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9:28 AM | 
Posted by
kender
And my comments about them. I believe that alot of people outside of the US read these stats and since they have no clue about life here they take them at face value without understanding the underlying situations that may explain why those stats are like that.
"American citizens are threatened by rampant violent crimes and severe infringement of civil rights by law enforcement departments. "Violent crimes pose a serious threat to people's lives," said the record."
Violent crimes happen everywhere. This statement makes it sound liek we have jackbooted (I love that phrase) cops storming through the streets beating people down. Note though the word "threatened".
"The record quoted the Department of Justice of the United States on Nov. 29, 2004 as saying that in 2003 residents aged 12 and above in the United States came across about 24 million cases of crimes, including 1.38 million violent crimes like murders and robberies, averaging 475 cases per 100,000 people."
Isn't that like a .475% chance, statistically speaking, of being a victim? That sounds rather safe to me. That is less than one half of one percent. I realy like those odds.
"Police violence and infringement of human rights by law enforcement agencies also constitute a serious problem," the record said."
If this was such a serious problem wouldn't we hear more about it?
"According to the U.S.' official website www.opensecrets.org, the 2004 presidential election has been listed as the most expensive campaign in the country's history, with the cost jumpingto 1.7 billion US dollars from 1 billion US dollars in 2000."
Does the US run this website? That is certainly news to me.
"Racial discrimination has been deeply rooted in the United States, permeating into every aspects of society, said the record"
This is a myth. The truth is that racial discrimination in the US is almost non-existent, unless we figure in "affirmative action"...then it is alive and well.
"The record said that the colored people are generally poor, with living condition much worse than the white. According to a report of The Guardian of Britain on Oct. 9, 2004, the average netassets of a white family is 88,000 US dollars in 2002, 11 times of a family of Latin American ancestry, or nearly 15 times of a family of African ancestry."
Hhhmmm....maybe that is because alot of those "colored people" are not taking advantage of the system that could help them, staying in school and applying themselves to get out of the living situations they are in? It would seem by these numbers that the people of "latin american" ancestry are doing better as a whole. Perhaps it is because they have a strong family values system that expects them to work and provide for their families. I wonder what the average net assets of families of asian ancestry is?
"Racial prejudice is ubiquitous in judicial fields, the record said. The proportion for persons of colored races being sentenced or being imprisoned is notably higher than whites."
Maybe this is simply because they commit more crimes per capita than white folk?
"In accordance with a report published in Nov. 2004 by the US Department of Justice, colored races accounted for over 70 percent of inmates in the United States."
See above comment.
"The situation of American women and children was disturbing. The rates of women and children physically or sexually victimized were high, said the report."
Nowhere near the numbers in other countries though. South Africa comes readily to mind. Granted, there should be none of this going on, but when you have 280+ million people there are going to be some sick rotten bastards out there.
"According to FBI Crime Statistics, in 2003 the United States witnessed 93,233 cases of raping. Virtually 63.2 in every 100,000 women fell victims."
According to my math, (which may be wrong because I suck at math, which is why I have an accountant), this equates to a .0632% chance of getting raped. That is an awfully low number, statiscally speaking.
"Statistics released by the US Labor Departmentin Jan. 2004 showed a woman who worked full time had the median earning of 81.1 percent of that for a man, according to the report."
What this report didn't take into account was the fact that alot of women work in lower paying fields. In fields where your pay is salary based, and not hourly, women make as much as men. In hourly fields women take more time off than men usually for child related issues. Go ahead and call me a sexist ass, it is true nonetheless.
"In addition, according to the report, child poverty was a serious problem. A story released from AP Washington on Oct. 12, 2004 said that about 20 million children lived in "low-income working families" -- with barely enough money to cover basic needs."
There is a difference between poverty and barely enough money to cover basic needs. Barely enough money to cover basic needs means that the needs are being met but just barely. And again, low-income working families are low income working families for a reason. Either they are young families or lack the skills or knowledget o get away from low income jobs.
"Children were also victims of sex crimes. Every year about 400,000 children in the US were forced to engage in prostitution or other sexual dealings on the streets."
This is simply wrong. That this happens anywhere is wrong. I don't know how they came to that number, (perhaps that called the child sex workers union), but perhaps attention needs to be focused on indonesia where it is a well known industry more than here, where it is destroyed whenever it is found.
"The atrocity of US troops abusing Iraqi POWs exposed the infringement of human rights of foreign nationals by the United States, said the record."
Says the country that killed college kids for demonstrating.
"According to US media like the Newsweek and the Washington Post,as early as several years ago, in US forces' prisons in Afghanistan, interrogators used various kinds of torture tools foracquiring confession, causing many deaths."
And I am supposed to feel sorry for killing terrorist scum being interrogated? Fuck you.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross believed that abuse of detained Iraqis in the notorious Abu Ghraib Prison was not a single case and it was a systematic behavior, the report said."
Again, see above, and also the soldiers charged have been sentenced for thier crimes. Seriously, don't you think our government would be able to hide serious systemic torture of suspected terrorists? On one hand everyone says Bush is an idiot and so is his administration and then they turn around and accuse them of being devious and crafty. Those two conditions are mutually exclusive.
"The report pointed out that the United States frequently commits wanton slaughters during external invasions and military attacks. A survey on Iraqi civilian deaths, based on the natural death rate before the war, estimates that the US-led invasion might have led to 100,000 more deaths in the country, with most victims being women and children."
This has been refuted, I simply can't find that link.
"Jointly designed and conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, the survey also finds that the majority of the additional, unnatural deaths since the invasion were caused by violence, while air strikes from the coalition forces were the main factor to blame for the violence-caused deaths."
I put forth that those deaths weren't unnatural. If you go against the US military they are going to start by bombing you, naturally, and bombs exploding on top of your house will naturally kill you.
"Despite tons of problems in its own human rights, the United States continues to stick to its belligerent stance, wantonly trample on the sovereignty of other countries, and constantly stage tragedies of human rights infringement in the world, said the report."
Now I put forth this argument: Terrorists have impunged upon the sovereignty and safety AND FREEDOM of the US by attacking us, and those countries where terrorists are allowed to hide, those countries that support terrorism and those countries that make a mockery of freedom will be dealt with. The UN has proven to be impotent, especially where the safety and interests of the US are concerned, and we will NOT cede our SOVEREIGN RIGHTS of DEFENSE to placate a world full of chickenshit appeasers that would have us brought down to their level simply because of jealousy that our system of Freedom stands strong in the face of their system of socialism and aquiesence to government control. They are sheep. They are glad to be sheep. Sheep are naturally terrified of lions.
'nuff said.
"American citizens are threatened by rampant violent crimes and severe infringement of civil rights by law enforcement departments. "Violent crimes pose a serious threat to people's lives," said the record."
Violent crimes happen everywhere. This statement makes it sound liek we have jackbooted (I love that phrase) cops storming through the streets beating people down. Note though the word "threatened".
"The record quoted the Department of Justice of the United States on Nov. 29, 2004 as saying that in 2003 residents aged 12 and above in the United States came across about 24 million cases of crimes, including 1.38 million violent crimes like murders and robberies, averaging 475 cases per 100,000 people."
Isn't that like a .475% chance, statistically speaking, of being a victim? That sounds rather safe to me. That is less than one half of one percent. I realy like those odds.
"Police violence and infringement of human rights by law enforcement agencies also constitute a serious problem," the record said."
If this was such a serious problem wouldn't we hear more about it?
"According to the U.S.' official website www.opensecrets.org, the 2004 presidential election has been listed as the most expensive campaign in the country's history, with the cost jumpingto 1.7 billion US dollars from 1 billion US dollars in 2000."
Does the US run this website? That is certainly news to me.
"Racial discrimination has been deeply rooted in the United States, permeating into every aspects of society, said the record"
This is a myth. The truth is that racial discrimination in the US is almost non-existent, unless we figure in "affirmative action"...then it is alive and well.
"The record said that the colored people are generally poor, with living condition much worse than the white. According to a report of The Guardian of Britain on Oct. 9, 2004, the average netassets of a white family is 88,000 US dollars in 2002, 11 times of a family of Latin American ancestry, or nearly 15 times of a family of African ancestry."
Hhhmmm....maybe that is because alot of those "colored people" are not taking advantage of the system that could help them, staying in school and applying themselves to get out of the living situations they are in? It would seem by these numbers that the people of "latin american" ancestry are doing better as a whole. Perhaps it is because they have a strong family values system that expects them to work and provide for their families. I wonder what the average net assets of families of asian ancestry is?
"Racial prejudice is ubiquitous in judicial fields, the record said. The proportion for persons of colored races being sentenced or being imprisoned is notably higher than whites."
Maybe this is simply because they commit more crimes per capita than white folk?
"In accordance with a report published in Nov. 2004 by the US Department of Justice, colored races accounted for over 70 percent of inmates in the United States."
See above comment.
"The situation of American women and children was disturbing. The rates of women and children physically or sexually victimized were high, said the report."
Nowhere near the numbers in other countries though. South Africa comes readily to mind. Granted, there should be none of this going on, but when you have 280+ million people there are going to be some sick rotten bastards out there.
"According to FBI Crime Statistics, in 2003 the United States witnessed 93,233 cases of raping. Virtually 63.2 in every 100,000 women fell victims."
According to my math, (which may be wrong because I suck at math, which is why I have an accountant), this equates to a .0632% chance of getting raped. That is an awfully low number, statiscally speaking.
"Statistics released by the US Labor Departmentin Jan. 2004 showed a woman who worked full time had the median earning of 81.1 percent of that for a man, according to the report."
What this report didn't take into account was the fact that alot of women work in lower paying fields. In fields where your pay is salary based, and not hourly, women make as much as men. In hourly fields women take more time off than men usually for child related issues. Go ahead and call me a sexist ass, it is true nonetheless.
"In addition, according to the report, child poverty was a serious problem. A story released from AP Washington on Oct. 12, 2004 said that about 20 million children lived in "low-income working families" -- with barely enough money to cover basic needs."
There is a difference between poverty and barely enough money to cover basic needs. Barely enough money to cover basic needs means that the needs are being met but just barely. And again, low-income working families are low income working families for a reason. Either they are young families or lack the skills or knowledget o get away from low income jobs.
"Children were also victims of sex crimes. Every year about 400,000 children in the US were forced to engage in prostitution or other sexual dealings on the streets."
This is simply wrong. That this happens anywhere is wrong. I don't know how they came to that number, (perhaps that called the child sex workers union), but perhaps attention needs to be focused on indonesia where it is a well known industry more than here, where it is destroyed whenever it is found.
"The atrocity of US troops abusing Iraqi POWs exposed the infringement of human rights of foreign nationals by the United States, said the record."
Says the country that killed college kids for demonstrating.
"According to US media like the Newsweek and the Washington Post,as early as several years ago, in US forces' prisons in Afghanistan, interrogators used various kinds of torture tools foracquiring confession, causing many deaths."
And I am supposed to feel sorry for killing terrorist scum being interrogated? Fuck you.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross believed that abuse of detained Iraqis in the notorious Abu Ghraib Prison was not a single case and it was a systematic behavior, the report said."
Again, see above, and also the soldiers charged have been sentenced for thier crimes. Seriously, don't you think our government would be able to hide serious systemic torture of suspected terrorists? On one hand everyone says Bush is an idiot and so is his administration and then they turn around and accuse them of being devious and crafty. Those two conditions are mutually exclusive.
"The report pointed out that the United States frequently commits wanton slaughters during external invasions and military attacks. A survey on Iraqi civilian deaths, based on the natural death rate before the war, estimates that the US-led invasion might have led to 100,000 more deaths in the country, with most victims being women and children."
This has been refuted, I simply can't find that link.
"Jointly designed and conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, the survey also finds that the majority of the additional, unnatural deaths since the invasion were caused by violence, while air strikes from the coalition forces were the main factor to blame for the violence-caused deaths."
I put forth that those deaths weren't unnatural. If you go against the US military they are going to start by bombing you, naturally, and bombs exploding on top of your house will naturally kill you.
"Despite tons of problems in its own human rights, the United States continues to stick to its belligerent stance, wantonly trample on the sovereignty of other countries, and constantly stage tragedies of human rights infringement in the world, said the report."
Now I put forth this argument: Terrorists have impunged upon the sovereignty and safety AND FREEDOM of the US by attacking us, and those countries where terrorists are allowed to hide, those countries that support terrorism and those countries that make a mockery of freedom will be dealt with. The UN has proven to be impotent, especially where the safety and interests of the US are concerned, and we will NOT cede our SOVEREIGN RIGHTS of DEFENSE to placate a world full of chickenshit appeasers that would have us brought down to their level simply because of jealousy that our system of Freedom stands strong in the face of their system of socialism and aquiesence to government control. They are sheep. They are glad to be sheep. Sheep are naturally terrified of lions.
'nuff said.
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9 comments:
Dude...what do you want from a closed society? Of course, what they are trying to show their citizens is that they have it good in China and they should not rebel because, you know, they don't discriminate in a communist country, they are all equal and the crime is low (if you discount the official crime committed by the government).
I actually, laughed. No outrage here.
But, you are right, this is for their own consumption, not ours. But it's good to bring it to light.
I'll have to link to it.
I agree with Kat. (Is that a first, Kat?) Anyway, this is definitly the Pot calling the Kettle black - but more extreme. However, refuting claims as you did in several cases where you say, essentially, "At least we're not as bad as those guys over there" doesn't make the situation okay or acceptable.
The problem with torturing prisoners is that we are not just torturing guilty ones. This is always the sticking point of the problem with torture. How do you find out if someone is guilty without torture and how do you avoid torturing innocents in order to find the guilty ones? You assume that everyone who was tortured was a terrorist. This is not the case and therein lies the real problem.
I do agree with you that statistics can be made to sound scary until you put them in proper perspective and this report does just that and I think the perspective you gave to many of them is valid. The one number that I think is probably off on the low side however is the rape statistic. It is impossible that the statistic is that low considering the number of women I have met who have had that terrible experience. It is an extremely under-reported crime. However, these are crimes perpetrated by individuals, not the government, and I think the government makes excellent attempts at limiting crime.
Racial discrimination is not nearly as dead as you would like to believe CTK. In some parts of the country it may be, but in others, it will take a while longer. However, I think most of the steps that need to be taken have happened and what we all really need is to let time work its magic to do most of the rest. Consider that the civil rights movement was not until the 60s. We are only 40 years removed from that time. I don't think anyone denies that minorities were mistreated prior to this time. Progress takes time. My grandfather was more successful than his father, my father is more successful that his father, and I intend to be more successful than my father. Sometimes, progess simply takes generations to occur. The only people who have been on essentially equal footing their whole lives are those born in the late 60s and early 70s. These people are maybe approaching 40 years old. The statistics need some time to iron out. We should certainly still be aware of the possibility of racism, but I think sometimes people become very alarmist about statistics without really thinking about the history causing those statistics.
Final comment. I think the thing about opensecrets.org being "official" is the funniest thing on that page. Here is the 'about' for opensecrets:
http://www.opensecrets.org/about/index.asp
Krafty...
I think we agreed one other time. Not so scary after all.
I also agree on the crime of rape being either under reported or reported as something else like domestic abuse or, in the case of young girls, possibly pish poshed as "experimenting" or "changing their minds". However, I will say that, even if we multiplied it exponentially by the possible quantity, in a country where 159mil people are women, we still wouldn't even get close to 1%.
As Krafty points out, the humor in this report is basically "don't look here, we're okay, it's those other people". Just like in Iran or Saudi Arabia that try to portray their controlled societies as relatively crim free, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, it just means they don't recognize it officially. if they do recognize it, it's generally not in favor of the victims.
To me, it is water off my back and when the immigrants and asylum seekers from their countries stop coming here and our people start seeking asylum there, I'll worry about it.
If we shot everyone in the head that broke a law like the Chinese did, we'd probably have lower crime rates.
The Chinese are a ruthless communist country with an agenda. Do not be fooled by those that would have you believe that they embrace capitalism. They are one of the biggest threats to the world today. They are laying back, biding their time, waiting.
If ever there were a moment to use the phrase about the kettle and pot....
Not responsible for my therapy bills???
Damn!
;)
I just don't see how anyone can take any human rights claims by China seriously. But, you are right. I have seen some people of the country grab on to it as fact today. That alone says something.
And, we expected anything less than propaganda from the communist Chinese?
Yeah, I liked their choice for "official website". That was real slick.
By critiquing the Chinese report does not mean that one is ignoring problems here at home. Amazing to me how some people, cannot stand criticism of another country without saying "well we've got problems over here, too!"
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