Posted by Scott on December 16th, 2007 — Posted in Self-Defense Advice
While we often think of protecting our assets while alive, many people do not think to make arrangements for their estate. In the lack of a formal plan, the government decides what to do with your estate and it may not pass onto your family as you would want it. If you can afford it, you may want to get the help from estate planning attorneys. Morristrust.com offers Arizona asset protection. They also do seminars and have published books available on their website.
If you do not live in Arizona, you probably need an attorney in your own state, because laws vary from state to state.
You want to plan out your estate in a legally formal way especially if you have a big estate. The more valuable your estate, the more people will want to take advantage of poor planning to take your money and stop it from going to what or to whom you want it to go.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 15th, 2007 — Posted in Hate Crimes
I just read an interesting but unfortunate story about a hate crime that occurred on New York’s Q train. According to the charges, a group of 10 young Brooklynites attacked and beat up a group of three Jewish riders after the Jewish riders wished them a Happy Hanukkah. The gang of thugs yelled anti-Semitic slurs, including stupidly claiming that the Jews killed Jesus during Hanukkah.
Witnessing the three Jewish people getting attacked, a 20-year old Bangladeshi Muslim named Hassan Askari jumped to their aid, which resulted in the gang of thugs similarly beating Hassan Askari. Walter Adler, one of the victims, credits Hassan Askari with saving him and his two friends.
In a verse about 9/11, Talib Kweli said, “we see the best examples of humanity in the face of the worst,” and I think that applies to this situation as well. Despite the terrible foulness of the anti-Semitic hate crime, we can find hope in the brotherhood and humanity that a Muslim stranger demonstrated for the Jewish victims.
Police arrested the 10 attackers, and the prosecutors will pursue hate crime charges.
In the following video, Walter Adler and Hassan Askari talk about the attack.
In that video, you can see some of their bruises, most notably the ones Hassan Askari received trying to defend the Jewish strangers.
I hope to see less hate crimes and less hate in general. I hope to see more brotherhood and humanity.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 15th, 2007 — Posted in Other Posts
When reading through advice columns and websites for victims of domestic abuse, I have seen people recommend cash advances and payday loans to victims. Women abused by their husbands may have trouble trying to leave because they may not have enough of their own money. Some abusers may purposefully attempt to control their victim by limiting their access to the family’s money. A quick loan or cash advance can enable a victim to afford to leave the abusive home and find somewhere else to stay. For example, it could be put towards a bus ticket or cab ride to a hotel and then put towards staying in the hotel until other arrangements can be made.
USA Quick Payday offers a Faxless payday loan through its website. Anyone can apply, and can get a loan anywhere from $100 to $1500 after providing proof of employment and monthly income. They have no application fees and you can get your cash advance in the same day.
Payday loans can be a useful tool in an emergency, and domestic violence can be an emergency. However, be careful when using payday loans. You will have to pay the money back with high interest.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 14th, 2007 — Posted in Child Protection
I just read an article about an Australian police program called Keeping Me Safe. The program helps teach children how to identify safe people, places, and situations. Additionally, the program will raise awareness about various types of victimization including bullying, harassment, and cybercrime.
From what I read in the article, the program sounds great. I hope to see similar programs used not only throughout all of Australia, but also throughout the world.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 7th, 2007 — Posted in Crime Prevention
While looking on http://www.schoolsinstlouis.com/ I noticed that they had information about criminal justice degree programs. There are many different options for someone going to school for criminal justice. For example, you could study criminology or computer crime.
I generally focus my efforts on non-governmental activism. Nonetheless, people can also work to stop violent crime and victimization by obtaining a career in criminal justice. Some of these people provide the research used to create programs and policy to stop crime. Others actually work in the organizations that carry out those policies, from court houses to rehabilitation centers.
There are many ways to help reduce violent crime and victimization. Relevant education greatly empowers a person to effect change in society. If you want to help put a stop to violent crime and victimization, consider getting an education in criminal justice.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 7th, 2007 — Posted in Crime Prevention
I just read an excellent blog post by Bob Betzen about real crime prevention. While explaining the failure of incarceration to rehabilitate criminals, he says a line that had me almost fall out of my seat in excited agreement: He writes, “Finishing a sentence and walking out of prison is like graduating from crime school.”
Bob Betzen goes on to say that we need to intervene in the lives of at risk children before they become violent criminals. I have frequently made similar points about the need to prevent violence and victimization before an incident occurs.
What do you think?
2 Comments »
Posted by Scott on December 6th, 2007 — Posted in Other Posts
Today, I have the pleasure of telling you about air ambulance charter services. I had never known much about this type of service until I saw airambulance.net today.
Airambulance.net provides medical flights that can give patients both basic care and critical care. A patient or the family of a patient may want such a flight for a variety of reasons. They can bring patients home to their family when people get sick or hurt away from their family. Also, people in need of special medical care may need transportation to a special hospital. In yet another example, people in a natural disaster, including anything from earthquakes to riots, may need medical care, but all the local hospitals may be full or damaged in such a situation.
The air transportation services are not only for emergency situations. They can also be used for patients in need of basic care or patients who cannot ride in a regular plane, such as bedridden patients.
Airambulance.net provides information about air ambulance services. They can give you a price quote for your air ambulance service needs. They have a 1-800 phone number as well as an international number.
We want to prevent violence and harm as much as possible, but we do need to find complete medical care for victims. Even if we eliminated violent crime, people would still need medical care to deal with natural disasters and natural ailments. Even something joyous like pregnancy requires medical treatment.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 4th, 2007 — Posted in Bullies
I just read a very interesting U.S. News article about cyberbullying among school-aged kids. Cyberbullying refers to the use of internet or other technology to repeatedly hurt or embarrass someone.
According to one study in the article, 43% of students in middle school and high school have experienced cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying has many harmful effects in addition to the instant emotional harm it does to the victim. It can lead to in-person violence. It can cause depression, and in extreme circumstances can contribute to teen suicide.
However, I worry that we may overreact to what seems like cyberbullying. Children and teens will always insult each other and all that. By doing that, they learn to stand up for themselves and deal with social situations. Additionally, teens can have extreme potty mouths and twisted senses of humor. For example, what two good teen friends call each other in harmless jest may shock and disgust adults who read the transcripts. Oversensitivity can easily cause us to mistake distasteful humor for bullying. Nonetheless, true bullying does exist at alarming rates, and we need to counter it.
Bullying has been around for a while. Like so much else in our lives, it has moved onto the internet. Luckily technology can help us put a stop to this bullying. Online bullying offers us the benefit of usually having recorded transcripts of chats and online conversations. It can help us spot problems, help us investigate them, and help us track down offenders.
Parents can best protect their children by communicating with them and staying involved in the children’s lives. Also, keeping computers in a common room rather than the child’s private room will reduce the risk of problems developing without the parent’s knowledge.
What do you think?
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Posted by Scott on December 4th, 2007 — Posted in Other Posts
One issue we have addressed many times on this blog is teen violence. Troubled teens often put themselves and others at risk. Even when these teens do not purposely turn to violence, they may get themselves into situations that risk their safety. One solution for troubled teens is to send them to military school. That’s why I am glad to tell you about the Military School Directory at MilitarySchoolOptions.com.
MilitarySchoolOptions.com offers information and resources for parents and troubled teens about military schools and other alternative solutions for troubled teens. They have a way for you to request information by putting in your address. They also have a 1-800 number. They also have posted information and references on their website.
The great thing about military schools is that many troubled teens choose to go, according to the website. Ironically, these teens are often attracted to the military lifestyle. I wonder if that is partially because the teens are eager to get away from their current enviornment. Whatever the reason, going to military school can help the teenager achieve self-discipline, structure, and fitness. Also, these schools give teens many skills and training that help them throughout their lives.
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Posted by Scott on December 3rd, 2007 — Posted in Crime Prevention
As a society, we have a desire to drastically reduce violent crime and victimization. Unfortunately, the war on crime has not resulted in much success.
I think we can most effectively reduce violent crime and victimization through prevention.
We do need to use physical force to defend people when a criminal attacks or attempts to attack a person. We do need to detain and lock up these violent offenders. However, forceful defense and incarceration cannot solve the problem alone.
First of all, forceful defense and incarceration only do anything after an act of victimization or an attempted act of victimization has already occurred. Beyond that, the incarceration system does not rehabilitate offenders, and in many ways cannot rehabilitate them. Removing someone from free society and locking them up in an unpleasant jail with other criminals for an extended period of time obviously will not rehabilitate them. Criminals often come out of prison worse than they went into prison. Most of the inmates released from prison get rearrested within 3 years.
To stop violent crime and victimization, we need to prevent the original crime from happening in the first place. We can try to do that in many ways. For example, we can reduce the conditions that help cause criminality, such as poverty or lack of education. We can increase psychological observation and treatment of people, namely at a young age in schools.
What do you think? How do you suggest we prevent violent crime and prevent people from turning into violent criminals?
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