komatachan

"Live hungry pythons inside".

Ouch. Any thoughts on Lt. Calley?

I'd like to see statistics too. I lived in Anchorage during the entire oil boom from beginning to bust and saw a huge increase in crime, but all my observations are anecdotal. The sex industry boomed; ladies on street corners; 'massage' parlors; strip clubs; 'dating' services. Drug use and sales, chiefly cocaine and speed, were rampant; one could not go into a restroom in any bar and not see 2 or 3 pairs of feet in a toilet stall. Alcohol flowed freely till 5 am, and then the illegal after hours joints opened up, where oil field workers were fleeced of a months' pay in a few hours at the card tables. Not a week went by without reading of some horrific traffic accident. All in a town of 350,000. There was also an increase in 'white collar crime'. Loan officers at certain banks were known to give highly questionable loans to unqualified borrowers for a kickback, often 10% of the loan. That resulted in a lot of empty houses and 4- and 6-plex apartments later when people simply fled their huge debt by leaving in the middle of the night. Building inspectors began buying big pleasure boats as homes and mini-malls were thrown up overnight using the crappiest materials and techniques. I'd love to see some studies about that particular boom.