Together We Can Change History!

Together we can change history, Or at least we can correct it.

R. Parker from the windy city posted my comments lamenting the fact that I lost out on a lunch due to misinformation from Our Campaigns, on the Our Campaigns web site. Within 20 minutes of R. Parker's post, the web site was corrected. If you don't remember back in July, I made an attempt to win a free lunch from Joe when he had a contest on his blog which offered the meal if you could answer this question: What were the names of the four candidates who sought the 1982 Democratic nomination for the District 3 northern congressional seat in New Mexico. One of the names I submitted was Charles Perez which I obtained from Our Campaigns, Joe insisted this was incorrect and that the candidate was actually George Perez.

I claimed a conspiracy and called for a congressional investigation. LOL. Anyway, today I found a large number of visits to my blog from the Our Campaigns website. I investigated and found that R. Parker posted my comments along with a link to my blogpost. about 20 people followed the link to my blog. George can now relax knowing that history has been corrected. And me ? I'm still hungry.

O.J. Simpson In Jail Again.

After a busy Saturday, I was watching E Hollywood True Story on Sunday, relaxing with my granddaughter when the show was interrupted for breaking news. O.J. Simpson was in jail again, this time the charges were not yet released but it was related to a reported armed robbery in Sin City. This case is very interesting in that O.J. and some acquaintances are accused of breaking into a hotel room at the Palace Station Hotel and retrieving some personal belongings he claims were stolen from him years ago. O.J. and accomplices are accused of taking these items at gunpoint.

He has made statements to police and the press and claims he did go to the room and retrieve items that were stolen from him, however he denies doing so at gunpoint. There seems to be no dispute that the items were stolen from him years ago. Therefor all he had to do was call the police and have them retrieve the items rather than engaging in his own sting operation. This will probably be a text book case for not taking the law into your own hands. What I have not seen happen yet is whether the alleged victims in the case will also be charged with possession of stolen items. The fact that the victims reported the crime seems to mean they are not afraid of being investigated.

Casino's are usually filled with camera's and O.J.'s trip from the lobby to the room is probably on film footage some where. That footage may or may not reveal some evidence. The fact that two weapons have reportedly been recovered and a previous arrest was already made means the noose is tightening around the case. Everyone remembers the first O.J. case and I am sure the D.A.'s Office in this case made sure they had a case before making the arrest.

The police department in this case is in a no win situation. The first line of defense will be to attack the police. Remind you of the last O.J. case? Police will be accused of "going after O.J." because he is a celebrity, because they wanted to get him after the last case, or just because.

O.J. will be made out to be the victim. Someone who could not rely on police, or did not trust the police so he had to take the law into his own hands in this case. In Sin City there is a good chance a jury will buy this argument. In one of the most liberal, do as you wish cities in America two wrongs just might make a right. I personally could never believe the verdict in the last O.J. Simpson case. As a police officer I have seen cases go awry when they go from the investigation to the courthouse. I have also seen local attorneys like Gary Mitchell make the police out to be the bad guys and in the process set a killer free. Don't get me wrong the defense attorney's were doing their job and in the battle of the courtroom they prevailed in the eyes of a jury. It is the system we call American Justice and most of the time it does work. None the less I still could not believe the O.J. verdict.

I can see the pavlov's dogs rushing to eat as the media hears O.J.'s bell being rung. It will be a long fall where my guess is we will see not much else on the news for the next few months. Of course maybe I am just as bad, I am here writing about it also.

Interesting comments on previous post

There has been some interesting comments on one of my previous posts. In the post I ended my ramblings with a comment on Eye on Albuquerque's thoughts on whether I will continue blogging now that I have announced a run for Lieutenant Governor. I ended my post with a the quote "you never have to remember what you said if you always say the truth".

This has sparked interesting comments and even a lesson from one reader on how to lie effectively. It's not the kind of thing I thought people would learn by reading my blog but they are some interesting comments.

Tips to prevent burglaries.

As reported first by the Santa Fe New Mexican's Jason Auslander and then picked up by all the rest of the media, the demographics have changed in residential burglaries during the last few months in Santa Fe County. One of the interesting notes in many of these burglaries is the fact that many of these homes had alarm systems which the owners did not activate before they left the home. This brings to mind the fact that this is a good time to remind everyone on some simple steps you can take to prevent burglaries at your home.

• Make your home look occupied, and make it difficult to break into.

• Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed. Even if it is for a short time, lock your doors.

• Leave lights on when you go out. If you are going to be away, connect some lamps to automatic timers to turn them on in the evening and off during the day. Use motion detector lights outside.

• Keep your garage door closed and locked.

• Don't allow daily deliveries of mail, newspapers or fliers to build up while you are away. Arrange with the post office to hold your mail, or arrange for a friend or neighbor to take them regularly.

• Push-button locks on doorknobs are easy for burglars to open. Install deadbolt locks on all your outside doors.

• Know who belongs or does not belong in your neighborhood. If someone looks suspicious, call the police to have them checked out.

• Keep your yard clean and bushes and trees trimmed. You don't want to give burglars a place to hide or remain concealed as they come in and out of your yard.

• If you have an alarm system, use it, even if you are only leaving for a short time. While they may not prevent burglary's they do reduce the amount of items taken and many times when the alarm goes off the burglar will leave with out taking anything. Whether you have an alarm system or not buy signs that say you have an alarm and place them around your home.
  

The thing about burglaries is that one or two people can do 5 or 6 burglaries in a day. A few days of doing this and the crime rate can rise dramatically in just a short time. When we catch these persons the crime rate drops just as dramatically. We will catch these people and things will return to normal. The most effective way to catch these burglars is through help from the public. Deputies can not be everywhere and most burglars are caught when someone calls in a suspicious person or vehicle or when a burglar is caught in the act. I ask everyone to be extra vigilant and be our eyes and ears, it is a cliche but its also very true that crime prevention begins at home.

Tribute to September 11, 2001 Victims.

Today we honor the sixth anniversary of those who died in the September 11, 2001 Attacks on America.

2948 Victims died on that day.

3251 Children lost a parent on that day. The youngest victim was 2 year old Christie Hanson, the oldest was 85 year old Robert Grant Norton.

333 Firefighters and 60 Law Enforcement Officers, and 125 members or our Armed Forces died that day.

How do we honor those heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice on that day? We raise a new generation of heroes. Ready to take their place. Years ago we had hundreds of applicants for Police and Firefighter jobs. Today across New Mexico we have hundreds of vacancy's for these positions. Parents, talk to your children about the honor and pride of serving your country and your community. Lets raise a new generation of heroes.

Below is my tribute to the victims of 9-11.

Alfred Gilles Padre Joseph Marchand- The only New Mexican to die in the September 11, Attacks. He was a retired Alamogordo Police Officer who wanted to be a pilot someday. He was working as a flight attendant on United Flight 175 which was crashed into the World Trade Center South Tower.

Names of those Killed in the September 11 Attacks.

Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics.

Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes.

Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

* Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819

* Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

* Number of NYPD officers: 23

* Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

* Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

* Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

* Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

* Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658

* Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22

* Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

* Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1

* Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39

* Bodies found "intact": 289

* Body parts found: 19,858

* Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

* Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

* Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

* Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

* Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

* Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661

* Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300

* Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

* Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

* Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

* Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

* Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

* Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

* Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

* Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26

* Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on
American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714

* Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

* Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

* Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million

* Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

* Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

* Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul
lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

* Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to
overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion

* Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to
NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

* Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25

* Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million

* Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9

* Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40

* Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50

* Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered "inappropriate" to play after 9/11: 150

* Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26

* Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000

* Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110

* Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans
from plane to train or car: 1.4 million

* Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress
disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

Albuquerque Public School Board Votes to Arm Officers

Earlier this evening the Albuquerque Public School Board voted 4-3 to create their own certified police force and to allow officers to carry guns on school campuses. At least half of this vote was a no brainer to me. When someone sees an officer in uniform they expect that if something goes wrong the officer is equipped and trained to handle and help. Whether the problem is on school grounds or across the street, when someone runs up to the officer for help he or she must be able to respond. If we just want someone to run up to an armed encounter and yell at the kids or run to the phone and call for help we might as well just let the gym teacher and principal patrol the school grounds.

In Albuquerque the majority of the A.P.S. officers are retired or former police officers with years of training and experience. You don't send a carpenter to build a cabinet with out his hammer. Police have many tools as well, the most important is common sense and what those in the profession call verbal judo. This is the ability to handle a situation through verbal skills and the ability to reason individuals into complying or using their police authority to obtain compliance. When dealing with unreasonable, deadly and armed individuals that is when an officer must reach into their tool belt, ( my son when he was young called it my batman belt), and use the other tools they have. Firearms are an unfortunate but necessary tool which can not just take a life but save one as well.

I am not sure why this vote was not 6 to 1 or 7 to 0 but at least they got it right. Yes training and certification costs will increase but so will the ability to take real action when and if the need arises. Can you just imagine your child running from a gunman and the officer running to the parking lot to get his or her weapon from the car trunk? The weapon might as well be at home in the dresser drawer. My daughter is a sophomore in high school in Santa Fe. Although we do not have full time officers in schools, when the officers are in the school I would not want one that has to run to their car to get their tool belt.

Bloggers vs Newspapers?

Among the 46 blogs I keep tabs on and regularly read is "Burque Babble". The blog is written by Scot Key a middle school teacher of humanities and film. In his latest blog titled "On Blogging, The Tribune and Wearing Really Tight Clothing" he discusses the expected demise of the Albuquerque Tribune and Bloggers. He talks about what a blogger is and then discusses how blogging needs to develop more credibility. In the below excerpt he lists what he feels bloggers are missing.

Unfortunately, what’s missing from even the most laudable of blog reporting is: A. a sense of what used to be known as “credibility”; B. a readership that goes beyond the micro-community. All blog news reading is filtered by an assumption of bias, and the fact that nobody is reading anyone from the other political side. It reminds one of the old days where all newspapers were openly one-sided, only with fewer rich wingnuts running fewer newspapers and more geek wingnuts running more blogs.

I like to think there are many flavors of bloggers out there however, one of the things I like about reading blogs and writing them is the fact that they are biased. I don't read them for the news although Joe Monahan's and Heath Haussamen's blog among others contain news mixed with some slant or opinion of the news. I read them for the opinion pieces, I have to admit I read blogs that are completely opposite of what I believe although I favor those whom lean towards my beliefs. One thing I decided not to do was to promote blogs which do not agree with my philosophical and political beliefs. Therefor their are some blogs which I read however I do not list them in my links on my own blogs.

I listen to a lot of talk radio and from time to time, when I can stomach it, I listen to Rush Limbaugh and other left wing radical radio shows. It is good to see what the other side is saying and what their perspectives on the issues are. Each morning the first thing I do is make a quick run through the online editions of several newspapers and the 46 blogs I monitor. I use bloglines to keep track of all the blogs and recommend it to others.

I read the papers for news and the blogs for opinions, fun, and curiosity as well as some political news you wont find in the standard media. To be honest I like it that way. When bloggers move towards traditional news is when the real power and reasons to read blogs will go away. I write blogs because it allows my creative side to speak out and allows me to say to the world ( or at least my small readership part of the world) what I want to say in the way I want to say it.

The world according to Greg.