IS A GANGSTER A TERRORIST?
I got a very interesting email yesterday from a regular reader. He mentioned the young Palestinian boy with the explosive vest who was stopped by Israeli checkpoint troopers. The reader made a comparison between HAMAS using easily-controlled kids to do their bidding and our own local gangsters who do the same.
He wondered if we couldn’t apply the term “terrorist” to our home-grown gangsters since they seem to employ the same tactics as terrorist groups. At least when it comes to manipulating impressionable young people to do dirty deeds.
That’s a tough one. Agreed, some of the tactics are the same. Like the PLO, and others, gangs intimidate and victimize their neighbors and everyone in the neighborhoods they claim. That’s a chronic problem when law enforcement comes knocking for eyewitnesses to a crime. Nobody sees or knows anything.
So in a way, you could say that gangs use terror to further their goals. But so do the Italian Mafia and every other criminal organization. Terror is the currency of criminals. But my sense is that the term “TERRORIST” should be reserved exclusively for islamo-fascists and other groups who have an agenda far more ambitious than the aims of street gangs. Street gangs don’t want to bring down a government. In fact, they like this one just fine the way it is. Under most other justice systems, there’s no such thing as a jury trial, free lawyers, sentencing guidelines or appeals for murder convictions. Even a drug conviction can get you executed in Red China and many parts of the Middle East. Here, the County sends a car to your house to bring you to the treatment center if you can't get a ride.
Like liquor and antibiotics, the term TERRORIST should be used sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. Throwing it around too loosely dilutes the impact to the point that it becomes meaningless.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
OVERCOMING WRITER'S CELL BLOCK
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
OVERCOMING WRITER'S CELL BLOCK
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
OVERCOMING WRITER'S CELL BLOCK
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
I took the LAT to task in my last post for that meandering piece JILL LEOVY did on -- well I'm not sure what it was about except an AK-47, lots of shootings and something about elusive gangsters.
Today, I've got to thank the TIMES for alerting me to two bills that passed committee in the State Assembly and the Senate. JENIFER WARREN has the byline. Both bills would make it easier to visit state inmates. And boy, could it ever be made easier. In a word, prison visits are a pain in the ass.
Here's how it works. Once you contact an inmate by mail and he agrees to talk to you, you fill out a form and mail it to the particular institution. The prison then sends the paperwork over to the CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF JUSTICE where they do a background check on you. That process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. On one hair-pulling, teeth gnashing, phone slamming occasion, it took me nine -- count 'em nine -- months to get the DOJ clearance. Of course, they'd cleared me numerous times before but somehow they couldn't find my paperwork. They kindly offered to have me PAY to get fingerprinted again. I don't mind the fingerprint part. It's the paying for it AGAIN that pissed me off. I'm hoping they're better at tracking terrorists than they are at finding people who pester them twice a week, every week, for nine months.
Once you do get clearance to visit an inmate, that permission is apparently only good at that institution. I've had several occasions where I got permission to vist a guy in SUSANVILLE let's say. Then found out he'd been moved to MULE CREEK. The SUSANVILLE permission wasn't good at MULE CREEK so I had to apply all over again. Technically, all the CDC institutions are supposed to be linked to the same visitor database and the system should be the same all over the state. In reality, each institution is a sovereign entity and doesn't have to recognize policies from other institutions.
Once you do get to visit, the TIMES piece correctly points out that you're not allowed to bring a notebook or a writing instrument. I can understand the reason for that. One way of smuggling drugs into a prison is to soak paper in anything from liquid meth to LSD. And it's easy to pass an innocent looking sheet of paper to an inmate in a CONTACT VISIT situation. Same thing with a pen. Even a .39 cent BIC can make a devastating stabbing weapon if delivered somewhere soft and jellatinoid like an eyeball. So yeah, these are real concerns for prison officials.
The facility sometimes provide you with a few sheets of paper and the tiny nub of a pencil. The reason for the tiny pencil, of course, is that it's tough to use as a stabbing device. I can understand that. So why don't they let us bring a laptop. I've never heard of anyone getting stabbed or shot with a laptop. And what's with the no recording device?
On NO CONTACT visits, (the glass walls and phones you've seen on TV) I have been allowed to bring a notebook and pen. But no tape recorder or laptop. Trust me, there's nothing you can pass through those walls except looks.
I sympathize with the CDC. One of the big problems they have is information flowing into and out of jails. I'm not talking about the kind of information writers and journos are after but the kind that can get people killed on the street or in other prisons -- GREENLIGHTS, ORDERS etc. So if the CDC wants to monitor my conversation, have at it. They'll be reading about it anyway. Same goes for letters. This is a very serious concern for the prisons and dropping the standards for easier access is just one more avenue the bad guys can exploit for evil purposes. Even with the strict regulations, the prisons are already as leaky as a HAITIAN refugee boat. And the gangster intelligence net is impressively effective and robust. Giving bad guys another communication channel will not serve society.
Another issue the TIMES raises is the possibility of glorifying criminals through interviews with media. This is an argument made by victims groups and LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is another legitimate point. You can imagine what some supermarket tabloid or "reality" media would do with audio and video access to people like DAHMER, NG and that psycho with the BOB MARLEY hair that killed his wives/daughters and his children/grandchildren. It's bad enough having a loved one murdered. Seeing the murderer on TV sandwiched between a segment on J-LO's ring and COURTNEY LOVE's boob flashing is just a heartless opening of wounds. This is a tough issue and I'm not sure if anyone can construct a policy that would prevent disgusting exploitation and still allow even-handed access. SB1164, the bill under discussion would allow cameras, notebooks and recording devices in jail interviews. Good luck on threading through that minefield. It would make my work easier but it could turn into NBC's NATURAL BORN KILLER OF THE WEEK SHOW.
Clearly, I've got a dog in this fight and I'd like to have access that's more streamlined and one that makes it easier to do my work. I'd like to have a still camera and a tape recorder. I wish it would happen. And I hope those who might abuse the privilege don't make me regret that my wish came true.
Monday, March 22, 2004
CONFUSED BY THE LA TIMES? ME TOO.
In the March 22 LA TIMES, JILL LEOVY has one of her patented confuse-o-rama gang pieces, the kind that leave you less informed at the end than you were at the start.
Let’s start with the headline and sub-head. It reads as follows:
WEB OF CRIME PROVES TOUGH TO UNTANGLE
A small, changing gang cell appears responsible for some of the worst violence in South L.A.
Wow. Knock out story. I thought this was going to be a piece about the SOUTH LA equivalent of MURDER INC., the infamous Italian MAFIA murder-for-hire squad. The first three sentences certainly seem to point in that direction. Multiple murders, same area, same weapon. Whoah. Sounds like hard-core gunslingers taking out enemies either for fun or profit. .
But then you get to the meat of the piece and realize this is just LEOVY’S undigested, poorly-thought out and confused take on the criminal life. It turn out that an AK-47 semi-auto rifle, a .45 and a 9 mm handgun, in various combinations, were connected to a dozen shootings.
But then the AK-47 was confiscated and some of the shooters arrested and – SURPRISE, SURPRISE – other shootings and murders happened that involved semi-auto AK-style rifles and handguns. What gives?
The whole premise of the piece starts falling apart and then completely goes off the rails when LEOVY starts citing statistics that a third of murder defendants have no previous criminal record. Where'd that come from?
Then the piece really crashes and burns when she quotes South Bureau DC EARL PAYSINGER who says that chasing the guns is less important than finding the shooters. After all, he says, “people pull the trigger.” So what happened to the connection with the magic gun that did all the shooting? Nothing about this piece tracked. Just like her disconnected interview on PACIFICA RADIO some months back.
JILL, just FYI, here’s the deal with guns and gangsters.
Let’s start with the basics. There are two categories of guns we’re talking about here. First is the purely defensive carry gun. This could be anything from a tiny .22 to full-house .45 ACP.
Generally speaking, the carry piece is clean. And concealable, natch. It may have been used in a crime somewhere, sometime in the past, but the current owner probably doesn’t know about that. Given a choice, a criminal would much rather carry a clean gun than a dirty one. Just in case he's stopped by cops and they find it. Common sense.
The carry piece, as I said, is a DEFENSIVE firearm. It’s carried for that “Oh SHIT!” moment when the owner encounters a rival gangster or is suddenly drawn down on by a drive by shooter. In the military they call this surprise firefight a “meeting engagement.” In fact, last week two known gangsters walked on a murder charge because they fired in self-defense in response to a drive-by. See earlier post.
These are broad strokes I’m taking here, but generally speaking, gangs have a stash of OFFENSIVE guns. It could be a single gun or a closet full. Whether or not she’s aware of it, the subject of LEOVY’s story is the OFFENSIVE weapon. This is a weapon a shooter would “draw” from the ARMORY, if you will, to do a mission. The term ARMORY is not something a gangster would use, but in effect, that’s what it is. Most of the time, OFFENSIVE guns are long guns – rifles and shotguns. Handguns, unless used in short range situations, are a bad choice for a drive by or if you’re planning on firing into a car or through the walls of a house. Again, this is speaking generally. Sometimes handguns are used by secondary shooters as suppression fire weapons to keep opponents heads down while the primary shooter cuts loose with the long gun. In truth, virtually every kind of gun you can imagine has been used in drive-bys, but here LEOVY was talking about an AK-47.
It’s no surprise that a single long gun like the one in her piece would be used multiple times because chances are, that gun is "controlled" by a big homie. It could be stashed in the homie’s house or at the house of someone he trusts. The ARMORY, if you will. The armory "supervisor" may not even be a gang member but may be just an affiliate or somebody that owes the gang something.
Drive by shootings are planned, as opposed to the “meeting engagement” mentioned earlier. Some are planned better that others. Read “MONSTER” by CODY SCOTT or talk to gangsters and you’ll learn that part of the most minimal planning process is “how we strapped?” Which means what guns are available, who’s got them, where’s the ammo and who takes the guns back after we’re done?
Sometimes, the guns in the ARMORY are traded for other weapons which may have just as bad a history but come from another part of the county. The ARMORY stock is fluid. Guns come and go. They’re used as currency to buy drugs or buy a knucklehead out of a tough spot. If you owe your dealer a wad, he’ll probably take a gun in payment or partial payment. And that gun will get traded around or bought or just change hands when some homie gets arrested and goes to jail.
OFFENSIVE long guns, unlike the cheapo throwaway .22s and .380, don’t get dumped in ECHO PARK LAKE or into somebody’s back yard. They’re too valuable for that. They get returned and recycled for other operations even if they’re super hot with lots of crimes to their credit. In fact, a gun with a long criminal history can be an asset to the defense in court.
Think of this scenario. You’re a 16-year-old active gangster who’s just been connected to a homicide. You don’t have much of a criminal history as is the case with 30% of murder defendants, according to LEOVY’S piece. You’re arrested. The bullet(s) recovered from your victim match(es) the bullets found in five or six other homicides. The defense attorney, because he knows the gun’s history through the full discovery process, stands up in front of the jury during the argument phase and tells them, “The prosecution is asking you to believe that my young client, with no criminal history, is responsible not only for this heinous murder, but also for a string of shootings and six other homicides. This is preposterous. If this were the case, this young man would be the most notorious criminal since BILLY THE KID. He wasn’t even on the streets when three of those shootings happened. He was serving time in Youth Authority.” If handled right, being connected to a gun that’s really, really dirty can be an easy “NOT GUILTY” verdict. No jury is going to believe that any single person could possibly have committed so many murders.
Trust me on this one. I’ve seen it happen. So you see, JILL, a single gun with a lot of history is nothing new. It’s not some highly motivated “cell” as she calls it, committing a lot of homicides and operating like some death squad. It’s just a lot of active shooters taking lives and destroying neighborhoods and knowing how to work the system.
While I won’t say that her piece was totally without merit, I just don’t see what her point was. I mean, listen to this one. “But it is not just the shifting of guns that makes solving gang crime difficult. Suspects are a fluid, elusive group.” Yeah, Jill. That’s why they call themselves criminals. After they do something bad, they don’t immediately surrender to authorities. They try to evade suspicion and capture. That makes them elusive. Day in, day out, the LA TIMES is committed to the relentless pursuit of the obvious.
In the March 22 LA TIMES, JILL LEOVY has one of her patented confuse-o-rama gang pieces, the kind that leave you less informed at the end than you were at the start.
Let’s start with the headline and sub-head. It reads as follows:
WEB OF CRIME PROVES TOUGH TO UNTANGLE
A small, changing gang cell appears responsible for some of the worst violence in South L.A.
Wow. Knock out story. I thought this was going to be a piece about the SOUTH LA equivalent of MURDER INC., the infamous Italian MAFIA murder-for-hire squad. The first three sentences certainly seem to point in that direction. Multiple murders, same area, same weapon. Whoah. Sounds like hard-core gunslingers taking out enemies either for fun or profit. .
But then you get to the meat of the piece and realize this is just LEOVY’S undigested, poorly-thought out and confused take on the criminal life. It turn out that an AK-47 semi-auto rifle, a .45 and a 9 mm handgun, in various combinations, were connected to a dozen shootings.
But then the AK-47 was confiscated and some of the shooters arrested and – SURPRISE, SURPRISE – other shootings and murders happened that involved semi-auto AK-style rifles and handguns. What gives?
The whole premise of the piece starts falling apart and then completely goes off the rails when LEOVY starts citing statistics that a third of murder defendants have no previous criminal record. Where'd that come from?
Then the piece really crashes and burns when she quotes South Bureau DC EARL PAYSINGER who says that chasing the guns is less important than finding the shooters. After all, he says, “people pull the trigger.” So what happened to the connection with the magic gun that did all the shooting? Nothing about this piece tracked. Just like her disconnected interview on PACIFICA RADIO some months back.
JILL, just FYI, here’s the deal with guns and gangsters.
Let’s start with the basics. There are two categories of guns we’re talking about here. First is the purely defensive carry gun. This could be anything from a tiny .22 to full-house .45 ACP.
Generally speaking, the carry piece is clean. And concealable, natch. It may have been used in a crime somewhere, sometime in the past, but the current owner probably doesn’t know about that. Given a choice, a criminal would much rather carry a clean gun than a dirty one. Just in case he's stopped by cops and they find it. Common sense.
The carry piece, as I said, is a DEFENSIVE firearm. It’s carried for that “Oh SHIT!” moment when the owner encounters a rival gangster or is suddenly drawn down on by a drive by shooter. In the military they call this surprise firefight a “meeting engagement.” In fact, last week two known gangsters walked on a murder charge because they fired in self-defense in response to a drive-by. See earlier post.
These are broad strokes I’m taking here, but generally speaking, gangs have a stash of OFFENSIVE guns. It could be a single gun or a closet full. Whether or not she’s aware of it, the subject of LEOVY’s story is the OFFENSIVE weapon. This is a weapon a shooter would “draw” from the ARMORY, if you will, to do a mission. The term ARMORY is not something a gangster would use, but in effect, that’s what it is. Most of the time, OFFENSIVE guns are long guns – rifles and shotguns. Handguns, unless used in short range situations, are a bad choice for a drive by or if you’re planning on firing into a car or through the walls of a house. Again, this is speaking generally. Sometimes handguns are used by secondary shooters as suppression fire weapons to keep opponents heads down while the primary shooter cuts loose with the long gun. In truth, virtually every kind of gun you can imagine has been used in drive-bys, but here LEOVY was talking about an AK-47.
It’s no surprise that a single long gun like the one in her piece would be used multiple times because chances are, that gun is "controlled" by a big homie. It could be stashed in the homie’s house or at the house of someone he trusts. The ARMORY, if you will. The armory "supervisor" may not even be a gang member but may be just an affiliate or somebody that owes the gang something.
Drive by shootings are planned, as opposed to the “meeting engagement” mentioned earlier. Some are planned better that others. Read “MONSTER” by CODY SCOTT or talk to gangsters and you’ll learn that part of the most minimal planning process is “how we strapped?” Which means what guns are available, who’s got them, where’s the ammo and who takes the guns back after we’re done?
Sometimes, the guns in the ARMORY are traded for other weapons which may have just as bad a history but come from another part of the county. The ARMORY stock is fluid. Guns come and go. They’re used as currency to buy drugs or buy a knucklehead out of a tough spot. If you owe your dealer a wad, he’ll probably take a gun in payment or partial payment. And that gun will get traded around or bought or just change hands when some homie gets arrested and goes to jail.
OFFENSIVE long guns, unlike the cheapo throwaway .22s and .380, don’t get dumped in ECHO PARK LAKE or into somebody’s back yard. They’re too valuable for that. They get returned and recycled for other operations even if they’re super hot with lots of crimes to their credit. In fact, a gun with a long criminal history can be an asset to the defense in court.
Think of this scenario. You’re a 16-year-old active gangster who’s just been connected to a homicide. You don’t have much of a criminal history as is the case with 30% of murder defendants, according to LEOVY’S piece. You’re arrested. The bullet(s) recovered from your victim match(es) the bullets found in five or six other homicides. The defense attorney, because he knows the gun’s history through the full discovery process, stands up in front of the jury during the argument phase and tells them, “The prosecution is asking you to believe that my young client, with no criminal history, is responsible not only for this heinous murder, but also for a string of shootings and six other homicides. This is preposterous. If this were the case, this young man would be the most notorious criminal since BILLY THE KID. He wasn’t even on the streets when three of those shootings happened. He was serving time in Youth Authority.” If handled right, being connected to a gun that’s really, really dirty can be an easy “NOT GUILTY” verdict. No jury is going to believe that any single person could possibly have committed so many murders.
Trust me on this one. I’ve seen it happen. So you see, JILL, a single gun with a lot of history is nothing new. It’s not some highly motivated “cell” as she calls it, committing a lot of homicides and operating like some death squad. It’s just a lot of active shooters taking lives and destroying neighborhoods and knowing how to work the system.
While I won’t say that her piece was totally without merit, I just don’t see what her point was. I mean, listen to this one. “But it is not just the shifting of guns that makes solving gang crime difficult. Suspects are a fluid, elusive group.” Yeah, Jill. That’s why they call themselves criminals. After they do something bad, they don’t immediately surrender to authorities. They try to evade suspicion and capture. That makes them elusive. Day in, day out, the LA TIMES is committed to the relentless pursuit of the obvious.
Friday, March 12, 2004
THE UNSEEN COST OF CRIME
A reader recently emailed me wondering if I could provide a figure on the dollar cost that street gangs impose on society. Great question. And I wish I had the answer. In fact, I've been trying to pull together as much as I can on this topic and every time I think I have it, there's more.
In a future posting, I'll list some obvious costs like the budgets for the DA's office and how much of that resource is devoted to street gang prosecutions. Ditto for the public defender's office, the County jail system, the State prison system, and the welfare system that frankly pays to feed, house and take care of the wives and children of convicted and unconvicted street gangsters. In addition to that though, are the unseen costs that can never be calculated. One bears scrutiny.
In all the interviews I've done with victims, families of victims and regular citizens in communities savaged by street gangs, to a person, have all either moved to other parts of the county or state or plan to do so as soon as possible. Here's just one case.
This guy, I'll call him ROBERTO, moved from ECHO PARK all the way out to FONTANA. He's a family guy with three kids and a wife that works as well. He works in SANTA MONICA as a building custodian. He got out of ECHO PARK, which he liked a lot and was close to his family, because, according to him, the CHOLOS were trying to influence his kids to join gangs. He did what any person would do. He moved.
To save them, he took the family to the most affordable place he could find -- FONTANA. Now here's this guy who doesn't make a lot of money who has to leave his house in FONTANA at 5:30 in the morning to make it to SANTA MONICA by 7:30. Anybody who's been on the 10 WESTBOUND in the morning and EASTBOUND in the afternoon knows what clusterfuck the 10 is. He's burning up a lot more bucks in gas and wear and tear on the car than he would otherwise need to if he could still live in ECHO PARK. These are dollars he could be spending on improving his life and the lives of his kids. But to save his kids, he makes the sacrifice in time, money and resources. Scale this man's experience up by the thousands and tens of thousands and we're talking billions of dollars a year -- fuel, wasted man hours, pollution, time away from his family, money better spent on other things like books or whatever. The negative impact on society can never be adequately calculated.
Just something to think about the next time somebody tells you that smoking the occasional doobie or snorting a line is a victimless crime. The country of full of victims. They just don't have "activists" looking out for their interests.
A reader recently emailed me wondering if I could provide a figure on the dollar cost that street gangs impose on society. Great question. And I wish I had the answer. In fact, I've been trying to pull together as much as I can on this topic and every time I think I have it, there's more.
In a future posting, I'll list some obvious costs like the budgets for the DA's office and how much of that resource is devoted to street gang prosecutions. Ditto for the public defender's office, the County jail system, the State prison system, and the welfare system that frankly pays to feed, house and take care of the wives and children of convicted and unconvicted street gangsters. In addition to that though, are the unseen costs that can never be calculated. One bears scrutiny.
In all the interviews I've done with victims, families of victims and regular citizens in communities savaged by street gangs, to a person, have all either moved to other parts of the county or state or plan to do so as soon as possible. Here's just one case.
This guy, I'll call him ROBERTO, moved from ECHO PARK all the way out to FONTANA. He's a family guy with three kids and a wife that works as well. He works in SANTA MONICA as a building custodian. He got out of ECHO PARK, which he liked a lot and was close to his family, because, according to him, the CHOLOS were trying to influence his kids to join gangs. He did what any person would do. He moved.
To save them, he took the family to the most affordable place he could find -- FONTANA. Now here's this guy who doesn't make a lot of money who has to leave his house in FONTANA at 5:30 in the morning to make it to SANTA MONICA by 7:30. Anybody who's been on the 10 WESTBOUND in the morning and EASTBOUND in the afternoon knows what clusterfuck the 10 is. He's burning up a lot more bucks in gas and wear and tear on the car than he would otherwise need to if he could still live in ECHO PARK. These are dollars he could be spending on improving his life and the lives of his kids. But to save his kids, he makes the sacrifice in time, money and resources. Scale this man's experience up by the thousands and tens of thousands and we're talking billions of dollars a year -- fuel, wasted man hours, pollution, time away from his family, money better spent on other things like books or whatever. The negative impact on society can never be adequately calculated.
Just something to think about the next time somebody tells you that smoking the occasional doobie or snorting a line is a victimless crime. The country of full of victims. They just don't have "activists" looking out for their interests.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
SELF DEFENSE FOR ALL.
Two readers have asked me to comment on the story that ran in the Times yesterday in which two gangsters accidentaly killed a woman in her house while in the course of returning fire against two other gangsters who were shooting at them.
If you remember the case from late last year, LAUDELINA SALAZAR was shot in the neck while hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree in her living room. The bullet came from a block away. Sometime later, ANTHONY SHELTON and DANIEL MAYO, two convicted felons, were arrested for her shooting.
Yesterday, the DA decided not to file murder charges against the two because they shot in self defense. Naturally, this is unwelcome news to the detectives or the family.
As unpleasant as it may be for law enforcement, the DA made the right call on this one. Granted, they were gangsters and they were carrying concealed weapons. But despite all that, the law concerning self-defense applies to them as well as to any law-abiding citizen. It can't make distinctions.
The DA could, of course, prosecute them as felons in possession of a firearm or for breaking CAL PC12050, the law banning carrying concealed without a license. But that would be small potatoes. And any defense attorney would make a prosecutor look silly pressing ahead with a charge. If history is a gauge of this, they'll probably be liable for a parole violation at most.
Yeah it sucks. And yeah, the incident itself may have been sparked by some unknown action on their part sometime prior to the shooting. In other words, they may have had that drive-by coming for something they did earlier. You almost never know for sure when you're dealing with street gangs. But there's no "they-had-it-coming" statute in the PENAL CODE.
In truth, this isn't the first time a known gangster walked on a shooting by claiming self-defense. One of the first I remember writing about happened in 1982 in, I believe, BALBOA PARK in the SF VALLEY. I don't remember the names of the players but I think the "victim" claimed SAN FER and the shooters were from over the hill. At any rate, it was a stand up gunfight, all being on foot when the rivals let go on him. He surprised them by pulling out a sawed off lever action MARLIN rifle (I remember the gun because it's such a weirdly archaic weapon to carry) and actually killed one of the attackers. The victim walked on that one and was never prosecuted for illegal carry or for being a felon with a firearm. So this latest case has precedents. What's different in this case, of course, is the fact that an innocent bystander was killed. But according to the law, an accidental death as the result of a righteous self-defense shooting does not carry any penalty.
This is small comfort to SALAZAR's family or to the detectives who I know for a fact, become emotionally invested in cases of this nature.
But the big wheel does keep on turning. MAYO and SHELTON may walk on this one, but don't be too surprised if they get theirs in some unexpected but thoroughly deserved way. One way or another, justice will be served. If they were smart, they'd break camp and head for safer parts. If they were smart.
Two readers have asked me to comment on the story that ran in the Times yesterday in which two gangsters accidentaly killed a woman in her house while in the course of returning fire against two other gangsters who were shooting at them.
If you remember the case from late last year, LAUDELINA SALAZAR was shot in the neck while hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree in her living room. The bullet came from a block away. Sometime later, ANTHONY SHELTON and DANIEL MAYO, two convicted felons, were arrested for her shooting.
Yesterday, the DA decided not to file murder charges against the two because they shot in self defense. Naturally, this is unwelcome news to the detectives or the family.
As unpleasant as it may be for law enforcement, the DA made the right call on this one. Granted, they were gangsters and they were carrying concealed weapons. But despite all that, the law concerning self-defense applies to them as well as to any law-abiding citizen. It can't make distinctions.
The DA could, of course, prosecute them as felons in possession of a firearm or for breaking CAL PC12050, the law banning carrying concealed without a license. But that would be small potatoes. And any defense attorney would make a prosecutor look silly pressing ahead with a charge. If history is a gauge of this, they'll probably be liable for a parole violation at most.
Yeah it sucks. And yeah, the incident itself may have been sparked by some unknown action on their part sometime prior to the shooting. In other words, they may have had that drive-by coming for something they did earlier. You almost never know for sure when you're dealing with street gangs. But there's no "they-had-it-coming" statute in the PENAL CODE.
In truth, this isn't the first time a known gangster walked on a shooting by claiming self-defense. One of the first I remember writing about happened in 1982 in, I believe, BALBOA PARK in the SF VALLEY. I don't remember the names of the players but I think the "victim" claimed SAN FER and the shooters were from over the hill. At any rate, it was a stand up gunfight, all being on foot when the rivals let go on him. He surprised them by pulling out a sawed off lever action MARLIN rifle (I remember the gun because it's such a weirdly archaic weapon to carry) and actually killed one of the attackers. The victim walked on that one and was never prosecuted for illegal carry or for being a felon with a firearm. So this latest case has precedents. What's different in this case, of course, is the fact that an innocent bystander was killed. But according to the law, an accidental death as the result of a righteous self-defense shooting does not carry any penalty.
This is small comfort to SALAZAR's family or to the detectives who I know for a fact, become emotionally invested in cases of this nature.
But the big wheel does keep on turning. MAYO and SHELTON may walk on this one, but don't be too surprised if they get theirs in some unexpected but thoroughly deserved way. One way or another, justice will be served. If they were smart, they'd break camp and head for safer parts. If they were smart.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
SOME OFFERS YOU CAN REFUSE
Late last week I was chewing the rag with a retired gangster. In truth, he was forced into retirement by a felony conviction. The years in state prison have been, according to him, a blessing in disguise. Prison forced him to examine his life and eventually took him away from the gang life and do what he terms "a 90% rehab." He gets crazy ideas 10% of the time but, so far, has resisted acting on any of his darker impulses. He says he doesn't want to go back to jail but, get this, would gladly go back if it meant keeping him out of the life or off a morgue slab.
I was trying to get a sense from him of day to day life in the gang and the influence of the EME on street gangsters. He said the pressure is always there. The EME is ever present and relentlessly attempts to widen and strengthen its influence on the street. Some gangsters, and entire gangs, keep their distance. Others can't wait to pick up and wave the flag of the black hand.
Local EME associates on the street who are sanctioned to use a BROTHER'S name are in a constant state of war and conquest. And they need a lot of willing soldiers to do their bidding. Generally street soldiers are asked to back the ASSOCIATE'S play -- collect taxes, intimidate a rival faction or check somebody (with bullets or fists) who has broken a regla (rule).
My gangster claims that the favor can either be asked politely or in the form of a demand. The difference is one of being ASKED to do something or TOLD to do something. According to the protocol, if you can find a graceful way out when you're asked, the matter is generally dropped and the refusal isn't held against you. Of course, that also depends on whether or not the person being asked OWES the individual or the group something. If in the past the local soldier has accepted drugs, money or a big favor, then it's almost impossible to say no. Refusal in this case is looked upon as disrespectful and a breach of protocol. Also cowardly and a black mark on the reputation of the neighborhood as a whole. And you don't want your neighborhood to get a reputation of being bad soldiers. If you refuse what your whole gang would consider a LEGITIMATE demand from a BROTHER or SHOTCALLER, often the gang itself will retaliate against you just to uphold their honor. Depending on the severity of the affront, you could be thrown out, beaten or killed.
If, on the other hand, you're clean in terms of not owing the EME or an ASSOCIATE anything, you're on safe ground making a reasonable sounding excuse. Something on the order of, "I got to go do something for the neighborhood," or "I'm cool like this, me and my homie are going on another mission." That's generally enough to get you dispensation.
If a street soldier does decide to do the favor, say like watching somebody's back while the SHOTCALLER jacks a car or collect taxes or checks a miscreant, it's important for the soldier not to take any reward. Often, he'll be reward with money, drugs, a stolen car or stolen property. Unless you want to get deeper with the EME and SHOTCALLERS, it's best to refuse the reward. Having your favor go unrewarded leaves no further obligation hanging. You've done the favor, you've upheld the reputation of your neighborhood, shown some courage and refused payment. That earns you respect and a pass on future demands but not necessarily a stripe. Chances are, you won't be asked again. In the code of the street, for whatever the code is worth, you've demonstrated to the shot callers that you're a good soldier, but you don't aspire to be some kind of star. You're happy with your station in life and don't want to get sucked into the EME sphere of influence, which, according to my retired gangster, is riddled with political landmines. You don't want to go there because it makes IRAQI politics seem rational. You could unwittingly be crossing somebody somewhere for something that's happening way above your pay grade. And you don't want to get sucked into somebody else's war.
To sum it up, you can't take any account of a shooting, carjacking or other gang crime on its face value. No matter where you read about it. Even here.
Behind every carjacking, drug ripoff, gang assault or what have you, half understood dynamics, byzantine undercurrents, old beefs, new stripes, cowards and warriors are always in play. In the gang life, nothing is ever as simple as you read about. Bear that in mind the next time the LAT, LA WEEKLY or any other LA outlet runs a gang story that seems like something you saw on TV and hangs together a little too simply.
Late last week I was chewing the rag with a retired gangster. In truth, he was forced into retirement by a felony conviction. The years in state prison have been, according to him, a blessing in disguise. Prison forced him to examine his life and eventually took him away from the gang life and do what he terms "a 90% rehab." He gets crazy ideas 10% of the time but, so far, has resisted acting on any of his darker impulses. He says he doesn't want to go back to jail but, get this, would gladly go back if it meant keeping him out of the life or off a morgue slab.
I was trying to get a sense from him of day to day life in the gang and the influence of the EME on street gangsters. He said the pressure is always there. The EME is ever present and relentlessly attempts to widen and strengthen its influence on the street. Some gangsters, and entire gangs, keep their distance. Others can't wait to pick up and wave the flag of the black hand.
Local EME associates on the street who are sanctioned to use a BROTHER'S name are in a constant state of war and conquest. And they need a lot of willing soldiers to do their bidding. Generally street soldiers are asked to back the ASSOCIATE'S play -- collect taxes, intimidate a rival faction or check somebody (with bullets or fists) who has broken a regla (rule).
My gangster claims that the favor can either be asked politely or in the form of a demand. The difference is one of being ASKED to do something or TOLD to do something. According to the protocol, if you can find a graceful way out when you're asked, the matter is generally dropped and the refusal isn't held against you. Of course, that also depends on whether or not the person being asked OWES the individual or the group something. If in the past the local soldier has accepted drugs, money or a big favor, then it's almost impossible to say no. Refusal in this case is looked upon as disrespectful and a breach of protocol. Also cowardly and a black mark on the reputation of the neighborhood as a whole. And you don't want your neighborhood to get a reputation of being bad soldiers. If you refuse what your whole gang would consider a LEGITIMATE demand from a BROTHER or SHOTCALLER, often the gang itself will retaliate against you just to uphold their honor. Depending on the severity of the affront, you could be thrown out, beaten or killed.
If, on the other hand, you're clean in terms of not owing the EME or an ASSOCIATE anything, you're on safe ground making a reasonable sounding excuse. Something on the order of, "I got to go do something for the neighborhood," or "I'm cool like this, me and my homie are going on another mission." That's generally enough to get you dispensation.
If a street soldier does decide to do the favor, say like watching somebody's back while the SHOTCALLER jacks a car or collect taxes or checks a miscreant, it's important for the soldier not to take any reward. Often, he'll be reward with money, drugs, a stolen car or stolen property. Unless you want to get deeper with the EME and SHOTCALLERS, it's best to refuse the reward. Having your favor go unrewarded leaves no further obligation hanging. You've done the favor, you've upheld the reputation of your neighborhood, shown some courage and refused payment. That earns you respect and a pass on future demands but not necessarily a stripe. Chances are, you won't be asked again. In the code of the street, for whatever the code is worth, you've demonstrated to the shot callers that you're a good soldier, but you don't aspire to be some kind of star. You're happy with your station in life and don't want to get sucked into the EME sphere of influence, which, according to my retired gangster, is riddled with political landmines. You don't want to go there because it makes IRAQI politics seem rational. You could unwittingly be crossing somebody somewhere for something that's happening way above your pay grade. And you don't want to get sucked into somebody else's war.
To sum it up, you can't take any account of a shooting, carjacking or other gang crime on its face value. No matter where you read about it. Even here.
Behind every carjacking, drug ripoff, gang assault or what have you, half understood dynamics, byzantine undercurrents, old beefs, new stripes, cowards and warriors are always in play. In the gang life, nothing is ever as simple as you read about. Bear that in mind the next time the LAT, LA WEEKLY or any other LA outlet runs a gang story that seems like something you saw on TV and hangs together a little too simply.
Friday, March 05, 2004
SON OF PROJECT GET GOING
There I was having an innocent lunch with some coppers last week and one of them drops something of a bombshell. The fact that he threw it out there as casually as he did was merely an illustration that the topic was common knowledge among gang cops.
Let's start with some background. Way back in 1977, a bright, energetic and well-intentioned young woman named ELLEN DELIA was killed execution style about a mile from the SACRAMENTO airport. Her body was dumped by the side of the road. She had just arrived at the state capital from LA and she was apparently on her way to a meeting with state officials to express her concern that OPERATION GET GOING, had been infiltrated by the MEXICAN MAFIA.
She was uniquely qualified to speak on the subject because she ran OGG and had single-handedly secured the funding to make it happen. The goal of OGG was to secure jobs and training for released felons and try to make them productive citizens. A worthwhile task. MICHAEL DELIA, her husband, was one of the ex cons she hired to help run the operation. For you history fans, the headquarters of OGG was in BOYLE HEIGHTS and was located less than a mile from where FATHER GREG BOYLE now runs HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES. The location is now an import/export business run by Pakistanis. I wormed my way in there some time back. But that's another post.
The short version of the story is that MICHAEL DELIA had never really gone straight. He hired active gang members and EME brothers to work at OGG. And they were doing things like selling drugs out of the halfway house OGG operated, using government-funded vehicles to transport drugs and guns and generally ran gang and EME business under the OGG cover. Apparently, MICHAEL DELIA had the blessing and active support of legendary EME brother JOE "PEGLEG" MORGAN to conduct this business. MORGAN saw this profit center as a neat and safe way of running EME affairs. What better way than to operate with impunity under the nose of law enforcement and have the government pay for it? A stroke of genius rivalled only by CHICAGO'S BLACKSTONE RANGERS who got the FEDS to give the gang $1 million. The money was supposed to go for gang intervention. It went instead to drugs and crates of fresh automatic weapons. And it started a bloody gang war with a body count that ran to close to 300.
When an OGG halfway house employee was found shot to death and another died of an overdose in the halfway house and when the assistant to a city councilman was also found murdered after he became aware of the EME's influence in OGG, ELLEN decided to call in State officials. It was her last act on earth.
Eventually MICHAEL DELIA was prosecuted and convicted as an accomplice to the murder of his wife as were several other EME members. And there the story ended. MICHAEL DELIA was released a few years ago and is apparently living in Orange County.
Fast forward to 2004 and I'm having lunch with these cops and one of them says real casual like, that he knows for a fact that most of the gang intervention programs he's familiar with have been infiltrated by active gangsters and EME brothers. He mentioned names. Which I won't do here. And he also said he knows for a fact that these players are actually collecting taxes for the EME while they go about their civic-minded roles as gang intervention activists. I mentioned the DELIA case and asked him if the politicians and "activists" who promote these programs hadn't learned anything about history repeating itself.
The problem as this cop outlined is that CITY and STATE politicians are so desperate to have gang intervention programs to their credit that they don't look as hard as they should when they fund organizations that hire EME dropouts and "retired" gangsters to run these organizations. They basically take these DROPOUTS at face value.
It needs to be made very clear that there's a big difference between an EME DROPOUT and street-gang member who, for whatever reason, decides to park the GLOCK and go straight. There are thousands of ex street gangsters leading normal productive lives. Look hard enough and you'll see them everywhere. The fact is, there is little to no retribution at all for leaving a street gang and going straight. There may be personal beefs or even EME related beefs if you did something like steal from or rat out a brother that could come back to haunt a gangster-gone-straight. But there's no OFFICIAL EME sanction against a reformed gangster unless he committed some very specific crimes against the gang. This is specially the case if the gangster was a THROWAWAY to begin with. More on that in another post.
The EME DROPOUT is an entirely different creature. This is a man who has made it ALL THE WAY IN and took the oath. And once you take the oath, you're in for life. As EME brother RANDY "COWBOY" THERRIEN was overheard saying on an FBI surveillance tape, "There's no back door out of this motherfucker. You pick up a bible, I'm still coming after you." The fact that there are EME DROPOUTS walking around in public doing gang intervention without drawing the vehement disapproval of the EME makes you wonder how they have created a bullet-free zone around themselves.
Just something to think about.
There I was having an innocent lunch with some coppers last week and one of them drops something of a bombshell. The fact that he threw it out there as casually as he did was merely an illustration that the topic was common knowledge among gang cops.
Let's start with some background. Way back in 1977, a bright, energetic and well-intentioned young woman named ELLEN DELIA was killed execution style about a mile from the SACRAMENTO airport. Her body was dumped by the side of the road. She had just arrived at the state capital from LA and she was apparently on her way to a meeting with state officials to express her concern that OPERATION GET GOING, had been infiltrated by the MEXICAN MAFIA.
She was uniquely qualified to speak on the subject because she ran OGG and had single-handedly secured the funding to make it happen. The goal of OGG was to secure jobs and training for released felons and try to make them productive citizens. A worthwhile task. MICHAEL DELIA, her husband, was one of the ex cons she hired to help run the operation. For you history fans, the headquarters of OGG was in BOYLE HEIGHTS and was located less than a mile from where FATHER GREG BOYLE now runs HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES. The location is now an import/export business run by Pakistanis. I wormed my way in there some time back. But that's another post.
The short version of the story is that MICHAEL DELIA had never really gone straight. He hired active gang members and EME brothers to work at OGG. And they were doing things like selling drugs out of the halfway house OGG operated, using government-funded vehicles to transport drugs and guns and generally ran gang and EME business under the OGG cover. Apparently, MICHAEL DELIA had the blessing and active support of legendary EME brother JOE "PEGLEG" MORGAN to conduct this business. MORGAN saw this profit center as a neat and safe way of running EME affairs. What better way than to operate with impunity under the nose of law enforcement and have the government pay for it? A stroke of genius rivalled only by CHICAGO'S BLACKSTONE RANGERS who got the FEDS to give the gang $1 million. The money was supposed to go for gang intervention. It went instead to drugs and crates of fresh automatic weapons. And it started a bloody gang war with a body count that ran to close to 300.
When an OGG halfway house employee was found shot to death and another died of an overdose in the halfway house and when the assistant to a city councilman was also found murdered after he became aware of the EME's influence in OGG, ELLEN decided to call in State officials. It was her last act on earth.
Eventually MICHAEL DELIA was prosecuted and convicted as an accomplice to the murder of his wife as were several other EME members. And there the story ended. MICHAEL DELIA was released a few years ago and is apparently living in Orange County.
Fast forward to 2004 and I'm having lunch with these cops and one of them says real casual like, that he knows for a fact that most of the gang intervention programs he's familiar with have been infiltrated by active gangsters and EME brothers. He mentioned names. Which I won't do here. And he also said he knows for a fact that these players are actually collecting taxes for the EME while they go about their civic-minded roles as gang intervention activists. I mentioned the DELIA case and asked him if the politicians and "activists" who promote these programs hadn't learned anything about history repeating itself.
The problem as this cop outlined is that CITY and STATE politicians are so desperate to have gang intervention programs to their credit that they don't look as hard as they should when they fund organizations that hire EME dropouts and "retired" gangsters to run these organizations. They basically take these DROPOUTS at face value.
It needs to be made very clear that there's a big difference between an EME DROPOUT and street-gang member who, for whatever reason, decides to park the GLOCK and go straight. There are thousands of ex street gangsters leading normal productive lives. Look hard enough and you'll see them everywhere. The fact is, there is little to no retribution at all for leaving a street gang and going straight. There may be personal beefs or even EME related beefs if you did something like steal from or rat out a brother that could come back to haunt a gangster-gone-straight. But there's no OFFICIAL EME sanction against a reformed gangster unless he committed some very specific crimes against the gang. This is specially the case if the gangster was a THROWAWAY to begin with. More on that in another post.
The EME DROPOUT is an entirely different creature. This is a man who has made it ALL THE WAY IN and took the oath. And once you take the oath, you're in for life. As EME brother RANDY "COWBOY" THERRIEN was overheard saying on an FBI surveillance tape, "There's no back door out of this motherfucker. You pick up a bible, I'm still coming after you." The fact that there are EME DROPOUTS walking around in public doing gang intervention without drawing the vehement disapproval of the EME makes you wonder how they have created a bullet-free zone around themselves.
Just something to think about.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
SHARPIE TO BE PROSECUTED
In the ongoing saga of TOONERVILLE RIFA (TVR) and its now seemingly aborted quest for hegemonic expansion, one of this gang's more active members, JUAN "SHARPIE" RODARTE will soon face trial. Late last year he was arrested for possession of a firearm (a GLOCK, for those who want details) and possession of rock cocaine. SHARPIE is a close associate of TIMOTHY "HUERO" MCGHEE, the TOONERVILLE shot caller who is facing numerous homicide charges of his own. With HUERO and SHARPIE both out of circulation, the organizational chart is somewhat fuzzy and no clear replacement for HUERO has yet to step up to fill the opening.
In the ongoing saga of TOONERVILLE RIFA (TVR) and its now seemingly aborted quest for hegemonic expansion, one of this gang's more active members, JUAN "SHARPIE" RODARTE will soon face trial. Late last year he was arrested for possession of a firearm (a GLOCK, for those who want details) and possession of rock cocaine. SHARPIE is a close associate of TIMOTHY "HUERO" MCGHEE, the TOONERVILLE shot caller who is facing numerous homicide charges of his own. With HUERO and SHARPIE both out of circulation, the organizational chart is somewhat fuzzy and no clear replacement for HUERO has yet to step up to fill the opening.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
FROM FOOTBALL TO DRIVE-BYS.
In a conversation with an SEU cop the other day, I was told that the VINELAND BOYZ gang is actually a migratory gang that used to claim NORTH HOLLYWOOD but were driven out or moved out due to pressure from other NH gangs. At one point in their move from NH to SUNLAND, they called themselves the VILLAGE BOYS. If anybody can shed light on this, feel free to correct me. This cop also pointed out that most VB players don't like to be inked and don't look like the average citizen's image of a gangster.
If you notice, DAVID GARCIA shows no visible tattoos in his mug shots. This goes back to the roots of the VINELAND BOYZ, which, according to this cop, began life as a football team. From the beginning, VB didn't dress down or get inked up and preferred a clean cut look. That footballer tradition apparently is still part of the VB code and you won't find much ink on guys who claim VB. They made the transition from ball players to tagging crews back in the mid 90s and by 1998 were heavily involved in drive-bys, slanging and tax collection. VB, of course, took a big hit when BURBANK PD and LAPD arrested dozens of players after PAVELKA's murder. While it may not be in shambles, VB isn't the hegemonic powerhouse it used to be. In the wake of police pressure, we heard that some shot callers in VB actually GREENLIGHTED every cop in the area. That may or may not be true. But the cops sure as hell believed it and it got them hotter than the last glass pipe at a CRACK HOUSE.
In a conversation with an SEU cop the other day, I was told that the VINELAND BOYZ gang is actually a migratory gang that used to claim NORTH HOLLYWOOD but were driven out or moved out due to pressure from other NH gangs. At one point in their move from NH to SUNLAND, they called themselves the VILLAGE BOYS. If anybody can shed light on this, feel free to correct me. This cop also pointed out that most VB players don't like to be inked and don't look like the average citizen's image of a gangster.
If you notice, DAVID GARCIA shows no visible tattoos in his mug shots. This goes back to the roots of the VINELAND BOYZ, which, according to this cop, began life as a football team. From the beginning, VB didn't dress down or get inked up and preferred a clean cut look. That footballer tradition apparently is still part of the VB code and you won't find much ink on guys who claim VB. They made the transition from ball players to tagging crews back in the mid 90s and by 1998 were heavily involved in drive-bys, slanging and tax collection. VB, of course, took a big hit when BURBANK PD and LAPD arrested dozens of players after PAVELKA's murder. While it may not be in shambles, VB isn't the hegemonic powerhouse it used to be. In the wake of police pressure, we heard that some shot callers in VB actually GREENLIGHTED every cop in the area. That may or may not be true. But the cops sure as hell believed it and it got them hotter than the last glass pipe at a CRACK HOUSE.
IS MEXICO STILL A SAFE HIDEOUT?
While going through my backlog of recent gang activity I was struck by how quickly the Mexican authorities handed over DAVID GARCIA to the BURBANK PD after his arrest in Tijuana on Thanksgiving Day of 2003. No doubt you recall GARCIA is the alleged killer of BURBANK POPLICE OFFICER MATTHEW PAVELKA. PAVELKA was killed and another BURBANK cop, GREGORY CAMPBELL was wounded in a shootout with GARCIA and fellow VINELAND BOYZ gang member RAMON ARANDA. ARANDA was also killed in the shootout.
In the past, MEXICO has been forbidden by their own laws from extraditing criminals to the US who faced either a death penalty case or even life imprisonment. As far as I know, those laws are still on the books in MEXICO. So it makes me wonder why the historically reluctant MEXICAN officials gave GARCIA up faster than SADDAM offering to negotiate. Something clearly happened with their attitudes towards harboring US killers. We wonder if this was part of some agreement between VINCENTE FOX and GEORGE W. BUSH. Is it possible that in exchange for offering near amnesty to illegal aliens, BUSH got FOX to promise to give up bad guys without the MEXICAN government putting on their holier than thee face with regard to capital punishment or even life sentences? We'll see. If the Mexican authorities suddenly allow US law enforcement to carry guns across the border, as we let MEXICAN cops do in the US, then we'll know somebody in the FOX administration is getting religion.
But for the immediate future, the once safe haven of MEXICO may no longer be fugitive friendly. So anybody out there thinking of making a break for the border, be advised that friendly MEXICO has yanked the welcome mat for wanted criminals.
While going through my backlog of recent gang activity I was struck by how quickly the Mexican authorities handed over DAVID GARCIA to the BURBANK PD after his arrest in Tijuana on Thanksgiving Day of 2003. No doubt you recall GARCIA is the alleged killer of BURBANK POPLICE OFFICER MATTHEW PAVELKA. PAVELKA was killed and another BURBANK cop, GREGORY CAMPBELL was wounded in a shootout with GARCIA and fellow VINELAND BOYZ gang member RAMON ARANDA. ARANDA was also killed in the shootout.
In the past, MEXICO has been forbidden by their own laws from extraditing criminals to the US who faced either a death penalty case or even life imprisonment. As far as I know, those laws are still on the books in MEXICO. So it makes me wonder why the historically reluctant MEXICAN officials gave GARCIA up faster than SADDAM offering to negotiate. Something clearly happened with their attitudes towards harboring US killers. We wonder if this was part of some agreement between VINCENTE FOX and GEORGE W. BUSH. Is it possible that in exchange for offering near amnesty to illegal aliens, BUSH got FOX to promise to give up bad guys without the MEXICAN government putting on their holier than thee face with regard to capital punishment or even life sentences? We'll see. If the Mexican authorities suddenly allow US law enforcement to carry guns across the border, as we let MEXICAN cops do in the US, then we'll know somebody in the FOX administration is getting religion.
But for the immediate future, the once safe haven of MEXICO may no longer be fugitive friendly. So anybody out there thinking of making a break for the border, be advised that friendly MEXICO has yanked the welcome mat for wanted criminals.
Friday, February 06, 2004
WHEN THE HOOKERS COME BACK, THE GANG IS LOSING POWER.
I was having lunch with a cop last week and he mentioned an interesting dynamic that SEU officers use as a barometer of gang activity and influence.
It's a known fact that well-organized and efficiently run gangs collect street taxes on a regular, weekly basis from the local dealers. What isn't as well known is that they also collect taxes from illegal street vendors and prostitutes. The vendors generally pay up and are afforded a form of protection by the gangsters. The prostitutes on the other hand, pull up stakes and find other neighborhoods to sell themselves.
Cops have noticed that when they take active shot callers and tax collectors off the street (through arrest or otherwise), the prostitutes filter back into the hood and set up shop again. So this leads to the rather weird situation that when SEU coppers patrol the hood and notice increased hooker activity, they know they're making a dent in the gang power structure and gang influence on the street. "The hookers are back. We must be hurting the homies." So in a sense, the hookers are the canaries in the coal mine. If they're visibly doing business, gang influence is diminished. Keep that in mind the next time you see a tarted up bimbette tapping her stilletos on your streets. It could mean that your local gang just lost the last few rounds with law enforcement.
I was having lunch with a cop last week and he mentioned an interesting dynamic that SEU officers use as a barometer of gang activity and influence.
It's a known fact that well-organized and efficiently run gangs collect street taxes on a regular, weekly basis from the local dealers. What isn't as well known is that they also collect taxes from illegal street vendors and prostitutes. The vendors generally pay up and are afforded a form of protection by the gangsters. The prostitutes on the other hand, pull up stakes and find other neighborhoods to sell themselves.
Cops have noticed that when they take active shot callers and tax collectors off the street (through arrest or otherwise), the prostitutes filter back into the hood and set up shop again. So this leads to the rather weird situation that when SEU coppers patrol the hood and notice increased hooker activity, they know they're making a dent in the gang power structure and gang influence on the street. "The hookers are back. We must be hurting the homies." So in a sense, the hookers are the canaries in the coal mine. If they're visibly doing business, gang influence is diminished. Keep that in mind the next time you see a tarted up bimbette tapping her stilletos on your streets. It could mean that your local gang just lost the last few rounds with law enforcement.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
BACK ON THE AIR
It's been quite some time since I posted anything to INTHEHAT. My schedule has been frenetic and I've been doing more traveling than I can tolerate. But the realities of earning a living and keeping myself in cigars and gasoline (an incendiary combination) have forced me away from my keyboard and, in fact, from the rest of my stuff.
I've been living in motels up and down the state (Brawley, Palm Springs, Eureka, Red Bluffs and other even lesser known towns) and while I generally love road trips this one got tedious. There's only so much bad food and local meathead TV weathermen I can take before I start reaching for pre-emptive cocktails as a curative. I was well stocked with books however and I finished several new ones (new to me at least) and re-read some old favorites.
At the top of the new-to-me list was HELL IN A VERY SMALL PLACE by BERNARD B. FALL. This was a first edition copy published in 1967. For those interested in the subject, the book is a blow-by-blow account of the battle of DIEN BIEN PHU, the FRENCH army's final stand in INDOCHINA. At DIEN BIEN PHU, the VIET MINH under the command of GENERAL GIAP, drove the last nail into the coffin of FRENCH colonial adventures. GIAP later went on to lead the fight against the US military. Ironically, most of the French casualties happened after they surrendered and were forced by GIAP and his political officers to make a Bataan-like death march north to HANOI. FALL was an outstanding writer and reporter who was killed in VIET NAM during the AMERICAN part of the war.
I also finished TR, THE LAST ROMANTIC by HW BRANDS, TREASON by ANN COULTER, and THE BOER WAR by THOMAS PAKENHAM. I had just dipped into MERCENARY by MIKE HOARE when my trip ended. When I got home, there were three boxes from AMAZON which contained HOMICIDE SPECIAL by MILES CORWIN and a couple of hard-core how-to books -- building a stone wall and rebuilding a motorcycle. Yeah, I got things to do other than tap away on a keyboard.
To all those who have wondered what happened to me, thanks for the kind enquiries and I happy to say I'm back in the saddle. I'll be posting as soon as I catch up with the mail, the papers, and all those messages on my machine.
It's been quite some time since I posted anything to INTHEHAT. My schedule has been frenetic and I've been doing more traveling than I can tolerate. But the realities of earning a living and keeping myself in cigars and gasoline (an incendiary combination) have forced me away from my keyboard and, in fact, from the rest of my stuff.
I've been living in motels up and down the state (Brawley, Palm Springs, Eureka, Red Bluffs and other even lesser known towns) and while I generally love road trips this one got tedious. There's only so much bad food and local meathead TV weathermen I can take before I start reaching for pre-emptive cocktails as a curative. I was well stocked with books however and I finished several new ones (new to me at least) and re-read some old favorites.
At the top of the new-to-me list was HELL IN A VERY SMALL PLACE by BERNARD B. FALL. This was a first edition copy published in 1967. For those interested in the subject, the book is a blow-by-blow account of the battle of DIEN BIEN PHU, the FRENCH army's final stand in INDOCHINA. At DIEN BIEN PHU, the VIET MINH under the command of GENERAL GIAP, drove the last nail into the coffin of FRENCH colonial adventures. GIAP later went on to lead the fight against the US military. Ironically, most of the French casualties happened after they surrendered and were forced by GIAP and his political officers to make a Bataan-like death march north to HANOI. FALL was an outstanding writer and reporter who was killed in VIET NAM during the AMERICAN part of the war.
I also finished TR, THE LAST ROMANTIC by HW BRANDS, TREASON by ANN COULTER, and THE BOER WAR by THOMAS PAKENHAM. I had just dipped into MERCENARY by MIKE HOARE when my trip ended. When I got home, there were three boxes from AMAZON which contained HOMICIDE SPECIAL by MILES CORWIN and a couple of hard-core how-to books -- building a stone wall and rebuilding a motorcycle. Yeah, I got things to do other than tap away on a keyboard.
To all those who have wondered what happened to me, thanks for the kind enquiries and I happy to say I'm back in the saddle. I'll be posting as soon as I catch up with the mail, the papers, and all those messages on my machine.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE
In the LA TIMES SUNDAY OPINION section, KERMAN MADDOX has a piece on BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE. MADDOX teaches political science at LOS ANGELES SOUTHWEST COLLEGE and is on the board of directors of FIRST AME CHURCH. He opens with the murder of one of his students, LEE DENMON, who returned to his neighborhood after graduating college with the intention of doing something to help the community. This admirable young man was killed by a black gangster in an all too familiar case of mistaken identity. MADDOX contrasts the total lack of response to this murder to the response generated when an INGLEWOOD cop slammed DONOVAN JACKSON onto the hood of a cop car. While not condoning police abuse, he rightly asks why the nationwide flap over a body slam by a cop and the nonchalance over the "routine killing of young black males by other young black males."
He also states that he’ll probably be in hot water with AFRICAN AMERICAN leaders for stating this but "I’m tired of being politically correct, because that has not helped the problem." In a statement that makes him sound a little like LARRY ELDER he says, "It’s time to quit blaming everybody else for the problems of violence in our communities. We need churches to launch a crusade to discuss individual responsibility."
This will clearly take some doing. His piece brought to mind the WARREN OLNEY remote broadcast from the AME CHURCH I attended last year. On the panel that night OLNEY had the REV. CECIL MURRAY, CHIEF BRATTON and a young LATINO ex-gangster who was steered out of the gang life by one of AME’S many programs.
What struck me about that meeting was the public reaction in the Q and A session that followed the broadcast. I got the surreal impression that while the people in the audience were all residents of the area, they seemed to inhabit an alternate universe. One self-described community leader asked BRATTON why there weren’t more cops in the neighborhood and why the response times were so long. He got the usual answer about staffing levels, budgets etc. BRATTON also said the, "LOS ANGELES is one of the most underpoliced cities in the country, if not the most underpoliced." He said he needs 15,000 cops to do an adequate job of crime suppression.
A few minutes later, he got another question to the effect that there were too many cops on the street and why were they always harassing and stopping young people for no reason at all. Another guy chimed in that the police were nothing more than an occupying force and that they were the street enforcers in some Trilateral conspiracy to funnel black kids to jails and keep the prison industrial complex operating. In a frightening indicator of how deep that idiocy is ingrained in some people in the black community, that guy got a round of applause and attaboys.
So here we have two deeply held convictions that there are simultaneously too many cops and not enough cops in the black community. To quote MADDOX, "What gives?"
Another question from a woman also got a round of applause. She wanted to know why the cops don’t do a better job of instilling positive values in young black males. She suggested that when a kid gets in trouble, the cops should take them under their wing and guide them to a better life instead of just throwing them in jail. This is the COPS AS SOCIAL WORKERS WITH GUNS syndrome. BRATTON responded politely. In a roundabout way he suggested that it wasn’t the job of the LAPD or any police department to educate young people. That’s the job of schools, churches and parents. That got hisses from quite a few people in the room. The REV. MURRAY looked like he’d just been informed of some bad lab results. BRATTON took that in stride and tried to keep the conversation on some level of reality.
After that night, I wondered how many generations it would take for those absurd attitudes to be filtered out of black communities. And I realized what an uphill struggle people like CECIL MURRAY are shouldering on a daily basis. And I was awed by the courage people like him display by getting up every morning, knowing that the day will bring only tiny victories, if any. Lesser men would probably be driven to despair. Or just give up and go fishing. The REVEREND MURRAY just keeps at it with a happy heart.
From an intellectual or public policy basis, I’m not a fan of government relying on religious institutions to cure social problems. But my mind is slowly changing. We’ve tried everything else and the problem has only gotten worse. The power of black churches to mobilize public sentiment and instill positive attitudes cannot be denied. We have only to remember the big players in the civil rights movement. So why not try the approach that MADDOX proposes in his OPED piece?
In the LA TIMES SUNDAY OPINION section, KERMAN MADDOX has a piece on BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE. MADDOX teaches political science at LOS ANGELES SOUTHWEST COLLEGE and is on the board of directors of FIRST AME CHURCH. He opens with the murder of one of his students, LEE DENMON, who returned to his neighborhood after graduating college with the intention of doing something to help the community. This admirable young man was killed by a black gangster in an all too familiar case of mistaken identity. MADDOX contrasts the total lack of response to this murder to the response generated when an INGLEWOOD cop slammed DONOVAN JACKSON onto the hood of a cop car. While not condoning police abuse, he rightly asks why the nationwide flap over a body slam by a cop and the nonchalance over the "routine killing of young black males by other young black males."
He also states that he’ll probably be in hot water with AFRICAN AMERICAN leaders for stating this but "I’m tired of being politically correct, because that has not helped the problem." In a statement that makes him sound a little like LARRY ELDER he says, "It’s time to quit blaming everybody else for the problems of violence in our communities. We need churches to launch a crusade to discuss individual responsibility."
This will clearly take some doing. His piece brought to mind the WARREN OLNEY remote broadcast from the AME CHURCH I attended last year. On the panel that night OLNEY had the REV. CECIL MURRAY, CHIEF BRATTON and a young LATINO ex-gangster who was steered out of the gang life by one of AME’S many programs.
What struck me about that meeting was the public reaction in the Q and A session that followed the broadcast. I got the surreal impression that while the people in the audience were all residents of the area, they seemed to inhabit an alternate universe. One self-described community leader asked BRATTON why there weren’t more cops in the neighborhood and why the response times were so long. He got the usual answer about staffing levels, budgets etc. BRATTON also said the, "LOS ANGELES is one of the most underpoliced cities in the country, if not the most underpoliced." He said he needs 15,000 cops to do an adequate job of crime suppression.
A few minutes later, he got another question to the effect that there were too many cops on the street and why were they always harassing and stopping young people for no reason at all. Another guy chimed in that the police were nothing more than an occupying force and that they were the street enforcers in some Trilateral conspiracy to funnel black kids to jails and keep the prison industrial complex operating. In a frightening indicator of how deep that idiocy is ingrained in some people in the black community, that guy got a round of applause and attaboys.
So here we have two deeply held convictions that there are simultaneously too many cops and not enough cops in the black community. To quote MADDOX, "What gives?"
Another question from a woman also got a round of applause. She wanted to know why the cops don’t do a better job of instilling positive values in young black males. She suggested that when a kid gets in trouble, the cops should take them under their wing and guide them to a better life instead of just throwing them in jail. This is the COPS AS SOCIAL WORKERS WITH GUNS syndrome. BRATTON responded politely. In a roundabout way he suggested that it wasn’t the job of the LAPD or any police department to educate young people. That’s the job of schools, churches and parents. That got hisses from quite a few people in the room. The REV. MURRAY looked like he’d just been informed of some bad lab results. BRATTON took that in stride and tried to keep the conversation on some level of reality.
After that night, I wondered how many generations it would take for those absurd attitudes to be filtered out of black communities. And I realized what an uphill struggle people like CECIL MURRAY are shouldering on a daily basis. And I was awed by the courage people like him display by getting up every morning, knowing that the day will bring only tiny victories, if any. Lesser men would probably be driven to despair. Or just give up and go fishing. The REVEREND MURRAY just keeps at it with a happy heart.
From an intellectual or public policy basis, I’m not a fan of government relying on religious institutions to cure social problems. But my mind is slowly changing. We’ve tried everything else and the problem has only gotten worse. The power of black churches to mobilize public sentiment and instill positive attitudes cannot be denied. We have only to remember the big players in the civil rights movement. So why not try the approach that MADDOX proposes in his OPED piece?
Saturday, October 25, 2003
FEEDBACK ON "BAD" NEIGHBORHOODS
My response to JILL LEOVY's piece about "bad" neighborhoods generated two responses over at LAOBSERVED.COM, the excellent LA media site run by KEVIN RODERICK. It's a daily stop for me and I alerted KEVIN that INTHEHAT had something to say about LEOVY'S SLATE.COM piece. He graciously linked my comments on his site and hence the responses over there. If you want to see the two comments in the original, go to LAOBSERVED.COM and scroll down to the mention of INTHEHAT.
The first comment by MEXREP agreed with my observations without reservation. Another reader named MR. RICEY agreed generally but had some observations of his own which I quote. "He [meaning me] overlooks the economic reality of many people, particularly kids, in those neighborhoods who don't have a fucking thing to eat in the house, crappy clothes, broken toys and their parents are AWOL in prison or on the street while a poor granny tries to do her best for 9 kids in a tiny house. It's all too common, too, and it certainly feeds the cycle of crime and despair."
While I like people to agree with me, I love when people force me to refine my observations and think harder. All of what MR. RICEY says is true. Children, who are the most vulnerable and heartbreaking of all victims, certainly are by definition poor. Or at least as poor as their families. Unfortunately, as MR. RICEY alludes to, these children are victiminized by the very people that brought them into the world and are supposed to be providing for them. My point was, that it's not this vague notion of "society" or the real notion of "poverty" that victimizes them. Society, at least the one in which I live, provides a level of plentitude and opportunity not found anywhere else in the world. Parents who want to do better for their children are not condemned to the sort of can't-get-out-of-it poverty found elsewhere in the world.
Kids in "bad" neighborhoods are victimized mostly and most profoundly by their parents (or lack thereof). In other countries it's the whole society that screws kids. Think of the AMERASIAN kids of VIET NAM, the FERAL BABY GANGS of the FAVELAS, the UNTOUCHABLE kids of INDIA or the kids living in TIJUANA shacks. In those cases, the kids are deeply scarred from a young age and there's not a single ray of hope in their lives because even if their parents "wanted" to be better providers and caretakers (which most in TIJUANA clearly do and vote with their feet), social mobility is non existent. The parents there are just as screwed as their kids. Hope is non existent and in a situation like, I'm surprised there hasn't been an armed revolution, let alone a youth gang problem.
Back to our own BARRIOS and HOODS. While our safety net with regard to kids is imperfect at best, the avenues of improvement for the parents are there and available to anyone. I won't go into the anecdotal success stories of immigrants making good. But they're abundant.
If you read the ART BLAJOS book, BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT or MY BLOODY LIFE: THE MAKING OF A LATIN KING by REYMUNDO SANCHEZ, you get the message that the events that scarred them happened at home, not on the street and not because they didn't have "things." The gang life was a result of lousy homes, not a cause. These books also illustrate that in each of their lives, SOCIETY did intervene to the very limits of legality and practicality. In BLAJOS and SANCHEZ' case, they were taken out of bad homes and put into foster homes. BLAJOS says that he got "armloads" of toys for CHRISTMAS from department stores and generous donors. And he and others from the YA were invited into upper class homes for Christmans dinners. And you know what? He stole stuff from those houses because as much as he wanted the toys, he wanted his parents to be doing this for him. Not strangers. He wanted loving parents. And there's no government program that makes those.
Almost every gangster I've ever interviewed has been through the foster home system. Foster homes, if we remember, were supposed to be the humane and smarter alternative to the state-run orphanages.
Generally speaking, every street gangster in trouble with the law is a graduate of that system as well as the youth correctional system, diversion programs, drug rehab programs and other programs up to and including YOGA, THEATER ARTS and TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION. Believe it or not, those programs are readily available right here in LA COUNTY for kids in trouble. And I'm all for anything that works. Unfortunately, very little works to ameliorate a situation casued by lousy parents.
My contention is that despite the best intentions and the most enlightened programs, there's no government program that will adequately substitute for a solid, stable, loving family.
The best we can do under the current system is take the kids away and provide them with something that at best isn't as much of a mind fuck as their family lives. There's more that can be done. But then we get into an area of individual freedom and giving government the kind of power over parental rights that's currently scaring the bejeezus out of people who look at the PATRIOT ACT as the demise of the US CONSTITUTION. How much power do we want to give the government when addressing the problem of lousy parents who are victimizing their children and will eventually turn them into tomorrow's predators?
So yeah, poverty in a very general sense, may conribute to criminal behavior to some degree. But my contention is that it's not the lack of money or NINTENDOS. For the most part, criminality is the result of the violence, neglect and abuse children experience at the hands of mom and/or dad long before they pick up a gun.
I'd like to hear more on this. Especially from young people who are on the front lines and facing this situation for real and not from the theorizing comfort of my centrally air conditioned house. Then again, they probably don't have a computer and web access.
My response to JILL LEOVY's piece about "bad" neighborhoods generated two responses over at LAOBSERVED.COM, the excellent LA media site run by KEVIN RODERICK. It's a daily stop for me and I alerted KEVIN that INTHEHAT had something to say about LEOVY'S SLATE.COM piece. He graciously linked my comments on his site and hence the responses over there. If you want to see the two comments in the original, go to LAOBSERVED.COM and scroll down to the mention of INTHEHAT.
The first comment by MEXREP agreed with my observations without reservation. Another reader named MR. RICEY agreed generally but had some observations of his own which I quote. "He [meaning me] overlooks the economic reality of many people, particularly kids, in those neighborhoods who don't have a fucking thing to eat in the house, crappy clothes, broken toys and their parents are AWOL in prison or on the street while a poor granny tries to do her best for 9 kids in a tiny house. It's all too common, too, and it certainly feeds the cycle of crime and despair."
While I like people to agree with me, I love when people force me to refine my observations and think harder. All of what MR. RICEY says is true. Children, who are the most vulnerable and heartbreaking of all victims, certainly are by definition poor. Or at least as poor as their families. Unfortunately, as MR. RICEY alludes to, these children are victiminized by the very people that brought them into the world and are supposed to be providing for them. My point was, that it's not this vague notion of "society" or the real notion of "poverty" that victimizes them. Society, at least the one in which I live, provides a level of plentitude and opportunity not found anywhere else in the world. Parents who want to do better for their children are not condemned to the sort of can't-get-out-of-it poverty found elsewhere in the world.
Kids in "bad" neighborhoods are victimized mostly and most profoundly by their parents (or lack thereof). In other countries it's the whole society that screws kids. Think of the AMERASIAN kids of VIET NAM, the FERAL BABY GANGS of the FAVELAS, the UNTOUCHABLE kids of INDIA or the kids living in TIJUANA shacks. In those cases, the kids are deeply scarred from a young age and there's not a single ray of hope in their lives because even if their parents "wanted" to be better providers and caretakers (which most in TIJUANA clearly do and vote with their feet), social mobility is non existent. The parents there are just as screwed as their kids. Hope is non existent and in a situation like, I'm surprised there hasn't been an armed revolution, let alone a youth gang problem.
Back to our own BARRIOS and HOODS. While our safety net with regard to kids is imperfect at best, the avenues of improvement for the parents are there and available to anyone. I won't go into the anecdotal success stories of immigrants making good. But they're abundant.
If you read the ART BLAJOS book, BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT or MY BLOODY LIFE: THE MAKING OF A LATIN KING by REYMUNDO SANCHEZ, you get the message that the events that scarred them happened at home, not on the street and not because they didn't have "things." The gang life was a result of lousy homes, not a cause. These books also illustrate that in each of their lives, SOCIETY did intervene to the very limits of legality and practicality. In BLAJOS and SANCHEZ' case, they were taken out of bad homes and put into foster homes. BLAJOS says that he got "armloads" of toys for CHRISTMAS from department stores and generous donors. And he and others from the YA were invited into upper class homes for Christmans dinners. And you know what? He stole stuff from those houses because as much as he wanted the toys, he wanted his parents to be doing this for him. Not strangers. He wanted loving parents. And there's no government program that makes those.
Almost every gangster I've ever interviewed has been through the foster home system. Foster homes, if we remember, were supposed to be the humane and smarter alternative to the state-run orphanages.
Generally speaking, every street gangster in trouble with the law is a graduate of that system as well as the youth correctional system, diversion programs, drug rehab programs and other programs up to and including YOGA, THEATER ARTS and TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION. Believe it or not, those programs are readily available right here in LA COUNTY for kids in trouble. And I'm all for anything that works. Unfortunately, very little works to ameliorate a situation casued by lousy parents.
My contention is that despite the best intentions and the most enlightened programs, there's no government program that will adequately substitute for a solid, stable, loving family.
The best we can do under the current system is take the kids away and provide them with something that at best isn't as much of a mind fuck as their family lives. There's more that can be done. But then we get into an area of individual freedom and giving government the kind of power over parental rights that's currently scaring the bejeezus out of people who look at the PATRIOT ACT as the demise of the US CONSTITUTION. How much power do we want to give the government when addressing the problem of lousy parents who are victimizing their children and will eventually turn them into tomorrow's predators?
So yeah, poverty in a very general sense, may conribute to criminal behavior to some degree. But my contention is that it's not the lack of money or NINTENDOS. For the most part, criminality is the result of the violence, neglect and abuse children experience at the hands of mom and/or dad long before they pick up a gun.
I'd like to hear more on this. Especially from young people who are on the front lines and facing this situation for real and not from the theorizing comfort of my centrally air conditioned house. Then again, they probably don't have a computer and web access.
FEEDBACK ON MAYHEM MUSIC
In an earlier post about SURENO RAP, I asked the question why that genre wasn't getting the same regular coverage as BLACK GANGSTER RAP, especially from the ALT MEDIA who seem to have a charter to seek out the cutting edge and the new. I received an excellent answer from reader HENRY SHEEHAN who has written for alternatives for 25 years. I won't paraphrase because he makes a solid point that makes sense and does it better than I could. He states:
"Editors at these paper tend to be middle-aged and white themselves, and already wrapped up in one particular school of music or another. They're not affirmatively keeping SURENO coverage out of their papers, but their lifestyles and tastes make it very difficult for [them] to encounter it or a young Hispanic writer who is interested in it. In my personal experience, these papers never engage in any sort of outreach to members of minority communities and, though they'd probablly deny it, their staffs don't have terribly different perceptions of those communities than anyone else does."
This sounds like a thoroughly reasonable explanation. I asked for someone to answer the question for me and Mr. Sheehan did. Thank you.
I also got another response from a SURENO RAP fan who wondered where the hell I'd "been at" for not mentioning POCOS PERO LOCOS, the webcast that specializes in SURENO RAP and the fact that POWER 106 here in LA runs POCOS PERO LOCOS (a SURENO RAP show) on SUNDAY NIGHTS BETWEEN 8:00 and 10:00 PM. It's hosted by KHOOL AID and JOHNNY CUERVO (check out POCOSPEROLOCOS.COM). I should have mentioned that, and I plead guilty to not being more complete. But that sort of speaks to my point. With LA's humungous LATINO population and all those SURENOS out there, isn't it odd that there's only a single 2-hour radio show once a week on the dial? With the body of SURENO RAP work extant, a station could easily fill a four hour daily show and get nowhere near as repetitive as the eye-glazing boredom of classic rock stations.
You SURENOS out there, and I know you read this, let me know what you think.
In an earlier post about SURENO RAP, I asked the question why that genre wasn't getting the same regular coverage as BLACK GANGSTER RAP, especially from the ALT MEDIA who seem to have a charter to seek out the cutting edge and the new. I received an excellent answer from reader HENRY SHEEHAN who has written for alternatives for 25 years. I won't paraphrase because he makes a solid point that makes sense and does it better than I could. He states:
"Editors at these paper tend to be middle-aged and white themselves, and already wrapped up in one particular school of music or another. They're not affirmatively keeping SURENO coverage out of their papers, but their lifestyles and tastes make it very difficult for [them] to encounter it or a young Hispanic writer who is interested in it. In my personal experience, these papers never engage in any sort of outreach to members of minority communities and, though they'd probablly deny it, their staffs don't have terribly different perceptions of those communities than anyone else does."
This sounds like a thoroughly reasonable explanation. I asked for someone to answer the question for me and Mr. Sheehan did. Thank you.
I also got another response from a SURENO RAP fan who wondered where the hell I'd "been at" for not mentioning POCOS PERO LOCOS, the webcast that specializes in SURENO RAP and the fact that POWER 106 here in LA runs POCOS PERO LOCOS (a SURENO RAP show) on SUNDAY NIGHTS BETWEEN 8:00 and 10:00 PM. It's hosted by KHOOL AID and JOHNNY CUERVO (check out POCOSPEROLOCOS.COM). I should have mentioned that, and I plead guilty to not being more complete. But that sort of speaks to my point. With LA's humungous LATINO population and all those SURENOS out there, isn't it odd that there's only a single 2-hour radio show once a week on the dial? With the body of SURENO RAP work extant, a station could easily fill a four hour daily show and get nowhere near as repetitive as the eye-glazing boredom of classic rock stations.
You SURENOS out there, and I know you read this, let me know what you think.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
"IS THIS THE BAD NEIGHBORHOOD NOW, WALLY?"
In a story that just ran on SLATE (here's the URL slate.msn.com/id/2090015/entry/2090191/) JILL LEOVY of the LA TIMES makes an interesting observation. Actually, she makes many interesting observations but I'll address only this one. I'll get to the others at another time. She talks about covering crime in SOUTH CENTRAL LA and about the neighborhoods she visits and drives through. And she says this:
"It's hard to convey the tranquility and normalcy of these neighborhoods -- the skateborading kids, the Pizza Huts, the garage sales -- while still presenting a truthful picture of their crime problems. I fact, what many people in Los Angeles think of as this city's 'bad neighborhoods' are in many way indistinguishable from those with milder reputations. They brim with aspiration and middle-class comfort, even as they distill every kind of despair."
I don't know how long LEOVY has been going into these neighborhoods or if she's made this observation before, but it reminded me of the drive with my two DANISH visitors, MADS and KLAUS. I'd been driving them through SOUTH CENTRAL and then we made our way to NORTHEAST, avoiding the freeways to give them a taste of what LA was like at the street level.
We stopped in the hills above GLASSELL PARK where we had a view of a hazy downtown. It was dusk and there was something of a purple sky and LA was trying to do it's best to remind the two DANES that it was the inspiration for BLADE RUNNER. Lights in the houses began winking on, and people were coming home and parking their RANGER pickups and MITSUBISHI MONTEROS and MADS finally asked "Is this the bad neighborhood now, Wally?"
I told him we'd been driving through "bad" neighborhoods all day. Both of them sort of gave me the fish eye like I was trying to pull something over on them. They were dubious. They mentioned things like the houses being in decent shape and the yards well kept and a lot of the cars on the street were new and there were BIG WHEELS in those yards, and some swing sets and PATIO CLASSIC barbecue grilles and all the rest of the stuff we take for granted, even in "bad" beighbohoods. But to a EURO these are not the indicators of poverty or despair. It's what they wish they had. MADS told me that he's 31 and makes a good living with the DANISH BROADCASTING COMPANY but he can't afford to buy a car. They have a 300% luxury tax on cars. So a $14,000 COROLLA in the US is something like $42,000 in DENMARK. When I indicated to him that in the US even a guy with a steady job at MACDONALD'S can probably get a good used car for under $10,000 he said something to the effect that it made him feel poor and underprivileged.
They were still giving me the dubious look so I took them over to the corner of YORK BOULEVARD and ALDAMA. And I indicated that in a five block radius, I could point out half a dozen murder locations and countless assaults and robberies. In a five minute drive I could show him over a dozen murder sites that I knew of. There were certainly more that I just never researched. I drove them past a house owned by a legendary MEXICAN MAFIA dynasty that was three generations deep. The house was midly neglected but hardly any different from the other houses on the street. And yeah, there we kids on bikes and grandmas on the porches and people socializing and there wasn't a stumble-bum wino or addled heroin addict in sight and there weren't feral dogs eating corpses or women selling their babies to buy food.
If what we have in these underprivileged neighborhoods is poverty, it's uniquely AMERICAN poverty. Poverty unrecognizable as such anywhere else in the world. This is not the hovel poverty of HAITI or the living in a shack made of cut up oil cans of MOGADISHU or even the packed tenements of NEW YORK at the turn of the century. This is the poverty of driving a car a few years older than you'd ideally like to have. Or the poverty of owning only one pair of NIKES as opposed to a pair for each day of the week or only having one or two games for the GAMEBOY instead of a whole drawer full.
In CODY SCOTT'S famous book MONSTER, he states that he grew up on a nice street with trees lining the sidewalks and clean, unbroken pavement and that his mother's flower garden was the envy of the neighborhood and that she always had the money to buy him nice clothes and the expensive cologne that he liked to wear to impress the females. As he admits, it really wasn't the lack of any material possessions that drove him to join a gang and kill. In a candid passage, he says that gang banging was exciting. It was a rush.
I remember once interviewing the family of a gang murder victim. They lived in a small but well maintained rental house. Their son was loosely affiliated with a gang and had been killed when he flashed a gang sign at rivals. The family had had some tough times. The father couldn't find work, the mom had never worked and the other kids were too small to work. But in the living room they had a monster of a big screen TV. And there was a new iMAC hooked up to a BROTHER printer and they had web access and cable. They owned two vehicles -- an 8-passenger van for family trips and a smaller sedan to commute to work. When the dad could get work, that is. In a roundabout way during the course of the interview, I steered them to a question about poverty and they believe themselves to be poor and lacking many advantages. And I'm convinced that they really do believe that they're poor. But they're poor only in relation to some ideal they see on TV. To most of the industrialized world they're doing okay. To most of the rest of the world, they're filthy rich and overprivileged.
Maybe it's that phenomenon of walking into a strange house and noticing the smell that the residents have long gotten used to. To MADS and KLAUS, even the worst of our hoods seem fairly benign and frankly far better than they had been led to believe. And maybe that's why it took them no time flat to realize this and it's taken LEOVY quite a bit longer.
As I've said before, poverty is not necessarily at the root of gang crime in LA and in the US. At least it's not the kind of soul-grinding poverty the rest of the world knows all too well.
In a story that just ran on SLATE (here's the URL slate.msn.com/id/2090015/entry/2090191/) JILL LEOVY of the LA TIMES makes an interesting observation. Actually, she makes many interesting observations but I'll address only this one. I'll get to the others at another time. She talks about covering crime in SOUTH CENTRAL LA and about the neighborhoods she visits and drives through. And she says this:
"It's hard to convey the tranquility and normalcy of these neighborhoods -- the skateborading kids, the Pizza Huts, the garage sales -- while still presenting a truthful picture of their crime problems. I fact, what many people in Los Angeles think of as this city's 'bad neighborhoods' are in many way indistinguishable from those with milder reputations. They brim with aspiration and middle-class comfort, even as they distill every kind of despair."
I don't know how long LEOVY has been going into these neighborhoods or if she's made this observation before, but it reminded me of the drive with my two DANISH visitors, MADS and KLAUS. I'd been driving them through SOUTH CENTRAL and then we made our way to NORTHEAST, avoiding the freeways to give them a taste of what LA was like at the street level.
We stopped in the hills above GLASSELL PARK where we had a view of a hazy downtown. It was dusk and there was something of a purple sky and LA was trying to do it's best to remind the two DANES that it was the inspiration for BLADE RUNNER. Lights in the houses began winking on, and people were coming home and parking their RANGER pickups and MITSUBISHI MONTEROS and MADS finally asked "Is this the bad neighborhood now, Wally?"
I told him we'd been driving through "bad" neighborhoods all day. Both of them sort of gave me the fish eye like I was trying to pull something over on them. They were dubious. They mentioned things like the houses being in decent shape and the yards well kept and a lot of the cars on the street were new and there were BIG WHEELS in those yards, and some swing sets and PATIO CLASSIC barbecue grilles and all the rest of the stuff we take for granted, even in "bad" beighbohoods. But to a EURO these are not the indicators of poverty or despair. It's what they wish they had. MADS told me that he's 31 and makes a good living with the DANISH BROADCASTING COMPANY but he can't afford to buy a car. They have a 300% luxury tax on cars. So a $14,000 COROLLA in the US is something like $42,000 in DENMARK. When I indicated to him that in the US even a guy with a steady job at MACDONALD'S can probably get a good used car for under $10,000 he said something to the effect that it made him feel poor and underprivileged.
They were still giving me the dubious look so I took them over to the corner of YORK BOULEVARD and ALDAMA. And I indicated that in a five block radius, I could point out half a dozen murder locations and countless assaults and robberies. In a five minute drive I could show him over a dozen murder sites that I knew of. There were certainly more that I just never researched. I drove them past a house owned by a legendary MEXICAN MAFIA dynasty that was three generations deep. The house was midly neglected but hardly any different from the other houses on the street. And yeah, there we kids on bikes and grandmas on the porches and people socializing and there wasn't a stumble-bum wino or addled heroin addict in sight and there weren't feral dogs eating corpses or women selling their babies to buy food.
If what we have in these underprivileged neighborhoods is poverty, it's uniquely AMERICAN poverty. Poverty unrecognizable as such anywhere else in the world. This is not the hovel poverty of HAITI or the living in a shack made of cut up oil cans of MOGADISHU or even the packed tenements of NEW YORK at the turn of the century. This is the poverty of driving a car a few years older than you'd ideally like to have. Or the poverty of owning only one pair of NIKES as opposed to a pair for each day of the week or only having one or two games for the GAMEBOY instead of a whole drawer full.
In CODY SCOTT'S famous book MONSTER, he states that he grew up on a nice street with trees lining the sidewalks and clean, unbroken pavement and that his mother's flower garden was the envy of the neighborhood and that she always had the money to buy him nice clothes and the expensive cologne that he liked to wear to impress the females. As he admits, it really wasn't the lack of any material possessions that drove him to join a gang and kill. In a candid passage, he says that gang banging was exciting. It was a rush.
I remember once interviewing the family of a gang murder victim. They lived in a small but well maintained rental house. Their son was loosely affiliated with a gang and had been killed when he flashed a gang sign at rivals. The family had had some tough times. The father couldn't find work, the mom had never worked and the other kids were too small to work. But in the living room they had a monster of a big screen TV. And there was a new iMAC hooked up to a BROTHER printer and they had web access and cable. They owned two vehicles -- an 8-passenger van for family trips and a smaller sedan to commute to work. When the dad could get work, that is. In a roundabout way during the course of the interview, I steered them to a question about poverty and they believe themselves to be poor and lacking many advantages. And I'm convinced that they really do believe that they're poor. But they're poor only in relation to some ideal they see on TV. To most of the industrialized world they're doing okay. To most of the rest of the world, they're filthy rich and overprivileged.
Maybe it's that phenomenon of walking into a strange house and noticing the smell that the residents have long gotten used to. To MADS and KLAUS, even the worst of our hoods seem fairly benign and frankly far better than they had been led to believe. And maybe that's why it took them no time flat to realize this and it's taken LEOVY quite a bit longer.
As I've said before, poverty is not necessarily at the root of gang crime in LA and in the US. At least it's not the kind of soul-grinding poverty the rest of the world knows all too well.
Monday, October 20, 2003
MAYHEM MUSIC
We recently got an email from a female reader who wanted to know why the Hispanic gangster culture hasn’t produced the same kind of gangster rap as the BLACK gangs like the BLOODS and CRIPS. I answered her by saying, in a very nice way of course, that she was clearly out of the loop on this topic. The fact is, there’s a huge body of Hispanic gangster rap music. And it’s been around for a long time.
In case other readers were wondering the same thing, I can direct you over to SURENORAP.COM. I’m not sure who runs the site or whether they’re just distributors or producer/distributors but they have a long, long list of CDs available, all of them falling under the heading of gangster rap, specifically SURENO rap. We’re assuming that they don’t include rappers from the NORTHSIDE on their roster.
While a lot of SURENO RAP I’ve listened to over the years is pedestrian, predictable and barely worth listening to, there are a few artists who stand out by virtue of their creative lyrics and sound. If you want to get your feet wet in this genre, the artist who is probably most worthy of attention is KNIGHTOWL. What began for In The Hat as pure research into SURENO gangster rap evolved, thanks to KNIGHTOWL into a grudging admiration. The guy is talented and knows how to craft words and create sounds worth listening to -- even if you don’t like what he’s saying. Listening to KNIGHTOWL is an education in the gang life and a legit music experience.
Granted the guy is raw and in your face. Some tracks from his KNIGHTMARES CD should give you an idea of what he raps about. Here’s a sample of tracks: THIS BE SOME GANGSTA SHIT, I WANNA FUCK ME SOME HOES, IN LOVE WITH A GANGSTA and WE DO THIS FOR THE STREET. From the SHOT CALLER CD we have FOOLS YELL FOR MERCY, STILL BANGIN, BALDHEADED FELONS and I MURDER MUTHA FUCKAS. These tracks are not for the squeamish but it’s interesting music and in my unprofessional, non-music-critic opinion, this is as good if not better than most of the BLACK gangsta rap.
Another CD worth considering is a compilation called ENTER THE DARKROOM that blurbs itself as the tightest tracks from 1989 to 1995. There’s some solid tracks in there and some not so, but it gives the interested listener a sampling of styles. Other CDs that might be worth your while are LIL CUETE’s THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY OUT and ESTILO SURENO’S BLUE RAGGIN’ SURENOS.
What’s odd about SURENO RAP is the almost complete lack of airplay. At least compared to BLACK gangster rap. I’ve looked for SURENO RAP all over the dial in the LA radio market and I’ve never come across anything like these CDs. If anybody out there knows any different, I’d like to know about it.
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be a SURENO rap star that has broken out of the underground the way SNOOP and other black acts have. Even the so-called ALTERNATIVE papers like the LA WEEKLY has never done anything resembling a fair job of covering SURENO RAP. This probably has a lot to do with the lack of airplay and the fact that MTV has completely ignored this genre. Or it might have to do with a lack of guts. We’re fairly sure that even underground radio or the politically correct college radio stations may not want to deal with the fallout if they play tracks like I JUST WANNA FUCK ALYSSA MILANO (DUKE, THE BARRIO LOVE album) and TASTE FOR MURDER (DEE-ROLL, from the P.F.L. album). Is the "alternative" media being timid, or even spineless by ignoring this music? You be the judge.
Also, Sureno Rap has yet to produce the equivalent (at least in sales and market penetration) as DEATH ROW.
Frankly, the lack of airplay and exposure on media like MTV is baffling and I suspect it has to do with some subtle form of racism. I may be wrong and I’m willing to eat my words but somebody will have to show me why BLACK GANGSTA RAP has found wide acceptance (they teach TUPAC lyrics in college courses these day) and SURENO RAP is relegated to the underground.
As always, your comments and observations on this are welcome.
We recently got an email from a female reader who wanted to know why the Hispanic gangster culture hasn’t produced the same kind of gangster rap as the BLACK gangs like the BLOODS and CRIPS. I answered her by saying, in a very nice way of course, that she was clearly out of the loop on this topic. The fact is, there’s a huge body of Hispanic gangster rap music. And it’s been around for a long time.
In case other readers were wondering the same thing, I can direct you over to SURENORAP.COM. I’m not sure who runs the site or whether they’re just distributors or producer/distributors but they have a long, long list of CDs available, all of them falling under the heading of gangster rap, specifically SURENO rap. We’re assuming that they don’t include rappers from the NORTHSIDE on their roster.
While a lot of SURENO RAP I’ve listened to over the years is pedestrian, predictable and barely worth listening to, there are a few artists who stand out by virtue of their creative lyrics and sound. If you want to get your feet wet in this genre, the artist who is probably most worthy of attention is KNIGHTOWL. What began for In The Hat as pure research into SURENO gangster rap evolved, thanks to KNIGHTOWL into a grudging admiration. The guy is talented and knows how to craft words and create sounds worth listening to -- even if you don’t like what he’s saying. Listening to KNIGHTOWL is an education in the gang life and a legit music experience.
Granted the guy is raw and in your face. Some tracks from his KNIGHTMARES CD should give you an idea of what he raps about. Here’s a sample of tracks: THIS BE SOME GANGSTA SHIT, I WANNA FUCK ME SOME HOES, IN LOVE WITH A GANGSTA and WE DO THIS FOR THE STREET. From the SHOT CALLER CD we have FOOLS YELL FOR MERCY, STILL BANGIN, BALDHEADED FELONS and I MURDER MUTHA FUCKAS. These tracks are not for the squeamish but it’s interesting music and in my unprofessional, non-music-critic opinion, this is as good if not better than most of the BLACK gangsta rap.
Another CD worth considering is a compilation called ENTER THE DARKROOM that blurbs itself as the tightest tracks from 1989 to 1995. There’s some solid tracks in there and some not so, but it gives the interested listener a sampling of styles. Other CDs that might be worth your while are LIL CUETE’s THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY OUT and ESTILO SURENO’S BLUE RAGGIN’ SURENOS.
What’s odd about SURENO RAP is the almost complete lack of airplay. At least compared to BLACK gangster rap. I’ve looked for SURENO RAP all over the dial in the LA radio market and I’ve never come across anything like these CDs. If anybody out there knows any different, I’d like to know about it.
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be a SURENO rap star that has broken out of the underground the way SNOOP and other black acts have. Even the so-called ALTERNATIVE papers like the LA WEEKLY has never done anything resembling a fair job of covering SURENO RAP. This probably has a lot to do with the lack of airplay and the fact that MTV has completely ignored this genre. Or it might have to do with a lack of guts. We’re fairly sure that even underground radio or the politically correct college radio stations may not want to deal with the fallout if they play tracks like I JUST WANNA FUCK ALYSSA MILANO (DUKE, THE BARRIO LOVE album) and TASTE FOR MURDER (DEE-ROLL, from the P.F.L. album). Is the "alternative" media being timid, or even spineless by ignoring this music? You be the judge.
Also, Sureno Rap has yet to produce the equivalent (at least in sales and market penetration) as DEATH ROW.
Frankly, the lack of airplay and exposure on media like MTV is baffling and I suspect it has to do with some subtle form of racism. I may be wrong and I’m willing to eat my words but somebody will have to show me why BLACK GANGSTA RAP has found wide acceptance (they teach TUPAC lyrics in college courses these day) and SURENO RAP is relegated to the underground.
As always, your comments and observations on this are welcome.
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