Kerry on gangs

[tunaplanet 0]

Glad to see Kerry taking a forward stance on this. Gangs in our country are a major problem. Not so much to the other people but a problem and issue to themselves. You go nowhere fast in a gang. I like to see him making this a somewhat big issue.

Forty-two

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Too bad the headline used the term "zero intelli..." I mean "zero tolerance."

As far as I'm concerned, those are danger words that signal the imminence of unintended consequences.

And too bad also that I'll bet a big part of Kerry's "plan" to combat gangs is to offer $50 vouchers for athletic shoes for every "assault weapon" that gang members turn in. Keep watching this space for all the brilliant money-spending ideas Kerry has to stop gang violence. I guess Clinton's "midnight basketball" didn't get the job done.

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-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[tunaplanet 0]

Think you're a little too harsh on Kerry on this matter. I have to give him props for making this an issue. Gangs are a horrible aspect of this country. Once you get in one you usually never come out of one and become a model citizen. It's something that needs to be dealt with swiftly and firmly. Kerry is taking the first step by making it an issue. For that I praise him.

Forty-two

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Yeah, well...that's all fine and good, but I think Kerry does a lot of talking and posturing. I absolutely love the way he's now a friend of gun owners just because he can stand for a photo holding a shotgun.

This shit doesn't prove a thing to me.
All it does is show he's already got his hand out for more money needed for his world-saving programs.

What else is new?

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-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Newbie 0]

i'm curious to know what Bush and his presidency has done in his term to address the escalating gang problem in the US? I'm genuinely curious to know as it appears he hasn't done anything from what i can gather - please correct me if i'm wrong.

I would have liked to have heard something more substantial than Kerry's propostion of "sending a clear message that there is another path", but i guess it's a starting point. However, quite how he intends to send that message, and make sure it's taken on board by insular and disaffected 3rd generation gangbangers making decent money selling crack is something i would be interested in hearing about in greater detail.

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[Jimbo 0]

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i'm curious to know what Bush and his presidency has done in his term to address the escalating gang problem in the US? I'm genuinely curious to know as it appears he hasn't done anything from what i can gather - please correct me if i'm wrong.

Are gangs themselves a federal problem, or are they something that should be dealt with at the state level? Certainly some of the crimes committed by gangs are federal crimes, but other people with no gang affiliation commit these crimes too. Personally, I think this is an issue that ought to be left to the individual states, or even cities.

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Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[rushmc 23]

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i'm curious to know what Bush and his presidency has done in his term to address the escalating gang problem in the US? I'm genuinely curious to know as it appears he hasn't done anything from what i can gather - please correct me if i'm wrong.

Are gangs themselves a federal problem, or are they something that should be dealt with at the state level? Certainly some of the crimes committed by gangs are federal crimes, but other people with no gang affiliation commit these crimes too. Personally, I think this is an issue that ought to be left to the individual states, or even cities.

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Jim

I think you are on the right track but should it go even a step further? By that I mean when crimes are committed the right authority has to be involved for sure, but dealing with gangs and why they form should not be a government issue. (I do not think that the government should deal with social issues) Communities need to get together to find the root causes and fix them. Gangs are an environment issue. The environment in which those in the gangs live. As long as young people believe they are victoms and that they can do nothing about their situations, there will be gangs.

I know that my post makes it sound easy. I know that is not the case......

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[PhillyKev 0]

Gangs are national, inter-connected organizations. They are run from within prisons and have a nationwide support network. This is definitely a federal problem. Not that locals can't do anything, but there needs to be a federal coordination to combat the criminal enterprises that the gangs support.

[PhreeZone 20]

Agreed. And Gangs are not just an innercity youth issue. The Hell's Angels is a very well known gang that operates in citys, in the mountian, anywhere that they can run with out being caught basically. They have made the news for being involved in drug running operations across the country.

Gangs like the Bloods and Cripts are some of the more popular refrenced gangs because they are not restricted to just one city or state. They have been arrested for about every charge that is on the books. I can think of homicide, drug, wire fraud, theft, and everything else that the gang has been implicated in.

The issue is bigger then just one city or even state.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Trent 0]

Are gangs more of a problem now than they were in the late 80's/early 90s? You don't seem to see them in the news as much, that's for sure.

Granted gangs are a problem, but is it a problem on the rise (again) or is it in a steady decline? Is it just another issue to take a stand on for candidates?

Oh, hello again!

[PhillyKev 0]

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Granted gangs are a problem, but is it a problem on the rise (again) or is it in a steady decline?

I think it's just steady. They boomed thanks to crack. Levelled off and holding steady for the most part. Everything is just another issued for the candidates to take a stand on. But this is still one that needs to be addresses.

[Jib 0]

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We need to send young people a strong, clear message that there is another path, and if they are willing to take that path, we will be there with them with job training, job opportunities, and drug treatment.

So, we spend $400M on what? From where?
That's $20M/year on law enforcement, okay.
But, do you think the drug dealing gangs riding around with bling-bling really give a damn about jobs or drug treatment or would rather play basketball?

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[PhillyKev 0]

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But, do you think the drug dealing gangs riding around with bling-bling really give a damn about jobs or drug treatment

The point is to provide an alternative to joining the bling bling crowd to the people that grow up in those neighborhoods. If they don't see any other way of life, how do you expect them to make a better choice?

[Jib 0]

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But, do you think the drug dealing gangs riding around with bling-bling really give a damn about jobs or drug treatment

The point is to provide an alternative to joining the bling bling crowd to the people that grow up in those neighborhoods. If they don't see any other way of life, how do you expect them to make a better choice?

In that case, the money would be better spent on scholarships -- even for boarding schools. "What happened to Johnny G? He worked hard and got out of here, lives out in ___ now."

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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i'm curious to know what Bush and his presidency has done in his term to address the escalating gang problem in the US?

Why should he have had to do anything

Didn't Clinton give us "100,000 new cops on the street," and midnight basketball??

Yeah, I know -- what a crock o' shit that was.

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-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Gangs are national, inter-connected organizations. They are run from within prisons and have a nationwide support network. This is definitely a federal problem. Not that locals can't do anything, but there needs to be a federal coordination to combat the criminal enterprises that the gangs support.

Taking down gangs as they commit crimes is one thing. Social change that would possibly deter youth from entering gangs is another, and is not under the purview of the federal government. It's a real reach to suggest that it is.

As far as I'm concerned, if gangs are able to be run through the prisons, then PRISON LIFE, not the world outside prison, is what the government must change. It is considered right and proper that prisoners lose all sorts of rights (and yes, they do retain certainones) when they go away, so under what premise are prisoners entitled to have enough contact with the outside world that they can run criminal enterprises? I say, DISentitle prisoners contact with outsiders with the exception of closely monitored visitation and correspondence, which should be limited to essentially telling loved ones, "I'm fine, I'm healthy, I'm alive, and I'm not being abused. See you when I'm released. I love you." Three hots and a cot, motherfucker. No t.v., no basketball, no law library so that you can fancy yourself a jailhouse lawyer and clutter the courts with bullshit meritless challenges to your conviction. Prison should be a place you'd fuckin' HATE to get sent back to, and HATE while you're there -- or else it ain't punishment.

And Chris Rock doesn't like the electric chair. Why? That's electricity! My tax money. Stabbin' don't cost a damn thing! Get yourself a nice "stabbin' chair..." "Sit your ass down!...

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-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[PhillyKev 0]

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Prison should be a place you'd fuckin' HATE to get sent back to, and HATE while you're there -- or else it ain't punishment.

True. Unfortunately, though, for many, the neighborhoods where they live are much worse.