Day: August 16, 2024

Crime Is Out Of Control!

We are hearing this statement playing out with every campaign speech.

That is one of the taglines for the Trump campaign…..a good hook for idiots and the truth is it is so much bullsh*t.

The fact is crime has been in decline….regardless what Donald has said…..there is no proof it is out of control….

Violent crime levels have dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to a new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Overall, violent crime dropped by 6 percent and homicides fell by 17 percent in 69 cities compared to the same period last year. Columbus, Ohio, saw the biggest drop in violent crime at 41 percent, according to an Axios data analysis. But cities including Miami, Washington, DC, and Austin, Texas, also saw large declines. Notably, New York City was not included in the data, though other reports have indicated that violent crime is falling there, too.

It’s hard to say exactly what’s causing the decline, which comes after a major Covid-19 crime wave. It may be partially due to policies aimed at tackling crime at the federal, state, and local levels. But it may also just be a symptom of the fact that normal life in America has resumed post-pandemic — or a combination of those and other factors.

Republicans have long tried to use concerns about crime as a political cudgel against President Joe Biden’s administration. While former President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to be giving up on that attack strategy just yet, Democrats can now use the new data as a defense. Whether that will be effective, however, is far from certain.

In a statement on Saturday, President Joe Biden credited the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill that Congress passed in 2021, which allocated $15 billion toward public safety and violence prevention efforts, for helping bring down crime levels. He also cited bipartisan gun control law that expanded background checks and encouraged states to adopt “red flag” laws to prevent people who pose a danger to themselves or others from obtaining a gun.

But while those laws may have helped, some experts are highly skeptical of attributing the decrease to specific government initiatives.

“I think it’s early to know exactly why murder and violent crime are going down now,” said Jeff Asher, a crime researcher who runs a crime database at AH Datalytics. “Generally, I’m skeptical of political actions causing crime to go up or crime to go down, especially at the federal level.”

However, the pandemic crime was such an outlier in terms of the speed and degree to which it took hold that Asher said it’s possible that government spending on public safety helped interrupt such an acute increase in violence.

https://www.vox.com/policy/366622/violent-crime-dropping-pandemic-wave-2024

I am sure that these people will point to one city that is having a spree and claim the whole country is having it as well….that would be pure horse manure.

If you fancy yourself as a law and order voter then do not listen to crap, do the research and you will see that crime is declining across the nation.

Vote Smart!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Vacation Of A Lifetime

There are many places that could claim that bold assertion…..places like Paris, London, Ibiza, Greece, etc but now we can add one more destination to that list….the country of….(what for it)….North Korea.

It’s not like North Korea tops any “top vacation destinations” lists, but tour companies on Wednesday were still excitedly touting the latest news out of the secluded nation: After nearly five years of even further isolation brought by COVID, the North will open its borders again to foreign tourists. “We have received confirmation from our local partner that tourism to Samjiyon and likely the rest of the country will officially resume in December 2024,” Koryo Tours, based in Beijing, announced on its website, per Reuters.

Another company, KTG Tours, made a similar announcement about Samjiyon—a mountainous town known for its winter activities, and where the country says a “socialist utopia” is being built—on its own site. Per the BBC, that agency wrote on its Facebook page that “we think that Pyongyang and other places will open too!!!”

NK News notes that most of the North’s prepandemic tourists came out of China, though visitors also included “several thousand Westerners” annually. The nation shut its borders once COVID hit, and it only recently started allowing Russian tourists in earlier this year, thanks to warming relations between Pyongyang and Moscow. Chad O’Carroll, who heads up the US-based analysis firm Korea Risk Group, is wary of the news. “I will believe it when I see it,” he tells the BBC. “For now, I am quite skeptical we will see any real movement in December.”

Seriously?

Well when Donald the Orange was visiting he talked about condos on a beach there….maybe that enticed Li’l Kim to consider opening up for some tourist dollars.

But before you dash off to sign up consider this….as an American what are your chances of being arrested for spying?

Would you chance your freedom and possible torture and death to visit this little nation?

I will pass….I will read about it in the funny papers.

Choose wisely for your next vacay.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”