Category Archives: crime

Culture War Correspondence: The Police

EVAN: Rooooooooooxaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnne!

Ladies, gentlemen, and others, Gordon and I have come together today to discuss, you guessed it, The Police. You could argue that there are other greater bands from the late 70s, but you would be wrong.

GORDON: I’d like to start off right now with a story about a recent experience I had with the police, if I may-

EVAN: By all means. What was Sting like in person?

GORDON: I wouldn’t know- I only heard ’em screaming at my next door neighbor through the door.

See, readers, I live in what nobody would describe as “good neighborhood”. It’s certainly not as bad as some places, but it’s definitely not a place that anyone wants to be.

In fact, the police shaking down my neighbor for one of his “Known Associates” stated just that. To quote one of ’em “I f-cking hate this [apartment] complex.”

Needless to say, it didn’t exactly inspire confidence within me that if I ever needed help, the boys-in-blue would have my back… Continue reading

Shame Day: Our (In)justice System

Last time I was in prison I remember thinking to myself, “This sure reminds me of high school.” This was mostly because of the way the prison was structured like a school: there were various buildings connected by paths and even nice little areas with a tree or two and a bench to sit on.

The visiting areas were set up a lot like a school cafeteria, but apparently all the tables had microphones in them to monitor conversation. I also had to go through some sort of metal detector to reach the visiting area and had to leave my keys at the front. For the most part it was easy to forget where you were, as long as you couldn’t see the razor-wire fence from where you were sitting.

I was the one visiting, in case you were starting to wonder where that introduction was going. Continue reading

Evan and Gordon Talk: Vigilantes

GORDON: Look there! In the sky!

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane!

It’s your creepy neighbor stalking the streets in spandex carrying a metal baton!

EVAN: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today Gordon and yours truly will be discussing the very-much-grounded real-life vigilantes out there, and without our dear friend Kat who has featured in our last three installments.

As her wedding nears ever closer she will be absent for the next few E&GTs, but never fear, she will be returning at some point.

GORDON: More powerful than ever. Or less.

I don’t know how marriage works.

But back to the topic at hand: vigilantes, good or evil? Continue reading

Why I’m Not Afraid Of Crime

In my attempt to err on the side of caution in regards to confidentiality, I rarely speak about my job, let alone write about it. Such is the nature of social work. Even so, the subject of today’s post has been preying on mind for a while now, and while I’m still going to not disclose the entirety of what I do, I am going to put it out there that I am (essentially) a vocational counselor for individuals who have criminal backgrounds. I just want to show that I do have some basic understand of some of the things I’ll be discussing, and I’m not speaking  simply out of speculation. So what are we talking about today? Crime, criminals, and why you shouldn’t be afraid of either.

Except the Corleones, who are the Lannisters, but without the inbreeding… Oh wait- wasn’t there something up with the cousins in the 3rd movie? I try to suppress it…

Continue reading

Arguments for Trayvon

It’s 10:30 here in Las Vegas and 96 degrees, and with tonight’s news out of Florida, I know I’m not going to be getting any sleep without howling a bit first.

In spite of the widespread shock and outrage at the acquittal of Florida neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman for the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, there are still plenty of people out there trying to come up with defenses for this, the most widely publicized miscarriage of justice since the wrongful execution of Troy Davis.

In the coming days, we’re going to be seeing rallies, marches, and perhaps even riots around the nation in response to this travesty, and some responses are going to be needed to the litany of excuses that are going to be offered for the decision of the jury.

Here’s what we’re probably going to be hearing:

I. The Court Must Be Right, Because It’s The Court

Continue reading