Murdertown, USA

Murdertown, USA

78 Comments
That's the title of Newsweek's article looking at the crime problem in Wilmington. I thought that this article mostly tried to leverage off of articles like this one, that rank the safety of small cities using FBI crime stats and articles from the News Journal also reporting on Wilmington's crime issues. The author mentions a "tale of two cities" quality to the city (that's true) but doesn't really do this theme justice, which might have told us more about the problem. And if you google "Murdertown", you see places like Flint, MI, Chicago, IL, various towns in Texas and Youngstown, OH, tagged with it, so the title to this article is even a little worn. Still:
This year, there have been 27 homicides in Wilmington, tying its record 27 murders in 2010, and 135 people have been shot. Twenty-two of them died. With a population of just over 71,000, Wilmington had a violent-crime rate of 1,625 per 100,000 people last year, according to the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Report (that crime rate measures murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault). The national average was 368 per 100,000 people. Wilmington ranks third for violence among 450 cities of comparable size, behind the Michigan towns of Saginaw and Flint, according to a Wilmington News Journal report.
The stats are bad, but if the number of murders could be cut by one third or so, Wilmington would fall right off of those top 10 lists. The city would be a little safer for the folks who live in the neighborhoods where the guns seem drawn all of the time, but would the problem be resolved? Probably not, because:
When you ask people in Wilmington about the root causes of the city’s crime epidemic, their answers read like the devil’s Christmas list: poverty, racism, lack of economic opportunities, drug and alcohol abuse, gun violence, high dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, stressed families and more.

Wednesday Open Thread [12.10.14]

3 Comments
Al Hunt notes that polling shows that “on two controversial issues, the budget deficit and deporting illegal immigrants, the public believes Obama’s critics — even though reality favors the president.” LOL. Reality favors facts. The President deals in facts. The News Media does not. Thus, a public reliant on the News Media will likewise not be informed as to facts.
“By 73 percent to 21 percent, the public says the federal budget deficit has gotten bigger during the Obama presidency. Here are the facts: In fiscal 2009, during the first year of Obama’s presidency, the deficit was $1.413 trillion. In the current fiscal year, the congressional budget office projects the deficit will be $469 billion, down from $483 billion in the budget year that ended Sept. 30. The deficit has been cut by two-thirds during Obama’s six years.” “By 53 percent to 29 percent, Americans believe that Obama has sent fewer undocumented immigrants home than were deported a decade earlier. That’s a constant refrain of Obama’s immigration critics. It also isn’t true. Immigration agents removed 315,943 people in the last fiscal year. That’s down from 438,421 the year before but up 31 percent from the 240,665 deported in fiscal 2004.”
Will Landrieu Reciprocate?

Will Landrieu Reciprocate?

1 Comment
Tom Carper spent a lot of time campaigning form Mary Landrieu. Has his hard work purchased any goodwill? I doubt it. My bet is that Carper was duped, but that appears to be his thing.
“Senate Democrats plan to squeeze every last drop out of their majority, threatening to extend the lame duck to approve key nominees of President Barack Obama before turning over Senate control to Republicans in January. If they hold their caucus together, Democrats can unilaterally prevail and approve Vivek Murthy to be surgeon general, Sarah Saldana to lead Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Carolyn Colvin to be Social Security administrator, as well as nine judicial nominees … Democrats may need all their members to stick around to win tough votes, including Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who lost her seat on Saturday and has missed all of this week’s votes so far.”
Keystone XL pipeline continues to cause Republicans to act crazy

Keystone XL pipeline continues to cause Republicans to act crazy

Because the Keystone XL pipeline failed to pass, and because contraception is now the same thing as abortion in the deranged minds of Republicans, House GOPers pushed to attach a provision to the government funding bill that would let some employers opt out of covering contraception for employees. Senator for Life, Tom Carper took this move as a positive step toward Republican "reciprocity" and a demonstration of the GOP's willingness to be bipartisan.
The Torture Report

The Torture Report

51 Comments
Massimo Calabresi frames the debate over the report:
What effect will assigning blame have? The CIA says it is so burned by the EIT program that it is permanently out of the business of interrogation and Dianne Feinstein, the hawkish head of the Senate Intelligence committee, says that’s fine. The purpose of her report, she says, is to ensure such a program is never again acceptable to Americans. But plenty of others, from ex-CIA officer Jose Rodriguez, to former Vice President Dick Cheney, to former CIA chief Michael Hayden, say the program should be available for use if there is another major attack on the U.S. Even Obama’s CIA chief says only that the EIT program is not now “appropriate,” suggesting it might be in other circumstances. Ultimately, the report’s value lies in answering that simple question: should we ever do it again?
Republicans are for torture. That is what they are saying when they attack the release of the report while at the same time defending the actions of the torturers employed by the US government on the orders of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. And their answer to that question from Mr. Calabresi is "Absolutely." And that is because they have no morals. No conscience. The truly disturbing thing about this report is not the revelations of what they did in our name, but how many Americans will just shrug, or join the Republican critics. Come inside to read the report.
Tuesday Open Thread [12.9.14]

Tuesday Open Thread [12.9.14]

4 Comments
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 50% of Americans “believe Republican control of both chambers of Congress will be bad for the country, and a majority say it will in fact cause more gridlock in Washington.” Further, 68% of Americans polled say the GOP isn’t cooperating enough with President Obama, while 57% say it’s Obama who’s not cooperating enough with the GOP. And 100% of me is sick and tired of an American public that expects bipartisan cooperation. Liberals and conservatives, represented by Democrats and Republicans, respectively, don't agree on much, and the public either needs to stop expecting them to agree, or they should stop electing divided government.
In Praise of DMV And the People Who Work There

In Praise of DMV And the People Who Work There

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The next time someone makes an ad hominem attack on state workers, please commend to them the people who work at DMV. In my case, the facility just south of Wilmington off of Rt. 13 across from Casablanca. I had to take my car through inspection today,  and I'd lost my registration card. So, before going through the lanes, I stopped inside to get a new card. They have a help desk right inside to route people to the proper services, two people answering questions. I told them my problem, and I was told that there was no need to get a card just for inspection, just let the inspectors know. I went through inspection. When I got to the inspector who handles checking the lights and emissions, I recognized him.  He's been there forever. Many years at the Bancroft facility, and now here. Working a tough job in all kinds of weather, breathing in all those fumes. Always very professional and always has a kind word.  When I last went through two years ago, I got a chance to talk to him, and he's had all kinds of health issues. Yet here he is, doing a great job.  When I think of why state employees deserve good pay, I think of him. I dare any of those reptilian Rethugs from Chateau Country to do his job for even one day. Then, I was able to handle the entire transaction of getting the new registration and tag w/o leaving my car. Using the Jetsons technology.  Don't think it took more than three minutes. I almost look forward to going to DMV now. A wonderfully crafted customer-centric system and great workers. When you consider the range of issues and the range of clients they deal with, you just have to take your hat off to them.
Ninth Street Book Shop: Bryan Stevenson To Speak At The Queen

Ninth Street Book Shop: Bryan Stevenson To Speak At The Queen

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Via ninth street book shop - which you should totally shop at.
Bryan Stevenson, who was born in Milford, DE, will speak at a free public event at the Queen Theatre (500 N Market St) on Monday, Dec. 15th from 5:00--7:00 pm.  His memoir, "Just Mercy," is a powerful indictement of the inequities of our justice system and a call for action.  Following his presentation, he will be autographing copies of his book ($28) that will be available for purchase either there or at our store. 500 N Market St in the Olympia Room at the Queen Theatre Wilmington, Delaware
The Pandora household is trying to clear our calendar to attend. Hope to see everyone!