On the one hand, it’s good to hear that there was an arrest in last summer’s brutal murder of Mark Loesch, a Minneapolis father of four who was beaten to death on a late-night ride in South Minneapolis:
On Monday, Loesch’s father-in-law, David Barnes, was initially elated to hear that a 23-year-old man had been charged in the case, which appeared to have all the elements of a violent robbery.
But on the other – there’s a problem. Police allege that Loesch was procuring pot:
But when police officials publicly said they believe Loesch was in the area to buy marijuana, Barnes was brought to tears.
“I know Mark and don’t believe that is what happened,” he said. “They shouldn’t have slandered a dead person.”
I guess that’s one of the “High Risk Lifestyles” that RT Rybak was talking about.
For some reason, Angryclown always pictures you composing this blog while puffing on a giant spliff.
So it’s much safer driving to St. Paul for weed?
Where’s your outrage at the ‘carnage’ in Minneapolis, you know, the one motivated by the fact that the murder rate in Minneapolis will be about the same or lower than in 1985?
I know, blame R.T. Rybak – that helps. Don’t get me wrong, I hardly love the guy- but I’m not quite certain that crime is Rybak’s fault.
Conversely, if we only could elect a neo-kook – they’d put more cops on the.. err no.. They’d FUND better neighborhood.. err no..Wait, they don’t have a single solution that’s actually worked either,
Wait I’ve got it.
Crime Abstinance programs!
That’s the ticket!
Let me take a stab at a faux Peev comment, since I’m on a conference call from hell:
Where’s your outrage at the lack of elves sprinkling pixie dust in Minneapolis? You know. . . PIXIE DUST! AND ELVES!
I know, blame Lucky – that helps. Don’t get me wrong, Lucky’s a leprechaun, but he’s always been after me lucky charms. But, I’m not quite certain that lust is Lucky’s fault.
Conversely, if we only could get rid of those purple horseshoes – they’d put more green clovers. . err no. . they’d put more yellow stars. . err no. . Wait, they can’t put any more marshmallows into that crappy cereal to make anyone over the age of 8 eat it either.
Wait I’ve got it.
CHEERIOS!
That’s the ticket!
Peev,
While the brevity is a good step, you’re still a little mushy in the “fact” department. I didn’t blame Rybak – just pointed out a statement of his.
As to the 1985 murder rate bit – you might wanna pick a better example. That was the year the gangs started ratcheting things up in Minneapolis; it got a LOT worse before it got better. Perhaps that’s not the precedent you wanna run with.
And of course “we” have solutions that work. Cities in non-southern “red” America are pretty universally safer than Minneapolis, per capita. And Giuliani might be said to have had some pretty useful results in NYC; while he’s no social conservative, he’s certainly a law and order Republican.
Just saying, it probably wouldn’t kill Minneapolis – nearly broke, with its collapsing school system and entire neighborhoods riven with crime – to give it a shot.
Anti-gun law-and-order Republican, you mean. You Rudy rooters like to forget that restrictive gun laws and coming up with innovative methods for getting guns off the streets were a huge part of Rudy’s so-called cleaning up New York. Maybe you forgot that Rudy was the only Republican to sue the gun industry?
Anti-gun law-and-order Republican, you mean
Yep. I can live with cognitive dissonance. It’s one reason I’m not a Demcorat.
And the gun laws had, statistically, very very little to do with “cleaning up crime”; at the most, they were just another charge to throw at people who were apprehended. Gun control laws *at best* do nothing to affect crime.
“Cognitive dissonance?” Is that what Republicans are calling “flip-flopping” these days?
No AC, that part hasn’t changed.
See, Republicans are reasonable people who make new decisions based on fresh information. Democrats Flip Flop.
Flash
You make an excellent point, Grandmaster Flash. In Rudy’s case, the new information is that he can’t possibly get the Republican nomination if he doesn’t flip-flop on gays, guns and abortion.
AC is all about flip-flopping on gays.
Hey Mitch,
In past, you’ve actively even passionately pointed the finger at Rybak, so your comments here are.. disingenuious?
As for 1985, fine, pick another year, 1992? No, the murder rate was higher, in fact, as my FACTS pointed out oh, say a month ago, the murder rate today is running slightly lower than last year, and about the same as the 80’s, so as far as FACTS go, you should have looked your own up prior to making ridiculous claims of ‘carnage.’
As far as ‘worse before betting’ and ‘running with anything’, first Mitch, actually the murder numbers, as I pointed out to you, bounced around the 50-60 number for nearly 10 years from 1984 – 1993, then shot WAY up, and then fell back off. Since it’s been pretty steady for more than 8 years and more importantly since you have no FACTS, ie. no evidence NONE AT ALL that says it’s on an upward trend now, so as far as bad analogies go, that might not be one you want to run with.
And ya know, I created, then deleted – a commentary that pointed out that Guliani hired more cops. What a coincidence that you and I would make the same suggestion, come to the same conclusion – namely, that at the Federal level Clinton put 100,000 cops on the street (or tried) – and Bush, cut the funding. So exactly how you’d PAY for those cops, well there’s the rub, huh?
And yeah, you bet, there sure are quite a number of cities with lower crime that happen to be in red states, like Dallas, and there are a number, like oh, say Atlanta, or New Orleans, that don’t, and funny, many have Democratic mayors, so again, it’s not really about what party holds the mayoral post, it’s about a more comprehensive answer to a very complex problem. But then again, complex things, like actual murder stats, are FACTS and clearly, aren’t something you seem to choose to worry about.
Thank you for deleting that “commentary” peevish.
In past, you’ve actively even passionately pointed the finger at Rybak, so your comments here are.. disingenuious?
Of course I’ve criticized Rybak. He’s an idiot. But that wasn’t even subtext in this post. For you to claim there was is disengineriounariounious.
As for 1985, fine, pick another year, 1992? No, the murder rate was higher, in fact, as my FACTS pointed out oh, say a month ago, the murder rate today is running slightly lower than last year, and about the same as the 80’s, so as far as FACTS go, you should have looked your own up prior to making ridiculous claims of ‘carnage.’
One wrongful death is carnage.
As far as ‘worse before betting’ and ‘running with anything’, first Mitch, actually the murder numbers, as I pointed out to you, bounced around the 50-60 number for nearly 10 years from 1984 – 1993, then shot WAY up, and then fell back off.
That’s what I said.
Since it’s been pretty steady for more than 8 years and more importantly since you have no FACTS, ie. no evidence NONE AT ALL that says it’s on an upward trend now, so as far as bad analogies go, that might not be one you want to run with.
I also have the FACT that the per-capita murder rate in Minneapolis (FBI stats for 2006) were 15.2/100,000. Higher than NYC, Boston, LA, San Francisco. Marginally lower than Chicago.
(It’s FBI stats. I got ’em off Wikipedia, but it links to the real thing, so I disclaim the Wikitaint).
Know what they were in Saint Paul?
6.1/100,000. Lower than NYC, Omaha, even Anchorage.
So – two cities, separated by a river crossed by a dozen bridges. One of them has 2.5 times the murder rate of the other. One of them has a batshit crazy liberal administration that dislikes cops; one of them has a history of relative sanity.
And ya know, I created, then deleted – a commentary that pointed out that Guliani hired more cops.
Well, then, I shall create and delete a response to that comment that you didn’t send!
And yeah, you bet, there sure are quite a number of cities with lower crime that happen to be in red states, like Dallas, and there are a number, like oh, say Atlanta, or New Orleans, that don’t, and funny, many have Democratic mayors, so again, it’s not really about what party holds the mayoral post, it’s about a more comprehensive answer to a very complex problem.
Right. Southern states, especially the deep south, have a culturally-high level of violence. And yet for all that, EVERY SINGLE METRO AREA IN TEXAS except Houston has a lower murder rate than Minneapolis – and Houston’s is 18.2/100,000. Others are MUCH lower; San Antonio’s is 2/3 as high, Austin’s 1/5 as high; Austin and SA. Both cities are MUCH bigger than Minneapolis.
Criminy – Las Vegas, with all of that city’s lunacy (and people – it’s 4x the size of Mpls) has 2/3 the murder rate!
But then again, complex things, like actual murder stats, are FACTS and clearly, aren’t something you seem to choose to worry about.
Actually – as usual to the point of inevitable – I have shown that not only do I have VASTLY better command of the actual facts, but – as usual to the point of tedium – they support me even moreso than I thought they would.
The causes of crime are indeed complex. But those complex causes have given Minneapolis a murder rate that is EXTREMELY anomalous in the region.
Didn’t we cover this before? The flip is okay. It’s the flop that I have a problem with.
So if a liberal Democrat former 60s hippie, goes to the Range and tells the AFL_CIO gathering that we need the mines to go full blast (flip), I am fine with that.
But if he then goes to a fund raiser and tells the Hollywood enviro crowd that mines destroy the earth and we need to close them (flop), then you have an issue.
AC is all about flip-flopping on gays.
And here Mangy Clown told us he was merely playing leap frog.
Chuck,
But it’s when the flip and the flop happen on the same stage, on the same night, in front of the same audience, that you would think there would be some sense of embarrassment.