Posted: 12-1-2018 - 10:07 AM CST
UPDATE: MY SPEECH FOR DAY WITHOUT CRIME:
Monday, December 3, 2018 with
Appearing Live with Venice M. Johnson
Chicago Pop Culture Interviewer:
BLOG #1327
Penned: Saturday, December 1, 2018
Posted: 12-1-2018 - 10:07 AM CST
Rewrite #1: 3:22 PM CST
UPDATE: MY SPEECH FOR DAY WITHOUT CRIME:
Monday, December 3, 2018
Appearing Live with Venice M. Johnson, Chicago Pop Culture Interviewer:
Crime is big Business. Bigger than BiG! The biggest Business on The Planet.
The Mental Health for some has deteriorated terribly so that even the MOST UNLIKELY Person you could ever think of or would know...who'd be prone to commit a Crime - some that are unfathomable - heinous to say the least...would be arrested and later convicted. I need not go into Detail here. Some are Serial in nature.
As the Graph depicts: You have the Criminal. You have the Wanna-be';s people who emulate the Bad Guys because their Portrayals seem to daring. You have the Hide-Outs and all that goes into making sure these Perbs - Perpetrators are well-hidden. Osama bin Laden comes to mind immediately. This goes from Satellite Intelligence to who delivers his Mail.
Then, at another Level, the Drug Sniffing & Cadaver Dogs - who are smelling out the BAD Guys or Good Guys who "caught a bullet" and the War Dogs who accompany our Soldiers into Battle - Combat so that We kill the Enemy - that oft-times after-wards becomes our Friends or Allies. Killers and Hypocrites. Man has sunken to a new Time Low.
I've lived on this Planet for 66 years and am eternally grateful to have made it this far.
Considering who and what is out there.
Considering how clumsy I am.
Considering how gullible I am.
I could have perished on any Number of Occasions, but successful did not. for that I am eternally grateful.
After all, this Proclamation as born out of a blood bath I took on Monday, December 23, 1991 when I was beat up - robbed and left-for-dead in the lobby of my Apartment Building at 1437 West Rosemont in the Edgewater Section of Chicago, on the far North Side. The Man that assaulted me made away with my Black Tote and an uncashed Christmas Check of $200; but he left me scared - although not permanently scarred as that EVENT was "The Catalyst" that would change my Life from:
BTC: Before The Crime
ATF: After The Crime
of December 23, 1991 at 6 PM CST.
For that was when I conceptualized teh Greatest Comic Art + Educational Program called:
CARTOONISTS AGAINST CRIME in 1991 – whose Motto was:
Cartoonists Against Crime: We Draw Cartoons – Not Guns! ©1991
which was endorsed by Cartoonists from across the World & Government Officials since Crime was #1 on President Wm J. Clinton's Agenda.
Then on September 11, 2001 The USA was attacked. Cartoonists Against Terrorism ©2001 was the Upshot of CAC. Yes, I am the Founder of BOTH Anti-Crime Campaigns. Now as we approach 2021, I'm wondering what We will be tooning about and who will be left to care?
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My Day Without Crime ©1993 that became a red-ribbon/gold leaf Gubernatorial Proclamation endorsed by Governor Jim Edgar in November of 1993 turns 25 years old on Monday, #December_3_2018, the Day and Date that The State of Illinois (where I live and have lived for 64 of my 66 years) turns 200. Giving you some PERSPECTIVE, this was the Year that our beloved President Abe Lincoln was merely a boy - being 9 years old.
Read all about it at: tinyurl.com/y7afxyh9
Doing a LIVE Interview on Monday, 12/3/2018 with #Venice_J, Podcaster, in order to tell my PoV: Point of View on how We do live in a CRiME riddled, muddled-up and infested World and how no matter how hard We try (as individual do-right Citizens), CRiME has (so abominably) become a Way of Life – is Part of THAT STORY.
Few have not become a CRiME ViCTiM of some kind. There's a wild Assortment of Crimes. Some hurt more than others. It depends on WHAT SiDE of The Law you are on. If you've not become victimized, intend to become one SOMEDAY in your Life. Have a PLAN. You owe that to yourself and loved ones. CRiME is prevalent. We all cannot rent a Tank and proceed down the Street in one of those Vehicles.
Thank you, Ms. Johnson, for seeing the Importance of this Issue that affects us all, no matter what our Race or Political Affiliations. If we are rich, poor, smart or not. Being SMART about CRiME has always been a TOPiC OF INTEREST. Crime is a Big Industry. The Process is called #Infiltration. It's THEM against US. And sometimes, US suffers incredibly so. Sometimes US decides to turn BAD. Sometimes those who are BAD, decide to turn a Page and become one of the "Good Guys or Gals."
Is Peace passe?
On a Scale of 1-10, Our Pets know better than to lead a LIFE OF CRiME, but somehow We've dragged them also into this Dire Scenario and State of Mind. Shame on us! What were We ever thinking? Only TiME will tell (as it always does) what the next 200 years will hold and/or foretell when the State of Illinois turns 400.
NOW FOR MY SOLILOQUY.
Now I am sure you are asking: Day Without Crime? What is that all about, Adrienne? Do tell.
THINK ABOUT IT, Venice. Crime is BiG Business.
You can make piles of Money (and not even pay Taxes on it) no matter what Side of THE LAW you are on. The Bottom Line & Blunt Reality are:
There will never ever be a DAY WITHOUT CRIME.
There will never ever be a SECOND WITHOUT CRIME.
There will never ever be a MOMENT WITHOUT CRIME.
CRIME (as it's going to be revealed) is HERE TO STAY.
Being a LATE BLOOMER (a BabyBoomer born in August of 1952), it dawned on me last week that CRiME is here to stay.
It was a Reality Check I never ever thought about before.
I blame it on my upbringing. For 66 years, I lived in an Idealistic Glass Bubble here, thinking, hoping and having Confidence in People, my Fellow Man but after 66 years since NO Improvements have been spotted, the GRiM Reality set in: Lock - Stock & Barrel. Take those last 3 terms anyway you wish.
HOW I ARRIVED ON THIS "NEW YET SOUR REALITY:"
Let’s do "THE MATH" on this Topic of what a Crimeless World would be like.
#1: That Life would be HIGH in Unemployment. After all, you really cannot put on your Resume that you work for CRiME. In other Words, in a WORLD OF THiNGS, you would have to become a CRIMINAL in order to pay those Bills and to keep up with the Jones, Kardashians or whomever is popular at The Time. Sweating the "Small Things" can make a Person snap. When a Person snaps, usually someone gets hurt or dies.
#2:
A) On the Hit Parade, you have The Police whose "AIM" is to serve and protect. Sometimes, they do; sometimes they don't. Oft-times, it's a THANKLESS Job. For the most part, we owe them a debt of gratitude. Could I do what they do? Could I be that fearless? Ask yourself those Questions before passing Judgment.
B): #2: On the Hit Parade, you have The Fire Department, First Responders who RUN in to the Fire when others are running out. How heroic is that? However, if the fire is classified as an Arson Fire, then that Designation places it as a CRiME. Someone set that fire. Someone meant trouble. A Firefighter's Job is as Crime-related as the Police Department.
INSERT: You will see direct correlations in every MOVE you make because EVERY Move is either a STEP in the Direction of being in a CRIME; starting a CRIME or saving yourself from Victimization.
#3: ENTER: The proverbial “Bad Guys." Their Crime of Choice (whether it's school yard bullying for lunch money; embezzling from a Fortune 500 Company; or blackmail) entails 3 Sociological Factors. Those are:
Deviance
Greed and
The blood-thirsty Desire to want IT all.
IT refers to all the lavish Commodities that only MONEY can buy, including Affluence; Influence and On-Lookers who are there, like Vultures in Nature. Waiting til the Time is ripe.
All of these Scenarios and more are what makes it essential that The Cops have a Job. Many are bread-winners for their Families. Those people have to eat. Many times a deadly Confrontation will cut their Life short as it does for innocent Bystanders and the Desperado himself.
#4: Ah, this is where it gets interesting: You have Individuals “behind The Scenes” who market what The Cops need to be safe; from their COP Cars to their Gun’s holsters to their Dash Cameras; to the People who run Dunkin' Donuts where they stop in for for a 6-Pack of Donuts. We can even extend that Concept out to the Sugar Growers who provide the Icing on their LongJohn Sweet Roll to the Dairy Farmers whose Cows provide the Cream for their Cups of Coffee.
This is put a small sampling of HOW CRIME PAYS. Without Crime, where would any of these People be? AND, furthermore without COPS and the Accoutrements they need to save and serve, these Business Folks & Entrepreneurs would be out on the Street – where some would have to turn to a LIFE OF CRIME, becoming Criminals (breaking in – entering and robbing) just to keep alive.
#5: You have those “behind The Scenes” that market the get-away Vehicles, invented the darkened Windshields; in order that the BAD GUY remains bad and uncaught; that's a volume of services, indeed.
#6: Then, We must add in The Reporters and Investigative Journalists (Geraldo comes to mind) who report on Crime; the ones who put themselves "out there," in the Line of Fire (so to speak); sniffing around like Blood Hounds looking for the next breaking STORY in order for them to win a Journalism Award at the End of the Year.
#7: The gun manufacturers who supposedly protect us from THE BAD GUYS, but also supply the Ammunitions so they shoot, maim and kill us. Not to say the NRA who is always underfire for an Assortment of Stands they make and take.
#8A) A special Shout-out for the Inventors of Kevlar. People (who are engineering scientists) who devise Ways to be safer; there's an entire System of them that deserve to be honored as Think Tank Leaders. But are they also keeping the Criminal safe? Many times they are.
#8B) Cosmetic Surgeons who operate on a Criminal to change his face are yet an accessory to this ever-widening Display of how a LIFE OF CRIME can be a Cover-Up that no one ever has examined that deeply.
#9: You have TV Cop Shows; like Dick Wolf, a mastermind Storyteller on how all this Craziness operates, year - in and year out. For those of us who are arm-chair Cops, he puts us right there in the middle of a Crime and he does it with the Help of Hollywood, Embellishment – for Photoshop Experts who have a JOB – because of CRIME being as abundant as it is. Could a Movie or TV Show be that exciting if it wasn't for the Musical Scores composing the heightened crescendo-ing of the dramatic theme music that literally has us sitting on the Edge of our Chairs? They, too, would be jobless if not for a saucy Script that appeals to the Criminally-addictive.
Being criminally-insane (in a twisted way) fascinates and pays the bills. But wait: There's more:
#10: Even 1 century ago - 100 years ago on December 1, 1918 (immediately after World War I ceased), the Emphasis was not THAT much on Crime, as it was not that blown-up or SUPER-SIZED by “The Media” and the long arms of Social Media who need to keep their Ratings high; otherwise they will be eaten up by their Competition. When Ratings fall, heads are chopped. Nielsen, too, is partially affected by a Life of Crime.
#11: We cannot forget the Psychiatrists and Academic Professionals (including those in Forensics) trying to figure out WHAT is going on in The Criminal Brain. Quite fascinating in a deviant way. You have The Shrinks helping their Clients overcome their Fear of being a Crime Victim. Sometimes, The Fear Factor lingers and does not go away (quickly enough). You have The Counselors helping those in Domestic Violence Cases. You have the Drug Manufacturers who prescribe sedatives for those who cannot sleep. You have the TV Set Companies who Sets are turned on all-night long as many healing Crime Victims cannot sleep steadily in an extremely quiet environment.
#12: Do you have a home that needs protection from THUGS? Home Security Services are a billion dollar industry. Possibly more. If no one broke in; they’d be biting the dust, as well.
#13: Are you a Guard? Armed or not armed, if Crime was not in existence, you'd be out of a job. Are you wearing a gun or are strapped into a walkie-talkie? You can thank CRiME for that monthly paycheck.
#14: Getting creative now, Murder Mystery Books are penned by Writers who thrive on blood and gore. Their Stories dissolve what happened on a particular Crime Scene, one which may be rooted in Real Life that caught their attention for any number of reasons.
Crime is mesmerizing IF it is NOT happening to you.
And, yes, you read that here, FIRST. The first of its Genre that I remember reading was Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.
Let’s stop here at 14 and try to regain our Composure. That was an eye-opening Trip into something that took me 66 years and 115 days to figure out as methodically as I have here.
There's Bitterness in a Bittersweet World.
IN CLOSING. Whether a Person is in Corporate White Collar Crime or petty Street Crimes or stealing Condiments at a Restaurant to pushing illicit Drugs; to beating up your Lover; or stealing a Pack of Gum from your local MOM & POP corner grocery store for the mere thrill of it, CRIME is here to stay. Crime is strictly a Human Condition, a Sickness, a Disease that our Pets do not have. But in a way, we have forced them into the Ramifications of what happens in a Society - a Civilization where CRiME does pay and very handsomely.
Crime is strictly a Human Sickness that will never go away completely. Not even for just One Day out of the Year: December 3RD as I had hoped ... when I wrote to Governor Jim Edgar asking him if he would declare my DAY WITHOUT CRIME as a State Event. Together, it was my Intention that We could somehow shed a Ray of Light, Hope and Resilience to a broken Spirit that affects us all from living a much better Life. It was well worth trying at the Time.
EMPTY vs. EMPaThY:
No wonder there is an Emphasis Today on The Empathy Movement where our PET CATS and DOGS are more than ever loved, appreciated, cuddled and spoiled all the moreso because they give us THE SANITY that We must find before someone else CRACKS and SNAPS without even saying a Word.
ALL OF THAT IS ONLY THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG:
Thank you for giving me this Platform, Venice on this once-in-a-Lifetime Date. Coping & preventing & acknowledging Crime may still keep us alive and stronger for yet another Day...It's a fight we cannot afford to lose.
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