A proper tribute to the innocent victims of 9-11 is to honor their memory by not perpetuating the blind hatred that caused this tragedy.
Tag Archive for victims
Why Men Paint the Town Red
One theory is that the phrase “paint the town red,” meaning to celebrate wildly, often with drinking involved, came from an incident in 1837. That’s when the Marquis of Waterford, known for his love of drink and mischief, took his friends on a wild night on the English town of Melton Mowbray. The night included vandalism on homes and public buildings, including painting a tollgate, the statue of a swan, and people’s doors red. They did compensate their victims later on, though.
Another, more American, possibility is that, during the Wild West era, men visited brothels, where they drank heavily, raised hell, and carried on activities the brothels were set up for. They did this so often that they were acting as though the whole town was one large red-light district.
If either is true (or both), the phrase grew out of men acting like, er, donkeys.
Cheap Idea: Help Victims–But Not All
A new office is being created to help crime victims–but only the victims of immigrants. It’s called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or Voice. This is a smart move on the Administration’s part because it’s far less costly than helping all victims of crime. In fact, it will help the smallest group of victims. That’s because, according to the CATO Institute, citing many studies, “With few exceptions, immigrants are less crime prone than natives or have no effect on crime rates.”
I’m not sure how this office will work. I assume it would provide extra law enforcement to go after the immigrant perpetrators, then deport them. I guess this will give victims some sort of “closure.” Although it does help ICE, the agency it’s housed at–it should lead to discovery of more “Illegals” and their families so they can be deported. Their hotline might be helpful to victims, although it doesn’t seem to me any different from calling the police. It will provide jobs for 48 people (21 community-relations officers and 27 victim-assistance specialists).
They haven’t figured out a budget for it yet, but I’m confident that it will be cheap enough for all the good it will do.
Uncategorized
budget, CATO, cost, crime, deport, hotline, immigrants, victims, VOICE
Orlando Lament
Orlando: Another sad day for Americans. More senseless deaths. Another heartbreaking example of man’s inhumanity to man.
Donate CAREFULLY
The Boston tragedy is bringing out all the scam artists. They’re posting, calling, and knocking on doors to get you to help–help not the Boston victims or other worthy cause but themselves. Their donation scams can be quite profitable for them.
If you want to donate to help the bombing victims, be very careful. I think Clark Howard has the best advice, so I’m borrowing from him today. Here are his steps to take before donating anything:
- Don’t give cash. Legitimate charities will take a check.
- Don’t give out your credit card, bank account or personal information to telemarketers. If you want to donate, initiate the call yourself.
- Don’t fall for Internet appeals if the cause does not look legitimate and doesn’t check out. Make sure to do your research!
- Expect specific information. Ask what kind of relief this organization is going to provide. Don’t accept vague explanations.
- Check out the charity with national, state and local authorities. Established charities register with the Internal Revenue Service. You can search for specific non-profit organizations on the IRS website: irs.gov.
- Beware of newly formed organizations. If the charity is new, you may have to rely on your relationship with the company or sponsor of the organization to determine whether you trust the group.
- Report abuses to the nearest Better Business Bureau and the State Attorney General’s office. Both are listed in local telephone directories. You can also report abuses to the National Fraud Information Center at (800) 876-7060. NFIC also has a web-based complaint form at fraud.org.
For more tips on donating, check out Clark’s Donation Guide.
[Thank you, Clark.]
Guns Are No Problem
People who say that the easy availability of guns is not a problem obviously don’t watch the daily news. Just this morning, there were reports of six people being shot. There are news stories almost every day about at least one or two shootings, often with child-victims and people sitting within their own homes. At what point does it become a problem?