Crime Rate In Killeen

While living in Austin in 2000 I was seriously considering moving to Killeen, Texas. When I mentioned this to my mother who at the time was living in Missouri she told me that there was a lot of crime in Killeen. I had heard this but was surprised that my mother knew this while she was living in Missouri.
According to the 2000 Census the crime rate in Killeen is higher than the national average. The median age in Killeen is 27 years of age. Click here to see which crimes are being committed in Killeen.
What is the reason for the high crime rate in Killeen? What is being done to reduce crime in Killeen? Why are there so many unsolved murders in Killeen? Who is committing these crimes? Currently there are over thirty unsolved murder cases in Killeen. There are plenty of questions without answers. Click here to see the Killeen Police Department website. With Fort Hood Army Base near Killeen and many service personnel and their families living in Killeen, could this have an effect on the high crime rate? Many soldiers return from war and are expected to “return to live as usual.” Soldiers are young and kill the “enemy” while at war and again they are expected to return to life as though nothing had happened to them while they were at war. When soldiers return home they are not getting the treatment that they need before returning to day to day life with their families and friends. They are fighting so we here in the states can continue to live and enjoy our freedom. There are some serious side effects of the war that need to be examined. Could there be a direct correlation between the war soldiers and their family members and the crime rate in Killeen? Soldiers should be treated better upon returning home so their transition back home into society will be smooth. Perhaps then the crime rate in Killeen and many other cities near military bases will be greatly reduced.

Beyond Catching Up With The Civil Rights Train

Our country thrives on the diversity of different religious views and beliefs. I agree that the state and religion should remain separate. However the ultimate goal should reach further than mere ”legalization” of gay marriages, just as we should not be satisfied just because we have the legal system that mandates equal protection and/or treatment in terms of race,
Many people say one thing and do another. Such as, there are those who say they believe that people are born gay. However their attitude towards the gay population tells a much different story. Even if gay marriage become the norm across this nation those people who oppose the gay lifestyle for whatever reason will not change in their heart of hearts. From time to time, not often, I encounter someone who does not like me just because of the color of my skin. I cannot change the way that they think or feel about me or others of my race. I worked a job once where there was a guy that let it be known that he did not like Black people. After working alone with this guy for about four months he said to me one day “you are pretty cool for a black guy but I am still prejudice.” I had no comment. What could I say to that?
Will legalizing same-sex marriages reduce the divorce rate in America? Can two men or two women do a better job of raising children? I know a lot of heterosexual and homosexual couples. Many of my heterosexual married couples have divorced and remarried and yet there are still plenty of them that are still happily married to their one and only spouse. Most of my homosexual couple friends have been in and out of relationships long before we met and have since moved on to other relationships. There are too some homosexual couples who have been together faithfully for years.
The ultimate goal should be to truly change the attitudes of the general public towards same-sex marriages.

Take Me Off The Back Burner

There is so much talk about the swine flu lately that many people are unaware of how dangerous an airborne bacterium is that has been around for thousands of years. It kills at least two million people per year worldwide. That infection is called tubercle bacillus more commonly known as tuberculosis or TB.
TB is airborne, which means an infected person with active TB can cough, sneeze, or spit on people around her/him and the chances of them becoming infected are greatly increased.

About six years ago I had come in contact with an infected person with TB. I had an exposure which means I had a reactive TB skin test. I took isoniazid, one of the recommended medications for the next nine months which greatly reduced the odds of my contracting active TB for the next two years. The classic symptoms of tuberculosis are a chronic cough with blood-tinged, sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.
Let us hope that the swine flu does not get put on the back burner for some other infection be it viral or bacterial. In 2007 Travis County had 55 new cases of TB and Texas had 1510 new cases.*

World wide to date the swine flu has killed 5,000 people. Five thousand deaths so far from the swine flu compared to the more than two million deaths due to tuberculosis per year. Travis County had two TB deaths in 2008.

I have been exposed to TB and next week I will be getting my swine flu vaccine compliments of the City of Austin.

For more information on TB and the swine flu vaccine click on the following for the links.

TB FACTS

SWINE FLU UPDATES