Rhetoric
This was originally a letter to a dear and beloved friend, but what I found was too important not to share. This isn't some passive-aggressive public flounce of the friend in question, but I really wanted to share this information with everyone.
I found this article about how the "crisis" in AZ is a media-created event, essentially. There is no crisis. It's a reaction to one man's murder, which is a tragedy, surely, for that family. However, it's not a state-wide crisis or a breakdown of the border:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/02/20100502arizona-border-violence-mexico.html
The most salient quote:
Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff of Pima County, said there always has been crime associated with smuggling in southern Arizona, but today's rhetoric does not seem to jibe with reality. "This is a media-created event," Dupnik said. "I hear politicians on TV saying the border has gotten worse. Well, the fact of the matter is that the border has never been more secure."
I did look up the stats for Cochise County, AZ, as a little fact-checking of my own (THE POWER OF THE INTERNETS!) and it seems to line up with what they're saying:
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/arizona/cochise.htm
The crime rates they quote have seemed to remain pretty steady for the amount of population growth. Some have even gone down. But I noticed they didn't even touch the embarrassing rape rate (only 7.6 in 2000, 33.99 in 2007). However, even with a rise in crime it's ludicrous to assume that it is all due to the dirty dealings of illegal immigrants. I looked up Granville's (setting of Stem, NC) stats and the robbery stats are TRIPLE that of the little border county, Cochise, and pretty neck-and-neck for several other stats:
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/northcarolina/granville.htm
Let's check somewhere not even remotely involved in the discussion of immigrants, because let's face it: North Carolina is inundated with immigrant workers. Let's try Anchorage, Alaska, where our pal Palin is from. It's at the bottom of the list (second only to Hawaii, but it has a larger population base for us to work with and the irony is too delicious) for illegal immigrants in the US. I used this website to find the list, by state: http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_est_num_of_ill_imm-people-estimated-number-illegal-immigrants
Over twice the murder rate and triple the rape in Anchorage and QUADRUPLE the robbery rate. (And by the way, better hope you don't get raped in Anchorage because they make you pay for your rape kit: http://alaskareport.com/news98/x61620_rape_palin.htm - a little nugget I ran across while doing this search). With all of Anchorage's stats well over that of Cochise, I think we need to start doing some profiling for Alaskans. They seem a devilish bunch.
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/alaska/anchorage.htm
Arizona is not a war zone. It is being painted as such to win political favor. Do not allow justice to be trampled, and do not be bought by lies.
I found this article about how the "crisis" in AZ is a media-created event, essentially. There is no crisis. It's a reaction to one man's murder, which is a tragedy, surely, for that family. However, it's not a state-wide crisis or a breakdown of the border:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/02/20100502arizona-border-violence-mexico.html
The most salient quote:
Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff of Pima County, said there always has been crime associated with smuggling in southern Arizona, but today's rhetoric does not seem to jibe with reality. "This is a media-created event," Dupnik said. "I hear politicians on TV saying the border has gotten worse. Well, the fact of the matter is that the border has never been more secure."
I did look up the stats for Cochise County, AZ, as a little fact-checking of my own (THE POWER OF THE INTERNETS!) and it seems to line up with what they're saying:
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/arizona/cochise.htm
The crime rates they quote have seemed to remain pretty steady for the amount of population growth. Some have even gone down. But I noticed they didn't even touch the embarrassing rape rate (only 7.6 in 2000, 33.99 in 2007). However, even with a rise in crime it's ludicrous to assume that it is all due to the dirty dealings of illegal immigrants. I looked up Granville's (setting of Stem, NC) stats and the robbery stats are TRIPLE that of the little border county, Cochise, and pretty neck-and-neck for several other stats:
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/northcarolina/granville.htm
Let's check somewhere not even remotely involved in the discussion of immigrants, because let's face it: North Carolina is inundated with immigrant workers. Let's try Anchorage, Alaska, where our pal Palin is from. It's at the bottom of the list (second only to Hawaii, but it has a larger population base for us to work with and the irony is too delicious) for illegal immigrants in the US. I used this website to find the list, by state: http://www.statemaster.com/graph/peo_est_num_of_ill_imm-people-estimated-number-illegal-immigrants
Over twice the murder rate and triple the rape in Anchorage and QUADRUPLE the robbery rate. (And by the way, better hope you don't get raped in Anchorage because they make you pay for your rape kit: http://alaskareport.com/news98/x61620_rape_palin.htm - a little nugget I ran across while doing this search). With all of Anchorage's stats well over that of Cochise, I think we need to start doing some profiling for Alaskans. They seem a devilish bunch.
http://www.criminal.com/statistics/alaska/anchorage.htm
Arizona is not a war zone. It is being painted as such to win political favor. Do not allow justice to be trampled, and do not be bought by lies.