Happy holidays ya’ll. Gonna post a short-y today.
1. New Orleans population edges towards 300,000 as its murder rate increases by 25% to over 200
How pathetic: One of the deadliest cities on earth is in America, the richest country in history. At over 75 killed per 100,000, New Orleans is more violent than Rio (50 per 100,000), Medellin (29 per 100,000), Caracas (60 per) and countless other third world cities. South Africa has higher rates, at over 115 per 100,000 in Jo-burg and Cape Town respectively. Still, New Orleans is twice as violent as Detroit, America’s second deadliest city. And New York’s down to 5 murders per 100,000. Iraq saw 60 killed per 100,000 in 2006—though the numbers were likely much, much, much higher.
Meanwhile, the NOPD’s operating budget is about $100 million. This year, the CEO of Goldman Sachs took home $70 million. America sure has it’s priorities straight. We have a city that’s basically in a state of civil war, and instead of it being news, we’re ignoring it.
I was in New Orleans last winter. Without doubt, the city was still under siege. Seven people were murdered in one 48-hour period during my Mardi Gras stay. I saw NOPD running makeshift checkpoints, lit by flares, a cruiser stopping random vehicles on major roadways. Before even asking for a license, the cops would cuff a vehicle’s occupants. This is a police force operating under fear. The flood destroyed NOPD headquarters; they work from trailers on a barbwire-wrapped parking lot in an industrial area outside downtown.
After Katrina, the police force shrunk by 30 percent, even though the area they patrolled remained the same size. Yes, the population shrunk too, but the criminal element were the ones too poor to leave.
If a murder rate on par with many a warzones isn’t tantamount to a national emergency, what is?
New Orleans needs federal help. Can’t we allocate some tax funds to bolster New Orleans’ security? Maybe some corporate tax dollars from the oil industry, as New Orleans is responsible for pumping 2.8 million barrels of oil per day.
2. Politico Strikes Again–another cool story, about the social scene in Des Moines.
Heading to Iowa for the caucus? Below’s a run down on the scene.
The GOP hang at 801:
801 is what you’d expect: lots of oak, with a wide selection of aged brandies, fine cigars, a $50 porterhouse and bottles of wine with four-digit prices.
The Dems chill at Cntro, fly:
Centro’s also D.C.-esque in that there remains a gap between what it aims to be and what it is.
The New York-style pizza can be doughy and undercooked, with scant red sauce splashed on top of the cheese. The olive oil — a key Italian ingredient — is only so-so; the tomato and tortellini soup, a favorite of Rudy Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella, is delicious, if a bit rich. (Giuliani held a reception at Centro for reporters before the Ames Straw Poll but didn’t have time to eat, Comella reports.)
But some are priced out of both 801 and Centro:
Part of that’s the price. If you’re self-financing a blogging expedition or making a few hundred a week on the campaign, the D.C.-ish prices hit hard. But some young bucks are willing to pay for the privilege of stargazing at the Ron Brownstein types who are only Washington-famous — or famous wherever Washington lays its head on the road.
In reality, not much partying:
TAGS: election, GOP, Iraq, New York, NPR, Pizza, warOver three nights last week, another similarity with D.C. emerges: For many reporters and campaign staffers — elite or not — there is little time to booze. That may be what is most contemporary about caucus culture.
Reporters often have to file blog entries by day and their stories by night, while drowning in an unceasingly competitive market. For campaign staff, the pressure to design a near-Fortune 500 operation means that there is far less time to step out of one’s day job — if the all-consuming venture that is campaigning can even be called that.
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