Comments on: NYPD’s Ten Most Wanted

By: G. van den Bosch

G. van den Bosch — Sat, 28 May 2005 00:10:26 +0000

I would suggest the pattern – perhaps not apparent from the photographs, unless you look closely into their eyes – is that these young men grew up without fathers and are now surrounded by women who simply do not expect them to behave. Neither the men nor the women in their lives modeled or demanded discipline. Too, their boyhood heros were thugs. Another pattern, I suspect, is that none of them grew up attending a church. And, none of them ever went to sleep with a loving adult kneeling beside them in prayer. Could it be that none of them has a single soul in this world praying for them?

By: actus

actus — Fri, 27 May 2005 19:10:39 +0000

Rick:”The one thing I see the all have in common is that the crimes were committed in a city where the innocent are not allowed to own firearms for their own protection.”

They are NY’s most wanted.

By: stephen johnson

stephen johnson — Fri, 27 May 2005 16:13:40 +0000

I have no doubt, andy.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 27 May 2005 00:58:12 +0000

Stephen, with reference to your #60; if your belief could be summarized as, “I will do what I can to help teach a man to fish, but I am not giving him a fish,” then it looks like some of us are talking past each other.

By: stephen johnson

stephen johnson — Thu, 26 May 2005 22:56:24 +0000

btw, “Bonnie and Clyde” weren’t alone in picking up a gun to ease their poverty in the 1920’s were they?

Was Jesse James an innovator in the 1880’s?

By: stephen johnson

stephen johnson — Thu, 26 May 2005 22:55:00 +0000

Pajama,

Criminals are, for the most part, poor. Soory to burst your bubble. It is just the way things happen to be. My Dad used that fact (it is a fact, you know) as a motivator for us to do well in school.

Also, while you have reviewed my posts, you overlooked the fact that I said that it is the “UNEDUCATED” poor that comprise the majority of the criminal population. There was a modifyier that you missed.

But, Pajama, you can’t be serious with your belief that white folk are inheirently LESS prone to commit crimes are you?

Black folk (I speak only as a member of this group) are FAR more likely to commit crimes with a financial motive, i.e. armed robbery, drugs, etc… Even murder is for the most part, premised on some financial goal.

You have also wrongly assumed that I blame capitalisim with the existance of the poor. I do no such thing and I’d venture that my economic beliefs are probably much more conservative than yours (but I’d be speculating).

I assume that there will be poor. There will always be poor people. I don’t particularly care. It is most important to me that I don’t end up among their numbers. I will do what I can to help teach a man to fish, but I am not giving him a fish.

More importantly, criminality among the poor is neither unexpected, nor new. It is sad that BY PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION, my people are “disproportionately” represented. I don’t blame that on capitalisim, racism, or any other ‘ism’ (though I do suspect socialisim has something to do with it).

You judge me far too quickly, though, to be fair, I made a judgment about you, as well.

I still think that your view is far too myopic.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 26 May 2005 21:25:04 +0000

The one thing I see the all have in common is that the crimes were committed in a city where the innocent are not allowed to own firearms for their own protection. In Arizona we have a name for predators like this, DEAD! Yes, we still have crime here, just not as many repeat offenders.

By: eulalie

eulalie — Thu, 26 May 2005 20:06:27 +0000

I still don’t see the pattern from over here.

Hint?

By: ratso ferrari

ratso ferrari — Thu, 26 May 2005 16:07:55 +0000

Do I notice a pattern?
Yes!
They all like their pictures being taken?

By: Scott McClare

Scott McClare — Thu, 26 May 2005 14:02:11 +0000

I kind of like the way most of them are described as having “short black hair,” as though that were the first thing we would notice about Derek Witter or Moises Valerio.

By: pajamazon

pajamazon — Thu, 26 May 2005 13:30:17 +0000

Stephen J.
Don’t understand your # 12. But by the rest of your comments I have to roll my eyes. Minorities are disproportionately represented in crime statistics? What nonsense. What anti-American drivel! Yes, blaming capitalism for the criminality of minorities is anti-American. This argument that being poor causes crime is not only untrue, but evil in it’s root. It is the essence of class warfare. There have been poor whites in certain areas of America since our founding and they have never seen crime rates of our inner cities.
Here in Colorado when the Denver Post runs photos of the 50 most wanted it looks just like the list we’re talking about. Mainly latino and black, some white. And the Denver Post will be certain to include as many white faces as they can! It’ is not poverty that causes these people to break the law. It is their criminality. To point out the number of blacks in the NBA is a tribute to their physical prowess. To point out the number of blacks on the Most Wanted List is “racism” Untill we recognize that making excuses for criminals makes more criminals we are bound to repeat this “cycle”. We need more Bill Cosby’s. More Rev. Jacksons,(not Jessie).
Finally, Just to be clear. Your message about poverty (almost non-existant in America) causing criminality says something about your view of humanity as a whole. According to your theory all of us are just one financial setback away from armed robbery! Bad times make us bad! BS! America has a history of hard times and we got through them for the most part without becoming Bonnie and Clyde. To blame free markets for the antisocial behavior of some is a cry for communism. No thanks!

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 26 May 2005 06:49:44 +0000

Dell, one more question.

Would teaching ‘basic lifeskills, financial literacy, and positive morality‘ include anything like the following?
# Graduate from high school,
# Get married before you have children, and stay married,
# Work at any kind of job, even one that starts out paying the minimum wage,
# Avoid engaging in criminal behavior,

And last, but most importantly — at least for the Christian (umm like most of us)
# Love the Lord thy God with all of your heart…so that you may live.

I wonder why all keywords show up together in 17 verses: Deu 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6, Jos 22:5, 1Ki 11:2, Ecc 9:1, Mat 22:37, Mar 12:30, Luk 10:27, Rom 5:5, 1Cor 2:9, 2Cor 9:7, Col 2:2, 2Th 3:5 & 1Jo 3:21. Even if you add Lord as another keyword, you still get 11 verses repeating the meme.

Must be critically important. After Jesus shot down — or to keep it real, fisked — the Sadducees over a question concerning ressurrection, Jesus went on to quote Deuteronomy in his reply to a lawyer regarding the greatest command in law.

Can I tell you something funny? I really love those NT flame wars. You got all these social/legal experts gaining up on Jesus and he just incinerates them every single time. No wonder they hated him enough to kill By Any Means Necessary.

By: Baklava

Baklava — Thu, 26 May 2005 05:05:30 +0000

LB wrote, “No particular similarities. I just thought it would be â€œfunâ€ to guess. Sounds morbid, doesnâ€™t it? “

I admit it was fun reading other’s guesses.

I refrained from any statement because there were high percentages in areas but nothing that could be stated as a pattern except male.

BTW, When I was younger (and liberal) I almost constantly used to heavy metal music from MegaDeath and Slayer and Metallica and Sepultura and others. While I didn’t turn to a life of crime and can honestly say that couldn’t possibly be THE REASON, I know there was a higher percentage of MORE violent low lifes who did listen to that music.

It was about their belief system and the lack of it.

By: Mark La Roi

Mark La Roi — Thu, 26 May 2005 03:54:20 +0000

“Shut up and fix the problems then. Amazingly, you know what I found out in my younger years? Anyone can complain, relatively few folks (umm like most of you) have the guts to get out and create the change.
Your keyboard fingers probably hurt from typing all this social revolution that does nothing but reverberate amongst people with similar dispositions.
All I gotta say is – You Go Boy hahaâ€¦”

“who are now doing a helluva a job in college and in corporate America.”[emphasis Mark's]

“I live my religion, I donâ€™t just talk it, I live my convictions, I donâ€™t just type them, and I sacrifice my blood, sweat, and tears like MY Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for what is the right and righteous thing because I believe:”

“Oh yeahâ€¦I am a certified hypnotherapist too.”

~Your talk doesn’t match “your walk.” Even IF you did/do all these things, there is still a little thing called motive. The Word judges that, too.

“A tree is judged by the fruit, and my fruit is my witness for Christ.”

~Indeed. As a youth pastor I hope you taught your kids better language and attitude than that which you have regularly displayed here, as well as the way you insult “those in authority” (in clear violation of the scriptural demand that we respect the authorities since God placed them where they are.) on your website.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 26 May 2005 03:17:42 +0000

BTW, as a certified hypnotherapist and certified forensic hypnotherapist (non-practicing in both cases), I can tell you that certification is a joke. There’s no governing body and all you have to do is sit through 12-16 hours of training (depending on the program) and pay the money. I did it for CEUs for my license. The certification is in a drawer someplace. It’s a joke. Anybody who’s read Elizabeth Loftus or read neuropsych 101 understands how memory works and how hypnotherapy doesn’t.