Violent society?

From the New York Times:

Murders in New York have dropped to their lowest level in over 40 years, city officials announced on Friday, even as overall crimes increased slightly because of a rise in thefts — a phenomenon based solely on robberies of iPhones and other Apple devices.

There were 414 recorded homicides so far in 2012, compared with 515 for the same period in 2011, city officials said. That is a striking decline from murder totals in the low-2,000s that were common in the early 1990s, and is also below the record low: 471, set in 2009.

Interesting, isn't it?  To listen to the news, you'd think we were awash in a sea of violence. But, in actuality, violence is down everywhere in the United States, indeed, everywhere in the Western World.  And there seems to be no statistical correlation at all between what people traditionally argue for, such as ignoring the 4th Amendment restrictions on search and seizures and gun control, and this phenomenon.  On the other hand, our perception that the world is extremely violent has everything to with the media focusing on what violence is around, and on the common erroneous assumption that we must live in the worst of all times (Holscher's Sixth Law of Human Behavior).

“The essence of civilization is that you can walk down the street without having to look over your shoulder,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said.

Hmmm. . . is that the essence of civilization?  That sort of argument is quite fascistic, actually.

I'd think the essence of civilization is that you love your neighbor.  That's  what brings about civilization.  There have been societies that had low levels of civil violence that none of us would want to live in. For that matter, societies like Saudi Arabia today are like that, but not too many of us would wish to live in them.

The Police Department said thefts of Apple products had risen by 3,890, which was more than the overall increase in “major crimes.”

Sign of the cyber times, I guess.  Folks who stole Ford automobiles in earlier eras, now still Iphones.  Maybe that's progress in and of itself.

Of the 400 murders in 2012, 223 were gunshot victims, 84 victims were stabbed to death, 43 died of blunt trauma and 11 died of asphyxiation. More of the 400 homicides occurred on a Saturday than any other day, followed by early Sunday morning. More occurred between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. than any other time. People were more likely to be killed outside than in. Nearly 70 percent of the victims had prior criminal arrests, the police said.

Another telling set of statistics. What does this tell us? Well, about half of all people who are murdered in New York are murdered by a primitive implement.  They'd be dead if there were no firearms at all.  Probably quite a few of the remaining also would be.

People seem to kill each other on the weekend. That seems odd, but it's the time when a lot of people are out and about.  So perhaps it isn't particularly when you consider that 70% of the victims had criminal records. Recidivism being what it is, this would suggest that a lot of people get killed because they choose to associate with a criminal element and, in all liklihood, quite a few of them are engaging in some sort of criminal activity.

Again, that suggests the current debate about what to do about "gun deaths" or homicide is probably off the mark, at least as to New York City, and probably everywhere, more murders occur in the big urban areas than anywhere else.  It seems a lot of people who have been involved with crime, hang out with criminals, and that can go wrong.  There's nothing a person can regulate or ban that's going to address that.  On the other hand, overall crime is going down, so these deaths are too, which is a good thing.

The likelihood of being killed by a stranger was slight. The vast majority of the homicides, Mr. Kelly said, grew out of “disputes” between a victim and killer who knew each other.

Same story.  People mad enough to kill, or motivated to kill by greed, revenge or drugs, kill.  Seems pretty obvious.

Left out of this, of course, are events like Newton Connecticut.  But if we throw them in, what do we have? That said events are extremely rare, and are almost exclusively committed by somebody with a severe and obvious psychological impairment that we're ignoring as a society.

So, do we think this information will enter our current analysis?

Probably not.  It's not what we mistakenly believe, and it's not what a lot of people want to believe.

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: Confusing fiction for fact

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: Confusing fiction for fact: One of the things that's aggravating for students of history is the way that popular portrayals botch the depiction of the topic of their i...

Coffee

Businessmen starting the day off with coffee.

The other day, I had an appointment at a doctor's office that required me to abstain from caffeinated beverages for a twelve hour period.  I never drink caffeinated beverages after mid afternoon, as they'll keep me awake at night, so normally this wouldn't be a problem, save for the fact that my appointment was at 10:30 am.

Oh my gosh.  What a horror simply abstaining from coffee turned out to be.  I'm quite obviously addicted.

I drink a pot (yes a pot) of coffee every morning.  This is a level of coffee consumption that, at one time, would have been regarded as unhealthy, but in accordance with Holscher's Fifth Law of Behavior,  no  longer is.  Indeed, ti's now known that some level of coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of some fairly serious diseases, for reasons that aren't very clear to anyone, and that generally you don't need to worry about drinking too much of it. That's a good thing for me, as I start off every day with coffee.

 Truck driver and sailor drinking coffee, early in the morning, in a cafe.  I've eaten in a lot of places like this early in the morning prior to the advent of business motels, so I could get breakfast. . . and coffee.

Indeed, my current level of coffee consumption is actually a reduction in the amount I drink.  At one time, I drank a pot here in my office and more at work.  I found, however, that this was making me really jittery, and one Lent I gave up coffee at work and I know completely avoid it after breakfast, with very rare exceptions.  People at work sort of now assume I no longer even drink coffee, which of course is an error, but it's probably a widely believed error, as I usually decline it whenever I go somewhere and its offered, assuming that I had it with breakfast.

But, I do like coffee.

And apparently, I'm really physically addicted to it, as I found out.

I was okay at first.  I generally get up very early, and I made it to about 8:30 before the really negative impacts began to set it.  I became extremely tired.  So tired, I could have fallen asleep at my desk quite easily.  I remained that way until about 1:00 p.m., save for the period at the doctor's office (which nicely confirmed that I'm apparently in fine physical health, coffee addiction notwithstanding).  I picked up in the afternoon, even though I never felt completely okay, but a headache had set in by early evening and by 8:00 p.m. I was so tired, I went to bed.  Pretty pathetic.  When I woke up in the morning I still had the headache, but after a cup of coffee, I felt fine.

 World War One YMCA girl passing out a cup of coffee, a welcome site, no doubt, to folks like me.

It occurs to me that I almost never go without coffee in the morning, no matter what I'm doing.  I wonder if that's a problem, but I probably won't do anything about it.  I drink it if I'm heading out to the sticks early.  I also drink it if I'm camping out in the sticks.  I have it usually before I trail cattle, if we're trailing cattle, unless the cattle, who do not drink coffee, cruelly pick up and run off before I can have any coffee.  In the 19th Century, I would have been one of those coffee drinking cowhands that figure in stories today.  And, I now understand why Plains Indians stopped wagon trains just to have them make coffee.  Had I been a Plains Indian, I would have done the same.

It's an interesting long-lasting American custom. The morning cup of coffee.  I suppose it's no longer as strong as it once was, what with so many other options, and a lot of folks who skip breakfast entirely now.  On the other hand, the high end coffee shop, spurred on by the advent of Starbucks, is stronger than ever, so maybe coffee is too. Anyhow, I now know that in the morning, I really miss it if I don't have it.

The Club

There's an early 1960s film comedy (a genera which should be of its own class, as they tend to fit a pattern) based on an early 1960s or late 1950s musical comic play (again, should be its own genera) called How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.  The farcical film follows the life of an ambitious window washer who seeks to rise to the top of a larger corporation through the exploitation of personalities and connections, including, in one instance, a suggestion (false) that he attended the same university as one of his superiors.  The movie is genuinely funny, but highly dated.  Of course (spoiler alert, sort of) the protagonist rises to the top in spite of improbable odds (at the very top, it turns out the CEO was also a window washer originally) but it actually manages to satire a few things fairly accurately.  The school connection item was probably accurate at that time, when college degrees were much more rare, and even the window washer CEO was semi accurate, the film having come at the end of the Non Certification era, but its obviously dated enough (particularly in its depiction of women, who are all secretaries in the film).  I only mention it as the depiction of a common school background remains oddly true in one area. . . graduating from an Ivy League Law School.

Now, connections are what they are, and to some great extent, they're simply natural.  If a person shares your background and interests, you'll know them, and that's a connection that somebody else is unlikely to have.  That's just the way that works.  But in the law, Harvard law degrees in particular, have a strange aura that attaches to them as if the graduates of that school know a whole lot more law, a whole lot better, than everyone else. 

Those who follow blogs that address concerns of law students know that there's vast amounts of cyber ink spilled on the topic of "top tier" law schools, with the routine suggestion being that if you didn't graduate from a "top tier" law firm, you might as well have dropped out of school in the 3d grade.  What that hyper excited commentary really means is that if you want into one of the super-sized law firms that pay high dollars in exchange for their new hires having no outside life whatsoever, you must go to a "top tier" school. That's probably unfortunately correct.  But Harvard law is something else, occupying a position, in my view, somewhat akin to that of the English Royal Family. That is, graduating from it makes a person royalty, whether or not they otherwise deserve it.

For example, President Obama is a Harvard Law graduate.  Mitt Romney is a Harvard Law graduate.  They're both very intelligent men, to be sure, but to what extent has simply being a Harvard Law graduate opened doors for them?  Well, probably not that much in Romney's case, given that his family background gave him an advantage in life that many would not have, but it certainly opened doors in President Obama's case.  This is not their fault, and I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with their taking advantage of that.  It's just odd how there's a widespread assumption that being a graduate of Harvard Law makes a person some sort of super lawyer. 

Indeed, graduating from Harvard Law is like gaining admittance to a club.  To fail in life after graduating from Harvard Law would take more effort than succeeding.  You'd really have to work at it. All the time you'll hear that some Harvard Law grad has been a Supreme Court clerk, or is working at some think tank, or the like.  And, of course, you'll hear of the practicing law in some big firm too.  They seem to be able to go where they want based on that degree.

Well, is it that much better?   I guess I have no real frame of reference, but I read the opinions of the courts and whatnot, and sometimes hear their opinions in other venues, and frankly, they're not that much more erudite than the best lawyers out of any other law school.  And I suppose I don't hear from the Harvard grads who aren't in a public venue. 

The law is the law, no matter where you study it, and a good legal education is the result of good students and good professors. The good students exist everywhere.  Are Harvard's professors that much better?  I really wonder.

I guess part of this comes from a very local prospective on my part.  I've tried a bunch of cases in court.  I've seen some really brilliant courtroom work.  I've appeared in front of a lot of state and Federal judges.  But so far, I have yet to come across a Harvard lawyer in any courtroom setting I've been in.  I have no doubt that they'd be individually good, but there's a lot of individually good people out there who have no connection to Harvard Law.

Well, so what?  Should this matter?

Well, yes it should. Again this year a lot of big time courts, and big time entities, will employ Harvard Law grads, right out of school, because they are Harvard Law grads, in part.  That means that these institutions are fishing from a pretty small pond, and it should be remembered that even a guppy can be a big fish in a cup.  Perhaps they should cast their nets a bit broader.  I'd like to see, for example, a decade where every Supreme Court clerk came out of a land grant college law school, and all think tanks employed guys who were, let's say, accountants, rather than law school grads, to mix the institutions up a bit.

SCOTUScast » Publications » The Federalist Society

SCOTUScast » Publications » The Federalist Society

Nice set of discussions on Supreme Court decisions and arguments.

Some native examples of Holscher's First & Second Law of History

Recently I posted an entry on Holscher's Law of History.  In doing that I expounded that the first law is "Everything first happened longer ago than you suspect" and the second law is "Everything last occurred more recently than you suppose.". 

Here's some interesting example from the story of American Indians.

This photograph was taken in 1906.  We'd tend to think of it as well after the Indian Wars, but it really is not.  Indeed, at this point in time, amazingly, one last conflict between Native Americans and the U.S. Army was yet to occur, although that scrap was an accident.  Be that as it may, we see a family with some native attire, and some not.  The degree to which native attire is hanging on in this photographs is a little surprising.  This photo, for context, was taken after the invention of the airplane and the introduction of the Model T.

But what's really surprising ins the sewing machine.  I wouldn't have expected that.  An example of the first law, to a degree.

This family, by the way, was photographed on the  Crow Reservation of southern Montana.

How about this photograph of a woman drying fish?  She's in a traditional camp, with a teepee and all, drying a traditional food.

This photograph was taken in 1913.  World War One would break out the following year.  Here we see, however, an Indian woman engaged in a very traditional activity.

 

What about this photograph?  For all the world, this photo looks like it was taken in the 1870s or so, but for the fact, perhaps, that the Indian rider (here a Crow Indian in Montana0 is riding a western stock saddle, a detail that's hard to catch without knowing what to look for.  But this is also a 20th Century photograph, taken in 1908.

While this scene comes near, if not in, the 20th Century, it's telling none the less.  This member of the Crow tribe is out riding in winter, probably hunting or otherwise out in some activity that requires his presence outdoors.  In Wyoming, I've seen photos of Indians from the Wind River Reservation out tenting (with teepees) while hunting, on the North Platte, as late as 1912, long after some maintain that long range native hunting forays did not occur.

What about this photograph?  The front rider (the father of the boy in back) is dressed in fairly typical Western attire with modern tack.  He retains the long braids of traditional Indians.  The boy, or rather young man, in back is wearing a newsboy cap.  The 1910s?  1920s?

No, 1941.

Bomb Sight - Mapping the World War 2 London Blitz Bomb Census

Bomb Sight - Mapping the World War 2 London Blitz Bomb Census

Interesting interactive map.

Maps are neat, in general, but a think like this takes a map in a bit of a new direction, that only the computer can do.  Interesting project.

Inflation Calculator 2012

Inflation Calculator 2012

Useful link for looking at the change in value of money.

Perhaps a grim way to start off 2013, but an interesting look how the value of individual dollars has changed over time.  Having said that, some caution on such things is always warranted, as social and employment conditions greatly impact this, but that the dollar's value has changed massively over time cannot be disputed.

Carnegie Library, Lewistown Montana.

This is the Carnegie Library in Lewistown, Montana.  The library has an addition, clearly visible, which makes for quite a juxtaposition of architectural styles. Still, in spite of that, it works quite well.

Just recently Natrona County Wyoming's voters turned down an effort to build a new library, thereby opting to keep the county's strained library.  The current library in Natrona County dates back, I think, to the 1970s, with an older portion of that library dating back to the 30s or 40s. That older portion replaced a library that was an original Carnegie Library of the same approximate vintage as this one. 

I note that as it shows, perhaps, how the importance of libraries has changed to communities over time.  Or perhaps it says something only locally, as at least one other Wyoming community recently passed a bond measure to expand their library.  Anyhow, I've been in libraries all over Wyoming, and indeed, in a few in other regions of the country, and note how much use they still receive.  They don't, however, always figure in the public's mind like they once did.

This library is a good example of how central they once were.  The original small library is direction across the street from the courthouse in Lewistown, and courthouses tend to get pride of place in a community's downtown. That this library was constructed in such a central location says a great deal about how the residents of Fergus County Montana viewed it at the time they received a grant from the Carnegie Foundation to build it.

Stuff that's good to know.

From West's Headnote of the Day, something that's good to know:

230 Jury

230II Right to Trial by Jury

230k30 Denial or Infringement of Right

230k33 Constitution and Selection of Jury

230k33(5) Challenges and Objections

230k33(5.15) k. Peremptory Challenges.

Venireperson may be properly excluded for nonserious demeanor. People v. Thomas, 641 N.E.2d 867 (1992)

Calvert Hotel, Lewistown Montana

I've written a bit on old hotels here from time to time.  Here's another example.

This is the restored Calvert Hotel in Lewistown Montana.  This hotel, however, didn't start out as one, which may explain why I was surprised that it wasn't near a rail line.  This hotel was built in 1912 as a girls dormitory, for rural Fergus County Montana students.  It says something about conditions at the time that girls would have been housed by the county in a dormitory, like college students are today, in order to attend high school.  I didn't take a picture of it, but a building that was obviously built as a high school, but which is now used for some other purpose, is nearby.

The big dorm went idle in the 1920s but was revived decades later as a hotel, for which it was likely well suited.  In 2007 it was purchased again and rebuilt.  It's been nicely done, and some of the original features remain.  It's located nearly in the center of Lewistown, and the dome of the Fergus County Courthouse is visible on the right hand side of the photograph.

This is a nice hotel, and the room rates are really reasonable.  There's a nice restaurant in the basement, which is a restaurant that serves the towns people of Lewistown in addition to the hotel's patrons.  Like older hotels, and perhaps like older dormitories, the rooms are small. The one thing I noted about staying in it is that the walls are thin, but the walls are just as thin on a lot of modern motels as well.  Usually in these solid older buildings that's note the case, but this hotel wasn't originally built as one.  Perhaps the original dorm had fairly thin walls as well, reflecting either a relatively regimented life in the dorm, or perhaps an acknowledgement that it was going to be noisy anyhow.  Or maybe the rooms were added much later.

 Early morning view.

Sheep camp supplies « Ladder Ranch

Sheep camp supplies « Ladder Ranch

The Law of Unintended Consequences

From a recent news article:

There’s one potential casualty of the fiscal cliff that hasn’t gotten much attention at all: the price of milk.

Come Dec. 31, Washington’s inaction could push the country’s milk prices to as much as $6 to $8 per gallon unless Congress passes a farm bill renewing federal support for agriculture programs. 

Here’s how that would happen: Without legislative action in the next five days, the government will have to revert to a 1949 dairy price subsidy that requires the Agriculture Department to buy milk at inflated prices. Much like the current fiscal cliff, the law was left on the books “as a poison pill to get Congress to pass a farm bill by scaring lawmakers with the prospect of higher support prices for milk and other agriculture products,” as Vincent Smith, a Montana State University professor, told the New York Times.

Goodness, that is seriously whacky.

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: Wyoming and World War One

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: Wyoming and World War One: Recently I did a Sidebar post on Wyoming and World War Two .  So, a followup on Wyoming and World War One is a natural in some ways, alt...

Spam, Spammers, and Counter Revolution

Recently here I wrote on the topic of junk mail, and touched upon the topic of email Spam.  In what is perhaps an oversight, and perhaps a bit ironic, subsequent to that my Facebook page was the victim of a Spam attack.  I guess that's what a person would call it, but I'm not entirely certain, as I'm not really a the most computer literate in some ways.

I do have, as noted, a Facebook page.  I don't "friend" everyone like some folks do, and the people on my friend list are actually my friends. That's about it.  It isn't even my habit to check it everyday, like many people do.  I'm much more likely to check one of the blogs.  Anyhow, I guess I'm fortunate in that I did check it the day of the Spam attack.

I wasn't alone in being the victim of the cyber assault. At least five other folks I know were. Basically, all of us ended up having something or somebody get onto our pages and post links to videos of scantily clad women.  One of the really quick to react managed to get the offending links off prior to anyone seeing them.  I thought I was on pretty early myself, but apparently not so early as many of my friends and relatives, who have teased me about "liking" a video that apparently features a young woman's nearly naked rear end.  Nifty.  One of my other friends found that she was featuring a video of another barely clad young woman's cleavage, which she was appalled to learn of later in the day.  A nice decent young man ended up hosting the most offensive of all the links.

I don't get this sort of behavior at all.  My guess is that these pirate links are designed to draw attention to some nasty website in Russia or something where the host either attempts to swipe financial information from the visitor, tries to sell them nasty junk, or infects their computers with nasty viruses. Anyway you look at it, it's really appalling all the way around.

Its in part appalling as its a massive waste of computer talent.  In this day and age when computers are so important to commerce, surely these folks can better employ their talents.  If they must act in a secretive manner, why can't they be hacking into Al Queda's bank accounts, reprogramming Syrian missile strikes, causing the Iranian nuclear program to serve frozen yogurt, or wiping out ever single episode of Zack and Cody?  You know, something useful if sketchy.  I'd think that more rewarding than hacking on the Facebook pages of the innocent.

Beyond that, I'm really bothered by how this is ample evidence, to some degree, of the moral sewer nature of much of the Internet.  I'm sure an entire treatise could be written about this, but it doesn't say good things about society in general when so much of a a really useful tool is dedicated to encouraging deprivation.  It's really bad, quite frankly.  For some time its seemed to me that some moral codes in regards to dress have so declined in the US that people aren't aware that there are any, and stuff like this doesn't help.  Its popular to say that a person should always guard against censorship but, here, I'm in favor of it.  Call me Victorian if wish, but I am.  But frankly I think the situation was better when the people who wanted to view this stuff had to suffer the embarrassment of having to actually buy it, which at least must have been some brake upon the conduct.

Additionally, it may say something about me, or perhaps its just because I'm getting old, but it bothers me that there are so many who are willing to prostitute their images for whatever thin amount of cash that must yield, and I'm sure it isn't much.  It's just flat out sad that there's a pool of young women who are willing to have themselves portrayed in this way. Why would a person want to be known for their naked appearance?  Worse than that, why would they want to be known for their naked appearance in a manner which appears to suggest that they're offering themselves for sale?  One of the primary struggles of the women's movement in the Western world has to be seen as equals. Well, these young women are the guerrilla warriors of a counter revolution, in essence, as their behavior screams that they wish to be viewed as objects.  If for not other reason, and there are a lot of other reasons, they should be ashamed.

I guess, taking this one step further, there seems to be a general trend in behavior in this fashion, and it's really detrimental to all sorts of things.  One of the people I do know on Facebook has a female friend who comments on his posts who has taken all the liberties that Facebook profiles presumably allow in posting her own photograph.  Why would you want to post a photo of yourself framed in such a way that it's pretty clear your shirt is missing, and you're framing the photo so as to be barely within the presumed limits?  Surely you must have other merits other than your chest?  And why would anyone be interested in the comments of a person whose sole attributes were below the neck?  Such a person would, by definition, not be very interesting.

But, by the same token, some of the young women I see waking into public school every day, at least when the weather is warmer, are on display. Again, why would they want to advertise themselves at that age?  Not a good start in the almost adult world.

For that matter, while I'm on this tirade, there's a lot of female advertising going on with tattoos.  I don't care if people have tattoos or not.  And I'll concede that the artistry that goes into tattoos is much more advanced than it was when only Marines and Sailors had tattoos.  But a lot of these tattoos seem to be in very private locations, and that seems to inspire people to display the private locations.  I was recently in a setting which traditionally has been been one in which people presented themselves in very formal attire, when a nice looking young woman was wearing jeans so tight, and so low, that she inadvertently partially displayed a tattoo on her rear end.  A tattoo in that region is going to be suggestive, intentionally or not, and that isn't going to help a woman receive the respect and attention she deserves.  I'm sure that if you know here, you'd learn to overlook, so to speak, the tattoo, but more often than not, in many settings, we're amongst strangers.  I don't think most folks want to be giving out the message "hey! . . . look at my ass!"  At least I hope not.

Well, this has meandered frightfully.  But I guess the overall message is that I wish cyber pirates or vandals would move on and be productive, and I wish that young women would really think about the image they give out. I'm sure that all women wish to be respected.  I'm also pretty sure that one naked photos wipes out the work of a hundred female supreme court justices, in terms of image.

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: World War Two and Wyoming

Today In Wyoming's History: Sidebar: World War Two and Wyoming: Regular readers here may have noted that there's been a lot of entries regarding World War Two recently. And, as a result, they might legit...