Category: crime

Thistle Farms helps ‘women survivors overcome and heal from systems of prostitution and exploitation.’

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn crime2 Comments

I discovered Thistle Farms in Nashville while looking at the list of grantees of the Isabell Allende Foundation. According to Thistle Farms’ website:

Your support helps create sanctuary and healing for women survivors.

  • 2 Years of Free Housing
  • Healthcare and Trauma Therapy
  • Meaningful Employment
  • Advocacy and Public Policy Initiatives

It’s horrifying to discover just how many women, including those in the United States, need this kind of sanctuary. In addition to donations, Thistle Farms supports its programs through the sale of candles, essential oils, soaps, and similar products that you can find here.

The organization houses “up to 36 residents at a time in a therapeutic setting that offers healing and transformation through housing, healthcare, counseling, employment, and community building. Housing and clinical services are free of charge and provided without Federal assistance.  Five years after program completion, 75% of our graduates are living healthy, independent lives. Broken relationships have been restored. Hopelessness has been replaced with hope.”

In an on-site article called “The Many Faces of Human Trafficking,” Tasha Kennard writes, “90-percent of sex trafficking victims in the US are female, of which women and girls of color make up a disproportionate number of trafficked individuals. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of those purchasing sex – creating the demand that drives even more bodies into the sex trade – are men.

“Most of the women Thistle Farms serves report having first experienced sexual abuse between the ages of 7-11, began using alcohol or drugs by the age of 13 as a means of coping with trauma, and are first on the streets between the ages of 14 and 16.”

The problem is worse than most of us know. According to Child USA, “1 in 5 girls and 1 in 13 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18.” Empower The Fight states, “Human trafficking is the fastest-growing organized crime activity in the United States. Estimating 250,000 children per year are victims of sex trafficking. Most older children are trafficked while still going to school and living at home!”

I celebrate the organizations such as Thistle Farms that help fight the results of this evil and, like many, am surprised that it’s so pervasive in the U.S., especially within indigenous groups.

–Malcolm

The shootings of the day

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn crime2 Comments

Gun violence is a contemporary global human rights issue. Gun-related violence threatens our most fundamental human right, the right to life.

Gun violence is a daily tragedy affecting the lives of individuals around the world. More than 500 people die every day because of violence committed with firearms.

Anyone can be affected by firearm violence but in certain situations gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of colour, women and other marginalized groups in society. – Amnesty International

You can track shootings by type and location at the Gun Violence Archive. The information here is updated daily and includes cumulative data throughout the year. All of the information here is disturbing, especially the listing for what’s happened during the last 72 hours. I appreciate the work of this group, though I find it sad that we need this group. Yet, according to Amnesty International, “There are 8 million new small arms and up to 15 billion rounds of ammunition produced each year.”

Personally, I’m tired of hearing that if we restrict gun ownership and the right to carry guns, only criminals will have guns. And yet, most of the mass shootings appear to be caused by individuals considered non-criminals prior to the shootings.

The problem has a lot of socio-economic overlays, but it’s generally believed that the precipitating factor is easy access to legal and illegal guns.

What surprises me is the fact that we–as a nation–put up with it. I suppose we’re burying our heads in the sand with the viewpoint that if the violence doesn’t kill us or people we know then it’s not our problem. And yet, it is, because the failure to enact legislation that will put a dent in gun violence is allowing it to happen. In that regard, most of us are at fault.

–Malcolm

‘Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?’

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn crime, writing

When I was in grade school, everyone knew the answer to this question: “the shadow knows.”

“The Shadow” was a radio drama that aired between 1937 and 1954 with tie-ins to comic books and novels. The show featured crime fighter Lamont Cranston who was a great detective with a few unusual powers. A few films followed the end of radio programs including Alec Baldwin’s in the 1994 version that lost money and wasn’t well received. I no longer remember whether I listened to any radio episodes when I was a kid; it’s possible because when I was home sick from school there was plenty of stuff on the radio to keep my attention.

Now James Patterson has bought the rights to the material, kicking off the story with The Shadow (2021) co-written with Brian Sitts. The novel is lightweight fiction compared to Patterson’s Alex Cross series so, while it was fun to read, it was a bit more of a spoof than a hard-boiled detective novel.

From the snippets of the radio show I’ve heard, Patterson and Sitts will have to ramp up the action if any sequels are produced for this first one, which has been said to be setting the stage and doesn’t have the ambiance of the original radio series.

So far, the storyline just isn’t edgy enough to hold up as a series. This is the look and the tone I want to see.

Patterson and Sitts have their work cut out for themselves. “As you sow evil, so shall you reap evil! Crime does not pay…The Shadow knows!”

–Malcolm

Teens kill Uber Eats Driver

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn crime4 Comments

So far, news stories about two teens, 13 and 15, who botched an apparent carjacking attempt  Washington, D.C. near the Naval Yard are unclear. The story I read said they attacked 66-year-old Mohammad Anwar with a stun gun and then said they attacked him with a taser. (Which was it? They aren’t the same thing.) There is video available, but I won’t watch it.

UbereatsThe family of the driver describe him in their fund raising campaign as a hard-working Pakistani immigrant working for Uber Eats. At present, the campaign appears to have pledges for over $900,000. Needless to say, that money won’t replace the man.

We know nothing about the suspects. They are underage and that means their names are generally withheld. We know that neither one is old enough to legally drive a car. Did they have a motive other than joyriding? We may never know. We can hardly say they “were just kids having fun.” Maybe that’s what they thought it was, but subduing a man with a stun gun goes past the harmless prank usually referred to by “kids having fun.”

I have zero tolerance form crimes like this. In fact, I don’t quite know what to make of this crime because, while I know there are a lot of streetwise homeless kids who commit various crimes in order to survive, killing a man to swipe his car is so much more than “mere survival.” One report–which I can no longer find–said one of the kids was more concerned about getting her phone out of the car that showing concern for the victim.

The fact that two teens would even consider doing this bothers me. Is their crime a symptom of an expanding souless society, and entitlement society, bad or missing parenting, or something else? Whatever it was, I’m tired of hearing excuses and other justifications because none of those bring back those who die or help those who mourn or stop the runaway lawlessness.

Perhaps such crimes have always happened and escaped our notice before we had 24/7 news. If so, the situation is no less sad.

–Malcolm

We’re all at risk

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn crime

There are so many shootings we can hardly keep track of them. They seem random, and perhaps they are. If they are, any one of us could have been a victim. Or might still become one.

Wikipedia photo

On the morning of March 22 in Boulder, Colorado, the following people got up and began attending to the chores of the day that included a trip to the grocery store on Table Mesa Drive: Boulder police Officer Eric Talley, 51; King Soopers store manager Rikki Olds, 25; store employee Denny Stong, 20; store employee Teri Leiker, 51; Neven Stanisic, 23; Tralona “Lonna” Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.

They died at 2:30 p.m. because Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa killed them. His defense attorney says he might be crazy.

Where will some crazy guy strike next? We don’t know. Since we don’t know, any one of us might be “there” buying a pack of hotdogs, dancing, eating our first meal out in months, attending a concert. . .

Most of us assume the next shooting will happen somewhere else. I’m sure the victims at the King Soopers store on Table Mesa Drive thought that–until they were gone.

We continue to debate whether these shootings are caused by rampant hate, rampant insanity, or bored people with a lot of guns. As long as we do nothing but debate the “why” of all this, the answers will continue blowing in the wind.

–Malcolm