Nice Hooters.

I saw on the news the other day that there were some owls living in my neighborhood so I took a walk over there to check them out. Sure enough, they were still there. I tested out my new camera and got some decent shots. It was kind of tough because I had to zoom in so the quality isn't the best. Kind of amazing that I never saw an owl in my rural upbringing and then right here in the middle of Chicago a family moves in. This isn't even Grant Park but a little park behind the elementary school in my neighborhood. I even met a nice guy there from the University of Chicago. It was so cold out today that this little walk to see the hooters was my only trip outdoors. Adios.

Food for Thought.

This is pretty long. You may have to read it in two sittings.

I did a little research the other day about people dying. More specifically, people being murdered and dying in alcohol related auto accidents in the U.S. Strangely enough both numbers are nearly the same at about 17,000 per year. I did this research specifically to see how these numbers compared to war related deaths in Iraq. Now I knew going in to my tiny research project that the drunk/murder deaths would dwarf the U.S. soldier deaths but I didn’t know how it would compare when including Iraqi civilian deaths, not like those numbers matter to anyone here. The civilian deaths number varies widely based on source but I read something like 160,000 in the paper the other day. So that makes about 164,000 war deaths versus 170,000 drunk/murder deaths over a similar 5 year period.

This raises the question of why isn’t there the uproar and protesting about drunk/murder deaths as there is about the war? Although there isn’t as much anymore now that it looks like things are getting somewhat under control, but still more protesting than drunk driving. Now I’m not a huge fan of the war but at least most of those people are dying for what they believe in and there is a chance (albeit quite slim) that Iraq will become a peaceful, prosperous nation (that will allow the U.S. to use as a launching ground for future offensives). That would be great. Drunk driving deaths and murders have no chance of benefitting anyone in the long run yet somehow they are so much a part of our culture that they are almost accepted as a cost of business/freedom. I mix business and freedom because it is likely that the alcohol businesses pay good money to politicians to make sure that the judicial system doesn’t go overboard in taking away our freedom to drink and drive. How else could you explain our country’s general acceptance of som many drinking and driving related deaths? I think damn near everyone knows somebody that was in a drunk driving accident as either a perp or victim. But how many people know somebody that has done more than a night in the can for it. The system seems to say that it’s alright unless somebody dies. I’ve seen first-hand where someone was hit by a drunk and injured but didn’t die and the driver got away with a slap on the wrist. If the victim would have died, the driver would’ve gone away for years. I don’t understand why the victim has to die in order for the punishment to be harsh. The act on the part of the drunk driver was the same. I guess I’m saying the outcome shouldn’t determine the punishment, the action should. Our system almost reinforces the bad behavior by saying it’s okay as long as you don’t kill anyone.

As for the murders, I just think it is out of sight, out of mind. Part of our history. Doesn’t happen in my neighborhood. Actually, it happens in neighborhoods where the people don’t have enough money to sway/buy politicians to change the game. Most of it is gang related and a lot of people feel like the gang/drug participants bring it on themselves but there are a lot of innocent victims along the way. And at least the punishments are usually harsher for murder. That makes me think of something else. I bet the penalty for a dime bag of weed is as steep as drunk driving, and which is really more dangerous?

Bottom line, before you freak out next time about the war, think about some of the very preventable behavior that takes lives right here. Also think about the concept that we went to war to save lives in the future here, but in the meantime hundreds of thousands have died here not from terrorists but from idiots. Could we use the hundreds of billions spent on war to prevent thousands of deaths here? As an investor I think of things in terms of return on investment, so I wonder if money spent on war to potentially save lives here in the future truly saves more lives than spending that same amount of money on better terrorist prevention at our boarders and better idiot protection within our borders? Who knows, the next big terror attack here may never have come without the war or maybe it is going to happen regardless. I just think of how good could the screening and intelligence could be if that war money was spent here? I’m not sure and we’ll never know the answers but it is food for thought if you are the thinking type.

Bad Guy

I read an article the other day in the Browneye about some corrupt cops in Chicago. Now this is not surprising of course because there is an article like this in the paper every week. In this situation a group of narcotics cops were going to jail because they would bust drug dealers, steal their drugs, let them go, sell the drugs on the street, and keep the money. Sounds like a pretty profitable scheme to me. Well, the judge didn't like it so they are all going to jail for a long time (19 to 40 years). My favorite part of the article is the section at the end where they give quotes from one of the dudes as he was asking the judge for leniency. He said, "My mother raised me to be a hard worker, honest. I learned responsibility at an early age. Basically, I'm in a situation because of greed. I'm not a bad guy."

I find this to be both amusing and sad. It is funny because it is so outrageous and it is sad because I think the guy probably has himself convinced that he's not a bad guy. Just like Michael Vick didn't think of himself as a bad guy for hanging and electrocuting dogs. If greed doesn't make you a bad guy than what does? This guy watched too much Wall Street. I thought I would write about this because you always hear people defend others by saying, "He's not a bad person but/it's just...." I don't think the people saying it usually believe it but they see it as defending themselves for associating with such people. I also like the excuse, "He's only like this when he drinks." Oh yeah? How often does he drink. Every weekend. It's also interesting to see people who treat others they think are below them like shit and treat their peers well. I'm thinking about how certain people treat service workers such as restaurant servers, cab drivers, housekeepers, etc. Somehow a person can treat these people like they are worthless and still be considered good people in the community? Same with people who cheat on their spouses and people look the other way. I guess I'm kind of like Kevin Spacey in Seven but without the killing.

Here's what I'm getting at, if you are an asshole 5% of the time you are an asshole period, and therefore a bad guy. I guess it's like the old saying about being a little bit pregnant. There are far too many people out there that think you aren't a "bad guy" unless you physically harm someone and there are far too many people that accept that premise.