New Orleans and News
New Orleans is now the nations murder capital. The article is too touchy feely for me with wonderful quotes like this:
Let's all make excuses why these criminals are committing murder. I blame their mothers.
Here's another jewel, from Eric E. Malveau, a prosecutor and public defender in the Big Easy.
So the government now was three things to solve for people ... educate them, give them a job and then ... make sure they don't feel hopeless. Otherwise, they will undoubtedly turn to drugs. I love these people. They have such faith in humanity and their willingness to do good and to survive. Nagin better get on that ... making sure all criminals have educations, jobs and hope. That'll make them stop selling drugs. Because ya know, they don't sell drugs because it's easier than working 9-5 or anything, or more lucrative for less time working. They don't sell drugs because their criminals, they sell drugs because they are hopeless and uneducated. If we give them hope and an education, they'll stop selling drugs.
I'm just going to say this once. Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco can't get a city of nearly 500,000 (with 1.4M in the metro area) people and 350 miles under control in a year and a half, yet our military is supposed to have Iraq: population 26,783,383, and 168,743 square miles under a functioning democracy in 3 years (nearly 4). Just some perspective. I don't want to argue the point ... I just wanted to point it out.
18 people have been killed in New Orleans this year alone. And they aren't arresting people. 2/3rds of these crimes are going unpunished. And somewhere in Houston, criminals are looking back and thinking "I should have gone back and committed murder there, because here in Texas I'm getting arrested and sent to prison."
Every time I hear about New Orleans I silently beg the reporter or writer or whoever to talk about Houston and Texas. They never do. Or maybe even report on the others displaced throughout the country. They could talk about the 25,000+ kids that are currently enrolled in Houston's public schools and the strain that's putting on the system. But they don't. It's the unheard story, the taboo subject because we can't criticize people still on the FEMA doll a year and a half after the tragedy. It's not right to talk badly about people who have suffered.
January 24th Houston released crime reports that said crime was down 6%. For everything expect homicides of course. And San Antonio and Corpus are having issues too. The key difference between San Antonio and Houston being that Houston is tracking evacuee violence and San Anton isn't. Houston is making it lucrative by tracking it, and getting money from the feds in order to deal with the problems. Dallas and Austin reported drops in crime. Yeah us!
The problem? People like this:
I didn't intend to go on about this. But when I was reading about Houston and the FEMA money and how they want an 18 month extension and not just 6, my stomach begins to hurt. These people aren't looking for help on their feet, their looking for a wheelchair for life to carry them through. And with the host of other problems on the nations plate, I just can't handle increasing tax flow to cover people who refuse to help themselves. I want to help them find work, find a home, find peace. But I can't support them for life.
Here's an article from Newsweek from March of last year. I want to see a follow up to this story and see if any progress has been made. But I guess the real question is, what can you do really? If people don't want to work they aren't going to work. And as long as public compassion and really, guilt, over Katrina is so large, they can stick their palms out and get whatever they want.
I hope everyone that needs help is getting help, and those that are abusing the system aren't ruining it irreparably for those that really need it.
--------------------------------------------------------------
What else you should read today:
Bush sends Congress $2.90T spending plan - great. Love those fiscal conservatives.
Ahmadinejad: On February 11, Islamic Republic's nuclear rights 'will be established' - what does this mean? On February 11th will Israel still exist? And they have an AIDS vaccine??
Another Opinion on Global Warming. He's a smart man. Read it.
Tony Dungy said he was more proud of being a Christian Coach than the first Black coach to win the Super Bowl. I heard the quote live ... it was very sincere and I was proud of him for being honest. Some people thought it was anti-gay. ?? I don't get it, but okay.
Have a great day!
Every phase of the killing cycle here unfolds under the dark star of dysfunction: the murderers’ brutalized childhoods, the often ineffectual police intervention, a dulled community response, and a tense relationship between the police and prosecutors that lets many cases slip through the cracks.
Let's all make excuses why these criminals are committing murder. I blame their mothers.
Here's another jewel, from Eric E. Malveau, a prosecutor and public defender in the Big Easy.
“You can put a cop on every corner, and you will not stop the murders,” said Eric E. Malveau, who has worked as a prosecutor and a public defender. “As long as you have a large population that is uneducated and has no job and no hope, what else is there to do but sell drugs? Until you fix that, it’s hard to see the problems getting much better.”
So the government now was three things to solve for people ... educate them, give them a job and then ... make sure they don't feel hopeless. Otherwise, they will undoubtedly turn to drugs. I love these people. They have such faith in humanity and their willingness to do good and to survive. Nagin better get on that ... making sure all criminals have educations, jobs and hope. That'll make them stop selling drugs. Because ya know, they don't sell drugs because it's easier than working 9-5 or anything, or more lucrative for less time working. They don't sell drugs because their criminals, they sell drugs because they are hopeless and uneducated. If we give them hope and an education, they'll stop selling drugs.
I'm just going to say this once. Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco can't get a city of nearly 500,000 (with 1.4M in the metro area) people and 350 miles under control in a year and a half, yet our military is supposed to have Iraq: population 26,783,383, and 168,743 square miles under a functioning democracy in 3 years (nearly 4). Just some perspective. I don't want to argue the point ... I just wanted to point it out.
18 people have been killed in New Orleans this year alone. And they aren't arresting people. 2/3rds of these crimes are going unpunished. And somewhere in Houston, criminals are looking back and thinking "I should have gone back and committed murder there, because here in Texas I'm getting arrested and sent to prison."
Every time I hear about New Orleans I silently beg the reporter or writer or whoever to talk about Houston and Texas. They never do. Or maybe even report on the others displaced throughout the country. They could talk about the 25,000+ kids that are currently enrolled in Houston's public schools and the strain that's putting on the system. But they don't. It's the unheard story, the taboo subject because we can't criticize people still on the FEMA doll a year and a half after the tragedy. It's not right to talk badly about people who have suffered.
January 24th Houston released crime reports that said crime was down 6%. For everything expect homicides of course. And San Antonio and Corpus are having issues too. The key difference between San Antonio and Houston being that Houston is tracking evacuee violence and San Anton isn't. Houston is making it lucrative by tracking it, and getting money from the feds in order to deal with the problems. Dallas and Austin reported drops in crime. Yeah us!
The problem? People like this:
Seventeen months after Hurricane Katrina, a New Orleans evacuee in Atlanta sits in his Midtown Atlanta apartment, insisting that taxpayers, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, owe him $6,000 in rental assistance, and waiting for his old job and a place to live. He has no plans to look for work. “The only requirement I should have is that I’m an evacuee,” he said at a gathering of Katrina evacuees. “Don’t tell me to work on somebody’s job when I’m planning to go back to New Orleans.” Seventeen months. No job. Not looking.
I didn't intend to go on about this. But when I was reading about Houston and the FEMA money and how they want an 18 month extension and not just 6, my stomach begins to hurt. These people aren't looking for help on their feet, their looking for a wheelchair for life to carry them through. And with the host of other problems on the nations plate, I just can't handle increasing tax flow to cover people who refuse to help themselves. I want to help them find work, find a home, find peace. But I can't support them for life.
Here's an article from Newsweek from March of last year. I want to see a follow up to this story and see if any progress has been made. But I guess the real question is, what can you do really? If people don't want to work they aren't going to work. And as long as public compassion and really, guilt, over Katrina is so large, they can stick their palms out and get whatever they want.
I hope everyone that needs help is getting help, and those that are abusing the system aren't ruining it irreparably for those that really need it.
--------------------------------------------------------------
What else you should read today:
Bush sends Congress $2.90T spending plan - great. Love those fiscal conservatives.
Ahmadinejad: On February 11, Islamic Republic's nuclear rights 'will be established' - what does this mean? On February 11th will Israel still exist? And they have an AIDS vaccine??
Another Opinion on Global Warming. He's a smart man. Read it.
Tony Dungy said he was more proud of being a Christian Coach than the first Black coach to win the Super Bowl. I heard the quote live ... it was very sincere and I was proud of him for being honest. Some people thought it was anti-gay. ?? I don't get it, but okay.
Have a great day!
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