30/2014

Radio DJ shows Walmart ice cream sandwich won't melt in sun 07/30/2014

Are Target and Wal-Mart past their prime? 07/30/2014

Man gives chase after alleged lewd act in McComb Walmart 07/25/2014

Dothan man arrested for stealing alcohol, handicapped scooter from Ala. Wal-Mart 07/30/2014





Two jailed after NC Walmart theft attempt 07/31/2014

Man Arrested After Exposing Himself To Child At Washington Ill. Walmart 07/31/2014

Walmart Sends Me 4 Extra iPods, Doesn’t Want Them Back 07/29/2014

Wal-Mart Must Share Documents on Mexico Bribery Probe: Court 07/28/2014



SCPD Crime Alert: Man Wanted for Shoplifting from Centereach NY Walmart 07/30/2014



Ask The Pittsburgh Pa. Leaders: Police Chief, Walmart & More 07/31/2014 Should Walmart come to McCandless?



Mississippi Wal-Mart 2013 shooting suspect pleads guilty 07/31/2014

Victim Walking Out of OK Walmart Robbed of Car at gunpoint 08/01/2014



How Walmart's Bosses Get Rich Off Welfare Abuse 07/30/2014

Why Do Criminals Love This Walmart So Much? 07/30/2014

Dumping ice on people’s heads has little or nothing to do with raising money for charity, despite all the propaganda about this recent craze.

Now that politicians, like Chris Christie, are getting in on the act it will almost certainly do more to give them good publicity while they pretend to support a good cause while simultaneously cutting funds for more efficient ways of providing money for worthy causes.

This is part of a long trend of things that are allegedly done to promote awareness and raise money for charity but do far more to raise money for propaganda and charity profiteers than they do for any actual cause.

I didn’t need to do any in depth investigation to figure this out. The vast majority of these activities that surround these events have nothing to do with directly helping with a charity of any kind, whether it is dunking people with ice water shaving heads, doing long walks or runs or many other events.

Some of these activities might be good community activities but they rarely raise much money for charity but they often do involve selling a lot or merchandise saying they do.

Some of these types of activities have been exposed by numerous media outlets, although they’re usually when those without political power do them; however a close look at the things that higher profile activities being promoted by the media indicates they’re doing the same thing and the people selling all these promotional items are often doing it for a profit.

This is part of a herd mentality that social psychologist spend an enormous amount of time researching and they often share that research with for profit advertisers and political organizations that study how to manipulate crowds.

Regardless of why this craze ahs become so popular these psychologists and sociologists are almost certainly studying it along with the foolish "fire challenge" some teens are getting involved in. I don't know whether or not all the attention for one form of foolishness might encourage crowds to go along with another form of foolishness that is even more dangerous but I don't need a research project on the subject to know that if social psychologists want to encourage the herd mentality for something it should be for more educational or productive activities even if they don't all do the same thing.

This may be easy to get large crowds to go along with because it doesn't take any brains and seems funny; whether stupidity is funny or not when it goes viral it's still stupid.



Real charities or political organization is done by people that take more time to think through how to actually accomplish any given goal.

Instead of spending their time dumping ice on their heads and following foolish crowds they accomplish something worthwhile.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this ice bucket challenge is just a gimmick

A few years ago there were a series of relatively high profile news stories about war veterans that were coming back and committing a lot of crimes including murder. A couple of the highest profile of these stories may have been Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles and Wash. Post: Sharp Rise in Violent Crimes Cited Among Returning Iraq Veterans in Colo. Unit. They probably didn’t explore all the data that was available to them at the time but there is more to indicate that veterans might be more predisposed to violent crime than non-veterans outside of inner cities where crime is at its highest.

A close look at these articles clearly indicates that it isn't the vast majority of veterans; however in some cases exaggerations have been made to give people that impression. But it is a large problem and appears to be more than they might otherwise have been if not for their experiences in the military; and it should be worth a closer look that could lead to policy changes that would reduce these problems.

This has often been interpreted as a smear on our veterans; however a closer look at some of the statistics, including some that point in both directions, and the recruitment and training methods used might raise doubts about whether or not this is an appropriate way of looking at it. It might also indicate part of the reason why some of these veterans might be more predisposed to violent crime.

However, it also seems to reinforce the claims that veterans have higher murder rates than most non-veterans, with the exception of minorities in abandoned inner cities, who are also victims of foolish policies that decline to provide basic needs for a functional society.

If you compare the veteran rates for the ten states with the ten highest murder rates with the ten states with the ten lowest murder rates it is clear that the states with the higher murder rates usually have higher veteran’s rates. The ten states with higher murder rates, 7 per hundred thousand on average, have slightly more than 2.1% of their populations that are Gulf War era veterans but the states with the lowest murder rates, 1.8 per hundred thousand on average, have slightly less than 1.9% of their populations that are Gulf War veterans.

However if you reverse it and compare the rates of the states with the ten highest percentage of veterans with those that have the ten lowest it seem to come to different conclusions; they both have below average murder rates and the states with more veterans have slightly lower murder rates than those with the lowest percentage of veterans. Expanding beyond the top ten states would reverse the percentage though and the states with high veterans’ population would have higher murder rates and they would quickly go above average.

The reason for this is almost certainly the locations they recruit from and because they’re not supposed to recruit people with felony convictions. The ten state with the highest recruitment rates are rural areas with very low populations, mostly in the North West, Alaska, and Virginia. The ten states with the lowest recruitment rates include some of the most densely populated states and a higher percentage of people in large cities. The highest crime rates are typically in large cities especially those with abandoned inner cities that don’t provide many educational or employment opportunities for their people.

According to Wikipedia's United States cities by crime rate, which is based on FBI statistics large cities have much higher murder rates and rates of other crimes as well. A large percentage of these large cities have more than twice the national average rates for murder (in 2012 it was 4.7 per hundred thousand) and a few of them have more than ten times as much. However they have far lower recruitment rates than rural areas, according to the charts at the bottom of this page most of them are in states that have lower recruitment rates and this article, Largest Share of Army Recruits Come from Rural/Exurban America, reinforces that conclusion. According to Rural America Supplies More Recruits to the Military in 2009 "more than 44 percent of military recruits came from rural areas, according to Pentagon figures. In contrast, only 14 percent came from major cities."

This means that they should be starting out with recruits that should be less disposed to committing crime. This wasn’t always the case; during previous wars many judges often told defendants "Join the Military, or go to jail;" which almost certainly provided a major contribution to the amount of crimes committed by veterans after they came out of the military. But now they ban people with significant criminal records unless they get a waiver.

This should mean that military veterans would be less predisposed to crime and for the most part they are in 2004,10% of State prisoners reported prior service in the U.S. Armed Forces, down from 12% in 1997 and 20% in 1986. The veteran population is much higher among older people and men, In U.S., 24% of Men, 2% of Women Are Veterans but among men aged 25 to 34 it is only 12% and among those over 65 it is over 50%.

According to the accompanying press article to this release the rate of incarceration for veterans is less than half of the rate of non-veterans. They base their rates on rates per hundred thousand males only; which they claim is 630 prisoners per 100,000 veterans, compared to 1,390 prisoners per 100,000 non-veteran U.S. residents. This is explained mainly by age since more than two thirds of veterans are over fifty-five. However if they compared prison populations from the same rural areas that they recruit from this lower rate of incarceration would almost certainly be much smaller, if it isn't eliminated. A large percentage of the prison populations is almost certainly from the inner cities that the military is less inclined to recruit from.

However one segment of these inner cities that is apparently encouraging their members to join the military when they can are gangs according to Military-Trained Gang Members Worry FBI, Oklahoma Law Enforcement. According to FBI gang investigator Jennifer Simon 1-2% of the U.S. military belongs to gangs. This almost certainly comes as a surprise to many people; including me. After looking at statistics on recruiting areas that are mostly not the same as high gang areas and reviewing policies that are supposed to exclude people with criminal backgrounds it seems unlikely that they would recruit many people from gang territories. However perhaps this shouldn't be quite so surprising since gangs and the military both adopt many of the same authoritarian tactics to encourage obedience and loyalty, which I'll review more in a follow up post.

Another major problem that should be given serious attention is the fact that the United States now keeps more than 1% of our adult male population in jail at any given time. If you add the population from county jails it is probably closer to 2% and it is much worse for minorities.

This may not be solely a veteran problem but it does indicate something seriously wrong.

Another part of the reason for this seems to be race; more than half of veterans in prison are white while only one third of non-veterans are white. A large portion of the increase in the prison population over the last several decades has been disproportionally black; and a major reason for this is that they more likely to be imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses. This report compares veterans with non-veterans without adequately considering the disproportionate percentage of minorities in prison or that they avoid recruit much less in areas, mainly abandoned inner cities, where crime rates are much higher. The press release also makes a point to say that the percentage of veterans in prison are declining steadily; but when you go into the actual report it indicates that a major part of the reason for that is because the percentage of the public that are veterans are also declining.

They make a point of highlighting the lower substance abuse problems among veterans but what they don't mention is that due to the drug war they're rounding up large numbers of people, mostly minorities, because of drug problems, which would make the prison population more inclined to have people with substance abuse problems.

Veterans were also more likely to be in prison for violent offenses. This includes 15% of state inmates that were incarcerated for homicide compared to 12% of non-veterans. That comes to about 19,125 veterans charged with murder or if the same rate applies to federal prisoners it could be 2,100. Once again if they compared it to the same rural population they recruit from then the 3% difference of inmates in jail for murder would almost certainly be larger, since the highest rates of murder are in cities, not rural areas. 

According to this report 3.7 percent of the veterans in state prison and 4.5 percent in federal prison had served since operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq; however this was based on the prison population in 2004. The number of soldiers that served in Afghanistan was lower than those that served in Iraq but this was only one year after the war in Iraq began, so this should be considered a high percentage of the prison population under the circumstances. This comes to approximately 5,280 Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans that wound up in jail within a year or two of their discharge, assuming they were discharged. This doesn't include county jail prisoners; if the percentages are the same for minor offenses there were probably an additional 60,000 veterans there in 2004 and that might come to about 2,400 additional Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans.

The high number of veterans that were in jail after only a year or two after the wars began clearly indicates a large jump that could have been looked at closer but the report declines to do so. Instead they highlight the statistic that veterans are less than half as likely to be in jail in the title; and readers don't find out that it is due to age until they get further into it and unless they do the math they won't realize that there is evidence of a spike in the population after recent fighting abroad and the returning veterans.

The articles from the New York Times, Washington Post and Colorado Springs Gazette are all more recent so even though they're not statistically representative they probably indicate the results of increased crime as a result of these wars more than the Bureau of Justice statistics; however the last two reports are seven years apart, which might mean that the next report could come out any time now. Also since the highest rates of recruits come from rural areas where there aren't normally as many crimes as in large cities it shouldn't be hard to research how many of the most violent crimes, including murders are committed by veterans and find out if they're more than their percentage of the population.

The New York Times claims that they found 121 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that were charged with murder. They also did a review, using the same methods of searching newspaper articles and following them up checking military court records, for six years before and after 2001 for all veterans, whether they saw combat or not and found an increase to 349 from 184. This indicates that there might be more murders from veterans that didn't see combat or those that saw combat in past wars, and that it might be increasing. However there is no guarantee that newspapers reported them consistently. They claim that neither the military or the Justice Department track of it but the report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that they do keep partial records although they don't issue their reports often and I didn't find the details that must be behind the report that they released to the public.

The same methods the New York Times used could be used by anyone and they will indicate an enormous number of reports that took place since then.

Part of the reason for high rates of violent crime among veterans might be partly due to Recruitment of felons, with waivers, being up in U.S. Army and Marine Corps; however this is still less than one percent of their recruits so it shouldn't have to large an impact.

The reports from the Washington Post and New York Times articles focuses on veterans that were involved in combat; however according to the statistics even though most of the veterans in prison served during war time only 20% of state and 26% of federal prisoners saw combat. For these veterans combat related post-traumatic stress disorder clearly wouldn't be a contributing factor, however their training could still be a factor.

When it comes to determining the root causes of violent crime, or any other kind of crime, statistics may not be the most effective way of figuring it out; although if other research does indicate what the root causes of it are statistics might help to confirm it since they can cross check the statistics with the other research. This is especially important when it comes to controversial subjects where many people may be reluctant to acknowledge the result of the research when it doesn't agree with their beliefs or agendas.

I'll review some of this in another follow up post which will include some of the claims that these articles are misrepresenting veterans and that the link with veterans and crime is a "myth."

There is an enormous effort to defend the vets and declare that there is nothing to this; but the evidence doesn't indicate that. However, if the common cause for these higher crime rates is their military service then it indicates that something in their training and combat experience might be a contributing cause, whether it is PTSD or not and the main problem might be the leaders that control their training and make decisions about wars especially since most, if not all wars are based on lies.

That would mean that the primary blame belongs with the politicians and the military leadership, not necessarily with the veterans; however they may need more treatment, at least in the short run. In the long run it should be clear that we should simply stop fighting these wars based on lies.

The same decision makers that started these wars based partly, if not entirely, on lies, also failed to provide adequate counseling for these veterans when they returned.

This is part of a series of posts exploring the root causes of violent crime and ways to recognize and prevent them. Past posts on the subject include Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows;Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion?; Politics, not technology, caused botched executions and Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?

The following charts show veteran rates by the state and murder rates. The information about veterans rates are from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Population by State, war time, Gulf, Vietnam or Korea; the crime murder and population rates are from FBI statistics; for a table covering the last seventeen years based on FBI statistics see also the DPIC The first chart is in order of the murder rates for states. The second chart is the same information in order based on Gulf War era veterans.

State Population Murder Rates per 100,00 people Total Rate per 100,000 War Time veterans Rate per 100,000 Gulf War Rate per 100,000 Ten states with highest murder rates combinedP:49,024,812MR:7.0T:3,827,843R:7,808W:2,885,688R:5,825G:1,037,878R:2,117 Ten states with lowest murder rates combinedP:28,118,071MR:1.8T:1,967,824R:6,998W:1,461,757R:5,199G493,476R:1,782 Ten states with highest veterans rates combinedP:35,168,258MR:4.49T:3,141,048R:8,934W:2,437,909R:6,932G:1,216,658R:3,460 Ten states with lowest veteran rates combinedP:118,664,354MR:4.61T:6,478,000?R:5,459W:4,779,118R:4,027G:1,584,865R:1,336 Thirty-one states with highest veterans rates combined or top half of populationP:157,641,537MR:5.11T:12,502,986R:7,931W:9,493,275R:6,022G:4,060,684R:2,575 Nineteen states plus D.C. with lowest veteran rates combined or bottom half of populationP:161,372,889MR:4.2T:9,253,318R:5,734W:6,813,942R:4,222G:2,271,254R:1,407 District of ColumbiaP:632,323MR:13.9T:31,166R:4,929W:23,538R:3,722G:10,411R:1,646 LouisianaP:4,601,893MR:10.8T:315,342R:6,852W:237,042R:5,150G:97,300R:2,114 MississippiP:2,984,926MR:7.4T:225,469R:7,553W:167,066R:5,596G:72.391R:2,425 AlabamaP:4,601,893MR:7.1T:414,963R:8,606W:314,530R:6,523G:135,637R:2,813 MichiganP:9,883,360MR:7.0T:660,773R:6,686W:483,963R:4,897G:134,004R:1,356 South CarolinaP:4,723,723MR:6.9T:420,968R:8,912W:319,533R:6,764G:140,258R:2,969 MissouriP:6,021,988MR:6.5T:497,874R:8,268W:372,238R:6,181G:132,307R:2,197 MarylandP:5,884,563MR:6.3T:443,076R:7,528W:333,817R:5,673G:159,573R:2,712 DelawareP:917,092MR:6.2T:78,016R:8,507W:57,990R:6,323G:21,044R:2,295 TennesseeP:6,456,243MR:6.0T:521,267R:8,074W:383,913R:5,946G:146,724R:2,273 ArkansasP:2,949,131MR:5.9T:250,095R:8,480W:185,596R:6,293G:70,959R:2,406 GeorgiaP:9,919,945MR:5.9T:774,464,R:7,807W:591,413R:5,962G:282,435R:2,847 IllinoisP:12,875,255MR:5.8T:744,710R:5,782W:553,612R:4,298G:192,090R:1,491 OklahomaP:3,814,820MR:5.7T:340,395R:8,923W:262,702R:6,886G:107,951R:2,830 New MexicoP:2,085,538MR:5.6T:170,699R:8,184W:127,287R:6,103G:51,109R:2,451 ArizonaP:6,553,255MR:5.5T:527,400R:8,048W:396,610R:6,052G:156,579R:2,389 PennsylvaniaP:12,763,536MR:5.4T:953,644R:7,472W:697,736R:5,467G:209,602R:1,642 FloridaP:19,317,568MR:5.2T:1,520,563R:7,871W:1,124,394R:5,821G:431,062R:2,231 CaliforniaP:38,041,430MR:5.0T:1,795,455R:4,20W:1,356,978R:3,567G:539,671R:1,419 North CarolinaP:9,752,073MR:4.9T:769,384R:7,889W:573,472R:5,881G:247,012R:2,533 IndianaP:6,537,334MR:4.7T:490,380R:7,501W:357,123R:5,463G:130,459R:1,996 KentuckyP:4,380,415MR:4.5T:339,334R:7,747W:248,340R:5,669G:94,475R:2,157 NevadaP:2,758,931MR:4.5T:225,933R:8,189W:169,255R:6,135G:69,190R:2,508 New JerseyP:8,864,590MR:4.4T:425,094R:4,795W:307,774R:3,472G:86,122R:972 TexasP:26,059,203MR:4.4T:1,667,740R:6,400W:1,291,040R:4,954G:597,796R:2,294 OhioP:11,544,225MR:4.3T:877,894R:7,605W:632,618R:5,480G:203,049R:1,759 AlaskaP:731,449MR:4.1T:74,671R:10,209W:60,538R:8,276G:37,027R:5,062 ConnecticutP:3,590,347MR:4.1T:207,759R:5,787W:149,628R:4,168G:42,662R:1,188 North DakotaP:699,628MR:4.0T:56,213R:8,035W:44,860R:6,412G:21,562R:3,082 West VirginiaP:1,855,413MR:3.9T:173,389R:9,345W:128,208R:6,910G:46,125R:2,486 VirginiaP:8,185,867MR:3.8T:840,398R:10,266W:675,835R:8,256G:404,504R:4,941 New YorkP:19,570,261MR:3.5T:885,796R:4,526W:639,063R:3,265G:198,212R:1,013 Rhode IslandP:1,050,292MR:3.2T:69,206R:6,89W:49,921R:4,753G:14,667R:1,396 ColoradoP:5,187,582MR:3.1T:390,824R:7,534W:304,261R:5,865G:133,330R:2,570 South DakotaP:833,354MR:3.0T:75,687R:9,082W:59,494R:7,139G:26,001R:3,120 WisconsinP:5,726,398MR:3.0T:409,419R:7,150W:298,054R:5,205G:95,262R:1,664 WashingtonP:6,897,012MR:3.0T:602,272R:8,732W:461,678R:6,694G:204,814R:2,970 KansasP:2,885,905MR:2.9T:223,708R:7,752W:175,297R:6,074G:71,277R:2,470 NebraskaP:1,855,525MR:2.9T:138,773R:7,479W:108,198R:5,832G:43,341R:2,336 MontanaP:1,005,141MR:2.7T:101,597R:10,108W:77,175R:7,678G:31,096R:3,094 WyomingP:576,412MR:2.4T:56,670R:9,832W:43,670R:7,576G:21,702R:3,765 OregonP:3,899,353MR:2.4T:322,355R:8,267W:238,879R:6,126G:74,454R:1,909 HawaiiP:1,392,313MR:2.1T:99,928R:7,177W:75,438R:5,148G:25,482R:1,830 MaineP:1,329,192MR:1.9T:127,694R:9,607W:94,110R:7,080G:31,173R:2,345 MassachusettsP:6,646,144MR:1.8T:374,809R:5,638W:273,957R:4,122G:79,515R:1,196 IdahoP:1,595,728MR:1.8T:138,108R:8,655W:103,713R:6,499G:47,260R:2,962 UtahP:2,855,287MR:1.8T:150,771R:5,280W:118,188R:4,138G:53,002R:1,856 MinnesotaP:5,379,139MR:1.8T:360,754R:6,707W:266,486R:4,954G:88,320R:1,642 IowaP:3,074,186MR:1.5T:233,815R:7,606W:176,032R:5,726G:58,395R:1,900 VermontP:626,011MR:1.3T:48,812R:7,797W:34,456R:5,504G:10,499R:1,677 New HampshireP:1,320,718MR:1.1T:110,778R:8,388W:80,498R:6,095G:25,376R:1,921

The following chart is the same information in order based on Gulf War era veterans starting with the states with the most.

  State Population Murder Rates per 100,00 people Total Rate per 100,000 War Time veterans Rate per 100,000 Gulf War Rate per 100,000 AlaskaP:731,449MR:4.1T:74,671R:10,209W:60,538R:8,276G:37,027R:5,062 VirginiaP:8,185,867MR:3.8T:840,398R:10,266W:675,835R:8,256G:404,504R:4,941 WyomingP:576,412MR:2.4T:56,670R:9,832W:43,670R:7,576G:21,702R:3,765 South DakotaP:833,354MR:3.0T:75,687R:9,082W:59,494R:7,139G:26,001R:3,120 MontanaP:1,005,141MR:2.7T:101,597R:10,108W:77,175R:7,678G:31,096R:3,094 North DakotaP:699,628MR:4.0T:56,213R:8,035W:44,860R:6,412G:21,562R:3,082 WashingtonP:6,897,012MR:3.0T:602,272R:8,732W:461,678R:6,694G:204,814R:2,970 South CarolinaP:4,723,723MR:6.9T:420,968R:8,912W:319,533R:6,764G:140,258R:2,969 IdahoP:1,595,728MR:1.8T:138,108R:8,655W:103,713R:6,499G:47,260R:2,962 GeorgiaP:9,919,945MR:5.9T:774,464R:7,807W:591,413R:5,962G:282,435R:2,847 OklahomaP:3,814,820MR:5.7T:340,395R:8,923W:262,702R:6,886G:107,951R:2,830 AlabamaP:4,601,893MR:7.1T:414,963R:8,606W:314,530R:6,523G:135,637R:2,813 MarylandP:5,884,563MR:6.3T:443,076R:7,528W:333,817R:5,673G:159,573R:2,712 ColoradoP:5,187,582MR:3.1T:390,824R:7,534W:304,261R:5,865G:133,330R:2,570 North CarolinaP:9,752,073MR:4.9T:769,384R:7,889W:573,472R:5,881G:247,012R:2,533 NevadaP:2,758,931MR:4.5T:225,933R:8,189W:169,255R:6,135G:69,190R:2,508 West VirginiaP:1,855,413MR:3.9T:173,389R:9,345W:128,208R:6,910G:46,125R:2,486 KansasP:2,885,905MR:2.9T:223,708R:7,752W:175,297R:6,074G:71,277R:2,470 New MexicoP:2,085,538MR:5.6T:170,699R:8,184W:127,287R:6,103G:51,109R:2,451 MississippiP:2,984,926MR:7.4T:225,469R:7,553W:167,066R:5,596G:72.391R:2,425 ArkansasP:2,949,131MR:5.9T:250,095R:8,480W:185,596R:6,293G:70,959R:2,406 ArizonaP:6,553,255MR:5.5T:527,400R:8,048W:396,610R:6,052G:156,579R:2,389 MaineP:1,329,192MR:1.9T:127,694R:9,607W:94,110R:7,080G:31,173R:2,345 NebraskaP:1,855,525MR:2.9T:138,773R:7,479W:108,198R:5,832G:43,341R:2,336 DelawareP:917,092MR:6.2T:78,016R:8,507W:57,990R:6,323G:21,044R:2,295 TexasP:26,059,203MR:4.4T:1,667,740R:6,400W:1,291,040R:4,954G:597,796R:2,294 TennesseeP:6,456,243MR:6.0T:521,267R:8,074W:383,913R:5,946G:146,724R:2,273 FloridaP:19,317,568MR:5.2T:1,520,563R:7,871W:1,124,394R:5,821G:431,062R:2,231 KentuckyP:4,380,415MR:4.5T:339,334R:7,747W:248,340R:5,669G:94,475R:2,157 MissouriP:6,021,988MR:6.5T:497,874R:8,268W:372,238R:6,181G:132,307R:2,197 LouisianaP:4,601,893MR:10.8T:315,342R:6,852W:237,042R:5,150G:97,300R:2,114 IndianaP:6,537,334MR:4.7T:490,380R:7,501W:357,123R:5,463G:130,459R:1,996 New HampshireP:1,320,718MR:1.1T:110,778R:8,388W:80,498R:6,095G:25,376R:1,921 OregonP:3,899,353MR:2.4T:322,355R:8,267W:238,879R:6,126G:74,454R:1,909 IowaP:3,074,186MR:1.5T:233,815R:7,606W:176,032R:5,726G:58,395R:1,900 UtahP:2,855,287MR:1.8T:150,771R:5,280W:118,188R:4,138G:53,002R:1,856 HawaiiP:1,392,313MR:2.1T:99,928R:7,177W:75,438R:5,148G:25,482R:1,830 OhioP:11,544,225MR:4.3T:877,894R:7,605W:632,618R:5,480G:203,049R:1,759 VermontP:626,011MR:1.3T:48,812R:7,797W:34,456R:5,504G:10,499R:1,677 WisconsinP:5,726,398MR:3.0T:409,419R:7,150W:298,054R:5,205G:95,262R:1,664 District of ColumbiaP:632,323MR:13.9T:31,166R:4,929W:23,538R:3,722G:10,411R:1,646 MinnesotaP:5,379,139MR:1.8T:360,754R:6,707W:266,486R:4,954G:88,320R:1,642 PennsylvaniaP:12,763,536MR:5.4T:953,644R:7,472W:697,736R:5,467G:209,602R:1,642 IllinoisP:12,875,255MR:5.8T:744,710R:5,782W:553,612R:4,298G:192,090R:1,491 CaliforniaP:38,041,430MR:5.0T:1,795,455R:4,20W:1,356,978R:3,567G:539,671R:1,419 Rhode IslandP:1,050,292MR:3.2T:69,206R:6,89W:49,921R:4,753G:14,667R:1,396 MichiganP:9,883,360MR:7.0T:660,773R:6,686W:483,963R:4,897G:134,004R:1,356 MassachusettsP:6,646,144MR:1.8T:374,809R:5,638W:273,957R:4,122G:79,515R:1,196 ConnecticutP:3,590,347MR:4.1T:207,759R:5,787W:149,628R:4,168G:42,662R:1,188 New YorkP:19,570,261MR:3.5T:885,796R:4,526W:639,063R:3,265G:198,212R:1,013 New JerseyP:8,864,590MR:4.4T:425,094R:4,795W:307,774R:3,472G:86,122R:972

In my previous post States with high murder rates have larger veteran populations I reviewed statistics about an increase in murders by veterans reported previously in several articles including Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles and Wash. Post: Sharp Rise in Violent Crimes Cited Among Returning Iraq Veterans in Colo. Unit. The statistics are not always easy to sort out but they seem to indicate that although veterans have lower rates of incarceration than non-veterans this is partly due to their recruiting in areas where crime rates are lower. If they didn't include the high rates of crimes from inner cities where they recruit much less than they would almost certainly be much closer.

However the statistics also showed that veterans were more likely to be incarcerated for violent crimes than non-veterans and it is almost certainly easier to determine why by looking at different types of research to understand why including some of the research that was done by the reported that investigated the previous articles or research that explains how violence escalates in general. This may also include research into training methods for the military. Most of these stories are about veterans that didn't have a previous history of violence or criminal activity but they all went through military training and many of them were involved in combat. The leading stories following the recent wars are mostly about those who may have PTSD from war related combat but many of the veterans that have been incarcerated for one reason or another, often murder, haven't been in combat, although they still went through military training and indoctrination.

Serious consideration should be given to the possibility that a leading cause of this problem is the training they went through and that the leading amount of responsibility might belong with those that controlled that training and started wars based on misleading information, if not outright lies; yet when these incidents happen the leading response by some people is to often blame the veteran, without considering the background and what needs to be done to reduce future incidents. If a major contributing cause of this problem is their training then this needs to be reviewed and changed, especially since the wars we've been fighting are based on lies.

Military training isn't known for trying to teach creative thinking, in most cases; instead they're more concerned about teaching obedience to authority. This often involves recruiting people that were raised in an Authoritarian manner and escalating that method starting with boot camp.

Most of the discussion about the root causes of these shootings focuses primarily on PTSD related to combat related trauma but this doesn't account for all the recruits that have gone on shooting sprees and it almost certainly isn't the beginning of what may have made them more predisposed to violence. There is an enormous amount of research that indicates that violence often starts at an early age and escalates from there although if some of the later steps aren't taken like encounters with traumatic stress during combat then people may be less inclined to turn to excessive violence. In previous posts including Does child abuse and bullying lead to more violence? and Child abuse and bullying link in study long over due I explained why some of this research indicates that early child abuse including corporal punishment often escalates to bullying, hazing and additional violence later in life.

The military has worked with psychologists that understand this to some degree, or at least they should understand this; if they don't it is probably for ideological reasons that involve denying the research that doesn't suit their purposes. The Office of Navel Research has supported numerous research projects dating back decades about psychology including some about obedience to authority and research that clearly seems to have helped them develop their training practices for boot camp. This includes Stanley Milgram's research into Obedience to Authority, which was financed by the National Science Foundation with the support of the Office of Naval Research. It also includes Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment which was supposed to be about prison research. However as I explained in the post about his work, and Milgram's experiments as well in the same post, the claims they made about their work is almost certainly misleading.

Stanley Milgram claimed that he wanted to do research to understand why the Nazi's all blindly obeyed orders, clearly implying that he wanted to learn how to avoid doing the same thing again. However, if he wanted to do that he could have done a much better job teaching the public about when they should stand up to authority. Instead the military seems to have used this research to learn how to convince their recruits to obey authority without question more effectively, which is what the military has been trying to do for centuries. A close look at the Stanford Prison Experiment indicates that it might be an extension of the obedience to Authority experiments, which would explain why those two are often mentioned together and the researchers that did the two experiments both studied together from an early age at the instruction of Professor Irving Janis, who researched "Groupthink" in the fifties.

I went into more detail into this in the post about Zimbardo but there is an enormous amount of evidence including a lot from Zimbardo himself as well as some research from other professors including Professor Philip Greven, who researched how childhood corporal punishment leads to escalating violence and authoritarianism and Professor Alfred McCoy who researched the CIA's psychological research into torture programs and indicated that Irving Janis and Stanley Milgram were almost certainly involved in this.

There is also almost certainly a lot of research into propaganda about how they train their recruits to hate the enemy and this includes stereo types about how they're evil and it only shows one side of the issue which often ignores many of the most important facts including many of the lies that get us into these wars in the first place like the Weapons of mass destruction that weren't there in the second Gulf War and were only there in the first because the U.S. sold them to Saddam Hussein before the war, as well as the Gulf of Tonkin incident which was proven to be faked and many other lies that soldiers are trained not to scrutinize.

But they can't convince them to believe everything which is why some of this comes out in some of the articles including the following excerpts; even if they could indoctrinate them to believe everything there would still have major problems since many of the most important decisions they would be making would be based on lies.



There are numerous stories of the military denying to acknowledge the problems of PTSD and even ridiculing those that might be subject to it making many people reluctant to report it which is virtually guaranteed to make the problem worse. This is part of a culture of hazing that is designed to keep people in line and encourage recruits to follow orders and go along with the crowd without question. It is virtually guaranteed to increase the paranoia which war also seems to escalate.

Philip Greven's research in Spare the Child demonstrates how paranoia often starts in early childhood when children are abused. It is hard to tell if specific recruits went through this without further research but there are numerous examples where the paranoia that may begin in early childhood could escalate as a result of bullying or hazing later in life including in the military.

One of the leading military spokespeople to refute this and perhaps provide additional propaganda that attempts to distract the public is Lt. Col. Dave Grossman author of The “Myth” of our Returning Veterans and Violent Crime which seems to refute the "lethal Warriors" series as well as the New York Times series and many other stories. He refers to someone that tells him that "Over a hundred veterans have come home and committed murder!" which clearly seems to refer to the New York Times story. In this series they indicate that this isn't a complete list and they also refer to another 349 over a six year period that includes all veterans that they were able to find newspaper articles.

Dave Grossman seems to make the assumption that these are all the murders that are taking place; then he goes on to cite selective statistics from The Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and does his own math the come to the conclusion that the murder rate for "is less than a tenth of that for other citizens of the same age." However the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics provides numerous statistics that contradict that. As I indicated in the previous post which cites the same source they claim that the rate of imprisonment for veterans is less than half for veterans but the rate of violent crime for veterans is higher than non-veterans. This is a much smaller difference than Dave Grossman indicates; but as I explained in the previous post, it would be even smaller if they considered the fact that a large portion of the highest crime areas are in cities where the military doesn't recruit as much.

My previous post also cites some of the same sources but it includes links to those sources so that they can be confirmed or refuted and I have no doubt that it is far closer to the truth than Grossman's statistics. Grossman isn't the only one that seems to be presenting selective use of statistics to support their claims so when considering statistics it may not be helpful without some background to determine if they're out of context. 

Grossman also expresses shock that when Vietnam veterans returned they were accused of being "baby killers" as if there was no justification for this, which in some cases there wasn't; however there were a lot of examples where there was some justification for it. The most famous example is of course the My Lai massacre where evidence indicated that there was a large amount of killing of innocent civilians. There were many more of these incidents which didn't receive as much attention. And even when it wasn't taking place up close and personal bombing raids routinely kill large numbers of civilians.

This is generally refereed to as "collateral damage."

When Timothy McVeigh used the same language he learned in the military to refer to the American children he killed as "collateral damage" everyone was outraged.

If it is unjustifiable for McVeigh to use that term when talking about American children how can it be justified when our military does it?

What ever reason Grossman comes up with can anyone expect the opposing side to accept this double standard?

On top of that there are even several examples recently where returning veterans struck out in rage and killed their own children when they couldn't control their own emotions. That doesn't mean that stereotyping all veterans as being "baby killers" is justified but the self righteous indignation at the suggestion that members of the military have killed babies isn't justified either.

David Grossman's argument doesn't stand up to simple reviews which could make it a far better argument in support of the assumption that there is a big problem with soldiers turning to violence when they don't get treatment, or at least those that really need it. If he was right about his claims then shouldn't he be able to come up with a better argument that stands up to scrutiny?

Perhaps this indicates that it is very bad propaganda; or is it?

The quality of propaganda is often not how good it is when it is held up to scrutiny but whether they manage to prevent it from being scrutinized in the first place by their target audience. This propaganda isn't fooling many people that actually scrutinize it but there are a lot of people that are discouraged from checking different sources at all. The New York Times cites one of the soldiers who plead guilty to manslaughter who devours books by David Grossman’s “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.”

Many people in the military may only be inclined to read material that supports the ideology that they're trained to believe in during training or that other soldiers might be inclined to read. If some of them do read only certain types of books that support their ideology and don't rad material like the New York Times article or David Phillips "Lethal Warriors" series then this is when propaganda is most successful because it means some of these people amy not get both sides of the story.

Fortunately that clearly doesn't appear to be the case for all military men, including many that ahve become involved in Iraq veterans against the war or done more to address PTSD but those that don't might be more at risk, since they might be less inclined to acknowledge possible problems or get treatment if necessary.

Apparently in this book Grossman blames media violence for our problem with mass shootings, which is almost certainly at least partially true. He also indicates that the defenders of the media are biased because they get their money from the media which is also almost certainly true; however the same could just as easily be said for him and that he gets his money from the military. He claims that media violence teaches the public the same way the military does only without the safeguards.

The large volume of veterans that are involved in mass shootings or other kinds of violence clearly raises some doubts about whether these so called safeguards are actually working.

The real myth isn't that many veterans have problem with PTSD or that there might be a problem with the way the military trains veterans; it is that the military has been "fighting for our freedom" for decades. The war in Vietnam, which Grossman doesn't seem to question at all in his article was based on lies; the Vietnamese never supported the military government that the U.S. propped up; instead they provided more support for the opposing side. The war in Iraq was also based on lies about weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist although during the first one Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction including chemical weapons since the U.S. sold them to him.

This is typical of our military activities for decades the CIA conducted coups in Iran and Guatemala; they armed both sides of the Iran/Iraq war they helped create the Mujaheddin which became the Taliban and AL-Qaeda and they armed many of our other enemies before they became enemies. Environmentalists Against War created an extensive list of wars that were fought based on misleading information or outright lies in 'Fighting for Freedom' -- America's Abiding Myth; and this can also be confirmed in numerous books that the traditional media rarely if ever mention. In many cases the traditional media even acknowledge many of the lies; but they do so briefly then quickly forget about them while repeating the propaganda that contradicts the truth over and over again.

Both the attacks on 9/11 and the Boston bombings were blowback from people that were angry about U.S. activities abroad. Rather than protecting the country the military has been inciting those that have been fighting us. it is only an enormous amount of propaganda that makes it seem as if the U.S. has been "fighting for freedom."

This propaganda is coming from both the so-called left and the right, including Rachel Maddow, who many people on the left seem to consider more reliable than most media spokespeople since she occasionally does a better job covering some subjects, or at least she seems to. She attempted to dismiss any claim that PTSD or military training might have something to do with the Fort Hood shooting with the following statements:



I have to agree that in most cases we certainly do have a big problem with "a lazy civilian media;" however when a member of the civilian media makes that accusation they might want to think twice about fact checking the details behind their claims. There are some reporters that did look into this subject more than others David Phillips and the NYT reporters aren't the only ones that did a more thorough job checking the details; and I can't help but wonder if she even read their work.

By dismissing their military record as a potential contributing cause that should be looked at she is passing up an opportunity to at least try to understand why we have a problem with mass shootings. This doesn't mean that all mass shootings are the result of veterans of course, but they had two of them at Fort Hood and one at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. as well as an enormous number of other stories about veterans who resort to violence when they come back.

She might have some legitimate points and clearly not all veterans deserve to be stereotyped but by declining to put things in better perspective she has demonstrated who one member of the "lazy civilian media" is.

And on top of that she counted on other members of the "lazy civilian media" from thoroughly refuting her claims and for the most part they have complied; which isn't surprising since they do far more to support the war propaganda than they do to investigate it. The good reporting didn't actually reach the majority of the public despite claims that it was widely reported. It may have been widely reported to those that seek out some of the best news sources, or at least the best the traditional news provides like the New York Times; but the majority of the public is more likely to rely on TV or local news papers which didn't cover it nearly as much and quickly forgot about it with a few exceptions like the Colorado Springs Gazette, which is where one of the largest concentrations of these incidents were occurring.

If the civilian media wasn't so lazy they could have reviewed the amount of intimidation used in the military, starting with boot camp, and found out if it was necessary to maintain the myth that our soldiers are fighting for our freedom. Ivan Gomez was apparently arguing among other soldiers and this is far more common than they let on and it precedes many of these incidents where soldiers fight each other.

If they made a comprehensive list of all the incidents like US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies' or Abu Ghraib it would be clear that this is far more common than they let on and it shouldn't be any surprise that a lot of them are coming home and conducting more acts of violence.

Hazing and other intimidation is common place in the military and so are cover ups of many of their scandals including sexual abuse and many of the illegal activities that they have been involved in during wars for one reason or another. There are numerous reports of intimidation to keep people from reporting these events including a least one of the incidents listed below where they suspect a veteran was killed by other veterans because he might have been threatening to report a rape in Iraq.

Their hazing tactics are very similar to tactics used to haze gang members and ensure that they're loyal to their own gang and will not abandon them inform on them. It isn't as blatant, of course but it does have a lot in common which is almost certainly part of the reason why many veterans might be more inclined to believe the propaganda about fighting wars for freedom and other lies that the military and government routinely claim are their justification.

This is almost certainly part of the reason why Gang Members recruit their young members who don't yet have criminal records to join the military. According to FBI gang investigator Jennifer Simon 1-2% of the U.S. military belongs to gangs. This has been a major problem that has gone back decades, perhaps especially when it comes to white supremacists, who have been reported in the military over and over again and the military has a long history of sweeping it under the rug although it makes the news once in a while when high profile shootings happen by white supremacists like Frazier Glenn Miller or Wade Page.

These high profile news stories routinely instigate high profile attempts to screen out white supremacists, or at least appear to address them but they rarely if ever succeed which becomes apparent the next time a high profile white supremacist make the news. The reason for this might be that they need people susceptible to extreme views when they're trying to indoctrinate people to hate their enemies.

If we spent most if not all the money that is used on foreign military invasions on restoring a functioning educational and economic system in the abandoned inner cities that clearly do have higher crime rates than veterans then instead if contributing to higher violence the government would be reducing it. If more people knew about the lack of educational and economic opportunities in these inner cities they would understand much better why they have such high murder rates but the media doesn't do a good job reporting on that anymore than they report on foreign affairs or the escalating of violence by some returning veterans.

Before he died Chris Kyle's military motto was "despite what your momma told you violence does solve problems." It didn't work out to well for him in the end though, or a lot of other veterans, or people who have had to deal with them. Former Marine Arrested in ex-Navy SEAL Sniper’s Death Chris Kyle plus one other vet in Tx. 02/03/2013

This includes a lot of police who are also trained to be overly authoritarian and aggressive. A search for more incidents will turn up many more that happened after the New York Times did their search. The following isn't as many as they found but it is clear that given enough time there are almost certainly even more than the NYT found if enough effort is made to search for them and they often include examples where soldiers kill each other their family members or wind up confronting police in violent standoffs sometimes with overly aggressive SWAT teams and at least one example where one of these SWAT teams was involved in a no-knock raid.

This is part of a series of posts exploring the root causes of violent crime and ways to recognize and prevent them. Past posts on the subject include Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows;Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion?; Politics, not technology, caused botched executionsStates with high murder rates have larger veteran populations and Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?

When focusing on only the stories that get a lot of attention it seems as if this is the majority which is false. Despite all the stories about these violent outbreaks they're still a relatively small minority; however it is still a serious problem especially for those involved in them. Also it appears as if a much bigger problem is actually suicides according to several statistical reports however these rarely make as much news so the vast majority of them won't turn up in a search of news articles.

Alaskan Man shot dead by Iraq war veteran drinking buddy friends say he was trying to help as he struggled with PTSD 01/12/2014

Drunken Russian roulette kills Burlington County Iraq war vet at Alaskan home; comrade charged with murder 03/08/2011

Alaska soldier charged in death of son, 3 04/09/2014

Vet charged with trying to kill wife in Alaska 08/22/2006

Vermillion murder trial of Alaskan Iraq veteran pushed back 04/16/2014

Iraq war vet charged in shooting death of fellow airman in Montana 05/07/2008

Nine Mile Montana Homicide Follow: PTSD Linked To Suspects In Other Violent Crimes 06/05/2013 includes additional citations from other vets

Disabled Montana veteran pleads not guilty to shooting girlfriend 08/07/2014

Montana Man killehttp://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/authorities-deaths-appear-to-be-murder-suicide/article_6b09fff3-b5da-5942-95e5-bda970ea2ec0.htmld in argument over military branches 08/05/2014

Crime lab delay pushes Wyoming strip club murder trial until September 04/15/2014

White Supremacist Family including Iraq veteran Moves To North Dakota Town, Site Of Aryan Enclave Plan 10/14/2013

South Dakota judge says Iraqi war veteran deserves new trial 07/21/2009

20-Year-Old Man Charged In New Town Murder of North Dakota Iraq veteran 07/26/2012

Iraq veteran sentenced to state hospital in PTSD murder case in Oregon 12/07/2009

Benjamin Colton Barnes, Iraq War Veteran Suspected Of Killing Park Ranger, Reportedly Found Dead in Washington State 01/03/2012

Suspect's downward spiral ended with killing at Rainier Washington 01/03/2012

Deadly Washington 'hate crime' revealed as soldier-on-soldier killing: cops 10/07/2013

NYT: Veterans and White Supremacy 04/15/2014

Military battling white supremacists within its own ranks 08/21/2012

Wisconsin gunman's Army base had white supremacists 08/08/2012

Gulf War veteran remanded in custody after murder of family in Newcastle U.K. 08/22/2014

Body found, arrest made in case of Marine's missing wife 08/19/2014

AUTOPSY: Baby's Death Confirmed As Homicide NC Marine charged with murder 02/19/2013

Calif. Marine Arrested After Death of Baby Boy 02/23/2010

NYT: 5 American Contractors Arrested in Death of Another Iraq Contractor 06/07/2009

Al-Jazeera: US contractors arrested in Iraq: Detained workers could become first US citizens to face Iraqi law under new rules. 06/07/2009

U.S. soldiers accepting cash, drugs for Mexican drug cartel contract hits 09/13/2013

Two Blackwater Guards Arrested on Murder Charges 12/01/2010

British contractor arrested after two shot dead in Baghdad Green Zone 08/10/2009

A military contractor was arrested in San Antonio Tx. on charges that she hired a hit man to kill her estranged husband 07/24/2012

Defense Contractor and Obama Hater Arrested in Murder-For-Hire Plot; Arsenal Seized in Fla. 08/13/2013

Papua New Guinea police arrest and charge two Defense Contractors for murder of Reza Barati 08/19/2014

NYT: Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles

Wash. Post: Sharp Rise in Violent Crimes Cited Among Returning Iraq Veterans in Colo. Unit

Veterans Treatment Court Studies and Statistics

US Veterans and Military Families A July 2010 report found that child abuse in Army families was been three times higher in homes from which a parent was deployed, for example. From 2001 through 2011, alcohol use associated with physical domestic violence in Army families increased by 54%, and with child abuse by 40%.

Veterans Treatment Court Studies and Statistics

Veterans in State and Federal Prison, 2004

Swords to Plowshares

FBI: The Returning Military Veteran

Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 - Bureau of Justice statistics www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf

Huff Post: PTSD and Murder Among Newest Veterans

The Military's Deepening Geographic Divide

War toll is heaviest in poor, rural areas: Research links poor economy to Iraq deaths

NYT War torn series

Stories That Speak for Themselves NYT Op-Ed

Iraq Veterans Crazy Murderers?

Why suicide rate among veterans may be more than 22 a day

Shooting Of Sikh Army Veteran by California Police Divides California Community 5/29/2014

‘Kill Team’: The Documentary the Army Doesn’t Want You to See 

Military charges 8 with murder of Iraqi civilians 06/23/2006

Combat Veterans and the Death Penalty: A Forensic Neuropsychiatric Perspective September 2010

Marine to be retried for Iraq murder in California 01/27/2014

Family: Kansas City Missouri Vet killed in weekend standoff with police sought medical care 05/27/2014

Adam Brown: Police say an Iraq War Veteran with PTSD shot his wife with an AK 47 in Fla. 07/22/2013

Nathan Paet Murder: Police Arrest 3 in Iraq War Veteran's Death in Las Vegas (murderers not vets) 12/09/2010

Iraq War Vet Arrested On Felony Terrorist Charges For Jogging With Toy Gun West Virginia (message board) 07/0/2012

Delaware Afghan vet's war hits family hard 06/23/2014

Guardsman accused of stealing military IDs for militia in Minnesota 12/12/2013

District attorney rubber-stamps slaying of Denis Reynoso, an Iraq veteran, by Lynn Mass. police 02/02/2014

Search intensifies for Baltimore Maryland police officer in Mt. Vernon shooting of Iraq veteran 06/12/2010

Reno Nevada Iraq War vet arrested in friend's killing 04/03/2012

AWOL soldier convicted in Orange County killing 08/02/2014

Crime at Army Times

Defense: Government suppressed evidence in Blackwater 07/28/2014

Wife blames VA hospital after husband is arrested for trying to steal baby in Va. 07/31/2014

Fort Campbell soldier charged with sexual battery in Tenn. 07/21/2014

Iraq war veteran sentenced in stabbing death of girlfriend, 22 in California 12/19/2013

Los Angeles Times stories on Iraq War veterans

A Colorado Springs veteran charged with killing his girlfriend, Robert Walters also put a hit on his wife, say police 07/11/2011

Paul Martin Richard Houle Iraq vet accused of molestation, claims PTSD in Minn. 07/14/2014

Troubled veteran battles PTSD, faces possible prison term in SD 03/14/2012

The Nation: How America’s Wars Came Home With the Troops 04/17/2014

Iraq War Veteran Murder Trial Continues in SD 01/19/2014

Texas Cops Defend Hot Car Murder Charge Against Iraq war veteran and Dad Family Says Is Innocent 07/10/2014

NSA agent in Md. charged with beating his 3-year-old son to death only months after adopted him from South Korea 02/19/2014

Iraq War veteran shot by SWAT team during a raid in Ariz. 03/03/2013

Iraq combat veteran's wife, another man, arrested for his 2011 Alabama slaying 03/27/2014

The enemy at home: Veterans addicted and dying from VA pain pills 04/25/2014

$5,000 Murder Reward – MARINE VETERAN Mass. 07/0/2014

Ex-Marines sentenced to death in California after they raped Iraq vet's wife in front of him and then shot couple in the head 06/21/2013

Jackson Maine man pleads guilty to manslaughter in drug related death of Florida firefighter and Iraq veteran 04/03/2013

Soldier charged with murder in 2007 Iraq killings 11/19/2013 The soldiers believed Barbera’s actions triggered two reprisal suicide bombings at their combat outpost that killed 10 of their fellow paratroopers in the 5th Squadron of the 73rd Cavalry Airborne Reconnaissance Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.

'Mentally unstable' Iraq veteran arrested in death of girlfriend, 19 09/03/2008

Ohio Army Veteran Recalls the Unforgettable Moment When a Judge Told Him: ‘Your Time in Iraq Makes You a Threat to Society’ 11/12/2013 XXX

Iraq Veteran Gets Illegally Disarmed and Arrested While Hiking in Texas 03/16/2013

Iraq veteran from Munford Alabama tried to hire KKK hit men to kill black neighbor, FBI officials said 08/27/2013

Iraq War veteran talks about Virginia Beach mob attack 07/10/2014

Iraq war veteran arrested in connection with fatal heroin overdose Death and cover–up in NJ 08/09/2012

Louisiana guardsman arrested for murder 06/11/2014

Judge orders psychiatric evaluation of veteran accused of murder 02/19/2014

A Colorado Military Spouse’s Tale: Criminalizing PTSD 05/31/2013

West Virginia Iraq Vet Lands In Jail On Terrorist Charges After Jogging With Toy Rifle 08/24/2012

Vet Who Suffers From PTSD in Custody, Suspected of Killing 3 in Fla. 05/27/2014

"I Am Sorry That It Has Come to This": A Soldier's Last Words (suicide) 06/22/2013

DECORATED MARINE VETERAN BRANDON RAUB WAS ARRESTED BY CHESTERFIELD, VA POLICE, SECRET SERVICE AND THE FBI FOR POSTING “THE TRUTH: FACEBOOK POST BY BRANDON RAUB” ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE 08/24/2012 ?????

Gilroy Ca. police: Iraq War veteran killed sister, 11, then himself 03/16/2012

Iraq war veteran killed on the streets of Arlington Virgina 10/21/2011

Iraq War Veteran Spends Night Of Wedding Reception In Mass. Jail 08/1/2014

The Hidden Cost of War: Returning Vet PTSD Violence List 2005 10/19/2005

Soldier arrested in murder-for-hire plot in Oklahoma 11/28/2008

Authorities arrest war-hero veteran a second time in Wagoner County Oklahoma homicide 04/0/2014

Ex-roommate suspected in death of missing Army veteran in California 05/19/2014

'Disturbed' Vietnam veteran arrested for murder of his wife 28 years ago and two years after her bones were found 05/01/2012

Vietnam War veteran, 68, 'beats to death resident and caregiver with hammer at assisted-living home' in Las Vegas Nev. 01/02/2013

Ben Sebena, Iraq War Veteran, Due In Court For Alleged Murder Of Wife Jennifer Sebena, A Police Officer in Minn. 01/03/2013

Ex-US Soldier Guilty of Rape, Murder in Iraq 05/07/2009

Jose Guerena’s family gets settlement, but his killers still wear badges in Ariz. 09/19/2014

2nd Marine Acquitted in Fallujah Killings 04/09/2009

Iraqis Detain 5 US Contractors in Murder Probe 06/07/2009

Generals Puzzle Through Surge in Army Suicides 05/23/2009

Blackwater Founder Linked to Investigators' Murders 08/05/2009

Iraqis Attempt to Arrest US Soldiers After Shooting 07/25/2009

Sadistic Brit Soldiers 'Made Iraqis Dance Like Jacko' 07/14/2009

'We Were Just Pawns:' Lynndie England 07/29/2009

Newser Iraq War

4 GIs Charged With Hazing Suicide Soldier 08/21/2009

Capital murder suspect accused of shooting Iraq war vet in custody in Texas 10/25/2012

Iraq war veteran from Missouri LaVena Johnson: A Suicide or A Murder Cover-Up? 01/15/2014

Robert Walters, Iraq War Veteran, Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder in Colorado 09/19/2011

Marine convicted in Iraq murder gets conviction overturned in Ca. 08/02/2013

BREAKING: Maywood Ill. Man Sentenced to Natural Life for Murder of Iraq Vet 12/10/2013

Iraq Veteran Arrested on Suspicion of Murdering Newborn Son in California 11/21/2006

Iraq War vet in SC gets 32 years for killing baby 07/07/2014

Former Hilton Head resident, Army veteran jailed in Pa. to face murder trial in May 03/09/2014

Young veteran charged with killing aunt's fiance in Kennedy Township Pa. jewelry robbery 08/15/2014

For Many Vietnam Veterans, The War Still Isn’t Over 08/11/2014

Iraq War Vet Faces Hearing, Charged With Murder In Neighbor’s Death In Dispute Over Dog in Mich. 04/23/2014

Iraq War Veteran Accused Of Raping 10-Year-Old Girl Jailed On $1M Bond in Mich. 05/14/2014

Iraq Veteran Suffering From PTSD Charged With Attempted Murder of his wife in Colorado 09/06/2010

Sgt. John Russell, Iraq Vet, Pleads Guilty To Killing Fellow Soldiers in Baghdad 04/22/2013

Iraq war veteran arrested in shooting death of fellow soldier in Knnsas 07/31/2007

Back from Iraq, Ft. Benning Ga. Soldier Slain 12/01/2003 Richard T. Davis Unnamed sources have suggested that Davis was killed because he had planned to make a complaint about a rape of an Iraqi woman by US troops.

Murder of Jan Pawel and Quiana Jenkins Pietrzak by fellow marines 10/15/2008

US veteran killed by California Highway Police officers 05/24/2014

Iraq vet charged with murder in Fort Drum killings of fellow veterans in NY 12/04/2009

After husband's death, at the hands of his own child Vermont widow takes on PTSD 05/14/2014

Is Itzcoatl Ocampo an example of divide and rule tactics? 02/07/2012

Warnings signs for Aaron Alexis are abundant 09/17/2013

The coverage of the excessive force by police against minorities surrounding Ferguson is long overdue; however it isn't covering the full extent of the problem including a similar incident in Beavercreek Ohio and at least five incidents total where police killed minorities in the last month under questionable circumstances. Nor is it covering the root social causes that precede these conflicts and the most effective long term solutions to them.

Mother Jones was one of the few news outlets that reported on five black men killed in the last month by police, adding the fifth after an update, 4 Unarmed Black Men Have Been Killed By Police in the Last Month, 08/13/2014, In addition to that there was another incident where Police in Forney, Texas, apologize to mom and kids pulled over at gunpoint after a 911 caller got two vehicles mixed up and the California Highway Patrol officer in Brutal Roadside Beating Could finally Face Felony Charges after an enormous amount of coverage and grass roots pressure.

In the case of Beavercreek Ohio the entire incident was on video so if the shooting is justified as the police say then they could easily disclose the video to the public and let them see for themselves; but they refuse to do so. This took place at Wal-Mart and the shooting victim apparently had a BB gun that he picked up from a display. The initial reports implied that he was armed but it quickly became clear that the person who called it in may have jumped to conclusions.

After an enormous amount of protest they finally let a few people see part of the tape but not all; and the family and their lawyer claim that it is clearly unjustified, as indicated in the following excerpt.



This incident has hardly received much if any attention from the national media. I haven't seen anything about it through the television even though they have been providing an enormous amount of coverage on Ferguson, nor have I heard anything about two of the other stories cited by Mother Jones. Even Democracy Now didn't provide much coverage of it; while watching the show I didn't see it mentioned once but apparently they did mention it in two of their headlines that I was able to find with a search including one that said The mother of Crawford’s two infant children told the local paper she was on the phone with Crawford and heard him say, "It’s not real," before police opened fire. This is consistent with the excerpt cited above.

Apparently on one other incident where the police were accused of excessive force in a South Carolina Wal-Mart, Walmart suspect earlier charged with officer assault 08/25/2014, Wal-Mart and the police were much quicker to release the video; possibly because they thought it would do more to justify the actions of the police. This article doesn't mention it, but it was also featured on Headline News nationally repeatedly over the last few days; but so far as I can see even though a Prosecutor was finally named in deadly officer involved shooting at Beavercreek Ohio Wal-Mart I still ahven't seen any news on the traditional national media about it. Hopefully Democracy Now and other alternative media outlets will cover this as I write this.

Thanks to the enormous amount of coverage of the militarization of the police displayed in Ferguson Obama called for a review of this.

If Barack Obama wanted to know about this, for all practical purposes this review has already been done and he could make major changes or draw additional attention to it without waiting for a new review if he actually wanted to, which raises doubts about his sincerity.

Several researchers ahve looked into this, perhaps Radley Balko, author of "Rise of the Warrior Cop" (which I attempted to either confirm or refute) is the most thorough. In a repost of an old interview with Radley Balko Rob Kall claims that Obama is Behind the Militarization of America's Police Forces; Radley Balko Intvw Transcript Part 2 (or at least some of the most recent activities that added to it) and the ACLU also provided their report, War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Police - Report

It would be understandable if some of the people that don't rely on traditional media and are familiar with at least some of this might consider Obama's call for a review highly insincere, if not a bad joke.

This is all part of a pattern of behavior of stonewalling at every step. Whether it is the government, the local police forces involved in any given incident, or in this case Wal-Mart who also refuses to release their video and even digs in their heals and declines to stop keeping their BB guns on the shelves to avoid another misunderstanding and panic again. The media also declined to cover the full extent of the problem Wal-Mart has with shooting incidents at their stores across the country. They average one somewhere in the country every five days or less; and their have been statistical studies showing that they have more crime than even other big-box stores which are also more than small businesses, as reviewed in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices?

More importantly they do little or nothing to cover the background of economic and educational opportunities, or lack of them, that are available to most African Americans, especially those that live in abandoned inner cities that hold some of the largest populations of African Americans in the country. Without this background it is too easy for many white people to quickly come to the conclusion that Michael Brown and John Crawford might be thugs or at least appear to be that way therefore the officers actions might be justified to defend the rest of us; and more importantly without this background it will be easier for many people to focus on trying to find the immediate causes to these problems without looking at the long term causes that also have to be prevented if these racial tensions are going to be solved.

The bigger problem is that our economic and educational system doesn't provide early educational or economic opportunities for many people and it is worse for minorities. One simple example of how unjustified our economic system is should be that people in the advertising industry often make an enormous amount of money; but they do absolutely nothing to add to the quality of the products they promote; instead they add an enormous amount of hype to convince the public they're getting their moneys worth even when they aren't, or more accurately, especially when they aren't. While the workers that produce their products are forced to compete for declining wages and the quality gets steadily worse.

One of the most effective researchers into some of the background that makes this even worse for minorities in abandoned inner cities is Jonathan Kozol author of Savage Inequalities; The Shame of the Nation; Amazing Grace (full text) and Rachel and Her Children. These books explain how in many cases the government spends more money or programs that don't actually protect the poor or help them get out of poverty than programs that do. In Rachel and her Children he describes how the government pays outrageous amounts of money to put homeless people in hotels that have rats and don't allow cooking while other programs cost less and do a better job returning people to regular homes and find employment.

Most of his books focus primarily on education though, and in this case there are numerous examples where they spend much more money lobbying to avoid financing education and prisons and police forces than they do on education. After reading all the details it might not be easy to find a simple direct connection to higher crimes and prison populations in inner cities, especially if some of the defenders of the status quo have ample opportunity to spin it; but it should be clear that spending more on education is far more effective than spending more on police and prisons. And even if many white people remain in denial it is obvious to those who actually have a minimum of first hand experience that it is a major reason why there is more crime and less economic opportunities in these abandoned inner cities.

This creates a hostile environment where conflict with police may be much more likely and when this escalates then people on both sides are much more likely to escalate tensions instead of learning how to reverse this trend of escalating violence.

The same decisions makers that cut funds for education are increasing funds that cause the militarization of police and trains them to be moire intimidating and violent.

Even if they do find cause to prosecute the police assuming the evidence indicates it is justified, which in at least some cases it clearly does, then that still does little or nothing to change the long term root causes that precede these conflicts. Nor does that do much if anything to hold the political leadership accountable for their part in choosing policies that will inevitably lead to one kind of conflict or another. They're the ones that are actually more responsible in the long run, yet there is little or no accountability for them.



Instead of educating children and providing economic opportunity for adults in these inner cities and perhaps other parts of the country the government is implementing policies where the only opportunities involve either welfare drugs or other illegal activities and, in some cases, corporations that provide incompetent services for either handling the homeless or education are making an enormous profit for doing a terrible job.



For those of you who haven't heard much if anything about the Beavercreek incident here are a series of articles on the subject that have apparently been making a lot of local news and is available for those that know to look for it on the internet. One other thing that is worth more consideration is that apparently at least one or two of these articles has been changed after the fact without explaining it to the public. On one example that I was able to spot I managed to find the original article and it wasn't hiding anything especially important; but this should raise doubts about whether it might in other cases. Fortunately someone appears to have anticipated this and saved it, intentionally or not. If there isn't major reform of the media, which often changes it's stories or withdraws them for one reason or another it would be helpful if more people saved controversial articles that might be inclined to disappear.

Police shoot, kill 21-year-old man inside Beavercreek Ohio Walmart 08/06/2014

Source: Walmart gunman had realistic-looking toy 08/06/2014

Man police shot in Walmart killed over fake gun, family says 07/06/2014

Shooting Suspect's Girlfriend: He Wasn't Armed When We Entered Walmart 08/06/2014

DeWine Says Walmart Suspect Carrying MK-177 BB/Pellet Rifle 08/11/2014 This article was originally titled "Shooting Suspect's Girlfriend: He Wasn't Armed When We Entered Walmart," on August 6 and changed to an updated version later.

Mom died at Walmart, trying to save kids after shooting 08/06/2014

Walmart Shooting Suspect's Criminal Past, Officer's Personnel File Released 08/07/2014

UPDATE: Walmart sticks to policy on air guns 08/08/2014

Group holds signs to protest Walmart shooting 08/09/2014

Family of man killed by cops at Wal-Mart demands video 08/13/2014

Protesters Demanding Answers in Deadly Shooting at the Beavercreek Ohio Walmart 08/16/2014

Attorney says video shows police shooting at Walmart was unjustified 08/20/2014

Grand Jury to Convene in Officer-Involved Walmart Shooting, Family Calls it Murder 08/19/2014

NAACP to Investigate Officer-Involved Shooting at Walmart 08/20/2014

Records in Walmart shooting released by police 08/21/2014

Family 'appalled' officer in Walmart shooting back on job 08/21/2014

1 officer in Ohio Wal-Mart shooting still on leave, was involved in 2010 fatal shooting 08/21/2014

Grass roots group calls for DOJ to look at Walmart shooting 08/25/2014

Prosecutor named in deadly officer involved shooting at Wal-Mart 08/25/2014

Once again when the police aren't catching shoplifters they're joining them. When they're not tasing chasing or shooting people for various reasons including petty theft or carrying a toy gun they're being attacked. It seems to be semi-routine in some places to escalate about petty theft until they involve shootings or tug of wars over babies.

In both Wisconsin and Connecticut police officers or former police officers were arrested for stealing from Walmart. The officer in Connecticut was suspended without pay as a result of the investigation; in many cases when they're caught abusing rights or even killing suspects under suspicious circumstances and they're suspended it is often with pay. The incident in Wisconsin apparently led to an armed stand off outside the home of the former police officer after he pulled a gun on the loss-prevention officers at Walmart.

Another shooting in Dallas started with a murder; the suspect was in turn killed by an off duty police officer who was working security at Walmart. This was one of at least six deadly shootings that involved Dallas police this month. If there is much if any discussion about potential conflicts of interest when police officers routinely work for major private corporations on the side I haven't seen it; and without this discussion or further review of a large number of incidents it will be difficult to tell whether these incidents are impacted by their training and incentive, even if this particular incident is justified due to a murder.

Do you want to get your health care at Walmart?

I wish I was making this up but they really are opening up clinics at Walmart. It is hard to doubt whether or not they're trying to create a monopoly system or at least consolidate and strengthen the oligarchy system they've already created.

It took a few days but eventually when a runaway teen decided to move into Walmart they noticed, seriously. This was also in Dallas.

Maxwell Smart may have made shoe-phones famous long before anyone heard of a cellphone but if you want to catch someone trying to take up-skirt photos you have to go to Walmart; using a shoe-phone for this may not be routine yet; but using cellphones, almost is, for some people, including one that admits 'I am a perverted person,' to a judge.

There was another problem with an unsafe roof; but this time it collapsed before anyone saw it coming. No one was injured and the last time, when another one was sagging due to excessive snow they were able evacuate before it collapsed and required much more repair.

The highest profile incident at Walmart this month was probably still the shooting where the police killed someone with a BB gun even though they didn't cover it nearly as much as Ferguson; there was another one shortly after it where the suspect who was tackled and tased went viral. Instead of killing this one even though he had a longer record and didn't turn out to be living at the address he gave them they let him go. The video that was used to justify this incident was released much sooner.

Even though someone was killed over a misunderstanding about BB guns Walmart still continues to display them in the same manner as before and another incident, also in Ohio involved a teen that tried to shoplift one.

In Texas they sentenced a man to eight years in jail for trying to steal underwear. In this case he supposedly pulled a gun out on those that tried to stop him although he denies that part. This wouldn't have the first time that gunfire started at Walmart over underwear.

People are also getting bit by bats at at least one Texas Walmart and they're being treated for rabies although they may not have found one of the people that may have been bit.

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!

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In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. In January of 2014 another study, "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" provided additional statistical research indicating that Wal-Mart might be contributing to higher crime rates or at least a slowing of the decline in crime. The study found that. “on average, communities with Walmarts had 17 more property crimes and two more violent crimes per 10,000 people than those communities without Walmarts.” I reviewed this more in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices? where I explained that although this study is helpful they could have done better with additional data that is available and I reviewed some of that. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a previous blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in August 2014. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 or the "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart.

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Lawyer removed from Tenn. Walmart murder case 07/01/2014

Coventry RI Walmart evacuated for bomb threat 07/01/2014

Armed men in NM Walmart flee cops, run to Home Depot 07/02/2014

Cell phone video captures chaotic incident at Tenn. Walmart 07/03/2014

Murphysboro Missouri Police searching for man who allegedly robbed Walmart 07/03/2014

Colorado Walmart Evacuated after Bomb Threat 07/04/2014

Police Blotter: Two ND Walmart employees arrested for retail theft 07/04/2014

Recall expanded: Fresh fruit sold at Walmart 07/04/2014

Greeter's stool stolen from Pa. Wal-Mart on Carlisle Pike, police say 07/04/2014

Woman shoplifting at Hilton Head SC Walmart pulls knife 07/04/2014

Police: 2 men used fake gift cards at Hendersonville Tenn. Walmart 07/04/2014

Forbes: Yes, Combined Dollar Tree and Family Dollar A Threat, But Walmart Isn't Going Anywhere 07/05/2014

Newfoundland mom upset Wal-Mart withheld 'inappropriate' baby photos 07/05/2014

2nd plea in SW Pa. elderly shopper mugging case 07/05/2014

Blaine Minn. Walmart groping suspect held by shoppers until arrest 07/05/2014



So much for creating a monopoly system; I guess they'll have to continue settling for oligarchy which is virtually as bad.

Man killed when trucks collide near Green Bay Wisc. Walmart 07/06/2014



Woman arrested for allegedly stealing from Utah Walmart to pay for drugs 07/06/2014



Employee robbed at gunpoint in Walmart parking lot in Greensboro NC 07/06/2014

Man shoplifts from Smyrna Tenn. Walmart twice in 3 days 07/06/2014 Stolen items included two security cameras.

Anniston Ala. Police release image of Walmart robbery suspect 07/07/2014

Del City Ok. police looking for armed robber in Walmart theft 07/07/2014

Saginaw man accused of using knife in theft attempt at Mich. Walmart accepts plea deal for June incident 07/07/2014

Police: Duffel bags cleared after bomb scare at SC Walmart plus unrelated car fire 07/07/2014

Miami Ok. Walmart Shoppers Receive Jury Duty Summonses 07/07/2014

Man, woman believed to be connected to robbery spotted at Ok. Walmart 07/07/2014

South Medford Ohio Walmart evacuated after sprinkler line bursts 07/07/2014





Woodbridge Man Charged for Leaving Two Children in Vehicle in Va. Walmart Parking Lot 07/0/2014

Man charged with DWI after stealing motorcycle from NC Walmart, running from police 07/08/2014

Caldwell Id. police find boa constrictor in Walmart parking lot 07/08/2014

MC Walmart associate assaulted 07/08/2014

Hope Mills NC returns playground equipment donated by Walmart amid controversial rezoning 07/08/2014



Police say Huntsville Ala. woman fought with Wal-Mart security during failed shoplifting attempt 08/08/2014

Lebanon Tenn. police find mobile meth lab in Walmart parking lot 07/09/2014

El Con Ariz. Walmart reapplying for liquor license 07/09/2014

Two women arrested for allegedly shoplifting at Walmart in Godfrey, Illinois 07/09/2014

Explosive found at Tullahoma Walmart 07/09/2014

Family finds snake in case of water from Ok. Walmart?! 07/10/2014

NC babysitter accused of leaving children unattended in van at Walmart parking lot 07/10/2014

Looting reported at Ferguson Missouri Walmart 07/10/2014

Man Uses Stolen Credit Cards at Fla. Walmart 08/13/2014

'I am a perverted person,' man tells judge about taking up-skirt photos at Mich. Walmart 08/13/2014

Lubbock Tx. police seek Wal-Mart wallet thief 08/13/2014





Anti-Wal-Mart group: We've filed appeal of Muskegon County Mich. judge's ruling 08/13/2014

Musician arrested before gig in 2013 Franklin Tenn. Wal-Mart theft 08/13/2014

Foes, fans of Ca. Walmart expansion in Rohnert Park set to square off again 08/13/2014

Police: NC Walmart Employee Charged For Taking $7,000 From Store 08/13/2014

'Dedicated' Tx. Walmart employee killed by suspected drunk driver 08/13/2014

Walmart profit up 0.6% in Q2 08/13/2014 Sales at Wal-Mart U.S. stores open at least a year were flat and traffic was negative for the seventh quarter in a row, continuing a weak trend for the retailer at home. Prior to this quarter, Walmart's U.S. stores had seen five straight quarters of sales declines.

Wall Street Journal: Wal-Mart's Prices Aren't All That's Low 08/13/2014

Walmart’s check-cashing service is another way of preying 08/14/2014

Officer shoots attacking dog at Tx. Wal-Mart 08/12/2014





Jasper Ind. Wal-Mart Battles Feral Cat Invasion 07/13/2014

Adam Richman Explains His Choice To Endorse Walmart Beef 08/12/2014

Update: Surveillance of Springfield Ohio Walmart robbery 08/14/2014

Police looking for woman accused of stealing credit card on Bourbon Street, using it at Slidell La. Walmart 08/14/2014

1-alarm fire at Secaucus NJ Walmart quickly extinguished, none injured: deputy fire chief 08/15/2014

How Much of Wal-Mart Is Really Made in America? 08/15/2014

Deputies: Boy, 15, Pointed Gun At Ca. Walmart Security Guard 08/15/2014

Police: NY Wal-Mart employee stole funds 08/15/2014

Pair charged with theft from East Franklin Pa. Wal-Mart 08/15/2014

OKC Police say woman scammed second Walmart with deck of cards in iPhone box 08/15/2014

2 Burger King managers, one other accused of stealing from Fla. Wal-Mart 08/16/2014



Huber Heights Ohio Coming Together to Help Okla. Family Stranded at Walmart 08/17/2014

Roadway near Wal-Mart in Hurricane, WV re-opens after vehicle hits tree; female driver killed 08/17/2014

Decatur Alabama man allegedly pulls knife on Wal-Mart employee during shoplifting attempt 08/18/2014

Police: man snaps picture under woman's skirt at Jacksonville Fla. Walmart 08/18/2014

Police search for woman who entered Silver Spring Twp. Pa. Wal-Mart with child, committed fraud 08/18/2014

Police seek man in Wal-Mart South Jackson Tenn. shoplifting incident 08/18/2014

Recall: Children’s water bottles sold at Wal-Mart, Target recalled 08/19/2014

NC woman accused of leaving baby in vehicle to shop at Walmart 08/19/2014

Caldwell Idaho woman: Snake found in Wal-Mart parking lot belongs to me 08/20/2014

Pa. Police need help identifying WalMart theft suspect 08/20/2014



PD: Man assaulted Denver Colorado Wal-Mart staff while fleeing robbery 08/20/2014

Purse snatching suspect targets woman at Ariz. Walmart 08/20/2014

New Mexico man steals Wal-Mart scooter, rides it to meet probation officer 08/20/2014

XX 08/2/2014

1 of 2 officers in Walmart shooting is back on job 08/20/2014

Victim's father reacts to Walmart video depicting son's death 08/20/2014

Use of Force Expert Explains What Grand Jury Will Hear in Walmart Shooting Case 08/20/2014

Man arrested after allegedly stealing TVs from two Utah Walmart stores 08/21/2014

Colorado Police Search For Bank Robber Who Headed To Walmart 08/21/2014

Montana Blotter: roommate tiff at WalMart ends in fisticuffs 08/21/2014

Police search for man wanted in attempted theft from Silver Spring Twp. Pa. Wal-Mart 08/21/2014

No injuries in Wednesday crash near Alaska Walmart 08/21/2014

Photos lead to arrest of Wisc. Walmart theft suspect 08/22/2014

Falmouth man accused of Mass. Walmart assault, shooting bow and arrow 08/22/2014

Police: Men arrested in rolling meth lab parked at NC Walmart 08/22/2014













Woman uses her daughters in an attempt to steal from Carlisle Pa. Walmart 08/25/2014

Update: Willis gets 1-15 years for firing on couple in Utah Walmart parking lot 08/25/2014

Thief takes $33,000 in cellphones from Missouri Wal-Mart 08/25/2014

DeWine, family's attorney respond to Ohio Walmart shooting 08/26/2014



Man banned from Kansas Wal-Mart after exposing himself 08/26/2014



4 wanted after stolen credit card used at west Nashville Tenn. Walmart 08/26/2014

Decatur Alabam police charge man in Wal-Mart computer theft; 2nd suspect still at large 08/26/2014

Woman escorts alleged Titusville Fla. Walmart peeper to store's security office 08/26/2014

Man stole laptop, bagels from West Shore Pa. Wal-Mart, fled scene in Harrisburg cab 08/26/2014

Alleged attack at Missoula Montana Walmart parking lot likely will leave 70-year-old blind in one eye 08/26/2014

Woman charged with shoplifting at NH Walmart 08/26/2014

Thieves target La. Walmart in mid-afternoon burglary 08/27/2014

Report: Woman run over at E. Second St. Reno Nev. Walmart 08/27/2014

OSHA reviews conflicting accounts, response time in Kalispell Montana Walmart worker's death 08/28/2014

Thief Caught on Camera Stealing TV’s from Pa. Walmart 08/28/2014

Couple suspected of ripping off 2 Walmarts in Washington State 08/28/2014

Walmart shooting draws Sharpton’s attention; activist coming to town 08/28/2014

Dozens of car batteries stolen from NE Philly Pa. Walmart 08/28/2014

Police: 3 take $4,710 in gift cards from Burlington Twp. NJ Walmart 08/29/2014

Man arrested in Fla. Walmart snatch and grab from 69-year-old woman 08/29/2014

Carbondale man sentenced to two years for Ill. Wal-Mart thefts and ordered to pay $1,523 restitution to Wal-Mart 08/29/2014

Ohio State Rep. Alicia Reece: Release Walmart shooting tape 08/29/2014

DeWine defends withholding video of Ohio Walmart shooting 08/29/2014



Brier Creek NC Walmart evacuated after small fire inside fast food restaurant 08/29/2014

Wanted: trio steal hundreds of dollars in items from Elizabethton Tenn. Walmart 08/29/2014

Firefighters respond to burning truck at Singing Hills Walmart in Sioux City Iowa 08/29/2014

Woman accused of stealing from Fla. Wal-Mart 08/30/2014

Walmart Protesters seek Boycott of Beavercreek, Greene Co. Ohio Businesses 08/30/2014

Beavercreek police supporters gather at Wal-Mart 08/31/2014

Waterford Conn. police look for two suspects in Walmart robbery 08/31/2014

Two-vehicle accident in Montana Walmart parking lot rolls SUV 08/31/2014

I’m not completely ruling out an ISIS Wag the Dog Hypothesis but it would have to be huge and absurd if it were true. In order for this to be faked it would need the cooperation, at least tacitly, of an enormous amount of news organizations and even many of the critics of the administration.

However this isn't enough to indicate that it should be completely ruled out from a factual point of view; although it would seem to be enough to indicate that it should be so close that it virtually out of the question, except for one problem.

If people pay enough attention to the official version of the truth as it has been presented by the commercial media it is almost as absurd as an ISIS Wag the Dog Hypothesis where Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro manufacture a war in Hollywood that never takes place.

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When the official version of the truth is almost as absurd as the fringe conspiracy theorists it might be time to take a closer look and sort out the details before coming up with a more rational explanation, perhaps different from either version, although it might include details from both.

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The person that conducts these beheadings looks like a comic book character; and the response by the administration is equally absurd. They spend their time saying they don't have a strategy but Obama can hardly let that interfere with his game of golf.

Joe Biden may want the public to think that he's taking this seriously but he seems to be watching to many movies when he says, "We will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. Because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside," This also seems to be the way they might respond to problems like this in comic books.

According to Nancy Snow the scariest part is how well their propaganda is working; however a closer look might indicate that she is at least partly right although I can't help but wonder if this propaganda is working better for ISIS or if it is working better for the warmongers in the US government and in the media that are trying to find an excuse to escalate military action and maintain a permanent state of war.

The phrasing of the villains message seems to serve the propaganda purposes of the US warmongers very well but if his message was a little more to the point it might not work quite so well.



If he had said that just like wars throughout history that "we will keep killing your people as long as you keep killing our people" then it might not have been quite so dramatic but it gets right to the point and it would demonstrate how absurd and foolish the permanent state of war is. The family of Steven Sotloff certainly seems to have a good point when they say, "The murder of an innocent man for the perceived crimes of the nation in which he was born makes absolutely no sense." But they fail to explain, or even consider why the crimes of our government should merely be considered "perceived crimes." Should the family members of those that are killed by the bombs being dropped by the US government be shocked by her portrayal of these crimes as being merely "perceived crimes;" would they be shocked if the opposition referred to the killing of Sotloff as a "perceived crime."

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic to the Sotloff family but nor do I mean to sound unsympathetic to the other victims that are routinely referred to as "collateral damage;" the more important issue should be how to end this permanent state of war so that the victims on both sides don't have to continue paying the price for decisions made by political leaders that remain out of harms way so they're not held accountable for their actions.

A Wag the Dog hypothesis certainly would be absurd and judging by Occam's Razor, "the simplest answer is most often correct," however the media has been presenting a long list of absurd stories for years and some of these official versions simply don't make sense when they're scrutinized, although some of these seem incredibly silly and hardly worth much attention. This includes the absurd story about Vladimir Putin steeling a super-bowl ring which is allegedly worth $25,000 and had a lot of sentimental value to Bob Craft although from a practical point of view it has little or no value that isn't based on hype. If Putin and Craft were concerned about maintaining their power and keeping billions of dollars that they probably didn't earn it clearly wouldn't be in their best interest to rub their silly disputes in the noses of those that often have a hard time paying for food.

Another more important story which is absurd, yet passed off as fact was the claim that three hikers thought the border between Iraq and Iran would be a good tourist destination; it is hard to imagine how reasonably well informed people could come to this conclusion and even more difficult to understand why hardly any consideration was given to this foolish decision. Regardless of why they decided that the border of a country at a permanent state of conflict with the United States dating back at least to when the United States used the CIA to overthrow their democratically elected government in the fifties and when the U.S. supplied both sides with weapons prolonging their war in the eighties, they had plenty of video of themselves at that time goofing around in a bamboo patch that served as great propaganda for months to comes and little or anything was done to question this.

Absurd things being passed off as reality without question is quite routine especially when it comes to politics. Before George Bush was elected it was quite clear that he was an incompetent clown to people that knew about him; if the establishment that wants to present us with a choice of leaders wanted to convince us to support them couldn't they have come up with a more credible candidate than that? If that wasn't absurd enough in 2010 they came up with an incredibly large number of so-called "tea party candidates" that they presented to the public and a few of them even won.

Why can't they do a better job coming up with candidates that at least seem reasonable?

A Wag the Dog Hypothesis is certainly absurd and highly unlikely but so is the fact that they can't come up with a better version of truth than this to present to the public. So it isn't that hard to imagine why someone like Mark Crispin Miller, who is usually quite rational, might ask, What’s up with these “beheadings”? They certainly seem fake, and so does an enormous amount of other activities that the government and the media is constantly coming up with, while failing to address many of the most important issues including the destruction of the environment and epidemic levels of poverty and inequality.

Rational researchers are often stereotyped so they might appear like some of the more fringe conspiracy theorists including some not quite as rational as Mark Crispin Miller, like Alex Jones and Before It was News in an attempt to discredit them; however in some cases even though a large portion of the material that Alex Jones, Allen West, and Before It Was News comes up with has problems, and usually seems so absurd that they can't possibly be right, they sometimes get some to the details right that the government is trying to avoid addressing. Therefore it would be inappropriate to dismiss their theories, including the following, in their entirety even if some aspects of them are out of the question.

Witnessing a wag the dog exercise in real time … 06/16/2014

Before It Was News: Tom Heneghan Explosive Breaking News: ISIS Totally Exposed! 08/31/2014

We’re falling for Obama’s ‘Wag the Dog’ moment, in Nigeria, says Col. Allen West 05/13/2014

This is especially true when considering there was another scare bout a threat from Syria almost exactly one year ago but the government wasn't the one warning us about the Islamic extremists at that time; instead they were warning us about the Syrian government and claiming that they had a sophisticated "Syrian Electronic Army" and that they were using chemical weapons. At the time the people that were trying to warn the public about the Islamic extremists in Syria were the fringe conspiracy theorists and the U.S. government was supporting the rebels and saying that they were trying to differentiate between the good rebels and the bad, but they didn't seem to be doing to good a job at it. It was almost exactly a year ago when I posted the following:



We're supposed to consider some of these conspiracy theorists fringe and unreliable but many of them were warning us about the same threat before the government, although at that time they didn't call themselves "ISIS;" actually the Islamic State still doesn't refer to themselves as ISIS or ISIL; that is apparently something that the media and the government came up with and only explained it briefly on a few occasions like the Rachel Maddow show while repeating the name over and over again without reminding the public that it isn't their actual name. Apparently ISIS is actually an Acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

When they wanted an excuse to escalate the fighting in Syria a year ago the media came up with threats that weren't previously reported widely, if at all and since then doubts have come up about the. Now they're doing the same thing but instead of claiming the Syrian Government is a much bigger threat than previously reported about it is the Islamic State which they were downplaying a year ago. Chuck Hagel's claim that "ISIL is a sophisticated and well-funded a group as we've seen. They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. Oh, this is beyond anything that we've seen." sounds a lot like Colin Powell's speech before the U.N. and it doesn't seem any more credible.

How many times does our government have to cry wolf before people start to recognize their scare tactics?

Even if there is no absurd ISIS Wag the Dog hypothesis then there is still something seriously wrong with their version of the truth.

Info Wars reported, 'During an appearance on Fox News, General Thomas McInerney acknowledged that the United States “helped build ISIS” as a result of the group obtaining weapons from the Benghazi consulate in Libya which was attacked by jihadists in September 2012.' Some of these sources seem to have major credibility problems, but when they hold positions of power, now or in the past, they should be considered carefully since they're involved in the decision making process. It should also raise doubts about why so many people with credibility problems are in positions of power.

And additional confirmation seems to have come from Democracy Now, who says, 'a new report by a private British firm that monitors arms trafficking says military equipment provided by the United States and Saudi Arabia has fallen into the hands of Islamic State fighters. The firm examined rockets and small arms stamped "Property of the U.S. government" that appear to have been supplied to Shiite forces in Iraq during the U.S. occupation.' This is actually typical of U.S. foreign policy going back decades; the United States has almost always been the biggest arms supplier in the world and one time after another our country winds up fighting against the weapons we previously sold, often to people that used to be our allies.

Also, as Mark Crispin Miller points out, in More questions about those “beheadings,” additional questions have been raised by at least two sources about who it was that even kidnapped James Foley, previous sources, including "Business Insider" which is a more traditional media source, have claimed he was actually kidnapped by groups loyal to the Syrian government. If this is the case how did he wind up in the hands of ISIS? And, perhaps, more important why isn't the traditional media even addressing this problem? Actually that one might be easy since they don't seem to address many of the most important issues very well at all, but it should still be considered a major problem when the highest profile media outlets are hardly even trying to do a good job.

The claim that James Foley's beheading video may have been staged separately from his death: expert is spreading so fast that many other outlets even the New york Daily News are considering it, which seems to make a possibly Wag The Dog hypothesis slightly less unlikely although it would still be hard for most rational people to believe without fact checking. The traditional media still portrays this as a chilling piece of propaganda for ISIS, but if the target audience is English speaking people, then it is almost certainly a much more effective piece of propaganda for those that want to demonize ISIS as an excuse to maintain a permanent state of war. It is hard to imagine how this would help earn sympathy for ISIS although it will be quite helpful when trying to incite hatred against them.

William Lewis does a good job describing how The media and government is Selling Fear and Lies to Control the Publicon a variety of different issues; and cynical as it sounds there has been a long history of doing those while those that benefit from it remain far away from the fighting and often seem out of touch with the majority of the public except when it comes to studying how to manipulate them.

If, on the other hand, in the unlikely case where there actually is some kind of Wag the Dog version of the truth it would require help from a lot of sources including some that are more credible than either the traditional media or the fringe conspiracy theorists. This would include the reporters from the Global Post which actually does a much better job covering the news than the traditional commercial media although they weren't as widely known until the first beheading of their journalist James Foley. When the Egyptian revolution took place the traditional media was taken by surprise and one of the reporters on MSNBC even asked one of the protesters, on live TV, how they were able to organize this uprising without anyone knowing. The protester acted with surprise and said he didn't know and that they were trying to get the attention of the media for months to get them to report on it. At that time one of the news outlets that actually did report on it before the traditional media was taken by surprise was Global Post.

This should make more people wonder why the best reporting is often presented, to a small percentage of the public while the traditional media presents their reporting in an incredibly incompetent manner to the vast majority of people and is constantly catering to the shallowest hype that will keep people distracted even if they don't fully trust it.

By the time such a hypothesis could be considered viable it would have to explain a lot of problems that would come up in the debate and the theory would only get bigger, probably much bigger and it might even involve other unsolved mysteries, including the incompetent method that the Edward Snowden disclosures was covered without even mentioning the fact that ECHELON was disclosed long before Prism and it had all the same characteristics as I explained in Is “Prism” news? or is it ECHELON? In that post I raised doubts about the claim that the claim that NSA's Prism program began after 9/11/2001 since ECHELON was reported months earlier in 60 minutes and years earlier by other sources, and even wen so far as to speculate about the possibility that some of our rapidly developing technology might have been partially a result of "reverse engineering;" as suggested by Philip Corso. Appropriate use of Occam's Razor might indicate that this hypothesis is highly unlikely; however without reviewing the details or considering the other related unsolved mysteries it would be inappropriate to completely rule it out as many pseudo-skeptics often do.

As much as I try to be as rational as I can, with what I have to work with, when the material the government and the traditional media gives us becomes so absurd that it is hard to believe the only thing that seems rational is to think all the different stories through carefully and fact checking them before coming to final conclusions and that probably isn't going to happen too quickly. The following are some articles that might be related although they might do more to confuse the issue, temporarily than to solve it.

Rachel Maddow: Fox News’ Lt. General Thomas McInerney Comes Out As A ‘Birther’

Ret USAF General Warns of Possible 9/11/14 Coming

Evidence exposing who put ISIS in power, and how it was done.

Reddit: Foley video with Briton was staged, experts say

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi: Foley video with Briton was staged, experts say

ISIS to the Rescue: Amid NATO's failures in Ukraine, America's terrorist mercenaries threaten war with Russia

British Newspaper: Experts Agree Foley Beheading Video Was Staged After Internet Sleuths Expose

After reviewing a few articles written by some of the most powerful institutions, it may also be a appropriate to ask if these institutions, or at least some of the most powerful people in these institutions, are intentionally ignoring the problem since solving it won't necessarily help them personally.

Numerous studies have been done on how poverty income and education inequality lead to higher crime problems among other contributing causes. Some of these have been posted in locations where those that benefit from income inequality are much more likely to read while the majority may not even hear about them. One of them, with connections to the Council on Foreign Relations and other powerful institutions in a position to address this problem, cited below even goes so far as to say that poor people are more likely to take it out on each other and speculate about why and indicates that they're not likely to rebel as a result of it.

(This is part of a series of posts exploring the root causes of violent crime and ways to recognize and prevent them. Past posts on the subject include Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows;Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion?;Politics, not technology, caused botched executions;Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?;States with high murder rates have larger veteran populations and Teach a soldier to kill and he just might.)

First of all, poverty income inequality and education inequality among other related contributed causes overlap each other and almost certainly help cause each other. If one of them is a significant contributing cause the others almost certainly are as well. There has been some consideration about the possibility that it might only be one of these contributing causes that leads to high crime without input from the others, and some people have made arguments like "Income inequality, not poverty, responsible for crime;" however even though they might have some legitimate points these two contributing causes feed on each other and may be almost interchangeable.

Elaine Denny and Barbara F. Walter posted the following article about two years ago:



This article says that the poor are the ones that are most likely to pay the price for income inequality yet they're unlikely to rebel against the injustices that cause the inequality. By merely acknowledging this it implies that she might intend for some actions to correct it; however little or nothing is done to do so. Some members of the upper class might consider this good reason not to worry about it at all, assuming they even took much time to consider this article. Or more likely they would just attach a low priority to it since their top priority would be to protect the system that benefits themselves at the expense of the majority, including the poor who have to pay the higher price for lack, of police protection, as the article implies.

According to the list of Contributors from this site at least four of them have connections to the Council on Foreign Relations and more of them also have access to some of the most powerful research and reporting institutions. This means that some of the people that might be inclined to do this research or at least read it have a reasonably good chance to inform those in power and draw additional attention to this report and other studies that are similar so that some of the most important root causes of crime could be addressed better.

Yet, for the most part, they don't. None of these studies are mentioned much if at all in the mainstream media whether it is the studies about income and education inequality or poverty and how they impact crime or many other studies. Nor are they given much consideration when it comes to making some of the most important policy decisions as hinted at in the article.

The unequal protection of the lower classes goes beyond what the authors of this articles indicate. In addition to protecting people from crime or solving them after the fact, police are routinely used to maintain the current political system and give preferential treatment to those with the most political power. This doesn't necessarily mean that the individual police are corrupt; instead it may mean that the rules they act on are rigged to favor the politically connected.

For example when powerful corporations routinely profit by polluting the environment where poor people live and there are an enormous amount of evidence to indicate that it is causing a lot of premature deaths. This is followed up by an enormous number pf protests when the government does little or nothing to stop this. Instead of investigating the people polluting the environment and causing lots of deaths the police routinely arrest protesters for much more trivial charges like trespassing or what they call disorderly conduct. Similar things happen when workers are subject to dangerous working conditions that cause deaths and many other corrupt activities by powerful corporations.

The types of corrupt activities most often conducted by the politically connected is often not even considered a crime, although it might do even more harm than crimes committed by those without political connections..

Denny and Walter acknowledge that economic inequality is "most likely falls on government policies;" but they don't go further into it than that in this article and the way they phrase it implies that it is inconclusive. There really should be little or no doubt that income inequality is definitely caused by our economic system and government policies. One simple example is that the people who do the basic production that benefits our life get little pay for their work since they're forced to compete with people all over the world; however the people with connections and education that advertise these products get a much larger share of the money collected from consumers even though they don't give accurate information for consumers to make their decisions or provide a service that truly benefits the consumers.

The reason for this is because, contrary to what our media and political system says, is that the free market has already been eliminated and replaced with an oligarchy system where a relatively small number of corporations control most if not all industry. These corporations can pass on the cost of bureaucratic expenses like advertising, public relations, which probably should be referred to as propaganda, union busting or many other activities that are designed to shift wealth to the rich, on to the consumers, as I attempted to explain in Corporate bureaucrats are robbing us blind!

Our economic system does little or nothing to protect factory direct options that would dramatically reduce the amount of corporate bureaucracy between production and sales; this wasn't always the way it was but now oligarchies have consolidated again so factories are unwilling to threaten their primary source of income. There are many other ways which income inequality are impacted by government some of which are explained by Richard Clark with some help from Dean Baker in Growing Inequality, Deliberately Engineered Through a Whole Range of Policies Intended to Redistribute Income Upward

Most of these academic studies do little to consider many of the details behind some of the crimes that a lot of poorer people are being charged with and the possibility that many of them might be much less likely a lot of these crimes might be if they had the economic resources to function properly. The current surge in stories about hot car deaths are one example. A large number of these seem to be taking place while parents are shopping and they don't have help with anyone to take ca\re of their kids. The typical response might be that this is no excuse, and this might be right as far as it goes; however if they weren't economically disadvantaged then these incidents would be much less likely.

The enormous number of incidences where many poorer people are being charged with shoplifting for minor items that they need to survive is another indicator of how economic inequality leads to higher crime. And there are an enormous number of incidents where angry customers strike out when dealing with bureaucratic problems that are caused by decisions to cut corners and increase profits, including seemingly simple things like when the scanner doesn't work and it takes a long time to correct it. Most of the times where customers do get angry enough to cause trouble, if it is reported at all in the news, it is presented as if the customer has little or no justification for their actions and they're overreacting; however many people who have gone through these same problems without overreacting might remember when they felt like getting angry like this when they had similar problems.

Our current system clearly isn't nearly as bad as past systems of slavery or the economic systems during major wars like WWII; however we have taken too many steps int he wrong directions so a comparison might be in order before we take too many more and it becomes so extreme. During the Holocaust when the Jewish people were being scapegoated for everything they made it illegal for them to find reasonable work and in the most extreme cases, whether it was in the Polish Ghetto's or elsewhere the mere fact that some Jewish people were getting enough food to survive could be considered evidence of criminal activities since they couldn't obtain food otherwise under the extreme circumstances.

Now Wal-Mart workers and fast food workers can't afford to get by on a full time job so even though they do productive work that improves the quality of life for the public they wind up relying on welfare and are considered moochers by some. But advertisers of public relations people who study how to manipulate the public in the most effective way possible get paid much more but the public only gets a perceived benefit based on their deception and their quality of life is actually reduced as a result of it. In additions to receiving better police protection than the productive workers advertising and public relations bureaucrats also receive better health care and they're less likely to work in hazardous conditions.

Is it any wonder that those with the least education that get stuck with menial, but productive jobs might get angry and strike out once in a while?

If the more educated researchers were more concerned about reducing crime they could acknowledge these problems and come up with a system that rewards productive work as our system often pretends to.

As Denny and Walter indicate there are plenty of studies showing this is a major problem although some of them don't cover all the details including some of the following; and a comparison of my own below of different states with more or less inequality and their crime rates among other characteristics.

Growing Inequality, Deliberately Engineered Through a Whole Range of Policies Intended to Redistribute Income Upward

Think Progress: Study: Income Inequality Is Tied To Increase In Homicides 08/01/2012

U.S. State-Level Income Inequality Data - Mark W. Frank 1916-2011

The Increasingly Unequal States of America Income Inequality by State, 1917 to 2011

Finance Online Julia Trello: How Income Inequality Affects Crime Rates

Finance Online Julia Trello: Education Inequality: How Income Inequality Blurs Education As The Great Equalizer 09/0/2014

Want to Fight Crime? Address Economic Inequality 01/06/2013

Income inequality, not poverty, responsible for crime -- NSCB 02/22/2013

Inequality Rising in Rural and Urban America 04/21/2011

The following compares the Wikipedia List of U.S. states by Gini coefficient with other characteristics divided by state.

Murder rates by state at the Death Penalty Information Center .

Incarceration rates by state

reports of violent crime per 100,000 and previous post about Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows

Mississippi most religious, Vermont least, survey says 01/29/2009

State rankings of high school and college graduation rates 2011

According to a Gallup poll released just last week Trust in Mass Media Returns to All-Time Low.

If I was relying primarily on the mainstream media I probably wouldn't have even heard about this poll at all. They probably did mention it briefly but quickly forgot before most people even noticed, unlike the constant barrage of polls about political races that they keep repeating over and over again and people can't avoid hearing about them.

Then, on top of the minimal coverage they provided for this poll, they didn't provide more than a token amount of coverage for the major protests about the environment and climate change that took place over the weekend. I made a point of checking at least a portion of the coverage that was provided by the mainstream media on it over the weekend and in the day or two after it, and not surprisingly what I saw was minimal. On the Sunday evening local news they didn't even mention it when introducing the days headlines at the beginning; during the world news they provided about 90 seconds of it 12 minutes into the news broadcast then from there there was little if anything that I could find covering it.

On Monday I made a point of watching at least one of the half hour local news shows they provided plus fifteen minutes of a second one in the evening. They didn't mention it once, quickly forgetting it even happened; however they did have three breaking news stories during that broadcast. But none of those three were actually new stories, although two of them had updates to ongoing news stories that have been in the news cycle for at least two or three days. The world news did mention it; but they couldn't have given it more than ten seconds of their time.

I noticed that when the covered these "breaking news" stories, which weren't actually breaking at all, they had a flashing banner which I didn't notice before, either because I hardly pay attention to their increased hype or because they just came up with it.

They're replacing research with increased hype.

Do they think the public won't notice this?

They did include two stories that had serious environmental impact, at least for local residents; one about a building that was evacuated because of a nitrogen leak and another where close to a dozen cars caught fire. They reported on these two stories quickly then forgot them like any other news story. On several occasions when I wanted to find out how often some of these events happen I started creating lists of disasters like this and they quickly got very long and the only reason they didn't get much longer is that I ran out of time to continue looking for these stories.

The traditional news media has much more resources than me yet they don't come up with comprehensive coverage of these disasters and discuss how to dramatically reduce them.

But they do make an enormous amount of money selling propaganda ads to BP and other energy companies that continue running long after the public forgets about most of the environmental disasters that have been happening with minimal amount of coverage.

This isn't the first time that I have reported on the lack of coverage that the mainstream media has been providing; when Obama was being inaugurated for the second time I covered The commercial media didn’t report the Inaugural Die-In and there have been many more that I haven't been able to keep track of. This includes a major protest last March which I hardly remember any coverage of, and the full extent of the protest that took place this weekend. The protests that took place in New York were only a fraction of the protests around the world on the same day; but people that rely on the mainstream media would have little or no knowledge about that.

The big surprise shouldn't be that trust in the mainstream media is down to 40%; it should be that there are still 40% of the public that supposedly trusts the mainstream media.

This shrinking 40% must be either incredibly complacent or incredibly trusting; but the more the mainstream media ignores major stories that receive much better coverage from alternative outlets the lower that figure is guaranteed to go.



Fortunately Democracy Now has been doing a much better job covering this protest including their Special 3-Hour Broadcast of the People's Climate March. Democracy Now isn't always the best alternative news outlet but they do a much better job than the mainstream media especially when there are major protests going on and there are plenty of other news outlets that pick up where they leave off; but the least reliable sources increasingly appears to be the mainstream media which no longer even does a good job pretending to covering the news in a reasonably balanced manner.

A comparison of Democrats and Republicans based on the crime rates of the states that they govern indicates that the five states with the highest murder rates all have Republican governors and Republican control of both houses of the state Legislatures. The Democrats have a more moderate advantage when it comes to the ten states with the lowest murder rates, as indicated below; but that doesn't necessarily mean that they do a good job on crime.

If you compare the United States to other developed countries, (List of countries by intentional homicide rate), it doesn't do nearly as well as most of them; although it does much better than many of the undeveloped countries, which are mostly having much more political problems. In many cases part of the reason for their political problems is because the United States is supporting corrupt regimes that have political support of multinational corporations.

The murder rate for the United States in 2012 was 4.7 per 100,000 people; the murder rate in Canada was only 1.6. In most parts of the developed world it is lower, including many that are below 1 per 100,000. Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and New Zealand all have less than 1 per 100,000 and France and the United Kingdom both have a rate of exactly 1. Only the states with the lowest rates in the United States have barely dipped below a rate of 1 per 100,000; and that hasn't happened since 2009 when New Hampshire dropped to .8 for one year before going back up to 1 or more.

This implies that a comparison of who does the best job addressing crime might have to consider the policies of other countries in order to find out what is most effective. Also a comparison of most of the policies that I have been reviewing, in previous posts about the causes of crime, indicates that many of the positions that would be most effective at reducing crimes aren't being addressed well by either political party; nor is the traditional media attempting to inform the public about some of the most credible research.

The higher murder and violent crime rates for states controlled by Republicans clearly indicates their policies are almost certainly worse than Democrats; what else would explain it? And this is practically never discussed in the traditional media, although it isn't hard to find much better research on the internet from the academic world even if my review isn't the best, although I have no doubt it is better than what the media and political establishment is doing.

As far as I can tell they aren't even trying; at least when it comes to finding policies that will reduce crime.

They might be trying when it comes to manipulating emotions and convincing people they're addressing crime;but their methods don't stand up to scrutiny, which is totally absent from the mainstream media or the political debate. 

(This is part of a series of posts exploring the root causes of violent crime and ways to recognize and prevent them. Past posts on the subject include Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows;Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion?;How does gambling and gun control impact violent crime?;Politics, not technology, caused botched executions;Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?;States with high murder rates have larger veteran populations; Teach a soldier to kill and he just might; and How much does Income Inequality Affects Crime Rates?)



The past blog posts on contributing causes of crime and numerous studies on a variety of subjects have indicated that improvements in education, reduction in corporal punishment, poverty, homelessness, and income inequality will all help reduce violent crime. They also indicate that reducing the amount of gambling or better efforts to inform the public about how the odds in gambling are always fixed, other wise the gambling institutions wouldn't be able to cover expenses and make a profit; and reasonable gun control laws will reduce crime.

Evidence has indicated that the death penalty doesn't help reduce crime and that the growth of big box stores especially Wal-Mart has been accompanied by increased crime, or a reduction in the amount that crime is being reduced at those location, which creates similar results. A similar conclusion could be made about the reduction in crime if other causes were adressed as well. For example, if more efforts were made to educate the public about how corporal punishment escalates to more violent crime then further reductions in the murder rate would almost certainly have already happened. The same would also go for addressing other contributing causes like poverty and education; however public policy has been moving in the opposite direction on those issues despite grass roots resistance.

Evidence has also indicated that many of the veterans, coming back from wars based on deceptive information, have been more prone to violence, possibly as a result of PTSD or aggressive training including hazing that teaches them to use violence to accomplish their goals. Efforts to treat PTSD have been slow when they happen at all.

In most if not all of these cases few if any politicians from either party are making much if any effort to address these problems; in most cases they're actually attempting to promote policies that accomplish the opposite. The Republicans are probably the ones with the strongest rhetoric about getting tough on crime by increasing punishment, including increased reliance on "zero tolerance" policies, the death penalty or trying juveniles as adults and accepting "no excuses" for traditional crimes that are often refereed to as "blue collar."

However the same get tough on crime strategy doesn't apply when it comes to the white collar crimes that deprive lower classes of the fair wages, safe environment or access to health care or education.

They rarely even consider the possibility that these might impact crime, yet a close look at the research clearly indicates that it will.

Furthermore, even though the Republicans are probably more outspoken on this so-called get tough on crime approach many of the highest profile Democrats have been becoming more like the Republicans on this issue including Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Joe Biden. At the same time, when it comes to one issue, that Republicans have been better at than Democrats, gambling, they are increasingly becoming more reliant on gambling campaign contributions as well and they also promote it as a way to "strengthen the economy" and "create jobs" even though those jobs do nothing to improve the quality of life and they do more to shift wealth to the upper classes than anything else while increasing crime.

The Republicans are also much more likely to put large numbers of people in jail; and they often use this as an excuse to deprive them of their right to vote as well. According to the Wikipedia List of U.S. states by incarceration rate (2008), which includes a brief comparison with other countries, the United States has a much higher incarceration rate than almost all other countries in the world. The only large developed country that has more than half of the incarceration rate of the United States is Russia. A few other small countries with major political problems have more than half as well and one country, Seychelles, with less than 100,000 people that hardly anyone has heard of actually has a higher rate.

Within the United States the ten states with the highest incarceration rates all have Republican control of both state legislatures and eight of them, including the top seven, have Republican governors. This is based on 2008 rates, which is the latest I could find for now, and 2012 elected officials; however it is unlikely that there are major changes since then that would effect party lines; although prison population has apparently finally begun to slowly drop since then.

The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all have significantly worse rates than even the worst of the states, Louisiana. These three districts or territories don't have representation in congress and are less able to hold the few elected officials they do have accountable. This implies the possibility that democratic control might help reduce crime. Michigan is one of the states with the highest murder rates as well as other problems; and they're responding to some of their fiscal problems by taking over large cities and replacing elected officials with authoritarian "emergency managers" often appointed by the governor. (See Cash-strapped cities seized by new management; Michigan Naming Fiscal Manager to Help Detroit and The Scandal of Michigan's Emergency Managers for more details)

The reason many cities and states are in so much fiscal trouble is because they have often been mismanaged by corrupt politicians that have been catering to campaign contributors at the expense of the voters. Now in areas where the voters have been complacent enough to allow this and reelect those that have been destroying their fiscal stability they're now losing their right to vote some of them out.

On the other end, where murder rates are at their lowest includes one of the most progressive states in the country, Vermont, where there is extensive participation by many voters and town hall meeting participants. The political establishment is overwhelmingly rigged in favor of the campaign contributors; however there is some reason to believe that, at least at the local levels some areas where voters are less complacent, they are more inclined to pay attention to the root causes of crimes even if their elected officials try to ignore them in favor of the agenda of their campaign contributors.

This may also be indicated by some of the local areas that have managed to elect grass roots candidates, despite the opposition of powerful corporations, like Richmond California where they're had a Green Party Mayor since 2007 and they've seen a large drop in crime during that same period. I'll follow up with that more on another post; however a review of the politicians that govern the states with the highest and lowest murder rates, reports of violent crime rates and incarceration rates is included below. This also includes a comparison of some of the characteristics previously review\ed and how they compare with each other. Previous posts compared them to crime rates without comparing, for example, religion with graduation rates or gun control.

This comparison indicates that the stereotype about a large correlation between "God, Guns and religion" isn't always just a stereotype. Even though I'm sure there are many exceptions there is a large correlation for a significant percentage of each, as well as some other characteristics. The religious opposition to gambling probably isn't as strong as it used to be, except in Utah, which is mostly Mormon.





These are some comparisons between religion gun control and graduation rates that weren't provided in previous blogs.



Data was collected for this comparison from the following web pages, whichare the same listed on the previous blogs posts.

City-Data Crime rate in the US: Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Assaults, Burglaries, Thefts, Auto thefts, Arson

Wikipedia Crime rate for cities above 250,000 population

Mississippi most religious, Vermont least, survey says 01/29/2009

Church or synagogue attendance by state

State rankings of high school and college graduation rates 2011

State rankings of college graduation rates up to 2009 at this time

Gun laws by state

Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 (most recent) by state

Gambling in the United States

The following are rankings for the states that made it into the top ten or bottom ten for either murder rates, reports of violent crime or incarceration rates. The reports for murder rates are almost certainly more reliable since reported of them is mandated by law and at the local level when victims hesitate to report violent crime that doesn't result in murder they often go unreported but murder rarely do. Since incarceration rates are based on public record they're probably more reliable than reports of violent crime as well.

For one reason or another Mississippi ranks surprisingly low, at 36th when it comes to reports of violent crime despite the fact that it comes in second when it comes to murder rates. None of the southern states comes in the bottom twenty when it comes to murder but in addition to Mississippi coming in at 36th two others come in the bottom ten.

Even though Idaho is in the bottom ten for both reports of violent crime and murder, they are twelfth when it comes to incarceration rates. Wyoming also has an unusually high incarceration rate compared to their rates of violent crime and murder. However the south clearly has the highest incarceration rates in the country.

As usual there were about a dozen bomb threats this month, and, as far as I know, no actual bombs, especially competent ones. However, at the end of last month, there was a plea bargain for a past bomb threat and there was apparently a large crown and seventy letters in support of the person who made the bomb threat.

Yea the crowd supported defendant not Wal-Mart.

Apparently the defendant was a disgruntled customer who was upset when Wal-Mart refused to accept a return without all of its components. The article doesn't provide enough information to know for certain why all these people supported the defendant in this case but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with large numbers of people that have had their own problems with returns and the low quality of merchandise at Wal-Mart. Even though I have personally done very little business at Wal-Mart I have seen enough first hand to know they have major problems with returns and this isn't the first time a disgruntled customer has made the news when he overreacted.

There was also another story about a disgruntled employee who overreacted when he was fired and drove his car into the store. This isn't the first time this has happened but when they do overreact it is more common for them to either go on shooting sprees or call in bomb threats although the most common overreactions are almost certainly not extreme enough to make the news.

Wal-Mart has indicated that they're aware they might have a problem with "active shooters" by teaming up with Texas police as part of their "Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training" program. This might seem helpful if it comes to minimizing the damage at the last minute; however it doesn't indicate that they're doing anything to address the root causes that precede many active shooting incidents. If anything it indicates that they're continuing to sweep many aspects of that under the rug.

Many of the past shooting incidents bomb threats and other violent interactions have involved robberies, domestic violence, disgruntled customers or employees; but they're not addressing any of these especially the ones where Wal-Mart might be partially contributing to it. When customers or employees have problems and try to address them through appropriate means it is extremely difficult to get results with their authoritarian management that follows orders from corporate offices made by people who don't seem to know what is happening in the stores.

Wal-Mart employees continue to face retaliation for their actions during some of these events and in Utah they have filed a lawsuit to defend their right to self defense. Several have been fired for not backing off. Without knowing the details of these incidents it is hard to tell their merits but if it is based on policies decided in the corporate office and the local people enforcing them have little discretion of their own, like many other past examples it could turn out to cause problems for them.

They have also faced retaliation for exposing when the company sells expired food.

Other employees continue to face retaliation for petty thefts and Wal-Mart often uses tax payer money to enforce this to the full extent of the law. In one case they had a pregnant employee continue working as a loss prevention officer and when she was pushed by a mother trying to steal baby items the shoplifter was charged of course but little consideration was given to whether they should have pregnant woman in that position at all. Surly they must know that loss prevention officers often face these problems and a closer look at how aggressive they should be is warranted.

Additional stories have turned up about tampered baby formula and a major lawsuit about PCBs is now pending. Wal-Mart is being investigated for seeking donations for political reasons in return for donation for employees in need. They don't pay enough to keep them out of need but it appears they might be willing to pay something if it includes a political benefit for themselves.

There are also plenty of updates about the shooting in Ohio which still hasn't received much national attention although it ahs recieved an enormous amount of local and grass roots attention from alternative media outlets.

Once again the behavior of Wal-Mart is considered so bad that large number of people haven't been able to sort out satire from the real news. A story about Wal-Mart taking over the police force for a Florida town was believed by so many that the police ahd to speak out and say that it was a satire, although a close look at the web sine shows a lot os similar stories. However Wal-Mart has been hiring so many off duty police officers and many real police officers seem to cater to Wal-Mart requests, often according to rules made by politicians collecting campaign money from Walmart, which might come indirectly from either employees or customers that never intended to donate to political causes.

Have you paid attention to what merchandise smells like in an Oklahoma Wal-Mart?

Apparently some kids were spraying Doe Urine on products there.

This isn't the first time a similar event happened; a few months ago in Washington state a man in drag was arrested for urinating on products there.

Strange things happen at Wal-Mart!

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In 2006 Wake Up Wal-Mart did a study, "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" based on incidents in 2004, (PDF) about crime at Wal-Mart which showed that it increased when Wal-Marts opened up and that crime was higher at Wal-Mart than at other retailers. Since then Wal-Mart Shootings began compiling a list of gun related incidents at Wal-Mart and demonstrated that they have a large number of them, including on average more than one shooting per week somewhere in the country. In January of 2014 another study, "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" provided additional statistical research indicating that Wal-Mart might be contributing to higher crime rates or at least a slowing of the decline in crime. The study found that. “on average, communities with Walmarts had 17 more property crimes and two more violent crimes per 10,000 people than those communities without Walmarts.” I reviewed this more in Wal-Mart’s crime problem, Rolling Back Safety more than prices? where I explained that although this study is helpful they could have done better with additional data that is available and I reviewed some of that. I also added my own review about why I think that Wal-Mart policies have been contributing to higher crime in a previous blog, Wal-Mart high crime rate continues uninvestigaterd and have provided additional information under the author tag Walmart Crime Watch.

Stacy Mitchell has also compiled a list of other studies about Wal-Mart and how they impact society, Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business. To the best of my knowledge Wal-Mart has done as little as they seem to get away with, often relying on rhetoric that isn't backed up with action, when it comes to addressing any of their critics concerns, including crime. The following are a list of incidents that occurred in September 2014. According to the "Is Wal-Mart Safe?" the average store in their sampling had 250 incidents per year, indicating that these are only a fraction of the crime reports at Wal-Mart, and presumably, the ones most likely to make the news on the internet nationwide. This isn't statistically representative, as the 2006 or the "Rolling Back Prices and Raising Crime Rates?" study or some of the studies cited by Stacy Mitchell; but it does provide some additional information that may help recognize how many problems there are at Wal-Mart.

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Man confesses to Blount County Tenn. bomb threats dating back to January 08/20/2014



Man Arrested For Trying To Steal From Glenpool Ok. Walmart 09/01/2014

Woman charged with theft, trespass at NH Walmart 09/01/2014

Police: Over 2 dozen well-cared for pot plants found near Vt. Walmart store 09/02/2014

Police Arrest Man at gunpoint in SD Walmart Parking Lot 09/02/2014

Report: SC Walmart shoplifter tries to climb out cop car window while cuffed 09/22/2014

Tenn. Walmart employee accused of stealing thousands in merchandise 09/02/2014

Suspect sprays Tenn. Walmart employees with mace, flees with cash 09/02/2014

Former Wal-Mart Employee Faces Theft Charges in Union County 09/02/2014

Steamboat Srings Colorado Walmart evacuated after seizures 09/02/2014

Driver hits Walmart in Clearwater Fla. 09/02/2014



Judge denies restraining order in SD Walmart case 09/02/2014

Woman Arrested for Stealing from Pa. Walmart 09/02/2014

A tough time for Iowa Walmart: construction workers for emergency repair of Walmart get in knife fight at nearby hotel 09/02/2014

Two Orlando Fla. suspects plead guilty in $2M Sams Club, Wal-Mart scam 09/03/2014

DA: Drunk driver crashes car into Framingham Ma. Walmart 09/03/2014





Police say woman stole nearly $2,900 in goods from Pa. Walmart 09/03/2014

Man Wanted in Counterfeit Checks Case at Ashland Ky. Walmart 09/03/2014

Police looking for man accused of flashing teen at Ga. Walmart 09/03/2014

Police: Man steals money from Carlisle Pa. Walmart cash back machine 09/04/2014

Police in Carlisle Pa. looking for man who took $80 mistakenly left at Walmart 09/04/2014

Cops: Dad charged with neglect for leaving infant alone in Fla. Wal-Mart 09/04/2014

Saginaw Mich. man gets 6 years in prison for using knife in theft attempt at Walmart 09/04/2014

Gawker: Walmart Workers Rant About the "Nonsense" New Dress Code 09/03/2014



Lower Nazareth Pa. Walmart robbed of iPads by gunman 09/04/2014

Woman loses prepaid credit card at Ala. Wal-Mart; man uses it to buy a TV 09/05/2014

Police: Shoplifting suspects pepper sprayed SC Wal-Mart employee 09/05/2014

Police investigate false report of bomb in Kennewick Washington State Walmart 09/05/2014

Mom arrested for leaving toddler, 18-month-old twins in hot van outside Va. Walmart 09/05/2014

Tiffin Ohio Walmart closed after early morning fire 09/05/2014

Fugitive arrested in Del. Wal-Mart, police say 09/05/2014

Shelby County Alabama woman arrested for allegedly producing meth in Wal-Mart parking lot 09/05/2014

14 Laid Off By Arkansas Toy Car Maker in Blow to Wal-Mart's 'Made in USA' Initiative 09/05/2014

Police arrest man who allegedly tried to stab NM Wal-Mart employee with hypodermic needle 09/05/2014

NC father accused of leaving baby in car to shop at Walmart 09/05/2014

Stroudsburg Pa. designer says Wal-Mart is selling copies of her toys 09/0/2014

Police arrest pair for shoplifting at NH Walmart 09/06/2014

Omaha Nebraska Walmart, Employee Robbed At Gunpoint 09/06/2014



Man accused of stealing car from Fla. Wal-Mart parking lot 09/06/2014

Report: 18-year-old shot in parking lot of Goldsboro NC Walmart 09/07/2014

Police investigate death at Walmart in Berlin Delaware 09/07/2014



Thieves heist TV’s from Waterford Conn. Wal-Mart 09/08/2014

Criminal charges possible after fire at Walmart store in Tiffin Ohio 09/08/2014

Drug deal gone wrong leaves man's head bleeding at Athens Alabama Wal-Mart, police say 09/08/2014

Stroudsburg Pa. designer touts evidence: Rival bought her wares to copy for Wal-Mart 09/09/2014

Newport man arrested after allegedly photographing child in Me. Walmart bathroom 09/09/2014

Woman accused of using fake money at Fla. Walmart 09/09/2014

Walmart and Walgreens Won't Stop Selling Smokes, But Will The Decision Backfire? 09/09/2014

Fugitive in 2012 case arrested leaving Clearlake Ca. Wal-Mart 09/10/2014

Woman accused of stealing motorized Mich. Wal-Mart wheelchair, driving off with allegedly stolen items 09/10/2014

Richmond Tx. Walmart evacuated after workers report dizziness 09/10/2014

Woman Admits to Stealing Toothpaste From Del. Walmart 09/10/2014

Tacoma Wash. council violated open meetings law on anti-Walmart moratorium, developer alleges in lawsuit 09/10/2014

Fla. Walmart manager accused of sexually assaulting employee 09/10/2014

Armed robber hits newly reopened Walmart in eastern New Orleans, La., police say 09/1/2014

2 pedestrians struck in front of Walmart in Vineland, N.J. 09/11/2014

Walmart sign on dress code made fun of 09/11/2014

Mom arrested after leaving 2 kids in car at Villa Rica Ga. Walmart 09/11/2014

Retiree stalked and masturbated near Fla. Walmart shopper, police say 09/1/2014

Montana Walmart gun theft suspect in Yellowstone County jail, faces federal charges 09/11/2014

Large alligator captured near Leland NC Walmart 09/11/2014

Detectives: Suspect In Riverbank Murder Arrested At Turlock Ca. Walmart 09/11/2014

Police Investigating Attempted Kidnapping At San Marcos Tx. Walmart 09/11/2014

Bethlehem man accused of stealing $1,600 in baby formula from Whitehall Pa. Walmart 09/12/2014

Husband goes after purse snatcher at Tx. Walmart 09/12/2014

Man wanted for stealing credit cards from cars, using them at Newport News Va. Walmart stores 09/12/2014

Gas leak prompts Washington State WalMart evacuation 09/12/2014

Deputies: Man tries to use stolen credit card at NC Walmart 09/12/2014

Lake Hallie Wisc. Wal-Mart customer gets tased twice after causing disturbance 09/13/2014

Body Of Man Found In Trunk Of Car At Walmart In Riverside Ca. 09/13/2014

Fla. Walmart employees attacked during theft, suspects sought 09/15/2014

Second Tenn. Harvest Food Bank asking for votes in Walmart grant initiative 09/15/2014

Wal-Mart Spokesman Said to Resign Over Resume Falsehood 09/16/2014

Robbers slash a man's face in a Utah Walmart parking lot overnight 09/16/2014

Men stole 165 used car batteries in NC Walmart break-in, Raleigh police charge 09/16/2014

Three arrested in SC Walmart parking lot purse snatching 09/16/2014

Wal-Mart settles NY false advertising case; stores sold Coca-Cola at inflated price, claimed it was due to 'Sugar Tax' 09/16/2014

Going shopping at an Alabama Walmart? Add car insurance to the list 09/16/2014

Springfield Mass. police seek public's help as they seek 2 men suspected of stealing $710 from Boston Road Walmart cash register 09/16/2014

2 inmates who fled work detail caught at Va. Wal-Mart 09/16/2014

NC Walmart protest group continues work on plan of action 09/16/2014

Two injured in crash at Wal-Mart in East Stroudsburg Pa. 09/17/2014



Firefighters called to Nebraska Walmart for possible gas leak 09/17/2014

Houston Tx. Walmart and Mississippi businesses target of bomb scare 09/17/2014

Corrections officer charged, resigns after alleged theft of Legos from Nebraska Wal-Mart 09/18/2014

Rape suspect arrested at Walmart in Ridgeland Mississippi 09/18/2014

Suspect takes beer, diapers from Tucson Ariz. Walmart 09/18/2014

Bomb threat leads to evacuation of Roeland Park Ka. Walmart 09/18/2014

Surveillance cameras capture dramatic rollover crash in Ga. Walmart parking lot 09/18/2014

2 wanted for multiple Tenn. Walmart thefts 09/1/2014

Jackson Miss. judge: Shoplifters banned from Walmart 09/19/2014 For stealing fourteen pairs of underwear or items that totaled a few dollars.

Nebraska Supreme Court rules in favor of Walmart in worker's death 09/19/2014



Shoplifting suspect stabs loss prevention employee with scissors at Wal-Mart in Roebuck Alabama 09/20/2014



Ontario Walmart ups security measures 09/21/2014

Walmart at 85th & Minn. Sioux Falls South Dakota in court over ballot language 09/20/2014



Police: Man steals 2 rifles from Virginia Beach Walmart 09/23/2014

Police looking for man who robbed Charlotte NC Walmart 09/23/2014



Shoplifter arrested at NH Walmart 09/22/2014

Woman charged with battery for striking her child in Ind. Wal-Mart 09/23/2014

NC man confesses to 1997 Ariz. murder after receiving texts from Walmart 09/23/2014



Lizella Ga. women hurt in robbery outside Wal-Mart 09/23/2014

Police seek ID of RI Walmart counterfeiting suspect 09/24/2014

New Jersey family claims 3-year-old son found porn on tablet from Walmart (VIDEO) 09/24/2014

Boyd gets fourth competency exam in Neenah Wisc. Walmart shooting 09/24/2014

WCSO seeking suspect in Fla. Wal-Mart thefts 09/24/2014

Six computers stolen from Oakwood Ga. Wal-Mart 09/24/2014

Police arrest suspect in attempted Tx. Walmart kidnapping 09/25/2014

NJ Cops: 2 stole Wal-Mart filing cabinet containing $3K in drugs 09/25/2014

Loiterers arrested in Ga. Walmart lot 09/25/2014

Employees face 99 charges in thefts at Ind. Wal-Mart 09/26/2014

Cops: Man tries to pass fake $100 at Burlington Twp. NJ Wal-Mart, Party City 09/25/2014



Police: Tenn. Walmart security guard shot man who was stealing beer 09/26/2014

CMPD: Man accused in NC Walmart robbery tied to several other crimes 09/26/2014

Man charged with sex crimes against boys inside Henrico Va. Walmart 09/26/2014

Wal-Mart Markets Face Opposition in Northeast Mississippi 09/26/2014

Two wanted for stealing DVDs, Blu-Rays from Tabb Va. Walmart 09/26/2014

Craigslist transaction turns violent in Ga. Walmart parking lot 09/26/2014

Fla. Police: Woman stole Wal-Mart crates, tried to ram managers with truck 09/27/2014

Robber hits Overland Park Kansas Walmart store 09/27/2014

Teens arrested for Parkouring on top of Utica NY Walmart 09/28/2014

Yuma Ariz. Council to eye petition against Walmart plan 09/28/2014

Police search for armed man who robbed Orlando Fla. Walmart 09/29/2014

Bomb threat prompts evacuation at Kansas Wal-Mart 09/16/2014

Bomb threat clears Clovis Ca. Walmart 09/17/2014

Whitehall Ohio Authorities Investigate Report of Bomb Threat at Walmart 09/21/2014

Police investigate bomb threat at Alliance Ohio Walmart 09/22/2014

Niles Mich. Walmart reopens after bomb threat 09/26/2014

Bomb threat evacuates Ga. Walmart 09/26/2014

Police: Man called in bomb threat at Walmart in Orlando Fla. 09/30/2014

Fishing line prank injures toddler at a Oklahoma Walmart 09/29/2014

Man Caught on Camera Stealing Cash from Pa. Walmart Register 09/29/2014

Attorney: 'Appalling' for Wal-Mart to blame Morgan 09/30/2014

Suspects sought for larceny at Reidsville NC Walmart 09/30/2014

U.S. Judge Says Wal-Mart Must Face Mexican-Bribe Claims 09/30/2014

Following mistrial, new trial begins for Lewisberry man accused of indecent assault of 2-year-old at Pa. Walmart 09/30/2014

Three face charges after incident at East Greenbush NY Walmart 09/30/2014

Bomb Threat Briefly Closes Manchester, New Hampshire Walmart 09/30/2014