No Runny Eggs

Or at least those that haven’t already been sent to this dark corner of the web by various BBA members. Don’t mind the dust; while I spent a lot of time in the comments sections (and if I somehow missed your blog, I apologize; I just didn’t get to yours yet), I’m still a bit new on this side of things.

Gate, retired Coast Guard who runs The Gatehouse, has a very powerful piece on the life of a Coast Guard family. Please, go read it and then thank him for his service.

John McAdams, the Marquette Warrior, has a great semi-distant review of Katrina coverage. He says it much better than I could, so go and read it.

Here lies yet another view from the part of the lake a bit south of Kevin’s. As Kevin (and the rest of the BBA gang that made it to State Fair) can tell you, I’m usually a lot quieter than this :-)

On Saturday, Milwaukee recorded its 99th and 100th homicides (note that neither merited its own story in the Journal Sentinel; indeed, what turned out to be the 99th victim was item #4 in the regional news briefs and not identified as such until Monday’s reginal news brief). Today, the editorial board provides a mealy-mouthed editorial on this that is just ripe for the fisking.

Milwaukee reached an unhappy milestone over the weekend – the 100th homicide of the year. According to police, a trio of young men left a tavern in the 2900 block of N. 8th St. early Saturday when a second trio confronted them at gunpoint and demanded and got money. Shots nonetheless rang out, and 23-year-old Sharmon Malone, one of the holdup victims, was fatally hit.

No question, the three men who perpetrated the robbery are dangerous and their capture must be a top police priority. Anybody with information must come forward, if only to help ensure the safety of their neighbors and their loved ones.

I’ll add that their lifetime incarcerations must be a top priority of the District Attorney’s office.

At the same time, the 100th homicide of the year ought to be an occasion for key players in Milwaukee to reflect on the strategies they’ve deployed to reduce the murder rate and on ways to step up their efforts. Were murders to continue the rest of the year at the pace they have so far, Milwaukee will have totaled 129 murders by year’s end, 47% more than in 2004.

Yes, last year’s total, 88, was unusually low. It was the first time homicides dipped below 100 in 16 years. But expectations ought to be for a low homicide rate. In fact, 88 murders are too many.

Nice save at the end. However, there is a certain intellectual disconnect between 88 murders being “unusually low” and 88 murders being “too many”.

True, the pace of murders has slowed since July. On Aug. 23, we calculated that homicides would reach 137 for the year. So the slowdown means eight fewer homicides. The trick now is to slow the pace even further and to prove our prediction of 129 wrong.

A cursory check of the murder rate by month suggests that this “slowdown” happens every year as the weather gets cooler. It’s no “trick”; and further, there is no “trick” to reduce the homicide rate, just a sea change in attitudes.

What must be done? A lot. Inner city pastors must address the issue. Yes, some already are. But their ranks must grow. And they should coordinate among themselves for greater effectiveness. Community agencies must hone their efforts. And lawmakers must direct public funds their way.

I’m actually shocked (and no, not in the Casablanca way) that the JS edit board recognizes that churches have a role. I am troubled, however, that the bottom line is always “give away more tax dollars”. I also don’t see the newspaper assigning itself a role, but then again, what tenent of their statement of principles haven’t they ignored or outright violated?

The police must try harder. It must get its problem-plagued computer system together to help in the development of anti-crime strategies. And the police must work with community groups to identify trouble spots needing special attention.

Ah, a moment of clarity.

The private sector is doing miserably in terms of putting jobs in the inner city where the disappearance of jobs has helped cause the present state of affairs. That sector must do much better.

It’s kind of hard to get the private sector to create jobs when taxes are so high. It’s even harder when the WEAC-run public school system can’t turn out high school graduates.

Yes, Mayor Tom Barrett and the Common Council are upping the number of officers, which may give the Police Department more maneuverability.

There’s a start.

All in all, the city’s 100th homicide must be an occasion to reflect on how Milwaukee can get a handle on this terrible problem.

Treating murders in Milwaukee as at least as big a story as every terrorist murder of American troops in Iraq couldn’t hurt.

I have but one word to describe the day games – UNNNGGGHHH!!!!! Let’s review the carnage (winners are underlined – switched from bold because it doesn’t seem to stand out too well)

New England 31 @ Atlanta 28 (-2.5) – Why didn’t anybody tell me Vick was out?
Miami 14 (+3) @ Buffalo 20 – Losman was so lost, he got himself benched. Side note; I’m now 0-5 on the Barking Dog.
Carolina 24 (-3) @ Arizona 20 – Denny Green wrote the book, How to Choke Without Really Trying.
Chicago 10 @ Cleveland 20 (-3) – I love it when a parlay comes together.
Washington 19 @ Denver 21 (-7-LOSS) – I HATE the Prevent Victory Defense, especially when I laid the lumber.
Baltimore 17 (+1.5) @ Detroit 35 – Who are the OldBrowns going to get it going against?
New Orleans 3 (+3) @ Green Bay 52 – Where was this team Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4? Oh well, it’s only money.
Tennessee 34 @ Houston 20 (-3) – I should’ve done best 2 of 3 on the coin toss.
Indianapolis 28 (-15) @ San Francisco 3 – I didn’t need Sorgi to take care of the under.
Philadelphia 10 (-3) @ Dallas 33 – …and I’ve lost my judgement on NFL teams :-P
Seattle 37 (+3) @ St. Louis 31 – …so they sent me along, to go crush The Man. (sorry, bad Pink Floyd reference)
Tampa Bay 12 @ NY Jets 14 (+3) – Let’s see; 46 yards from Pittman, 18 yards from Graham, a dozen from Alstott, and 8 from Greise. Yep; they missed the Caddy.
Cincinnati 20 (+3-TIE) @ Jacksonville 23 – And then there was one undefeated team, and it wasn’t the BenGALs.
Pittsburgh 24 (+3) @ San Diego 22 – Good news; I won a MNF game. Bad news; Big Ben’s knee is toast.

Looks like I’m eating macaroni and cheese for the next week, and then only if I’m lucky. Oh well, I need to lose weight anyway. At least the two over/unders came through for me.

Sunday night update – added the Cincy-Jax result and commentary, altered the time to reflect this.
Tuesday morning update – it was too damn late to add the Steel Curtain win last night. The year-to-date record is now 37-35-2.