Animal abusers should be required to register like sex offenders

Animal abusers are the bottom of the barrel just like sex offenders.  Both take advantage of the innocent who trust us to love them and provide a secure place for them to live.  Not take advantage of them, in some cases actually causing harm, even death.  Maryland may well be the first state to launch such a registry, if State Senator Ron Young has anything to do with it.  Young plans to introduce a bill that would require convicted animal abusers in Maryland to submit their information to a registry.

Abusers would be photographed, fingerprinted along with their address and would have to pay $50.00 per year to fund the registry.  They could be taken off the list if they are abuse-free for 10 years.  All the data would end up on a Web page run by the state.  Other states working on similar legislation are New York and Florida.  I am thinking more along the lines of a federal law that would make animal abuse a major offense, including what happens in puppy mills and backyard breeders. 



Typical puppy mill



64.5 percent of victims are dogs, 18 percent cats and 25 percent involve other animals.  Domestic violence seems to have an impact on animal abuse.  According to the Animal Humane Assn., 71% of pet-owning women entering women’s shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims.  Abusers  even kill, harm, or threaten children’s pets to coerce them into sexual abuse or to force them to remain silent about abuse.

In one study, 70% of animal abusers also had records for other crimes.  And in case you didn’t know, more U.S. households have pets than children, which helps account for the number of animals that end up in shelters.  It is estimated by The Humane Society that 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter animal shelters every year.  3 to 4 million are euthanized, 3 to 4 million are adopted out and some are rescued by their owners.  Many would say the abuse starts in normal homes where pets are allowed to run away or are deserted by owners.



The Humane Society has released its 2011 "Humane State Ranking," a comprehensive report rating all 50 states and DC on issues ranging from animal fighting to farm animals to wildlife to companion animals.  The results are interesting with California as number one with its laws compared to South Dakota which is last.  SD is one of only three states with no felony level penalties for egregious acts of cruelty, and also has some of the weakest laws against cock fighting in the country.

Unfortunately some individuals treat animal like their property and think they can do with them as they please, including maltreat and/or murder them.  Yes, it is murder and in many states in this country you are executed for it.  When you see what has happened to some of these loving little creatures, it makes you wonder if execution is too good for the abusers.

Support your local animal shelters!

New York’s strong gun laws make state safer than weaker states of Arizona and Texas

The gun nuts, especially in Arizona, will argue with you until they are blue in the face that because the state’s gun laws allow just about anyone to own a gun and carry it around concealed to just about anyplace they want, including bars, that the state is a safer place for it.  They would be wrong.  In a recent Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor, Richard Reay of Riverdale, NY, made his point by using the 2010 FBI Violent Crime Statistics report.



NY Mayor Bloomberg for gun control



As an example, there are 408.1 violent crimes and 6.4 murders/manslaughters in Arizona per 100,000 population compared to 392.1 and 4.5 in New York.  In the same comparison, Texas is 450.3 and 5.0.  Reay’s letter was reacting to the typical inaccuracy of a gun freak who spews out whatever garbage the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) tells him to.  The guy, a Californian named Dave Culver, was ranting over the fact that the people of New York were less safe because they had been disarmed by their civic leaders.

To add to Culver’s misinformation, Reay tells us that gun-related robberies and aggravated assault in New York were around 20 percent and 25 percent that of Texas and Arizona, respectively.  (also in FBI Crime Statistics)  With the population growth of cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Houston, the density rate is adding to the problem, and when you give anyone in those metropolitan areas a handgun that asks for it, you are just asking for trouble.

If you want to check out gun laws by state, Wikipedia has excellent access to the data with facts on each facet of buying and carrying a handgun.  For example, New York requires a permit to purchase, the owner must register the weapon, assault weapons are not allowed and there is a limited conceal carry law; you cannot carry a gun into a bar or state offices or government buildings. 

AZ concealed permit no one needs

In direct contrast, Arizona requires no permit to purchase, registration is limited to federal laws, assault weapons are allowed, and anyone, literally anyone, can walk around with a concealed weapon.  Texas laws are very similar to Arizona but the latter stands out as the state with the most lax gun laws in the U.S.  In a ranking by The Daily Beast, Arizona ranked second in gun deaths per 100,000 pop., Texas 23 and New York 45.

The facts don’t lie and don’t talk to me about recent reports that overall crime is down in the U.S.  That would be right but there is still absolutely no excuse for even one murder due to a handgun being in the wrong hands, much less the recent massacres in Tucson and at Virginia Tech.  The above reports even came with the news that shootings—yes, that would require a gun—of law enforcement officials has increased for the second year in a row, 23 percent in 2011.

Common sense suggestions on gun control from Delaware Gov. Jack Markell below:

Paul Helmke, former Mayor of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and also a recent President of The Brady Campaign, exclaims that an astonishing 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check.  To illustrate this, the state of Indiana does not require documentation to either sell or buy firearms.  On the other hand, California is ranked number one for its universal background check system, dealer regulations and assault clip ban. 

And there is where we should start with more gun control.  Ban large capacity magazines like the ones used in Tucson and at Va. Tech.  Require a background check for every firearm purchase to stop mentally ill from getting them.  Close the gun show loophole where private dealers have to require little or no information to purchase a weapon.  By the way, Indiana is tied for 38^th according to the Brady Campaign when it comes to laws preventing gun violence.

With the above revelations, you would think that at least progressive congressional Democrats would get behind legislation for at least the three issues above.  And where has President Obama been on gun control since his election and his reaction to Gabby Giffords shooting?  The American public has also softened on gun control, that is until one of their own is taken from them.  Yes, hindsight can be a great thing but in this case, it is too late.

2 confirmed racists, one a neo-Nazi, run for high Arizona offices

It’s not enough that the valley of the Sun has its “affected” Gov. Jan Brewer, but now there are two other nutcases, one of them recently forced out of office, that aspire to help run the great state of Arizona.  And it is a great state.  Former Governor Carl Hayden once said, "I built this state. Don't let the GOP destroy it!”  Unfortunately, this statement turned into factual intuition on the part of the author.



Russell Pearce recall



Former state senator Russell Pearce, who is a Mormon and the first Arizona legislator ever recalled (last November), has been elected to the top Arizona GOP Party post of 1st Vice Chairman.  In the face of those folks who unanimously voted to oust Pearce from office, state Republicans decided he was fit to be in the party’s No. 2 leadership role, according to spokesman Shane Wikfors.  On Saturday, Wikfors commented, "I will tell you that the two biggest generators of applause at today's meeting was Russell and Sheriff Joe (Arpaio),"  Pathetic.

Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny said, "Arizona has moved past the divisive and corrosive politics of Russell Pearce -- but the Republican Party hasn't," sealing the fact that this pack of fruitcakes does not learn from experience.  There was a movie back in 1948 named The Snake Pit, which portrayed a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum.  I remember scenes from the film as a teenager at the time that depicted patients completely out of touch with reality constantly babbling incoherently.

Following is a must-see Russell Pearce video:

Bingo!  The GOP dominated Arizona state legislature.  These vipers have proceeded to pass laws and practice a type of political suicide that has made the state laughable, placing it at the top of the ‘Who do we ridicule today’ list.  The state’s five Republican congressmen attended the meeting, apparently placing their sign of approval on Pearce’s appointment. 

Russell Pearce was fired from Arizona Motor Vehicles in 1999 for allowing subordinates to tamper with a woman’s driving record.  In 1980 Pearce’s wife Luanne accused him of beating her and said she wanted a divorce.  His two sons have been accused of domestic violence, one, Josh, who allegedly fractured his daughter’s skull and sports a Nazi eagle tattoo on his neck/chest.  Sounds like the perfect Mormon family.

JT Ready 2nd from right

But an even better story is Russell Pearce chum, racist and neo-Nazi J.T. Ready running for Arizona’s Pinal County Sheriff…as a Democrat.  Once a registered Republican, Ready’s answer to why he switched was, "It's the party of Jim Crow, [late U.S. Senator and one-time KKK member] Robert Byrd, and [late Alabama Governor and one-time segregationist] George Wallace.  Exemplary company.  I once asked Ready if he was a member of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and he replied he was but behind on his dues.

However, it is Stephen Lemons Feathered Bastard column in the Phoenix New Times that captures the essence of J.T. Ready.  He supports legalizing marijuana and has referred to Adolph Hitler as a "great white civil rights leader."  He once was a member of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) and still marches with them.  As a one-time close buddy of Russell Pearce, Ready is known for his armed patrol in the Arizona desert looking for illegal immigrants.  His committee chairman is NSM member Harry Hughes, another neo-Nazi racist.



Dept of Justice boots Arpaio



And it wouldn’t be right not to give a nod to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is up for reelection in November.  When you talk about racism along with anti-immigration policies, Sheriff Joe ranks right up there at the top.  The U.S. Dept. of Justice has charged the Sheriff with human-rights violations and the Phoenix Human Relations Committee has just unanimously voted to ask Arpaio to step down. 

This basically completes the inner circle of Arizona’s notoriously best known bigots in politics.

Can Republican HATE politics bring this country down?

GOP Hate and Fear

Daily Kos posted a piece recently, “Why Does The GOP Hate (everything sane)?” that is the best I’ve seen for putting Republican hate-mongering in perspective with its biggest supporter, the Tea Party.  It said, “The GOP has such an easy task when it comes to adapting people's minds to vote for them; Spread hate and they will be yours…”  Sounds like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the master, Karl Rove.  Also reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984 but more on that later.

I Googled “GOP hate” and “Republican hate” and was able to formulate a list of what some pretty influential sites and organizations think Republicans hate, as follows:

Taxes, the poor and hungry, gays, Hispanics, liberals, gun control, animal rights, the truth, women, even those pregnant, the Occupy Movement, Barack Obama, science (as in stem cell research), public education, environmentalism, veterans, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, teachers, unions, and, yes, even other Republicans (as in Newt Gingrich)

There are probably more that I have missed but this will get the ball rolling and I encourage you to add to the list with your comments. 



Norman Lear



Many of us—all but the very young—remember Norman Lear’s TV sitcom All in the Family, starring Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker and Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as the rest of the family.  Archie was a “nice” bigot and was constantly chastised by his son-in-law “Meathead” played by Rob Reiner.  Many thought this character was patterned after Lear who abhorred bigotry.  Because of its insightful humor the show lasted for nine years on CBS.

Lear was concerned over how the religious right could repeatedly disgorge sermons that reeked of politics so he, through his organization People for the American Way, complained to a Los Angeles television station about one of Pat Robertson’s TV program.  Robertson responded with a threat of God’s wrath against him.  Jerry Falwell told his followers, “I am about to name the man that some people believe to be the greatest threat to the American family in our generation: Norman Lear!"

Falwell’s “threat” comment garnered Lear hate mail and death threats, one so threatening that the TV producer had to get protection.  Since most of this religious pack are Republican, it is astonishing that their religion—if that’s what it really is—would allow them to do such a thing, although it is commonplace they would as a right-wing extremist, particularly Tea Partiers.  Lear’s position is that “Our founders clearly intended that there be a level of separation between church and state.”



And as promised, the Orwellian connection between hate and the Republican Party.  In 1984, Emmanuel Goldstein is the face of the “Two Minutes Hate” which the citizens of Oceania were subjected to on a regular basis.  They were whipped up into a tremendous frenzy to hate Goldstein and anything else that didn’t agree with the Party.  What Goldstein said made perfect sense in defying this extremely hellish atmosphere and no matter how much hatred was directed against him and his leftist beliefs, his influence never seemed to grow less.

Sound familiar?  George Orwell was a novelist and political writer who was well acquainted with social injustice in the world.  The proles of Oceania represent the poor and out of work people in the U.S. today who are completely ignored by the GOP in favor of supporting the wealthy and large corporations.  (See the poor and hungry and those on Medicaid in the list above.) 

The difference is, where Goldstein’s followers, above, could only look on in the “Two Minute Hate” but could not take action, the progressive movement has begun to rebut the Republican hate messages with responses of hope.  There is no hope in hate, and the American public is beginning to see through the GOP façade.  And to answer the original question, the answer is NO, the Republican HATE politics will not bring this country down.

If you haven’t already, please check out Norman Lear’s People for the

American Way

.

It’s Official: Arizona’s phony Governor Jan Brewer is a moron



Jan Brewer, Pres. Obama



I’m convinced, and probably most of the rest of the country as well, that Arizona’s laughable governor should register in the class of double-digit IQs.  This, after her recent finger-pointing incident at President Obama on the Mesa, AZ airport tarmac.  It’s like when this state turns Brewer loose on the public there is a guarantee that it will bring on another round of ridicule of a state that is already considered by most of the U.S. as preposterous, at least in its politics.

Yes, unfortunately, the world has seen the coverage of this twit excuse for the head of a state government gone viral in her finger-pointing at Obama that is a huge embarrassment to all.  And now this bungling politician has raised the ire of black activist Jesse Jackson who says her confrontation with Obama was racist.  Actually, I don’t think Brewer has the brains to pull off a genuine racist incident; rather, it was just a publicity stunt for her stupid book.  Other blacks like Al Sharpton and the NAACP have joined in with their own accusations.



Brewer Obama Oval Office



Brewer says it all comes down to something she said in her book about their prior meeting in the Oval Office that Obama said was inaccurate.  Leaving that meeting Brewer said she was encouraged describing it as a “successful” encounter.  But in the book she said: “It was [as] though President Obama thought he could lecture me, and I would learn at his knee.  “He thinks he can humor me and then get rid of me.”  As CNN’s John King said in the video below, you can’t have it both ways, which was it?



Pool reporter, Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown said it certainly wasn’t a normal get-together in Mesa.  “Aside from the pointing, they appeared to talk over each other and he appeared to walk away from her while they were still talking.” Can you blame the man?  Brewer later described Obama as “thin skinned” and “tense,” which he denied.  Immediately following the incident the President moved on through the line of dignitaries being greeted very civilly by Phoenix’s Mayor Greg Stanton and Mesa’s Mayor Scott Smith. 

Mr. Obama made a comment that it was always good publicity for a Republican if they are in an argument with him.  This is based on the degeneration in the relations between the GOP and Obama in the past year.  This deterioration continued the minute Barack Obama stepped off the plane in Mesa and came face to face with Arizona’s version of the great Republican buffoon.  It couldn’t have been planned better if it had been staged by Hollywood.

Local Phoenix newspaper columnist E.J. Montini called Brewer’s behavior “embarrassingly juvenile” continuing to define respect due the highest office in the land as something that “…does not mean sandbagging a president who is about to provide a tremendous public-relations plug for your state.”  He went on to describe Brewer’s feeble-mindedness as third grade, then retracted that as an insult to 3^rd graders and downgraded it to kindergarten.

Bob Schieffer, highly respected CBS chief Washington correspondent said: “I've watched a lot of presidents over the years but I can never recall a president stepping off Air Force One, which is itself a symbol of the presidency and American democracy, and being subject to such rudeness,” referring to Brewer.

And Modern Magazine’s headline says it all, “The Sorry State of Jan Brewer.”  It goes on to call her “Gov. Jan ‘Brew-ha-ha’ Brewer” and laments how she has embarrassed just about anyone who has ever been remotely connected to the Grand Canyon state.

So who is to blame for this sham in the desert?  The people of Arizona.  Not only did they elect this incompetent crackpot entirely due to her support of the anti-immigration law SB-1070, but in a recent poll these same pathetic individuals said they still liked or sorta liked her and her dull-witted GOP dominated state legislature.  Brewer’s job performance came in at 37% excellent/good, 30% fair and 29% poor/very poor.  The legislature was 26%, 25% and 30% respectively.

And this post would not be complete without the reaction of the people in Letters to the Editor of the Arizona Republic.  Out of nine responses, only two favored Brewer in the finger-pointing incident.  The terms used were disgrace, negative impression of state, tasteless show of personal regard, shameful show of self-importance, embarrassment, despicable show by Brewer, and one asked where was that “13 seconds of dumb silence” she displayed in the gubernatorial debates? 

Where the hell were these people in the last election and when the above poll was taken? 

Jan Brewer will certainly go down as the worst governor Arizona has ever had—



Jan Brewer



and this state has had some doozies—perhaps the worst governor ever in the United States.  But Keith Olbermann, political commentator and writer, takes it even further with his evaluation that Jan Brewer is the “worst person in the world.”  You have to see his video here.         

George Orwell lives and so do his “1984” predictions

Geo. Orwell at typewriter

I was prompted to write this post because of another of those privacy naysayers who claims that, although identity theft, which results in the exposure of your most personal data, and which is the number one consumer problem for the Federal Trade Commission, we only have ourselves to blame for its loss.  Pete Cashmore, writing on CNN, says the fact that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was dumped proved George Orwell’s 1984 “woefully incorrect.”  He couldn’t be more wrong.

Agreed, there are those individuals out there—probably in the millions—that willingly give up their private information, mostly due to promises of certain conveniences that seem to these folks more important than protecting their personal data.  There is also a culture that has been expended by data gatherers that has convinced this same group that their information is safe.  It is not.  To support this theory, take a look at a recent NJ post that shows that in 2011 there were 419 breaches of private information exposing 22,918,441 personal records.

Watch a good synopsis of 1984 below:

One of the primary reasons I am so cynical over the security of your personal data is that the junk mail industry grosses over $4 billion annually from selling names and personal information with some placing profits over security.  My authority on this comes from being a junk mail data broker for 35 years.  I have seen the cracks in the damn and some of them still remain despite some efforts by this business to clean up its act.  And hackers may be around to haunt us forever.

Over the years I have written numerous articles you can see here on Orwell, 1984, and how Big Brother is ever present in a society that is driven by information.  Corporations picked up this thirst to know everything about you they can several years ago and maintain huge databases capturing every tidbit of data you will provide.  What the public doesn’t seem to understand is that once it is out there, it is there forever.

Take Google and Facebook alone and you have probably the most massive storehouse of private information available in the U.S.  Facebook’s Zuckerberg has been cited repeatedly for not protecting user data and Google just recently announced they would combine all their databases into one for more ease in profiling Internet surfers.  In my experience one of the worst things that affect consumers’ privacy is the combination of data which can virtually lay out a person’s life in its entirety.

What bothers me most is Pete Cashmore’s blasé attitude toward people giving up their data so easily.  He even compares this to the lack of control in 1984 by the citizens of Oceania where the thought police are everywhere.  There is absolutely no difference between that and the uncontrolled collecting of private information today that lingers in databases across the world which almost any first rate hacker can access. 

And the fact that consumers compound that by giving up their personal data so willingly only means that we are on the way to an unavoidable major disaster.

Research shows that Orwell actually predicted the Internet in the second draft of his dystopian novel but decided to cut this before publication.  There is no way to know just how the man envisioned this current feat of genius but it would be clear to me that he would not approve of it in any way challenging the right to privacy of Americans or the citizens of Oceania.

For the best site to explore George Orwell and 1984 go to Orwell Today.

Can Newt Gingrich beat President Obama?

James Carville, Mary Matalin

James Carville is the political genius that got Bill Clinton elected President in 1992 and has hung around for years now advising other Democratic candidates.  I think he has an edge being married to expert Republican consultant, Mary Matalin.  Nothing like bouncing ideas off your opponent.  Carville recently said to the GOP re. its primary candidates: “You have a disaster on your hands.”  It was actually sent to the Republican establishment naming such members as Bill Bennett, Karl Rove and Bill Kristol.

In my book, that covers the bottom of the barrel.  But former White house press secretary for George W. Bush, Ari Fleischer, proceeds to tell us what Carville doesn’t get about Republicans.  He does have a good point about the missed prediction by Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) in underestimating the Tea Party appeal in the 2010 election.  In another instance, Reagan’s 1980 win unexpected by Dems because they didn’t think he appealed to mainstream voters.

However, it’s Fleischer who is completely out of touch with reality when he says, “…Democrats are so bent on seeing Republicans as a bunch of angry, right wing, intolerant, unreliable extremists that they have a track record of missing the mood of the country…”  Come on, everyone knows that Republicans are a bunch of angry, right wing, intolerant, unreliable extremists: even some Republicans admit it.  Although Fleischer doesn’t endorse Gingrich, he says he could win the nomination or he could simply “blow up his chances.”

Carville thinks that Mitt Romney is only in the beginnings of explaining his tax returns indicating as a seasoned politician, he should have known this was coming.  This is only on the surface and he wonders if there is anything else volatile yet to come.  If there is you can bet Gingrich’s people will find it.  Of course, the latter has to explain his $1.6 consultancy with Freddie Mac and the fact that he has been married three times.  But if he got through the So. Carolina religious right with that baggage, he is probably home free.

And then David Frum, former special assistant to Geo. W. Bush, comments on CNN that GOP leaders don’t trust Gingrich and tells us why.  There were 4 primary reasons: 1) His grandiose enthusiasm for divisive rhetoric; 2) Using talking points that go over big on talk shows but do not address issues; 3) Many of the man’s co-workers think he shouldn’t be trusted with executive power; 4) His opinion that Gingrich is one of the most disliked people in politics.  There was also the advice to Bush in 2004 that turned out to be irrelevant to the election.

According to Frum, the irrelevancy of these 5 points (see them in the CNN article above) that Gingrich urged Bush to focus on was not because he didn’t think that there were substantive issues then like the inflating housing bubble, but rather because his 5 points were designed to define the opponent John Kerry as “alien, hostile and dangerous.”  In other words, campaign politics as usual and doesn’t this remind you of the hate advertising approach created by Karl Rove?



Newt Gingrich



Frum is probably right about Gingrich but gets an “F” on his assessment of Obama re. being a President out of touch with the world, who was able to con himself into the White House.  Pretty pathetic, in view of the fact Frum’s former boss, GWB, seems to fit perfectly into that profile.

Gingrich is an insider and still seems to weigh in heavily when it comes to GOP ideology.  Case in point is his Contract with America which swept Republicans into control of the House in 1994 for the first time in 40 years.  But recently the right has done little to whet the appetite of the American public, except for the radical fruitcakes in the Tea Party who have some mystical control over the GOP and who have succeeded in blocking almost everything Barack Obama has tried to accomplish in the last three years.

In summary, against Gingrich, Obama will win more electoral votes this November than he did in 2008.

Gun insanity…state by state



Typical NRA sidearm

I am always looking for ways to explore the craziness of gun freaks who think more of their firearms than their own family. Otherwise, why would these morons leave their weapons around for children to play with? They act as if their 2nd Amendment rights are more important than their country; many of these twits can carry a concealed weapon around on the streets of their city with no permit, no background check and little if any educational training on how to use it.

Since President Obama and Congress have decided they will do nothing about more gun control enforcement, the states have decided to have a field day and pass more gun rights laws and loosen those already on the books.  The National Rifle Assn. (NRA) is licking its lips with the satisfaction of a demented fiend that is feeding off an equally demented following of losers.  If you don’t believe me, take one look at Wayne LaPierre, the “conspiracy a minute” Exec. V.P. of the NRA, when someone mentions gun control.

Wayne LaPierre befuddled

So I plan to cover the insanities of those states that seemingly make this issue a priority over education, the needy, the children, healthcare and a host of other matters that should take prominence over the idiosyncrasies of this disturbed group.  And where better to start than Arizona, the state with the loosest gun laws in the nation.

ARIZONA: State Sen. Ron Gould, a part of Arizona’s inept Republican legislature, wants to require colleges and universities to allow concealed weapons on campus…again.  Forged Gov. Jan Brewer has already shot his bill down once saying it was “poorly written.” 

FLORIDA: It is now legal to take your Glock with you to the maternity ward while giving birth so you can thrust it in the hands of your newly born to make sure he or she is fully protected when leaving the hospital.

NEW YORK: Tea Party crackpot Mark Meckler, licensed to carry a gun in California, felt he had the right to check his Glock pistol with 19 cartridges in along with himself.  He spent the day in jail and eventually left on a felony weapons charge.

WISCONSIN: 47-year-old Mark Manning from Indiana with a license to carry in Wisconsin was charged with threatening a truck driver on an Interstate highway.  Seems like muttonhead Manning cut off the semi and when the truck flashed its bright lights on the car, Manning pointed a gun back at the semi.

ARIZONA-AGAIN: a 7-year-old from Mesa was detained in school after a handgun he had brought with him in his backpack that day discharged on a loaded bus.  Fortunately, no one was injured.  The kid got the weapon from a closet at his home.

NEW YORK: Damark King was apparently trying to settle a score with someone when he blasted 5 rounds in a courtyard hitting a 21-month-old in a stroller in the face causing her to lose an eye.  I didn’t say NY-AGAIN because King had brought the 9mm handgun with him from Arizona with an expired license to sell it in New York.

ARIZONA-AGAIN: In a humorous appeal to a newspaper columnist in the rural town of Green Valley, a wife laments over the recent purchase by her 70-year-old husband of a shotgun and a .38 revolver he takes everywhere he goes.  The wife says she isn’t convinced he knows how to use the guns and fears that he will accidentally shoot her, himself or an innocent bystander.

Thanks to the Arizona Republic, The Globe and Mail, CBS News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Huffington Post, Staten Island Live and the Green Valley News/Sahuarita Sun

More fun and games with guns later.















What you can do to prevent identity theft in 2012

The Identity Theft Research Center (ITRC) has come up with 10 guidelines to help keep your personal data secure in 2012.  I’ll get to that shortly but first you should know that I worked in the junk mail industry for 35 years selling your names and private information to companies that use it to target customers.  During this time I raised red flags over the lack of security for this massive dossier on almost every American household, basically falling on deaf ears. 

I won’t get into specifics on just what junk mailers, financial institutions, corporations, and the government gather in their quest to find out everything possible about every individual in the U.S.  Suffice it to say, there is almost nothing they don’t know about you and have at their fingertips to use at will.  You probably already know about all the secret data factors available on you, yet many Americans could care less about protecting it. 

The reason junk mailers refused to listen to warnings of loose data is that this is one of the most profitable profit centers in any business.  By my calculations, selling your name and personal data grosses the junk mail industry alone over $4 billion annually.  Marketing this information has a 60 percent profit margin.  But the reason you are apathetic about protecting your private information is that you think identity theft won’t happen to you.  And then it does. 

In 2011 there were 419 breaches of private information exposing 22,918,441 personal records.  If you weren’t included in 2011 you could be in 2012. 

I was amazed recently to read a question in the newspaper directed to a consumer advocate exclaiming their surprise at finding things like their name, address, age, etc. when Googling themselves on the Internet.  All of a sudden they were concerned over how to prevent this data from being released.  There is no way to stop the flow of private information, and this made me wonder under just what rock this individual has been living.

Zappos, an online company selling shoes, is one of the largest most recent breaches where hackers may have accessed some 24 million customer records this month.  These include names, mailing and billing addresses, phone numbers, truncated credit card numbers and “cryptographically scrambled” passwords.  The company says there is little risk to the credit card numbers but a combination of everything taken can lead the crooks right to your most personal information.

My advice to those customers breached is to access their credit card and bank accounts on a daily basis to make sure there are no suspicious charges.  Look for the small amounts around $6.00 since this is where they usually start, then, with success, go on to larger amounts.  We shop with Zappos, whose service is the best in the country, and now I am checking the account we used at least once every day.  If they have your data it won’t take long for them to use it. 

Now that you are reasonably fortified with facts and advice, let’s get down to those 10 resolutions that Identity ITRC suggests you make in 2012:

1. Never carry your Social Security card in your wallet.  Best to put it in a safety deposit box but at least locked up at home.
2. Never give out your SS number unless absolutely necessary.  You can even try to deny it in some financial and medical transactions unless it is required for service.
3. Buy a good cross-cut shredder and use it on any document with SS#, birth date, medical numbers, etc.
4. Order regular credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228, one from each of the three credit bureaus every four months.
5. If you don’t already have a secure community mailbox, think about investing in one of your own, and take your outgoing mail to the post office.
6. Don’t use the same password for all accounts, including bank accounts and change them regularly.
7. Limit what you share online.  This has fallen on deaf hears recently as consumers give up their most private information just for convenience, like in Facebook.
8. Know who you are buying from online.  Check them out through your local BBB and make sure they have a secure payment system.  Use a credit card instead of your debit card if possible.
9. Monitor all you financial accounts regularly, particularly your bank account online if you use your debit card; I do mine twice daily.
10. Protect your checks and deposit slips like gold; they’re flush with information like your account number, usually name and address.

If you have questions about any of these tips, go to Identity Theft Resource Center for help on answering any of your questions on ID theft.  ITRC is a non-profit and lives off contributions from the public so help them out if you can.