It’s not the two-bit petty criminal whose causing the real danger in our lives and neighborhoods, it’s the Corporate criminals. The guys in suits, two steps removed from the people they are inflicting life threatening damage to that are wrecking havoc on our lives and our nation.

Corporate crime is often violent crime with very real victims. Mokhiber points out that while the FBI estimates that 16,000 Americans are murdered every year “56,000 Americans die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis while tens of thousands of other Americans fall victim to the silent violence of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice.” –Gene Racz

Literally thousands of people dying because of purposeful oversight and ignorance by those whose only concern is often the bottom line. And your probably thinking, “It’s a good thing are government is taking care of them,” wondering how many CEOs will come to the same fate as Skilling and Lay (of Enron). And then you find out this tidbit:

The New York Times recently reported that the government has basically stopped prosecuting corporations for crimes despite the fact that costs of corporate crime far outweighs street crime. Eric Lichtblau, writing for the Times, noted that during the last three years, the U.S. Justice Department has put off prosecuting more than 50 corporations on charges ranging from bribery to fraud. Instead, it has been entering into so-called deferred prosecution agreements and non-prosecution agreements, in which companies are allowed to pay fines and hire monitors to watch over them.

Now, this isn’t to say that all CEOs are corrupt, but simply that it’s a terrible statement about our society that those with money are allowed to keep stealing from the rest of us and not be prosecuted for it. Seriously, they are stealing from all of us, not only on the product side of things but also in our tax dollars:

Health-care fraud alone, he said, costs Americans $100 billion to $400 billion a year. The taxpayer bill to clean up the savings and loan fraud was anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion.

Not only do we need to speak up to our Justice Department about how this is unjust and unfair, but this knowledge should change and challenge the way you talk about and think about criminals. You should either conjure up the same disgust and suspicion of CEO’s as you currently have of street criminals and those you think look like criminals, or you should try and balance your perspective on both to a more understanding, but equally just perspective on both.

ht. Nate

Next Tuesday the wife and I and a friend or two (oh, and the kiddo) will be heading south to PAPA Festival. We attended two years ago as well, it’s where we met our good friend and awesome house mate Chris (from last year). We are excited about going simply because it is a good chance to be rejuvenated and encouraged, and it’s camping, which we love.
I’m helping organize a little, and we’ll be helping set-up when we get there. Guess now I’m just wondering if anyone else who reads this blog is going?

I’m hoping to maybe do some interviews with people, possibly for future podcast here or at Nick and Josh or something. We’ll see. Keep in eye out for me, I’ll be the guy with the baby (there should be a few of those I hear).

Here’s another six sentence story, trying to get creative with them. If you haven’t read my previous ones they are The Triumphal Entry and Acceptance and Murder.

“Gimme that!”

“Stop it!”

“No, You stop it!’

“You better stop doing that or I’m gonna tell on you and Momma’s gonna catch you and then she’s gonna be mad and if she whoops you and someone tells on her and she gets in trouble then they’ll take her away just like they did to Rosie’s mom and then they’ll make us go live with aunty or grammy on the other side of town or maybe they’ll make us go live with some family we don’t know like Chris had to but either way they’ll take us away from our school and our friends and we won’t know anyone and we won’t have anyone to talk to except maybe each other, but if you don’t stop it, I’m not going to talk to you when that happens, and then will be all alone.”

“Whatever, you stop it!”

“Mom!”

(Further thoughts on the blog) Continue reading Six Sentences: No, You Stop It! →

I took a hiatus from the blog last month, featuring old writings from my college years. It seems to have worked well and so I plan on continuing occasionally. I also stopped posting on Saturday and Sunday, allowing for a nice weekend break (though I tend to write those post during the week anyways) and less posting each week. Hopefully it allows you, my faithful readers, to keep up and not get to overwhelmed. Thanks for reading.

I’ve also been working on some other writing projects at the same time. I started my citizen journalist career here, representing North Minneapolis, and had my first story published recently, about the closing of a local coffee shop. I’ve got another one coming up and I’m hoping to continue to do more stories in the future, particularly about things going on in my neighborhood and community. If you live in North Minneapolis and know of something that would make a good news article, send it my way.

I’m gonna start submitting some writings to other magazines and what not down the road here, but I’ll try and stay faithful to maintaining the blog as well. If anyone has an inside connection to a magazine or paper that you think might take some of my writing, please let me know.

Well that’s it for personal updates for the month.

Now might be a good time for you to subscribe if you haven’t:

p.s. I just bought the domain ariahfine.com (finally!) and put a site up. Let me know what you think.

photo credit: ★ Wim

Tomorrow is the last day of school in Minneapolis. This is an important date this year because it means all the neighborhood kids will be out of school and hanging out during the day. I’ve gotten to know a handful of kids and a lot of the neighbors since we moved and the weather has gotten warmer, but I think the summer is going to increase our relationships in the community by leaps and bounds.

I’m really excited to get to know more of the kids and families in the neighborhood. Just recently I’ve been helping a couple kids with some bike fixing projects in the area (which got me thinking, it would be cool to have a Red Bike project around here). And summer also means they’ll open the water park just a couple blocks from our house, lot’s of fun there.

At the same time I want to be sure to get to know parents and families, not just kids. That will take a bit more effort on my part, but I don’t think it will be difficult.

I’m really excited for the coming months, the opportunity to really get to know the people and families that make up my community. I’m proud to say that I know nearly everyone on my block, and we’ve barely had a month of warm weather. Knowing names and brief introductions is a far step from really getting to know people, but it’s more relationships on my block then I’ve ever had. I think that’s credit to our neighborhood, friendly, outgoing, and willing to look out for one another.

We love living here.

Photo credit: Todd Baker

I found the idea of writing a six sentence story so enjoyable last time (by the way, it was published at the official six sentence site here), that I’ve tried my hand at a few more. I’ll post them on Wednesday’s till I run out.

I’m not sure that I like this one as is, I think it could be written better, but who said it had to be perfect. Let me know if you have a better suggestion for the title as well.

“Oreo!” they had shouted at him, said and intended in a derogatory tone not often associated with a cookie. What they had meant, and it came across quite clear to him in the way they turned down their eyes and snarled their lips as they said the word, was that, though his skin might look similar to theirs, he was most definitely not one of them. This revelation had only become troubling recently – previously he hadn’t even wanted to be one of ‘them’ – but now, he’d slowly become aware that his adopted ‘family’ might say he was “part of the family” regardless of what he looked like, but everything else in their actions spoke otherwise. He was alone, those who looked like him, to whom he felt a connection that resonated in his bones, would not accept him; and his ‘family’, amongst those who raised him, the clothes, the privilege, the power and respect, it was not truly his, it never would be, it was only a charade, a display of charity at best. So he killed a man; in cold blood; as an act of justice, to prove his allegiance. The man had wronged his ‘people’ (though they did not consider him such), and though he thought the act would bring him into the fold, instead he found himself a fugitive, with no place to call home.

Continue reading Six Sentences: Acceptance and Murder →