Mike Hawk's Journal: Perspective, stuff I know

In light of freeway shootings becoming trendy again over the last few days, here's some things:

There are 39,000 known gang members in the city of Los Angeles. This is about 2 army divisions. This is an occupying army corps.

An average resident of Los Angeles is more likely to be suffering "post-traumatic stress disorder" than a soldier returning home from Iraq.

Among urban youth in Los Angeles, 50% of sixth graders have been exposed to violence within the last year, while 30% had been directly threatened with a knife or gun.

Special Order 40, which originated 17 years ago with the L.A. City Council, mandates that police not question anyone they arrest about their immigration status until after criminal charges have been made. It basically orders the police to not enforce immigration law. Both remaining mayoral candidates (both Democrats) support Special Order 40 and dismiss calls for its repeal. It may be the only standing order in the history of the world preventing local police from enforcing a law.

In the LAUSD, just 39 percent of Latino students and 47 percent of African-American students graduate in four years. The state has a graduation rate of 87%, but LAUSD is at 71%. I could not find what the state-wide rate would be if the LAUSD was not counted.

50% of the parents of children in Los Angeles don't speak English at home.

I don't live in LA, but I definitely drive on those freeways where random people are getting shot.

Update based on more info I found while researching my comments: The LA Times claims that 60% of the 20,000 member strong 18th Street gang are illegal immigrants. Weird that everyone knows this and noone is willing to do anything about it.

Totally off topic, except to the subject line

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Or maybe on topic, I don't know. But this is the most profound thing I've ever read by anybody- and it fits the subject line if not having direct application to gang violence:

Perspective- Use it or Lose it

You will die a violent, bloody death- so get used to it. Just don't laugh on your way to the executioner- your disciples and other less advanced souls won't understand the joke

On second thought- this does fit. And here's how- there is no proof at all that being mentally unstable is any different

Re:Totally off topic, except to the subject line

[Mike Hawk]

If you don't want to be a messiah as well, I'd suggest getting the hell out of the city- the class warfare is turning hot, and it will get MUCH worse before it gets better.

Thanks for the advise, but so far its the poor shooting the poor. Its tough to say sometimes, but so far this looks more like an area that was a traditionally black neighborhood being taken over by hispanic gangs. Typical LA stuff, should be over in a few weeks. Or maybe its one dude like in DC. Too soon to tell. So far they have

2nd more on topic: Special Order 40

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Special Order 40 isn't alone- Oregon has a state law much like it, as does every state in the union that relies on cheap, illegal, immigrant labor. I'm personally against such laws- but while agreed to for humanitarian reasons by Democrats, they are largely originally proposed by Republicans who take money from illegal-labor dependant businesses to look the other way.

There's only one real way to end this farce- by putting business owners and hiring managers who hire illegally in jail for criminal conspira

Re:2nd more on topic: Special Order 40

[Mike Hawk]

I'm personally against such laws- but while agreed to for humanitarian reasons by Democrats, they are largely originally proposed by Republicans who take money from illegal-labor dependant businesses to look the other way.

Good attack, but thats nonsense. First off, its not very humanitarian when it creates a gang (18th Street) of 20,000 people, 60% of which the LA Times claims are illegal immigrants. Democrats are 100% equally on the take, if not more so since they are looking the people in the eye an

Re:2nd more on topic: Special Order 40

[Marxist Hacker 42]

don't think our positions on illegal immgration differ that much, except for your silly attempts to use it to demonize Republicans. Republicans in LA! That'll be the day.

Agreed, I should have said here in Oregon it seems to be coming from Republicans originally (though the truly pro-immigrant people in the Democratic party are only too happy to make the allegiance of such people. Latest here is driver's licenses allowing illegal immigrants to vote). ALSO, there are more anti-immigration people in the

Hey!!!

[On Lawn]

Add links to those amazing facts!

Re:Hey!!!

[Mike Hawk]

I will, but it may take a little bit. Quite a few are from a recently published paper from UCLA that isn't on the web anywhere I can find yet. I don't want to have links for some and not others. The rest are rather easy searches. I'll keep looking for that paper later tonight.

Oregon, too

[peacefinder]

It basically orders the police to not enforce immigration law. [...] It may be the only standing order in the history of the world preventing local police from enforcing a law.

Actually, according to Oregon state law, local law enforcement is prohibited from using resources to apprehend people whose only offense is a federal immigration violation. (Police can still report anyone they arrest to INS, so it's not a huge burden on LE.) This law was put in force in the late eighties, I believe, in response to I

Re:Oregon, too

[Mike Hawk]

This allowed law enforcement to attack crime,

Well you can see from the other tidbits how well it is working. We've given it 26 years. I'm up for trying something else.

Indeed, Black/Urban People Have Problems

[the_mad_poster]

To wit, you are correct... I suppose a stopped clock is right twice a day, though.

In fact, since the black community is the minority in this country, and the white community is by far the majority, I think it's time to let go of the failed social programs of the old liberal-era administrations and admit that there's a problem with the inner cities that can't be solved with these pansy soft glove approaches of integration and welfare.

It's not so much that there are problems with the laws you cite specifica

Behind The Scenes

[mercedo]

Seems to me you are good at making a whole image from a scattered statistical data, good job, Mike. Special Order 40 might be devised with respect to nullifying a biased presumption based on residential status, which might have functioned well to eliminate anxiety over illegal immigrants only for their unlawful stay, however the order came up with a loophole for those who are engaged in organised crime unfortunately.

This order no more serves to nullify the social tention based on race, which is so importa