If you want to come to the most dangerous city and state in the United States, well it turns out I live there.

Courtesy of KTVA: 

Based on 2016 stats, Alaska has been named the most dangerous state in the country. 

24/7 Wall Street released its annual report on the "Most Dangerous States in America" on Friday. 

By examining the FBI's 2016 Uniform Crime Report, which was released this week, the report found that Alaska is the most dangerous state in America, and concluded that Anchorage is the state's most dangerous city. 

The report states that in 2016, there were 804 violent crimes per 100,000 Alaskan citizens, 52 murders and 409 adults per 100,000 residents were imprisoned. 

Louisiana, Tennessee, Nevada and New Mexico rounded out the top five. 

Nationwide, of the 10 most violent states, nine are either in the South or the West, while New England states made up half of the country's 10 safest states. 

Overall, the violent crime rate rose in 38 states from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, the national rate was 397 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens, shy of the national violent crime rate at its peak in 1991, which was 758 violent crimes for every 100,000.

This report is actually a few months old, but I only saw it last night when my daughter sent it to me. 

For the record Alaska has been in the top ten most dangerous states for about as long as I can remember.

However being number one is still a little unsettling.

When you grow up here, you just know to follow certain rules.

In the wilderness you make lots of noise and hang your food from a tree when you camp.

In the city you avoid certain areas, keep your neck on a swivel, and keep a dog in your home.

I have had more than my fair share of violent interactions, but virtually all of those occurred when I was a kid and sought out dangerous situations.

As an adult most of my scrapes with the criminal element come from working with people suffering with mental illness or behavioral problems. 

I still think this is a beautiful place to live and visit, but I would caution that if you do keep your eyes open. Wide open.

The Doomsday Clock is now the closest it has been to midnight since the Cold War.

Courtesy of Science AF: 

On Wednesday, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced they have moved the Doomsday Clock forward so it now rests 2 minutes before midnight. 

The Doomsday Clock is a symbol which represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. Ever since 1998, when India and Pakistan started testing nuclear weapons, the Doomsday Clock has been just single digits away from midnight. 

But after the disaster that was 2017, when world leaders failed to respond effectively to looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, scientists have moved the minute hand forward by 30 seconds. 

The Clock is now closer than it has ever been to Doomsday since the height of the Cold War in 1953. 

"In 2017, we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations and relearned that minimizing evidence-based assessments regarding climate and other global challenges does not lead to better public policies," said Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin's president and CEO. 

According to the experts, last year's greatest threats came from the nuclear realm, leaving humanity on the "cusp of a new arms race." North Korea's nuclear weapons progress and the "hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions" from both the U.S. and North Korea have increased the possibility of nuclear war, they say.

People terrified around the world about the possibility of a nuclear war.

Somewhere you just know that Putin is sitting with a self satisfied grin on his face.

A population in fear, is a population easily manipulated.

Donald Trump causes tension, impacts tourism, in Bethlehem. So Christian of him.

Damaged Virgin Mary statue in Bethlehem.

Courtesy of Vanguard:  

With Christmas just some hours away, tensions are simmering in the city of Bethlehem, Jesus birthplace and the region over President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. 

The controversial December 6 announcement by Trump unleashed demonstrations and clashes, including in the Israeli-occupied Bethlehem, where Christians will mark the birth of Jesus in a midnight mass. 

Bethlehem is normally flooded by tourists at this time of year, but has at times appeared almost empty of visitors as nearby clashes between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army keep people away. 

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said “dozens” of groups had pulled out of planned visits after being scared off by the announcement and subsequent violence. 

“Of course this created a tension around Jerusalem and this diverted attention from Christmas,” the Catholic church’s top official in Jerusalem said of Trump’s announcement, but stressing that Christmas celebrations would go ahead as planned. 

Of course the official word is that tourism is up, but that is from Netanyahu's ministry of tourism, so much like what comes out of the Trump White House it should probably be completely disregarded.

That is of course unless you would choose to believe a government official trying to tamp down fears of possible violence in such a sacred place, or an archbishop who is merely observing the facts on the ground.

I really think this declaring of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is going to have long term negative effects on the region that could long outlive Trump's hopefully brief presidency.

Anchorage broke another record. A really bad one.

Courtesy of the ADN: 

The death of a man whose body was found in Butte is now being investigated as a homicide in Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers said Monday. That would bring the city to a record number of homicides in a calendar year. 

The body of Anchorage man Weston Gladney, 36, was found in the Jim Creek recreation area of Butte, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, on Dec. 2. 

"Investigation by troopers has determined that the homicide occurred in Anchorage," Alaska State Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said. "At this time there is no additional information available for release in regards to this ongoing investigation."

Gladney's killing was the 35th homicide in Anchorage in 2017, police said – a new record. In 2016, there were a total of 34 homicides in the city, which also set a record.

Of course these statistics may seem minor when compared to big cities, but keep in mind that Anchorage has less than 300,000 people living there.

And yet Forbes Magazine once ranked us the tenth most dangerous city.

It should come as some comfort that most of those murdered knew their killers, or were involved in criminal activity.

In other words every day citizens of the city should feel relatively safe. (Or as safe as you can feel when every other asshole is probably carrying a gun.)

Dakota Meyer attacks somebody at the Las Vegas mass shooting for running away instead of getting killed.

This is why children shouldn't classify heroes by their followers or their photos. @danbilzerian this is what kills me about people like you. Always playing "operator dress up" and so so tough when the cameras are on. A woman just got shot in the head and you are running away filming that's not what operators do. Please stop trying to be someone your not. People are dying, you're running away not helping them and pretending it's worthy of a video is disgusting.

A post shared by Dakota Meyer (@dakotameyer0317) on Oct 2, 2017 at 5:12am PDT

So here is the actual video that this Dan Bilzerian fellow posted, as you can see he was unarmed during the shooting but said he got a gun and headed back. Though of course there was nothing to be done. Now look I really don't know, or care much about this Bilzerian guy. He could be a real douchebag, and according to his Instagram account that is probably somewhat accurate.

But I am still not sure what compelled Meyer to go after him like that on social media.

First off the guy was unarmed, which according to some messages on Dakota's Instagram makes him a pussy right there.

But secondly even if he was armed with a handgun, HOW would that have helped?

The gunman was firing an automatic weapon from the 32nd floor into a crowd of people.

NOBODY fires a handgun and hits a guy 32 floors up except in the dumbest action movies ever made.

The best this guy could probably have done was to shoot out windows on the 20th or 25th floor and hit some poor bastard who was up to that point completely safe.

As for leaving that woman shot in the head, yeah maybe this guy could have provided help if he is trained to do so, but most likely he would have simply been killed as well.

Nobody knows what they would do in a similar circumstance, and only an asshole insults somebody running from a hail of gunfire.

At the time of this post the death toll stands at 58, with 515 wounded.

If this Dan Bilzerian had followed Dakota's advice he would quite likely be number 59, or if lucky number 516.

NRA spokesperson very angry that the media describes guns as "weapons." I'm sorry, what?

Courtesy of Media Matters:  

GRANT STINCHFIELD (HOST): When it comes to media bias, it is often the little things that matter most. Seemingly innocuous phrases designed to sway your opinion. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently wrote an article about campus carry taking effect in Georgia and the controversy surrounding it. But it's their use of the word weapon that has me bewildered. The reporter uses “weapons” in place of firearms or guns so many times, it just becomes bizarre. Here, "Fears of gun owners getting drunk and firing their weapons." I firmly believe she uses the phrase weapons over firearms in an effort to scare the uninformed. But then I realized Georgia calls their concealed carry permits a “weapons carry license.” I don’t like that name at all. To me, the military carries weapons, guns carried for offensive purposes. I carry a firearm, a tool used for self-defense. To me, it is actually a very important distinction. By Georgia, a state rich in firearms history, using the term weapons in an official capacity, it hurts the perception of law-abiding gun ownership. The media already has it out for us, why give them more ammunition? 

Okay it is one thing to claim that guns are perfectly safe in the hands of the average American, a claim which I continue to dispute, however to claim that they are not a weapon completely defies logic.

The NRA has for decades now attempted to convince people that guns are simply tools similar to a crowbar or a knife, meaning that though they COULD take a life, they're actual purpose is to do something else entirely.

In the case of a crowbar it would be to pry something apart, and a knife is used to cut food or perhaps rope, but there really is NO other purpose that a gun serves than to take a life.

When these folks claim that a gun is a tool for self protection they avoid the fact that it only protects if an assailant believes they are in danger of being injured or killed by the WEAPON, or are in fact injured or killed by the WEAPON.

It is the very fact that they own a weapon capable of injuring or killing which is supposed to keep the owner safe.

Of course statistics do not actually support that assertion, but that is an entirely different conversation.

But before we can have that conversation at the very least we should agree on what we are talking about, and that is that guns are in fact weapons. Weapons which are designed to kill, and that is all they are designed to do.

Michigan woman pulls out firearm during altercation over school supplies in Wal-Mart. But don't worry, she has a valid conceal carry permit.

Courtesy of Slate:  

Back-to-school shopping can be stressful but shoppers at a Walmart in Michigan saw that stress take a violent turn after an argument over a notebook ended with a gun being drawn. It all happened on Monday afternoon as two pairs of women were shopping in the town of Novi, near Detroit. One of them reached for the last notebook on a shelf as did another woman. That invariably led to arguments about who was the rightful owner of that precious notebook and some pushing and shoving ensued. When two women, one aged 46 and the other 32, moved on to hair pulling, the mother of the 20-year-old who was involved in the altercation pulled out a loaded gun.

“She pulled out her firearm and tells them to stop attacking her daughter while pointing the gun at them,” Novi Police Detective Scott Baetens said. “It was a senseless act of violence all the way around.” Police are now working with prosecutors to try to determine whether the woman’s actions could be classified as self-defense. She had a valid concealed gun license. 

Of course the woman who pulled the gun ended up with the notebook because that is how you get what you want in America these days. Apparently.

I can't believe that police are trying to determine whether this is an act of self defense or not.

The woman introduced deadly force into a hair pulling fight.

It should ALWAYS be against the law to threaten to end a person's life over a fucking back to school notebook. Period!

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tries to calm fears about war with North Korea as Donald Trump continues to puff up his chest like a middle school bully.

Courtesy of CNN:

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has sought to allay fears of a military confrontation with North Korea after President Donald Trump warned he could unleash "fire and fury" on the pariah state. 

Tillerson defended Trump's comments but said there was no sign that the threat level from North Korea had changed and that Americans should "sleep well at night." 

His unscheduled remarks, on a flight out of the region early Wednesday, appeared designed to dial back the unprecedented rhetoric from Trump.

Trump's remarks about  "fire and fury" has caused concerns all across the world, and especially in South Korea, Japan, and of course Guam which North Korea has specifically threatened.

However while Tillerson is desperately trying to put out these fires, Trump his running around with his leaky gas can.

My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017

...Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017

First off I don't think that seven months is really enough time to "renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal."

And secondly WTF?

You know if you do indeed have the biggest penis in the frat house, you do not have to go around whipping it out at every party. People know.

Donald Trump is sitting on perhaps the single most powerful nuclear arsenal on the planet, he does not need to flaunt that.

It is like his tiny little hands make him feel that he constantly has to prove he is a man.

Only in this case his insecurities can cost the lives of millions.

God I hope this guy is not a local.

A duct-taped boat? Alaska Coast Guard pulls man and his dog from an inflatable boat that took on water. https://t.co/0zjt3k90o5 #odd

— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) June 9, 2017

Courtesy of KTOO: 

A man trying to cross Gastineau Channel on a homemade watercraft found himself in a spot of bother Wednesday. 

A Coast Guard Station Juneau crew picked the 32-year-old up. According to a news release, he was trying to reach Point Bishop in an inflatable, duct-taped craft when it began taking on water. He was not wearing a life jacket, the release said. 

A 25-foot Coast Guard small boat and crew responded, deemed the craft unsafe and transferred it, the man — and his dog — to Douglas Harbor.

They did not give this guy's name, or say where he was from, so I am holding out hope that he is an out of stater and not actually somebody from Alaska.

You would think that even the dumbest Alaskan would know better than to go out onto our waters without a life preserver and in a less than seaworthy craft.

However it is covered in duct tape, and that is the Alaskan's DIY adhesive material of choice.

So who knows?

Sandy Hook denier who sent death threats to parent of shooting victim sent to jail.

Courtesy of CBC News: 

A Florida woman pleaded guilty and was sent to prison Wednesday for threatening a man whose six-year-old son was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut school, which she contended was a hoax. 

Senior U.S. District Judge James Cohn sentenced Lucy Richards, 57, to five months in prison, followed by five months of home detention. She pleaded guilty to interstate transmission of a threat to injure in communications with Lenny Pozner, the father of Noah Pozner, who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn. 

Cohn called Richards's actions toward Pozner "disturbing" and said no one should cite a conspiracy theory or belief in a hoax in the deaths of 20 children and six adults that occurred at the school. 

"I'm sure he wishes this was false and he could embrace Noah, hear Noah's heartbeat and hear Noah say 'I love you, Dad'," Cohn told Richards. "Your words were cruel and insensitive. This is reality and there is no fiction. There are no alternative facts."

Investigators say Richards made four voicemail and email threats to Pozner on Jan. 10, 2016, after viewing internet sites claiming the shooting was a hoax aimed at curtailing Americans' Second Amendment gun ownership rights. The messages said things such as "you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon" and "LOOK BEHIND YOU IT IS DEATH."

I pushed this story back a day because of the Comey hearing, but I think it is important to remind all of us that these people are still out there, living in an entirely separate reality than the rest of us. 

We even see them here on IM sometimes, people who simply cannot accept the facts as they are, and who create a cocoon of ignorance and denial that makes them feel safe and comforted.

But as we see in this incident these people can also be dangerous, and with one of their tribe of conspiracy theorists now occupying the White House I would imagine that is now perhaps more true than ever before.

Woman sues due to injury suffered while filming fake reality scenes for Alaska reality show.

Courtesy of ADN:

Susan Aikens, who stars in the reality television show "Life Below Zero," has sued the series producers, alleging she was injured while being forced to film dangerous scenes for fictitious narratives. 

Aikens' grievances largely center on a producer who she alleges was verbally abusive and intimidated her and other crew members. 

The producer demanded Aikens drive her snowmachine into overflow, according to a civil complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. She was badly hurt in a crash and then made to wait for medical treatment so desirable footage could be captured, the complaint says. 

The 32-page lawsuit lists multiple defendants including the BBC and three of its subsidiaries, producer Aaron Mellman, and unnamed crew members. It alleges the defendants breached a contract, interfered with Aikens' business and intentionally caused her emotional distress.

Years ago my daughter, who worked on some of these shows, clued me into to just how fake they all are. 

In her words literally EVERYTHING that happens is scripted, including fights, love affairs, and yes dangerous incidents.

I think this lawsuit is great in that perhaps it will pull back the veil and allowing potential viewers see that it's all bullshit.

27 year old man becomes first totally blind person to get a conceal carry permit. That's right, "totally blind."

Courtesy of AmmoLand:

At 27, Carey McWilliams became the first totally blind person in the USA to acquire a concealed-carry permit. 

Despite weapons training during his ROTC years, McWilliams has faced opposition to his right to bear arms from both the media and public officials. 

Once fervently against hunting, McWilliams now views hunting as a way to connect to a system greater than himself and cope with PTSD brought on by a recent violent dog attack. 

In his downtime, he carries a loaded pistol to the grocery store. 

So great there is now a blind man walking around with a loaded weapon and an overwhelming fear of dogs.

I don't see how that can go wrong.

Idiot walks into a police station with an AK-47 to make point about open carry. Almost gets his ass shot full of holes. (NSFW language.)

This might make me an evil prick but part of totally wanted this guy to get shot at least once.

I mean his face is covered and he walks into a police station brandishing a weapon. What could he possibly have expected?

Let's face it if this had been a black guy they would have dropped him at the door.

Keith Olbermann explains to Trump supporters that their leader is insane.

Really can't disagree with any of this.

Okay so right now might not be the best time to visit Anchorage.

Courtesy of ADN: 

In an unusual advisory, the Anchorage Police Department on Tuesday warned residents of the city not to travel alone at night in "isolated areas," days after an as-yet-unsolved double homicide occurred in a park along a popular trail. 

In the statement, police asked citizens "to be cautious" late at night, "especially if they are in isolated areas like our parks, bike trails or unoccupied streets." 

"If you do plan to be out late at night, make sure you travel with several friends and not alone," the statement said. 

Police did not offer a specific reason why people should not travel late at night alone, other than saying that "criminal activity often increases late at night." The caution came after a wave of homicides in the city, including several unsolved killings. The FBI confirmed Tuesday that they were assisting APD in investigating some of those cases.

I am not going to lie to you, there has always been an element of danger in this city even back when I was a kid.

For a relatively small population in the state we have had far more than our fair share of serial killers:

No state in the country has a higher rate of serial murders than Alaska. As was the case in most other states, serial killers in Alaska claimed more victims in the 1980s than in any other decade. Robert Hansen, perhaps the most prolific serial killer in the state’s history, was sentenced to 461 years of prison in 1984 after confessing to the particularly gruesome murders 17 women. More than half of the 51 serial murders that occurred in Alaska took place between 1980 and 1990. Not only does Alaska have a higher incidence of serial killings than any other state, it also has the highest violent crime rate in the country.

And of course the majority of them lived in or around Anchorage. 

We also have an extreme number of regular homicides, rapes, and assaults, many of them related to alcohol abuse.

This year alone we have already had over twenty murders, with four months left to go. 

Yes the state is gorgeous, but it can also be deadly. And despite what you might hear the grizzly bears are NOT the most dangerous predators.

When you grow up here you quickly learn the rules. When and where you will be the most safe, where you should avoid going alone, and at what times of the night the city becomes the least safe.

Now I would not suggest that tourists need to stay away completely.

Most of the city is quite safe and right now breathtakingly beautiful.

However if I were a tourist I would ask about any dangerous places to avoid (Fairview, Mountain View, and Spenard, for a start.) and at what times it is best to avoid going on walks along the bike paths or in the parks.

Now you know why I tell people that this is the best place in the world to live, IF you can survive.

This anti-Trump campaign ad might very well make you crap your pants.

That is legitimately terrifying.

Made more so by the fact that these are things that he actually said.

This is why I am all in for Clinton/Warren in 2016.

Do your kids know what to do when they find a gun? Watch this video and then ask that question again.

Part two.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Toddlers have shot a total of 23 people this year, and the issue of accidental shootings involving small children getting hold of guns has been making headlines. 

So local Charlotte station Fox46 investigated the issue to see just what children would do when faced with the opportunity to pick up a gun. They enlisted the help of Mecklenburg County Sheriff Irwin Carmichael and some pint-sized volunteers using a harmless but authentic-looking BB gun. 

“So if you find a gun do you touch it? No. No, what should you do? Tell and adult…go tell an adult,” is the message Carmichael sends to children. 

But as it turns out, curiosity and the desire to play can override the instructions of adults when children don’t think they’re being watched. 

About a half-dozen parents, including Carolina Panthers player Thomas Davis and his wife Kelly, along with station employees. volunteered with their children to participate. The guns were placed in a conference room along with toys and games, and the parents watched their children via hidden cameras. 

Within 60 seconds, a little boy picked up the BB gun and dropped it. Within four minutes, the kids were pointing and firing the gun at each other. 

“It happens that easy,” a Davis said.

If you are anything like me your heart was in your throat the minute that first child picked up the gun.  And I don't think I took another breath until the end of that first video.

As somebody who has worked around children my entire life, and spent hours teaching them about being safe, that represents just about every nightmare I have ever had. 

And the incredibly sad part is that this is something that happens every single day in this country. Only in many cases the gun is not a toy and the child does not survive the encounter.

So far this year toddlers have shot 23 people.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:

Last year, a Washington Post analysis found that toddlers were finding guns and shooting people at a rate of about one a week. This year, that pace has accelerated. There have been at least 23 toddler-involved shootings since Jan. 1, compared with 18 over the same period last year. 

In the vast majority of cases, the children accidentally shoot themselves. That's happened 18 times this year, and in nine of those cases the children died of their wounds. 

Toddlers have shot other people five times this year. Two of those cases were fatal: this week's incident in Milwaukee, and that of a 3-year-old Alabama boy who fatally shot his 9-year-old brother in February. 

These numbers represent only a small fraction of gun violence involving children. For instance, the pro-gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety has found at least 77 instances this year in which a child younger than 18 has accidentally shot someone. And there is a whole different universe of gun violence in which toddlers are shot, intentionally or not, by adults. 

Looking at a map of where toddlers are pulling the trigger, some states stand out sharply.

It appears that if you want to avoid being shot by a toddler that Georgia, Texas, Florida, Michigan and Missouri are certainly the states to avoid.

Though to be honest there is hardly any place in the country where you are truly safe from gun violence these days.

Thanks to the NRA and cowardly politicians there are now more guns than people in the United States. That mean there is more than enough loaded weapons to take out every man, woman, and child in the country many times over.

If that doesn't send a cold chill up your spine then I don't know what would.

Oregon man goes on shooting spree inside his own home because, well "he had all these guns."

Image courtesy of Raw Story

Courtesy of KITV: 

Oregon City Police Department arrested Steven Scholz, 66, after they say he intentionally "shot up" his home Saturday morning. Police say Scholz fired his gun multiple times and its bullets hit neighboring houses and a parked car. 

"I figured I'd just shoot at random because I had all these guns," Scholz said. 

During a jailhouse interview, Scholz said he wouldn't have fired his gun if he'd known his neighbors were home. 

"Hurting my neighbors is the last thing I want to do," Scholz adds. "I love them guys, I would lay down my life for them. They have families; I have nothing." 

Scholz's next door neighbor Deanna Segura said multiple bullets went through her home and one bullet missed her son by about a minute.

The NRA urges everybody to buy as many guns and as much ammunition as possible because President Obama is coming to take our guns, and of course terrorists are lurking behind every bush, and then nothing ever happens.

So there you are staring at your vast collection of guns and piles of ammo thinking, "Well I have to do SOMETHING with it."

Makes perfect sense.

More guns in the hands of Americans means more senseless shootings and more people put in jeopardy. I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand. 

Father pretends to shoot his daughter, before actually shooting her, and then lies about it to the police.

Courtesy of the Temple Daily Telegram:  

The 7-year-old son of Justin Ryan Jones said his father was pretending to fire at his sister when the gun went off and he shot the 9-year-old girl, according to an arrest affidavit. 

Jones, 30, of Austin is charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony, and remained in the Bell County Jail on Monday in lieu of $25,000 bail, jail records showed.

Jones reportedly told a Bell County Sheriff’s Department deputy he was showing his children gun safety when the gun he was holding fired and shot his 9-year-old daughter. 

But Jones’ son said his father was pretending to shoot them. 

The 7-year-old said he liked the clicking sound the gun made. He said his father pulled the trigger and “his sister was shot,” the affidavit said. 

Jones’ other son, age 6, said his father was pointing the gun at his sister and held it in both hands while pretending to shoot them.

Personally I don't see how this guy fails to make it as an NRA poster boy.

Let's face it we have become inured to the idea that guns are dangerous, and we have lost our respect for the devastation that they can inflict.

Guns are not a tool nor a toy, they are an implement of death.

Period.