Police: Ark. Dem. Party chair dies after shooting

Police say the 49-year-old chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party has died hours after being shot by a gunman who burst into the state party headquarters in Little Rock.

More reports and updates from this afternoon at KnoxViews, with some commentary.

More than 100 guest workers carrying signs that said "I Am a Man" and "Dignity" walked off the job at a Mississippi shipyard last week to protest conditions they liken to slavery.

Shipyard workers from India have filed a lawsuit that says,

"in the wake of Hurricane Katrina more than 500 Indian men were trafficked into the United States through the federal H2B guest worker program to work for Signal at shipyards in Pascagoula and Orange, Texas. Lured by promises of permanent work and a chance at legal immigration, the men gave up their jobs in India and went into debt to finance fees as high as $20,000 each. They then allegedly had their passports and visas held by recruiters who told them that changing their minds about working for Signal could bring legal action and even physical harm."

Katrina? Gulfcoast? Disenfranchised workers? Does anybody know what year it is? Does anybody care?

A special Tennessee legislative committee was formed to study the problem of copper theft. The committee has drafted legislation that will be sponsored by Senator Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) and Representative Mike McDonald (D-Portland) in the next session:

Under the legislation, all persons engaged in the scrap metal business would be required to register with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Scrap dealers cannot purchase metal unless the seller has a state or federally issued photo id and provides a thumbprint. Dealers are required to keep detailed descriptions of each individual transaction and cannot purchase metal from anyone under the age of 18. Dealers that purchase copper, catalytic converters, and air conditioning coils and condensers are prohibited from making cash payments to the seller.

Read more here. The text of the bill is here.

Once again everyone is buzzing about the "whacko" who raced into Hillary Clinton's campaign office in N.H. and once again we are all feeling scared to death of people with mental illnesses. But how dangerous are the mentally ill really?

In actuality (with certain exceptions, e.g., substance-induced psychoses), individuals with mental disorders are not more likely to commit violent crimes than is the general population.” (5) The fact is, according to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, statistically, people with mental illness are more often the victims of crime than its perpetrators and are no more violent than people who do not have mental illness. People “diagnosed with mental illnesses are, by far, not the most violent group in American society, and, in fact, according to the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, are responsible for no more than 3% of the violence in the United States.” (6)

Link...

Though many sensational crimes are committed by the mentally ill. A whole lot more are committed by "normal" people every day. People who have never seen a shrink or gotten treatment fo any of their mental problems. The media is partly responsible for our fear of people with mental illnesses.

Out of 378 US cities reviewed, Detroit was named the most dangerous city. Those guys up there just can't get a break.

St. Louis was ranked the second most dangerous city. While Orlando, the pretty Disney city, was ranked 11th. Orlando is none to happy about this designation.

Apparently many are not happy with the report and have not been for years. The American Society of Criminology are claiming this report is a misuse of the FBI data.

Update via gypsy at KnoxBlab, Knoxville is the 94th most dangerous city, safer than Nashville (56) and Chattanooga 61) but more dangerous than New York City (237)