I hate the notion of “hate crimes”.  Aren’t all crimes an act of hate?  I am not trying to sound all hippy here, but really, if you commit a crime against someone, that is hardly an act of love.  And since you are actively doing something, a crime is hardly an act of indifference (although indifference can sometimes be a crime).  So a crime is an act of hate.

But in its collective “wisdom”, our Federal government has deigned that when a criminals motivation is based on certain thoughts and feelings, the penalty for that crime should be enhanced.  So, if you kill a person because of the color of their skin, that is a “hate crime”, and the penalty can be enhanced.  Or if you assault a person because of who they have sexual relations with, that is a “hate crime”.

So why don’t we consider crimes against a person based on their religious convictions (or lack thereof) ?  Like when Islamists kill Jews?  Or Christians?  Or Buddhists?  Why aren’t honor killings prosecuted as hate crimes?  Why isn’t female genital mutilation?  Or compulsory child marriage?

If the motivations of a criminal based on the race or sexual orientation of the victim are reasonable grounds for sentencing enhancement, then why aren’t the religious motivations of the criminal?

The latest incident involving dirt bikes in Baltimore City – which are no more legal than hand guns – is absolutely appalling.  Coming just weeks after a pack of dirt bikers terrorized the Fells Point area, the dirt bikers are nothing more than a gang of thugs with no respect for the law.  But who can really blame them, since the law does nothing.  It’s no surprise that these thugs decided to “double up” on their victim of mayhem.

It’s one of the reason I keep a tire iron under the front seat.

Dirt bikes are outlawed in Baltimore City, but Baltimore City Police are prohibited by policy from chasing them.  That’s right.  The Baltimore City Police cannot go after people breaking the law.  Whoever started this silly policy should be thrown in the harbor tied to a heavy concrete block.

But Fred Bealefeld needs to step up and change the policy.  He needs to tell his commanders to get far more aggressive in both finding these punks AND catching these punks.  It’s time for Baltimore’s top cop to get his head out of his ass and get it in the game.  

Watching the local Baltimore news, it is evident that there is a rising problem with bullying.  A child attempts to jump out of a window in Baltimore City to avoid bullies.  A girl at Franklin Middle is thrown down a set of stairs.  And the professional “educators” say that they can’t do much.  Andres Alonso, CEO of the Baltimore City school system, refuses to suspend or expel bullies.

What in God’s name is going on?  I’ll tell you.  The reaction of the so-called professional educational class in this country is proving the old adage that those who can do, and those can’t teach. 

You know what you can do?

1.  Bullying with a physical threat is an assault.  Bullying with a physical act is assault and battery.  What the educators should do is simple:  call the police and file charges.  Perp-walk these little bastards right out of the school, in full view of EVERYONE. In handcuffs.  They committed a crime, let those little shitbirds do the time.

2.  Bullying without the physical threat is still harassment.  It would not be tolerated for five seconds in a workplace.  Why should our children not have the same protection.  Against, arrest these little shits.

3.  Let’s sue the crap out of the parents.  The University of Maryland Law School clinics love to go after farmers.  Let’s make them provide low-cost (or even free) legal services to any parent whose child has been bullied.  Let the parents of the shitbirds suffer interminably in a court of law.

4.  Finally, to the educators and administrators out there… GROW A PAIR. When that child is in your facility, you are charged to act in loco parentis.  Whether you like it or not, whether you feel like you are paid enough to do it or not, YOU are responsible for the safety and security of these children when they are in your facility.  SO STOP YOUR FRAKKING WHINING AND DO SOMETHING.  Or quit.  Wal-Mart is hiring. You can go there and sit on your fat asses and great people and not have to get involved at all.

The excuses from the professional educator class are just that:  excuses.

And I can tell you this: if my niece or nephew ever get bullied at school, any professional educator that sits on their hands will be hoping they still have the muscle mass and coordination to be a greeter at Wal-Mart when I am done.

Something to think about this time of year is the murder count in the City of Baltimore.  I use the term "murder count" because I am interested in the raw numbers.  Using "murder rate" implies a per capita view -- killings per 1,000 -- in order to compare wildly disparate cities (ie, Salisbury, MD v New York City).

Here is something to think about:  as of today, Baltimore City has seen 224 homicides.  Boston -- which has about 40,000 LESS residents and thus makes a good comparison  -- has witnessed 45 homicides this year.

Baltimore is a city out of control.  I don't care if Sheila The Shoe stole $500 in gift cards.  I care that 224 people -- no matter what stuff they might have been into -- are dead.  I care that the city of Baltimore is not safe after dusk.  I care that not only do I have drive defensively in a city where red-light running is pandemic, I have to watch the "corner boys" so I don't get caught in the crossfire.

You want to punish Sheila and Stephanie and the rest of the elected dumbasses in the city for something?  Punish them for their inability to stop the bleeding.  Punish them for spending money on uniforms for the 311 call center while emergency vehicles look like they just left a bumper car derby.

Punish them for only offering excuses, and not solutions. 

Punish them five times for five times as many murders as Boston.